Children, it's ok to be in PR. Just be ethical.

When things go wrong in politics, things tend to go right for the media. Political corruption lead stories and exposés (local and national) can be the stuff on which journalism careers are made.

Because of this duality, it's no surprise that a well-respected (and well-followed) journalism academic and commentator, Jeff Jarvis, would chime in on the recent #bridgegate scandel in New Jersey. Quick recap: NJ Gov. Chris Christie fired a deputy chief of staff as part of some fallout over what apparently was a politically motivated George Washington Bridge toll booth and lane closure issue.

On Friday evening, Jarvis was tweeting screen captures from released government staff emails involving early reporting and a Wall Street Journal inquiry into Fort Lee toll booth topic that lead to "stonewalling." Most of his commentary was about what one would expect from a journalism associate professor.

However, one of his tweets raised the hairs on the back of my neck when he wrote: "Children, this is why you don't want to be a flack for a living."

Children, this is why you don't want to be a flack for a living. pic.twitter.com/nmaIVQWYJ1
— Jeff Jarvis (@jeffjarvis) January 11, 2014

Well thanks, Jeff. </sarcasm>

Let's just go ahead and paint the PR profession with the same damaging brushstroke because some political staffers (perhaps with questionable ethics) wrote some internal emails trying to figure out their next steps. Of course they should know by now that electronic communication within government agencies falls under FOIA rules and tend to eventually see the light of day. Duh.

What bugged me is that Jarvis picked this episode to flippantly dismiss thoughts by students of going into public relations, strategic communications or really any career in which one might be referred to as a "flack" for an organization. To be clear, I do not believe for a second that his remark will be the deciding factor for a student exploring the field of mass communications to scoff at PR. To me, it's just sad (infuriating?) reminder that our profession gets a bum rap.

It's up to us as PR professionals to practice strategic communications in an ethical manner. We should be among the chorus of calls for transparency, honesty, and open communication. I'll leave you with the charge given to us from the PRSA Code of Ethics. The Code advises PR professionals to:

• Protect and advance the free flow of accurate and truthful information.
• Foster informed decision making through open communication.
• Protect confidential and private information.
• Promote healthy and fair competition among professionals.
• Avoid conflicts of interest.
• Work to strengthen the public’s trust in the profession.

Perhaps even academics like Jeff Jarvis can appreciate their future hacks working with ethical flacks. (tongue-firmly-in-cheek!) Or at the very least, I hope he understands that ethical PR pros actually do exist.

Photo credit: tracylee via Flickr Creative Commons

Burrito that cried wolf and smelly sockpuppetry: Lessons in #PRethics

If you are intentionally deceptive with your communications, you're doing it wrong. Two recent cases of fake identities and deceptive misrepresentation should give pause to PR pros from using these types of unethical tactics that harm the profession:

#1 The Case of Burrito that cried wolf

According to Mashable, the Chipotle brand looked like its @ChipotleTweets account had be hacked due to a "series of confusing and seemingly random tweets over the course of an hour." In a Mashable follow-up post, the company admitted through a spokesperson that it faked having its account hacked as part of a publicity stunt tied to its 20th anniversary promotional campaign. (Wait, what!?)

"'We thought that people would pay attention, that it would cut through people's attention and make them talk, and it did that,' Chris Arnold, a Chipotle representative, told Mashable in an interview. 'It was definitely thought out: We didn't want it to be harmful or hateful or controversial.'"

While not getting into a content marketing/advertising debate on whether or not brands should/should not lie to generate buzz, customers, etc. I'll just go with this is wrong and it fails the ethics smell test.

Sorry all. We had a little problem with our account. But everything is back on track now! - Joe
— Chipotle (@ChipotleTweets) July 21, 2013

Nope, there was never "a little problem" with their account. They knew exactly what was going on, and that's the troubling part.

I sincerely hope a public relations professional was not in the vicinity of this final decision by Chipotle. A good PR pro worth her/his salt would advise against an online misrepresentation tactic because it makes the brand look ethically-challenged.

Related:

• Why The Chipotle Twitter "Hack" Puts Us All In More Danger
• Chipotle Fakes Twitter Hack for 20th Anniversary Publicity Stunt

Speaking of failing the ethics smell test...

#2 The Case of the smelly Sockpuppet

A former well-known Dallas/Ft. Worth TV news anchor turned communications consultant was recently outed for work "as a consultant for Dallas police-fire pension lawyers, used online aliases to attack opponents and promote pension officials" as well as a downtown Dallas luxury residential high-rise. Repeat after me: creating and using fake social media profiles for the purposes of misrepresentation and obfuscation is wrong, wrong, dirty and wrong.

Thanks to the Dallas Morning News for investigating this sockpuppetry and special thanks to Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist, Bud Kennedy for shedding light on this from a communications professional perspective referrencing the PRSA Code of Ethics.

Communications professionals call it other names. 

“The use of deceptive identities … constitutes improper conduct” under the ethics code of the New York-based Public Relations Society of America, the leading professional organization. 

A word is underlined for emphasis: Professionals “should not engage in … anonymous Internet postings.”

Thanks, Bud.
###

A "special obligation to operate ethically"

PRSA affirms its commitment to ethical practices, stating that “the level of public trust PRSA members seek, as we serve the public good, means we have taken on a special obligation to operate ethically.” Members are called to “serve the public interest by acting as responsible advocates for those we represent” and “provide a voice in the marketplace of ideas, facts, and viewpoints to aid informed public debate.”

But haven't the rules changed a bit because of social media, culture, and online activities? The short answer for PR pros: No! The ethical values of advocacy, honesty, expertise, independence loyalty and fairness are still true today for professional communicators.

In 2008, PRSA issued among its advisories one that directly addresses the question of deceptive online practices and the misrepresentation of organizations and individuals and includes the following statement:

The use of deceptive identities or misleading descriptions of goals, causes, tactics, sponsors or participants to further the objectives of any group constitutes improper conduct under the PRSA Member Code of Ethics and should be avoided. PRSA members should not engage in or encourage the practice of misrepresenting organizations and individuals through the use of blogs, viral marketing, social media and/or anonymous Internet postings.

Photo credit: darrenkw via Flickr Creative Commons

Tweet with a Sense of Humor

Repeat after me, it's smart to have a personality and a good sense of humor when using social media. 

During yesterday's Mansfield Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon, Texas State Senator Wendy Davis accidentally tweeted the wrong name of my school district's superintendent during his state of district presentation.

It was a silly mistake, but what I found particularly awesome was how she handled it. Here's how it went down:

Bravo to Senator Davis. I'm glad she (or someone on her communication team) has a good sense of humor. The original tweet was funny all by itself, but the follow-up was clever, lighthearted and fun. The PR lesson: If you tweet a mistake, try to admit it and move on. 

Oh and if you can work in a reference to The Doors, do it!

Photo credit: steffireichert via Flickr Creative Commons

Getting the best PR outcome from a student protest

Oh what a difference a year makes. One year ago my school district had a lively (and ultimately positive) PR issue at end to the school year: a high school student protest at the administration building.

From our official statement:

On Friday, June 3, approximately 100 students from Timberview High School held a peaceful demonstration at the Mansfield ISD administration building voicing their concerns over the decision to transfer a staff member from their campus to another school within the District.

The Timberview staff member received notice of an administrative transfer to a middle school in MISD as a teacher and coach starting in the 2011-12 school year. To date, this individual is one of 75 Mansfield ISD employees who received such administrative transfers in our continuing efforts to save jobs in the District. (While other districts were cutting staff and eliminating positions, the Mansfield ISD administration and board committed to avoid personnel and student program cuts during the state of Texas' education budget uncertainty.)

The important thing to note is that in this situation is we were not surprised by the demonstration. The students tipped their hand through word of mouth and social media. The rumor-mill revved up during the last week of school about the students being upset that one of the teachers was being moved/fired/replaced/sent away/etc. (You know, the way the rumor-mill works, they only had a portion of the truth.)

Thankfully, I got wind of it pretty early because we aggressively monitor traditional media and social media for mentions, problems, topics related to the District and campuses. It wasn't long before the students took to Twitter and Facebook to rally support and organize the demonstration. Using Twitter search and a Boolean search string with hastags, campus name, the teacher's name and the 'OR' operator, I had a pretty good handle (and free look) into the conversation on that channel. The students also set up a Facebook Page to save the coach and pretty much left it wide open for anyone to see. This was good because we could observe as well.

When the conversation moved to an actual organized protest for the last day of school, we were not taken by surprise and were able to anticipate their movements. Originally, they wanted to demonstrate at the high school, which was a bad idea because in addition to it being the last day of school it was also a finals day. Naturally, the concern here was a disruption in the academic process particularly for those students not involved or interested in this particular demonstration. But things changed.

What happened next? Since we were monitoring the conversation, we followed the news that the students decided against rallying at the high school and instead were going to gather and demonstrate at the District administration building. Great. Again, this was the last day of school but this was a better situation for us since we could contain things away from students taking finals.

As luck would have it, that same morning I was finishing up with an interview at another campus about a great story of teen from the district who had published her first novel when I got the first call from a local radio station about the high school student demonstration.

The radio station told me they had heard there were "300 students gathered at the stadium" to protest. Since we had anticipated the students' moves and had confirmation from District police, I was able to give her the actual numbers (approximately 50 kids at the time) and an updated location of our administrative complex. I told her to have the reporter meet me in the parking lot and we'd go from there.

And thus started the media relations side to this story.

As members of the local media began to arrive and get their b-roll of the students marching then coming over to get some interviews I took an opportunity to show a little strategic support for the students. I had our student nutrition department deliver cases of bottled water so we could distribute among the students during what was quickly becoming a hot Texas day. Ideally, I wanted the media footage to include us passing out the water. Yes, this was done on purpose from a strategic viewing benefit as well as simply being a case of us still being responsible for the students during a school day.

The media interviews went fine. Most of the articles and stories that aired were balanced and we were able to share the key messages that this was all a part of our District's job-saving measures during a time of state education budget cuts. In general, I still consider this a positive experience also because the students did a good job of staying focused and took the demonstration seriously instead of using it to act unruly, disrespectful, or cause problems for traffic or the general community. These were good kids, they didn't have a perspective beyond what they thought they knew. It was actually refreshing to observe an organized student protest for something they believe in even though we had to deal with the media fall-out from it and took a bit of a short-term bruising.

I've used this case study a few times over the past year, but figured it was time to put it down in a post so hopefully other school PR pros or administrators can benefit from some of the steps we took. Simply put, school districts must monitor the online conversations and when topics or issues arise, be ready to take action. Traditional media and social media monitoring are must-haves in a school PR pro's arsenal from an early-warning device to a part of the measurement practices.

I'll leave you with one of the local media stories on the protest:

What's #HAPPO-ning: Rock your summer PR internship

On Thursday, April 26, the latest installment of the HAPPO Twitter chats will take place to cover tips on how to rock your summer internship.Here's a primer on the chat from Deanna Ferrari (the moderator):

Everyone remembers his or her first internship – the first real foot in the door for landing a career. With college graduations right around the corner, summer internships will be starting up all over the U.S. in the next few weeks. That’s why us HAPPO Champs (you know, “Help a PR Pro Out,”) have decided the timing is just right to do our next live Twitter chat to get you ready for your summer internship.

Participate: Hop on to Twitter at 2 PM EST on Thursday, April 26 and follow the #HAPPO hashtag. Make sure you follow @helpaprproout and this chat's moderator, Pittsburgh HAPPO champ, Deanna Ferrari to see the chat questions. I suggest you ask questions and actively participate through replies and RTs in addition to sharing your tips and advice. (If you need a way to follow and participate in Twitter chats, try using Tweetchat. It's super-easy and keeps the flow manageable.)

Tips: I think tips for summer internships is a fantastic topic for HAPPO not just because of the timing but because there is a wealth of knowledge ready to be mined by students and shared by pros. I really like what Jason Mollica shared earlier this week in his video about the chat for prospective interns -- be a sponge and write as much as possible.

Share: If you are so inclined, pass this post along or perhaps copy/paste one of these below from Deanna,

Summer internships are around the corner. Join the next #HAPPO chat for tips on how to rock it! Thurs, 4/26 @ 2pm ET http://wp.me/pzcY7-CH

We want up & coming pros to succeed - the first step is that summer internship! Next #HAPPO chat is Thurs 4/26 @ 2 ET http://wp.me/pzcY7-CH

About HAPPO: Help a PR Pro Out is a nationwide movement that seeks to use social media to leverage relationships and help connect those seeking a job in the PR industry with employers. It’s lead by co-founders Arik Hanson and Valerie Simon. I serve as the HAPPO champion for Dallas/Ft. Worth.

Solid Crisis Response and Damage Control by TCU

Image via Wikipedia

It's been a week since news broke on the drug arrests of 17 TCU students shocking the university and local Ft. Worth community on Wednesday, February 15. Much has already been written in the wake of the arrests involving the Ft. Worth Police Department and TCU Campus Police and their six-month investigation that included some students.

I think TCU navigated this challenging situation quite well. I was particularly impressed with the openness and use of their digital communication channels very early before the story developed. There are some great tactical lessons here for PR pros who are paying attention. (Disclosure: I am familiar and acquainted with staff members of the communication and media relations team at TCU.)

At 9:24 AM, Wednesday, February 15, the university tweeted the following:

At 9:25 AM, they also posted to their Facebook page:

Both links went to the university's online statement and were shared right before the Chancellor's 9:30 AM press conference. TCU then tweeted a few updates during his statement.

The communication team also provided FAQs and one additional update related to drug testing through their 'Other News' section of Recent News online.

And that pretty much covered things for them since the Ft. Worth Police took things over and explained the investigation and arrests in addition to releasing documentation. By that point, TCU had sustained some bruises, particularly the football team because of some misinformation and corrections. The arrests, while an unfortunate and sad reality for those individuals involved, gave TCU something to point the attention toward to help deflect the media spotlight a bit.

A quick check on Google News search for stories shows the typical spike in news articles and posts  immediately following any major issue and then it tapered off as the recovery phase sets in and the news moved on to other things.

PR Gold
TCU must have learned some valuable transparency lessons and damage control from other high-profile crisis communication issues at other higher ed institutions. Fortunately for them they came forward very early with their information. They shared what I consider a quality statement and response to the investigation and arrests along with details about the process.

Through the university's communication, expectations for students were reinforced along with encouragement for the university community.

Others in public relations have approved of the way TCU initially navigated this issue including Helen Vollmer, president of Edelman Southwest. Vollmer wrote via email on TCU's response:

"...TCU has done a GREAT job in the last couple of days with the drug busts happening. We do a lot of work in education (not for TCU)—Notre Dame, Ohio State, U of H, Princeton, etc. and I laud them highly for their handling of this issue and their great use of social media to convey their 'no nonsense' approach."

Once things calm down a bit at the Ft. Worth campus, I hope to talk with the TCU communication team about their response. I just want to say to them, publicly, well done.

Related articles

• Fort Worth Standing With Their School (dfw.cbslocal.com)
• Go purple Tuesday to show TCU support (City of Ft. Worth)

Surviving a Pterodactyl Invasion with Social Media

On Halloween Monday the University of North Texas launched an awareness campaign for some official communication channels and procedures in a fun and creative package. The campaign had a simple premise: UNT had been invaded by pterodactyls.

The campaign included a fake press release, safety tips highlighting some campus resources and even a subtitled PSA from the mascot, Scrappy the Eagle.

Alyssa Yancey, a university News Promotion Specialist, pointed out that the project was "designed to show a lighter side of UNT" and encourage students to engage with the university’s Facebook page and Twitter 
profile.

(Full Disclosure: I am a proud alumnus of UNT and thought this was pretty cool.) 

I sent a few questions to Alyssa to get her take.

What was your inspiration for this project?
The University of North Texas’ Halloween mock-pterodactyl invasion was inspired by the Center for Disease Control’s Zombie Apocalypse preparedness tips from last May.

Why did you choose pterodactyls?
The University of North Texas wanted to choose a topic that would be recognized as a joke and not a serious threat immediately. UNT also wanted something that would resonate with students and alumni. An extinct dinosaur, with a striking resemblance to UNT’s mascot Scrappy the eagle seemed to fit the bill.

What did you hope to achieve through this initiative?
This initiative was designed to increase UNT’s engagement with our Facebook fans and our Twitter followers. We haven’t ever really done anything like this, so we wanted to show our students that we have a personality and a sense of humor.

Was it considered a success?
The invasion was definitely a success. Throughout the day, we engaged with students and others in the Denton community, and had a great time. We encouraged students to submit photos, and they did. Some went on to add to the pterodactyl storyline by submitting historic photos of pterodactyls on campus, and suggesting they know other dinosaurs are plotting a Thanksgiving invasion. Students also joined in on the fun by retweeting the safety tips, release and PSA, sharing information to their Facebook pages and blogging about the invasion.

On Twitter, our retweets, direct mentions and follower counts all showed a strong increase from regular news days. UNT Facebook posts about the invasion, as well as student-contributed content, received numerous likes and positive comments, and the Scrappy YouTube video shot to more than 500 views quickly.

In addition to Alyssa, I reached out to Samra Bufkins, MJ, APR, Strategic Communications Lecturer at UNT's Mayborn School of Journalism for some additional thoughts on the invasion"

"They were hoping for a little more student interaction, but we're finding many students still aren't on twitter or following UNT official accounts. However, I think it's the kind of thing they should try again, maybe at another holiday time. You expect stuff like this at Halloween and April Fool's Day—maybe have some fun around a holiday that's not one for pranks. It was a good, fun, creative outlet and allowed everyone to poke fun at the construction and some other things around here. And at mid-semester, everyone needs a laugh!"

---
I really loved this fun and creative attempt to increase awareness and usage of the university's Facebook and Twitter presences along with some basic campus resource information. This is a great example of an organization demonstrating that they have a personality. Well done.

[Top photo credit: UNT Facebook page submitted photo]

Related articles

• Strange things flew over UNT this Halloween

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.

School Boards, Twitter, and the media machine

Just when you thought it was safe to have your school board members on Twitter...

Ok maybe it was never really "safe" to have elected officials on Twitter, but then again as citizens, it's really up to them to decide. That being said, officials need to be reminded that once they decide to share content via Twittter or other public site, social network, etc. they open themselves up to additional scrutiny and potential for pitfalls.

The tweet above was from a Houston Chronicle education reporter who covers the Houston ISD. She was apparently live-tweeting at least some of the meeting and became suspicious that the board started the meeting in closed session which seemed out of character. So she apparently knows that an undetermined number of HISD board members are on Twitter and was hoping to get a scoop.

I'm not picking on the reporter here, she's just doing her job framed by a J-school taught suspicious mentality on behalf of the fourth estate. What I am concerned about are school board members who might use Twitter as a way to inappropriately share information that could put themselves and/or their school district in a compromising situation.

(Please note: A board only needs to have the agenda posted publicly 72 hours prior to a public meeting. Specific items on the agenda, such as Closed Session, can be moved around as needed during the meeting.)

PR people
School district public relations and communications professionals need to have a handle on these types of chatter for potential issues. This could serve as an early-warning device for impending problems or revelations. I'm pretty sure you don't want this kind of surprise.

Elected officials
I'd also encourage current or future school board members to be very careful with their online communication. Much is yet to be decided upon (and written about) concerning open government and transparency. The media will (and should) look into inconsistencies and problems plus give context through news items. You need to be vigilant to stay on the viewing side of the gallows. I'm pretty sure you don't need to give them the rope.

Turning an adversary into an advocate: How 24 Hour Fitness customer #twervice got it right

About a week ago, I was informed by my wife that 24 Hour Fitness had erroneously been charging us for memberships we had assumed had been canceled a couple of months back.

After a few expletives about the situation I did what any rational and mature person with a variety of social media tools and networks at their disposal would do:

I complained about it on Twitter.

(Ok, so that may not have been fair, but it made me feel better.) Actually, I said aloud right before I posted my little note, "I wonder if anybody at 24 Hour is listening."

Sure enough, they were.

30 minutes later I received an e-mail from Randy Drake (Senior Vice President - Fitness & Business Development at 24 Hour Fitness) with the subject line: Issue with cancellation.

So they were listening, on a Friday evening, and more importantly they were willing to get the matter straightened out. I commended Randy for paying attention and "listening" on Twitter. It just shows how important the network is for engagement. Mr. Drake's e-mail correspondence was thoughtful, expressed concern about the situation for our family, and has offered to make things right. (Disclosure: We are still in the discussion portion of this situation on how to resolve the issue.)

Winning over an adversary
What I think is most interesting about this episode is the fact that 24 Hour Fitness did a great job of turning an otherwise tough situation for a disgruntled member (or former member) into something that more resembles fostering a brand advocate. Regardless of whether or not we continue using their organization for our family's fitness needs, the attention to details and response was excellent and had a positive impact.

Granted, not all customer service interactions are adversarial in nature. Sometimes they are informational or  transactional. Whatever the case, being open to listening to interactions, questions, and even silly rants is an important customer service step for companies and organizations to grasp.

Customer Twervice
For additional thoughts on the matter with research, make sure you dig into Jason Falls' report Customer Twervice: Exploring Case Studies & Best Practices In Customer Service efforts Using Twitter where he presents "10 companies, how they started their Twitter efforts, their strategic approach, how much time and resources they devote."

The report includes a list of Twitter Customer Service Best Practices:

1. Be Present
2.Walk Before You Run
3. Be Prepared For Scale, But Expect A Slow Growth
4. Have A Quarterback
5. Making Rules Is Prohibitive
6. Immediacy Is Imperative
7. Look For Buy-In Opportunity

Get the report for thoughts on each of the above points. The Customer Twervice report by Jason Falls is a great read for anyone considering or actively engaging in customer service via Twitter.

Do you have any examples of good customer service engagement in Twitter? What about other social networks?  Is your company using the social web for customer service? Why or why not?

Related articles by Zemanta

• On Twitter, Information Beats Sentiment (readwriteweb.com)
• Five rules for using Twitter for customer service (heidi-miller.com)
• Has Twitter made customer service better? (thecustomercollective.com)

Take-aways from #accredchat - August 18, 2009

Earlier today another installment of the periodic #accredchat, a Twitter chat on accreditation in public relations. I am a part of a small APR study group within the Greater Ft. Worth Chapter of PRSA who are at the beginning stages of attaining accreditation in PR.
(Image credit: Universal Accreditation Board) 

Today's conversation mainly hit on some differences and similarities between the exams in the U.S. and Canada as well as as some interesting discussion on authority and the perceptions of accreditation.

APR Readiness Review Panels
The best take-aways available today came after a question on the Readiness Review Panel process.
For those that have sat on Readiness Review Panels: What are you looking for out of an APR candidate? Expectations, etc.?

Here are some of the responses:

rayatkinson A strong understanding and demonstration of strategy and planning. Important that they can ID potential weaknesses.

kamichat For readiness review we are looking to see if you are really ready to take the exam, we are also looking at your portfolio

kristen_okla RR [Readiness Review] panelists want to see how well you think on your feet, what experiences you have to prepare you for the exam

kristen_okla RR shouldn't be confrontational but should allow you to receive honest feedback on areas where U need to focus more attn.

kamichat Also we are looking to mentor you. Do you really understand the 4-part planning process

bprickett As panelist, I want to see that you planned, set measurable goals and that your evaluation/results were measured.

If you have ever sat on an APR Readiness Review Panel, what would you add to this list?

Why faking your network is worse than #twitterspam

I've been kicking around a thought for a while now regarding whether I despise spam on Twitter more or those users who think it's acceptable to game the system by using software to develop a huge fake following.

Yes, #twitterspam sucks. That should go without too much debate. Thankfully, this a problem that users can have a part in controlling simply by blocking spam accounts and using Twitter's @spam to report spammers and abusers of Twitter. The company also is taking steps to eradicate spam accounts and correct follower and following counts.

You big faker!

I pulled the above screen capture off of a presumably popular downloadable software that claim that you'll "be able to time-warp past years of network building to become a Twitter Elite in a matter of days?"

I really hated seeing that line in their promo page.

To me the line should be corrected to read: It's ok to be a jerk-face with no real marketing or networking skills because I'll just game the system to make it look like I know what I'm doing.

I think this is the ugly side of Twitter that doesn't get the attention it deserves and I hope it soon comes to an end. In the meantime, any respectable communicator with an ounce of sense should run as far away from these types of bogus network builders.

What do you think? Am I being to harsh on these types of (ab)users?

Related articles by Zemanta

• Twitter Correcting Follower Counts: 1000s of Spammers Perish (mashable.com)
• Twitter Cracks Down On Spam Accounts, People Lose Followers (techcrunch.com)
• Did You Lose Followers Today? (blogs.wsj.com)
• EasyFollowers: Why Would Anyone on Twitter Do This? (geardiary.com)

Following @childfund is a worthy cause and case study

Earlier this month, Geoff Livingston wrote on his blog about an awareness campaign for the rebranding of ChildFund International:

Follow @childfund and Help Change Children’s Lives

In his post, Geoff explains...

[t]o celebrate, ChildFund International is giving gifts of agricultural love and hope from the organization’s gift catalog for every 200 Twitter followers @childfund receives.  These efforts will directly benefit children in Gambia, Zambia, Kenya and Ethiopia. There is no cap on on followers, and the offer will continue through July 27. 

Each country has different needs so the gifts vary:

• Chickens for a school in the Gambia
• A goat for a family farm in Zambia
• Mango trees in Kenya
• Vegetable seeds in Ethiopia

This piqued my interest first for being what appeared to be a good cause and a simple way to help in a tangible way. It is worth noting that the veracity of the campaign was at one point called in to question, but a subsequent post cleared up any confusion.

Campaign as a case study

Another reason this community-building Twitter campaign is interesting is by observing it through the lens of a nonprofit. Nonprofits looking for good examples of other efforts to gain awareness should pay close attention to this one. It is especially important to note how the follow-up post explains the parameters for the campaign:

To be clear: The Twitter campaign isn’t about raising money, either. It’s about raising awareness of the work that ChildFund does for deprived, excluded and vulnerable children in the 31 countries where we work.

I hope you caught that. It's not always about the ask.

Communication efforts for a nonprofit should serve the organization through empowerment of the mission and supporters. As one Twitter friend noted in last Sunday's #blogchat on how nonprofits use social media, nonprofit organizations need to invest in marketing and communications as programmatic. It reinforces mission and builds the development framework.

I look forward to watching this campaign develop and observing best-practices that could scale down to other organizational needs.


In addition to following @Childfund (before July 27), you might also be interested in ChildFund International's Facebook , blogging and YouTube outposts as well.

(Photo credit: ChildFund International)

Related articles gathered by Richie Escovedo and Zemanta

• Geoff Livingston Guest Post: Follow @childfund and Help Feed Children
• Questions about the @ChildFund Twitter campaign 
• Answers About, Insights Into the @childfund Twitter Effort
• Twitter Follow-and-Fundraise: 7 Tips to Make it Worth the Bait 
• 1,500 Followers, Seven Gifts and Counting
• #blogchat 7-19 recap, how non-profits use social media with @wharman
  
  

Next Communications Turns One

Today marks the one-year blogiversary for the Next Communications blog. Twelve months ago I made the jump to this platform and started this effort to put my thoughts, opinions, and observations down. When I started writing, I really didn't think anyone would care to read my musings nor did I think I'd have any readers beyond my wife, my parents, and perhaps a colleague or two.

To my surprise and personal joy, readership has had a modest amount of growth and some good conversations have evolved both online and offline. This has been great to develop and I look forward to continuing the fun.

Before we start year number two, here's a few things I'd like you to know:

• I wanted to try out blogging so that I could speak intelligently on the subject rather than guessing for an organization or client.
  
  
• This small collection of posts is here to explore facets of communication, the intersection of education, public relations, social media and a bunch of stuff in between.
  
  
• I recently saw on another blog's anniversary post something that I really liked and I want to call your  attention to some of the remarkable writers and professional thought-leaders who provide inspiration and education for me such as (in no particular order) Geoff Livingston, Lauren Vargas, Kami Huyse, APR, Jason Falls, Valeria Maltoni, Beth Harte, David Mullen, Narciso Tovar, Todd Defren, Lauren Fernandez, Terry Morawski, Shane Haggerty, LauraVanHoosier, APR, Linda Jacobson, APR, Arik Hansen, APR, and many other writers that I've found along the way.
  
  
• Most importantly, I want to publicly thank my wonderful wife, Kristen Escovedo and our awesome kids (Little Princess, and Little Man) for putting up with me during these writings.
  
  
• A blog is nothing without it's community. Thank you for reading whether it's via your RSS reader, e-mail subscription, or if you just happened to stop by on accident looking for something more relevant. Whatever brings you here, I appreciate you and I thank you.

To celebrate this blog's anniversary I hope you do two things:

1. If you are on Twitter, go follow @childfund and Help Change Children’s Lives; and 
2. If you have one near you, go to 7-11 and get a free Slurpee.
   (I know, it's random but these two things will do you good.)

Next Communications top posts for the year

• Texas School Districts on Twitter  
• Social Media Tool Review of Radian6 
• Public Relations Roles explained through Baseball Positions 
• Newspapers can compete through collaboration 
• 33 Things every PR person should read 
• Some PR people are like star-belly Sneetches 
• Social Media tools for School PR 
• The Social Web is more important to PR than Social Media Tools
  

The Dialogue of Village Idiots

I wasn't going to write this evening until a blogging challenge was given by Jason Falls:

I am not sure how serious (if at all) he was at issuing this writing version of Taboo. This intrigued me since forms of those words are in my blog's masthead. (It least it's not in the blog's name like Valeria Maltoni.) Naturally, "village" and dialogue" came up as worthy alternate words.

There is a point here, trust me.

Earlier today, Michael Jackson passed away. The uncontrollable speed at which the news, rumors, dialogue,  conjectures, and lies spread today was pretty phenomenal via traditional media and the social web. There is no doubt others will cover this from a news/communications/social media/celebrity perspective (among others) ad nauseam.  

[Enter the Village Idiot] In contrast, an example of textual spew came from celebrity blogger, Perez Hilton who suggested Jackson was "lying or making himself sick." 

This of course caught the attention of the masses and rightfully so caused a backlash. Some have even suggested this was done as yet another way for him to be edgy and polarizing. I thought it was just stupid.

My lesson: I don't care who you think you are, being human is more important than being a blogger.

Twitter Hint for School Districts

I have been running a Twitter account for our school district for a little over a year now. It started as an experiment as part of our communication department's exploration of social media tools. I still recommend school districts use the tool and I am thrilled to see a growing number of school districts in our state that have found Twitter useful.

It's ok to broadcast
There seems to be a running debate about whether or not Twitter should be used as a broadcasting tool as opposed to a conversational tool. I believe that for school districts, a simple broadcasting Twitter stream could be an advantageous tool to provide useful information, updates, and links for the district community. 

I recently stumbled on another alternate use of Twitter,
Announcement Update Page

Twitter creates unique Web pages for each tweet. These pages could be re-purposed as announcement pages pretty easily:

Post an update on Twitter, locate the URL -

then drop in a link to that URL from the district's homepage (or other appropriate location.)

What you get is a ready-made district announcement page (if you've branded the profile to your school district) without having to create new or updating existing pages on the district's Web site.

 

This came in handy a few times last year when we had some things that required attention, but that really didn't merit a full production of press release or district announcement page. Plus, it was really fast.

I know this isn't ground-breaking stuff, but speaking as a school district communications/PR professional, I can assure you it is very convenient and should be considered if you are thinking about using Twitter for your school district.

Do you think this is a worthy solution for a common problem? Do you have any other alternate uses for Twitter? The comments are yours.

Related articles by Zemanta and Richie Escovedo

• Twitter For Churches and Non-Profit Organizations
• 7 Uncommon Uses for Twitter
  
• Texas School Districts on Twitter
• Social Media Tools for School PR

Accredchat - June 5, 2009

In an effort to help others keep up or in some cases catch up on what was discussed during today's #accredchat, here is a snapshot document of the Twitter thread:

(Note: It is in reverse order, so if you'll have go to the last page to see where the conversations started. aLso if you want current tweets, check out the live Twitter search for #accredchat.)
accredchat6-5-09

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Other Research twitter chat #accredchat

This was the first #accredchat and I hope there are more. It was a bit confusing since there seemed to be no moderators. If it happens again, I think a panel or common questions might help.

What do you think? Was #accredchat useful? If you missed it, would you be interested in it on a weekly basis or would it be ok to organically build? The comments are yours.

Citizen journalists and real-time PR issues

I ran across a Twitter posting (or tweet) from the Austin American-Statesman this morning that caught my attention:

When the link to the statesman.com's homepage was clicked, this was the lead story with picture:

Upon a closer look, we see that the photo was via Twitter (@MrRyanPerkins to be exact):

[Here's the image via Twitpic.]

Why is this significant?
What if this was at a school or daycare? What if this was at a local sporting event? What if this was your place of business?

As a communications/PR professional, it is imperative to be aware of Twitter and Twitpic as additional online sources that anyone can use to disperse information (and be sourced by the media).

We should all by now be very familiar with another (much larger) example of a citizen taking an opportunity to capture and share an image from their perspective.

On one hand, I am impressed with the quickness and openness of Twitter user to share what he saw with the rest of us. I also continue to be impressed with news outlets, such as the Statesman.com, that continue to adapt to new media and engage their communities.

On the other hand, it is a bit unnerving to think about the potential for problems for an organization who could easily get blind-sided by this type of information sharing.

Speaking to the communications/public relations folks:
Are you ready for this?

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