Posts Tagged ‘#PRStudChat’


To Follow or Not to Follow During Times of Crisis

Friday, May 7th, 2010
Investing in Twitter

Flickr Image: Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten

Valerie Simon

Melanie James, a communications academic at the University of Newcastle, whom I have gotten to know through #PRStudChat, recently tweeted: “Interesting to note who @BP_America follows…” At the time of Melanie’s tweet @BP_America had 2,500 followers, but was only following nine. (At the time of this posting, they have 2,855 followers and are only following 17). As news of the oil spill spread, the @BP_America Twitter handle was updated regularly to offer information. A sample of tweets included:

Video of BP CEO touring coffer dam construction.

Doug Suttles met with MS Gov Barbour & others showing Safety Training Classes for local population around Venice, LA.

Hayward applauds President’s statement on oil spill

The BP Community Support Team has set up a hotline for those who would like to help with the gulf coast recovery efforts: 866-448-5816

While the information certainly helped to broadcast valuable messages, elsewhere on Twitter conversation regarding the oil spill was happening with as many as 20 tweets a day directed specifically to @BP_America. Between April 30th and the morning of May 6th, whathashtag.com indicated that there were more than 19,838 tweets from more than 8,284 competitors discussing the #oilspill.

The lesson: Online discussions are happening whether companies choose to engage or not. (I know, the sky is blue, right?) But we must also recognize that each company needs to assess their own resources and determine when, where, how, and which conversations they should participate in.

In order to minimize some of the public frustration and ease some of the concerns companies may have about engaging in times of crisis, one practice I recommend is that organizations automatically follow back those who choose to follow them (the exception, of course, being spammers). By following the customers and individuals who have elected to follow your organization, you acknowledge their value, and most importantly you offer the public an easy way to voice their opinions privately (via a DM), rather than in a public forum which may further fan the flames.

Free online tools like, socialoomph.com, make it easy to follow back. However, before doing so be sure to have the resources to respond in a timely manner to those who do make an effort to reach you privately.

What Twitter best practices do you recommend for companies in times of crisis? How would you instruct your clients and/or business to use social media for public relations outreach and crisis management? Please share your thoughts with me and the readers of BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.

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Posted in Client Services, News Coverage, Public Relations, Social Media, Technology | 1 Comment »

10 Lists Every Public Relations Professional Can Learn From

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Hanging_Lists

Valerie Simon

I’ve noticed a lot of controversy regarding the subject of “lists” being discussed on Twitter lately. Bloggers who create lists run the risk of being scrutinized for the choices they make regarding who is or is not put on a particular list and the methodology behind those choices. I have watched (and joined in) conversations over the merits of building a Twitter list, largely based upon who is excluded.

Personally I have always focused on what is included; the resources that someone felt were worthy of a special designation. I have learned quite a bit from reading the lists of other bloggers, and would like to give back by sharing some of my favorite lists for PR professionals. I’m only going to list nine, however, and challenge you to help me finish this post by leaving a comment that includes your favorite list. I hope that you are able to take away something new from my recommendations and I look forward to learning from you!

10 Lists Every Public Relations Professional Can Learn From

  1. List of Links to Council Member Blogs (Council of Public Relations Firms) I take the content of my Google Reader very seriously and have a folder devoted to following the blogs of PR agencies. Here is a great list of PR Agency blogs that helped me fill that folder!
  2. PR News 15 to Watch Nominees and  PR People Award Winners There are a lot of great lists of noteworthy individuals in the PR community; the finalists for these PR News awards consistently showcase a sample of the very best in the public relations industry, highlighting both up and coming, as well as seasoned pro’s across a wide gamut of specialties.
  3. BurrellesLuce 2010 List of Top Media Outlets: Newspapers, Blogs, Consumer Magazines and Social Networks Yes, one of my favorite lists is created by BurrellesLuce. It’s a free resource you can download featuring the circulation figures of the top 100 daily newspapers in the United States, plus the 25 most popular English-language blogs, 25 leading consumer magazines and the top 20 social networking sites.
  4. Top Twitter Trends of 2009 and 2009 Year End Google Zeitgeist I have taken the liberty of putting these two lists together because I think the juxtaposition of the discussions which trended on Twitter and the fastest rising queries on Google is particularly interesting (and worthy of a blog post unto itself).
  5. Public Relations Trade Books A great Amazon.com list, for the PR industry, created by Georgia Southern University professor Barbara Nixon.
  6. The Ad Age Power 150  If you blog you are no doubt already very familiar with this daily ranking of marketing  blogs.  If you are looking to start blogging, this list will give you some great examples to learn from.
  7. The Top 10 Social Media Top 10 Lists of 2009  Several of the lists on this list (including Mashable’s Top YouTube Videos for Social Good) were part of my initial top ten, some of which offer great insights about social media.
  8. #PRStudChat Twitter list There are a myriad of excellent Twitter lists dedicated to those in the PR industry. You have likely created your own; here’s mine. As co-founder of #PRStudChat, a trending twitter chat between public relations students, educators and professionals, I wanted to get to know the participants of the community better outside of the hashtag. If you are looking for new people to follow on Twitter and who share your interest in PR, I think this is a great place to start.
  9. New York’s Top 100 Events for  2009  This list  from Bizbash is a great way to get the creative juices flowing by sharing some off  the most inspirational events of the year. Bizbash provides a “Top 100 events” list for several other cities, including Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Miami, Toronto, Orlando and Washington, DC.
  10. Your Turn. Please comment and share one of your favorite lists!
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Posted in Public Relations, Social Media | 10 Comments »

Being a Public Relations Mentor

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

Mentoring is an opportunity to pay it forward. Seventy percent of jobs are found through networking, according to a BusinessWeek article.  Lori George Billingsley, director of issues communications at The Coca-Cola Company and past PRSA multicultural communications section chair, claims her mentor of 18 years has been instrumental in helping her secure all of the PR jobs she’s held.  PRSSA has gone as far as dedicating an entire month (October) as being PRSA-PRSSA Relationship Month to encourage mentor-protégé relationships between the professional and student societies.

In researching being a PR mentor, I found quite a bit of good information on how to find a public relations mentor, where to find a mentor, and finding the right mentor; however, I wasn’t able to find much on being a PR mentor. 

Let’s face it, we’re all doing twice as much with half as much time these days (or at least it seems that way). So why should you invest the time to mentor?  Here are my three reasons for becoming a mentor:

  • Good way to learn.  I’m not necessarily talking about “reverse mentoring,” but it may be as simple (and enlightening) as discovering a new slant on an old strategy, method, or practice. Furthermore, you’ll encounter your protégé’s world and take away that experience. You may even learn something about yourself in the process.
  • Expand your network. Many of us work in non-traditional work settings these days, participate in webinars versus group meetings, and generally have less face-time together. Whether you work in a traditional office setting or not, mentoring is a great way to expand your reach. Your protégé today may be a hiring manager or client tomorrow.
  • Return the favor. “Pay it forward.” “Share the wealth.” However you want to phrase it, it just plain feels good to help others. When you mentor, you leave a legacy of sorts – your work ethic, character, experience, and even your professional personality are instilled into your mentee. 

Still believe you don’t have time to be a mentor? Then, how about participating in social media conversations or participating in Twitter chats such as #PRStudChat, #u30pro, #journchat, or #solopr just to name a few. Arik Hanson thinks this sort of “virtual mentoring” is the wave of the future per his recent vlog post over at The Spinks blog.  BurrelleLuce’s own Valerie Simon agrees, commenting “While there is certainly an important value in that old school (one-to-one, face-to-face) mentor/mentee relationship, virtual mentoring offers an important opportunity to gain access to a broad gamut of leaders.”

I’m eager to hear about your mentor relationships and thoughts.

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Posted in Career Advice, Public Relations | 13 Comments »

Poll Results: Should PR Interns Pitch the Media?

Friday, October 30th, 2009
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Flickr Image: lakelandlocal

Last week I wrote a post summarizing some recent posts on the topic of PR interns pitching the media, adding my own two cents along the way. I tweeted the link to my post and it sparked a lot of conversation.

 @CMM_PR suggested that an informal web-poll could be an interesting measurement for this question.  I set-up a very basic poll with yes/no answers based on whether you’re a PR pro, student or educator on PollDaddy and tweeted the link.  @prcindy suggested that I add a yes/no for members of the media, which I did immediately. 

Forty-six people registered their opinion in the poll and the breakdown is as follows:

  • 18 Out of 24 PR pros say, “Yes, PR interns should be allowed to pitch the media.” Six say “no.”
  • Of the 18 PR students that replied, 16 said, “yes.” Two said “No, they shouldn’t be allowed to pitch the media.”
  • Only Two PR educators voted, both of whom said “yes.”
  • Two members of the media split their vote with one having indicated “yes” and one “no.”

 Obviously, this isn’t a scientific study but it does show most agree that PR interns should be educated, prepared, coached and allowed to pitch.

Some follow-up comments/quotes:

I asked Heather Huhman, journalist/career expert to students and young professionals and founder of Come Recommended, for her thoughts on the subject. She replied, “If interns aren’t going to pitch the media during their internship, then what skills are they leaving with, exactly? They can learn the principles of pitching in the classroom. I completely agree with Abby Gutowski—it’s up to the supervisor to manage the situation properly.”

My BurrellesLuce colleague Valerie Simon, and #PRStudChat host, offered “An internship is an excellent opportunity to get some firsthand experience in the pitching process. Interns can gain valuable experience doing the necessary research, writing the draft of a pitch, and assisting with the necessary follow-up.”

And, finally, Chris Sleight, editor at KHL Group Publishing in the UK, replied on the poll page with, “Yes, as long as they’re trained and well-briefed. This includes knowing the client’s business well enough to be able to answer simple follow-up questions on the spot. Amazing how many agencies throw their students/interns to the lions without any of the tools they need to do the job. Not only is it unfair on the individual, it means the pitch fails and the agency comes across as a bunch of unprofessional idiots. So short-sighted!”

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Posted in Career Advice, Media Outreach, Media Relations, Public Relations | 9 Comments »

Should PR Interns Pitch The Media?

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
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Flickr Image: chemisti

Typically, I try to share tips on pitching the media including bloggers.  In this post, I’d like to discuss whether PR interns should engage in pitching the media.  My BurrellesLuce colleague, Valerie Simon, mentioned this as part of her post, “Summer PR Internships: Preparing for Your Future” several months ago, but I’d like to expand on that mention and get your feedback.

Earlier this year, I read a blog post by Joan Stewart (aka the Publicity Hound) where she gave four reasons why interns should never be allowed to pitch the media. (The post is in response to a Forbes.com “do-it-yourself PR tactics” article.) Seems to me, her reasons boil down to a single point – that is she believes interns do not sound professional.  Stewart likens a PR intern pitching the media to a med school student performing brain surgery. I am not sure I agree with such an extreme analogy, but I do see her point.

@Journalistics then posted a blog saying he does believe interns should get real-world experience, but likens their pitching to “having an assistant shop for your spouse.” He goes on to give some compelling arguments and even turns the tables, suggesting: “What if the local paper wanted to interview you for a story and sent the intern out to write it? How would that make you feel?”  In the end, Porter concedes that there are some instances where having a PR intern pitch the media is just fine.

Spurred by the Journalistics’ post, Becky Johns fired a rebuttal with her own, “7 Reasons To Let Your Intern Pitch Your Story.” She provided well-thought-out responses and sums it up with, “Of course, it is not always appropriate for interns to make pitches, and supervisors should use good judgment when it comes to making pitching opportunities available to interns. But just because someone has the label ‘intern’ does not mean that person cannot gather a proven track record and gain more responsibility and independence with projects over time.”  Very good point!

Weidert Group’s interns chimed-in with help from their PR manager and internship coordinator, Abby Gutowski. Her post states “Teaching young PR interns the art of a media pitch can be scary to hand-off, but it is the responsibility of PR managers to do it right.” She then provides some excellent tips on how to do so successfully.

In response to the same Forbes article mentioned earlier, an IT reporter responded: “I personally don’t care if it’s the senior person or an intern that is pitching me necessarily. What matters is that whoever is trying to get me to pay attention, has done their homework, and understands both who I am and write about, as well who their client really is talking to and about.”

The reporter response sounds about right to me.  Perhaps this should be a discussion question for #PRStudChat?  What do you think?

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Posted in Career Advice, Media Outreach, Media Relations, Public Relations | 20 Comments »

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