Learning the Ropes

Dr. Caitlin Powell: Psychology Professor helps analyze "Hamlet" as case member

2011-11-04T10:19:00.000-07:00

Georgia College Professor Dr. Caitlin Powell Rekindles Love for Theatre

By Melanie Beal

Senior Liberal Studies Major

Playing the role of a player queen in “Hamlet” allows Dr. Caitlin Powell to explore a field that she has always had a great love and respect for.

Powell is currently an assistant professor of psychology at Georgia College. She attended Drake University for her undergraduate degree. She was a double major in History and Psychology and minored in English and Spanish. From there she attended University of Kentucky to complete her graduate degree. Powell’s dissertation focused on jealousy and she used Shakespeare’s “Othello” as a reference because of the many different layers of jealousy portrayed through the play.

Her mother’s background in education played a large role in inspiring her to become a teacher. She also had a lot of positive experiences with many of her academic advisors throughout her undergraduate studies.

“They (her academic advisors) really helped ‘turned the lights on’ in terms of the way that I approach the world, and I really wanted to give back a little bit to a community that has given me so much. I see it as a way to pay it forward. To be able to take the eye opening experience that I had, and to maybe pass that along to other people,” Powell said.

Powell enjoys Shakespeare plays even more because the classic themes portrayed through his plays are still applicable in modern times. Many of these themes relate to her focus of study, “Hamlet” being one of the plays containing these themes. Her field of study in psychology focuses more on the aspects of the perceptions of morality, what is right and wrong, notions of jealousy, and behavioral motivations.

“It is always interesting to sort through issues like character motivation, drives, and personality. Because of my background, I often study these issues, and exploring them with my character is an interesting application of psychology. I enjoy developing my character’s back-story even if it is something the audience will never see,” Powell said.

Theatre was a second nature for Powell growing up. She grew up in a family with heavy theatre background. Her mother is the artistic and education director of a children’s theater, and her father is an actor and composes musicals. This background in theatre provided Powell with the opportunity to work on set designs and construction by the time she was 13 years old. She received almost a kind of apprenticeship through her parents’ experience.

“One of the things that my mom did when I was little, was she would have a lot of the classics, including Shakespeare’s plays, summarized or presented in picture book form. We knew all the stories of the main plays of Shakespeare, and the language was something that I really got used to,” Powell said. “My mom would read me Shakespeare plays for bedtime stories sometimes, and I got very comfortable and familiar with the language.”

Powell appeared in several plays as a child when her mother needed her to fill in for certain characters, but she really developed her passion for theater in high school. She participated in one-acts for competitions and had roles in several plays. Her first chance to play a role in a Shakespeare play occurred when she landed the role of Helena in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which she recalled as one of her favorite roles.

“I think [acting] really is a little bit of a rush, in that, you know which lines you are supposed to say and you know which lines the other person is supposed to say, but live acting is a different experience than, say, film acting,” Powell said. “It is a slightly different dynamic each and every time. Random things can happen, somebody can completely drop a line, somebody can not show up for their scene when they are supposed to, and that tension is something that I find exhilarating.”

While acting is a fun and challenging hobby for Powell, her real passion is backstage. She worked with the technical aspect of theater in high school and continued to pursue it through college and graduate school. While in school she was a paid stage manager for multiple theaters and worked for the crew that unloaded trailers for shows on tour.

“I have a deep and abiding respect for theater tech. They are kind of the unsung heroes because you don’t ever see them, and if they do their job right you don’t realize they exist,” Powell said.

Her greatest challenge about having the role of a player queen is making sure she is communicating her character to the audience the way she wants them to perceive her character. This character is different from her personality, which makes this communication a little more challenging.

Show times are 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8, through Saturday, Nov. 12; 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13; and 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15, and Wednesday, Nov. 16.

Tickets — General admission: $14; senior citizens, Georgia College faculty and staff: $10; Georgia College students: $5. Groups of 10 or more can get a discounted rate of $9 per ticket. Only 96 seats available each show. To purchase tickets in advance visit GCSUTickets.com or call (478) 445-4226.

Woman, you look like Horatio: A Profile of Theatre Senior Shirelle Ruddock

2011-11-02T06:31:00.000-07:00

Shirrelle Ruddock as Horatio in Hamlet

“I like that being here totally challenges me.”

A Profile of Senior Theatre Major Shirelle Ruddock''

By Stephanie Reagan

Junior Mass Communication Major

“If you’re not making any life plans that scare you, you’re not making the right ones.”

That, at least, is how Georgia College senior Theatre major Shirelle Ruddock feels on the eve of her final college performance.

Today she is Shirelle; a bright-eyed individual brimming with potential. Among the roles she has played at GC are: “Kate” in “Baby With the Bathwater,” “Helen” in “Fat Pig,” “Eddie” in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” and “Geneva Lee Browne” in “The 1940’s Radio Hour.”

Next week she adds “Hamlet” to her repertoire in an unforgettable way -- Ruddock is playing a male character, Horatio, in her favorite Shakespearian work.

“It’s a dream to be here, doing this show, as my last main stage,” Ruddock said.

Graduating in December, Ruddock will be giving a final performance in the Georgia College Department of Theatre’s production of “Hamlet.” Playing the male role of Horatio, she is truly giving herself the challenge of all challenges. For the past few months, she has spent a significant amount of time observing male behavior and mannerisms so that she can deliver a genuine performance.

Evan Zachary Fields, a longtime friend a fellow theater major is thrilled to be starring in “Hamlet” with her.

“Shirelle is a phenomenal acting partner, and I have loved working beside her on four different productions,” Fields said. “She is one of the hardest working actresses I have ever worked with.”

Ironically, Ruddock was originally scheduled to graduate in the spring of 2010. Over the Summer, she heard that “Hamlet” would be one of the fall productions and she immediately started practicing monologues. As an actor, Ruddock pursues challenges wholeheartedly and consistently re-evaluates the expectations she has set for herself.

“Shirelle is a consummate actress -- well-prepared, versatile, and committed,” said director of “Hamlet” and Department of Theatre chair Karen Berman. “Her work as Hamlet's best friend and sidekick is lovely and poignant. I know she will have a great career ahead of her.”

“Acting at GC has allowed me to grow as an individual in a group of people,” Ruddock said. The Department of Theatre designed its major to give students a well-rounded education. Even though Ruddock is a performance concentration, her classes have given her an understanding of stage management, set design and direction. Performance is her passion, but she respects all disciplines that fall in the theater discipline.

Ruddock discovered her love for acting at a young age when she reenacted scenes from “Aladdin” in front of her TV.

“It’s pretty embarrassing really,” Ruddock said. Because of the influence of movies like “Aladdin” and “Beauty and the Beast,” Ruddock holds Walt Disney in high regard.

When she is not gracing audiences with stunning performances, she delves in other art forms and surrounds herself with what she calls “things of the soul.”

“The only thing I love as much as Theater is music,” Ruddock said. She proudly states that she has a record player and an extensive collection of vinyl. She admits to practicing monologues in her spare time.

“The arts keep me warm at night,” Ruddock said. “Reading those words and knowing that people have felt exactly like you is extremely comforting.”

After graduation, Ruddock plans to move to New York City to build a career based on her experience, talent and happiness. With Disney’s “When You Wish Upon a Star” ringing in her ears, Ruddock will jet off in pursuit of her wildest dreams. Her glimmering visions an inspiration to anyone that crosses her optimistic path.

Saturated with the lessons that the Theater Department has taught her, she is begging to savor her final moments in Milledgeville, adding “I like that being here totally challenges me."

About the Georgia College Theatre Department:

The Georgia College Theatre Department sets the bar high and offers a plethora of opportunities for its students. The Department is a compilation of 71 theatre majors, 40 theatre minors and 40 dance minors. The department has performed Off Broadway in an international theatre festival in the Czech Republic, won awards for the new Campus Black Box Theatre and for our student entries into the Cannes Lion Film Festival. The department prides themselves on cultivating imagination, passion, discipline and collaboration.

###

A Profile of Georgia College Senior, Hamlet star, Evan Zachary Fields

2011-10-31T09:04:00.000-07:00

Shakespeare comes naturally to Georgia College senior theater major

By Bobbi Otis

Junior Public Relations Major

Evan Zachary Fields never thought he would act, but now he sees a possible career in Shakespeare

Theater was not a career path senior theater major Evan Zachary Fields envisioned as a child, at least not until eighth grade when he landed his first role as a company member in “Annie.”

“One of my friends was like ‘I’m auditioning for this,’” Fields said. “‘I am such a good singer, you couldn’t do it.’ It was one of those things and I was like ‘I’m going to do it.’”

Fields found that he liked the stage after his experience.

“I ended up really enjoying myself so I was like ‘okay, I can get into this,’ so I kept doing little things here and there and I ended up liking it more and more.”

Since that production of “Annie” Fields has had important roles in “Cinderella,” “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” “Fat Pig,” “Dog Sees God,” “Rent” and “Hamlet.”

His favorite performance so far was “Dog Sees God.”

“One of my best friends from freshmen year was directing it, Nic Marrone,” Fields said. “It was just great working together. It has stuck with me for a really long time.”

Senior theater major Jordan Hale had a lead role alongside Fields in “Dog Sees God.”

“He really gets into a role,” Hale said. “He goes a lot deeper and thinks more about things than a lot of people do. He puts a lot more into a role. It is an inspiration to see him in a play.”

Fields will portray Hamlet in Georgia College Department of Theatre’s version of the Shakespearean play bearing the same name.

“I read ‘Hamlet’ in high school for the first time,” Fields said. “I had to read it for class, and I had never been into Shakespeare at all, it was one of those things where I liked comedy a lot more.

“When I was reading it I was like ‘wow, this is really interesting.’” Fields said. “So, I started reading more Shakespeare and ‘Hamlet’ was the first Shakespearean show that got me into Shakespeare, so Shakespeare is one of those things that I am really into now.”

Shirelle Ruddock has worked with Fields in several plays over the years including “Fat Pig,” where both had lead roles. Ruddock will be portraying Horatio in “Hamlet.”

“We both kind of work the same way. We go into depth,” Ruddock said. “We even have conversations like the characters would.”

In preparation for “Hamlet” the cast has been working with Scot and Kelly Mann from the Georgia Shakespeare Festival.

“They know their stuff,” Fields said. “They are really awesome and they taught me a sword fight in less than an hour. I had never held a sword before.”

The cast has also been working with Carolyn Cook, who is the voice coach for the play.

“She helped us find all of these clues and everything; things I would have never thought to look at,” Fields said. “She has given me so much cool insight for my character.”

According to Fields, the language of Shakespeare is not generally difficult to read.

“The poetry of it (the language) kind of comes naturally,” Fields said. “There are some lines that are really tough, but for the most part I can get it.”

Acting in Shakespeare’s plays could be Fields future.

“I could see myself just doing Shakespeare for the rest of my career now. ‘Hamlet’ is my top dream role and to play it now is really awesome.”

After graduation Fields wants to try his hand at acting in Atlanta instead of New York.

He is looking into an internship or apprenticeship with The New American Shakespeare Tavern. He is also interested in looking into improv or comedy spots such as Dad’s Garage.

Besides acting, directing is something Fields enjoys.

“I directed a 24-hour play once and I have done directing scenes twice,” Fields said. “It was great, my first directing scene I did ‘Peter Pan,’ which is my favorite show and it was a really great experience and to this day it is one of the favorite things I have ever done theater-wise.”

‘Hamlet’ performed in-the-round in Campus Black Box Theatre

Posted:

October 26, 2011

Georgia College actors will present Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” as it has never appeared before, courtesy of the Georgia College Department of Theatre.

Guests are invited to attend the debauched interactive wedding of Claudius and Gertrude seen through Hamlet’s eyes. Show times are 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8, through Saturday, Nov. 12; 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13; and 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15, and Wednesday, Nov. 16.

The performance is the first theatre-in-the-round in the Campus Black Box Theatre.

Director and Chair of the Department of Theatre Karen Berman adapted Shakespeare’s script.

"I am excited we have adapted the four-and-a-half-hour 'Hamlet' script into an action-packed two hours," Berman said. "I can't wait for the audience to attend this interactive wedding set in the art-nouveau, turn-of-the-century era with gorgeous costumes. As wedding guests, the audience will view the show through Hamlet's distorted vision that includes dance-like elements."

Senior theatre major Evan Fields portrays the lead role of Hamlet.

"I think that Dr. Berman's adaptations help the audience get some interesting insight about the characters and how Hamlet sees them in his mind," Fields said. "This is my dream role, and I have never been so pumped for a show in my life."

During the Elizabethan time period and until 1660 only men performed in the theater.

Georgia College’s “Hamlet” has 11 female roles including one woman who portrays Horatio, a male role.

“I've played a bird, a cat and dead –– but I've never been a man," senior theatre major Shirelle Ruddock said. “I spent weeks observing male behavior and their differences from women.”

The student actors are working with co-choreographers Scot and Kelly Mann from the Georgia Shakespeare Festival to ensure that the fight scene using real swords is as authentic as possible. Carolyn Cook, an actor with the Georgia Shakespeare Festival, is the students’ voice coach.

Three Georgia College faculty members also have roles in “Hamlet.” Myron Avila, an assistant professor of Spanish in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures; Caitlin Powell, an assistant professor of psychology in the Department of Psychology; and Jimmy Holder, part-time instructor in the Department of English and Rhetoric.

"I want the audience to come away choosing action versus inaction and life versus death," Berman said. "I want them to think about the idea of mental health and the fractures that life experiences can cause. I want the audience to choose hope over depression and suicide, and positive relationships over dysfunction.”

ABOUT GEORGIA COLLEGE: Georgia College, the state’s designated Public Liberal Arts University, combines the educational experience expected at esteemed private liberal arts colleges with the affordability of public higher education. Its four colleges – arts and sciences, business, education and health sciences – provide 6,600 undergraduate and graduate students with an exceptional learning environment that extends beyond the classroom, with hands-on involvement with faculty research, community service, residential learning communities, study abroad and myriad internships.

Founded in 1889, Georgia College boasts one of the most beautiful campuses in the nation with Corinthian columns fronting red brick buildings and wide open green spaces. Georgia College also offers graduate education at the historic Jefferson building in downtown Macon, at Robins Air Force Base and online.

On teaching public relations writing and experiencing "Sparkly Moments"

2011-09-14T10:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, in the small basement of a Milledgeville's Blackbird coffee shop, a group of eager PR Writing student met their clients -- the cast and writer of the play, "Life is Mostly Straws." The world premiere of this play will take the stage at Georgia College in two weeks, and we are the representatives of the event.

As I tried to not say too much (which is hard for me) and to facilitate between a multi-generational group of talented people, I felt a "sparkly moment," something the playwright Richard Manley described vividly to the class.

As he talked about a scene from Last Tango in Paris that moved him beyond belief, and how it stuck with him since he first saw it -- he said he find many "sparkly moments" in films, poems, books and plays. Then director Iona Cruey Pendergast talked about one of her moments -- climbing Mount Olympus -- and how it had moved her in a similar way.

As a professor of public relations writing, I found in this gathering and in this assignment, my own "sparkly moment."

I saw my students engage with their clients in a professional, businesslike way, at a depth I forgot was possible. We talk a lot about academic engagement around here, but I actually SAW it happen in this room, over cookies and cheese and gluten-free crackers.

The students left energized with direction for their media placement work. In just 24 hours, a dozen great ideas and opportunities have materialized.

And it found my own much-needed "sparkly moment" in it all. Manley said in our class, "PR reaches you in ways you never expect." I went into my first class today energized in ways I've not felt in more than a year. Though I feel great pride and success with my students' work, this moment truly sparkled.

As did he.

As did this.

As do these students.

I welcome your input and comments.
GCM

Spring 2011 OnLine Portfolios for Senior Seminar

2011-05-23T09:40:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to the seniors in our Senior Seminar classes. Here are their online portfolios.

Kelsi Nilsson

Kelley Bowers

Brooke Brookins

Matthew Manning

Benjamin Elliott

Desiree Maynard

Lisa Lotyczewski

Alana Baker

Chandler English

Amelia Neya Smith

Katelyn Hebert

Chelsea Thomas

Claire Childs

Courtney Kelly

Mary Bess Parks

Cristyn Farrell

Will Ellis

Wix and Weebly Sites for Senior Seminar

2011-01-31T09:53:00.000-08:00

I have accumulated the following WIX and Weebly sites from our Fall 2010 seniors in Senior Seminar.
Please enjoy the awesome talent of the MSCM Senior Class! All have given permission to share this publicly.

Rebecca Burns

Lindsey Roberts

Rachel Ledford

Bryan Smith

Ben Owens

Haley Stewart

Scotty Thompson

Diane Lynch

Ansley Tiller

Chris Moskaley

Haleigh Fine

Rochelle Smalls

Brittni Collins

Courtney McMahon

Christy Wright

Matt Chambers

Leah Rapaport

Here are some business card inspirations, shared by Wade Johnston.

The end of the semester post

2010-12-09T13:15:00.000-08:00

Congrats to our Senior Seminar graduates.

But especially, congrats to the Mean in Green Campaigns Team! We've been through so much!

A lecture worth considering

2010-10-26T07:16:00.000-07:00

A the 2010 PRSA National Convention, Drs. Jim and Lauri Grunig gave their annual address, and I think this year's has some special focus I'd like my public relations students to consider.

Find the lecture HERE:

Your thoughts?

~Dr. Miller

How to build an exciting Power Point Presentation

2010-09-16T07:33:00.000-07:00

The leaning tower of PowerPoint Presentations handout,
courtesy the Mass Communication Department Copier.

I have to be honest. I have never been a fan of PowerPoint presentations. Too often, they are not creative, are repetitive, and they are used in a lazy way. But I still assign them, and I still use them myself.

This handout, created by my friend and former colleague Valerie Andrews, has great advice on doing a good PowerPoint. I pass out this handout frequently in my public relations classes, and I thought I'd post it here with my thoughts and advice today.

Let me sum up my PowerPoint Pet Peeves:

10. Make it readable -- I can't see anything that's dark on dark. A test once suggested the best colors were yellow on dark blue. Or white on a dark color.

9. Don't print out the script and give it to me before you start. You've lost me to my iPhone immediately when you do that.

8. Have a backup. Save it on your jump drive and to another source in case something fails. Or learn to use Slide Share. Then all you need is a clear Internet connection.

7. Beware the crazy slide effects. Some are funny. But the swooping flying birds when talking about chickens and salmonella might not be the best one to use in your presentation.

6. Make the type BIG ENOUGH TO READ FROM THE BACK OF THE ROOM. If you don't think it, go to the room and test is as best you can. Blind people like me will love you forever for this.

5. When you use an image, be sure you know where it came from and what it's for. And give credit if there's a copyright issue. Google Images are great, but sometimes they're not accurate. Do your research.

Photo from 100 Images that Changed the World, Life Magazine. Used for non-profit purposes.

4. Give yourself enough time to rehearse your presentation after you put it together. Sloppy slide shows show. (Say that five times).

3. For goodness sake, realize a PowerPoint takes time to prepare. Give yourself adequate time! and PROOFREAD PROOFREAD PROOFREAD!

2. We read best in upper and lower case, flush left, in a Serif Type, in a larger point size.

CAN YOU READ THIS?

Me Neither.

And my no. 1 Pet Peeve: Do NOT Read every slide from your PowerPoint! I learned to read at a young age. I can read the slides myself. Give me your bullet point to ponder, but then add you comments from your notes. Make the points compelling. But for goodness sake, don't put up a slide and read it.

Here are a couple of Internet resources for PowerPoint I like. You might like them, too.

I hope this helps you in future presentations.

2010-08-24T09:01:00.000-07:00

Welcome to PR Writing, students.

Your first assignment is to create your blog HERE

Your first assignment is to create your minimal design and post your press release URL for Thursday.

Please find a press release from a local, community, or college theater announcement of a new play.

Coming to GCSU in October! Picture via Google Images

Questions? Email me at ginger.carter@gcsu.edu

Happy Graduation, PR Class of 2009 and 2010

2010-05-05T09:23:00.000-07:00

Team LASC and PR Fantasy Football will graduate this weekend.

I will miss you all.

So if I were the singing type, I'd sing this to you. Since I'm not....

I wish you luck, love, success, and all good things in the world.

Go get 'em

Ging (AKA Dr. Miller)

Final thoughts for the graduating seniors in campaigns

2010-04-27T12:56:00.000-07:00

To all the graduating public relations seniors in campaigns, I say congrats and thank you.

You've worked hard. You've done a great job.

Now, tell me the top 10 things you learned as a PR major at GCSU.

See you at Graduation!

Dr. Miller

QB’s case in trouble from the start | ajc.com

2010-04-26T07:01:00.005-07:00

QB’s case in trouble from the start | ajc.com

Posted using ShareThis

Roethlisberger was bar-hop pied piper | ajc.com

2010-04-26T07:01:00.003-07:00

Roethlisberger was bar-hop pied piper | ajc.com

Posted using ShareThis

Surviving a Tweetstorm

2010-04-07T08:29:00.000-07:00

I wish I could create an image that showed a tweetstorm.

What is it? Well, when people kick up a ruckus that doesn't end very quickly or very quietly, that's a tweetstorm. The best known tweetstorm of the past couple years is the Motrin Moms episode, which I blogged about in the past here on "Learning the Ropes." But there has been tweetstorm with Nestles, which poured over to its Facebook page.

A few weeks ago, two friends and I (in our Twitter personas as #gf bloggers) found ourselves smack dab in the middle of a nasty tweetstorm. It wasn't big. But it sure was nasty.

Here's what happened: My friends @Jennifergfinga and @gf_elle went to an Atlanta restaurant where we'd been encouraged to dine by the owner's wife. Next door, they were building a cupcake place that would have gluten-free cupcakes. The owner and his wife assured us their restaurant menu had ample gluten-free offerings, so we appreciatively tweeted and blogged about it.

A week later, I was in Atlanta about to head for Spring break, and I wanted to take my family in for dinner. So I tweeted the @restaurant (not mentioning names here) to ask about the Friday special. Their tweets were curt and short: We don't have a gluten-free menu. We don't know what you're talking about.

So I engaged Jennifer in this (politely) and she and I tweeted back and forth, each time with the restaurant replying that we were wrong and they didn't have a menu for us.

Enter our friend Heather -- she stands up for us, only to be YELLED at by the restaurant person, who said we had ambushed her, attacked her, and we were hostile. Heather engaged her to calm her down (we know now the tweeter was a her by the way). But the tweeter then attacked Heather.

That night, ever the diligent person, I went in and spoke to the owner and told him about the tweetstorm, even showing him our tweets on my phone.

Maggie Schiller saw this going on in the background and alerted me. This caused Jennifer to write the owner Sunday and ask for the tweets to be removed. I documented the entire tweetstorm and sent it to the owner as well.

None of us heard back from him, but we were blocked and reported to Twitter for the episode. Nothing happened to us. They don't seem to care.

But the whole episode made me think, what does something like this mean to the Twitterverse?

What are your thoughts? Have you encountered a tweetstorm?

~GCM

Step Back and Evaluate

2010-03-16T06:29:00.000-07:00

Since the beginning of November, my PR Admin class (my former PR Writing Class) has been involved in a campus-wide Athletic branding/promotion called "Mean in Green." The members of the class who worked on this project -- Ian Bridgeforth, (who designed the final logo) Brittni Collins, (who coined the theme) Ben Owens, Maggie Schiller, Lindsey Roberts, Angela Lockard, Lauren Gilbert, Leah Rapaport, and Shannon Twomey, and Zack Nesbitt -- have worked diligently to create and brand a series of campus events surrounding our Bobcat Basketball Teams. Though neither team is "Dancing" this week -- the men lost a tough one in the first round of the DII tournament -- we've see our Mean in Green logo appear all over campus for the past few months.

During the regular home season, each student who continued into PR Admin took one game and planned community and campus promotion and publicity around the event. The result was, overall, higher community attendance at the games, and a general increase in knowledge about Athletics. From the first game in January "Flippin' Out at Bobcat Basketball" to the final "Senior Night Recognition," the events were pretty much all a success. And some games drew more of a crowd to the Lady Bobcats Game than did our big annual Homecoming Celebration -- which was the only game we did not work to promote.

But as I ponder a final report for our Athletic Director Wendell Staton, I wonder, how do we measure the success of our group project and generalize those findings to the entire season?

What measurement tools should we use to evaluate success?

We of course would apply our original goals and objectives we outlined as a group in PR Writing.

Overall objective: Create more awareness for Bobcat Basketball -- especially Women's Basketball -- and bring in more fans to each game,

Goal one: Create a memorable theme for the season.
Goal Two: Create Eight events between Jan 1 and March 1 to lure more fans to the games,
Goal Three: Keep the event costs to a minimum -- budget for each game was individually arranged.
Goal Four: Publicize each event using traditional and non-traditional public relations means.

The time has come for the PR Admin students to use their blogs and each individually evaluate their own event. I'm anxious to see their results. I'd like them each to write a blog post and answer these six questions in their post due Tuesday, March 29:

1. What was your event? Describe it, all elements, name your contacts, and describe how you planned the day to work out.
2. Was it a success? How do you know that? What forms of measurement did you use to assess your success?
3. What was the best takeaway learning moment you got from your event?
4. What is the one thing you wish you could do over?
5. If you had to grade your event, what grade would you give it?
6. What's your one best idea to keep "Mean in Green" ALIVE?

When they're done, I'll write an overall report and submit it Athletics. With it, I'll also do a blog post about the overall success.

These posts are important, as our friends from Flagler College are due in town April 3, and we want to be able to talk with authority about how our whole season went.

~Dr. Miller

I....know.....nuthing....

2010-03-10T21:23:00.000-08:00

It has been a tough week here in Milly, as we like to call our fair university town.

Milledgeville is swarming with reporters -- from ESPN, from TMZ, from the tabloids. They've followed students into the dorms for information. They've brought free pizzas to doorsteps in exchange for information. They're probably headed downtown tomorrow night, disguised as college students. Facebook pages have been stalked and removed. Everyone's all a tither.

Yes, it has been an interesting week.

OK, If you've r ead the news or watched ESPN, you know why. In the blink of an eye (and the middle of the night) Ben Roethlisberger changed the trending topics in our town.

Yes, I've been called, emailed, tweeted and Facebooked about this event. I was home asleep when it happened.

And as Sgt. Schultz said on Hogan's Heros....I.......know....... nuthing!

(And if you don't know who Sgt. Schultz is...that's why God made Google.)

I don't want to talk about it here. I don't want you, my students, to talk about it either -- here or anywhere else. This is not about the 5 Ws at all.

That's not the point of this post.

No, here are my questions, to my PR students writing on your blogs. Pick one or two and expound.

What did you learn this week about the nature of media coverage in a time of crisis or emergency?

What's the one lesson of crisis public relations you'll always remember from this event? What is your takeaway from this, as a practitioner?

And what would you like to tell the people of the world who have a whole new impression of Milledgeville?

I'd love to know your thoughts on these issues, and for now, these issues alone.

~Dr. Miller

P.S. A local restaurant is selling a "Stay Classy, Milledgeville" tshirt. We have, actually, in light of depictions of our choice of club wear and grocery shopping establishments. Reports of people puking out the window of a moving truck have been blown out of proportion. I mean come on -- who hasn't puked out the window of a moving vehicle once in his or her life. I mean, at least the window was rolled down....

Is this the Real World?

2010-02-21T16:29:00.000-08:00

I spent Friday at PRSA Georgia's Real World 2010, an amazing program for public relations students across the southeast.

I met students from Western Carolina University, Berry College, Clemson University, and Lee University,

I reconnected with former students who are now at Georgia Southern University and Georgia State University.

But most of all, I got a chance to watch my 13 PRSSA members and public relations students -- from sophomores to seniors -- network and talk about their future in public relations.

There are some general impressions I left with from this conference. I hope they'll be useful to my students (they're not about you, but you could take them to heart if need be).

1. When you're going somewhere to network, bring networking tools. What can you say about a professor who goes to a professional conference without a stack of business cards? I do this all the time. If you're a networking student, in a situation like a placement conference, create and bring business cards. They're much less bulkier than a resume. But to be safe, bring a couple of them, too.

2. If you don't have a simple padfolio, get one. Someone you know has one he or she isn't using -- take it from them. Ask your professors if they have extras from conference or gifts. It's so much sleeker for note-taking than a composition book. It's even better when you carry it in a nice black cloth or pleather briefcase or messenger bag. With a working black pen.

3. Remember that no matter where you are, someone is watching you. I thought of this when I was trying to listen to the luncheon speaker. I said trying because 1) the food was late coming out, and students were just getting food where I was sitting in the back and 2) the AV sound system wasn't great when the speaker was talking. But seriously -- I watch during the speaker's presentation, and the young people near me were much more engaged in chatting and laughing, and none of them were really listening to him. And he said some really interesting things about the return of the "glamour brands" in society today, and why follow people like Ashton Kutcher on Twitter. Oh, and don't bother Jon Bon Jovi in Detroit if it's not important. I was impressed by the students who were 1) listening and not talking and who 2) went up to speak to him when it was over. You never know what will happen in the future.

4. Get there early and stay there late. Now, I'm afraid a few folks from GCSU were guilty of leaving early (because of Homecoming commitments, which ran all weekend, I didn't really mind that folks left). But you never know what might happen if you're early or you stay after. For instance, I saw some students assisting some of the PR agency representatives as they tried to get their stuff out of the building. Stay after the sessions and chat.

5. Master the good handshake. Ansley Tiller, one of my students, said one of the best things she learned was how to present a good handshake. She said she always thought she HAD a good handshake, but now she knows to shake "web to web". A good handshake, a business card, and a firm introduction of yourself in six words or less are important. So is looking someone in the eye.

6. Brush up on what business people are wearing today. When I went to PRSA for the first time in 1985, everyone wore suits. Dark suits. With hose (if they were women) and good shoes. While the professionals don't always dress that way now (I saw lots of chic sweaters and scarves on the professionals), try to dress to impress. I saw one young woman in a tan suit with a short-sleeved, closed, belted jacket. That suit was a size 8. She was at least a 12. My mother used to say to me when that happened, "June is busting out all over". EVERYONE has something that is appropriate. Even beatnik old profs like me who are usually in sweat pants and "Mean in Green" tshirts for class (OK, I exaggerate -- but not much).

I admire that Lauren Hopkins, one of my former students now at GSU, asked a professional for a suggestion on Twitter. Remember, your first impression is your best impression.

And for goodness sake -- leave the heavy makeup and scents at home (that last part actually goes more for the men). Smell clean and fresh if possible, not like the Macy's cosmetic counter.

(And I have to say, I love the way the Bobcat PRSSA students looked Friday. Even if two of them did match :-) .

7. If you made a contact with a professional who can help you in any way, get in touch and say thank you as soon as you can. If they really did something nice, write a real ink-on-paper thank you note. Otherwise, establish email contact. THEN send in that resume for a critique/internship/review.

8. Survey your competition, and figure out how to do them one better. Many of our students found a resume they loved -- and they plan to try to replicate its design. Nothing wrong with that at all.

9. Learn what your soles can stand, and act accordingly. Yes, this is about your shoes. Make sure they're polished and clean, not scruffed and scuffed. Make sure you're not showing too much toe cleavage (for women, obviously). Make sure they're the right height for your outfit. And for goodness sake, don't wear a pair of shoes you can't stand up in all day. There's no sin in a nice pair of black flats, ladies. (Oh yes -- leave the Uggs at home when you're going for a professional interview. I saw FAR to many pairs with ill-fitting mini skirts and black tights.

10. Finally, remember to be yourself. Don't try to be something you're not. And don't try to falsely impress a recruiter. They'll find out soon enough if you're the person they spoke to in person.

Those are my thoughts. It was a wonderful event, and I'm glad we've continued to support it at GCSU. We had 14 students present each of the last three years.

~GCM

Super Bowl ad lineup

2010-02-07T15:15:00.000-08:00

This post is to help my class navigate the Twitter Party we're having tonight.

Super Bowl Ads: Rundown Of In-Game Spots For CBS' Telecast
CBS has sold out all 62 ad spots for Sunday's broadcast of Super Bowl XLIV. The chart below presents a quarter-by-quarter run down of the advertisers on Sunday's game. The list, compiled via research and several media reports, is tentative and likely to change by gametime.

Boost Mobile
:30
Bridgestone
:30
Bud Light
:30
Bud Light
:30
Bud Light
:30
Coca-Cola
:60
Doritos*
:30
Doritos*
:30
Doritos*
:30
ETrade
:30
Flo TV
:30
Focus On The Family
:30
Go Daddy
:30
Hyundai Sonata
:30
Monster.com
:30
Paramount Pictures ("The Last Airbender")
:30
Skechers
:15
Snickers
:30
2ND QUARTER
TIME
Bud Light
:30
Budweiser
:60
Careerbuilder.com*
:30
Cars.com
:60
Denny's
:15
Dodge (Chrysler)
:60
Dr Pepper Cherry
:30
Hyundai
:30
Levi's Dockers
:30
Papa John's
:30
Paramount Pictures ("Shutter Island")
:30
Teleflora
:30
TruTV's "NFL Full Contact"
:30
Walt Disney Pictures
("Alice in Wonderland")
:30
FIRST HALF TBD
TIME
Flo TV
:30
Universal Studios Orlando:
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
:30
3RD QUARTER
TIME
Bridgestone
:30
Budweiser Select 55
:15
Coca-Cola
:60
Denny's
:30
HomeAway
:30
kgb
:30
Kia Sorento Crossover
:30
Michelob Ultra
:30
Motorola
:30
NFL***
:60
Taco Bell
:30
U.S. Census Bureau
:30
Volkswagen
:30
Walt Disney Pictures
("Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time")
:30
4TH QUARTER
TIME
Audi A3 TDI
:60
Budweiser
:60
Denny's
:30
Electronic Arts ("Dante's Inferno")
:30
Go Daddy
:30
Honda Accord Crosstour
:30
Intel
:30
Pop Secret/Emerald Nuts
:30
Skechers
:15
Sony Vizio
:60
TBD
TIME
Dove Men+Care
:30
Universal Pictures (TBD)
TBD

10 things every professor should know about social media and technology

2010-02-03T12:15:00.000-08:00

School has barely been in session a month, and I feel the whirlwind.

I've been thinking about this post for a long time. It actually helped me focus my own learning curve lately, but I'm sure it will create discussion or comments. OK, I hope it will.

But I've been thinking: What should all communication professor, at the most basic level, know how to do using technology and social media?

10. All professors should know how to use email effectively. You should clearly know how to make lists, use lists, and get the word out to your class as a whole without typing in all the addresses. I'm lucky -- we have a portal for that here at GCSU. (and for me -- see no. 9).

9. Every professor should know how to use Facebook as an academic tool (seriously) even if he or she doesn't have a site.
My Facebook page is an open book -- I know I have 900 friends, and I know who they all are. I have been on Facebook since two weeks after it came to GCSU in March of 2004. I love Facebook. But I have my boundaries. I don't ever ask a currently enrolled student to be my friend. I am friends with only students who have "friended me". I don't require students to friend me who are in my classes.

I love that almost every PR Writing Class I've taught in the last six years has some sort of Facebook group for our class. My favorite is the first group --

Mass Media, What What?

I created my own George Carlin group when he died for my for mass media law students. "I know George Carlin's Seven Dirty Words -- even the compound ones." I'll be inviting that whole group to Homecoming in three weeks!

Our department's Alumni presence has grown near 200 on Facebook. It's their "meeting place," their virtual hangout. It's where we invite them to thing, ask for thing, comment on things. And they respond.

8. Know how to do a GOOD Power point, and know how to teach students how to do a good Powerpoint.
We all have our pet peeves. Email me if you want my handout.

7. Know how to build a basic website. With sites out there on the Internet, it's nothing like it used to be. I remember writing a totally HTML code site in 1997 -- gah! But today, everyone should know to build a simple website or a simple online portfolio.

6. All professors should know how to record and upload a podcast. (I admit. This is one on my to-do list!) With Garage Band now, it's simple. I just haven't tried. But I have the text recorded for my first one. Stay tuned.

5. All professors should know how to film a video and upload it to YouTube. Or Bliptv.fm. I got the Flipcam bug from Kay Sweetser at UGA Connect 2008. Last year, a got a technology grant so my students could upload video on their blog sites. And soon, we'll be working on viral videos for the GCSU Production of RENT! Now if you're a broadcast professor, you're scoffing now. I still want to learn more about iMovie. But I'm not editing yet.

4. If you aren't a Twitter person, you should at least understand how it differs from Facebook. And don't just dip your toe in Twitter to show off -- I think one must embrace Twitter for what it is -- and isn't -- to make it pay off.

3. Students and professor should understand the blogosphere. I don't think everyone should blog, but it has such good uses. Look at my Mass Media Law blog, up since 2004 (I think) for my earliest example. Central site, saves paper, disseminated key information. FREE. Doesn't require campus email to be working like Blackboard or WEBCt or Vista. (P.S. I have George Carlin's Filthy Words Monologue AND the Falwell v. Flynt ad on there....)

2. Know how to create a PDF. And how to turn that into a .jpeg. While you're at it, know how to "capture images" and save and resuse them. Legally, of course.

1. I think we should all know at least one or two design programs so we can teach your students the basics of design. I want them to learn more from those who teach design (in Art here, or in a Desktop or Web Design Class). I am not an expert. But I can work in QuarkExpress, InDesign and Photoshop well enough to get a basic logo, poster, flyer, newsletter, or brochure done. And when I came here in 1996 -- people were still in PageMaker!

So there's my list. I welcome your constructive comments and suggestions.

~GCM

Headed to Flagler

2010-01-21T12:07:00.000-08:00

The "Mean in Green" Dream Team from Georgia College is headed to Flagler Sunday to present the details of our campaign.

Look for our posts on the experience when we return!

~Dr. Miller

10 things I have learned my first semester teaching PR Campaigns

2009-12-09T07:49:00.000-08:00

In case I haven't mentioned it enough, this was my first semester teaching Public Relations Campaigns. I did an enormous amount of research before I began, and I came up with what I hope is a valuable model for our students here at Georgia College & State University. I'd like to make a special shout out here to my tweep at Georgia Southern, @uandrews for the model of my Campaigns syllabus.

But I learned a lot. And since my students are required to post 10 things they learned in the Public Relations concentration, I thought I'd post the 10 things I learned teaching campaigns.

10. Everyone needs to learn how to do a campaign book, whether they use it in a portfolio or not. They need that solo experience, too. Succeed or fail, that's why it's called CAMPAIGNS.

9. Campaigns is a good time to augment discussions that haven't been picked up since Principles. For instance, we spent time in a case management/case studies book by Pat Swann, and the students enjoyed it. It also gave them one more presentation skill. Personally, I wish I'd had more time to more with Social Media. I mean, I'm just getting the hang of SEO and stuff....

8. I like discussing Corporate Social Responsibility. They did, too. They know now to look for it at the corporate level when doing research. It can help position them, too.

7. Having a budget from a client is nice, but never underestimate the talent of students to get an in-kind donation. I draw your attention to this photo of Heather Raines, Lauren Chandley and me, when we discovered at a community event when we found out we didn't have salt and pepper for the tables. Someone is Sodexo is wondering where these things went....we DID take them back, right?

6. No matter what they say, PR students are first and foremost, competitive.

5. In that vein, it's hard to foster that element of collaboration that's essential in a campaign.

4. It's hard for a hands-on professor like me to keep my mouth shut while the students are doing their campaigns. But somehow, I learned how. That roll of duct tape helped....

3. A start and finish are good things to have in a campaign. Students don't like hypotheticals, but they do want to show their results. I will always try to remember that. No "pie in the sky pitches".

2. No matter how close members of a group are before a project, by the end, someone inevitably wants to throw someone under the bus. Sometimes, that someone is me. In the end, I hope the memories are fond and the lessons can be applied to the future.

1. Two campaigns from my Campaigns Class will probably NEVER win first AND second in a national PRSSA Competition again, but damn, it sure felt good. For all of us!

Congrats and happy concentration graduation, Team LASC. And to Ashley, Yasmiene and Kelsie, who are headed out into the world, best of luck. Remember where "home" is, ok? And like Tyler said, leave this place with a little bit of grace and a LOT of PRIDE. You earned it.

~Dr. Miller

PR Admin Final Post

2009-11-19T10:20:00.000-08:00

You'll find the description for your final blog post HERE.

I have six Flip Cams and we will work out a rotation in class today.

Thanks!
~Dr. Miller

Dear 救援部

2009-11-19T10:18:00.000-08:00

Please stop posting EVERY DAY on a blog post that has been deleted. OK? Thanks.

一人Hを男性に見てもらうことで興奮する女性が多数いることをご存じですか？当サイト、救援部ではそんな女性たちが多数登録されています。男性会員様は彼女たちのオ○ニーを見てあげるだけで謝礼を貰えるシステムとなっております。

(Translations appreciated, but even Babel Fish can't handle this one. Except we know it's about sex.)

~GCM

Suppose you gave a birthday party, and no one brought the cupcakes?

2009-11-18T07:22:00.001-08:00

Last night, the students in Public Relations and Administration at GCSU executed their special event they've worked on all semester -- the 2010 Relay For Life kickoff at Northside Baptist Church. Admittedly, it's a tough event -- there's no budget, we do it all pro bono, and it requires a lot of work and attention on the final days before.

Just like any other major special event.

Perhaps the biggest teaching moment for the event came Tuesday morning. You see, the event was a Birthday Celebration tied to the theme of the Relay For Life national committee slogan, "The official sponsor of birthdays." The theme, Celebrate a Memory, was centered on a simple, moving cupcake ceremony where those in attendance would light the cupcake, sing happy birthday, and blow out the candle with the wish of No More Cancer in our Society.

Except for one TEENY little detail. We were expecting 12 dozen (at a minimum 10 dozen) cupcakes from another class on campus, and all we got were 41 cupcakes. Three students remembered and made the deadline (THANK YOU) but the rest did not. Worse yet, they didn't send word that they couldn't send the items, so we didn't know exactly where we stood, cupcake-wise.

Monday night, there were no bakers or takers in the Admin Class. They were spent with a number of important assignments before the next day's event.

I honestly prayed for cupcakes to arrive as promised Tuesday morning. Silly, I know.

And at 9:30 on the morning of a special event centered ON CUPCAKES we found ourselves with one-third of the cupcakes we knew we'd need. After all, the tables were beautifully set...ready for the centerpieces-- the cupcakes, frosted white, with purple sprinkles and white candles.

But Tuesday morning 9 a.m. and NO CUPCAKES. We had 23 at the church, and 18 on the way for sure.

Major Cupcake dearth.

I have to hand it to Lyric Burnett, the AE of the event -- she remained calm. After she and I talked, I asked the MSCM Department Secretary Tommie Benton (shoutout to Tommie) to call around the local stores and find us up to six dozen cupcakes, unfrosted. She found them, we had money left in the budget to buy them, and in the end, we had cupcakes.
In fact, all but about 10 were gobbled up by the more than 100 guests and staff of the event!

(I took the four gluten-free cupcakes home with me since I'd provided them just in case).

This was an important lesson to my students, I hope, on the whole special event issue.

Something will always go wrong. Someone will always NOT come through. Something promised will always be missing.

And when it happens, if you're the event planner, it's on you to fix the problem and light the candle.*

I am immensely proud of the class -- Lyric Burnett, Cara Wilmer, and Kara Teresi were a great AE team. Kudos to the press relations team of Beth Benton and Tori Cantrell -- we were on the front page of every newspaper in town AND on both radio stations with great play. Marianna Miller was our expert cake decorator, and she and Jennifer Duncan staffed the card table. Rachel Ledford and Courtney McMahon (our pro banner painter) were on "candy bar" patrol, and Cassie Melvin, Brooke Brookins, Anna Bryson, and Corinne Burstein handled the onslaught of hungry diners. Everyone pitched in to help Monday and Tuesday.

Special kudos go the visual arts team for the night, Andrea Lowery and Keri Allgood. They created a beautiful slide show about the wonderful cancer survivors in Baldwin County. It brought the audience to tears.

This post wouldn't be complete without a couple of special shout outs: We greatly appreciate GRITS restaurant in Milledgeville for all its donations to the event. GRITS provided more than two thirds of the food for the kickoff, as well as a helium tank! THANK you! And special thanks to Brooke Brookins who arranges for all the donations from this wonderful restaurant!

And Nick Norton, our grill master, deserves special thanks. He isn't even a member of the class, but he slaved over two hot grills filled with hot dogs and hamburgers.

Special events ARE special, aren't they? And, as usualy, it was once again a learning experience for me as well.

~Ginger Carter Miller

*A line from "The Right Stuff"

PR Day!

2009-11-05T06:07:00.000-08:00

Bobcat PRSSA sponsored its second PR Day Wednesday, and I was thrilled with the outstanding program and attendance.

Rather than give you my opinions, I want to send you to PRSSA Member Brooke Brookins' blog post about the day.

I hope to post some pictures soon. Kudos to the PRSSA special event team, Bailey Abercrombie and Lauren Chandley, to president Beth Benton, to VP Heather Raines, and to the rest of the exec board (Taylor Ferrell, Chelsea Moss and Katie Farmer) for an outstanding job! And a big shoutout to our pro adviser, Carlos Campos, and our speakers: Cristi Williams, Jena Simonds, Bert DuMars, and Katherine Mason.

I am so proud of our Bobcat PRSSA chapter.

If you attended, what did you think about the day?

~Dr. Miller

Good news, bad news

2009-10-21T10:23:00.001-07:00

But news you upcoming graduates needs to know, nonetheless.

Read the details here!

See one, do one, teach one: The Atlanta Gluten-Free Expo 2009

2009-10-20T12:33:00.001-07:00

My table display for Starfish Gluten-Free Battered Fish (a fave!) for the Atlanta Gluten-Free Vendor Fair

The brains behind the Whole Foods Gluten-Free Bakehouse -- Lee Tobin

A friend of mine who was an Army medic once said the best way to learn something was to "see one, do one, teach one." For the time I've been teaching special event planning -- one component of public relations I consider my areas of specialization -- i have used this theory. I like to take my students to observe events, then they plan one, then they mentor someone in planning one. Sometimes the latter comes in the first workplace or in a PRSSA setting, but usually, this has proved a successful way to teach special events.

I've been involved in special events planning since I was a sophomore on the Speaker's Committee for the Student Government Association at Georgia State University in 1975. And as I look back on my experiences, I can add another adage -- the more things change, the more they stay the same.

For the last couple of weeks, I've been working on elements of the Atlanta Gluten-Free Expo, which was held last weekend at the DoubleTree Hotel in Roswell. It is chaired every year by an amazing woman, Jennifer D. Harris. Jennifer is the program chair for the Atlanta Metro Celiacs and is the gluten-free product specialist at Return to Eden in Atlanta. She's an amazing woman, and she planned an incredible, money-making event this year.

I volunteered to do a couple of things for this expo. First, I volunteered to work on publicity for the event by writing a press release and disseminating it to the media. I also created a Facebook group, created a Facebook event, blogged about it, and spread the word via Twitter.

The event got outstanding coverage just through the phenomenal network of Celiac and gluten-free people in Metro Atlanta and the surrounding area, but I was pleased that people heard mentions on morning shows and noon news shows throughout the weekend before and during the event.

What always amazes me when I work a special event (as opposed to sponsoring and coordinating one) is I always learn something new I can share with my students. This year, I learned a lot about space utilization. My only slight, small criticism od the event is that it clearly has outgrown its venue! That's a good thing, right? But the idea that you have to visualize your venue as you plan and place people at it. That was a key point of discussion with out Mass Comm Mixer this year. We put the concentration tables on the sidewalk, and they were better attended.

I also got a good reminder of the important of talking points for clients -- thanks to Shelley Ritchie at Moondance Heavenly Desserts for that one. I shared that with a class today.

Jennifer was perfectly and beautifully organized, down to the last dot on an i. She had volunteers rounded up for everything from trash containment to product sampling. And she has backups for her backups.

One planning strategy she and I share is to never leave anything to the last minute. She didn't. It showed in the smooth aspects of the event.

The one thing I was glad to see in this event was one that still, after all these years in PR planning, has an impact on me -- Jennifer was nervous about the event. I always get nervous, and my biggest challenge is always to NOT lose my cool when things go awry. I still do. I will hope to do better next time.

One thing I was especially reminded of -- behind every great event is one key person, and in this case, it was Jennifer Harris. She was the cornerstone of this event, having laid the foundation in the previous events. Kudos to Jennifer and the Atlanta Metro Celiacs for a fabulous event! It was good to get back "in the swing" as a volunteer, and I hope my findings will help one of my students one day soon.

~GCM

Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Change

2009-10-14T19:32:00.000-07:00

This year's Blog Action Day 2009 topic is climate change, and I admit it, I didn't know what to write about when I first signed up.

But after reading a lot of different web sites on both sides of the issue, I realized something: The public relations industry could have a tremendous impact on the issue of climate change just by doing what it does best -- disseminating information.

The center of the battle over climate change, in my opinion, is "how can I make a difference?" And it seems to me that the public relations industry could help every consumer in the world by finding one or two ways IN EVERY PRODUCT OR EVENT OR ISSUE that an individual can contribute to make the world a more temperate place.

For instance, today i got an interesting email that really impressed me.

It read:

Hey Ginger,

I saw that you plan to blog for Blog Action Day. I’m working with CARE, a non-profit organization fighting global poverty in part by helping people in the developing world adapt to climate change (helping communities to meet their basic clean water needs, teaching more efficient farming methods, combating diseases caused by extreme weather conditions, etc).

Given this year’s Blog Action Day theme, we were wondering if you'd be willing to focus on the human aspects of the climate change issue. CARE has an entire area of its website dedicated to Climate Change and how it’s affecting the world’s poorest people

http://www.care.org/climate

Anyway, let me know if you're interested. I can provide you with anything in terms of content, whether it's a guest blog post or suggestions for what to blog about. We have several links within our climate section that give details about our projects and also outline what supporters can do to help out.

take care,
Simon

Now, I don't know Simon, but I wish I did -- he's one savvy and thoughtful public relations practitioner. First, he used a social media platform (I posted my intentions on Twitter and Facebook) and FOUND MY EMAIL ADDRESS and reached out to me personally via email. He targeted me -- a captive audience, what with this post to write -- and he pitched me good information. And I bit. If you go look at Care's site, you'll see individual suggestions for change. Recommendations. And a thoughtful missive on the topic.

To me, that's what public relations is all about. And it's also what Blog Action Day is about.

Here's what I wish public relations practitioners would try to do. When you represent or manufacture something that helps reduce global warming in some way, spread the word. And if you change your packaging in some way to reflect a more socially responsible mindset, remind your audience how they can help when disposing of that packaging. I'd like to think we're all part of the solution, not just part of the problem.

As for my personal commitment, I try to do several things to reduce my carbon footprint, but I'm still tracking pretty big and heavy. I vow today to try to do better. And if I can use my public relations skills to help promote something that reduces the impact of global warming in the world, I will try. I like the tips on this blog (and have used its art here on this post).

And I'm going to be reading more about Care. Simon, if you're out there, I'd love to have you write a guest post for my public relations students here on Bobcat PR.

~GCM

Sometimes, we learn, too! The MOA

2009-10-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

I love being a professor of public relations. In addition to keeping my industry skills sharp (I still volunteer in public relations for a number of non-profit organizations,) I get the chance to see young minds grow and bloom and change as they create their first events, campaigns, and projects.

But sometimes, I learn something new, too, and that really hit home for me this week.

I have to say, though, I learned something this week that is critical for all my students, from Public Relations Writing all the way through Public Relations Campaigns. And it involves expectations and promises, especially in the agent/client relationship.

For that reason, I want all my students to consider the importance of a memorandum of agreement whenever promises change hands for an event.

This website gives not only some guidelines about to have prepare one, but also why one needs one.

I am surrounded this week by disappointed invdividuals, and now I see that if this simple agreement had been crafted, it could have made a significant difference in the outcome of a very special, very well-prepared event. I'm always telling my students to "create a paper trail," and now, I'm convinced, when volunteer/non-profit provisions are at hand, this MUST be completed and followed to the letter.

There are going to be a lot more of these around here in the coming months. That, I know for sure.

~Dr. Miller

Blog Action Day 2009

2009-09-29T12:26:00.000-07:00

Last year, I participated in Blog Action Day 2008 with the intention of making gluten-free food available to people who have limited means to purchase it.

This year, I'm thinking of how I'd like to participate in Blog Action Day 2009.

Here are the details:

Hey Bloggers,

We're thrilled to announce that after receiving more than 10,000 votes from past Blog Action Day participants, the issue overwhelmingly voted as the topic for Blog Action Day 2009 is...Climate Change!

We just launched the new Blog Action Day site a few hours ago to accompany this announcement, and you can now register for Blog Action Day 09 by going to: www.blogactionday.org

To be a part of this year's event, all we ask is that you commit to writing one post, in your own voice, on October 15, on the topic of climate change.

More than a dozen top blogs, including Mashable, The Official Google Blog, TMZ, Autoblog, and Daily Blog Tips, have already registered.

But this event won't be successful with big blogs alone. We want bloggers everywhere, of all types and sizes, involved in discussing the wide-ranging way in which climate change affects us all.

Register now: www.blogactionday.org

You can learn more about the issue of climate change and see sample topics you mightwrite about -- like the connections between climate and clean energy, food choices, green products, health, transportation, and the broader economy -- at
www.blogactionday.org.

Additionally, over the coming weeks we'll be blogging regularly about climate change,how bloggers everywhere are getting involved in Blog Action Day, and our plans for the big event on October 15.

Of course, you can always get the latest by following us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/blogactionday.

Together, we're going to make Blog Action Day 2009 the biggest social change event ever on the web.

One issue, one day, thousands of voices.

Let's do it!

Robin Beck
Lead Organizer
Blog Action Day 2009
Register now: www.blogactionday.org

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I'd like to challenge you, my public relations students, to register for this event and post your blog on Blog Action Day. You see the topic. How can you, as a college student, make this world a better place through your personal public relations journey and future job?

I'd also like you to follow BlogActionDay on Twitter. I am following them!

You've got a couple of weeks to think about, but I do want you to think about this. Your post should be posted for the day at least one or two days in advance. For most of you, that is two weeks from today.

I will have a post, too. I'll post it here. We're all in this together.

~Dr. Miller

PR Campaigns: A Discussion of Ethics

2009-09-16T09:09:00.000-07:00

Following our discussion of public relations ethics in class today, I'd like you to read the special issue of PR Tactics and this blog post about ethics.

Then, for your post next week, please discuss your personal code of ethics as a public relations practitioner, and how you think it has been formed, both by life experiences and your membership in PRSSA.

~Dr. Miller

Your blog post for week four

2009-09-09T12:47:00.001-07:00

For next week, please pick the current PR issue of your choice and examine using your critical thinking skills.

On Twitter this week, I want you to follow at least 10 people who work in professional public relations (and no, Paris Hilton and Taylor Swift don't count).

~Dr. Miller

2009-09-02T07:34:00.000-07:00

This post on Davefleet.com assesses the skills for a communications professional. As an up-and-coming public relations professional, how do you fill the bill?

This week, I'd like both Admin and Campaigns to address this questions: What are you finest selling points and skills, based on this list? What do you have to offer?

And more importantly, what do you still need and want to learn? How can I help in your classes?

I look forward to reading your very personal and targeted posts.

When you've finished your post, I'd like you to tweet the URL to your followers. For instance:

My skills as a growing public relations professional: www.bobcatpr.blogspot.com

We'll discuss the response, and if this generates new PR contacts for you.

~Dr. Miller

Your first blog assignment for next Thursday

2009-08-27T11:26:00.000-07:00

For next week, I want you to answer the question, "Why did you choose Public Relations as a concentration." Even Jennifer can answer that one!

Your post should include a hotlink, a photo

, and the use of the style keys.

Dr. Miller

Get a ZO and a book: A good press release for my students to see

2009-08-27T10:12:00.001-07:00

One of the things I like to show my PR students is how a good media pitch is done via social media.

I heard about this offer through an email from my local chapter of the Gluten Intolerance Groups of America. I am public relations chair for our GIG, and I wanted to share with my readers this great offer.

So I posted the press release, verbatim, on my GF blog.

Alas, because of my sponsorship by the BlogHer ad network, I was asked to take the post down. I don't know what this will mean with the future relationship with BlogHer, but because I'm a good citizen, I took the post down and moved it to this blog.

It's still a good press release and still was pitched well. It is pertinent to our needs as GF folks, it is well written with hot links, and it's accurately present. I have preserved most of the hot links and added a photo. I received it first as a pdf, and then Danni, the pr rep for Agate Publishing, sent it again is a Microsoft Word doc.

Well done. Here's the original post, as removed at BlogHer's request.

Everyone who bakes gluten-free bread knows that a Zojirushi (or a Zo, as we call it) is the best deal in baking. Well, here's a great deal out there for you gluten-free bakers! (As a public relations professional, I am pleased to reprint this very well-presented press release with details.)

WEBSITE OFFERS SPECIAL DEAL ON ZOJIRUSHI GLUTEN-FREE FRIENDLY BREAD MACHINES

The website cutleryandmore.com recently developed a special offer combining a generous discount on the Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme Bread Machine and the new Mini Home Bakery Bread Machine with a free copy of the new baking book Gluten-Free Baking Classics for the Bread Machine (Agate Surrey, 2009).

The Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme Bread Machine has been a favorite choice for many people looking to create quality gluten-free baked products. Glutenfree.com declares it’s “the best bread machine we’ve found for gluten-free bread baking.” Now, cutleryandmore.com is offering the versatile 2-lb capacity Home Bakery Supreme Bread Machine and the new Mini Home Bakery Bread Machine at a savings of up to 25% off the list price. In addition, the website is including in its offer a free copy of Gluten-Free Baking Classics for the Bread Machine.

Gluten-Free Baking Classics for the Bread Machine by Annalise Roberts is an essential, easy-to-use bread baking cookbook for those with celiac disease, food allergies, or anyone who wants to avoid gluten and still have great tasting bread. Created as a follow-up to Roberts’ immensely popular Gluten-Free Baking Classics, this book offers a range of gluten-free recipes to use with the Zojirushi bread machine to create fresh, delicious, affordable home-baked breads the whole family can enjoy.

In her book, Roberts, who was diagnosed with celiac disease herself six years ago, strives to provide gluten-free recipes that emulate the highest quality baked goods while still utilizing the convenience of the Zojirushi bread machine. “I had grown up baking and was really determined to make gluten-free baked goods that mimicked high-quality baked goods containing wheat in terms of taste…When you make them yourself, they will be fresher, cost less, and have less fat and sugar than ones you buy at the store.”

Both the Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme Bread Machine and the Mini Home Bakery Bread Machine are now available together with Gluten-Free Baking Classics for the Bread Machine for $214.95 and $189.95 respectively at cutleryandmore.com.

The book can also be found individually at agatepublishing.com.

Much love, and I want a mini...Honey????

Ging

Welcome to PR and Administration, Fall 2009

2009-08-15T06:29:00.000-07:00

And welcome to the blogosphere.

You've probably used blogs before in classes (I know you have in my Mass Media Law and Ethics class). But this semester, we're doing something different in PR and Administration. We're going to explore the world of Social Media.

It's true, I've had more than one blog for several years, but now it's your turn to explore -- and learn about -- public relations and the social media world. I've got lots of information I've been collection all summer for you, and we'll even have a guest speaker on the topic during the semester. It's also a project PRSSA is going to undertake.

AND as an added treat -- Public Relations Campaigns (aka Team LASC) will also be blogging and reading your blogs. Their blogs are listed on the side here.

So here's your assignment for fall semester, worth 200 points of your final grade:

1. Create your own public relations blog where you explore an issue in public relations on a weekly basis. You should post a minimum of once a week (Minimum posts = minimum grades). You can draw your fodder for posting from visiting other PR blogs. Each time you post (and I'll set the example for you) you should make sure to cite the URL of the post, and explain what you think about what you've read. I suggest you create your account on Blogspot for the time being. It's easy to use. If you get really serious about this, you can migrate your blog to WordPress. I don't mind if you use a basic template provided, but one this is important: keep it professional. This is something you can show a future employer (especially if you keep it up during Campaigns next semester) and would be an impressive portfolio element for you. So keep titles and pictures and comments professional.

The cool thing about this is, it's hard to cheat on the day and time of your post, so I'll be able to tell you're posting once a week. Each blog post is stamped. So don't get behind. I'll post on your blogs every week, too. So make it a habit.

While you're posting, I want you to learn HOW to use the blog. Learn to add pictures, video, and links. Practice makes perfect. I'm often a lazy blogger and don't add pictures to my blog. You aren't required to, but it's easy to add them from a digital camera or from a web site.

What should you post about? Issues we discuss in PR. Things you're learning from your clients and your projects. I'm even going to ask you to post you "Tipping Point" papers to your blog (I won't post your grade). Remember to make as good an impression as you can -- grammar, spelling, and punctuation will matter here, since these blogs will be graded.

YOU have the option of setting the control of your blog. MY blog (this one) with the links to YOUR blog will be public; you may make yours private. It's your choice.

I'll post all your links here on this blog. Your job is to FOLLOW your classmates' blogs weekly, too. I'll look for your comments.

I will be posting at least once a week, too (maybe more) and I'll post materials for YOU to follow. Consider this blog your "home base." You should be reading here and posting here, too.

2. Create an account on Twitter.com and FOLLOW me (Ginger CM) and FOLLOW your classmates. You should tweet back and forth. Add your "Follow me on Twitter" data to your blog. We'll learn more about Twitter through the semester.

3. By midterm, create a profile on Linkedin. I haven't done this myself (a collaborative learning experience for all of us) but I am going to learn more about it. It's a useful networking tool.

4. Create and manage a photostream on Flickr. Again, this is a learning experience for me, too. This should be completed by Thanksgiving break.

5. Tie in your Facebook account if it's clean enough for public consumption.

OK, that's the gist of it for now. To acknowledge you've seen this blog post, please sign into blogspot (creating your blog while you're there) and comment on this first post. Yes, you have to...but soon, I hope you'll want to.

~Dr. Miller

The end of the semester is upon us

2009-05-07T06:49:00.000-07:00

So no more student posts from Bobcatpr.blogspot.com.

But I will be posting all summer, adding content to this blog about public relations, social media, and our plans for Fall Semester 2009.

Have a great summer, and LASC!

~Dr. Miller (aka Ging)

Creating video for blogs and YouTube

2009-04-22T09:40:00.001-07:00

At last, the final blog post for the semester. This is one I want to be FUN!

Your final blog post (for a grade) will incorporate a video you film yourself with our departmental FlipCams.

I got a grant for six of this last fall, and you're going to be the inaugural group to get to use them.

Your goal is to make a short video on the concept "Public Relations in Action."

Make it, post, and explain it. You can also post it to YouTube. THIS URL will help you a lot.

This video should show me what you've learned about Public Relations and Social Media this semester -- and show PR in Action.

Questions? Lemme know.

Ging

Viral Video Casts Doubts on Domino's

2009-04-15T06:36:00.000-07:00

My twitter friend @Kaye alerted me to this video today on Brian Solis' blog.

The issue got its start on THIS blog earlier in the week. It took only two days to spread around the world.

The video apparently shows a couple of pizza jocks doing unspeakable things to your pizza. The video went from 60 views to more than 600 views overnight. Can you say BAM!? Already it's trending on Google search, listed just under the Domino's corporate site.

I don't have the heart or stomach to watch them, but apparently, they're pretty gross. Meant as a prank, the videos apparently do some pretty disgusting things to Domino's pizza.

Now, I find myself in a quandary. As a consumer, I purchase pizza for my son Jeffrey at Domino's every week. I don't eat them (I'm gluten free) but he loves his weekly "pizza fix."

Do I trust that this is a joke, a prank, and continue to be a patron, or do I find another pizza vendor?

I've worked in a pizza joint before, and I've seen some pretty gross things happen there. I once had a co-worker who worked in a deli in Miami. He said they used to make matzoh balls by putting them in their armpits. Etc, Horror stories. We've all heard them

The larger question is, of course, how much damage will this do to Domino's national and international reputation?

When it comes to viral video on YouTube, word can spread in a flash -- and, as Brian points out, ruin a reputation that took half a century to build.

What's next for Domino's pizza? What do you think should happen now, and what do you think WILL happen?

I'm interested in your thoughts. as next week, we begin our own video project here in PR Admin.

Please consider the post and comment by next Wednesday.

~Ging

Crunch time!

2009-04-08T08:34:00.000-07:00

Like this visual? It's the invitation to the 2009 GCSU Athletic Auction, for which my Public Relations and Administration has been doing all the creative work and planning. This poster was created by Yasmiene Davis, and it will be the ad in the newspaper this week.

It's crunch time for us! Today we begin to load out for our event, and on Friday and Saturday, we'll be in full implementation mode. Saturday night, my students become the event managers while more than 300 people fill the GCSU Centennial Center to raise funds for GCSU Bobcat Athletic Scholarships.

This has been a great campaign again this year (this is our third year on the project). Students in the class write objectives and goals, do research, then pitch a theme and design. After a competitive pitch to the client, the account execs are picked, and the class works as a group to make the event happen. They do everything from soup to nuts -- plan the menu, stage the events, paint the banners, fold the napkins, relate to the media.

I'm extra proud of the work of this class this semester, since they've managed to get this far and are all still a cohesive team. That doesn't always happen, as most public relations professionals know.

Next week, this group will begin to evaluate the success of its campaign. Stay tuned!

And to my class -- LASC, Ging

Here, let me give you one of my cards...

2009-03-18T07:35:00.000-07:00

Remember that line from Elwood P. Dowd in Harvey? ( If you have no clue what I'm talking about, you need to watch Harvey over Spring Break, or somewhere...)

We just ordered gifts for our graduating seniors this year, and not to give away any surprise, we once again picked a beautiful engraved business card holder.

I've been in charge of the senior gift selection for about eight of my 13 years here, and this choice is always one of my favorites. Engraved, rosewood, or brass, they're a great professional gift. I myself have at least three on my desk holding cards as I write this!

There's nothing like the day you get your first official, new-job business card. Nothing.

I remember the first business card I got -- not counting the one when I was features editor of The Signal at Georgia State, as an undergraduate. I was a brand new public information person at GSU (this was 1985). For Christmas, I got a brass business card holder to celebrate that new acquisition. How exciting. Ginger Carter: Information Specialist. Woo.

Then there was the first card I ordered that had my Ph.D. title on it. Talk about excited...I couldn't wait for those cards!

In teaching public relations in the pre-internship/pre-job world, one of the first things I recommend to my job-seeking students is they craft a business card and take it to every networking event. In some ways, this can be more impressive than handing over a polished resume -- and it's far, far cheaper. It's also very impressive.

There are lots of ways to do your business card. Several of my students have bought the kits at an office supply store and made their own on a computer. That's a great way to start.

But for the cost of a couple of tall, cool Thursday night bevvies, you could order a couple of hundred business cards and have them professionally printer, with a personal brand, a logo you've created and saved to a .jpeg format, or just your name in a class script.

I recommend the following for your first business card:
Name
Public Relations Student
Your Institution
Your professional email address (if you don't have one, get one NOW).
Your phone number (and if this is your cell, make that message sounds professional).

These can fill that special card holder until you have that first-job business card to replace it with. Trust me, you'll use it a lot.

This post On business cards is good "food for thought" on the subject. I hope it inspires you to create your own card, or even enter to WIN some cards.

I once had a Pastor who had a framed all hanging that featured every business card he'd ever had. I wish I still had some of my old cards -- it's the "you've come a long way, baby" syndrome. One thing is for certain: A card is an important first step on the road to that business career.

~Dr. Miller

Spring into The Tipping Point

2009-03-04T17:15:00.000-08:00

I became a fan of Malcolm Gladwell in 2004 when I first picked up a copy of The Tipping Point in an airport bookstore. I bought the book and began to read it, deciding shortly after to assign it to my public relations and senior seminar classes because of its important lessons on epidemics.

I still think it's a great read, and I still think it's a book YOU should be reading. And once again, this semester, I'm asking you to read and blog about it.

I want you, my student, to think like Malcolm Gladwell. I want you to understand what makes things "tip," both in society and in your own life. I want my friends, colleagues and readers to read it because it explains a lot about how and why people act the way they do.

I consider it an important book for everyone in our industry.

Malcolm Gladwell continues to impress me. I enjoy his writing in The New Yorker. He even has his own website with some fascinating discussion of the book.

Now, here's your assignment if you're in my PR Administration Class. In a blog post of more than a few paragraphs, please answer the following questions about the book.

1. What does Gladwell mean by The Tipping Point?

2. What are a few (or at least one darn good one!) creative suggestions we might consider to make the GCSU Athletic Auction "TIP" this semester.

3. Gladwell types about "TYPES" of people in society. What are you? Why?

4. How does all this apply to your using social media this semester? Have you experienced a "tipping point" in blogging, in Twitter, or in one of your social applications?

That is all. You post should be up by class time (2 p.m. March 11). You should also make a point of READING And COMMENTING on all the blogs of your classmates by Friday, March 13 at noon. Compare and contrast, and see what (and with whom) you're working.

~Carter Miller (connecter/maven)

2009-02-19T13:52:00.000-08:00

I followed Karen Russell into this link:

Get your twitter mosaic here.

Woohoo!
~Carter Miller

Twitterly delicious!

2009-01-21T07:09:00.000-08:00

It's always a learning experience when I have to introduce Twitter to a new class of students. This week, as you consider your involvement in this wonderful social media, I want you to try this variation on an assignment. It was designed by Prof. Barbara Nixon at Georgia Southern for her mass communication students, and I think you'll learn a lot about Twitter by trying it.

Here are a couple of great posts to help you. First, from Karen Russell. And this.

1. After you've signed up for Twitter at its home page, begin to consider people you'd like to follow. (If your "handle" has numbers in it, consider going back and changing it so people don't think you're a spammer).

2. Make yourself "attractive" to people by adding a simple photo that represents you. And write a good 140-word description of yourself for your profile. Be sure to mention that you're a PR student at Georgia College.

3. Provide a link to your new blog. I know others would like to share in your knowledge!

4. Now, here's the experiment. FOLLOW people. By next Wednesday, I want you to try to follow at least 25 people from off campus in addition to your classmates (in PRAdmin). This is also in addition to anyone you're following right now. When you follow people, you can find interesting things to discuss. How to find people to follow? Well, "stalk" the page of other people in your field. For instance, I am always finding people when I read "tweets" from other posts. Some of my favorites: KarenRussell (a PR professor at UGA,) Robert French (Auburn PR Prof,) PhilGomes, Leticia Gomes, PaulLYoung. I follow a producer from "Countdown with Keith Olbermann," a food writer from the Tampa Tribune, a couple of chefs, and the CEO of Zappos. Your goal is to get your numbers up so you'll see something when you tweet. This link might give you some ideas. I am personally following a few of those folks, but I am thinking of adding some.

5. Part two of the assignment -- I want you to TWEET people. A TWEET is the message on Twitter, the 140-character message you send. You can send out a blind tweet (I did a lot of those yesterday during the Inauguration) or an @tweet. The @tweet is a message to someone. For instance, last night, I sent an @tweet to someone who was celebrating a birthday. I sent an @tweet to Amanda Cepero because I found out the name of the person who designed Aretha Franklin's inaugural hat.

I want you to try to initiate at least 15 @ tweets this week and reply to all you receive. Don't be surprised if you get tweets from me. I am trying to include you in the conversation. I also want you to send me a pertinent DM from Twitter this week. Find a reason to ask me a question using Twitter (it's so much faster than Facebook wall posts)!

And remember, most of all, it is a social media.

Finally, for your blog post next Wednesday, I want you to blog about your experience using Twitter. What's new? How will you know people have written you? Use the @replies on your sidebar in Twitter, or use Twitterscan (I just use @replies myself).

BTW, let me introduce you to the Twitter "Fail Whale." He (she?) shows up when Twitter is over capacity. You'll learn to loathe it, even if it is kinda cute.

The new crop of bloggers are upon us!

2009-01-11T09:51:00.000-08:00

Welcome to PR and Administration, Spring 2009. I'm excited about our projects this semester, and I'm really pleased to introduce you to one of our major assignments -- your own personal public relations blog.

There are a lot of reasons I'm continuing this assignment this semester. I really don't have time to follow a bunch more blogs, but now, more than ever, I'm convinced that YOUR being a savvy blogger will help you get a job.

If you're not convinced, read this blog! My good friend and our PRSSA professional advisor Jason Anthoine pointed it out to me on Twitter, and it greatly shows why I think blogs are an important assignment for you all.

And welcome to the blogosphere.

You've probably used blogs before in classes (I know you have in my Mass Media Law and Ethics class). But this semester, we're doing something different in PR and Administration. We're going to explore the world of Social Media (a key tool in public relations today) by being active participants!

It's true, I've had more than one blog for several years, but now it's your turn to explore -- and learn about -- public relations and the social media world. I've got lots of information I've been collection all summer for you, and we'll even have a guest speaker on the topic during the semester. It's also a project PRSSA is going to undertake.

So here's your assignment for fall semester, worth 200 points of your final grade:

1. Create your own public relations blog where you explore an issue in public relations on a weekly basis. You should post a minimum of once a week (Minimum posts = minimum grades). You can draw your fodder for posting from visiting other PR blogs. Each time you post (and I'll try to set set the example for you by blogging here once a week on a PR topic of some sort) you should make sure to cite the URL of the post, and explain what you think about what you've read. I suggest you create your account on Blogspot for the time being. It's easy to use. If you get really serious about this, you can migrate your blog to WordPress. I don't mind if you use a basic template provided, but one this is important: keep it professional. This is something you can show a future employer (especially if you keep it up during Campaigns next semester) and would be an impressive portfolio element for you.

The cool thing about this is, it's hard to cheat on the day and time of your post, so I'll be able to tell you're posting. Each blog post is stamped. So don't get behind. I'll post a comment on your blogs almost every week, too. So you make it a habit.

While you're posting, I want you to learn HOW to use the blog. Learn to add pictures, video, and links. Practice makes perfect. I'm often a lazy blogger and don't add pictures to my blog. You aren't required to, but it's easy to add them from a digital camera or from a web site.

What should you post about? Issues we discuss in PR. Things you're learning from your clients and your projects. I'm even going to ask you to post you "Tipping Point" papers to your blog (I won't post your grade). Remember to make as good an impression as you can -- grammar, spelling, and punctuation will matter here, since these blogs will be graded.

YOU have the option of setting the control of your blog. MY blog (this one) with the links to YOUR blog will be public; you may make yours private. It's your choice.

I'll post all your links here on this blog. Your job is to FOLLOW your classmates' blogs weekly, too. I'll look for your comments.

I will be posting at least twice a week, too (maybe more) and I'll post materials for YOU to follow. Consider this blog your "home base." You should be reading here and posting here, too.

2. Create an account on Twitter.com and FOLLOW me (GingerCM) and FOLLOW your classmates. You should tweet back and forth. Add your "Follow me on Twitter" data to your blog. We'll learn more about Twitter through the semester. A couple of you are already on there. You'll soon learn this can be a useful communication tool. There's a key, though -- follow a lot of people. We'll spend a day on Twitter in class really soon, I promise.

3. By midterm, create a profile on Linkedin and link your profile to mine. It's a useful networking tool. And we'll talk about all of this.

4. Create and manage a photostream on Flickr. Again, this is a learning experience for me, too. We've done this a little already, but it's a lot of fun. You should know that PR professionals use Flickr as we did last semester in PR Writing.

5. Tie in your Facebook account if it's clean enough for public consumption.

OK, that's the gist of it for now. To acknowledge you've seen this blog post, please sign into blogspot (creating your blog while you're there) and comment on this first post with your address. Yes, you have to...but soon, I hope you'll want to.

If you need inspiration, I'll leave up the blogs from last semester (0ver there on the right....) Many of them did a fantastic job and really got into this process. I will be editing this list in the next couple of weeks, though, so look soon.

~Dr. Miller

Fall 2008 Senior Portfolios: A Smashing Success

2008-12-11T08:02:00.000-08:00

For the first time in the history of our Senior Seminar class, I required both a paper and a online portfolio for our seniors.

The assignment was met with moans, but once we found a good free online site at Weebly, we got a great production of portfolios.

I'd love to know what you think. Please communicate with me, or directly with the students listed below! Several are seeking internships in the Spring, so if you have an opening, please let them know.

Congrats, GCSU Senior Seminar Fall 2008! To paraphrase Elle Wood in "Legally Blonde," YOU DID IT~giggle~

2008 Senior Portfolios

Whitney Fee

Ashley Mooneyhan

Lauren King

Tiffany Bishop

Katie Huston

Lindsey Carroll

Britney Reeves

Chelsea Wilson

Shelbie Lindsey

April Argo

Laura Palmer

Sara Sellers

The party's over

2008-12-03T13:09:00.001-08:00

Thanks for visiting Bobcat PR this semester.

Class, I'll been sending your DMs with your grades on your blogs over the nexr week.

Do not post any additional information as of right now.

Thanks for a great semester -- we're going on hiatus here until January and a new crop of students come in.

~Carter Miller

Twitter tips Motrin

2008-11-19T08:46:00.001-08:00

Users of Twitter saw the power of this social networking site last week when the "Mommy Bloggers" out there rose up and challenged McNeil Consumer Healthcare, the makers of Motrin.

See, if all started with a simple ad television commercial about Moms who wear their babies...you know, those great baby slings that we Moms have all used over the years. I know I had one I used when my son Jeffrey was a 20-pound meatloaf back in 1983... (obscure Sex and the City reference).

But if you go to the beginning of this Twitter "tweme" last week, you'll see how all those "Mommy Bloggers" out there got the word out FAST of their displeasure with the ad. Hundred of articles and more than 60 pages (and growing) of Tweets on the topic make this the hot topic of social media!

For one, it's a great example of the use of a Twitter "hashtag" (#MotrinMoms) to "unite" the discussion on Tweme. But it grew to blogs to online media sites to the ultimate crashing to the Motrin site over the weekend.

Ah, the power of social media in the hands of an angry Mom!

This is just one article that describes how Twitter was a key influence in bringing down this "Motrin Mom" commercial I especially loved the article that called this campaign a "Fail Whale," in reference to a Twitter character that announces that the site isn't working.

We've spent a lot of time working on Twitter this semester, and a social networking conference, plus our class participation, has me sold on its influence in social media. But if the election coverage wasn't enough to convince our society that Twitter has influence, last week's actions did.

Twitter tipped Motrin. Point: Twitter. Fail: Motrin.

~Carter Miller

Do you "get" social media

2008-11-11T11:00:00.000-08:00

When I last posted, it was just before the election and also just before my students wrote about "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell. I thought both the election and the book had an impact on my students, in that in both they saw that the innovative use of media can truly "Tip" something.

In fact, one of my students, P.J. Schinella, wrote in a tweet that he thought Facebook had "tipped" during the election period. I might agree with him there. It was certainly a proactive change agent during the election, with everything from fan pages to the opportunity to donate one's status to a candidate.

In fact, at one point I pointedly wrote, "Ginger and Jeffrey have voted. Have you?" And I got a dozen or more responses.

One of the themes that I see cropping up, though, with my students in their blog posts, and in the other blog posts I read, is the question, "do you actually GET social media?" Often, this is accompanied by the comment, "Do you really GET twitter? I just don't see it yet."

Well, my answer is yes, I do get Twitter, and I think my class has shown great use of it -- perhaps much to the dismay of other PR Profs who follow me. You see, I've gotten DMs (direct messages) from my friends who ask WHAT a thinder is, and who is worried about what flyer, and why.

You see, I am proud to say that I do think my student in PR Administration, for the most part, "get twitter." I've seen them use it on deadline, during a campaign, to get things done. I expect that will increase a lot more in the next week as we prepare to stage our first event, "Blue Thunder," at the Bobcat Basketball Home Opener next Friday, Nov. 21.

It does dismay me when a student in this class suggests that the only reason he or she is doing any of this is for the assignment grade, which is looming, I might add. I wish the students saw the benefit of social media as an industrial builder -- a tipping point, if you will -- in their growth and development as a public relations professionals.

See, I hope they'll read blog posts like this one and see how doing all this will indeed help them in their future as PR practitioners.

We're getting there. Baby steps..

~Carter Miller

PR Done Right -- The Pure Bar

2008-10-26T09:28:00.000-07:00

I always love it when I can cross-post my GF blog and my student PR blog. This is another opportunity, at least in the first segment.

The weekend after the Atlanta GF Product Fair, I got an email for the public relations representative for Pure Bars. Paul mentioned in the email that he'd read my blog and read of my use of LaraBars, and asked if I'd tried his company's product, The Pure Bar. This epitomized my public relations axiom, "who is my audience, and why should she care." He cut right to the punch and hooked me immediately.

In a volley of emails, we established that I had not tried the bar, would like to, and would be glad to blog about them if he would send a sample. Now, when I agree to do this and agree to accept a sample, I don't ever know what to expect. But I promised him I'd be honest. That's the most I can do.

But this was a classic example of public relations done right. Paul had indeed looked at my blog, at least enough to know that I do like bars like LaraBars and Kind Bars, so I seemed a possible candidate for his pitch. He also saw that I occasionally review products (I don't solicit products to review, but I've never turned one down. That's my policy so far.) He also indicated that he knew that I would be honest about the product, or at least factual.

A few days later, i got a package in the mail. Inside was a delicious GF product AND a great example of the use of a Flickr Stream for PR purposes. It is from there I pulled (with their permission) the two images I've used here today.

How exciting. I've been wanting to teach my PR Admin class the advantages of Flickr over the other sites, and this will let me know them how a public relations person can use Flickr to load stock images. I am impressed and obviously used this tool.

In a the packet from this savvy public relations practitioner, I got three bars to try -- Chocolate Brownie, Wild Blueberry, and Cherry Cashew -- plus a lovely brochure with helpful FAQs. I also got a beautiful product fact sheet (which I plan to use in my public relations writing class as an example) that showed the six flavors below.

Of most interest to me is the product 1) has no gluten, dairy or soy. I am intolerant of all three. 2) The product is organic. This matters to me, even though I do lapse into poor eating choices often. 3) The product has 4-5 grams of fiber while packing in vitamins and omega-3s.

I tried two of the bars (saving the cherry cashew for a rainy day, I suppose) and I really, really ENJOYED THEM. The chocolate doesn't have the aftertaste that the LaraBar/Jocolat bar has, and the Blueberry -- which I ate while waiting at the airport for breakfast last Monday -- was tart and richly blueberry flavored. I liked it the best of the two. And priced in the $2.20 range, the bar is certainly worth it.

Alas, while in Tampa shopping last weekend at my favorite health food store, I came up empty on the Pure Bar. I checked their very helpful website and found that I can find them at Whole Foods (great, I shop there in both Atlanta and Tampa) and other stores such as HEB and Meijer sell them, too.

OH! And they sent me a coupon! I will use that next time I buy these bars. I can't wait to try the Cranberry Orange -- perhaps my favorite flavor combo!

So here's a tip of my virtual hat to Pure Bars, as well as to Paul, the savvy PR Guy for CDI New Media/carryonpr. You represent a great product, and I'll be sure to purchase Pure Bars next time I'm at the Whole Foods near me.

~Carter Miller

The Tipping Point

2008-10-21T11:13:00.000-07:00

I became a fan of Malcolm Gladwell in 2004 when I first picked up a copy of The Tipping Point in an airport bookstore. I bought the book and began to read it, deciding shortly after to assign it to my public relations and senior seminar classes because of its important lessons on epidemics.

I still think it's a great read, and I still think it's a book YOU should be reading.

I want you, my student, to think like Malcolm Gladwell. I want you to understand what makes things "tip," both in society and in your own life. I want my friends, colleagues and readers to read it because it explains a lot about how and why people act the way they do.

I consider it an important book for everyone in our industry.

Malcolm Gladwell continues to impress me. I enjoy his writing in The New Yorker.
He even has his own website with some fascinating discussion of the book.

Now, here's your assignment if you're in my PR Administration Class. In a blog post of more than a few paragraphs, please answer the following questions about the book.

1. What does Gladwell mean by The Tipping Point?

2. What are a few (or at least one darn good one!) creative suggestions we might consider to make our "One Team, One Spirit" campaign "TIP" this semester.

3. Gladwell types about "TYPES" of people in society. What are you? Why?

4. How does all this apply to your using social media this semester? Have you experienced a "tipping point" in blogging, in Twitter, or in one of your social applications?

That is all. You post should be up by class time (2 p.m. Oct. 29). You should also make a point of READING And COMMENTING on all the blogs of your classmates by Friday, Oct. 31 at noon. Compare and contrast, and see what (and with whom) you're working.

~Carter Miller (connecter/maven)

National Blog Action Day

2008-10-14T18:38:00.000-07:00

A week ago, I made the commitment that I would join Blog Action Day on Oct. 15 on Poverty. And since the day I made the commitment, I have been trying to decide what to write.

Wikipedia defines poverty as: deprivation of common necessities that determine the quality of life, including food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water.

Today, in this broad discussion of poverty, I have decided my blogs must be related. You see, I teach (and practice) public relations because I love it. I'm gluten free to live. What I love and how I live are intrinsically linked, I think.

So the question of the day: How are PR, Celiac Disease, and Poverty related. And what can I do to help?

In a sense, it's simple: Celiac disease can be costly disease because it covers one of life's necessities -- safe food and drink. And it can be a burden in so, so many ways.

I admit it, I'm spoiled rotten. I have two beautiful homes, a loving family, and more food than I should have. And since I became gluten free, I have spent more money than ever on specialized food stuff that make my life easy and comfy. I am blessed, I know it. And in this economy, when our investments and jobs are on the line...I feel the pinch every single day. My employer-provided insurance covered my tests for my diagnosis of Celiac disease, including the specialist.

But then, I don't live in poverty or need.

I wonder how is it for people who do live in need AND have Celiac disease and can't afford the food, or tests, or even the occasional treat. Do they even know they might have it? That may sound like a trifle to you, but it can be huge. Celiac disease could affect 1 in 133 people, and many people have who don't know it. And the ravages from the gluten ingestation on a person with Celiac disease can be deadly -- it destroys the small intestines, can cause lymphoma, can cause other auto-immune disorders.

Imagine having a child with Celiac disease and having to depend on food bank donations to survive. Often food bank food contains wheat and the other "poisons." Imagine being on a fixed income and having to make a home gluten-free and feed yourself food that automatically costs more. Imagine having to afford hospital tests for Celiac Disease -- painful tests, annoying tests -- and having a doctor say NO because you don't have insurance. Imagine not knowing where to turn for help.

No, in all my time posting/reading/writing about the gluten-free lifestyle, I have never encountered this topic anywhere. There's a lot of people suffering in silence. In need. In poverty.

My friend Cassandra of Delightfully Gluten Free is part of the North Texas GIG, and she is always collecting GF food for newly diagnosed families. I admire that about her--heck I admire her.

I know our wonderful Middle Georgia GIG is just getting off the ground, and we're struggling -- heck, the other officers are still paying for stuff out of their own pockets since we don't have a budget. But I know those ladies, and if someone came to them and said "I need GF food for my child and I can't afford it," they'd pull something together as fast as they can, with love and care. They would address the need.

Is there a chance there could be something I could do like that? I can't reach out to all of Georgia, but I can reach out to my Georgia. I can help someone who has a need, who is hungry, and who needs to be gluten free. Here, in silly ol MillyVegas.

If this makes one person need less, then I have made a difference. And that today is my pledge.

OK, I don't know exactly what I am going to DO yet. And I think I'm going to call on some of my crackerjack PR students (those who might want to help) to help me think how I can address this need. I can't build a house like Habitat for Humanity, but I can help someone restock a kitchen pantry. I can offer guidance through my resources. And most of all, I can be a friend. More and more people are finding out they, or their children, or their parents, have Celiac disease. I know how that feels.

So first, let me make a promise: Today, my blog was accepted into the BlogHer network, and I vow to use this forum and that network to continue to spread the word about Celiac disease and offer to help anyone I can who is in need and new to CD.

And I promise to try to do more. I have been greatly blessed. It is time for me to give back.

I promise this is my project for the next Calendar Year, and I will report back soon with details.

I welcome your thoughts and suggestions!

~Carter Milleer

P.S. Happy Birthday Daddy. I love you. You and Mama taught me to give back. Thank you for that.

\

Step up for Blog Advocacy

2008-10-07T12:16:00.000-07:00

Blog Action Day 2008 is next Wednesday, Oct. 15. The topic is Poverty in America, and I want to challenge all of you, my public relations students, to consider joining this campaign.

No, it won't be for extra credit. No, you don't have to do it.

But I'd like you to think of this as a call to action. I'd like you to consider using your blog to answer the question, "How can I, as a student public relations practitioner, make a difference in the fight against poverty in America?" Or, you could take a tip from the website: "The best thing a blog can do is to keep their post on topic. Audiences visit our blogs because they enjoy the style, personality and topic of the site. So it makes sense that the best way to get through to these audiences is to use that same style, personality and topic to talk about Poverty."

I urge you to do as I did -- read the site and make an informed decision. This is not a political issue, per se -- it's a HUMAN issue. I urge to consider doing this.

When you do, you can place the badge and official lines on your post. They'll send it to you in an email.

One of the things the day encourages is fund raising and donations to combat poverty. I haven't personally decided how to deal with that issue, but by the time I make my post on the topic (which will be broadcast on both this blog and my personal blog,) I will know.

What about you? WIll you choose to join the more than 5,000 bloggers world-wide for National Blog Action Day?

Will you? Show me!

~Carter Miller

Join PR Open Mic!

2008-10-03T08:39:00.001-07:00

When I first began to explore the world of social media and public relations, I followed the guidance of my friend Dr. Karen Miller Russell, who teaches this subject at UGA. Her blog, Teaching PR, is an excellent source of information about public relations and social media. If you're not already reading her site every week, you SHOULD be. It's on my list of favorites on this blog.

One of the first sites I found, thanks to Dr. Russell, was Pr Open Mic, a site run by Prof. Robert French at my Alma Mater, Auburn University. The study of public relations at Auburn has changed a lot since I graduated with my master's degree in 1979, that's for sure. And Robert has created an enviable environment for his War Eagle PR students.

You can learn a lot from his website, PR Open Mic, and I am such an enthusiastic fan, I agreed this week to become one of the admins/moderators of the site! I admitted to Robert just minutes ago I still don't know what that means, but as you're learning from the site, so am I.

I want all of you to JOIN. Then, I want you to add me as a friend, and add your classmates as friends. Then, I want you to find an element of the site and blog about your reactions to it. This is your assignment by Oct. 15.

Things I especially like about PR Open Mic:

•Phil Gomes videos on PR Open Mic. I met Phil (and now follow him and his beautiful wife, Leticia, on Twitter) at Connect 2008 two weeks ago at UGA.

•The groups! I want us to start a Bobcat PR group on here!

•The posts: There are some great discussion groups on here

If you don't believe me that this a good site for you to join -- as your classmate PJ! He (and Amanda Miles) have already joined PR Open Mic on their own, and PJ has already started making friends in PR and, more importantly, making connections.

It's a jungle out there, folks, and PR Open Mic is one more way for you to navigate your way through it.

~Carter Miller

When Public Relations makes a tough call

2008-09-16T11:54:00.000-07:00

"Always tell the truth," I was taught in my first public relations class in undergraduate school. "That way, you don't have to remember what you said."

Recalling Dr. Harold Davis' advice, then, I was shocked Sunday when I heard that Metrolink announced that is was at fault for last week's tragic train crash in Los Angeles. I was even MORE shocked when I heard Metrolink announced that the engineer ran a red light and might have been sending a text message, this causing the crash.

What shocked me was the overt admission of guilt, something that isn't always forthcoming in tragic accidents like this. Usually, there's lag time, waiting on the NTSB, or someone, to frankly make sure everyone is on the same page. FOr instance, there has still not been a definitive announcement of causality of the plane crash in Madrid last month. These things take time, and can be painful in the process, both for the source and for the families involved. Spokeswoman Denise Tyrell, working with Metroliner's president and the board of directors seal of approval, made this powerful announcement with all the right motives.
It was a gutsy, gutsy call.

It's a tenet of good crisis communication, always, that we practitioners be as upfront AS POSSIBLE and as speedy AS POSSIBLY when we deal with the media in crisis situations. Ask questions, prepare an announcement, and make sure all of management is signed on to the announcement before you move ahead with this kind of tactic. Crisis communication, especially when there are deaths, is the toughest thing a public relations practitioner can do. That's why it's such a specialty in our field.

So today, I was even more shocked by this story that came to me via my PRSA Issues and Trends. Tyrell, who in my opinion had done everything she should have before making the announcement, resigned amid criticism for making the announcement.

Huh?

I realize, of course, that I am responding to a story and that might of course have its biases. But she was heaped first with praise, then with criticism from her own company after it signed on to the announcement. Her boss, it seems, now says he shouldn't have let her make that announcement after all. He acted prematurely, he said.

Of course now, after all this media coverage, folks are encouraging Metrolink to reconsider her resignation. Confusing? Indeed.

Pardon me for butting in, but "Don't do it, Denise." You've been made a scapegoat here. There are people out there who will gladly hire you to represent them, based on the character and integrity you displayed in this crisis. I mean nothing malicious to Metroliner by any means, but they've treated you badly at a time you're tried to recoup the company's reputation with integrity and tact. And listen, one "overwhelmed, menopausal woman" to another? This is very confusing. I agree with you. The old adage, "no good deed goes unpunished" comes immediately to mind.

And you, Metrolink board? Maybe the person whose resignation you should be looking for is seated at the head of your table. I'm just saying...IMHO and all that. Or maybe you can explain why he deserves the chance to change his mind.

I'll keep you posted on developments as they develop. This is one story I now intend to follow, for entirely different meanings.

~Carter Miller

A corny discussion

2008-09-14T09:52:00.001-07:00

This is a first for me. I'm doubling up a post on both my personal blog and my public relations class blog.

This is a post about the use of propaganda in public relations campaigns. And it's directly related to a mass-mediated commercial and a web site campaign that's been going on since the beginning on September.

Propaganda is usually associated with people like Hitler, but really, it is a persuasive message designed with a specific angle to reach a large group of people. And that's what this campaign, by the Corn Refiners Association, is. Pure processed propaganda.

Backstory: Readers of my gluten-free blog know I've made a concerted effort to eliminate high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) from my diet. My personal research has convinced me that this product is dangerous to the digestive tract, especially for those who are immuno-challenged, like I am. I based my decision on two things: First, I did research (including paper documents from non-biased nutritionists,) and Second, I did an elimination diet. I eliminated HFCS from my diet (even threw away my ketchup, bbq sauce, and salad dressings). I've also tried to give up my consumption of plain old corn syrup, but that is also difficult. But suffice it to say that this endeavor has made me all but give up Snickers bars, my favorite gluten-free treat. Finally, I discussed this at length with a medical professional I trust -- my gastroenterologist.

I have been troubled by and curious about a new campaign from the Corn Refiners Association that has been airing on television for the past several weeks. This persuasive campaign is designed to show the innocence of HFCS, with a cute couple discussing the safety of the ingredients. (You can find this video, and the other commercials, here. I recommend you watch so you'll see the message they send.

Yes, they want you to believe that HFCS is a Sweet Surprise. Over and over, the corn refiners association wants you to know that there is no caloric difference in HFCS and sugar. That there's no difference in HFCS and honey. And that HFCS is less expensive to use than sugar, honey, or molasses as a sweetner.

And to make sure you believe them, they back up their claims by doing survey research and sending out press releases.

For instance, consider the Press Release that suggests that a National survey* of Moms shows that Moms are more concerned about individual ingredients, rather than the "big picture" -- that kids still eat the wrong foods and don't exercise enough. The sponsor of the survey? The CRA. I immediately notices the *asterisk* by the word survey in the lead of the release. What did following that asterisk show? I quote:

*Wakefi eld, a national polling fi rm, conducted the survey between August 18 and August 25, 2008 using an email invitation and an online survey. Results were collected from a random sample of 400 mothers ages 18 and older. Quotas are set to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the total U.S. population.

If you don't know survey research, recognize this: A national survey that is invited and online is only going to get a certain kind of audience. And I highly doubt that they conducted a random sample of 400 mothers age 18 and over, especially if they set QUOTAS to ensure reliable representation of the U.S. population. In other words, it's a survey that generalizes to a large audience something tested only on a small one.

This is propaganda, from a group most attacked by a society that is giving up HFCS for healthier choices. It is a direct response to the film King Corn, which has raised awareness and concern about corn production in the United States. They've even created their own propaganda website that echos the information at Sweet Surprise. You'll find it on google -- under High Fructose Corn Syrup Facts. Read to the bottom! It's copyright the Corn Refiners Association!

Here's a funny thing about propaganda, though. It always contains a kernel (pun intended) of truth. For instance, yes, HFCS is cheaper to use than sugar, honey, or molasses. And yes, the press release is right -- some parents aren't seeing the forest for the trees when it comes to dietary issues for obese children. Many of their claims are in fact couched in truth.

But as is the case with most propaganda, it's the truth, but not the whole truth. Not completely.

One must read on to get a clearer picture. I read this site several months ago, and it convinced me that, FOR ME, high fructose corn syrup is a risk.

What I hope you're asking now is, "is that website also propaganda?" Is it the tool of a propaganda campaign from people who want to take down the Corn Refiners Association?

The point, and there is an important one here: Propaganda and persuasions are everywhere, about every single product in society. Public relations is an industry of persuasion and often, propaganda, and ALL public relation's communication to society is on behalf of a client. Someone out there is representing the Corn Refiners Association. Someone out there is representing the film King Corn.

And somewhere out there, there's the truth HFCS and its impact on the human digestive system.

The directive for all of us, as consumers, is caveat emptor. That applies to our consumption of ALL media, whether that media is selling popsicles or political candidates.

But what is the directive for those of us who are public relations practitioners? To quote Hamlet, "Ay, there's the rub." Must we believe in the clients we represent? Students, could you represent a client in whose stance or product you didn't believe?

We must always, always be aware of the source and motive of our information, whether we're on the receiving or disseminating end of it.

And remember, if you're not outraged, you're not paying attention!

Much love, and pay attention!

Ging

I'm only doing one post this week

2008-09-10T12:12:00.000-07:00

And this is it.

I want all of you to visit (and read) Meg Roberts' blog. She is a recent (May 08) graduate of The University of South Florida. Yes, she had my husband for a class, and he said she was one of the best students he's taught in his 20 plus years of teaching.

Start with this message, and read through her other posts.

It's an outstanding post for you, a student trying to get ahead in the PR business, to read, and it's frankly an amazing PR blog.

Meg has accomplished something you all aspire to accomplish. It's something for ME to aspire to, too!

Let me know what you think!

~Carter Miller

P.S. I still expect two posts from you this week, but one can be about your upcoming expectations for your group project next Wednesday.

Article: New York Times article about Facebook

2008-09-08T08:06:00.000-07:00

Read it here.

BTW, the "new" Facebook is coming, and the old one is going away for good.

~Carter Miller

P.S. If you read my last post, you'll be happy to know I'm Tweeting with THREE people from Sterling Cooper.

A thoughtful post...and a thoughtful answer

2008-09-07T17:12:00.000-07:00

As the semester rolls along, we're all trying to meet our two-post-a-week requirement. Some days, I find six or seven things I could post about. Other days....(crickets chirping...tapping of fingers...sounds in distance) NOTHING inspires me.

Today, though, I want to direct you to a couple of sites can help you make better posts and better comments.

The Social Media for Public Relations Class at St. Edward's University is doing something like we are -- creating blogs is one of the class assignments. Their professor has prepared a clever slideshow to instruct her class on making good comments and thoughtful responses.

You'll find it here. (You should also check the class blogs from last Spring on there. Very interesting.)

My friend and colleague at The University of Georgia, Karen Miller Russell, has also posted on the art of blog comments for her students. I suggest you read this post, too. In fact, there are a lot of great blogs to read listed on the right sidebar of her blog, Teaching PR.

I've just spent the last hour reading your blog posts since last class. I have to say I'm most intrigued by Mitchell Davis's post about the assumption of Mad Men personalities by subscribers to Twitter. I'm a fan of the show, and now I feel compelled to follow Dan Draper, Peggy Olson, et. al. I wonder if this will be like friending Bobby Flay on Facebook? I'll keep you posted on that one. I must say, though, I have been tweeting back and forth with a couple of you this weekend. And Amanda Miles is now the first ever go-betweet.

OK, so the question of this part of the week for you: What would you like to accomplish with each of your blog posts? Now that you're getting the hang of the posting game (though some of you haven't gotten that embed-the-URL thing at all) what are you goals for your personal blog?

MY goal for this blog is to instruct you. I check your progress daily. I expect great things in the future and hope you do, too!

In the comments, try to summarize the goals for your blog. Where are YOU going with this?

~Carter Miller

P.S. Heard an interesting thing about Twitter this past weekend at the SPJ national convention in Atlanta. Many anchors now have Twitter up on their screens during broadcasts, and producers send them pithy, short updates on screen. It's quicker than a teleprompter! Alas, there were no live bloggers at the SPJ convention...just lots of iPhones and enhanced phones. I have a serious case of technology envy.

The conventions are upon us

2008-08-27T07:09:00.001-07:00

You'll find a lot of blogging going on these next two weeks, as the Democratic and Republican conventions are taking place in Denver and The Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul).

In fact, the "Morning Joe" show on MSNBC this morning interviewed many of the convention bloggers this week (Do the bloggers eat Cheetos?) The democrats even have something called "The Blogger Tailgate," which is live blogging at its best!

I was especially interested in Charlie Gibson's blog, "The World Newser." I love his commentary, and this actually sounds like he's written it. I think it's wonderful when journalists escape to the blogosphere.

So my questions for you, my students, is this: What are some practical public relations uses for blogs during a national political convention? Who else is blogging, and who SHOULD be blogging, but isn't?

It seems to me that Michelle Obama should be live blogging (look at that term, class. You need to know what it means). And next week, maybe one of John McCain's children might be blogging (I suggest this, since his children are older than Obama's children, and both John and Cindy McCain have already said they don't care for the Internet). At any rate, a live family presence, ongoing throughout the convention, would be fascinating.

So your task...seek out some live bloggers during the conventions, and report back -- in Comments, below. Try to find one for each party!

~Carter Miller

Picking a name for your blog and your site

2008-08-20T14:27:00.000-07:00

I remember an old joke that goes, "you can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose..." You know the rest, I'm sure.

Naming your blog and naming your site are two things you want to think about immediately after you read the post below this one.

Here are a few suggestions for you.

You cannot change the address (site) of your blog once you title it, so pick carefully.

Well, you can actually, but you'll have to delete the blog and start over. Don't waste time and space that way.

The site of this blog is bobcatpr.blogspot.com.. I picked that site address because of our mascot here at Georgia College. I suggest you keep your site address simple and clean. You want something YOU can remember, as well as something your classmates and future readers can recall. Blogger will let you know if the site address has been used already -- that may help you. You probably can't call your blog Amanda, Brittany, or Ashley, though truestory might be available. I don't know. Think about some possible names and pick carefully.

You can change the title of your blog any time you want.

For an example, you can look at my personal blog. The URL (address) for my blog, which is titled "Gluten Free in Georgia (and Florida) is gfingf.blogspot.com. But my blog also has a title of "Adventures in Gluten Freedom." The reason is simple: once you pick a blogger template for your blog (the whole look) you can write all kinds of things in the header.

Be sure to write down all your login codes and passwords when you create your blog. You WILL need to get back in, right? A simple way to do this is to send yourself an email and save it in your files.

When you've got your blog sited and titled, post the address in the comments below so I can check it out and link it to this blog.

~ Carter Miller