Spring 2009 Student Digital Resumes and Portfolios
June 26, 2009 by Robert · Leave a Comment
Spring 2009 brings us this great group of students.Check out their digital portfolios & resumes. Hire them!Good people, all the way around.
Update of PROpenMic’s Activity and Membership
January 29, 2009 by Robert · Comments Off
PROpenMic will have been in existence for nine months at the end of January. We launched on, of all days, April 1, 2008.
Previously, I’ve shared two updates on PROpenMic’s activity. The first was after six months, PROpenMic celebrates six months online :: How are we doing compared to other sites? More recently, I posted a mini-update Update of PROpenMic’s Activity and Membership.
Today I’m sharing the latest news.
First, I want to offer up some caveats. If you don’t want the caveats, then go ahead to the numbers.
These stats come from the available online resources Alexa.com and Compete.com. Both sites are used by advertisers to determine site popularity and traffic with regard to ad buys. That said, the sites do not collect exact information. 
They even recognize this and provide good explanations of the positives and negatives related to their reports. Further, both sites tend to focus on their paid clients and those sites that are in the top 100,000 rankings for their best statistics.
So, the information offered below is food for thought. It does show some compelling evidence that, at the very least, our free community driven social network is engaging our audience as well as, if not better than, other sites are engaging their audiences.
There really isn’t any other site / social network like PROpenMic. The sites I’ve selected to compare us with are similar in that they are (for the most part) focused on communication and public relations. They are (with the exception of ODwyerPR.com & HolmesReport.com) social networks.
Some require a subscription to participate. Others use the site to promote their other fee-based offerings. All of the other sites have a business model that includes either a subscription price or promotions/ads and offers for their paid conferences, seminars and other resources.
PROpenMic, on the other hand, is all free and does not carry ads. Finally, all but HigherEdExperts.com, have paid staffs and paid promotional activities or resources (in varying degrees). PROpenMic essentially relies upon word of mouth.
HigherEdExperts.com, by the way, is focused on much more than just PR. They have a great deal of information on Web design and other aspects of university communication practice. Karine Joly does a great job with that site and she also participates here from time to time.
I offer all of that to both explain the difficulty of fairly comparing the sites, yet still making an argument that PROpenMic performs quite well for an unfunded community based social network.
With that, I offer the latest numbers.
The first set of traffic ranks and pageviews below are the three month averages for each site. This is the standard statistic reported for each site by Alexa.com.
Alexa Traffic Ranks and Pageview Per Visit
Note: For Traffic Rank, the lower the number, the better the performance.
Propenmic.org has a traffic rank of: 275,773 (Source)
Page Views per user for Propenmic.org: 11.8
Myragan.com has a traffic rank of: 491,984 (Source)
Page Views per user for Myragan.com: 2.5
Communitelligence.com has a traffic rank of: 704,022 (Source)
Page Views per user for Communitelligence.com: 2.2
Higheredexperts.com has a traffic rank of: 952,463 (Source)
Page Views per user for Higheredexperts.com: 2.5
Holmesreport.com has a traffic rank of: 1,007,734 (Source)
Page Views per user for Holmesreport.com: 2
Odwyerpr.com has a traffic rank of: 258,697 (Source) (A PR news site.)
Page Views per user for Odwyerpr.com: 2.3
Unique Visitors (stats from Compete.com):
Note: For Unique Visitors, the higher the number, the better the performance.
“The Unique Visitors metric only counts a person once no matter how many times they visit a site in a given month. Unique Visitors are typically used to determine how popular a site is. Recommendation: To best understand the popularity of a site, you should consider additional metrics beyond Unique Visitors.” (Source)
propenmic.org - 4,028
myragan.com - 2,616
communitelligence.com - 2,620
higheredexperts.com - 2,187
holmesreport.com - 2,769
odwyerpr.com - 6,505 (A PR news site.)
Monthly Rank (stats from Compete.com): Compete ranks the top one million websites in the U.S. based on the number of People the domain attracts each month. Note: For Monthly Rank, the lower the number, the better the performance.
propenmic.org - 320,921
holmesreport.com - 433,734
communitelligence.com - 453,272
myragan.com - 453,862
higheredexperts.com - 522,866
odwyerpr.com - 217,845 (A PR news site.)
Monthly Visits (stats from Compete.com): The number of visits made to a site. A person can only be counted as one person in a month, but can make multiple site visits. Note: For Monthly Visits, the higher the number, the better the performance.
propenmic.org - 21,434
myragan.com - 13,704
holmesreport.com - 2,933
communitelligence.com - 2,909
higheredexperts.com - 2,547
odwyerpr.com - 9,503
Page Visits Monthly (stats from Compete.com): The number of pages an average person views on each visit to a domain. Note: For Page Visits Monthly, the higher the number, the better the performance.
propenmic.org - 9.7
myragan.com - 15.0
communitelligence.com - 3.5
higheredexperts.com - 1.6
holmesreport.com 8.1
odwyerpr.com 7.9
As you can see below, all sites fluctuate in their traffic over time. PROpenMic’s seems to follow academic terms, to some degree.
There are other statistics. PROpenMic’s average time on site for the 30 day period of Dec. 30 through Jan. 29: 5:05 Avg. Time on Site (Google Analytics) I reported the other stats from Google Analytics in the previous post.
What I take from these findings are that a social network targeted to the right audience, even without significant funding, can be a viable community organizing force. Further, despite all of the additional resources one might have to focus on their social network, some audiences may be engaged by the simplest of means.
Of the above sites I’ve compared PROpenMic to, some of them have remarkable resources and staffs devoted to their online endeavors. Some are million dollar businesses. Some survive quite well with advertising on their sites and subscriptions - enough so as to support those staff writers and IT professionals.
My point is that you, the PROpenMic community, have built something quite remarkable. You make it all happen, after all. I, and the volunteer administrators, just try to welcome you and make you feel comfortable in what is really your site. Sure, there is some management involved, but without your contributions … the site wouldn’t exist and thrive the way it has.
No, PROpenMic isn’t blowing the doors of site rankings and traffic compared to others …. but, that’s not the point, is it. The site is doing what it is supposed to for you the community. And, you’re the ones making it all happen.
I believe this is a good time for a case study. I’m particularly speaking to students here. You know, we’ve been told along the way that PR agencies have built such social networks / sites for clients and billed them out for significant fees. If PROpenMic can succeed for the right audience, imagine what you could do for a client in the future if you have the right audience targeted and the right offering. Could you start a social network like this? I think maybe you could. ;o)
Numbers aren’t really all that important, are they? We have 3,400+ members now and our traffic is equal to or exceeding those that are really reaching out to audiences of 100,000 or 200,000 people. I just find that interesting.
Thank you for all you do to make PROpenMic successful.
Digital Portfolios :: Some basics about how we do, what we do, with digital portfolios and resumes
Email provided two requests for information about how we create our digital portfolios in class activities. So, I thought I’d share the information I sent them.
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. Read more
Wonder why we do local reporting in class activities? Look at CNN … if it’s good enough for them …
August 20, 2008 by Robert · 8 Comments
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. :o)
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. :o)
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. :o) Just sharin’ …. just sayin’.
/rant
PitchEngine :: Social Media Release Building Tool
Jason Kintzler created a new site devoted to the building and distribution of social media releases (SMR). It is private now, in the Alpha development stage, but he shared access to the site with all the members of PROpenMic. Many thanks, Jason.
I imagine he’s slowly adding to his alpha testing group. Who knows how many have looked at it so far, but with the PROpenMic membership and his own group at MediaPitch / PitchEngine, Jason now has almost 2,000 people to poke and prod the site in an effort to help tweak and and share suggestions.
Jason describes PitchEngine, in part, as follows: Read more
Rick Murray :: President, Edelman Digital at the New Media Academic Summit ‘08
July 3, 2008 by Robert · Comments Off
Rick Murray kindly agreed to an interview at the recent New Media Academic Summit in Chicago.
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.
Find more videos like this on PROpenMic
Can Involvement in PROpenMic Lead to a Job? :: Allie Osmar’s Success Story
June 29, 2008 by Robert · 2 Comments
Shared from my post to the front page of PROpenMic
My goal in starting PROpenMic, the social network for students & faculty, was to provide a resource that would help all of us.
I’m happy to report one particular success story from that site. I’m looking for others, too. So, if you have such a story, please share it in the comments or write to me. See the post and video below. Read more
Live Blogging the Edelman / PR Week Education Summit in Chicago
June 26, 2008 by Robert · Comments Off
In Chicago for the Edelman / PR Week 2008 edition of the Education Summit on New Media and PR.
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. :o( 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.
Students: Job and Internship Seekers Resources
June 6, 2008 by Robert · Comments Off
The search. It is intimidating. Frustrating. Confusing.
Two great posts help you with links and resources.
Oregon’s Beth Evans offers us Arts and PR Job Search Tips From a PR Ninja. Actually, her links and resources will serve many areas of interest, not just those seeking work in the Arts.
Tiffany Derville, also from the University of Oregon, offers up the news that Idealist.org Launches Recruitment Campaign. “To attract non-profits and job seekers, Idealist.org has waived the $60 monthly posting fee for non-profits this month, and it launched (a video) to attract people seeking non-profit internships and jobs.”
Interns at ASCCA Begin Their Summer Social Media Campaigns
May 28, 2008 by Robert · Comments Off
Each summer, interns from around the country visit Camp ASCCA.
This summer, we’ll be doing podcasts using Utterz. I’ll give them a prepaid phone they can carry with them to the activity areas. While taking photos and videos, they can also grab a quick audio interview easily embedded in the camp blog as well as the camp’s social network, ASCCA Friends.
It struck me that this is a very inexpensive way to add one more multimedia layer with fun interviews to the camp’s efforts. For instance, below you’ll see one of their first video offerings.
The idea behind the Utterz podcasts comes from a realization that the students have to manage their time. We’ve found that the time spent editing video, and creation of their converged news packages for media relations offerings to newspapers, limits the amount of time they have to do audio editing, too. I missed the podcasts and they had a pretty strong download history. So, using Utterz allows us to keep audio in the mix. We’ll give it a try and see how it goes. Maybe it will also drive some new traffic to the site.
Find more videos like this on ASCCA Friends
Google’s Friend Connect Arrives (Tonight)
May 12, 2008 by Robert · Comments Off
Must admit, I’m intrigued by Google Friend Connect (Note: Not up yet. Later tonight.)
The details are here: Google Press Center: News Announcement.
Lots of other people are, of course, buzzing about it. See Techmeme: Previewing Google Friend Connect: Website owners can make any site social (Sean Carlson/Google).
Now, since it is just launching, I’m not too sure we can take advantage of it in this semester’s classes, but I’ll hope. I’d like for all students to be able to get an account. But, Google is rolling it out piece meal, like they usually do with Beta releases.
What’s The Benefit?
What might it do? offer to our student projects? Well, it can make a digital resume a social site, for instance. Would we want to do that? I don’t know, but some aspects seem compelling. The simplest explanation comes from the release above, “any website owner can add a snippet of code to his or her site and get social features up and running immediately without programming — picking and choosing from built-in functionality like user registration, invitations, members gallery, message posting, and reviews, as well as third-party applications built by the OpenSocial developer community.”
Websites that are not social networks may still want to be social — and now they can be, easily. With Google Friend Connect, any website owner can add a snippet of code to his or her site and get social features up and running immediately without programming — picking and choosing from built-in functionality like user registration, invitations, members gallery, message posting, and reviews, as well as third-party applications built by the OpenSocial developer community.
Visitors to any site using Google Friend Connect will be able to see, invite, and interact with new friends, or, using secure authorization APIs, with existing friends from social sites on the web, including Facebook, Google Talk, hi5, orkut, Plaxo, and more.
So, although we wouldn’t want to necessarily add that info to the resume, we can put it on a sub-page. The student uses that to build their own network over time. Also, what about potential employers and internship providers that are digital adopters and want to connect with the student in their social networks? Well, now you can do it on your own domain.
Does it change the rules?
No, but it can change the opportunities.
Best practices will still rule. In fact, they are going to become even more important. This is, after all, as much an opportunity to screw up your online reputation as it is to enhance it. ;o) Translation: Don’t post anything you wouldn’t show Grandma and Grandpa.
I’ll be watching and signing up. Hope for a quick invite for me. No. I’m not holding my breath. ;o)
This could turn out to be a really good, easy way to explore socializing a site, while not spending too much time on coding and more. After all, we’re developing PR practitoners, not creating developers and coders.
Update: Well, I have (of course) not yet been graced with an invite to Google’s Friend Connect. Big shock. But, I have seen more talk about it out on the Web. Something I have since learned is the possibility that all of these new tools will be in an iframe. What’s that? Well, let’s call it a page within a page, or a frame (featuring content from other sites) inside an HTML page. Um, that’s not really “integrated” now is it. Hmm? See Google Friend Connect Tries to Strangle the Social - ReadWriteWeb (Hat tip: Google Friend Connect - Error 404 - Your Friends Not Found | My Blog Posts)
Well, this makes me a bit less energetic about the whole project. I’d still like to see it and try it for classes, but I was really hoping for something a bit more truly integrated. Still, I have yet to see the service, so I’m reserving my final opinion until later.
