OK, I’ll admit. This is a little bit of a personal rant. I don’t do this much, but I’m kinda fed up – just a wee bit – so, I’m venting. )

Local news reported in a social network / emerging digital media kinda way.

When I first thought of this for classes, some time ago, I’ll admit to having that image of Al Franken’s SNL faux coverage of politics flashing through my mind. But, today it really is possible and provides students with realistic and valuable experience.

As we embark on our class activities at The Loveliest Village, students may wonder why we’ll be doing all this local reporting using lil’ cameras, laptops and social media / social network software platforms to publish.

Well, if it is good enough for CNN, it’s good enough for us, right?

Now, imagine using the skills my students develop in these exercises and then share those stories, videos, photos and more with news outlets online and print.  Hey, they are seeking content. Get the drift? This is how we all may be doing a good portion of media relations in the future.

Actually, forget the future.  I had students doing it today.  This summer they pitched and delivered stories, video and photos.  This semester they are collaborating with multiple news outlets to place stories they will create for class.  Yep, it is not just what they post in The Loveliest Village.  These news outlets have actually sought us out for content.  No kidding.

So, students will create content much the same as CNN is now doing.  Pretty cool, huh.  ;o)  And people said I was nuts.  Sorry, couldn’t resist.

Well, some people said I was crazy.  Didn’t know what I was talking about. Why show students how to do this?  Hmm?  If it is good enough for CNN, I guess it’s good enough for us. )

According to that PRWeek article, at CNN journalists “…will report for broadcast and digital mediums with lightweight kits, including wi-fi-enabled laptops, cameras, and editing tools.”

So now, our students will be able to understand how major media works – the new way.  They’ll be sharing the content that reporters are looking for in this new world.  Not only ‘are’ we way ahead.  We’ve ‘been’ way ahead, for some time.  Update: And, by the way, it isn’t just major media.  Local … local … media has sought us out to create content for their sites.  Hello?

What CNN is now doing is what we’ve been talking about and doing for a long time now.  )  Just sharin’ …. just sayin’.

/rant

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.

The course is called Edge. It is described as follows, “Edge is the Merage School’s new and ground-breaking course that explores how technology and globalization are transforming the business landscape.” The course is led by John Seely Brown along with Merage professor David Obstfeld and features a long list of great contributors. I want to learn more about this course.

With that in mind, I thought it would be good to hear what Gary thinks about the best practice / approach to a digital media course at universities.

Enjoy the interview and many thanks to Gary for sharing his thoughts with us.

Find more videos like this on PROpenMic

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.” 

You see, it is quite true to say that Mary’s so wonderful. You know the type of person you meet and say to yourself, “Now, that’s a truly nice person. If I had a daughter, I’d want her to be like MK.” Yeah, that kind of person. That’s Mary.

So, I asked Mary about the conference, why Edelman chooses to host it each year, and generally what she’s doing. MK gives us the straight story in her inimitable style. Here it is. Thanks, Mary!

Find more videos like this on PROpenMic

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

I had a chance to pull Neville away during one of the breaks, and he shared his views of what is happening in Europe, regarding digital practice and higher education’s involvement. He noted that two themes seem persistent: measurement and pitching. Everyone wants to get to a position where there is accepted best practice that delivers results.

Thanks, Neville, for taking time to do the interview.

Find more videos like this on PROpenMic

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

Rick Murray shares why Edelman Public Relations has taken a leadership role in helping academia better prepare students for the future of public relations.

This conference is an excellent model for others to follow. We need all the help we can get, folks. I appreciate Edelman’s leadership in this area. The Summit, along with their Bootcamps, shows that Edelman is clearly in the lead. I wish more of these types of opportunities were taking place now. We don’t want to have to catch up, do we?

Video from the Edelman/PRWeek New Media Academic Summit held on June 26-27, 2008.

Keith shares, what I believe to be, a great overview of why PR agencies should seek to work with academia and why experimenting with emerging digital media is so important for both students and educators.

This video is from June 26-27, 2008, in Chicago.

I brought my laptop with webcam, as well as my Flip camera and cell phone for Utterz. I’m going to try and use the Summit main page for more information.

OK, I admit this attempt at using CoverItLive was sad. ( Sorry. I found out, upon arrival at the event, that the Northwestern University Law School folks were not giving us access to their wifi. So, bummer.

I do have videos galore and will begin posting them tonight (Sunday, June 28).

It was a great conference and I thank Edelman and PRWeek for putting it on. Hope this has a long running life. We need more of these for edcuators. Edelman & PRWeek are, truly, leading the way in outreach to higher education.