Sign up for the inaugural Edelman Digital Bootcamp!

Where: University of Georgia

When: Saturday, March 1

Why: To gain practical, hands-on experience with researching, planning and executing a social media communications campaign.

The cost is minimal ($25 for students, $40 for educators) and that goes to cover the costs of materials and food — both of which will be provided at the event. Attendance is limited, so I encourage you to register online today! (Ahem, I don’t see any Auburn students signed up yet. I’m just sayin’.)

Okay, now that all those essentials are out of the way, I can talk about what this event means to me and why I’m so excited to be a part of it …

Right at the end of 2007, I had the pleasure of having lunch with Kaye Sweetser of UGA. We had a great conversation — chatting about social media best practices, the challenges of practicing and teaching online tactics, and some interesting case studies. We also talked about how GREAT it would be to do some sort of “social media bootcamp” to expose students and educators to social media and teach them the basics. Well …

A few short months later … here we are!

I think it’s clear that it’s a passion of mine to further the adoption of new media in the public relations curriculum. That’s why I started Forward. And even though I’ve been too busy to contribute as I should (sigh), I still think the great work that Paull and Luke do with the podcast contributes to the site’s mission. The PR blogosphere as a whole does an excellent job of evangelizing social media best practices. There are numerous events every year that serve to educate communicators on this new and growing medium. I hope that the Edelman Digital Bootcamp serves to advance this larger movement, as well.

I encourage you to visit the event’s site to learn the whole story about the event, grab a badge or widget to show your support, read the blog (written by students - so drop in and say hello!), and see who’s going to be there — both as leaders and participants. Oh, and don’t forget to join the Facebook group.

But I’d like to close this post giving kudos to the top-notch group of students working on this event. Dr. Sweetser set me up as a “client” for her campaigns class, so we’ve had a group of students working to plan and execute the logistics, publicity, Web strategy — everything! They’ve done press releases (both traditional and social), a media plan, communication strategy, arranged for lodging, the venue for event and reception, created the Facebook group, set up Flickr and Twitter, drafted Web copy and blog posts … you name it … they did it or are doing it!

So kudos all around. Just a few more days till the big event. If you know any students or educators who might be interested, pass it along.

Technorati Tags: pr, public relations, pr students, edelman digital bootcamp, uga, edb, ugaedb08

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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

Listen Now:

 The Rundown with Erin Caldwell: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3561)

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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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Whew! First Forward post from me in a long, long time. Apologies up front. But no excuses. (None are adequate.) Just diving in to the post …

I’ve been working hard the last year or so. Buried myself in getting oriented in my new career. All’s well. Good news is I’m finally surfacing with some thoughts and perspectives worth sharing. (Well, I think they’re worth sharing anyway.) Interestingly, over the past year, I’ve had several lessons from my younger years resurface and be overwhelmingly relevant.

It dates back to when I was in high school, working for my parents at our family business. My mother was my boss. She supervised many a’ high school students over the years and she earned a reputation for being a tough boss. Very high standards for her employees. She expected the best from them, and by golly, she would work with them patiently and firmly until they were polished into first-rate employees with stellar work ethics. Me working for her? Same top-notch standards applied, naturally.

My random lesson from Mom for today: follow directions.

This simple, seemingly insignificant thing is actually enormously important and can set you apart from other young professionals. It’s easy to shrug this off. “Well, of course. Everybody knows you should follow directions.” Yes. You SHOULD. But you’d be surprised how few people actually DO. Even fewer who do this well.

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So … big news for our very own Paull Young …

Paull has taken a job in New York! At this very moment, he’s finalizing the details of his visa and looking for an apartment in Manhattan — so it’s really happening — he’s moving across the globe to embrace his passion for new media and public relations. Congratulations, Paull!!

We’re good friends, so we’ve naturally been emailing back and forth while he’s been on his worldly travels the last few months. As has been his message throughout his journey, Paull attributes the success of his adventures — and now, his new job — to the relationships he’s made in the online world.

“I feel strange saying it, but social media has changed my life. When I started my blog I was motivated by a desire to help out my peers - I never expected to find myself immersed in an international network of PR bloggers.

Getting involved with Forward was an integral part of this. Through Forward I’ve developed some amazing friendships, learnt more than I thought would be possible in such a short time period and found the means to communicate with my peers and senior industry types from around the world.

It seems like a dream that I’ll be moving to New York to join Converseon, and it wouldn’t have come about without my involvement with social media. Of course there’s more substance to me than just a blog, but blogging and getting involved at Forward opened doors that never would have been available otherwise. Now I just can’t wait to see how the site continues to grow.”

So yes, he’s joining Converseon, where PR blogosphere leader Constantin Basturea is director of social media.

Really, now. Is anyone surprised that Paull got snatched up with a great job offer at the end of his famous world tour? He’s by far one of the industry’s best and brightest — on a global scale. Congratulations, again, Paull. We’re thrilled for you and your success and wish you all the best!

Technorati Tags: pr, public relations, paull young, paullyoung, young pr

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You may already be familiar with Scott Mac Donald from the Fuzzy Gloves blog. Well, we’re also pleased to announce that he’s joining the Forward team — our first Canadian contributor! I’ve included his bio below, and we’re looking forward to publishing his first post soon.

Scott Mac Donald hails from the East Coast of Canada. A life long resident of the Atlantic Provinces, he recently graduated with a business degree from Acadia University. Currently, he is a student of Humber College’s post-graduate public relations program in Toronto. Scott has a variety of experience in the not for profit sector and hopes to pursue his career on the agency side upon graduation in August 2007.

A recent convert to social media, Scott is a regular reader and commenter on a variety of blogs. He also posts regularly on his personal blog, Fuzzy Gloves.

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Just a quick mention that DC chapter of the Social Media Club has a meet-up coming up this week:

Social Media Club - Washington, DC
Thursday, Feb. 22
6-8:30pm
Hosted by Edelman
1875 I St. NW
Washington, DC, 2006

I’m helping to host this one and would personally love to meet some of you that are in the DC area, so I encourage you to come out! There will be food, beer, wine and great conversation. It’s completely free, but we do ask that you pre-register so we’ll know how many to expect.

At each meeting of the Social Media Club, we discuss a variety of issues relating to new media. This week, we’ll take a closer look at the online aspects of the 2008 presidential campaigns. (Did you notice, McCain just launched a new site. He’s got my thumbs-up as far as the site itself goes. Want to hear more analysis? Attend the meet-up!)

And while students are very welcome to attend this and any other Social Media Club event, if you’re underage … and you have a drink … I will hunt you down myself!! Do I really have to say it? Be lawful.

For more about the Social Media Club, visit their site. And to see other events I recommend for young PR folks — including, perhaps, a Social Media Club event in your city — visit the “Forward - Young PR Events” groups at Upcoming.org or check out our new events calendar.

Technorati Tags: smc, smcdc, pr students, young pr pros, youngprevents

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We all know that I got my current job at Edelman because of blogging. (Well, that’s the short version.) We know that employers — many of the large agencies, especially — have clearly recognized the need to build up their own online-focused practice groups, so they’re hiring webby folks as quickly as they can find them. You know social media, you’ve got a job.

Some students, however, make the mistake of thinking that learning about new media and understanding the online conversation points to a direct career path of all-day-every-day online-focused work. Wrongo!

I can say, with a good deal of confidence, that we are moving toward a time when all practitioners — whether you’re in healthcare, travel and tourism, or crisis management — will need to have some basic new media skills. The way I look at it, new media (dealing with social media, social networks, blogs, etc.) is just another form of media. The other types of media are all currently covered in pretty much every PR degree. I know in Auburn’s program, we learned how to write press releases, as well as how to write scripts for radio/television announcements. We learned how to work with journalists and how to pitch a story. Everyone seems to accept all these as essential skills for a PR professional. So why is it that when educators try to incorporate new media into the curriculum, they’re met with resistance — both from administrators and students?

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For those of you interested in fashion PR — or even if you’re still trying to settle on your “specialty” — I have a blog I’ve been meaning to point you to that’s definitely worth a read.

Crosby Noricks authors PR Couture, a blog that focuses primarily on the news and happenings in the world of fashion PR. Crosby and I first corresponded about a year ago regarding our common interest in the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, so I was delighted to hear from her again and see that she’s blogging now.

She’s done a great job of networking and is already immersed in the fashion blogosphere — definitely keeping her finger on the pulse of all that’s happening there. Fashion is certainly not my forte, so I will leave all that to her. Enjoy!

(Unilever (Dove) is an Edelman client.)

Technorati Tags: fashion pr, pr couture, pr students

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Todd And, a contributor to Forward Blog, has come up with an interesting list of the top 150 U.S. marketing blogs. It is Todd And’s Power 150.

The list comes about from a combination of objective and subjective methods that draw upon the following four factors: Google PageRank, Bloglines Subscribers, Technorati Ranking, and something called “Todd And Points”, which is essentially Todd’s personal opinion of the blog’s value.

According to Todd,

All four metrics were added to determine each blog’s total score. The total score carried the most weight in assigning the final Power 150 rank. If blogs shared the same final Power 150 rank, the suborder was determined by Todd And points. If Todd And points were the same, Technorati ranking points were compared – then Bloglines subscriber points and finally Google PageRank points.

Visit Todd’s blog for a more complete explanation. We’d like to note that Forward Blog is currently listed at #56 on the list. Thanks, Todd.

By the way, one of the reasons for this post is to test our new email notification system. Forward blog has about 150 email subscribers. However, the previous email notification plugin we were using for Forward was wrought with problems. So, we’ve changed to the Watershed Studio WordPress Email Notification Plugin.

Please do us a favor. If you received your notification of this post via email, please visit this post on the blog and comment. Actually, if you see this post and did not get a notification, please comment, too. We hope the problem is fixed. But, we won’t be sure until this post hits the blog. Thanks for your understanding and cooperation.

P.S. This isn’t Erin. I’m Robert. Don’t ask. I just needed to test the plugin. Erin was asleep. Shhhhh! She’ll likely not notice. Now, please say a prayer as I’m about to hit publish. Work plugin, work!

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