A good group of students, in a couple of classes from Spring semester 2009, created these as their final project.

Hope you enjoy their work. Please feel free to hire them. Good students & people!

Cross-posted at PRProspects.com and the future home of that site, too.

• www.melindabowens.com
• www.kelliecelia.com
• www.ammccoy.com
• www.katijones.com
• www.annaetucker.com
• www.johnroberson.net
• www.katlinmulvaney.com
• www.jahnnahall.com
• www.margieevans.com
• www.monicaafanador.com
• www.rachelmmurphyonline.com
• www.sjbivins.com
• www.pbdebow.com
• www.kelseyware.com
• www.kcduffyonline.com
• www.carolinecassidy.com
• www.amandamiles.com
• www.marycstewart.com
• www.mbwaltononline.com
• www.klaurenchandler.com
• www.akjonline.com
• www.hillaryegibbs.com
• www.brookbentley.com
• www.faithpalmer.com
• www.elizabethmahaney.com
• www.rebeccabedsole.com

The site, hosted on the Ning platform, has been up for three weeks. You’ll note that the site is residing on the university’s domain. We have only found a few other college/university social networks. Auburn’s is the only one we can find that is totally open to the public.

Coverage has been pretty good. The Associated Press and several state newspapers and TV stations have covered the site’s launch.

Students in PRCM 4020, PR Messages in Style & Design, are managing the site. Each student has complete administrator status. Every week, one group of students write features and create videos for the site.

As of this writing, Auburn Family has 1,324 members. Here’s a breakdown so far: 680 students (Auburn & high school), 78 parents, 453 alumni, 20 faculty, 58 staff, and 110 Friends of Auburn. Please note: the numbers overlap because now you may pick more than one designation. Also, answering this question was not required for half of the signups. So, we know – for example – that we have more than 78 parents. Many of the alumni, for instance, are also parents of students.

Here are three of the stories in state newspapers so far:

Opelika-Auburn News, Huntsville Times and the Columbus (GA) Ledger Enquirer.

Why did I want to do this? It is the ultimate experiential learning experience. Well, one of them, at least. Considering that the university bought into all of our work over the past several years, I feel it serves to give a bit of validity to our classroom activities. The students are now getting to run a site for the university.

It isn’t hard to get the students excited about the exercise. They love their school and want to put their own best foot forward. It is content ripe for a student’s digital portfolio. Showing future employers that they have experience running a social network for such a large institution has its benefits, too.

I’m happy with the site’s progress. Looking forward to how it advances in the weeks to come.

Do Online Reporting / Videos for the NYTimes

This is an exciting opportunity. It would be wonderful if an Auburn student or a student member of PROpenMic won, wouldn’t it?

Phil Gomes, Senior Vice President of Edelman Digital, posted this to PROpenMic. I’m sort of reposting it here in blogs, too, in an attempt to get your attention. This is a great opportunity!

I’m pleased to invite you to apply for the 2009 Win-a-Trip contest. As I wrote in my column, I will take a university student with me on a reporting trip to Africa, giving the student a chance to blog for nytimes.com and to file videos to The Times and Youtube. — excerpt from Nicholas Kristof

See the story in the New York Times, Win a Trip!

Get the complete details here: Contest Rules, How to Enter, and more…

Visit the New York Times video channel on YouTube to see the Nicholas Kristof video.

I don’t guess I need to tell you how this opportunity would likely lead to a wonderful job opportunity in the future. Read the article and read the contest rules. Please consider applying. It is a once in a lifetime challenging adventure! Go for it!

I would love to see a student we’re involved with win this!

We were testing Utterli (formerly Utterz) in class. I showed students how it could be automatically posted to your blog.

Students will do their own Utterli podcast interview to include in their final project.

I like Utterli for a lot of reasons. It is perhaps the simplest of audio podcasting tools to use. Utterli may be used to record interviews at events like conferences, live events for organizations, really any kind of interview.

At any rate, we’ll see how this goes in the final projects. Stay tuned.

I’ve shared this information with numerous academics over the years. Just realized, I’ve never really posted all of this information in one place. Well, aside from our class syllabi.

So, in a very conversational tone, here we go. Critiques and suggests are, as always, appreciated. I’ve pretty much pasted the email I sent below.

“Danger, Will Robinson!” A lot of info follows. Sorry if it is too much. Just sharing bits I’ve given to others along the way on all we do. Note: I’ll first share the paid version. Then, I’ll share how you can do it in a similar fashion for free (or very little cost). Choice is yours. Pros and cons to each path you take.

Domains and Hosting

I have the students purchase a domain name. Best option is try and get their name (it is, after all, their brand), but they can get any name. Then, they purchase a very basic hosting package. I suggest Modwest.com, but any place will work.

Best way to go, however, is to buy the domain and hosting from the same provider – whichever you choose. The reason being, the process for pointing the domain to your hosting is easier that way. Most do it automatically for you. If the students get the domain from GoDaddy and hosting from Yahoo!, for instance, then you have to spend time showing them how to change DNS settings. Well, I’m not aiming to create Web developers / server admins, so I avoid that.

Where do we start?

First thing, they write their resume. Then, they turn each section into one simple page. Most sites wind up with 10 or more pages. Look at PRProspects.com to see the sites from the past few years. I have links there. By the way, I created that site to promote the students. You can do the same for yours with your own blog and/or a free blog somewhere. Hey, the more links out there promoting them, the better.

Blogging Activities

My students blog at PRblogs.org. It is part of the edublogs.org network with James Farmer in Australia. I set up that site years ago (thanks to James) providing free blogs to anyone that wishes to write about PR. The site is free and, for all those logged in, free of ads, too. Now, there are some ads that show up to visitors that are not logged in, but I’ve found that they are rare. I agreed to that recently to help James cover some of his server costs. I make *no* money off this, by the way. Don’t want to. James gives us access to his servers for free. A very kind man.

Do you have one site that feeds all this student content out to other sites?

Yes. The sites we use to create content for the student portfolios (and their various writing gigs) are many. We have agreements with local media, national media and elsewhere for the students to submit articles and videos. This gives them clips for their resumes/portfolios.

The “launching pad” – for lack of a better term – for all this content is The Loveliest Village.

That is a Ning.com community I pay for ($30/month) to give the students a place to upload videos and then have an embed code to place them all over the place. The Loveliest Village also serves as a local citizen journalism site, again – giving the students the experience of writing, creating video and posting.

Templates for the Digital Resumes / Portfolios

For our digital resumes, we use templates from site like Open Source Web Design. I also have the students use iStockPhoto.com to get the images they use in the projects.

These are free templates and allows the students to learn HTML by editing. Of course, if they want to create from scratch, that’s cool, too.

Video :: How to do that inexpensively?

Video is created using The Flip camera. But, you can use other cameras. My statement to the students is, if you can bring in a .avi or .mpg file for editing, I don’t care what camera you use. We edit the videos with the free Movie Maker software on all Windows based PCs. Students with Macs do it at home with iMovie and various other programs. We keep the videos pretty simple. Straight interviews, sometimes with cover footage / B-roll. Simple titles, too.

Where do you host all of this?

I also have dedicated servers I use for a myriad of other software: wikis, social networks, meme trackers, RSS trackers and more. I realize that most will not go so nuts as I have. ) A good dedicated server costs about $100/month. I have two, now. Dropped one. Hey, I’m a teacher … doing this for fun (and the students), really. I spend over $300/month on all this. Call me crazy. The department provides no support. So, ya’ do what you can. Don’t get me wrong, good people here. Money for this just hasn’t hit the radar, yet.

Classroom Activities / Lessons

OK, I could go on about this for a long time. I’ll post again later with those types of exercises.

As far as the classroom activities, there are many. Let’s just say the students are writing and creating videos/graphics, etc. at least three times a week for various sites. Truly, after the first few meeting days, we don’t talk about this a whole lot. I know that probably sounds strange, as much as I talk about it in public. But, they have their schedule of assignments and either do them, or not. I have an all or none policy regarding points. So, I rarely have students that don’t participate.

Free or Inexpensive Alternatives

So, if you’re looking for free alternatives, you can do these portfolios using free blogs. PRblogs.org is one, but honestly … I suggest going with WordPress.com. Why? They have domain mapping. We’ll likely have it at PRblogs.org soon, but – for now – check out WordPress.com. Same platform, really. Both sites are running versions of WPMU – WordPress Multi-user.

Students don’t have to pay for hosting and only pay about $10 or $15 a year for the service. So, that’s a domain ($10 to $15/year) & WordPress.com ($15/year?) for less than $40/year versus about $140/year for shared hosting and the domain. Details on mapping are found here.

It is easy to map a domain. They give you instructions. GoDaddy has the easiest redirect I’ve found, so you might suggest the students get their domains there for this WordPress.com solution. However, many other services do it, too. WordPress.com just requires you paste in the domain name you want mapped. Really, it is pretty easy.

The down side is, you have less control over design and styles. But, using the “Pages” function of a WordPress.com blog, you can create all the pages we do for our digital portfolios. You just can’t style them with a great deal of imagination. There are some other limitations, but the WordPress.com option is quite viable. Your student winds up with a URL like http://www.studentname.com and, that’s really what we’re looking for, right?

How do students take to all of this?

As for student response to this? Well, at first some/many hate it (and me). Then, at the end, they realize they have something worthwhile So, they learn by building the site in many ways. It is worth it.

OK, I realize I’ve given you a LOT of info here. Scary thing is, this isn’t all we’re doing. I’ll gladly talk with you on the phone or answer your email questions. Hope this helps.

Seriously, anything I can do to help other faculty do this is good. Yes, the more of you that do it – the less of a lead my students have. OK, but let’s look at it as heuristic … or giving back … or contributing to the discipline. Your students will benefit from creating these sites. They have helped so many of my students stand out and get that internship and job. Not blowing smoke on that one, either. ;o)

Just thinking out loud, here. What do you think.

Is a trend developing, or continuing? Does the trend sound familiar?

Techmeme tweets: “Key News Audiences Now Blend Online and Traditional Sources (Pew Research Center) http://tinyurl.com/5ghn9g”.

Is this an example of research that shows why all this stuph we’re doing in classes is important?

Key News Audiences Now Blend Online and Traditional Sources : Audience Segments in a Changing News Environment (Pew Internet Research).

And, a question. Has Epic come true? Just askin’.

Noel is on a trip around the world:

on 07 july 2007, noneck noel (aka noel a. hidalgo) will depart new york city for a journey around the world to learn from you. affably named “on the luck of seven” or “luck of seven.” this is an open-source journey documenting free culture, social innovators and global change.

for seven months, i will stand on the seven contents, dive into the seven oceans, and contemplate seven topics of freedom. while on the way, i will document the journey through stories, photos and videos. this is not my story, this is our story. though your hospitably, donations, projects, connections and friends, our stories will merge into one. (Source)

Noel isn’t the only one being deported. The protesters were also deported, after a 10-hour interrogation.

The action came a day after three Americans from the group were detained while displaying Tibetan flags near the entrance to National Stadium, which hosted the opening ceremony for the games Friday night. They were deported Saturday on flights to New York, the group said. On Wednesday, four other members hung pro-Tibet banners from two light poles outside the stadium, also known as the Bird’s Nest. They were led away by police and later deported to Europe and the United States.

The video has been viewed 32,567 times, so far.

Jim Long, NewMediaJim on Twitter, posted a link to the video. He, too, was taking video of the event. But, Jim works for NBC (see his blog), and had his “permission slips” in hand.

Something tells me that phone calls to qik.com will now be blocked from China. We discussed in class this semester how qik.com is a perfect tool for spot news coverage. This is one great example. Reported live as it unfolded in Tiananmen Square, this incident will, I believe, bring more attention to qik.com. Hope their servers can handle the new traffic.

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.

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.

I know Jen’s video below reveals that she’s been panned by many. So, a critique of the site may seem like a pile on. Looking at the site and watching the first six bits of random content featured on the front page (it rotates each time you reload the page), it seems to tell (at least part of) the story of Jen’s problems.

First, let’s examine what content greeted me (Warning: Signup required to view):

• Terror of Frankenstein Yobitv Trailer – Hey, it’s the kid’s first effort at video, so cut him a break. Pretty good for a first try.
• Pretty photo “Taken from 5000 feet in a hot air balloon over San Diego.” – Um, can’t I go to flickr for this?
• A photo of a sunflower posted as a video – that won’t play … um, because it is a photo!
• Interesting photo a pretty old house and its front door & windows – Again, hello flickr?
• Interesting photo, but not too remarkable, of the Golden Gate Bridge in fog. – Again, hello flickr?
• A truly ridiculous (read that as lame) video of “My husband was threatening to throw me into the lake. Instead of helping me, my cousin ran up with the camera and took this video. They both bug me.” – This one gives meaningless a bad name.

So, the reality is … Jen’s reality TV ain’t that hot. In fact, it is like 99.999% of that on YouTube and many other video sites. It sucks. It is boring. It is mostly mindless dribble.

There are two blaring, glaring omissions in her site’s setup and philosophy for gaining viewers. I can’t believe she hasn’t spotted them, yet. In fact, it seems she’s so confident in her contests and content … she actually doesn’t want to offer them.

So, what are they? There is no sharing function for embedding the content and sharing it on other sites. Then, and perhaps the goofiest of all, there is a forced registration process. Yep, you can’t see any of the videos unless you sign up! To me, after signing up and looking at the content … well, anyone can see why her site is failing.

You know, Jen, I wouldn’t necessarily blame all the various forms of emerging digital media – or social marketing – for the failure of Yobi.tv to gain traction. Certainly, online marketing doesn’t always work. In Yobi.tv’s case, though, I’d blame a rather un-inviting Web design, a very unattractive logo (what are you, a nuclear reactor?), no clear information upfront about Yobi.tv contests (what Jen declares as her big draw), bland copy and graphics, along with a rather boring overall presentation.

Jen’s YouTube rant about her fate is below. Then, you’ll see her e-book … well, actually just 14 slides in – again – a very bland presentation trying to recite her video in Powerpoint form … yikes! She’s kidding again, of course (I hope). But, now even the joke has grown old and I’ve only known about this for what … 15 minutes?

Jen continually compares her site’s woes to the splendid success of Blendtec’s wildly fun and (here’s a good word for ya’, Jen) relevant content at Will It Blend?

Jen, I’d suggest you (a) take a clue from the Google ad on your site (right) and (b) decide just what it is you’re trying to sell. No, as you suggested in your video, you aren’t giving something away. You’re selling contests, Jen. Face it and work with it.

You’re trying to draw in viewers. But, to what? Sure, you’re giving away up to $10,000 in your contests, but where is the description and snappy copy to lure folks into your contests? Jen, you seem to believe that an offer of money – alone – will do it. Nope, I don’t see it. And, why is your site more relevant (more fun) than the dozens of other video sharing sites? Ooops! Sorry, I forgot. You don’t share! First rule learned in kindergarten (and social media), Jen. Share!

In fact, the best copy on your site is that found in the Google ad for the french fry contest. That’s kinda sad. It is especially sad when you realize what the ad is for, and what it is doing. “Predicto Mobile gives you access to unlimited surveys, votes, and news alerts for $9.99 billed monthly to your mobile phone bill.” Jen, they are charging people $9.99 to participate in mobile phone contests that likely offer a one in a gazillion chance of paying off. I’m willing to bet that Predicto is likely making money, Jen.

Here’s the bottling of the egg on this one. There are dozens of video sharing sites. Most of them are slick and clean in their presentation. They tend to truly feature interesting videos on their front pages. They have easy to understand and follow navigation. And, Jen, here’s the big kicker … on those sites you can actually take the videos/photos and embed them elsewhere. You don’t offer that option, Jen. This was the most glaring omission of all when I first arrived on the site. I can’t believe you actually launched a video sharing site where the only place they can share … is with you! Are you serious?

Jen! Hello? Ya’ can’t go viral if people can’t share your videos and photos. No brainer, Jen. Sorry. You may be your own worst enemy. I’m sorry you’re not having success, but don’t blame it on anyone but your site, your product and your team. You guys are causing your own problems.

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Starbucks recently launched (March ’08?) their site – my Starbucks Idea. This BusinessWeek article explains more. 

So, it was great to hear what she had to offer academia re: what’s new in emerging digital media. You can, by the way, see her entire presentation panel by visiting the Edelman site for their joint summit with PRWeek.

In the video below, Alex shares what Starbucks is looking for in new hires. Also, she relates the difference between today’s practice and the digital landscape at the beginning of her career, a little over a decade ago.

Many thanks to Alex for agreeing to the interview. She was very nice and quite helplful. You can see all seven videos I made from the conference, with eleven different interviews, by checking out the Summit ’08 collection at PROpenMic.

Find more videos like this on PROpenMic