Podcast Blog!

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Image source http://blog.heartland.org/2011/10/heartland%E2%80%99s-podcasts-of-the-week-6/

This last blog post assignment is based on podcasting and how it can benefit PR students.

This is what I listened to >>> HERE <<<

Get it done guy’s “9 steps to work less and do more” by Stever Robbins was the guest speaker on “thecreativecareer” and Stever was talking about his book. He had a few very good ideas he touched on to help become more focused on work while at work and not to get distracted by technology (aka ditch the smart phone) I actually became interested in his book and think I may go pick up a copy.

As far as the podcast arena, they are a simple yet effective way to help get information out about any topic not just PR topics. Its actually fairly easy to get a podcast setup, and listeners can tune in at their leisure rather than be restricted to a specific time. Students in the PR field could benefit greatly from tuning into a podcast because there is such a huge variety of topics than can be covered as well as insider information during interviews on the shows.  Its really just another great learning tool for students who are looking for a little extra outside of the normal textbook, lectures, and the internet search engines.

On the topic of podcasts, my co-worker is starting a new podcast >>>here<<< It’s almost up and running and I may even be lucky enough to make it on the show 😀

#hashtagfail

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Susan Album Party!

For those of you who have never heard of Susan Boyle, She was a very talented contestant on the game show Britians Got Talent.

Video of the show

These few minutes on stage changed her life forever and thrust her into a life of fame. She soon began recording her very own album and had gained many fans in the process. Many people wanted more Susan and they were about to get just that.

Just before her first album release, Susan was going to have a question/answer session between her fans and her PR team wanted to get the word out about the “Susan Album Party” It was all down hill from there.

If you remove the spaces the hashtag was actually #susanalbumparty which the internet turned into Su’s anal bum party.

#Susanalbumparty

Image sourse: http://socialmediatoday.com/annsmarty/1420951/hashtags-gone-wrong-6-examples-unfortunate-hashtag-choices?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Social+Media+Today+%28all+posts%29

Most companys and PR people use hashtags successfully without incident, but when someone lets one small, poorly worded phrase with a pound sign slip past the radar, the damage done can be irreversible. Not such is the case of Susan, but people will always remember her wonderful rear end celebration fore her new album release.  I think the funniest part about the whole situation is the fact that Susan’s PR team deleted the tweet very quickly, but people kept hashtaging about su’s anal bum party for weeks and the team even refused to comment on who’s idea it was. Priceless.

Susan’s album released without a hitch, in fact, she got a lot of exposure because of the incident and it seems like most people just had a good chuckle about it then moved on. I think her PR team could have had a little more fun with it to shrug off the situation and laugh at themselves and how silly the ordeal was rather than act like it didn’t happen, but it didn’t hurt either way. It will just be remembered as a PR fail that was more funny than upsetting.

 

 

 

Comment #4

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  • Standing up for opinion’s by:Caleb Popp

  • http://cpopp1991.wordpress.com/2013/10/28/standing-up-for-opinions/comment-page-1/#comment-6
  • 10/29/2013
  • Not saying she was right or wrong, just an interesting topic, and touchy at that. “They” say a man(or woman) is only as good as their word. “They” also say actions speak louder than words. In this case I would combine the two and just go with “A person is only as good as their actions.” Words for thought.

Obama Administration deflects German phone taps as necessary for protection…

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Obama NSA

image sourse: http://rare.us/story/house-rejects-proposal-to-reign-in-nsa-snooping/

The U.S. Intelligence agency was accused of allegedly targeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cell phone. The Obama administration could have handled this a little differently than they did. Merkel demanded the truth be told on the extent of what really happened and what information was acquired through the alleged tapping of her phone, after all it would be a violation of a German law on German soil. She wanted full disclosure of all tapping done to her, and Germans citizens phones and had made it very clear of her extreme distaste on the topic, and she is not alone. France, Brazil, Spain, Mexico, and other intelligence leaders of Ally countries. This is possibly one of the most back stabbing underhanded thing that the U.S. could to to ally nations and now we have lost the trust of our friends.  

What should have happened.

Obama to allies: “I’m sorry this happened. We felt like we could learn a little more information that we could connect together to stop terrorist plots that would otherwise be carried out. It was wrong to go behind your back and spy on you. Why don’t we form a international intelligence agency so we can more effectively share information and intelligence and work together?”

Allies to Obama: “Apology accepted, but seriously, why did you do that bro? We can’t trust you for a while, but we like you owned up to it and you are trying to fix it. A step in the right direction ol’ chum.”

What actually happened.

Obama to allies: (and I’m summing up) I didn’t know that was happening, but I’m sure the american people’s best interests were in mind. Its whatever, I guess we could stop.

Allies to Obama: “Neat. Well we really don’t like you anymore and can’t trust you as far as we could throw you. Which in your case with your bloated, bureaucratic, government is a very short distance… jerk.”

 

Wire tapping is a crime in Germany and someone should be held accountable, but I don’t think much will happen in the way of punishment. Not to mention that Fox News reports that a high ranking official in the NSA claimed Obama knew the whole time and even ordered the actions to continue. I’m genuinely embarrassed for our country and our foreign relations at this current time.

Here are a few articles I found on the topic. Make your own judgement if you want.

 

fox news report > http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/27/obama-knew-nsa-spying-on-merkel-and-approved-it-report-says-944692234/

la times report > http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-spying-phones-20131029,0,3235295.story#axzz2j54IoFuU

BusinessMirror report > http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/index.php/en/news/world/21762-nsa-spying-threatens-to-hurt-us-foreign-policy

OR…just Google it. There are plenty of articles.

 

6 tips for a press release!

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Image

Img from The Ridgewood Blog.
http://theridgewoodblog.net/reader-asks-sexting-did-it-need-to-sensationalized-in-the-media/

As the title suggests, this post is all about writing a press release and 6 tips to help. 

For those who don’t know exactly what a press release is, Google defines it as “an official statement issued to newspapers giving information on a particular matter.” but basically its a way to tell the media (aka the public) about your story or what you WANT them to know about a story…officially. 

The assignment for my intro to PR is to write about 3-5 tips for an effective press release. So I’ve gathered some tips from the inter-web and I’m going to put a few more than just 5 but I thought these are the tips that would really help.

 

#1. Explain precisely

Make things clear and don’t leave things open for interpretation. People have a way of twisting words and stories, so don’t leave any room for the imagination.

 

#2. Think like the audience

How many times have you skimmed through a school news paper for a few seconds or flipped pass the news stations while channel surfing and mumbled “who cares?” report what people want to hear and don’t bore them.

 

#3. Short and sweet

Now that the audience is actually paying attention to your press release, don’t lose them! Having too long of a press release can drive away viewer/readers due to a short attention span. With today’s technology and the internet at peoples finger tips, its hard to keep peoples atten…. oh look a butterfly!

 

#4. Very few big words.

Some people are not read good. Words with lots of letters don’t know what mean. But seriously, folks may not have an expansive vocabulary like you so try to leave out the unnecessary “wow factor” words. Don’t talk down to the audience, just don’t make them crack out a dictionary to figure out what your trying to say.

 

#5. Make info available.

Now that the audience has paid attention to your press release, they liked your topic so much they want more info! Make it available to them. Provide souses, links to web pages, anything to pass along more to the people to whom you peaked their interest.

 

#6. Facts/Data

Use hard numbers, quotes, graphs, any raw data you can get your hands on. People love to see numbers and figures and come up with their own opinion rather than be force fed yours.

 

Just in case you missed it….

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The United States government has been shut down at the end of the fiscal year (oct. 1st) due to the lack of willingness to negotiate about the affordable health care act between the President Obama, senate democrats, and senate republicans.

Even an overwhelmingly low approval rating by the general public has still fallen on deaf ears in the senate and white house and the democrats refuse to negotiate the terms of the bill as well as all funding of all government entities because they (Obama and the democrats) aren’t getting what they want. The republicans have taken a stand as well and are allowing the Gov to shut down and are standing firm on the campaign to de-fund Obama care

Click here for Approval ratings

From the outside looking in, this is clearly a no brainer for the president and the senate. THE PEOPLE DON’T WANT OBAMA CARE. Yet for some reason the people are being ignored. Maybe they think we aren’t capable of thinking for ourselves. Maybe its some giant conspiracy for the gov to control its citizens, or even to fill the money bags of those top politicians and ceos.

Regardless of what motives are behind such blatant disregard of the citizens wishes the people will only tolerate this for so much longer and then things will begin to escalate.

Here are some reasons why people are so opposed to Obama care:

Businesses are firing people and cutting hours, so they are not required by law to pay for the health care.

Less jobs and Less hours working = less money in the pockets of the consumer.

Consumers not consuming = stagnant economy.

Regardless of if you decide to sign up for Obama care or not… you will be taxed for it.

All citizens will be required to pay for Obama care… except those who are exempt…. like congress. I find it weird how they expect the people to change their health care and pay the fees (taxes) while the ones who make the decisions are not required to (aka senators, the president, house representatives, whoever else they don’t want to be included in the bullshit).

Restaurants in Nancy Pelosi’s district are also exempt… interesting.

See for yourself.

Not to mention Obama’s entire presidential term is up for question because of how many times he did not tell the facts about his healthcare act on purpose. (lies) 

Here are just a few tiny lies on the health care reform act. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Wv8t_C3VdE

Just in case you missed it… here is what will be effected by the gov shut down.

http://www.usa.gov/shutdown.shtml

Personally, I don’t care how long the gov is shut down. Keep it closed until they decide to flush this bill down the toilet with the rest of the shit where it belongs. It’s clear cut that the people don’t want “the affordable care act” and the guys in Washington need to pull the wax out of their ears or there heads out of their ass.

Sorry, not sorry.

PR Professonal Interview

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So For My PR class, I am supposed to conduct an interview of a PR professional and who else could be more perfect than one of my bosses, Justin Lowe. Justin is the Sales Manager of Peters Distributing and I have been working with him for the past 4 months as a Sales Representative. Basically what we do is go door to door and set appointments to demonstrate our product as advertising and sales. Justin did not attend college but has been working for the company for 13 years and has PLENTY of on the job experience that I wish I could have learned in some of my college courses. I learn something new everyday from this guy and it baffles me as to how he can handle some of the crazy situations that arise while out in the field. I conducted the interview over the phone after work because I didn’t have the interview questions, otherwise I would have done this in the car. BEGIN!

Justin Lowe

Sales Manager of Peters Distributing Inc. / Owner of (Lowe’s Home Health systems)

Justin.colt.lowe@gmail.com

What’s a typical week like?

~ “80- 90 hr work week, hiring, training, customer service, sales processing, lead procurement, vendor management.”

Tell me about a project you worked on that you are especially proud of?

~ “Helping rebuild a company with the owner after he decided not to retire, tripling the sales of the company, and improving dealer retention.”

What do you do to keep current in the PR industry?

~”Always checking on competitors (prices, products) and I spend an hour every morning reading things to improve myself and I like to maintain a hands on approach in the field with dealers.”

What do you wish you would have known before starting your career in PR?

~ “The amount of work that is truly required to be successful.”

How important is writing in your career?

~”The up-most, whether it’s correspondence with dealers, clients, the distributor, and creating training manuals and exercises for new employees as well as current (employees)”

What three tips would you offer someone just starting out in PR?

~#1 have a passion for it. #2 be prepared to work #3 understand that people respond situationally

What has surprised you the most about working in PR?

~”How many different unique situations can arise during the day and how quickly I learned to  handle them, while maintaining my integrity.”

When your company is hiring for an entry-level PR position, what makes a candidate stand out?

~”Oh that’s EASY!  An outgoing personality and the ability to adapt.”

After interviewing this person, are you more or less likely to want to have a career in PR? Why?

~ Evan’s Answer- “Yes. I’ve already had the pleasure of working with Justin as my supervisor and can confidently say I could see myself working in the PR field as my career”