Twitter--Innovative & Savvy way of introducing Healthcare PR jobs

Just out of mere curiosity, today I googled "health care pr jobs."  What came up should not have surprised me, yet it did!  One of the first items that caught my eye was @Twitter-HlthcarePRjobs.  Savvy idea of creating a Twitter account just to list available positions. 

@HlthcarePRjobs is the Twitter account of Orange Regional Medical Center in Middletown, NY.  Orange Regional Medical Center is said to be a "health care leader that still maintains a sense of intimacy and a state-of-the-art facility with a tremendous sense of community. You'll find the benefits you deserve with the rewards you can see. You'll find the advancement, flexibility and resources to advance your career and provide the care that your patients need.Orange Regional Medical Center - successful careers are common here."  As a prospective student seeking employment, it all sounds so enticing!



This is an example of how social media is becoming such a powerful platform for various organizations/companies. Social media is becoming a fundamental tool in how we communicate.  Take a look at this"Social Media Revolution" clip--Word of mouth or World of mouth?!?! Social Media Revolution 

 

This gives even more reason to why "us," the students soon to be seeking employment, need to be well rounded an adverse to all social media platforms.  If you haven't already...it's time to jump on the ball!

 

  

 

Palin's Strategy

Every time something comes up about Sarah Palin's new series on TLC I can't help but wonder what her strategy is behind this.  What are her PR people thinking?

"Sarah Palin's Alaska" premieres this Sunday.  Alessandra Stanley of the NY Times writes "It’s a nature series for political voyeurs: viewers get to observe Ms. Palin observing nature."  What's the angle on this?  Besides the fact that clearly Palin enjoys being in the lime light.

It is unsure of whether Palin intends on running in the 2012 presidential election, but in my opinion if she is, does she think this is going to help.  Palin does have a strong fan base, shockingly! But for those who are not in the midst of her popularity, myself particularly, I  remember her saying in a preview of one of the episodes, how she'd rather be doing this any day than be in office (something along those lines).  I take that offensively because if she does intend on running, what does that say about her work ethics?

PR strategy or not? Who knows.  I don't think it's going to work in her benefit though. Time will tell.  I can't wait for Sunday!

PR's BIG QUESTION...what's the ROI?

Practitioners within the field are constantly being pressured to have hard evidence and clearly demonstrate the return on investment (ROI).  But how exactly do we measure the value of public relations within organizations?  Much research has been done and is still being done on how we can prove our value, but "we" practitioners know that public relations is a strong force to be reckoned with. 



Mark Weiner of PRSA writes about the steps you could take to prove to your organization the wealth in public relations.  The article titled "Make Your Case for Public Relations" provides the following steps:

• "Measure and evaluate your PR performance, whether it's requested or not."
• "Know the difference between measurement and evaluation.  Measurement is a form of arithmetic and evaluation is a form of professional and contextual analysis, from which value is derived."  (Babbie describes evaluation research as research that studies the effects of social interventions.)
•  "Make it easy for executives to understand the power of public relations by speaking the language of business. Data is power — many PR practitioners can’t define “buzz,” let alone impute a value."  (No, not Buzz Light Year or buzz like a bumble bee but when I think "buzz" in regards to public relations I think about the conversations/controversy that occurs from press releases.  In a sense we get people talking.  You want your product or idea out there, well public relations can and will find a way to get people talking about your product/idea....thus creating a "buzz." 
• "Uncover the value system in your own organization before fussing over “what to measure.” Executives will tell you what’s important — follow their guidance to reduce risk but incorporate higher forms of measurement to help them evolve."
• "Create a research, analysis and measurement culture within your own PR team. Validate success and use shortfalls as opportunities for learning."
   
   Sooner, rather than later though, I do believe that we will have to prove our efficiency through numbers.  Where is research studies going with ROI?  Who will be the all-mighty one to crack the code?