Picture This – Cellphones are the New Photojournalists

by Heather Keroes

In the age of citizen journalism, shrinking news rooms have placed one-stop shop hats on their reporters – who don’t just report, but now blog, tweet and everything in between.  The story “Chicago Sun-Times Lays Off Full Photo Staff” caught my eye on Mashable today for the obvious reasons, but there’s more to this story.

Not surprisingly, the newspaper is planning to hire freelance photographers in lieu of full-time staffers.  But after the announcement, a Chicago-based freelance writer tweeted that the Sun-Times reporters will be using their own cellphones to capture photos for their stories.  Whether this statement is truth or humor, it didn’t seem like a far stretch to me.  Media already use photos from the public, encouraging readers or viewers to share their photos and videos.  Why not reporters?

I definitely believe there’s value in “off-the-cuff” photography from the public.  They are capable of capturing moments that a professional photographer cannot.  But when I open the paper or a magazine, and see a truly great shot taken by a photographer, I know I’d miss it if it went away.

Breaking or BREAKING News

by Heather Keroes

“Breaking:  Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured,” tweeted The Associated Press Tuesday afternoon.  But, it wasn’t really the AP.  The account was hacked, the White House was not bombed and the POTUS, certainly not injured.

You might suspect that for the brief moments the tweet was live a small panic ensued.  Whatever the case may be, any uproar was seemingly squelched thanks to syntax and good old AP style (or a lack thereof).  The hacker didn’t follow them!  As @prsarahevans and others have posted, the tweet did not match up with the formula AP strictly adheres to on Twitter, so quite a few people cried foul right away.

Sometimes it helps to read between the lines.

Would you buy shoes from a truck?

by Heather Keroes

Food trucks touting everything from Korean BBQ and tacos to the sweeter delights of cupcakes and crepes have no problem attracting my attention (unfortunately).  But what if the truck was selling something else?  I’m from New York.  I’ve had people try to sell me jeans and even furniture from the back of a truck.  However, in a world where clever packaging is king and food trucks have paved a path, other businesses can start jumping on the bandwagon (OK, I’ll stop with the poor puns now).

One entrepreneur in Missouri is launching a shoe truck business.  His concept, “Stadium Shoes” (detailed on Mashable here), is all about the sale of casual shoes such as canvas sneakers and running shoes.  He’s betting there’s a market for it … people who need shoes *ahem* on the run.

I’d love to see if there are any other brands taking on the food truck concept, especially here in Orlando.

I Can’t Hear You …

by Heather Keroes

Applebee’s, why aren’t you listening to your customers?  A few days ago, an Applebee’s server posted a photo to Reddit of a signed receipt from a customer who gave her a special “tip.”  “I give God 10%, why do you get 18” … a tip from a pastor.

It started as a lighthearted joke when the server posted the receipt to Reddit.  But as the photo gained traction, the pastor reportedly reached out to Applebee’s to demand that she be fired, and so, the storm began.

There are now more negative Facebook posts and tweets than you can count from Applebee’s customers, many demanding that the server be given her job back.  No matter your stance, it’s boggling how Applebee’s appears blissfully unaware of the situation.  In response to and in between restaurant photos of shrimp dishes and chicken wings, their social media presence is weighed down by Internet hate.

Not all is good in the neighborhood!  I’m curious to see what Applebee’s may do next, if anything.

Facebook Trumps Faces

by Heather Keroes

Are you good at remembering faces, but perhaps not so good at remembering names?  You may eventually change your tune to “I’m good at remembering Facebook posts, but not so great with faces.”

According to research recently reported in the journal Memory and Cognition, Facebook status updates are two-and-a-half times more memorable than the faces of strangers.  The experiments conducted suggested that memory of Facebook posts is enhanced due to Facebook’s “social elaboration.”  Facebook posts were also found to be more memorable than lines from books.

Read more here.  Hopefully, you’ll remember it.

Feeling Stressed? You’re Probably in Public Relations

by Heather Keroes

Sure, there are days when my piles of to-do’s form a small mountain range across my desk (who doesn’t have those days?), but I’ve never considered my career to be one of the most stress-inducing jobs around.  CareerCast recently announced its report of the Most Stressful Jobs for 2013 and public relations has made the list at number five.

PR is ranked high on the list due to the pressure of being “completely in the public eye” and “stress to make sure the word gets out in a positive way.”  It is also referred to as a “thankless job.”  Maybe I should be thankful as I’ve never had these feelings.

I’m having a difficult time considering my job to be more stressful than say, a paramedic or a police officer when lives are on the line.

So, my fellow PR practitioners, do you feel stressed all of the time?  Or do you think our jobs are misunderstood?  On the other side of the spectrum, a list of the least stressful jobs has university professor at number one.

Driving with Friends

by Heather Keroes

Three hours on the turnpike.  My end goal:  turkey.  I knew where I was going, but I still programmed my drive into Waze, a traffic navigation app, to lead me to my Thanksgiving feast in South Florida.

I talk about Waze so much amongst my friends, that I’m probably suspect of working for them.  In my opinion, it simply is the best navigation app out there.  Sure, it takes you from point A to point B, but it also calculates traffic, tells me where I can find the best gas prices and it’s free, and it’s more reliable than Apple’s Maps.  But those aren’t the only reasons why I love Waze.  It’s also social and gamified.

As with any profile, I have a little avatar on Waze.  This avatar represents when I’m happy, sad or even ninja (because “ninja” is a mood apparently).  These avatars are only available to Wazers who have unlocked them by reporting accidents or speed traps, or by simply driving.

Waze has been getting some attention lately, with buzz over this past summer about a Facebook buyout.  There hasn’t been a buyout yet, but Facebook is well integrated with the Waze system, and that’s one way that it’s social.  By connecting with Facebook, I can see where my friends (who are also on Waze) are driving and schedule a meet up with them.  It’s kind of creepy when you think about it, but it’s a popular feature.

Since the app is free of charge, I’ve been wondering how it makes money.  Recently I’ve started noticing that every nearby Dunkin Donuts is clearly marked on the map and I’m sure that’s not because the developer loves doughnuts.

So what do you think?  Is the social nature of Waze more intrusive than a check-in on Facebook or Foursquare?  Would you want your friends to see where you are on the road at all times or do you like the idea of being able to stay connected with them while on the road?

Thank You for Your Time

by Heather Keroes

“Thank you for participating in our recent digital market research surveys.”  To the best of my recollection, I had done no such thing.  And yet, there I was, reading the first line of an email from OUC that said I had done so.

I read on …

“… we invite you to take part in a one-on-one market research session.  The sessions will be at Reliable Plaza … on Wednesday, October 17 …”

I received this email at 2:05 p.m., Tuesday, October 16.  Not much advance notice if you want me to show up the next day for an hour and a half-long research session.  But wait, there’s more.

“If you are interested in participating, please click on the link below and complete the online survey.  Once you have completed the online survey and are determined to be eligible, we will contact you.  There is no need to call in.”

So, my invitation wasn’t really an invitation.  I still needed to be vetted the day before the sessions began.

I understand the value of research and how it needs to be the driving force for communication strategies.  And yes, sometimes there is an immediate need for data.  However, this email, which may not have been read right away, hardly seemed the urgent sort.  And at the very least, you should know who you are targeting.  Don’t say that someone has participated in a recent survey if they haven’t (or at least remind us which survey we filled out, if we have!).

One Small Step for a Man, One Giant Leap for Red Bull?

by Heather Keroes

It seemed that nearly all of my friends on Facebook and Twitter this past weekend were newly initiated free fall fans.  For the past eight months, Red Bull has been teasing us with CGI models and test runs of “Red Bull Stratos” – a mission to the “edge of space” –where athlete Felix Baumgartner would attempt a record-setting atmospheric free fall jump.

Years of planning and months of YouTube videos ended with success on Sunday, when Baumgartner jumped from a space perch approximately 120,000 feet above the earth.  I can’t even begin to speculate what a project of this magnitude cost Red Bull, but it sure was a home run online.  Red Bull has a strategy of sponsoring extreme sports, but this was an undertaking unlike any other.  Red Bull Stratos trended on Twitter and the record jump captured national and local news.

And while this all seems very impressive, and admittedly, I tuned in for the live feed of the jump (the marketing folks at Red Bull are clearly genius), I can’t help but feel like I’ve stumbled into the movie “Idiocracy.”  Not to say that the jump didn’t employ great scientific minds (it definitely did), but I find it odd to have an accomplishment of this nature sponsored by an energy drink.  With recent cuts at NASA, scientific discoveries and profit may be more directly linked than ever before.  I guess I should get used to this.  After all, it’s only so long until Red Bull sponsors the next mission to Mars.

IAmA President

by Heather Keroes

 

 

Last month, my colleague Vianka McConville wrote about Reddit as a potential public relations tool.  For the most part, I would agree that PR professionals are still testing the waters with Reddit, but President Barack Obama’s team recently decided to do more than just wade in the waters.  On Wednesday afternoon, Reddit repeatedly crashed due to overwhelming site traffic as President Obama sat in front of a laptop for an Ask Me Anything (AMA) chat.

For those not in the know, AMA is part of the “IAmA” subreddit.  “IAmA” stands for “I am a,” as in “I am a dog trainer” or “I am an ice road trucker.”  For a more thorough explanation of Reddit lingo, go here.

For 30 minutes, President Obama answered questions from Redditors … questions ranging from tough times for recent college graduates to the recipe for the White House’s beer.  He fielded questions as well as one could on Reddit with its seemingly never-ending streams of threads within threads, with only 30 minutes and some periods of lag time.  He even used a bit of meme humor calling the experience “not bad.”  The same day, a page appeared on his website just to lure in Redditors.

President Obama is not the first person to successfully use Reddit to connect with target publics.  A number of celebrities have taken part in AMAs.  But, it’s not a tactic I would recommend without understanding the Reddit community.  Woody Harrelson learned this the hard way when he used AMA only to answer questions about his movie, Rampart, treating the chat like any other interview to promote a movie.  When Redditors asked him questions that weren’t about Rampart, he’d say “Let’s focus on the film people” and “I consider my time valuable.”  He lost a number of fans that day.  So what’s the next big AMA for Reddit?  I’ve seen a few requests for Mitt Romney (and Ron Paul) since President Obama’s chat.  Perhaps a day may come when using Reddit to connect with publics will not be so uncommon.