Topic of the Week 15: Social Media News Releases

What is a social media news release?

A social media news release has “expanded the audience beyond just the traditional media outlet.” (pg. 137 in Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques (6th Ed.) )

Social media news releases include things to help you understand more about the product, event, or organization. SMNRs include videos, graphics, and links. They are a much more interactive version of the traditional news release.

My favorite thing about SMNR are the videos. In my SMNR final project, I wasn’t able to use one. MY organization didn’t have an updated video. But, I have been using a lot of videos in my PR Connection category in my blog and I really feel like they are helpful. I added a commercial to my blog and then discussed it. Now, my readers will know exactly what I am talking about when they read my blog. Thank you YouTube.

When should a PR practitioner use an SMNR?

An SMNR should be used when there is any more information that cannot be included into the traditional news release.

I feel like a PR practitioner should use an SMNR rather than a traditional news release any time possible.  My fellow classmate, Lauryn Williams, feels the same way. In her blog, I heard it from that PR Girl, she says, “I believe that while sending and distributing SMNRs online via blog or wire service is important to allow the customer to directly interact with your company, traditional press releases should still be used. I say use both as frequently as possible. Write the traditional press releases with journalists and gatekeepers in mind, and write SMNRs with your company and opinion in mind while avoiding hype. Hype will be recognized and cause customers to distrust what you say.”

Here are some blogs about SMNRs:

Media Shift

News Release for the Digital Age

PR-Squared

Here are some websites that help you with your SMNR:

PR Newswire

PRX Builder

Pitch Engine

Good luck with your first SMNR!

PR Connection 10: Cheaters Cheaters Pumpkin Eaters

This year has been the year of infidelity. I know that many of my fellow PR Writing students have been blogging about the cheaters. I have decided to put all of the cheaters into one post and waste no more posts or time on them.

THE CHEATERS

1. Tiger Woods
2. Jon Gosselin
3. Jesse James
   

THE WIVES

1. Elin Nordegrin
2. Kate Gosselin
3. Sandra Bullock

All of these male celebrities cheated on their celebrity wives. Each of their stories are different. Here are each of their stories in a nutshell.

Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegrin

Tiger and Elin

Tiger Woods, world famous golfer, had been cheating on his wife with numerous women. His wife, Elin,  was super model. When she found out about her husband she went a little crazy with a golf club. After the incident, Tiger went to sex addiction rehab.  Now, Tiger is back from rehab and just played in the Master’s Golf Tournament.

Jon and Kate (plus 8)

Jon and Kate

Jon and Kate Gosselin have 8 children. There are a set of twins, Maddie and Cara. They also have a set of sextuplets, Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Collin, Leah, and Joel. Jon and Kate’s relationship unraveled on national television. He cheated on her with Deanna Hummel, a grade school teacher. Now, Jon and Kate are divorced and the show is canceled.

Jesse James and Sandra Bullock

Sandra Bullock had a night to remember. She won Actress of the Year at the Oscars. Within the next few days she discovers that her husband had cheated on her.

Their PR

Obviously, these guys needed a lot of good PR to get them out of their problems with the media. Without some great PR their careers could have all been ruined. Tiger Woods was almost immediately admitted into sex addiction rehab. This was a PR stunt. Tiger probably did not think he had a problem with sex when he admitted himself into rehab. The public saw him going to rehab and it led us to think that he was trying to get better. Jesse James did practically the same thing. He admitted himself into

Jesse and Sandra

a rehab facility in order to create good PR about his new media crisis and infidelity.

Whereas Tiger and Jesse are trying, Jon Gosselin is not. He is living it up without Kate. He has a new girlfriend, he has started to smoke, and started to party more and more.Jon Gosselin could use some good PR. Any suggestions PR students?

PR Connection 9: Pepsi Refresh Project

This semester I took intro to advertising. I really enjoyed this class. During this course was the Super Bowl. As you may know, the Super Bowl is not only a competition between two football teams but between all the advertisers. My advertising class intensely studied all the commercials and the public’s feedback towards the commercials.  There was one company we even analyzed that did not have a Super Bowl add. Pepsi, known for their past Super Bowl adds, decided to step back during the Super Bowl this year. They tried another approach.

Pepsi took their Super Bowl add budget and put it towards their new “Pepsi Refresh Project.” The big idea behind the Refresh Project is that they are asking people what their big idea is and then Pepsi wants to fund the idea. Pepsi divides the ideas into six ideas.

1. Health
2. Arts & Culture
3. Food & Shelter
4. The Planets
5. Neighborhoods
6. Education

When you go to the website you can pick a category and then vote for what idea you think is best. Whichever idea earns the most votes, Pepsi will fund the idea. For example,I voted for an idea in the neighborhood section. My favorite idea was to give children in shelter a real birthday party. I thought that was a good idea because my birthday parties were the highlights of my childhood. I would hate for a child to never know the feeling of a real birthday party.

Pepsi has funded many projects already. Pepsi donated $250,000 to fund research on Spinal Muscular Atophy. The website shows pictures of children whose lives have already been effected by Pepsi’s donation.

I feel like this is a very refreshing approach to PR. My favorite part about the Refresh Project is that they ask people of the community how to help their community. Personally, I have tons of ideas for my little community of Statesboro, GA. I will definitely be speaking to Pepsi about my ideas. I hope you do too.

Submit, Promote, Vote

Topic of the Week 16: Top 10 Tips for PRCA 3330 Future Students

1. Keep up with your blogging: I tried to do this for the most part. The only thing I got behind was my PR Connection section. The more often you do it, the more you like it. If you just wait till the end of the semester you will have to do all of your blogging at once which will make you hate blogging. Blogging is a great thing and very fun. Don’t ruin it for yourself.
2. Keep blogging in mind: Towards the end of the semester I was having a hard time come up with different topics to blog about. I would recommend that you just keep blogging in the back of your mind. If you see something cool or something that you think your readers would like, take note. Blog about it later.
3. COMMENT COMMENT COMMENT COMMENT: When you read anything, you have an opinion about it. It may not be a strong opinion or a nice one, but there is one. So, just write about it. It is really quite easy. I feel like I had opinions but I held back.
4. Don’t be afraid to edit: So, you have written a post. Then a week later there is something you would like to add to that particular post. DO IT! I suggest you edit instead of writing a brand new post on the same topic.
5. Explore blogs of other people: There re so many great blogs out there in the world wide web. If you look at other blogs it will teach you how to be a better blogger. You also may learn a thing or two.
6. INSERT INSERT INSERT: The more graphics, videos, and audio the better. You can talk all you want about something but it cant beat the seeing/hearing the actual thing.
7. Learn about WordPress: WordPress can be a very confusing and frustrating thing. The more you learn about how to use it better, the better your blog will be.
8. Get a study buddy: Get a buddy you can stay accountable to with your blogging. Check up on each other to make sure ya’ll are staying on track. If you have a study buddy the more likely you are to stay on schedule with the blogging. Getting behind is no fun….trust me.
9. Hyperlink: It took me a while to figure this part out. I love it now. It makes everything so much easier.
10. HAVE FUN!: Learning how to blog has been a great experience for me. I will definitely keep up with my blogging. I want to get better at it.

Chapter 14 Reading Notes

Chapter 14 was about writing emails, memos, and proposals. It is kind of weird that we need a whole chapter on how to write these simple forms of communication. Here are a few of the notes that I took.

• An average PR professional checks their email about 50 times a day.
• Do not use abbreviations or shorthand in an email
• Always include a subject line
• RFP= request for proposal
• Memos serve many different purpose

PR Connection 8: The New GM

As I was sitting at my desk today I saw a new commercial. It immediately caught my attention. It was the new General Motors commercial. The chairman and CEO of GM, Ed Whitacre, announces that GM has paid off their government loan  for $8.4 billion in full wth interest 5 years before planned.

GM has also launched a campaign called “Reinvention.” The campaign includes a series of commercials about how GM is reinventing how they make cars. The commercials are blunt and honest. This is a refreshing take on commercials. After the government bailed GM out, they needed to take a different approach to their advertising. They want to get America back on their side.

I feel like they have done a very good job so far. The commercials have definitely caught my attention.

So, what else are they doing besides commercials? Their new Reinvention website explains everything. They are making fewer cars with a focus on technology for saving gas. They are making a commitment to the environment. They are putting more Americans back to work and providing better cars.

One of my favorite parts of the website is the education section of the website. They have 5 different segments for kids to choose from. The segments include K-4th, 5th-8th, 9th-12th, Teacher’s Blog and Lesson Plans. This allows a segment for everyone. Within each category there are games, education about how to be green, pictures of GM’s newset and coolest cars. I like this section because it is a different way to be interactive.

Overall, I think GM is doing a good job. They are taking new and different approaches to get America back on their side. I must say it is working on me!

I would like to see GM team up with another company and do some charity work. They have just paid off all their debt and now it is time to give back to the community. If they really want America to be back on their side they need to give back to them. THis would also be a great outlet for a little creativity on GM’s part.

PR Connection 7: Connect Kids to Care

The new health care reform has been on everyone’s mind lately. Now that the reform has passed everyone thinks that their health care problems are cured. This is not the case. One in five children in the U.S. live in poverty and millions of children don’t have access to regular check-ups and timely health care visits when sick. Clorox, Children’s Health Fund, Juliana Moore, and Facebook have joined to help this problem.  They have started a social media driven campaign to get the word out there.

Facebook has joined the cause. They are going to help rally people across the country and become aware of the problem. Clorox had donated half a million dollars and will donate one dollar for every fan on Facebook of Clorox.

The goal of this whole project is providing half a million health care visits to disadvantaged children.  Many children go without health care for years. This isn’t healthy for the future of out country.

How can you help?

1. Connect: Visit the Clorox page on Facebook® (www.Facebook.com/Clorox) to learn more about the program and become a fan. Clorox will donate $1.00 to CHF for each new fan that joins the Clorox Facebook page, up to $100,000.*
2. Share: Help spread the word to friends and family by changing your Facebook status (additional details on Facebook.com/Clorox).
3. Act: Visit the Clorox Facebook page to find out more and learn how a $10 donation can help CHF provide health care to children in need.

I love this campaign. I think it is great. I like that is driven through social media. I think it makes it a more fun and interactive way for people to be charitable from their desk at home. I have already become a fan on Facebook and next time I need laundry detergent I want to get Clorox because of what they are doing to support this cause.

In my PR writing class I just finished my final project. It was a social media news release. I probably failed it because I really didn’t know what one looked like. The Connect Kids to Care Campaign has a social media news release that looks AWESOME!! I love it! Now, I know what one is supposed to look like.

Great job Clorox, Facebook and Juliana Moore. I love your work!

PR Connection 6:Ba da ba ba ba, I’m Lovin It

I have to admit I have never been a McDonald’s fan. My mother simply wouldn’t let me eat fast food as a child. I missed out on the french fries, chicken nuggets, cheeseburgers, ketchup,I am a young adult and I still have yet to ever have a McDonald’s hamburger of any kind. I know they have a double stack, a big mac, and cheeseburgers.  None of these delicacies has yet to grace my presence.

Although I haven’t experienced their food, as a marketing student, I have experienced their marketing campaigns over the years. The phrase that goes along with McDonald’s, “I’m lovin it”, is on its way to becoming iconic. It has been around for about 7 years and has been very successful for McDonald’s. It has  been marketed in 117 different countries successfully.

Now McDonald’s is trying to revamp the “I’m Lovin It” campaign. They are going to try to put a more creative and emotional spin to the campaign. One of the new commercials to be released soon is starring two grizzly bears. There is a papa bear and a baby bear. The baby bear got all A’s on his report card. The papa bear suggests that they go get McDonald’s to celebrate. They exit their cave and find a car full of people eating McDonald’s.  The baby distracts the people in the car while the papa bears sneaks behind the car and scares the people in the car. The people run away screaming and then the bears tip the car over to get the last fry out. Then the last line was from the papa bear and he said, “There’s always an extra fry at the bottom. ”

Personally, I do not care for this particular commercial. But, there is another new McDonald’s commercial that I really do like a lot. There is a father driving around in his car so his new born baby will fall asleep. If he stops the car his baby will wake up. He wants a egg McMuffin and a coffee, so he goes to the drive-thru at McDonald’s but dosn’t stop the car, instead he goes a round and round the drive thru. The cashier understands what he is doing and gets his order ready and shoves it out the window so the dad doesn’t have to stop. I love this one. I think McDonald’s achieves its goal with this commercial. It really adds an emotional connection to McDonald’s

I am looking forward to what else McDonald’s has up their sleeve!

Social Media News Release: Sarah Kammer, the Hammer Behind Alpha Delta Pi

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Elizabeth Powell (Spokesperson) Alpha Delta Pi President (229) 328-7790 (cell) Email: epowell423@yahoo.com Sarah Kammer (Spokesperson) Alpha Delta Pi member (404) 285-3480 (cell) Email: sak09@aol.com Jessica Dudley (Spokesperson) Alpha Delta Pi Public Relations Chair (706)247-6508 (cell) Email: jdudley88@hotmail.com

Personality Profile:

Sarah Kammer, the Hammer Behind Alpha Delta Pi

Sarah Kammer and how she influenced Alpha Delta Pi. She speaks on her experience as president and how she coped with everything else going on in her life. Also, some of her friend express their feeling about Sarah.

STATESBORO, GA– April 20, 2010

Studying for nursing tests, planning a wedding, playing on her sororities’ basketball team, and being a homecoming queen representative, Sarah Kammer has her job cut out for her. Although most people would crack under pressure, Sarah Kammer hammered out her duties as the president of Alpha Delta Pi.

Sarah Kammer is the former president of Alpha Delta Pi -the very first secret society for women ever. Since Alpha Delta Pi’s beginning in 1851, its leaders have always been the finest of women. Sarah Kammer is no exception.

She was voted in the December of 2008. 2009 was a very busy year for Sarah. Not only was she the president of ADPi, she was a second semester nursing student and training to be an orientation leader for the summer of 2009. Most people would be stressed and very irritable towards the loved ones in their lives. Sarah handled the pressure with grace. Sarah says, “I just really took it day by day. I learned to prioritize and ask for help. With ADPi I have 125 girl friends that will help me no matter what. I learned to take advantage of that. This also strengthened a lot my relationships with my sisters. Overall the pressure and all the stress gave me confidence that I can do anything with the support of all of my friends and family.”

Previous Alpha Delta Pi president, Kelsey Grubbs comments on Sarah’s leadership skills. “Sarah is a great president because no matter how hectic things get, Sarah keeps her cool. I have never seen a freak out in Sarah’s part.” Kelsey laughs as she says, “She has helped me with all my freak outs. Presidency is stressful, I don’t know how she does it so gracefully.”

It is a great honor for an individual to reach the role of president in any organization. The fact that the organization had to vote in the individual says a lot about that person. When ADPi voted in Sarah as their president they put all their trust in her. They trusted her to lead their most important organization. Allison Harrington, member of Alpha Delta explains that Sarah Kammer was the best person for that role. She says, “Sarah had proven her leadership skills for two and a half years at ADPi as the philanthropy chair and the standards chair. We all knew she was going to do a great job, but she went beyond all of our expectations during her term.”

Raised in the suburbs of Atlanta, GA, Sarah went to Parkview high school. She excelled in high school with superior grades and a starting position on Parkview’s soccer team. She graduated in 2006 and decided to continue her education at Georgia Southern University.

The summer of 2006 she moved to Statesboro, GA, home of Georgia Southern University. That summer she made a life changing decision and decided to go through panhellenic recruitment (better known as sorority rush). During the week of rush Sarah learned a lot about herself and made many new friends. She was torn between two sororities but now feel like she made the very best decision. She chose Alpha Delta Pi. Sarah says, “I just went with my heart on that decision. I feel like I made the best decision for me.”

Her freshman year was a great experience for Sarah. She says, “I really submerged myself with ADPi my freshman year. I put a lot into my sorority and got a lot out of my sorority. That’s how life is. You can embrace it or you could just let it pass you by. I picked to embrace college, and I think ADPi was the best way to do that.”

Sarah completed her presidential term in December 2009. She is now planning a wedding with her fiancé and finishing up nursing school at Georgia Southern University. She says, “It’s weird that I am not the president anymore and to see someone else leading our chapter meetings. I do miss it but now I can focus on starting my grown up life with a spouse and a career. It’s bittersweet. I am very excited but I know I am going to miss everything about college and ADPi.

As Sarah moves on with her adult life she will always have a very special place in her heart for Alpha Delta Pi. “I will never forget all the memories and friendships I have formed here. All of the girls mean so much to me and I cant wait to see all of them on my wedding day.”

left: Sarah Kammer right: Sarah Lamar

News Release:

For Immediate Release

Alpha Delta Pi Gives Back to the Community with Style with Charity Denim

STATESBORO, GA, February 21, 2010 — On February 12th, the sorority, Alpha Delta Pi, opened their doors for the community for the annual Charity Denim sale. Inside the house were hundreds of designer jeans on sale at discounted prices. How does this benefit the community? This event, Charity Denim, is not only contributing style to the community but a portion of the proceeds went to the Ronald McDonald House charity.

Charity Denim raised more than $1,500 for the Ronald McDonald House this year. They surpassed their goal for the year by $300.

The philanthropy chair of Alpha Delta Pi, Jessie Joyner, planned the annual Charity Denim event this year for the community. She said, “it is really great to see people walk out of the ADPi (Alpha Delta Pi) house with a big smile on their faces, with a great new pair of jeans, and a good feeling about being generous.”

Next time you are shopping for jeans, think about holding off till next February. You could shop at the ADPi house for discounted designer jeans and give to charity at the same time. What more could a girl ask for?

Facts about Alpha Delta Pi

• Eugenia Tucker Fitzgerald in Macon, Georgia founded Alpha Delta Pi in 1851.

• Alpha Delta Pi was the first secret society for women.

• Alpha Delta Pi’s national philanthropy is the Ronald McDonald House Charities.

QUOTES

• “I just really took it day by day. I learned to prioritize and ask for help. With ADPi I have 125 girlfriends that will help me no matter what. I have learned to take advantage of that. THis has also strengthened a lot of my relationships with my sisters. Overall, the pressure and all the stress gave me confidence that I can do anything with the support of my friends and family.”-Sarah Kammer, former president of Alpha Delta Pi
• “Sarah is a great president because no matter how hectic things get, Sarah keeps her cool. I have never seen a freak out on Sarah’s part. She has helped me with all my freak outs. Presidency is stressful, I don’t know how she does it so gracefully.” -Kelsey Grubbs, former Alpha Delta Pi President
• “Sarah has proven her leadership skills for the past two and a half years at ADPi as the philanthropy chair and the standards chair. We all knew she was going to do a great job, but she went beyond all our expectations during her term.”- Allison Harrington, member of Alpha Delta Pi
• “I just went with my heart on that decision. I feel like I made the best decision for me.”-Sarah Kammer, former president of Alpha Delta Pi
• “I really submerged myself with ADPi my freshman year. I put a lot into my sorority and got a lot out of my sorority. That’s how life is. You can embrace or just let it pass you by. I picked to embrace college, and I think ADPi was the best way to do that.” -Sarah Kammer, former president of Alpha Delta Pi
• “It’s weird I am not president anymore and to see someone else leading our chapter meetings. I do miss it but now I can focus on my grown up life with a spouse and a career. It’s bittersweet. I am very excited but I know I am going to miss everything about college and ADPi.” -Sarah Kammer, former president of Alpha Delta Pi
• “I will never forget all the memories and friendships I have formed here. All of the girls mean so much to me and I cant wait to see them on my wedding day.” – Sarah Kammer, former president of Alpha Delta Pi
• “It is really great to see people walk out of the ADPi house with big smiles on their faces, wih a great new pair of jeans, and a good feeling about being generous.”-Jessie Joyner, former philanthropy chair of Alpha Delta Pi

RELATED LINKS

Ronald McDonald House

Alpha Delta Pi

Georgia Southern University

Technorati Tags: Alpha Delta Pi | sorority | Sarah Kammer | leader | president | Charity Denim | Jessie Joyner

Topic of the Week 14: 5 Steps to Multimedia Storytelling

This post will be kind of different from my previous Topic of the Weeks. I am going to go thorugh the whole motion of media storytelling about the Poynter NewsU lesson about media storytelling. So, here w go.

Making a story board:

this includes defining the elements, identifying the media, and to storyboard the concept.

still photos: of the lesson in poynter’s newsu.

text: about the media storytelling lesson

graphics: of the media storytelling

Reporting With Multimedia

The media used here is a blog on the internet.

technology needs= computer with internet access.

Editing For the Web

videos: If I were to use  video on this media storytelling adventure, I would keep my videos very short and to the point.

audio: If I were to use audio, I would use only high quality audio. I would probably use background music a lot. Poynter’s doesn’t suggest to use background music, but I love it, so I will use it.

still photos: If I were to use still photos, I would use them to replace words, not to accessorize them. I would use them to set the mood of a story.

graphics: I would make them interactive by using GIS and Flash to animate them.

text: If I were to use text in my media story I would use text for headlines and photo captions. Text works best for first-person stories, political stories, analysis, op-ed pieces and short updates.

Producing the Story:

The web designer will be your best friend throughout this step. This step will include perfecting the layout. Eventually, after you have done a handful of stories, you will be able to start a collection of templates. Templates will allow you to not have to be able to start from scratch each time.

I know this is kind of a long process, but it will be completely worth it when you see the final product.

Good Luck with your first Media Story!