Chris Davis breaks down SEO

Chris Davis is the Director of Integrated Communication at Fi-Plan Partners. Fi-Plan Partners is a financial investment company, and Davis is in charge of everything that goes into video, photography, website design, and networking. He has even designed a smart phone app for the company. If a financial planning and investing company has a need for an employee to connect them technically, then every company does.

 Davis highlighted several aspects of his job. In the hour that he visited our class, he gave us several tips on how to effectively promote information online and reach the target market.

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is crucial. If you design a website, but no one knows about it, it will never be significant.
• Top five considerations for SEO:

1. Keywords. Adding website keywords will trigger SEO.
2. Links. Google likes it when there are links to other websites.
3. Changing/Adding Content. Search engines recognize when you have updated your website. They are more fond of the websites that contain current information.
4. Video.
5. Image tagging. Tagging and image and connecting it with something else will increase SEO for your website.

• Davis developed a financial blog through Fi-Plan Partners and spends hours weekly updating it. “The more knowledge you are able to give to your customers,” Davis said, “the less anxiety they will have.”

“Hot Coffee” heats up Samford campus

"Hot Coffee" is now available for purchase on DVD.

Years ago, when I first became aware of the McDonalds coffee burning situation I rolled my eyes annoyed at public America. I was annoyed that people fabricated and exaggerated the truth just to receive a payback.

And then I watched a documentary, “Hot Coffee.” The images shown of coffee burns from McDonalds looked like they should have killed someone. It seemed as if coffee could not possibly do anything of the sort—actually eating through Stella Liebeck’s skin.

For years the media had led me to believe that Americans, like Liebeck, will manipulate anything for money. Instead, it is the PR companies that agree to work alongside large corporations to cover up crisis.

Tort reform, which protects companies for getting sued for frivolous matters, is the focus of the movie “Hot Coffee.” The law has made it so difficult to sue large companies for problems of which they should be sued.

More than anything, watching this film made me realize the ethical dilemma for public relations firms. They have to ask, should we represent this large company and mask their wrongdoings? In return making a large amount of money. That choice I am sure is something they are faced with on a daily basis. A PR company must set their own standards for who and what they will represent. It is hard to stick to your word when you are presented a large amount of money, but is it right to cover up someone’s mistakes?

Jenna Young hangs posters in the University Center to advertise movie to students.

Notifying students about the event on Samford’s campus is similar to raising awareness in a community. Our class distributed posters, spoke to organizations, advertised to teachers and specific majors, and used social media to reach potential viewers. PR requires knowledge in many outlets on how to successfully reach people. It was great having a team of students, with various talents and abilities, to reach the Samford community.

Experience from Jessica Simpson

After taking a creative writing class in college, Jessica Simpson switched her focus completely to film and mass communication studies. She spent many years as the director of marketing at the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, and she now owns her own consultant company. Her company is involved in marketing for the arts and non-profits. As she spoke with the Public Relations class, I was able to gather with many helpful tips for the business.

• You really must be a jack of all trades to have your own consultant company. You wear many hats!
• In the business, a consultant needs to have the right personality to deal with stress. Most importantly, one must have the right attitude and the ability to leave work at the office. If they do not they will constantly be working.
• “A show wins or loses the day the deal is made,” Simpson said. “You want a healthy deal that will work for the center and its audiences.”

Simpson’s career has given her many different opportunities  and avenues to travel down. She now is involved in producing shows. It was clear to see that success comes with Simpson!

Take aways from Sean Wright, Director of Venue Management at Samford University

It is a tall task to keep these two buildings running successfully. Sean Wright is the Director of Venue Management at  Samford. He is in charge of booking, budgeting, and planning the events that take place within the Wright Center and the Pete Hanna Center. When talking to the class, he gave insight into what it takes to pull off large events week after week.

The biggest change in the event planning is that the calendar never ends. Due to technology, events can be booked onto a calendar farther in advance than ever before. Typically events are placed 18 months ahead.

Another big change in technology has allowed ticketing to track the customer and their ticket purchases. When a ticket is purchased the technology knows the buyer, then can recognize that person as they enter the venue on the night of the show.

Typically, the business consists of three constant seasons. The booking season when all the events are placed on the calendar for the year, the grant season when grants are sent to distribute funds to the venues, and the budget season when the money that can be used to spend on events is evaluated. Each of these seasons run in a constant cycle.

Regardless of media and promotion, if your product is no good–there is no hope for it! Your product is key. You must know your market before you book an event. Pricing, advertisement, and time is imperative to a successful outcome.

“Venues are more public and patrons are more demanding than ever before,” commented Wright. “If you’re standing still in this business, something is wrong.” With his job as director of management he is constantly on the go. It is evident that Wright’s job is demanding and requires patience. Experience is key in his business, and learning from your mistakes is inevitable.

A Word From The Girl Scouts

With cookie season in full swing it was only necessary that we hear from Meredith Foster, project specialists for the Girl Scouts of North Central Alabama. She gave many pointers on the many aspects of running a non-profit, which requires you “to wear many hats.”

Foster is employed to update and maintain social media accounts for the Girl Scouts. She updates Facebook and Twitter, writes press releases, and generates news letters. She also spends her time reading other blogs pertaining to non-profit organizations and social media.

When writing and updating the social media, Foster expressed the importance of knowing the audience to whom she was addressing. Knowing who was going to read them would change the content and presentation of the message, and also knowing when to post them to receive the most readership are decisions she is faced with.

Lastly, Foster advised us to build our portfolio. Our future employers would heavily rely on the work inside our portfolio, and relaying our experience to them is imperative. They want to know who they are hiring is experienced and able to creatively execute the tasks given to them if hired.

John Richardson Speaks on PR

John Richardson came to Principles of Public Relations, and spoke of his experiences in the field. The highlights of his time in the classroom were the following:

• An Interactive Director is in charge of any kind of digital media that creates communication. You cannot really be in the competition of public relations without being interactive with social media. Also, you must know how to work well with others.
• Staying on top of trends is one of the most important aspects of his job. PR agencies focus on agencies, and have control over social media, crisis control, and traditional PR.
• The key to success is doing the coolest thing that no one has done it. And most importantly–doing it first.
• Freelancing can be hard in that you must farm your own customer and following. Managing your own time is one of the hards parts. People move around in the business often. You must be OK with that and learn how to deal with change.

STYLE

STYLE is an agency founded in 1970 that focuses its work in advertising, marketing, and public relations. It is located right here in Birmingham. They assist business owners in developing a business plan, getting the name out to the general public, and then spreading the word! On February 15th I had the opportunity to talk with Audrey Pannell, director of Public Relations and Social Media.

Jenna: Audrey, can you tell me about your work on a day to day basis?

Audrey: Every day is different! I begin my day looking through the news. I have certain papers and periodicals that  I flip through mainly looking for articles that pertain to my clients. I am checking to see if my clients or their competition have anything written about them. Then I hop on my email…I send lots of emails. I am emailing often back and forth with clients and catching up with their status. I compile media and press releases for them, and then try to contact newspapers and media sources to get the client some publicity. I do everything from writing PR plans, research on companies, and social media.

Jenna: What is the highlight of your job?

Audrey: It is rewarding when the newspaper calls and says they want to get an interview with my client for an article they are doing. Then I get to call my client and tell them! They are typically so pleased, and that is when you are sealing the deal. Business is done!

Jenna: What can STYLE do for businesses?

Audrey: We are a full service agency. We have two grapic designers. We create print ads and websites. We work with firms to accomplish projects. We do PR, Marketing, and event planning. We work to plan Birmingham restaurant week. Also we will do product development and displays.

STYLE also provides internships. Information can be accessed here. 

Lori Merricks’ Realistic Approach to PR

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Lori Merricks speaks on her career in public relations. Photo courtesy of Dr. Sheree Martin

By Jenna Young

On Friday, February 10 Lori Merricks of Luckie & Co. spoke in the Principles of Public Relations class. I was able to gain insight about her career path, and with that I took away five key points:

1. Public Relations is not for writing press releases, it is not controllable, it is not event planning, it is not the adversary of the media. Public relations is not publicity, advertising, and most certainly not for bad writers.

2. Public Relations is about results, hits, and placements. It involves research. It is a conversation starter. It is about genuine human connections. A PR person is an expert in their clients industry.

3. Mass media used to be only newspaper, radio, and television. Now it is all about mass media.

4. In one year the percentage change in online audiences has increased 17.1%.

5. The top seven skills of modern PR are:

1. WRITING 2. LISTENING 3. FOCUS 4. DELIVERY 5. PITCHING 6. CREDIBILITY 7. MEASUREMENT