Deirdre Breakenridge

Valerie Simon (@valeriesimon) and I just recently announced that Wednesday, December 16, 2009 is the next #PRStudChat. We’re always excited for our Twitter chat, but this particular session carries special meaning and value. It’s the last #PRStudChat session in 2009. In honor of the tremendous amount of learning we’ve experienced, since the inception of our community, we’ve decided that the December session will be called #PRStudChat New Year Celebration: Give the Gift of Learning.

I just finished the book, Twittfaced, by Jacob Morgan and Josh Peters. I think it’s a good social media 101 handbook that provides you with a breakdown of social media tools, platforms and opportunities that are not overwhelming to the reader, but organized so that the information is straightforward and easy to read. I had the pleasure of interviewing co-author, Jacob Morgan. Jacob is a social media consultant and the Principle of Chess Media Group, a social business consultancy, focused on strategy, creativity, and results.

Here’s Part II of my blog post: Q&A from the Vocus Webinar: PR Planning Considerations for 2010. These are the last of the questions that I wasn’t able to address, due to time constraints. Once again, I wanted to share my responses on my blog:

You’ve probably heard me say this before, “One of the best parts about participating in a webinar is what comes after the presentation. It’s the Q&A portion!” Of course, there’s never enough time to answer everyone’s questions. So, I always try to answer what didn’t get a response, here on my blog. I’m answering these questions, from the Vocus Webinar: PR Planning Considerations in 2010, in a two-part blog post, with the part one below:

On November 12, 2009, I participated in the Vocus PR Planning Considerations for 2010 Webinar. I discussed the challenges of PR planning for 2010 and how to plan for the “unknown, unknowns.” When I think about the “unknown, Unknowns,” I feel that just being in public relations means always planning for the unexpected, based on our roles and responsibilities. We’re seen as the “conscience” of the company, reputation managers and damage control officers. Social media communication adds a whole new level of complexity to our planning process.

I had heard a great deal about Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee) from my peers long before I even purchased his book, Crush It. They told me that he was extremely driven, energetic and so enthusiastic that he couldn’t help his use of profanity (often apologizing that some day his children would be watching his Wine Library TV videos). The first question that came to my mind about Gary was: how does a guy from New Jersey (my home state) turn a business under $10 million dollars into a $60 million operation? Was it a combination of luck, skill and timing?

We’re nearing our 4th #PRStudChat and with each and every Twitter discussion our community grows. Valerie Simon (@valeriesimon) and I have been trying to keep the sessions dynamic, creative and exciting with interesting guests and challenges for participants. This session will not be any different. We announced the discussion as “Career Day” for the #PRStudChat participants. Our other special announcement is the introduction of Angela Hernandez (@angelahernandez), as our guest, student moderator that day. For those of you who do not know Angela, she is President of PRSSA at Central Michigan University (CMU)

It’s the week before the PRSA International Conference in San Diego, California and I’m thrilled to see that there’s excitement and discussion around this year’s conference. I’m hoping to generate more conversations with the short video that I’ve prepared. Since I recorded the video a few new developments have surfaced. For example, my panel session has expanded. Kami Huyse, APR and Principal of My PR Pro, now joins myself and Author and Chief Interrupter of crayon, Joseph Jaffe and Author and Founder of Ariel Publicity and CyberPR, Ariel Hyatt to participate in a dynamic panel session that we hope will get people thinking and speaking their minds.