From the Desk of Melissa Hourigan
So today I am posting a link to a video captured with the infamous Brian Solis. Brian is a PR executive that has literally helped to break down the walls between media and PR pros. He is also recognized for educating PR professionals and businesses alike on the convergence between traditional media and social media.
I got the opportunity to chat with Brian during his visit to Denver to promote a book that he co-wrote, “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations: How Social Media Is Reinventing the Aging Business of PR” with Deirdre Breakenridge. This is Solis’ second book and he has another in the works.
As a PR person myself, I know that the days are long, especially when you are running your own firm. One has to wonder how he manages to stay on top as the principal of FutureWorks in addition to all of the many things he does. If you haven’t read his lengthy and informative blogs at BrianSolis.com, set up the feed after you read this – you can thank me later. His insightful blogging recently won him the title of PR Blogger of the Year by the 2009 PR People Awards. Brian also contributes to number of media outlets such as TechCrunch, WebProNews and Brandweek. I am proud to also mention that he is one of my partners for Mediaontwitter (more things to come there as well). He is a frequent speaker and attendee at some of the tech industry’s hottest events and you can pretty much count on Brian uploading a series of beautiful photos within hours of the event to share with media and those interested in seeing who was there.
So back to the video. It was so nice to have Brian in Denver; unfortunately, I did not consider (once again) that lighting might be an issue. In this video, the information Brian shares is valuable so with the coaxing of the SocialByte crew, I decided to post it.
Brian shares his reason for co-writing the book, tips to get started with social media as well as how the social web relates to corporations and corporate brands. He also covers what is wrong with PR and the opportunity that exists for PR pros and businesses to connect with their community in a more meaningful way using social media.
Apologies, to Brian and our audience for the dark footage. Tryst was kind enough to bring up the lights but it still didn’t do much good.
Feel free to comment within the video if you would like.
From the desk of Elaine Schoch…
I vividly remember calling the Dean of the J-school two months after I had started my first PR job to tell him, “you didn’t teach me any of this stuff in school”. I didn’t know how to write a pitch to a reporter? What the heck was an editorial calendar or a trade show and why did my clients care about these things? I needed the Dean, who had also been one of my favorite PR professors to know we had been ill-prepared for the real world. He laughed at me…
On Friday, I saw a great post in Mashable about Australia’s Griffith University, who recently made Twitter education part of the mandatory course load for journalism students. I love this! I’ve blogged before about how news outlets and reporters still aren’t maximizing social media. I’m excited to see a school acting on what’s currently happening in the world and putting the textbook aside to help prepare their students for their professional careers.
When I taught the Intro to PR at the University of Colorado I tried to teach my class some of the tools they needed – how to write a compelling pitch, how the PR industry was shifting due to the Internet, tools to use, and invited reporters and PR pros to come in and share what they do and their challenges. This was in addition to the required text book material. (Note, this was before social media had taken over the world of PR.) If I were still teaching, these are a few things I think future PR pros (and reporters) need to know.
- Writing for search: This is essential for PR pros and reporters
- Twitter: What it is, how to write compelling tweets, how to build a following, how to use it for personal and business, successful brands using Twitter, Twitter faux-pas, etc.
- Blogging and Vblogging: How to have a successful v/blog, how to leverage a v/blog to build your brand, using a blog for media relations (PR specifically), tools to use to build a v/blog, etc.
- Facebook: Most students are all over Facebook so this portion of the class would need to focus on how brands can/are using Facebook, etc.
- Podcasting: What it is, how brands can use them, examples of brands using podcasting to build their brand and impact their ROI, etc.
From the backseat of a Ford Taurus of Elaine Ellis…
Ford held a meetup with bloggers to introduce the new Ford Taurus hosted by some of my favorite bloggers – Andrew Hyde, Aimee Greeblemonkey and Amber Johnson – and I got to go as a blogger. I don’t think my blog is what they were really targeting, but hey, free appetizers! Thanks Ford.
My grandfather drove a Ford Taurus, so my association with it is old people. The car was surprisingly more sleek than I would have guessed, but still had room for mobsters to hold at least three bodies. At least. The car inside was gorgeous and had great features. It seems to be a huge lead in style compared to previous models. Yet, I can’t see myself purchasing one as I prefer smaller sedans like my Civic.
The best part to my ears was the Ford PR person talked about their CEO’s focus on quality. My parents believed in buying cars and driving them into the ground. They bought American – a Ford Sable and GM station wagon – but the problems continually stacked up. Their next set of cars were a Honda Accord and Toyota Corolla. And thus, my first two cars have been Civics.
Yet the quality of Ford’s social media approach is dead on. They were triumphant with their Ford Fiesta agent program, in which my friend Jeremy Tanner is taking part. Letting small groups of bloggers make their own decisions while test driving the Ford Taurus will help play a crucial role in helping people believe that Ford is about quality. Yet to me, the true test for quality when the new drivers of Ford Taurus talk about the quality of the 2009 Taurus in 2019. That’s the true litmus test.
Photo taken without permission from Andrew Hyde
As we were leaving the meetup, I told Ef that I was going to write about it for Soci@lByte, and then he told me he was going to write about it for the HuffPo. Hello one-upmanship. But in his article, he has a great point – 16 to 19 miles per gallon isn’t acceptable in 2009. Somehow, I missed that point, but maybe because I was worried about Andrew driving down the wrong way on one ways.
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