During the semester, I planned to blog a lot more. I admit that as a first-semester adjunct, posting twice a week was a lofty goal. I was busy grading blog posts, creating lesson plans, etc. I wasn’t able to keep up with this blog. Now that the semester is over, I am going to catch up on posting here, including posts about the classes we had, the topics we talked about, in-class activities, highlighting select student blogs, and coverage of the guest speakers. So, although the content will be posted much later than anticipated, my goal of sharing this class with the greater community through this blog will be achieved.

So, stay tuned for a retrospective look at PR & Social Media, a new elective in the communication studies program at Wilkes University.

Wilkes-Barre is one of the last mid-size cities to be a two newspaper town. Thanks to Chris’s efforts, the website allows the paper to publish breaking news right away, along with a timestamp to show when the story broke – important when you are competing for the scoop, even against news stations. The reporters would still be working on the rest of story, so there is always a “see tomorrow’s Times Leader for the full story.” The advent of the Internet has allowed newspapers to break news faster, while still providing the in-depth coverage papers are known for.

Chris talked about the use of the Facebook fan page and the various Twitter accounts associated with the paper – there are a few. He explained that Twitter was more of a broadcast of stories, where Facebook has more of a community feel and interaction, for example, asking for members to post weather pictures. The Times Leader has a sister publication, the Sunday Dispatch, a local paper for the city of Pittston. That paper has hundreds of fans and is a lot more niche. Chris also talked about the use of RSS feeds which would automatically post stories to Twitter, which makes managing his multiple duties more efficient. Posting every headline on Facebook, however, is still something he’s considering. Both social networks offer different opportunities.

Video is something that Hughes also introduced to the Times Leader website. He laughed when he told the story of how each time he shows up to cover news with a camera in hand, the news makers think he’s with a television station. “But, but, you’re the newspaper,” they say. Throws them off every time! The video allows for multimedia story-telling, something that is growing more and more popular within news organizations. Chris showed us the #1 played Times Leader video – the Gothic kitten case, which has in true news package format. And, to demonstrate the differences of the video he works on, he also showed us a video of the incredible Lego exhibit at the Everhart Museum in Scranton. This video had no voice-over and no narrative before or after – the video simply told the story through cuts of interviews and footage of the pieces.

Students really seemed to enjoy his presentation and having him in class really helped shed light on what I’ve been teaching all semester. While this class is called PR and Social Media, many communication studies students at Wilkes have double concentrations – some are telecommunications, while others also are interested in journalism. If anything was taken from Chris’s presentation, it’s that whether you are in PR, journalism or (of course) broadcasting, knowing video editing skills can be a huge asset. Couple that with being able to publish and promote that content online, and that’s a skill set sure to wow employers in the media or agency setting. In fact, the past few weeks there has been a job listing for a reporter at the Times Leader and knowing social media is one of the requirements.

Chris also discussed how the Times Leader’s sister publication, The Weekender, utilizes their website and social media to engage readers beyond the weekly print issue. One of the projects, which Chris spearheaded, is a music series Sessions, where local bands come into the Weekender offices and put on a show. This footage is streamed at the Weekender.com and is promoted in the print magazine. Editor Mike Lello and staff writer/designer Nikki Mascali also release a Weekly Dose video which previews the week’s issue. Video is used for other Weekender events, too.

One thing that Chris pointed out was that this evening was the first time that he and I had met in person. Until then, we’ve only communicated on Twitter although we have mutual friends and I have been a correspondent for both papers for nearly a decade. This also shows the power of using social media for networking. Whether it’s creating PR contacts, developing story leads or just plain old getting to know people in your industry and making new friends, Twitter is pretty darn awesome.

There is so much more to write from this presentation, but I will stop now before this post turns into a text book on social media and journalism. Thanks, Chris! You rock!

And… some of my students blogged about Chris’s visit, too. Hearing what they took away from the presentation is one of the best parts of teaching this stuff — seeing them connect to dots to their career goals and to material learned in other classes. Check out these posts and comments from students in the class:

Amanda’s take – “It’s crazy to think how not so long ago we had to sometimes wait a WHOLE 24 HOURS to get news from print media…”

Amy’s post – “…just as Spiderman catches criminals before they commit a crime, our local “Peter Parker” catches stories and saves the day by telling the community in a second!”

Breanne’s blog – “I really liked having him in class to switch things up a bit. It was very helpful and I enjoyed it.”

Brittney’s thoughts – “As a Communications major focused on Public Relations, I see the cruciality of social media and networking, for it is another way to promote a business or organzation as well as networking with others – but never did I think the Journalism aspect of Communications, especially newspaper and print media, would collaborate with the social media phenomenon.”

Britney’s post – “…I learned a great deal. It truly amazes me that all around people are saying that newspapers are failing and will soon be obsolete when it appears there are ways to keep them around.”

George’s view – “…broadcasting is going to be an important aspect to not just broadcasting alone, but with every other part of communications, such as print journalism, journalism, and PR.  You must know some form of broadcasting to get any where in the field.”

Lauren’s input – H”e mentioned that having these accounts is a great way for people to follow news stories and to stay connected.”

Vinnie’s view – “I think social media is a great addition because it is much faster and easier for customers to get when they can’t get a physical copy of the publishment itself.”

Luzerne County using social media to make the 2010 Census count more accurate

Internet abacus?

At last week’s Wilkes University Recent Alumni Program workshop, Professional Uses of Social Media, I ran into my Twitter friend, @Karla_Porter. Porter is Director of Workforce Development and Human Resources for the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry. I asked her what new and exciting projects were happening in her world.

As a part of her role at the chamber, she’s involved in the 2010 census, and in fact, was one of 30 people state-wide appointed to the Governor’s Advisory Panel on the US Census. Well-versed in social media, Porter is helping the county census reach — or you could say count — more people by using technologies that didn’t exist the last time we took a national roll call.

Porter set up a Twitter account and Facebook page for the Census. The Facebook page is frequently updated with facts, such as stats from the 2000 census. For instance, one post revealed there were 358.3 people per square mile and asked, “What will it be in 2010?”

I asked Porter about her thoughts on using social media for the 2010 census so that I could share with my PR class, and share more broadly with this blog:

Donna T: Do you feel that using social media will make more people aware that the 2010 census is happening and better yet, get more people to complete forms? Why?

Karla Porter: Yes. We have over 300,000 people in the county and we’re counting on businesses and individuals who use social media to friend and follow. (The census is) non-partisan, transcends age, gender and social class and it’s the patriotic thing to do. Residents hold allegiance to their terra firma and the repeated impressions they see from now through Census Day, April 1 should crystallize the message to participate and be counted. Plus, social media is fun and hopefully by following the campaign’s informative, fun messages it will provide the extra bit of motivation some of us need to be counted!

DT: What are some of your 2010 census goals specific to social media outlets?

KP: The goal is to educate, have fun and grow the follower base, asking everyone to spread the word along the way.

DT: What social media sites are you using, and what type of messages/features will you be using on each? For example, I saw one tweet where you encourage people to make their elderly neighbors, people often missed, aware of the 2010 census.

KP: The (2010 census social media) campaign is primarily focused on Facebook and Twitter. The Facebook goal is to get more fans than any other Census page in the country… The same is true for Twitter. There hasn’t been any competition announced, but I’m acting as if there were one and asking people to follow so that we have more followers than any other Census Twitter account because when we win, everyone wins.

Posts on both Facebook and Twitter will be educational and motivational to inspire people to take 10 minutes to fill out the 10 questions and mail the Census form back in the postage paid envelope. I’ll be posting in various languages like Spanish, Polish, German, Italian, Somali and others in order to reach people in their native language. One’s native language speaks to their heart! It’s important to know that participation in the Census isn’t optional, it’s mandatory.

You’ll see statistics and facts, projections and trends. There may be a contest in the works too!

DT: In short, why are these 2010 census numbers so important to the county? As in, why does every(literal)body count?

KP: Census information affects the numbers of seats your state occupies in the U.S. House of Representatives. And people from many walks of life use census data to advocate for causes, rescue disaster victims, prevent diseases, research markets, locate pools of skilled workers and more. The information the census collects helps to determine how more than $400 billion dollars of federal funding each year is spent on infrastructure and services like:

* Hospitals
* Job training centers
* Schools
* Senior centers
* Bridges, tunnels and other-public works projects
* Emergency services

Thanks, Karla for your insight! It will certainly be interesting to see the numbers start to climb as this year’s census, Porter tells me, will be counted in real-time on the US Census website. It’s great to see our local county be a leader in social media efforts for the 2010 Census!

Learn more about the 2010 Luzerne County Census:

Twitter – @LuzCoCensus

Facebook Fan Page

The United States Census is also taking a real public approach – it also has  a Twitter account and YouTube channel, and representatives are going on the road and will be making updates via social media. The census also took out a Super Bowl ad.

Official United States Census page

What I was reading sparked an idea for a last minute extra credit assignment for the class, to write about experiencing the Super Bowl differently because of social media with the focus on the game or commercials or both.

One of the prompts I gave the class to get some ideas rolling was to comment if they felt the big-time advertisers would be getting more bang for their buck this year. As in, still paying top dollar for ads, but then getting more mileage because of the new avenues to share and discuss the ads.

Super Bowl ads have always spurred water cooler talk and media coverage. Social networking sites have been around for a while, but this year it’s a new game. Twitter is more prevalent and widely-used and, in general, businesses are paying more attention to including social media in its strategies from the get-go, rather than it being an after thought or residual bonus.

Sure enough, that idea is the topic of much of the coverage I am seeing today, post-Super Bowl. There are lots of interesting articles to sift through, for sure. When I get home from my day job, I plan to dig in.

Intel gets some intel post Super Bowl as they monitor social media chatter

It seems like some Super Bowl ads this year were widely received, both as they aired and after. According to a Computer World article by Sharon Gaudin (Intel to monitor social networks on Super Bowl ads), Intel is using social media monitoring to determine the effectiveness of its Super Bowl commercials. After the commercials aired, a team of social media staffers watched and searched Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube for reactions. Talk about getting some good, well, intel.

“We’re absolutely looking at this as an opportunity to have consumers talking in the social networks,” said Intel spokesperson David Veneski in Gaudin’s article. (Read the entire article)

Another interesting addition to this year’s “bowl” spin-offs was Brand Bowl – a real-time look at which Super Bowl advertisers were being talked about most on Twitter.  Brand Bowl was an effort from firms Mullen and Radian6.

I look forward to reading the reactions to my students who participated in the extra credit assignment. One is already posted. A blog post from Allison who reminded us of a very BIG advertiser that was absent during the Super Bowl – Pepsi. The cola giant traded in the million dollar Super Bowl ad budget for an investment in a big social media campaign. Nice job, Allison.

I admittedly did not check in with Twitter as much as I thought I would (something to do with this really awesome tater tot casserole I couldn’t stop eating), but I did check in at half-time to see what people were saying about The Who.

What thoughts do YOU have about how social media may have changed the Super Bowl? Comment below.

#Toyota

Hashtags, using the # sign on Twitter to notate a topic, combined with a major brand name signify one thing: people are talking about this brand – a lot. It could be positive, it could be negative. But, when people are talking about a brand, those brand executives should be paying attention. Today, a search for #toyota on Twitter will show that it’s not excitement over a new model that’s the hot topic, but yet, the Toyota recall.

There’s no doubt social media can play a large role in public relations efforts at companies of all shapes and sizes. In fact, social media marketing has opened up new, if not more personal and immediate, avenues to handle crisis management. When the Toyota recall news broke, thousands turned online to research or share fears, frustrations, and questions. With so much public concern and outcry, there has to be a public response.

From boardroom to town hall

In a day of immediate information and rapid viral infection of news, PR executives at corporations do not always have time to sit in a board room and discuss how to break news to public or devise a plan to spin the story. In days past, consumers may get a letter making them aware of a recall. There may have been a press release sent that makes its way to a small, verbatim blurb in the business section of newspapers. In some cases, the CEO may not be available for comment. Today, news spreads faster and people hear about crisis, even if they aren’t involved or affected. Today, those companies in crisis don’t hide from the public — if they’re smart.

I just received an e-mail from Digg.com that displays a very public, transparent approach by Toyota to address consumer concern over the Toyota recall. Digg is hosting a live video interview with Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota on a feature called Digg Dialogg. Users can submit questions for Jim Lentz and the most popular, or Dugg, will be used.

I clicked on the e-mail headline to go to the Digg page promotiong the interview with Toyota There is a large picture of Jim Lentz, the CEO of Toyota. The page includes his bio. He’s there, in person, just like you and I.

Toyota CEO is being up front and personal during this PR crisis

While writing this post, I checked the official Toyota Twitter account and saw that the car manufacturer is making great use of Twitter, too. Within minutes after I received the Digg e-mail, they also updated Twitter accordingly. A quick scan here shows they have been actively making updates. From the account itself, you can see that Toyota already had a social media presence and strategy in place (looks like a whole dedicated team, in fact), so when crisis hit, they didn’t have to scramble to create a social media presence to respond. That should be a lesson to any large company – be proactive.

What is important here is that the way we respond to a crisis is changing. No longer is it a prepared press release to one-sided media. No longer do people need to partake in that tainted word of spin. Instead, social media allows companies to have an open forum, ask what the audience wants to know, and respond in person and live . While no one can say that a massive auto recall is not a scary event bound to affect many people negatively – being without transportation, injury (or the worse alternative), or financial hardship – we must give Toyota kudos for the way it is responsibly responding to this PR nightmare.

Size doesn’t matter

This Toyota recall is huge. But, no matter what the size of a company or organization, remember that you can use social media to monitor your brand and respond to known issues.

By reacting fast and being transparent, you can gain more respect, save face, and continue to rally support. Crisis happens – but true reputation management really involves how that crisis is handled. People may not remember exactly what the company did wrong; but, they will always remember if they avoided the issue or, worse, pulled the wool over the eyes of customers.

If in crisis: Don’t ignore it. Don’t hide. Instead, acknowledge, listen.

Social media gives you a prime opportunity to do that. Social media isn’t the only way to do this; traditional methods are still important. There should still be a plan and PR people at any company should have some training on how to handle the pressure of a crisis, including learning about these new methods that have been introduced recently. Responding to crisis can now be, well, a (Toyota) hybrid of methods.

P.S. The history of spin and crisis management is fascinating. I took a course in Spin & PR at Wilkes University during my undergrad days, and it was interesting to see how well or poorly companies handled crisis throughout the years. Before technology, there was more time, more ways to cover up bad news. Here’s a case study on one of the most popular spin case studies in history, the 1982 Tylenol Scare.

Brilliant Bridget: The clever flier Bridget create for the event.

Last night I co-presented a workshop on professional uses of social media for the Wilkes University Alumni Association, part of the office’s Recent Alumni Program.

The crowd of about 40 people was mixed – Wilkes alums from across the decades, community members, students, and staff. The questions during and afterward were great. I love seeing light bulbs go off or seeing that a-ha moment when someone gets something. It seemed as if most questions were of a technical nature about Facebook, which leads me to believe the social networking site should have a better FAQ!

Joining me was Stephen Moyer, a recent Wilkes graduate who found both his internship and job using social media resources. Steve is a recruiter for Whiting International in Rochester, New York. He focused on the uses of social media sites for exploring careers/industries, job hunting, networking, and on the side of businesses, how to recruit, find, and research potential employees. He offered some great insight, especially on how important the social networking site for professions, LinkedIn, is becoming for job seekers.

My favorite take-away from Steve? His F-R-E-E principle. He explained how effective and worthwhile Twitter is, because it’s free. That led to his quick, solid advice:

F – follow

R – retweet

E – engage

E – entertain

His basic advice here was to use Twitter to its fullest potential, follow people (and you will be followed), retweet things of interest to gain a following and reputation for sharing quality content, interact with people by adding comments of value, and finally, be interesting.

I focused on my area of expertise in social media: marketing and public relations. The workshop was about an hour and a half long – and we used every ounce of time (even stayed about an hour after to answer questions). We covered a lot in 90-minutes, but it was a very high level overview of the Big Three, as Steve and I called them – Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. It made me think just how much there is to learn and discuss and explore about social networking. After all, we’re covering the topic over an entire semester in this class.

My biggest message to the crowd was not to feel overwhelmed or that you have to take part in every social networking option; it boils down to what you are comfortable with and what works best for your company or organization.

On a final note, there were a few current college students in attendance, and several mentioned they were not yet very familiar with LinkedIn. I made a mental note of that as something to be sure I spend some time on in a future class.

A big thank-you to Mirko Widenhorn and Bridget Giunta from inviting Steve and me to be a part of this workshop.

How to Write an Awesome Blog Post – Slide Share

Please click on the above link. Since I am using the free, non-hosted WP at this point, it won’t let me embed the presentation. It’s worth a click. I promise. Fun stuff.

Well, of course there’s lots to Twitter about when you are in college. There’s just a lot going on, in and out of class. So, for this 10 Things to Twitter About in College list, I will focus on how college students can use Twitter to promote their campus achievements and activities — and even ways to get help or make some extra cash.

1. Write for the school paper? Use bit.ly, the URL shortner share your most recent story – use a compelling headline to get someone to click on your link. Use this tactic for any college media – newsletters, television, radio, blogs, journals, etc. You get the idea.

2. Contemplating grad school? Tweet about your options to get feedback. Better yet, see if the schools you are interested in applying to are on Twitter – either its admissions or alumni office (and its current students) can be a great help!

3. Use Twitter to recruit club members (especially at the beginning of the semester). Tweet about your next meeting in advance a few times. Use TwitPic to share a picture from a past event that looks fun.

5. Use Twitter to promote a campus art event. If you are involved in music, theater, or dance, use Twitter to let people know the details of the next show. Better yet, if there was a similar performance or you have rehearsal on video, share a link to it on YouTube.

6. Use Twitter to sell your used books! Use Twitter as a micro Craig’s List. Just make the arrangements over Direct Message (DM) if they involve an address or phone number. Heck – sell your old furniture or other apartment decor if you are graduating or moving.

7. Use Twitter to promote your sporting event. Something is always in season! Tweet about your upcoming game or, if you are a spectator, tweet live from the game. For fun, do some friendly trash-talking to get some conversation going, too!

8. Use Twitter to network. Follow companies you’d be interested in interning or working at. Many companies now post job opps through Twitter. Recruiters do, too. Keep your eyes and ears peeled. Never be afraid to ask a question. Use a DM if you don’t want to  publicly ask your question. Afraid you are too personal with your Twitter? Create a separate Twitter for professional stuff.

9. Use Twitter to find help or find study buddies. Tweeting while studying? Tweet about something you are unsure of and maybe get an answer from someone in your class, or someone who took a similar class. It can be an impromptu peer tutoring session!

10. Use Twitter to find research ideas or to promote a poll for a research class - lots of college students do surveys as part of their research for their senior projects. Survey Monkey is a great free tool to use to create polls and surveys. Promote your link on Twitter and reach more people than you could with traditional methods.

Those are just ten ideas I came up with on the fly about how college students can use Twitter. What other ideas do you have? Feel free to comment below.

This semester, I plan to navigate through a good number of these but will focus on the more mainstream ones. However, when it comes to an individual business or campaign, the best suited channel may not always be what you’d expect. It takes time to explore all of these, sure, but this chart provides a glimpse into just how many social networking and sharing sites (and classifications) and tools there really are.

.. and that lists keeps growing!

Brian Solis is the author of a book I just purchased (and am eagerly awaiting its arrival) - Putting the Public Back in Public Relations: How Social Media is Reinventing the Aging Business of PR.

I’m Donna Talarico, adjunct professor and this semester, I will guide students on a social media and blogging journey. This class will join traditional public relations methods with new media – how to implement social media into public relations campaigns, etc. This blog will catalog our semester-long efforts, as a class and as individual consumers of social media. As a full-time professional in the eCommerce field, I will also provide my own commentary on teaching a class of this nature. The end result, I hope, will be a comprehensive resource filled with reactions, insight, and ideas.

As the semester begins, students will be commissioned to start their own personal blog for the class. I chose this approach over traditional writing assignments because I feel that students can learn better by doing, especially when it comes to technology. By blogging regularly, students will not only get in the blogging habit, but also gain plenty of practice in writing for the web (SEO, linking, embedding media), in promoting their posts through various social media, and in reading the blogs of their classmates. Ultimately, students will become both social media consumers and contributors.

The blogs, which will be linked from the class blog as soon as they are created, will feature at least two new posts per week. Students will be required to post once regarding their chosen company to follow this semester as part of the Social Media Observer project. A second post will be a reaction to a weekly reading, a guest speaker in the classroom, or something else pertaining the social media and public relations. It is my hope that, as people may be following this blog, they will see the growth in these students’ knowledge as the semester progresses and the learning continues.

I am looking forward to sharing my knowledge, but more importantly, learning from the students as they ask questions and we discover the answers together.

Here’s to a great semester!