infOpinions?

Offered up a demo of Utterz in class tonight. Students may incorporate it into their final projects - digital resumes & portfolios - for the PRProspects.com site.

During the chat, we talked about how Utterz might be used for a client.

The idea of spot news, or breaking news, came to mind. Certainly it could be useful. With Utterz’ new cross-posting function, you can have it automatically post to many platforms like:

Blogger, LiveJournal, Tumblr, TypePad, Twitter, WordPress, MovableType, Flickr, YahooGroups, Twitxr, Drupal, LiveSpaces, YouTube, MetaWeblog API, Pownce, and blip.tv

For instance, I just set up my Utterz account to autopost to my Twitter account. I also set it up to post to this blog as a draft, so I may consider using it as a post.

News organizations could use this for spot news. Any organization could have a ready to luanch site set up for an emergency. Utterz could be just one aspect of the quick post / response site. The new ability to autopost makes it much more viable. Qik.com would be another useful crisis comms tool to add into a pre-built site ready to launch in case of an emergency.

The idea of using these tools to add content online without all the hoops we used to have to jump through kind of intrigues me. At the same time, it poses some problems re: vetting information that goes up online. I’d like to see a new crisis comms plan that has incorporated many of these new bits of technology into their practice. Anyone know of some such plan? It would be great to share with students.

Here’s an example of a brief Utterz post from our class this evening.

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This is just one reason why I love The Daily Show.

Barack Obama should in no way be upset about the cartoon that depicts him as a Muslim extremist, because you know who gets upset about cartoons? Muslim extremists.

Don’t we all wish we could do a rant like this one? The joke about the bears is really enough to tell the whole story, alone. Yet, the closing line says it all.

Tags: Jon Stewart, Rant, The Daily Show, Video

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The political season offers many opportunities for exploring how candidates are using social media in their campaigns. I didn’t think I’d find many (if any) examples in the Alabama races this year. Then, a Google ad popped up in my mail reader: “Turning Alabama Blue - Segall2008.com - Viable democrat running in Alabama. Watch his intro-video and join us!”

Given the state of our nation, there is an article with some speculation that Democrats may pick up as many as three seats in November - Alabama Democrats eyeing delegation majority. I’m not really into politics, so I won’t speculate. Also, I have written about our alumnae, Shea Snider, who is Roger’s press secretary (the incumbent in the race). So, I don’t need to get into the politics … because, well - we love Shea. She is the best, ya’ know.

It is fair to point out a look at Open Secrets, showing Rogers more than doubling Segall’s campaign contributions. More on the myriad of sites with this type of information, below.

My Focus Here

What interests me is the possible use of social media by Alabama candidates. Segall may well be the only one with even a modest blogger outreach.

Let’s look at his site, Segall2008. Now, before some folks go and get their noses out of joint, I frequently do these types of site reviews and share them with my students. So, no harm intended. Continue Reading »

Tags: bloggers, Blogs, emerging digital media, politics, Social Media, Web design

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For almost three years, Camp ASCCA has been using blogs, podcasts and now a full blown niche social network - ASCCA Friends - to connect with ASCCA’s campers and their parents.

Danika Kmetz, a great PR intern from Illinois State University (and President of her PRSSA chapter), has created two very fun videos with the best kind of testimonials possible. The first is from Hope, a camper at ASCCA’s Teen Week taking place this week on Lake Martin. The second is a mashup of clips from last week’s Adult Mentally Disabled camp.

There are many ideas at work behind these sites. The most important is to provide a look inside camp that will reach out to our campers, their parents and anyone that has yet to consider a therapeutic recreation opportunity.  Continue Reading »

Tags: nonprofit, PR, Public Relations, Social Media, testimonials, Video

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Gary Goldhammer, Senior Vice President at Edelman in Los Angeles, joined us for an interview at the Edelman / PRWeek New Media Academic Summit in Chicago.

I saved Gary’s interview for last because along with his practitioner experience, Gary teaches a graduate level PR course at the University of California-Irvine. A unique course, at that.  Continue Reading »

Tags: edelman, emerging digital media, PR, PR Higher Education, PRWeek, Public Relations

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Mary Metcalf, or MK to her fans, was live blogging the Edelman / PRWeek New Media Academic Summit as part of her AAE duties for Edelman in Chicago. An Auburn alumnae, and a favorite grad, I wanted to interview her for all the folks back home.

Yes, I’ll be pointing the students here and saying, “Hey, now there’s a success story. Admit it! You want to be like MK.”  Continue Reading »

Tags: Auburn, Auburn Alumnae, edelman, emerging digital media, New Media, PR, PR Higher Ed, PRWeek, Public Relations, Social Media

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It especially won’t work if you have a bad product.

I can feel Jen O’Meara’s pain. We likely all can. She has a project she loves and it isn’t going anywhere. Frustration. We’ve all felt it, right?

David Meerman Scott shares A viral marketing story suitable for bedtime. It is a story of disappointment and sadness. But, at least the author, YOBI CIO Jen O’Meara, tries to tell it with a tongue-in-cheek spin.

Jen’s no dummy - you’d think. A Ph.D. under her belt, no less, she’s struggling to get her startup Yobi.tv site off the ground. Yobi.tv claims to be a “unique blend of social networking, reality show contests, and user-generated content (that) will revolutionize the world of online entertainment.” Well, it’s good to have a dream. Continue Reading »

Tags: Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media, Video, Viral Marketing, WOM, Yobi.tv

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Neville Hobson has been following our class digital/social media activities since, well - really the beginning. It was nice to see him again at the Edelman / PRWeek New Media Academic Summit in Chicago.

Neville recently wrote about his Summit experiences in What academics think about social media. Continue Reading »

Tags: edelman, emerging digital media, Marketing, PR, PR Higher Education, PRWeek, Public Relations, Social Media

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Alexandra Wheeler, Director of Digital at Starbucks, kindly agreed to an interview at the Edelman/PRWeek New Media Academic Summit in Chicago, a few weeks back.

Starbucks recently launched (March ‘08?) their site - my Starbucks Idea. This BusinessWeek article explains more.  Continue Reading »

Tags: edelman, emerging digital media, Marketing, PR, PRWeek, Public Relations, Social Media, Summit08

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The PROpenMic social network for PR students, faculty and practitioners continues to prove successful.

Paull Young, of Young PR and Converseon emailed me the other day with news. He reminded me of the two people at Converseon that found their way to the firm through social media, and PROpenMic, in particular.  Continue Reading »

Tags: Converseon, Lindsey George, Maria Garcia, Paull Young, PROpenMic, Students, Video

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I think that anyone who ever meets Allison Wetherbee comes away with a clear realization … she is a terrific person. Having her return to Camp ASCCA, as the director of public relations, may go down as one of the brightest decisions ever made for camp. I think this video proves that.

Allison was recently interviewed by Fred Hunter, Fox6 News in Birmingham, for their Absolutely Alabama series.

Allison shares how camp helped her over the years, trying anything new that she had her heart set upon doing. Since being a camper, Allison has gone on to earn a masters degree in counseling and served for almost 13 years in practice, before returning to Camp ASCCA.

I have to admit, I got a little tear thinking about Allison as a camper and now - the ASCCA PR director. It is a sweet story. She is the spokesperson for camp, and does a terrific job.

Watch the video now. (Click image below for a popup.) I have to say, Fred and the videographer/editor do terrific work. A great video. Thank you Fox6!

Now do you understand why I can’t help but talk about Camp ASCCA?

Tags: Allison Wetherbee, Camp ASCCA, Disability, Fox6 Birmingham, PR, Public Relations, Spokesperson, Therapeutic Recreation

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