Social Media Revives the Image of Hospitals

Rebecca McNeil, Educational Content Manager for healthcaresource.com, says that social media platforms are a good way for hospitals to interact with current and prospective patients. Facebook and Twitter allow people to gain peer reviews of hospitals and interact with doctors.

Senior Living Business Interactive will host a webcast on August 16, 2012. The conference will be moderated by Bill Pemberton, Senior Vice President and Media Relations at Forte PR. The conference will address questions about the use of social media as a PR tool for senior living organizations.

Digital Vidya, a Digital Marketing training company located in India, will host its 102 Social Media Marketing Workshop in Bangalore on August 7-8. The workshop will cover topics such as how to execute a social media strategy, and how to measure ROI of social media.

Sharpie Brings Creativity to Social Media

Sharpie announced its new back-to-school campaign by inviting fans to submit artwork they created with Sharpie to the brand’s Facebook or website.  Sharpie will use the best creations in its music video, which will premiere this September.

The China International Public Relations congress opened on Thursday to discuss China’s international public relations strategy. Christophe Ginistry, the president of the International Public Relations Association believes social media is an important tool for China. It will allow China to easily engage with its targeted audience.

The public relations firm Burson-Masteller conducted a study on Twitter usage by heads of government. The study revealed that President Obama has the most watched Twitter account with over 17 million followers.

 

Social Media Builds Character

Ingenex Digital Marketing, a digital marketing and social media agency, helped bring more attention to its client OSRAM Opto Semiconductors by creating a character for consumers to interact with online. The online character, Lisa, was introduced at the LIGHTFAIR International trade show.

Chick-Fil-A faces a social media crisis after the company released a statement on Facebook in order to cover-up the issue that company president Dan Cathy admitted to donating to anti-gay charities.

HotelTravel.com, a worldwide hotel booking agency, announced that its Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ platforms now support over 10 different languages.  This will allow customers to speak in their native language and reserve hotels easier.

Social Media Skills Have Become Mandatory in the Digital Age

The ad agency Deep recently announced that it has hired two members to its PR staff. In order for the company to stay up-to-date with its clients in the digital age, Deep hired Amy Rosendahl as its public relations manager and Courtney Current as a PR intern because they are skilled in the use of social media.

The Social Media Club of Salt Lake City held an event that was focused on gaining a better understanding of the use of social technologies with public relations.  The event featured guest speakers Jennifer Gosse, co-founder of social media management service Tracky, and Sarah Evans, the creator of Twitter Chats.

PR News released a list of the finalists to be honored for their top PR initiatives.  The Platinum PR Awards will take place on Sept. 14, 2012 and will be preceded by a PR Writing for Social Media and Web Workshop.

The Socialympics will be Making its Debut This Summer in London

According to an article in the New York Times, the Olympic Games in London will be the first Social Media Olympics. Because of the increase in popularity of social media networks, there will be an “Olympic Athletes’ Hub” for fans to follow the athletes on Twitter and Facebook.

Within the next few weeks, Facebook will be launching a new advertising service called Facebook Exchange. The new service will allow advertisers to reach an even more specific audience than the current Facebook advertising services.

The Holmes Group released the agenda for the 2012 Global Public Relations Summit, which will take place in October. PR professionals who attend the summit will discuss many issues including the affects of social media on the way businesses communicate with the public.

Do You Have What it Takes to be a Hybrid PR Professional?

Gini  Dietrich, CEO of a marketing firm, summarizes the eight new roles PR professionals should take on in order to become a hybrid PR professional. The new roles were created by author Deidre Breakenridge, who believes PR professionals need to be more diverse in the digital era.

Stacey Ann, a public relations professional, is adding on to her PR firm, Celeb PR Group, which specializes in social media.  The firm will now be working with celebrity photographer Eric Scott.  Photos by Scott will be an added element offered by Celeb PR Group to help companies create a better social media presence.

McClain Concepts, an Orange County public relations firm, honored Atari for its contributions in making technology user friendly through the creation of its games.  Atari was a pioneer in the technological revolution over 40 years ago, and McClain Concepts feels Atari paved the way for other inventions such as social media.

Social Media Offers New Tools and Crises for PR

Elena Verlee, public relations professional, discusses the reasons why LinkedIn should be seen as a tool for PR.  LinkedIn has the ability, if utilized correctly, to connect a company to journalists and gain insight on a company’s audience and competitors.

According to social media crisis manager Melissa Agnes, a social media crisis can occur at any time and it does not matter if a company is active on social media.  Agnes supports this statement by explaining a social media crisis that happened to her client Reit.

Jason Falls, CEO of Social Media Explorer, believes that social media should be viewed as an online version of public relations.  He feels it is important for PR professionals to utilize it, but if they are not tech-savvy he advises they hire a social media expert.

Social Media Brings a Needed Update to the World of Public Relations

Author Dave Folkens explains the three ways social media is changing public relations. Information can now be gathered and distributed faster, relationships between companies and consumers can grow stronger, and consumers can receive targeted information quicker.

Janet Tyler, co-CEO of Airfoil, explains how the older generation of PR professionals must view social media and social networks as young children who need to be nurtured.  In order for a company’s brand to remain relevant new technology must be adopted.

With the many technologies dominating the way people interact, in person communication is dwindling. The ease and accessibility of the many new technologies allows people to forget the enjoyment of human interaction.