A casual blog consideration.
By: Carrie Ann Kandes, APR, president PRSA, Akron Chapter
OK. I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know nearly enough about blogging. In reality, I know just enough to know I don’t know enough. It’s one of those “new technologies” that hasn’t yet fully emerged in my universe. Sure, I’ve worried about how consumers or activists might use blogs to wreak havoc on my company’s brand equity. I’ve visited a blog or two that friends or family members have put together to keep their loved ones up to date. And I’ve wondered if any of my media contacts rely on blogs for information. But today, as I type this message to the Akron-Area Chapter of PRSA, I am taking my first real step into the great big world of blogging.
As the president of PRSA Akron, I have the opportunity to talk to many PR professionals in our region. And many of those I have talked to have sheepishly admitted that they, too, have had little exposure to blogs. So why haven’t more local PR people taken the blog evolution more seriously? Might I propose that the simplest definition of blog – “a Web diary” – makes it difficult to embrace as a public-relations tool? With our busy lives and sometimes limited professional resources, have we decided our companies don’t need to worry about diaries?
As I pondered that last question, I decided blogs demanded a bit more consideration. So I did a “Google” search. My search for “blog” returned nearly 2 billion results. Recognizing the sheer magnitude of this medium convinced me I could no longer omit it from my professional toolbox. Through my continued research, I discovered an interesting article from a 2004 issue of Tactics. In it, John Guiniven, Ph.D., APR, Fellow PRSA, described working with bloggers as a “new practice for many practitioners.” He called blogs “powerful alternatives to mainsteam media.”
So how will these alternatives impact those of us in Northeast Ohio?
Will we all be blogging a year from now? Will we pitch to media bloggers? Will we follow industry blogs? Will we post rebuttals to entries posted by bloggers who aren’t happy with our company’s activities, products or services? Will employees in our companies begin blogging on the company’s behalf? These are broad questions, and it will likely take years for us to fully realize their answers.
In the meantime, PRSA Akron is proud to launch its very first blog. Sponsored by Akhia Public Relations, we hope this blog becomes a place you’ll visit – and post to – regularly. We feel it’s a good way to embrace this new medium and keep you updated about chapter activities at the same time. It’s a great forum for you to feedback about your PRSA experiences, offer reviews of local vendors, exchange information with other PRSA Akron members, and more. Personally, I also think it’s a great way for us all learn a bit more about the medium that some experts like Guiniven believe will become “an integral part of media relations.” I invite you to visit often, post when you can and use this new PRSA Akron resource as a safe way to let blogs fully emerge as part of your universe.
