Tomorrow's Class

February 22 and March 1,

Dear Students,

Since I was out sick last week with that awful stomach bug, my recovery time was slow. Over the weekend, I also lost my voice, so I was unable to record the February 22 lecture as planned. However, I'm hopeful to be able to do that tonight OR just offer a lecture tomorrow that includes some of the highlights, as well as post the notes to Blackboard.  Never fear, all will be well and we'll get caught up together, I promise.

Here's what the homework was for 2/22. Read ―PR Practices‖ Case 4.4., 4.5 and 4.6. Read Friedman Chapter 11: ‗How Companies Cope.‖ Write up and submit answers to questions 1-4 at the end of Case 4.4. Be prepared to discuss questions at the end of Cases 4.5 & 4.6.  Thanks to those of you who already submitted the work by e-mail. If you haven't already e-mailed your assignment, you can wait until tomorrow evening to hand it in.

And here's the homework reading that's due tomorrow. Just a reminder that it's always best to keep up with the reading no matter what, so you don't fall behind. Read Friedman 12 & 14: ―Globalization of the Local,‖ and ―What Happens When We All Have Dog‘s Hearing?‖ Gladwell‘s ―What the Dog Saw,‖ Preface & ―The Pitchman.‖ Review Class Blog for Applicable Homework.

Since we've had a lot of reading, what I'd like to do is to use the beginning of class to talk about your teams, since we lost last week to a full class of team discussions and meetings. Then I'll do an overview, brief lecture about "The Unflat World, Tipping Points and Dogs:  Implications for PR."  And by tomorrow, I'll have sent you a PPT, reviewed all your work and sent your team information.

Whew! That's a lot, but we can do it!

Yours sincerely,
Professor Berry

The Global Village, Egypt & Social Media, NIMBY Syndrome and More

Dear Class,

Tonight, we'll open with discussion on the unrest in the Middle East- in the wake of Egypt's change in government. First, we'll look what leading communicators in PR at Ketchum are saying about "the global village." Then, we'll view a clip that takes a 'nuanced" view of the role of social media in the recent Egyptian "people's revolution" as reported by NPR news and on their blog  Then, we'll analyze Malcolm Gladwell's argument that "the revolution won't be tweeted."

We'll then move to a discussion of "Nuclear Waste, Communities & Crisis for Companies: Challenges for PR Practitioners," as we examine cases you were asked to be ready to analyze in class. In furthering our on-going conversations on how PR people can deal with crisis, we'll examine 10 popular strategies used by celebrity publicists to bring their clients back from the wake of disaster. Most specifically, the "keys to a comeback" are typically:  Winning, Apologizing and Garnering Sympathy.

Finally, we'll break into (4) small teams that will be the groups that will be devising a concrete PR program and plan of action for Home Green Home throughout this semester.

It promises to be a big night!

See you later,
Professor Berry :)

Propaganda, Peace, Flat Worlds and More

"If you can use propaganda for war, you can use it for peace," Edward Bernays. Tonight, we'll look at a a video featuring Edward Bernays, which shows how he took his Uncle Sigmund Freud's ideas in order to manipulate the public mindset related to purchasing power, among other things. In the short film, we're hear how Bernays was "the first person to take his ideas about human beings and use them to manipulate (us) into wanting things we didn't need by linking mass-produced goods to our unconscious desires." Out of this came a new idea of how to "control the masses"- a beginning of the all-consuming self that has dominated the world in terms of advertising, marketing and PR campaigns to date. Here's Bernays in his own words re: his infamous tobacco campaign.

After discussing these fascinating ideas related to manipulation, propaganda and PR, we'll move to a discussion about "Mad Men," which we held from last week's discussion, so that we'd have the full class present. Although a fictional character, we'll explore what "Don Draper" might have in common with Mr. Bernays. Then, we'll discuss "The Flat World and Employee Relations." We'll round out class with discussions of the cases in Chapter 3 on Southwest Airlines, ASA (Atlantic Southeast Airlines) and Kodak.  And of course, we HAVE to talk about SOCIAL MEDIA and Egypt and more.

Wow! Can't wait.

Yours truly,
Professor Berry