10 Points for Gryffindor

With tomorrow’s midnight opening, Harry Potter fan’s will be rejoicing for the first of the two part installment to be released. For weeks now, fans have been buying advance tickets and already this film is record breaking. Already this film has caused quite a stir for being the only film to be slated to play in 3,700 locations for a midnight showing, a feat that no film has ever achieved. After that, the film will be showing on over 9,000 screens across the country.

Showings everywhere have been sold out for days and because of the demand 3 a.m. showings have been added. The Cobb Theatre in Lakeland Fl has already had to go down that road, as both the midnight and 3 a.m. IMAX showings are already sold out. Don’t worry, I have my ticket.

So far it is reported that the film has already made $25 million in advance sales and shows no sign of stopping. I am curious though, is this record breaking film doing so well because of the Harry Potter series itself, the promotional appearances by the cast, ad campaigns, the opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios, or because it is the final installment of this series? My guess is that is is a mixture of all, but I have to say that the publicity for this film has been quality. The trailers are phenomenal, appearances by the cast on tv and print publications have been numerous, and the strategic opening of the theme park couldn’t have hurt. What are you thoughts?

Jessica@facebook.com?

Monday it was announced that Facebook was implementing a new messaging service. This service is supposed to combine, email, chat,SMS, and messages into one convenient location.Facebook will provide an @facebook.com address to any user who wants it and will provide seamless messaging.

‘They will receive your message through whatever medium or device is convenient for them, and you can both have a conversation in real time.  You shouldn’t have to remember who prefers IM over email or worry about which technology to use.  Simply choose their name and type a message.” (Facebook blog)Messaging isn’t email. There isn’t any CC or BC lines. Instead this is a way to message and keep up with all contact with each friend. It is more like a running chat and enables you to message faster. “Messages is built for communicating with your friends, so it made sense to organize primarily around people.  All of your messages with someone will be together in one place, whether they are sent over chat, email or SMS. You can see everything you’ve discussed with each friend as a single conversation.” (Facebook Blog).

Even people who aren’t on Facebook will still be able to show up on your Messages Feed. “With new Messages, your Inbox will only contain messages from your friends and their friends. All other messages will go into an Other folder where you can look at them separately. If someone you know isn’t on Facebook, that person’s email will initially go into the Other folder. You can easily move that conversation into the Inbox, and all the future conversations with that friend will show up there.” (Facebook Blog).

This is really a revolutionary idea and will change the face of messaging. It seems really convenient and easy and also allows for all your friends, facebookers and non facebookers alike to be organised into one central hub.

 

For more information and for an informative video visit the Facebook Blog.

 

TOW 13: What Drives Journalists/PR Practitioners Crazy?

Journalists Drive PR Practitioners Crazy When:

1. Keep digging for dirt

• Journalist instead should respect the PR practitioners job and use information provided by the practitioner

2. More informative instead of painting a story

• Instead should do both; paint a story and be informative

3. Ignore press releases

• They are made for a reason and should be used to gather information

4.  Can be aggressive

• Instead, they should be respectful

5. Can have many mistakes grammatical and spelling and not be reprimanded for it.

• Instead, should be more cautious of their writing and make sure it is perfect before printing

PR Practitioners Drive Journalists Crazy When:

6. Fill up inbox with unnecessary emails

• instead should make sure that all emails are important

7. Never reachable

• Make sure that people can always get in touch. News never sleeps

8. Use excessive words/language instead of getting to the facts

• Instead, they should paint a story without going overboard

9.  Call excessively

• Instead, should be respectful of others and their job.

10. Be on time

• Always be respectful of others and their time.

Real? Or Just Another Commercial?

So I was visiting my favourite celebrity gossip site, Perez Hilton, and I came across this video. As one of the most romantic proposals Perez had ever seen, being a wedding fanatic myself, I had to check it out.

Now in the description, it is stated that this was all filmed on the iPhone and on secret hidden cameras. Perez posed the question is this real or fake. I decided to take a look for myself and suggest that you do the same and tell me what you think.

Personally, I think this is a brilliant ad campaign for Apple. It looks too well done and EVERYBODY in the video is using apple products, from the headphones and iPhones to the laptops. This just screams product placement. Also, how else to attract female consumers than by planting a brilliant proposal. Smart move Apple. Smart move. And if this is real, Apple should hire Frank because this was a great advertisement.

Reading Notes Chapter 11: Journalism/PR

Reporters and editor spend a lot of time reviewing information and gathering it, so do to time they depend on practitioners for their news.

PR professionals have been known to use excessive hype, or spam. This is due to the fact that they haven’t done their research.

• journalists say that practitioners manipulate the situation
• practitioners do not have confidence in reporting
• They tent to make mistakes such as misspelled names and incorrect titles.

Even though their are differences they do have to work together in:

• Media Interviews
• Press Conferences
• Previews and Parties
• Editorial Board Meetings

 

 

 

Source: Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques

Reading Notes: Chapter 10- Distribution News

 

Feature or Photo Placement Firms:

• PR companies might have these because they specialize in preparing features or photos with an entire layout to editors.

Ways practitioners distribute the information to the media:

• email: don’t send an excessive amount
• online newsroom
• Electronic wire

PR Practitioners can find contacts through a media database

tip sheet: helps people find media personnel who might be interested in their material.

 

 

Source: Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques

TOW 11: Infographics

Infographics are visual graphics that represent information or data. They help provide information quickly and creatively instead of having just a bunch of figures. Publications, such as newspapers, love to use infographics, especially when it comes to providing information about the weather.

Infographics are all around us and sometimes we don’t even realise that is what they are. Traffic signs are infographics, especially the ones that use stick figures to represent a cross walk something of that nature. Other infographics that are common are transit maps that are used for public transportation.

Pie charts, bar graphs, or other diagrams are also considered infographics but they aren’t as creative as others. The more creative the likelihood that the information provided will be received and if it is simple and doesn’t need a key, it is even better. People respond to quick, easy, and creative things and infographics uses all of those to get information across.

For my client, the Central Florida chapter of The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, infographics can be really helpful. There are a lot of statistics and information that can be confusing so utilising infographics can get our information across productively and accurately.

In class the other day, we had to come up with an infographic for our company. My graphic was to show the representation of Cystic Fibrosis (CF) patients vs. volunteers to get the message across that in order to help find a cure more volunteers are needed. The patients would be represented by the CF logo and the volunteers would be stick figures with a BIG and BOLD V as their arms.

I wouldn’t know how to begin to make an infograph, except to send my idea and sketch to a graphics department. But I am not opposing to learn how to make this useful graphic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources for infographics: http://adverlab.blogspot.com/2009/07/propaganda-through-infographics.html

http://infographics.w3ec.com/infographics/a-lot-more-infographics-illustrations-beautiful-diagrams-at-flickr

http://media.photobucket.com/image/Infographics/zalesboard/otherforums/drinkgas.jpg

http://www.idsgn.org/posts/infographics-for-dinner/

TOW 11: Presentation Skills

I am probably not the best person to seek advice from when it comes to presenting. Advice on whether or not those shoes goes with that shirt? Yeah, that I can do. Advice on where to travel? Duh, that is my specialty! Advice, on how to celebrity stalk? Guilty. But advice on how to stand up in a crowded room with people starring at you waiting with anticipated breath for you to say something meaningful and helpful. I want to run and hide.

As much as I hate presenting, it comes with the territory so it is something I’ve had to master. Here are ten tips that I have come up with to help with your presentation skills.

10. Be confident. That is a tough one to get past, especially when it comes to presenting but remember that EVERYONE has to do it at some point and they have had the same feelings about it as you do. Everyone gets nervous, but you will be fine. Be confident in what you are presenting and you’ll be golden.

9. Be prepared. That may seem simple enough yeah? One would think when presenting you would have all your material, but you would be surprised at how people come into a presentation without knowing the material or presenting with missing pieces. It doesn’t make you look good and it causes others to think you aren’t responsible.

8. Be excited. If you are excited about what you are presenting, others will be as well. So put a smile on and really sell what you are presenting!

7. Be engaged. Connect with your audience. Draw them in. Ask them questions or talk to them as if it were one on one. People appreciate it if you connect with them. It makes them feel special and appreciated, and we do appreciate them because they are our audience.

6. Be practised. Practise what you preach. Go over your presentation again and again until you know it by heart. If you are practised you won’t stumble or falter and that will help keep you engaged, excited, prepared, and confident.

5. Be aware. Make sure while you are presenting you are aware of your audience and your surroundings. Sometimes your audience might not be receptive to your presentation. Maybe you have prepared for a presentation that isn’t right for the audience. Adjust and improvise, that can help your presentation go over better.

4. Be respectful. Don’t drag on and on. Be respectful of your audience and their time. Make sure you have all the information but present it in a concise fashion. You can loose listeners fast if you bore them.

3. Be creative. Use videos, graphics, stories, etc etc, to spice up your presentation. Creativity is key and it is limitless.

2. Be relaxed. Stay calm and cool. Don’t be tense or scared, it will show through your presentation. If you are relaxed the audience will be relaxed and will pay attention to your material instead of the sweat that is pouring off your face.

1. Breathe. The simplest of all my tips but it is the most important. Catch your breath. Don’t spit out your 30 minute presentation in 15 because you were too nervous to breathe. Don’t rush. Take your time and breathe.

 

 

TOW 10: Corporate Responsibility

Corporate responsibility is a really important part of Corporate PR. Corporate responsibility is expectations that either stakeholders or the government put into practise at any corporation. Basically a corporation has a set of guidelines or a code of conduct that they must adhere to in order be ethical and professional. Being irresponsible and not taking the code of conduct seriously can really hinder a company. Customers can loose faith in the business and therefore the corporation can suffer. Having a negative appearance in the public can be very damaging so a company must do everything in its power to act appropriately.

Going above and beyond just the code of ethics is important as well. Taking extra precautions and not just doing the minimum that is asked is part of corporate responsibility as well. Having the public’s support is important for business and making sure every measure is taken to insure that the public is happy is key. The public doesn’t want to see a company who has harassment issues or any other example that shows that a company isn’t taking care of their employees. People relate to personal stories and so if a person feels neglected or handled irresponsibly, the public most likely will retaliate and turn their business else where.

Complying with corporate responsibility is utterly important. When entering work with any corporation, whether you are working in PR or not, do your research and make sure you are following the corporation guidelines. We all have a responsibility to make sure that the company is represented well. You don’t have to be in the PR industry to contribute to positive PR. Remember when you work for a company; you become that company. Represent yourself well. That is corporate responsibility.

Reading Notes Chapter 9: Writing for Radio and Television

In chapter 9 of our text, writing for radio and television is discussed. Below are a few points I found to be interesting and extremely helpful.

• 94% of adults over 18 listed to the radio on a daily basis, with a total estimated audience of about 22.5 million
• Radio news releases have to be written so that a radio broadcaster can read them directly on air.
• PSA: public service announcement- an unpaid announcement that promotes the programs of government or nonprofit agencies or that serves the public interest
• RMT: radio media tours- a spokesperson conducting a series of round-the-country, one-on-one interviews from one central location.
• VNR: video news release- 90 second news report with voiceover narration on an audio channel, has extra soundbites and b-rolls, has a clear identification of the video source, and has script
• SMT: satellite media tour- television equivalent to RMTs

 

Source: Public Relations Writing & Media Techniques