On Friday night I went to see my very first movie by myself, which didn’t actually happen but thats another story…

I went to the Angelika Film Center & Café in SOHO, and saw “The Wackness” by Jonathan Levine.

I must report that I loved it! With as many movies as I have seen, this instantly reaches my top 5 “all time.” It was really good! I walked away with the most satisfied plethora of feelings in both the drama and comedy genres.

Josh Peck, was awesome! And for those that don’t know who Peck is, I’ll save you the thought strain. Because, I spent the whole movie and some time afterwards trying to pinpoint where exactly I knew him from… He is/was the larger character from the popular prime time Nickelodeon show Drake and Josh. However he isn’t so large anymore, well at least not in the way he was before and he is a hottie now!

And although he was out of his typical comfort zone with this role, he did a damn good job and I look forward to other follow up roles.

This is a post by Robert French on PRopenmic…

Ya’ know, there’s another Auburn alum at Converseon, too. The wonderful Christi Eubanks began working with Converseon last year, actually. ) And, let’s not forget a shout out to the great Constantin Basturea, too! ) Hey, Constantin! Thanks for taking care of the students/alums and helping the grow and learn.]

According to Why The Web Still Isn’t Right For Politicians, By Jim Meskauskas. He talks about the prose of the new wave, social media, as it occurs in politics, yet with a touch of skepticism, which might help those interested in social media have an insider opinion of what others don’t find hard to believe.

Also, the article can really help answer questions one might need to know later if entering the world of social media and politics. For example. . .

Here are is a great example from the article of what to say to a potential boss later, on behalf of digital social media. . .

If the boss asks “what is it good for?”

Respond with. . . “fundraising, because is it relies on the web’s best strength — its function as a direct response tool.”

For more of these click on the link to the article, it’s very interesting to see what the author has to say.

I live across the street from a very large fraternity house, one which the wee hour of 7:30 a.m. is most likely a foreign time to its members, usually!

However, this Saturday, that was not the case.

Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. I was woken up by the blaring of loud music. An entire fraternity, one which I’m almost certain the memebers are seldom known to be present at 8 a.m. classes, was blaring music; and, the apartment next to mine for a party 40 yards away.

So what I want to know is if any of the attendants at the party ever apply this much enthusiasm in attending their 8 a.m. or even 9 a.m. classes? And as for image management is concerned, I wonder . . . can you get bad PR by association?

I really hope none of the party’s attendants are absent in their Monday morning classes, it might advertise the fraternity in a hypocritical light in the eyes’ of their class mates and professors.

Finally on a closing note, the loud music, which started at 7:30 a.m., was literally ‘rained out’ with a torrential downpour by 8:35 a.m.!

There just might be a God after all!

While watching CNN news this weekend I took a special interest in an audience addressed political question. The anchors directed specific questions to the audience concerning the democratic presidential debate, and directly asked them to respond by email.

Within 30 minutes an anchor returned with a segment addressing a selection of the email responses and announcing a tubulated result in percentages.

For me this instantly triggered a PR correlation; one which focuses on the underlying goals of the traditional focus group, and pertain to the PR practitioner in media relations.

My correlation suggests that these type of audience addressed questions by the media, would be great substitues for traditional focus group studies which suffer from limited funding,time restraints, and are subject to demographic biases. This type of two way communication offers instant feedback from a variety of publics; it is like an interactional blog for the masses, but without as many limitations.

So next time you need instant feedback for public opinion, try practicing good media relations and calling in a favor at your local area news station; ask them to ask the question for you.

Actually it wasn’t today, it was yesterday and it wasn’t just once, the first time was Sunday night a few weekends ago( March 2, 2008).

Let me explain.

The first weekend in March this year there was a pretty big fashion show in Atlanta, Ga., which I attended in support of and to videotape a friend of mine who was one of the models in the show. This was not her first show by any means, nor mine to attend either.

While I was taping the show, and having my shots blocked by person after person, I began to realize just how many people were at the event. Then it happened, it clicked!

I realized that if there were this many people at the show then imagine how many people that were not on “The List” that would want to purchase the clothing items online and in a variety of cities. If only they were able to see the show- live -while it was happening but online, thus I finally got the appeal to social media for online shoppers, of the podcast!

This weekend March 8, 2008, I was mad and frustrated at my computer for freeezing up while I had so much work to do, so at the last minute I decided to meet some friends for dinner at a local restaurant.

It just so happened that the rapper “Chingy” was supposed to be appearing at the same restaurant for dinner with his entourage before going to the show he was performing that night.

It was just my luck that I didn’t have my video camera with me to catch on film what occured that night. Under normal circumstances, I always have my camera with me everywhere I go. That night, however, it was still hooked up and frozen to my computer at home and was in fact the source of my frustration to begin with. How ironic!

When Chingy and his entourage finally arrived, it was pretty bad!

First, his reservation was for 8:00 p.m. because his performance was scheduled to begin at 10:30 p.m. at a nearby venue, which he must not of been too concerned with because he didn’t arrive at the restaurant untill well after 11 p.m.

Then there was mention of some appearance deal he had made with a bar downtown for a pretty penny or two, which was rumored to have been scheduled for after dinner and before the show. Once again, he didn’t seem to be too concerned or in any hurry to be on time to any event that night because he finally left the restaurant after midnight.

I felt sorry for the people waiting on him at the performance and the nightclub since he obviously wasn’t concerned with his tardiness to either of those events. However, I believe the restaurant staff had the worst experience of the evening. They busted their butts to stay open after hours and keep the kitchen running until midnight when it normally shuts down at 11:00 pm. On top of that, the reservation was scheduled for 8:00 pm and for 12 people, but there ended up being well over 20 people who arrived and they were over two and a half hours late; when the bill came Chingy left a $17 tip.

Therefore, my reflection on this incident from a PR standpoint, is if I ever get into image management, I’m specifically writting a clause in the contract that delegates all gratuity and complimentary tipping activies as my job and must first go through me, otherwise the contract will be null and void.

At an Edelman conference on digital media, this weekend, there were lots of new social media PR terms introduced. One in particular which I found to be particularly interesting was a microsite, and here it is according to Mike. . .

“Questions of honor are raised as much by appearances as by reality in politics. . . and because they incite public distrust they need to be addressed no less directly than we would address evidence of expressly illegal corruption.” Said John McCain in response to recent accusations of an ‘implied’ sex scandal by The New York Times.

To the PR practitioner, or any sports enthusast, it is a widely accepted strategy that in light of an obstacle the best offense is a good defense. And that is exactly what McCain has on his campaign team.

As a PR practitioner in training, my professors have been singing the praises of the 1982 Johnson & Johnson crisis which, has been the instruction manual for almost every successful crisis managemnet case since then. And as far as politics goes this might be the new political crisis management intstruction guide (well at least for now).

Kudos to McCain’s campaign advisors and PR people, I’m now a believer!

The capital of Montana is not Hannah . . . The capital of Montana is not Hannah. . .
-The Simpsons

“If only these walls could talk. . . everone would come and pay to see my amazing talking walls. . . ”
-Homer Simpson