I just chewed through Jennifer Leggio’s piece today which analyzes the results from her second ‘Social PR Survey,’ it’s a good read, and while I can’t say much of the findings were terribly surprising, still, there’s some interesting data points for agency folks at all levels. One of the sections touches on agency education and training, something the lion’s share of respondents seemed to oddly dismiss as a ‘non-issue.’ Really? Really!? I’m telling you, based on my own experience, plus what I hear from my peers at other firms, this dismissal is either our industry spinning itself in the worst sort of way, or people are absolutely clueless about what social media training and education efforts really entail (hint: “learning” and “changing”). I’m not convinced we’ve seen enough of either yet. Oh, and one more thing related to all of this: too often this industry points and prods at undergrads and junior staff as needing the most ‘training and education,’ when sadly, in reality, there are some senior folks who could use a kick in the pants too. In fact, I’d argue if the end result of agency training is, well, organizational change, then top down learning is where it all starts.
Updates from April, 2009
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Social Media Education, an Ongoing Challenge
mike manuel
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The Web Divides: PR vs. Advertising
mike manuel
Alright, I guess it’s inevitable that amidst this economic shake up, we would return to the age-old argument of Public Relations vs Advertising, and debating where your business dollars are better spent, and you know, whatever, that’s fine, it’s not without good reason.
In fact, I’ll admit, this was a hot topic at last week’s SMC meetup, and again at this week’s PRSA International conference, but here’s the thing: if we (the PR industry) are going to collectively make the business case for a shift in corporate spending, we need better leverage, and man, if there was *one thing* we should be leveraging to our advantage in this argument, you’d think it’d be all the benefits and potential of the social web for business, right?
Sadly, the PR industry, for being inextricably tangled with the web, continues to oddly struggle with how best to use it for communications — and therefor, articulate its value and return in this larger argument we’re all trying to make.
And yeah, to be fair, the ad industry is really struggling with this too, so in a big way, the challenge is just seeing which industry can get past its own tired modes and models of business and acclimate the fastest to new attention, usage habits and trending patterns on the web.
For what it’s worth, I think the PR industry, for better or worse, can actually win this race by doing two things:
First, by each of us assuming personal responsibility for where the industry sits today and how we’ll each move it forward. Seriously, to win this bigger argument, we have to become smarter practitioners through professional education, personal learning (through adoption?) and, well, by having a curiosity and a willingness to experiment and try on different approaches to communications on the web; and
Second, by realizing that once separate or ancillary business disciplines are now a much, much bigger part of the communications charter. Things like web development, search engine marketing, media production, data analytics, etc., have all become increasingly valuable for communications purposes, and because of that, PR departments (and PR businesses) can no longer afford to draw dotted lines into these disciplines. Something I’ll be blogging about separately, soon-ish.
Net-net, I think a lot of this argument for PR comes down to how diligent and creative we as professionals and as an industry can be about rethinking and reshaping a role that’s been otherwise comfortable, and largely misunderstood the past few decades. If we make the stretch, then right on, we get to reset the terms for determining PR’s business value, hopefully its perception too.
And if we don’t, well, I guess we remain neatly (and reluctantly) relegated to a few bullets in the next business plan. Either way, it rests on us.
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New Skills For Young PR Pros
A Talk with Chico Stateadmin
So last Friday, half a dozen students from Chico State’s journalism program (my alma mater), came to Voce’s Palo Alto office and spent the day observing and discussing agency life.
As part of this visit, I spent some time talking about the web and its impact on the PR industry. It was one of those discussions where unfortunately you just end up having to go a mile wide and an inch deep on things, however, one question shook out of this talk that I thought other students and new grads might find interesting and helpful, I’ll elaborate on it here. The question was pretty simple:
What *new* skills are important to PR?
It’s a great question, one I could chew on for a while here, but if I had to pick three things, I’d say:
Learn Another Language
Seriously, as communicators, if you really want to be successful using your first language, consider learning a second — HTML. It’s a universal language that’s becoming critically important in PR, especially as the reach and influence of the web continues to shape and inform market opinions and perceptions. I think having some basic knowledge of HTML gives you a small leg up when, for example, you’re using a tool, such as a blog in business. It also provides you with a better understanding of how metadata, markup and the like all quietly work together behind the scenes to aid in the discovery and distribution of what you’re ultimately communicating via the web.Learn Conversational Communication
This is admittedly harder than it sounds, and dangerous too, but it’s about learning a different style of communication, one that separates things like AP style and institutionalized standards of “business talk,’ from more informal and colloquial forms of writing and discourse. It’s important because the vehicles for communication are changing. We’re no longer confined to emails, or press releases or static corporate web pages. Yes, we’re still using these mediums, but we’re also communicating via blog posts, in comment threads, on IM and through other forms of media. The dangerous part of all this, particularly for those new to the workplace, is just learning to determine when this style of communication is advantageous, and, well, when it’s not.Learn Media Production
Understanding how to plot, plan and produce media, particularly video, is important. It’s another communications tool, one that more companies are adopting as the cost and labor barriers to production continue to lower. Having some basic knowledge of composition, sound, lighting, and editing, is a skill set that has a lot of utility — be it an agency or inside a company. I’ll also add, understanding basic distribution techniques and services, like RSS enclosures, aspect ratios, iTunes directory submissions, etc., is helpful.Again, there’s much more I and I’m sure others in the industry would say are important skills. Ultimately, however, it’s about getting the fundamentals right, first. It’s about learning to dribble, pass and shoot before you worry about learning how to dunk, but hopefully this helps.
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Young PR Pros Go ‘Forward’
mike manuel
A few weeks back, at the NewComm Forum, I had the opportunity the chance the pleasure of meeting Erin Caldwell, one of the many student PR stars at Auburn University. Erin mentioned she had this pet project in the works that was a community site for students and young PR professionals that would enable them to connect and share information with each other (a peer network) about careers in our industry. Erin’s project, while still in its early stages, quietly launched this week, it’s called “Forward.” Erin shares more on her blog:
“This is a hugely collaborative effort of several Auburn students, plus some folks from far away (i.e. Paull Young from Australia). We’re working hard to build a place where young PR people can interact with both their peers and seasoned professionals — because much can learned from a conversation involving both. Forward aims to help provide students and young practitioners with the tools, knowledge and confidence to go Forward in their careers.”
Congrats to Erin and her growing team of contributors. This has the potential to be an amazing resource and at very least, it’s great to see a new wave of young, forward-thinkers that are actively re-shaping the industry.
Also See:
PRblogs.org (free blogs for PR practitioners, educators and students) -
Apple’s Campus Life Blog
mike manuel
Apple appears to be testing the blogging waters with a relatively new online effort geared toward college students aptly called the "Campus Life Blog." It’s a nice example of how companies can — and should — be thinking about verticalized blogging strategies for different audiences. Oddly, the blog doesn’t allow comments or trackbacks, but it’s been active since late November and a quick Technorati search shows that it’s been operating rather quietly in the blogosphere thus far.
Apple’s new student blog is IMO the perfect medium for communicating with an 18-24-year-old demographic that’s extremely Web savvy and arguably impervious to pretty much all other forms of corporate marketing. The lack of comments on the Campus Life Blog removes some of the inherent community building advantages of a blog, but I would still consider this a step in the right direction.
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