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The #PRStudChat Community Discusses Online Newsrooms on April 18th

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We’re gearing up for another dynamic #PRStudchat Twitter chat session on April 18th at 8:30 p.m. ET. Our topic of discussion is the online newsroom, which is used as a centralized headquarters for an organization’s communications content. From news stories, photos and videos to contacts, media kits and investor relations, newsrooms offer information for the public that’s available 24×7 (reaching broader audiences beyond journalists).

We have two special guests joining us the night of the 18th. Steve Momorella (@momorella), owner and founder of TEKGROUP and Sally Falkow (@sallyfalkow), President of PRESSfeed. Our experts will share their insights on how to position your online newsroom as a go-to resource, ensure you have the essential elements journalists expect and the social media features necessary for easy sharing and inform our community about the types of content to help increase exposure and brand awareness.

Here’s a little more on our experts:

Steve Momorella

Steve Momorella, owner and founder, TEKGROUP International, has more than 17 years of direct Internet experience ranging from programming to high-level design and consulting for numerous large corporations including IBM, AOL and Ford Motor Company.  Currently, Steve is responsible for the sales and marketing of TEKGROUP’s Online Newsroom Solution, used by well-known brands including Toyota, Starbucks, Prudential, Walgreens, Sprint, and many of the Fortune 500 companies.  Steve is co-authoring his first book, The Incredible Online Newsroom, to be published in the spring of 2012.

Sally Falkow:

Sally Falkow is the president of PRESSfeed.  Sally has been involved in the use of technology for corporate communications since 1995. She has been evangelizing the use of blogs, optimized press releases and online news rooms with news feeds (RSS) since 2003. In her work with optimized press releases and blogs, Sally found that there was a need for an easy to use, affordable online newsroom that would allow marketing and PR people to add news and other branded content to their websites.

If you want to share some of your online newsroom tips and/or if you have questions for our experts, please feel free to comment on this post, or to start a discussion in our LinkedIn Discussion Group.  We’re looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the online newsroom and how you’re using the newsroom as a resource to increase brand exposure. Please join us for a fast-paced discussion filled with helpful tips, techniques and best practices to get your online newsroom up to date and providing value for your organization.  Hope to “see” you on the 18th.

A Little More About PRStudChat:

It began with a simple question asked by Angela Hernandez, then President of PRSSA at Central Michigan University (CMU). “Is PR Right for me?” A follow up blog post by PR 2.0 expert Deirdre Breakenridge inspired a series of direct messages on Twitter between Breakenridge and fellow PR industry pro, Valerie Simon. This was an important question and one that should be explored beyond one student or one blog post. Why not build a community to help students across the country, and even the globe, learn from the experience and perspective of industry professionals… A community where everyone can learn and grow together. Read more

Socializing the Newsroom

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I was recently invited to participate in Online Newsroom Summit in September.  A great deal has changed over the years with respect to developing or “socializing” your newsroom.  Because companies are looking to accommodate social audiences, the newsroom is an area that has experienced a makeover.

When I first started working with companies to create their online newsrooms (although at the time we were calling them online pressrooms), these areas offered an excellent way to build relationships with journalists.  Newsrooms provided information and resources for their stories, making the company information gathering process extremely turnkey.  The idea was to have materials available, at any time, and, if necessary, without the assistance of a PR representative. Journalists would gather the resources they needed, when they needed it, having access to company’s information portal 24/7.

Today, as a result of social media, the newsroom has become an area for all of the company’s stakeholders, not just the media.  Bloggers, customers, prospects and partners searching for information, find an updated newsroom to be very useful.  As a matter of fact, many companies are renaming their newsrooms, opting for a “Media Center” or “News Center” as a repository for different groups to find all types of media.

It’s interesting to review how the newsroom has changed.  Back in early 2000, the best newsrooms included the following:

  • Company backgrounder
  • Facts sheet or company snapshot
  • Bios of executive or key team players
  • High resolution photos and logos
  • Executive presentations
  • Corporate videos and videos from company events
  • News releases (archived)
  • Links to past publicity
  • Links to helpful resources and industry partners

Ten plus years later, not only do we have the information listed above, but we also see a drastic change to the newsroom’s content and functionality, with the addition of the following new social features:

  • Blog communities with company executives or SMEs
  • Speaker and / or interview requests
  • Social media releases (SMRs)
  • Multimedia galleries
  • Podcasts for download
  • Optimization of content by tagging images and text for search engine relevancy
  • The ability to share newsroom content in a number of different social media communities
  • Icons to find, “Like” and/or follow the company in various social network communities
  • Tag clouds to see the most frequently tagged newsroom topics
  • Twitter feeds for products / services, and company conversations

Although all stakeholders find and use a company’s newsroom, we still organize information to suit the needs of journalists. It’s important to note that according the Bulldog / TekGroup International 2010 Online Journalist Survey on Media Relations Practices, “97% of journalists indicated that they use such sites in their work.”  The survey also revealed that nearly 45% of participants visit newsrooms more than once a week, with approximately 84% reporting that they visit at least once a month.

Here’s a list of a few really good examples of socialized newsrooms for you to review and consider, as you develop your own newsroom, media or news center for your website:

Starbucks

Ford

CIGNA

Microsoft

PRSA

Cisco

BASF

What are some of the best examples of socialized newsrooms that you’ve found? How are you changing the features and functionality of your company’s newsroom?

A PR 2.0 Interview Updated

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I’ve written a couple of posts recently that focus on the importance of technology and how it’s critical for PR people to explore and get up to speed with the latest applications and resources not only for their own agencies but also for their clients. That’s why I thought it would be a good idea to do an update on the new developments at TEKgroup International.

In 2007, I interviewed Ibrey Woodall, Director of Marketing of TEKgroup for my book PR 2.0 New Media, New Tools, New Audiences.  TEKgroup is recognized as an award winning Internet software and solutions company, creating online newsrooms for the public relations industry.  I was extremely impressed with Ibrey’s knowledge and expertise and quickly learned through the interview that TEKgroup’s product was a valuable asset for companies who needed a turnkey newsroom solution to attract journalists and equip them with the information they need to be more productive.

I first learned about TEKgroup when I came across its annual Online Newsroom Survey that reveals the opinions and preferences of journalists who are looking for specific functionality and information in a company’s newsroom.  TEKgroup’s 2009 Online Newsroom Survey revealed that the top five functions to have in an online newsroom are:

1. Ability to post elements 24 hours a day, from any location – no HTML code

2. Ability to distribute targeted e-mail alerts and story pitches

3. Ability to identify a journalist and report on what elements he/she accessed

4. Ability to add/delete sections and organize news by subject

5. Ability to optimize individual news releases for search engine access

An organization’s newsroom is one of the best ways to connect with journalists.  With the right tools you’re helping them to gather more information in one central location and be efficient in their jobs.  And, today, your newsroom is not just for reporters and editors of mainstream media. It’s a critical touch point to your brand for everyone (bloggers, customers, prospects, partners, etc).  In my blog post, PR Lessons in Life, I discussed how important it is to make a good first impression.  A well equipped newsroom is one way to for a brand to make a good impression, even before a journalist speaks to a PR contact or a member of the company.

During a recent conversation with Ibrey, I learned that since our interview, TEKgroup advanced its capabilities to offer an interactive social media package.  Building PR 2.0 sharing capabilities into a newsroom enables your news to be viral in the social media landscape. Newsrooms should include features and functionality that allow information to be passed along through social networks including Twitter, Facebook, Newsvine, Reddit and StumbleUpon.  Newsroom visitors are also able to bookmark releases in Digg and Delicious communities.

I definitely agree with TEKgroup’s approach.  By having a newsroom that’s organized, with the right assets, one that’s easy to navigate and provides social media capabilities, the functionality will suit the needs of journalists who don’t have the time to search for resources, and for consumers and other groups who want to gather, organize and then share the information in their social networks.  This is truly a fantastic way to supply information that the brand needs to communicate and simultaneously build a relationship with people by assisting them to find what they need too.  Through this type of solution, the brand becomes a valuable resource (now, that’s a good first impression) and it can then track the success of the PR 2.0 newsroom through the conversations and behavior of its newsroom users.

Are you enhancing your newsrooms with PR 2.0 capabilities?  Please feel free to share some of your favorite newsrooms and why they are successful.