Teaching PR

Edelman Trust Barometer 2010

The kind folks at Edelman sent me a copy of this year's Trust Barometer, so I thought I'd add a few comments to the discussion (for example, here and here and here).

• The report finds "a modest global rise in trust in business," tempered by the fact that "nearly 70 percent saying business and financial companies will revert to old habits when the financial crisis is over." Funny, that's what I've been thinking about all these people who say their personal spending/saving habits have changed permanently. Really?
• "The only institution to lose trust around the globe is media." The report concludes that the rise of opinion journalism due to the "dispersion of traditional media's authority" is the root cause. So... if you're one of those losing trust, stop paying attention to opinion-based journalism and demand real reporting. (You might actually have to pay for it, too.) The report notes that the credibility of TV news dropped 20+ points in the United States.
• On the topic of business, academics and experts are the most trusted. Guess I'd better watch what I say. A "person like yourself," which scored highly in past years, dropped 3%; it'll be interesting to see the long-term trend.
• To all those students who've listened to me drone on about CSR: this year, for the first time, the report showed that "trust and transparency are as important to corporate reputation as the quality of products and services." Hello, Walmart? Good ethics IS good PR.

The survey looked at "informed publics ages 25 to 64 in 20 countries" (methodology).

The Week's Best for PR students, 25 January 2010

• How to Be a More Relational Blogger, and The Power of Uniqueness, both by Darren Rowse
• NBC: A Corporate PR Disaster, Richard Laermer
• 1 Metric, 1 Minute, Kaye Sweetser
• What I Hate About Facebook, Les Potter
• Resume 2.0: Down and Dirty on What to Include, Debra Wheatman
• Throw Some 'A's on That, Colby Gergen (via @GoKTGo)
• 25 Women that Rock Social Media, Lee Odden (via @kdpaine)
• Learning the Ropes, Christina Khoury (via @DrSha)
• 5 Social Media Lessons from the Haiti Earthquake Relief Effort, Geoff Livingston (via @kamichat)
• The Ultimate Google Wave Guide for Students: 100 Tips, Tools, and Tricks, Alexandra Popovic (via @researchgoddess)

And I still have Google Wave invites if any students want to follow up on that one -- just DM me with your e-mail address (@karenrussell).

Answering an FAQ: "How do I use PROpenMic?"

I can't think how many times students have asked me some variation on this question. I often require my students to participate on PROpenMic, and at least one of them will say, "I don't really get what we're supposed to be doing." (By the way, pros and educators, that's just more proof of this.) Yesterday I got a DM from @Mikinzie asking, "Would you mind giving me the basic rundown of PROpenMic?" so I know it's not just my students who ask this FAQ. I'm answering Mikinzie's question for everyone.

PROpenMic is a social network, just like Facebook, but it's used for professional rather than personal reasons. So far it has almost 5,500 members -- students, faculty, and professionals -- from around the world. Just like Facebook, participants register and "friend" each other, but since it's for professional use it's OK to friend people you don't actually know. In fact, the purpose is to add to your professional network by talking with people you don't already know.

Also like Facebook, you can join or create groups, which are just people interested in a similar issue, such as the internships group or the PR student bloggers group. PROpenMic does have something like a wall for messaging, but unlike Facebook, the discussions within the groups are more important than the walls. In addition, PROpenMic allows users to add blog posts, which are listed on the home page (scroll down a bit to see the latest posts). Many of us who already have blogs cross-post to our PROpenMic blogs, as I'm doing with this post.

To be a good, active participant on PROpenMic, here are some things you can do:

• Create a good profile with a picture so people can identify you with your participation around the site.
• Join a group and participate or start discussions on topics of interest to the group. If you don't see a group that fits your needs, create one!
• Read the blog posts and comment on them. Either set aside a time to check the front page, or follow @PROpenMic on Twitter so you can watch for new posts of interest.
• Add a blog post yourself (you can add one from your profile page). If you aren't blogging already, this is a good way to try your hand at it without making a commitment to running and promoting a blog. It doesn't have to be anything major-- just a link and a comment about an interesting video, news story, or class project will do.
• Friend people. Any people! PROpenMic is the only social media site I'm on where I automatically friend back -- the site is moderated by its creator, Robert French, and a group of administrators (disclosure: I'm one of them) to keep spammers out. Pretty much everyone who's on the site is there because they support PR education and want to work with students.
• Check the site frequently -- maybe mark a couple days a week on your calendar as a reminder -- because social networks move fast.

Well, Mikinzie, I hope that helps. If you --or other students-- have other questions, let me know.

The Week's Best, 18 January 2010

• 5 Ways to Sidewiki for Success, Will Robinson
• 20 Best Social Media and Marketing Blogs by Women, Coree Silvera
• Will a Facebook Ad Help Job Seeker Land His Next Gig?, Kevin Dugan
• A Troubling New Form of Media Manipulation, Tom Foremski (via Joe Ciarallo)
• Stating the Obvious? Professional Communicators Need Business Skills, Bill Sledzik
• Bad Apples in PR, Todd Defren
• Keep Your #blackthoughts to Yourself: The Privilege of Twitter, Mikhail Lyubansky (via @ntindall)
• Putting Yourself Out There, Jessica Lawlor (via @heatherhuhman)
• Conversations about the Internet #5: Anonymous Facebook Employee, Phil Wong (via @allanshoenberg)
• How One Student Utilized LinkedIn Correctly, Ray Lapena
• A Rant About Women, Clay Shirky (via @nejsnave)
• Addition: Ben Cotton's presentation on e-portfolios

#PRStudChat wrap-up

Today I served as one of the guest panelists on #PRstudchat on the topic of social media in PR education. I'm afraid I didn't say much that Teaching PR readers haven't already heard, but it was fun anyway. The conversation was so lively that the search on Tweetdeck had a hard time keeping up.

Some thoughts: I emphasized (as usual) that educators should focus on principles rather than tools, because tools will change but principles are more lasting. By principles I mean transmedia storytelling, collaboration, entrepreneurship, etc. I also said that I think social media should be incorporated into all PR classes rather than segregated into its own course -- after all, it's incorporated into a larger PR program in practice. The trick, I think, is to help students become confident in their abilities to figure new tools out for themselves.

On the question of textbooks, I'm not opposed to using books to teach social media (I've used David Meerman Scott's New Rules and Bernhoff & Li's Groundswell with success), but told the crowd that I subscribe to Josh Hallett's approach: "learn by doing." I think some people were surprised that I wasn't opposed to textbooks out of hand--but maybe my definition of textbook is different from theirs.

Another question asked about using a backchannel such as live tweeting. Is it helpful or disruptive in the classroom? Well, I can't multitask well enough to try it. Honestly, for me it would be disruptive. I know that Mihaela Vorvoreanu had students live tweet a guest lecture (with the speaker's permission), which seems to me a good way to practice Twitter without disrupting the class, but a lot of the people in the chat seemed to think it would be helpful, and fun. (Have to say, though, it seemed to be the pros and students who were in favor of it! And Robert French was definitely opposed.)

We also talked about evaluating SM use in the classroom. In my opinion, for beginners, just grading participation (i.e., setting a number of tweets or blog posts, etc.) is enough. Upper-level students, though, need to show they can create and use SM channels for clients. In the capstone campaigns class especially, I expect students to integrate social media into their programs as relevant to the client and its publics. This includes everything from setting up the tools to using analytics.

Last, we discussed how educators can keep up with the rapidly changing digital environment. Frankly, I don't think you can effectively teach SM unless you participate in it. Other people suggested using an aggregator to read blog posts and news, joining PROpenMic, reading current books, and going to professional conferences. 

All in all, it was a great discussion--this post doesn't even cover what I said, much less what everyone else contributed. Thanks again to Deirdre Breakenridge and Valerie Simon for inviting me to participate and Mikinzie Stuart for moderating. The chat, which takes place once a month, has a LinkedIn group for more information. I definitely recommend it to students and educators. [Addition: chat transcript.]

#PRStudChat on public relations education

Ever participated in a Twitter chat? People interested in the same topic get on Twitter at the same time, someone poses questions, and everyone can discuss their answers real-time. The conversation is organized around a hashtag -- here's an example: #journchat -- and/or by a moderator, like this one: @u30pro. 

This week I'm participating in the PR Student Chat, that's #PRStudChat, organized by Valerie Simon and Deirdre Breakenridge, which will focus on PR education. The chat is Wednesday, 13 January at noon (Eastern U.S. time). PR student Mikinzie Stuart will moderate.

Questions or strong opinions about PR education? I hope you will join the conversation (...and here are some tips on participating). 

The Week's Best, 11 January 2010

• Facebook Bra Color Meme: So, Did it Work?, Rebecca Leaman
• Don't Feed the Trolls: Fostering Civil Online Dialogue and Exchange of Ideas, Kami Huyse
• How to Make Screenshots for Your Portfolio, Tiffany Derville
• H&M Bypasses Times, Tweets Statement on Destroyed Merchandise, Joe Ciarallo
• 10 Tips for a Productive New Year as a Young PR Pro, Rachel Esterline; and Making Career Resolutions?, Karen Burns
• 30 Bloggers to Watch in 2010, Jade Craven
• The Social Organization and Womenonics, Rachel Happe

The Week's Best, 4 January 2010

• Me & Peter Shankman: Email, Social Tools, Musings on a Web 2.0 Washing Machine(video), Ann Handley (and here's HARO), via @kbodnar32
• Defining Earned, Owned and Paid Media, Sean Corcoran (via Dave Fleet)
• Measuring Engagement is Just Another Term for Measuring Relationships, Katie Paine
• Situational Theory and the Relationships Values School of Thought, David Phillips
• 100 Job Search Tips from Fortune 500 Recruiters, David Meerman Scott
• Four Social Thinkers: Keep Your Eye on Them, Steffano Magi
• Most Influential Conversations on Twitter in 2009, Brian Solis; and Top 10 Most Important Tweets of 2009, Buzz Marketing Daily (via @my_chelle)
• The Listorious 140 --Top Lists on Twitter, via @dhutson
• Meh or Shmay, 2010 Is Just Another Year, Jeremy Pepper; and Social Media Top 5: Exit: Stage SHIFT, and the State of Public Relations, Doug Haslam