March 7, 2010

COMMENT # 7

Title of post: Keep Your Hands Off My Doritos

Author: Haley Barnes

Link: http://hkbarnes.wordpress.com/2010/02/14/keep-your-hands-off-my-doritos/#comment-13

Date: March 8, 2010

Haley,
Opposite of you I was cheering for the Saints, but am glad that you recognized that it was a good booster for the city and the team. I do have to agree with you that the Doritos commercial was one of the funniest during the Superbowl. It gave a great twist on reality because it is usually the parents who threaten the kid who is taking their child on a date, but in this case the young boy is warning the guest that he better not put his hands on his mama and especially not his Doritos. In the commercial, it also showed that the little boy found his mom and his Doritos to be of same importance to him in his life. I think it was funny for all ages, but did hear some utter after the commercial was aired that it was “unethical” for them to show a little boy slapping someone else. But people need to lighten up and learn to appreciate the creative way they used to advertise their product. I think it portrayed kids in the right light because I agree with you when you say they say the most shocking things sometimes and since they do not know much, they do not know what should be censored or not. Overall, Doritos “hit it out of the ball park” with this particular commercial.
-Sarah Gricius

March 7, 2010

COMMENT # 6

Title of post: PR has Kate Gosselin a media star

Author: Anna

Link: http://annalg.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/pr-has-kate-gosselin-a-media-star/#comment-9

Date: March 8, 2010

Anna,
Kate’s publicists are working quiet hard to recover her image after the terrible divorce with Jon. And although they are trying to put her into a more positive light by making her one of the “celebrities on Dancing with the Stars,” the question that arises to me is…Shouldn’t she be spending that time with the 8 children that she has? I mean think about it, they spent days and days practicing the routine and then they have the show to do, and right after that it is back to practice again. And the public says that Jon is the one who wants all the attention and is trying to be a celebrity, it obviously is both of them now. I believe she needs to go back to reality and focus on her kids or do something in the public that does not take away so much time from her kids because I can understand the only income she has is from premiering on shows in order to support her children. I can see how they are trying to put a positive spin on her life, but why not start a magazine explaining ways to save money, her life stories, and such things like that. Therefore, she could do that from her home and spend quality time with (what should be the most important thing in her life) her children.
-Sarah Gricius

March 7, 2010

COMMENT # 5

Title of post: Tiger Woods

Author: Allie Harrington

Link: http://ah01490.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/tiger-woods/#comment-16:

Date: March 8, 2010

Allie,
Although I did recognize your points and some were valid, I would have to disagree with some of your statements. I felt that if Tiger Woods would come back to the golf scene, the place that made him famous, he would still remain famous and more than half of his supporters would still support him. He is amazing at the sport and that cannot go unnoticed on anyone’s watch, he is a natural and has worked hard to the best in golf. Plus, that is his personal life and although he was quite shady and not loyal, that should not be a factor in his golf career. For example, Bill Clinton…he was an helped the country and some would say he was one of the best presidents, and even with his scandals during his presidency, he still has supporters to this day. I just think that people are blowing this Tiger Woods thing way out of line, although he is a role model to many, everyone knows people make mistakes and he has publicly apologized and said he would change for the better.
-Sarah Gricius

March 7, 2010

COMMENT # 4

Title of post: Snickers for Everyone!!

Author: Shelley Martin

Link: http://shelleymartin.wordpress.com/2010/02/19/snickers-for-everyone/#comment-11:

Date: March 8, 2010

Shelley,
I can definitely agree with your obsession of snickers, whenever I get a chocolate craving I will usually drive to the gas station to grab a snickers. I liked how you realized that they targeted all generations young to old. I would recognize that another point of view that they were trying to approach was that if you are of the older generation and have a snickers, you might feel young once again just like when you were young and were playing football with the boys. Snickers has more commercials now that replace the “average” person with a celebrity. One of my favorites is called Road Trip. The average guy in the back is played by Aretha Franklin. The people in the car say that he always acts like a diva when he is hungry so they give him a snicker’s to bring him back to reality. And it ends with the classic line, “You’re not you when you’re hungry.” I think these are great commercials and I felt Snicker’s did great advertising for there company while adding in a sense of humor.
-Sarah Gricius

March 7, 2010

COMMENT # 3

Title of post: My week of Twitter

Author: Jessica Dudley

Link: http://jdudley88.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/my-week-of-twitter/#comment-16

Date: March 8, 2010

Jessica,
I was actually quiet nervous myself when we were assigned to do a week of twitter. I had previously heard of all the rave but did not really understand the concept of twitter, even though over ten people tried to explain it to me. And just like you, after a couple of days I started to pick up the ideas behind it and learned a lot from reading other people’s tweets which had interesting sites to visit and learn from. I enjoyed following you on twitter and hearing all about your interesting stories and sites to visit. I think we should both continue to use twitter so we can keep up with each other’s lives once we are out of college and maybe end up with the same company, even though you want to do sports and I want to do fashion. But I felt that I learned a lot from twittering and am looking forward to continuing it which will be much needed in the PR world. I hope you decided to keep up with your twitter account also.
-Sarah Gricius

March 7, 2010

COMMENT # 2

Title of post: “The SPINdustry”

Author: Caroline Rawlins

Link: http://crawlins.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/the-spindustry/#comment-19

Date: March 8, 2010

Caroline,
I actually just made this show one of my PR connections also. I felt that it was a great show, but also agree with you about the effects it may have on the PR industry and the reputation that might come along with it. I think that the first episode did capture some of the hard work, stress, organization, and networking that you talked about above. They had to put on an event and were having trouble keeping the magazines reps there because they were all expecting Mel B. to appear. But one of the employee’s that work for Command PR stepped up and used her experience to keep them at the event in order for the event to get into the tabloids. She decided to give them water and lollipops because they could tell they were getting irritated and I felt that showed that PR practitioners needs to be prepared for any situation and to also be quick on their feet. I also agree that Kim Kardashian will do a great job with this show and hope that PR becomes even more popular than it is today with this show airing.

PR Connection 3: 2009 Gold Anvil Award March 7, 2010

Michael L. Herman, APR, Fellow PRSA, chairman and CEO of Communication Sciences International, received the 2009 Gold Anvil Award during the PRSA International Conference in San Diego. The Gold Anvil for lifetime career achievement, first awarded in 1948, is the Society’s highest individual honor. Herman is recognized as one of the profession’s leading practitioners, mentors, and champions. He personifies the leadership qualities and reflects the values of PR professionals seek to communicate in their work. During his life he spent many years teaching at the university level and often talked with PRSSA students. He was asked what his impression of the new generation of PR professionals would be like. He responded, “The students today are much more sophisticated than even those I taught 20 years ago. They are enthusiastic, hungry for knowledge and ready to conquer the world. But the one thing that remains constant is the need for improved writing skills and a broader understand of public relations in a changing society.” Although our generation is more adapt to the changes going on in society; he is right when he talks about gaining knowledge of the basics, such as writing.

I believe that everyone in the PR industry hopes to one day achieve his level of success. Although it shows that is make take years of hard work, obtaining this award can be life changing and make one realize that all of those blood, sweat, and tears were not gone unnoticed. He is a role model for all PR practitioner’s and we should strive for his success.

When asked in the interview “What’s next for you?” He answered, “I’ve always said I’d rather wear out than rust out. I still find each day to be a new opportunity, and I believe that for all that the profession has given me, I’m still quite through trying to champion the changes that I believe can continue to help us grow and prosper.”

Now those are words of wisdom…

PR Connection 2: Kell on Earth March 7, 2010

As I was flipping through the channels at my house is Atlanta, I came across a show on Bravo called “Kell on Earth.” I did not know about this show since my cable in Statesboro only consists of 50 channels, that when I saw it in Atlanta, I was surprised and lured in to watch more. I originally saw the life of Kelly Cutrone on the MTV show “The Hills” but the main focus was on the life of Lauren Conrad and only highlights of Cutrone were shown. I ended up watching back to back episodes of the show and fell in love with it immediately and decided I wanted my career to be based on this, which is why I am getting a minor in fashion merchandising.

The basis of “Kell on Earth” is a reality show that follows a publicist (an essential part of public relations), Kelly Cutrone, as she bullies her way through the underbelly of the New York fashion world. Cutrone is the founder of the P.R. company People’s Revolution. Cutrone lives a fast-paced, whirlwind life juggling her business in a tough economic climate, organizing major fashion shows across the world, and managing the everyday hectic pace of People’s Revolution. Also somewhere in between all of the chaos, she manages to make time for her personal life, which includes being a single mom to daughter Ava, and writing her first book “If You Have to Cry, Go Outside.” I believe that this show uncovers the reality of public relations, it is hard to keep clients happy because demands and expectations are so high in this industry. But Cutrone takes her job very seriously and will not let her reputation fail. I believe this women to be an idol and I would love to work for her one day.

PR Connection 1: “The Spindustry March 7, 2010

After watching the finale of the show The Kardashians’ a new show aired called “The Spindustry” which follows the Command PR, a Miami-based firm, as it prepared to launch its anticipated product “Luxury Lollipop.” The basis of the show was filled with unexpected occurring of events which presented Simon and Huck a range of challenges as they have to figure out a way to save their clients event from becoming a disaster while also maintaining a good relationship with their client.

The company Command PR established in 1999 and is managed and run by Simon Huck and Jonathan Cheban. Both of the personalities I believe to be very entertaining and would love to have a career with this company. In an interview with a reporter after the show was aired, Jonathan Cheben said, “The theme of the show is pretty good for a reality show as the PR industry is presently one of the most booming and alluring industry in the Hollywood.” In future episodes of the show, it will feature day to day activities of the officials of Command PR as they try to manage and organize celebrity events, allure celebrity clients, manage press conferences, and strategically advertising the event so as to gain as much coverage of the event as possible.

I am very excited to continuing watching this show as it may give me tips when I begin my career as a PR practitioner. They have to battle through many challenges that celebrities and clients expect because they want to reputation to remain high within the public and celebrities. Although some of the incidents on this show may appear as if it was planned to go wrong because some people believe reality shows “stretch the truth,” I believe that with Hollywood and celebrities involved no task is scene as absurd because they have very unique demands.

Week Eight: The Lead Lab March 5, 2010

Although The Lead Lab was more entertaining than the last NewsU we were required to do, I felt that the Cleaning your Copy was more informative. The Lead Lab did teach me some parts of a news release, but it was not enough to catch my attention and help me remember important facts.

-What did you learn?

I learned that writing a lead can be hard work. To write an effective lead you have to know, first and foremost, what the story is about. First start with the five W’s and a H (What happened? Who did it happen it to? Where did it happen? When did it happen? and How did it happen?), then with that knowledge, you need to logically zero in on the two basic focusing questions (What’s the news? and What’s this story about?). You must look for the tension in a lead because news media are widely criticized, often justifiably so, for their preoccupation with conflict. One way to inject tension is to introduce competing elements in the lead. The juxtaposition raises a question, an element of suspense, that is the key to drawing the reader in. Decided which story is the right one for your story it depends on your news organization, the news and the timing of publication. Some guidelines that can help make your decision are time, readers’ needs and exclusivity.

-What surprised you?

I was surprised during the activity called types of leads. I never realized how many angles you could start a story with. Essentially there are two types of leads: direct and delayed. One gets to the point immediately while the other may take a while, but each type responds to a reader’s central interest. Direct leads split into two sections: an analysis and a summary. Delayed leads are split into four sections: round-up, emblem, significant detail, and anecdotal.

-What do you want to know more about?

I felt that they gave great examples of leads from already published articles, which gave me a great overview of all the different approaches I could take when deciding where to begin. I would like to know more statistics about what type of leads people respond to more. Such as do they want the facts laid out in front of them or do they want a more interesting twist on it to keep their attention. These are all aspects to consider when writing a lead and it is also good to know who your target audience is that you are trying to reach from the article.