I had NO clue about any of the Twitter terminology before September, although I had a pretty good idea what a retweet might be. The most perplexing term of all was hashtagging.

Once I got over the nomenclature, to my instructor’s credit, I found these little doodads make searching and scanning the endless Twitterverse significantly easier. I’ve especially enjoyed participating in or simply following chats on Twitter.

For those unfamiliar with the concept, Twitter chats bring together people with a shared interest from across the Twitter community for a discussion.

These #chats and #topics are perfect for someone just starting to come up in the world of communicators. The #topics are constantly checked by most interested individuals and are essentially discussion threads that anyone can access easily. The #chats occur live but serve as discussion threads even when the actual chat session has ended.

There are an abundance of people ready to answer your questions and pose questions to you. Whenever I need a question answered I can post it with the appropriate hashtag(s) and the response will come swiftly.

My favourite #chat is definitely #PRStudChat. This group is full of students dedicated to learning and professionals committed to helping the next generation of communicators.  The hosts @ValerieSimon and @dbreakenridge come up with unique ways to keep the format fresh.

Many of these hashtags possess Linkedin groups where individuals can network and build stronger connections. ie) #PRStudChat’s LinkedIn group.

Such groups also provide you with a great opportunity to find professionals and students whose answers/questions you like and, thus, make your base stronger by following quality individuals on Twitter.

Other hashtags that I would definitely reccommend everyone in public relations follow are:

• #journchat
• #HumberPR
• #PR
• #PRadvice
• #mediarelations
• #publicrelations
• #EntryPR

I’ve only been with Twitter for a few months now and am sure there are several others that I’ve missed. These are simply the ones I’ve come across so far and enjoyed.

Managing all these tags can seem daunting, but I find TweetDeck pretty good. If you don’t want to download anything, TweetGrid is a website that you can seach/follow up to 9 separate hashtags at once. And you can share your TweetGrids. ie) Here is an example of one I’ve used.

I’m always looking to develop as a communicator and I’ve found hashtags to be extremely helpful.

If you have any hashtag suggestions for me, please let me know.

Hi people,

Am I going mad, or is this unreasonable. Is it right that you can book a £701 return flight with a premier airline carrier and there are no refunds if you need to cancel?

Hey, I would tolerate a£100 cancellation charge, but no refund is a bitter pill to swallow. Especially if you are student.

Here is my story.

I recently needed to cancel a flight i booked online, direct with British Airways. However, during the booking process I did not pick up on the fact that this was a ‘non-refundable’ web fare ticket. Now, I appear to have missed the ‘terms and conditions’ through the booking process stating ‘no refunds’, but never before have I booked a long haul flight and expected a zero refund policy. Yes, you can argue that it is my fault for not picking this up, but I am not sure that this is ethically or morally right.

This was £701 return ticket to Cape Town, not a £50 no-frills European carrier ticket. The only money I could get back was circa £68 against government and airport taxes. My pockets are empty enough.

I contacted British airways to highlight my cause, (my email) and asked for some lenience here. However, although polite, there was no movement – see BA response.

So the question remains. Although I have missed the terms and conditions through booking online, is it right that there is no refund whatsoever?

Would love to hear about similar experiences and your thoughts on this.

Fighting for a world of reasonability.

Alex Bennett

Dear Mr Bennett

I am very sorry to learn that you have had to cancel your booking to Cape Town and have been disappointed to find that your ticket is non-refundable.  I do understand your frustration.  Please accept my apologies.

We understand that there are times when, often for good reason, our customers need to cancel their tickets.  However some tickets are non-refundable.

We do make customers aware on ba.com if the ticket they wish to purchase is non-refundable.  After having chosen the flight you would like, there is a box on ba.com titled ‘About Your Flights’.  Within the box is a section named ‘Fare Conditions’ which explains whether the ticket is changeable or refundable.  If the ticket is not refundable it will say ‘There are no refunds except for any government & airport taxes’.  Before purchasing the ticket customers then have to tick a box to say that they agree to the terms and conditions of the ticket.  I am sorry if you were not aware of this.

When you book your tickets and you are absolutely sure of your plans, then we do have some very good value fares.  But these often have restrictions on making changes and may not be refundable.  So, if there is ever any doubt about your plans or the time you need to fly, it may suit you better to buy one of our more flexible tickets.  If you would like more information on our range of fares, please go to ba.com.

I appreciate this is not the answer you were hoping for.  I am sorry not to be able to help you more on this occasion.  I hope this will not deter you from travelling with British Airways in the future.

Best regards

Kate Inskip
British Airways Customer Relations
Your case reference is:xxxxxxx

Having fun yet? How much do we love this twisted version of democracy brought to us by health insurance companies and their Republican beneficiaries?

You cannot turn on television without viewing slick commercials designed to scare the crap out of senior citizens. Even on the Weather Channel. If not those commercials, television instead presents videos of middle-aged operatives derailing intelligent discussions. They yell, scream, interrupt, override, and distort, all within the instructions sent to them by deeply moneyed interests.

You got to hand it to the health insurance companies. With their backs against the wall, they engaged the best public relations confidence men corporate dollars can buy. Rather than join an intelligent and overdue discussion on health insurance, these shysters designed a plan to push the entire discussion off the table. That’s the only way they will survive.

The plan is now apparent: Persuade Middle America those impostors in the White House aim to turn America into Russia. Tell senior citizens they will wait in line to die in the dark without doctors. Yeah, that’s it. And they will be cold, too. Convince all Americans some nameless government bureaucrat in Washington will decide if they receive tests or operations, where the tests will be provided, and how long pitiful Americans will wait to get them. Do not, through any means, remind them that a nameless health insurance bean counter now makes those decisions not based on improving your health but on whether that decision makes the company more money.

Overall, the public relations con men say, splash around phrases like “socialized medicine” and “socialism” at innocent Americans. Most citizens are too misguided to know what you’re talking about. Then when you get good ol’ Americans in a lather, tell them they must stop the “government takeover” of their personal health care. “Takeover” is a scary, sinister word, providing the delusion of conspiracy and violence. Again, do not, by any means, remind Americans they do not now control their personal health care. Corporate America controls it, and Corporate America intends to keep it with the help of misguided Americans like you.

In the end, Republicans will have campaign million$, Americans higher health care premiums, and the public relations profession another notch on its time-honored code of ethics.

Mia Wedgbury, CEO, High Road Communications

Talk about an insightful interview! Mia Wedgbury (a participant in Art from the Unexpected) and CEO at High Road Communications certainly knows how to give the user what they want. What did we want? To know how High Road continues to be one of the most highly acclaimed PR firms in North America.

We certainly learned why they’re so successful. They believe in the unexpected, they try to catch clients and consumers off guard, they mandate their staff to constantly innovate for clients (generating 80 hours of brainstorm time / week – not billed to the client!). In this current economic landscape, it’s organizations like this that will come out on top. Read on to hear more from Mia.

adlounge@miawedgbury We’re honoured to speak w/u this am, Mia. Have u ever done a live twitterview before, urself or for clients? #artunexpecte

miawedgbury@adlounge Me no. clients yes. Several are using twitter for media and consumer conversations. #artunexpected

miawedgbury@adlounge But I am always up to trying things for the first time #artunexpected

adlounge@miawedgbury High Road, for me, is what a PR agency should be…and I love the huge focus you put on digital….. #artunexpected

adlounge@miawedgbury U boldly annc’d ur dropping all clients that won’t particip in social med. Explain&how was this received? http://bit.ly/pmkJ2

miawedgbury@adlounge We are def putting everything into the digital basket. limitless possibilities

miawedgbury@adlounge I think it shocked our competitors but it didn’t shock our clients. They are already fully integrated

adlounge@miawedgbury And with the appoint’nt of Justin Creally as new Pres, what changes might this bring? #adlounge #artunexpected

miawedgbury@adlounge Justin has been a driving force behind our digital transformation. Expect to see more bold, exciting things from HRC

adlounge@miawedgbury The suspense… looking fwd to seeing what lies ahead! ….. #adlounge #artunexpected

adlounge@miawedgbury Sounds like u’re doing a lot of “Eureka!” thinking. How do u foster & encourage big ideas internally? #adlounge #artunexpected

miawedgbury@adlounge You have to enable it. We created non billable brainstorm codes. We spend 80 hrs a wk brainstorming and every level joins in

miawedgbury@adlounge You need to be permissive and enable risk taking. We include clients in our ideation sessions. it just works #artunexpected

miawedgbury@adlounge That’s what makes our job so fun. I love waking up in the morning and know we are going to bring the best thinking to our clients

adlounge@miawedgbury THAT’s the kind of thing I want to hear! Kudos to u guys! Seriously. Love it!…. #adlounge #artunexpected

adlounge@miawedgbury As one of the 20 partic in #artunexpected, u addressed “Eureka!” in a most unique way. What’s the story? #artunexpected

miawedgbury@adlounge I had a lot of fun with it. My snowboarding journey parrelled my work experiences. balance, guts, stamina, adventure

adlounge@miawedgbury U say ur professional life is in line w ur personal: exhilarating, terrifying, satisfying. Explain. #adlounge #artunexpected

miawedgbury@adlounge Anything worthwhile in life starts w a risk. I am always looking for ops to reinvent myself, my company, our industry

adlounge@miawedgbury Can U share with us the most defining “Eureka!”moment in UR life? Personal or professional #adlounge #artunexpected

miawedgbury@adlounge day High Road won MSFT. As a 25 person agency it was so unexpected for the industry. all about the most passionate, creative team

adlounge@miawedgbury I can well imagine what it was like that day. Very inspiring… #adlounge #artunexpected

miawedgbury@adlounge We definitely celebrated. #artunexpected

adlounge@miawedgbury From a PR perspective, can u describe the top 3 shifts in client behaviour / needs in ‘09? #adlounge #artunexpected

miawedgbury@adlounge the future is not digital. The future is integrated…

miawedgbury@adlounge Look for sustainable ideas, not one off blips… #artunexpected

miawedgbury@adlounge And pick programs that make an impact and execute flawlessly. #artunexpected

adlounge@miawedgbury Incredible insight… #adlounge #artunexpected

adlounge@miawedgbury If u knew what u knew 2day about the economy,changing needs of clients/cons what’d u do differently? #adlounge #artunexpected

miawedgbury@adlounge After mnging thru dot com bust we were ready for anything…

miawedgbury@adlounge I’ve learned to never waste a crisis. You don’t have a lot of ops to transform UR co or business and now is the time to do it

adlounge@miawedgbury How can orgs cont. 2 B innovative, current & creative at this time? #artunexpected #adlounge

miawedgbury@adlounge In these times, don’t scale back, think bold. Attract top talent that may have not been available before…

miawedgbury@adlounge And never stop ideating. Instinctively pounce on every opportunity while your competitors are worried about what they will do next

adlounge@miawedgbury #artunexpected gives ppl a chance to see a diff side of u. Any other “did you know” facts ppl should know? #adlounge

miawedgbury@adlounge I’m an open book. Btwn twitter, facebook, my Globe blog, I’m already out there…. #artunexpected

miawedgbury@adlounge anyone that follows me on twitter pretty much hears it all #artunexpected

adlounge@miawedgbury Out of 20 participants’ work http://bit.ly/6Gw2E, is there any piece u look fwd 2 seeing? Why? #artunexpected #adlounge

miawedgbury@adlounge Paul Lavoie from TAXI and David Feldt from Organic. Really creative leaders in our industry #artunexpected

adlounge@miawedgbury I think that’s all from us, but we’re going to take 1 Q from the audience. Anyone…? #adlounge #artunexpected

adlounge@miawedgbury via @nixshi Interested in ur comment about innovation. What do u do 2 go outside agency/client walls for ideas? #artunexpected

miawedgbury@adlounge there’s a great patio across the street . We r an agency that lives online, lptps & search are in every brainstorm

miawedgbury@adlounge We never brainstorm with the same people. We switch up teams, people, levels. Next wk we have a bunch of students coming in

adlounge@miawedgbury Great interview, Mia. I think that’s all we have time for today. It’s been most insightful. Thx so much #adlounge #artunexpected

miawedgbury@adlounge This was great. I think I will do all my interviews over twitter for now on #artunexpected

adloungeWe’ll be posting a transcript of this interview w @miawedgbury shortly on http://bit.ly/18199a #adlounge #artunexpected

adlounge@miawedgbury and followers, Stay tuned on June 1 9:30am EDT for our Twitterview w Anthony Lacavera @globalive #adlounge #artunexpected

Pressemitteilungen online selbst gratis veröffentlichen bieten folgende Presseportale:

Offenes Presseportal http://www.offenes-presseportal.de

Pressemitteilung WebService http://pressemitteilung.ws/

OpenPR http://www.openpr.de/

Eine weitere, interessante Möglichkeit ist der Online Media Room – http:/www.mediaroom.com (gehört PR Newswire) – wenn intern das Einrichten und Befüllen eines Mediaroom technisch zu mühsam (oder zu restriktiv) ist oder einfach personelle Engpässe für’s Aufspielen von Inhalten bestehen. Hier geht’s schnell – nämlich gleich.

Dabei zu bedenken ist, dass ein Online Newsroom oder ein Presseportal  ja nicht nur für Journalisten ist – verlinkt von der eigenen Corporate Website – treiben sich dort hauptsächlich alle anderen Interessenten herum. Und: Hintergrundberichte, Lebensläufe, Fotos und Interessen der Geschäftsführung etc. – das interessiert viele – und macht auch Appetit auf inhaltlich produkt- und servicebezogene Inhalte. Eine ideale Plattform, um sich als Experte zu outen .

Die verschiedenen Arten von Newsrooms auf mediaroom.com haben unterschiedliche Preisstrukturen, die eigens erfragt werden müssen (sind da nicht publiziert, aus welchem Grund auch immer).

Schönen Tag noch und happy exploring

Wimblogger

Pressemitteilungen online selbst gratis veröffentlichen bieten folgende Presseportale:

Offenes Presseportal http://www.offenes-presseportal.de

Pressemitteilung WebService http://pressemitteilung.ws/

OpenPR http://www.openpr.de/

Eine weitere, interessante Möglichkeit ist der Online Media Room – http:/www.mediaroom.com (gehört PR Newswire) – wenn intern das Einrichten und Befüllen eines Mediaroom technisch zu mühsam (oder zu restriktiv) ist oder einfach personelle Engpässe für’s Aufspielen von Inhalten bestehen. Hier geht’s schnell – nämlich gleich. Dabei zu bedenken ist, dass ein Online Newsroom ja nicht nur für Journalisten ist – verlinkt von der eigenen Corporate Website – treiben sich dort hauptsächlich alle anderen Interessenten herum. Und: Hintergrundberichte, Lebensläufe, Fotos und Interessen der Geschäftsführung etc. – das interessiert viele – und macht auch Appetit auf inhaltlich produkt- und servicebezogene Inhalte. Eine ideale Plattform, um sich als Experte zu outen .

Die verschiedenen Arten von Newsrooms haben unterschiedliche Preisstrukturen, die eigens erfragt werden müssen (sind da nicht publiziert, aus welchem Grund auch immer).

Schönen Tag noch und happy exploring

Wimblogger

Shel Holtz to deliver free webinar on transparency at noon EST on May 20.

You can read more info on their site, but the webinar is at noon EST on May 20.

In touching on this ethical issue in PR, they promise to “share practical techniques and case studies on how you can (and why you should) deliver your communications with greater openness and authenticity.”

And now a note about webinars.

There are very few webinars out there that end up being worth the time, let alone the price tag, it costs to “attend.” That said, I’ve had consistent success with webinars sponsored by Thomson Reuters. Their webinars are specific with case studies and real how tos on “how to do X” — not just generalized “isn’t it great to do X” information.

Dr. Kaye D. Sweetser, APR, is an assistant professor of public relations in the H.W. Grady College of Journalism & Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. She blogs at http://kayesweetser.com, and can be reached via e-mail at sweetser[AT]uga.edu.

My friend just released the
internet’s most massive giveaway ever:

http://vur.me/baileyca/giveaway

Simply sign up and get the scoop.

-tons of ebooks
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Where did all these goodies come from?

I teamed up with Admin who has
called in some favors from a whole bunch of top online
marketers and convinced them all to give you TONS of Products at no cost to you.

It is our way of saying “thank you”!

These products are worth thousands and thousands of dollars
and have already made the owners thousands and thousands
of dollars.

I just can’t hide the excitement. This is probably the
most exciting news I’ve ever shared with you.

Go get it now!

http://vur.me/baileyca/giveaway

Warmly,

Cameron A. Bailey, Sr.

Trustworthy Investing, LLC

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… CY: wait… I: wait… YCat: wait… I: wait… Top: wait… I: wait… L: wait… C: wait…

Via @Scott Monty

Segue um excelente documento que pode ser muito didáctico para aqueles que ainda não conhecem ou não aceitam o grande potencial que as Redes Sociais e suas ferramentas podem oferecer para acções de relações públicas e, principalmente, para a gestão de crises.

Como diz a introdução <<é uma história que deve ser lida por todos os executivos que consideram a adoção das Social Media como  ferramenta de comunicação para organizações. É um olhar detalhado sobre como a Ford Motor Company tomou uma trapalhada potencialmente embaraçosa de relações públicas e conseguiu resolve-la sistematicamente através da utilização dos novos canais de comunicação da organização.>>

The Ranger Station Fire

Part 5: “Dr. Feelgood”

Brand New Me: Over the Rainbow

What is the most powerful element of brand? It’s the ability to produce  “feelgood”. The gifted among us ooze it from their pores; creativity, vision and the know how to wield their power with grace and dexterity. From the very start, the moment a brand comes into existence, its purpose is to make us feel good; even the act of promising makes us feel good and that’s only the brand prelude of what’s to come.

“Feelgood” is a precious, hard to come by and supremely coveted commodity in this day and age. No matter how unbelievable or fleeting it may be, we want it. We’re not fussed as to what flavour it comes in, we just don’t care. Even when “feelgood” comes labelled as perishable, as long as it gives us relief from our crippling insecurities or the banality of modern life, we’ll suck it up without hesitation. Wherever “feelgood” resides we’ll be magnetically drawn toward it. If it resides in a person, a place, a product or an idea, we’ll take out more than our cash to have it, hold it and hope that it’s forever.

Brand faces a new challenge, the growth and evolution of a new,  multifaceted digital existence and fragmentation of a once coherent hierarchy of mass social identity. “Feelgood” will be the most likely culprit for the failure of brand creators in their pursuit of the new digital dollar. So, what are the new values of “feelgood” and where are they found?

The real place that “feelgood” resides in is the mind and heart of the brand beholder. Ultimately, brand is an idea in people’s heads but a one trick idea is a flat line for commerce. Currently brands are still  screaming churlishly for us to imitate and participate/engage in it, but these are the old ways of swimming in an ever-shrinking broadcast pond. Times are changing and brands need to radically evolve to survive and flourish in a shocking new eco-system of digital diversity. It’s in nobody’s interest to contribute to a festering cesspool of mediocrity. Brand needs to be less of a prima donna-dictator and more of a factory that produces many subtle variations  and nuances of meaning under one umbrella. It cannot afford to be dragged down by the pathetic accommodation  of obsolete social standards  and outdated ideals. Instead, it needs be inventive and find the wherewithal to stand up, stand out and be noticed.

The aim of the game has changed, it’s no longer a matter of conquering hearts and minds, the objective is to become part of those hearts and minds. Brand has a fragile soul and survives on people believing in it. Thus, it needs to make a promise to itself, it needs to promise itself existence. Its longevity lies in making and fulfilling the promise that it will forever remain imaginative for all those that rely on it for meaning. New meaning keeps brand alive, without it the brand dies, vanishing in the blink of an eyelid; a fleeting idea sadly forgotten.

When people covet other people’s feelgood we know why, they go “I want some of what they’ve got”. We need to give them a whole myriad of opportunity for finding what they’ve got in themselves. Brand only needs to uncover what’s already there; examining social hypocrisies and the values that people hide. It is in this clandestine space where we will find the hidden values of what makes people feel really good and exactly what they’re not allowing themselves to express. Social values do not allow people to be “more than” or “less than” those dictates. This is the magic jackpot at the end of the digital rainbow. The key is giving people back the freedom to unshackle themselves from the thoughts that bind them.

Brand is nothing without the actions of its audience to buy into it. Of course, the obvious is often overlooked, the strongest familiarity and affinity will utimately lie within oneself toward oneself; unlocking this is the holy grail of the digital dollar. The new brand of “me” needs to come to the fore and brand needs to aid this development rather than attempt to replace it; otherwise it will fail dismally to compete with our subtle variation and infinite creative diversity. We need to be able to take what we need from brand “ideas” and assimilate it into our own  “brand new Me“. Yep, the cat is out of the bag, we’re all different and that difference demands recognition; just as my face is different from yours.

Perhaps surprisingly, it’s actually our individuality that binds us; our ability and also choice to be different. If here, in London, the “rebellious” teenagers are tedious 80’s clones and the couture catwalk brands of the aging rich is the fount of creativity…  then the street needs to be cleaned up. Brand needs to offer us a multitude of variety because our social “imaginations” have become our jailers. Being identical is no longer in vogue, it’s old, passé and soo out. A new era of commercially funky  and inventive social individuality needs to be instilled in the sheeple soup of boredom. We need to lay claim to the digital world we have created and our existence in it.

May the force be with you my digital friends, as you go forth and create a better world to brand in.

dmojo
-

©Dmojo, 2008-2009.

Hult, Christine. “The Scholarship of Administration.” In Resituating Writing: Constructing and Administering Writing Programs. Eds. Joseph Janangelo and Kristine Hansen. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1995. 119-131.

Hult, a longtime member of the Council of Writing Program Administrators and an editor for WPA, argues two things: higher education needs to acknowledge and reward the work of WPAs as scholarship of administration and WPAs need to do a better job of convincing the academy of the scholarly nature of their work. She points out that WPAs do all four kinds of scholarship outlined by Boyer: application, integration, teaching, and discovery. This work is not service; it is intellectual scholarship because the writing and administrative work that WPAs do is rhetorical in nature, informed by disciplinary knowledge, and “published” (and has an impact) on a broad audience. To increase recognition of their work, WPAs should forward department chairs and deans important documents that they create, include administrative work under the “scholarship” section of their tenure and promotion cases instead of under “service,” and work to create an administrative portfolio that highlights their work, much like a teaching portfolio.

Quotable Quotes

“As WPAs, we shouldn’t succumb to the myth of the superhuman professor. Rather we should consciously direct our career paths in the best interest of both ourselves and our campus communities” (127) – can’t be a super-duper researcher, teacher, and administrator all at once

How to achieve recognition: “through agressive public relations, thoughtful publication, and careful documentation of our work” (130) to create systems to evaluate and reward WPA work.

The scholarship of administration: “The systematic, theory-based production and oversight of a dynamic program” – akin to music, theater, dance (126).

Notable Notes

Scholarship of application – creating programs, syllabi, training teachers, WPA is often the only composition scholar leading a teaching staff of non-specialists (different from a department chair administering over faculty)

Scholarship of integration – reading across disciplines, running WAC programs, incorporating technology in writing curriculum

Scholarship of discovery – published or not, informal and formal reseach into the program, working to keep programs reflective of the work in the field

Scholarship of teaching – evaluations, syllabi, course development

Section of the development and history of the journal WPA

Part 4:”Mr Poogle and I”

Public Relations: A walk down the garden path

I was alarmed when I discovered that “Mr Poogle” was making inroads into my psyche and was attempting to make the word “advertising” interchangeable and synonymous with the word “information”. I knew that inherently there’s nothing particularly wrong with “information” and that it could be biased and tainted. However, even biased and tainted information wasn’t necessarily trying to transform me into a customer; if it was, it was advertising (i.e. “the act or practice of calling public attention to one’s product, service, need, etc., esp. by paid announcements in newspapers and magazines, over radio or television, on billboards, etc.: to get more customers by advertising”).

However, Mr Poogle’s trick bothered me. Mr Poogle, the magician, was performing a sleight of word rather than a sleight of hand trick. He was doing more than simply advertising to me, he had imparted the slippery rhetoric of pubic relations. Mr Poogle was supposedly “letting me know” about advertising and I was asking myself  “what was wrong with that?”  I posed myself a story about someone suffering from hubris to figure out Mr Poogle’s game. The hubris sufferer was outrageously and offensively bragging and boasting but when questioned about their behaviour, they’d say they were “just letting you know about themselves” and that would follow with a “what’s wrong with that?”  Of course, what was wrong was their bragging was offensive. However, the “look at the birdie” temptation would be to take issue with what they were saying about themselves e.g. whether what they were saying was fact or fiction, or the  manner in which they were bragging.  The “birdie” is always adjacent to the issue but isn’t the issue. What they were doing was offensive i.e. glorifying themselves. Thus, hubristic bragging was the issue (not the “how”, “why” or the particular style of self-admiration).

The PR techniques of the hubris sufferer are almost identical in structure to some of those used by conjurers and magicians in sleight of hand tricks i.e. the focus and subject of attention being simulated, misdirected and switched. In the hubris story, the bragger 1) misdirected the focus away from the unsavoury nature of bragging by suggesting they were “just letting you know” thus  making bragging suddenly “helpful” and “wanted” , 2) switched “bragging” for the innocent action of “just letting you know about themselves”,  3) simulated innocence with “What’s wrong with that?” i.e. pretended he had done nothing wrong. Thus, the hubris sufferer’s misdemeanour of displaying excessive pride magically ceased to exist.

The only difference between Mr Poogle  and the hubris sufferer was that he was doing everything to make himself seem particularly inoffensive, to appear like everybody’s grandpa, uncle and generally affable “wise” old man/father figure. However, even Mr Poogle’s title was slippery PR rhetoric; generally  it would be considered peculiar to call yourself by the occupational title of “evangelist” unless you were rabidly religious. In the old days he’d be labelled something like “public relations liaison”, a title giving some indication of what he really did, rather than promoting the spun idea of an “evangelist” suggesting that he is engaged in some “benevolent, higher and enlightened purpose”. Nevertheless, Mr Poogle is very similar to the bragger in that he 1) switched “advertising” for the innocence of pure “information”, 2) misdirected by suggesting the switch was “helpful” and “wanted” and 3) simulated innocence by appearing as an affable old “wise” man and calling himself an “evangelist” making it seem he could do no wrong.

However, in actually inspecting the mechanisms of sleight of word tricks, it is easy to overlook the fundamental issue, the bragger and Mr Poogle were both trying to pull a ready-knitted jumper over my eyes. Unlike magicians, they weren’t doing it for the purposes of entertainment, they were doing it to deceive and deceive for a purpose. The hubris sufferer wanted to “glorify himself” at my expense and Mr Poogle…  he wanted to conquer my heart and mind for commercial exploitation. Mr Poogle’s raison d’etre is to promote and make a designated term, a brand name, interchangeable and synonymous with all our online activites. To do that  Mr Poogle has to make “advertising” not only an acceptable social activity but one that is highly prized. Advertising, after all is good. Why? Because that’s what his employers do, they sell advertising space – it’s their core business. Mr Poogle is simply a PR pawn used in the game to realize the potential in all of us to be advertising customers.

Ultimately, the PR cherry on Mr Poogle ’s cake  is that we, the sheeple, must advertise to each other for no other reason than because we want to, because the activity of advertising is deemed to be “wonderfully aspirational” and we all aspire. Advertising becomes a social value and an activity that is respected, admired and revered; we, the sheeple, will not only volunteer but fight to support, promote, proselytise and propagate it.  It will find open acceptance in society and we will be driven to say the words “there’s nothing wrong with advertising and pr” only because we ourselves will be doing it and if we’re not we will feel we should be… (and we will all know who to turn to to advertise with).

Mr Poogle’s bag of tricks seemed really neat, but then again, I’ll probably tire of Mr Poogle’s magic tricks now that I know how they’re done and I’ve been poogled already. The power and the glory disappears in the face of humility and humour. I learnt that from my walk down the garden path with Mr Poogle when he tripped me up.

dmojo

“I” was played by dmojo, “Mr Poogle” was played by Vint Cerf, Google’s Chief Internet Evangelist and the Digital Mojo blog production was premiered  Saturday 7th February 2009 on Google, opps sorry, I meant the “internet”.

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©Dmojo, 2008-2009.

Research, as I tell my students at the University of Georgia, bookends every public relations campaigns. That is, every campaign begins and ends with research. Whether your acronym for a four-step campaign process is RPIE or ROPE, you very clear see formative and evaluative research surrounding the process to a successful campaign.

As such, we educators need to get it right when teaching research methods. We need to make sure that while the majority of our students will go straight into practice, not graduate school, that they each understand the importance of rigor in their approach. And maybe, if you’re lucky, along the way your infectious love for research might rub off on them.

My way approaching this in the undergraduate PR research method course at UGA has been to have students work in teams and conduct a real academic study over the course of the semester. The students come up with their own research topics, which often range from crisis to social media.

They find quality instruments, obtain IRB approval and in short conduct ethical, high quality research.

After teaching 3 semesters using this method, I am now proud to have racked up some impressive stats of my own:
• 2 student project papers presented at academic conferences (AEJMC & NCA)
• 2 student project papers published in Public Relations Review
• 4 undergrad PR student teams’ end-of-semester presentations received more than 1,140 views on YouTube (combined)
• 9 press releases from the college announcing the results of their studies

I held the students to a high academic standard, and the promise of presenting their research at a conference or later publishing it kept me focused on ensuring their projects were of the quality to reach that level.

The students’ research now has a greater audience than the 30 people registered in the class, as it lives on digitally and ascends to the next level of academic peer-review.

If you want to have the same results for your research methods students, consider my tips:
• express your expectations (conference-quality research) at the beginning of the semester
• be prepared to help the students along the process, letting them find their way but never allowing them to get lost
• have each student group separately over to your house one weeknight to run their SPSS results (pizza party!)
• video the student presentations then post on YouTube
• post pictures, audio and/or video of student presentations on your own Facebook page then tag each student – it will attract the interest of each student’s friends & let them see what the student has been up to all semester
• offer bonus points at the end of the semester for students to write a press release you can then edit & submit to your college’s PR person to distribute to media (or post on the college Web site)

Happy researching!

Dr. Kaye D. Sweetser, APR, is an assistant professor of public relations in the H.W. Grady College of Journalism & Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. She blogs at http://kayesweetser.com, and can be reached via e-mail at sweetser[AT]uga.edu. This items is cross-posted on her blog.

This public relations pitch was just posted on a blog:

With this win, NetShelter in the next comScore cycle will likely over take CNET as the #1 property for reaching technology audiences worldwide. Not bad for an 8 year old start up operating on minimal outside funding.

NetShelter has positioned itself as the “media company for the online age” and is functioning more like a traditional media company (but without the whopping overhead of a CNET.) …

The recipient? Rafe Needleman. Of CNET.

D’oh!

(From Rafe’s Pro PR Tips blog)

There is much debate about the value of amateur content on the Internet. It has been suggested that these amateur contributors, i.e. citizen journalist or bloggers, social network users etc are leading to the demise of professionals. User generated content has added an extra layer to information and data online, but does this mean that professionals are no longer needed?

As the popularity of social networking expands, so does the need for professional expert advice about how effectively utilize this form of communication. Public relations giant Ogilvy has incorporated such advice into a program designed to help maintain relationships within an online environment. “Twitter for business” explains why using Twitter as a means of communicating with company stakeholders and target publics is important. They cover suggestions on how to establish a twitter account and best practice advice when using twitter to deal with crisis prevention and management, customer relations corporate reputation management, event activation, product promotion and sales, internal communication and issue advocacy. The program also sheds light on the basic “Do’s and “Don’ts” of twitter. Olgivy has approached social networking within a business communication context, effectively applying their professional practice to a tool that was once considered only useful to amateurs.

Twitter has become a means to communicate and monitor communication. There are a lot of celebrities using twitter to boost their profiles and maintain relevance. Brisbane’s free local newspaper MX has incorporated an entire daily column dedicated to famous people’s twitter updates. Once seen as an amateur tool, twitter has leap frogged into the realm of professionals, whether it’s through “tweets”, or alternatively professionals incorporating twitter into their business models or discussion articles. Twitter generally fascinates people, and it is this fascination that acts as a perfect example of the way that the Internet has bridged the armature versus professional divide.

“TwitPitching” is a means of pitching media in 140 characters or less and may include a direct link to further information. The concept was developed by Stowe Boyd as the next generation of the press release. Limited characters means that each pitch needs to be direct and to the point. Pitches have a specific format and strict rules apply which if not conformed to may result in pitches being catergorised as spam. There is a maximum of three twitpitches allowed for each twitpitch. Pitches are open and transparent and also denote a human voice, all fundamentals of effective public relations.

The relevance of the amateur versus professional debate has almost diminished. Instead what has emerged is a merging or cross over of the two. Amateurs and professionals are communicating and creating on an equal platform. Each contribution or adaptation needed its merit assessed at an individual level. Sometimes user-generated content is more accurate or relevant than professional contributions. Sometimes professional contributions are shrouded is an underlying agenda. Blogging amateur like Parez Hilton has actually carved out a profession from his content. The value of data and content is ultimately and interpretation that is up to the individual.

We shape the media that we use, ultimately influencing its further development. The Internet is a tool for everyone to use with an infinite number of possible uses. The beauty of the Internet is that anonymity allows professionals and amateurs equal representation. We can use the Internet any way that we like to, in the same way that an artist can use ay medium to create an artwork.