At the beginning of the semester I had no real blogs or a twitter account. Now, as of today, I am involved in Twitter, Facebook, WordPress, and PR OpenMic. I love my Twitter account now. I used to hate it the first day I had it. I even hated it until up to about 2 or 3 months ago. I started loving it becuase it helped me to keep in touch with certain celebrities that I am in love with, haha like my baby Lil’ Wayne. I’ve had facebook for about 5 years now and to be honest I hate how the entire world can have facebook. I think there should be another place like myspace for younger or older people to communicate. As for wordpress, I’m still not a huge fan. I still haven’t really gotten the hang of the whole situation. However, I do still intend to look at other people’s blogs and continue to write blogs of my own. I think in my chosen profession (haha) I might as well get used to the fact that I am going to have to be blogging quite a lot in my near future. This semester definitely helped me prepare for this. PR OpenMic I don’t really use at all to be quite honest. I know I should, I just have so much other stuff going on that does not really leave me much time for using this site. I do think that it will help me out in the future though, seeing as even its title says basically what I have chosen to do with my life. I love social media and have really learned a lot through this experience. I will keep all of this technology and have high hopes for the upcoming technological advances. All in all, I’m so incredibly happy that I got a chance to be a part of this class.

Rebecca’s Top 10 Blogging Guidelines….For Those Like Me!

1. First and foremost, talk to someone you know has a blog or some sort of blog. This really helps to get a jumpstart on your blogging. I had a friend who was in PR and had a blog for years and she helped me set it up before I had to really even have one. It helps you to become familiar with the blog itself.

2. Make sure you know your way around the blog. You have to be familiar with your own blog in order to be able to actually blog. Know how to get to where you need to be.

3. Know how to write a blog. Know where to click if you want to catergorize it or change it in any way.

4. Play around in your blog. Don’t just open one up and use it only for what your teacher is telling you to do. You should mess around with the different links and buttons everywhere to help you know what is what.

5. Ask for help! If you are confused about anything that has to do with blogging, you need to ask questions. Sometimes if you can’t figure it out on your own it only causes more confusion and you will just get more and more frustrated.

6. Blog for fun. You should make sure you set aside a personal blog so that you can keep track of your thoughts and ideas. It’s like when you were little and had a journal. It’s fun to go back and read what you wrote months ago.

7. Add tags. When you add tags of the things you’re interested in you tend to blog for much long and have a lot more fun when you are doing it.

8. Set a theme for your blog. It’s much more appealing and fun to look at when you have something other than the standard layout.

9. Create an about you page. It’s helpful when people are looking you up or want to know more about where and why your blogs are about what they are.

10. Be patient. Sometimes stuff will get confusing but you have to rememer, technology is great…when it works.

This past weekend my family and I went to a shoot in Sanford, NC. We had a meeting with our club, the L.C. Smith Collector’s Association (LCSCA) where there was a question as to how we could raise awareness of our group. I threw in a lot of ideas such as adding a facebook page and maybe having someone who is an officer become part of the Twitter rage that is going on right now. They asked if I would help them out with stuff like this this coming up summer and I just though how cool this was to finally be able to relate something to my PR classes that I am taking. They seemed to have no idea what was going on in the new technological world and I thought it was a perfect oportunity to use what I have been taught to try and help out this club.

     A social media news release is just a regular news released that is featured on the internet or on the web. Today in our society there are so many different types of technology that can be used by Public Relations professionals. All technology is ever-changing and therefore makes it easier to reach more people. Our society has gotten so reliable on the technological advances that old styles of advertising or anouncing something important seem to be becoming obsolete.

     Some advantages of using the social media outlets to get your message across are things like being able to reach the young population, being able to quickly access information, and to keep up with technology. Our generation, generation Y, are used to seeing advertisements all the time. One website says that we are exposed to an average of 300 advertisements per day! With those numbers you could pretty much advertise to anyone at any time about anything. Being able to access information quickly is another perk of using social media for a press release. So many people these days are in a hurry and don’t necessarily catch what’s going in the world except for that 5 minutes a day they spend going on the internet and checking their email. The internet is a great place to promote your company or your cause. You can create your own website even that could help you to build your social media news release. It is actually surprising to find out that there are several websites that can help you to create your news release. This is another benefit of using social  media when writing a news release. However, a disadvantage of this course of action is that you won’t be able to reach those people who are either old fashioned and don’t really pay attention or keep up with the changing technology. Or, some people might just be elderly and don’t have computers or the technology required to be exposed to these messages.

     A PR practioner should consider using this technique when trying to reach a younger target audience. The younger generation is exposed to more social media than those who are older and don’t necessarily experience all those messages coming at them. It is an easy way to keep up with what is going on in your local area or even what is happening in other parts of the country. One should also consider using this when there are different types of multimedia being used by the practitioner.

     Twitter and Facebook are great outlets to use. They are being used continuously and really let people have a play by play of whatever they are interested in. If you are trying to figure out what is going on with your favorite artist or actor or just favorite celebrity in general, you can follow them on twitter and always know what is happening with them. You can know when they are  having tour dates or what is coming up in their future.

      Some tips to help you create a SMNR are as follows:

     1. Don’t overexaggerate what you are saying. People will not be paying attention and it might get confusing.

     2. Make sure everything that is in the news release is relevant to the original purpose of the news release.

     3. Make sure that you are getting to the point quickly, as with all news releases. You want to be sure that you get all the important information out in the first part of it. You will lose people’s attention if you don’t get straight to the point.

     4. Have a good, catchy headline.

     5. Make it a creative project. Use different fonts and colors to get the attention of your audience.

     6. Be sure to give contact information so they can get in touch if they have any more questions about what is going on.

     7. Use Twitter or another social networking site to help raise awareness and get your name out in the public

     All in all, SMNR’s seem to be making the regular news release obsolete. In the future, all PR professional’s should be up to date with the technology because sooner or later, we are all going to have to get used to it and learn how to use it.

Works Cited

SMNR Creation

http://www.copyblogger.com/social-media-press-release/

http://pressitt.com/

http://www.pitchengine.com/

http://www.realwire.com/servicesSMNR.asp

http://www.tkg.com/social-media-pr-template

SMNR and Organizaton has Created

http://www.shiftcomm.com/downloads/smprtemplate.pdf

http://www.relayforlife.org/relay/node/2610

A social media news release is basically a news release that is featured through online technology. It’s something that you can use as another way of trying to advertise for something. These days, lots of people are exposed to more social media than ever before so you really have to know who exactlly you’re trying to advertise to and how your going to advertise. It’s also important to keep up with the ever-changing technology. Especially in this field. You have to be able to use different search engines and really know about the different types of social media. You can share your every though via internet and people can know exactly what you’re doing and when. Therefore, it’s a great place to raise awareness for your company or whatever it is that you are trying to sell or promote. If people are trying to learn more about Chelsea Latley from E, then they can follow her on Twitter and know what’s going on in her life. Twitter is a great place to reach out to your audience because then they would be able to know when or where the next show is without really having to seach forever on the interenet. I think that a person should use this technique when trying to reach a much younger audience. In order to reach people our age, you really have to think about what their interests are. For example, you would want to maybe put something on facebook about it, maybe like a link to the release or some thing like that. Our generation is used to advanced technology that unfortunately the older generation is not quite used to. There actually happen to be a lot of websites out there that can trully help you build your own SMNR. They basicall build it all right there with your help and direction!

website mentioning SMNR

http://pressitt.com/

http://socialtraining.wetpaint.com/page/Social+Media+News+Release

blogs mentioning SMNR

http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/10/why-use-social-media-with-your-press-release/

http://www.copyblogger.com/social-media-press-release/

http://pressitt.com/

Whoaaaaaaaaaaaa! I was just watching TV on TBS and there was a commercial about McDonald’s egg sandwich thing. Only….it was a Burger King commercial. It was crazy! They were like ” it may not be original, but it’s the best” or something like that. I was like WOW! I can’t believe that they are able to do that! I just really can’t get over it. They were basically telling the public that they stole the idea, but it’s okay because it’s better than theirs. They were perfectly honest and I just can’t figure out right now if I hate it or love it. I’d love to meet the people behind this marketing technique and whoever came up with the idea for the commercial. I’m also curioius to see what the reactions to this commercial will be, both those of the viewer’s as well as McDonald’s retaliation. CRAZINESS!!!

I was watching The Office the other day and there was the episode where there is an obscene water mark on one the batches of paper that they were selling. I just thought that it was kind of cool to watch a tv episode where what I do actually comes into play. They have to do damage control to take care of the problem. There are a lot of angry customers and one of them comes to complain. It’s funny though because Michael sets up for a press conference but no one shows up because it’s a paper company and it’s really not a big deal. I just thought it was cool to see how these people perceive what PR professionals do for a living. They always have to clean up the mess!

I am not going to lie. I really did NOT enjoy taking this course at all. It was incredibly boring and I can honestly say I don’t really think I learned a whole lot by taking it except for maybe what to pack when I’m going into the field to do fieldwork. It was confusing and it was not well organized. It took me a minute to really understand how to navigate around the course. Also, the story they used was a bit dull. It seems like it has potential to be more interesting because it is a great mystery, but the way they presented it was just plain boring. I guess I did learn how to set up a multimedia report for future reference. I was surprised to learn that there was such a thing as moving rocks. Haha, I was more interested in learning about what was going on with that whole thing than how to actually put together a multimedia story in general. I think it would have been a better site if there were more hands on tools and things like that to really help my skills in writing those types of stories. If there were more activities and interactive things on the site. Being able to use the tools and skills that we learn in these courses would really help us in the future but when we aren’t able to practice using them it seems kind of like it was not even really taught to us. I do know now what the key elements of this type of storywriting should be and what types of stories are appropriate for multimedia writing. I liked the activity on what to pack and why because it really helps you to be prepared. You don’t want to be in the field and suddenly need something that is completely out of your control.

http://www.newsu.org/node/338

#1 

-Ain’t It About Time 

–http://beccathomas.wordpress.com/2010/02/03/aint-it-about-time/ 

-2/4

-I had no idea that you were actually allowed to use ain’t. That’s pretty cool. However, I have to agree with you I hate hearing that “word”, if you would even call it that.

#2

-What’s your comment?

–http://beccathomas.wordpress.com/2010/02/03/whats-your-comment/#comment-14 

-2/9

-I have to agree with you. I have no experience as a blogger and I am still not sure if I am doing all of this stuff right. I get confused with all the applications and whatnot that you have to choose from and all the confusing words and terminology. Oh well, I guess in our profession we might as well get used to it!

#3

-TOW Week #5

–http://smithsws.wordpress.com/2010/02/23/t-o-w-week-5/#comment-3

-2/23/10

-I have to agree with you on this one. I never thought I needed a twitter account as long as I had a facebook…but obviously the PR world will require us bright young talent to have a twitter account as well.

#4

-A Week of Tweeting!

–http://laurynwilliams.wordpress.com/2010/02/21/week-7-a-week-of-tweeting/#comment-8

-2/23/10

-It is kind of annoying that twitter only lets you post 140 characters. Sometimes my thoughts are way more than just 140 characters. That’s not even that many words!

#5

– Tweet Tweet! Matthew Caudill

– http://matthewcaudill.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/tweet-tweet/#comment-4

– 3/2/10

-hmmmm, i must agree with this. i’m so used to seeing the news and whatnot on the tv and not so much on twitter. it’s hard getting used to using all this technology that i’ve never used before. but it has helped me to find PR people which could be great for me in the future. as for google buzz…never even heard of it what is it?!?!

#6

– One Tree Hill on Trending Topics

– http://thegamesthatplayus.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/one-tree-hill-on-trending-topics/

– 3/2/10

– haha, i love one tree hill! i never watch it consecutively but when i do i always fall in love and want to go and buy the seasons. i didn’t know what a trending topic was on my twitter either, thanks for informing me!

#7

– Topic of the Week, Week 12; Matthew Caudill

– http://matthewcaudill.wordpress.com/2010/04/05/topic-of-the-week-week-12/

– 4/7/10

– Haha, I just found out about the Ipad the other day in my advertising class. To be honest I am kind of scared of it. I feel like technology will one day completely wipe out our reliance on actual technology fieldworkers. It is crazy how much there name is out ther and I have yet to see a commercial…and I watch way too much TV!

#8

– Topic of the Week, Week 11, Matthew Caudill

– http://matthewcaudill.wordpress.com/2010/04/05/topic-of-the-week-week-11/

– 4/7/10

– I completely agree with the whole different people learn differenlty and in different ways. That is so true. What might be easy for someone to learn by just hearing, another person might have to visually see it in order to understand. Infographics are a great way to accomplish this. They are definitely a way to grab someone’s attention.

#9

– PR Open Mic, Megan C.

– http://meghancallahan99.wordpress.com/2010/03/31/pr-open-mic/

– 4/7/10

– I like the fact that you can communicate with other PR people too on the chat forum. It helps us to really know what is going on with companies that we either want to be a part of or taht are affiliated with other companies we someday hope to be a part of. The groups section is a great way to minimize confusion and really just search for a specific group that you are interested in.

#10

– My Spring Break 2010, Mike from VA

– 4/7/10

– http://mikefromva.wordpress.com/2010/03/31/my-spring-break-2010/#comment-12

– Those pictures look like they could be fake! Haha, and by the way, cities are wayyyyyyy over-rated. Living on the beach is the best way to live.. You don’t have to deal with the hustle and bustle life-style. I guess that’s just my personal favorite way of living because I enjoy always being on island time….hehe

#11

– How to be successful in your job interview, Mike from VA

– http://mikefromva.wordpress.com/2010/02/27/how-to-be-successful-in-your-job-interview/

-4/7/10

– When I was younger my parents always got on to me because I’m more of a PJ’s all day, no makeup, hippy kinda gal. They told me that first impressions make all the difference. As I’m getting older, even though I don’t agree with having to dress up and look nice on a regular basis, I’m starting to see where they come from. First impressions, no matter how off they may be, are lasting impressions. You only get one chance to make a first impression, make it count.

#12

– Why I am not a feminist, Mary Bolin

– http://coolmomscare.org/2009/07/13/why-i-am-not-a-feminist/#comment-775

– 4/7/10

– I came across this blog accidently. However, I agree with the mean streak issue. Some females just seem to take it to the next level. Feminism isn’t what it used to be. I am too young to remember, but from what history tells us, it was about open-mindedness, not just “what we say goes and is right no matter what”, which seems to be the tone taken by so many feminists I know today. I can’t even carry on a conversation with them! I am proud to be a female but will be the first to tell you, I love my manly man!!!

#13

– Topic of the Week, Week 8, Matthew Caudill

– http://matthewcaudill.wordpress.com/2010/03/30/topic-of-the-week-week-8/#comment-18

– 4/7/10

– Haha I have to agree and disagree. Some things helped a little I do suppose. However, it was a little funny to me that, like you said, there was little REAL helpful links to click on. I spent about 5 minutes just trying to find out if I had missed out on something that I was supposed to do. It was a little confusing at times but I did get a couple of things out of it.

#14

– TOW 11: Infographics, Michelle V.

– http://michellev21.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/tow-11-infographics/#comment-23

– 4/7/10

– I agree, visual representation really helps the client’s story to be published. It’s more creative and shows that you really put forth that extra little effort to make it appealing and interesting. Like the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words!

#15

– In Which I Hope teh Chooch Becomes a Princess, a Bad-Ass Princess, Carla

– http://stinkerbells.wordpress.com/2010/03/28/in-which-i-wish-i-was-a-princess-a-bad-ass-princess/#comment-182

– 4/7/10

– I have no children so maybe it’s not right for me to comment on butttttt…I do know that when I was little I was not the girly girly type either. I remember Umbros! I loved Umbros! My little sister is not girly girly either. However, she does love to dance which makes her happy, which in turn makes me happy. I hope she never loses her own style and individuality because that is what makes her so unique, which is what I’m guessing you’re talking about. I hope she doesn’t get caught up in all the fru-fru with dressing up and losing her Lucy-ness!

#16

– Six Ways Gmail Revolutionized Email, Kristina Bundy

– http://kristinabundy.wordpress.com/2010/04/04/six-ways-gmail-revolutionized-e-mail/#comment-15

– 4/7/10

– I never knew that Gmail was the first to do this either but dang, good for them. Haha I totally understand why though because like you said, even my texts are threaded! It also says a lot about Google. It’s just one more thing that sets them apart from other search engines! Gota’ love Google

#17

– Personal!, Jessica Teal

– http://jessicateal1.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/personal/#comment-11

– 4/7/10

– Haha Jessica, I’m 22 and I definitely feel 22! All of the sudden my body seems to be slowing down! I can’t do what I used to at 21, and maybe it’s just mental. I hope so. I don’t like admitting I’m 22 either, I’d rather stick with 21 forever

#18

– Podcasts + PR = Perfect Combination, Kristina Bundy

– http://crawlins.wordpress.com/2010/04/03/podcasts-pr-perfect-combination/#comment-25

– I agree. Our generation is used to things like podccasts and things of that nature. I feel like it’s an important part of being in the Public Relations field. It helps us to find jobs or connect with other PR people who are interested in the same things as we are. Pretty cool concept I think.

#19

–  Want to Drive a Journalist Crazy?, echertha

– http://echertha.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/want-to-drive-a-journalist-crazy/

– 4/19/10

– The embargo date thing would drive me crazy too. And you should definitely make sure it follows the format that the journalist wants because time is a horrible thing to waste!

#20

– Mmmm…Delicious!, Megan C.

– http://meghancallahan99.wordpress.com/2010/04/18/mmmm-delicious/#comment-104

– 4/19/10

– That’s really cool that you can add all your favorite websites to your account that way you can access them easliy. I am almost convinced to create my own account just to be able to search the search engine. It seems like a great way to be able to communicate for group projects and things of that nature.

#21

– Guest Blogger, Kdwhigham

– http://kdwhigham.wordpress.com/2010/04/18/tow-15-guest-blogger-james-kicklighter/#comment-102

– 4/19/10

– That would SUCK to live in New York and lose those shows! I would hate to miss that awards show, too. It’s sad that these people have to have such an impact on regular society just because they are having a personal fued. It just doesn’t seem fair. And their images are definitely being tarnished.

#22

– Writing an effective news release, mikefromva

– http://mikefromva.wordpress.com/2010/04/16/writing-an-effective-news-release/#comment-20

– 4/19/10

– I agree. If your release does not get the readers’ attention at the very beginning, then it is pretty much pointless. If you don’t grab my attention quickly, I am going to read something else because I, like most, have a short attention span. And if I stop reading after a paragraph, well at least you know that I’ve caught the most important information.

#23

– What happened to Mr. Blobby?, lcura

– http://icuras.wordpress.com/2010/04/15/what-happened-to-mr-blobby/

– 4/19/10

– AHHHH Mr. Blobby! Haha I haven’t thought about that in forever. Of course everyone wonders where he went. I just went to that website so that I could reconnect with him. I always thought it was just a regular person’t index finger and that’s why it looked like that. Haha!

#24

– Extra, Extra!, afurmage

– http://afurmage.wordpress.com/2010/04/15/extra-extra/#comment-25

– 4/19/10

– It drives me crazy when teachers post assignments that say no typos and then they have typos in their post of the assignment. Don’t they know that typos are dealbreakers? They seem to but then get mad at us for having them. Also, overuse of stupid words gets on my nerves as well.

#24

– Infographics, Lisa McLaughlin

– http://creativa410.wordpress.com/2010/04/15/tow-week-11-infographics/#comment-21

– I like your infographics that you have posted on this blog. They are a great way to catch your potential client’s eye and set yourself apart from the rest of the people.

#25

– T.O.W. Week 14, Megan Long

– http://mlong331.wordpress.com/2010/04/15/t-o-w-week-14/#comment-7

– 4/19/10

– I felt the same way! It seems like it was just a bunch of common sense. And I know how you feel about these courses. We already have hours and hours of homework in this class so why in the world are we having to take 5 ADDITIONAL courses. It’s super frustrating. And I’m sooooo glad too that it was our last course.

#26

– Social Media in the Media, tara1md

– http://tara1md.wordpress.com/2010/04/26/social-media-in-the-media/

-4/26/10

– I think the quick factor is definitely an important perk of the social media news release. It makes it so much easier to access information in a fast manner instead of having to wait on other sources. I think it’s so important for us to know how to work this technology because it changes so much. I think the older generation needs to get used to this.

1) The most important part of speeches is to get to know your audience and to research them. Find out everything you know about your audience so that you can tailor your message specifically for them. You don’t want to offend somone in  your audience by saying something that they completely disagree with. Instead maybe just suggest the idea.

2) And AGAIN, public speaking is different from other forms of writing. You can use personal pronouns, as opposed to writing a history paper or things of that nature. You can really just talk conversationally. Just use small words don’t try to impress your audience with jargon.  When you ask questions you get the audience more involved and they will pay more attention to the message.

3) 93% of all communication occurs not through your words, but through your body language. You should try to make eye contact with your audience because they will feel more personal. Also, you should dress nice, nothing too flashy or formal because then the audience will be focussed more on your outfit than what you are actually saying. Standing up straight and leaning forward, it shows your passion for what you are saying.

Wilcox, Dennis. (2008). Public relations writing and media techniques. Allyn & Bacon.