Recently I have been a trying out a new classroom activity using Skype to do phone conferences with PR professionals and my students. We have done this in Style and Design as well as Survey Research this semester.
Monday and Tuesday of this week, the Style and Design classes chatted with Susan Getgood, Kami Huyse and Andrea Weckerle about public relations issues for about 45 minutes each night.
After the presentations, I had a thought. Why not ask these kind people to join us at Marcomblog. After all, what could they say. No? It isn’t like I haven’t heard that before after making a pitch. This time, however, the good news is that they all agreed to blog with us. The lesson? Don’t be afraid to pitch.
Of course, I want them to blog with us about public relations topics and trends, above all. Another reason is to give Tara Smith some company, too. I’ve written about this before, but one more time - the majority of my students are women. I believe they need women voices in Marcomblog, too. Tara has been great. And now she has three friends to help us balance up the gender total.
As always, I thank all of our contributors. They are all important to us and the student experiences here have been very valuable over the past two years. Yes, we’ve been blogging at Marcomblog for about two years. Hard to believe, isn’t it? Your contributions have changed the lives of these students - for the better. And that’s a fact.
Visit the Marcomblog Contributor’s page in the wiki for details about all of our contributors, including the newest additions.
8 comments
4/6/2006 at 2:31 am
Trackback from Desirable Roasted Coffee - Cotton just got higher in the Marcom Blog
4/6/2006 at 10:47 pm
Katie
As one of Robert’s Style and Design students, I want to extend a welcome to our newest contributors. I am in the Tuesday class and had the opportunity to hear Andrea Weckerle and Susan Getgood answer some quesitons about the role women PR practitioners in today’s world. Since the Skype conference, I have found myself checking their blogs daily for a recent post. Because most of the students in our Auburn public relations major are women, I think this is a great opportunity for us to hear first hand from four very experienced professionals what we can expect.
But like Robert said in his post, all of the contributors-whether male or female-make this site the great place that it is. There have been several posts made that have changed the way I view public relations. Other students at other universities don’t have this great opportunity, and I feel privileged to learn from all of the contributors here on a weekly basis.
4/9/2006 at 5:05 pm
Tiffany
I would like to thank Kami Huyse and Susan Getgood for taking the time to speak with the Monday night class this past week. It was very insightful hearing women discuss some of the issues women in PR face. As you know, most of the contributors on Marcom are men, and they have great advice to offer and plenty of experiences to share; however, as was mentioned during our Skype conference, men can never fully understand the issues women in the business world face. I love reading your blog posts and I am very glad Robert sought you both out. It was interesting to hear your opinions during class, and I look forward to your posts here on Marcom. Again, thanks to you and the other Marcom contributors for taking the time to help us better understand the field of PR.
4/9/2006 at 6:48 pm
Wes
I would first like to say that it is great to be adding new names and faces to Marcomblog. Secondly, it is great to add more women to our little online world.
I know there aren’t as many women blogging as men. But these women represent the women in the profession well, much better than “Strumpy.” The incident a couple weeks ago has brought up some touchy subjects and I think all of these new contributors did a fantastic job defending themselves and talking about the implications of the post. I am not sure anyone could have done a better job. That is why I am looking forward to you contributions on Marcomblog.
Last, but not least, I would like to thank Susan and Kami for the conference call with the Monday class. It was great to hear more perspectives than normal. I appreciate Robert’s opinion, but it is great to hear others confirm most everything that he says.
Thanks again for your time and I look forward to reading your posts.
4/9/2006 at 8:16 pm
SusanGetgood
Thanks for the welcome! I hope I can live up to the expectations
4/10/2006 at 2:44 pm
Amy
Finally! More women! I think that it is so peculiar that in a field that is dominated by women, there are so few women bloggers. I have enjoyed reading comments and blogs of all of our contributors, but there are some things in PR (as well as everything else) that only a female can truly understand and it is very important for the female’s perspective to be heard on these subjects. For example, the descrimination of women in public relations and, in particular, the newest blog that so distastefully supports it. I had the privilege of hearing Kami and Susan’s thoughts on this particular topic during our Skype session in class and have been reading their blogs ever since. It is wonderful to see the world of public relations from a professional woman’s point of veiw. Guys, you would be amazed at how many uneccessary obstacles there are for us that run from harassment to lack of respect in the office due to our gender. If you are ever in doubt of the abilities of women in PR, check out the blog that these ladies keep and you will see how able and professional females are. Welcome Susan, Kami and Andrea! I look forward to seeing what you will contribute to our student minds in the future!
4/10/2006 at 2:44 pm
Amy
Finally! More women! I think that it is so peculiar that in a field that is dominated by women, there are so few women bloggers. I have enjoyed reading comments and blogs of all of our contributors, but there are some things in PR (as well as everything else) that only a female can truly understand and it is very important for the female’s perspective to be heard on these subjects. For example, the discrimination of women in public relations and, in particular, the newest blog that so distastefully supports it. I had the privilege of hearing Kami and Susan’s thoughts on this particular topic during our Skype session in class and have been reading their blogs ever since. It is wonderful to see the world of public relations from a professional woman’s point of view. Guys, you would be amazed at how many unnecessary obstacles there are for us that run from harassment to lack of respect in the office due to our gender. If you are ever in doubt of the abilities of women in PR, check out the blog that these ladies keep and you will see how able and professional females are. Welcome Susan, Kami and Andrea! I look forward to seeing what you will contribute to our student minds in the future!
4/19/2006 at 12:44 pm
Tricia
First of all, I just want to thank all of the Marcomblog contributers. It really helps us to hear things from working PR practitioners. Second, I want to welcome our newest members. I am one of the many women in Robert’s class and it’s nice to get some female perspective. We all appreciate the contributers and welcome all advice. I have already started reading the posts that have been previously made and I look forward to reading more in the future. Welcome to our online community and thanks for your time!