Social Media for PRSSA Chapters-- Lauren K Gray

In public relations, we know that social media is one of the top tools for PR today. With that, PRSSA National has many social media platforms to communicate with members around the country and out of the country!

Social media pages for Chapters are very beneficial. My Chapter, the Western Carolina University Chapter @WCUPRSSA, uses Twitter, Facebook, blogging and LinkedIn to post industry news, Chapters news, National news and other updates as they surface.

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Our Chapter also uses the Facebook page for events and discussions. We post job and internship opportunities at least once a week, which is beneficial for our members who could be searching for jobs and internships. Events on Facebook are useful because members get a reminder of the upcoming event and they can RSVP to the event and get more details about the event.

Twitter seems to be a PRSSA favorite lately! @PRSSANational posts job and internship opportunities as they arrive on the PRSSA Internship Center. For your Chapter, you can tweet individuals to remind them of meetings, thank people for coming to meetings and more. I think Twitter is more personal than just a mass message on Facebook. It’s very useful! A lot of Chapters retweet @PRSSANational posts and posts by other Chapters. 2010-2011 PRSSA President Nick Lucido even created a list of Chapters on Twitter: http://twitter.com/nicklucido/prssa-chapters.

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Twitter and Facebook are also great ways to communicate with other Chapters. I know our Chapter has gotten a few ideas from other Chapters for events and meeting topics, we are all here to help each other!

A lot of Chapters also have a blog or a website to talk about industry news and PRSSA topics. For example, the WCU PRSSA Chapter has our blog http://wcuprssa.wordpress.com where members can get information about our point system, meeting calendar, blog updates and more. We posted notes from a few different conferences our members attended and more.

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I think it’s important for Chapters to use social media to communicate with members because while email is very important, emails rack up quickly and are easily overlooked. College students are on their social media sites every single day. Does that mean they will check the Facebook and Twitter pages? No, but it is another method of communication for reaching more people.

As the 2011-2012 PRSSA National Vice President of Public Relations, I will communicate to members through our social media channels, the bi-weekly update and the PRSSA President phone and email tree. It’s very important to check these channels for PRSSA news and updates! Here are our links to our social media sites:

PRSSA National Facebook Fan Page

PRSSA National LinkedIn 

PRSSA National’s YouTube channel

PRSSA National Facebook Group

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           Something new we will be doing will be adding videos to the YouTube channel from the National Committee members! We will add introduction videos to tell you more about us and our initiatives. I will also ask Chapters to submit Chapter news via video so we can upload Chapter news to our YouTube channel as well! We want to utilize all our social media channels to their fullest potential.

            If you have any questions about starting social media for your Chapter or social media for PRSSA as a whole, please feel free to reach out to me! Tweet me on Twitter @laurenkgray or email me at laurenkgray2@gmail.com.

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4 PR Tips from Andrea Harp

Through PRSSA, I recently job shadowed Andrea Harp, Social Media and Marketing Coordinator at Ozarks Community Hospital. It was a fun experience. I was so thankful that Andrea took time out of her busy schedule to let me get to know her better and learn more about PR in the real world.

I thought I would share with you 4 of my favorite tips she gave me:

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1. Never Underestimate the Power of Tagging:
Andrea manages the blog, and she said that since OCH started using social media, they now come up before Cox Hospital (a super large hospital in Springfield) in the Google search engine. She said to tag every blog post well because it truly increases your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and therefore your online presence and traffic.

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2. Introduce Yourself to Your Co-workers as a New Employee:
As a PR professional, it is important to get to know your co-workers in all departments right away. Don't be afraid to go around and introduce yourself. To quote Andrea, "everybody poops", so don't let titles intimidate you. Knowing your co-workers on a personal level helps you professionally especially if you need their cooperation to generate social media content like for a blog.

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3. Be Aware of Rules in Your Industry:
Andrea works in a for-profit hospital and health care provider. Because of this, there is a lot of red tape and procedures she must take to follow the law. For example, HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) restricts release of patient permission. Everything is confidential. They must not even email about a patient's condition because the lack of security. In order for Andrea to gather patient testimonials, she has to ask for permission in advance, so it is not harassing the patient. Also, they have to be careful that no patients are accidentally photographed when taking pictures. These are some of the rules for the health industry, but every industry has their own set of rules, and it important to know them.

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4. Ask People How They Want to Contribute:
When Andrea came on, she introduced herself to her co-workers asked them if there was a specific way they would like to contribute to social media content. For example, some of the doctors like to write blogs for Andrea, while others are comfortable talking with reporters, and other go on camera for YouTube videos. By getting others in the organizations involved, it gives the community an expert and takes pressure off you.

I had a fabulous time chatting with Andrea and her boss Carrie. Everyone at OCH was so friendly. I highly recommending shadowing someone with a job your would like to have one day. For me, it only solidified my passion for PR and social media!

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Build Your Own Cathedral

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One of our speakers at PRSSA Day last Friday was Ryan Knapp, Digital Manager of NSCAA (National Soccer Coaches Association of America). He gave some invaluable tips on using social media to build your personal or business brand. (Although, he said that the phrase "building your personal brand" rubbed him the wrong way). He was an incredibly engaged speaker with a lot of content directed at social media.

5 Social Media Tips from Ryan Knapp:

1. Social Media is not free. Yes, it is essentially free to utilize; however, in order to use it well, it takes time, which is cost. So it is important to know what social media outlets would give your company value (benefit over cost).
2. Make the networking come to you. He shared a story about how a young guy created a place for soccer people to discuss things online bringing the networking to him.
3. Don't just send a resume. Make a full "I want a job" campaign. He shared another story about a lady who used the hashtag #IwanttoworkforDR (Digital Royalty). She would post blog posts to Twitter and tweet things of why she should work there. She works there now. 
4. Social Media can be utilized for "Social Good". It is a great way to promote and bring people together for a cause.
5. It is just a tool just try something. Do. Tools should play off your ability to do. Social Media is like legos. There are instruction booklets out there, but you need to build your own car. (Hence, the awesome Twitter graphic made from legos!)

Knapp also shared a great story of a man named Don Justo. A man from Spain who built a cathedral out of nothing. People thought he was crazy, but he continued to "build his own cathedral". 

That is what social media boils down too: tools that allow you to Build Your Own Cathedral.

My favorite power point image used:

http://icanhascheezburger.com/

I hope you laugh at this picture as much as I did, and don't leave rude commentz...unless you want to. ;)

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Elsie & Emma of Red Velvet

Exciting news!

This past week, I had the privilege of interviewing Elsie & Emma of Red Velvet about how they use their blogs to promote their business.

If you have never checked these girls out online, 

you SHOULD!

They are so adorable.

And if you live in Springfield, you should check out their shop on Commercial Street.

 Red Velvet is a vintage & hand-made things boutique that also sells cupcakes! 

 I had so much fun doing my first "Broadcast Journalism" project.

If you want to check out my team's story on Social Media in the Springfield community, click here.

Also, here is the video we made:

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Social Media Boot Camp with Sarah Evans

Today, I attended a Social Media Boot Camp with Sarah Evans and Social: IRL. It was incredible. Sarah Evans is a PR and new media consultant at Sevans Strategy and a guest writer for Mashable, a prestigious social media blog. She also has her own blog at PRsarahevans.com and is a "social media freak", and her Twitter is @PRsarahevans and leads a Twitter chat called #journchat.

Photo here

 Here are my 7 Social Media Tips from her today:

1. Hone in your passion when blogging. If you care about what you are writing about, it will show.
2. Twitter is all about the "re-tweet". Always leave room for others to "re-tweet" your tweet.
3. Always create a Facebook Fan page for business NOT a personal profile page.
4. Every moment is a PR moment. "Tweet" about news breaking news you experience such as earthquakes, and journalists may come to you.
5. Make Social Media Releases that are SHAREABLE with strategic time releases.
6. Blog headlines are for search engines, and "Tweets" make it attractive to click on.
7. Do not "pitch" Bloggers, but partner with them and establish relationships instead.

It was a great event, and I left with lots of ideas and networking opportunities. The Coffee Ethic even catered the event, so I baked the muffins for the event. Coffee and Community really did collide for me today! I also got to spend lots of time with my classmates and my former internship supervisor, Lindsey Neddenriep. My fellow Bear Communications member Doug and I came up with some great ideas for Urban District Alliance. I appreciated Ben Smith of Social: IRL to bringing such a reputable social media guru to Springfield, MO.

Extra tip from Sarah: Share a little "link love" with others. Link others and sometimes they will link you back. It's about the relationships you create online and continue offline.

Do you all have any tips for Social Media and PR users? Pin It