Teaching PR

At last weekend's Edelman Digital Bootcamp, I presented several assignments that educators can use to integrate social media into PR classes. Here's one:

Wikipedia editing assignment

Objectives: Get students to experiment with using a wiki; encourage discussion about the credibility of the information and what it means to have ordinary people generating media content. This assignment was created for a PR writing course.

Assignment

• Select any current entry
• Ideas: your high school, hometown, university page, your hobby or favorite TV show or movie, current events
• Print it out as it looked before you edit it
• Edit it: Not just a word or two; add a section, paragraph, etc.
• Print it out as it looks after you edited it
• For the truly brave: submit a proposed new entry

Grading criteria
Substantial edit made or proposal submitted
Verifiable references provided

Background on Wikipedia for public relations students

• Adding an entry: it should be an item worthy of inclusion in an encyclopedia
• Information should be independently verifiable from external sources
• It should be presented from a neutral point of view ("fairly and without bias")
• Autobiographical entries: Wikipedia discourages writing about yourself or subjects in which you are personally involved (including your employer)
• However, it is appropriate to correct any obvious inaccuracies about your organization; be sure to provide a verifiable reference to the new information
• You can also add your organization’s Web site to the "external links" section when appropriate
• Use the "watchlist" function so you know when someone has updated the pages you’re interested in

Resources for lecture/discussion

Wikis in Plain English (Common Craft video)
Wikipedia Policies and Guidelines
Wikipedia Help: watchlists

My downloadable slideshow from class-- I deleted the section on forums so that the Slideshare version concentrates on wikis.

Labels: assignment, classes, education, public relations, social media

The final virtual guest lecture in my WOM class this semester featured Maggie Fox of the Social Media Group in Toronto discussing Digital Snippets, which is her agency's platform for Ford's and other companies social media press releases.

Maggie showed us the slide show her agency used to pitch Ford on the idea, so of course I'm not going to spill all their secrets. But here are some thoughts that may be useful for students and educators just learning about the SMPR.

First things first: consider the reason for adopting the platform. The purpose of an SMPR is to get content out. Blogs are good for leadership, social networks for broad engagement-- so strategy comes before tactics. Maggie said they consider the SMPR a way to help "digital influencers tell their stories, not for telling stories to digital influencers." This is a key point, illustrated by the fact that the Digital Snippets SMPRs are not comments-enabled; they don't host the conversation but provide content that others can use in their conversations.

The target audience is bloggers, podcasters, Facebook and Flickr groups, and forums, but also mainstream media. Online versions of the MSM are hungry for content, and providing video, pictures, etc. can help them get the story out, too.

Content, therefore, should be rich: lists, videos, quotes, charts, photos. Serving as a credible source will help others get your story out, increase the likelihood of others using your content.

Digital Snippets is in essence a frequently updated Web site, much like a blog; rather than issuing a new SMPR or page, the agency updates the platform, and the story evolves over time (in other words, not 10 news releases on Ford and the environment, but 10 updates to the environment SMPR). Sections (snippets) are RSS-enabled and the history is archived so people can see the evolution. Here's the template.

Maggie concluded by offering some thoughts on measurement, which can include

• views, references, unique visitors
• views and comments on Flickr, YouTube (linked to the SMPR)
• number of sites using the assets provided in the SMPR
• the tone of these posts

I wonder if my students learned as much as I did!?!

Labels: classes, SMPR, social media, WOM

My WOM class had a virtual visit yesterday from David Meerman Scott, whose book we're reading right now. He was kind enough to spend about 45 minutes explaining the old and new rules of marketing and PR and providing lots of examples of how to capitalize on the Internet (e-Books, Online Media Room, and Online New Releases in particular).

When one of the students asked if he was going to blog about us, he pointed out that he's already blogged about Robert French's students, so we're going to have to one-up them by producing an amazing "new rules" pr and marketing plan for our client, the East Georgia Chapter of the American Red Cross (thanks to @ikepigott for helping me make that connection) in order to merit a mention.

Give us some time. I guarantee we'll be on Web Ink Now by the end of the semester. :-)

Labels: classes, students, WOM

In another follow-up from the Connect conference, I'm happy to announce the availability of a new resource for educators in public relations and social media. The New PR Wiki now includes a section on Teaching Social Media. It includes a bibliography, a course list with links to information about classes currently being taught around the world, and links to sample assignments to use or modify.

It's definitely still under construction, but the contributors, rounded up via Twitter by Elizabeth Albrycht, are: Elizabeth Albrycht, Philip Young, Corinne Weisgerber, Gary Schlee, Ross Monaghan, Karen Russell, Lauren Vargas, and our librarian, Constantin Basturea.

Check it out!

Labels: classes, education, public relations, social media

My WOM communication class just wrapped up a replication of my colleague Kaye Sweetser's Twitter experiment, so here's a report on it for other faculty who might want to try it.

I created a Twitter account, WOMclass, keeping my updates locked so that only students could follow it. I then used Twitter's invitation system to invite all the students to register on Twitter and request to follow WOMclass updates. Once they all linked to WOMclass, they could click on each others' avatars (as opposed to the 100+ other people I follow as KarenRussell) and therefore easily connect with each other.

I made the assignment as unintimidating as possible -- students could post about anything, they had to post only 5 times in the 48 hours (but not all in a row), and they didn't have to follow anyone outside the class. They don't even have to use it ever again. The assignment was also worth only 5% of their final grade, so basically it was intended simply to encourage them to experiment with it.

Most of the students far exceeded the requirements and made a genuine effort to understand how the Twitter community operates. They uploaded their pictures, posted more frequently than required, and gamely jumped in to try the @reply method and to learn Twitter etiquette.

In class this afternoon (the experiment ended at 9 a.m.) we discussed Chris Anderson's description of "filters" that drive traffic down the Long Tail, including recommendations and reviews. I then pointed out how much of their conversation had served that purpose -- music, a movie, a local restaurant, a book, two television shows, and a certain new laptop all came up, not to mention red velvet cupcakes. We also talked about parasocial relationships, and compared our experiment with this study of microblogging and talked about the significance of one of its findings, that personal and community common interests comingle.

Finally, we reviewed how they might use Twitter for personal branding and networking purposes and listed ways that microblogging can be used in advertising/public relations/marketing communication. Our discussion, which was guided by several blog posts (sorry, didn't think to save the links) and 3 helpful Twitterers, included:

• Participate in conversations, build relationships -- not the "hard sell"
• Get feedback on ideas, programs, etc.
• Hire someone
• Extend reach of other social media programs
• Direct traffic (to product, Web site)
• Datamining (learn about interests, trends, issues, etc.), including polling the audience
• Announce sales or promotions
• Make appointments
• Event updates
• Live coverage of events
• Build trust, build a community
  

I enjoyed following the students for a couple days and thought the experiment was a great way to get students involved in a form of social media that most hadn't tried -- great idea, Kaye! I also loved how their conversations actually mirrored what academics and professionals alike suggest can and does happen on Twitter. I'm interested to see how many will continue tweeting.

Update: links I should've included-- thanks to Judy Gombita for an assist.

The Big Juicy Twitter Guide, Caroline Middlebrook

How Individuals Use Twitter, Peter Kim

If You Don't Twitter Now, You'll Hate Yourself Later, Deborah Ager

17 Ways You Can Use Twitter, Maki

7 Ways Marketers Can Use Twitter, Ann Handley

Guide to Twitter for PR Students, me

Labels: classes, microblogging, social media, students, WOM

This semester marks the fifth time I've taught PR Campaigns, and I've gone and made it the most challenging yet. I have 20 students (not including the 5 working on the Bateman competition team) all working on a single project, Partners for a Prosperous Athens/OneAthens. The client is an ambitious, grassroots attempt to solve the horrendous poverty problem here in the home of the state's flagship university.

The class met with representatives of the client, which is a coalition convened by local government, business, school system, university, and other officials. Thousands of volunteers have contributed in one way or another over the past two years. They've conducted research on the issues, identified problem areas, and made 155 recommendations, which were combined into 10 initiatives, for which implementation plans have been made. Now it's time to stop talking and start doing. The client wants our class to help publicize and explain the implementation strategies and to build public support for the intiatives. The plan pushes hot buttons in just about every area you can think of, but I think there is general support for the idea that something must be done.

On Tuesday the class is going to divide into 4-5 teams to do a couple of weeks' research on the initiatives and implementation plan so we can figure out how to explain and build support for the complicated plan in our very diverse community. I have confidence that my students are up to the challenge, which is good because failure is not an option!

Labels: campaigns, classes, clients, students

This morning my second Campaigns team made its presentation on a campaign for the American Cancer Society's new University of Georgia chapter of Colleges Against Cancer.

Three of their most visible projects were revamping the Web site, creating a Facebook group, and interviewing Katherine Richt -- mom, water girl, and wife of UGA's football coach -- about her experience with cancer. A PSA recorded after the interview is posted on the Web site and on YouTube. They also set up a detailed plan for next year's Great American Smokeout. I hope the chapter decides to use it.

I think it's safe to say the team learned a lot this semester, but not in the ways they probably expected before the semester started. Working in a team, working with a client, dealing with change in the midst of their project -- all things they'll definitely need to know while working in PR!

Labels: campaigns, classes, public relations, social media, students

The Connect conference client presentation I mentioned last week is available now on SlideShare. My students used Josh Hallett's Flickr photos as the background and used the slides for their PR Campaigns class presentation.

Labels: campaigns, classes, client pitch, conference, public relations, students

I'm going to give a 30-minute guest lecture on social media and decided to try something new. I'm linking to my slide show here and will start my lecture from this post to show how easily and rapidly information can be shared.

Labels: classes, public relations, social media, students

I've been assigned a special topics course for undergraduates next spring and decided to focus on word-of-mouth communication. The class is open to both PR and advertising majors, and I've ordered two books to use: Chris Anderson's The Long Tail and David Meerman Scott's The New Rules of Advertising and PR (thanks to those of you who compiled a reading list on Facebook last summer -- I found them both there).

Beyond that, it's wide open at this point. Any suggestions on topics, readings, or assignments? I'm thinking of having them do a campaign for a real client, perhaps as a class with different teams working on different elements -- a video for YouTube, a blog or blogger relations, a podcast, etc.

I welcome your ideas. And volunteers to be the client. :-)

Labels: classes, social media

It's the first day of classes, and I'm meeting with the Campaigns students for the first time later this morning. I've got two clients lined up: the American Cancer Society, which is creating a Colleges Against Cancer chapter at UGA -- I've posted on the success of the annual Relay for Life twice before, but this new chapter will promote education more extensively -- and Grady's PR and social media conference I've been promoting.

I will be asking the students to integrate a number of social media tactics in their campaigns, so I'm hoping you'll be seeing their work soon.

Labels: campaigns, classes, social media

I am teaching Public Relations Foundations, our "PR bootcamp," for the second time this fall. It's a course for first-year M.A. students who weren't PR undergrads, and it's my job to teach them everything they need to know in 15 weeks.

This year I'm trying a new textbook, Guth and Marsh's Public Relations: A Value-Driven Approach, which they'll read in the first month of class, along with a case studies book, Werther and Chandler's Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Stakeholders in a Global Environment, which I'll use a springboard for discussions about strategic thinking, planning, and writing.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Labels: classes, graduate programs

After my lecture on social media, Converseon's Paull Young visited my PR Administration class today via Skype. We had a great conversation about social media, public relations, and the future-- everything from Twitter to Facebook and from Wal-Mart to Second Life. My students, some of whom were enamored by his Australian accent, are fortunate to be able to hear from the experts because of technology -- a virtual guest lecture.

This weekend they've been given an assignment to post comments on at least three PR blogs, so don't be surprised if they find you.

Labels: classes, social media, students

Today I used a modified version of an exercise I described last spring to get students to analyze the reputation of public relations. The results were a little different from last year (just like last year, a reminder that this research is totally unscientific.)

Not surprisingly, Web sites from PR watchdog groups like PR Watch and Spinwatch continue to be negative. Mainstream media references to public relations were quite often neutral, with some positives thrown in. Blogs, however, showed the big change. Last year, the students found that of all bloggers, PR bloggers were the most negative about the industry (as Amanda Chapel commented, "shocking"). This year, they found many blogs were neutral (just mentioned the term PR, but not really about public relations, for example), many -- especially by journalists -- were negative, and the PR bloggers generally defended PR and spoke positively about it.

The stereotypes haven't changed, though: spin, deception, manipulation, and hype dominate pop culture references to public relations.

Labels: classes, public relations, students

I got an e-mail today from one of my Campaigns class clients, who'd gotten an e-mail from a third party regarding something that had been discussed in the team/client meeting. Uh-oh. I sent the class a message on our listserv reminding them to respect the client's right to confidentiality.

It wasn't a major problem, but it's a sinking feeling when you get a call or e-mail from a client talking about something your students did wrong. I always warn potential clients that students are bound to make mistakes--it's part of learning--but nonetheless it's no fun when it happens.

Memo to self: talk about client confidentiality before each and every client meeting.

Labels: classes, students

I turned in my last batch of grades on Friday and have been trying to catch up on everything else ever since. (Among other things, my husband is starting week 4 on the jury for a murder trial and my daughter fell and smashed her mouth at school.) One thing that fell by the wayside: I've been meaning to blog about an extra credit assignment that I did toward the end of the semester in PR writing class.

All I asked students to do was edit or add something to a Wikipedia entry. Josh Hallett showed them how to do it when he spoke to the class earlier in the semester. They just had to send me the link and let me know what they'd done to the article.

I think they had fun with it. Most changed something simple about an organization (church, sorority) or place (hometown, high school) that they're already familiar with. I wanted it to be easy for them just to get them to try it. In exchange, they got 5 bonus points added to their lowest writing lab grade.

I thought about them today with the announcement of Time's people of the year-- I hope they saw it and thought, "hey, I'm part of that, too!" even if that's the only thing they've ever done with social media. Of course, many use Facebook and I've pushed them to try blogging and other social media, as well.

At any rate, it's an easy way to get students to try it out, and it generated a good discussion about how much you can believe about what's on a wiki and what it means to have ordinary people generating media content.

Labels: classes

I've finished one of my classes for this semester, PR Communications, which is our writing class. I've been teaching it virtually every semester, sometimes twice in a semester, for so long now that I've really gotten bored with it. I tried something new this semester by switching up textbooks and adding a few new assignments (more here), but I'm still not satisfied with it.

Fortunately, I have a break from it next spring and summer, so by the time I have it again next fall I hope to have come up with an entirely new way of teaching it, based on having students develop a "first draft" of their professional portfolios. I haven't figured it all out yet, but I know that for their final project I want them to turn in a portfolio which can include things from class or from outside class, the best of what they've written so far in their careers.

I'm also thinking about ditching the textbook altogether and putting more effort into the course packet that I've been using as a supplement to the text. It includes examples of PR materials, many submitted by my former students now working in the field, and I have gotten many compliments on it in the past (including alums writing and asking if they can buy one even though they're out of school).

I would love to get suggestions from both PR students and professionals on the portfolio (what should be included, how to teach it, what is most important to prospective employers) and on the packet and/or textbook adoption, so let me know what you think.

Labels: classes