Gap Fail

In Twitter land I would be typing: #epicfail when describing Gap's attempt at a logo face lift. After the unveiling of the new logo, customers all over the world began responding, tweeting and letting the world know- through the wonderful real time effects of digital media- that they were not happy with the change. Within hours, Gap replaced the new logo with it's original and the effects of digital media were revealed more than ever- customers cried out and were heard. And the original Gap logo remains.

Reality TV- reality? or a Hollywood audition?

So, you apply for a reality show- whether to win the $500,000, to find your husband or to get a make-over- you tape the show, win or lose, then go back to Minnesota or Colorado or Texas or whatever other state is called home and live life... right?

Not so much now-a-days.

Seems to me that more reality celebrities are using these TV shows as 8 weeks to show off

their fiesty personality, in hopes of being "discovered" for further Hollywood opportunities or even better- get picked up for a spin off.

Take "Laguna Beach" for example- filmed about a group of high school students who lived in a small Southern California town. After running for 3 seasons, and seeing the extreme progress in "acting" skills from reality to semi-scripted or "outlined", Lauren Conrad was picked up for the spin-of

f "The Hills", which followed her journey to LA to pursue a career in fashion, along with fellow Laguna friend Hiedi Montag. Lo Bosworth eventually made her way to "The Hills" also and now writes a fashion blog, and Stephen is acting on the CW show "One T

ree Hill".

Along the way, Lauren's internship buddy got picked up for her own show, "The City", which followed her journey to New York to pursue fashion design, and so the web continues to weave the new breed of celebirities- made for how often they're seen dining at the Beverley Hills Polo Lounge or how many people follow the on Twitter, rather then their acting ability

or even their break into show business at all.

More of them film and then find a place in LA to "nest" until they make enough public appearances to get another gig... or at least ride out the wave of "fans" as long as the show is aired and promoted.

Makes me wonder if Twitter is new publicist for these reality stars, who usually go on to compete in other shows such as Dancing With the Stars or create their own websites and blogs, etc... and lay out their daily deeds on these websites, also promoting many "causes" and such- got to pay for that LA efficiency some how, right?

I know that all sounded very "soap box-ish" but I'm not really "hatin'", just making an observation- because I definitely follow the Twitter lives of the entire ABC's Bachelor/Bachelorette crew. Appealing. Just saying.

Intertesting website revelation today: YLakeland

This website is focused specifically on events and things to do for college students and 20-somethings!! I'm super pumped about it- the YLakeland website describes themselves as:

""YLakeland" is an initiative of the Lakeland Economic Development Council, aka LEDC. Young, educated, talented, creative, and sometimes zany professionals are an essential component of a healthy community. YLakeland connects high school and college students to what is happening in Lakeland and what opportunities our community offers beyond school."

The Social Network

October 1, 2010 released The Social Network, a film about the creation of the top grossing social networking website, Facebook.

When seeing the preview of this movie, I was more than skeptical about what it's content would be and if we have really come to this place where we are so engrossed with this website that Hollywood has pulled it's origins together to tell it's story.

I was so wrong. I saw The Social Network and it was impressive, yet interesting to me that most of it was fictional. Many accounts, including Mark Zukkerburg's (creator of Facebook and main character of the story), that share the differences of the movie and reality- much of which was included for the purpose of selling a movie.

Publicity Photos & Graphics- Picking the Best.

So, let me ask you a question:

Who doesn't like picture books? I don't think I can name one.. not even one.. person who does not like picture books- at least when they were kids.

Every kid likes picture books.

Well, photos and graphics within an article is for the picture book loving kid inside of each of us. By adding a photo, readers are automatically become attracted to the article.

Basically, majority of readers prefer to see a story told through a photo rather than reading the text in print. Even if they don't remember exactly what the article said, they will always remember the photo that accompanied it.

What makes a photo good, you might ask?

Always submit only high resolution images with good contrast and sharp details. A pixilated photo will never make it. Just throwing that out there- you can take it, or you can throw it right back.

Some things to consider before submitting:

• Show perspective- zoom in or out so that readers get an idea of true size, etc...
• Show action- avoid posey posey pictures (think journalism not Olan Mills).
• Show the main idea- too many people in a photo can come off tacky or distracting.
• Show a caption to include that explains the image.
• Show faces when possible- backs and sunglasses are more for the witness protection situations.

Some things to consider when writing captions:

• A caption should introduce the people in the picture and give an idea to what is going on in the photo.
• They are usually two to four sentences long.
• When introducing the people in the photo, include Name (first and last) and age.

All these notes are from Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques by Dennis L. Wilcox.

Feature News Stories and Op-Eds

Who knew that "op-ed" actually stands for "opposite the editorial page".

Well, not me.

Along with that, here are a few other interesting "something to think about" this-n-thats when it comes to feature news stories and op-eds.

Approaches to take when writing for features:

• Distribute a general story to a variety of publications for more opportunity to get published. There are websites to help with this type of approach, such as prnewswire.
• Interest a freelancer or reporter in writing a story- there are plenty of people looking for some extra cash.
• Write an exclusive feature for one publication- unlike the first, this approach will have less chance of mass publication, but also hold more value because every news outlet longs for exclusivity, just like a little kid anxious for the tooth fairy- just one of those things.
• Post features online- this approach is easy to produce and easily accepted because to print online doesn't take printing, etc..

Now, there are many different types of feature stories to write about. Here are some good choices to get started with:

• case study- article about a specific case or situation where a service or product effected someone.
• application study- kind of like the case study, this story details how consumers can benefit from a featured product. This type focuses on the product, the case study focuses on the consumer.
• research study- researches an aspect of lifestyle or common life situation.
• backgrounder- commonly focuses on historical material which draws human interest.
• personality profile- features a celebrity or top employee of a company, in order to bring them into a more common light and not as patronized.
• historical feature- tells about a major event or anniversary in the community.

Golden tip of the day (I won't even charge for this one): Feature stories and pretty common, so to be a successful feature writer, look for a niche or unique view of an event- a way to stand out from all the other feature writers who are sending in stories about the same day and possibly the same event.

Feature stories are formatted just like news releases (which we talked about a couple of weeks ago). Photos and graphics are also a great way to draw attention from readers, as well as editors.

So, pick your type and viewpoint for an article- throw in a grand amount of quotes, examples, facts, and story telling skills in order to deliver an entertaining and interesting story.

However, Op-Eds are a tad-bit different. These are only about 400-700 words and contain more facts than creativity. It is basically an opinion based article that provides facts of an event to support the particular opinion of the author.

All this jazz was taken from Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques by Dennis L. Wilcox.

Slow and Painful- Is Print Dying?

With such a cultural transition right now, I often wonder what 10 years will look like- if we will finally have flying cars- and if print will still be a primary media at all?

It is already very apparent that digital media has begun to reign in media sources across the globe. On one hand I would like to be able to say that print media will always hold a place in our hearts-there’s just something about pen on paper that I tend to like for journaling, etc... On the other hand, however, I see concrete situations where print media is just nothing to write home about- it’s not as easy, convenient or light weight. It takes a lot of space to carry the notebook, the book, the pen, paper, highlighter and whatever else you plan on using, rather than just an ipad which does it all.

I am seeing these PR ads, printed by the top players in the print industry, such as Conde Nast, and I'm wondering if this is clearly one last attempt to reassure readers that they're not going anywhere- while ferociously creating magazine apps and such, of course, to go along with these ads (just in case, ya know).

There is a full article about this campaign, printed by PRNewswire.

SIX, worthy.

Newsworthy-ness will make or break if an article goes to press.


Period.

As discussed in Chapter 6, there are a few key components to making an article newsworthy. That chapter review said all kinds of jazz about it, but the main 5 points discussed are:


Timeliness
Unusualness
Human interest
Proximity
Prominence


which basically breaks down like this: timeliness refers to when the article is released- you don't want to release too early or too late.

Unusualness is reporting things that are weird or different or "unusual"- imagine that!

Human interest is finding the story within a story. For example, during the 9/11 attacks, the human interest story would be the one spotlighting the one fireman who saved 3 people who were far away from the masses, etc. Highlighting a detailed story out of the big picture.

Proximity is all about location, location, location- where the event takes place in relation to where the readers if the publication are located- what is cool in Nebraska isn't necessarily cool in Florida.

Last is prominence- the rich and famous always draw a crowd!

The end.

Week FIVE, Don't Fake it...

Plagiarism is tricky.

There are those times where a writer just forgot to add quotation marks and other times where the writer just liked the words of another and wanted them as their own. In the latter, plagiarism is absolutely not ok, and will probably get you kicked out of school or fired or wherever your writing is headed.

Let me ask you this, would you steal a movie? ok then, same thing.

Purdue University helped out a lot with some extra tips, beyond what I wrote about for the chapter review. A great resource overall, but see what they had to say about plagiarism.

Week FOUR, Clean it Up

The NewsU courses are kicking my butt!

Ok, I feel so much better now that I got that out there and off my chest.

Initially, I wanted to ust my 3-pronged approach to say the following:

1. I learned that- I DO NOT know as much as I thought I knew about this.

2. I was surprised that -I DO NOT know as much as I thought I knew about this.

3. I would like to learn- All that stuff that I thought I knew.

However, I have decided to push past my depression and dig a little deeper into my new knowledge.

I know your excited.

1. In this course I learned a lot more about punctuation. I am an editor, and this is why I was so surprised how much I don't know. I learned to rely on AP Style a lot more than I already do.

AP Style and I are officially on BFF status!

2. What surprised me was how easy it became to navigate an AP "flow"- not as hard as it seems.

3. I would like to become more comfy using those things. you know, to just be able to KNOW more of those rules and be able to "phase out" my deep relationship with my AP Styleguide.

I actually really like the interactvie format of the News U courses- time flies when your having fun- and these courses go fast!

---

NewsU sounds cool, right? It is. Check it out.

I asked God to show me his heart... He showed me His hurt.

The horrors of poverty tear into the core of who I am.

However- I love the howevers..
Those tears are being wiped away, right off of their cheeks and hearts are smiling again-

with the help of one local Floridian, Danita Estrella, and her Orlando based ministry- Danita’s Children.

So the story goes a little something like this:
In 1998 Danita visited Haiti for the first time on a short trip to Dominican Republic as a language interpreter. When the trip was over she went across the border into Haiti. Within a year of her return home, she moved there, with nothing but a yearning in her heart and the imaged embedded into her spirit of the young children digging through trash cans for food. She rented a small house and eventually brought 14 children to come live with her there. Now, 10 years later, Danita has established 3 Orphan homes, school for over 600 Haitian children, a church, a feeding program, and a medical clinic for the community. Currently Danita is in the process of planning a new orphanage for the children that she rescued from ground zero of the earthquake in Port-Au-Prince.

Danita speaks about the early days of her initial move to Haiti on her website:
“I spent the days volunteering at different schools and churches in the area, and at night I would sit quietly before the Lord. There was no electricity in the village, so I would read my Bible by candlelight. There were times I felt so desperately alone; yet God’s presence was always real. He had given me a promise: ‘Go, and I will be with you’.”

The work of Danita’s Children is made possible by a limited staff in the US offices in Orlando, Florida, in the field in Haiti, a team of seven full-time missionaries, some mid-term and short-term missionaries, and a 55-member staff comprised of Haitians, Dominicans, and other nationals.

However- o yes, another however-
Danita is always looking for those with a willing heart and the desire to use their skills and gifts for the kingdom of God.

$29 a month gives one of Danita’s Children:
clothes
3 meals a day
shelter
an education

...every spiritual, educational, and physical need met.. for only $29 a month. Go ahead, be the answer to their prayer.

Luke 10:2- “..The harvest is great, but the workers are few..”


There is an entire list of needs that Danita is praying for her children, from blankets and towels, to generators and missionary staff, read the list.

Most of all, pray.

Pray for Mamma Danita’s children.
Pray for their safety and the safety, discernment, and wisdom of Danita’s staff.

If you dont, who will?!

Read more of Danita’s Children’s stories and find out how you can help at:
http://www.danitaschildren.org/

Be The Answer.

Who's Who

Chapter 6 Notes

Publicity tool kit. Basically the Who’s Who of getting info out there. Consists of these things:

Fact Sheet

Media Advisory

Media Kit

These things help companies capture the attention of the media and persuade them to expose the company’s product, event, etc., to the public.

Here’s the run down.

The [Fact Sheet]

It is what it is- a list of facts that provide a quick overview of the company.

A corporate fact sheet, or corporate profile, provides facts about an organization and should include:

organization’s name

products or services produced

organization’s annual revenues

total number of employees

names of top executives

markets served

position in the industry

other pertinent details

the [Media Advisory]

Media advisories serve to alert the media of upcoming event that they wish to gain media coverage. These are usually a short, bulleted items, detailing the time, date, location, etc. and are sent out a couple of weeks prior to an event.

the [Media Kit]

Another way to grab an editors attention is a media kit, also referred to as a press kit. A media kit provides the this- and- that about an event or product launch. Get creative when making a media kit, but the basic media kits include the following:

main news release

news features

fact sheet

background information

photos or drawings with captions

biographical materials on the senior executive, etc.

basic brochures

Some media kits may even include samples of the product and similar freebies in order for the editor to become familiar with the product and develop his or her own opinion about it.

** Which is a brilliant idea, make a believer out of them and you're golden!**

A typical media kit comes in a 9 by 12 inch folder but some companies prefer to make a package or something that catches an editor’s eye. Electronic Media kits are also popular and usually come in a compact disk.

Get as creative or simple as you feel fits the company:

All these notes are from Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques by Dennis L. Wilcox.

Making the Team

Chapter 5 Notes (for those of you keeping up)

Ok, so remember when you were little and trying to get picked to play on the team? Well, press releases are kind of like that. There are all the kids- the chubby kid, the kid who is real excited but not much else, the one picking his nose, the little girl who is willing to go head-to-head with the boys and it’s just reality that some make it on the team and some get sent packing.

The same goes for the press release- an editor gets stacks and stacks of releases daily- the one with all the misspelled words, the one with no title or heading, the one with no contact information and even the good one- describing a fabulous up-coming event- that just doesn’t do anything to stand out and gets stuck in between all the other average joes- in the trash. By the end of the day, the editor has to pick the team, which make it and which do not.

O, the life of a press release.

A news release, aka a press release, is a way for companies or organizations to get news of an event, product, idea, etc. to the media, in hopes of being published for public exposure.

Editors receive daily releases, usually too many to keep up with, not only through the traditional mail, but also by email and fax, which makes it extremely important to know the logistics of a press release so that it stands out from every other release and doesn’t just get mixed up in the stack of all the other hundreds of unused releases.

Now let’s make that News Release an All-Star:

(this is just the basics)

• Follow an outline and stick to it.
• Provide all the “W’s” (we will talk about them in a moment) needed in the one release- one page only!
• Be timely- not too early, not too late.
• All the most important info should be put into the first paragraph, and then detailed in the paragraphs following.

So, the 5 W’s- Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?- The Questions That a News Release Should Answer:

Who is sponsoring the event, creating the project, etc…

Who is is the target audience?

What is the purpose of the organization/event?

When will this take place?

Where is this happening?

How will readers benefit from this information?

Why is this event or the like being created?

The Traditional News Release (aka, that outline we talked about):

side note: Check to see if the editor of the outlet you are writing to has any specific guidelines for their releases.

If so, follow those.

If not, follow these.

Use 8.5 by 11 inch multi-purpose paper- avoid colored paper. I know you think it’s “fun” but let’s keep it professional folks. Your content should make the release original, not the paper.

There should be a two inch margin at the top of the page and 1.5 inch margins on the bottom, right and left.

10 or 12 pt font is preferred and legible fonts such as Courier and Times New Roman are ideal.

Use AP Style.

To indicate that the release is longer than one page, place the word -MORE- at the bottom of the page, BUT try to avoid more than one page. It comes across as too inconvenient for the editor- who has little time- to look at it.

To indicate that the release has ended place the word -END- or place a line of pound signs at the bottom -###-.

A Few Basic Types of New Releases

1. Announcements- new stuff- products, promotions, sales reports, anniversaries and such.

2. Spot Announcements- informs public of a happening that affected the organization.

3. Bad News- can be buried in a news story so readers do not consider it to be a “cover up” for a mistake. It is best to confront an issue immediately in order to prevent the media from making up stories or being informed of rumors. The worst thing that a PR representative can do is to refuse to comment on a situation- unless they are trying to be torn to shreds by media “assumptions”.

Basically, if you’re not sure what to include, I have three words for you-

LOOK.

IT.

UP!

There are plenty of resources, like Web Wire that will help Press Releases become an essential part of advertisement for your organization and is a lot cheaper than buying an ad slot.

All these notes are from Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques by Dennis L. Wilcox.