Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Something to think about...

Since enrolling in a class that centers around maintaining my own blog, I've found myself typing the word "blog" more often than usual. As I was spellchecking my last post, I noticed that my computers spell-check did not consider "blog" to be a word. "Blog" is not in the dictionary I've had since being in college, however it is listed on dictionary.com with a definition. I just thought it was funny, maybe a little ironic, that as many of us are writing posts about popular blogs have become, the very machines that allow us to write on those blogs don't know the word exists.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Blogging as a PR Tool

In my four years of studying communications at SMU, a few points have been repeated throughout the various classes I’ve taken, agreed upon my all of my professors. One such point is the importance of staying current for PR professionals. That said, it must also be important for PR professionals to show current and prospective clients, as well as the public, that they are in fact up-to-date on news, new technology, current events, etc… and that they as a professional have something more to offer than the competition, and blogging presents a perfect opportunity to achieve that. 
Blogs can be updated quickly, entries may be as short or as long as the story requires, and topics can be fairly diverse; really whatever the blogger wants to talk about that day. 
President and CEO of Edelman, the world famous PR company, appears to update his blog about once a week on topics ranging from his family’s winter vacation in Shanghai to an annual Edelman study being unveiled that day at the World Economic Forum (his “favorite four days of the year”). 
Heather Hamilton, Senior Marketing Recruiter at Microsoft Corporation, operates another popular blog. Hamilton often blogs on industry topics, but in a recent post she mentioned how she often has trouble coming up with interesting work-related topics, so she invited a “guest blogger,” Chris Russell, founder of All County Jobs. Inviting guest bloggers is an excellent way to drive traffic to your site. I found Russell’s post on moving up the corporate ladder relevant and interesting as a college senior in the midst of a career search. Also, I think Hamilton’s blog will be a unique source of knowledge for me in the future. The diversity of topics on her blog left me looking forward to future visits. 

Monday, January 28, 2008

Blogging Compassionately

In the last two weeks I have spent a lot of time looking at blogs that I've never read before and re-examinaning the ones I refer to on a daily basis. In looking at these blogs, I've made some conclusions, the first of which being, there are SO many blogs out there today. Not only are there thousands of blogs with topics ranging from fashion to finance, many of these sites are updated weekly, daily, even multiple times per hour. In our globalized society, information can be made available with alarminly rapid turnaround. Information, pictures, even videos can be seen by the world seconds after a story breaks. While one may marvel at how far we have come in our production and use of technology, we also need to be careful with the power extensive technology has afforded us. One way I think this 24-hour information cycle is impacting the world in a negative way is our increasing obsession with celebrity watching. One blogger who has capitalized on celebrity obsession and built a lucrative career on it is L.A. based blogger Perez Hilton. "Perez" updates his site almost by the minute with pictures, gossip and his own opinions. I'll admit, I love seeing what my favorite it-girls are wearing today as much as the next girl, and I often refer to Perezhilton.com to see the latest pictures; but the media circus that has been created by paparazzi and reporters trying to snap Lindsay getting coffee or Britney going to court is scary to watch. I think the number of pictures we see everyday of certain celebrities is excessive, but I've also noticed lately the the comments Perez uses to accompany the paparazzi photos have become increasingly vulgar and mean-spirited. What used to be a fun site to see new pictures and make casual jokes about some socialite's messed-up spray tan has become something that I almost feel guilty for looking at. This past Tuesday when I found out about actor Heath Ledger's death my first thoughts were about how the media would handle it, including Perez. The predictable circus of photographers appeared within minutes in front of Ledger's apartment and even waited outside his two-year old daughter's home to catch a glimpse of Ledger's greiving family. The media pounced on the story so quickly that Ledger's parents found out about their son's death on television. While I expected not much more from the relentless paparazzi, I was still saddended and disappointed in the photographers' disregard for the tragedy Ledger's family is going through. When I got home from class yesterday, I logged on to perezhilton.com to see what I'd missed that day, I was pleasantly surprised at one of his entries. Perez reported, like other media outlets the latest on the investigation into Ledger's death and what his family and friends were doing. When Perez reported that Ledger's ex-girlfriend and daughter had returned home, he used a picture of the late actor instead of video and pictures of the two arriving home. Perez said that he would not use pictures of any family members, friends visiting, or the memorial service out of respect for the greiving family and encouraged other news outlets to use the same discretion. Even though Perez knew millions of people would have logged onto his site to see the heart-wrenching pictures and video, he did what he felt was compassionate and ethical, and I very much appreciated and respected that. It also gave me the inspiration for my first blog...

Thursday, January 24, 2008

For a start...

Welcome! You are reading my first-ever blog which I have created as part of an upper-level communications class at SMU. The class is about looking at trends and practices in all aspects of communications including marketing and public relations. I will graduate in May with a degree in Corporate Communications and Public Affairs and a minor in Spanish. For future entries on my blog I hope to explore the exciting trends in the communications industry and build upon the skills I have learned over the past four years. I also hope to relate what's happening the communications industry to what is happening in the fashion world. I am passionate about fashion and style and hope to work in fashion after graduation this summer. More to come...