2300 Assignment #1 Postitioning 'You'

JCOM 2300 – Fall Semester 07

Assignment #1:

Positioning ‘You’ (30 Pts.)

Goals of Assignment;

Primary: To introduce the Positioning Framework tool and begin using the student’s existing knowledge to build and use effective PR messages.

Secondary: To help the student better refine their own career goals and personal positioning for future (or existing) employers.

Format: This assignment has 5 sections, all of which need to be completed for full credit. I will be looking for 3 specific documents compiled into a portfolio blog;

1. a written paper covering Section 1 & 2, posted to your blog,

2. a completed positioning framework, and

3. a single PowerPoint slide (or 81/2X10 equivalent) posted on your blog with your talking points.

The 5 sections are listed below.

SECTION 1: Identify the problem or situation. Apply research to support the problem or situation. Frame your assignment as either; 1) Problem (ie no job prospects, not sure what you want to do, PR jobs very thin, etc.) OR 2) Situation such as you KNOW the job OR industry you want but you need to be prepared and focused so you can gain a position in a particular company or industry. If the later, please tell me why you have chosen this field, industry or company. In both situations make sure you include #1 Who is your target audience? #2 What industry, geography, position, pay scale, etc. are you targeting? #3 What do you hope to achieve? Be honest and realistic. If plans are to go to graduate or law school – please tell me why.

Expectations: 2-3 paragraphs with supporting data and sources posted to your blog.

Examples; “The current job market is very tight according to XYZ Association (Data source). New hiring in the PR field is down X% from last year and a further XX% lower since 2001.” “ABC Company is hiring 10 new associates and I am one of 50 interviewing.” “The non-profit sector is responsible for saving X # or rain forests every year and is hiring at a rate of XX%.” “Regular pay scale for entry-level PR Associate at an agency is $XXX.XX per year. (Source PR.com)” and/or; “According to PR.com, the growth for new PR hires will be in the biotech industry – with growth rates of XX% over the next 3 years.”

SECTION 2: State and support your goals. List an OUTPUT goal (ie how much work you will produce) and 2-3 IMPACT goals (Results from your work).

Expectations: 1-3 objectives. OUTPUT Examples; “I will conduct research on 10 companies in the non-profit industry by the end of the semester.”, “I will contact 25 people in the XXX industry by May 2005.” IMPACT Examples; “I will have a network of 35 employment contacts in the non-profit PR industry by the end of the semester.” “10 out of 50 hi-tech employers contacted for interviews will agree to the interview.” “50% of first interviews with agencies will turn into second interviews.” “I will have my first job offer from MTV by December 2004.”

SECTION 3: Complete the Positioning Framework. Make sure you use only real data, credentials, and facts to support. Expectations: Fill-out the framework completely – be as succinct and accurate as possible.

SECTION 4: Create your talking point slide and post it to your blog. This requires accuracy and clarity. On a single Powerpoint slide, list your 3 key talking points. These talking points will become your ‘elevator pitch’ (ie if you are in an elevator with a potential employer and have 4 floors to tell him/her why they should hire you – what would you tell them?).

SECTION 5: Apply the research and talking points to a personal blog. Build your own blog through wordpress.com or blogger.com or any other host site. The blog needs to incorporate your talking points and be directed at the job or industry you are interested in. Consider color scheme, images, and wording. The blog should represent the research you have done and describe who you are.

NOTE: I strongly suggest starting early as this assignment will require you to make multiple edits and refinements. By the end of the assignment, you should be able to tell anyone, in less than 15 seconds, who you are as it relates to your job search. Long, lengthy, superlative language will not be easy to say or understand, therefore you MUST be succinct, believable, and each statement needs to be defendable.

Find the positioning frame work document here.

Examples of positioning assignment here.

Lecture 1

Introduction to social networking and creating a blog.

Personal vs Professional

Social Networking vs. Professional Networking
New York Times article
Scholars do suggest, though, that the photographs people post on the sites are about more than showing what individuals look like. Rather, members carefully choose photos to display aspects of their personalities.
Keith N. Hampton, an assistant professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, said the notion of impressing “everyone out there” is the fundamental problem of networking sites. They are designed so that millions see the same image of a member.
For online impression management to be effective, Mr. Hampton said, the sites should be redesigned to allow people to reveal different aspects of their identity to different users. You should be able to present one face to your boss, and another to your poker buddies. “We have very real reasons for wanting to segment our social network,” he said.
But what of that breed of users who, despite all the warnings, could care less who sees what? They continue to post salacious photographs of themselves. They reveal deeply personal information. They inspire parental tsk-ing. They open themselves up to identity theft, hurt feelings and job loss.
And that may be the point.
“Today, posting revealing or culpable material online arguably has become another forum for signaling imperviousness to danger and repercussions,” Ms. Donath wrote in a paper published in October in The Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. “They may be indicating that their future is so secure that no social network site indiscretion would jeopardize it, or they may be showing their alienation from the sort of future where discretion is needed. For such users, the risk itself is the benefit.”

Promoting your blog using social networking.

A social networking site is an online place where a user can create a profile and build a personal network that connects him or her to other users. In the past five years, such sites have rocketed from a niche activity into a phenomenon that engages tens of millions of internet users. More than half (55%) of all online American youths ages 12-17 use online social networking sites, according to a new national survey of teenagers conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. The survey also finds that older teens, particularly girls, are more likely to use these sites. For girls, social networking sites are primarily places to reinforce pre-existing friendships; for boys, the networks also provide opportunities for flirting and making new friends.


Promoting your blog using social networking.Published by Bakkouz November 26th, 2007 in Internet
What is a social / bookmark network?It’s an online community where you can share your stories or bookmarks with others. Take digg for example. You submit your blog story to the network, allowing other members to vote and comment on it. More popular stories that receive a certain number of votes get promoted to the front page. Most social networks are different. Some even allow you to export a large number of bookmarks straight from your browser. Sometimes you come up with a great blog story. You know it will drive you a lot of traffic but you have a problem. not many people know about your great blog post. In order to get maximum attention you need to spread the word around. This is where the social / bookmark networks come in handy.
Why social networks?· Social networks get a lot of traffic due to their nature. Users often return to read the latest stories and share their own.· Readers are usually only one click away from your blog. A popular submission can bring you thousands of daily visitors.· Most social networks are free and take seconds to register and submit your first entry.· There is a remarkable number of other websites that use feeds from various social networks. A good story can spread across the networks like wild fire.· If your story will not get to the front page you can always submit another one. In most cases there is no limit on the amount of stories you can submit.· Most social networks are search engine friendly. Not only your story will be picked up by major search engines in no time, in most cases you will also get a reciprocal link. Some social networks have very good google page rank (PR)
Tips and tricks:· An interesting, catchy story is often a must. Your main target is to get promoted to the front page by getting enough votes. You need to convince other readers to vote for your story. Strange, shocking and controversial stories often do well.· You can always ask your friends to join and vote for you in order to get more votes. Don’t create fake accounts because you will simply get banned.· The more stories you submit the better. If you want a steady flow of traffic you will need a steady flow of submissions, However you need to keep in mind the quality of the stories you submit, low quality stories will most probably get you nowhere.. Also make sure to include a link to your website in your profile, people tend to often seek out the information on other users.. Try to interact with the community of the social network you are using, voting and commenting on other people’s stories will build up your rep within the community.
There are a lot of various social networks around you can use, most notably: del.icio.us, Digg, Fark, Reddit and StumbleUpon.
Just enjoy your experience. its certainly more interesting compared to other methods of blog promotion, such as link development, but remember that a sudden surge in traffic to your blog isn’t always a good thing, so make sure that your blog is prepared for it

Upcoming Blog and Social Networking Lecture January 14 12:30 p.m.

UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR SAYS SOCIAL NETWORKS SHAPED BY WRITING TECHNOLOGIES
LOGAN — We AIM. We blog. We MMS. We VOIP. We P2P. Or, perhaps, you don’t? Whether you do or not, those who are interested in you do.“These revolutionary new technologies are shaping the ways people create social networks,” said Mark Zachry, assistant professor of rhetoric and professional communication in the department of English at Utah State University. “They are the most recent dramatic turn in an ongoing story that has been unfolding for decades.” Zachry will address the proliferation of digital technologies and their social implications at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14, in the Utah State Haight Alumni Center. The presentation, part of the Department of English Speakers Series, is free. A light lunch will be served and everyone is invited.Focusing specifically on what writing is and what it does when mediated by these new technologies, Zachry will offer some suggestions about what writing is likely to become in the near future.Zachry is co-editor of “Technical Communication Quarterly” and a forthcoming book, “The Cultural Turn: Perspectives on Communicative Practices in the Workplace and Professions.” He has published several articles on the history of computers and writing since becoming a member of the faculty at Utah State in 1998.The Utah State Department of English Speakers Series was established to promote the value of arts and humanities in American public life. The series features faculty writing and research accomplishments, and noted visiting authors sharing their work. For more information call (435) 797-3858.January 6, 2004Contact: Marina Hall (435) 797-3858Writer: Mark Zachry (435) 797-2606