RPIE for the #schoolPR Pro: Communication Plan Checklist #tspra14

School public relations programs have a much greater chance of success with proactive, strategic planning that incudes measurabIe objectives set forth by research and evaluated. The following is the RPIE for the School PR Pro checklist I created to share with other school public relations pros to guide them through the 4-step process -- Research, Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation.  

This checklist was first prepared and shared at the 2014 Texas School Public Relations Association conference during the roundtables session.

In defense of (and clarifying) #schoolPR

Some people really don't get school public relations (or even PR in general). Repeat after me, public relations is greater than media relations. It's even worse when someone has worked in the field and still doesn't get it.

Public has no clue what school PR pros do. "New York Taxpayers Foot the Bill for #SchoolPR Services" http://t.co/gvGrqHgYTQ #edchat
— delainanicole  (@delainanicole) June 25, 2013

Thanks to Delaina Biernstein for sharing an article that perpetuates a silly mischaracterization and miscalculation of what is/is not school PR. In the Yahoo! Contributor Network article, "New York Taxpayers Foot the Bill for School Public Relations Services," the writer suggests:

School public relations specialists are essentially hired to spread the word about the good things being done by students, with the hope that getting the information out into the media will help districts get their budgets passed.

These specialists do photography at student recognition nights at school board meetings, write press releases on the latest district news, and assist with school publications. 

They prepare newsletters, flyers, posters, brochures, and articles for district websites. Additionally, school public relations specialists attend major district functions, such as board of education meetings, homecoming, and graduations, to compile stories and photos for dissemination to local media outlets. [emphasis added]

Tactics, tactics, tactics

That brief description above is just a bunch of boring tactics. School PR is more than what this writer purports. I believe school PR pros must approach the position from a strategic communication vision. 

The Texas Association of School Boards HR Services Division defines the Communications Officer [school PR] function as one that: 

“Manages and directs the dissemination of public information regarding the district. Coordinates the exchange of information with media outlets and the general public. Develops public relations programs and materials to promote a favorable image of the district and its activities.” [2012 Position Detail Report for Communication Officers]

Did you catch that? Coordinates the exchange of information with media outlets and the general public.

To be fair, I'll cut that writer some slack since he claims to have three years of experience working in school public relations. My guess is he likely served in a tactics-driven specialist job and was never given the great professional opportunity to write PR plans using the RPIE process. What he described is the implementation of some tactics that, whether he knows it or not, are from a strategic vision for a district. 

It's also worth noting that in New York, as in other states, a school district's operating budget must be approved annually by vote. This no doubt adds an interesting (challenging) dimension for school communicators, but a strategic process is still in play.

Education leaders must keep school PR in and around their vision and strategy discussions if they hope to have any success in program or campaign implementations. The media may well be a key audience, but it's certainly not the only audience to consider.

Thoughts from a blogging hiatus

Hiatus - n. 1. A gap or interruption in space, time, or continuity; a break

I took a break from blogging. The holidays provided a much-needed opportunity to enjoy my family and recharge. It also gave me a catch up on some things professionally. The first was the transition from being in charge of programs to membership for the Ft. Worth PRSA. This led to some reflecting on what volunteering means for professional development. The second was time to consider the local implications of recent news-making issues in education (campus safety and security, testing, and funding). And lastly, I came across an intriguing idea for blogging worth exploring: topic buckets. 

Volunteering and Professional Development

In 2012, I was the VP of Programs for Ft. Worth PRSA and I think we put together a solid mix of luncheon programming and evening mixers for networking and knowledge. Over the break, a group of chapter members volunteered at a local mall manning the Salvation Army Angel Tree table for our service project. We assisted people in the Angel Tree donations process who wished to bless some families in need. If your group has opportunities to serve your communities, don't limit yourselves to the specific roles for which you gather. Instead of helping a nonprofit by crafting press releases or writing communication plans, a simple service project with peers met a need and made a difference.

I'm looking forward to 2013 and continuing to serve alongside a dedicated board members and committee chairs intent on continued growth for the professionals and profession. If you are a PRSA member (or any professional communication or public relations organization), please consider giving back as a volunteer. It can be a great opportunity to network with regional PR pros, learn from the experiences of others, and gain valuable feedback on your own work through connections and conversations.

Education issues and School PR

Working in public education always has its challenges and mandates from revised curriculum, accountability and testing, funding, extracurricular, attendance zoning, school choice (school vouchers in disguise) and the ever-popular, local taxation issues. Those challenges are magnified in Texas when the Legislature is in session. To be honest, school district employees in Texas hold our collective breaths when lawmakers come together every two years. We wonder what new ridiculous  unfunded mandates will befall educators, schools, and districts this time? Or, as in the last session, how much will the state cut in education funding this year? (During the last session, the Legislature cut $5.4 billion from public education.) 

This time, the realities are clouded even more because of major campus security debates across the country following the elementary school shooting in Connecticut in December. There are absolutely no easy answers to these and other issues for public education. That said, I absolutely believe school districts need to lean on professional communicators to help explain, explore, and expand on important topics facing public education. 

My advice for school PR pros is to pay close attention to the major issues and potential laws impacting education. Thankfully, we work with experts in curriculum, testing, finance, etc. at our districts that each of us should turn to for briefings on these areas. I'm also thankful for the Texas School Public Relations Association (TSPRA) has some plain-English resources for school PR pros on many of these same issues.

Topic Buckets and Blogging
On January 6, 2013, I caught a random tweet from the #blogchat Twitter chat about Topic Buckets as a way to organize and plan your blog. From mackcollier.com:

"...You want to blog more often, but coming up with ideas is sometimes tough.  Something that has helped me is organizing your blog’s focus into Topic Buckets. 

The basic idea is this: Pick 2-5 main topic areas that you want to cover on your blog...Now the great thing about Topic Buckets is that they really help you organize your posting patterns. You may be trying to think about how you can blog 2-3 times a week, but if you can create 2-3 Topic Buckets, then all you have to do is write one post a week for each topic, and you are set! Also, it’s a good way to keep track of what you’re blogging about..."

I let that idea simmer a while and have concluded that using Topic Buckets is an idea worth trying and sharing. I'll need to leave that idea unfinished at this point until I can come back with more details on how topic buckets can improve my blogging experience on this one and the blog I manage at work.

See, taking breaks is good.

Photo: svenwerk 

Back to #SchoolPR Tips: First Day Photos

Cute kid photos are like gold for school PR people. As a practice, we get to go around through the school year for events, programs, or any random opportunity to shoot photos in our campuses and school districts. We search for those elusive shots that capture the excitement, interest, and intrigue that can be found in education. A prime opportunity for these photos occurs during back to school.

But what happens when you can't be at all campuses at once? How can you get those first day photos with the bright smiles, carefully chosen threads, the occasional tears from the little ones and their parents, and other such images? Let the community submit these photos. Here's how:

User-Generated First Day Photos

I started our school district's first day photo concept back in 2008. The idea is simple: Put out the call for photo submissions via the communication channel(s) of  your choice website, blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

We do with a website posting like this 'Photo Gallery Request - Send us your first day photos' along with the criteria. We ask that users email photos taken during the first few days of school. I use Google applications for a number of other district-related items like the school district's blog, website analytics, and more so naturally I let folks email their photos to the Gmail account for quick access and labeling.  To make things even easier, we only accept .jpg format images.

We also note that by submitting photos, users are agreeing to allow the district to display the images among other submitted photos on the district's online gallery site. Users also agree to allow the district to use the images for other district-related print or electronic publications. 

These photos then get uploaded to a First Day Photos gallery for that year. (See our galleries from 2009, 2010, or 2011 for more samples.) We try not to show names or other easily identifiable images. 

Outcomes

I've been very impressed with some of the quality of images sent in by families. When I started this, I figured we get mostly younger kids. Surprisingly there are typically plenty of middle and high school students submitting photos as well. 

We get all kinds of shots like photos as kids walk out the door in their homes, standing in the driveway, climbing on the bus, walking up the school sidewalks, in the hallways and classrooms. 

In four years, we've posted over 540 photos that were sent in for the annual first day photos galleries. From these photos I've been able to pull images for use on the district's blog and website and in some cases, in print when the quality and resolution have both been high enough. Plus, there's the added bonus of being to get photos from almost every campus if we've done our job of effectively communicating the submission opportunity.

Creating a way for your users to submit photos is such an easy way to engage your families, drive traffic to various communication channels through cross-pollination of content, and mine that school PR gold. 

What do you think? What are some ways you have used back to school time for school public relations? The comments are yours.

Social Media Issues and Best Practices #tspra12

This is my presentation for last week's Texas School Public Relations Association 2012 Conference. I told attendees I'd have the deck available on the blog. Thank you to all who came to the afternoon presentation and for the great questions. I hope you took away something(s) useful. 

And remember, don't be afraid to ask for help.

Social Media Issues and Best Practices for School PR

View more presentations from Richie Escovedo

Special thanks to Craig Verley (Mission CISD) and Scott JuVette (Ft. Worth ISD) for letting me use you and your districts as good examples for the group.

How crisis communication theory meets crisis communication reality

Image via Wikipedia When Worlds Collide!
How crisis communication theory meets crisis communication reality

Guest post by Brad Domitrovich, PR Zealot

What is a crisis? By definition, it is a crucial or decisive situation, a turning point. For those of us who happen to be in the school PR business, a crisis is better defined as any event that causes us to stop what we are doing and react. From a personal standpoint, I define a crisis as any situation that makes me reach into my medicine cabinet and grab my favorite bottle of headache relief!

Over the past year, I’ve presented crisis communication seminars at several conferences across Texas. In attendance at these workshops were School Board Trustees, Superintendents, District Level Administrators, and Campus Level Administrators. It is always such a breeze lecturing people about what to do in a crisis, especially  when there isn’t one going on at that very moment. It sure is easy being “the expert” on stage answering questions about managing the media when there isn’t a line of reporters at my door. Life is so easy when you’re operating in “theory” mode rather than “reality” mode. I’m a big fan of the show Seinfeld. So what happens when, as the character George Costanza states, “worlds collide?” What happens when reality is here and theory takes a back seat?

Every school district has to deal with a crisis from time to time. The ones I have worked for are no exceptions. A couple of months ago, I had a crisis situation pop up. A big one. One of those that you know that within the next twenty-four hours, you are going to be contacted by virtually every media outlet in your market.

Instead of getting myself worked up into frenzy mode, I opted to close my office door, sit in the quiet for a few minutes, and jot down some notes as a plan of action. When I finished penning my last bullet point, I realized that what I was jotting down, was a parroting of what I have been presenting as “theory” throughout the past year.

#1: Be prepared
Although each crisis is different and should be weighed on its own merit, preparation is paramount. What does being prepared mean? Being prepared for me in this case was reviewing information with key individuals. I made sure that I had all the details I needed so I knew what to say. There is no such thing as having too much information when you are preparing for a media blitz. I reviewed timelines, activities, and actions and made sure that all of us knew what to do and what to say during and after the crisis period. Bradley D. Smith, School Board President for Georgetown ISD reiterates this thought. “My advice to administrators would be to completely understand the facts regarding the crisis and then articulate a strong strategy,” he states.

#2: Never say “no comment”
Everyone knows that you should never say no comment. I always try to view the crisis from the eye of the public. Do they want to hear you say “no comment”? Anytime you ignore a crisis situation, it only makes things worse. If we provided no comment, we would have lost our greatest opportunity to control the crisis.

#3: Have one spokesperson
Having one spokesperson who is comfortable in front of reporters is an incredible asset in a crisis situation. One individual should always be designated as the primary spokesperson to make official statements and represent the company. A back-up individual should also be identified in the event the primary person is unavailable. “Have a predetermined spokesperson to handle all the information releases and interviews,” explains Craig Verley, Public Relations Director for Mission Consolidated ISD. “One voice with correct and timely info – frees up other staff  to do their jobs in dealing with the emergency situation without media distractions,” he adds.

#4: Media relations is critical
The best time to build a relationship with the media is when you don’t have a major issue in the spotlight. Stay current with reporter names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Be proactive. Don’t wait for bad news to begin developing relationships. Mansfield ISD’s Director of Media and Communications Richie Escovedo tells us to “establish positive relationships with the media, community, and advocates before you need them.”

#5: Bleed for a day, not a week
It is always good practice to confront the situation immediately and take charge. If you’re hoping that the radar doesn’t find you because you’re lying low, that just doesn’t work. Embracing the crisis, being prepared, and having a statement ready allows you to get on with business as usual after only one day of controlled chaos.

So those were the five bullet points I jotted down. As I look back, worlds can collide! Managing a crisis can be accomplished as long as you allow “reality” to meet with “theory.”

------
Brad Domitrovich is a “PR Zealot” with over thirty years of experience in the academic, entrepreneurial, and corporate environment. He is Past President of the Texas School Public Relations Association and served for  six years on the TSPRA Executive Committee. Brad is invited frequently to speak at conferences sponsored by a number of educational organizations. He has delivered keynotes and presentations for several school districts and Educational Service Centers throughout Texas. Currently, Brad is the Director of School and Community Relations for the Georgetown Independent School District. He can be contacted at Brad@Domitrovich.com or (830) 688-9912.

James Lukaszewski on Negative Language and PR

The following video interview with James E. Lukaszewski, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA was taken after a recent area Communications and Public Relations workshop. The day-long professional development opportunity was provided by the Texas School Public Relations Association.
(Note: apologies for the slight shakiness of the video. Lesson-learned: Use a tripod.)


Lukaszewski's workshop focused on three man areas:

1. Crisis-proofing your organization
2. Building Community Relationships
3. Being a Strategic Advisor

Image by hyku via FlickrThis was the second time for me to hear Lukaszewski and he didn't disappoint. Here's the PR gold that was mined from his presentations:

• We need to change the language we use; Readiness vs. Crisis Management
• Readiness means being ready for adverse things.
• Old-fashioned definition of PR - Do good; take credit
• New definition of PR - Do good and let it speak for itself
• Strategic Communicators need to ask/answer, "What do we contribute to the mix?"
• Candor in a crisis - "If you want to be trusted, get the truth out there."
• Truth = Absence of fear
• In a crisis, communications becomes an operating function
• Crises happen explosively but are resolved incrementally

On Victims and Critics during a PR crisis (and other challenging times):

• Victimization is a totally irrational and voluntary state; it is self-maintaining and self-terminating
• Victims use language like betrayed, loneliness, personal/personnel failure, grief, why me/us, why now, etc.
• Victims require validation, visibility, vindication, and apology (This is part of why our media friends like to talk to the victims)
• The strategy for negotiations need to start with what is possible instead of what organization is not going to do.
• "Create as few critics everyday."
• Keep your base supporters and avoid making new angry people.
• Silence is a toxic strategy
• You must manage the victims dimension 
• Don't forget the obvious - Stop the activity that is creating more victims
• The art of crisis management is to know what the mistakes are going to be
• "When there's a crisis that needs management, management is in crisis."
• Take in big picture without taking it personal; go to 50,000 feet and stay at 50,000 feet

This is just some of the great material Lukaszewski shared along with some fantastic information on strategically advising leadership during a crisis. He gave valuable tactics on providing operational advice and how to provide the next useful thing to management.

As a communications professional, if you ever have the opportunity to hear from Lukaszewski at a conference or other speaking engagement, I would highly recommend carving out some time and sharpen your skills.

QR Codes and School PR

The following is a guest post by Lauren Bingham from the Texas School Public Relations Association. It is cross-posted  over on the TSPRA Blog:

What in the world are QR Codes?

At the grocery store, a bar code scanner reads the bar code on your product and tells the register what it is and how much it costs. QR Codes use the same concept.

People can now use their cell phone cameras (bar code scanner) to read QR Codes (bar codes), which instantly directs their phone to a designated website, PDF, contact information, video, etc.

Sufficiently confused? Let’s use it in an example scenario. Pretend I’m a PIO at Mainstreet ISD–my district is holding a TRE (tax rate or tax ratification election) and we’re holding a community meeting next week. We’ve built this awesome webpage with all kinds of information and graphs and videos explaining how school finance works and why we need to pass this TRE. But if we just tell them about the website, we risk them forgetting to go there after the meeting, or forgetting the URL altogether.

From the creator’s end
So I take my webpage URL, let’s say it’s www.mainstreetisd.org/news/finance/tre, and go to one of many QR Code generating websites, plug in my URL and it will automatically create a unique QR Code (just like a bar code). That QR Code has my link embedded in it so that anyone who scans it will be automatically directed to our TRE website. I can then print this QR Code on any posters or handouts we distribute at the meeting, I can make a giant display version so that anyone in the audience can scan it from their seats, I can even print it on t-shirts or stickers if I wanted to. 
 

You can create a personal account on many of these QR Code generator websites that will allow you to see how many people are scanning your code, change the link (without changing the bar code) that your users are directed to, password protect your code or set it to expire at a certain date.

From the user’s end
While there are tools that make this technology available on any phone with a camera, it’s really most usefully for smart phone users. All I need to do is go to the app store on my phone and download a QR Scanner app–there are a bunch out there, not all of which work as well as the next, particularly for BlackBerry which seem to have a difficult time. Then, whenever I see a QR Code I want to scan, I open the QR Scanner app, which will typically activate my phone’s camera, then point the camera at the QR Code until your camera can scan the code–just like you’d do at the grocery store. Depending on the app, it’ll typically identify the file, URL, video, etc. that the QR Code is linked to and will ask you if you want to open it.

Because there’s linking involved, this does require a wireless connection on your phone, which involves data usage and the fees associated with it. If the code links to a PDF, Word doc, Google map, calendar event, etc., these will likely be saved onto my phone; websites, however, will not be saved unless through the phone’s browser history.

So what are some other ways school districts can use QR Codes?

• Using codes on back to school materials to link to school calendars (some tools will allow users to integrate your calendar into their phone’s calendar) or school supply lists
• Displaying codes at the front of schools that will link to school contact information, TEA ratings, etc.
• Displaying codes at graduation that link to do’s and don’ts, a PDF of the program or information on school-sponsored graduation night activities
• Posting codes in teachers lounges and workrooms with links to internal communication materials
• Collateral materials with codes to your district’s fundraising initiatives–information on branded licenses plates, website that allows them to purchase tickets for your event, online store for school/district merchandise, etc.

Considerations before diving in or writing them off

• Consider your audience–how many of your parents or community members are using smart phones? What about students?
• While this technology has caught fire in Asia, and is growing in popularity among the techie Westerners, many people may still be unaware of QR Codes and how they work (even if they already have the technology to use them). Before rolling out any coded materials, take the time to educate your constituency.
• The mystery of these codes can, however, create more interest in using them and finding out what they do.
• This technology is free for you to produce and free (besides data usage) for them to scan and use.
• Because your codes will generally redirect users to existing content, this doesn’t require a third-party developer, or drafting usage policies, or monitoring for misuse, or purchasing expensive/complicated hardware or software. This is just a more direct way to get them from point A to point B.

If you’re looking for more inspiration, here’s how others have used QR Codes:
Santa Monica Museum of Art links to mobile site for annual fundraising event
New York Public Library uses codes in promotional scavenger hunt
Some job hunters use codes on resumes to link to portfolio
SXSW uses codes everywhere on everything, linking to maps, e-business cards, Twitter feeds…
Retailers like Macy’s, Best Buy, Home Depot use codes for coupons, product info and demo videos

5 Tips to keep your School PR job - Tim Caroll, APR

I had the pleasure of spending some time in sessions, catching up with school PR colleagues and friends in addition to presenting at the 2011 Texas School Public Relations Association conference last month. The current Texas public school financial realities seemed to be a common theme of discussions and among a few of the presentations. Folks were concerned just like educators across the state about whether or not personnel reductions will happen in the name of cost-cutting measures.

I caught up with Tim Carroll, APR from the Allen ISD to ask him what he thought are some ways school PR people can help themselves keep their jobs:

5 Tips to keep your school PR job

1. Contribute in areas that benefit the school district financially or that clearly address goals and objectives. Find the things that are important to the district leadership.
2. Get a seat on the superintendent's cabinet. You need to be/become a trusted advisor to management.
3. Become the go to person for strategic communication needs. Go beyond being the camera, press release, newsletter person.
4. Get out of the office. It's just a good idea to spend time at campuses to see what's going on so you can tell good stories and remind yourself why we do what we do. (It's for the kids.)
5. Seek additional responsibilities that fit into your skill set. Staff reductions will leave gaps that need to be filled.

In addition to being the Director of Public Information for the Allen ISD, Tim Carroll, APR is the 2011 President of the Texas School Public Relations Association and a 31 year PR veteran. He sums up two of the best reasons I concur for why school communications pros should be a part of professional organizations like TSPRA or the NSPRA; (one) networking with other PR pros and (two) access to shared resources.

What do you think of these tips? What would you add? As always, the comments are yours.

(Photo credit: zawtowers via Flickr Creative Commons)

Putting Social Media to Work for #SchoolPR - #tspra11

This is my presentation given at the 2011 Texas School Public Relations Association Annual Conference in Arlington, TX.

Thank you to the attendees who came out in the afternoon for this social media 201 session. I wanted to provide some thoughts on how to put social media to work for school PR people and share some tips and tactics that could be taken back to their home districts.

Putting Social Media to Work for School PR

View more presentations from Richie Escovedo.

Crisis communication and the saving speed of info

It has been a week since a gunman took his own life at the University of Texas and vaulted the campus community into a panic albeit relatively briefly all things considered. I watched, as did many, as an outside observer hoping this was in a fact isolated to a single random actor who for whatever reason made some tragic choices that day.

As with anything that happens in today's hyper-connected world, we watched as the events (campus evacuation, lockdown, search and press conferences) unfolded in the media as well as through individuals using social media channels.


Communicators should stop being surprised at seeing as-it-happens information or images being shared from the scene like the one shared at right from KUT Radio or the photo gallery that the Austin-American Statesman was updating as the day progressed. It wasn't even surprising to listen to live call-in interviews with students being held inside a locked-down building. These are all part of the new reality for crisis response and communication. 


All of those things are secondary to a well-trained crisis response team.

What was gratifying was hearing students mention receiving text messages from UT on the situation. Also the fact that emergency e-mails and voice mails were distributed from UT made its way to the media outlets almost as fast as the news of the type of weapon being used by the shooter.

So let's give credit where it's due: through the coordinated efforts of University of Texas and the Austin Police Department. As pointed out last week in the TSPRA blog,

"UT officials were able to activate warning sirens on-campus, send text messages to students and faculty and distribute emails instructing those on-campus to lock down and those off-campus to stay away, within roughly 15 minutes of the first calls to police. "

During his first press conference during the active investigation for additional shooters, Austin Police Chief, Art Acevedo commended the "UT campus, UT police, and communication system to get information to students, secure the campus, and mobilize quickly. Students did their part; they cleared the streets, cleared the campus...my hats’ off to them all."

Being able to share information quickly is what saved the situation at UT last week. How quickly are you prepared to share? When was the last time you dusted off that crisis communication binder? What are some lessons learned? As always, the comments are yours.

Related articles by Zemanta

• UT Shooter Colton Tooley Described As Intelligent, Unemotional (huffingtonpost.com)

Blog writing ideas and tips for school districts

Once you've moved passed your initial fears of blogging for your school district, it's time to think about the type of content you wish to provide for the community. Let the goals be your guide for what to write.

You could have an informal, community-centered blog that has a broad approach and covers a wide range of topics, a superintendent (leadership) blog, a news release and announcement blog, department and/or curriculum-related blog, internal blog featuring staff stories, or any combination of these.
(Image: avrdreamer)

Of course, the above is by no means an exhaustive list, rather just some ideas that might help get you going.

When deciding what to write in a school district's blog remember:

• Write what you know - Blogs are at there best when they are written from the perspective of someone who has relevant knowledge and information to share.
• Be interesting - A school district community is a collective of individual parents, students, staff, and public. You have to figure out what are the compelling needs and topics to match their interests.
• Be Honest - This is a big one. If you have access to information AND are authorized to share, you can use these behind-the-scenes topics as relevant posts. The caveat is just like when dealing with the media, you must be honest or you could set yourself up for failure. Dishonesty and failure in a blog can take on a mini-to-major PR storm if you are not careful.
• Be Yourself - You school district blog can have an informal tone. Use the language that you would use in conversation and avoid the eduspeak as much as possible. Or think of it like author/blogger David Meerman Scott said in a recent keynote speech, "speak to your buyers in their language, not yours."
• It's a two-way street - Commenting is a must in my opinion. School districts can get the most out of their blogs if they have a commenting system in place for readers. Being able to get feedback is a great listening tool and should not be overlooked. Arik Hanson, sums it up quite well I think:

"...the best part of many blogs isn’t the posts. It’s the comments. Why? Because the comments represent the real discussion board. People with varying viewpoints adding valuable content. Folks starting productive conversation threads that go in a different direction from the original post. And people leaving tips and tools that are beneficial to us all. That’s the real gold of blog posts."

Your school district blog can provide a place where parents, students, staff and the public can read some of the latest news, thoughts, and information from school district leadership and engage in respectful dialogue. It's up to you to cultivate an atmosphere of sharing with the community and develop the strategies the best fit the needs of your school district. What would you add? If you blog for a school district, what issues have come up for you?

Media Shmedia: Be your own Newsroom (from #TSPRA2010)

As promised to the attendees of my session at the Texas School Public Relations Association (TSPRA) 2010 Conference, here are the slides and links:

Media Shmedia: Be your own Newsroom

View more presentations from Richie Escovedo.

Additional Links and Resources
http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2009/index.htm
http://www.journalism.org/analysis_report/how_news_happens
http://nextcommunications.blogspot.com/2009/08/school-districts-sell-trust.html
http://mashable.com/2010/02/11/social-objects/
http://blogs.forrester.com/marketing/2009/12/defining-earned-owned-and-paid-media.html
http://www.conversationagent.com/2010/02/trust-in-media-down-good-news-for-experts.html
http://www.pr-squared.com/index.php/2010/02/trail-of-breadcrumbs
http://www.pr-squared.com/2008/04/social_media_release_template.html
http://www.conversationagent.com/2009/08/creating-the-desire-for-news.html
http://wiki.kenburbary.com/social-meda-monitoring-wiki
http://www.slideshare.net/bnixon/public-relations-during-times-of-crisis-presentation
http://nextcommunications.blogspot.com/2009/10/facebook-fan-page-rules-for-school.html
http://prsarahevans.com/2010/01/how-to-set-up-a-free-online-monitoring-system/
http://www.briansolis.com/2008/11/reinventing-crisis-communications-for/
http://delicious.com/rescovedo/online-pressrooms

Monitoring (Listening):

Perspctv http://www.perspctv.com/
IceRocket http://www.icerocket.com/
Twitter Search http://search.twitter.com/
Google Alerts http://www.google.com/alerts
Backtype http://www.backtype.com/connect
Much more (free and paid) http://wiki.kenburbary.com/social-meda-monitoring-wiki

If you attended this TSPRA session, I would love to know what you think. The comments are yours.

TSPRA Conference 2010: Let the School PR Networking Begin

This is just a short post to say howdy to my fellow Texas School Public Relations Association's Conference attendees. This is a great conference for education communicators and I look forward each year to this time of learning and networking. It is great catching up with old friends and meeting new rookies to school PR. Sharing PR war-stories, wasabi peas, happy pirates, and monkey hands. (Sorry, inside joke for some colleagues.)

In all seriousness, I would encourage any school district administrators and boards who seeks to have their communications and public relations team armed with strategic and tactical ideas to implement and establish in their communities should provide a TSPRA membership and send them here. 

[I will have more to share including a session I am leading entitled Media Shmedia: Be your own Newsroom.]

Facebook Fan Page Rules for a School District

For those of you looking for an example of a school district's Facebook policies, guidelines, rules, etc., I submit for your consideration the 'Mansfield ISD Facebook Fan Page Rules of Engagement.'

These rules were posted earlier today on the District's Facebook Fan Page as a 'Note' to help set the rules and community expectations for the fan page usage.

(It probably would have been better to have these posted before we acquired over 600 fans, but better late than never.)

------------------------------------

The Mansfield ISD Facebook Fan Page is provided for the district community by the Mansfield ISD Department of Media & Communication Development. We will update this page as often as possible to share as much as we can about Mansfield ISD and the achievements of the students and staff as well as other relevant district community information.

All posting of comments on this page are at the discretion of the page administrators. The intent of this policy is not to keep any negative or critical information from being posted, but to protect the privacy and rights of Mansfield ISD staff and students. Naming specific employees or students in a negative way will not be allowed (and is just generally rude.) The page administrators will review all postings to make sure they do not run afoul of the rules nor of the district’s Acceptable Use Guidelines regarding Internet access and practices.

We welcome your thoughts and comments and look forward to what you have to say. However, we will not leave postings that:

• Break the law or encourage others to do so. This includes respecting copyright and fair use laws. If you are talking about somebody else’s work, reference this or the person, and where possible include a link.
• Contain abusive or inappropriate language or statements. This includes remarks that are racist, homophobic and sexist as well as those that contain obscenities or are sexually explicit.
• Easily identify students and/or staff in defamatory, abusive, or generally negative terms.
• Do not show proper consideration for others’ privacy or are considered likely to offend or provoke others – i.e. don’t pick fights or goad others into inflammatory debates. Nobody likes a bully.
• Are spam – i.e. repeatedly posting the same comment or comments that are simply advertising/promoting a service or product. If you wouldn’t want to receive it yourself, don’t post it.

The page administrators reserve the right to not post or remove any comments at any time, for any reason…but we hope that won’t ever be necessary.

If you have a comment or would like to report an inappropriate comment for us to review, send an email to blog@mansfieldisd.org. (Yes, it’s the same e-mail as our district blog.)

Please note, you can also receive e-mail and phone text messages of our updates as they are posted through the settings of your personal Facebook account.

Thank you for stopping by and/or being a fan of Mansfield ISD.

------------------------------------

What do you think? Are these a decent set of fan page rules for a public school district? I'd appreciate any thoughts on these rules.

Texas School Districts on Twitter

A colleague from another school district in north Texas and I were recently talking and he informed me that he had been keeping a running list of Texas school districts that have Twitter profiles.

He was kind enough to share his list for posting in our mutual hopes of advancing and highlighting the use of social media tools by school districts.

Texas School Districts on Twitter
(Note: The date/time stamp are for the district's first tweet if that information could be determined.)

     Related District  Twitter account  First Tweet Date  

• Mansfield ISD      mansfieldisd      3/14/2008 14:47
• Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD     hebisd     5/22/2008 10:52
• Pine Tree ISD     PTISD     9/8/2008 16:31
• Galveston ISD     galvestonisd     9/14/2008 0:21
• Winters ISD     wintersisd     1/27/2009 6:55
• Ysleta ISD     ysletaisd     2/6/2009 9:26
• La Porte ISD     lpisd     2/15/2009 19:11
• Rockwall Schools     rockwallschools     2/27/2009 11:38
• Arlington ISD PIO     aisdpio     3/1/2009 8:56
• TEA     TEAinfo     3/3/2009 13:13
• Burkburnett ISD     burkburnettisd     3/4/2009 14:47
• Midlothian ISD     MidlothianISD     3/6/2009 11:25
• Bandera ISD     banderaisd     3/9/2009 9:47
• Mission CISD     MissionCISD     3/9/2009 13:38
• Kerrville ISD     kerrvilleisd     3/12/2009 14:48
• Grapevine Colleyville ISD HR Dept     gcisdjobs     3/17/2009 8:51
• Northside ISD     nisd     3/19/2009 11:27
• Lytle ISD     lytleisd     3/20/2009 12:57
• Calvert ISD     calvertisd     3/23/2009 10:43
• Keller ISD     KellerISD     3/23/2009 14:12
• Navasota ISD     navasotaisd     3/23/2009 23:19
• Judson ISD     jisdnews     3/24/2009 7:53
• Carrolton-Farmers Branch ISD     cfbisd     3/26/2009 11:28
• Childress ISD     childressISD     3/30/2009 11:19
• North East ISD     NEISD     4/3/2009 16:54
• Duncanville ISD     DuncanvilleISD     4/7/2009 21:21
• Northwest ISD     northwestisd     4/10/2009 9:26
• Alvarado ISD     AlvaradoISD     4/13/2009 12:47
• Bryan ISD     BryanISD     4/22/2009 9:23
• Humble ISD     humbleisd     4/24/2009 9:14
• Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD     SCUCISD     4/27/2009 16:03
• Tomball ISD     TomballISD     4/28/2009 7:52
• Aransas County ISD     ACISD     4/29/2009 7:30
• Spring Branch ISD     SBISD     5/1/2009 9:53
• Eustace ISD     EustaceISD     5/3/2009 9:03
• Marion ISD     MarionISD     5/3/2009 9:53
• Chilton ISD     ChiltonISD     5/13/2009 7:26
• Fort Worth ISD     FortWorth_ISD     5/14/2009 9:36
• Irving ISD     IrvingISD     5/15/2009 8:52
• Red Oak ISD     redoakisd     5/28/2009 15:25
• Santa Gertrudis     SGISD     6/3/2009 14:38
• Galena Park ISD     GalenaParkISD     6/5/2009 13:26
• Magnolia ISD     magnoliaisd     6/10/2009 20:45
• Lake Dallas ISD     LakeDallasISD     6/16/2009 17:21
• Jayton-Girard ISD     JaytonSchool     6/21/2009 11:16
• Fort Bend ISD     FortBendISD     6/24/2009 14:29
• Longview ISD     longviewisd     7/1/2009 15:04
• Crawford ISD     CrawfordISD     7/2/2009 13:54
• Coppell ISD     CoppellISD     7/10/2009 8:23
• Runge ISD     RungeISD     7/15/2009 19:31
• Sabinal ISD     Sabinalschool     7/17/2009 13:41
• Hico ISD     HicoISD     7/22/2009 12:03
• Lexington ISD     LexingtonISD     7/27/2009 19:53
• McGregor ISD     McGregorISD     7/28/2009 15:21
• Livingston ISD     LivingstonISD     7/29/2009 14:09
• Fort Sam Houston ISD     fshisd     7/30/2009 11:20
• Spring ISD     SpringISD     7/30/2009 13:13
• Tatum ISD     tatumisd     8/3/2009 18:41
• Texas Tech University ISD     TTUISD     8/4/2009 14:49
• Shallowater ISD     shallowaterisd     8/7/2009 14:45
• Archer City ISD     archercityisd     8/10/2009 13:40
• LewisvilleISD     LewisvilleISD     8/18/2009 9:37
• Skidmore Tynan ISD     stisd     8/20/2009 14:57
• Fort Bend ISD (50th Anniv)     FBISDTurns50     8/21/2009 8:32
• Bynum ISD     Bynumisd     8/22/2009 6:28
• Aubrey ISD     aubreychaps     no tweets yet (8/24)
• Denton ISD     dentonisd     no tweets yet (8/24)
• Frisco ISD     friscoisd     no tweets yet (8/24)
• Junction ISD     junctionisd     no tweets yet (8/24)
• Lumberton ISD     LumbertonISD     no tweets yet (8/24)
• Richardson ISD     RichardsonISD     no tweets yet (8/24)
• Whitewright ISD     wwisd     no tweets yet (8/24)
• Cedar Hill ISD     Cedarhillisd     no tweets yet (8/24)
• GanadoISD     GanadoISD     protected (8/24)
• Hawkins ISD     Hawkcountry     protected (8/24)
• Weatherford ISD     wisd     protected (8/24)
  

Updated on August 24, 2009

This list will be updated on a regular basis. Please let me know if you run across any additional Texas school districts that run Twitter profiles via comments.

(Texas-sized hat tip to Dave Nielsen and his list on HEB ISD Web site | Need a quick Twitter lesson?)
Photo credit: iammikeb

I'm here to HELP

The other day my wife and I were carpooling to work. Our kids were in the backseat and our oldest asked, "Mommy, why do you have to go to work?" to which my wife replied, "Well, I go to help people."

Her answer got me thinking and reminded me of something I recently heard at a professional conference. Last month I attended the Texas School Public Relations Association's annual conference. The first day's keynote was delivered by national speaker and motivational humorist, Riney Jordan. Among the many thoughts and stories that Riney shared was a bit of advice for those of us in the education profession: We are here to HELP.

School Public Relations people should HELP education

• H [Hear] We have to hear (read: Listen). This should be an obvious for PR people. We need to be aware of and anticipate issues within education industry, the campuses, our students, the community and how they might impact the organization. School PR people must be available for counsel and open to constructive criticism.
  
• E [Encourage] We have to be able to encourage. A school PR person's encouragement comes from generating useful, relevant, and worthy press releases. A school PR person's encouragement comes from understanding (or first, wanting to learn) how to engage the community. A school PR person's encouragement comes from believing in customer service as the framework for best practices in internal/external communications.
  
• L [Love] We have love them. It takes a special person to be a teacher. I believe teachers have to love what they do and love the students they teach in order to be effective. A similar love for education is necessary for school PR people to reach internal/external audiences. This is not an easy trait to demonstrate, in fact it is quite challenging especially when you deal with the things that get thrust on school PR people. But, love is necessary for a foundation of a successful career in education.
  
• P [Prepare] We have to prepare. Teachers prepare students for the next stages in their educational careers and life. This one has a dual meaning for school PR people. Our efforts should accentuate the service of our teachers and staff. We need to also prepare ourselves for what's now and what's next. Just as we have to anticipate issues that impact our district, we have to anticipate and explore issues and trends in our professional industry. 

Can you do these things? Do you want to HELP each day? If you can't or you don't want to do these things, please, do us all a favor and don't stay in (or get into) school public relations.

Social Media Tools for School PR

I presented alongside Terry Morawski yesterday afternoon on social media for school communication/PR professionals at the Texas School Public Relations Association 2009 Conference in San Antonio.

Social media provides many exciting, accessible and affordable communication tools for school PR veterans and newbies alike. In this presentation we provide an overview of social media elements, practical applications for school districts, and additional resources to continue your exploration:


Or go directly to the presentation via Google Docs or Slideshare.

The presentation went well aside from an Internet snafu. Apparently WiFi does not quite reach to the 20th floor in that particular hotel. Luckily, I had taken the sound advice from Bryan Person and had a no-web-necessary version of our presentation. (Note: Bryan Person presented A Blogging Primer a day earlier at the conference which provided a great foundation for other conversations at the conference. Thank you Bryan.)
Note: This post has been updated to include a link to Bryan's presentation.

School district communication/PR professionals are showing more and more signs of wanting to explore social media for school district use. This is highly encouraging both for our field and for the communities that we serve.

Inspiration and Related Material

• Ay Caramba! Social Media Is Not That Difficult
  
• Grow Bigger Ears in 10 Minutes
• Where do you find the time? Social Media Time Management Tips
  
• What the F**k is Social Media?
  

Don't forget the online pressroom

I planned to present a round-table session covering Online Pressrooms at the 2008 Texas School Public Relations Association Conference in Houston, TX in February. However, life has a way of adjusting plans. What I wanted to tell attendees was that an online pressroom wasn't a luxury that school districts could take lightly, but rather an integral piece of a Web site.

An online pressoom can be used as a simple and effective gateway to the important pieces of news and announcements for a school district's stakeholders: parents, students, staff, community, and media. Notice that I put the media at the end. This is intentional because the traditional media should not be the primary way a school district gets its message out. If managed correctly, a school district's Web site will be the first place the community will go to get accurate information. They may get stories (good/bad) from the media, but our communities should be engaged directly, not indirectly via our media friends.

School districts and their PR/Communication professionals should be maintaining online pressrooms on their Web sites. It can be called many things (Press Room, News, News Room, District News, News & Media, etc.) but it must be easily found, easily read, and easily updated.

In an article in PR Tactics, Ibrey Woodall cites an annual survey conducted by TEKgroup International, which was distributed via email to more than 5,000 journalists. Among the elements of an online press room most important to the respondents were press releases (92 percent), a search module (85 percent), PR contacts (84 percent) and product information (76 percent) - for school districts, this may include information about the board, administration, general district info, etc.

Some district's are already doing a pretty good job with this:

• Socorro ISD
• El Paso ISD
• Tomball ISD (well organized even though I don't like the PDFs for press releases, put them in HTML, don't assume journalists will open)
• Katy ISD
• Clear Creek ISD
• McKinney ISD
• Mansfield ISD (full disclosure, this is ours, but I think it's a good example)

There are more but you get the idea. Get more online pressroom samples and other useful links.

Just remember to include the following:

• Put the emphasis on information and navigation
• Complete PR contact information
• Make the title of the release a link to the full text
• Don't remove your old releases

This is certainly not a complete list, rather some things that usually get left out. Bottom-line: no district's site is complete without the online newsroom. Get the basics down, then move on to the Social Media Newsroom...