Sunday, October 28, 2007

The Poor Dog Just Needs a Good Home!

I know it's been a couple weeks since this took place, but did anyone hear about what happened with Ellen Degeneres and the little puppy Iggy? If not, here is the video from her show of her explaining what happened...Ellen Video.

Well now people are making death threats to the dog shelter Iggy came from, talking bad about the shelter, and creating a bad reputation for the place. In my opinion, the shelter did what they had to do, but I think it was wrong to send a policeman to get the dog without giving the family notice. Also, even though Ellen did the wrong thing, at least she admitted to doing so.

The one thing I'm curious about is if she should have acted the way she did on her show that day when she explained what happened. As you can all see she was hysterically crying and could hardly spit out what she had to say. I know she was upset, but by acting that way on national television, so many people are now incredibley ticked off at the this dog shelter because they feel sorry for Ellen because she cried on TV.

How do you think the Ellen PR team should have handled this situation? Also, what do you guys think about the dog shelter getting death threats because of the way Ellen acted on TV? I honestly feel bad for the dogs at the shelter, it's not their fault Ellen screwed up.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Another New Citizen Podcast

Hey guys, check out Another New Citizen's first podcast created by Cassandra, Cameron, Andrew, and myself for Internet and Social Media for PR.

Click below to check it out!
Another New Citizen

I enjoyed doing the podcast project for class, not only did I learn a lot by how to make one, but it was fun too. I just think it's crazy that I know how to make my own little radio show and post it on a website! All of the effects and editing is a pretty cool process too. I hope I get a chance to do something like this again sometime because it was awesome.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Mommy Blogger

It is so amazing to me how people can become pretty much a celebrity by using the internet to reach people. Anyone heard of the mommy blogger yet? Well, if not, this article explains it all - Mommy Blogger.

Mother, Dawn Meehan, of six children sat down and decided to blog about her life and experiences about what it's like to be a mother. We all know there are millions and millions of mothers out there, so she can relate to quite a bit of people. As it turns out, her comical stories about her children and her life as a mother has become quite popular. She entered the blogosphere about 4 months ago and today she gets nearly 30 million hits a day! Can you believe that? I had no idea fellow moms had that much time to even get on the internet and blog because being a mother is one 24/7 busy job.

Anyhow, it's pretty interesting, they are calling her an "accidental blogger." It's just crazy to me how people can become their own celebrity on the net so quickly...what do you guys think?

Monday, October 15, 2007

The Talkers

Chapter 8 of The New Influencers, titled "The Talkers" is a great chapter to read concerning podcasts and how to make one. I'm sure as many other people in class, I had no idea how to make my own podcast until reading this chapter, watching the apple videos in class, and playing with the apple program Garage Band all last class period. We listen to podcasts for homework assignments and I'm finding that they are all over the web as well.

This chapter helps to explain podcasts, how they can be made, and why they are important. It talks about an example with a man named Joe Carpenter and how he used his podcasting abilities to talk about his love for wine. He now has his own site and has become quite a success. It's just amazing to me how far technology has come, and that it's so easy to create your own show about whatever you want by making a podcast.

Ever since I saw the podcast assignment, I was a little intimidated by it, but now I'm excited. I think it's going to be awesome making our own shows and doing everything on our own!

Digg.com

I know we have talked about this site a couple times in class and read about it in our book, Citizen Marketers, but I wanted to blog about it because I think it's pretty awesome. Digg.com is a website that has blog posts, videos, podcasts, and pretty much everything else about what is going on in the world. I kind of compare it to Perezhilton.com. It's like Perezhilton.com except instead of talking about celebrities and a bunch of random famous people, it has information about everything that is going on in the world. Digg.com is for everyone, not just crazy young gossip people that obsess about celebrities' lives. You know how if a new singer is posted on Perezhilton.com they become almost instantly famous? Well it's the same thing on digg.com. Once it's posted on the site, millions will go check it out.

Just thought it was kinda of cool, and for those who hate Perezhilton.com and are concerned about more important things in this world, check it out!

Blog Action Day!

Okay, so a few weeks ago I posted a blog about Blog Action Day. And what is today? October 15th, Blog Action Day! So I am taking this opportunity to blog about the environment.

First off, I have an internship with a small business called Verysupercool greeting cards. One of the coolest things about my boss is that she wanted her greeting cards to be earth-friendly. All of her greeting cards are printed on 100% post consumer waste paper. Also, New Leaf Paper keeps track of how much paper and how many envelopes the company uses so we know what valuable resources are being saved. No other greeting cards companies do this, which is what makes her business so special and unique. Also, it helps within the PR aspect because there are so many businesses out there we try and sell the cards to that are earth-friendly and are extremely concerned about the environment. Producing earth-friendly cards has been one of the biggest successes of Verysupercool. Verysupercool greeting cards were also pictured in "Modern Dog" Magazine as number three on the list of things that are "green."

Everyone else in the class should blog today for Blog Action Day, you still have time!

Sunday, October 7, 2007

PR Web Direct

So I came across this website, PR Web Direct. It's pretty interesting and kinda cool for public relations. Basically this website is a place to write, send press releases, and get free press through a PR news wire service. It's just a different type of method for press release distribution, online press release distribution. Pretty cool, huh? The service allows users to expand online distribution through this site. Users can take advantage of the expertise of the PR Web Direct staff in scheduling and submitting distribution. They also offer several other services that you guys should check out. There is tons of information on the site, so just check it out for yourself to learn more at PR Web Direct.

Chapter 5

I enjoyed chapter 5 in our book, Citizen Marketers. I liked the example with Coca-Cola and the old green Surge drink. It just comes to show that companies really need to start paying attention to their customers in all aspects. Whether it's from feedback online, by phone, or from mail. I really think that most companies "pretend" to listen to customer's comments and really don't, but maybe it's changing. Different blogs that talk about certain products and big companies such as Coca-Cola really should be looking out for these types of sites. It's important to be completely aware of what's being said about your company so you can provide any explanations necessary about a positive or negative comment made. This chapter was mainly about the internet blogging that goes on on the web. Also, it explains different aspects and approaches companies can take in order to handle situations dealing with what is said about them on these blogs. I admit that after reading this chapter and just from information heard in class so far this semester, I am definitely thinking that looking up blogs or reviews about an item before buying it is a great idea. Oh, and a note to companies out there...pay attention to your customers comments because without us you are nothing!