My Last Post
I can’t believe this is my last post ever! Well, at lease my last post that I am required to do for Robert’s Style and Design class. I think that this blogging assignment benefited myself as well as everyone else in my class. It took me a long time to write my first few posts because I didn’t know what I was doing. However, the more posts and comments I wrote, the easier they got to write.
I’m glad I had the opportunity to communicate with PR professionals around the world. Without blogging, I don’t think this would have been possible. I’m thankful to the Macrom Blog contributors who took the time to read and respond to our posts. The contributors understood that this was a learning process for us.
I didn’t realize how influential blogs were until I began blogging. I became aware of news stories mentioning things that they got off of people’s blogs. I also started noticing major corporations with blogs on their Web sites.
Blogging helped me constructively develop my thoughts. In turn, I became a better writer and critical thinker. I got comfortable taking a public relations issue, analyzing it, and making my own argument in a post. Now, I find myself looking at everything from a PR perspective and analyzing situations that I come across daily. When an issue arises, my friends jokingly tell me I should blog about it because they know I have to write two posts in my blog every week.
Blogging has many advantages that I’ve experienced throughout the semester. Even though I’m not “required” to blog anymore, don’t be surprised if you keep seeing posts from me!
Auburn CityFest is Over!
Auburn CityFest 2006 is officially over! I arrived at Kiesel Park at 5:30 a.m. yesterday and I didn’t leave until 6:30 p.m. I am so exhausted! I’m relieved that the event is over because it’s been soo time consuming. I’ve been co-coordinating CityFest since August 2005, so it was neat to see everything come together.
I think everyone would agree with me that this year was the best year yet. The police said that at one point, every parking spot except two was filled. All of the exhibitors seemed to be please. I had several exhibitors come up to me and tell me that this was the best run festival they’ve ever attended. They also said it was the most hospitable. It meant a lot to hear comments like these from the exhibitors.
The volunteers were great. We had about 150 volunteers overall. It was helpful in the morning when all the exhibitors were unloading their cars, because the volunteers jumped in to help.
Setup was last Thursday from 2 p.m. – 6 p.m. and 6 – 8:30 a.m. yesterday. A few exhibitors never showed up, which was a bummer because they don’t receive a refund and the items these exhibitors were going to sell were really neat.
Highlights of the day:
The weather – We couldn’t have asked for better weather. Last year, it rained and most exhibitors weren’t able to set up. Aside from the wind, the weather was perfect.
The entertainment – Families relaxed in the lawn as they listened to great blues music.
The Fort Benning Silver Wings skydivers – they jumped at 10:30 a.m. and landed in the center of Kiesel Park. The show attracted thousands of people to the park.
Funnel Cakes – the line for funnel cakes was an hour long. It seemed to be a big attraction.
The shopping – hundreds of arts and crafts exhibitors and fine arts exhibitors lined the park, selling everything from purses to birdhouses. Not many people left the park empty-handed.
I’m pleased with the outcome of Auburn CityFest 2006. I’m so glad it was a success!
Phi Kappa Phi Communication Elements
This is another post about the Phi Kappa Phi visibility campaign I’m proposing to the Executive Committee on Tuesday. In my last post, I explained the goals and tactics of the campaign. Now I will explain the five communication elements we plan to use to reach our target publics.
The first communication element is flyers. We plan to have 200 flyers targeted toward underclassmen and another 200 flyers targeted toward upperclassmen. The flyers for the underclassmen will encourage high academic achievement and portray the prestigious image of Phi Kappa Phi. The flyers for the upperclassmen will list the benefits of joining as well as the membership criterion. We feel that while flyers will attract attention and reach some members of our target publics, they will not do the entire job; therefore, we plan to use four other communication elements.
The second communication element we plan to use is fake $100 bills. The money will promote the Outstanding Freshman Award that Phi Kappa Phi offers. The fake money will include Phi Kappa Phi’s national website, the official logo, the amount of money the award grants and the communication platform, which is “Aim High for Phi Kappa Phi.†A member of the Executive Committee will distribute the fake money at Honors Camp War Eagle sessions. After the first year, a volunteer from the Volunteer Student Committee can distribute this money. We feel that by distributing this fake money, freshmen honor students will become more aware of the prestige of Phi Kappa Phi.
The third communication element we plan to use is fake $250 checks. The fake checks will promote the Outstanding Female and Male Sophomore Award that Phi Kappa Phi offers. The fake check will include Phi Kappa Phi’s national website, the official logo, the amount of money the award grants, and the communication platform. The fake checks will be distributed to faculty advisors at the beginning of each semester by a member of the Volunteer Student Committee. We feel that by distributing fake checks, sophomores will become more aware of the prestige of Phi Kappa Phi.
The fourth communication element we plan to use is a Phi Friends webpage. The webpage will include the names and contact information of Phi Kappa Phi members who are available for mentoring underclassmen. It will also include their major. We feel that this webpage will attract underclassmen to the website, which in turn will increase the awareness of Phi Kappa Phi. It will also create a network between underclassmen and upperclassmen. If underclassmen are involved in Phi Friends, they are more likely to accept an invitation to join Phi Kappa Phi.
This fifth communication element is the Student Volunteer Committee. A form
will be included with the initiation letter that is sent to invited juniors. It will include the students’ contact information and the areas that they could volunteer. We feel that a student committee will relieve the Executive Committee of some responsibilities and will also get students more involved with Phi Kappa Phi.
Our team feels that by using and intertwining these five communication elements, students will become fully aware of the benefits and prestige of Phi Kappa Phi. These elements will work together to increase the visibility of Phi Kappa Phi, therefore helping us reach our goal of increasing the membership acceptance rate by 10 percent.
“Aim High for Phi Kappa Phi” Campaign
On Tuesday, my PR Campaigns group will be presenting a campaign proposal to the Auburn University Executive Committee of Phi Kappa Phi. We have spent the entire semester working on this campaign for our PR Campaigns class.
After conducting primary and secondary research, we learned that the public relations situation is a lack of visibility. This lack of visibility is a contributing factor for the low membership acceptance rate. If more students knew of the benefits of joining Phi Kappa Phi, as well as the high prestige of the honor society, more students would accept their invitation to join.
The objectives and tactics we developed for each target public are as followed:
Communication Platform: “Aim High for Phi Kappa Phi”
Campaign Goal: To increase the acceptance rate by 10 percent
Target Public: Underclassmen in the University Honors College
Message Strategy: By publicizing Phi Kappa Phi in areas where honor students reside, this target public will be aware of the benefits and prestige of Phi Kappa Phi and will aim high for Phi Kappa Phi.
Objective 1: To increase the awareness of Phi Kappa Phi
Tactic 1: Use fake money to promote the Outstanding Freshman Award to incoming honors freshmen at the Camp War Eagle honor sessions.
(Each year, freshmen with a cumulative 4.0 GPA are eligible to receive a $100 check from Phi Kappa Phi)
Tactic 2: Use fake checks to promote the Outstanding Sophomore Male and Female Awards to sophomores.
(Each year, sophomores with a 4.0 cumulative GPA are eligible to recieve a $250 check from Phi Kappa Phi)
Objective 2: To increase the awareness of the benefits and prestige of Phi Kappa Phi
Tactic 1: Hang flyers in Haley Center, the library, and the Quad dorms
(These areas are where freshmen primarly reside)
Tactic 2: Utilize Student Volunteer Committee to distribute flyers and national brochures at Organization Day.
Target Public: Eligible upperclassmen
Message Strategy: By promoting the benefits of Phi Kappa Phi, the target public will take action by accepting the invitation to join.
Objective 1: To increase the awareness of Phi Kappa Phi
Tactic 1: Hang flyers in each college
Tactic 2: Place a congratulations ad in The Auburn Plainsman
Tactic 3: Update the display case in the library
Objective 2: To promote student involvement
Tactic 1: Send a Volunteer Student Committee form with the invitation letter
Tactic 2: Include information about the Phi Friends program in the Volunteer Student Committee form.
Please see my other post for a more in-depth analysis of the communication elements.
Auburn CityFest: 13 More Days!
Auburn CityFest 2006 is 13 days away!
Last week, we hosted a media luncheon to gain coverage of CityFest. We invited media throughout Alabama to attend a “CityFest Sampler” at Kiesel Park. The luncheon gave everyone a “taste” of CityFest. The Fort Benning Silver Wings skydivers made a special jump at 10 a.m. They will be jumping again at CityFest at 11:30 a.m.. After the jump, we led the media to the pavilion, where Mason Custom Cooking provided a BBQ lunch. Fred Moates played the guitar while the media enjoyed the free food and warm weather. My bosses said a few words to welcome the media and tell them more about CityFest. Mayor Bill Ham also spoke. During lunch, the media had the opportunity to meet and greet the Silver Wings. We had press kits available for the media to learn more about Auburn CityFest. We also passed out free Auburn CityFest t-shirts. I think the event went really well and helped us get great coverage.
In case you haven’t been reading my previous posts, Auburn CityFest is Auburn’s largest, FREE, outdoor arts and crafts festival. This year it is hosted by the Opelika-Auburn News. The event draws nearly 30,000 people. The festival is April 29 from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. at Kiesel Park. The headlining act is Willie King and the Liberators. The theme is a Blues Extravaganza. There will be hundreds of arts and crafts exhibitors, fine arts exhibitors, food vendors and nonprofit vendors. There will also be 11 inflatables, a carnival, a hot air balloon display, the StoryMaker, and much more.
It is a rain or shine event. Last year, the weather was terrible. Several exhibitors couldn’t set up their booths because their products couldn’t get wet. Some cars even had to be towed out of the mud. This year, we set up a hotline that exhibitors can call to get information about the weather. We set this up to help people prepare if they are driving to Auburn from another city. This proactive step is one of the ways we are trying to make CityFest run as smoothly as possible. I really hope it doesn’t rain!
I’m looking forward to this event because I’ve put so much time and energy into it. I worked through all the stages of planning so it will be neat to see the final product.
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Good Employee Relations
Oprah Winfrey works hard to make sure her employees are satisfied. How much one puts into something is how much one will get out of it. By investing in her employees, she is investing in the future success of her show.
Oprah has a reputation for satisfying her employees as well as her live audience. Pricey gifts are constantly being given to her audience. Her show is a major target for advertisers to market their products since the ratings are high. Giving away hot, new products on the show keeps the audience satisfied and also markets the products. Â
I’m sure Oprah could afford all these giveaways, but it seems logical that advertisers are covering the costs. I think that this technique is more beneficial than a commercial in terms of marketing products because Oprah is persuasive and is also a trendsetter. When people see Oprah giving out Ipods, they want to own one as well. People will also talk about what Oprah gave away, creating word of mouth marketing.
Here are my two favorite examples of free gifts Oprah has given her audience in the past: Â
Oprah Gives Entire Audience New Cars
Oprah’s Favorite Things Series
Her favorite things included:
Philip Stein Teslar Diamond Watch
Burberry Coat
Burberry Purse
UGG® Australia’s Uptown Boot
Garrett Popcorn Shops’ CaramelCrisp® and CheeseCornâ„¢ Tin
The new Apple iPod
“The Oprah Sweater” by Ralph Lauren
Pure Color Cords
Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker
BlackBerry 7105Tâ„¢ from T-Mobile
Brownies from Moveable Feast Geneva
Nike Free 5.0 iD®
Kashwére® Shawl Collar Robe
Croissants from Williams-Sonoma
Hope in a Jar from Philosophy
“Grace” Basket from Philosophy
Oatmeal Cookie Dough from Fox & Obel Market
The Oprah Winfrey Show 20th Anniversary Collection DVD
Sony VAIO® FJ Notebook
And the list goes on…
No wonder you have to sign up years in advance before you can be an audience member of her show!
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City of Detroit Police Department Faces a Crisis
Part of the mission statement of the City of Detroit Police Department is to enhance the positive image of the Department. One of today’s headline news stories, however, is hurting the image of the Department. A 911 operator assumed the two phone calls made to the Department by a five-year-old boy were prank calls and she ignored his need for help. The boy was taught to call 911 if anything happened to his mother, Sherrill Turner, who had an enlarged heart. When his mother collapsed on Feb. 20, he called 911 like he was taught, but the 911 operator didn’t take the boy’s calls seriously. She told him he shouldn’t be playing on the phone and to get his mother before she sent the police to his house and he got in trouble. When police finally arrived three hours later, Sherrill was dead.
In a crisis such as this one, it is important for the police department to have a spokesperson respond using one clear voice. James Tate, the spokesperson for the police department, said he didn’t have details regarding what happened. He said “the operator may have believed he was playing on the phone.â€
Instead of speculating the reason for the operator’s negligence, there needs to be answers. The police department should be apologizing and admitting it messed up. I know that the boy was hard to understand, but shouldn’t every case be treated seriously? Twenty percent of calls may be pranks, but that doesn’t mean questionable calls should be treated lightly. The operator assumed the boy was pranking. She didn’t ask him. He wasn’t laughing. A 911 operator should know that five-year-old boys don’t have the best pronunciation.
I went to the City of Detroit Police Department Web site and found nothing about the 911 call. Although there are links to other news stories on the Department’s Web site, there is nothing about this situation. After all the bad publicity the Department is receiving, don’t you think there should be some type of statement up about the situation? The mission statement I found on the Web site is inconsistent with the way the situation is being handled:
•   “Strengthening communication between the Detroit Police Department, its employees, the community, and the media.â€
•   “Enhancing the positive image of the Department.â€
•   “Ensuring that the community’s perception of the Detroit Police Department is well informed and favorable.â€
•   “Supplementing public perception with accurate facts about the Department’s commitment to establishing community partnerships and its dedication to serving the citizens of Detroit.â€
The Department is not communicating effectively with the community. This situation does not portray the Department is a postive light. The community is not well informed about the situation and does not have a favorable perception of the Department.
According to Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings, it’s important not to rush to judgment. The chief said the situation is currently under investigation and no course of action will be taken until the investigation is over. I’m bothered that the 911 operator remains on the job during this investigation. I think that she should be fired for her negligence.
The woman’s life may have been saved if the 911 operator responded swiftly to the 911 call. How do you think the Detroit Police Department should handle the situation? Do you think they are doing everything in their power or that more could be done?
Carnival Cruise
After reading Lindsey’s post about the M.S. Celebration cruise ship, I felt like I needed to comment on the topic as well. After all, I did go on the same cruise with Lindsey and I can support everything she said in her post.
To begin, the cruise was great. I mean, how couldn’t it be? I was on the ocean for a week away from school and work. I didn’t have a worry in the world.
Being a PR student, however, I analyzed everything from the typos I found throughout the daily agendas to the customer service, or lack thereof.
College students are obviously not a segment that Carnival is interested in pleasing. I understand this because it’s not likely that I’ll be a loyal customer at 22 years old. I just wish we were given more respect and not stereotyped with all the other college students that may have caused problems on Carnival in the past.
Regarding Lindsey being carded, I had a similar experience. As I was getting off the ship in the Bahamas, a crewmember asked me if my parents knew I was getting off the ship. Ummm….I’m 22. The crew thought we were all much younger than we were and they treated us with disrespect on numerous occasions.
Here are some of the complaints I have:
- Security came to my room two times telling my roommate and me to be quiet. The first time, I was asleep. The next day, I was brushing my teeth. I opened the door and security said this was the second time they were going to warn me that night. I was shocked! I had just gotten back to the room. The two rooms across from us had high school students in there and they may have been making noise, but it was not me. I definitely included this on the comment cards we received at the end of the cruise.
- When my luggage arrived at the front door of my room, my bags were unzipped and my belonging had been tampered with.
- I used a plastic bag in the closet to put my laundry in and room service dumped it on top of my clean clothes in my suitcase. I went to complain and they said the plastic bag was meant for blankets only.
The day we departed the cruise and headed back to reality was a disaster. The system for getting everyone off the ship needs to be reevaluated. I couldn’t believe the lack of organization. We all decided to do express checkout because we thought it would be faster. BIG MISTAKE. We stood in the same spot forever before moving. There was no line. It was just a bunch of people coming from every direction of the ship to get through the same small door. No one could go up or down the stairs because they were occupied by people and luggage. I’ve never felt to claustrophobic! Right when I started to move a bit, the girl next to me accidentally knocked a metal sign over with her luggage. The sign fell on the knee of an elderly woman who was furious with the girl. I felt bad for the elderly woman, but this girl seriously had no way of avoiding the sign with everyone pushing from all directions. This situation could have been avoided if there was a more efficient way of getting people off the boat.
Overall, I encountered several situations where I thought improvement was necessary. Despite my criticisms, however, I had a wonderful spring break!
The Challenging New Role of PR
Today’s PR practitioners fresh out of college differ from those who have been in the PR field for decades. They have those lines on their resume that scream “social media.†They have portfolios that include their digital resume and writing samples from internships and PR classes. They can call someone in Japan using Skype, record an interview and set it up for poscasting, create their own Web site, and of course, blog.
In Robert’s Style & Design class, student are required to blog four times a week. By interacting with real PR practitioners, students are getting experience that their parents didn’t get when they were in school. They are preparing themselves for a career in PR by learning from the pros, writing with the pros, and engaging in conversations through blogs that pull their PR knowledge out of the classroom and into real life experiences. However, this new generation is going to enter the PR field and be shocked to find that not everyone is up to par with the media tools they are being exposed to.
My mom has been in PR for 25 years and she doesn’t think blogs are useful for her particular job. I’ve tried teaching her what I’m learning in school, but it’s hard for her to grasp these concepts. As more young people enter the workforce as PR practitioners, it’s important that they teach the older generation about the usefulness of new media. They also need to teach them how to use the new tools. When I worked at the AJC, workshops were frequently offered to teach people about new software programs. I took advantage of this as an intern and attended as many seminars as I could. I may never use ADMARC again (the most outdated, frustrating computer program out there) but I’m glad I was exposed to it. I know that’s not an example of new media, but having workshops like the ones I attended are important for the older generation of PR professionals. A lot of people don’t realize the impact new media is having on today’s business operations.
Giovanni Rodriguez made a great point in his post titled “Are People ‘Challenged?’†He said that PR is about the younger people representing the future of the business and also the older people who are capable of defining the business today. He goes on to say that both are in short supply. There is such a blurry line between marketing, PR and advertising which is a reason for this short supply. When someone asks what I’m majoring in, it’s almost easier to say “marketing†because when I say “pubic relations,†they often ask “what’s that?†I’ve also received criticism when I told people my major because their perception is that PR people are “spin doctors.â€Â
This big question that arises is “what is PR?†Who are the great role models in this profession? As Giovanni pointed out, there really aren’t any. “This problem — the ‘dumb PR person’ caricature — has always plagued our profession.† Â
Will new media take over the traditional roles of the PR practitioner? The role of the PR professional is changing and we must adapt to these changes to keep the profession alive. Social intelligence is key. If you demonstrate social intelligence, you will succeed. If you don’t, you will fail. The best PR people are not challenged – they are doing the challenging.
PR Roles: Part I
New roles for today’s PR professionals are discussed in Giovanni Rodriguez’s two-part series post titled “New PR Jobs For the Post-Blogging Economy.†Giovanni described five new roles that are unique to the PR profession. Read the following descriptions to see which role fits you best.
The Researcher: people who fit this role are good with numbers and have always understood the value of listening. The new leaders go beyond the pollsters and researchers from the past.
The Anthropologist: these people place themselves in the environment of what they are observing. By actually going into the field, they can observe how people are using the tools. Experience, in my opinion, is the only way to really learn. Without immersing yourself in a situation, how will you know how things operate? How will you know if the tools are useful, hard or easy to use, etc.? In Robert’s Style and Design class, we all play the role of anthropologists because we are blogging about PR and we are engagin in coversations with real PR practitioners. This tool is a new form of social media that businesses are quickly adopting.
The Gardener: Just as a garden needs water and sunlight, communities need people who put their time and energy into the community. A community cannot grow without people dedicated to caring for it. Passionate gardeners will say there is always room for growth. There can always be improvement. They don’t “settle†for second best. Without gardeners, how will there be any growth and progress in the community?
The Communications Architect: This role is for people who are familiar with the new tools and want to teach other how to use them. They are using their knowledge as the foundation for future growth. As PR students continue to learn new media tools in the classroom, they can act as communication architects when they enter the “real world†and teach their colleagues about the usefulness of these tools.
The Impresario: People who are creative and artistic are likely to play this role. “Some PR people will lead by the sheer force of their personality, their work output, or artistry/fun of their writing.” These people like to use their minds, creativity and artistic nature to create change. They have innovative ideas and they want people to adopt them.
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