“The digital communications that were supposed to make working lives run more smoothly are actually preventing people from getting critical tasks accomplished.” –CNET News

Due to the years of computer and consistent cell phone app use, my brain has started to become programmed in a fashion where, without technological stimulation, it loses interest quicker.
Below I’ve listed a few issues (or are they?) of things I’ve noticed I can’t do anymore:

• Sit at a long traffic light without texting someone back
• Wake up in the middle of the night without checking my phone.  (Hello, what if someone tweeted me…urgent matters here)
• Check my email, one email at a time
• Be online with less than 5 tabs open (and active)
• Run on the treadmill without checking tweets

Side note:  I do not want this to be confused with the argument that communicating via technology is creating a generation that is unable to socialize face-to-face or one who is afraid to pick up the phone to talk through a problem.  In my case, that is not the problem at all.  (Unfortunately, technology has not cause me to lose any urge to continuously talk at 1,000 miles per hour.) 

What I’m arguing, rather, is that, in addition to my loud-mouth, talkative personality, I am finding a necessary pull to technology in order to satisfy my brain’s wandering attention.

A few months ago I went on a cruise.  You know, one of those boats that takes you miles out into the salty ocean water, far away from cell phone reception and wireless internet. I had all of my best friends with me but I still could not resist the urge to tweet about my off-shore excursion or post a picture of me in the straw market on Facebook.  Since when did basking in the rays not thinking about anything become “not good enough?”  Since technology introduced a completely different mindset where our mind can’t just sit still.  It has to be connected.

I’ve often thought about how incredibly hindering it would be to my productive and social life to lose my phone.  Right after that thought, however, I think that I would never get out of the driveway without realizing my phone isn’t with me.

So apparently, I’m right:  “Developing brains can become more easily habituated than adult brains to constantly switching tasks — and less able to sustain attention.” –NY Times

Naomi Alderman, in the debate on how Internet changes our brain, talks about how being surrounded by machines is teaching us to have a shorter attention span:  “So of course the internet is changing our brains. How could it not? It’s not surprising that we’re now more accustomed to reading short-form pieces, to accepting a Wikipedia summary, rather than reading a whole book. “

So, now that I’m a working girl and “the typical office worker is interrupted every three minutes by a phone call, e-mail, instant message or other distraction,” I gathered some tips from Cathy Davidson on how to deal with technology distractions at work:
• Plan offline interruptions into your day, whether a walk at lunch or a face-to-face meeting. Within your workplace, colleagues should have the ability to “hole up” solo or together on a project, free from constant connection to the rest of the world.
• A tip from designer Aza Raskin: Try reserving separate screens, or even separate devices, for Facebook, Twitter, and other distractors. If they’re in separate rooms, even better.
• Get into the habit of tagging complex matters to be discussed later, in real time. Davidson sends her colleagues emails with the subject line “Agenda”; at their weekly conference call, she’ll search her email for the term and — presto! — a list of items to discuss pops up.
• If chronically distracted, look below the surface. “We complain about email interference,” she says, “but the two most distracting things in any human life are emotional upset and physical discomfort — heartache and heartburn.”

The first trip I went on (2006-entering my senior year of high school) we spent the majority of the week-long trip hosting a camp for kids from the dump.  That’s right..the kids live amongst the trash in the capital’s DUMP.  We were paired with one of the kids to be our “amigo” for the next several days.  After spending day after day with Belki, who I like to call “Nicaraguan’s Annie” (she was sort of a tomboy and even had freckles through her dark Nicaraguan skin), I couldn’t shake the feeling of complete depression thinking that Belki would be heading back to live under cardboard and eat scraps from left overs.  I was torn apart when Belki left me, head sticking out the broken window of the back seat of a yellow bus.  It’s funny but I can actually remember thinking that she was my best friend, just in another life.  As I watched as the ‘kids from the dump’ drove away from the camp, where they’d had some of the only days in their lifetime that wouldn’t be centered around wondering if they would eat, I vowed never to forget Belkis.  I still haven’t.  Of course we sent her a $20 once or twice in the mail with hopes that it would get to her.  It’s hard to send something to someone who doesn’t have an address.  Much of Nicaraugua doesn’t have an address–something I’ve learned along the way.

Brooke and I in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua.

The next mission trip to Nicaragua, my sister, Brooke was exposed to the horrible sights of the tragedy along with me.  I re-lived all the shock of 6-people families living in shacks with a single bedroom.  Different setting (off the gulf coast this time) but same awful poverty.  I cried, I laughed, I went home transformed.

This year our group traveled to a poor region on the Pacific Coast of Nicaragua.  Knowing what to expect, I was in charge of the home outreach and approached each family with confidence we could bring comfort.  I found myself surprised I didn’t shed any tears when I saw the conditions the families were in.  Then again, how could I feel pity for these people who had shelter and a plank to sleep on, when hundreds of families only dozens of miles away didn’t even have a tarp to sleep under?

Me pulling teeth on my second trip to Nicaragua.

Was I getting used to this desperation?  Was I being human or was I being insensitive?  I have to believe that my feelings, or lack thereof, were protecting myself.  When you see such hopelessness time and time again you can’t help but put up a wall–there is only so much your emotions can handle. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to children running away with your can of soup with the same reaction I would have if I won the lottery, or seeing hundreds of people lined up to get their cavity-stricken teeth pulled, to end the pain.  What I do know is that these people, these Nicaraguans who have so little, have found a way to cope.  Through their suppression, they have found a way to accept their lifestyle but it doesn’t mean that the rest of us should.

In our proposal, we wanted to start by first showing the client why they needed social media:

“More and more nonprofit organizations are becoming involved in social media.  Social media allows a free outlet for nonprofits to increase awareness of their organization and issue by building relationships with people all over the world.  Most importantly we would like to see Safe Harbor create an empowered online community of Safe Harbor supporters.

People now desire to have interactions and real conversations with companies and brands they support.  In a 2008 Business and Social Media study it was found that 85% of people wanted companies and brands to have a presence on social media.  Twitter and Facebook have huge numbers of people using both and blogs are increasingly becoming a more popular destination for news on certain niche companies.

Nonprofit organizations like Safe Harbor should not miss out on this opportunity to engage with supporters online, receive free media placement, increase donations and overall make the issue of domestic violence better understood across the state and country.”

We included best practices for Twitter, Facebook and blogging.  I consider myself somewhat  social media experienced, but, creating this “how to” taught me a few things.  All three have a  common theme of marketing that medium.  Advertising your Facebook, Twitter and blog are imperative to increase your audience.  Below, I’ve listed some facts and tips I learned about what I consider the most helpful medium for nonprofits; Twitter.

Twitter:

–As of September 2010, Twitter has over 145 million registered users, with over 300,000 new users and 600 million searches per day.  Users are an even male and female ratio.  The peak on Twitter is the 18-34 years of age group, with an even number of older and younger users.  Twitter users are generally less wealthy than those on Facebook and LinkedIn.  Therefore, in this medium, asking for support through actions and participation is more important than requesting donations (Aronsson, L. & Male, B., 2010).

–Make sure your tweets are not protected.  You are on Twitter to spread the word, not to protect it!

–Use RainMaker to encourage followers to give to your cause “at the speed of a tweet.”  RainMaker is for for nonprofits that want to tap into the power and convenience of social networks, letting their supporters bring even more attention to their cause and it appeals to followers because they are able to donate to causes they are passionate about, while spreading the word and encouraging other people It’s as easy as setting up an account on RainMaker and letting your followers know that you have this account.  Anyone who has their Paypal account and Twitter account linked to RainMaker, can tweet with a #hashtag for the cause, a dollar sign for the amount and “@” the “rainmakerapp” account.  The donation has gone through that quickly!

–See who is reading your links.  When you post a link to Twitter, it is important to see who follows that link to read more about your story, especially when most of the links you will be posting will warrant activity to your website. URL shorteners like BudURL and Twurl are free sites that allow you to track the last five links you have tweeted.

As I mentioned before, it is important to do research to ensure efficient social media efforts.  We researched other Twitter and Facebook accounts of nonprofits like Red Cross and Meals on Wheels to evaluate different effective methods for promoting their respective causes.  In addition, we created a website recommendation document based on our critiques of the website.  We knew this was important for Safe Harbor to focus on their website because, with an increased social media presence, the organization would be driving more traffic to their website.

We wanted to give Safe Harbor and idea of the types of tweets, posts and blog entries they should use so we created numerous examples that we coordinated with annual events, statistics on domestic violence and statistics on the shelter itself.  We gave them a detailed calendar of annual events for the Safe Harbor shelter to note throughout the year.  For example, days like April 6th-National Day of Hope, we suggested Safe Harbor tweet and post appropriately to honor the hope that women in domestic violence still have.

We hope that, with our documents full of guidance, Safe Harbor can have a much more visible and impactful presence online that will encourage support of their mission and allow victims of domestic violence to seek their help.

Our PR professor, Claiborne Linvill, hit the nail on the head when she said Vanessa, who spoke to our class tonight via skype, was a “bundle of energy with some great ideas!”  There’s only so much you can learn about the PR world from blog posts and reading online.  Sure, I’ve had an internship in an agency and now work at a small business as the PR representative, but hearing about Vanessa’s experience creating and branding her own small communications agency in D.C. really put the whole industry into perspective.  Every time I learn more about PR, it just screams “this is what you want to do!”  I know, I know…working until 10p.m. and  every other weekend as “the norm” does sound a bit intimidating but I can’t really see myself working any less.  Knowing myself I’m sure I’d find SOMETHING (writing press releases for the fun of it, rescuing kitties from tall trees, etc.) to fill in that time anyways..

There were a few things that stood out to me.  The first was how Vanessa has “partnered” with other firms.  Pivot Point is PR and social media focused but companies come to her for more than that.  That’s where it helps to have great relationships with other marketing companies that might be lacking the social media aspect but have an understanding of the media buying or website managing aspects.  That way, she can guarantee a client that hiring her company can still be a “one stop shop.”  Also, Vanessa could not stress enough how much networking and “putting yourself in front of people” was.   Whether it be through Twitter, dinner benefits or speaking gigs, most of the clients, partners and employees of Pivot Point have come from networking.  I’ll have to make a mental note to volunteer and reach out to speak at different events, maybe not as an expert…quite yet

I was so glad Vanessa started to tackle the infamous question (okay, at least it’s been on MY mind a lot lately) of whether to work “in house” or in an agency.  I think she convinced me that my initial thoughts were correct-shew!  I think working in an agency right out of college to get more “text book PR strategies” (as I like to call it) and more experience in the corporate world would really boost my creative juices and insight to, later, as a good-ol’ PR veteran, take them to an independent company.

Working in a small business as an “in house” PR representative, I will agree with Vanessa, is easier in some aspects because you only having to be an expert in one subject.  Representing only one organization means you can get great at that topic, know all the contacts in the media who are interested it and what publics care the most about it.  There are still some huge challenges for working at an organization as the communications/PR/marketing representative.  For example, as I’m experiencing now, one PR representative does not have all the resources (graphics, media buying experience, website maintenance) to do everything that a business may need.  Therefore, “in house” usually means being the “expert” in the PR portion of the marketing for the business but usually working with an outside firm to complete the other objectives…sending a brochure to get it published, integrating new pages on the website or buying advertisements.

I feel still that, without more PR experience under one’s belt, you cannot be as effective.  Although working in an agency can mean having to become an expert on new clients (who consistently change with consistently changing budgets),  it is experience that is invaluable to learning how to adapt and use diverse techniques to brand your client to get the intended goals and is MORE than necessary to understand the world of branding and PR.

Thanks Pivot Point Communications for the “real world” advice!  By the way, love the logo that is creatively used as flowers on your Facebook page!

Learning loops, or ways to monitor and analyze topics with your goal in mind, are ways to not just solely evaluate a response quantitatively.  Instead, it is about the quality of engagement…not just the amount of times something was mentioned but WHO was saying it and WHAT were they saying.  In the Humane Society’s case, they were measuring the impact that their video contest had on the organization’s success in making their audience aware in the problem of dog fighting abuse.

First, organizations must pick a specific objective, design low-cost experiments and then articulate key learning questions.  But, how do you measure the resulting engagement in the community?  Amber Naslund from radian6 states that “While no single metric alone is going to be a solid indicator of how engaged your community or customers are, there are a few things you can look at that help guide you toward the conversations and interactions to pay attention to for deeper analysis.”  Tools like Delicious to see how many people have bookmarked your site, Google Analytics to track traffic and conversions and Spiral16 that tracks sentiment, can all be very useful tools to get your head around the quantitative numbers that your campaign has caused but these methods still don’t show whether or not the organization has succeeded at it’s goal: to create social change.

That’s where learning loops come in.  Learning loops aren’t just about a one-time campaign.  It’s about the YouTube video contest, the perpetual tweets online, and many other actions all combined that “unwind over the course of multiple efforts.”

**Information based on:  Kanter, B. & Fine, A. H. (2010). The Networked Nonprofit. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

“DON’T BE FOOLED. SKIN CANCER CAN KILL.”  …followed by a direct link to a skin cancer charity and another option to “hoax a friend.”

No doubt this website will be shared with thousands in the first hour and millions within days.  Hey, a screaming baby on youtube can get thousands of hits, a chance to tan via the Internet?  Oh yeah, that’s a winner.  Some genius PR professional is smirking right now with this grand idea.  Man, I wish I was them.  With the millions of hits computertan.com is about to receive, a large portion will also follow through to the charity website as well.

What does this tell us?  Internet + Economic hardship= A chance to really stand out with some creativity.

Bravo.

Social media, social media, social media!!!  It is truly everywhere but I’m finding it is especially present on…well, these mediums themselves!  I mean let’s think about this.  You get on twitter and you’re surrounded by tweets from accounts like @tweetsmarter telling you HOW to tweet,  @USAtoday addressing the current problems with their app, @thestate telling us where to watch Obama’s speech online, @philanthropy advising how to raise funds via social media.

Take another example: websites.  No one can get enough about talking about social media. Social media is dominating the top companies online with technology companies and Mark Zuckerburg and other kings and queens of social media are some of the most successful among us.

I’m sure not getting tired of hearing about social media.  Quite the opposite.  Also, it seems like social media is the one thing keeping my future in this PR field  secure.  The proactive report states that PR jobs are being saved in this competitive hiring market by social media.  Indeed.com’s social-media job postings have increased by more than 600 percent.  Not only is social media everywhere, saving and creating PR jobs but it’s also changed the duties expected in PR careers.  In fact, 59% of 100 firms have invested in assigned employees specializing in social media for customer outreach, PR, internal communications and marketing.

We have to look at journalists as “news gatherers” who are gathering stories to fill their medium.  Building mutually beneficial relationships with these gatekeepers can go a long way.  They need to feature stories and we want them to feature OUR stories.  If we know the journalists and reporters, who are now more than ever accepting stories rather than searching for them, we increase our chances for them to receive, pay attention and feature our stories.

Reaching Reporters. How to contact the right person to make sure your story goes where you want it to?  I have learned about the importance of keeping accurate and specific media lists.  The topic of the news, and therefore the person you want to send the news to, changes based on the theme of the story.  If your company is Chefs R Us and they have just hired a new CEO, you will want to contact the business editor at the company but, on the other hand, if they are hosting an event in the city, maybe the features editor and the news editor for a television program will be more appropriate.  There are great programs made specifically for PR like Cision, which takes input (such as city, type of medium and employee) you’d like to focus on to send your release to and spits back out the proper contact information.  Programs like these also allow you to specify weather you want a daily or weekly newspaper or television or radio show.  Since PR computer search programs can be pricey, a little old fashion digging will do the trick too!  Just as Bad Pitch Blog states “Spend time building the list and spend time keeping that list up to date” in his post about being lazy, a media list has to be accurate.

Follow up.  The media receives many emails daily so it is important to call afterwards to make sure they got the information and to ask if they have any questions.  This will ensure they got your email and will show the importance of this story to your organization.  A few tips on making pitch calls:

1. Assume the reporter has not seen or focused on your press release.
2. Be prepared to email them the information again.
3. Know their due dates for getting news in.  Working at a large agency, often times I would have to be aware of the date I would like the release to be featured and the actual date it needed to be in the hands of the person publishing it.  If you call after they’ve already sent their layout in, you’ve wasted yours and their time!
4. Be precise.  The reporter usually has only 1,980,847 things going on at one moment.  Before you start into your spiel, ask if they have time to listen to you and then quickly state the “who what when where and why.”
5. If this is a developing large story, offer to get together in person.  This will help build relationships, too!

Interviews.  For face-to-face interviews, there are a few precautions you should take.  First, make sure all of the facts that you have align with what the organization’s message to the public as well.  Doing your homework includes knowing these facts without hesitation!  When I helped instruct a class on dealing with the media to the SC Election Commission, we couldn’t help but reiterate the fact that the media is your friend.  Acting calm and using this time to relay information to the camera, as if you are simply having a conversation, is a successful way to get your message across!  If you find it intimidating to talk straight to the camera, I have often seen the camera used at a side angle while the interviewee talks to another representative right in front of them to further encourage a conversation-like atmosphere.

*Information based on:

Bonk, K., Tynes, E., Griggs, H. & Sparks, P. (2008). Strategic Communications for Nonprofits: A Step-by-Step Guide to Working with the Media (2^nd Ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

In 2006, “backpacking journalism” was unconventional.  Using personal cameras and computers to edit and send news was practically unheard of.  Now, tweeting, blogging, taking pictures and editing pictures yourself is being done by just about ANYONE and it is certainly a necessity to survive in the world of promotions and media relations.   What has this done to our gatekeepers since the internet has allowed for a rise in power of opinions from our neighbors, pizza man and everyone else?

The gatekeepers for our news are no longer solely the newspaper and television.   Some of the most popular news sources are mommy bloggers or highly informed individuals who post regularly on twitter or their personal.   Kris Battle writes, in his post about the impossible task of controlling the message, that this “fairly contained group” of news reporters and producers are the gatekeepers of the “old days” (meaning just a few years ago.)  He says that these people still matter, but it’s not enough anymore because people are going to talk about your organization, create waves of chatter online and buzz on blogs and twitter no matter what you do.

Companies are being forced to ride the “new media trend” wave or they’re going to be washed away.

When students or consumers can disseminate a message online with extreme magnitude,  this new social media trend means on thing: it’s getting harder to control a company’s message.

As our book mentions, this rise of internet use has many positive implications for nonprofits since online is much more inexpensive than print.  Blogs are incredibly popular quickly due to their ability to aggregate information from many sources, the first-person style of blog posts often allow bloggers to better explain an issue with a personal touch and blogs are a two-way street with options to comment.

I can’t help but think, though, about the negative impact social media could have in the future for nonprofits.  Newspapers are no longer “paper” so these outlets are starting to put more emphasis on their internet version of the news.  New York Times is even winding down their production of print and many newspapers, like our local Greenville News, now charge to have access to online articles since their profit from print is drastically declining.I’ve heard several businessmen state that they won’t pay for access to online articles when so much of the other internet material is free.    If Twitter will be the primary source of news for most people, then won’t users follow only the most important groups and overlook nonprofits?  Could Twitter, too, become available with price soon?  My point is, with the decline in paper circulation, there’s going to be a shift in how money is made for these “media-makers” and I wander if the “free” internet tools nonprofits use today will eventually be replaced by a monopoly of pricey online gadgets.

*Information based on:

Bonk, K., Tynes, E., Griggs, H. & Sparks, P. (2008). Strategic Communications for Nonprofits: A Step-by-Step Guide to Working with the Media (2nd Ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.