Twitter and the Royal Engagement.

So for those of you that might not know, Prince William is engaged! Not really one to keep up on the UK news but the overall social web seems pretty happy about it.

So guess how I found out about it? Twitter. In one day 3 of the top trends were the terms “Kate Middleton” (the soon-to-be princess) “Prince William”, and “Royal Wedding”. This royally romantic announcement seemed to take over the “Twitterverse”. Honestly I don’t think it was possible for anyone to sign into Twitter that day and not hear the news.

So once again Twitter, thanks for keeping me informed.

Here is an interview with Prince William and Middleton after the engagement:

George Little Is All Grown Up

Many of you probably remember the 1999 film Stuart Little about a little white mouse adopted by a human family. Not ringing any bells? Go here.

Anyways the older brother, George Little, was always one of my favorites and I thought he was just adorable. With that being said, George Little (or should I say Jonathan Lipnicki) is all grown up and looking good. The child star also appeared in the movie “Jerry Maguire“, “The Little Vampire“, and “Like Mike” is acting again. His new movie “For the Love of Money” is due in the box office in 2011. I can’t wait to see if Lipnicki can prove himself as an actor outside of his adorable childhood roles.

10 Ways that PR People Drive Journalists Crazy

Topic of the Week-13-COMM 4333

10 Ways that PR People Drive Journalists Crazy

1. Over use of Hype

            Journalists receive tons of news releases and hate it when they sound “like commercials”. PR people shouldn’t overdo it with e-mails and watch they feel and “hype” of their document.

2. Repeated Calls and Follow-ups

            Journalists are annoyed by constant phone calls and contact. They have a lot to do, not just your client’s news.

3. When PR People Don’t Meet Publication Deadlines.

            Journalists often have a tight publication deadlines. It is helpful when PR practitioners work with the journalist to meet their deadline.

4. Using Nonfactual/Biased Information.

            Journalists feel that sometimes PR representatives give them information that is not actually true and/or biased.PR people need to make sure they check their facts.

5. Spokespersons Not Available

            Journalist get frustrated when PR representative and spokespersons won’t meet with them for more information/ interviews.

6. PR Practitioners Complaining About Something that Was Not Published.  

            It happens. There is a reason it didn’t get published and the PR person calling is not likely to get it published. PR practitioners should try to be understanding of this.

7. News Release Spam

            Journalists hate it when they receive releases that are in an incorrect format. They consider such as “nothing but spam” in their inbox.

8. No Comment

            Most media guidelines emphasize that public relations personnel should always be helpful/cooperative with the media.

9. Lack of Sources

            This one is similar to number 4 in that it is important for PR practitioners to provide journalist legitimate sources to “back up” information and stories.

10.  Inappropriate Requests

            PR people shouldn’t make more work for Journalists. They hate it when PR people bombard them with further requests about publications, etc.

 Source: Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques-6^th Edition- Wilcox, Dennis.

Crash the Super Bowl Pepsi Max/ Doritos Commercials

Super Bowl XLV is going to be here pretty soon. As a sports advocate I’m pretty excited. For those of you out there who don’t watch it for the action you watch it for the commercials, right?

For the past few Super Bowls Pepsi Max/Doritos have had viewers vote to decide what commercial should air on the night of the Super Bowl. Well, they’ve done it again.

So people, schools, churches, organizations, etc. have submitted videos for us to vote on.

So visit the Crash the Super Bowl site and vote for your favorite commercial.

Here’s a taste of the action:

Fireball Dodgeball Tournament!

            University Radio Station Hosts Dodgeball Tournament- PR Connection

             At my school, Southeastern University, the school’s radio station hosted a dodgeball tournament last night. The radio station, WSEU, hosted the event to try to raise money and gain publicity on campus for their organization.

            I will confess I am the event coordinator for WSEU and getting this event together was a lot of work. The tournament was last night (November 16, 2010) and we all agree that it was a huge success. It was awesome to see students come together to play dodgeball and watch and support others. It was a great night of rubber balls, live music, and free give-a-ways.

            Hosting/being the announcer at the dodgeball tournament last night was the time of my life. I’m so grateful to have been a part of it and even though it took a lot of work it was worth it in the end. It really helped raise awareness about WSEU and the music that we have to offer.

             I would like to thanks everyone at WSEU and in the Intro to Radio class for all your hard work and support. Also a special thanks for Rita’s, Chick-Fil-A, and CiCi’s pizza for the give-a-ways and coupons.

10 Tips for Writing an Effective News Release

10 Tips for Writing an Effective News Release.

Topic of the week 13

A news release, a.k.a. a press release, is a “simple document whose primary focus is the distribution of information to mass media such as newspapers, broadcast stations, and magazines.”

News releases serve the purpose of letting the media know what’s going on and trying to gain media attention. Public relations practitioners often use releases to get their client publicity in the news.

The media also relies on news releases to know what’s going on and the details (such as what, where, when, etc.)  

Here Are 10 Tips on writing an effective news release.

1. Be Creative

            Be careful because you don’t want to overdo it. But a release that catches the editor and reader’s attention while tying in with local news or trends is a bonus.

     2. Make Sure Content is Clear

     3. Capture-and Hold-the Attention of the Reader

     4. Use Information that is Newsworthy.

     5. Answer the Who, When, What, Where and Why?

            The earlier in the news release the better.

     6. Use Effective/Proper Quotes

     7.Double-Check Information

     8. Localize Whenever Possible.

            Releases are more likely to get published if it has a local angle.

     9. Use the Correct Format

    10.  Write With a Direction and Purpose

For more infromation/tips check out:

Public Relations Strategies and Tactics

PR WEB

Press Release Writing

News Releases, Media Alerts, and Pitch Letters

News Releases, Media Alerts, and Pitch Letters

Reading notes COMM 2322 Chapter 14

Text: Public Relations Strategies and Tactics- 9^th edition- Wilcox, D. & Cameron, G.

The News Release

                        A.k.a. the press release has been around 1906 with Ivy Lee’s work for the Pennsylvania Railroad.

                        Continues to be the most commonly used public relations tactic.

            Planning a News Release

                        What is the key message? Who is the primary audience? What does the target audience gain from the product or service?

            The Content of News Releases

                        Writing like a news story

                        Double-check information, eliminate boldface and capital letters, include organization background, localize whenever possible.

            Format of a Print News Release

                        Standard size paper, identify sender/contact, provide a boldface headline, dateline, start with a clearly stated summary, never split a paragraph from 1 page to the next, and place an identifying slug line and page number at the top of each page after the first one.

Publicity Photos

            Quality, Subject Matter, Composition, Action, Scale, Camera Angle, Lighting, and Color.

Mat Releases

Media Alerts and Fact Sheets

Media Kits

            Includes: 1) main news release 2) a news feature 3) fact sheets 4) background information 5) photos and drawings with caption 6) biographical information on spokesperson or chief executives, and 7) some basic brochures

            E-Kits

Pitch Letters

               Short letter or note to editor that tries to grab their attention

 Distributing Media Materials

            Mail

            Fax

            E-Mail

            Electronic News Services

            Online Newsrooms

Tapping the Web and New Media

Tapping the Web and New Media

Chapter notes COMM 4333-chapter 12

Text: Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques-6^th edition- Wilcox, D.

 The Internet: Pervasive in Our Lives

            It is not hard to picture life without it.

            Media was traditionally followed these characteristics:

1.)    It is centralized 2.) It costs a lot of money to become a publisher 3.) It is staffed by professional gatekeepers known as editors and publisher 4.) It features mostly one-way communication with limited feedback channels.

            Two spheres of influence have emerged that are constantly interaction with each other:     the Internet and the World Wide Web.

            New Media is characterized by:

1.)    Widespread broadband 2.) Cheap/free 3.) New distribution channels 4.) Mobile devices, such as camera phones; and 5.) New advertising paradigms.

The World Wide Web

            The Web has enabled public relations people to do a better job of distributing a variety of messages.

            Writing for the Web

                        Write the way you talk. Limit each page to a single concept. Use a lot of bullet-     point lists. Make sure each page provides that context readers need. Limit the use of             italics and boldface-use them only to highlight key points. Don’t overuse hyperlinks          within narrative text. Provide feedback options for readers.

            Building an Effective Website

                        Should be attractive and easy to navigate.

            Making the Site Interactive

            Attracting Visitors to Your Site

                        Hyperlinks, search engines, advertising

            Tracking Site Visitors

                        Hit, page view, page impression, and unique visitor

            Return on Investment

            Who Controls the Site?

                        70% of the respondents believed an organization’s communications/public relations function should manage and control the Web content.

The Rise of Social Media

            Blogs are the most dominant manifestation, but social networks such as MySpace,             Facebook, and YouTube are also major presence in today’s world.

            The Explosion of Blogs

                    Corporate Blogs

                     Employees Blogs

                     Third-Party Blogs

           Making Friends on MySpace and Facebook

           YouTube: King of Video Clips

          Flickr: Sharing Photos

         Getting a Second Life

         Texting, Twitter, and Wikis

                 Wiki- is a collection of Web pages that enable anyone who accesses it to provide input and even modify the content. – Wikipedia

        Podcasts: The Portable Medium

The Next Generation: Web 3.0

1.)    The continuing evolution of smart phones 2.) affordable mobile data plans

Public Relations During Times of Crisis

Public Relations During Times of Crisis

 In my opinion crisis management is a major/important part of public relations. You never know what could go wrong and when something does you need to know how to handle it. During lecture in my PR Application’s class today “crisis” was specifically defined as “a nonroutine event that risks undesired visibility that in turn threatens significant reputational damage.” Crisis is inevitable, it’s how it’s handled that is going to make it or break it.

4 Types of Crisis

                Meteor

                                Out of no where

                Predator

                                I person specifically tries to create problems/hurt image

                Breakdown

                                A person doesn’t do something that could have/should have

                Lingering

                                Reputation/Idea that stays with you organization, even if it’s happened years ago.

 Many things can spark a crisis. It is important to plan ahead and be prepared for when a crisis occurs.

A crisis communication kit is an important necessity for when a crisis hits. A Crisis kit often includes:

• List of member on the crisis management team
• Contact information of key officers, spokespersons, etc.
• Fact sheets of the company- specifics are good
• Profiles and biographies for key people within company
• Copies of your company, division and product logos, your press release format and the scanned in signature of your CEO on disk
• Pre-written scripts answering key questions
• Contact information for each of your key media contacts both locally, nationally, etc.

Being prepared is vital and having a crisis kit is just one of the many things that companies/organizations should do and have to be ready to handle any crisis, big or small.

And make sure to remember the 3 Rs of Communication within a crisis

                Research

                Response

                Recovery

 To see the lecture and find out more about crisis communication click here.

 And to make the idea of crisis more real here is a video:

Doing Business Around The World

            So Tuesday (11/9/10) in my PR Applications class with Barbara Nixon we stirred things up a bit, we traveled around the world. The class broke into groups and each group was assigned a different country. With a country assigned it was their job to find out some professional “Do’s and Don’ts” when working in that country. The countries we took a look at include Germany, Japan, China, Mexico, Canada, and Israel. I really enjoyed looking at how professional customs can be so different depending on the country. For instance do I bring a gift or do I not? Do I make strong eye contact or no? These are just a few of the many questions that people need to know the answers to when doing business in another country.

            My group was assigned Canada.

A few of the Do’s we came up with

• Shake hands, good friends kiss on the cheek
• Knowing French would be a good idea since both English and French are considered the official language
• Know some stuff about hockey-it’s pretty big over there

Some Don’ts:

• Don’t say “Eh” after statements. It’s not as common, or as funny as you may think.
• Don’t disrespect wildlife. Critters are pretty important over there, especially the horse and the beaver.

Aside from learning about Canada I learned a lot of cool things about the other countries as well. For instance in Mexico if a woman makes eye contact with a man she if flirting with him. Or in China you shouldn’t accept compliments right away, or if you’re in Germany you probably don’t want to bring up the Holocaust or Hitler. (I’d like to assume that one is common sense.)

Anyways if you are planning on doing work or interacting in other countries make sure to take the time to know the cultural Dos and Don’ts.

Happy Travels!