Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Blogging and PR Writing

The term that is bandied about a great deal in public relations and organizational communication communities these days is "social media." Social media are another tool for the public relations writer to use in helping her/his organization get the right message to the right target audience.

The Coker College Public Relations Writing Class has been invited to this blog and each person has been asked to become an author on the blog. Since we know that each tactic or project we do in public relations begins with the answer to the question, what are we supposed to accomplish, that is where we will start this project.

The blog has been set up as an example of how an organization like Coker could use social media, in this case a blog, to demonstrate to perspective students a variety of elements of the Coker experience as lived through the lives of our authors, all Coker students. Oug goal is to help define by example what is meant when we talk about the "Coker Experience."

Your assignment for this project is to add some posts to the blog about your Coker experience. One thing that could start you off is an introduction of where you are in your Coker experience and who you are in the Coker experience. For example:

Prof Puff (me): I have been teaching full time at Coker College since 2000; after ending a nearly 20-year career in corporate communication at Sonoco, one of the world's largest packaging companies, which happens to be headquartered in Hartsville, South Carolina. There is not much doubt in anyone who knows me that I find college teaching one of the most personally rewarding callings I have had in life. At Coker, we have a liberal-arts based curriculum that fits perfectly with the concept we have of communication as a door-opening major to an array of job options. Our department blends theory, skills training, real-world experience, and an intense focus on other knowledge areas so that we can provide communication majors with the foundation for graduate school or for a variety of jobs helping organizations achieve their objectives.

Okay, that is a little bit of an example of what might be my style. Now you introduce yourself and your Coker Experience with about 100 to 150 words and then we will see what comes next in the world of PR blogging.