Twitter Madness

Hosts Spring Sing:Voices United for a Cure

I must admit, I was against Twitter.com  I thought the entire concept was a bit over rated.  I didn’t understand how it worked or why I would be forced to utilize this new social medium for my profession.  I was a whole-hearted skeptic.  I joined Twitter.com just to see what the hype was about and to get credit for a class last year and quickly forgot all about it this summer.  At that time, I had only used it as a way in which to bombard all Grady students with information about our student government elections.  I found this medium to be successful for this purpose, but I was far from hooked.

Then I returned to campus this August with a sincere wish to do well in my classes and to learn as much information as I could about my field.  I was not thrilled to learn for both of my Grady classes I would be required to learn the ins and outs of something I’d sworn to hate.  I’d have to tweet on a fairly regular basis about Public Relations and give it a real effort.  Darn.

So I did, I gave it a go and found that it is useful and can be entertaining and truly has potential.  I have even found myself explaining the pros of Twitter.com to several skeptics.  The hash tag function allows you to track conversations in real time about any topic and its extremely easy to search conversations or people to follow trends.  You follow people you want to learn from or who might disperse the kind of information you’d be interested in.  If these people had a newsletter, you’d want it.  It’s also good to keep in contact with people you meet in an informal way so you have something to bring up in conversation.  Twitter serves as an easy way to learn more about my friends interests with out me searching them out.  The information is there.  It finds me.

This is a remarkable concept and I must admit I’m now sold completely.  The final straw that did it was Ashton Kutcher himself.  He is infamous for having the most Twitter.com followers (more people than some countries combined) and I thought to myself, “why not?” so I jumped on board the tweeting train and followed him too.  One of his first tweets I received was about Ahmir, an up and coming R&B group that does A capella.  He described it as a cool new cover and gave the link:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b_oVBQKs3w

I fell in love, started crying and immediately sent it to Team Burns at UGA and a few others who I knew to be avid music and A capella enthusiasts.  I also left a message on their youtube.com video positioning myself as a PR director of Team Burns at UGA and described our annual Spring Sing: Voices United for a Cure.  One thing led to another, and let me tell you, one week after Ashton Kutcher (of all people) tweeted Ahmir’s Miley Cover, they are on board and Co-Hosting our 2nd annual Spring Sing in April 2010.  I could not be more thrilled!  Had I not stumbled across a tweet and been interested in the link, I might have never pursued Ahmir’s manager to inquire about interest for our organization and its event. 

Although I will be the first to admit I do not understand all of Twitter.com, I am learning fast and this is a huge hurdle for me.  I do not like change in general, but I can definitely see the benefits of being in a connected social network of sharing ideas.

What do You think?

The Red & Black this week cancelled anonymous commenting on their web articles, and then they did away with them all together.  They are, however, encouraging students to write e-mails to the Editor.  Will this be as effective in generating dialogue?  I’m skeptical, but at least they were able to walk us through the planning process of this decision and tell us why they chose to alter their options. 

http://media.www.redandblack.com/media/storage/paper871/news/2009/10/05/Opinions/Our-Take-3792495.shtml

On another (similar note):

Chic-fil-a does a lot.  They have such a strong focus on giving back to communities and a focus on core values, they are hard to ignore.  Yesterday I was in a meeting for ugaMiracle and the guy sitting next to me said offhandedly, “Chic-fil-a has the best PR of any organization.”  This was in response to the announcement that Chic-fil-a at Beechwood would be holding Miracle percentage nights  after each of our team member meetings this year.  What makes them so special?  I think it’s because they do good things for awesome causes, and then they publicise it! 

http://chickfila.com/#ourcommitment

There are plenty of companies out there that give back, but Chic-fil-a in particular makes service a focus of their organization at every level and then promotes it so people will know how involved and committed they really are.  They don’t just stick up a bulletin board, they smile and carry your tray for you and take an interest in students and just generally exude great public relations practices.  Have you ever heard of a store opening?  Talk about making a big deal out of events!  People have been known to sleep overnight and take more than one flight just to make these fun-filled events. 

What we can learn from Chic-fil-a’s success is to make ethical decisions, and then stick to them in every aspect of your organization.  Reinforce them.  Promote your efforts and those of your employees to live up to those standards.  Make it personal for your patrons.  They will appreciate it and care more about you as a result.

To tie all this together, it is important to remember communication and building relationships is what PR is about.  As practitioners we will be faced with tough decisions and will need to consult the ethics of our clients in order to decide what avenues to persue.  Thus, it is imperative we understand what our clients stand for as a whole and who they are trying to reach.  The avenues of communication are just as important when thinking about all of this as well.  There should be an easy means of contact and plenty of feedback that is taken seriously. 

I think this is something the Red & Black is still working on, and something Chic-fil-a is close to perfecting and it will be interesting to following the progress of both!

Stronger, Better, Faster

Generation Y the new kids on the block? We discussed this in class today and I borrowed it from crazyclaude.wordpress.com She found it first and I’m so glad she shared it. Take a look and let me know what you think!

TELE Issues

OPEN MIC with DEAN CULLY quickly turned into a prodding match between TELE majors and the administration.  There is a lot of confusion between the students and the faculty and those in charge.  Three main concerns were outlined pretty quickly: 

1.  Why was Newsource 15 taken away from third and fourth year students as an opportunity to produce reels?

2.  What happened to Georgia Gameday broadcasting and what can we do to get it back?

3.  Why isn’t the capstone class mandatory instead of impractical classes?

The Department head of Broadcast news, Hollifield, was quick to point out budget issues were a main concern and faculty were already being asked to do too much.  She repeatedly cited funding issues as a major problem for opportunities being cut in the TELE program.  She also said the purchase of the news station, WNEG, was solely funded on private grant money and none of it was funded by state or federal money.  Dean Cully reiterated the news station purchase decision was made in a different economical time and it was to benefit all future Grady students.

Hollifield also stated there were certain things we as students might not be aware of, and that they were trying to protect us.  I made the point that this line of thinking goes against everything we’ve been taught about public relations.  Internal organizations should always communicate with its external publics.  In Grady’s case, this would be the effected students such as TELE majors.   Several students echoed my thoughts by saying its ironic Grady, the college of mass communication, should have communication problems. 

Many students (especially those in graduate programs) immediately identified the dedication of faculty and lecturers to the student body and the opportunities they offered.  The faculty’s wish to be whole heartedly involved in bettering the student’s education was made clear when Dr. Biddle offered to donate $4,000 to institute the capstone class as mandatory for TELE majors.  Dean Cully responded by saying this was not necessary and he would personally find funding elsewhere. 

As a Grady College Senator for Student Government, I had met with Dean Cully and several prominent faculty on Wednesday to discuss some of the same issues.  I am so grateful to have David as my tag-team partner this year because he is imbedded in these major issues and knows the language.  I am only able to see these issues from a PR perspective and it is so nice to work with someone who knows the ins and outs.  This has really taught me how to ask the right questions in order to learn more about things I don’t understand and how to apply my PR knowledge to other areas of journalism. 

I learned there was a TELE meeting after Open Mic and went for a few minutes to present an idea for a proposal.  With students and faculty backing this idea, we decided to target these main issues: getting the ability to access equipment, starting a video production club or adding a certificate program, offering a freelance hub, offering production classes earlier, and possibly getting some form of Newsource 15 back.  Overall, the students wanted more opportunities to produce videos and gain real world experience.  They were frustrated by the lack of communication thus far and felt as if they had invested a lot in college that did very little for them in return. 

I would call this a crisis.  Thus, the need for a crisis communication plan!  The administration agreed to have more communication in a timely manner, and set October 15 as a date for another open discussion targeted at TELE issues.  They also stated they were open to receiving student proposals.  Thus, David and I will meet with the TELE professors and students and draw up a proposal with a petition attached.  I plan to meet with Hollifield to get a better (less defensive) grasp on what her thoughts are and at our bi-weekly meetings with Dean Cully these issues will be raised and discussed again.  

Communication remains an issue.  Hollifield admitted to seeing a student letter proposed by TELE students at the start of the semester and still not having responded.  She only yesterday discussed the issues outlined in that letter to Dean Cully.  Obviously budget cuts are hurting everyone right now, but there has to be a creative solution to these problems.  There is a way to fix this without spending money.  A good start would be better communication between everyone in Grady.

Ad Advice

** To be good in Advertising(or PR or any journalism field), you have to be a good writer.  WRITE. WRITE. WRTIE.

In Advertising there is a “new” normal.  Consumers are changing, so must we as professionals. We need to move towards restructuring and recovery, NOT rebound.  Build plans to fight the new war today.  The new consumer mindset:  it has become decided and it has shrunk.  Earn your own way.  We are moving from McMansion to a homestead mentality.  People are beginning to cook at home and garden, using this as an excuse for a date night in.  This shift can be seen as professionals move from the mentality of being entitled to becoming self-reliant.  Use Linked In, because you never know when you’ll be looking for a job and needing recommendations.  Stick to what you’re doing and don’t tear someone else down.  Take care of yourself.  Move from being material to meaningful… be stingy with your money.  An example of this is to avoid going to starbucks and pocketing the money or saving it for a rainy day.  Start working on preventing problems.  Don’t take a pill for something… Instead of treating symptoms, move towards wholistic views.  Consumer views are becoming less carefree and more considered.  Use RESEARCH.  Ask questions.  Find out if the purchase is worth your hard earned money.  Do you really need a product, or do you want an experience instead?  These are the questions and problems both advertising and Public relations professionals will face now and in the near future.  We have to find win-win solutions to these challenges and constantly change our way of thinking to create new and exciting ideas.  How can we appeal to a consumer base of this nature?  Its just like your old high school coach used to tell you:  Never be satisfied.  Challenge brands.  Attack the status quo.  As Paul Romer, a Stanford Economist, said, “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.”  Dare to be different.  Anyone can look good, but you’ve got to be tough too.  The individuals that come out on top of this recession will be the ones that think different. 

Great examples of thinking outside of the box and personal favorite Ad campaigns of mine are: 

Think different.  Apple Mac in 1980:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oAB83Z1ydE

The Most Interesting Man on Earth.  Dos Equis:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2SSZA0CjdQ

Contradiction.  Starburst:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3kpyJI2JBo

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