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The Maranda Writes

“You HAVE the Right to know!!”

Tag Archives: Public Relations

April 22, 2010 My Ode to PR

Since I have taken my first English class I have loved the idea of romantic dedications that ancient Roman philosophers used, odes.  Odes are types of lyrical verses.  In light of the Roman greats that came before me I am going to do my own version of an ode dedicated to my love for public relations.

I never knew what you were until I decided that I needed a major where I did not have to use math or science. 

I was currently a business major before I found you,  I was headed down the path to nowhere then I found the light

I sometimes dream of representing a big star in entertainment and making lots of money

I even joined an entertainment organization (Makin Moves and Confetti Ent) to be closer to you. It was a way for me to merge partying and business.

Most people think that you are not a real major, but they can say that until they have to write their first 10-page paper.

This gives me a way to feel important in the world. A blackberry and Apple Mac are the necessities in this profession.

In this world its all about looking the part. Image is everything.

Its about WHO you know not about HOW many people you know

I can write off clubbing and event going as expenses

Yes this may seem a little trivial , but this is my ode to PR

You have the right to know!

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April 22, 2010 Mass Media in a nutshell

Mass media is all around us. As Americans we are engaging in and affected by mass media 24/7 whether we know it or not. Mass media is defined as a section of the media designed to reach a large audience. The term was created during the 1920’s with the increased popularity of newspapers and television. Books and manuscripts were the earliest forms of mass media. Mass media includes but is not limited to:

  • Newspapers
  • TV
  • Internet
  • Blogs
  • Radio
  • Podcasts
  • Film

As publicists it is our job to exploit mass media for maximum exposure for our clients. “The medium is the message” is a quote by Marshall McLuhan, one of the biggest critics in media history. The message is transmitted to the public through various mediums. These mediums is what brings the messages to the audiences door step.

 For example: I go to Cnn.com as a source for news in the world. This is the medium for how I receive my mass media.

With the decline of recent mass media avenues, there has been a sharp decline in traditional mass media, newspapers and radio. We as a culture are greatly influenced by mass media. It shapes our perceptions of reality and dictates our knowledge about other cultures and societies. We have to be responsible receivers of the devious persuasive tactics in media to decipher between factual information and false claims. Whatever the case mass media has evolved throughout the years and will continue to change as times goes on. You have the right to know!

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April 1, 2010 TOW 11 Waxman’s on

Professor Nixon interviewed Martin Waxman.  I will summarize the 25 minute interview using the 3-pronged approach..

What did you learn?

– Martin Waxman created the Palette PR agency based out of Toronto, Canada.  He called it a boutique agency (which is a term I plan on using from now on).

– After working for an international PR agency for a couple years he created his own agency. Specializing in consumer marketing. Biggest client is a couple product lines from the Canadian Proctor and Gamble. Is also President of the Canadian Society of Public Relations  

– Also teaches classes at McMaster University on how to apply social media to public relations.

– Employers want graduates to know traditional skills of media relations and have an understanding of social media although they do not HAVE to be active. (Although it is strongly advised)

What surprised you?

-Waxman said that he finds it easier to make a podcast then write a blog. 

-when he first started his PR agency he did so because they hated the idea of billable hours.   Now they think that it is a wonderful, must have for all agencies. 

– New reality of PR is multi-tasking. You have to know how to do multiple things at once.    

-Waxman said that he had to decline offering someone a job because their blog had multiple misspelled words.  He advised students to closely monitor their blog for spelling and grammatical errors.  

-PR people hate the word “branding”

What do you want to know more about?

-How to monitor twitter for ways to interact and engage.

-I want to learn more about the South by Southwest conference in Austin, TX.

Follow Martin Waxman on twitter @martinwaxman or visit his blog PR Palette

You have the right to know!

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November 30, 2009 Indesign Vocabulary

I recently became a fan of the Adobe System Products while using them in my PR Publications class at Georgia Southern University.  We had to create a brochure for an on campus organization of which I chose Phi Sigma Pi, an honor fraternity I was a member of, as my client.

Traditionally I was always taught to edit documents in Microsoft Word Programs throughout my prior schooling. I spent countless frustrated hours after using it for the first time fumbling through the program. Mainly because I had to decode the vocabulary to figure out what each tool actually did.

In case you are running into similar problems I will supply some helpful vocabulary I have pulled from to help.

Gradient fill

An area that gradually changes from one color (or gray) to another. Gradient fills are also known as blends, gradations, graduated fills, and vignettes.
layer

Select

The act of designating which object or text you want subsequent actions to affect. Selecting with the selection tool or direct-selection tools often highlights the selected material (in the case of text) or causes it to display small boxes, called handles (in the case of objects)

Spot color

Any premixed colored ink that is not one of or a combination of the four process color inks.  The other color options are cmyk

Text

The stream of characters in your publication; not to be confused with type.

Bleed

Text or art that extends beyond the trim page boundaries, or the crop marks, on one or more sides of a page.

Swatch

Used for mixing and creating specific color shades.

CMYK

Abbreviation for cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, the four process color inks which, when properly overprinted, simulate a subset of the visible spectrum.

RGB

Red, green, blue. Abbreviation for red, green, blue; the colors of projected light from a computer monitor that when combined simulate a subset of the visual spectrum.

“You have the right to know!”

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October 23, 2009 Decoding the Language of the Image

Today’s lesson will be about teachings I have learned from an online course from Poynters News University about “The Language of an Image”. I had to take the lesson for my PRCA 3339, PR research class. I will include an outline from the lesson with vocabulary I found helpful to me along with personal notes included along the way.

Imagery in journalism is often times the most powerful element associated with a news story. It’s used to identify a subject in the story, or visually define an event.

There are three types of photos:
Informational – Simply a visual record of a person or event
Passive- Pictures taken specifically for publication after the event has occurred.
Active- Pictures taken while the event is occurring. In Real Time. Preferred by journalists to communicate to the reader the tone of an event.

Creating an image calls the incorporation of a variety of ‘single elements’ some of which are:
Quality of light – the use of natural and artificial light
• This may seem like an obvious note, but a small amount of light can greatly affect an image.
A sense of place – how quickly the reader comprehends setting
Juxtaposition – two opposing images to show contrast in mood or status.
• Interestingly, called one of the most powerful story-telling elements
Perspective – Be mindful that you are the “eye of the reader when taking photographs. So put yourself in the reader’s shoes to achieve the best look.
Layering, moment, and surprise are also single elements.
Of course these elements can be used simultaneously to “enhance the story-telling capabilities”
What familiar elements do you see in the photograph below?

Essentially capturing an image can call upon a variety of different elements. Achieving the best possible look is left up to the discretion of the journalist. There is no specific right or wrong way to take a picture. But failing to include at least one of each element can result in an incomplete news story.  

Now that you have been informed, Snap away!

 

You HAVE the right to know!

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September 14, 2009 Aww …. C.R.A.P.

Now I know seeing C.R.A.P. can immediately send your mind to the gutter with instant unmentionable images. But let me save you by pointing your attention in the RIGHT direction. C.R.A.P is an acronym created by Robin Williams (not the notoriously funny actor) that stands for contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity. The term first appeared in a design book authored by Williams titled, The Non-designer’s Design Book. Since then it has become the “holy grail” of design layout and structure for all design print material in all fields. I first learned about the term in my PRCA 3339 (Public relations publications) course I took at Georgia Southern University.

Although all design points are important, the repetition design principle, in my opinion is the essential design structure that does the most to grab a reader’s attention. When a reader looks at any document the first thing they notice is how visually appealing it is. No one is going to want to read something with multiple font styles and random colors. Creators of these documents can sometimes lose the topic or theme in the chaos of the design. Repeated colors, shapes, size, font, texture and style are all elements of repetition. It can even be used to highlight or group information. For example, all headers might be in 14- point font to illustrate the importance, while 12 -point font used for the body. Words to the wise, if you cannot identify at least three elements that are the same in your design that means are lacking repetition. Below are some helpful guidelines to use in repetition.

  • Limit fonts styles to 3
  • Repeating certain elements in a page is a visual trick designers use to control a reader’s eye and how the reader’s attention moves down or across the page
  • Repetitive elements may be a bold font, a thick rule (line), a certain bullet, color, design elements, particular format, shapes, spatial relationships, etc

For more C.R.A.P. visit the useful sites below

Robin Williams official web-site

(http://www.colorado.edu/AmStudies/lewis/Design/graprin.htm)

“You Do have the right to know!”

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