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4 Ways to Keep Current in Public Relations

Let’s face it . . .  whether you’re a PR student, practitioner or faculty member, we’re all busy. So how can you get (and stay) up to speed with the ever-changing world of public relations? Here’s a quick guide to how I stay current in public relations.

One: Listen to PR podcasts.

Some of my favorite podcasts are: For Immediate Release, Inside PR, The Creative Career, Trafcom News, Marketing Over Coffee, and Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me. My favorite time to listen to podcasts is during my daily three-mile walks. I also listen to them when I drive, work out and clean the house. Some people prefer to listen to podcasts on their computers; my preference is listening to them on my Palm Pre or iPod.

Here’s a short video on how to subscribe to and download podcasts using iTunes. If you’re not an iTunes person, you may want to visit Podcast Alley, where you can find thousands more podcasts. You can listen to the podcasts directly from the website.

Two: Read PR blogs.

There are hundreds of blogs about public relations. I’ve bookmarked many of them in Delicious for you. You can subscribe to them using your favorite RSS reader (such as Google Reader), or just read them on the web. Some of the most helpful blogs I’ve discovered recently include The Comms Corner and Karen Russell’s Week’s Best, as they aggregate current posts of interest to PR practitioners.

Three: Follow PR practitioners on Twitter.

Are you a public relations student (or recent grad) just getting started using Twitter? Try following some (or all) of these people or organizations in my Twitter Starter Pack for PR Students. They all have something in common: they tweet useful or interesting information for people involved in public relations.

Four: Subscribe to daily or weekly PR e-mailed newsletters.

My favorite PR newsletter is one that comes into my inbox daily from Ragan Communications: the PR Daily newsfeed. When I want to read the latest on PR, this is the newsletter I turn to first. Another helpful newsletter comes from Chris Brogan; Chris provides different content in the newsletter than he does on his blog, so it’s definitely worth subscribing.

Your suggestions?

What additional resources would you recommend?

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A Twitter Starter Pack for PR Students

confused twitter birdAre you a public relations student (or recent grad) just getting started using Twitter? It’s usually best to test the waters a bit before you dive in. Try following some (or all) of these people or organizations in my Twitter Starter Pack for PR Students. They all have something in common: they tweet useful or interesting information for people involved in public relations. Read their tweets for a few days before you start tweeting yourself.

You may also want to read these two blog posts I’ve written about Twitter: Choosing Whom to Follow on Twitter: My Strategy and A Twitter Lexicon. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t recommend Prof. Sam Bradley’s College Student’s Guide: Twitter 101.

Questions?

barbara_is_listening

(PS: Suggestions for other good people for PR students to follow? Please let me know with a comment to this post.)

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PRCA 4330 Article Review

For my PRCA 4330 Public Relations Research class:Reading Well by moriza.

Review an academic article on public relations that appears in a peer-reviewed journal. Your review is due by midnight on Tuesday, September 1. Recommended journals include (but aren’t limited to):

Choose the article you will review by August 26 at class time, and reply with a comment to this blog post with your article choice. Use APA works cited style to tell me which article you will review.

Your 500-word minimum review could take the following form:

  • What did you learn from reading the article?
  • What surprised you in the article?
  • What do you want to know more about, now that you’ve read the article?

It is acceptable to use first person for this review. Be sure to cite your source–in text as well as in your reference section–in proper APA format. (Using Citation Machine might be helpful.) This assignment is worth 100 of your 1000 points in PRCA 4330.

Turn this assignment in using GeorgiaVIEW by midnight on Tuesday,  September 1. No hard copy is needed.

UPDATE: On her PRConnections blog, Purdue University’s Dr. Mihaela Vorvoreanu shares her tips for how to read a research article. This is a MUST read. See the PPT version of her blog post here at Public Relations Matters, also.

Questions? You know where to find me . . .

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/santos/1704875109/

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Arrive, Survive and Thrive in Prof. Nixon’s Classes :: Fall 2009

cucumberAn Open Note to All of Prof. Nixon’s Students at Georgia Southern University:

We’re almost off and running in our Fall Semester classes at GSU. This semester, I’m teaching six (yes, six) courses. The syllabi will be have been e-mailed to all my enrolled students, and I’ll also post links to them (on Scribd) here.

So that we can make the most of this semester, please (Please, PLEASE) take some time to read through the blog posts I’ve included here. I promise you, it will be well worth your time. (How often do professors let you get inside their heads, letting you know their tips for success and their pet peeves?)

Additionally, here are a few more tips:

  • When communicating with me via e-mail (or Facebook), always put your course number (such as PRCA 3339) in the subject line to help me immediately identify who you are and frame your questions or comments. Do your best to write in full sentences, paying attention to standard English grammar and spelling. Always sign your e-mails with your first and last name, as your GSU e-mail address will not make that readily apparent to me.
  • When submiting an assignment in GeorgiaVIEW, always put your last name as part of the file name, and also include your name in the document itself. Papers submitted without your last name as part of the file name cannot earn full credit.
  • If an assignment is due in GeorgiaVIEW, the only way to get full credit for the assignment is to submit it in GeorgiaVIEW. (E-mailing an assignment to me can be risky; I receive 250+ e-mails a day, and there’s a chance I will not see it in my inbox.)
  • Follow me on Twitter, if you really want to get inside my head. (What’s Twitter?)

Let’s make this a great semester together!

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Real Talk in Tough Times: Communicating for Change

Reposted from Natalie Tindall, Student Advisory Committee for the National Black Public Relations Society (NBPRS)

Would you like a chance to win a scholarship to attend the NBPRS Conference and Career Fair in Atlanta (November 12-16 2008) –the largest gathering of African American PR Professionals?

The conference will provide four inspiring days of networking, training and honoring those who have paved the way for African Americans in the PR field.

Themed “Real Talk in Tough Times: Communicating for Change,” the conference will offer solutions for the practice of public relations in the economically, socially and politically challenging times society now faces.

Write a 250-word essay about our conference theme – “Real Talk in Tough Times: Communicating for Change.” Tell us how you will make your community better with Real Talk.

Send your completed essay to Dawn.jones@nbprs.org

Limited student scholarships available—All applications must be received by October 1, 2008.