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We have discontinued this blog. Shawn Lea's blog on associations and public relations, The Big Picture, can be found here. For a list of public relations blogs that PRAM Central follows, visit www.pramcentral.org.

Report: Search Results Hurt Companies -- Blogs Help Them Fight Back

A white paper from MarketingSentinel suggests that corporations should borrow some techniques from bloggers to temper the impact of negative consumer-generated content on search results.

For example: put Dell Tech Support into Google and six of the first 10 results are blog posts about how bad the service sucks. If Dell PR knew what they were doing, the search results would be different.

For the full story from BL Ochman, click here.

Will earning an MBA enhance your career prospects?

The reasons to pursue an MBA. are numerous. But some are better than others. Some are downright misguided. There's no one good reason to get an MBA. -- but the more good reasons and the fewer ill-advised notions you have, the greater the likelihood attending business school makes sense for you. Will earning an MBA. enhance your career prospects? This assessment examines some of the factors that bear on the value that an MBA. affords a professional's career and why. Review each factor. Which statements apply to your situation? There's no scoring. The exercise is meant to help you assess whether you have a sound basis for attendingb-school.

Complete the assessment from The Wall Street Journal's Career Journal (scroll down to quizzes and tools). (via SHSMD's e-Connect)

The press release is dead

The press release is pretty much dead as a piece of the strategic communications arsenal. Think about it. As a society, we've gone from the era of mass production, mass merchandising and mass marketing to one where customization is king. In this environment, press releases are to PR professionals what the 30-second television commercial is becoming to the advertising industry. As far as most reporters and editors are concerned, they are overproduced, they lack differentiation, they generally aren't relevant and the vast majority just aren't worthy of coverage.

Read the full article from MarketingProfs.com (free registration required). (via SHSMD's e-Connect)

Making the Most of Your Exhibit Opportunity – 10 Do’s and 10 Don’ts in Staffing Your Exhibit Booth (and Outside Your Booth As Well)

Tradeshows and exhibits are great ways to increase company visibility and, ultimately increase sales. However, the cost of travel, shipping, time away from the office, booth rental space/supplies can be significant. It is imperative that you maximize your limited time in the booth to get the best return on investment. This article covers some of the key points to keep in mind as you staff your booth.

Stronger Sales in Just 28 Minutes

Done right, a good pitch really pays off. That's why mainstream firms are lining up to learn the art of the effective infomercial.

Companies Tap Into RSS

Real simple syndication, better known as RSS, is moving from weblogs to the Fortune 500. The technology, designed to let users subscribe to blog newsfeeds, is being co-opted by corporations to keep employees and customers informed -- alerting systems administrators when a server goes down, for instance, or sending lists of recent credit card purchases to a customer's Treo.

The simplicity appeals to companies because monitoring data takes too much time and e-mail updates clog inboxes. RSS, on the other hand, can issue customizable alerts more quickly than e-mail. "RSS will be adapted by corporations really fast," predicts Ray Valdez, an analyst at the Gartner Group. Startups are already eyeing the nascent market. Ottawa-based Serence has clients ranging from FindSavings.com, which alerts shoppers about new coupons, to a law firm that's using RSS to monitor patents. Big companies, too, are getting into the game. Computer Associates's (CA) Security Advisor RSS service provides updates on the latest viruses and worms to corporate IT departments. Real simple, indeed. (via Business 2.0)

The A.M.-P.M. Billboard

In 2002, Cincinnati's WCPO-TV was a ratings blip; now it's the No. 3 ABC affiliate in the nation. One big reason? A digital billboard on a local freeway. In a groundbreaking trial with Lamar Advertising in 2003, WCPO promoted different programming depending on the time of day. When early-evening news was plugged during the afternoon, ratings often spiked. For the full story from Business 2.0, click here.

Logo Trends 2005

Graphic Design USA has published its analysis of Logo Trends 2005, and the results are insightful. Among this past year's trends: folly stars, amalgams, cmyk, flames, wicker balls, puffies, line dots and swirlys. (via Fast Company's blog)

Butler Snow Releases Mississippi Business Legal Guide

The attorneys of Butler, Snow, O'Mara, Stevens and Cannada are pleased to announce the release of Doing Business in Mississippi: A Legal Guide.

The guide provides useful information for the formation, structure and operation of various business entities and can be a useful tool for businesses seeking to relocate or expand into Mississippi as well as established in-state businesses.

To download the Acrobat document, click here.

"...We built a brand online....We did IT!" (Dora on the Net)

Great story in Slate about the birth of the Dora the Explorer brand. There's a great case study here about using the Internet to generate the brand:

Nickelodeon also saturated its airwaves with ads for Dora, particularly during Blue's Clues, the then-cornerstone of Nick Jr., its branded programming block for tykes between 2 and 5. The ads touted an interactive online adventure: Viewers were urged to visit the Nick Jr. Web site and "help Dora make it from her online area to their televisions in time for her debut." Parents who helped their children log on discovered that the Nick Jr. site was tailored as much for adults as for children, with advice on kid-friendly travel destinations and ideas for successful play dates. The Dora adverpuzzle attracted 50,000 unique visitors per day at its peak, and the Dora premiere was the most-watched series launch ever for Nick Jr. (via JupiterResearch Analyst Weblogs)

Public More Critical of Press, But Goodwill Persists

Public attitudes toward the press, which have been on a downward track for years, have become more negative in several key areas. Growing numbers of people question the news media's patriotism and fairness. Perceptions of political bias also have risen over the past two years. For the full story from Pew Research, click here.

The FAQ - revisited

How can the humble FAQ contribute to learning, decisions and knowledge sharing? (via Corporate PR)

Junior Blogging

Okay, so the title is meant to imply that junior staff has taking up blogging as well - whether as students in public relations, those beginning their careers, or those that have targeted their blog to entry-level PR people.

Maurice Levy: How to be a great leader

CNN Financial Editor Todd Benjamin speaks to Maurice Levy -- President of Publicis, the world's fourth largest advertising company -- about what makes a great leader.

Microsoft Crashes the RSS Party

The software giant will include reader technology in the coming Longhorn operating system -- and make it available for free

Your Focus Group Is The Blogosphere

An ad company demonstrates to a wireless carrier how it can market better by reading its target audience's blogs.

PR Compensation & Job Satisfaction Survey

Ian Lipner, of YoungPRPros, has launched a compensation and job satisfaction survey for North American public relations practitioners. Survey respondents will receive the full results of the survey-free of charge. Everyone else will get an executive summary. ALL responses will be completely anonymous and individual responses will NOT be shared with anyone.

And do not let the name YoungPRPros fool you. Lipner is looking for responses from all levels of experience. As a member of YoungPRPros, I can tell you a full range of folks participate.

The more responses, the more accurate the results. So be sure to take the survey. (via WebProNews)