Posts RSS« Don’t forget…passion drives sales | Main | 30 causes in 30 days for National Blog Posting Month »
A “stud” Twitter chat in the making
By Justin Goldsborough | October 20th, 2009
There were a lot of great tweets and best practices shared from Blog World last week, but the one that stuck out in my mind came from Arik Hanson and I think it bears repeating:
@arikhanson Consistent theme I’ve heard all week in many sessions at #bwe09: Give before u get. So true.
When you hear someone talk about giving do you think of a charity first? I know I usually do. And there was plenty of awesome charitable work that came out of Blog World. I mean, the #beatcancer tweets were filling up my “All Friends” twitter feed all day Friday.
But there are some tweeps doing great work on Twitter around causes that aren’t necessarily 501c3, but still have a significant impact on people’s lives. Valerie Simon and Deirdre Breakenridge are two of those tweeps.
If you haven’t heard about #prstudchat, make sure to tune in to this month’s event Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 11 a.m. CDT. And no, it’s not a chat about the biggest PR studs on Twitter 
(it stands for PR Student Chat). Instead, Valerie is bringing students, professionals and educators to the table to pick each others’ brains and learn from one another as well as industry thought leader Breakenridge (co-author of Putting the Public Back in Public Relations along with Brian Solis). In an industry like PR where social media is so important to forming relationships and yet is still so new and constantly evolving, this type of conversation and education is invaluable.
Case in point: In doing research for a millenials presentation to education policy decision makers a couple of months back, I was surprised to hear from college professors that while their students generally can post, friend and tweet as they eat, drink and sleep, there does seem to be a gap between understanding how to use social media and understanding how to use it in the professional world. This is a gap that sorely needs to be filled for students to succeed in one of the toughest job markets we’ve seen in years where personal brand and relationships really mean everything. #prstudchat is filling that gap.
In addition to giving a lot to the collegiate community, Valerie and Deirdre are making #prstudchat fun. They created a social media release via Pitch Engine so people can easily share the event via their social networks. And they are handing out school-specific hashtags to several students from schools across the country. The challenge is simple – the school with the most participants in the October #prstudchat will win an in-depth conversation with Deirdre via Skype, an unprecedented opportunity – opportunities like this are becoming more of a precedent thanks to Twitter — to pose questions to and interact with one of PR’s leading professionals. And Valerie’s company, BurrellesLuce, will be donating $50 to the winning students to celebrate their accomplishment.
A year ago, just having an account on Twitter was a big deal. A few months back we were all racing to follow Ashton Kutcher and CNN. But today, as will continue to be the case with social media, expectations are changing. The true power of social media is on display as people continue to ban together to be a part of causes in ways we never could before. And when it comes to starting a conversation about the future of PR and the role today’s students will play, #prstudchat gives all of us a chance to be part of the answer.
Give before you get. So true indeed. I hope you’ll give some of your time Wednesday to be part of something big.
Comments are closed.