One person effectively communicating a message will have some impact. Many people authentically doing the same will have even greater impact. It doesn't require a PhD in algebra to figure this out. Unfortunately many in PR are still wed to the old ways of doing things.Someone who I know that is quite effective in using this social PR approach is Shonali Burke, a consultant based out of …
Public relations advice for Bashar al-Assad
Dear Mr. al-Assad,It is with the utmost sadness and frustration that I have been following the horrible war in your country over the years. I studied your Instagram account and other social media properties in detail on the same day that I learned about the destruction and grief that was brought upon your people by a chemical weapons attack outside Damascus. Every indication is that your …
Disseminating research through earned and owned media
There is good news and bad news when it comes to academics disseminating research.On the negative side, traditional media relations is tougher than ever. The media industry is going through constant disruption. Print advertising continues to decrease, according to the latest State of the News Media 2013 Report. Many city newspapers that had been around for over 100 years are no longer in …
What is your social media storyline?
Hypothetical - you are planning a trip to Bora Bora. You can spend hours reading books, watching videos and asking your friends about Bora Bora. Surely this will provide some insights but nothing compares to being there in person. Ditto for exploring any social media channel. Strategizing will only take you so far and sometimes you just need to dabble to learn more. That said, it is important to …
Communicating impact as a global think tank
We all want our communications to generate impact among our audiences. But how does one do that when your key audience is Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and other prominent policy makers? Tom Carver contemplates this question as the head of global communications at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing cooperation between …
Global education in your own backyard
The questions were a combination of basic, naive and cute. But as an underprivileged group of 8th grade students in Durham, North Carolina watched country profile videos and interacted with Duke Cross Continent MBA students from India, Spain, Qatar and China, it was clear that many of the young kids' interest was peaked about the world. The volunteer project held this past Wednesday also provided …
Using social media to choose a college major
Educational training and job placement go hand-in-hand. Sure, there are exceptions, but for the most part those that graduate from college have a better chance of securing employment than those that don’t. And in the United States, there is some troubling news on this front.The Pathways to Prosperity study by the Harvard Graduate School of Education shows that just 56 percent of college students …
Why do mothers seem to “get” social media better than CEOs?
Trivia – according to Nielsen, one-third of the bloggers in the world are:a) Chief Executive Officers b) Chief Marketing Officers c) Chief Learning Officers d) MomsThe correct answer, as the title of this post would indicate, is Moms! There is much that moms can teach the C-Suite about many topics, but for the sake of this post, I will focus on the practice of blogging and social media …