FPRA Archive
Commentary by blog and social media consultant Josh Hallett on the use of blogs for public relations, media, marketing, communication & branding and from time-to-time the unsolicited opinion.
Return to the blog index.
My blogging-partner-in-crime Chris Gent has a wrap-up post for our conference blogging at the 2007 Florida Public Relations Association Annual Conference. We posted a total of 84 entries, 7 podcasts and almost 700 photos.
Like many conference blogging experiences, it was fun, but exhausting. We had a team of bloggers and we tried to closely follow the conference blogging guidelines I set out last year.
Chris and I handled most of the photography. You can find the FPRA Flickr stream here.
One of the highlights for me was Cynthia Gordon's session on how Universal has been using digital and social media. Many of her examples revolved around the recent announcement that Universal Studios Theme Park would be home to Harry Potter.
I'll be blogging from the 2007 FPRA Annual Conference for the next three days. You can follow all the action over at the official FPRA Blog.
We have a team of conference bloggers covering the event. The conference is being held at the Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota, FL.
An association I am a member of is holding their annual conference at the Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota in early August. Last year we live-blogged the event with much success. This year we want to repeat the online conference coverage. One problem, the cost of wifi at the Ritz.
The cost for wifi in a conference room is $300 per single-user, per day. Now this isn't for a speaker or for general use, it's for one person to be able to sit in the audience and use wifi. Now there is a break for additional users, they add $50 per user/per day. With the event lasting three days, the total cost for wifi for three people will be $1600. I don't even want to know what it would cost to enable wifi for everybody in the room.
Ridiculous? Of course, but too often it's standard practice at conference space. I think that when negotiating any contracts with a conference hotel, wifi should be provided as a base service. If you can't do it, then don't even submit a bid.
A fellow conference blogger said this:
It’s ironic that the hotels charge so much and yet our blogging actually is promoting their hotel. Think of the pictures we posted in last year’s conference blog… golf course, beachfront views, decorated ballrooms… all free advertising for the hotel.
P.S. Another fun wifi pet-peeve, paying for wifi in my room, then having to pay for it again in the conference room.
The man behind Brand Autopsy, John Moore, is coming to Orlando next week. John is the keynote speaker at an event sponsored by the Orlando Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association. The 'Impact of Social Media' will be held Thursday, October 26th from 8:30 am till 1:30pm.
John will be speaking at lunch, but the morning is filled with quite a few other speakers who will talk about the various aspects of social media. I'll be attending and will post any items of interest.
The Florida Public Relations Association's blog has been born-again. Incoming VP of Communications, Bob O'Malley, APR, has begun posting frequently and has invited many of the other leaders of the association to join in. There is even a post from Jessica Rye, APR, state association president.
Update: If you've applied these tips to a conference blog, send me a link!
Having blogged a few conferences both on my own and with a team, I offer this quick 'how-to' for other groups looking to do the same. Feel free to use this to develop your conference blogging plan. Or you could just invite me to your conference :-)
At the most recent FPRA Annual Conference we had a team of four people blogging the event. Listed first are the tools we used. Following that, I'll talk some strategy.
The Tools
This is broken down into two major sections, hardware and software. As with everything, check to make sure all your tools are working ahead of time and that you know how to use them.
Hardware: Here is a list of the gear you'll need to lug around :-)
Laptop/PC/Mac - Obviously you'll need a way to post things online, laptops tend to work best at conferences :-) At this most recent event we had my PowerBook, two Dells and a ThinkPad.
Connectivity - You'll want some way to get online, either via wifi or a cellular technology such as Verizon EVDO. At the Ritz Carlton where the FPRA conference was held, there was not publicly available wifi in the conference rooms, but we had secured accounts in advance. As a back-up, one of the team had a Verizon EVDO card in his laptop.
Camera - Digital, point-and-shoot cameras work, but investing in a good DSLR will make a big difference. At FPRA I had a Nikon D70 and Chris had his Nikon D50. Make sure you have a way to easily transfer photos from the camera to your laptop.
Portable Audio Recorder - Some sort of device to record audio in digital format, MP3 is the best of course. I always carry an iRiver MP3 recorder. It features a built-in mic and a line-in jack to connect to external devices. A basic USB cable allows me to transfer the audio files.
Software: Make sure you're software is installed and ready to use. For web-based software, make sure you have an account.
Blog - Blogging a conference usually requires some sort of blog software :-) In some cases you can pick your platform, other times you'll need to work with the platform the conference is providing. For the FPRABlog we used MovableType.
Offline Blog Editor - Having an offline blog editor such as Ecto or Qumana can make a huge difference. Being able to compose your posts and then upload them in the proper format saves time. You might say, "I can use Word and then upload." Well sometimes that copy/paste from Word to the blog software can cause some formatting problems. An offline editor also helps when you have limited connectivity. At WOMMA this year we could not connect in the session rooms, but we could in the hallway. We would write our posts in Ecto, then step into the hallway to quickly post.
Flickr - If you're planning on taking more than a few pictures you'll want to use Flickr. The ability to upload, organize and include photos on your blog can't be beat.
Flickr Upload Tool - A dedicated Flickr upload tool can help speed things along. On the Mac I use the Flickr plugin for iPhoto from Connected Flow. I also have the standalone Flickr Uploadr tool installed. At the FPRA conference, our team installed the upload tool on their PCs as well.
Technorati - You'll want to use Technorati or some other blog search tool to track any conversation surrounding the conference.
Audio Editing Software - If you plan on doing any audio work you might need some tools to edit your audio files. In recent cases I have just posted the audio interviews as is without any editing. You learn to structure/format your interview in such a way that you can minimize or eliminate the need to edit your files.
FTP Software - Many blog tools have upload capabilities, but if you need to upload a large audio or video files FTP will work best. Like the Flickr Upload tools you can start a process and then move on to something else. Of course you'll need to have the proper username/password for FTP.
Strategy
The Team:
Not every organization has the luxury of having a large blogging staff (whether paid or volunteers). You might be all on your own, but having some helpers makes a big difference. If you plan to cover everything, your lowest common denominator is the maximum number of breakout sessions. For example if at some point there are four concurrent breakout sessions you'll need at least four bloggers to get the job done. For a standard 2-3 day conference here is my dream team of 3-4 folks:
Blog/Tech Guru - This person is ultimately responsible for everything that gets posted. They also provide tech support to the other bloggers. In addition they can take photos/upload them and do audio interviews as needed. In a pinch they will also write-up sessions.
Bloggers (2-3) - These are folks that can write good reviews of sessions as well as recaps of other events. It's a bonus if they can do some outreach and find other blogs or references that pertain to the conference/topic.
Photographer (Optional) - If you can swing it I would suggest having a dedicated person to handle photography. Their job is to take photos and more photos then upload them. If only we could clone Scott Beale.
Obviously knowing somebody ahead of time helps fill your roster. In other cases, do some research. Who blogs within the topic? Are they already coming to the conference? Is the organization willing to offer them a free registration in exchange for blogging? Many savvy organizations realize the benefits of conference blogs and will gladly offer free registration for bloggers.
Continue reading "How to Blog a Conference" »
Over the past few days I have been busy blogging the Florida Public Relations Association's 68th Annual Conference in Amelia Island, FL. The blog team attempted to cover all aspects of the conference for those that could not attend.
There was however one thing I couldn't cover. During the Golden Image Awards Banquet on Tuesday night I was surprised to be honored with the 2006 FPRA Member of the Year Award.
In my brief remarks on stage, I thanked FPRA and all the friends I have met through this wonderful organization. I have been a member of FPRA for almost 10 years and it has provided an amazing amount of professional, business and personal development.
To put things in perspective though, during his session the next day, Mark Ziegler said something like, "Awards are great, but when you get one, enjoy the moment and then move on. It's time to work harder."
Thanks FPRA.
I'll be blogging from the Florida Public Relations Association's 68th Annual Conference for the next few days. Stop on by the FPRA Blog to follow-along.
Next week I'll be traveling to Amelia Island, FL to attend/blog the Florida Public Relation Associations' annual conference. The conference takes place from Sunday, August 6th till Wednesday, August 9th. I'll be joined by a few other folks in covering the event over at the FPRABlog.
You may remember that we launched the FPRABlog with FPRA Blog Week back in March of this year. For the past few months it has mostly been used to cover FPRA events around the state. In the next few days I'll be posting some lead-up items in advance of the conference. We invite the PR blogging community to follow along and provide commentary.
From a technical standpoint, we ask that you tag any posts: FPRA.
This morning I was a keynote speaker at a local FPRA event in Port Canaveral, Florida. During the media roundtable portion after my session I moved from table to table (along with other media reps) speaking to local PR practitioners. The group is mostly comprised of local agencies and in-house communicators. To my surprise I arrive at a table with Sara Zavala from Edelman. They're everywhere!
To put things in perspective Port Canaveral is close to Cape Canaveral (Kennedy Space Center) and a bevy of technology firms.
I'll be flying to Mackinac Island, MI this Tuesday for a conference at the Grand Hotel. It's the first time I've ever been to this picturesque island and everybody I talk to that has been there says it's amazing. Needless to say I am looking forward to it. As soon as I get back I am presenting a session for the Treasure Coast chapter of FPRA on Friday.
I also finalized my travel plans for Gnomedex at the end of the month. Looks like I'll be flying in Thursday afternoon (6/29) and then leaving late Sunday night (7/2). I'll be staying with Buzz Bruggeman while I am in Seattle. Right now our plans are open for Sunday, so if you'll be in the area, drop me an e-mail.
In other conference news, the IABC International Conference is going on in Vancouver. I look forward to Joe Thornley's blog-coverage of the event. Joe does a great job of blogging conferences.
I'm in Gainesville, Florida today attending the professional development seminar hosted by the Florida Public Relations Association. I'll be blogging from the event over at FPRABlog. I'm on a panel with a few media folks. I'll post a wrap-up of my session later.
I just posted my article, Blogs: The Birth of "Public" Relations, over at FPRA Blog Week. It also happens to be the final article for the event.
This is FPRA Blog Week, so we should probably have one article about blogs, right? As we said earlier, our focus for this event was always going to be traditional public relations topics to provide more benefit to our members. Perhaps it is fitting then that the last article posted would be about a new—and to some, a non-traditional—tool. However, some may argue that blogs are no longer non-traditional—they are the future and need to be integrated with your current practice of public relations. Perhaps we could say that blogs are the true birth of public relations?
We've been extremely happy with the response the event has received. Over the next few days I expect Bob and I will post some wrap-up comments and then begin to think about next year's event.
Over at FPRA Blog Week Bob O'Malley posted a great comment on Doreen's article: The Benefits of Volunteering. Bob said:
Every year, I tell graduating college seniors to take notice of which PR firms are represented at FPRA luncheons, events and committees, and which ones are not. I tell them that the ones that are not represented are not good places to work.
Take that quote and insert just about any industry/professional association. I also pay attention to things like this. When a new member joins a professional group and they are paying out of their own pocket (because their firm won't pay) I watch to see how long before they change employers.
FPRA Blog Week kicked off yesterday with four articles from Florida PR professionals. Day 1 highlights include:
Roger Pynn's article relating Physics and Public Relations:
It seems more than a little humorous for me to write about any law of physics since I never took a course in it, but Newton’s 3rd Law of Physics is an
important lesson for public relations practitioners. The law states simply: “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”
Made a law of public relations, it would read: “For every action an organization takes, there will be an equal and opposite reaction.”
Some constituent, some public, some competitor, some one will react to what you do … and the responsibility of the public relations professional is to counsel and guide the organization to take those reactions into account before action is taken so the reactions to the eventual course of action will evoke the organization’s desired response.
Stuart Doyle, ABC on the importance of
trust and values in corporate communications:
Passion for customers. Integrity, innovation, commitment. Accountability to shareholders, partners, and employees for commitments, results and quality.
Statements like those are typical of the values U.S. businesses cite in their eclectic mix of mass communication vehicles, from annual reports to Internet sites to new employee orientation video presentations. The values companies espouse tend to have common themes such as integrity, adherence to honest practices, and respectful treatment of employees and external target publics.
Nevertheless, living up to those noble attributes in today’s global marketplace often is easier said than done to the point that ethical challenges emerge frequently.
Roger Casey, Ph.D. on
Millennials: The New College Generation:
Understanding the Millennial generation is key to educating them. At Rollins we have expended considerable effort to create a technologically rich, yet personally focused learning environment conducive to the needs of this “next great generation.” With their orientation toward achievement and the support of their elders, the Millennials have a tremendous future ahead. It’s our job to prepare them for it, and in our post-9/11 world, never has the breadth and focus of a liberal-arts education been so in need.
Many of the initial articles have generated a number of comments from within FPRA and from the outside world, which is exactly what we wanted.
Just a quick reminder that FPRA Blog Week starts next Monday (April 10, 2006). We have a number of great posts written by members of the Orlando Area Chapter for the Florida Public Relations Association. I encourage all my PR focussed readers to check in at least once a day or subscribe to the FPRA Blog RSS feed. Of course if you just read the posts via RSS then you'll miss any commentary :-)
You've heard it before, Google loves blogs. It's a by-product of the dynamic nature of the content and the frequency of inbound links from other blogs and web sites. Today's example? FPRABlog. Launched three days ago it's already #5 on Google for the search fpra.
The Orlando Area Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association will be holding FPRA Blog Week from April 10-14, 2006 over at FPRAblog.com.
The online event is similar in concept to Global PR Blog week, but with the 'Florida' edition all the authors are members of the Florida Public Relations Association. In addition the majority of the content will focus on traditional public relations rather than blogs. You can review the full schedule at the blog.
We are encouraging members of the PR blogosphere to subscribe to the FPRAblog RSS feed and come to the blog between April 10-14 to participate in the online conversation.
We're also asking that you tag any relevant posts: fprabw or fpra. Then you can follow all the blog discussions here.
Tomorrow I'll be speaking to a joint meeting of the local AdFed and Florida Public Relations Association clubs. The overall focus of the session will be conversation and interaction with your customers (not just blogs).
Another one of the topics will be the blurring line between advertising and public relations. One case in point is Word of Mouth (WOM). What are your thoughts? Are some advertising campaigns becoming PR campaigns?
The session is being held at the Lakeland Center from 11:30 a.m. till 1 p.m. Come on by if you're in the Central Florida area, but you don't need to make a special trip :-)
At the end of this month I am speaking at the Florida Public Relations Associaton's mid-year Counselors' Network meeting. At this very hands-on session I'll have the opportunity to work with a number of senior counselors that want to learn all about blogs and social media.
As part of the 'curriculum' I'll be posting a series of items in the lead-up to the session on January 26. The plan is for the attendees for begin their blogging journey here and then continue exploring elsewhere. Fellow PR bloggers, I need your help though. There are obvious things like The NewPR Wiki and Global PR Blog Week, but what other items do you think are required reading?
Trent Flood posted his six predictions for public relations in 2006. Good stuff. The basic list:
1. The Death of the Mid-Sized PR Agency
2. Refocus on Two-Way Communication
3. Advertising's Continued Morph into PR
4. The Evolution of the News Release
5. Experience vs. Performance
6. A Bunch of Flacks
Go read the details.
I leave early Thursday morning for Tallahassee, FL. I am speaking to a luncheon meeting of the Capital Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association. A few meetings in the afternoon and then dinner with longtime FPRA friends, Jay Rayburn and Rick Oppenheim.
On Friday I'll be speaking to a few of Jay's classes at Florida State University.
I'll be speaking to the Treasure Coast Chapter of FPRA on Tuesday. Blogs are the topic of course.
Jennifer was not that impressed with the blogging session at the FPRA Annual Conference. When the presenter has not updated their blog in about one year, that can be an indication of their 'expertise'.
She also says the hotel hasn't even heard of wifi.
The Florida Public Relations Association has been developing a new web site which was planned to launch in combination with their annual conference next week. Three days before the annual conference they took down the old site and put up a placeholder (shown below). Anybody looking for last-minute information about the conference was out of luck.
Hopefully they'll get the web site launched soon or at least post some information about the conference. For now here is a link to the basic information and the student track.
Update (8/5 - 3:50PM): The new site is up. Doesn't look like if offers anything new compared to the old site. More of a redesign than a revamp. We'll hold off on the usability review for now :-)
Doreen attended a seminar I gave this morning, then went home and started her blog. Welcome Doreen.
I have created a few new pages on my wiki to document my upcoming speaking engagements and travel schedule. A few speaking highlights:
OAC Bosses Breakfast - Orlando, FL - June 8, 2005
PR University - Fort Myers, FL - June 9, 2005 Cancelled
Tampa Advertising Federation - Tampa, FL - July 14, 2005
Ft. Lauderdale Advertising Federation - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - August 17, 2005
West Palm Beach Advertising Federation - West Palm Beach, FL - August 18, 2005
As web links and other details become available for the 'Summer Tour' I will update the wiki.
Sorry for the light notes at the end of Session 3 I caught myself doing too much listening and not enough typing.
Mandelyn C. Hutcherson has notes from Session 1. She took them with her Tablet PC so she is going to convert them over and send them along. I will post them as soon as I receive.
After the conclusion of the session I had a few moments to show the participants EPIC. For many (if not all) in the audience this was their first exposure to the now famous video.
Overall it was a great experience. I got to talk to a number of practitioners that are interested in blogging. The majority are looking at the listening and monitoring aspect and not engagement. RSS and RSS agregators are the tool for them. Only a handful of those in the audience had experience with RSS, but I think we will have quite a few converts.
Since I was on a panel I could not do my full presentation, but I did address many of the major issues. Many Gainesville members wanted to know when I would be back. Well there are two options. I will be speaking at the Nature Coast chapter on June 3rd. That should be about an hour drive. Or there was talk of getting a group together and holding a private session one afternoon or morning...or even all day :-)
Off to Nashville for BlogNashville.
Session 3 is about to start. On tap:
Diane Hodges - CNN Producer, World Report
Jacki Levine - Managing Editor, Gainesville Sun
George Vazquez Jr. - PR Newswire
Same format, quick intros from the panel, then on to Q&A
Jacki Levine
Finding you way into the media is the topic in the Gainesville market. Jacki is tempering her remarks to the local market since the majority of people in the audience are from the local market.
Jacki is talking about the decline of circulation within the Gainesville Sun and how traffic is turning towards the web.
Continue reading "DigitalPR Session 3: News in a Digital World" »
I am live-blogging this so some of it might be rough....I'll clean up later.
The session has brief opening statements from the two panelists followed by questions and answers. First up:
Joe Adams: idiganswers.com
Joe says we are "Very fortunate to live in a state with such broad public records laws."
E-mail is a very popular record from a journalist's perspective. They realize that many people are now communicating via e-mail so they request e-mail for stories. This has caused a backlash in public institutions, many are no longer discussing issues via e-mail, they will meet face-to-face.
Public records empower the consumer. In Florida we can find out information about our physicians, courts and public officials to name a few.
He reviewed a recent edition of the Florida Times Union, the majority of the stories on the front page were from public records.
Continue reading "DigitalPR Session 2: E-mail in the Sunshine" »
I will be attending the DigitalPR conference in Gainesville, FL today. I am on a panel in the morning but plan to take notes for the other sessions during the day. I am looking foreward to the session on 'E-mail in the Sunshine', especially considering my earlier post on transparency related to the Florida Sunshine Laws.
The afternoon panel deals with 'News in a Digital World' and features:
Diane Hodges - CNN Producer, World Report
Jacki Levine - Managing Editor, The Gainesville Sun
George A. Vazquez, Jr. - PR Newswire
Depending on internet access at the conference, notes might be posted during the day, or at the end of the day. Later tonight is it off to Nashville for BlogNashville.
Two great panel discussions coming up.
This Friday I will be in Gainesville, FL for the Digital PR conference. I am speaking on a panel about new technology trends in public realtions. Joining me on the panel will be Geoff Wilson, CEO of 352 Media.
Some Gainesville FPRA members and myself are planning a dinner for Thursday night. We'll be meeting at 7:30 pm at Leonardo's 706.
Then on May 26th I will be part of the Orlando FPRA's development seminar. Joining me on that panel is none other than Buzz Bruggeman from ActiveWords. In addition, my longtime friend Barry Friedman from The Ledger will cover the journalism perspective.
All the details are not available online yet, but the event is from 8:00 am till 11:30am at the Orlando Science Center.
I have a hectic schedule coming up the next few weeks. Next week it's off to Atlanta, GA. On Wednesday I will be heading over to Auburn University to meet with Robert French of MarcomBlog and perhaps speak to one of his PR classes.
The rest of the week I will be following the Tour de Georgia cycling race all over the state. I plan to post some cycling related items during the race, and update my tourdegeorgia tagged photos at Flickr. If you are in the Atlanta area and want to meet up between April 19th and the 25th let me know.
Back in Florida on April 27th I will be speaking at the Space Coast AdFed meeting in Cocoa Beach, FL.
On May 6 I am part of a panel at FPRA Gainesville's DigitalPR seminar (PDF Brochure). Even though I am slated for the morning, I plan to stay for an afternoon session on 'News in the Digital World' featuring CNN producer Diane Hodges. I'll be in Gainesville the night before (May 5th).
I then fly out to attend the Saturday sessions of Blog Nashville.
On May 14th I am tentatively schedule to give a workshop at the American Advertising Federation 4th District Annual Conference. More details as they become available on that one.
I have a few other private seminars scheduled around Florida in May as well. Busy Busy.
The internet is not that fast here.
Explanation: I was speaking today in Fort Myers and the 'high-speed' internet service was not that 'high-speed'
Next Tuesday (April 5) I will be speaking in Fort Myers, FL at the FPRA Southwest Florida Chapter's luncheon meeting.
On May 6, I am on a panel at the FPRA Gainesville Chapter's professional development seminar DigitalPR.
Right after Gaineville, I am flying up to Nashville for the Blog Nashville conference.
I will be speaking at the Digital PR (PDF) professional development seminar on May 6, 2005. The seminar is hosted by the FPRA Gainesville Chapter. I will post more details as they become available.
The details of my upcoming seminar in Fort Myers are now online at the Southwest Florida FPRA web site.
April 5, 2005 - 12 Noon: Hilton Garden Inn, 12600 University Drive Fort Myers, FL 33907
I will be speaking tomorrow at the Ocala Florida Public Relations Association Chapter's PR Tool Kit. I speak from 8:45 till 10:00 am. The topic is: Blogs, Wikis and Other Emerging Technologies and Their Affect on Your Company’s Message. Other upcoming appearances:
- March 8th: Polk AdFed - topic: Consumer Generated Media
- March 10th: Gulf Coast Live - topic: TBA
- April 5: Southwest Florida Chapter of FPRA - topic: Blogs, RSS & Wikis: Starting a Conversation
With Your Customers
There are a few more unconfirmed presentations in with works. As always, any resource materials will be posted on the wiki.
I will also be speaking at the Toolkit for Success Professional Development Seminar on March 3, 2005 at 9am for the Florida Public Relations Association - Ocala Chapter. Topic? Blogs of course! The workshop is from 8am till 1:30pm at the Klein Conference Center at Central Florida Community College in Ocala, Florida.
More details as they become available.
I am presenting a seminar on blogs and other online technologies that are effecting the practive of public relations today, for the Space Coast Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association.
Resources for the seminar and a copy of the presentation can be found in the Hyku Wiki.
There have been a number of articles written about how to pitch bloggers to get your story/product noticed.
Robert Scoble, author of Scoble's Corporate Blogging Manifesto, recently illustrated the right way and wrong way to pitch a blogger.
Continue reading "Pitching Bloggers: Right Way/Wrong Way" »
