Just Facebook Me.

Just Facebook Me.
By: Lynley Kees

Public Relations professionals use social media though out their every day schedule. It is used so much in our daily lives that most of the time people are not even aware they are utilizing social media. PR professionals use social networking to generate awareness, promoting products, to staying in contact with work and their clients with the click of a button. I have seen an enormous amount in trends in social media over the past years. I hate that the words “Facebook me” is amongst my daily vocabulary along with asking myself, “what should I tweet today.” It is amazing to see how much social media has affected our lives in how we proactively communicate with others with a click of a button. I have only been a member of Facebook for three years and I have seen numerous positive changes in ways to communicate with people around the world. Now with the invention of Twitter, Blogger and Delicious and many other social networking services, the ways to communicate is never ending. For instance, take a look at this class. We are using Blooger to post assignments on the web to be viewed by our professors and fellow students. Also this semester my campaigns group and I have been using all different forms of social media for our client Big Brothers Big Sisters as an outlet to reach our targeted publics.

It is weird to think about how the world used to communicate to each other. Today the accesses we have to these types of social media have only made our job easier. I see the use of social media excessively growing in the future. In the past few years alone I have seen a change in how the world is communicating with one another for the better and look forward to seeing what the future brings.

Image Information: Social Media
Web source: Social Media Sites

Working with Little Budget, and the Power of Networking

By Natalie Beasley

Through out this course of Public Relations campaigns, we have constantly been working towards goals, to succeed for our clients, and to successfully pull off an event with little or no money. I began thinking about this more today when my group hosted a silent auction in the Oklahoma Memorial Union Molly Shi Ballroom benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cleveland county. A couple weeks ago, there was frustration and confusion, and at times just pure chaos. However, today when the event went flawless, and was a complete success, it all started making sense.
Every day agencies are faced with the challenge to put on events with little or no money. Before we were faced with this challenge I just believed that there was always money for the events to happen. Who would have guessed that a great event could be put on with such a low budget? As a group we were forced to work with the community, and work with local businesses in order to have items to auction off, as well as working with all local media to get publicity.
I feel like more than ever in this day and age, public relations and the success of a campaign can deal a great deal on who you know and who is willing to help out. Networking is the basis of success. Gaylord College has prepared all the students in the college to be successful through networking. I have been very impressed with all the people I have met through the University of Oklahoma’s journalism school.
Through the process of networking with the Norman community, and working with our client, as well as the Campus Activities Council, we were able to have great success, and have so many great things and entertainment that we got all for little or no cost. Public relations is not all about the money and events really can be successful without all the cash flow.

PR Everywhere

by Simone Fraid

PR is all around us. The efforts of people and organizations to get there messages across permeate our lives. This was especially evident at the free premiere of Observe and Report in Meacham on Friday night co-sponsored by CAC and UPB. There were free movie posters and mini giveaways everywhere, and surveys aplenty for those who were willing to participate.

The best part of the waiting game (it took an hour to get into the theater) was getting to see some of our peers in action. One of the Big Brothers Big Sisters groups was on hand to pass out fliers and then to speak to the audience briefly about the volunteer drive.

This group did a great job- their efforts were strategic, and will probably pay off for them. Their target is male volunteers, and they certainly had that audience at this premiere, where the audience was likely 80% male. Not only were they able to provide everyone with fliers, they also were able to make an announcement before the movie and speak directly to a theater full of people.

I just wanted to commend them on a great job, and it was nice to see a campaign in action. Best of luck to them, and all of the other groups as we go out into the "real world" and pitch our messages to the public.

On a side note, I don't recommend Observe and Report unless you can see it for free. That's my own little world-of-mouth PR.