“And now it’s time to talk about what we’ve learned today.” (TOW15- Last One)

Bob and the Wiggly-Turtle-Toobees (Source)

(PS: I hope you all know that my title is created from a quote from Bob the Tomato. After every VeggieTales show is concluded and he and Larry the Cuc are standing by QWERTY (the kitchen counter desktop computer), that’s Bob’s famous line. It is always closely followed by Bob’s worst nightmare of a song: “And so what we have learned applies to our lives today; and God has a lot to say in His book…” I am a VeggieTales nerd, if you can’t tell…)

Q: Create a list of the top ten things you have learned about public relations this semester.

(Source)

(*Note: the orange hyperlinked phrases lead to my other posts that discuss that topic. Enjoy!)

1) I learned that Twitter is more applicable today than I thought. The new acquaintances help network and connect you to others who are like you and then others who are very different from you. If you use this tool of expression as a way of learning about people and taking every opportunity to engage your community, you may even win a trip to Nascar or something :-).

I'm mildly addicted... (Source)

2) When reading chapter 9 of “Think: Public Relations,” I realized there is a lot of rights and copyrights and legal stuff that needs to be taken into consideration, especially with marketing! Checking to make sure you have permission with photos, images, phrases, words, logos, colors, celebs, etc. it’s a lot to remember. It almost seems restricting, but if you think if it was your stuff being used without your permission, you’d be pretty upset too!

3) Reading and writing about the differences in title, job description, and experience between a PR practitioner who works for a PR department or one who works for a PR firm.

4) I am so glad I was introduced to the wonderful world of blogging! I had no idea it was so super fun! I love to write in the first place, so any opportunity to just gush over random topics, I find to be so enjoyable and almost therapeutic for me, especially when I haven’t gotten to write in a while. I enjoy sharing things like this and then finding fun pictures and creatives titles that go along; its just a typical playground of fun for me. ;-D And then not just creating my own, but also reading others’ blogs; learning about them, what interests them and makes them tick.

(Source)

5) We watched this video in class about this guy who invites these 2 professional marketers over to his studio to create 3 marketing pitches/posters for a strange taxidermy store. Little did they know that they were being set up. The studio had surreptitiously placed certain images relating to taxidermy marketing over and over again in places that they passed in the car during their drive over to the studio. When they were done creating their 3 ideas, the marketers were shocked when the host brought out the studio’s own pitch idea to compare with theirs. The pros’ ideas were almost identical to the studio’s sketch. The host informed the 2 marketers that their ideas had been unconsciously influenced by the car-ride images, which were bits and pieces of the studio’s pitch poster. Pretty cool and creepy, huh?

Taxidermy...ehhh. (Source)

This goes to show the unrealized psychological power of product, logo or image placement in movies, in commercials, in stores, in windows, in magazines. It might be oh-so subtle, but if you even see or hear anything, even just a fraction, your brain has unconsciously made a mental connection with that product.

6) Never, EVER throw live TURKEYS out of a helicopter… do your research about any assumptions you have about a marketing strategy idea you have. Check with all the authorities involved, get needed permits and make sure you run your idea passed at least one other set of eyes and ears, before you actually commence with Operation: TurkeyDrop… (Referencing the “WKRP” episode

WKRP's Mr. Carlson...(Source)

I couldn’t find the full episode but here’s the short 30-second version so you can get the gist.

Smile Now. Vent Later. (Source)

7) Then a tag-along with #6 is to be ready for out-of-the-box situations. Plan A might turn out to be a flop, so always prepare a possible emergency Plan B. A unique or sticky situation may force you to suddenly be very creative with resources. And learning how to do this while still remaining calm, cool and collected is a must.

This goes the same for extreme emotional situations. Your emotions must be put away and hidden until later. That’s why it’s so important to practice self-control and anger management now. You can add that to your mental resume‘ as one of your strengths. 🙂

8) Sounds silly, but I learned how to attach/add hyperlinks. I felt like such a pro! 😀

9) Regarding a news release: It is necessary to include “For immediate print” or write “Embargo date” plus the date that was agreed upon for release. I didn’t know about those.

10) Another thing about news releases that I didn’t know: At the end, it’s important to signal the end the page with one of the following: –###–, –END–, –XXX–, or –30–. These I have never heard about before either.

This is the END! (Source)

“Be…our…guest… Be our Guest!” (TOW14)

I love vivid imagery, colorful photography and questions that make you think some, so when I found this specific post by Alexander Velickoski, I knew I wanted to use it for my guest blog assignment. I gained his permission and decided to use it.

You can find this post at http://www.myrandomstuff.se/?p=1565.

It’s located under his blog section “Random Stuff From My Daily Life”— it includes some other very interesting and good posts.

Enjoy.

*********

“25 BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED THOUGHT-PROVOKING QUESTIONS”

by ALEXANDER on SEPTEMBER 8, 2011 in PHOTOGRAPHY with 14 COMMENTS

A QUESTION THAT MAKES YOU THINK IS WORTH ASKING…

At the cusp of a new day, week, month, or year, most of us take a little time to reflect on our lives by looking back over the past and ahead into the future.  We ponder the successes, failures and standout events that are slowly scripting our life’s story.  This process of self reflection helps us maintain a conscious awareness of where we’ve been and where we intend to go.  It is pertinent to the organization and preservation of our dreams, goals and desires.

Remember, these questions have no right or wrong answers.  Because asking the right questions is the answer.

Here’s a sample of 25 recent thought questions posted on the site:

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

#13

#14

#15

#16

#17

#18

#19

#20

#21

#22

#23

#24

Finally: #25!

Prezi-ntation (TOW13)

Q: Write a post about the aspect of public relations that you have chosen for your presentation this semester. If you have created a PowerPoint or Prezi, embed it into your post.

********

My presentation, which I gave on December 6, 2011, was how PR is relevant and used in the three levels of government today.

Click here to view my Prezi that I showed as I presented.

This is the page that will appear when you click the blue "here"... press that "Play" arrow and Enjoy! 🙂

(Quick Free Advertisement: If you’ve never ever used Prezi, I recommend that you do! It’s fun, different and easy to figure out and use. If you do decide to use it, give yourself plenty of time to play around with it as you create your masterpiece.)

Below are my speech notes so that you can make sense of each click on the Prezi.

***********

Numbers correspond with each click: (Un-Bold Words is my Speech Commentary)

Personal Introduction: Greeting, Name and Chapter being presented:

1) Today I am presenting to you how PR is important in and demonstrated by the 3 areas of government:

2) (PIC of Branches) Many of you automatically thought of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branches…But NO, I don’t mean those three!

3) I am referring to the Federal, State and Local Areas, or levels, of governments.

4) The first level is the FEDERAL GOV.

Now the Federal Government includes/is comprised of the Federal Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches and all of their entities. That means, the president, Congress, Supreme Court, and the like. It is one of the world’s greatest collectors, distributors and circulators of information is the US government. Advertising is a key activity: Without advertising, opportunities to grab potential voters are lost. They want to prove that they are worth the vote, the volunteer effort or the donation. Federal agencies spend several hundred million dollars each year on public service advertising. Now, CAN ANYONE GUESS what is considered to be “The Apex of PR efforts” for the Government?

5) The…. WHITE HOUSE! Yes! 🙂 and this is inclusive of both the president and his staff and it is the most prominent area of the Federal Government.

6) It is habit, almost unspoken policy, that the president of the United States receives the most media coverage and receives more FACE TIME than Congress and all the federal agencies combined.

7) Looking back through US history, its easy to see that each president had his own personal styles of PR and ways of communicating with the public and media.

To prove this, I will be providing a few examples.

8) First president we will review is… (Reagan comic PIC)

9) REAGAN

10) Reagan was a master of communication! We know he had an acting career before politics, thus giving him lots of time and practice of speaking in front of a camera, which was evident in his ease and effectiveness on television. His speeches were always memorable and full of substance and real emotion. And just personally, as an-all-about American man and husband, father and actor, (which can be evidenced by his involvement in Hollywood), his personality and personal appeal gained him many loyal supporters 11) Next is… (Bush comic PIC)

12) Yes, that character was our President BUSH.

13) Like Reagan, Bush had some gifts in manners of stagecraft. As president, he had at his disposal the available skills of a complete TV and Video Expert Team to help him. However in comparison to other presidents, his communication was relatively limited. Not only did his Administration keep a tight control on information that was released, but he also had fewer press conferences than both President Clinton and President Bush, Sr. combined.

14) Moving on: we have President Barack OBAMA.

15) Now, being in this day and age, being up to date with how the media works as a public figure is important because it is instant and you are the one making the news. Obama definitely knows this and has shown himself to be very capable many times as a master of media. He is a skilled orator, with a riveting presence that, whether you agree with his policies or not, makes you want to believe everything he says. As demonstrated time and again with each of his seemingly convincing speeches, they tend to be style over substance. Many people have compared the manner, technique and the graceful sophistication of his vocal delivery to those of Reagan, Kennedy and MLK.

 16) The Federal Government has a whole team dedicated to producing news releases to inform and hopefully sway voters in their favor. The government knows that in order to reach today’s society, an outreach must be made ELECTRONICally. And they certainly do use it, to their full advantage. It was recorded that in only 9 months, $3.5 million was spent on political and campaign emails alone.

17)  (News Phone PIC) For the Federal government, I think that PR is much more relevant and necessary today than in the past because of the immediate-ness of the press with stories and news.            

18) (And Social Net Outlet PIC) The constant instant-ness of information that we have access to—through our social networking tools, online news websites and live televised press releases—almost speeds up the reactions and, consequently, the final outcome of any happening event.

19) (Courier and telegraph PICS) In the past, say sometime in the 19^th century, if a company, celebrity or businessperson was going through a time of failure, scandal, injury, bankruptcy, unethical blunders or anything that could potentially damage its/his reputation with the public, it/he would have time to take measures to hide the problem and perhaps even fix it or provide a distraction before the public or any newspaper reporter even knew about it.

20) (World Hands PIC) Even then, for the news to travel far, it would take extra time and effort through currier or telegraph just to reach a big city in the next state over; and that’s not even considering the journey a message had to take to get to another country around the world. Then it had to be typed and printed in a newspaper or given to a town crier. Even then, not everyone received the paper or was in proper social gossip circles. For instance…

21) The American Public Never Knew (PIC) about President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his constant struggle with illness. Even after his extensive 4 terms as president—that’s 12 years and 3 months in the White House!—America had no idea that he suffered from cardiac problems, skin cancer, tumors, and polio that made him a paraplegic in a wheelchair. How in the world did they not know he needed a wheelchair?!? (Source)

22) (News web//Tweet it PICS) The possibility that something like this could happen again is next to impossible. If it happened today, someone would find out, and send out a Tweet. Next thing you know, some news scout hears about it, and its on the air as breaking news within the hour, and every station has their journalists popping out web articles within the next few minutes announcing, “The US receives the blow: the President has Polio. Is he still fit to lead?” And his administration would be attacked and come to shreds.

23) (PIC of FDR in his car) But no, FDR and his family and staff kept it a secret from the people (Source). They even made him a special car that could be operated by hands only, and a special podium and if somehow someone did find out about it, they kept it a secret too, (perhaps out of respect for his position as the nation’s leader).

24) Another example is…President Johnson and His Secret War in Vietnam (TITLE). If you didn’t know anything about this time period or this war or this president: In a nutshell:

25) (PIC of Book with SUBTITLE: “Lyndon Johnson’s Secret White House Tapes”)

• We go to war with China in Vietnam.
• Things start to go badly.
• President Johnson begins to lie blatantly to the country about our progress.
• He even has secret taped conversations with some staff members about the war’s negative results.

26) (TITLE: The Pentagon Papers, a Study by the Department of Defense).

• The Department of Defense decides to do a completely confidential study on Vietnam relations & the war.
• Both Johnson and the rest of his administration don’t know about it.
• The study reveals the President’s lies.

27) (PIC of “Top Secret” over Vietnam Map)

• Also reveals that Johnson had taken measures to extend the war deceptively despite his campaign promise not to.
• The DOD realizes that neither the American public nor the media have been notified or aware of any of this.

28) (PIC of TIME Magazine Cover titled “Pentagon Papers: The Secret War”)

• An aide to the study’s taskforce leaked the report, now dubbed the “Pentagon Papers,” to the NY Times, exposing Johnson and his secrets.
• (Source)

29) I don’t believe that things like this could happen anymore, because we demand more transparency today, than before; we’re more curious and suspicious. And because of Twitter, Facebook, blogs, AOL/Yahoo news flashes, YouTube video documentation, news websites and even texting, once someone gets a clue or a leak, that information spreads instantly like wild fire across a nation (and then globally) within a few minutes, creating massive public opinion. And all you need is access to a smart phone, TV, or computer.

30) Now, moving on from the White House, we come to another area of Federal Government…  The Agencies. (TITLE)

31) As defined by Oxford American Dictionary, a Federal Agency is “an administrative unit of government.” These government-run organizations across America are put in charge to oversee and govern particular functions generally related to government duties.

32) (Comic PIC of “Federal Agency to Eliminate Federal Agencies”)

33) (PIC Rainbow Agency Chart) This image is only highlighting 45 government agencies. And the majority of these are involved in law enforcement: the CIA, Coast Guard, the DOD, Homeland Security, FBI, and Secret Service.

But there are also many more, in both number and variety. Congress, for example, is considered an agency. Customs and Border Protection, the Department of Energy, Department of Justice, and the Drug Enforcement Administration and Treasury Command are a few other examples.

34) Here are a couple of other agencies you may be familiar with: Public Affairs Officers, The United States Postal Service, Food and Drug, National Weather Service, Census Bureau…etc.

35) (VIDEO) …So you’ll see these types of commercials pop up randomly every once and awhile from different states: and its because they’re all competing first hand every day for your business, your money, and your loyalty—They know that if you come once, you’re likely to come back again or recommend your wonderful new vacation spot to all your friends.

36) That video was done by South Carolina’s (emphasis on>>) STATE GOVERNMENT, (TITLE) the second layer of government.

37) The state government is the collector and distributor of information from, for and to its residents and constituents. As I mentioned before, there is constant competition for tourism among the states, all wanting to attract new families and boosting the state’s economy with the extra revenue coming from outsiders. Also to help their economy, state officers are given the job of finding ways to encourage business growth for the whole state. So it can prove that it’s worthy of residents and tourists alike, the health and safety, with issues like bragging low rates of crime or a drop in air pollution, of the state is often targeted by PR campaigns.

38) And finally the last level: THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT. That means the individual governments of our cities, counties and provinces that employ information specialists to distribute news and information to the city’s inhabitants. They’re there to inform the people about (and take care of) all the public issues and procedures that make the city tick and make sure they are done properly. And like States, City governments (think LA, Las Vegas, NYC, Orlando!!) will promote themselves to attract new residents, businesses and tourists.

39) State and Local Government Agencies (TITLE) include…

40) …Organizations like Airports, Theme Parks, Visits Bureau, Police and Fire Stations and City Council.

41) (FULL VIEW) The End…Thank you for listening!

Blah-g, Blah-g, Blah-g…(TOW11)

Before this year, I didn’t really follow a blog.

Well, scratch that “really”: I didn’t follow a blog at all.

I didn’t really know why or how or when or where…. you know: the necessary basics. 🙂

But through my becoming more “socially-active” on the internet by joining Twitter (@IsaWisaRamos), Pinterest (Isa Ramos or isawisa) and WordPress (this blog), I have come across several blogs that I enjoy.

1) RandomStuff >> http://www.myrandomstuff.se/

The "Anti-theft Lunch Bag" (from "Don't Steal My Lunch!")

This is put together by “Alexander” and, just as it sounds, it’s just a bunch of “random stuff.” He includes a mix of humorous, inspirational, interesting, and just plain random posts. For instance:

• See some good suggestions of future vacation destinations in his post about “Amazing Places to Experience Around the Globe.”
• Or add the locations of “The Most Amazing Water Parks” to your bucket list.
• Or see what they would look like “If Disney Princesses were Real.”
• Or see how German teenagers spent their summer with their creation of a “Mercedes Supercar Recreated from 10,000 Pieces of Scrap Metal.”
• Be inspired by the testimony and ministry of Australian “Nick Vujicic–From No Limbs to No Limits“, a young man, born without arms or legs, who appears to be little more than a wobbling, hobbling torso that loves Jesus (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this guy!). He’s now 28 and a world-speaker and president of his own international 501(c)3 ministry, “Life Without Limbs.”
• In another post, he advertised this new product (see pic, right) in “Don’t Steal My Lunch!“:

2) UndressedSkeleton >>  http://undressedskeleton.tumblr.com/

I know the title sounds like a freaky science-lab-‘R’-rated-romance-gone-bad, but it’s really not like that at all. The blog on Tumblr is about and by this teen girl (now 20 or 21, I think), Taralynn McNitt, who decided to make a change in her life and live by her personal mantra, “Healthy is Happy.”

On UndressedSkeleton, Taralynn tells the story of her remarkable transformation (see pic, left) as well as: shows pics of her “before and after”; encourages others who are trying to make the same life transition with motivational inspiration; and provides tips, trends, and new habits to implement in daily life that will get  results.

She continually adds new healthy and easy recipes, exercise activities, fashion sense pointers and ideas on how to live better. I find out about these updates through her Twitter, @TaralynnsTweets, which she uses quite often.

3) How Much Does God Weigh? >> http://sammyadebiyi.com/

This blog is by Sammy Adebiyi, a Nigerian who is a Young Adult Pastor at North Point Church in Ohio. As a pastor to the college ages, I find Sammy’s voice in the blog posts very fresh and appealing for kids/”adults” (I refuse to take that title, just yet) my age today. His posts are always very encouraging, inspirational with a touch of humor, at times. His titles are always creative and inviting and he’s good to include stories and experiences from his daily life and family in his mini lessons, which I just love.

4) Lawfully Wedded Wife >> http://lawfullyweddedwife.wordpress.com/

As an avid foodie always looking for new recipes and ideas, I had to include one of the sites I went to several times over the holidays. Other than my pinterest “Food and Recipes” Board (which I love adding to and dreaming about), I have gotten tips from Lauren—the lawfully wedded wife.

Lauren is a 23-year old law-student, wife, and amateur food critic and cook. Busy gal. Lauren includes her critiques of meals she’s eaten at restaurants she has visited and posted several of her own recipes, documenting her steps, tips and experience making the dishes or desserts.

Oh, Don’t Mind Them; They’ll just get easily offended…that’s all. (TOW10)

UESTION: After reading Chapter 9 of THINK Public Relations which addresses Ethics and the Law:

Which aspects of law do you believe public relations practitioners need to be most aware of, and why?

*********

Personally I think that practitioners need to be very aware of all aspects of the law surrounding their job. One slip in any area and that could be the end of that. It only takes one person one person who is easily offended.

(Source)

Since a PR person represents and is the symbolic “face” of a company, it’s important that he or she is careful of the things they say and write when addressing issues regarding public opinions or competition.

When reading about defamation, libel suits and the like, at first, it was easy to think, “So just don’t say anything negative…that’s easy.” But I know that when you’re angry, especially when in times of crisis, offense or defense, and if you have poor self control, you can throw caution to the wind and say things you’ll only regret later. You wouldn’t want to be slapped with a fine or law suit for making an rude or generally unflattering comments about the competition.

(Source)

 Even blogging: defamation suits have been handed out to bloggers and people on Twitter just for mentioning a negative experience they had with a certain company in their posts. Because of the potential damage to their reputation, among other issues, the company has the right to claim libel and defamation, if they can show your statement to be false.

Marketing is another big part of public relations. For the sake of the success of your ad campaign, it’s vital to understand the rules around the uses of protected material. It could be quite dangerous to be caught using protected catch phrases, trademarks, photos or artwork.

Julia Roberts (Source)

 Remembering also that permission needs to of course be granted for the use of pictures, names or quotes of celebrities in marketing ads–especially if you were looking for their endorsement… it’d be good to check with them first.

(Source)

Also included under the umbrella of marketing is the topic of the Federal Trade Commission’s “jurisdiction to determine if advertisements are deceptive or misleading” (196). They have the power to monitor and regulate product news releases, advertisements and product publicity (like videos or brochures). PR people need to be aware that they may become subject to liability claims if they in any way create ads or promos that present  false information– information that could potentially mislead or deceive audiences regarding their  product.

Don’t make that mistake.

The PRuler (TOW8)

(Source)

Q: What are some ways that a PR practitioner can measure the effectiveness of a campaign? Also, discuss the importance of measurement.

*************

With some quick research, in the matter of seconds, I found this article, “Measuring The Effectiveness of Your Advertising Campaign,” (Imagine that.) by a Jennifer Kathleen Phillips (a writer, publisher, teacher, artist and poet…).

She had done some research of her own and found out what a few PR people have to say in this area.

Mr. E. Pomerance* uses 5 topic areas to measure effectiveness: Profits, Sales, Persuasion, Communication and Attention. He also placed value on repeated exposure for recognition by consumers.

Two researchers, Lavidge and Steiner*, suggest recognizing and following the various stages of purchasing behavior of your clients. These stages can be identified as Awareness, Knowledge, Liking, Preference, Conviction and Purchase.

Kotler and Armstrong, also researchers, believe that evaluating, studying and researching communication and sales patterns and information is the best way.

Another article I found, Advertising Effectiveness? , provide a list of possible areas to look at: (rephrased in my own words, even added some commentary of my own.)

• The amount of times people asked about the product.
• The amount of times those questioning about the product, purchased it afterward.
• Test awareness of brand and logo recognition.
• Levels of repeat purchasing by clients.
• How many customers you are able to keep.
• If testing popularity, measuring demographics of purchasers, to test at where in the population to aim the marketing.
• Compare previous sales of product without the implemented marketing tactics to the sales now with the advertising. Have they improved any?
• Measure types of goods order by your clients; learn your companies strong points and what to promote for strong increase in sales.

(Source)

Just by common sense, I gave a few of my own measurements:

• A noticed increase in sales, purchases and revenue of your marketed product.
• An increase in client traffic frequenting your website, business, or shop.
• An increase in the amount of consumer contact through face-to-face encounters with personnel, phone calls, emails, and online inquiries on company website or other sites like Answers.Yahoo.com.
• Seeing interest and popularity of product by other venders like Amazon; also looking at customer reviews done by, say, these Amazon buyers.
• Test brand awareness in a group of consumers and clients, through polling or other methods.
• The increased amount of simple, unconscious marketing just by unrealizing civilians in personal conversations, blogs, tweets, chat rooms. (ie. product or company recommendations to friends; stories to family members about visits to businesses; product comparison between colleagues; recitation of a TV commercial ditty to a classmate.) If you can pick up how much people talk about your product everyday, you can tell how effective it has been.
• How many times your product or service has been searched for in online search engines after a big marketing campaign.
• How many times online ads for your company were clicked on and pursued.

(Source)

*************

So, why is all this important again?

It’s very important to measure your campaign’s effectiveness because, as a PR person working for a company, it is a reflection of how well you do your job and how well your methods of marketing worked. Your success or failure will show if you should continue with your methods or if you should totally revamp your marketing strategy to find something that does work so that you are being efficient, productive and frugal with your money and resources allotted to the advertising project.

You want your ideas and plans to work correctly and bring about a positive change in the current business pattern of your company or organization.

(*Note:*Although author Phillips cited her research, she failed to mention more details about her PR people whom she took suggestions down: all she gave was their names, and I was unable to track any further information down.)

iTweet. (TOW7)

 

I have a confession to make.

An admission of guilt, of sorts.

Since I first heard about it and learned what it was, Twitter never sounded like something I wanted to be a part of. Anytime I someone with one tried to explain or I read a snippet from a celebrity’s, I always was left more confused about this Twitter-thing than before.

I never understood how someone would keep up with it, why you would ever want one, what would you write about and…..wasn’t it just a waste of time?

Well, it does take up time–sometimes too much–but I found I fit right into the Twitter-verse pretty much instantly. Any worries about my not knowing how it worked or what to write about, pretty much ended after the first week of my signing up–for what I thought was just gonna be to complete a school assignment.

It’s very fair to say that I went from being ignorant and twitterless to being a very proficient “addict.” I use that term loosely– I just really, really enjoy it.

Considering the constant dedication with which I keep up with it (I even downloaded a little Twitter Timeline scroll app for my laptop–it’s best I can do without a smartphone!) and the fervor with which I contribute my own statements, thoughts, experiences and worship lyrics to the billions and trillions of others each day, my friends would (and DO!) call me “addicted.”

See. Now, I have to explain a few things.

1. At this point and time, I do not have a Facebook: therefore Twitter is my only outlet of social networking. Call me deprived–whatever. So you must forgive me if my Twittering is a bit heavier and more frequent than normal people. So what? ………What is normal, anyway?* ;-D
2. Just because I had 100 tweets in only 10 days and 157 tweets after 20 days… doesn’t mean anything, ok? Especially not an ”addiction.” I just find I have a lot to comment on and tweet about…which brings me to my next point.*
3. I will “talk” about almost anything more openly and thoroughly in writing than I ever would verbally. You put me in a class discussion and, even if I know the answer like the back of my hand, I will not say a word unless asked/forced…(or I’m really super comfortable in that class). Something about me and public speaking: we never seem to mesh well at all. MY point in saying all this: you ask me a question on paper/computer, and I will produce for you a detailed novel–analyzing every area of that topic to the best of my knowledge–even if you had just asked me the same question verbally and I had remained silent like an ignorant mute.
4. Personally, I just connect better with people through writing. Because I find myself more willing to be bolder than usual, I know I have made more acquaintences/connections and been able to further cultivate current friendships with Twitter than I would have without it. Why? Because I am also more likely to address someone directly through Twitter than just walking up and talking to them in person. Why? Because communication through writing is my strength–where I am comfortable and confident. So….Good? Bad?                                                                                                                                                                        Both. In business, writing skills are very important. However, I know I can’t always rely on my writing for communication. There will be times, I am very certain, when I will have to open up my mouth and say something–something that cannot be conveyed, like a speech presentation, through the written word…. or when the message is too urgent/vital to be translated into words on a page. Strength in verbal communication is a practically a necessity to a good leader.
5. I have really come to enjoy Twitter as a social outlet; and all the little joys of a new follower, a re-tweet or a reply. It helps me feel more connected to  my community and friends. With Twitter, we all get to see and show a side of ourselves which can only be portrayed in 140 characters. 🙂

(*Note:* *I use sarcasm and feign emotions I’m really not feeling way too often. The problem with this, is when it comes out in my writing, which occurs all the time– I am very much unable to put a tone onto my written words. I fear this may often lead to misinterpretation or misunderstanding of my message. I try to fix it with ellipsis and smileys.)

It’s kinda’ like Football… (TOW6)

UESTION: Based on what you read in Chapter 5 of your THINK Public Relations book, do you think it’s more beneficial for a new PR practitioner to begin his/her career in a PR department or in a PR firm? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

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Before answering that question, the basic difference between what is considered a PR/communication department and a PR agency/firm needs to be discussed.

A PR department–which also goes by the names of corporate communications, corporate relations, public affairs, community relations–is its own institution or unit inside of a single corporation or businesses. According to PR consultant, Alfred Geduldig, “the increasing use of the term ‘corporate communications’ signaled that public relations people were doing many more things in a company now than they had in the past, reflecting an integration of communications services” (91).

The sole goal of the department is to answer to either the manager, director or vice president of the company and accomplish with tact, wisdom and creativity whatever PR objectives have been customized by the organization for the organization with the success of its goals in mind.

When you work in a department of a company, its like you joined a football team. How so, you ask?

Well let’s say (we’ll make somethin’ up) Blueprints Co.– a million-dollar, big city company of top-notch, big-name architects and designers that specialize in luxury skyscrapers for business and condo owners– hires you to head their PR department. As part of Blueprints, you are now part of a complete team of departments and specialists all doing different jobs but working toward one common goal of success and making money for the architects.

Going back to the football analogy: the CEO, calling all the shots, is like the Quarterback. Right there close to and working with our CEO are the VP and Board of Directors, we’ll give them the roles of Fullback, Halfback and Center. The PR department, depending on its many varied roles of communicator, marketer, idea runner or damage control, could be a mix of the Safeties and Wide Receivers since the need to act as protection to an offensive attack or be open to deal with what’s being thrown at them. We’ll give the guys in the actual field, the Architects and Designers, who do the actual architect-ing and designing, the positions of End, Guard and Tackle, since the go out each day to face the competition and do the best job they can to get for the success of the whole team.

Then we got the accountants, assistants, managers, human resources (I’m terrible at completely understanding football, so you can give them proper positions): each of them do a different job, but are working toward the same success for Blueprints Co. by accomplishing the mini goals of their own department.

As long as the QB calls a good play, the Center hikes, the Tackle tackles, the Guard guards, the Receivers recieves, and all the -Backs run around in the proper play moves (or whatever), then all will hopefully go well and the team will win.

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A PR firm is a company with lots of PR specialists who are hired out by other businessses to do all their PR or just a certain project for them.

As a practitioner for a firm, you may specialize in a few or all disciplines of the PR field. And although in principle, you are an paid employee of, say, PR, Inc., each day you may be working for a different company and juggling six different projects at once.

For this, I give the analogy of a team of mercenaries, or hired guns. You’re all soldiers together, and you may all have a different technical specialty or strength (sharp shooter, sniper rifle, grenade mastery, paratrooper, tanker, engineer, etc.), but everyday a unit of your team is contracted out to a country in need, willing to pay for your skills as fighters.

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So….which is best to start in? Firm or department?

Well, if you really must know…

For the most part I think that the decision is not really whether one is better than the other or not. It’s really all based on the person, their skills, and their desired experience.

You should work in a PR department if:

1. You want to experience more than just PR, but also the other areas similarly related that are necessary in the workings of a corporation, such as internal communication and policy, social media, mission statement, .
2. You want to learn to understand the workings a a company, and how all parts and branches come together to create a successful organization. You are part of the PR team, but you work with the other departments such as human resources, fanagement, Directors, accounting, and even maintenance.
3. You don’t mind working on only a few areas of PR, and often the same ones.
4. You don’t mind being limited to just the goals and projects of the company you work for.

You should work at a PR Firm if:

1. The only thing you want to do is PR.
2. You want to know and experience a very diverse and wide variety of areas of PR.
3. You want to learn about a new area of PR.
4. You want to work with different companies and be part of their different projects. For Company A, you may be hired to clean up a crisis mess the have

For both, a PR person needs to:

• Be a good team player and flexible to situations.
• Have the ability to keep calm and composed in situations of high emotions or stress.
• Know how to deal with the emotions of others.
• Understand how to deal appropriately and successfully with crisis.
• Be fully aware of what is going on and who’s doing what in each project.
• Know how to pull creativity out of thin air at the drop of a hat–use nothing to make something, quickly and suddenly– in case of emergencies.
• Remain humble and respect the other departments and their position on the “team.”
• Know your position and what you are there to do.

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“Executives increasingly see public relations not as simply publicity and one-way communication, but rather as a complex and dynamic process of negotiation and compromise with a number of key publics.” (Page 88)

Ohhhh the Gentry and the Dresses… (Sigh.) (TOW5)

The Question is...(Source)

“If you could work in an era of PR history                                                                                                                (from a time before you were born), which                                                                                                                   one would it be? What interests you most                                                                                                                     about this era and why?”

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History has always been one of my favorite (if not my absolute favorite) subjects to learn in school. Maybe because I love to read and write stories…

Every event, every person, every significant word and action– it all builds up to create this marvelous story filled with joy and tragedy, love and war, passion and apathy, dreams and dashed hopes, dark pasts and bright futures…                                                                                                                                                                                   It creates something beautiful to listen to and learn from for the rest of time.

Oh the gentry and dresses... (Source)

With my love of the subject, I have always tried to be in a History class of some sort. I especially enjoy and appreciate US History! Even more specifically, I have been fascinated by the early American 1800’s through to the early 1900’s for as long as I can remember.

Maybe its the romanticism of the whole thing: the dresses and formals; the mansions and manners; the horse-drawn carriages and the gentlemen; the slow and quiet living (I’m implying a comparison to today). But for whatever my reasons, this 100 years of 1800-1900, has had me dreaming and imaging countless times.

In my research of the different eras, I came across this PR History Slide Show that shows 6 general times periods of PR:

• Pre-Seedbed Era: 1865-1900
• Seedbed Era: 1900-1917
• WWI: 1917-1919
• The Booming 20’s: 1919-1929
• The FDR Era: 1930-1945
• The Global Information Society: 1965-today

Using the titles and measurement of time from the powerpoint, and taking into consideration my favorite time periods, I have sometimes wished I could experience the “Pre-Seedbed” and “Seedbed” Eras…and even more so, the Pre-“Pre-Seedbed” era (which they obviously failed to include…not enough PR then, I guess.)

I would want to be around when it all first began and before the considered father of PR, E. Bernays, and the actual “founder of modern PR,” Ivy Ledbetter Lee, came to the scene starting in the late 1910’s.

According to the “PR History Slide Show,” the Pre-Seedbed Era was a time of rapid growth in the area of public relations. Wealthy robber barons and massive developing corporations were forming monopolies in many of our nation’s important industries.

The Big Four Barons of the Guilded Age (Source)

Because of the power of these influential big-name companies and men, who also had connections and ties to news and publication sources, stories and reports about scandals, shocking unethical behaviors, and secret affairs were kept hush-hush and any known information kept guarded in order to protect the names of certain benefactors and organizations.

The leaders needed to be viewed as squeaky clean and perfect- whether it was all a deliberate attempt to keep up public morale in the business market & its leaders and keep the people from revolting or just the way things had been in the past. People in the high circles worked to keep it that way.

Calculated information leaks were somehow kept controlled and limited. The whole mindset of this period was to do anything to protect the image and reputation of the companies, without the slightest thought of what that goal did to all the little guys.

It was a time where it was employers against employees- and the employers somehow where in the right no matter what they did, and the poor workers, at the mercy of the bosses, had to pay for it.

Money for Mr. MoneyBags.... (Source)

Andrew Jackson and Martin VanBuren (Left to Right)

During this time period, the US had Presidents  Jackson and VanBuren, separately and consecutively of course, leading the country.

Under both of them served Amos Kendall, US Postmaster General. With his reputation as a pollster and publicist, his job kinda’ turned into the first PR guy for the government. In other words, he became the first unofficial Press Secretary. He shared only what they thought the public needed to know and hid what information they believed the people could really go without. If they were lacking in positive news, his job was to fabricate and invent fictional events and situations in order to “mold” public opinion.

Then came the turn of the century. The 1900’s had arrived.

And reform was in the air.

Everything–including the “protect-the-leaders-at-all-costs” mindset–was up for change. Suddenly “the people’s right to know” became the new mantra. According to E. Bernays, the “public must be informed.”

(Source)

Muckraking*, journalism that sought to uncover the dirt and air out the dirty laundry, rapidly became a very popular trend, taking the newspapers and other worthy publications by storm. Authors and books began voicing the voice of the “little guy”: the people now had a champion against the big bosses.

To the workers and common public, journalists were no longer just writers of irrelevant news and stories of the rich and famous. These writers became connectors and interpreters. They now had the job of explaining actions and events to the commoners in a language they could understand.

With this new emphasis on exposing the lies and getting to the truth, the idea of reform came almost automatically with the start of this era. Unions, amendments, movements, riots– an attack on things as they had been– had now been set in motion.

The arm of power had begun to shift. From master to steward, from baron to labor man, from boss to boy.

The people wanted change. And they wanted it now.

Companies and their (primitive) “PR” departments went on the defense. They wanted to take advantage of this new journalism movement, so they started hiring journalists to write their stories and get their news out that would bring them positive publicity. Some may have heard Ivey Lee’s idea that “publicity needs to be supported by good works” or Theodore Vail’s notion that improving relations between corporations and the public were necessary to gaining their business and loyalty.

I would have loved to be around this period of such change and upheaval of the way things had been. Journalists were suddenly in the spotlight with a new job to do: bring light and truth.

That I would have had to count as an honor.

(*Note*: *Now the White House was mostly exempt from this “reveal and release” movement in news and PR. At this point, the presidency was still seen/treated as part royalty almost. People, especially the journalists, were still willing to turn a blind-eye in order to respect and even protect the right of necessary privacy that everyone felt that the position of the nation’s leader deserved.

Through the years, that would slowly change; but for now it remained.)

“Weiner-Who?” (TOW4)

Weiner! Not wiener!

“Wiener who?” That, plus a weird look was the response I received when I asked my friend if she had heard of followed the news coverage of the congressman’s scandal (aka Weinergate).

I explained to my friend who this prime specimen and representation of American politics was and the reason his name became so widely talked about this summer.

For those of you who, like my friend, were not exactly up with the news and also have no idea who this guy is and what he did, allow me to fill you in a little bit.

 

Anthony Wiener, the democratic congressional representative of New York, was accused of having inappropriate relations and  communications through Facebook, Twitter and his phone with several women, including a…(SEU filter)…woman of questionable virtue…

People and a few of the girls he was involved that he was involved with came forward with evidence and more accusations.

Such a lovely woman...

Nancy Pelosi said  she was going to have to put his case before the Ethics Committee for a thorough investigation. Still, he held off on the truth, saying he’d face the investigation and keep his position in Congress, since he’s “innocent” and “did nothing.”

That’s what they all say.

 

Also, keep in mind that he just got married in July of last year (and by President Clinton, nonetheless; authorities are not even sure that’s allowed according to NY law).

 

His new wife, Huma Abedin, works as an aide to Hillary     Clinton and was traveling with the Secretary of  State      when this all broke out too.

 

 

These unhealthy habits and relations of his started before he got married however he continued in them afterwards.

You know one of the worst parts about the whole deal is?

It was rumored near the closing of this whole deal that his wife is pregnant. Poor kid. What a story that baby will have…

 

When this first broke through to the press and it began to spread like wildfire to everyone who could get a hold  of his name and use it at smear for his or her bagel that morning.

 

When this started, Representative Weiner had three options:

First, (what he did do): Lie, Lie, Lie and Lie again. Tell everyone that your Facebook and Twitter accounts have been hacked into, and your face has been photo-shopped onto the inappropriate pics. Then wait a week or so and THEN say, “Ok, You got me! I did it.”

I DIDN'T!! I DIDN'T DO IT! I DIDN'T--ok, I did.

If he wanted his name to be instantly known and familiar to his constituents and the rest of the world, then this was an excellent policy! If he cared anything at all about his reputation and if he never wanted his name to be part of a punch line, it was a terrible choice in the end. Dishonesty never ends very prettily.

Second, (what he did after): Continue to make excuses, and blubber like a fool at press conferences but promise that you and you team are working on it and getting help.

Lastly, (what he didn’t do): Tell the embarrassing TRUTH! Admit his poor choices and addictions (he IS human), step down with dignity, go check into a rehab facility, then come back when he’s better as a stronger, healthier and more rationally-stable person.

See, the thing about this whole deal is that I thought high-level politicians such as Wiener would have a PR mess-cleanup crew that would handle the mess discreetly and properly.

Doesn’t he have counselors and advisors and people for that kind of stuff?

I guess not.

I don’t know who was giving him his PR advice. Maybe he just chose to ignore whatever he was told to do or say.

Talk to the hand... or claw.

Or maybe the whole thing was just up to him.

Which might make sense.

Right before this scandal came out into the open, Weiner had pretty much become the strongest spokesperson for the Democratic Party, especially against the Tea Party. They kinda’ lost their best hitter.

Pity.