British Airways-Crisis Communication

In my Social Media class this past week we discussed crisis communication. My group looked over how British Airways effectively used social media so communicate with their customers.

Since it is very hard and frustrating to get through to anyone on the phone because of the mass amounts of people calling they very graciously added a FAQ specifically for the stranded passengers of the volcano issues. They could find out when and if their flight was going out, how the can rebook, and anything else need to know asap.

British Airways have also been very good in communicating via Twitter to their stranded passengers. BA understands how the publics are trying to get through and they are doing their very best to keep them happy and cheerful throughout this stressful process.

The major thing we noticed was that British Airways was not using the hashtag #ashtag to get through to its customers. The only reason i say this was a mistake was because they weren't reaching a large enough audience as they could have been if they would have used the hashtag.

Overall, we gave British Airways an A-. Very good efforts during this trying time for passengers and airlines alike.

How Social Media helped the Travelers During the Iceland Volcano

Social Media has its place everywhere. Now more than ever the millions upon millions of passengers have gone the social media route to explain their frustrations, travel hopes, communication with friends, relatives, and even their airline.

Social media has helped people find people to split cabs with them to drive all the way across Europe in hopes to get home. It has helped the stranded and frustrated talk to the airline without having to wait 4 hours or more on hold only to get disconnected in the end.

Twitter has by far been the number one source of social media outreach during this time of crisis. The very popular #ashtag has been more than helpful when communicating with the publics.

Without these social media networks how would this have panned out???

Online Word of Mouth Marketing?

You may all be familiar with the regular word of mouth marketing, for example, when you hear about a good company from someone telling you in person about how great it was.

Well today, word of mouth marketing has gone on the web. Like everything else, online word of mouth marketing has shot off into its own field. Social networking is higher in popularity than ever before. So it only makes sense that people are now using social networking web site to spread the word hints the online word of mouth marketing.

Mashable put together an Influence Impression Data: 500 Billion Per Year. The results are as follows..

Bernoff presented a number of research findings around influence impressions, defining two key buckets where people are sharing information about products and services online:

1. Influence impressions: these happen on social media and networking sites: Twitter, Facebook, MySpace (MySpace), LinkedIn (LinkedIn), and others. The people who make them know generally who they’re connecting with and who will read them (people they know).
2. Influence posts: these are more permanent data points in blog posts, ratings and reviews sites, and in discussion forums. These tend to be less directed, in that when putting a post online it’s not usually known how many or who will be reading it.

In the first category, the research study found 256 billion influence impressions occurring per year. Influence posts were numbered at 1.64 billion per year, which accounted for generating another 250 billion impressions. In other words, people are making 500 billion influence impressions on one another about products and services every year.

The research also looked at where those influence impressions are happening. The following graph captures the results of where people are sharing influence online in both of the above categories:

Web 2.0

For my Public Relations class we are working on a presentation and chose to do it essentially on Web 2.0. While looking for sources outside my book I came across a very helpful blog on O'Reilly.com. The blog sums up exactly what Web 2.0 really means.

Here they made a quick chart to refrence what Web 1.0 is and how it has come to be known as Web 2.0

Web 1.0 ----->Web 2.0
DoubleClick --> Google AdSense
Ofoto --> Flickr
Akamai --> BitTorrent
mp3.com --> Napster
Britannica Online --> Wikipedia
personal websites --> blogging
evite --> upcoming.org and EVDB
domain name speculation --> search engine optimization
page views --> cost per click
screen scraping --> web services
publishing --> participation
content management systems --> wikis
directories (taxonomy) --> tagging ("folksonomy")
stickiness --> syndication

The Web has become a platform of new and exciting ways to connect, work, and play. Web 2.0 is now bigger than ever before with blogging, podcasting, YouTube, wikis, Google and more!

How are you feeling about all things Web 2.0 and do you think we are close to moving into Web 3.0????

St. Edward's 125th Anniversary Web Video

In February St. Edwards University held a President's Meeting to celebrate our schools completion of the 10 year plan!!! Christiana, Julie, and I went and had an amazing time!! For our Social Media for PR class we made a web video and decided to summarize all of our University's accomplishments in the past 10 years....

By 2010 they have accomplished these goals and many more. The enrollment has increased from about 3,700 to nearly 5,300 students. Although the university wanted to increase the population on campus, they also wanted to preserve the personalized education by making sure the student to teacher ratio was appropriate for small classrooms. With the increase of students the faculty was increased with a student/faculty ration of 14:1. My favorite improvement of the school was the globalization of the campus, offering student the opportunity to study abroad. The university has created new partnerships in Mexico, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Edinburgh, Scotland, Seville, Spain, Angers, France, and Koblenz, Germany.
The most beneficial improvement made which is available to all students is the improvement of facilities and technology on campus. With an investment of $147 million dollars in facilities, the University has constructed a new set of dorms and has made a completely wireless campus. They have also added 88 'smart' classrooms, increased the number of public computers from 271 to 729 (WOW!!).
Along with those amazing accomplishments (in just 10 years), St. Edwards has also started to go green! They began a campus wide recycling program and build their new facilities using green principles. The university completed its mission by raising more than $81 million in only 10 years, exceeded annual giving of $1 million, created 79 scholarships.
These improvements to St. Edwards have only enhanced the excellence that was established 125 years ago. I am truly proud to be a student here and am excited to see what the future will bring.

Hope you guys enjoy our video!!!! :)

April Fools from Google

On Thursday, April 1st, I went to my normal search engine, Google, for some information on a new product I was interested in. While typing in my Google search I notices it said 'Topeka' and not Google. I was curious why this was so I clicked a link below that stated "learn about our new name: Topeka". After reading up I was shocked to think that Google would change their name to Topeka because Topeka, Kansas was now Google, Kansas.

I was a victim of a April Fools prank... This was actually the only one I feel for, can you believe it? How could I fall for something like this?? I had to know Google would NEVER change their name to Topeka and have everyone saying "Oh, Topeka it!". Kansas really did change the capitol city name for the month of March but when back to Topeka after the month came to an end.

But for now, it’s April Fools’ Day. “Whatever the outcome, the conclusion is clear: we aren’t in Google anymore,” Google CEO Eric Schmidt wrote on Google’s official blog.

Did anyone else fall for this????

Nestle Killer

Greenpeace is on the move again and this time targeting Nestle. You might have heard about this from the YOUTUBE video Greenpeace posted about Nestle's use of palm oil in their products, mostly Kit-Kat, and how this is destroying rainforests in Indonesia and killing the Orangutans.

Nestle then demanded that the video be taken off YouTube and YouTube agreed to take it down. Although Nestle argued this they have said they realize a lot more could be done to help the natural habitat in Indonesia. Unfortunately they have yet to respond to the consumers on Facebook, which is bound to be a blow for business and not a ideal PR strategy.

Greenpeace has sent out the Press Release as follows.

San Francisco, United States — A new Greenpeace report (1) reveals Nestlé is using palm oil from destroyed Indonesian rainforests and peatlands in popular products like Nestlé Crunch, CoffeeMate, and PowerBar (2), pushing already endangered orangutans to the brink of extinction and accelerating climate change.

The new Greenpeace report, “Caught Red-Handed: How Nestlé Use of Palm Oil is Destroying Rainforests and the Climate” exposes how Nestlé is sourcing palm oil from suppliers, which continue to expand into virgin rainforests and carbon-rich peatlands, including habitat critical for endangered orangutans. Nestlé suppliers include the controversial Sinar Mas group, Indonesia’s largest producer of palm oil.

Nestlé, the world’s leading food and drink company, is a major consumer of palm oil. In the last three years, its annual use has almost doubled, with 320,000 tons of palm oil going into a range of products, including some of its most popular brands. (3)

“Every time you take a bite out of a PowerBar, you may be taking a bite out of Indonesia’s rainforests, which are critical for the orangutan’s survival. Nestlé needs to stop using palm oil from suppliers that are destroying rainforests and polluting the climate,” said Rolf Skar, Greenpeace senior campaigner.

The report launch and actions follows numerous attempts to persuade Nestlé to cancel its contracts with Sinar Mas. Most recently, in December, Greenpeace wrote to Nestlé with evidence that Sinar Mas is breaking Indonesian law and ignoring its commitments as a member the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an industry body that claims to be making the palm oil industry more sustainable. Evidence shows Sinar Mas’s forest and peatland destruction continues unabated. (4)

In the face of its unacceptable environmental practices, several major companies, including Unilever and Kraft, have cancelled their contracts with the group. (5)

“Other big companies are taking action, but Nestlé continues to turn a blind eye to the worst offenders which supply them. It’s time for Nestlé to cancel its Sinar Mas contracts and support a halt to rainforest and peatland destruction,” said Skar.

The expansion of palm oil plantations is a leading cause of deforestation in Indonesia, a country with one of the worst rates of forest destruction on the planet.(6) Due mainly to forest and peatland conversion, Indonesia ranks third behind only China and the U.S. as the world’s largest greenhouse gas polluter.(7)

LOVE. WEAR. RETURN

A few weeks ago I came across a web site, RentTheRunway.com. The website was launched a few months ago by two young women trying to make it in the fashion world. They have dresses from designers like Alice + Olivia to Robert Rodriguez. You can rent the dress for four days or eight days depending on how long you need and and if you aren't sure about the size you get a back up size free! After looking at all the dresses I finally ordered an Emerald Green Thread Social dress for my boyfriends sisters wedding and I can't wait to wear it!

Another great thing about this web page is that they have a blog. The two women who started the website talk fashion and fun ideas and even have contests to get the readers coming back, very smart!


Matthew Williamson

THREAD SOCIAL

Herve Leger

The website does have a wait list to join but you should be able to join within two weeks at the most! I have sent an email out to all my fashion fabulous girl in Social Media for PR so get to renting! :)

St. Edward's 125th Anniversary

President's Meeting Podcast- To listen click here



For our podcasting assignment Christiana, Julie, and I decided to attend the Presidents Meeting to get a better idea of what the 125th Anniversary Celebration was all about. From the meeting, we got some great information about how far St. Edwards has come and where they started. We got to interview the President and get some information on the new 5 year plan being implemented for 2015. So if you’re interested in that, go ahead and tune in!



show notes:
Introduction- 00:35

History of St Edwards- 00:55

Information from Presidents Meeting- 1:35

Inside Scoop into 2015/ President’s Interview-4:10

Globalization of St. Edwards/Study Abroad programs -5:00

Last words- 7:20

SXSW

SXSW has officially begun! Social media is now more important than ever when it comes to staying connected and sharing you views. If you plan to attend or not attend you can stay connected and get up to date news on all of the great things that are happened. I know Mashable will be updating since they will be at the even but you can also use Twitter as a good way to stay connected and feel as though you are right in the action in Austin!

Social media has evolved in many ways over the past few years and I think that YouTube as a social outlet has helped SXSW promotion extremely. A promotional video has be posted to draw attention to the event..



....After watching this video will you be attending????

Apple iPad

While visiting the Apple store this weekend I noticed all the advertisments for the new iPad. I first saw the unvailing in my PR class and I have to say I wasn't that impressed, to me it's just a bigger iPhone and who wants that?

So when I got back home I did a little bit of reading up on the press release and read about it on the Apple web page. Let me just say, it is much more than a big iPhone.

Some of the features include:

- Screen rotation lock: Apple has added a switch to the side of the iPad that locks the screen in either a vertical or horizontal position, no matter which way you turn it. This is sure to make using the iPad in bed or on the couch easier.

- ePub support through iTunes: Apple’s website now has a dedicated iBooks page that offers more information about the built-in e-reader and what formats it will support. If you already have DRM-free ePub titles,you can sync those books with the iPad using iTunes.

- VoiceOver Works with i-Books: Apple is integrating its VoiceOver technology into the entire device, including the i-books app. This means that blind or vision-impaired users can have the text read aloud. Sweet!

- Better video support: Apple didn’t highlight this feature, but on the Tech Specs page, we learn that the iPad will support more than just the standard Apple-approved video formats (*.mov, *.mp4, *.m4v) and will also support AVI and Motion JPEG. Apple has never supported AVI on its iPod/iPhone devices, so this is a great step.

- Share YouTube Videos on Facebook(): The YouTube page has an interesting note at the bottom — you can easily e-mail a YouTube() video to friends or share it on Facebook.

- Digital Camera Connector not available for pre-order: On the iPad’s Photos page, as well as in other photographs of the device itself, Apple notes an optional digital camera adapter that can be purchased to connect your digital camera to the iPad, using either a direct USB link or an SD card reader. However, as Macworld points out that adapter is not available for pre-order. Obviously the dongle is coming, but when and at what price is unknown. Macworld also notes that a similar adapter that was sold for the iPod Photo (heh, yeah, remember that? The red-headed stepchild of iPods that was quickly displaced by the far superior iPod Video()) for $29, which would jive with the prices of other iPad accessories that are available for pre-order. Personally, we’ll wait to see if Monoprice releases their own version of this product.


--------

Want one yet? Well you can now pre-order your iPad today at Apple.com :) ENJOY!!

Podcasting for ...Dummies

So last week I noted that in my Social Media for Public Relations class we are working on podcasts. I have to say I highly underestimated the amount of time it take to make a podcast, well for first time podcasters that is. As my group and I steadily have been working on our podcast with Audacity we have come across many bumbs along the way. We are working very hard to come up with a great podcast for the 125th Anniversary for St. Edwards University with interviews from many prominate people on campus including our president Doctor Martin. We will be completed tomorrow afternoon and I will have a link to the podcast and an update to how we have solved our bump in the road! :)

PR Newswire: Boutique 1

As I was scanning through the PR Newswire web page I came across an interesting news release about a major company in Dubai called Boutique 1 starting their own web page. This is big for the company because they are one of the first to become fashion forward in Dubai. On their web page you can shop for the latest Brian Atwood heels, read a fashion blog, catch what celebrities are wearing or find a
"book of the week".

Ziad Matta, CEO of Boutique 1, states, "With the new online store, Boutique 1 continues to be ahead of the curve. We are renowned for having had many firsts - from our concept itself combining fashion, design and culture to our acclaimed magazine. Our aim is to replicate our mix of great selection, outstanding and personalised service and impeccable presentation online. We have assembled a world class team headed by Julia Ewald and I am confident they will quickly establish Boutique1.com (http://www.Boutique1.com) as the destination for high fashion shopping on the web."

I higly recommed this web page to anyone interested in fashion and checking out their news release on PR Newswire!
Online features:

- The latest trends for the season
- New brands and collections
- Weekly online magazine featuring:

- One-on-one interviews with designers
- Celebrity style tips
- Boutique 1 Blog
- "Style IT" "Top 10 of the week"

- Online stylists
- "Mix and match" functionality
- Gift Card
- Boutique 1 Bulletin - our designated newsletter outlining trends, new
designers and promotions.
- Free return and exchange policy
- Customer care in Arabic, English, French, German and Russian
- Personal waiting list on reordered items
- Elie Saab and Missoni shop-in-shops

Maison Moschino for Hotel Philosophy

While I was dilly dallying on the web today I came across a Press Release for the HotelPhilosophy in Milan designed by Maison Moschino. I thought...Milan? Maison Moshino?.. pure heaven! I could only begin to imagine what this hotel would look like. As I read through the release I found that the rooms are decorated like dreamworlds and fairy tales. A dreamworld or fairytale for a girl like me is a room a fashion design amazingness. Come to find out that's exactly what this hotel offers but with the designs of Moschino would you expect anything less?

PRESS RELEASE 2009 MAISON MOSCHINO

The common thread connecting the rooms is a fairy tale theme because to sleep is perchance to dream, and dreams are fairy tales that we are allowed to experience first hand, the fables of a fantasy world that we have created. This is an alternate life in which we direct and stage the scripts of our very own play. The hotel interior reflects Moschino’s distinctive style where the ordinary world is painted with a brush of surrealism. Partner of the project is the company Hotelphilosophy S.p.A, Mobygest Group,while the actual owner of the real property is Allianz Global Investors SGR S.p.A – Fondo Ras Antares.


Please visit the hotels web site to see the pure genius of Maison Moschino
http://www.hotelphilosophy.com/maison_moschino_design_hotel_milan-776.html

Mashable: The Social Media Guide

Since I started my Social Media class this Spring I have been searching the web for all things Social Media. I recently came across a website 'Mashable.com'. It is truly 'The Social Media Guide'. It is the worlds largest blog focusing on Social Media with 15 million page views a day!! It hits all the main points of Social Media like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Myspace, Google, and more! While reading up on some blogs I came across one that is very exciting. Mashable is having a 'MashBash' for SXSW in Austin this year! It is a celebration full of excitement, music and most importantly NETWORKING! You will be able to pick the brains of some of the top Social Media Bloggers around while enjoying a night of fun! The event this year is a Buffalo Billiard on March 14th from 10pm-1am! I can't wait to go and I hope to see some familiar faces! :)

Podcasting: 101

When it comes to podcasting I am not the smartest crayon in the box. It has taken a lot of reading and listening to lectures to figure this out. In my Social Media for PR class we had a speaker talk to us about a program called Audacity that is free for all to use and download and let me tell you it will make you podcasting experience a heck of a lot easier. With Audacity you can Record live audio, convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs, edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WAV or AIFF sound files, cut, copy, splice or mix sounds together and change the speed or pitch of a recording.. all for FREE!

So whether you are podcasting about your life, beliefs or just whatever comes to mind choose Audacity to help you get there, trust me you wont be sorry!

...Before you leave I would love to share with you guys my new favorite podcast that is now a weekly ritual....
http://www.fashionising.com/podcast/

SPINdustry?

This past week E! network has announced a new show produced by Kim Kardashian called 'SPINdustry'. It follows the firm Command PR who is has their home office is in New York City and now they are ready to conquer the City of Angels. The public relations gurus Jonathon Cheban and Simon Huck have started the firm from the ground up and are now ready to fulfill one of their dreams of coming to L.A. SPINdustry gives you a behind the scenes look at the publicity side of PR and really shows you what its all about.

My one negative comment about the show would have to be the name. Public Relations firms have to deal with the outside world thinking that their only job is to "spin" the situation when this is far from the truth. So why would a show about PR be called SPINdustry?

DO YOU THINK THIS IS A GOOD IDEA?

Are you buzzing?

Google is at it again. They have just recently announced 'Google Buzz'. Is this the new "IT" social networking site? Does Facebook have someone to watch? Well, after testing out Google Buzz I have really come to like it. Yes, like many other new websites it takes a while to get the knack of things but once you get there it is almost addicting.
Google Buzz combines all of your social networking websites in one. You no longer have to check your Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, MySpace... separately. Now all the information comes to you with Buzz.

Now go on and Buzz, you won't regret it.

Twitterstorm: Kevin Smith vs Southwest Airlines

In Social Media PR this past week we talked about how the Social Media can give every one a voice. Well, it has given Director Kevin Smith just that.

Roughly twenty-four hours ago Kevin Smith boarded a Southwest Airlines flight out of Oakland, Ca. Before take off he was asked to get off the plane because he was a 'safety risk'. What safety risk you might ask? Well, it was a polite way of saying he was too fat to fly. After getting off the plane Smith immediately took to his twitter with these words:

"I broke no regulation, offered no 'safety risk,' (what, was I gonna roll on a fellow passenger?)," he Tweeted. "I'm way fat… But I'm not THERE just yet."

Sad.

Southwest Airlines offered Smith an apology and put him on another flight with a $100 voucher for his trouble but Smith wasn't willing to back down. He then tweeted:

"Dear @SouthwestAir, I'm on another one of your planes, safely seated & buckled-in again, waiting to be dragged off in front of the normies," he continued to Tweet. "Look how fat I am on your plane! Quick! Throw me off!"

Southwest has since tried to send Smith apologetic tweets but Smith is not accepting.

Right now, if you Google 'Kevin Smith Southwest Airlines' you will get about 60,000 search results. This is a very large number considering that everything happened a mere twenty-four hours ago.

Do you think this unfortunate circumstance will hurt Southwest Airlines?

Don't Cry In Front of Kelly Cutrone

Kelly Cutrone: If You Have To Cry Go Outside: And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You

Want to make it in this insane, hectic, beautiful, unforgiving world of Fashion PR? Who doesn’t?

The Queen of Fashion PR, Kelly Cutrone, has written a book on how to make it in the PR industry and dealing with sexism. This book is a rude awakening and a girls guide to power.

Ms. Cutrone has a no-holding back personality and will always tell you what’s on her mind. We were first introduced to her as the Whitney Ports love-to-hate boss on the Hills and she now has her own show on Bravo, Kell on Earth.

As a single mom and one of the most powerful women on the PR scene in New York City she is truly a role model to anyone girl hoping to make it. I read a great quote the other day about Kelly’s take on the future of the Media and I couldn’t agree with her more.

Here are Kelly Cutrone’s thoughts on ‘Dopey Bloggers’ and the future of Media

“I think that, the media as we know it, the world that we knew 5 or 10 years ago, just does not exist any more...I think it's the wild wild west and it's free game and who would have thought we'd pay five dollars for a coffee and get our news for free?...But my fear is that Twitter is the new American literature. Or I can only watch things on the Internet for 30 seconds, because that's all the viewer's going to watch on the Internet. It's a very, very bizarre time.”

Google Wave or not to Wave?

“Google Wave is an online tool for real-time communication and collaboration. A wave can be both a conversation and a document where people can discuss and work together using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.”

In a world where technology is ever changing and nothing stays the same Google has introduced us to Google Wave.

In my Social Media PR class we have been introduced to Google Wave. This is a new way to experience communication on the internet. As Google would say, it is what Email would have been if it was just created. I completely agree. In a way the Wave resembles AIM because it is live but it is upgraded to have as many people come and go through the chat as you want like a chat room but for anyone interested in the topic. Also, you can have private chats with certain people for lets say a project you are working on. This can be very helpful and time efficient.

Google Wave is still on an invitation only basis so we can be “Guinea Pigs” and sort out its kinks. Yes, it does have a lot of kinks but I see a lot of promise in Wave just as I saw a lot of promise in Twitter when it first began. Everything takes time to take off and be a hit but I know once people get a hold of Wave there will
be no stopping it.

WAVE.