Kelley Longyear’s blog is one of the best WordPress portfolios in class.  She has completed every single assignment.  Not only is her page clean and easy to read, but it looks amazing.  Kelley has used a wide range of digital media.  She has used graphics and podcasts throughout her portfolio.

http://lon270.wordpress.com/

Rocco has also done an amazing job with his WordPress portfolio.  It has a lot of graphics and he clearly understands the information in class.  He embeds links into his sentences and provides many videos throughout the portfolio.  By using graphics and videos, his portfolio is interesting to look at.  Rocco has clearly completed all of the assignments in a timely fashion.

http://rcarzo.wordpress.com/

Jeremy’s WordPress portfolio is also impressive.  He has completed the assignments throughout the whole semester.  Jeremy has used a lot of graphics and videos in his portfolio which makes his portfolio interesting to look at.  He also gives a clear understanding on the assignments.  The overall appearance of the portfolio looks “finished.”

http://hou270.wordpress.com/

Using social media is becoming a new way of life.  People are constantly using Facebook and Twitter to find information and discuss topics.  In order for people in the public relations business to understand what people are interested, these social media sites are a good indicator.  Twitter is an excellent way to search for information and Tweet about topics.  This was interesting to use in class because Twitter is still a new form of social media to some students.  Most students know Facebook very well, but Twitter holds a lot of possibilities.  This class will help students learn Twitter and how to search for information.

http://twitter.com/

Learning how to apply PR practices to the real business world is useful.  Not only is the student learning new skills and abilities, but he/she is able to use the knowledge in the future.  Many times classes are strictly lecture based, but PR allows students to apply the knowledge and create portfolio pieces.  The White Paper assignment is a good example of this.  By creating a White Paper with digital media, students are able to understand what it takes to work in the field and how to use new media.

http://www.klariti.com/white-papers/index.shtml

Creating documents that people in the field use is also a useful skill to use.  In this class, students learned how to create social media news releases and press releases.  A major aspect of PR is creating these documents, whether they are for online websites or newspapers.  Creating these documents gives the students a better understanding of what people do in the field.  Also, if someone wants to go into PR, he/she will know how to develop the main documents.  It was also useful to use new forms of technology with these documents.  The internet is an important aspect of society, and learning to create documents for the internet will benefit the student in the future.

http://www.free-press-release.com/

Learning how to research is important for any student.  However, with new technologies comes new ways to find information.  This class shows students how to research for accurate facts.  Students will be given a chance to research information for class topics.  Not only will this class show students how to use Google Advance Search, but it also provides students with new knowledge.  Twitter also serves as a place where people can search for information.  With social media on the rise, people are using these sites more often to get their news.

http://www.google.com.au/advanced_search

Developing online relationships is important for people to understand.  Internet is useful to people who are part of a business.  So much information can be found online.  Therefore it is important for people to be able to develop relationships.  Part of this class was centered on the book Public Relations Online by Kelleher.  It is interesting to learn why online relationships are important.  Students will learn how to apply online relationships by creating a White Paper for a business.  Students will be able to discuss their ideas and prove their understanding of the topic through the White Paper assignment.

http://www.biztechday.com/secrets-to-building-customer-relationships-using-online-tools/

2. I found a survey based on education.  Kelleher wrote that “those little check boxes and buttons are easy to make on a webpage, it’s no wonder the Web is full of surveys and response forums.”  He also states that once you have determined your general research questions, you will need to convert those into simple and understandable survey items.  This survey does use the check boxes and drop down function which Kelleher would find too simple.  However, later on during the survey, there are questions that need to be filled in.  This survey should attract the right type of person.  Kelleher writes that advantages to online sampling are that researchers can reach publics who would be otherwise hard to find.  This survey is clearly focused towards education and no one would take this survey unless they are a student.  The survey is user-friendly.  The education survey allows students to understand each question.

Brow Diva, founded by Deanna Cahill, uses FAQ’s, emailing lists, contact us, and Facebook. Brow Diva is able to relate to its customers well because the site provides so much information.  Not only can people book appointments online, but they are able to see results.  The website provides before and after pictures to prove to customers, this is the place to come.  Brow Diva also uses Facebook and emailing lists in order for customers to voice their opinions.  There is also a page where people have asked questions and Brow Diva has responded and posted the most frequently asked.  Brow Diva has many options for people to communicate online.

http://www.browdiva.com/

Shear Ego Salon and Spa has a Pittsford and Greece location in Rochester, NY.  They are very effective when it comes to communicating online.  People can schedule appointments online.  However, in order to hold the appointment, the person must first be in contact with a Booking Agent at the Pittsford location.  Also, many times clients will email questions to Booking Agents because they are too busy at work and need to be doing other things instead of calling the salon.  Shear Ego has a Facebook and Twitter account and use these social media sites in order to let people know of specials.  The company uses online relations very well.

http://www.shearegosalonspa.com/

David’s Bridal, which is located in many states, uses its online communications well.  This organization has a Facebook website in which people are able to comment on the workings of David’s Bridal.  The website also has FAQ.  Many people are able to ask questions and gain answers by contacting David’s Bridal online.  The organization tries to accommodate customer’s questions and concerns.  David’s bridal website is very successful when it comes to people being able to book appointments online.  As an employee, people are always relieved when they are given an option to book online instead of calling in and being placed on hold.   The Facebook account that David’s Bridal uses is most likely not successful.  I was not even aware that we had a Facebook account, nor have I ever heard of people talking about David’s Bridal being on Facebook.

http://www.davidsbridal.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/TopCategoriesDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10052&catalogId=10051

Verizon wireless does an excellent job of relating to its customer online.  Kelleher states that in order for public relations to be effective, you need to meet people where they already are.  Verizon wireless does just that.  On the main page, Verizon has email updates, forums, Facebook, and Twitter.  By meeting people where they are, Verizon has done an excellent job of relating to its customers online.  The website also has FAQ and troubleshooting FAQs.  This helps people navigate to the area they need to go if they have a specific question.

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/index.html

Jetblue is very effective in its online endeavor to relate to customers.  Jetblue offers Twitter, Facebook, and Digg accounts.  As an organization that influences people’s lives on a daily basis, it is important for this organization to understand what online technology people are using.  If there is something wrong with your flight, such as delays, cancelations, or early, Jetblue will notify its customer by instant messaging them, texting them, or tweeting them.  Jetblue customers are able to get information almost anywhere on its site.

http://www.jetblue.com/mobile/

2).  An e-mail survey of public relations practitioners investigated how use of the World Wide Web and the practitioner’s roles are linked.  The study claimed that mangers used the web more than technicians for research and evaluation and that women have caught up with men in use of new technology, such as the Web.  Online public relations is becoming increasingly important in today’s society.  With so many people using the internet, it is important for organizations to realize that they need to meet people where they already are, the internet.  This article did appear in a peer-reviewed journal.  I found this information in Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly. 80, no. 3, (2003).  Peer review lets other people in the same field review and comment on the article.  The reviewers must be qualified to do a review.

If Porter and Sallot were to do the same study, they should do the study on more up to date technology.  Like I mentioned before, people are constantly using the internet, especially social media websites.  I think that Porter and Sallot should do a study, not on email, but possibly on Facebook.  Many people are using Facebook and many businesses are or should be taking advantage of its online PR capabilities.

3).  Kelleher’s lasting concepts are “ideas such as cybernetics, feedback, self-regulation and control, boundary spanning, and public relations process.  These concepts put the day-to-day practice of online public relations into meaningful context.”  The concepts mater because publicists need to realize how employers are interacting with actual people in an online environment.  Even though technology is often 24/7, we must remember that there are people behind these tools.  This will help me with my white paper assignment because it helps me gain ideas on what the Fairport Village Inn, the business that I am doing my white paper on, needs to do in order to use online relations effectively.  It is very important for businesses to implement using online services in order to attract people to the place of business.  Facebook and other social media sites are examples of these online technologies.

“The Teenage Girl as Consumer and Communicator”

Online media were used by finding where the teenage girls are shopping and how they are getting information.  Teenage girls used e-mails to learn about their favorite brands and sales promotions.  Also, it turns out girls are telling other people about their favorite stores through Facebook and Twitter.“

Overall Communication Strategy was:

Very one-way/two-way= 4. I think that the overall communication strategy was two-way because most girls would receive an email about sales, but then discuss it with friends and family.  It is very peer-to-peer.

Very asymmetrical/symmetrical= 2.  It is more asymmetrical because it is unbalanced.  Retail stores often get feedback from clients, but most times the organization does not change.  Instead, the organizations want the buyers to change.  Teen girls are actually patient and value-minded, with more than 60 percent of them generally waiting for items to go on sale before making a purchase; 77 percent are more likely to buy a sale-priced item than one at full price.

Very denotative/facilitative= 4.  It is more facilitative.  It is more facilitative because shopping is more of a dialogic communication process.  Shopping is a way for people to hang out with best friends and have meaningful dialogue.

Very monologic/dialogic= 4.  It is very dialogic.  Dialogic communication requires real people to get and stay involved in the conversation.  Shopping is a way for people to communicate and retail stores know this.  In order for people to continue to shop, there needs to be some kind of dialogue.  There is also dialogue in emails and social media sites.

Very market as targets/conversations= 4.  I think it is based more on conversations.  Retail stores and customers talked to each other.  There was mass marketing, but I believe more dialogue was used.

Case 2:

Study finds traditional news outlets still leading blogs

Online media was used to figure out who was coming up with news stories first, blogs or traditional news outlets.  Cornell Universtiy used the Web to track and measure the news cycle. (The process by which information becomes news, competes for attention, and then fades.)

Social media sites were also used.  A professor of new media at Columbia said that the dynamics of the news cycle are very different, because of Twitter.”

Overall Communication Study was:

Very one-way/two-way= 2. It was more one-way because no one was responding back toward the study.  It was only the people who were researching the information that responded.  They looked at peoples blogs, but they were not commenting.  The researchers were only trying to compare.

Very asymmetrical/symmetrical= 2.  It was very asymmetrical because it was unbalanced communication.  Researchers were not communicating with people, but were simply searching.  There is no way this communication strategy was symmetrical.

Very denotative/facilitative= 3.  This question is difficult to answer.  It could be more facilitative because blogs are more of a dialogic communication and so is traditiona means of news outlets.  However, during the research, there was no a lot of dialogue to these bloggers.  However, the professor at Columbia claims that Twitter is changing the industry completely.

Very monologic/dialogic= 2.  The study was more monologic.  Again, the researchers were not talking to people, but rather researching blogs.  There did not need to be a discussion.

Very markets as targets/conversations= 2.  It is more markets as targets because there is not a lot of dialogue, but rather researchers were targeting bloggers.

The ratings do not necessarily mean that one has better public relations over the other.  It just means that one was able to find out information by other means.  Researchers could just look for the answer on popular news blogs rather than ask.  The teenage girls needed to give their opinions in order for researchers to understand the best move.

Kyle Reinson
St. John Fisher College

Manipulation. Spin. Public Relations

Rochester, New York – 17/2/2010 – Edward L. Bernays will be speaking at St. John Fisher College on Friday, April 9 in Basil 135 at 7pm.  Being the Father of PR, Bernays will share his secrets on manipulation to all those who come. There will also be a special gathering after the lecture where everyone can enjoy refreshments with Bernays himself.

Edward Bernays was one of the first to attempt to manipulate people based on the subconscious. He will discuss why he thought manipulation was necessary in society and describe specific examples from his life’s work such as a “pancake breakfast” for Calvin Coolidge, convincing the public that bacon and eggs was the true all-American breakfast,and promoting “Light’s Golden Jubilee” which was for celebrating Thomas Edison’s invention of the light bulb, when in fact, he did not.

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the [public] is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.”

Bernays is an important figure in American history and a PR icon. Sharing his secrets is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and he is offering it to the Rochester community.

The presentation is sponsored by St. John Fisher College and the Communication/Journalism Department.

For more information, please go to http://www.sjfc.edu

In today’s society, mass communication promotes apathy.  Mills argues people will become “spectators of everything but the human witnesses of nothing.”  People are receiving their information from the news and mass media, but are not actually witnessing anything.  Reporters are constantly talking about the war in Iraq and how people are dying.  People have been hearing tragic war stories for years  and are becoming apathetic towards it.  This is partly because Americans do not see what is going on in the war first hand, they are seeing the information the news gives them.

Podcasts:

http://lisaweider.podbean.com/mf/web/736mvx/megaquiz1q3.mp3 For Itunes

http://lisaweider.podbean.com/2010/01/29/megaquiz1-quest-3/ From Podbean

Congress, as an elite, uses its authority to make decisions.  Congress has authority over financial and budgetary matters, to collect taxes, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States.  Also, Congress has the power to declare war, to raise and maintain the armed forces, and to make rules for the military.  Congress is a power elite and its members are important in making decisions for the United States.

The masses, which are the opposite of elite, listen to the power elite.  The masses tend to be powerless and are manipulated by the elites.

Your elites at work!

http://www.house.gov/

http://lisaweider.podbean.com/mf/web/sixigj/megaquiz1q2.mp3 For Itunes.

http://lisaweider.podbean.com/2010/01/29/megaquiz1-quest-2/ For my Podbean site.

There are three forms of power according to Mills.  They are Coercion, (physical force) authority, and manipulation.  Mills states that coercion is rarely used in a democratic state.  During the 2008 elections, Obama stated that he wanted a government free from coercion.  People have the right to liberty  The second power is authority.  Obama gained authority by winning the presidency.  He needs to make important decisions on healthcare, war, etc and at the same time try to do what is best for the country.  The last power is manipulation.  One definition of manipulation is: Shrewd or devious management, especially for one’s own advantage.  Obama told the people that he would improve the health care system to get votes, but there has not been a change yet.  Also, a major debate was the war in Iraq.  Most people wanted (and still want) to get out of war.  Obama promised the people he would get the troops out of Iraq.  He did as promised, but sent the troops to Afghanistan instead. 

MY PODCAST

http://lisaweider.podbean.com/2010/01/29/megaquiz1-question-1/