Ray Lapena

First, I'd like to follow up quickly on a couple responses to my last two posts:

"Question for real-world practitioners: How effective is the traditional press release, today? #prstudchat"

While PR tools and procedures are evolving with the shift toward online media, the main goals of public relations have not changed. Through personal observation and by reading Putting the Public Back in Public Relations by Brian Solis and Deidre Breakenridge, it's my understanding that public relations is, and has always been, about people. To paraphrase Solis's and Breakendridge's words: it's about sociology and anthropology; not the tools.

This is why I watch the addition of digital teams at PR firms with curiosity. I think it's great, and I think everyone in PR should embrace or at least understand social media. But if the goals of PR are still the same, and if social/digital/online media are just new means of reaching people, shouldn't all campaigns (in all areas of practice) involve some sort of online strategy? I know that Twitter and Facebook strategies aren't relevant to every market, but my point is that "digital" isn't so much its own area of practice as it is a set of skills that should be applied to the preexisting practice areas.

For example: A PR firm lists its divisions as: Public Affairs, Corporate, Entertainment, and Digital. Is online strategy only implemented on Digital clients? Or does Digital do the all the online strategy for all the other divisions?

Because online media is so new, I understand the current need for these separate digital PR teams. But in the future I predict these separate divisions to dissolve and blend into the already existing areas of practice. I also don't know how every digital team works at different PR agencies, so if anyone could provide any insights it would be greatly appreciated!

1. It really is a great organization, and doing public relations for an organization that you're really passionate about makes the job a whole lot easier. For my non-SU readers: First Year Players (FYP) is an entirely student-run musical theatre group that puts on musicals for first-year non-drama major students every year. It gives first-year students the opportunity to perform a mainstage show, even if they didn't choose theatre as a career path. It's also a tight-knit community that fosters instant, life-time friendships; that's why so many people join staff after freshman year; that's why people call us the theatre frat.

2. The creative, talented, and passionate people in FYP make fun publicity stunts possible. Today we pulled off what I have been planning to do since the end of last year: a flashmob dance at SU. Flashmob is when a group of people break out into spontaneous dance in a public space.  It's also a trending YouTube sensation. When I first saw this video of people dancing to the Sound of Music at a train station in Belgium, I immediately put flashmob on my bucket list.

FYP was the perfect outlet to do this. At the end of last year, I brought the flashmob idea up to the rest of the executive board. They loved it, but we were all a little unsure if we would be able to pull it off; there were so many logistical factors: sound, space, time, getting people together to learn the choreography. But I insisted on following through with the flashmob, so we talked more during the summer and when I got back to school I went straight to our adviser and got contact information for all the right people. I scoped out the space, got permission for sound, determined what times were best for foot traffic, scavenged around for sound equipment, etc. And while I figured out the logistics, my good friend and FYP choreographer Rae Ann kept busy by choreographing the dance and running rehearsals.

We kept our mouths shut for the most part because we didn't want to ruin the shock value. But a week prior to the show I created the @flashmobsu Twitter account to foster some curiosity. News also spread through Facebook statuses and on the day of the performance we handed a few small slips of paper that said, "Flashmob at Schine? Today at 12:20?" We never said who was doing it or why. We planted just enough seed for rumors to spread, but we still wanted to pull people in with the mystery of it.

I pushed play at 12:28 p.m. and our dancers went at it (myself included). It started with a small group, which got some people to watch in confusion. Then as more dancers filtered in, more spectators watched with excitement. Before my part in the dance I stood in a group of people saying, "Oh my gosh! How fun!" And then I jumped right in and joined in on it. At the end of the dance we got a huge applause, and my heart pounded not only from the dancing but from the excitement of us actually pulling this off.

And another great part of the story: the publicity stunt worked. We got coverage from TheNewsHouse.com, CitrusTV, and The Daily Orange - which is atypical not only for FYP but for any organization on campus. The NewsHouse coverage can be found here. The CitrusTV video aired live Thursday at 6 p.m. and again at 9 p.m. It will be posted on the Web site soon. The Daily Orange is expected to print the story on Monday.

The FYP flashmob was a personal and PR dream come true. Now I can say my life really does happen like those movies where people start dancing to choreography that somehow everyone knows. And now I can say I carried a publicity stunt that garnered great press for an organization I love.

I'll post more videos as they come!

This is a tell tale sign of how social media is edging its way up beside traditional media. I hate to say it, but bloggers are becoming today's journalists. From everyday movie reviewers to mommy bloggers commenting on diapers, these new-age "journalists" have been receiving quite the kickbacks. And the government is looking to stop this. The FTC even wants blogs to disclose relationships with endorsers.

But isn't it freedom of speech? Aren't we free to post whatever we like onto the Internet? What right does the FTC have to stick it's nose in bloggers' affairs?

Whether or not the FTC succeeds in establishing these new restrictions, it's important to realize just how much influence some John Doe can have on the world with just a little Internet access. It's scary, but people and their companies are going straight to the blogger. Straight to the source. Right to the people.

It's my hope that bloggers never replace the role of the journalist, but if they get anywhere close (like they are now) they should play by the rules too. Whether or not the restrictions become law, bloggers should still observe ethics.

If you're going to play journalist, please play responsibly.

I was looking at a few places that were really, really cheap. And to my surprise, they looked pretty cool. From the pictures, the decor seemed hip and modern. I went to their Web sites and was further impressed by all the other offerings. And it's a good location. Okay, basic criteria met. Shall we book it? Not quite yet.

The guest reviews painted a different picture for me. What I thought would be a clean, crisp and modern room was actually quite different from a past guest's description.

"while my stay at this hotel was only for one night, and it was not very expensive at all, I had expected much more. From afar, the photos posted make the rooms look acceptable. However, the hotel absolutely stank. The smell in the hallway was intolerable. In the room, we woke up and found a bug in our bed. There was a dead rat in the hallway as well."

Deal breaker. I can deal with minimal service and crappy wall paper, but I will not tolerate bug-infested slumber parties nor decomposing rodents in the hallway. Gross.

Dear Hotel: If your guests are online sharing your dirty little secrets or complaining about your service, then it doesn't matter how great your website is. The information I want to hear is from those who are a like me. This morning, I was deterred by a number of bed bug horror stories. Welcome to the world of social media, where every-day-me's can get online to converse and share valuable information about you and your dirty hotel rooms.

It's my hope that these places monitor these comments so they can provide solutions. It's my feeling, however, that they don't.

Still hotel-less for the time being, but thanks to anonymous hotels.com guest from saving me from the creepy crawlies!

Me: "My name is Raymond Lapena and I am requesting a copy of the summer issue. I wrote an article about CHEFs for Schools that was published in this issue, but I haven't yet seen it. If I could get 3 or 4 copies that would be even better. I am willing to pay for them. Please e-mail me back to see if you have any in stock. They would need to be sent to New York, but I will send you my address when I get a response. Thank you!"

Editor: "Hello, I'm so sorry to say, the article did not make my summer issue as planned. Do [sic] the economic situation last April we had to cut back pages and unfortunately this feature was cut. I'm so sorry."

*Don't mind her misspellings; she sent that e-mail from her Blackberry, and trust me, it's all too easy to make typos and grammatical mistakes on a smart phone (iPhone user here).

While I am disappointed and a little ego bruised, I can't argue with her (unless she's flat-out lying). This kind of stuff happens all the time, especially in this economy and during this shift toward new media.

I guess I'm especially disappointed because I'm in the process of updating my portfolio. I got a letter today from the Newhouse School encouraging me to apply to be recognized as a Syracuse University Scholar. To be nominated by the Newhouse School I have to write a personal statement, get faculty letters of support, submit my resume, and put together a stellar portfolio.

Now I'm not saying that this one article is a deal breaker; I have other pieces that I'm proud of. But I thought that it was actually published and that my copy had been lost in the mail. It would have been nice to have that glossy clip in my portfolio. I feel like I've just been sucker punched.

But "c'est la vie"
Or more like: "c'est la industry"

*don't worry, French isn't on my resume.