“The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few… or the one.” Mr. Spock, The Wrath of Khan
If you understand that phrase, then Simon Mainwaring’s new book “We First,” is especially for you. How can you affect change into today’s digital world? Mainwaring stresses social media for social change.I emailed Simon recently to ask him a few questions about the book and its inspiration.
Jason Mollica: Obviously, when you wrote the book, many things aligned to show that we need social media to affect change. Are things that are happening in 2011 hammering that point home?
Simon Mainwaring: Absolutely. Perhaps the best snapshot of this is the most recent riots that erupted throughout the United Kingdom. What emerged to both positive and negative effect Continue reading →
“I heard you missed us… we’re back!” –Van Halen, “Hot For Teacher”
While you may not have the flair of good ol’ “Diamond” David Lee Roth, this time of year can still be a perfect opportunity to show your networking chops. Ok, so you are shuddering at the thought of going back to school. Don’t. You should really be relishing the chance to grow your relationships: in school and in the community.
See, we are always networking… whether it be at school, out with friends, or online. Think about your last PRSSA meeting, Twitter chat, or Facebook group discussion. Did you talk about how you can help with an event or talk to a respected pro about setting up a lunch discussion? Bingo! You are networking. Continue reading →
It’s no secret that the stock market is falling faster than someone with cement shoes. The blame game focused on Standard & Poor’s (S&P) downgrading the United States’ credit rating from AAA to AA+. The markets reacted violently, dropping 635 points on August 8. It was enough to get many queasy about their financial futures.
The next day, the markets rebounded. But that didn’t stop the finger pointing from journalists and “experts.” A story in The Atlantic Wire’s technology section by Rebecca Greenfield placed blame on social media, saying it “could be making the market crash worse.”
I usually read these stories because it’s remarkable that they get published, in print or online. This quote is from the initial paragraph of the post: Continue reading →
By now, our world has experienced and started actively using the latest in social platforms. Google+ launched to excitement and rightfully so. Google has been looking to enter the social space for some time. But, I think we need to temper this giddiness a bit. Much like Facebook and Twitter before it, time is needed before we can really understand how Google+ will fit into our plans. Should we do our due diligence on it? Absolutely. Any good social media manager or PR professional should be researching and planning to uncover any which way it can be used effectively.
In the last few weeks, though, I’ve seen that it will be a “Facebook killer.” I’ve also read numerous stories telling me that LinkedIn needs to watch out because Google is coming with “Google+ for Business.” The old adage, “Rome wasn’t built in a day” fits here. How can anyone truly know what it will do to Facebook? We had no idea that Facebook would eventually make MySpace irrelevant. Who saw Twitter becoming a success? Continue reading →
I was scouring the blogosphere last week after getting some recommended posts via re-tweets. Of the three I read, all had different definitions of engagement in social media. In our ever changing world, we’ve had to define and re-define certain aspects of PR and marketing. I would think we’d have engagement pretty well narrowed down by now.
However, I don’t think having a solid definition of engagement is a real issue. Why? Because we all talk about engagement in certain ways. Some see that re-tweet that directed me to a blog as the ultimate form of engagement, while others believe that it is responding to a post on Facebook. And if you got into an argument, both of these answers COULD be correct. Continue reading →
So, the time has come and you want to be your own boss. Maybe you’ve been forced into this because of a company’s downsizing or maybe you would rather work from home to have additional freedom. If you do a Google search, you are sure to find a ton of links to books and seminars to assist you along the way.
I’ve been contemplating my own future, so when I had an opportunity to read Richard Walsh’s book, “The Start Your Own Business Bible,” I jumped at it. If you are even close to thinking like I am, this book is worth a read.
Walsh breaks down each business into how much you will need to start, with statistical information at the beginning of every entry. It shows you potential earnings, start-up cost, advertising, and the bottom line, to name a few. Continue reading →
Three simple letters can mean so much to a public relations professional. The letters stand for distinction in our field and the dedication to the profession. APR, or Accredited in Public Relations, has set the bar high. The test is not easy and it challenges your knowledge of proper practices and strategic planning, among others.
There are some that debate whether APR is necessary and if it is even worth it. I believe it definitely is worth your time. I know because I have taken the test, but didn’t pass it the first time (I’m gearing up to take it again). I’m a member of PRSA and hemmed and hawed whether I should go for accreditation. I ultimately decided to go for it because I wanted to challenge my PR knowledge and go to another level.
On May 1, President Barack Obama announced to a live television audience the death of Osama bin Laden. It was a seminal moment in both the nearly ten year old “War on Terror” and in American history. However, the days following bin Laden’s death have been filled with missteps that would make even a first-year public relations student’s stomach turn.
The key point in a crisis or important news situation is to have one voice and only that voice should speak. Therefore, no confusion would be caused. That hasn’t been the case post-bin Laden’s death. CIA Director Leon Panetta opened up a can of worms when he said to NBC News that, “ultimately,” a photo of the dead Al Qaeda leader would be shown. Panetta did several other interviews, including one with Time magazine. Senator Max Baucus, a Democrat from Montana, even stated that he expected a photograph would be released “fairly soon.” Continue reading →
A recent post at Ragan.com caught my attention. It was based on the premise that public relations has a definition problem. According to the author, Frank Strong, if you ask 10 PR pros to define PR, you’d get 10 different answers.
Sadly, he’s right and that’s the issue. Why are we having such a problem explaining what PR is? As Frank mentioned in his post, the Public Relations Society of America defines PR:
“Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other.” Continue reading →