How to Pick the Right PR Program?

I'm in my third week of my FINAL (and hopefully last) Public Relations course here at GC&SU. Public Relations Campaigns is a more hands-on do it yourself class that really pushes us to see what we are capable of on our own. Digital Bridges is a new non-profit organization located in downtown Milledgeville and is our client for the semester. This organization hopes to redefine Milledgeville by bringing a wave of technology and innovative thinking to the small business's and entrepreneurs.

This organization has a very big target audience in Milledgeville which can make it challenging to spread awareness. My group consists of Cara Wilmer and Brooke Brookins and we are excited for all the ideas we have to make this organization a success. Our main target audience are the small business's and entrepreneurs who would be more successful if they knew how to utilize technology and social media. With this said.....how to we acheive this?

I did some research on selecting a PR program that fits your need. I found an article that is very helpful and wanted to share it.
http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing/public-relations/803-1.html

Selecting a PR Program

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To determine the types of public relations programs that are right for your business, there are several considerations to keep in mind.

Your company’s goals and budget will determine which public relations programs will be most suited to your company. Do your homework first! Always know what your working with before you dive in!

• Evaluate your business goals: Are you a local, regional, national, or international business?
• Determine a timetable: How fast do you need to build awareness?
• Make a budget that's in line with your working capital and your goals.
• Create an action plan of programs and personnel to reach your goals — whether in-house or outsourced.

Then take a look at what your industry is doing and see what works for your competitors. Look to other industries for some innovative schemes.

Keep your PR function in-house and even do it yourself. Media types love entrepreneurs', energy and enthusiasm for a new business. Learn how to write effective press releases. Create reportable events and excitement about your business so that the press wants to give you publicity.

If you have national ambitions and sufficient capital to fund a powerful PR campaign, hire the experts. This is what they do for a living, so they are focused, knowledgeable, and results-driven. On the other hand, your business presents you with constant challenges — product development, building a work force, securing funding for expansion, etc. Without a dedicated team of experts, public relations are often left out, mismanaged, or forgotten.

Last Weekend of Shopping Before CHRISTMAS

The weekend before Christmas is one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year. It's the last chance for the working public to get their shopping in before the big day! However, the east coast took one of the biggest snow storms they have seen in years. Roads closing and cars in the ditches held many shoppers back from getting to their destination.
Meteorologists called for 20 inches of snow in the Washington D.C area and up to 10 inches in the Carolina's. So what does this mean for retailers relying on the big crowd? Treacherous roads and near whiteout conditions kept many shoppers away from shopping malls and other stores. Retailers hoping for a better holiday season than last year’s dismal sales, the bad weather was especially painful.
When it comes to snow, shoppers didn't think it was worth the risk. Spending more time pushing your car out of the snow than shopping was not a top priority.
So what does this mean? HOPE YOU DID YOUR SHOPPING EARLY!

My example of PR in Action is the Midnight Breakfast at GCSU. Every year before the start of final exams Sodehxo sponsors a free breakfast from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. for all the students. Bobcats cards are required for entry, but this doesnt stop hundreds of students from making the trip to the dining hall.

This event was publicized and promoted on Bobcat Vision, OrgSync, and Facebook. It has also been a GCSU tradition for many years, resulting in many older students already knowing about it.

This event gives students time to get away from the library and enjoy a meal with their friends. It is also a great opportunity for other organizations on campus to promote and advertise themselves. For example, WGUR had a table set up at the door handing out free gifts and prizes. Its was a great way to promote their station to the student body.

Games, such as bingo, food, photographers, and giveaways were only a few perks of attending the Midnight Breakfast event. In my video, I recorded a group of students who attended the event. They were very energetic and talked about how they heard about this event. After asking many students how they heard about this event it was obvious that Facebook is the most effective way get information out to college students. It is a great form of social media.

Relay For Life Kickoff A Success? YES!

I could not be more proud of my classmates and all of their hard work to make the Kickoff Dinner for Baldwin County's 2010 Relay For Life a huge success! It would not have been as wonderful without everyones help because each person had a major contribution that obviously proved to pay off! The candles set up around the room (Tori), the AMAZING cupcakes (Marianna), beautiful slideshow (Keri & Andrea), and all the food that was donated (Brooke) is only the start of how great the evening went.

I was a part of the decorations committee under Cara Wilmer and I really enjoyed it. We all got along great and worked together to to come up with some of the best ideas we could. Painting boxes, wrapping boxes, making a banner, and setting up the table place settings were all something I took apart in and I was glad to be a help.

Personally, I thought the room looked beautiful. It was very elegant with black and white and the purple and pink accents really made the room stand out. It was hard to picture in my head what exactly it was going to look like, but it turned out great.

Our class was also very concerned about food. The last thing we wanted was to run out of food. It is always better to have more than enough so we got enough food to feed about 130 people. However, we had TONS of leftovers! All the guests were welcome to as much food and candy as they wanted.

Attendance of team captains was also another obstacle we had to battle. Getting the awareness out about this event was one of our main goals. Press releases, invitations, flyers, and radio ads were all some of the PR work we had done to spread awareness. Almost all the seats were full in that church banquet room and it put a smile on all of our faces.

Last but not least, I believe one of the biggest accomplishments of this PR Admin class is the bond, trust, and respect we all have began to see in each other. Some of these girls have shocked me with all their talent and I am proud to have worked with them. We all worked together as a team and provided encouragement when someone needed it. It was a great experience and can't wait for next semester!!

and PS....THANS YOU DR. MILLER FOR ALL YOUR HELP! WE COULD NOT HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU!

TEAM CAPTAINS WANTED!

All Relay For Life can ask for is support. No matter how much money one can raise, it is made very obvious that every penny counts. After reading all the survivor stories my classmates have written I have learned so much about how this horrible disease can change people. It also amazes me how strong and courageous these survivors are. Some survivors have even called their experience a blessing in disguise because they now life life so differently and treat every day like its their last.
Trying to put myself in their shoes is a hard image for me to imagine. I don't know what I would do. Would I be sad? Angry? Confused? Wondering "why me?". Being able to work this closely with Relay and all of the dedicated volunteers has really made a difference in myself. Even a small contribution can make a difference. I look up to these survivors and see them as supernatural to have battled this awful disease and still have a smile on their face while wanting to help others.
Helping with Relay For Life was not an assignment for me, but it was an honor. I enjoyed every minute of it and so thankful to have my wonderful PR Admin classmates that helpes make this event a success!

Cancer Survivor Story

Although this story is not being used or featured, thought I would share this story anyway!

Staring straight at her doctor with a strong face of emotion, the only thought running through her mind was, “No, surely not me?”
McGill, 51, said shock was the only emotion she could grasp when told she had been diagnosed with ductcal carcinoma in Aug. 2004, just four months after marrying her husband Ken. Showing no signs or symptoms, she could not understand how this happened because she did all the little things right.
“I just was in shock because I did everything the right way,” McGill said. “I was on a healthy diet and I exercised regularly. I never missed a yearly mammogram and performed monthly self exams.”
McGill had no choice but to fight the cancer and had undergone her first surgery just days after her diagnosis. The linguine shaped tumor made it very difficult for doctors to remove, and after two unsuccessful attempts she was referred to an oncologist specialist at Emory.
McGill waited anxiously for two weeks to see the specialist, but said it was great to finally slow down and really take in what was happening. Everything had happened so fast and she needed this time to think for herself. There were so many options to investigate and discuss with her family.
Feeling much more relaxed, McGill arrived to Emory ready to fight. She remained very positive and was ready to have the surgery that would leave her cancer free.
“It was an amazing feeling,” McGill said. “I went to sleep with breast cancer and then woke up without it.”
The third surgery was so successful that McGill required no further treatment, such as chemotherapy or radiation. After removing her breast and five lymph nodes the only battle left was the reconstructive surgery. McGill opted for a TRAM flap reconstructive surgery, taking tissue, muscle, and skin from her abdomen to rebuild her breast.
“Healthcare is amazing today,” McGill said. “I had so many reconstructive options to choose from. I had to remember there was no right or wrong, but to embrace the treatment that was comfortable for me.”
McGill was back to work only three and a half weeks after her final surgery. She said her journey wouldn’t have been as positive without the love and support from her family and friends. Women she had known for years called and offered comfort and support, and opened up about their battles with cancer.
“These women were my lifeline,” McGill said. “I had no idea half of these women had ever been diagnosed with this disease. It’s great that us cancer survivors can stick together.”
McGill also said she could not have gone through this without the undying love and support from her husband. She never once thought she would marry again and couldn’t be more thankful that Ken came into her life when he did.
McGill now looks at her life very differently and couldn’t be happier to be alive. She has chosen to embrace this experience and live her life to the fullest. McGill also allows her name to be given out as a referral to talk to women who are battling the same fight that she once did.
“This experience will change who you are forever,” McGill said. “But in some ways it may be for the better.”
McGill continues to see the oncologist once a year for routine screenings. Her family just recently celebrated her five year mark of being cancer free. This is a huge accomplishment for McGill, but said she was ready if anything would arise.
“It’s not that I don’t think about it,” McGill said. “It’s just a normal part of my life now.”

The Tipping Point

I have to admit that I put off reading "The Tipping Point" for a while, but I found it hard to put down as soon as I opened it. The book opened the doors to many things I have never thought about, but proved to be very effective.

I started thinking about all the trends and new fads that had come about over the past few years. I remember the first time I saw a pair of Crocs because I thought they were the ugliest things in the world, but now I own a pair. I also remember the era of low carb diets, such as ATKINS and The Southbeach Diet, that swept our nation. All of these were ideas that were used by a few and then spread by many. Malcolm Gladwell refers to the spreading of trends as a contagious disease or virus. He states that it is easiest to think of these ideas and trends as epidemics because just as a contagious virus or disease spreads, so do ideas, trends, messages, and behaviorx (9). All it takes is one person.

There are many factors in making an epidemic, and all of them are required to lead to that one dramatic moment. Gladwell uses an example of the Hush Puppy shoes that were going to be discontinued in 1994 because of bad sales (3). The company was only selling about 30,000 pairs a year. Strange enough the company found out the the shoes were a huge hit and becoming a major fashion trend in Manhattan. By the next year, the company sold 430,000 pairs of the classic Hush Puppies and the numbers continued to rise each year (4.) Manhattan, of course, can not take full credit for the sudden urge to buy Hush Puppies, but it was definitely where it started.

Gladwell defines The Tipping Point as that one dramatic moment in an epidemic when everything can change all at once (9). The world of the Tipping Point is where the unexpected becomes the expected, and where radical change is more than just a possibility (14). Hush Puppies had no expectations of sales rapdily increasing as they did, but it happened. The company learned that this change was no longer just a possibility, but it was reality.

In the book, Gladwell breaks it up into the Three Rules of Epidemics, also known as the Agents of Change.

The Law of Few states that the success of any kind of social epidemic is heavily dependent on the involvement of people with a particular and rare set of social gifts (33). Gladwell classifys the involvement of people in one of three ways.

Connectors are those who know everyone worth knowing. They are well-known in society and have inside connections with alot of people. Their relationships may not always be a friendly, but simply a business relationship that allows calling in for favors (46).

Mavens are the infortmation specialists. They help and teach others around them what they have learned. They accumulate the knowledge that leads to solving problems (69).

Salesmen are the persuaders. Their charismatic personality contributes to their powerful negotiation skills. They have the ability of gaining peoples trust and selling them an idea(80).

I can see where each one of these roles comes into play because all three are needed for overall success. If I had to place myself into a catagory, I definitely consider myself a Maven. I like having all the information at hand so I can make the best and most rational decision. I don't have a salesman personality, and I definitely do not have as many connections as I would like, but I think I work well with others have have good ideas about how to pass along a message.

The second rule of epidemics is the Stickiness Factor. This means that the specific content of a message needs to make an impact and be memorable. Gladwell uses Sesame Street as an example. Joan Ganz Cooney set out to start an epidemic in the late 1960's. The agent of infection was a television series, and the virus she wanted to spread was literacy (89). Cooney made television sticky because it left its viewers with information that left an impact and was memorable throughout their lifetime. Information that leaves an impact and that will be used later in life will more likely be remembered.

The third and final rule of epidemics is the Power of Context. This focuses and emphasizes on the environment and conditions that influence human behavior and epidemics. Human behavior is very sensitive and epidemics can be affected simply by the time and place in which they occur.

All of what I have learned from Gladwell applies to many of the projects and events that I have worked on throughout my PR carreer this far. We have all become Connectors simply by creating a blog, making active updates and staying connected on twitter, and by utilizing facebook. We have all become Mavens by researching and finding outside information and bringing it to class and sharing to solve the problems at hand. We have all also become salesmen by going out into the community and simply trying to raise awareness and get them involved through donations and participation. As Gladwell said, all three personalities and skills are needed and it is now easy to see, especially in my PR Admin class, who follows which role.

Our current Relay for Life event allows our class to fully utilize these concepts. The Stickiness Factor will play a huge role in raising attendance numbers and getting more teams and team captains involved. Our class needs to find a way to reach out to these people and leave an impact on them. This KickOff Dinner needs to be memorable and something that they will take with them for a lifetime. Human behavior will be very sensitive at this event simply because of the time, place, and theme. But if our class can leave a positive impact on these cancer survivors and their families, I would say it was a success.