Well, it has not happened yet, but the articles that will appear in HigherEd BlogCon should drive home the point that this is spreading. Also, it will illustrate that their future employees are now receiving formalized training in (and using) social media. The fact that it is a PR project sponsored by ProfNet/PRNewswire, Thomson-Peterson and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) should perk their ears up, too.

http://higheredblogcon.editme.com/

Also, the sheer number of PR blogs (now at 330) from Constantin's list should get their attention.

http://blog.basturea.com/archives/2006/01/11/new-pr-blogs/

And, finally, the students that are blogging. Consider the 50+ new student/educator blogs at PRblogs.org - this month alone. Two of those will be class group blogs, so we may see 40 or so students in there. And there are other blogs from around the world at PRblogs - students and practitioners.

The reality that one school alone (Auburn) is closing in on about 300 bloggers launched into in the PR world. Sorry for the self-promo on that one. :o)

There are more out there now, too. Gonzaga and Northeastern are just two other schools jumping into PR student blogging. And, we can't forget the UK Higher Ed PR bloggers and their classes, too.

I haven't counted all of the PR/Comm/Marcom educator and/or PR class blogs out there recently, but I'll bet there are about 20 educators - alone.

That's all I've got off the top of my head.

Well, a little self-promotion. I will be doing a daily link post for Bulldog Reporter's Daily Dog: http://www.bulldogreporter.com/dailydog/ where I will be posting five links a day, with short commentary, on what should be water cooler topics. It won't just be on blogs and podcasts, but PR issues that are being brought up.

Hopefully, people will find it useful.

Hi Josh,

Hope you are well. While it's an obvious choice, if I had to recommend one book which captures the changes in technology and the media, it would still be Dan Gillmor's 'We The Media'. I'd say that's core reading and if your delegates have read it prior to coming to the session, they'll have a basic grounding in the trends and the tools, and why they're important.

Good luck with the training.

Charles Arthur, The tech editor at UK broadsheet The Guardian, has some very forthright opinions on how we should be using blogs and rss in PR. Take a look on his personal blog.

Hi Josh,

I guess this falls in the self-promotion category but it really is a useful resource. All new subscribers to my (free) newsletter, WordBiz Report, get a free copy of my downloadable PDF "Top 7 Tips to Write a Business Blog." Just go to http://www.wordbiz.com/signup.php

Love your new site! Are the photos of locales near where you live??

Not exactly "reading," but the "For Immediate Release" podcast by Hobson & Holtz (http://www.forimmediaterelease.biz/) is a good introduction to the realm of new media and the significance of PR issues related to blogging and social media. It's something your attendees might be able to preview prior to the conference and should be right on target for PR counselors.

When it comes to "required reading" it's a short list, most of which you and others here have already identified. I'd just add the Cluetrain Manifesto.