PRWeek Power 25 Nowhere to be Found on Twitter

Comments

1. David Meerman Scott

   October 20, 2008 at 3:59pm | Permalink

   Awesome post, Paul. Thanks for thinking of me. My book has been the #1 PR book in the world for over a year... It is published in 20 languages. Here's what I'm currently thinking. The PR industry is confusing what "public relations" is. According to PRSA, "Public relations helps our complex, pluralistic society to reach decisions and function more effectively by contributing to mutual understanding among groups and institutions." http://www.prsa.org/aboutUs/officialStatement.html The problem is that most (but not all) PR pros think "public relations" is just "media relations" (using the media as your mouthpiece). I say that media relations is a subset of public relations. Hopefully people will start to see that the work that people like Todd and Brian (and you) do is amazing PR because they know how to deal with publics in many different ways, not just via mainstream media. Take care, David

2. KDPaine

   October 21, 2008 at 3:04am | Permalink

   I'm stunned to find that I"m the only one on PRWeek's list that's on Twitter. How can the rest of them function? Seriously, I find Twitter a resource, an inspiration and a daily necessity. Will be interesting to see if things change next year.

3. Joe Pulizzi

   October 21, 2008 at 6:25am | Permalink

   Very interesting Paul. I would second David's point. When I speak with many "pr specialists", they focus on placement and pure media relations. So, it's not surprising that you found few on Twitter. Twitter, along with a host of other online apps, is just a part of the process if you want to be "in" the conversation. I believe conversation is a key word here. PR in the past has focused on a lot of telling and pitching (one-way). PR for tomorrow is mostly about valued communications and conversations (two-way). (PR is not my specialty, but that's what we see in the world of content marketing). As David says in his book, the rules changed along the way...some people have yet to figure that out.

4. Paul Roetzer

   October 21, 2008 at 8:25am | Permalink

   Has anyone audited, or seen reports on the public relations curriculum at universities? I'm curious how much students are learning about SEO, content marketing, blogging, social media strategy, etc. My guess is that there are some innovative professors teaching this stuff, but that for the most part, students are graduating unprepared for the reality of the PR profession.

5. Anya Woods

   October 21, 2008 at 2:55pm | Permalink

   PR being misconstrued as media relations is a major problem in traditional agency settings, but to your last point here Paul, most top PR programs are teaching their students that PR is much more, that it involves strategy, a solid combination of business skills, communication skills and a deep understanding of marketing, advertising and PR, all of which should work together. BUT. They are rarely tackling anything to do with social media. A major setback for the industry, and a difficult place to try to effect change. Neither entry level people nor senior people are taking on social media for business, so innovation in the industry is muddled somewhere in the middle.

6. Paul Roetzer

   October 22, 2008 at 11:19am | Permalink

   David, Joe and Katie, thanks for stopping in and commenting. I certainly appreciate your insight. And Anya, you're right. There definitely appears to be a disconnect, and almost a resistance within the industry to move past the perception that all we do is media relations. It may need to start at the university level to really affect change. Thanks.

7. Robert Stockham

   October 26, 2008 at 9:49am | Permalink

   PR firms that do not realize that the future is in capturing the youth, are doomed to fail. Trying to sell your dad an i-phone is great, but the 20 somethings are the ones that HAVE to have it. This generation is already plugged in and constantly logged on. Trying to play catch-up is impossible. The wave of technology is moving so fast, changing so quickly, that by the time most people are up to speed they have already missed the opportunity. I just joined twitter-in one day I see the marketing and PR possibilities are vast. Until I heard Paul speak last week, I had never heard of twitter. By the time mainstream media catches on, it will be too late-look at My Space...

8. Ashley Malone

   November 8, 2008 at 5:44pm | Permalink

   Paul, when you say "My guess is that there are some innovative professors teaching this stuff, but that for the most part, students are graduating unprepared for the reality of the PR profession. " You couldn't be more correct. In school I have barely learned anything about SEO, content marketing, blogging, social media strategy, etc. sadly, some of those things I'm not even sure at this moment what they are. I am doing my best with my outside resources, and using the internet to my advantage to try to learn about up and coming PR. It wasn't until PRSA student day this year that I actually heard someone, (not on the internet) discuss social media.

9. Stuart Foster

   November 25, 2008 at 5:42am | Permalink

   Paul, great insight once again. It is definitely a scary reality that PR people are facing if their is no mention of new media, SEO, SEM, and conversation marketing. Not one user of twitter made it into the top 25? That's just plain ridiculous...the coverage of quite a few of them ranges into the millions if you extrapolate out. Seems more irresponsible then anything...

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