Teaching PR

Mistakes student bloggers often make

The first time I taught a special topics social media class (shout out to the WOMmers who still read this blog), I asked them all to start a blog on the topic of their choice. Midway through the semester, I realized that they need a lot more guidance than just that, and since then I've noticed lots of other student bloggers making many of the same mistakes that group made. Here are some suggestions to help keep student bloggers out of trouble.

Don'ts for student bloggers:

1. Don't discuss multiple topics in one post. First, it makes your posts too long. Second, it messes with a search engine's ability to find your post. And third, it's confusing for the readers.
2. Don't delete posts or change the content of posts. If you need to make a small change, like correct a typo or grammatical error, go ahead. But if you're changing the meaning or correcting a major error, make addition to your post (marking it as an update), strikethrough words or phrases that were incorrect (so readers can see what was changed), or write a new post and add the link to the old one (so that readers who come across the first post can go to the second).  
3. Don't post when you're angry or upset. It's great to be passionate about your topic, but if you're really mad you might say something you regret... and I just told you you're not supposed to delete posts later. Save it as a draft and look at it again the next day. 
4. Don't start promoting your blog too early. You want to make sure you've settled on a niche and found your voice before you start inviting the world to stop in. 
5. Don't resort to the sweeping generalization just to attract attention. I used to just roll my eyes, but now I call it out in the comments when I see bloggers doing this -- "all PR programs suck," "all women do this," "no one does that," etc. Please. The world is not that simple. Either you think it is, or you're just trying to get everyone to visit your blog: is that really how you want people to see you? 
6. Don't quit. Don't worry, I'm not saying you have to blog for the rest of your life. But you do need to have an exit strategy, rather than just letting your blog die a slow death by neglect.

  Any other "don'ts" for this list?
  

A technical note on my blog's feed

Yesterday I decided to follow Google's advice and move my feed from Feedburner to Google (which owns Feedburner now). I followed the directions, which assured me that there would no problem with the change.

Nonetheless, this morning I saw some discussion on Twitter about Google ignoring complaints about problems associated with this transition process. I clicked over to the Feedburner Help Group, which is full of complaints about blogs losing readers during the transition. I checked my subscribers, and half are gone this morning.

I have neither the time nor the technical expertise to figure out what's going on (apparently Google doesn't either), so all I can do is apologize if you're a reader who's suddenly lost my feed... but then again you're probably not reading this.

Tips for promoting PR student blogs

So you've created a blog, probably for class, and you've started posting content. Now you're hoping someone will read it. How do you get people to notice your blog? That's one of the most common questions I get from my students. Here are the suggestions I give them to get them started (note: you should have 3-5 posts up before you start promotion).

1. At least some of the time, create original content, not just links to news stories or "I agree with so-and-so" posts. Examples:

• Conduct an interview (usually via e-mail; make sure the person knows it’s for publication on your blog)
• Summarize blog conversation on a timely and relevant issue with links to the various posts
• Create a top-10 list relevant to your blog’s purpose
• Present "how-to" information: how to look for an internship, write a poem, etc.
• Do an informal survey and post the results
• Choose headlines carefully so that they are descriptive and use tags and categories or keywords to help people find/notice your post.

2. Start to build a community.

• Include many outbound links in your posts (links to other bloggers posting about the same subject as your blog)
• Post comments on other blogs, using your blog’s URL when you sign in
• E-mail a note to another blogger to call attention to your latest post; make sure it’s someone who has demonstrated interest in that subject before and use this tactic selectively.
• Include your URL on your e-mail signature, Facebook or MySpace page, etc.

3. Remember that a blog is a conversation.

• Sign up for Feedburner, Google Analytics, and/or Technorati to help you track progress--all are free. When these sites show that someone has linked to you, follow the link back to their blog to see what they've written and post a comment thanking them for the link or adding more information.
• Notice which search terms land people on your blog, and consider writing more about those topics.
• When you get a comment, respond back on your blog with another comment (we're going for dialogue). Make sure your blog is set up to tell you when you receive comments, so you can respond as soon as possible. In addition, start watching that person’s blog and comment on their posts if you find one that interests you.
• Use a social bookmarking site like delicious to help you manage content with tags.

I (and my students) welcome any other suggestions or additions to this list!

Cross-posted to WOM Class.

Labels: blogging, education, public relations, social media, students, tips

BlogHer as a resource for academics

Thanks to Rohit Bhargava's post on social media sites and tools for women, I just registered on BlogHer -- for some reason I knew it was a conference but that's all. Anyway, already found an interesting post in the Research, Academia and Education section with a link to a Chronicle story on MIT's new pre-orientation Second Life island for incoming students. As with any of these sites, I'll have to read it for a while before I decide if it's worth the time investment, but my first impression is good!

Labels: education, social media

More neophytes

Well, it seems I missed a few. If I'd've waited a few hours longer, I'd've included these neophytes on my list, too: Blogging Me Blogging You, Ed Lee Into PR, Owen Lystrup The PR Place, Rich Millington Communication Strategy, Josh Morton Inside the Cubicle, Jeffrey Treem

In fact, I'm adding a neophyte section to my blogroll and hope you will check these newbies out.

Labels: blogging, neophytes

New Voices: PR Neophytes in the Blogosphere

Over the past few days, I've been delighted to find new posts in the Campaigns folder of my RSS aggregator-- a few of my former students are still at it, even after their grades are in. (You can't see it, but I'm grinning from ear to ear.) I read about Nikki's job search, Allie's thoughts on the Webby awards, and (another) Nikki's reflections on confidence and her new career.

This inspired me to look for and at PR blogs written by students and new practitioners from around the globe. It seems that, like 90% of my Campaigns class, many start but few continue; once they get a job they've got other work, sometimes even other blogs, to consider (Erin and Flackette come to mind).

My picks for the most interesting PR neophyte blogs:
Observations of Public Relations, Luke Armour
Student PR Blog, Chris Clarke
PR Blogger, Stephen Davies
For Budding Public Relations Professionals, Adam Denison
Indian and Global PR -- Student Blog!, Rajiv Harjai
PR Newbie, Jessica Hoffman
Young PR, Paull Young

Add them--along with PR, It Depends, Spinnan, and Beyond the Press Release -- to your RSS aggregator. They've got things to say!

Labels: blogging, neophytes, public relations

Student blogging assignment wrap-up

Today's the last day my students can post on their blogs for their class grade. I told them in all sincerity that I have enjoyed reading their posts and feel like I got to know them a little better because of it.

Quite a few have commented on the assignment, and the results on this experiment are mixed. Meghan, Mezelle, and Elyse confess to liking it, even after some initial reluctance. They, along with Kristina and Kelly, are thinking about continuing their blogs. Meanwhile, P.R. Student and Chad say they just never took to it; J.L.C. summarizes what she's learned about blogs from a PR perspective; and Allie is disappointed that she didn't have time to do more with hers. Additions: Nicole now admits it's important to know about social media; Nikki offers me some constructive criticism; Crystal didn't like posting her opinions for all the world to see; Ben says it helped him polish his writing skills; another Nikki has decided to keep posting on her blog; and Lauren says it was harder than she expected.

Another faculty member asked me if I'm going to make the same assignment when I teach campaigns in the fall. In all honesty, I haven't decided yet. Did my students learn something from it? Did the blogosphere benefit from their contributions? Was it worth my time and energy? I welcome your thoughts.

Labels: blogging, students, teaching

Student blogging update

With only a few days remaining in the semester, I've been looking over my students' blogs to see how they've done. One thing I noticed was the range of ways they chose to address the assignment. Nicole, for example, has written strictly about the class project, while Mezelle has focused on her work with a Fair Trade organization, Crystal writes mostly about sports, and Suzy writes about anything that strikes her as interesting, because, as she says, "it's all about PR."

Quite a few have gotten comments from other students and practitioners, and many have made the effort to link to and comment on others' blogs. Most are approaching that 15-post minimum, although I do expect an avalanche in the next week or two. If you want to keep up, Constantin Basturea has kindly set up an aggregator for all of their blogs. Enjoy!

Labels: blogging, students

Reflections on one year of blogging

On April 8, my blog will celebrate its first anniversary (I'll be visiting family to celebrate Easter). Boy, have I learned a lot.

My first post explained my reasons for starting a blog: to improve my teaching, and to give nonacademics an insiders view of PR education. I think it's served both of those purposes, but it's also gone beyond that. I never expected to get ideas for class projects and guest lecturers, but generous and thoughtful people--Kami, Josh--provided them. I also never expected to get feedback from my students--much less from students at other schools--but that has happened. I've connected with other PR professors, notably Richard and Bill, and I've reconnected with former students who've stumbled across me on the Web.

My goal for this next year is to work harder to bring bloggers and scholars together--something Constantin has been pushing for years. I've written a teaching paper, currently in review, that describes ways PR faculty can use blogs in the classroom. I am also in the early phases of planning a conference to be held here in Athens next October, and I hope some of the people I've just named will be in attendance.

When I first started my blog, I resisted any effort to keep stats or otherwise track my blog's "success." The whole process seemed ego-driven, and somehow it seemed more authentic to me to measure success in terms of comments and links ("conversation") than page views or unique visitors. Finally, about a month ago, I signed up for Feedburner and Technorati, because I realized I really couldn't talk to my students about blogging without having working knowledge of them myself.

What an eye-opener. First of all, I found out a lot more people look at my blog every day than I ever suspected. (I must confess I still don't know how many people subscribe to my feed because I haven't consolidated it at Feedburner, but I will... sometime before my second anniversary.) Not enough to feed my ego, but enough to encourage me to keep going! Technorati also showed me a bunch of people linking to my blog, including internationally, that I was completely unaware of; this gives me a way to find other bloggers interested in the same things I'm writing about (did someone just say "Duh!"?? Well, it was new to me.) In addition, I realized I can tailor the content to the readers, not in an icky "I want to be popular," way, but in a "furthering the mission of PR education" way. I also discovered the most popular outbound link for the last month is one I just added a few weeks ago, to my faculty Web page, which is hopelessly outdated, as is the CV to which it is linked. You can bet I'll be working on them soon.

So, blogging is a huge time suck that just leads to more and more work. Ya gotta love it.

Labels: blogging, education, public relations

PR student blog roll

Inspired by Derek Hodge of Stirling University, I've added a student section to my blog roll.

I couldn't help but notice how clever the names of some of them are. My personal favorite is "Not Another PR Blog...," but "My Own PR" and "Future PR Star" also caught my eye.

Labels: blogging, students

PR blogging assignment: update

After a couple of weeks only about half my Campaigns students have started their blogs (or at least have let me know it), so I sent them a gentle reminder today with a list of links to topics I thought might interest them-- Super Bowl ads, fashion PR, job search tips, etc.

So far Kelly has shown the most initiative. Here's hoping someone will comment on her blog as a reward for her efforts. :-)

Update: Thanks, Kaye!

Labels: blogging, students

PR student blogs

During the next few days, my campaigns students will be creating their own blogs on public relations/communication. They are required to post at least once a week this semester, and to get an "A" for the assignment they have to get involved in the blogosphere, posting on other blogs and trying to develop a readership of their own.

I am encouraging them to consider their blogs as part of their employment portfolios. Most of them are graduating in May-- a good motivator!

Labels: blogging, education, students

Blogging rights -- and wrongs

My PR writing class is discussing gatekeeping today, and local events have provided me with a perfect case example. Our local paper, the Athens Banner-Herald, is reporting on a high school blogging scandal that points up the differences between journalism and blogging -- and a lot of it has to do with training.

The paper reports (registration required) on a Peyton Place-ish situation in which an anonymous blogger posted stories and/or rumors about other students at her high school. The police are now tracking her down, and some parents are evidently considering libel suits. What high school student knows and understands defamation law? Yet this young person could be in a boatload of trouble, because these days anyone can publish anything for anyone else in the world to read.

We usually talk about gatekeepers as barriers to get around. But this situation points up why a journalist's gatekeeping role can be beneficial.

It IS a small blogosphere after all

So there I was, skimming through the headlines on my aggregator over the weekend, when I come across a Media Orchard post quoting a former student of mine, now teaching at another Georgia college.

Matt Duffy's blog was one of the first that I read, so I guess you could say he helped to introduce me to the blogosphere. I haven't heard from him in a while and didn't even know he's getting paid to teach (as opposed to teaching me about blogging for free). One of the real joys of my job is having successful students. It's good to know Matt's doing well.

I've read about how small the blogosphere can be, but this is the first time I've seen it in action.

IPR/Makovsky 2006 State of Corporate Blogging Survey

The Institute for Public Relations' new Conversations board is off to a good start with a post on Robbin Goodman's August 2006 report on the Makovsky 2006 State of Corporate Blogging Survey. The report's not-too-surprising major finding was that "executives at top companies have been slow to come to grips" with the importance of blogs, and that half don't have blogging policies though 77% believe they should. (Complete report here.)

Although the neither the report nor the post about it contain any surprises, I am glad to see the IPR promoting this kind of research.

Why blogging is hard (tick...tick...tick...)

I passed a milestone-- my first month of blogging-- but it went unmarked, because as others already know but I'm just finding out, blogging is hard work.

I've been reflecting on this lately, in the midst of the grueling Maymester class mentioned in my last post, because after only one month (now 6 weeks), I've already fallen behind on my goal of posting 2-3 times a week. Here's why blogging is hard for me:

1. There's never enough time. In particular, I hate not having time to edit my writing. It's nightmarish to find, as I did on another blog, the word "aggregious," which was supposed to be "egregious," and not be able to change it without just drawing more attention to it, not to mention looking like an obsessive-compulsive egghead. As an academic, I'm used to writing something, printing it out, reading it, thinking about it for a while, editing it, giving it to other people to read, editing it again, and then submitting it for publication, which means two or three more people look at it, which leads to more revision. And then maybe it's published. Writing one minute and hitting "publish post" the next is hard.

2. There's never enough time. Here are some things I haven't written about: judging grad student teaching portfolios (some really wonderful work being done around this campus), serving as faculty sponsor for Connie Crumbley's Relay for Life team (in four years they raised nearly $25,000 in memory of a friend; my daughter is pictured above visiting UGA's Relay in a photo by Carolina Acosta-Alzuru), my Campaigns students' presentations (killer), my PR Comm event plan projects (one student planned and executed an event that raised $500 for New Orleans musicians; others were published in multiple local media promoting nonprofit events), and the first week-plus of Maymester (it's going well). There are other things I can't write about--grading controversies, our search for a new dean, serving on the graduate school's admission and retention committee--because they're confidential. But most of the time, I just can't find the time to write about everything I'd like to include.

3. There's never enough time. Not only have I failed to keep up with my own blog, but I haven't posted comments on some others when I had something to say, and I have been really bad at responding to blog-related e-mail, too. Charles Fishman, the author of the book I'm using in class this spring, was kind enough to write, and it took more than a week to get back to him. Luckily, he's a nice person who not only wasn't mad at me, but who answered my response in a couple of hours. Hey, way to make me feel worse! The thing is, when I do fall behind--and the blogger who is so much more diligent than I am has already posted several more items-- it seems pointless to go back and comment on something old. And time spent on this is just more time that I'm not posting on my own blog.

How does everyone else overcome the time problem? Is it just a matter of commitment and diligence, or is there some time management tip I'm missing? Type fast, people... the clock is ticking!

Class blog is (finally) a success

I created a members-only blog for my Campaigns class this semester, and after nearly four months it's finally working.

At the beginning of the semester, I posted items relating to whatever we were doing in class (such as, "here's a link to a good summary of how to do a focus group"). I also solicited input from professionals on similar topics ("here's how we're using a survey to help with employee relations") and on the job search process since the students are all graduating seniors. Each student was required to initiate a post or comment on a post with something substantive to add (a link, a related book title, something learned in another class) at least 5 times during the semester.

At first, with a few notable exceptions, they were incredibly reluctant to post. I limited the membership so they wouldn't have to worry about strangers reading it (one of my guest bloggers told them that his agency Googles and checks Facebook for all prospective employees, so now they're all blocking their sites), but some were uncomfortable with the software, some felt weird writing for the rest of the class to read, and others just plain procrastinated.

I despaired. I begged. I gave up.

Then the last month or so of their school careers rolled around, and they started to use the blog to bond over graduation, job search, and life transition issues. They posted with suggestions for moving, worries about finding jobs, and just general angst about leaving school. I never would have thought to post anything on these issues--but they made the blog their own. And two of the teams created blogs for their client, so they must be seeing some value to it. Not every teaching experiment works, but this one's worth repeating.

Teaching about blogging

So this week my PR Communication students are learning about PR uses of the Internet. I lectured for two hours on Monday, with fully an hour on blogging. My PowerPoint lecture was peppered with hyperlinks, and I even showed them my Google Reader page with headlines from lots of PR blogs (the two I happened to pull up were PR Squared and Micro Persuasion, if anyone cares). And yesterday they did a lab assignment where they had to enter a keyword of their choice into Blogdigger, read the first five posts that came up, and write a report about how blogs may or may not help with public relations research.

I was frankly disappointed after the lecture. The students were not very engaged and didn't even seem to think it was especially enlightening. The lab, on the other hand, opened some eyes. Their keywords, ranging from Howard University to Harry Potter, were things that they were personally interested in, so they liked seeing what other people had written. They found some posts interesting, some helpful, some oddities and, yes, even some porn (that would be keyword "ninja"). They seemed to enjoy the assignment, and I actually enjoyed grading their papers... but that's a subject for another day!

Why a blog about PR education?

I have two reasons for starting this blog. First, it will give me an opportunity to reflect on my teaching and ways I can improve it. One of the benefits of teaching at the university level is the freedom to do what we think is best in the classroom, but one of the drawbacks of that freedom is that there are few formal structures for helping us evaluate how it's working (end-of-semester student evaluations being the most common). By helping me focus on teaching on a more daily basis, this blog will be a success even if no one but me ever reads it.

However, I hope it will also give non-academics a glimpse into what we do and why we do it. In the last few weeks, I've seen several blog posts about how students are unprepared or unaware about blogging. And people seem to want to blame faculty for it. Yet at the University of Georgia, at least two of us teaching in the Ad/PR department (myself included) are using blogs as classroom tools-- so I know we're doing more than people realize. Moreover, some of my students who read those posts said that they have learned about blogs in various classes, and one even argued that students have a responsibility to learn something about blogging whether or not their professors have discussed it in class!

Perhaps this blog can clear up misconceptions, and perhaps people's comments on what I'm doing can help me help my students. Thanks for checking in!