Hillsides Wins Nonprofit PR Award for Its Foster Soles Campaign

Year over year, the finalists for PR News’ Nonprofit PR Awards raise the bar for doing well by doing good, and 2009 was no exception. This year’s finalists, which represent industries and interests as diverse as organ/tissue donations, influenza preparedness and hunger prevention, overcame economic, social and political barriers to deliver results that exceeded even the loftiest of expectations. Hillsides, a foster care children’s charity serving families in Los Angeles County, including Pasadena, was among the winners at the Nonprofit PR Awards held at the National Press Club in Washington D.C.
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ComScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, released a study of online engagement at the top worldwide properties based on data from its comScore World Metrix service. The study found that Microsoft Sites captured nearly 15 percent of time spent online worldwide in September, making it the most engaging global property, followed by Google Sites and Yahoo! Sites. Facebook.com, which continues to see significant growth on a worldwide basis, was the fourth most engaging destination with visitors spending 1.4 billion hours on the site in September, up 193 percent from the previous year.

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The Institute for Interactive Journalism at American University has received a $200,000 grant from the McCormick Foundation to fund eight women-led start-ups over the next two years that will generate new ideas in the world of news and information and model a spirit of journalistic entrepreneurship.

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A new study by University of Maryland researchers finds a growing use of Twitter among members of Congress, but that the purpose and content of their messages fall short of improving government transparency.

Jennifer Golbeck, assistant professor, a doctoral student and an undergraduate assistant analyzed more than 5,000 tweets sent by 69 members of Congress in February. They found that House and Senate members were using the social media platform mostly to promote themselves, rather than engage in dialogue with constituents and the public at large. (more…)

ABC News is coming — to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications.

The college will open the newest ABC News On Campus bureau this month, offering students the opportunity to work with and learn from professionals at a national broadcast news network. The On Campus program is a partnership between the ABC television network’s news division and seven leading journalism schools.

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Thank you to everyone who attended the IABC Phoenix luncheon today to hear me speak about personal branding.  It was fun to present and I hope you had fun participating. Great questions!

You can download a copy of the presentation at this link: http://tinyurl.com/JoePRguyonBranding

Unfortunately we ran out of time- great questions and dialogue about social media, branding, and how to approach people for testimonials. The final point of my presentation was cut short, so I thought I’d share it with you now.  As I emphasized in the presentation, it’s important to be visible in the community.  A great way to do this is to be a professional volunteer for a nonprofit organization or charitable cause.  Here are some points I didn’t get to about being a volunteer:

• Serve on charitable event planning committee
• Pick a nonprofit you like and reach out to them (NPO’s usually have high profile Boards)
• Great networking
• Gets your name out there
• Don’t be a lazy volunteer – it does more harm than help to your personal brand

If you attended the event I would like your feedback!  Complete this short survey and you’ll be entered into a drawing to win your own customized, personal brand t-shirt! http://tinyurl.com/IABCfeedback
If you have any comments or additional questions feel free to post them below. Thank you!

Brand YOU: It’s Time To Get Personal

Whether you are one of the many communications professionals looking for a job in today’s economy or you are happily employed, you need to take advantage of the many online tools available to build your personal brand. You already have an online reputation if you are using any social media or networking websites- what are you doing to manage it? Have you developed a strategy to increase your professional network?

Building a personal brand starts with your digital identity, but it’s more than using Twitter and LinkedIn- you have to be a presence in your industry both online and in the community. I’d like to invite you to join us for the IABC Phoenix luncheon on August 20, where I’ll be discussing personal branding strategies, both online and in-person.

Some of the things I’ll discuss you already know, but you’ll learn some tips and techniques you might not have thought about. It’s a fun and informative presentation you won’t want to miss!

IABC Phoenix Luncheon
August 20, 2009
Joe PR Guy:  Brand YOU: It’s Time to Get Personal!
Register:  www.iabcphoenix.com

Thanks to Kevin Horton, tvkevin productions, for sponsoring the event with this video.

A report released today by Forbes ranked West Point, The U.S. Military Academy, the top college in the country in their America’s Best College report.

“Marked by an intense work ethic and drive to succeed on all fronts, the West Point undergraduate experience also allows graduates to leave without a penny of tuition loans to repay,” Forbes stated in their release.

The Center for College Affordability and Productivity staff gathered data from a variety of sources basing 25 percent of the rankings on seven million student evaluations of courses and instructors, as recorded on the Web site RateMyProfessors.com. Another 25 percent depends on how many of the school’s alumni, adjusted for enrollment, were listed among the notable people in Who’s Who in America.

The other half of the ranking were based equally on three factors; the average amount of student debt at graduation held by those who borrowed; the percentage of students graduating in four years; and the number of students or faculty, adjusted for enrollment, who have won nationally competitive awards like Rhodes Scholarships or Nobel Prizes.

To see the complete rankings go to www.forbes.com.

We did this all in one day- we had 12 hours, from 9AM to 9PM to learn as much of the Zombie March from “Thriller” as possible and then go to First Studio in Phoenix to shoot the video. Trust me, every muscle in my body hurt for two days and I have newfound respect for professional dancers.

I’d like to thank all of my social media friends who helped make this happen:

• Jeremiah Cohick (@JeremiahLee) and Arthur Nicholls (@arthurnicholls) who drove all the way from Los Angeles! I met Jeremiah on Twitter a few months ago and we had only met once in person, yet they were willing to drive across the desert to come and help.
• Jose Gonzalez (@Jose602) from the Torch Theatre, who graciously provided rehearsal space at Space 55 for us during the day.

• Kevin Horton (@tvkevin) who I met a few months ago on Facebook. Kevin owns tvkevin productions and is one of the most talented video producers in the area. A veteran news and entertainment photographer with an eye for details that will make your project shine, I recommend you hire him for your video needs!

• Phoenix dance instructors Andrew Balderrama and Cullen Daniel, who both responded to a posting on Facebook for choreography help- we had never met in person, only knew each other through mutual friends on Facebook. And hey, we are geeks with no rhythm… this wasn’t easy for any dance instructor!

• Ken and Laurie Easley saved us from the extreme heat advisory (we were orginially going to shoot Thriller outside in a spooky alley downtown). Ken Easley is a commercial photographer in Phoenix and owns First Studio, the very first TV station built in Phoenix in 1949. It has been converted into a unique space for video production and photography. The space is available for rent!

• Mike Chesworth, a Phoenix-based freelance film producer and editor helped us immensely with costume preparation, studio direction during the Thriller shoot, and editing.

• And last, but certainly not least, Paul Hanavan (@phanavan) and Kennelle Clark: my two dearest friends and consummate supporters. Thank you for all you do… Paul became a backup dancer when somebody didn’t show up and Kennelle managed logistics and the ever-important food for the day.

It’s official. I’ve started writing my first book. The idea came from a surprising media response when I founded “I Should Be In The News” or ISBITN, a modern nonprofit organization that seeks to provide a voice to communities (see http://isbitn.org).

When I launched ISBITN and began promoting it, I talked to reporters all over the country. While I was trying to reach media to help spread the word about ISBITN, reporters started contacting me for “off the record” help. In the press release announcing ISBITN and on the website, I mention that I’m a journalist-turned-PR-pro; a number of reporters who saw that contacted me because they were preparing to transition out of media and didn’t know where to begin. (more…)