Newborn parents can use social media outlets too....week 10

So I read and commented on Mashable about the latest social media outlet called Wee Web. This new application allows eager parents to share the latest development's in their newborn life. Parents can also upload pictures and video. The creaters of Wee Web are following the structure of Twitter, with a timeline view of any updates made by parents. Content is shared through an invite-only basis and parents can accept new friends and/or reject others. There are other online journals similar to Wee Web that allow parents to record their newborn's everyday life, however Wee Web allows parents to send quick and short updates. These are much easier to read and take less time in comparsion to lenghty e-mails or journal entires. However, my only concern is that this application may get out of control. I would hope Wee Web would not gain as much popularity as Facebook, but I think it has some potential. So think about all the adaptations Facebook has made through the years. Since most newborn parents are excited about every little move their child makes, Wee Web allows them to share this news and so forth. I just think that the creaters need to make sure the content is extremely protected and safe. No parent would want their newborn's pictures spread throughout the Internet. I don't think that it would come to that, but with the Internet these days you never know.

Stress at school..... week 10

So I officially feel like I could die right now given the amount of work I have to do in the next two weeks. This post will be my little rant about what I have due. Here's the list:

1. Video blog-due Friday (almost done)
2. Podcast- due week of finals
3. Poster presentation for Animal Behavior- due Thur. Nov. 13
4. 2 blog posts and 3 comments- due Tues. Nov. 11
5. Broadcast Management paper (8-12 pages)-due Mon. Nov. 10
6. 2 lab reports for Animal Behavior-due Mon. Nov.10
7. Social Media essay (9-10 pages)- due week of finals
8. Exam in Animal Behavior-this Thur. Nov. 6

If any more assignments are given between now and then I will make it a point to yell, kick and scream, more so than I already have. I don't understand how this much work can get done in what little time I have left. I know several other students feel the same, so I can't complain too much. My theory is to take one day at a time because there is only so much you can do in one day. And know that you can only do your best!

New rules of marketing AND PR ....week 9

It seems as though most of our reading this week was geared toward reaching buyers directly and not through mainstream media outlets. I believe this is true and I don't think it's fair that large companies such as Apple can still get away with using media exclusively. However, if you think about it, recent success stories such as Cervelo Bikes have created great online content and directed their Web sites toward their buyers. As a result, these companies have succeed in reaching their audiences not through media, but by their own means. Nevertheless, this proves that organizations have the power to reach their audiences directly, but what about those people who want to stick with the old rules of marketing and PR? What if the higher-ups in your organization are from an older generation that refuses to try these news rules? David Scott mentions that the best way to figure out whether the new rules are right for you organization is to consider your goals for communicating via marketing and PR. Most small organizations just want their visibility to increase, therefore these new rules will be useful. I suppose if you have a CEO or executive that refuses to reach buyers directly, I would point out (with hard-core evidence) the organizations that have had success by telling their own stories. Perhaps that would change their minds.

Jennifer Hudson tradegy...week 9

Most of you have probably heard about the Hudson family tragedy by now, and if not you must live in a hole. I wanted to bring up this topic because sadly it does relate to PR. According to CNN, Jennifer Hudson grew up in a Chicago suburb and her mother continued to live there, even after Hudson agreed to buy her a new home. On Friday, Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson and brother, Jason Hudson were found shot to death in their home. In addition, Jennifer Hudson's nephew was also found dead on Monday morning. This horrible tragedy has put Jennifer Hudson back in the mind's of people around the nation. Jennifer Hudson recently received attention for her part in "The Secret Life of Bee," and she just released her first solo album. Therefore, she did not really need any more PR because she has already established herself quite well. Nonetheless, I feel that this will be a true test for Hudson as she battles the constant media attention. I can't imagine what she's going through and on top of that she has to face the press. Although people already respect Jennifer Hudson for her hard work and talent, this tragedy will truly make her a diamond in the ruff. I respect her and admire her for her strength. Her family will be in my prayers.

Animal behaviorist a bad speaker? week 9

After a long and stressful weekend at the PRSSA conference I came back to Ada to sit through a somewhat enjoyable lecture. Dr. Marc Bekoff, professor emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, discussed animal behavior and how animals have emotions. In addition, he talked about the welfare of animals and if they have a moral sense. In addition to this lecture Dr. Marc Bekoff was also in my animal behavior class on this morning to discuss several topics. And if that was not enough, I got to sit through another lecture tonight, which was essentially the same lecture he presented on Tuesday night. Moreover, each one of his presentations were scattered, disorganized and had no structure whatsoever. My theory here is that scientists/animals behaviorists have so much information stored in their brain that when they try and present the information it just comes out as one giant mess of disorganized thoughts. His theories and ideas were very thought-provoking, but every time we started going into detail about one topic he would completely shift gears and talk about something else. I think he should have taken more public speaking classes or even more communication classes. He really didn't even know how to use a PowerPoint as well.
Therefore, I believe that PR professionals and biologists are two different types of people who are extremely smart individuals but very different ways. PR practitioners are good at being sociable, writing, speaking, problem solving and they are usually fairly computer savvy. In comparison, biologists are good at analyzing information, writing sort fragmented sentences, solving mathematical operations and analyzing statistical data. They seem to be somewhat isolated and not as outgoing as PR people. Nonetheless, I find it hard for me to be a PR student and then switch gears and learn about biology because these two areas are so completely different. However, I feel like it makes me a more well rounded individual.

PRSSA Conference....week 8

I'm not going to summarize or describe the events going on at the PRSSA Conference because so many of my other collegues have already done so. Instead, I would like to talk about one session I attended. On Saturday afternoon I went to the Promoting Healthy Living: Health care PR session and really enjoyed hearing from Rose Glenn (Senior Vice President, Marketing and Public Relations, Henry Ford Health System). Her 24 years of experience in health care was blatantly obvious and I found that I could relate to her discussion. She gave us the breakdown of the marketing and PR department and after working at Children's hospital over the summer, I realized that they had a similar system. Within the marketing and PR department were: marketing and promotion, system communication/internal communication, media relations, web services and events management. It would be interesting to see how other hospitals divide their departments or if they do at all. I feel that its really based on the size of the hospital. Nevertheless, Ms. Glenn talked about how health care PR is different from other forms of PR because there are several audiences you must take into consideration. Although it is a great idea to start blogging and use other forms of social media within a health care organization, it may not always be the solution because doctors or even nurses on the floors may not have access to a blog and so forth. I know that at Nationwide Children's several web sites were blocked because of the restrictions the hospital had set in place. Plus, you are dealing with perhaps a few "traditionalists" and "baby boomers" who think differently than our generation, the millennials. Nevertheless, in health care or at least internally, your audience is extremely broad; therefore think it's important to keep the old tactics and occasionally throw in some new tactics like social media.

Reaching buyers directly....week 8

This week's chapter about building your marketing and PR plan really grabbed my attention because it replaces the some of the old rules of marketing and PR. For instance, David Scott talks about how PR practitioners are told to focus on the four P's: product, place, promotion and price. If you think about, we, as students are also taught this as well. However, David Scott talks about the new rules, which include reaching your buyers directly and not using the media to tell your story. As college students we are quite familiar with the world of social media and Internet research. Therefore, we have a great advantage. Those of us that are graduating can truly apply these new rules when we enter the PR world and this may make us more marketable as well. For instance, we are Internet savvy and love Facebook, Twitter and Digg. These resources allow us to research buyer persona's and develop profiles. David Scott gives the example of a buyer persona for a male high school student who is a varsity athlete. I feel that we are easily able to find this information because we are so cued into all the latest Internet changes and research options. Basically, PR agencies and organizations should be begging for us to work for them because we offer a way to reach buyers directly. We know how to research, define our buyers, and find out every detail about their lives. Therefore, allowing us to write content that will grab the attention their attention and increase revenue for the organization.