Blog Comments

Comment #1.

http://cbearcook15.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/isc-connection-5-brett-favre-298th/#comment-15

Sam Cook- Brett Favre 298th

I agree with the fact that the PR department for the Vikings including the coaching staff are doing a great job by not releasing anything about Favre because it will be a distraction for a team that was suppose to be a super bowl contender, but not is not even close to .500. I believe that Favre will start for the rest of the season and will extend his streak to over 300 consecutive games.

12/8/10

Comment #2

http://prestonrichard.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/connection-the-carolina-panthers/#comment-8

Preston Jahn

I feel that it is a good thing that the Panthers are not making a large deal out of this situation. There is no reason to add more confusion to a terrible season and things would just get worse. I think it is in the best interest of the fans and the organization to wait till the off season where it is normal to make moves whether it be players or coaches. The media attention would distract the players from the game and they would focus on who their next coach would be. This does not help anyone out in the organization and is being handled very well by the PR department.

12/8/10

Comment #3

Lizzie Lith

http://lizzielith.wordpress.com/category/isc-connections/

I think anyone would choose a little bit of bad cooking over the look of that house. This is a big issue when companies are welcomed in a community, do what they need to make the most money they can and then ditch town and forget about the communities that helped them make the money that they succeeded with. I think companies should forewarn communities that they are leaving and possibly do something to make the departure have as less as impact as possible so that both parties can move on peacefully with no regrets.

12/8/10

Comment 4.

Mitch Ellis

http://mellis210.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/isc-topic-5/#comment-16

These five suggestions are very good! I wish i would have put some of those on my reflection. All these are very important to do in order to have a successful and up to date blog.

12/8/10

Comment 5

Lindsey

http://linztaggs9.wordpress.com/2010/10/07/is-there-something-wrong-with-the-chase/#comment-32

I also do not like how the chase works, but i believe that Jimmie Johnson is winning these cups because he is a dominating force and is consistently finishing races and in a decent position. I would like to see a new point system put in place so that the fan base can continue to grow for one of the most under rated sports in America.

12/8/10

Comment 6

Josh Kane

http://joshkane17.wordpress.com/2010/11/09/isc-connect-charlie-villanueva-vs-kevin-garnett/#comment-44

This situation i feel was blown way out of proportion due to all the media outlets. I think that Garnett meant what he said in his apology/ explanation. These media outlets allow things to travel nationally in the matter of seconds which can blow up any situation way out of the water. I think that rules should be in place that athletes can not use twitter or facebook about a game they played or things that happened in a game because it can bring negative attention to that player, their team and possibly whatever league they play in.

12/8/10

Comment 7

LA

http://laloschiavo.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/isnt-there-anyone-who-knows-what-christmas-is-all-about/#respond

I agree that Christmas is the most publicized holiday in the world. Companies take advantage of the holiday to show the public what items they have to sell at a “holiday” price or with an “exclusive holiday sale.” The thoughts of the PR departments of these companies are smart trying to convince people to please others during the holidays with their gifts.

12/8/10

Comment 8

Sabrina Simpson

http://sabrinasimpson.wordpress.com/2010/12/06/isc-connection-6/#comments

This is a pointless reason to bring negative attention towards yourself when there was no apparent reason for him keeping his phone on. I agree with Michael that if he had an important reason to keep it on than it would be more understandable, but since there was no apparent reason he brought negative attention to himself for no reason and was publicly criticized.

12/8/10

Comment 9

Preston Jahn

http://prestonrichard.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/connection-bieber-fever/#respond

Justin Bieber is a joke, he lip sings and has no talent. He is completely over rated. That being said, i believe that he or actually his PR group are geniuses. They market him to the easiest target, young kids, and he rocks them. People love Bieber and want to be with him or be him. I think its pathetic little girls want a guy that can sing like that for a certain amount of years then will eventually get a normal voice and lose popularity.

12/8/10

Comment 10

Brittany

http://brittanyp130.wordpress.com/2010/11/13/times-have-changed/#comment-89

I love this commercial and Lee Corso is hilarious with everything that he does. The way twitter has swept the nation, especially the world of athletes is amazing. Athletes tweet about things they did twenty minutes ago on national television..WE KNOW WHAT YOU JUST DID! we dont need you bragging about it. This also leads to bad things being said and once its posted there is no taking it back, which cause a lot of problems with athletes.

12/8/10

Derek Jeter’s Contract Negotiations

Contract negotiations ended the other day between the New York Yankees and their free agent short stop Derek Jeter. He signed a 3 year, 51 million dollar contract with a player option for the fourth year. Jeter wanted to stay a Yankee for his entire career and this contract probably solidified that. He is 36 years old and will be 40 when his contract ends. The organization dared Jeter to test the free agent market and see where it lead him. This made Jeter very angry because of the way the organization handled the situation publicly. The Yankees told the press that they told Jeter to drink some “Reality Potion.” This made Jeter very angry and made him want to test other teams.

Once the Yankees offered Jeter a contract, he could not resist to accept it. This is the city that he has won multiple championships and the city that embraced him for his entire career. The Yankees are lucky that they did not ruin their chances with Jeter due to their poor responses to the media. They came across as Jeter was a bad guy and that he was not a asset to their team. Jeter was the teams captain for the past ten or so years and is the face of the franchise. I believe that once Derek Jeter leaves the New York Yankees, their popularity will go down along with their chances of winning.

Top Five Suggestions for Future ISC Students

After completing this course and maintaining this blog I do have advice for future students on what to do and what not to do. The syllabus tells you what you need to do throughout the semester. This is very helpful in the fact that you can get ahead if you choose to. Also if you follow it and do weekly assignments the last week of the semester will be a ton easier than I made it for myself. Knowing every assignment for the year was somewhat a bad thing also. This is because it gave me a sense that I could wait to the end to do everything because it did not seem like that much. That is a false feeling, waiting until the last week or two to finish the blog that you are already behind on is not enough time. My advice is to follow the syllabus strictly and your two weeks before exams will be a lot less stressful.

My top five pieces of advice for this course and the blog posts are

1. DO NOT PROCRASTINATE!
2. Quote the book when doing reading chapters (makes it much easier)
3. When doing ISC Connections, use a topic that catches your eye, dont wait till the end to have to search the internet for PR events
4. Save your Labs in a place where you can access them at the end of the year.
5. I recommend that you do “other” posts not related to the class (although I did not) because it will help you in case you forget to do something or can not find something that is needed, it will help your grade.

Public Relations or Integrated Strategic Communications?

Our course I believe is properly named Integrated Strategic Communications. Although its a mouthful compared to Public Relations, it serves a more “complete” name and defines exactly what we are studying and what we will possibly be doing in the future. When I think of Public Relations, I think of a company or organization providing a mission statement to the public and doing community service to improve the image of the company. Now that I know what ISC is I can argue with anyone that it is the best name for our course. This is because there is so much more than what I thought there was when it comes to a organization dealing with the publics its affiliated with and the media. Hence the name ISC, there is obviously some strategy that goes into how the PR division of an organization. There is planning for events that could possibly happen years down the road such as disasters and conflicts. ISC incorporates PR within itself so naming this course Public Relations would be pointless because it does not cover the ideas that are thrown around in class and the content that we learn about. ISC incorporates everything and allows us to explore different resources to understand how organizations function within their community, worldwide, or with the publics that they are involved in.

Where Will Cliff Lee Play Next Year?

Free agent pitcher Cliff Lee led his Texas Rangers to the World Series this past season only to lose to the San Francisco Giants. Lee was traded from the Philadelphia Phillies mid season and instantly became the teams Ace pitcher. The addition of Cliff Lee gave the Rangers new life and they bursted into the playoff scene and then eventually the world series picture. The Phillies fell apart shortly after Lee was traded which begs the question is Cliff Lee that big of a difference maker to a team and an organization?

This is also the question for multiple organizations now as winter meetings are starting and teams are negotiating with free agents. Former Phillies outfielder Jayson Werth just signed a monstrous seven year 126 million dollar contract with the Washington Nationals, who are in the hunt for Cliff Lee as well. Most experts believe that Lee is most interested in the New York Yankees due to the life and fans surrounding the city, but his wife came out publicly and said she “hates New York fans.” This could possibly ruin Lee’s image in New York and not make him as liked, even though he is arguably the best pitcher in the MLB.

Many teams are fighting for position to offer Cliff Lee a enormous contract. Lee’s best friend from the Phillies’, Jayson Werth’s contract helps Cliff Lee out money wise because he can argue that he is more valuable and get more than 126 million dollars in possibly a shorter amount of time. This situation for Lee is ideal for any athlete. The possibilities are endless and he can get almost anything that he wants contract wise.

Cliff Lee’s PR team is very busy this winter trying to convince organizations that Cliff Lee is very important to them not only as a player but a person in the community, despite his wife. Lee’s presence has always been known as a positive one in the locker room and that is always desired, a superstar pitcher that everyone gets along with and is not a jerk to everyone because he thinks he is hot stuff. Cliff Lee’s value rises every day due to teams making offers and the type of person that he is. He has done nothing but positive things for organizations and the communities around them. He has set himself up publicly as the ideal pitcher for any organization.

Chapter 5 Reading Notes

Crisis management is something all PR professionals need to know about. No matter what a company does or sells, they are more than likely to have a crisis on their hands at one point. As a PR professional, one must manage it to the best of their ability. Throughout the stages of a crisis there are a few things that happen. Here they are in order. Surprise, crisis expands, events escalate, loss of control, outside remarks or scrutiny from the media, lastly is panic. Each event should be planned out before crisis’ occur in order for the company to be prepared how to handle a situation at any time that the media or public asks. The thing that must be most worried about is how the public will handle the situation incase your image is hurt. In order to protect your profits and products the organization must have a good relationship with the media and know how to handle the medias questions.

There are five possibilities to do after a crisis. This is Benoits image restoration theory.

1- Deny responsibility

2- Evade Responsibility

3- Reduce offensiveness of crisis

4-Take corrective action

5- Apologize

Chapter 20 Reading Notes

PR jobs are among the most important jobs within a company because without them the company can not communicate with the public and know what the public wants from the company and vice versa. Without PR professionals companies would be flying in the dark about thinking what the public wants and would have a high risk of providing something that the publics are not pleased with. If a person is searching for a job within PR. They should look for certain things that make them happy in the first place, but the things professionally they should do towards a company is,

-Call

-Consider what interests you and start early

-Dispatch a personal letter

-Get a name

-Prepare an elevator speech (Seitel, Page 403)

Once, or if you get hired that person should do these things to succeed and advance within the company, .

1. Diversity of Experience

2. Relationship Building

3. Performance

4. Communications Skills

5. Pro-activity and Passion

6. Teamliness

7. Intangibles (Seitel, Page 405).