Everyday Public Relations

You make some great points as there are indeed those that allow for their social media “habits” to take over their lives. I on the other hand, as one who is responsible for my organizations’s social media initiative, have to carefully schedule when I will take the time to schedule and organize my time so that I can get all my work done. I have a colleague Kevin (@ecointeractive) who uses about 2 hours per day just to scan his networks. I use a little more time than that but it keeps me from being distracted while I am doing other things, Social media, as a tool has to be treated like on in order for it to really create a decent ROI for the user. Nice post. I appreciate your insight.

Originally posted as a comment
by kristinasummers
on Chris Brogan using DISQUS.

2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference // Bloggers Unite

Posted using ShareThis

Tailgate Revelers Trash Campus

In recent months with the addition of the new TATE center and the increase in recycling programs on campus, The University of Georgia has been proudly promoting their efforts at “greening” up the well known southern party school. This weeks press however completely wipes away any good they may have come of those efforts unfortunately.

As an avid supporter of the BullDawg nation at the University of Georgia it pains me to see my beautiful campus trashed by unthinking and apparently uncaring tail-gating fans. I was unable to attend the home opener against South Carolina, so I was shocked to see the photos on the front cover of the Red & Black when I got back to campus this week. Is there ever a better time to say WTF!!!! 70 TONS of trash was removed!

Not only do fans trash the campus, the University then spends around $44,000 for EVERY home game to clean up afterward. Ridiculous. With every state-run institution suffering mightily from slashed budgets it is inconceivable that this kind of money should be spent because football fans can’t clean up after themselves.

Now that the story has been picked up and displayed prominently on the front page of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, maybe UGA fans will put a little more thought into how hard they party, and what kind of legacy they want to leave behind.

The University was even chided by popular Athens publication Flagpole about their trashy habits saying “it’s too bad the UGA Athletic Association has had to be shamed into providing recycling opportunities by the student volunteers who started the Gameday Recycling program on fall Saturdays, but hey: whatever works.” Ben Emanuel, pg. 5 – in regards to efforts by the UGA Ecology Club.

Want to keep giving UGA some bad press? Keep on throwing your trash on the ground. If not then remember this basic axiom – your mama don’t live here, clean up after yourself!

Photo Credit: Tom Ritch, AJC

Not long ago I came across a blog with one of those titles that just makes you smile. Intrigued I continued reading and then came back the next day…and then the next day, and then the next. What I quickly realized was that I had once again found a blog that compelled me to keep coming back, the true sign of success that all of us bloggers strive for.

After following Life Without Pants for a while I had the opportunity to network a little with Matt Cheuvront, (@mattchevy) the man behind LWP, (I assume he is normally fully clothed however if his profile picture is accurate.) Turns out he has a lot of good advice about blogging, web site marketing, design and being young and in business for yourself in general.

I have been blogging for a while, nearly three years, but although I have been featured on various web sites and received numerous compliments about both my writing style and my niche (using social media for wildlife conservation) the followers just were not there. I didn’t want to stop blogging so I knew I needed a little help.

Naturally I looked to On Simplicitybloggers I respect, people who have a proven track record and sucessful blogs: Milena at Quiet the Thunder, Tiffany at PersonalPR, and Holly at WorkLoveLife . And since I am naming awesome bloggers who have willingly answered questions and provided advice I can’t forget Dorie at Dorie Morgan’s Rising Up , Karen at TeachingPR and of course Matt at Life Without Pants.

Matt offers a very helpful service called the “Amazing 5 Minute Blog Review”. I know good stuff when I see it and I figured that if anyone could help me do what I do, but better, he would be able to, so I signed up.

Check out his review here, and then check back soon to see how I am incorporating his advice. Big changes are coming and I am excited!

Follow my progress as Everyday Public Relations gets a make-over: on Twitter @kristinasummer or see my Facebook fan page Thursday Green .

A couple years ago I received an email from a person I’d never heard of who asked me to be a part of a site with a concept that was totally foreign to me. That person was Ryan Paugh and the site, Brazen Careerist. He told me that as an important part of the gen-y blogging community, I would make an excellent addition to the team of bloggers he was putting together for a new kind of online social community.

My only experience with the whole gen-y movement up to that point was that I had read Penelope Trunk’s (co-founder of Brazen) book, “The Brazen Careerist” and had listed it on my fledgling blog (still a class assignment at the time) as one of the best resources for new bloggers and newbies to the career world in general. I received a nice response from her and thought I’d hit the big time, getting a response from a real live author!

I agreed to be a part of this new venture and have never regretted it. When the site launched I was proud to be on those early email blasts full of the most interesting posts. I made contacts and considered myself among elite company as I came to know and respect many of the contributors through their blogs.

So much has changed since that day. My blog grows all the time, and I have become a person who is proud to be referred to as a blogger. As Brazen has grown as well I now consider it a challenge to remain at the top of my game, to get a mention in that weekly email. Both my writing quality and my self-confidence have also grown.

None of that would be possible without Brazen Careerist and their online network of wonderful bloggers. Because of the exposure I have received through the syndication of my blog, I have developed a professional reputation as a blogger and social media consultant. I have been asked to speak at conferences, and had my blog picked up by more than a dozen different web sites. Pretty cool.

Now, Brazen is changing, for the better. Tomorrow Brazen Careerist will launch with a whole new look and feel but will continue the excellent service known well by all who have used the site for networking, career advice or simply putting forth an opinion.

Make sure to check out the changes! I know I will!

The days of working Monday through Friday, 9-5 are over, whether some of the “old guard” want to admit or not.

I think that one of the hardest things that many of my colleagues (many of them older) have had to deal with is that the new generation of workers flooding out of colleges are not the traditional sort. We don’t want to work our 8 hour days and then forget about the office. And this is not because of some masochistic work-a-holic tendency either. We are not lazy; We want to pay our dues, we just do it differently and the opportunities opened up to us via social media allow us to work more on our own terms.

For instance, rather than being bound to a desk or a land line phone, I take my work with me. I put in the hours when I am well rested and more efficient, making my productivity higher. Unfortunately those hours often do not fall between the traditional 8 hour office day.

I also am continually trying to further educate myself, which means that I am still in school and even when I am not, I look around for seminars and workshops that will help me do what I do, better. Well as many of you might know, going to school and working full time often don’t mix. You tend to get pushed into late evening classes or disregarded at work. I’ve even had it implied that my education is interfering with my work simply because my co-workers don’t see my happy shining face behind my desk each day promptly at 8am.

To heck with that. I register for my classes, the good ones, during peak times (in a responsible manner of course) getting most on the same day, which means that I do end up out of the office at least one day a week.

Well, no offense, but I do not believe it is necessary any longer to put in 8 straight hours a day, five days a week in order to qualify that you have a career. Sometimes I think I got more respect working as a bartender than I do now in a “respectable” agency environment. It’s no wonder so many of us have become entrepreneurs, working on our own time-tables.

I’ve been told that I tend to march to the beat of my own drummer, and that is fine with me. I come in early on days when I don’t have class and stay late as well. When I have class or when I feel like eating breakfast with the kids I come in a little later. If I am feeling especially sluggish in the afternoon I may take off for the afternoon but them get cranked back up around 10pm. I’ve even been known to take a day off during the week and then come in on a weekend. Sound crazy? Maybe, but the point is I get my work (and then some) done and receive no complaints about the quality (or the quantity).

So my point is this. I work when I work and I refuse to be boxed in by a ridiculously outdated stereotype. I always have my blackberry, so I’m never really out of touch anyways. The kind of work I do could be (in truth) done from just about any location with WiFi so I am thinking that maybe they should be glad I am not sitting in a beach side bar and grill sipping a cold beer and phoning it in.

Our generation gets that ideas and inspiration come at all times of day and night and that if you wait until that clock reads 9am – you could lose that spark. Don’t become obsessed with work, but work around your schedule and your life, rather than the machine. Studies show that happy workers are more productive anyhow so maybe the old guard should take a lesson from us and take off to go fishing around 3pm some beautiful Tuesday afternoon. It could totally change their perspective.

The economy is down, times are tough, we are all tightening our belts and trying to cut costs and hearing again and again that things will turn around…eventually…But what about those that can’t wait?

I came across a blog not too long ago called The Chief Happiness Officer. Although he is another part of the world, where things are much different (the world makes a little more sense if your Danish I suppose), he often makes a great point about having one life, so why be miserable? There are no do-overs. I admire his thinking.

Right now, there are those that are trapped in jobs where they are not necessarily treated fairly but have no choice but to hold one. Times are tough and walking away from a career affects more than your paycheck, especially if you have a family to consider.

On the other hand, how do you keep on making that commute and completing the mundane tasks assigned as everything you love, the reasons you went to work in the first place are slowly and deliberately stripped away leaving you exposed…and then they kick you once more for good measure and tell you to “play ball.”

I wrote once that there are people in the working world that can lift you up, and then there are those that absolutely suck the life force right out of you. For whatever reason the problems with the economy are hitting the former at a disproportionate rate. More and more of the individuals I admire are receiving the pink slip while the leeches that secretly latch on to your ideas and then suck them from you until they become fat off your accomplishments and fall back down to the ground only to be picked up by the next unsuspecting and passionate newbie continue to rise to the top, rewarded with corner offices and Emmy’s they didn’t earn and don’t deserve.

When do you put your foot down and say ENOUGH of this SHIT!

I asked in the beginning about the people that can’t wait for things to get better. Are you one of those that is tired of having your ideas stolen by ridiculous high-school-esque game-players while you continue to pound out 60 hour work weeks for the same low salary that can’t even feed your family, much less buy school supplies? If so, what do you do?

When times are tough, I have always found a way to muscle through and come out on the other side a stronger person for it. But now as my confidence is chipped away I fear that if I stay where I am I will become a “true company woman”, passionless and embittered, draining the next generation of do-gooders that come into the office, living off their energy like some sort of corporate vampire. I don’t want to be that person.

I want to hold on to my dreams not those of another.

To Be Continued…..

There is a ton of buzz today over what has been dubbed “The moldy Twitter” case. If you are unfamiliar you can read all the dirty details here.

There is no getting around it, Horizon acted badly. Who actually says “We are a sue first, ask questions later kind of company.” ?? Do they actually want customers?

I think one of the best responses I have seen though was on Copyblogger. This reader has it right.

Business should treat Web 2.0 like a game of chess. Each move should take place only after considering numerous consequences that may follow.

It may be your move and you may be able (and feel justified) to take down a pesky pawn, but that pawn has bishops and queens ready to counter you, and fans with bullhorns in the stands ready to boo you.

In this 2.0 game, the winner isn’t the one that knocks down his opponent’s last piece; the winner is the person that can play the game in such a way that creates a favorable story about them that spreads beyond the confines of the board.

Just think what would have happened if Horizon Realty instead helped Amanda Bonnen qualify for her 1st home mortgage.

Headlines would have read:
“From Mold to Gold. How Horizon Realty Turned a Rent-Moaner into a Home-Owner”

Think about it, wouldn’t that have received a better response than to just outright sue the woman over a silly comment. It makes the average consumer wonder about their right to complain on any public forum-type website. What if my GE dishwasher breaks after a week and I complain on Facebook. Will GE sue me? I sure hope not.

This does of course open up the discussion of where the law actually falls when it comes to the social media world. If you Tweet something, is it print? Could the company have asked the tenant to remove the comment, even if it were TRUE? Where does the actual legality fall?

Just curious, however if they start policing Twitter though I will totally give up my idealist view that we still have rights.

What’s your thought on this? Yes this company has no real basis for their complaint, but in general, where do you as an individual stand when it comes to posting things on Twitter, Facebook or on Blogs?

There is a ton of buzz today over what has been dubbed “The moldy Twitter” case. If you are unfamiliar you can read all the dirty details here.

There is no getting around it, Horizon acted badly. Who actually says “We are a sue first, ask questions later kind of company.” ?? Do they actually want customers?

I think one of the best responses I have seen though was on Copyblogger. This reader has it right.

Business should treat Web 2.0 like a game of chess. Each move should take place only after considering numerous consequences that may follow.

It may be your move and you may be able (and feel justified) to take down a pesky pawn, but that pawn has bishops and queens ready to counter you, and fans with bullhorns in the stands ready to boo you.

In this 2.0 game, the winner isn’t the one that knocks down his opponent’s last piece; the winner is the person that can play the game in such a way that creates a favorable story about them that spreads beyond the confines of the board.

Just think what would have happened if Horizon Realty instead helped Amanda Bonnen qualify for her 1st home mortgage.

Headlines would have read:
“From Mold to Gold. How Horizon Realty Turned a Rent-Moaner into a Home-Owner”