Tara’s Blog

I had my last Presentation Skills class today and gave my last speech. I’m not a very strong oral speaker, but I feel as though I came a long way this semester. Nerves seem to get the best of me when I’m standing in front of the class doing a presentation. However, I become a lot more confident when I’m discussing an issue in which I have an interest.

Working in public relations, I won’t necessarily have the luxury of being passionate about the issues I’m covering. I will always be passionate about public relations, but I may not be too stoked about the subject matter I have to cover. This makes me nervous, particularly if I’m doing a lot of media relations. No matter what, though, I have always had a drive to succeed in the work place, so hopefully that will create enough passion to not lose myself to nerves.

Internships are due to begin in less than a week and I still haven’t been able to find a good fit. As I pursue different options, many different considerations are running through my head. Although my long-term goal is to work in government, at the moment, that does not seem to be an option. Alternately, I am exploring small agency work and health care. I am really torn as to which route I should go. The agency work would be a lot of fun, but health care is more closely related to the field in which I want to work.

My biggest concern is what would look best on a resume when I apply for a government position. I understand that both experiences would be extremely valuable, but would the lessons I learn in the health care industry be more applicable to government?

As social media becomes a more prominent communication tool within the public relations industry, blogging is moving hastily to the front of the pack. As with anything new, people become very skeptic especially since there exists individuals out there who take advantage of the tool. 

The more people that use blogs, the more people abuse them. Some practitioners partake in what are know widely accepted as unethical forms of blogging, such as pay-per-post, flogs and fake social media campaigns. The public relations industry has quickly taken a stand against practitioners misusing the medium, imposing guidelines and codes of ethics, to maintain its authenticity. There is an ongoing battle taking place for greater transparency. 

Despite concerns of transparency, blogging is becoming viral and can not be avoided in public relations. As BusinessWeek said, “blogs are a phenomenon that you cannot ignore, postpone, or delegate…blogs are not a business elective. They’re a prerequisite.” With a blog being created every second, it is understandable that public relations practitioners are trying to take advantage of the medium. There are millions of individuals out there wishing to communicate their opinions, convictions and experiences and millions more willing to listen. When these opinions relate to your company or organization it becomes a necessity to partake in the conversations. 

Transparency, in the humanities, refers to openness, communication and accountability. It is believed that when transparency is present there is less opportunity to abuse the system for the advancement of one’s own self interests. Transparency cannot exist as a one-way conversation, but rather must take part between corporations, government, the media and the public. When this conversation is present, there exists, for those who are interested, many avenues through which a person can influence decisions at all levels in society. Ultimately, transparency is the opposite of privacy. When all information about an activity is readily available and open, transparency is present. 

But, as Maggie Fox says, transparency in public relations and the corporate world does not require “opening your books and executive office and secret R&D labs and inviting the world in, answering each and every question that is asked of you.” Instead, public relations practitioners need to be authentic in their writing, ensuring that the content they provide is heart-felt and honest. To maintain transparency, practitioners need to abide by a code of ethics, such as Word of Mouth Marketing Association’s ethics code. WOMMA’s ethics code is based on “building an industry based on consumer respect and fundamental ethical principles.”  

• Honesty of Relationship: You say who you’re speaking for
• Honesty of Opinion: You say what you believe
• Honesty of Identity: You never obscure your identity

There are codes in place to encourage the ethical and transparent blogging of public relations practitioners and marketers, but what about individual bloggers? Disgruntled customers have always existed, despite the quality of service they receive; they will always have something to complain about. Pre-blogging, customer service agents were given the task of sifting through complaints looking for viable ways to improve the organization and discarding unfounded charges. Now, this responsibility lies on the consumer. While I hate to make reference to the “uneducated masses,” when it comes to social media this term is not so far off base. With 62 per cent of internet users not even knowing what a blog is how do we expect them to determine the viability of a blog entry without more transparency?

Every March, I run an annual countdown to St. Patrick’s Day and partake in the festivities. While Christmas and Thanksgiving are family holidays, I consider St. Patrick’s Day to be a friend holiday. Today, I dressed in green and plan to head out after class for a pint of ale with my friends.

While I’m not Irish or Catholic, the knowledge that I am participating in a commercialized isotope of the holiday taints my fun. They call it St. Patrick’s Day, it celebrates the patron Saint of Ireland, but that’s where the similarities end between the holiday’s origins and today’s North American version.

Since St. Patrick’s death on March 17, around 460 AD, St. Patrick’s Day became a day of obligation, feasting and going to mass. However, like with every other holiday, the marketing gurus have, with great success, commercialized the holiday by adding Americanized elements.

Until the 1970s, Irish laws mandated that all pubs close on March 17. However, the laws were revoked to drive tourism. North Americans have turned the holiday into a day of drinking beer and wearing green, stripping the holiday of its religious significance. Starting shortly after New Years, stores fill with green t-shirts, hats and beads, and restaurants and pubs put of signage, advertising their St. Patrick’s Day events.

From a public relations perspective, St. Patrick’s Day has become an occasion that organizations can take advantage of to develop coverage of various products and services. While chocolatiers have taken over Valentines Day, beer makers have taken over St. Patrick’s Day. Most notably, with Guinness’ attempts to make the day an official North American holiday. Although this may someday help me in my PR pursuits, I can’t help but feel a little sad.

I finished my first podcast for my online PR class and I have to admit I rather enjoyed the experience. I was quite nervous about the assignment as I have no experience editing audio or even using an iPod for that matter. The process proved to be pretty straight forward. Once we found an iPod that was compatible with the microphone we had, it was as simple as plugging in and pressing record.

I feel that podcasting is a more appropriate area of social media for me and my personality. Where I feel I have yet to develop the appropriate expertise to have a worthwhile blog, with podcasting I am able to interview and have conversations with those who do have expertise. I prefer to research and tap into other sources as a way to develop a knowledge base and share information. Perhaps, after I have worked in public relations for long enough that I have developed a solid knowledge of the field, I will return to the world of blogging.

Hi! My name is Tara Young and I have created this blog because it is mandatory for my online PR class at Centennial College.

I have to admit that I approach the concept of blogging with some hesitancy.  I have been instructed of all the benefits of blogging, especially in Public Relations, and the success stories of bloggers excelling in the field.  However, I have been dogged by one giant fear, the fear of having my ideas and convictions posted on the internet for all to see.

My professor expresses the importance of creating an online presence, so that we can begin to make a name for ourselves in the industry.  He has warned that possible employers may Google us, looking at our Facebook accounts, del.icio.us sites and blogs.  For the sake of my privacy, I have gone out my way to keep Facebook account and the like private.  A blog, though, is out there to be accessed by anybody.

The fact of the matter is that I really don’t like the prospect of being prejudged.  When I meet a peer for the first time or walk into a job interview, I really don’t want that person to have preconceived perception of who I am, based on a few blog postings.  I want them to meet me with an open mind and determine based on person to person contact what they think of me.

I have weighed the pros and cons and as you have probably figured out by now I’ve decided to blog.  When it came down to it, the prospect of failing my Online PR class and ultimately the program is much more detrimental to my career than the possibility of a little prejudgement.

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