Observations after the first couple of weeks…

Hello

There are a few things I’ve noticed about our class blogging:

Some people in the class are starting to jump in and warm up to the conversations. They are using the comment aspect. Over the next two weeks we can anticipate more than 35 new blog entries. The final due date is November 13. The comment traffic is growing – I hope to see it grow even more over the next couple of weeks.

I’m pleased that many people in the class are using personal examples and using a more casual tone than you used in the business reports you submitted on the same subjects. The personalization makes the entries come alive and we learn about each other and from each other. Let the class know how your topic relates to PR practice or PR trends.

Collectively, we all need to use the spellcheck feature before posting. 

As well,  please remember to post your name after your blog entry. Since we are sharing one blog, it is useful to know who is commenting and who is blogging.

FORMAT ISSUES

The spacing and line and paragraph formatting on WordPress  seems to move around.

More likely, we are inexperienced users who are missing an understanding of how to edit in WordPress. I’m wondering if someone in the class knows how to get the format to look like a typical WORD document? A few times I have made an edit or watched a student make an edit and then when the file is re-saved the edit has not stuck. There seem to be justification errors in some of the entries and when we have gone in to correct these the ‘wonky’ spacing persists.

The spacing on the recommended sources you are including does not seem to “stick” for all entries. Some of the entries collapse together. I hope we figure this out.

Thanks all for your work. I am appreciative of the nerve necessary to post in public, and to peers. I have a fairly large shy streak myself.

Dana 

Genetic Engineering

Edited by: Tara Wood

Wireless / Wi-fi

There’s an unstoppable increase in technology today. With a topic on wireless/Wi-fi, there is certainly a huge amount of research that is provided out there. But thinking about the availability of wireless technology from a student’s point of view is tremendous. I think that having wireless technology in our surroundings today has given us the opportunity to make use of so many gadgets that adapt to this technology. Having the availability of wireless internet connection at college and even at home is simply AWESOME ! I can’t even ask for more, because the wireless internet connection in my apartment is free as well !  (DON’T ASK ME WHERE I STAY, BECAUSE I’m NOT SHARING THAT CONNECTION!! )

I recall a time when I used to connect to the internet ONLY through a DIAL-UP modem connection. This was back in Kuwait when I was a high school student, away from all the technological advances that were arising in the US and Canada. It was such a surprise to learn about cable internet, broadband, DSL and all the rest of the fast speed internet connections that were available in North America. It was very exciting at the time .

In my research, I focused mainly on cell phones and Laptops. How these two devices give us the capability to connect with anyone, anywhere, anytime. I remember being in the Middle-East as a child and just having access to the biggest cell phone ever – Used only for receiving and making phone calls. Who would have known that with all the crazy high tech availability today… We’d be able to access the internet, check email, text message, have 3- way calling, camera the phone up, and listen to songs on it…. MAN!! I should just say that I wouldn’t be surprised if they could event add TV on those little phones. Have Rogers cable on it and watch ESPN or FOX on your cell phones. I think the technology will certainly take us there in the next 5 years or so. So is the case with laptops. There is so much information that people can learn. 

Technology will help us learn and apply these new skills in the real world, making it exciting and creating so many new jobs for us.

Nelson, B (2004) Wireless security choices. Communications News, (Vol. 41 Issue 6, p32-32). –
This was an interesting article I read about security with wireless networking today. Its funny because 50% of my friends use free wireless networking at home. GO WI-FI !!

http://www.bw.lehigh.edu/story.asp?ID=19964. – This site talked about some etiquette that students lack due to the rise of new technology. It was pretty interesting reading this material from a students view.

 

Decima Research (April 2006) Final Report on Usage of wireless communications in Canada, Prepared for: Canadian Wireless telecommunications association (CWTA), ( p1-52), Retrieved October 1,2006 from www.decima.com/en/pdf/2006_wireless_comm_en.pdf

This source was one of the most important one that provided me with numbers and statistics about the rise in the number of cell phone users and what special features consumers prefer.

SEAN !  

PR RESEARCH

Being a person who has had the opportunity to travel and experience misunderstandings brought about by cultural difference, I cannot over emphasize the need for PR practitioners to incorporate an understanding of cultural diversity into research. To most in developing countries the standardization that comes with globalization means a loss of culture, language and art.

 I remember when I first traveled to Perth, Australia, two things were difficult to come to terms with. Firstly, addressing older people by their first names and then people looking me straight in the eyes with a smile while having a conversation was difficult. This felt okay with fellow men, but coming from a woman implies I like you from a Zambian perspective. I struggled with mixed messages till I finally adjusted and luckily did not act on them. Having said this I can easily understand why there could be misunderstandings of being led on by a woman’s gestures or indeed feel disrespected by cultural liberate Australians who may have encounters with Zambians. 

Of the two fundamental types of research, namely qualitative and quantitative research, qualitative research is preferred as it attaches a real face to an issue. Because of this type of research I would recommend a qualitative approach in PR research, by anticipating problems brought about by culture diversity. People need to be heard and not simply be compiled into statistics, where culture is problematic.

Public relations is about using persuasion and relationship building to form opinions about an organization, individual or cause.  As such, the successful outcome of PR practicioners on a global scale depends on Public relations personnel’s understanding of the different cultures with which they associate. Public relations research incorporated with cultural knowledge will help to anticipate problems by evaluating ongoing programs, assess the effectiveness of policies, and present in detail the weak points and the strong points of issues more effectively.  

 Mumba 

Newsom, D., Turk, J., Kruckeburg (2006) Trends in PR This is PR The Realities of Public Relations 9^th edition (pp. 56-61) Belmont, CA: Holly Allen.A must read chapter for tomorrow’s PR professionals.

O’Connor, N. Falconi, T. (2003) Profiling the regulatory Environment of Public Relations Practice in the U.K, Italy and
South Africa. Retrieved October 14, 2006 from global alliance website: http://www.globalpr.org/knowledge/GA-Regulation-Study.pdf 

This research paper approved by Global Alliance gives a detailed account of recent developments in PR at global level.

Lindenmann, W. (2006). Public Relations Research for Planning and Evaluation.Retrieved October 10, 2006, Institute for Public Relations website:http://ipr.wieck.com/files/uploads/2006_Planning_Eval.pdf

Walter K. Lindenmann, Ph.D. is a specialist in Public relations research and measurement. 

Video Gaming PR Industry

When writing about the video game industry, I found that the scope of the topic was broad considering the range of age in this item.  Whether young or old, video gamers equally populate this large industry.  For example, in my work at EB Games, I find that males and females over the age of 50 years tend to sway between Massive Multiplayer Online games, such as World of Warcraft and Online Poker.  Males and females under the age of 50 years vary in their preferences and therefore no conclusion can be made.  After much research, I found a subject that is very prominent in the North America mindset, and it has a large effect on all gamers–especially young individuals; violence and gender bias.

The gaming industry since 1985 has promoted a fairly misogynistic view of society, depicting women as the damsels in distress and men as the heroic virtuous leaders.  Even though the video game industry has come a long way with human rights in the past 20 years–supporting equality in the workforce, school system, and at home for all genders, races, and religions, this commercial entity still has a firm grasp on this old gaming paradigm.  As a result of this bias, video games are very sociable to young males and less to young females.  Since I am very ingrained in this industry with experience of more than 12 years, I didn’t see this as a problem until last year, July 2005.

Violence in games is widespread due to the lack of parenting skills among many other societal faults.  I found in my research that violent video games are undeniably linked to violence if played extensively over a period of time without proper control, rules, or boundaries in place.  Young females and males, mostly males, who played violent video games tend to exhibit violent and disobedient behaviour over others who have not played these games.  As a PR student and soon to be practicioner, it is my ethical duty to make sure this trend does not corrupt the community as well as the companies producing these game titles.   Some people may argue that since the ESRB rating system is on games, children of lesser ages will be able to obtain these copies that they are restricted to rent or buy.  Unfortunately, working in a store such as EB Games, I have little faith in parenting skills of parents today and find that most kids coax these authoritative figures to buy these violent games anyways.  It’s unfortunate, but this field of PR work is loitered with land mines and needs careful reassessment from both the company and the relations expert (ME . 

I have also included some annotated bibliographies as others have in case you would like to look at this topic further:

Kirsh, S.  (Summer 1998).  Seeing the World Through Mortal Kombat-colored Glasses:

Violent Video Games and the Development of a Short-term Hostile Attribution Bias.  Childhood, 5, no. 2, 177-84.

Kirsh reigns in the empirical evidence in order to show how violence inevitably contributes to long-term bias opinions.  He also notes that prolonged usage with lack of discipline results in a disruptive child/adult.

Funk, J., Buchman, D.  (June 1996).  Playing Violent Video and Computer Games and Adolescent Self-Concept.  The Journal of Communication, 46,  19-33.            This article also follows up on the violence that the Dills wrote about, but it focuses  

            more on the female perspective.  It explains how alienated females feel when trying to

            cope with the male-dominated gaming industry.

Dill, K., Dill, J.  (1998).  Video Game Violence: A Review of the Empirical Literature.  Aggression and Violent Behaviour, 3, no. 4, 407-428.

            This article gives a great historical background on the gaming industry and how it has affected the youth playing it.  They also target mainly young males since they are the majority of study in the late 1990s.

Ernest, G.  (August 2006).  Are the Gaming Industry’s PR Wounds Self-Inflicted?  Retrieved October 14, 2006 from http://mmorpg.qj.net/Are-the-Gaming-Industry-s-PR-Wounds-Self-Inflicted-/pg/49/aid/61753.

            This small blurb is a concern expressed by the gaming community about bad PR

             presentations about video games.  Ernest explains how Thompson is blatantly

             accusing the industry without consistent, empirical data.

The Future of Corporate Social Responsibility & Public Relations

The Future of Corporate Social Responsibility & Public Relations

Public Relations practitioners can no longer afford to take the back seat when it comes to encouraging corporate social responsibility. I recently read an article regarding Wal-Mart and it’s poor reputation. According to the article, Fortune magazine reported Wal-Mart as the “most admired company” in 2004. It went on to add that although it may be the most admired company, it is also among the most sued. Wal-Mart has been forced into court appearances for sexual discrimination charges and wage violations. Many believe that no matter how talented a PR practitioner is, until Wal-Mart changes their policies and commit to a more socially responsible mission, they will always have the reputation of being ‘unfair or unreasonable to their employees’.

This article made me realize that the role of PR practitioners has changed over the years. We are no longer just responsible for handling the after effects of a decision made by upper management, but are now taking on a more proactive approach. The challenge for internal and external public relations people is to lead organizations in more socially responsible practices. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) involves operating a business in a manner that meets or exceeds the ethical, legal, commercial and public expectations that society has of business. The aim of CSR is achieving sustainable development not only in the economical dimension but also in the social and environmental dimensions. Public relations have been called the “conscience” of management, which underscores PR’s role in reminding an organization of its social responsibility to all of its publics. I believe that the ‘modern’ PR practitioner is responsible for ensuring more socially responsible practices.

For more information regarding corporate social responsibility and public relations check out:
1. Article: Wal-Mart Tired of Critics’ Complaints. Retail Giant Goes on PR Offensive to Repair Image.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4130756/
This link is where I found the article on Wal-Mart and it’s poor reputation. The article outlines how Wal-Mart has been under attack for some of the store’s policies and how this has lead to bad publicity for the store.

2. Handling Bad Publicity. How to Cope When Bad News Breaks. http://www.bcentral.co.uk/business-information/marketing/marketing-methods/handling-bad-publicity.mspx
This is a great site because it provides some tips for handling bad publicity. Let’s face it, we will not always be able to control what management does, but we can minimize its negative effects. This is a great guidebook for any PR person entering the field.

3. The Canadian Public Relations Society http://www.cprs.ca/Welcome/e_Welcome.htm
This is a great website because you can navigate your way through various public relations topics including the code of professional standards for PR practitioners, accreditation, as well as a link for students.

Jasmine Foreman

Future PR Practitioner

The BlackBerry

 

The Blackberry is a PDA that allows its users to communicate with anyone, anytime through wireless Internet access. Research in Motion (RIM) is the creator and manufacturer of the Blackberry.

People use the Blackberry for email, phone, research, and as a personal organizer. The Blackberry is a useful device in a business and for personal lifestyle, which is further discussed in the details below. However, the Blackberry does have positive and negative aspects associated with its use.

The availability of the internet anywhere anytime is the prime basis of the blackberry. Wireless Internet allows people to stay in touch with anyone, anywhere, anytime through the use of email, messaging and phone calls. Other software available for the BlackBerry includes due date manager, travel programs that let you book vacations instantly and a golf score card. As mentioned earlier, the BlackBerry is therefore useful in business and personal life.

As a business device, statistics prove that using a BlackBerry increases productivity flow. These PDA’s are cost efficient and allow you to stay in touch with your clients and employees all the time. Whereas the blackberry as a personal device allows you to book trips anytime and schedule your daily activities. Whether you are at the grocery store or soccer game you can check your emails and be reachable.

Some of the negative causes of the blackberry (AKA crackberry) are that they are very addictive and actually cause health problems such as musculoskeletal disorders. Furthermore, using the Blackberry causes people to cross the line between work and personal time.

There are positive aspects of the Blackberry as well. During the hurricane season in Florida, power lines were out and the only means of communication were Blackberry’s. These little PDA’s are also statistically proven to increase productivity flow because things can be accomplished anytime, anywhere (Hotwire, the 53-minute Campaign).

Useful, convenient, and practical: I feel that the Blackberry is a great product for business and individuals. Its wireless Internet makes it simple to communicate with clients, friends, and family. Its added software allows you to personalize your Blackberry to fit your lifestyle. Overall, I felt that Blackberries had more positives than negatives and now I want one!!!!

 

Stacey Hunter  

Links

Hotwire, The 53-minute Campaign: http://www.ipra.org/library/docs/gwa5237.htm

In this website I found negative effects about BlackBerries and comments on the ways RIM tries to clean up their reputation. This website showed statistics about how much free time people save by using a BlackBerry.

RIM, Discover Blackberry http://www.discoverblackberry.com/discoverØ

This is where I began my research on Blackberrys. This page talked about different models, software and features of the Blackberry.

RIM’S Homepage, www.rim.comØ This is the website for the company that created the Blackberry. I used this website to see how Blackberry’s were created.

(edited by Carly Anlauf)

Pandemic Planning and PR.

I must admit, before I started my research, I was oblivious to the dangers pandemics present and oblivious to the need for planning, but not anymore. Pandemics are unpredictable and deadly. A pandemic essentially starts out as influenza from one species and mutates with an influenza strain from another species to develop a virus to which humans have no immunities and no vaccine for. (World Health Organization, 2005) Since there is no vaccine available (and a pandemic vaccine can only be made once a specific virus is identified) severe and lengthy illness and high fatality rates usually occur. The World Health Organization predicts the next pandemic will most likely kill 2-7.5 million people and will be world wide within three months (due to ease of global travel).

So what does this mean for PR professionals or businesses in general ? Well a lot actually.  It is estimated that at any one time, 40% of staff (at any business) could be off work nursing their own illness or that of a family member for weeks at a time. (Heffes, 2006) That means, certain jobs will have to be put on the back burner, and staff will probably have to be reassigned to essential jobs in order to keep business running smoothly. It is the job of the PR professional to ensure communication within an organization is clear and concise to avoid additional problems while a pandemic is occurring. It is also the job of the PR professional to liaison with the media to get the word out on what that particular company is doing to help with the pandemic. Working with health professionals is also important because they hold the key to fighting the pandemic, so the better communication a company has with the health professionals, the better off the employees of that company will be when it comes time to distribute a vaccine. Pandemics also pose a HUGE financial risk. “Experts say pandemics have the capability of killing over a half a million people in the U.S., hospitalizing more than 2 million and costing the U.S. economy a staggering $160 billion to $670 billion.” (Heffes, 2006) Once again, it is the part of the PR professional to ensure communication between their company and its financial partners is clear and concise to soften the financial blow as much as possible. PR professionals need to look at things like: insurance policies, capital investments etc. They must also communicate with staff on whether their leave of absence will be paid for or whether new technology will be brought in/purchased in order to allow staff to work from home.

Although a pandemic may never happen, you can see it’s VERY important to be prepared and have a plan in place. Once a pandemic hits, there will no doubt be panic and that will just make it harder for PR professionals to get their message across to staff, so discussions on pandemic procedures now, will help make the transition a lot smoother. Now don’t get all freaked out about a possible pandemic. Just remember, regular hand washing and minimizing the amount of time spent touching your face, will help you prevent infection. Posted by: Ashley

For more information on pandemics or planning checklists, I highly recommend the following sites:           

Heffes, E. (Sept 2006) Planning For The Inevitable, Financial Executive (Vol 22 Iss 7Retrieved Oct. 13/06 from: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1127257161&sid=4&Fmt=4&clientld=20370&RQT=309&VName=PQDt. Good overall information on pandemic planning with good statistics and examples from past pandemics and scares.            

Cheng, M. (2005) WHO Influenza Pandemic Handbook for Journalists. World Health Organization Retrieved Oct. 13/06 from: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/new/2005/nw08/en Excellent source for anything you ever wanted to know about pandemics.

Health Canada(Oct. 2005) The Role of Risk Communications in Pandemic Planning. Retrieved Oct. 13/06 from:   http:// hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/intactiv/pandem-flu/questionsbk5_e.html Great information for PR professionals about how to get your message across without scaring people.

Public Relations & Communication Education

I was in the middle of my fourth year of university, debating what I should do after graduation, when I came across Fanshawe College’s post-graduate Corporate Communication and Public Relations (CC&PR) program. It was at this moment that my research into public relations and communication programs began. 

Currently, formal education in public relations and communication is rapidly growing in Canada.  Specifically, such education can be found at the undergraduate level, graduate level (diplomas and degrees), and in continuing education programs.  Although these types of programs are expanding across Canada, no national curriculum standards exist. I believe that standardizing public relations and communication curriculum is one of the future trends that these educational programs will face.

In particular, given that public relations is an unlicensed practice, standardizing and strengthening its education will contribute to ensuring professionalism. At the same time, this shift toward professionalism will affect both existing and future public relations and communication programs. Primarily, these programs will need to tailor their curriculum in order to satisfy educational standards and best prepare students to enter the public relations field.

Just as importantly, this future trend of standardizing public relations and communication education, will affect not only those entering these programs, but also both current and soon-to-be public relations professionals. Particularly, these individuals will need to continuously seek and keep up-to-date with formal public relations and communication education. Doing so increases their chances of survival in a competitive profession where those with both the greatest knowledge and experience hold the advantage.

Linda Heredia

For more information regarding public relations and communication education please take a look at some of my reccommended sources listed below :

1. Heath, R. (2005). Encyclopedia of Public Relations. (Vol 1-2). California:Sage Publications,Inc.                                                                                        This source offers a comprehensive look at public relations at public relations. Some of the topics include: the practice of public relations in Canada, the issue of professionalism, and formal public relations education and recommendations for the 21st Century.

2. Grant MacEwan College. (2006). Public Relations Career Diploma. Retrieved Retrieved October 7, 2006, from http://business.macewan.ca/gmcc/relations/home/index.cfm                  This site is important for those seeking or wanting to keep up-to-date with formal education in public relations and communication. Specifically, this site describes Grant MacEwan College’s (Edmonton, Alberta) “Public Relations Career Diploma” with respect to program course description, program length, admission requirements, career opportunities, and the faculty. 

3. Killingsworth, C. (March 25, 2006). The State of Public Relations in Canada. Retrieved October 6, 2006, from http://cprsregina.sk.ca/Killingsworth.pdf#search=%22 Canadian%20Public%20Relations%20AND%20Professionalism% 2022                                                                                                                           This is an article written by Colleen Killingsworth, National President of the Canadian Public Relations Society. Killingsworth discusses how the practice of public relations has evolved, the importance of ethically practiced public relations as it relates to maintaining trust in institutions, new trends that affect the public relations profession, and how public relations facilitates democracy.    

Nanotechnologies

I first became acquainted with the term nanotechnology about 6 years ago when I was working as a boatbuilder. The man I worked for had done some reading on the subject. He explained it to me as taking two separate components, placing them together, and allowing them to self-formulate into a fully realized entity. He was talking about, what I now understand as a nanobot; a nano-sized robot that can be used in the medical field. The idea is to inject a nanobot into the body and allow it to seek out and destroy a given disease. This is very “Startrek” and certainly a long way down the road.

When I saw nanotechnologies on our topic list, I immediately knew I wanted to research and find out what nanotechnologies truly meant.

Nanotechnology deals with particles 100 nanometres (nm) and smaller. For reference sake, a human hair is 80,000 nm wide, a red blood cell 7,000 nm wide, and a single strand of DNA is 2 nm wide. Conventional materials exhibit completely different behaviours or properties on a nanoscale. Nanotechnology tries to harness these properties to make new and better products.

For the electronics industry, better products means smaller, faster, more powerful computers, eventually moving toward quantum computers. It also means much smaller and more powerful batteries fully integrated into the transistor. It means larger, but thinner and higher resolution displays. There are many other areas in which nanotech is being considered. At the moment, nano particles are being used in colloidal products like face creams and sunscreen.

It is a fascinating field of discovery, but the literature says most of the applications will not be brought into the larger marketplace for another 10-15 years. There are many difficulties facing the industry especially around health and safety and legislation/regulations.

These are my most pertinent links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotechnology

A great place to start, Wikipedia has multiple links within that will answer all your questions plus there are some really wonderful 3-D graphics to ogle.

http://www.nanotec.org.uk/report/chapter2.pdf

I had trouble linking to this later, after I had written it into my annotated bibliography but, you can manually enter the nanotec.org.uk part and find chapter 2 in pdf report. There is another great diagram explicating the scale we are dealing with in nanotechnology.

http://www.nano.gov.html/facts/faqs.html

This site has some good statistics about how much capital is being poured into the nanotechnology industry. It demonstrates the level of faith many sectors have in this industry. It makes me think the real interest is in nanotech’s military applications.

Darlene Pratt. Edited by Roberta