Social Media for PR student seeking employment

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Cameron
St. Edward's University
Blog: http://cameronpr.blogspot.com/

Social Media for PR student seeking employment

December 3, 2007

Qualifications:

• Completed Social Media for PR course as well as tradtional Public Relations at St. Edward's University in Austin, TX.


• Acquired working knowledge of Web 2.0 and PR applications in the medium.


• See http://cameronpr.blogspot.com/ for previous analysis of PR efforts in social media.

MULTIMEDIA ELEMENTS:


Download
Wayne's World Product Placement Video


Download
Another New Citizen Podcast

I am a graduating senior Communication major and Psychology minor at St. Edward's University in Ausitn, TX. My concentration in Communication is Public Relations and Advertising.

RELATED LINKS
Cameron PR Social Media Blog

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cameronpr PR social media

Spying on partner's email? You might want to rethink

People using SpyRecon, eBlaster, or other similar programs to spy on their spouse's email could be looking at serious jail time. An article form the Austin American-Statesman discussed recent cases that have transpired, even one in Austin. Basically, the reading of email without permission can be considered equivalent to illegal wiretapping. It is legal for parents to monitor their children's use of the Internet if the are a minor (this is presumably what the spy software is really for).

Unlawful interception of electronic communication is a second degree felony and holds a max jail time of 20 years. Now, typically people found guilty do not get the max sentence for any crime if plea bargain is reached...however, even going to jail for 5 years would not be fun.

So before you go looking around your partner's email without permission, think if it is worth it to spend a couple of years in jail if you get caught.

Virtual Border Watch

According to the Houston Chronicle's webpage the Texas-Mexico border will soon be under surveillance using webcams. The feeds from the webcams will be open to the public and viewers are encouraged to alert officials of suspicious activities along the Texas-Mexico border.

The program was tested in late 2006 and was viewed as a success. The test received almost 28 million hits and generated more than 13,000 emails to Texas officials that led to several arrests. The full blown progam is said to start in early 2008.

This does seem to have a few flaws. What if people sent border patrol on "wild goose chases" to make it easier for some people to illegally enter Texas from Mexico in a different location?
PR for this program is much easier than it is for the proposed border wall. Webcams are a lot cheaper.

I assume that most people are apposed to building a wall....so how do you feel about the webcams that are viewable by the public? Will people misuse this technology that is supposed to "protect the citizens of Texas".

Wayne's World Product Placement Example

Here is the viral video we made for class with the product placement scene from the first Wayne's World film.

I think that the original scene is great...hope this new viral video is well received.

NBA.com Audio League Pass

NBA.com is now streaming NBA game radio broadcasts live through their website. NBA.com Audio League Pass streams the actual radio broadcast that you would hear if you were in the teams city on terrestrial radio. You can choose which teams announcers you want to listen to and best of all this is free...that's right FREE.

This service use to charge a fee in years past. As a NBA fan , I think it is great they are now offering something that you use to have to pay for for free. Not to mention this is a great PR move - people like free AND you can follow your favorite teams live games from any part of the world.


If you haven't noticed I am a huge Houston Rockets fan and this allows me to listen to the teams radio broadcasters Gene Peterson and Jim Foley in their final year as Rockets broadcasters. Now you can listen to your favorite teams broadcasters announce the game live through NBA.com Audio League Pass.

PRX Builder Usability Enhancements

Last week PRX Builder announced that they have made a change that is designed to enhance usability. Now you can display your contacts, multimedia, and links in an easy to read list view. This simplified view of content is an effort to make viewing releases created on PRX Builder easier.

This is just one more enhancement to the social media press release offered by PRX Builder. In case you missed it, Grey Matter Extrapolation made a post on the new Twitter distribution that PRX Builder is now offering.

The PRX Builder process to making a release is easy and is continuing to with the constant updates being made. Like many other applications on the web, PRX Builder seems to be in constant beta mode, but it still very usable.

Houston Rockets offer weekly podcast

The Houston Rockets and the rest of the NBA have begun to fully embrace many of the possibilities offered in today's web. The Rockets have started offering weekly podcasts on their website. They have released three podcasts so far that average around twenty minutes in length. There are two co-hosts, one is part of the radio broadcast team and the other is the main staff writer for Rockets.com. The radio guy usually takes the lead and guides the show like a normal sports radio talk show. The shows offer interviews with players and team executives as well as basic analysis of the team and upcoming opponents.

This is another PR tool in social media that is being utilized by the Rockets. Getting to hear directly form the team's General Manager and other front office employees is a great way for the organization to speak directly to an influential part of their fan base who are active in social media.

As a huge Rockets fan I was excited when I learned that the team would begin offering weekly podcasts. The shows have been informative and are good for me because I am not in Houston and do not have access to watching all the Houston games because they are not carried here in Austin.

UFC and Yahoo!Sports team up for live streaming press conference

Get more pictures like this from SHERDOG.COM

The Ultimate Fighting Championship and Yahoo!Sports teamed up on Tuesday 10/30 to bring the public a free live stream of the UFC's press conference on the topic of their heavyweight champion Randy Couture recent resignation.

The ability for anyone who has Internet access to watch this press conference is great for transparency of the UFC because it allows the public to see and hear the statements form the companies owner, president, and CFO respectively.

Yahoo!Sports has been one of the most receptive of mixed martial arts (not just UFC) by any of the major media outlets. They teamed up with Strike Force in late September of this year to bring streams of live fights from the Playboy Mansion. They keep these videos available for viewing later after the live stream is over.

Yahoo!Sports has become a great online media for PR efforts in the sport of mixed martial arts. They have reporters who are knowledgeable of MMA and offer video with great quality which is very important in watching MMA competition.

Dwight Schrute's "Second Second Life"

Second Life was seen used in this past weeks episode of "The Office" on NBC. Dwight Schrute created an avatar that is exactly like he is in his real life because "life is so great that I literally wanted a second one". Everything was exactly the same...except he can fly. Dwight actually created "Second Second Life" (Second Life within Second Life) for people who apparently want to be even more removed from reality. CLICK HERE to check out a clip form the show or visit NBC.com to watch the entire episode.

This gives the paper company that he works for in TV land , Dunder-Mifflin Inc., a presence on Second Life. However, for those of you who watch the show, Dwight might not be the best person you want doing PR work for you.

Now back the the real world. This is an example of how Second Life is growing in national exposure and that leads to greater PR uses. CSI even had Second Life featured in this past weeks episode as Jennifer pointed out in a recent blog post.

It seems that with the ever expanding Internet applications that emerge practically everyday, PR professionals need to be constantly monitoring social media. It is easy to see that there are a lot of opportunities for useful public relations efforts in the social media realm.

Podcast: "Another New Citizen"

"Another New Citizen" Podcast with Andrew, Cassandra, Blair, and myself. Click or Right Click and select "Save As". This is the debut episode so we are still trying to work all the kinks out. Let us know what you think.

House of Reps says no to internet access tax...for now

An ARTICLE on the Austin American Statesman website outlined the ongoing legislative debate on taxing internet access. Currently there is a moratiorium on taxing internet access. On Tuesday the US House voted 405 to 2 on extending the current moratorium until 2011. As stated by House Speaker Nancy Paloci , the House “will help promote innovation, affordable Internet access and broadband services for American consumers and businesses." However, there was a bill introduced that would permanently ban taxation of internet access that did not get past the Democratic majority house. This could be an indication that Democrats might support lifting the moratorium in the future and support taxing internet access.

The Don’t Tax Our Web Coalition, which has high profile supporters such as Amazon.com and AT&T, is no doubt supportive of the House’s recent vote to extend the moratorium.

While the House has already spoken on their current postiton, the Senate has yet to vote on this matter. The current moratorium is set to expire on November 1, 2007.

We will have to wait and see what the Senate rules. Personally, the unwillingness of the Democratic majority House to pass a permanent moratorium on internet access taxation is worrisome because the internet is the last medium that we haven’t "lost" yet.

What is your position on implementing taxes on internet access?

Open Architecture Network

I came across this through the Wired Science section of the PBS website that Gray Matter Extrapolation pointed out in a recent post.

The Open Architecture Network is an open source online community that offers sharing of architecture designs between all levels of architects. The main theme behind this online community is user generated architecture designs that are cost effective in design, material, and sustainability; their goal is to connect people to help solve housing problems all over the globe. A creation of Architecture for Humanity, the Open Architecture Network allows users to review and comment, share ideas, and work collaboratively on architecture design from anywhere in the world with an Internet connection.

This can be a useful social media PR tool and resource for architecture companies. This is a forum for larger companies to give back to the community in the form of pro bono work. It allows companies to volunteer their special skills for the public good. With practically all the architecture companies today creating designs digitally, the Open Architecture Network would be easy to use.

Outer Continental Shelf Drilling

Currently, eighty-five percent of the Outer Continental Shelf of the United States is under moratorium and off-limits to any offshore drilling activity. The moratorium was put in place twenty-five years ago in hopes of protecting the environment from possible oil spills associated with offshore drilling.

However, at present offshore drilling technology is extremely sophisticated and has evolved tremendously since offshore drilling was first done domestically in the late 1800s. In fact, the last oil spill from drilling on the United States Outer Continental Shelf occurred in 1969. Currently, more than 50% of the oil found in US domestic waters is from natural seepage while less than 5% is from offshore drilling. Increased offshore oil production would benefit both the United States Treasury and private business as well. Federal tax revenue would be created and the private industry could expand.

The only area that offshore drilling is allowed is in the central and western Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf of Mexico is an extremely hurricane prone area and only allowing offshore drilling in the Gulf puts the entire United States offshore oil production at risk. The moratorium on offshore drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf should be lifted.

You might be saying to yourself: why do we need more oil? Like it or not we are dependent on oil in more parts of life than just cars. It is not realistic to just stop using oil tomorrow and the oil that is available in certain areas of the OCS will benefit us in the near future while we are still heavily dependent on oil. In no way am I saying just start shooting pipes anywhere in the ocean, there is research done my the US Mineral Management Service and offshore oil companies encourage strict safety regulations for both the environment and their employees.

I know that in today's hyper-environmental protection age it is "cool" to just come out and say NO drilling and NO oil. But you need to step back and qualify why you choose the stance that you choose. Ask the question why? Just saying "because" is not good enough.

Think of it this way - would you rather cut a check to the middle east or would you rather support domestic business what is here in US/North American territory?

Wanna be a weatherman?

Want to be a weatherman? Now you can be one with the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network (COCORAHS). Cocorahs.org is community based collaborative network of “backyard weathermen”. Anyone can contribute and all you need are a few inexpensive measurement tools.

To join all you need is to be enthusiastic about the weather in your area. When ever there is a precipitation event in your area just check your measurements and record your results on the cocorahs.org website. They have several goals that they are trying to accomplish by having such an online community. First, they want to provide the most data that they can on precipitation. Second, heighten interest in meteorology and science. The main backer of cocorahs is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

CLICK HERE to check the site out and sign up if you want.

Create Your Own

The people over at Vitamin Water have a pretty fun website to look around and I ran across a cool interactive tool. Its called TRY IT and its pretty much a "create your own" short ad for any flavor of vitamin water that you want.

CLICK HERE to check out the one I made.

This reminds me of the user created ad that Chevy did. It did not work well for Chevy but vitamin water operates in a totally different industry. The ads that people created for Chevy did not make the company or the cars look good and turned out to be a bad PR move. The vitamin water effort seems to be less risky.

I believe that offering "create your own ad for our company" should only be utilized for certain products and industries just as blogging and using social media might not be very useful for certain companies and industries.

What do you think about offering things like "make your own ad" as a PR effort?

Podsafe Audio

After listening to the SXSW Podcast on Podcasting I went and looked around for “podsafe” music and audio to check out stuff for the upcoming podcast. “Podsafe” audio means that artists have released music that they allow the public to use for their own purpose just as long as they don’t take credit for the original artist’s work.

I searched around and found Podsafeaudio.com. They offer music from almost every genre you can think of and The site is interactive too. You can rate songs, download them, send comments to the artist, or upload music that you wouldn’t mind sharing with other people.

In regards to a PR application in social media, I feel that Podsafeaudio.com and other podsafe sharing sites are great platforms for artists to get there music out to people and interact with them. Also, artists can interact with each other and find other musicians in their area. And best of all for the listeners – it is FREE to download. I think it is great that there are artists out there that allow people to use their music for things such as podcasting. The podcast themselves are social media public relations tools.

In the end, it seems that both musician and podcaster benefit. So check out Podsafeaudio.com and go search around the web and get some podsafe songs and audio for your podcast.

PRX Builder: An easy start

After class today I decided to check out the PRX Builder. The template that they use is the one created by Shift Communications. The PRX Builder was easy to set up, pretty helpful, and easy to use.

Below is the release that I quickly created.

I just threw some stuff in to fill it out, but you do have options to add pics, videos, pdf files, etc. Also, it has diverse distribution options to such sites as PR Newswire , Technoroti, and a direct post to your blog (that is how I got it here) I can see this site being very useful to PR professionals who are new to the web and social media. PRX Builder is a good start for PR in social media.

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Cameron PR Social Media

PR and Social Media

Austin, TX -- October 2, 2007

• Weekly updates on PR uses of Social Media.



• Analysis of PR applications and examples in social media.

Cameron PR Social Media is a blog that discusses PR applications in social media. The blog is updated weekly.

RELATED LINKS

PR Course Blog

CONTACT INFORMATION

• Cameron
  Cameron PR Social Media
  Chief Blogger
  Blog: http://cameronpr.blogspot.com/
  

Technorati Tags: Cameron pr social media public relations

Disclosure required

PayPerPost.com is a website that connects advertisers with bloggers. Here are the advantages that they cite for advertisers: "PayPerPost delivers online word of mouth marketing, brand building and traffic generation through the world's largest consumer generated advertising community and marketplace."
Here is was advantages bloggers get: "Get paid for blogging. Write about web sites, products, services, and companies and earn cash for providing your opinion and valuable feedback to advertisers. Disclosure required."

“Disclosure required” is big here. Transparency is key. And I feel that most people will listen to your message if you are honest. Know I don’t know if the bloggers only get paid if they give the product a glowing endorsement, but disclosure of any relationship between blogger and advertiser is needed.

This brings me to the ethics of giving product to a blogger to write about. I don’t think that it is such a big deal with most things. As long as the blogger is up front about how they got the product. However, I find it hard to compare bloggers who review products and actual newspaper product reviewers. This is because a blogger has less constraints or checks from an editor. While fellow bloggers might call someone out for a misleading or unethical post, it is hard to say that every wrong doing or “bribed” endorsement will have light shed on it.

• Should companies give products to bloggers?


• Should bloggers get paid to write about a certain product/service/topic?


• What about company employees that get paid to run company blogs?


• Is PayPerPost.com a good thing?

ProElite offers MMA based online social network

ProElite is probably considered the second most powerful force in the world of mixed martial arts today. The parent company to such MMA promotions as EliteXC, Cage Rage and a publicly traded company(ProElite Inc. ), ProElite has made its own efforts to become more visible in social media by offering their own social network at ProElite.com. This network has the same features of myspace and facebook in that it allows you to have a profile with pictures, videos, and even a blog. This social network is created for the many MMA fans around the world and is not only a good idea for strengthening the ProElite brand but also a great PR tool for the organization and the fighters themselves. Many MMA fighters have profiles and actively blog through their profiles and accept friend requests from fans. This also gives the fighters a forum to discuss problems or controversies that might have occurred during fights. The tag line for the new social network is "Empowering the Fighting Community".

With all this said:

Do you think that there are too many social networking sites on the web today?

Are these niche networking sites going to be around in 5 years?

When does addition of such social networks to organizations begin to subtract from the organizations online experience?

IKEA's social media efforts

The social media campaigns that Ikea is using to support their new branding campaign seem to be closely aligned together. Ikea’s new advertising campaigns slogan of “Home is the most important think in the world” works well with the two social media efforts in that they express the same attitude about the home. I get a sense of trying to make people have pride in their home from the myamericaathome.com and notgoinganywhere.co.uk websites. The myamericaathome.com, seems like building a time capsule of life in 2007 using home as the continuous theme. This works well for Ikea, which sells products for your home. The notgoinganywhere.co.uk website is similar to the US site but seems that it might have a much longer shelf life. Which brings us back to the new Ikea slogan. Which I feel will help in the progression of the Ikea brand from (as Brian Solis stated about brands today) “that brands are evolving from catchy slogans and artistic logos to living, breathing personalities that are defined by the people, principles, and community-focused activities behind them.” Both Ikea social media efforts are living breathing forums of user generated content. However, as Solis warns, marketers are not welcome to the “conversation”. Marketers have difficult time ahead of them in figuring out how to get in the conversation without pissing a whole lot of people off. It will be interesting to see how many people end up using the sites and what really comes out of both.

Small Business is good for America and Blogging is good for Small Business

After perusing through Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba’s ChurchoftheCustomer.com, I found a good article about why small businesses should blog in the essential readings side bar menu. They present seven main reasons why small business blogging should be done and five don’t of small business blogging. The reasons are fairly intuitive, but there are some that you might not have thought of. Blogging for business can help break down the “walls” of a company to facilitate communication directly with the coveted 1%ers and get instant feedback from current and future customers. Additionally, a business’s blog is an inexpensive place on the web that companies can offer in which people can get alternate information than just a company website. Also, I believe that company blogs can help personalize the business I would go further to say that big business could follow the same model described in the article for such things as investor relations.

With most of us in PR Social Media class heading toward the professional world in the next few years (not to mention we signed up to take the PR Social Media class to learn more about the topic), we need to realize the benefits that blogging can do for companies and ourselves*. As we all have seen blogging is an inexpensive place that offers great public relations opportunities to communicate with company publics. Offering blogs gives the customer a place to get first hand knowledge of current topics in a company. Thoughts, comments, reactions? I want to know what you think.

*Also check out this SHORT article in which self proclaimed 1%er Lewis Green discusses several benefits of his involvement in social media.

Houston Rockets Browser Toolbar and Widgets

The Houston Rockets (the NBA's Houston franchise) have just made available a Rockets based web browser toolbar and a "Countdown to Home Opener" widget. The toolbar comprises of links to the teams homepage as well as several other related links. Also, the Yahoo! powered toolbar has a search engine built in. The widget consists of a graphic of the star players as well as countdown timer to the teams home opener for the 2007-2008. Both the toolbar and widget are free for download.

With regards PR, the toolbar and the widget are great ways of keeping their organization visible to their public. By offering these new applications at this time (it is the NBA's off-season) the organization is bringing themselves back into their public’s consciousness and letting them know that the new season is just around the corner. I feel that other organizations (not just sports but many other industries) could benefit from offering such applications to their specific publics. I was made aware of the Rockets toolbar and widget by a email newsletter that I subscribe. Usint the email newsletter as mode for making aware, the probability of your public actually using the new apps is higher since they have already shown that they are interested in the organization because they have signed up for the email newsletter. What do you guys think? Is offering new web applications such as the toolbar and widget useful or just a waste of time? You don't need to think about it only from a sports perspective, think about what other non-web based organizations (besides Yahoo!, Google, etc.) might be able to use such web apps to keep themselves in their publics consciousness.

Emerging Technology for an Emerging Sport: Podcasting PR in MMA

Mixed martial arts or MMA (the Ultimate Fighting Championship is the most recognizable MMA organization in the world today) is one of the fastest growing sports in the world today. The sport is now only beginning to receive some national media coverage, and the internet is and has been an integral part of getting information to fans for years. Within the past two or three years several of the leading independent MMA news sites have begin offering PODCAST radio shows as a different way of getting MMA news to fans. These podcasts are a great Public Relations opportunity for the websites that produce them, the MMA fighters, and the sport itself. One of the most popular MMA podcasts is produced by sherdog.com (which is one of the leaders in worldwide MMA coverage). Sherdog.com offers four different shows feature someone from the their website including the sites editor, owner, column writers, and fight commentators. The shows are broadcast live over the internet and are available for podcast for free through the iTunes store. The live broadcast allow for listeners to call in and get answers or add comments to the people behind the website. Listeners can also email the shows or participate in a live chat through sherdog.com. These shows are also a great PR opportunity for fighters. They are given a forum to talk first hand to their most important public: the fans. Information is allowed to pass straight from the fighters to the fans without the filter of a fight promoter such as the UFC skewing information to favor themselves. The podcasts are also great PR for the sport itself. Sherdog.com’s shows frequently feature guests such as medical doctors, members of state athletic commissions, fight promoters, etc. To access the podcasts go the RADIO section from sherdog.com’s homepage or they can be found at the iTunes store. The podcasts from sherdog.com are a great example of using emerging technologies for PR in an emerging sport.