Archive for PRSA
A Few PR and Social Media Highlights from Asheville
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ASHEVILLE, N.C. — I just returned from the annual PRSA Counselors Academy conference, held this year at the Grove Park Inn (left), where President Obama and the First Lady spent a get-away weekend in April (in the Vanderbilt Wing, I might add, not too far from the “Cyd Charisse Room,” where I had the pleasure of staying).
But enough about me, what about social media, the topic of that kept everyone buzzing and tweeting?
Several esteemed counselors have offered their blog summaries, here and here (and search #CAPRSA on Twitter), so rather than duplicate their commentary, I’ll weigh in with a few thoughts and key quotes that, at least for me, summarized what I heard:
Amber Naslund of Radian6 had a great quote one morning, summarizing the unnecessary obsession with all the new social media tools: “Dudes, it’s only communications.” So why so much obsession with the “tubes,” or tools for communications, she asked. Were we like this when the fax machine was unveiled? Not long ago Yahoo and MySpace were “it,” so stay focused on the principles of PR and communications and not so much on the “tubes.”
Also from Amber, a good definition of social media: “Social media is the new phone, so listening is the new way of answering the phone.” It’s not a new communications channel, as some communicators are hoping for; it’s more of a customer service function.
Brian Solis, just in from Cannes and who was kind enough to sign my copy of his new book, Engage, talked about the inevitability of change that is sweeping the PR industry. Those in PR who live exclusively for the next press release are simply not going to last!
I also liked one of Brian’s quotes: “In brevity, there is clarity, and in clarity there is opportunity…better yet, offer it in 120 characters to leave room for a re-tweet.”
There were more than a few “you-had-to-be-there moments,” but I’ll still mention my favorites: Elise Mitchell’s riveting presentation on her Arkansas agency’s – and her personal – success story; Darryl Salerno’s fourth annual “English as a First Language” presentation/quiz; the presence of College of Charleston PR students with executive in residence Tom Martin (brilliant move to have the students there); and a memorable presentation on adding social media to the agency services mix by Jay Baer of Convince & Convert with client Indra Gardiner, founder and COO of Bailey Gardiner in San Diego. I guarantee Sawmill clients will benefit from what they said.
I missed last year’s conference in California, but attended the previous (2008) one in Naples, just a few months after I had discovered Twitter and recall demonstrating this new-fangled tool for anyone who asked. What a change when, in Asheville, it almost looked like a bloggers conference with laptops open and live-tweeting going on at every presentation! Thanks, PRSA, for another practical and useful conference, and I hope to see you next year in Las Vegas.
Here are links to some of the Web sites and resources I mentioned during my presentations today at the Maryland Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America’s 32nd Annual Chesapeake Conference at the Sheraton North in Towson, Md. These are good, basic Twiiter and PR tools to get started, and everything listed here is free. On Twitter, search the hashtag #chessie09 for more info, and give me a follow-back at @contactjeff
There are a number of directories to find Twitter followers. A good place to start is Wefollow, where you can search by topics such as ”Celebrity” or “Social Media” or “Baltimore.” Also try Muckrack.
Looking for a dashboard that allows you to better manage your Twitter follows and set up searches for key terms or competitors’ names? Try Hootsuite or Tweetdeck.
To shorten links prior to tweeting, use Bitly, and for a great new resource on Twitter tools, try OneForty.
To follow the media on Twitter, try this great compilation of national journalists by Jeremy Porter. Interested in Baltimore? Click on our ”Guide to Baltimore Media on Twitter” link on the upper right corner of this site.
Want to engage in a weekly Twitter conversation involving journalists, bloggers and PR professionals? Check out #journchat every Monday from 7 to 10 p.m., CST. More info at PRSarahEvans.
PitchEngine is a social media news release builder that enables PR pros to effectively package stories and share them with journalists, bloggers, and influencers worldwide via the social web.
Sign up for HARO to receive free daily summaries from media seeking sources for news stories in development. For urgent source needs, follow the companion Twitter account, @HelpAReporter. You can also follow Profnet on Twitter for leads.
For social media policy guidelines, Todd Defren (once again) shared a great resource at PR Squared, and also check out the policy guidelines at Mashable.
And 10 people in PR and social media worth following on Twitter? Love ‘em or not, here’s a variety pack to get your own list going (in no particular order): Scott Monty, Jason Falls, Todd Defren, Geoff Livingston, Amanda Chapel, Chris Brogan, Shel Holtz, Annie Heckenberger, Bill Sledzik and Katie Paine. [Update - here's a great list of 100 PR people to follow, compiled by Valeria Maltoni.]
Thanks for attending/reading. I’d love to see your comments!
PRSA Maryland – PR and Twitter Links
Posted by: | CommentsFollowing are links that I referenced during today’s presentation on Twitter and PR at the PRSA Maryland Chapter workshop in Baltimore, Maryland. For the “2009 Guide to Baltimore Media on Twitter,” click on the “January” link on the right and scroll to the Jan. 1, 2009 blog entry.
Tools to locate followers:
www.wefollow.com
www.twellow.com
www.geofollow.com
www.twittergrader.com
Search tools:
www.tweetbeep.com
http://search.twitter.com
www.twazzup.com
Other useful resources:
Ultimate Guide for Everything Twitter
Illustrated Guide to Using Twitter
40 Best Brands on Twitter
Insights from a PRSA Silver Anvil Senior Judge
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I spent a full day in New York Friday as senior judge for the PRSA Silver Awards – probably for the 10th time – and continue to believe it’s the best way to view first-hand some of the strongest PR programs from talented companies, agencies and public relations practitioners from across the U.S. No seminar or workshop can equal the insights gained from hours of reviewing jam-packed binders detailing the inner-workings of top PR programs, not to mention the networking with fellow judges who are among the leaders in the PR profession.
The competition is intense, and at least in the category I judged this year – Integrated Communications for Consumer Products – many of the 33 entries had a chance to win. Following a full day of review and discussion, our team agreed on one winner and two runners up, all close and just edging out a number of excellent entries. The finalists will be contacted in the coming weeks and winners announced at a gala event in June.
Not all PR programs are appropriate for a Silver Anvil, as there is a heavy emphasis on a solid research component, 
which weeds out many entries. In addition to a creative and strategic execution, winners always have a thorough mix of primary and secondary research, which I believe is what separates the Silver Anvil competition from other industry awards programs. If all an entrant did was scan the Web and throw in a few pages of printouts for their research section, they won’t stand a chance. This year a member of my judging team, David B. Rockland, Ph. D., partner and managing director of Ketchum’s Global Research team, offered insights that were especially helpful on the research front.
Another element found in the best entries is a planning component that clearly states measurable objectives, followed by an evaluation that demonstrates how closely those objectives were met. Page after page of news clippings or an email stating “the client was extremely pleased” won’t cut it in this competition.
Also on my team were two professionals with excellent credentials, Alissa Pinck, GM/vice president with the New York office of JS2 Communications, and Patrice Tanaka, co-chairperson, chief creative officer and “whatcanbe ambassador” with CRT/tanaka, with offices in Richmond, New York, L.A. and Norfolk, Va.
If you ever get the chance to serve as a judge, by all means do so. It’s not an easy day, but well worth it. And if you’ve ever won a Silver Anvil, or know someone who has, congratulate them for their hard work and realize it was no easy feat.
Following the PRSA Presentations via Twitter
Posted by: | CommentsThere’s more to following the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) 2008 International Conference on 
Twitter than tracking live tweets, which I shared during yesterday’s posts. Many of today’s tweets included links to blogs or PowerPoint slides from the sessions, so here’s a sampling of what you can learn via Twitter (thanks to those who included the character-eating links in their tweets):
For a session on conducting web research, the presenters prepared a delicious page containing links to tools they apparently covered during the session. Check it out here: www.delicious.com/webresearchlinks Tweet shared by Michael Pranikoff (@mpranikoff).
You can view the actual slides (as well as the presenter’s notes) from a session called “Strategic Social Media for Non Profit Organizations” by @eschipul (aka Ed Schipul). Thanks to Sarah Siewert (@ssiewert) for the tweet/link.
Online Marketing Blog has a blog post summarizing the session “Media Myths & Realities” by Nicholas Scibetta, Global Director, Global Media for Ketchum.
A Katie Payne/Shonali Burke session on measurement led to this post from Richard Bagnall of Metrica, “PR Measurement More Important than Ever.”
And for some insider commentary, a “riled up” (as well as stunned and dismayed) Mark McLennan offers this blog post about the PRSA Assembly’s refusal to continue the meeting past the 5 p.m. cutoff, despite more business to attend to.
So there you have it. Just a small sampling of what’s going on in Detroit, and all of it gathered exclusively through Twitter 500+ miles away. Have a session you’d like to have included on the PR Buzzsaw? Send us a link.
More Tweets of Wisdom from PRSA Conference
Posted by: | CommentsCouldn’t make it to Detroit for the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) International Conference this week? Here’s the next best thing – a second installment of PR Buzzsaw’s recap of some of the more informative attendee tweets.
From reading the tweets, many atttendees have great views from their hotel rooms, but wi-fi downstairs is unavailable (ironic when the conference theme is ”The Point of Connection”), the typical conference spread of soft drinks non-existent, there were too many uses of the word “spin” to define our profession and more than one vendor/presenter felt it was an opportunity to either read PowerPoint slides to the audience or turn their remarks into a sales pitch.
Our Twitter friends in Detroit had more interesting tidbits to share (all delivered live from the sessions) so while they’re out at their tweetup at Sweet Lorraine’s tonight (or searching for a wi-fi connection), here goes another sampling from this afternoon:
Online press releases with video have a 33 percent greater chance of resulting in a sale. – Shane Haggerty
On a side note, the lack of wi-fi at a conference like this is a big fail. And where are the snacks? LOL – Ari B. Adler
71% of Americans trust a consumer review of a product over opinion of expert. – Mary Wagoner
Disgruntled that I can’t get wi-fi on my laptop through the RenCen. A conference embracing technology that doesn’t give me wifi? wtf – Shane Haggerty
Top takeaways from the SM release class – content = king, provide easily digestable new facts, use hyperlinks, embed videos/images. AND By posting SM releases on social bookmarking sites (technorati, digg, delicious), you can get instant search stats AND More takeaways – use targeted keywords to boost SEO (metatags, etc.), use relevant social tags/bookmarks like digg to create buzz- Brandon Chesnutt (three tweets)
Paolina Milana is reading her presentation off her powerpoint slide. 4 full paragraphs of full sentences. Read Presentation Zen. AND Paolina Milana’s session on the social release is devolving into a discussion of Marketwire’s offering. vendors should not speak – Joseph Thornley (two tweets)
In the anatomy of the social media press release session at PRSA Detroit Conference..Paolina Milana is great! – Lesley Hettinger (always two sides to every story!)
Twitter seems to be the buzzword here. I keep saying “Oh, I follow you on Twitter.” Or “What’s your Twitter name?” to new ppl – Natalie Ebig Scott
Want to follow yourself? Use the hashtag search #PRSA08 in Twitter search; follow me on Twitter via @contactjeff
Using Twitter to Follow the PRSA Conference – Day 1
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While 3,000 PR peeps gather for the 2008 Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) International Conference in Detroit this week, I’ll stay here in Baltimore and track it through select postings on Twitter. Not the same as being there, but check back Monday and Tuesday and let’s see what we can learn from 526 miles away. Here are some tweets from the start of the conference, including the Assembly and today’s keynote by Craig Newmark of Craigslist:
At the PRSA Conference in Detroit. Much buzz about social media. Big opportunities for agency’s (sic) that lay a foundation in this area. – Jim Brazytis
I don’t see how you spend a whole day begging for greater committment to APR then adjourn just as APR is to be discussed. – Dan Keeney, APR
Lots of questions re: social media monitoring. Many people still seem to be struggling with free online tools. – Chris Ramsey
If anyone is interested in lunch, I’ll be in the Marriott lobby, 3rd floor in 10 minutes – Jason Falls
Craig Newmark about to go on stage. There’s live video, but I can’t send the link. Requires registration. Stupid. – Andrew Baisley
Craig Newmark of craigslist.org now speaking. Very unassuming. Self-proclaimed nerd. – Ari B. Adler
12 billion hits a month to craigslist.com – holy cow! – Sam Sims
Craig’s opening is great: everything began because he listened to people, did something @ it & listened some more. That’s the key! – Shonali Burke
Having lunch with @JamieTimm. Hoping the service picks up. Hungry. – Jason Falls
Craig Newmark says “listening to what his friends wanted” was reason he started what become Craigslist – Mike Spataro
Found 42 Degrees North – restaurant/bar – marriott lobby and go left. I’m there. – Jason Falls
P2P communications like Twitter will be key to the future of PR: Craig Newmark. – Lee Odden
Newmark says keep it simple, listen, do the right thing – Michael Cherenson
Craig’s list founder Craig Newmark speaking at PRSA opening session. His lesson? Just listen to people. – Beth Dornan
Craig Newmark is the most authentic executive I have ever met. Many CEOs should take a lesson. – Sandra Fathi
PRSA International has no WiFi … ARRGGGGG. Lots of sessions on using the web. Not able to use it in sessions. (Come on gang!) – Jason Falls
I would say, “You’re kidding” about no WiFi at #PRSA08. But I know you’re not. Amazing that a conference goes on without it now. – Barbara Nixon
Detroit Mayor Kenneth Cockrel, Jr. makes PRSA into a phoenetic word, “Prissa.” Uncomfortable laughter in the audience. – Dan Keeney
Book Club: Recommended Summer Reading by Members of PRSA's Counselors Academy
Posted by: | CommentsDuring the PRSA Counselors Academy meeting in Naples last month, members attended a different kind of breakout session, called “Book Club.” The panel discussed and reviewed these four titles:
Partners in Command: George Marshall and Dwight Eisenhower in War and Peace by Mark Perry
Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing Out of Sync? by Seth Godin
Full Frontal PR: Building Buzz About Your Business, Your Product or You by Richard Laermer, and
The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive by Patrick Lencioni
For mini-reviews and links, visit the Counselors Academy blog, Whatever Suits. How about you? What’s your recommended reading? Right now, I’m reading The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferris.
Six future PR professionals – students at the College of Charleston - recently piled into a van for the ultimate PR road trip to Naples, Fla. for three days of learning about the PR firm business – and blogging the results – during the Counselors Academy Spring Conference.
Under the headline Future Counselors Inspired, student Sarah Gatling began her blog post this way: “Six students. Three days. One unbelievable opportunity.” Sarah and her fellow students served as on-site reporters and photographers to cover not only the sessions, but some of the social activities as well.
Check it out for yourself. Their posts are all here on Whatever Suits, the Counselors Academy blog.
The biggest question, however, is are they up for a road trip next year, when the Counselors Academy holds its conference in Palm Springs, California?
