Guest Blogger #2: Citro!

Joe is in my class and by far one of the smartest dudes I HAVE EVER MET! He is always on top of his game, he thinks outside the box (sometimes to much!), and he is someone the world better watch out for! Of all his posts (too many good ones to choose from!) were on point, but this one I learned a lot from and thought others would too!

ENJOY!

Leave a comment | posted in PR 3450, Topic of the Week

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April 21, 2011

Secrets don’t make friends

By jcitro

Credit to mediabistro.com

The world we live in is always moving and there is little room for privacy. Off the record used to be an idea that if you were not around camera’s or those in the media field you can say what you want without being criticized for it publicly.

Today people can easily hear everything you say. Through social media one bad impression of a person or company can be posted online and hundreds of impressions will be made by there friends and family that view there page consistently.

There are 5 simple rules cited by Gil Rudawsky:

1) “Off the record” is not considered off the record anymore

2) Never say anything to a reporter that would make you look bad

3)Temper your comments in public places

4)After you are done speaking to a reporter, make sure they are not continuing to listen, through an open mic or otherwise

5) Finally, it’s best to keep to simple—and noncontroversial—topics, especially during sound checks

These rules are essential to follow for not only politicians and celebrities but ourselves as well. When we walk to class we hear people say ridiculous things, now they are off the record, but we will always remember or at least have an idea of what was said. After all there really are no places for secrets anymoree because one wrong word or phrase can put you in a terrible situation.

Viral Babies!

Viral Videos make my day! I love to laugh (just as much as I love controversey)! Me and my friend, Esselyn Mendez sit up for hours watching YouTube videos and being goofy! Although we have yet to make our own…I’m sure we would get a few thousand hits just for being good looking! LOL!

But seriously I think in order for a video to go viral it has to draw some kind of emotion. Whether this is good or bad depends on the person, but it has to make the viewer feel some type of way for it to be passed on and on. And the emotion must be felt universially and be relatable to everyone from all walks of life.

Laughter is one of those key emotions that everyone loves to feel no matter where you are from, what you look like, etc. Everyone likes to laugh. So thats why I think funny videos become viral faster than most. Not only does the video have to have humor…it has to be humor that anyone would get and could relate to.

I think social action videos are good too. Even though some can really hit you where it hurts and make reality seem too real…they work! When a video draws emoton out of you it makes you want to act. More thank likly your action is going to be to share it. If this happens millions of times then a video will get millions of views. But if a video doesn’t make you feel like you HAVE to act immediately then it won’t become viral…popular but def not viral.

Babies usually make people happy! These are my favorite baby viral videos!

Widgets vs. Badges

Many people hear the terms widgets & badges a lot but only a select few know the difference or what they are at all. The main difference between the two are their own individual uses.

Badges are like graphics that are linked and used to facilitate traffic. You basically want people to click it and be brought to your site. They are commonly used in connection with events…so you would click the badge on the event page and be taken to another page with more info for example. Badges are simple to create and use. I’m sure you could even keep track of how much traffic was generated from a badge. Most people probably encounter badges everyday online and don’t realize it.

Widgets are a little more complex than badges. They are more like an extra to a site. Foe example my blog (the one you are reading…yeah this one!) has widgets set up. On the right side of the screen you can see a calendar and a cloud. The cloud contains all my categories but the one that have more content are bigger than the ones with fewer posts. This is an example of a widget.

I recently did a campaign for JCPenny, and a badge would have been helpful when we planned to team up the government to support the Anti Bullying Cause. JCP could create a badge for all of its online advertisements. When someone clicks the badge they would be directed to the page on the JCP website that is dedicated for the anti-bullying cause.

So badges & widgets are both helpful…there really is no need to have to choose one over the other. Whereas a badge could help me build readership on my blog, my widgets help keep it organized. So they really can work together and make this internet world easier!

BookMarking…EASY!

Bookmarking is such an interesting way to share things! We have all used “Favorites” on our personal computers but did you know that Bookmarking is ten times better than adding a site to your favorites list?

Bookmarking is like your favorites all saved and organized into one file that you can access anywhere there is internet (which is basically everywhere!). You can see whatever you bookmark in a simple click…Yeah I know technology is amazing!

But bookmarking is very useful more than easy. You can share tons of information without sending huge files through email and trying to find thing all over. I personally use delicious but there are other bookmarking sites such as Diigo. It really helps when I am in group projects and I need my group members to know exactly where i got information, what the information is, and how they can access it fast.

This created a peaceful organized working environment for us all. And the best part is you can bookmark anything! Whether its class related or something you want to comeback and look into later. Bookmarking allows you to do all that and attach tags to your links so that you can easily locate them amongst your other links.

Most sites have a navigation box where you can Tweet, add to facebook, get the RSS feed, email, and guess what…BOOKMARK. Making the process even more easy.

I love bookmarking and highly suggest other try it as well!

Pink or Blue….Guest Blogger M. Rodriguez!

Being a parent I thought this way too cute and fully agreed w/ Melissa Rodriguez on this issue! She is a student at Florida Southern College, majoring in Communication! LOVED THIS POST FRM HER!

 

Outrage Over Ad Blown to Ridiculous Proportions

In Feature Writing, PR Connections on April 14, 2011 at 10:44 pm

Over the weekend J.Crew updated their online catalogue and included a feature on how their president and creative director Jenna Lyons spends the weekend with her son. The first slide included the mother and son duo looking at each other playfully and lovingly while the mother held her sons foot- that happened to have neon pink toenails. Copy on the ad included “Lucky for me, I ended up with a boy whose favorite color is pink. Toenail painting is way more fun in neon.”

Obviously this is just way too much for anyone to handle. The notion that mundane things such as colors can be characterized as male or female is absurd. If that were the case, how would anyone characterize beige, yellow, or red?

Keith Ablow called the ad, “a dramatic example of the way that our culture is being encouraged to abandon all trappings of gender identity.” While Erin Brown from the Media Research Center called it, “blatant propaganda celebrating transgendered children.”

Seriously? The boy in the picture is five years old. Children aren’t born knowing things are “bad” or “good,” or considered “straight” or “gay.” Children just know what they like.  Often children want to participate in creative activities, such as painting- nails or otherwise, because they think it’s fun. Boys see their sisters and mothers painting their nails and they simply want to be included.

There seems to be an extremely confused train of thought happening that stipulates that the things you are exposed to as a child dictate one’s gender identity and sexual orientation. Shouldn’t children also have the right to express themselves in anyway they want? There have been many instances in which little boys want to do or wear something that is traditionally female and their mothers let them, often with backlash towards the mother. As long as no one is getting hurt, what is the harm in letting them do as they please?

“Many people feel that it is their role to police gender and tell them what correct behavior is for boys and girls,” said Dr. Jack Drescher, child psychologist, to ABC news. “The idea that a parent is indulging a child’s interest in unconventional gender behavior does something to the child has no scientific basis.”

Openly gay pop sensation Adam Lambert tweeted about the ad after a Twitter user tagged him in a post with a link to the article saying, “I bet that’s how it all started for @adamlambert.” Lambert addressed the issue by tweeting, “Gender confusion? I don’t think it’s that deep- children should have full freedom of expression. It’s everyone else who’s confused.”

J.Crew declined to comment calling this a “non-issue.” Which is exactly what it is. It’s simply a photo of a little boy spending a weekend with his hard working, stylish mom.

John Stewart said it best, “Here’s what I see: ‘Oh, honey, you want to paint your nails pink? Okay, let’s do it.’ Because do you have any idea how long a weekend is with children? Everybody gets bored; you’ll do anything to fill the time. And if you take them to a face-painting booth, it doesn’t make them cats.”

Kobe Bryant’s Gay Slur

Can bashing a community really hurt you?? Ummm yeah! Especially if it’s the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community! Most people don’t realize how strong of a community the LGBT is. Most people don’t realize that these people have a high buying power (double income no children) and that they usually have high degrees and are very successful.

The LGBT community is no longer hiding and they no longer are letting things slide. You insult them, you run the risk that your product/company possibly be boycotted. The LGBT is becoming a lot like PETA. LOL!

But the point of all this is the whole post is to talk about how Kobe Bryant may have treaded into some hot water with LGBT community after being caught saying a gay slur at a referee.

Bryant was caught saying, “F**king faggot” after being issued a technical foul. He was fined by the NBA and released a statement saying:

“The words expressed do not reflect my feelings towards the gay and lesbian communities.”

“What I said last night should not be taken literally”

As for PR in this incident…Kobe Bryant knows better. He is one of the many NBA players who has been through some pretty bad PR crisis situations involving sports. He should be a vetern at this type of stuff and know that anything he says will be in media. Throwing around gay slurs will not help him win over many people who support gays and lesbians.

Well in closing, I loved what TMZ had to say about the whole situation and I actually thought they brought up some good points. One of their best stories by far…Take a look:

Oprah’s Ad Frenzy

Pr Connections

It will cost advertisers about $1 million dollars to advertise during Oprah Winfrey’s last talk show. The show is expected to be watched by 20 million viewers. So advertisers would really benefit from coughing up the $1 million!

The commercials will only be 30-secs but will watched by millions. This whole situation reminds me of Superbowl commercials where advertisers pay big bucks for ads to appear during the big game.

The situation really doesn’t surprise me. This is OPRAH we are talking about. You know the lady who gets companies to donate gifts for her “Oprah’s Favorite Things“show…Yeah that one!

I mean if I had to look up to any black woman in the journalism field it would definitely be her. Not because she is BLACK, even though she has made huge accomplishments for a minority, but because her PR skills are banging. She gets companies to basically give her products so she can give them away which results in other people to buy them. Not mention she gets the hottest interviews with all the stars…I seriously can’t think of one person Oprah hasn’t interviewed! Like who wouldn’t want to have a partnership with Oprah? Who wouldn’t want to let her help make your company 10x stronger?

Her network is supposedly struggling to get viewers, but for some reason I beg to differ. I don’t have any doubts that PR will save her network from any crisis situation that may present itself. Oprah has kept viewers in tune with her 5 days a week for over a decade. She is very well-known and has been a public figure with an excellent reputation.

Oprah Winfrey is on top and I think the PR & Advertising fields can learn a lot from her and how she operates her companies. She is the epitome of Communications!

Her last show is scheduled to air May 25

source

King James Mom Arrested

PR Connection

By now we should all know how much I love controversy. Like it’s the coffee to morning, air to my lungs, blood flowing through my veins. In other words…ITS MY LIFE! LOL!

But seriously I take a special interest in crisis PR. I think when people do stupid things, that it truly is job security and reminders I will always have work. So this post is all about the whole issue involving Lebron James’ mother being arrested and how PR comes into play.

Recap…Lebron’s mother, Gloria James, was at the Fountain Bleu  Hotel in Miami with a group of friends. They were leaving to get in the car when the allegedly assault occurred. James was reported to be a little drunk and unruly. She supposedly got upset because the parking attendant was taking to long to bring her car. She ended up slapping him and being arrested.

Of course this all effects Lebron because he how the public knows his mother. And this is not first incident where Ms. James has been in the public eye negatively. Whereas most basketball stars are dealing with ex-wives, baby mothers, or tax invasion. Here is LeBron having to deal with his MOTHER, not girlfriend or baby mama…his mother mis-behaving in the public. The media has been swarming him for statements and trying to figure out how he feels. Being that it’s close to play-offs the last of thing he needs to be worried about. Afterall, shouldn’t the parent be worried about the child’s behavior not vice versa??

As a future PR professional who wants to deal with celebrities, I would highly suggest that Lebron talk with his mother. He needs to make sure she knows how she is tainting his image. Her behavior does affect him and how he is viewed in the public. If her behavior continues to be out of control, get like Dwayne Wade and put a gag order on her. Where she can’t talk about him publicly or really be tied to him as much right now.

Lebron has too many endorsements to lose if his mother keeps it up. Sad part is, in every other case it’s usually the star but in his case it’s his mother causing un-necessary drama.

On a positive note, Lebron did offer the attendant a cash settlement but the attendant refused. So I think who-ever he has handling his business was smart about making that move.

Here is video where Lebron gives very little detail about the situation:

Snooki & Ne-Yo Rolling Stone Cover

So I’m checking my morning blog for the hottest gossip when I see a post about Ne-Yo getting mad about Snooki’s appearance on Rolling Stone’s cover.

Ne-yo decided to tweet his frustration:

Wow. Snooki is on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Really? I quit. (Just kidding, but almost serious….) No disrespect to Snooki, I don’t know her, but damn Rolling Stone? REALLY? REALLY! I guess…..

I feel a rant coming on, but at the sake of sounding like I’m complaining or even hating, Imma chill. I got y’all. New album on the way. I WILL get the respect I deserve in this business or I won’t be in this business. PERIOD. Have a #splendid day twit fam!! I gotta take this opportunity to thank those that recognize what I am regardless of what I do or don’t sell, what a blog hag says I am, etc. Fun is fun, mayhem is entertaining, but COME ON PEOPLE!! There’s gotta be some sort of balance somewhere! Man, GOD bless the biz….

Well I thought that was a bit rude. But I mean I really don’t see the correlation. I thought Rolling Stone had a music demographic. Unless she is planning to break into music I’m lost. But in her defense they have had other people who aren’t music related grace the cover in the past.

I like Snooki and I think it was a great opportunity for her. I think Ne-yo has just been a little hot-headed lately and needs to chill. She is doing her thing and he shouldn’t be hating on a female! I think he is putting himself in a position to lose a lot of fans because of Twitter…as a future PR consultant to the stars I strongly suggest he DELETE his Twitter account.

UPDATE: Snooki responded with:

“Neyo’s mad that I got the cover of rolling stone?”

“Hm you lost a loyal fan,” she tweeted. “What a buzz kill.#sorry.”

I’m glad she didn’t take the quiet role! You have a voice…Use IT!

Happy Birthday to Starbucks!

So I’m not even a huge coffee lover. I one drink my coffee cold although I don’t like iced coffee…I know its weird. So me and a friend decided to stop by and grab a coffee before our second class. I was surprised to learn that Starbucks was celebrating its 40th birthday!

The manager told me that it was a big deal for the company and that they even released a new logo. It’s simply the inside image of the old logo. Its more clear, precise, and modern. Since Starbucks isn’t a big part of my life I barely noticed the difference and I don’t have a preference. From what others have told me the Siren (as the middle image is called) has just gotten bigger and zoomed in since the first logo in 1971. But I thought it was a good idea to release the new logo during this celebration.

I am glad that Starbucks has managed to stay a float during these rough financial times. Brand loyalty has really worked for them and they are very aware of it! Most everybody I know that drinks coffee on the regular prefers Starbucks over any other brand or company. And since it’s not very budget friendly like the dollar coffee I can get at other places, its truly amazing just how loyal these customers are.

I hope the logo change doesn’t make customers feel detached from its most loved cup of coffee. I hope its accepted well and that customers will remain true and loyal to Starbucks. But then again, if it turns into an utter disaster then I will once again have that feeling of job security! Lol! So either way it goes I’m happy!