In an increasingly digital world, job recruiters are turning more to social media to find potential job candidates.  In an interview with Smart Blogs, Monica Pons, head of executive recruitment for NBCUniversal, discussed how vital social media is for NBCUniversal’s recruitment.  According to Pons, NBCUniversal uses their social media to engage with possible employees and ultimately draw them to their career websites.  NBCUniversal has posted videos of what is like to work at a particular business (such as Bravo) and has even gone as far as to tweet job openings.

They don’t only utilize their own personal social media tools, though.  Pons relayed a story of finding currently hired employees solely through a search on LinkedIn.  While Pons did not comment on whether or not NBCUniversal utilizes Facebook for recruitment, she did note that recruiters are using it more as a screening tool. 

“We are witnessing the blurring of boundaries between professional and personal through social media,” Pons said.  “Potential candidates need to acknowledge this new branding of the self that social media generates and adapt their profiles to the new reality.” 

To put it simply, if you’re applying for jobs consider who is viewing your Facebook page and move those bar crawl photos to a separate folder.

For the full interview with NBCUniversal’s Monica Pons visit: http://smartblogs.com/socialmedia/2011/10/31/social-media-powered-recruitment-how-nbcuniversal-builds-its-employerbrand-online/

It’s hard to imagine a world without laptops, iPhones and iPads.  These gadgets have become as central to American culture as baseball and apple pie.  It seems everyone has an iPhone or some protype of one spurred on by the original.  The genius creative force behind these products was none other than Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

The Apple innovator passed away Wednesday, leaving behind not only a slew of products and devastated admirers, but a legacy that changed the face of media consumption across the nation.  With their laptops and iPhones on hand, people have increasingly turned to online media outlets instead of their paper counterparts for the latest news.

This change didn’t happen overnight, though.  It was a long journey, beginning in Jobs’ garage.  Him and a colleague built their first personal computer there in 1976, pricing it at $666.66.  The Apple II was launched a year later at the West Coast Computer Faire to overwhelming praise, leading to the first true Macintosh computer in 1984.  Since then, Jobs has continued to revolutionize the technological world with new, innovative products.

“Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives,” Apple said in a statement.  “The world is immeasurably better because of Steve.”

For more information about Steve Jobs: http://articles.cnn.com/2011-10-05/us/us_obit-steve-jobs_1_jobs-and-wozniak-iphone-apple-founder?_s=PM:US

Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook has partnered with Skype to enable video chatting in Facebook’s Chat platform.  Though this partnership of giants should not come as a huge surprise, it is still fun to ponder what this holds for the future of communication.  Facebook has over 750 million users and Skype is extremely popular for across the globe communicating via the Web and is even used by businesses to conduct meetings thousands of miles apart.  Is it possible that in a few short years all the social media utilized every day, from Facebook to Twitter to LinkedIn to FourSquare, could all join together into one super-site?  It certainly appears that way.  This would make life that much easier and that much more interconnected.

While it remains to be seen how well the Facebook-Skype merge works, and how much users take advantage of it, it’s sure to be a pretty popular addition to the Facebook platform.  One thing is for sure: Facebook seems to be on a quest to prove there’s nothing it cannot do.  Expect this newest merge to affect all areas that social media reaches: advertising, public relations, marketing, business, social interaction, etc.  It’s too early to tell exactly in what ways it will affect those areas, but it should make a pretty big splash.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-20077771-92/face-time-with-facebook-week-in-review/

Social media can be a great tool for brands trying to strengthen their image and grow their customer base.  Facebook pages and Twitter feeds can be effective, but innovation is what really sets one apart from the clutter. Mashable.com came out with a list of the Top 5 Smart Social PR Campaigns to Learn From that created real results for their clients.

1. Rayovac—Early February brought record-setting snowstorms across the United States, which meant that millions of Americans would not be able to go into work and would likely be spending more time online at home. Rayovac, a battery company, took advantage of the increased online audience by starting the Twitter hashtag  “#snowballs”. Rayovac_Battery began throwing virtual snowballs at its followers, encouraging them to temporarily change their profile picture to a Rayovac widget and throw #snowballs at friends and family. The campaign was very successful, as @Rayovac_Battery followers increased by 30% and #rayovac became a top ten trending topic worldwide.
2. Healthy Choice— To reach the large number of target Healthy Choice consumers engaged in social media, Healthy Choice created a progressive coupon on its facebook page. As more people “liked” the page, the discount on the coupon continued to increase, beginning at $.75 off and eventually reaching buy one get one free. In the two-week campaign, Health Choice grew its fan base from 6,800 to 60,000 and distributed more than 50,000 coupons.
3. Breeders’ Cup—To increase falling interest in horse racing, the Breeders’ Cup PR team created a twitter handle for Zenyatta, an undefeated female horse who was known for thrilling come-from-behind wins, and a Breeders’ Cup YouTube channel featuring racing footage and fan videos. @Zenyatta tweeted her thoughts, race information and exclusive updates, gathering more than 1,300 followers within one month. 1,000 YouTube users subscribed to the Breeders’ Cup channel for a total of more than one million video views.
4. BALSMAS Grand Resort Hotel—This hotel in New Hampshire wanted to move away from traditional advertising and instead have its story told through social media by a real resort guest. Through social media, the “InnBedded Resorter” campaign searched for a lucky person who would live at the 8,000 acre resort for 8 weeks and share his/her experiences through numerous social media channels. The first winner stayed at the hotel for July and August 2010 and the BALSMAS saw a 20% increase in booking that August as well as doubled website traffic.
5. KFC Scholarship—Each year, KFC gives out 75 scholarships through the Colonel’s Scholars Program, but in order to differentiate its scholarship competition from the millions of essay contests available to students, KFC decided to award the $20,000 scholarship to a Twitter user with the most convincing tweet.  The campaign generated more than 1,000 media placements and tens of millions of impressions. More than 2,800 applicants tweeted for the scholarship via the hashtag #KFCScholar. The winning tweet belonged to Amanda Russell who won for her tweet, “Hey Colonel! Your scholarship’s the secret ingredient missing from my recipe for success! Got the grades, drive, just need cash!”

http://mashable.com/2011/03/08/social-pr-campaigns/

Chicago Tribune recently wrote about the prevalence of online coupon and deal companies in Chicago, dubbing the Windy City “Couponland.” The article featured one of Paramount Public Relations’ newest clients, Bare Deal, which launched on January 1, 2011 and offers a unique and exciting approach to the popular discount model. Bare Deal offers free online deals merged with direct mail. Co-Founders Justin Shapiro and Glen Andrianov, two recent Northwestern graduates, are calling BareDeal.com “Groupon meets Netflix.” Users sign up to get deals at no upfront cost in the form of scratch cards sent directly to their mailbox. The card is scratched to “bare the deal,” offering anywhere from 40%-100% off. Check it out at BareDeal.com!

Get the scoop on “Couponland” with the full Chicago Tribune article here:

 Cheap thrills: Chicago long a hotbed for online coupons, discount deals

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-0213-couponland–20110213,0,5889029,full.story

With the ever changing media environment, it is important to have a strong understanding of the key players and trends. Prior to the PR News’ Media Relations Next Practices Forum on June 17, 2010, John Deveney, president of Deveney Communication, interviewed with PR News offering the following tips in optimizing media relations:

• Blogging:
  • Bloggers are unique, and many of do not want to be treated as “journalists.” Executing specific programs to capitalize on what bloggers have to offer can create long lasting and significant dividends.
• Press Releases:
  • Video, images and graphics allow for viral distribution and work great for social media. However, a “traditional” release can carry greater content. Use a mixture of both techniques for a stronger and more versatile outreach. 
• Citizen Journalists:
  • Consumer generated content and “citizen journalists” are continuing to expand. Watch the social implications and impact these journalists have, and how businesses can manage this expansion.
• Social Media:
  • Make sure there is quick response to challenges and opportunities that social media brings to the public relations profession. Society is ever-changing, and our profession needs to manage these changes.  

Jessica Nelson

Account Coordinator

Paramount Public Relations, Inc

345 N. Canal | Suite C202

Chicago, Illinois 60606

312-544-4190

jnelson@paramountpr.com

Don’t miss Baskin Robbins’ 4^th Annual 31 Cent Scoop Night on Wednesday, April 28^th from 5-10 PM. Grab scoops of your favorite Baskin Robbins flavors, including the new flavors of 2010, for just 31 cents a scoop at all Chicagoland Baskin Robbins! Local fire houses will be present at many locations to interact with the community, scoop ice cream and collect donations. Children can enjoy fire trucks and visiting with the firemen while parents enjoy getting treats for the whole family for just 31 cents, and donating to a good cause. On a national level, Baskin Robbins will be donating $100,000 to the National Fallen Firefighters Fund.

Make sure to be a part of this community-favorite event!

For locations, visit http://www.BaskinRobbins.com and don’t forget to become a fan on Facebook! http://www.Facebook.com/BaskinRobbins

Here is a great assessment of Toyota’s recent media crisis from industry expert Andy Gilman, president and owner of CommCore Consulting Group. Andy worked on the Tylenol crisis years back and has great industry insight and experience.

Assessing Mr. Toyoda’s Role Through the Ongoing Recall Crisis at Toyota

George Washington University in partnership with Cision recently published a study highlighting how editors/journalists use and value public relations assistance, media  databases, and other traditional and online resources for research, story ideas, and other purposes. Statistical analysis of the data (collected in November and December of 2008) showed some interesting results.  

One prominent topic in the study was editors’/journalists’ preferences when receiving information from public relations professionals. Below are some of the findings from the study on this topic.

• For identifying or developing story ideas, websites are most important to editors/journalists, followed by submissions from PR professionals.
• Submissions from PR professionals are used by more than 94% editors/journalists
• Over half of the editors/journalists responding wanted to receive unsolicited  e-mail pitches from communications professionals as simple text only.
• Being more relevant to their beat/area of interest and being less promotional struck the strongest chords with editors/journalists.
• Editors/journalists also expressed the following specific preferences when receiving correspondence from PR professionals:
  • Press release email sent to a bunch of reporters is more likely to be ignored. The offer of exclusivity, however minor, would pique anyone’s interest.
  • Follow AP style and avoid unqualified superlatives. Be concise and get to the point quickly. Be more personal; know about the publications you are pitching to.
  • Have clear subject lines, no attachments, signature with contact information and no follow up phone calls.

With few exceptions editors/journalists agreed that e-mail pitches should be more relevant to their beat/area of interest, less promotional, should state benefits for their audiences, have stronger story ideas, cover the 5 Ws in leads, be better written and have less boilerplate.

 Read more here http://us.cision.com/journalist_survey/ and happy pitching!

Meredith Hutchings

Paramount Public Relations is proud to announce our Founder and President Jessica Prah will be honored at the upcoming Maven DIVA SERIES, along with other influential and successful women in Business, PR, Media, Fashion, Fitness, Beauty, Lifestyle and more.  Please join us!

Thursday, February 4, 2010 | Jbar | 610 North Rush | 6-9pm

Join us as we honor the MEDIA MAVEN Divas! You know these women – they are at the heart of publicity and entertainment! Lights, camera, action!

di·va – [dee-vuh, -vah] noun, distinguished female singer; prima donna. Goddess, fine lady.

Small bites and cocktail specials

RSVP to sarah@maven-chicago.com

Divas aka MEDIA MAVENS:

Ladies of Today’s Chicago Woman – TCW – Cassandra Gaddo, Lauren Rafferty, Rebecca Michuda and Katie Schroeder
Kyra Kyles – Tribune RedEye columnist, reporter, and WGN-TV pop culture contributor. Blogger for the Kyles Files (RedEye)
Michelle Molise – Founder of Molise PR – www.michellemolise.com
Adrienne Eckert – President of Skirt PR
Jen Knoedl – Founder of JenChicago.com
Melissa Maynard – Editor and Chief of Factio Magazine (www.factio-magazine) and Runway to Retail www.runwaytoretail.com
Liz Crokin and Boots Girls – Sydney Park and Nichole Berry – from TheseBootsAreMadeForStalking.com and RedEye columnist
Amy Dorris-Hulth – President of Two Muses Media & Entertainment
Stephanie Krol – Owner of Stephanie Krol Public Relations (SKPR)
Tsitsiki Felix – Emmy Award Winning Solo Anchor for Telemundo Chicago
Jessica Prah – President and Founder of Paramount PR www.paramountpr.com

Lisette Calderon – CEO and PR Director of Connoisseur PR Group
Hilary Rawk – Partner / Director of Marketing for Broke Hipster
Lindsay Hays – Founder and President of Grace PR
Cindy Kurman – President of Kurman Communications, Inc.
Jen Patterson – On-Air-Personality with Comcast’s Game Time Dine, and RedEye 5 on 5 every Wednesday, Comcast SportsNet – Production/On-Air
Danielle Fornarell – Fashion Editor of Image Magazine
Katie Piccirillo – Editor of Chicago Scene
Amalie Drury – Editor of Chicago Social and Nightlife Contributor for Chicago Magazine
Marissa Conrad – Associate Editor for Chicago Social
Rachel Rabbit White – Editor of TheChiGuide.com, social media marketing for YouSwoop.com, contributor for sex-relationship publication Sexis & blogger @ www.rabbitwrite.com
Noelle Provencial, Eryn Farba and Lacey Brenly from Poor Little Rich Girls –www.poorlittlerichgirls.com
Irene Michaels – Founder of I On The Scene – www.ionthescene.com – online celebrity and social webzine
Sandria Washington – Founder of Writeous Media
Lindsay Wilbeck – Account Executive for Clear Channel Outdoor.