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?
   
   
   
   
  

MySpace Re-vamped!

With MySpace's slow depletion in value to "social media elites,"  CEO Mike Jones calls for some new changes to take place.  Some much needed changes, seeing that numbers have dropped dramatically over the last few years.  "The company is expected to make $297 million in 2011, down from $470 million in 2009, according to eMarketer(Slutsky, adage.com)."

The new Myspace 's layout is referred to as having a "Tetris style" by Mike Macaadan, MySpace VP User Experience.  The new screen broken into various segments, videos, information, pictures galore, and updates.  MySpace just might have found its new vocation.  It seems to me that Myspace is now being geared more towards musicians, artists, and celebrities.  Myspace's promotional tactics are both convenient and strategical.

In "MySpace Relaunch Focuses on Successful Niche: Entertainment," from Adage.com, Chief Revenue Officer, Nada Stirratt refers to the Glee page on MySpace and its advertising capabilities.  Glee's MySpace page is sponsored by a said name brand.  On the page guests are able to view Glee cast members wearing said name brand and are also directed to where they can purchase items to be just like Glee!  Its all about easy access to consumers!  "Connection" also jumps to mind, because it allows fans to feel like they have a little piece of  "heaven."  They connect with Glee cast member because they know what they are wearing and in turn are able to purchase the same items.

MySpace's new launch is savvy and innovative.  Circling in on musicians, artists, and celebrities-entertainment; I think will prove to be a positive note for them.  Kudos!

How prepared will we be for the public relations industry? Can I practice in Japan?

  Professor and chair of the Department of Communication at the University of Maryland, Elizabeth L. Toth and Linda Aldoory, associate professor at the University of Maryland, conducted one of the first in-depth studies of how "us," the students are being taught and prepared for the workplace.   Dr. Aldoory said that the project built on valuable earlier studies, and “our analysis broadened the geographic scope of study and stressed in-depth qualitative discourse as a basis for its conclusions.” 


  Toth and Aldoory used qualitative methods in order to conduct their studies.  In their studies they reviewed  218 educational  institution websites in 39 countries and in 20 of those countries, they conducted 20 in-depth interviews.  In their studies, they found that "undergraduate programs almost without exception are focused on professional preparation rather than academic theory. Dr. Aldoory noted that “Internships, industry participation and course work that provides skills plus knowledge are the norm. Graduate programs are highly focused on strategic thinking and advanced practice.”  


  In my experience in studying public relations in my undergrad at Iona College and moving forward, I agree that this is the matter in which "we" are being educated.  Their research gives an accurate picture to how "we, the new age practitioners" are being molded for the workplace.


    “A First Look: An In-Depth Analysis of Global Public Relations Education,”  funded by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), is essential to the field because it is important to see how "we" are being molded and prepared.  Although geography and cultures vary, key ideas still prevail.  Molded an prepared for the workplace in the United States, can I be a "new age" practitioner in Japan?  Will my education be just as effective in the preparation for another countries workplace?  

   Aldoory said "...overall, we found many well-developed, substantive programs preparing future public relations professionals with the knowledge and skills they will need for our profession." 

The cool way to do Surveys in PR

  In a recent internship at REVOLUCION, a full-service hispanic based agency, I had the opportunity of creating suveys for research with our various clients.  A process that may have once been scutinizing and tedious was a one-two-three process with Surveymonkey.com.  "Surveymonkey makes it easy to conduct, manage and analyze research that drives our business forward (market researcher at Facebook says on Surveymonkey.com)."

  It didn't dawn on me until reading the various methods in the chapter, that at that point in time I was employing a research method in order to get responses from clients on logo creation.  Surveymonkey made it easy to put in the questions at hand with images and create various answers in which the clients would choose.  I would then submit the surveys and all the client had to do was follow a link and complete the process of the survey.  Once completing the survey I was able to get direct results.  Surveymonkey made research easy and it was extremely efficient.  By using a survey with clients, you are creating a two-way symmetrical model and then are able to put both your ideas and their ideas into projects(in this specific case, logo development).  This two-way communication was extremely effective because it lends to clear specificity with an organization and its client at hand.

Surveymonkey also allows for you to personlize the survey with your own company logos, making it fit with your company, instead of looking like some generic census form.

  The text gives fault to online surveys because it doesn't show a collaborative representation.  However, I think it is effective in the case of creating a survey for a select group of people and distributing in a timely manner.  Who reads the mail anymore?  Most of my own mail sits on my kitchen chair for weeks! It's all about technology and having things at your finger tips...if you want me to see it, send it in an email!  We are a constantly moving society and the internet, surveymonkey along with many others, employ a viable method to surveys in research for organizations. 

Do libraries antiquate old school? Or have libraries upgraded?

  

  We live in a society that is in a constant demand to keep up with technology.  What happened to old school libraries and card catalogs?  Do people still go to dark, grungy, smelling libraries?

  The Daily News' article Libraries launch apps to sync with iPod generation, discusses how libraries have updated and how they use social media to stay relevant to today's publics.  How are they doing it? Libraries are tweeting, texting, and creating apps, seeing that people today usually have smart phones like Blackberry, and iPhones attached to them as another limb.  They are using these forms of technology to inform people of past due books and also to inform people of the opportunity for free music downloads available to them. 

  The article also discusses immerging sites such as Goodreads (http://www.goodreads.com/) which is basically an online book club but with the capability of social media.  You are able to get the books you like and it also keeps track of the books you read over the year.      

  In Preston. N.J., there is a waiting list for people to try out the Kindle.  That's pretty innovative on the part of libraries to now have Kindles.  It all comes back to technology.  By staying up-to-date and "keeping up with the Jones" they are building back the popularity that once existed for libraries.  

  Pretty remarkable for the pr person that sat down and strategized ways to bring back people to the library.  Kudos to them!

  I have noticed the library in my home-town has been completely renovated...on the outside at least.  I wonder what it looks like on the inside.  I don't think I've been there since I was 10!     

Article available at: http://www.dailynews.com/ci_16207220