Teaching PR

The Week's Best, 28 September 2009

• Should Scholars Keep Plugging Grunig's Model or Develop Theories that Work?, Bob Batchelor
• Not Sure How I Feel, David Reich 
• Google on a Roll: Sidewiki, Valeria Maltoni 
• When Every Word Counts, Dan Santow 
• Some Solid Lessons for Students in "New Rules of Marketing and PR," Bill Sledzik 
• Announcing Hill & Knowlton's New Social Media Principles, Niall Cook (via John Cass) 
• Portfolios for Public Relations Students, Barbara Nixon 
• 5 Benefits of a Reverse Mentor, David Spinks 
• Protect Your Privacy on Facebook and Twitter, Tony Bradley (via @FvrythingPR)
• Unexpected Learnings: Backnoise Can Be Toxic, Stacy Williams (via @lizazzolino)
• Public Relations Without Borders Launched..., via @DavidGHPhillips 

Why I loved Connect09, and why there won't be a Connect10

The last Connect was, in my opinion, the best Connect.

I loved that the panelists didn't always agree, and that the audience participants jumped in with questions, counter-examples, and support. I loved connecting people who have things in common and wondering what they'll do next. As always, I loved the student team, which did a great job with planning and social media (above from left: Erica Holland, Hannah Keating, Allison Brill, Lesley Anne Dickerson, Jason Davis; not pictured: Kristin English, LIzzy Nephew and Debbie Ebalobo). Of course I loved the help (both money and people) that Porter Novelli so generously provided again this year. The weather let me down, but I loved that the broken water main on campus didn't kill the event. Perhaps most of all, I loved that in the end the conference broke even.

And that last reason is the primary reason there won't be another: I'm tired of worrying about money. I know it's common "in this economy" (my most hated phrase of the '00s), but the truth is that for too many nights I sat awake worrying about it -- we didn't reach the bare-bones break even point until about 10 days before the conference, not counting all the people who kept cancelling for very good reasons of their own (fortunately counterbalanced by a slightly larger number of late registrants). 

Money isn't the only reason, though; when I started with Connect07 I'd never planned an event that big and knew I could learn right along with my students. After three times, I'm past that. I also wanted to learn from the best by inviting them to Athens and making everyone else pay for it: mission accomplished. Also, the sad truth is there's a big opportunity cost here, such that every hour I spend on the conference is an hour that doesn't go toward other things I'd like to try. And, let's not forget Josh Hallett's admonition at Connect08 that it's time to have conferences on public relations, not PR and social media, because social media is part of it all now. Thus, this year's unofficial theme: Integrating Social Media and Traditional Public Relations. But what it really all boils down to is that I've faced the fact that I'm just a worrier and Connect gives me too much to worry about.

I want to thank all of the wonderful people who attended or spoke at any of the three Connects, all the students who worked on the event over the years, and the Grady staff -- Diane Murray and Karen Andrews, not to mention our sponsors, Grady College, Jackson Spalding (Connect07) and Porter Novelli (Connect08 and 09) who truly made the conference possible. Special thanks to Kaye Sweetser, whose class started the blogging-tweeting-flickring tradition that gave Grady students invaluable hands-on experience, and to Constantin Basturea, Paull Young, Josh Hallett, Katie Paine and Kevin Dugan, who spoke at the first Connect for low or no cost and then went on to help promote and secure other fine speakers for the rest. The best thing about the conference was meeting them and other amazing people in the PR-marketing-social media sphere.

There won't be another Connect, but there will be lots of other chances for professionals, educators, and students to interact, and I hope to take advantage of all of them.

The Week's Best, 21 September 2009

• 2009 Women in Social Media Study, Blogher, iVillage and Compass (via Barry Hollander)
• There's More to a Millenial than Filling Out Your Profile, Lauren Fernandez  
• Did You Know 4.0?, Stephen Davies 
• Does the Rise of Social Media Let Everyone Become a PR Agent?, Roderick 
• The Yes Men's Upcoming U.N. Stunt, Jason Chupick
• Using Twitter to Connect PR Students, Educators, and Professionals, Brian Solis 
• Stinking It Up: Lessons from a PR Failure, Nancy Lublin (via @SeattleCM)
• UGA Connect 2009 conference blog 

How to attend Connect 2009 if you can't actually attend

Registration is closed now, but if you want to attend Connect and can't, follow us on the conference blog or Twitter stream. We'll also be uploading pictures, videos, and links to Flickr, YouTube and our conference Delicious page; you'll find links on the blog.

Kudos to the student planning team -- Kristin English, Allison Brill, and Lesley Anne Dickerson -- and good luck to them and to the social media team -- Hannah Keating, Jason Davis, Debbie Ebalobo, Erica Holland, and Lizzy Nephew. 

Connect 2009 is sponsored by the Grady College and Porter Novelli.

The Week's Best, 14 September 2009

• Myth -- All PR is Good PR, Rachel Kay
• Technology Addiction Takes Over 21st Century, Brian Camen
• From {Young Minds}: "Excuse Me, the Offer Is How Much?" Kate Ottavio
• Brazen Careerist Launches New Social Networking Career Site for Generation Y, via @girlmeetsweb
• Sorry, But It's Not All About the Conversation, Neicole Crepeau (via @jbhester)
• The Ethics of Blogging for PR Practitioners (free webinar), Ann Subervi (via @kristen_okla)
• The One Reason to Focus on Tools, Doug Haslam

Connect conference student registration

Although the Connect conference is designed primarily for public relations educators and professionals, a large number of students have also expressed an interest in attending. We love that enthusiasm and want to encourage students to attend.

Students are responsible for the $150 registration fee, plus travel/hotel expenses for those not from Athens. Simply go to http://www.grady.uga.edu/connect and register.

Ten Grady College students, if selected, can apply to the Yarbrough Fund to cover the cost of registration. We’re looking for students who can join the conversation. If you are an enrolled Grady College major, send us a page—250 words—describing your social media experience and explaining why you’d like to attend. Please send your one-page application, which should include your name, major, and e-mail address, to karenm@uga.edu by Sept. 14, 2009. The lucky 10 will be informed by Sept. 15 and will receive instructions on applying for the scholarship (you will have to write a check for $150 but will be reimbursed quickly).

For more information on Connect, visit the Web site or the blog, and watch for Twitter updates.

The Week's Best, 7 September 2009

• How Google Selects News, David Phillips
• Inside Out: Engaging External Audiences with Internal Culture, Kami Huyse 
• There's No Social Media Revolution, Paul Seaman; and Social Media Is Pushing PR and Interactive Media to Align, Dan Greenfield
• Respecting Copyright on Your Blog or Social Media Page, David Kamerer 
• Should We Hide Our Age?, David Spinks 
• Best Practices series: Photo Sharing, Viral Video, Twitter, Social Networking, Crisis, Kaye Sweetser 
• NC State Students React to Salary of New Public Relations Chief, Steve Sbraccia (via @sdilegge) 

Update on the Journal of Public Relations Research

I'm headed into my first year as the editor of the Journal of PR Research (for the past year my official title was Incoming Editor). I haven't written much about it here for many reasons -- for example, the need to protect the blind review process, which provides confidentiality for both authors and reviewers-- but I did want to provide a review of my first year. I was appointed at the AEJMC meeting in August, 2008.

The first thing I did was accept the invitation from our publisher, Taylor & Francis, to move to an online submission process. After they worked with me to build the site, I had several hours of training on how to use it. The site opened for submissions in December.

The submissions site automatically generates statistics which I am happy to share. In my first year:

• 116 submissions, averaging almost 10 a month
• Average days from submission to first decision: 62 
• Average days from submission to final decision: 54 (resubmissions don't take as long for reviewers so that pulls the overall average down) 
• Acceptance rate: 17%  
• Total pending manuscripts (as of today): 43 

The acceptance rate is low, yet my issues are filling up rapidly because of the large number of submissions. Each issue typically has room for 4-5 articles. Issues 1 and 2 of next year are already full, and I'm working on issue 4 now. 

As for issue 3: I have planned three special issues, one for each year of my term. The first, on social media and public relations, is being guest edited by Tom Kelleher, and the manuscripts for that issue are currently under review (I believe he received 11). This will be issue 3 of 2010.

So far I'm enjoying it a lot -- I get to be the first to see some interesting new research, and I have enjoyed seeing how my colleagues on the editorial board review manuscripts. 

My blog usually focuses on teaching (obviously), but would anyone be interested in posts on a) what reviewers are looking for or b) how to write a good review? After a year of watching and learning, I would be happy to do either or both.