A Pessoptomist's View

2006-12-08T06:29:00.000-08:00

Blog 12: Zakazukha

Zakazukha is the Russian word for payments to journalists, accourding to our text. Most of the time those payments are form PR practitioners so that companies don't get negative media coverage. Sadly, some of Russia's top magazines are guilty of these actions. Because zakazukha is plainly unethical, organizations such as the International Public Relations Association have formed an international committee to stop form of paid journalism. Apparently Russia isn't the only country with this problem. It is actually a world problem according to IPRA President Alasdair Sutherland in a statement made in a press release writtin in 2001 in London. The rest of the document can be found at http://www.ipra.org/campaigns/icmt/docs/press3.htm.

This seems to be a serious problem. I never put it past some PR practitioners to stoop to such levels but I didn't think this was as big as worldwide. I even thought it might be legal in some coutries. I honestly don't know how they intend to eliminate a worldwide practice such as zakazuhka; it seems far fetched. It is something that needs to be stopped. I just hope it will happen.

2006-12-04T18:10:00.001-08:00

Blog 11: Crisis Communication

In chapter 12, we talked about and the text book stated that many organizations are unprepared for a crisis. It's suprising to know that a little over half of companies surveyed had a plan and even less practiced it.

To understand crisis communication, one must know the meaning of a crisis in the business world. According to http://www3.niu.edu/newsplace/crisis.html, "A crisis is any situation that threatens the integrity or reputation of your company, usually brought on by adverse or negative media attention. These situations can be any kind of legal dispute, theft, accident, fire, flood or manmade disaster that could be attributed to your company. It can also be a situation where in the eyes of the media or general public your company did not react to one of the above situations in the appropriate manner." I thought this was a pretty good definition because it covers everything.

Lets face it... not one organization is perfect and everyone is bound to get some sort of negative attention. To not have a plan, even if you don't ever use it, is poor PR. Not having a plan can just lead to more dissaters that could potentially ruin the company's integrety. I think it's common sense to have a plan. Haven't these people learned anything from Exxon?

2006-12-04T18:10:00.000-08:00

Blog 10: Edleman Worldwide

I didn't actually get to read the article at the website; however, I did do a little research on the issue. I found some blogs and other relevant articles which gave me interesting information. I found out that "Jim" and "Laura" were contacting other blog sites advertising their RV trip "Walmarting Across America". They contacted a person who has her own RVing blog and she responded to Edelman Worldwide because she discovered that it was a hoax. Edelman practically did nothing. This is what was posted on her blog on blogger.com:

http://advertising-for-success.blogspot.com/2006/10/some-crow-to-go-with-humble-pie.html

"Seldom do I see trouble coming or have any input into how to deal with it. Edelman Worldwide Agency promoted Wal-Mart using a "blog" about two RVers traveling across the country, staying at Wal-Marts. My husband and I have Texas RV travel website and Texas RV Travel blog. Evidently, Mr. Tristan took our emails and names off the privacy page of our website.This is first email I received from Edelman at my Texas RV Travel email account.---

Tristan.Roy@edelman.com wrote:

From: "Roy, Tristan"

To: "Eileen Trainor"

Subject: Greetings!

Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2006 13:47:37 -0400

Dear Eileen and Michael,Greetings!I am writing to introduce myself and give you a heads up about something pretty cool.For my day job I work at Edelman Public Relations, doing online public affairs for Working Families for Wal-Mart, a grassroots organization that supports the company. IÂm also a blogger (http://techfoolery.com) and have experienced the travel life backpacking through Europe.Our friends Jim and Laura have decided to go on a cross-country RV tour. It started in Las Vegas on Saturday and will in Georgia.What is special about this RV tour? Jim and Laura will be overnighting at Wal-Mart on each and every stop along the way.Laura and Jim will be chronicling their experiences on their blog, WalMartingAcrossAmerica. Jim, a professional photographer, will also be posting photos to a Flickr site.They will be posting their tales from road, info about the places they visit, and tips from their experiences along the way. TheyÂre also sure to meet a lot of great folks in Wal-Mart parking lots from one side of the country to the other. So it will be worth checking in everyday.I have let Jim and Laura know about the RV community that already exists online, and how many people have already done and experienced what they are doing right now. They are excited to be a part of the community.If it is ok with you, Id love to send you an occasional update over the next few weeks to let you know about the progress. Any feedback or tips youÂd have for Jim and Laura would also be appreciated.Let me know, and take care!Best,Tristan RoyI answered that day.From: "Eileen Trainor" To: Tristan.Roy@edelman.comSubject: Re: Greetings!Date: Mon 10/02/06 12:45 PMThat is fine. They may want to join RVScrapbook, a one stop shop for blogging, messaging and posting pics.I checked the Wal-Mart blog a few days later, did not like what I saw, and emailed Mr. Tristan with my thoughts:

From: "Eileen Trainor"

To: Tristan.Roy@edelman.comSubject:

Re: Greetings!

Date: Sat 10/07/06 03:21 PM

I just visited the Wal-Marting Across America site. There is no mechanism on this blog for comments, rss feed, archiving posts, linkbacks, subscribing to feed, social bookmarking (digg, technorati, etc.) In short, it is not truly a blog.Is it a public relations deal for Wal-Mart? If so, and you want bloggers to post about it, you should try PayPerPost to create a buzz. I would reduce the amount of space (pictures are huge) given to promoting Wal-Mart, employees, and products and more to the towns and sites they are passing through. They can work in people (Wal-Mart employees) they meet, like the All American Family post.I hope you take this advice in the spirit in which it is given. I realize that you are an advertising executive for a well-known advertising firm, but whatever you are trying to do is not working.If you would like to discuss other ideas I have about improving the image of Wal-Mart with RVers, let me know.

His reply:

From: "Roy, Tristan" To: "Eileen Trainor"RE: Greetings!Date: Tue 10/10/06 08:22 AMEileen -I appreciate both the advice and the spirit in which you have given it. Jim and Laura were posting from the road and were making their own decisions on how and what to post. It probably would have been interesting to throw in more about local towns etc Â IÂll give them this piece of advice for their next adventure!Again, I really appreciate your thoughts, and hope you're well.

All best,Tristan"

This is just flat out wrong and it reflects poorly on public relations and advertising. It is a sad way to promote a company that lacks in customer service. I think they were just really desparate.

2006-12-04T18:07:00.000-08:00

Blog 9: Business Continuity Fact Sheet

Southwestern Energy Matrix’s executive staff has come together in response to and in preparation for the possible Bird Flu Pandemic.

Our staff has worked diligently for the past six months developing a plan including key steps to ensure the survival of our company and the health of our employees in case of a pandemic.

Your supervisors and executives ask that all employees have an open mind, as many employees will receive training in other areas of work.

New sick leave and disability guidelines will be put into effect in case of a pandemic. We will do our best to inhibit the spread of the virus while giving sick employees time to recover.

We are working with our health insurance provider to offer our employees special services including flu shots and medication. Our employees are vital to our company because your health is our survival.

To protect employees from customers infected with the virus, we will be erecting glass-enclosed booths for customer-contact employees.

All employees will be receiving an updated employee emergency contact list.

Executives are also working with computer companies to supply each employee with a home computer. We understand that family members might get sick requiring your presence at home. This will save you the stress of choosing to leave an ill child or spouse or coming into the office.

We suggest that all employees enact direct deposit of paychecks. We believe this will decrease any potential contact with the virus or people who may be infected.

Please stock up on necessary supply at home and at the office.

The latest news and information on the pandemic or local outbreaks will be relayed to all employees including the latest tips on how to prevent contamination. We will be providing this information for you benefit.

2006-12-04T18:06:00.000-08:00

Blog 8: Business Continuity

My understanding of business continuity is basically keep an organization alive during and after some kind of crisis with in a specific amount of time. Knowing this, it seems imperative for every organization to have a business continuity plan on hand in case of a crisis. If I am correct, I remember hearing in class that most organizations are lacking in these kinds of plans. I just have to say that ignorance and denial is not good for anyone, not even for an organization. Companies must face the fact that crises are inevitable, and almost unpredictable. Any organization that does not have a BCP is in for a rough ride. Not being prepared could lead to even bigger crises, forcing the company into a snowball effect.

The Business Continuity Planners Association was created to help organizations with planning for crises. "The mission of BCPA is to provide a professional and educational environment for the exchange of experience, dissemination of information, professional growth, and for added value of mutual interest to the membership," according to bcpa.org. I think I would encourage my company to join even if a BCP had already been established. It never hurts to be overprepared.

2006-12-04T18:00:00.000-08:00

Blog 7

Discussion Questions on Pg. 190

2. I can't really think of any organizations that have been in the media lately for ethical behavior. I think most media tend to gravitate towards the scandals as opposed to applauding those who do well. A recent organization that has been in the media for unethical behavior is the Republican Party. Mark Foley has gained the attention of Americans from all political parties for his unethical emails. He single handedly has risked the entire Republican Party's credibility.

5. Companies such as Tylenol, Dove, and Ben & Jerry's are all well known for Corporate Social Responsibility. Tylenol had the crisis back in the 1980s where packages of Tylenol were poisoned and they handled the situation very well. They publicly apologized and removed all Tylenol from shelves. Tylenol also has a commercial airing telling Tylenol users that they would rather have customers not buy Tylenol then abuse the drug. Becauase Tylenol has proven to be socialy responisble, it has affected my purchasing decisions. I feel as though I can trust them to take care of me. I think that because Tylenol is medicine and I am very cautious about what types of medicine I take, situations and ads such as these affect my purchasing decisions. If it were clothing or something non-life threatening, I don't know if it would affect my decisions.

2006-12-04T17:45:00.000-08:00

Blog 6: CSR

Starbucks Case Study

When I began to read this case study, I thought to myself, "It's really not that big of a deal." Then I thought about our discussion in class last Wednesday about how the media tends to make things bigger than they actually are. So when an employee accidentally sells a 16 oz. bottle of water instead of donating it, it reflects poorly on the company causing tons of damage.I think its great that Starbucks stood by its values and principles. However, one would expect a company to do so. What good is a mission statement if employees do not follow it? I was suprised to hear that the president personally called the ambulance company and made an apology instead of having someone do it for him. From a customer's point of view, receiving a personal phone call from the president of a major company means that they are truly concerned about their customers.In the other case, when protestors demanded Fair Trade coffee, Starbucks showed that they knew how to listen to their publics. Starbucks researched and found a common ground that would work for both the company and, more importantly, their customers.Starbucks exhibits public relations at its best in this case study. They took bad situations and turned them around simply by publicly apologizing, researching, and listening to their publics. I only hope that they continue on this path and that other companies will follow in their footsteps.

2006-12-03T19:09:00.000-08:00

Blog 5: Qualitative vs. Quantitative

Dictionary.com says that qualitative refers to quality meaning an essential or distinctive characteristic, property, or attribute. Webster says it is an essential characteristic.

Quantitative pretains to quantity meaning a particular or indefinite amount of anything, according to Dictionary.com.

After doing this research, I still get a little confused on the differenes between these two terms. It's hard for me to define each of these terms in my own words. If I were to try, I would say qualitative is like efficiency and quantitative is like effective.

2006-12-03T18:52:00.000-08:00

Blog 4: Quarantined vs. Isolation

In light of our project, I thought it would be good to research the difference between quarantined and isolation.

Quarantined means enforced isolation primarily to prevent the spread of a dangerous disease. Webster says it is the isolation of suspected disease bearers. Dictionary.com had nothing different to say.

Isolation is to keep apart, according to Webster and Dictionary.com

It seems as though to quarantine is specifically for disease prevention and is a very severe form of isolation. To isolate someone is to separate them from everyone else. In the case of a pandemic, it sounds as though quarantine would be the more appropriate term. Although, I do not understand how they would go about enforcing isolationism.

2006-12-03T18:47:00.000-08:00

Blog 3: Propaganda

According to our textbook, propaganda is a systematic effort to disseminate information, some of which may be inaccurate or incomplete, in an attempt to influence public opinion. Webster's Dictionary says that propaganda is intended to help or oppose a cause. Throughout history, propaganda has been associated with the public relations field. Choose any war in our country's history and you will notice that propaganda played a significant role by helping the public decide for or against the war. In my opinion, propaganda is similar to spin. Both spin and propaganda are very selfish and one-sided which may be the reason why propaganda has been discredited in the past. Like spin, propaganda does not always have to be the complete truth. If the message being disseminated is not the entire truth, how can the public be expected to make good decisions?

2006-12-03T18:22:00.000-08:00

Blog 2

I asked my three roommates what they thought public relations was and all three of their answers were different with some more accurate than others. One of my roommates said that PR was advertising for a company as opposed to a product. Another roommate suggested that it was basically making your company look good and keeping a good reputation. My third roommate said that PR wasn't something she had heard of until I decided on my major. When I told my granparents I wanted to be a publicist, they thought I was going to be publishing books. This just goes to show that many people are not very educated about the PR industry.

None of them could name any person in the PR industry.

Once I explained to them what PR really was and gave them a textbook definition, they were stunned. They had no idea that comanpies such as American Airlines had PR practitioners handling the 9/11 attacks by speaking to the media and sending press releases. They had no idea that PR is all about communicating and getting publics to believe in the company. One of my roommates said she couldn't believe I wanted to get into this field and said she could never do anything like it. She said it was too much responsibility. Another roommate had a really negative viewpoint on the PR industry, calling PR practitioners Spin Doctors.

After hearing my roommates discussion on PR, my eyes were opened and I realized that PR practitioners had huge responsibilities. Their ideas are put to good use throughout organizations and their opinions really mattered. Knowing this, I became nervous and almost scared. My roommates made me realize that I am going to have a key hand in the survival of a company some day. It also made me excited to know that my ideas will some day be considered.

2006-12-03T17:57:00.000-08:00

Blog 1

According to the text book, publc relations is the management of relationships between an organization and the publics that can affect its success.

Wikipedia says that Edward Bernays defined PR as "a management function which tabulates public attitudes, defines the policies, procedures and interest of an organization followed by executing a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance. "

They also said "according to two American PR professionals Scott M. Cutlips and Allen H. Center, "PR is a planned effort to influence opinion through good character and responsible performance based upon mutual satisfactory two-way communication".

Wikipedia established its own definition of PR calling it an art and science of managing communication between an organization and its constituent publics to build, manage and sustain its positive image.

After researching a few different definitions of Public Relations, I can not say that any of them are wrong. With every job and organization involved in the PR industry, a PR practitioner's job duties will be different and therefore, their goals will be different. I think that to have one set defintion for PR is almost impossible. If I had to define it, I would combine all of these defintions to say that PR is communicating with publics that directly and indirectly affect the company by speaking and listening to improve the overall success of the company.

2006-11-16T17:46:00.000-08:00

I have just discovered that I am an even bigger idiot than I thought! The entire semester I have been referring to the wrong blog which would explain why I haven't blogged in a while. Because of my stupidity, I will start fresh and start blogging from the very first blog we were supposed to post. Sorry about the confusion!

2006-10-04T10:42:00.000-07:00

In my Human Resources class, a major topic was job satisfaction. I do not understand how people can go through their entire lives unsatisfied with their jobs. After talking to some people, it almost seems as though there are few people working who actually enjoy their jobs. I know if I were unhappy with my job, I would come home everyday angry and stressed. This can't be healthy for the families of those who do not enjoy their jobs. Jobs should be stimulating and provided challenges that an employee can benefit from. Also, how can an employee be productive and effective in a company if that person is unsatisfied?

I just thought this was interesting.

2006-10-03T21:45:00.000-07:00

According to Public Relations: A Values-Driven Approach, propaganda is a systematic effort to disseminate information, some of which may be inaccurate or incomplete, in an attempt to influence public opinion. Webster's Dictionary says that propaganda is intended to help or oppose a cause. Throughout history, propaganda has been associated with the public relations field. Choose any war in our country's history and you will notice that propaganda played a significant role by helping the public decide for or against the war. In my opinion, propaganda is similar to spin. Both spin and propaganda are very selfish and one-sided which may be the reason why propaganda has been discredited in the past. Like spin, propaganda does not always have to be the complete truth. If the message being disseminated is not the entire truth, how can the public be expected to make good decisions?

2006-09-12T20:15:00.000-07:00

Earlier in the year, an executive from Zachry Construction Corporation committed suicide after being fired from serving 27 years with this global company. George Dickerson was released from Zachry after sending an angry and racial e-mail to city councilwoman Elana Guajardo. Later in the week, Dickerson was found with a self inflicted bullet shot to the head.

Dickerson sent an e-mail to Councilwoman Guajardo reguarding a local club. He basically expressed his feelings about the type of crowd the club was bringing to his upper-class area. Dickerson also stated that he paid good tax dollars to be safe and free of the lower elements of the city. A second e-mail was sent requesting that the previous e-mail be kept confidential. Days later, the e-mail was leaked to the media where Guajardo stated that the e-mail was racial.

Dickerson was fired for violating the company's computer policy. Shortly after, police found a suicide note, a will, and Dickerson's body.

http://www.vnnforum.com/showthread.php?t=29575

I think that the PR departments from Zachry and Councilwoman Guajardo could have handled the situation much better. I don't understand why Guajardo felt the need to make this e-mail a public issue. I also think that Zachry took extreme measures in firing, what seemed like, a very loyal emplyee. It was poor judgement for both parties involved in this issue. Because of Guajardo's poor choices, Guajardo is now facing city-wide criticism and guilt while Zachry has to do some serious damage control.

2006-09-05T20:02:00.000-07:00

After reading chapter one, I think I have a better understanding of what public relations is and all that is involved in this undefinable field. Until today, I was under the impression that all public relations was good. Although many people and organizations benefit from PR, it is the immoral and unethical practitioners that have ruined the PR name giving the field and its employees a bad reputation. Because PR is such a diverse field, I think it is unfair to label and categorize all PR practitioners. To define PR with one definition would seem impossible considering a practitioner's duties differ from practitioner to practitioner and job to job. It seems as though a separate definition would have to be established for every PR practitioner. However, I think that every PR practitioner should have one thing in common, to maintain a good and healthy relationship with its publics. After all, the field is called Public Relations. Without the public, public relations would not exist. I'm sure that over the semester, my ideas will change as I continue to learn about the field of PR.