Tuesday, Nov. 20
1:30pm ET
Listen here

For those of you who don’t know, our very own Luke Armour likes to spread his podcasting talents around … and he has his own weekly podcast at BlogTalkRadio. “The Rundown,” as it’s called, airs live every Tuesday afternoon and features Luke — entertaining as ever — and a guest or two discussing topics relevant to PR, marketing, the Web, etc.

Well, tomorrow, I will be Luke’s guest as we chat about Forward, PR, things I’ve learned during my first few years as a professional, and whatever else Luke chooses to ask me about. So if you’d like to listen in (and surely hear some audible LOLs from me, as I tend to laugh a lot when speaking to Luke), join us at 1:30pm ET tomorrow.

updated 11/26 with audio

Technorati Tags: pr, public relations, pr podcast, the rundown, blogtalkradio, luke armour, erin caldwell

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 The Rundown with Erin Caldwell: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3563)

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Guest post from Auburn grad, Evyan Mischke …

Last Monday marked my second month at Evins Communications and looking back, I can’t believe I’ve only been here for 60 days. I feel like the advice I’m going to give to college students I heard over and over, but never listened to. The best word I have for the last two months is “whirlwind.” I thought I knew so much after my internship this summer, but that internship only skimmed the surface of public relations in NYC.

It’s important to keep in mind that the agency I’m at is small and my role here is a little untraditional. Technically, I’m supposed to work 50 percent on clients and 50 percent on social media. Finding the balance of this has been a little more difficult that I had anticipated. I’ve been thrown pretty quickly into two accounts and have been working on social media things on the side. However, my focus lately has been a lot more on social media and the company plan for 2008.

What does this mean for students who are about to be young PR professionals? To me, it means to give it all you can give. One thing I have learned is that it’s ok to be wrong, and it’s ok to ask questions (actually, a tip: I think they like it when you ask questions).

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Forward Podcast 35 hearkens back to Forward Podcast 26 :: A Tour of the PR Podosphere where Paull and Luke discussed other valuable podcasts for young PR pros. Forward Podcast 35 brings you Young PR Pros (YPRP), an online community of over 3600 young (and young at heart) PR professionals at all levels, in all industries, all across the world. Hmm, sounds a bit like Forward, doesn’t it?

Well it is similar, but different in technology and community. But it is another online place that PR students and professions should know about. YPRP started in 2001 as a Listserv (ask your parents) and is now a Yahoo! Group, a MySpace group, a Facebook group, and a MyRagan group. Not all are equally active, but all represent the same community of professionals sharing insights, advice and woes. Also, kickball, happy hours and successes, but you’ll have to listen for more.

Kevin Barry, moderator for all four groups, is a freelance writer, communications consultant and Facebook addict currently living in West Hollywood after numerous years working his way across the world. He is a testament to the YPRP community in action. He joins Luke to talk about what YPRP was, what it has become and how Forward helped.

Show Notes:

• 00:14 A warm welcome
• 01:25 Housekeeping:
• Paull phoned in from Atlanta from the Executing Social Media Conference for PR, Marketing and Communications at which he presented on Second Life.
• Luke spoke with the Bad Pitch Bloggers this week.
  
• 04:52 Interview with Kevin Barry

Please leave your comments for Kevin, Luke or Paull and be sure you’re subscribed to blog’s RSS feed as well as the podcast RSS feed in your podcatching program of choice.

Update: the original file had some audio overlap. This new one is clean. Sorry about that.

Listen Now:

 Forward Podcast 35 :: A YPRP Online Community: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (4751)

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At one point in time, I’m sure each of us has been victim — yes, victim — to a really, really baaaad handshake. Did you know … employers are more likely to overlook body piercings than a bad handshake? Seriously.

Personally, I’m not very forgiving of poor handshakes. There’s a broad range: too strong, too tight, too flimsy, too long, and everything in between. Mediocre handshakes are just … mediocre. But they’re somewhat more forgivable that the extremes of too aggressive or too weak.

I guess I have little patience for poor handshakes because it’s SUCH an easy thing to address! And the benefits of nailing a good handshake can be huge. Don’t you want someone to shake your hand and literally think to themselves, “Hmm, good handshake. I like this person so far.”? (Yes, I’ve literally had that cross my mind when meeting someone new before.) So what makes a good handshake? I would describe it as … firm, but not too strong, a brief pause without lingering, one or two small and solid shakes (from the elbow, not the wrist), with confident and friendly eye contact. It’s also good to step toward the person and lean slightly forward as you extend your hand. (By the way, I learned this from a workshop session with a career and etiquette coach. I’m not just pulling this out of my arse!)

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Earlier this year, the Council of Public Relations firms published a white paper on the evolving role of public relations in the age of social media. It’s an interesting and often frank report on the state of public relations. The report’s authors describe the “current communication landscape” as the “wild west, as the advertising agencies and other marketing providers deliver services that, in the past, have been the domain of the public relations industry,”

After reading through the report, I spoke with Matt Shaw, Vice President of the Council of Public Relations Firms, to get his take on the white paper and to ask a few questions about the changing landscape of public relations.

Here’s a snapshot of our recent conversation:

John: The report predicts that “[h]ybrid compensation models are likely to develop that are more closely tied to audience engagement than hourly revenue. This new model would be based partly on an hourly basis, on project deliverables, and measurable outcomes. Clients often are measured and compensated this way in their own businesses, so metrics will become increasingly important and sophisticated within public relations.”

If this is the case, it seems that tools like Google Analytics and Technorati’s authority rankings will become increasingly vital to PR professionals. If this prediction holds true, then will these tracking tools surpass the more traditional PR Trak in terms of how we justify ROI and ultimately develop business?

Matt: It’s difficult to predict how and when PR firm business models may change, but I would agree with the author’s findings that clients are looking at new ways to work w/their firms in this area (PR and ad agency alike). I’m sure there are many PR firms that are talking with their clients today about how to best measure newer social media programs. Measuring the many new forms of “engagement” should only grow in importance, and the good news is that these things are indeed measurable.

Another thing to keep in mind: An under-appreciated element in the overall measurement conversation is the fact that when PR has been measured, in mix marketing models or communications optimization models for example, it performs quite well, and generally comes out on top of other marketing disciplines. The P&G study of ’05 is the best-known case, but it is happening consistently, in all types of industries.

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After a rather unusual introduction from your hosts, Luke Armour and Paull Young, we roll the recording Paull did at Podcamp Boston with some thought leaders in the online public relations and marketing space. Featuring Bryan Person author of the Bryper Blog and the voice of the always informative New Comm Road podcast as well as Anna Farmery all the way from England of the Engaging Brand blog and podcast.

Show Notes:

• 00:13 A very Young/Armour Intro
• 01:16 Housekeeping:
• 01:23 UGA wrap up
• 03:47 The rundown on The Rundown
• 04:16 Podcamp Boston
• Special Irish Pub Converseon edition of Mitch Joel’s Six Pixels of Separation #75 podcast. Featuring:
• Constantin Basturea – The New PR Wiki – Converseon.
• Christin Eubanks – My PRception – Converseon.
• Scott Monty – crayon – The Social Media Marketing Blog.
• Bryan Person – Bryper Blog - New Comm Road.
• Paull Young – Forward Podcast – Young PR – Converseon.
• 05:18 Paull thinks he’s funny
• 07:50 Interview with Bryan and Anna
• 09:10 Global vs Local hiring/Cultural Shifts
• 11:36 Social Media Resume
• 13:40 PR Tools You Need
• 15:30 Personal vs. Professional Online activities
• 18:12 Anna mentions Wal Mart stats and follows up via email with “Ryan Lohen of Wal Mart Stores Inc said in Wall Street Journal that he spends 1-2 hours per week searching through blogs for new talent or information about candidates. He says that he had filled 125 vacancies that way…”
• 20:45 Legal Issues
• 23:00 Wrap Up

Please leave your comments for Paull, Luke, Anna or Bryan about this podcast or any ideas you have for future podcasts. We are here to serve you! Well, Paull is, Luke is here to sip drinks with tiny umbrellas.

Listen Now:

 Forward Podcast 34 :: Getting Hired in a Google World: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1693)

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