TwitterChat

This past Wednesday, I decided to participate in my first Twitterchat, #PRStudChat. I logged into my Twitter account from the web, and noticed a few of my followers were using the hashtag, so I decided to join in. I quickly switched over from my normal Twitter page to the Twitterchat page that would allow me to view the conversation a little easier. At this site, I didn't have to remember to put in the hashtag, it already calculated it into the 140 characters for me, how handy!I noticed tweeters were introducing themselves, I introduced myself and mentioned I was a St. Edward's student. Tweeters were very receptive because I received a few responses that welcomed me into the chat, especially since I had mentioned it was my first chat. I was debating whether or not I should just "lurk," and feel my way through the conversation or get in and ask some questions. In the beginning, I just watched the updated feed and then I decided I wanted to add in some input. I noticed Tweeters would first ask a question a

nd label it Q1 and many people would respond or retweet the same post for professionals to answer. This process would continue with each question asked (we got up to about 5).

It was sometimes very overwhelming to participate because your feed would move so quickly. I was afraid to press "pause" in the upper right hand corner because I was afraid to miss out on something important! You gotta have some fast fingers to respond...! Also, you might see a post you want to retweet and comment on, but all you really have room to write is a short and sweet note like "great advice" or "interesting point."

Probably the most helpful advice from the PR pros was the conversation about Linkedin. I know we discussed its importance during class, but I still wasn't convinced that I needed to use it. I already had a profile set up (you know, just to have one) but my information was sparse. After seeing a few posts how useful it is for interviewers, I decided I better update mine ASAP.

Here are a few samples of my tweets during the chat:

#youknowyoureaprstudentwhen

This is probably my favorite hashtag on Twitter and I recently saw a post..."#youknowyoureaprstudentwhen you ditch your friends for a Twitter chat!" I have never participated in a Twitter chat, but one day I could see friends in my network would be participating in some sort of chat because they were all using the same hashtag and posting frequently. In class, we discussed a little about the benefits of Twitter chat and some of the popular chats to participate in or at least very least, "lurk." If you're trying to find a job, most of the time these chats include professionals who can give you great tips (140 characters or less!) about what kinds of things recruiters are looking for.

I am not a senior yet, but I am about to turn that corner soon when I am going to be scouting out for an entry level job. Of course it's never to early to start looking around and building up a network, that's how you get ahead of the game! Some popular social networks are PROpenMic, LinkedIn Groups like PRIntern |EntryLevel, and Twitter initiatives such as #HAPPO. So I figure now that have the resources, it can only benefit me to join these networks and do what any PR pro does best, NETWORK!

Also, a Twitter chat, #PRStudChat, will be held tomorrow Wednesday, April 14th at 1:00 pm CT. This is a great opportunity because experienced recruiters will be giving us some insight on how to land a job. Some of the experts will include:

• Jessica Porterfield, a recruiter with Fleishman Hilliard. Jessica has eight years of experience in the Biotech/Pharma industry and now recruiting in PR.
• Jessica Bayer, a Public Relations recruiter at Qorvis Communications. Jessica specializes in Public Affairs, Government, Crisis, Interactive, Creative, Consumer and International relations.
• Laurie Bartolo, a recruiter at Ogilvy. Laurie’s career spans almost 20 years and covers a wide geography, from Florida to Washington DC to New Mexico and now Michigan.
• Lindsay Olson, a recruiter, founder and partner with Paradigm Staffing who spends her days helping companies build public relations and communications teams nationwide.
• Rachel Kay , President and found of RKPR. Rachel, whose firm is currently hiring, is an award-winning public relations expert with experience spanning a multitude of industries including consumer technology, food, beauty and fashion, the Web and more.

TweetTweet

Since the PRSSA National Assembly a few weeks ago, my Twitter network has grown tremendously, and I love it. Before I was only following a few celebrities and "30 PR pros" that you SHOULD follow on Twitter. Even though I "should" be following these people, I realized that I wasn't really responsive to the tweets they were producing. Yeah, I mean some tweets I looked at but most of them I just blew off.

It was a little difficult working with my Twitter frustrations for my "Personal Learning Project" in my Social Media for PR class. I was looking at the pros' posts and even asking questions, but I was getting very little response. Luckily, this PRSSA Assembly changed it all. I feel that now when I go on Twitter, that my network is a little more personal (probably because I actually met these people) and I enjoy reading their tweets. I am also glad that many of my followers and followees have really relevant links that have helped me with my project.

To be honest, I am not sure what the problem was before when I only had a few PR people I followed. Perhaps it could be that I am more motivated to interact and respond to people I have met before? I wonder if anyone else experiences this issue? Maybe for some people it is just the opposite and they are more inclined to interact with people they don't know. It could also be that I am interacting with my future generation of PR pros that could make it a little more interesting for me. Either way I am glad I have build up a network that I like. No offense PR pros... I am still following you too!

RIP Press Release

Four years ago, Tom Foremski blogged about how press releases need to move forward to a include a new step..include hyperlinks. On March 30, Foremski yet again about his frustration with PR pros still neglecting this easy step. So in class, we discussed some of the reasons why PR pros are NOT hyperlinking. Perhaps laziness, forgetfulness, or a control factor? Whatever the reason is, PR pros are not moving forward to evolve the press release, but managing to keep the profession stuck in the past..

So I looked at the new template for the press releases we are supposed to be creating and I liked them..ALOT. Now, we are not required to to create a narrative about the event/person/news we are highlighting, but BULLET.. how much easier could that get? Not only that, but we can incorportate pictures, videos, graphics to make a once white sheet of paper, much more appealing to the eye. So tell me this, WHY oh WHY would we want to keep doing the same old stuff?

Here's a copy of the new template that NEEDS to be followed:

Podcasting for PR

This week, our PR for Social Media class discussed the dos and donts of making a podcast. To be honest, I have never subscribed, or even listened to a podcast before, I guess I just never understood what actually they were. After learning about how easy they are to listen and download, I'm wondering why I never knew this before...

Even after being introduced to podcasts, I was kind of wondering how something with limited visual cues could be useful in a PR profession. My brain was painting a picture that podcasts were just like talk shows with a few cute bells and whistles that were spliced in. But that was far from the truth. After listening to a few examples, you do not just have to interview people in podcasts..you can record professionals leading discussions or lectures, and use it as another learning tool in your area of study.

Podcasts are audio mp3 files that use RSS so you can subscribe to this podcasts (meaning every time you plug in and sync your iPod to iTunes, you will automatically receive new podcasts.) Because podcasts use RSS, the PR industry is benefitted because it keeps an audience up-to-date, sometimes even on-the-go. Not only is it effective with constant communication, it adds personality and edge to competition. Even though podcasts are popular, many people (like myself) have not yet experimenting with a podcasts, therefore it would be a great technique to make yourself stand out from competitors. It could also be a great addition to your blog. Instead of only conveying messages through words, it adds variety in a sea of text. Adding a podcast to a blog can provide a medium of communication for the audience to respond as well.

Podcasts are inexpensive and easy to make- I expect to see more and more podcasts emerging within the PR industry.

@dominos

Some of you might remember that awful YouTube video of two Domino's employees tampering with a customers food..Yes, I will spare you the details for those of you who do remember. At first, it seemed to take Domino's awhile to get onboard with their damage control tactics, but they eventually managed to install faith back within the customers. (with a LOT of help from Twitter)

After the pitfall with the two employees, Domino's built up customer relations through a Twitter account "dominos." Today, I am scrolling their twitter home page and I can see they are not only promoting their newest promotion "The Pizza Turnaround," but are working to respond to individual customer needs, which goes a step beyond a marketing tool, but sustainable PR relationship. I search at the official Domino's Twitter account and saw that their page was filled with replies to individuals, meaning their goals go far beyond selling a few pies...they care about their customer's satisfaction.

Not only did Domino's improve their customer relations with some social media, but their pizza too! The company's new campaign, "Pizza Turnaround," required Domino's to listen to some of its harshest critics and make a change to their needs. Domino's would browse through their tweets and print out negative feedback in order to address the needs of their customers. WOW. So I guess you could say this is not just Domino's Pizza, its the "People's Pizza." Still, Domino's has not pumped the breaks on its social media. The official "Pizza Turnaround" website includes a feed where tweets can be seen about the new pizza flavor using the hashtag #newpizza.

As for me, I'm pretty partial to a local pizza place, Conan's, here in Austin. Although, I'm definitely willing to give Domino's a shot, for social media's sake

Here is the YouTube video of "Pizza Turnaround.

Toyota Can't Catch a Brake

You may of heard about the recent problems today has been facing lately. I have caught bits and pieces from overhearing the news and seeing a few headlines on the internet. Toyota has been doing 24/7 damage control on recent "brake breakings," that have caused alarm for many customers. For me, I have always known the Japanese to be reliable producers (they may not invent anything-but at least they know how to build something good) so I was rather surprised to see Toyota going through such a crisis. I am a proud owner of a Rav4 and love it.. I am wondering what has gone wrong, but more importantly I'm wondering how Toyota is handling their situation. If Toyota's PR team is managing it anything like the Domino's fiasco, well we have a problem.

Well, at least Toyota took the right steps in their crisis management...but it took them a few pushes and shoves just to get them out into the media. In the early part of 2010, Toyota began a series of recalls that were not paired with answering and consoling customers about their safety. Toyota now has several TV and radio ads announcing their recalls, but are trying to instill faith back into the people. To me, Toyota's only mishap was timing..but timing is everything right? Better now than never.

Wave Goodbye?

This week, the reading for my Social Media for PR class tackled the mysterious Google Wave. After reading about all of its useful features, like email, IM, WebChat, message boards, and wiki, I decided to take a stab at it.

I didn't slice very deep, barely did I even make it to correctly uploading a photo.. Wave is confusing to a new user. Well, that's to be expected, I remember feeling completely lost with the new concept of Twitter. Part of the problem is the "lonely experience" I felt because I had only two contacts. Once I dived into reading more about Google Wave, the more I realized it is not so different from the technologies I have already been exposed to, it just surprising to see it all wrapped up in one.

I decided the wiki-feature of Wave is something very different. If I make a "wave" (the equivalent to an email), my document can be edited by the people I send it to. Weird? In my opinion, I would see that as a huge problem because how could the document be trusted if it was sent to a large quantity of people. For instance, say Wave took part as an internal email system for a corporation and was used to communicate about business meetings, events, and other corporate business, one individual could alter a date or time- which could be annoying.

On the other hand, I look at this for class projects and assignments as a great tool. If you are in a group with Snobby Sally or Cranky Chris, you might have zero initiative or ambition to ever actually meet with them, but the project has to get done somehow. With Wave, you can upload a document and send it to the unfortunate group members and work collaboratively on it (you can even use the IM to chat about your ideas/suggestions while editing the document).

Is Google Wave a hit or miss? I'm not sure it's effect yet because not everyone has access to it. From reading a few articles from class, I see it MIGHT have some potential in the future.