Social Media News Release

What is a Social Media News Release (SMNR)? 

-A social media news release is a way for people to share press releases with each other online.

What are the advantages & disadvantages of a SMNR?
-Advantages of social media news releases are that sharing is quicker and easier, it makes sharing sources and related information about the topic easier through links
-One possible disadvantage of social media news releases is that anybody can create an account and fabricate an inaccurate or totally “made up” story. Other than that I think social media news releases are great.

When should a PR practitioner consider using a SMNR?
-A public relations practitioner should consider using a social media news release when trying to spread news quickly across the country. Spreading news quickly is very important especially during times of major political events, catastrophes, and celebrations. 

Offer links to at least two websites that will help one create a SMNR

http://www.realwire.com/
http://www.socialmediaportal.com/

Provide a link to a SMNR that an organization has created

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/releases/?req=20110406c
(This SMNR was created by Texas Parks and Wildlife)

Provide a link to the SMNR you created and describe its purpose, goal(s) and target audience
http://www.prxbuilder.com/link.aspx?p=1589

• The purpose of this SMNR is to inform my target audience of a project that Painters for Nonprofits is undertaking.
• The goal of this SMNR is to spread the word about Painters for Nonprofits and recruit help from others to complete the project.
• The SMNR’s target audience is the “locals” -residents & students that live in the Statesboro/ Savannah area.

Provide 5-10 tips for SMNR creation
1. Read the website’s terms & agreement throughly before agreeing to become a member. It might be possible that the website you use can steal your work.
2. If you are not sure about what you are doing or are questioning your work… look to professional examples for help.
3. Have your trusty APA style book on deck for you help.
4. Speaking of having your APA style book… proof read ALL of your work including grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Remember, your work will be visible to the whole world and you do not want to sound like a total idiot.
5. Always write in an objective manner. In the world of Public Relations the last thing a PR practitioner wants to do is start a conflict.

My feedback: The bucket list

Check out Autumn Hendrick’s blog out here

Check out Ashly Ennis blog out here

When life gives you buckets, kick ‘em

What is on your bucket list and what do you want to be remembered for?

All we truly have are our hopes and dreams – I think a bucket list is great because we hardly ever write about our hopes and dreams and seeing them in front of your eyes is motivating. 

Top 10 things I would like to do in my lifetime-

1. Grow a fruit orchard complete with trees like orange , banana, pomegranate, and several types of apple…

2. Visit the giant stone statues & heads on  Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

3. Create my own recipes for things like rubs, marinades, & BBQ sauce

4. Scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef

5. Sail around the coast of Belize with someone special

6. Go to as many music festivals as I can

7. Compulsively buy an insanely expensive piece of jewelry just once

8. Take out a personalized billboard ad whenever I feel like getting something off my chest

9. Graffiti something huge (and tasteful) on the side of a building in the middle of a busy big city… so that everyone can see it

10. Nurture a family

I would like to be remembered as a spontaneous, kind, and generous person. Nothing more nothing less.

If your texting & walking…watch out for those open manhole covers

 I can’t text & drive because my cell phone has a touch screen and its way too difficult to pay attention to the road however I am definitely guilty of texting & walking. I don’t think there are many dangers of texting & walking. Worst case scenario?

1) running into & injuring a fragile senior citizen
2) walk in front of a moving vehicle
3)  fall into an open manhole/ trip over something

If any of these things happen & you get in trouble or are seriously injured… you probably deserve it. Its like “natural selection” of our generation. If you are dumb enough to injure yourself or others by texting & walking, it’s just natural selection’s way of telling you that you probably won’t survive unless you STOP IT -it’s rude.  Besides that, I don’t think there are many dangers… besides embarrassing yourself & getting yelled at by the people you bump into.

Now, how about a public relations tactic that could be used to raise awareness about the problem? If it were up to me, I would team up with cell phone companies like Sprint, AT&T, Verizon, etc and organize an anti- texting & driving/ walking campaign. I suggest putting cell phone companies ‘ sales personnel through a training that would educate them about the dangers of texting & would ask them to brief customers of the dangers. I’ve chosen sales personnel because they directly interact with customers. 

I really haven’t changed

 

If I could go back and observe myself in high school and compare to how I am now… I would argue that much hasn’t changed. It is also important to mention the social conditions in which I existed. I went to a private- Catholic high school in Charleston, SC. High school was a screwed up fairy tail, ’nuff said. I was bent on attending an out of state college and ended up at GSU.

I am still best friends with my the people I knew back in high school. We all see each other at concerts and during holidays and we still like to go out and rage. I’ve met a lot of really cool people in Statesboro and I know that these friendships will last forever. I still love the same things that I did back then. Good times, good food, and good music.

Perhaps the only difference is that when I was in high school, is that I had a much more “forward” personality. I wouldn’t hesitate to tell you who I am, where I’m from, and what I’m all about. The transition from laid back coastal life of Charleston to Statesboro was rocky.  I’ve never been more “sketched out” in my life as I was my freshman year.

Freshmen always have to worry about getting along without mom & dad. I think in order for people to get along, there must be a natural balance. Everyone must be tolerant and understanding of each other, yet speak out if an injustice occurs. I’ve come to realize that it is more polite to gradually get to know a person over time than in a matter of hours. It is also much safer.

If I could have a conversation with 17 year old Nikki, I wouldn’t reveal much about the future. I would be more interested in hearing what 17 year old Nikki thinks of me now. I wonder if I would approve of how I am now… It doesn’t matter anyways, because I have a nice future to look forward to. I’m in a relationship with the coolest guy ever, my family is supportive, and soon I will be done with college. I can’t wait for the future.

Teen pregnancy in America

I do not think that MTV is glamorizing teen pregnancy nor do I believe that they fail to show realistic consequences. As far as magazine covers go, it doesn’t take much to land the cover. These girls aren’t stars at all. They’re just teenagers that got pregnant. Lets factor the “baby daddy” out of the equation.  Here are the facts-

1. Your family life
a. Your supportive parents have a high income and will help you out
-They are more than willing to watch the baby/ help pay for daycare.
b. Your parents don’t have the money to help you. Get a job.

2.. Getting a job/ supporting the baby
a. Your parents help pay for the baby’s day care/ put you through college.
b. You consider college but you can’t because
-You are earning minimum wage and working full time.
{You are not earning enough money to save. You can barely pay rent.}
{Your parents are tired of watching the baby, you can’t afford daycare.}
{At least now that your working, your eligible for food stamps.}

3. The outcome
a. Now that you’ve graduated college, you can realistically support your baby.
b. Hopefully, you somehow figure things out. Hopefully, child support  can help you.

I wouldn’t have written this if I hadn’t had some sort of experience with the topic.  After I graduated high school, my two best friends got pregnant within months of each other. One joined the armed forces, the other has been able to get comfortable but has a second child on the way. I think the only solution would be better sex education. We went to a Catholic private school and the sex ed. was severely inaccurate and uninformative. Some say it’s the parents responsibility, others say it’s the school systems. Either way, I’d like to see a better sex education program at my old high school.

FAIL

What would you do/how would you feel if facebook, twitter, and all other social media websites shut down, and no new ones were allowed to be created to take their place? What could businesses do to connect with their audience(s)? Do you think people could easily go back to the way life was before social media? Why/why not?

It would be a bit sad because I would lose all my posted photos & funny discussions… but the demolition of twitter and facebook would be GREAT! These days, companies can look at your facebook before hiring you. In other cases schools & the police can also look at your facebook without you even knowing! You are literally being STALKED by people you don’t even know. I changed my first and last name to an alias on facebook because I was tired of classmates and questionable extended family sending me friend requests.

Something else thats interesting- my mother is friends with MY friends on facebook. Now she’ll ask how my friends are doing and mention that last week their status updates seemed “sad.” Creepy mom. Now facebook also can also RECOGNIZE your friends when you posy pictures. I posted pictures from spring break and facebook auto-recognized everybody in the album. Fucking weird. After a break ups couples will stalk each other and look at old pictures… it makes me sick. Weeks, months, and years after a break up people are still able to look at their ex’s profiles.

YES facebook & twitter help people stay in contact and make things move faster BUT is it worth your privacy being invaded? I don’t think so.

A way to seize the day

-What have you done to “seize the day”? What can you do to seize an opportunity? Should you sit back and wait for it to come to you, or should you seek it out?
-In PR you must often “seize the day,” watch for opportunities in which you can proactively promote your client. What campaigns or other public relations efforts have you seen in which a company seized upon an opportunity? Do you think they were successful?

I quit smoking cigarettes 2 days ago. I decided that I wanted to be healthier & stop smelling like an ash tray! I’ve been planning this for a long time. I’ve been smoking for years and decided that enough was enough. I like the quote by Hunter S. Thompson-

“A man who procrastinates in his choosing will inevitably have his choice made for him by circumstance.”

I would rather choose to quit smoking than be forced to quit by circumstances (like lung cancer). By quitting cigarettes and choosing a healthier lifestyle, I will hopefully be able to live longer and seize more days in my lifetime.

President Obama quit smoking cigarettes too. Supposedly he’s been cigarette- free for over a year. Ironically, Obama ran for presidency against Hillary Clinton, who a banned smoking at the White House while her husband was president.  After he was elected, Obama quit smoking. I don’t think he necessary did it as a PR move but as way to improve his health. It just so happens that the country wants to know how he’s doing and it raises public interest. Whether or not you like him, he has inspired millions of people in different ways. I might not be the next president but I can manage to quit smoking.

Statesboro… a city with potential

I have lived in Statesboro for almost 16 years and I have seen many changes in that time. I can remember when the bypass was only 2 lanes and where the other lanes are now were just grass. I also remember a time before Applebee’s, Longhorn, etc. Thankfully progress came to the ‘boro, and is still coming. In the past year Statesboro added Olive Garden to its list of restaurants, next week they add Cracker Barrel, and sometime after that Panera Bread.  Statesboro has grown in terms other than food establishments, with Books-A-Million, Hobby Lobby and the addition to Hacker’s with its bowling alley and arcade.  If you were on a committee deciding what businesses (in specific or in general) to ask to come to town, what would it be and why?

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Two Words: INDUSTRIAL PARK. An industrial park is a portion of land set aside for large businesses & factories. Depending on the size of the factories and land, industrial parks can hold up to 5-20 businesses.  Since most of these businesses are big, each one has the potential to to bring in ATLEAST 400 new jobs. Thats a lot of jobs.

I believe that the introduction of thousands of new jobs will bring in new families and increase the steady population (I am excluding the 20-25 thousand college kids that come & go seasonally). Industrial parks can also increase the availability of jobs for locals too. By strengthening Statesboro’s population I believe that other companies like the ones we are seeing now (Hobby Lobby, Panera Bread, Pet co, etc) will be more willing to open a store in this location & that with a higher population comes more entrepreneurs, ready to own, manage, and run new businesses.

Statesboro already has industrial parks. One has companies that handle natural gas, sewage, electricity, and natural gas. There are hundreds of thousands of businesses that could occupy an industrial park but to give you a better idea of potential businesses I’ll give examples: a factory that makes car parts, a business that trains military personnel to fix aircraft by using simulators, a Quoizel factory that assembles Tiffany style lamps. I know this isn’t a a traditional answer but… any feedback?

Gateway Regional Industrial Park (Statesboro)

Beach Party

You’re hosting a dinner party and get to call all of the shots. You have 4 seats open at your table for anyone you want (deceased or alive). At this dinner party, nothing is too casual or over the top. Use your creativity as you answer the following questions.

If I could invite four people to sit at my table with me, I would choose my best friend Sarah, my boyfriend, and 1978 Cheech & Chong. We would probably be making jokes and laughing the entire night. We would specifically discuss what our favorite music is, past experiences, and favorite baked goods. I would invite all the cool people I’ve ever met at music festivals, ALL my best friends, and celebrities like Ron Paul, Damien Marley, James Franco, Snoop Dogg, Kevin Nealon, John Stewart… etc.

The reason of the party is to celebrate a commonality that unites all walks of life. The event would focus on positive uses of hemp,  such as medicinal uses, and it’s ability to be used in making fabrics and fuels. My event would be held in Belize because the scenery is beautiful. It would be amazing to be surrounded by a tropical paradise and clear blue water. The location of the event would take place in the evening at a pavilion surrounded by mosquito nets.

The menu is the best part about the evening. The food will be served buffet style and include BBQ favorites like smoked ribs, Boston butts, and steaks. Side items might include rice, tater tots, mac-n-cheese, sweet bread, etc. Fish tacos and local seafood will also be available. There will also be an open bar. For entertainment, I would invite the bands Dubconscious and Slightly Stoopid to play acoustic sets. I would also like to provide multiple bonfires on the beach shore…  so if you don’t like my fire than don’t come around. For the grand finale- FIREWORKS. Best party ever? I think yes.