The F.A.A. isn’t letting American Airlines hold true to its mission statement

“Your safety, comfort and convenience are our most important concerns.” That is part of American Airlines’ mission statement. I don’t know how convenient it was for the hundreds of thousands of travelers to find out their flights had been canceled.

American Airlines canceled over 3,300 flights last week after the Federal Aviation Administration found that wiring bundles had been improperly wrapped and attached. It was a good move to go ahead and fix the 300 MD-80 jetliners to commit to customer safety but comfort and convenience are hard to come by at his point in the dilemma.

So how well did they handle this situation? They apologized and have constantly been working to cater to all the passengers who’ve been affected by the issue. In fact, American has spent tens of millions of dollars just to pay for refunds and hotel expenses. They’ve done just about all they can do.

It isn’t fair that American is getting all the blame for the maintenance problems when it is F.A.A.’s fault for bending the rules and slacking on inspections. F.A.A. should cover the expenses that American has had to pay. Also, companies need to get a hold of these so-called “whistle-blowers” who revealed the news about the F.A.A because they stick to good ethics in business situations.

Gotham: A new approach to persuasion

Something so seemingly insignificant as typography can be used as a method of persuasion. At least it can, as said by an article in the New York Times, “To the Letter Born.”

Obama uses the font Gotham in his advertising and promotion which shows he knows what he’s doing when it comes to design schemes. According to branding expert Brian Collins, “[Gotham] has a blunt, geometric simplicity, which usually makes words feel cold and analytical, but it also feels warm. It’s substantial yet friendly. Up-to-date yet familiar.”

It is crazy to me that font on a poster can strike emotions that lend to the way you feel about a presidential candidate. It’s true though. Times New Roman looks professional. Comic Sans looks fun and laidback. You have to choose the right one to give the right impression.

“Typography makes a real difference when it delivers words and ideas that are relevant to people,” said Collins.

Hats off to Obama who discovered the trick. Sorry to those who were manipulated by a typeface.

Soccer moms going digital

A new social networking site for young athletes will be launched next month called WePlay.com.  It will be like Facebook and will cater to athletes, moms and coaches. 
 
“Youth sports is held together by e-mails, phone calls and clip boards,” said Steve Hansen, the chief executive of WePlay.  “We want to change that.”

Really?

The site is supposed to let parents print schedules and coordinate carpools while letting coaches talk about different plays to employ.

Maybe it will be successful but it seems to me that it’s just another medium for advertisers to use. These networks are so popular right now with everything going digital that I’m not sure if the site is really going to enhance the soccer mom’s job or it’s just another shot at making money.  It is giving advertisers another way to reach a younger public, but is this WePlay.com really going to hit it off?

Probably not.  You can do everything that you could do on the new site on Facebook.  Upload videos and pictures, form groups, communicate with other friends.  Let’s just keep it simple.

How to get 65 million to donate blood

The world has gone digital, which is pretty obvious when everyone is on their blackberries constantly, reading newspapers online and when 65 million people are on the social network Facebook. If organizations want to get desired points across to this digital world, they’ll need to join in the fun.

Takes All Types has decided to employ social media into a public relations campaign. The New York nonprofit has targeted Facebook as its means to reach donators. Facebook will let users answer the question, “What is your blood type?”, and those who answer will receive messages when their particular blood types are needed in their area.

The campaign only took three months and $500. The outcome will far outweigh to input when it prevents blood shortages around the country. The company did some strategic thinking and came out with what seems to be the best option in this world we live.

Who would have thought that a social network for college students would turn into a volunteer-seeking resource for a great portion of the population?

I survived bootcamp

Edelman Digital Bootcamp, that is. This past Saturday, March 1, Edelman and the University of Georgia put together an all-day basic training for digital media in Athens, Ga. Students and educators from surrounding schools were encouraged to attend the event to learn about digital media and how to implement it into PR campaigns.

At Auburn, we have an entire class devoted to exploring social and digital media, thanks to Robert French. It was encouraging to see other students be amazed at what is out there in the social-media realm while we Auburnites attended a review session. Not to say we didn’t learn anything, we just happen to have a professor who has stressed its importance in PR from day one.

The encouraging part was seeing that we are steps ahead of some people. It was definitely good to hear someone other than our teacher, only professionals from the largest public PR firm in the nation, stress the importance of digital media and demonstrate how to actually employ these elements into strategic planning of campaigns.

The intense 9-hour digital session ended up to be quite a workout and enlightened students and educators from all over the southeast region.

The social-media way to evangelize

Christians are always coming up with new ways to share the gospel; it’s their purpose in life.  A pastor’s wife from suburban Atlanta, Anita Renfroe, discovered she could reach millions of people through YouTube.  And she has.

Renfroe speaks at many Women of Faith gatherings and other seminars, entertaining the attendees with maternal stories and songs that are ultimately focused on having a relationship with Jesus Christ.  However, many just find her as a comedian mother whose videos get passed around the e-mail world for entertainment. Renfroe’s videos have also reached the blog world with sites such as mommyneedscoffee.org and hotmomsclub.com.

The attention she has received from the World Wide Web is only what led “Good Morning America” to call and ask if they could run her clip.

With all this to say, it only makes me wonder if she is being successful with her mission or if she is just giving some laughs.  Either way, it all points in the same direction and is reaching millions.

Another point to add is that some people work so hard to break through the masses to become a famous comedian.  Moral of the story: be a Christian mom and put funny videos on YouTube.  You’ll be sure to soar.

Commited to Facebook for life, not by choice

As a frequent Facebook user, it is easy to become anxious or cautious about personal information since the social-networking site has been getting into trouble lately.  An article in today’s New York Times spoke of Facebook’s privacy issues, saying that it has a “disturbing policy of making it all but impossible for users to quit the site and erase their personal information.”

Facebook “friends”, including best friends, co-workers or people you’ve met once, can see what someone is currently doing, what pictures have been added and funny stories your college roommate wants to remind you about on your wall.  At least Facebook users are aware of this.

Recently the site encountered problems that revealed online-purchase history on people’s news feed, something that users did not sign up for when they joined.

Even if someone decides to get off Facebook, the personal information that was once on his or her profile still floats around the Web.

Personally, I considered closing my account when I graduated from college.  Now it sounds like a better idea to stay on, solely to manage and secure my identity.  What a pain.

Social media for campus alerts

Campus emergency alert systems have become a common trend. The Virginia Tech incident sparked the topic and the tornadoes that swept through Union University last week have carried it on.
When a crisis hits, there has to be a way to inform students and faculty.

The University of Memphis has implemented Tiger Text which allows all cell-phone users to receive a text message in case of an incident. The school made a deal with all wireless companies to let students receive texts, even if it’s not part of their plans.

Last week Auburn University tested its new AU Alert system which sent a text message and left a voicemail on each student’s cell phone who registered online.

As mentioned Feb. 8 on Poynter Online, schools might want to research methods of communication that involve newer technology other than direct contact to students.

Union University used Facebook and Blogger to update students on the situation from the tornadoes. These sites allow students to post and view comments and blogs.

As social media is becoming more and more prevalent, universities should model after schools like Union University and Virginia Tech by implementing such communication channels as means for crisis communication.

Targeting nontraditional media outlets

Social media is the new thing and if Target wants to hang on to its desirable reputation, it might want to open its mind a little. In reference to the story in The New York Times on Jan. 28, Target should rethink its communication guidelines.

A blogger was concerned with an advertisement and Target refused to respond to the inquiry since she was from a nontraditional publication. This decision will backfire on Target since the company probably stepped on some of its blogging customers’ toes. Blogging is so common and some of the store’s “core guests” could have been offended by the way it handled the situation.

Bloggers can pose a threat on a company if the company isn’t careful. However, it also poses an opportunity for the business to improve its public relations by reaching out the writers and responding to comments and opinions. Taking part in the blogs can recover the company’s reputation from a negative post.

Target is currently reassessing its blogging policy in order to prevent a similar incident in the future. Once again, since social media is becoming more and more prevalent Target should go ahead and change its policies to include blogs and other nontraditional publications.

Nursing student passes the Hesi

I’m exploring the use of blogging with video posts. Here I’ve interviewed a senior in nursing school at Auburn University who just completed the Hesi exit exam.
Kathryn Morriss passed on the first try, meaning she can go on to her preceptorship and graduate in May. Nursing students took the test in mid-January and had been studying for months. If a student did not receive an 850 out of 1000 on the first try, there are two more available attempts. Morriss was ecstatic on her success.