Lauren’s Blog

A recent news story out of England at first made me upset, but after thinking logically, I saw the potential for my learned skills.

“Robin Hood’s Hideout in Trouble,” tells about how the real, live, not fairy tale, Sherwood Forest is disappearing. The forest used to encompass 100,00 acres, today it is down to the last 450 acres. In the past, the trees have been torn down for farming and logging, but now it has to stop.

This is where pr comes in. The possibility for successfully ending the destruction lies in public relations. They need to come up with a public campaign to restore the forest. There are a few things already being done, but think of the potential… its a public figure to all… Hello? Robin Hood – the one that steals from the rich and gives to the poor?

The story sells itself. All that needs to be done is to make the public aware and start fund raising. They could call the campaign “Save Robin Hood’s Hood.”

Think about it…

According to Foxnews.com, Gap is under scrutiny for one of their suppliers in India allowing for child labor. Not only were the kids not being paid for their work, they were forced to work in an unhealthy environment and were physically punished for crying or not working hard enough.

Gap spokespeople say that they had no idea that this supplier was using child labor and in response are pulling all clothing that could have possibly been made in that warehouse. They are also thoroughly investigating the situation and reinforcing their agreement against child labor.

According to pr crisis management, Gap’s reaction to the situation is appropriate, that is as long as they follow through with their promises.

I think that in response to this story, and all of the problems we are having with products produced in China, U.S. companies should do a complete organizational check in order to make sure that everyone is doing what they are supposed to be doing.

Be proactive, not reactive.

Disney’s Parks and Resorts have begun working with U.S. Depts. of State and Homeland Security on a campaign for welcoming foreign visitors to America. It is directed to bring travelers to the U.S. while maintaining U.S security. According to Odwyerpr.com article, Disney Backs Diplomacy Effort for U.S. Visitors, the multi-media campaign portrays a diverse group of Americans enjoying what our nation offers.

It is not surprising that Disney is at the forefront of this idea. They have always tried to instill a feel for diversity in their projects. The video that they created is called “Welcome Portraits of America.” Who greater could make foreigners feel welcome as well as safe other than Disney?

I say come on foreigners… No child or person for that matter should go without a vacation at Disneyworld.

Social media has proven to be a necessity in almost every aspect of public relations. Chrysler has added yet another way to incorporate it into their pr plan. Chrysler LLC in Auburn Hills, Michigan utilized social media with employee relations.

A recent United Auto Workers (UAW) strike provided Chrysler with an opportunistic approach to dealing with their unhappy employees.

According to, “Chrysler’s Social-media Site Helps to Drive Comms in Wake of Strike,” Chrysler apparently recently launched a social media Web site, Chryslerlabortalks07.com, that facilitated communication with their employees during the strike. They attribute their success to the use of the site. They were able to come to a tentative compromise just six hours after the on start of the strike. They also used the site to educate the media and the public on the status of the situation.

Social media has widely known to be used as an advertising/marketing tool in pr, but now it has proven to be useful internally within an organization.

Hopefully other companies will study the Chrysler case as a positive employee relations example and follow in their footsteps.

Finally there is some good news being said about Beijing’s progress in public relations.

“BEIJING OLYMPIC ORGANIZERS TURN PR ON CHINESE,” by Rene A. Henry speaks of China’s progress with pr.

They organized a campaign directed at Chinese citizens. The main purpose of it is to get the Chinese to be more aware of their manners in public. I find this incredibly amusing because learning about intercultural communication and general variances between cultures, I have learned that the Chinese are the most polite and respectable culture.

Even if they weren’t the most well-mannered culture, outsiders should realize that there are differences between every culture and therefore should not judge one another. 

I think that it is great that they are trying to instill good manners in their citizens, but I also think that it is wrong to expect them to become someone who they aren’t naturally.

Apparently, colleges are just now realizing how important it is to stay in touch with students. In doing so, they are now incorporating social media into recruiting prospective students, informing current students, and staying in touch with alumni.

In two different articles on college marketing consulting sites, they stress the importance of utilizing blogs and Facebook. In “How to advertise with Facebook Basic Flyers to reach your current or prospective students,” Karine Joly explains how to use Facebook to your advantage without making the students’ private lives feel threatened. In the article “Facelifts for the Facebook Generation,” Andy Guess implies that it’s about time that colleges are delving into the use of social media.

I have been in college for four years now and the power that Facebook has on our lives is depressing, but at the same time it is real and therefore everyone has learned to use it for their advantage.

Though I am graduating this year and won’t get to see first hand how colleges are affected by this new turn into social media, I am excited to see how it will begin to influence everyone’s live eventually.

 “F-H  Stokes ‘Stache Mania” has made me feel secure in my decision to pursue a career in pr.

Fleishman-Hillard has come up with a genius campaign that in the end will be raising money for children with disabilities.They began a mustache mania frenzy in the sports world.

Their unique idea of awarding mustache-wearers prizes in honor of sporting facial hair without apprehension towards what people would think has turned out extremely successful.

This kind of idea, which is unique and trendy is what makes doing pr so fun. Being able to come up with something so stupid, yet genius is incredible.

I hope that I become this kind of pr practitioner some day. I love having the challenge to come up with a creative idea. It is amazing to me that I will get to do what I love and in some cases being able to do my work for a good cause.

Richard Nicolazzo’s commentary on the latest toy recall should be viewed by Mattel as a complimentary solution to their problems. In “Tough Times in the Toy Department,” Nicolazzo discusses the obvious problems and shortcomings Mattel has inflicted upon their company.

Apparently there have been numerous recalls within Mattel surprisingly beginning in the 1990s. They have paid off unpublicized fines inflicted upon them by the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission in both 2001 and 2002.

There has obviously been a problem with their line of communication as well as their policies and procedures. The CEO Robert Eckert is incredibly at fault for not informing the public of these toxicity issues in a timely manner and for not reassuring the public that Mattel would prevent recurrence.

Nicolazzo offers some reasonable and straightforward advice to Eckert by saying, “A good way to start would be to acknowledge that there may have been shortcomings in the way the company has done business. He should assure the public that, beginning immediately, Mattel will be conducting a “top-to-bottom” review of all its manufacturing practices and will fire any manager or subcontractor that does not play by the rules.”

Even I, a naïve student of public relations could come up with this crisis management plan. I would also establish and publicize a code of ethics and quality, explaining what they have changed in order to make a safer and more dependable product. The way they are reacting right now, it seems that they are letting infants run their public relations matters…

I am in full agreement with Rene A. Henry’s thoughts presented in his article, “Beijing Olympic Committee Needs to Learn Western PR.”

There has definitely been unnecessary negative hype in the media lately concerning Beijing and the 2008 Olympic games. They are under severe scrutiny for both their environmental problems as well as their human rights policies. Although these issues exist, the media has gone overboard in presenting only the negative points.

Henry points out that Beijing does have some problems with these two issues, but the Chinese is doing its part in turning them around. The problem is that they aren’t utilizing public relations to inform the media of that.

The 2008 Olympic games should be used in order to promote China’s environmental-friendly strategies. They are building and using the most innovative environmental developments that will hopefully be seen as a precursor for what is to come for the rest of the world.

They just need to implement a proactive pr campaign presenting their side of the story. Bringing in some pr professionals from the western world would drastically help them get the word out especially considering the power of western media. Like Henry says, “Beijing’s positive story needs to be told and done so aggressively.”

In Reference to Kami Huyse’s blog on: “A Look Ahead: Developing the Skills Needed to Get a Job When You Graduate,” I have contrasting thoughts.

I completely agree with the fact that employers in the communication and journalism field are looking for those talented prospective employees with excellent writing skills as well as the knowledge of those virtual and electronic skills. We have been in school for years learning how to write and correct mistakes, so we should be expected to know how to do that. Today, most of our competing job-seekers will also have learned in school how to work with web design and the electronics involved in such projects. Those that do not know how to do these skills are reasonably at a loss, but are not doomed to not find a job.  (See related survey.)

The main point that I am getting to is that we have learned how to do these things. They are things we have acquired through school. Therefore, every competing prospective employee should have somewhat equal knowledge and ability to present these skills. Those that we do lack, we could learn quickly through guidance by the employer and practice.

Therefore, I think that the main features that distinguish us from each other are our personal differences having to do with our character. I know that these features are hard to recognize by an employer considering you meet during short interviews or meetings, but if a prospective employee shows how they can utilize their strongest characteristics in conjunction with their learned skills, they have an empowering advantage.

Our character is given to us at birth and though it grows and molds with our surroundings as we go through life, that is who we are and what we know best. This is the most reliable skill or piece of knowledge that a prospective employer can count on.