How to make PRSA dues fit your budget

As the president-elect of Minnesota PRSA, I talk with many public relations professionals about the benefits of being a PRSA member. There are many important reasons to be a PRSA member, from networking to job leads to learning about new technologies and more.

One topic that has come up this year is a proposed $30 dues increase by PRSA National that will be voted on at the PRSA Leadership Assembly in October. Since PRSA National has not raised its dues since 2002, I think that the time is right for an increase. That being said, here are some ways to make PRSA dues fit your budget:

1. PRSA financial hardship plan:  If you have been a member of PRSA for a total of three or more years, are unemployed and currently up for renewal of your membership, check this out. The PRSA financial hardship plan (opens Word document) provides a savings of $110, and can only be used once over a member's lifetime.
2. Associate membership:  There are several different types of PRSA membership available, but the associate membership provides significant savings. If you were a PRSSA member and graduated within the past two years, you can join PRSA National for annual dues of $60. The same price is valid if you are a full-time graduate student working toward a public relations degree.
3. Quarterly payment option:  PRSA National also offers a quarterly dues payment plan for renewing members. Here is a Word document that includes the application.
4. Lock-in rate for dues:  If the proposed dues increase passes at Leadership Assembly, PRSA National plans on offering a lock-in rate. This means that if you pay your renewal before Dec. 31, 2011, you can pay at this year's rate; your renewal date then moves back 12 months, at which time the dues would switch to the updated rate.

Many people are unaware of the flexible options that PRSA provides. Hopefully one of these will make PRSA dues fit your budget.

Meet My Keepon, this year's hot holiday toy

It's mesmerizing. Meet My Keepon, originally a $30,000 robot for autism research, and this year's holiday toy hit.

When Hideki Kozima, a Japanese expert in artificial intelligence and robotics at the School of Project Design at Miyagi University, and Dr. Marek Michalowski, a robotics expert collaborated on Keepon (its original name), the result was social media success. Above you can see a video of Keepon dancing to Spoon's "I Turn My Camera On" that has more than 2.6 million plays on YouTube.

This holiday season, Toys "R" Us has the exclusive U.S. rights to sell the robot, which stands about 10 inches tall. While the final price has not been determined yet, it will be less than $50. My Keepon hits Toys "R" Us shelves in late October, and chances are, one will soon be on your shelves at home. (Read more at Bloomberg Businessweek.)

A brief history of portrait photography

Because of my wife's photo restoration business, I am often "exposed" to very old photographs. As I looked at some old portraits recently, I noticed that everyone seemed so formal. I thought, "Did everyone just dress better back in the day?" Perhaps, but a lot of the attire worn was related to what having a portrait photograph meant.

Edward S. Curtis, 1899

According to Robert Leggat, portraits generally were reserved for the wealthy. Before portrait photography, there was portrait painting, which was even more expensive.

Getting a portrait photograph done was a big deal. A person had to dress in appropriate colors, since the process was only sensitive to blue or white. The subject had to sit still for a long time, and devices such as a metal clamp were used to keep people in place.

In the eighteenth century, portrait photography became more accessible thanks to three developments:  the invention of the daguerreotype, the use of miniature portraits and the popularity of profile pictures. The daguerreotype was relatively inexpensive. Miniature portraits also were less expensive. Profile pictures, named after Etienne de Silhouette (1709-1767), involved traces from the shadow cast by a lamp. Studios soon sprang up around the world and portraiture boomed.

Today, of course, digital cameras have essentially made film obsolete. Perhaps we could still dress up formally for portraits, though.

Communicating in the YouTube era

In today's global economy, most corporations have employees scattered in various geographic locations. As a result, video has become an increasingly popular tool for communicating with employees.

Here are some best practices for using video to communicate with employees:

1. Find the hook. Employees will decide in the first few seconds whether they will watch a video or not. Draw them in with an interesting hook.
2. Entertain. People love entertainment. A fast-paced and visually interesting video will keep employees' attention to the end.
3. Keep videos as short as possible. Use only the minimal amount of time necessary to get information across -- in general, the shorter, the better. On average, videos for employees should range from two to five minutes.
4. Synchronize with the IT department. Know what the capabilities are of your company's computer network and of employees' computers. Employees will not watch even the most exciting video if technical problems make it difficult to view.
5. Remember that video is a visual medium. Go beyond the talking head. Explore the palette of options that video provides to "show" the story.
6. Think small (in size). Most employees do not watch videos in full-screen mode on their computer. Use close-ups and ensure that the images are clear even in a small format.
7. Draw attention to the videos. If possible, place videos on the intranet home page. A video needs to be within two clicks for employees -- buried videos will not get the message across.
8. Provide alternative ways to get the content. To reach employees who do not have computers, also offer the information in text form, on a DVD, or work with their managers to communicate the information to them.

To read more about communicating with employees via video, read the full article that I wrote for the PR News Employee Communications Guidebook (opens PDF).

Successful event PR tips courtesy of U2

Photo credit:  Daniel Boud

Last Saturday, U2 brought its U2360 tour to TCF Bank Stadium and had the Twin Cities talking about the concert before, during and after the show. Here are some tactics that U2 used successfully in promoting the concert and just might work for other events:

1. Involve the fans. Fifteen minutes after the set of the opening act (Interpol) ended, U2's crew was capturing the entire stadium using a GigaPixel FanCam. Concert attendees were then able to visit U2's website a couple of days later, tag their images, and share via social media.
2. Connect with the community. Even though he has a very tight schedule, Bono took the time before the show to meet representatives of the local Somali community to talk about efforts to combat famine in East Africa. U2's show even featured Somali rapper K'naan on a cover of "Stand By Me."
3. Conduct pre-, day-of and post-event publicity. There were so many angles to the story -- "The Claw" stage, parking issues, first concert at TCF Bank Stadium, number of attendees and other concert statistics, and more. News stories about the concert started a few days before the show and continued for a few days afterward.
4. Embrace the rain. This was a big story the day of the show. What would U2 do if it rained? Well, it rained throughout most of the band's set, and they played on. The band and the crowd definitely shared a special moment by persevering through the rain.
5. Tap into emotions. At the beginning of "Beautiful Day," a video played on the concert screen featuring NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, the husband of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. The video was recorded from space, and Kelly said, "Tell my wife that I love her -- of course she already knows."

I have been constantly thinking about the concert since last Saturday. Maybe if some of these tactics are incorporated into your organization's event, attendees may feel the same impact.

An unconventional crisis response

The conventional wisdom regarding successful crisis communications involves saying sorry and moving on.

In the case of Transocean, the company that owned and ran the Deepwater Horizon, the opposite approach seems to be working.

Transocean has taken a no-holds-barred approach to the April 20, 2010, disaster, refusing to apologize and placing the blame squarely on BP.

Bloomberg Businessweek recently ran a cover story on the situation that included a hypothesis on the reasoning behind Transocean's approach. In essence, the survival of Transocean is at stake. The total liability for the accident could be $50 billion, which would sink Transocean. BP is a much bigger corporation:  it had revenue of $297 billion last year, compared to Transocean's revenue of more than $9 billion.

While the dispute will take a long time to wind its way through the legal system, it appears that Transocean already is beating BP in the court of public opinion.

Optimizing your online pressroom

Considering that journalists are overworked, your organization has a better chance of getting into a news story if a reporter is easily able to access the information that he or she needs. One of the best ways to do that is to have a well-organized online pressroom.

Here are some insights on how to make your online pressroom meet today's media needs:

1. Keep it simple. Reporters are often on deadline and need information right away. Make it easy for them to find what they need.
2. Make media contact information prominent. Often reporters just want to pick up the phone and call someone. They become frustrated when phone numbers are not readily available.
3. Ensure easy access from your company's home page. While many departments of a company compete for precious home page real estate, if reporters cannot find your media information then your organization may not make it into the story.
4. Provide RSS feeds. Rather than checking frequently to see if your company has released information, RSS feeds can give reporters your company's news as it happens.
5. Keep your online pressroom organized. Clutter and chaos have no place in an online pressroom.
6. Use the terms "media" and "press" in your online pressroom. A reporter's typical Google search to find media materials is either "media" and the company name or "press" and the company name. If you use both, reporters have a better chance of finding you.
7. Offer a search box. While your online pressroom should be intuitive and easy to navigate, offering a box in which reporters can search for specific terms can help them find information.
8. Provide more than just press releases. Online pressrooms that provide executive bios, company statistics, research, downloadable content and more give reporters story ideas as well as the information that they need.

These insights are from an article that I wrote with search engine optimization expert Chris Peterson. Here is the entire article (opens PDF).