Teaching PR

Cross-posted to WOM Class blog.

I promised my WOM class students a post on "commenting" -- how to write good comments, how to get good comments on a blog. It's long overdue, but here goes:

Writing comments on a blog post

• A blog is a conversation, so your comment is not just tolerated, it's welcomed.
• A comment should help build a conversation by saying something new, providing more information, or suggesting other relevant posts or stories.
• It's okay to disagree, but a blog belongs to a person, not the community at large. Therefore, treat the blogger with the same respect you would treat a host in a home.
• Skip the "I agree" and "you're so wonderful" comments. They do nothing to extend the conversation, and only tend to make you look silly. If you really want to say that you like something they said, explain why in a way that adds to the discussion.
• Don't just use comments as a way to publicize your own posts. Unless you've written something absolutely and completely relevant to the discussion, don't link to yourself.
• If a post inspires you to write a lengthy response, it may be better to write your own post and link to the original. In that case, it would be OK to write a comment explaining that.
• The half-life of a post is pretty short. In general, you should comment within a few days of the original posting.
• Bear in mind that sometimes an e-mail message may be more appropriate than a comment.

Recommended reading: 5 Comments No Serious Blogger Should Ever Post, Tiffany Monhollon; Geek to Live: Lifehacker's Guide to Weblog Comments, Gina Trapani

Inspiring comments on your own blog

• Ask for them. Ask a question, tell your readers you want to know what they think.
• Respond to comments when you get them. If someone has taken the time to respond, you can take the time, too. It may be hard sometimes, particularly if the comment is of the "I agree" variety, but try to engage the person in a conversation.
• Just as you should be a gracious visitor, be a gracious host.
• Return the favor. If the commenter leaves a link, follow it to their blog. If you find something useful or engaging, leave a comment. If not, check back another day. Chances are, you're interested in some of the same things.
• Some people suggest writing controversial or purposely provocative posts. These certainly can inspire comments, but you'd better be sure you can handle the spotlight before you try this tactic, especially if you're new to the field.
• A few words on the technical aspects: If you moderate comments, post them quickly. People aren't likely to wait around for responses if they're slow to come. Similarly, enabling subscriptions to the comments allows people to follow the conversation without checking back to your original post.

Recommended reading: 10 Techniques to Get More Comments on Your Blog, Darren Rowse; 5 Easy Ways to Make Your Comments Section a Conversation, Tiffany Monhollon; Want More Comments on Your Blog?, Mack Collier

Labels: blogging, social media, tips

My Word-of-Mouth Communication class's last project before spring break consisted of brainstorming about the social media tools that ad/PR students should know how to use, as well as the skills and characteristics that they should cultivate, in order to be prepared for 21st-century jobs.

Do you like what they came up with?

Social Media Tools (for themselves or their employers/clients)

• Blogging
• YouTube
• Twitter
• Podcasting
• Flickr
• Facebook, MySpace (social networks)
• Wikipedia
• Google docs, chat, groups, etc.
• RSS feeds and aggregators
• Social bookmarking (del.icio.us)
• Search engines including blog searches
• Second Life
• LinkedIn
• VoIP, such as Skype
• Mobile media
• Interactive gaming

Skills/characteristics to cultivate

• Ability to pitch effectively (mainstream and social media)
• Online research skills
• Use of appropriate language and etiquette
• Knowledge of ethics, law
• Technological understanding, comfortable with both Mac and PC
• Online identity management and networking skills
• Online security
• Adventurousness, learning agility
• Knowledge of branding
• Keeping up with current events
• Understanding word of mouth -- filters, why some things go viral
• Interaction between online and mainstream media
• Ability to learn on the job
• SEO
• Being personable in person, not just online
• Transparency, authenticity
• Writing ability
• Knowledge of measurement tools and ability to apply them (Feedburner, Google Analytics, etc.)

Now there's no excuse for them not to get out and learn what they need to know! As soon as spring break ends, that is.

Labels: education, social media, students

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

Labels: blogging, conference, podcasting, social media, students, WOM

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

• To the listener: Portability, allow for multitasking, inexpensive player and free content
• To the producer: Relative low cost, appeals to auditory learners, adds value to existing communication, boosts search engine rankings

• iTunes
• Podcast Alley
• Blubrry

• Niche radio show
• Interviews
• Conference call recordings
• Listener comments
• Music
• Shownotes

Labels: podcasting, social media, WOM

Amani Channel of My Urban Report is an expert at using video so he led a session about using YouTube. I went because I know nothing about it but find my students using it more and more in PR Campaigns class in particular.

Some tech-y tips from Amani:

• Anyone can do it: use Windows Moviemaker or on a Mac iMovie for editing
• A Webcam is okay for videoblogging but not much else
• Need good audio as well as good video -- use a microphone. If you're going to be using a consumer-grade camera make sure it has an audio input (they don't always) because you should use an external mike for better sound
• Shooting hi-def is not crucial for the Web but the quality will be better
• Always make sure you have enough light, especially indoors
• Get a tripod -- don't shake it like a salt shaker!
• Use compression software
• http://bliptv.com, www.tubemogul.com

Rules for shooting video:

• Wide shot to establish; medium shot; then closeups. Take all three every time you're shooting.
• Rule of thirds: place the subject in a third of the frame (breathing room on the side where their eyes are looking)
• Ask the person to talk to you, not look directly at the camera
• If you can, use three-point lighting (key light, backlight, and filter light) -- a light kit

Advice to the person being interviewed?

• Amani says, "This is a conversation, just ignore the camera and talk to me"
• He doesn't have any big speech because if someone's not good at being inerviewed there's not much you can do about it
• When you're ready to start ask them to state their first and last name; lets them know the formal interview is starting

Use tags to drive content to your video

• Include all the tags you can think of
• Be as specific and use as many simple tags as you can
• Use the keywords that really fit, not something very popular just to get attention

Final suggestions for vlogs and podcasts:

• Have a clear idea of the message you're trying to get across
• Use sound production techniques
• Always edit, but it takes skill and practice
• Keep videos short and sweet
• Use keywords and tags
• Blast e-mail your friends and associates for feedback (and be willing to accept criticism)

Labels: conference, social media, video

Dr. Lauren McGrath of Kennesaw State's English department led a breakout session on writing for the Web.

General principles:
Write to your audience
Keep it conversational
Chunk your content and use headings and subheadings to increase readability
Use a screen-friendly font like Verdana or Trebuchet
Write well -- clear, correct, well edited

Side discussion on SEO -- problem of overstuffing with keywords. Suggestion: add more content with keywords instead of stuffing all keywords on a few pages.

Suggested resources:
Hot Text: Web Writing that Works (Price)
The Web Writer's Guide (Maciuba-Koppel)
Writing for Multimedia and the Web (Garrand)
Writing for the Web (Jeney)

Brand "You":

• Communicating your own value
• Letting people know what to expect from you -- what is the promise you're making?
• Good qualities identified in this example site: creativity, identity and credibility, personality, consistency, audience awareness, media mix, linking, connections to other brand-building tools; thought leadership
• Getting "dooced"

Labels: conference, social media, writing

Addition: Just found this picture Josh took of me sitting next to Twitter friend Robert Armstrong (@Ninety7) , plugging away at our laptops.

Labels: conference, social media

Chris Heuer spoke about the work-life issues that social media can raise. "Business is personal again," he said. You can't separate emotions from work life. "I don't want to work with someone I don't like." He also tied it back to work issues. "Have you ever tried to 'manage' a relationship with a spouse or loved one? Perhaps that is why it doesn't work with customers either."

Chris had a slide that asked, "Do you friend your co-worker on Facebook?" -- in other words, where do you draw the line? "There is a limit on how much we share," an audience member said.

Another audience member expanded on this by talking about separating work-personal by using different sites for different things -- she says she won't talk about religion or politics on LinkedIn because she'll work for anyone (well, almost). She suggested that there's a different place to talk about personal beliefs (she mentioned talking politics on a classmates site where people have known her for years). This was the point I tried to make on Melanie Seasons's blog last week. (Some guy called me silly.) Chris (and the guy who called me silly) said we have to learn to talk to people who aren't like us, a worthy goal -- but I don't know if I'd stake my business on it. Luckily, I don't have to.

He also talked about transparency being not an entirely "open kimono" but just being honest. "Inentions matter," he emphasized. Building trust is the key.

Chris had a lot more to say -- check out Robert Armstrong's live blogging here.

Labels: conference, social media

So you've created a blog, probably for class, and you've started posting content. Now you're hoping someone will read it. How do you get people to notice your blog? That's one of the most common questions I get from my students. Here are the suggestions I give them to get them started (note: you should have 3-5 posts up before you start promotion).

1. At least some of the time, create original content, not just links to news stories or "I agree with so-and-so" posts. Examples:

• Conduct an interview (usually via e-mail; make sure the person knows it’s for publication on your blog)
• Summarize blog conversation on a timely and relevant issue with links to the various posts
• Create a top-10 list relevant to your blog’s purpose
• Present "how-to" information: how to look for an internship, write a poem, etc.
• Do an informal survey and post the results
• Choose headlines carefully so that they are descriptive and use tags and categories or keywords to help people find/notice your post.

2. Start to build a community.

• Include many outbound links in your posts (links to other bloggers posting about the same subject as your blog)
• Post comments on other blogs, using your blog’s URL when you sign in
• E-mail a note to another blogger to call attention to your latest post; make sure it’s someone who has demonstrated interest in that subject before and use this tactic selectively.
• Include your URL on your e-mail signature, Facebook or MySpace page, etc.

3. Remember that a blog is a conversation.

• Sign up for Feedburner, Google Analytics, and/or Technorati to help you track progress--all are free. When these sites show that someone has linked to you, follow the link back to their blog to see what they've written and post a comment thanking them for the link or adding more information.
• Notice which search terms land people on your blog, and consider writing more about those topics.
• When you get a comment, respond back on your blog with another comment (we're going for dialogue). Make sure your blog is set up to tell you when you receive comments, so you can respond as soon as possible. In addition, start watching that person’s blog and comment on their posts if you find one that interests you.
• Use a social bookmarking site like delicious to help you manage content with tags.

I (and my students) welcome any other suggestions or additions to this list!

Cross-posted to WOM Class.

Labels: blogging, education, public relations, social media, students, tips

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

Last fall at the Connect conference, some of us discussed the idea of holding a "social media bootcamp" for students. My colleague Kaye Sweetser is turning that idea into reality.

Grady College and Edelman are co-sponsoring a social media bootcamp for upper-level PR students (and educators) from around the Southeast during the first weekend in March. Kaye says the registration fee will be nominal and will include lunch and refreshments. For those who can't attend, my WOM class will be live-blogging, tweeting, flickring and so forth.

More details to come.

Labels: education, public relations, social media, students

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

My refereed teaching paper on using blogs in PR education is now up on the AEJMC PR division Web site (thanks again to Kami and Constantin for reading a draft). In it I tried to identify some simple ways PR educators can use blogs for those who are new to the blogosphere.

If you're an AEJMC member just checking into my blog for the first time -- welcome! A lot has happened since I first drafted the article. The number of blogging PR educators is slowly increasing (see my blogroll); I assigned one of my Campaigns classes to create their own blogs, with mixed results; Grady hosted Connect, a PR and social media conference, very ably organized and publicized by one of my Campaigns teams, with social media coverage handled by Dr. Kaye Sweetser's social media class; and I've just started teaching a word-of-mouth communication class emphasizing social media... more on that throughout the semester.

One of my favorite parts of Connect was an educator's roundtable at the end of the conference in which we discussed ways to help PR faculty integrate social media into the curriculum. We're going to be working on that this spring and summer, so stay tuned for details-- if you're interested, leave a comment and I'll add you to my list. In the meantime, check out Kaye's post with some ways to get started.

Labels: education, public relations, social media

Earlier this year I was stuck in an airport (and in an airplane) so I spent several hours listening to PR podcasts. I got hooked -- what an easy and time-efficient way to keep up with PR industry news.

Now that I've been listening for several months, I'm ready to recommend my top five picks for PR students. I listen to and enjoy several others, but these are my picks for five that focus on content of interest to students and that are accessible to newbies.

#1:
Forward Podcast (Paull Young and Luke Armour) -- consistently high-quality content geared specifically toward students and young professionals. If you only have time for one, this is a must-listen for students (and faculty, for that matter). Luke also does a live show called The Rundown that students will enjoy.

The rest:
Inside PR (Terry Fallis and Dave Jones)
New Comm Road (Bryan Person)
PRobecast (Topaz Partners)
Trafcom News (Donna Papacosta)

If you're new to podcasting, you can follow my links to download the podcasts directly from the Web sites, or you can subscribe on iTunes -- either way, they're free. I also recommend Sarah Wurrey's posts on PR Podjots, which provide updates on various PR/marketing-related podcasts, and Forward's episode 26, a tour of the PR podosphere. Happy listening!

Labels: public relations, social media, 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 event planning team for Connect presented their campaign to Diane Murray (Grady public service and outreach) and Karen Andrews (Grady event planner) today. They created a very cool PowerPoint presentation that used black-and-white versions of Josh Hallett's Flickr photos for their slides, and all in all their presentation went smoothly.


Among other things, their post-conference evaluations showed:

• 83% of attendees who filled out the post-conference survey say they will use blogs and 75% say they will use social networks and social media news releases in their professions (PR or education)


• Respondents would be highly likely to recommend students to Grady (6.6 on scale of 1-7)


• Two-thirds of the respondents planned to keep in touch with someone they met at the conference


• More than 70 media outlets and more than 600 individuals received information about the conference


• More than 50 blog posts discussed the conference (not including the UGA Connect blog itself, which had almost 1,000 visits in the month surrounding the conference), and 63 people followed Dr. Kaye Sweetser's class Twitter stream


• 45 people attended the Friday night dinner and 65 people (including speakers and committee members) attended Saturday's sessions.

All told, the team quite rightly concluded that they had met the conference's goals of promoting Grady as an expert in social media, teaching professionals and educators about social media, and providing networking opportunities for attendees.

After the formal presentation, I asked the students to sit down and discuss what went well and what didn't (including the fact that we were over budget by $907). We also brainstormed what we would do differently if we did it again. Will we?

Labels: conference, measurement, social media

During the Connect conference, a bunch of UGA students got hooked on Twitter, so I thought I'd provide a few tips on how PR students can use microblogs like Twitter to the best effect.

1. Don't take "What are you doing?" literally, at least not all the time. Use it for networking by providing links to interesting posts, podcasts, video, news stories, etc. that others might also enjoy.

2. Don't Tweet too many times in a row (thanks, @AdamDenison) -- if you have that much to say, consider doing a blog post instead. Or updating your Web site (thanks, @ashleyb33).

3. Keep it professional. Like any other social media, use it to help build your online reputation.

4. Security measures apply here, too, just like on a blog or Facebook page.

5. Twitter helps create conversation, which means you have to follow (and be followed by) other people for it to work. Set aside some time to find people to follow-- start by adding PR educators like @prprof_mv, @rdfrench and @kmatthews (and, of course, @KarenRussell!), then look through the people they follow to find their students and professionals who are interested in PR education. In addition to the Twitterati mentioned throughout this post, I can recommend @vargasl, @paullyoung, @jspepper, @bryper, @LukeArmour, @prblog, @michaelallison, @ceubanks ... just for starters. Just read their most recent posts and see if they're writing about things you're interested in, and if they are, click Follow. And if someone starts following you, consider following them, too.

6. Twitter is unreliable (thanks, @kamichat). Learn not to be annoyed.

7. Read about why some people don't like Twitter and 17 tips for writing Kickass Twitter Posts, in which B.L. Ochman recommends asking and answering questions on Twitter, advice I followed to help me write this post!

Update (19 December 2007): 8. Use Tweetscan to make sure you've seen any posts replying to or concerning you. Just type in "@yourusername" and it'll search for all references to you.

Labels: microblogging, social media, 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