What Will #PR Look Like as We Approach 2015? — Putting the Public Back in Public Relations, 11/21/11

Penn State PR Majors Get a Crash Course in Crisis, Thanks to Scandal – Ad Age, 11/21/11

The Art of Writing Great Twitter Headlines – CopyBlogger, 11/21/11

Twitter, PLN, and Useful Education Hashtags — Mr. Shortreed’s Ed Tech Blog, 11/24/11

Much to my disappointment, the result was a mash-up of information I didn’t care about. I played with it for another day or two, and then lost interest for a while. Then recently, one of my tweets made it into a friend’s paper.li. I checked it out again and liked the way she customized the paper to only a few topics. I drastically reduced the scope of my account, named the paper after this blog, and crossed my fingers.

Visit Communication Art

The results are a lot better than my first attempt — although I did go in and manually edit two of the top stories. And while most of the paper’s categories can be customized, I remain frustrated that I can’t delete the photo section (it seems the people I follow tweet odd and irrelevant photos).

It will be interesting to see how the paper.li tool will develop over time. The website itself notes that it’s still in its early stages of development. One of the criticisms about tools like paper.li is the lack of original content. However, I view it as another platform by which to distribute original content rather than as a means to dilute it.

Do you use paper.li? Add your comments to this post!

Penn State’s Long Road Back — The New York Times (Opinion), 11/14/11

What Are People Doing Online? — The Next Web, 11/18/11

How Facebook is Ruining Sharing – CNET, 11/18/11

Google+ Pages Won’t Save Search Giant’s Social Network, Slate Says — Huffington Post, 11/9/11

What Google+ REALLY Means for Higher Ed — Higher Ed Live, 11/10/11

My niche is social media. I chose it for myself and followed my own advice. Every day I learn something new. I scour daily tweets from sites like Mashable. I form opinions on what I read. Most importantly, I apply it to my job.

Over the past six months, I started crafting national media pitches in response to queries from HARO and ProfNet (so much more productive that pitching blind!!!). While pitching others as experts in such areas as education, economics and psychology, I discovered that many queries sought experts in social media.

Following my own advice to students, why shouldn’t this be me! My advice when I was interviewed for the article, “How to Avoid Social Media Messes” published on Information Week‘s blog The Brain Yard on Oct. 31, 2011. 

The interview, for me, served not only get my name out there as a social media expert, but it boosted my confidence, renewing my commitment to, indeed, be among the best at what I do. It also gave me confidence to take my own blog, the one you are reading now, more public.

Young people choose majors out of fear. The arts are different. “All that is good in humanity is found in the arts.”

“Every time we touch the arts, the little bit of humanity we have grows brighter.”

You can’t serve two masters — art or capitalism. Are you doing something to make the world better?

Who you are always comes out in your art – including human limitations.

“People think that they have to write to be a writer. To be a writer, you have to read first.”

 ”The medium for a writer is other people’s nervous systems.” Most writing fails because the writer exerts too much control.

“The difference between reality & dreams is that the real world resists us.” The world must resist your characters.

“When you are reading you are off line. Literature functions at the speed of the human soul.”

Junot Diaz engages in a Q & A session with students before the keynote.

Linked-In Report: Women Without a Mentor – Forbes, 10/25/11

How to Get the Most Out of a PR Major – Ragan’s PR Daily, 11/1/11

Why You Hate Writing, And How to Lust After the Blank Page Again – CopyBlogger, 11/1/11

While both platforms fall into the category of “social networking,” LinkedIn should exclusively be used to build your professional reputation. Please consider the following tips when using LinkedIn:

• Instead of focusing on how many “friends” one can acquire on platforms like Facebook, Linked-In users should focus on the quality and impact of their connections. It’s not about reconnecting with former classmates or sharing photos of your children.
• If you post a photo, make sure it is a professional looking headshot. Don’t post photos of pets or children or of yourself in a bathing suit or at a party.
• Keep your updates professional. For example, share news about your industry or updates about projects you’re working on. It’s not about sharing 10 status updates every day about what you ate for lunch.
• If you want to connect with someone who is in your industry but who you don’t personally know, write a message first introducing yourself. For example, I have used Linked-In to connect with freelance writers in my geographical area to discuss potential work.
• Don’t ask someone for a reference unless they have first-hand knowledge of your work and skills. Being someone’s neighbor, former student or friend of the family does not, by itself, qualify them to endorse your work. It’s not a character reference.

Of course, the real world is not always ideal. Financial and personnel constraints may cause some colleges and universities to eliminate the hefty costs of maintaining full-power AM or FM transmission. Let me assure you, there are other ways!

Streaming live, 24/7 via the Internet, Montgomery County Community College’s student-run radio station, Montco Radio, has cultivated an international listenership through its diverse programming. In fact, College Music Journal nominated Montco Radio as one of the top five college Internet radio stations in the country in 2009.

The station has come a long way since forming in the late 1960s as a student DJ club. In the early 1970s, the station began closed circuit broadcasting in MCCC’s cafeteria between 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Montco Radio went international in 2003 when it began broadcasting 24/7on the Internet, and it can be accessed today by visiting the MCCC’s website at www.mc3.edu and clicking on the green microphone icon in the lower right corner.

Earlier this year, Montco Radio and one of its Djs was featured in International News magazine for its diverse programing — specifically for Caffé Expresso, which features music, topics of the day and recipes—all in Italian. The show’s host, student Camilla Zeigler, a native of Milan, Italy, has inspired other international students to share their cultures on the air; for example, one student is currently working on developing a pre-recorded show in Korean.

The station has actually seen significant growth in listenership rather than a decline. In addition, there are always plenty of students interested in participating. MCCC’s digital audio production students are required to take a one-credit radio course, during which they are active with the station. However, the station, including management and board positions, is also open to the general student population as a student club. At any given time, the members are about 60% communications students and 40% other majors.

Godin concludes his post by writing, “If the only alternative is slow and painful failure, the way to get unstuck is to blow up a constraint, deal with the pain and then run forward. Fast.”

While the “cut and run” method of coping isn’t always the most viable method, I have begun, recently, to understand its value as a life tool.