LinkedIn Etiquette: Woo Before You Pop the Question

It's again time for college seniors to send out résumés as part of the great job search. My most recent Marist PR class focused on branding oneself on social media. A student in the Marist PRSSA chapter, Tatiana Miranda, attended a talk I gave to the college's Emerging Leaders program a couple of months ago and asked me to expand on one of the areas I covered -- LinkedIn etiquette -- for the Marist PRSSA chapter's newsletter, "esPResso." Since I provided Tatiana more than she could include in her Real Advice column, I will share my thoughts on that topic here.

Think of LinkedIn as Facebook for professionals. That starts with your photo. It should be a head shot of you, professionally dressed. It should not be you at a party with your arm around a boyfriend or girlfriend, or worse, holding a beer. Your profile is your first impression upon a prospective employer. Think of yourself as a brand. What image do you want to project? Your name is your brand name. Your appearance, not just physical, but also written and photo representations, are your packaging. Always remain a professional.

You are transitioning from your current brand as a Marist student to what you want it to be: an account coordinator for a NYC PR firm, a cyber criminologist, or a media relations professional representing a nonprofit organization. Use your summary for that. That summary doesn't have to be in great detail, but it should create that bridge from your studies and internship experiences to the job or career you want after your graduate.Stay away from jargon and buzzwords. Be yourself. Again, remain professional.

Don't treat your LinkedIn updates like Facebook updates. Share information that is valuable and informative, not that you went to a great party or ate a bagel for breakfast. Have you read a blog post about job searches that you found was very helpful? Share it. Was there an article in the NY Times online that is in your field of interest? Share it. Are you attending an event that allows you to network with others in your field, or are you speaking at a workshop? Share that info. Don't just mention things, share links. People look at posts that include links more than they do when you just write a short statement.

Follow companies, agencies or organizations that are of interest to you. There are many, many groups of interest to public relations students and professionals. Connect to them. There is a PRSSA group, a Marist PR alumni and student group, and groups that discuss areas of personal interest. There are "influencers" you can follow. They often post great tips for students and people working in their fields of interest. For your first post in any group, start with a very brief introduction so others get to know you.

Link to classmates and friends outside of Marist. Link to alumni in your field. Link to people at companies or agencies or organizations at which you'd like to work. For some of these, you can connect because you share a common connection. For others, explain who you are and why you'd like to link to someone. People like to be flattered, but don't go overboard. Explain to your prospective connection that you are about to graduate from Marist and would like to expand your network of professionals to learn from practitioners who have become successful in their careers. If you have no connection to a person but are friends with someone who does, ask that friend to offer an introduction on your behalf.

Once you follow someone or some group, don't jump in right away. Observe before you participate. Get a flavor for the conversation before you join it. Share and be helpful before you ask for something. I'm pretty liberal about accepting requests for connections. However, if after accepting you start pitching me business or asking me for a job, I will delete you immediately. You don't introduce yourself to someone by asking him or her to marry you. You have to get to know someone first before you take the relationship to the next level.

Your profile will be viewed. With each passing day, LinkedIn becomes an increasingly valuable form of networking and job searches, not just for individuals, but for companies that look to hire people. Remember that your digital footprint is forever, so think before you post. Make sure there are no typos or grammatical errors. Ask yourself, would my boss -- or my grandmother -- be OK with what I wrote? One bad tweet, Facebook post, or LinkedIn update can undo years of image building and personal branding or destroy a career. Don't believe me? Google Justine Sacco.

One last thing...My husband Pete and I thank all who made donations to the Alzheimer's Association in memory of his mother, who passed away Christmas Eve. The national organization and local chapters, particularly the one in the Hudson Valley, report receiving thousands of dollars to support their work. We also received many letters and emails from friends who told us how their families have been touched by Alzheimer's. Together, we carry on and support those who will one day find a better way to treat, or better yet, prevent this dreaded affliction. Again, a deeply heart-felt thank you!

A Case Study in How to Get a Job

With about a month to go until many students graduate, the search for a job should begin in earnest.  Actually, it should be in high gear. A typical hiring process could take a month or two…at least.  A job opening is posted and applications solicited.  Interviews must be scheduled and references checked before an offer is made.  The successful applicant then should give at least two weeks’ notice to his or her current employer.  If this is your first full-time, post-college job, you may still want a couple of weeks to prepare for your entry into the workforce.  Just to give you an example, I left my position at Marist on January 6, and it appears that no decision will be made on a successor until May at the earliest.

A Marist Communication/Journalism major graduating on May 20 personifies the textbook lesson in how to land a job.  A week after he receives his Bachelor of Arts degree, Bryan Terry of Colonie, NY will start as a news assistant at YNN, a 24-hour news channel, in their Albany, NY hub.  How did Bryan do this? He earned it.

Bryan reminds me of myself at his age.  We were both news geeks, very focused on broadcast journalism.  It is that early interest in what he wanted to do with his life that helped Bryan create a path to his first job offer in the field he has wanted to enter since he was in the sixth grade.

Bryan took advantage of many opportunities offered to him.  He has a 3.9 GPA, plays trombone in the band, studied abroad in Florence, worked with the Marist Poll, and selected three internships that provided him valuable work experience from both sides of the reporter’s notebook – the newsroom of WRGB-TV in Schenectady, the team that produces Capital Tonight on YNN, and the press office of New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. At each employer (and you should always consider your internship provider as an employer, whether or not you are paid), he worked hard, doing more than was required; was not a clock watcher; and shared his knowledge of social media.

How well did he do? You can see the respect and true affection his employers had for Bryan in their video tributes.  He may forever be called “Intern Bryan,” thanks to being assigned that moniker during his tenure with Capital Tonight.  His dedication, tenacity, and passion for his work left an indelible impression on each employer.

Bryan also maintained his relationships with his supervisors, sending them an occasional email or visiting if he was in the neighborhood.  I have written before about the importance of networking.  When you meet someone, you shouldn’t think, “How is this person going to get me a job?”  You should show genuine interest in the person with whom you’re communicating, and consider how you can help him or her.  Is there information you can provide?  Do you have knowledge in an area the other person does not and that you would be willing to share?  Was there an interesting item you read in mainstream or social media that is worth passing along? Bryan did this. An email here, a phone call there, an occasional visit, none intrusive, just enough to keep his “top of mind awareness” among potential employers.

Bryan blogs as a class project, but his work product shows he has a reporter’s instinct for news, that he writes well, and that he is not afraid to tackle tough issues.  He follows the right people and organizations on twitter, exhibiting an interest in national, state and local government topics, trends in journalism, a familiarization with his craft.

He checked in with people who would know what jobs might be open now or in the future. That’s how Bryan found out about the opening for a news assistant at YNN.  He had advocates within the organization who could attest to his skills.  He had references who could provide specific examples of his outstanding work (rather than a blasé chat that a human resources professional could sniff out as BS in less than a minute).   His résumé and cover letter extolled his virtues but addressed the needs of his employer rather than thumping his chest about who he is or what he’s done.  Both were also error free, having been proofread by several people.  After his interviews, Bryan immediately sent thank you notes to those who met with him, reiterating his interest in and qualifications for the job.

Bryan’s reward:  a job that is waiting for him a month before graduation.  He communicated his passion and ability, put those qualities to work to create a positive reputation, and as much as this is positive for him, it’s just as positive for YNN, which is fortunate to have someone as talented as Bryan on its team.

One last thing…A couple of weeks ago, I tweeted that one of my former students had a summer internship in finance for a prestigious firm in Manhattan and that anyone interested should direct message me for details and I would connect them to her.  Only two people did: A Marist sophomore and a student in London, England. The Marist student follows me on twitter, but I can’t honestly say that I know him well.  Still, the fact that he contacted me quickly, explained his credentials in 140 characters, and went back-and-forth with me to exchange information, always expressing his appreciation for helping him with this connection, spoke volumes about him.  He got the internship and thanked me immediately after getting the offer.  It was networking all around – my former student contacting me; my using social media to connect with prospective employees, and someone who follows me on that medium to reach out, follow through, and land the gig. That’s an age-old process that still yields results in 2012.

Communicating Irene's Wrath

Hurricane Irene roared through our beautiful Hudson Valley and Catskills and left a deluge of rain and a trail of destruction among the worst I have seen from any storm during my lifetime.  Some news outlets and individuals thought the event was over-hyped by the media.  Try telling that to my neighbors who spent hours pumping water out of their garage and basement, or the folks in downtown Poughkeepsie whose streets are still closed due to flooding.  My heart also goes out to the people in beautiful little villages like Windham and Margaretville, nice Sunday drives from Poughkeepsie, that have been nearly destroyed by cascading rapids and the washing away of homes and bridges.

Marist College also got hit.  We have one of the most scenic campuses in America, right along the eastern shore of the mighty Hudson.  Today it is the muddy Hudson due to all the runoff from the Fallkill Creek and storm sewer systems from municipalities along its length.  President Dennis Murray issued a wrap-up of the work done over the past couple of days in a memo to the college community today.

Over the past five days, I've posted more than 100 tweets, first about preparation plans for students moving back to Marist, then the storm's impact on our college and region, and finally, on its aftermath.  I know I tweet a lot, and probably lose some followers because of it (mostly spammers and bots, I hope), but during a crisis, social media is invaluable in keeping people informed and squelching rumors.

What kind of rumors?  Someone, whom I'm not even sure is currently a Marist student, tweeted that there was a partial collapse of Marist's Lowell Thomas Communications Center and put in other alarmist drama to make it sound like the campus was a disaster area.  Because I am constantly online, I saw that erroneous tweet, and a retweeting of the false info by someone I know is a Marist student, and took them to task publicly over their misinformation.  The student apologized.  The person who started the rumor, probably just to get attention for herself, did not respond but knew I was watching and switched to another topic.  Her tweets, btw, consist mostly of dropping the f-bomb.

Thanks to my friends and colleagues Melissa Egan and Cody Rotwein in Marist's Web Services department, we were able to place updates on the Marist homepage 10 times.  There were more frequent updates on the Marist Facebook page, and of course, on twitter.  Some of the updates were within minutes of each other, such as when there were changes in the estimate of when a repair of a Central Hudson Gas & Electric substation off-campus would restore power to Marist and the surrounding neighborhood.  An original estimate of two hours was thought to be too soon because of complications with the repair, so I wrote that it could take another three hours.  Excuse the pun, but I didn't want to leave students, parents and Marist staff in the dark.  Fortunately, about five minutes after that Facebook posting and tweet, lights came back on.  I'm still glad I sent out the other information because, as in any type of disaster preparedness, we plan for the worst and hope for the best.

Even I need some sleep and can't be online 24/7/365, though it seems like I am.  Fortunately, I have been awake and on various social media sites when I've seen incorrect info posted about Marist.  The strategy to address it is simple: confront it, nip it in the bud, correct it.

People want correct information and they want frequent updates.  More than 15,000 people visited the Marist Web updates from last Thursday through today.  More than 2,000 clicked on the bit.ly links from Facebook and twitter.  BTW, half of the referrals came from Facebook, making Facebook, in my experience, still the predominant social medium.  Twitter is rightfully credited for the rapid creation of content and serving as a great news aggregator (much better than a site I used years ago -- Newsgator).

One last thing...it's nice to get a pat on the back when you work hard and things go well.  Too often, people complain more than they compliment.  I am grateful for the comments made by students, faculty and staff at Marist, parents, alumni, people in the community, fellow PR practitioners and the media on Marist's communications efforts before, during and after the storm.  Many people not directly related to a public relations function are needed to make a communications strategy successful.  I work with incredible colleagues and deeply appreciate their cooperation and support.

Tweeting Yourself Toward Employment

I'm grateful to Jenny Zou (@jiejennyzou on twitter) of the Chronicle of Higher Education for her very kind article about my efforts to help my students and other Marist grads find jobs via social media, specifically twitter.  I will not rehash what Jenny wrote. You can read Jenny's post in a popular Chronicle blog called WiredCampus.

What I want to discuss here is how this piece came about because it's a lesson in media relations that in itself made news recently because of the issue of "access."  First, let me tell you how this article appeared, then I'll mention the controversy surrounding a well-known freelancer for the New York Times and offer a few of my own thoughts.  I would appreciate your feedback on this, too, because it is an issue I will discuss with my class next semester.

For 14 of the last 18 years I have attended the College Media Relations Conference, initially started by a gentleman named Art Ciervo, picked up by Keith Moore, and now run by the Council of Independent Colleges and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.  I've had the privilege of speaking at this conference on social media, and it is a wonderful opportunity to network, learn from my peers, and meet reporters from a wide variety of media who come to talk about their publications, blogs, and TV and radio shows.  My friend Steve Smith (@RedCladLoon), who is the national news editor at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, spoke this year on his work in social media and wrote a great blog entry highlighting the various talks at this year's conference.

At one of the sessions, higher ed media reps are given the opportunity to meet with reporters and editors from the Chronicle and InsideHigherEd.  As I was heading into the session featuring about a half dozen Chronicle reporters, I bumped into Chronicle Editor Jeffrey Selingo (@jselingo). I have much respect for Jeff and appreciated his comments on my social media work at a PRSA Counselors to Higher Education conference last April.  I mentioned to Jeff how one of my students, Alyssa Bronander (@ARBro), had sent me a tweet the day before saying she had not yet been hired.  I couldn't understand why because Alyssa is exceedingly bright, knows social media, is an excellent writer, and extremely personable.  So, I tweeted my incredulity with the hashtags #HireThisWoman and #HireArbro.  In less than five minutes, Alyssa got a tweet from another of my former students, Rob Gedarovich (@rgedarov), whom I mentioned in a previous post, asking for a résumé.  Alyssa eventually was hired by Toys R Us and just started this week as te corporation's associate social media manager.


I mentioned this off-the-cuff to Jeff and I honestly did not do it as a pitch.  We were just talking.  However, Jeff heard a good story, introduced me to Jeff Young (@jryoung), a top tech writer at the Chronicle and for the WiredCampus blog.  Jeff assigned the story to Jenny, who spoke with me by phone as I rode Amtrak back to New York.  Alyssa and my outstanding student intern this past year, Jim Urso (@JimUrso) also emailed and spoke to Jenny to round out the story.  An aside...Jim starts soon in the media relations department at Hofstra University.  My thanks to Karla Schuster (@KarlaSchuster) for hiring Jim.  I know it's a cliché but it's true -- my loss truly is Karla's gain.


What's so controversial about this process?  To me, nothing.  However, to the public editor of the New York Times, you would think PR people were like all those corporations that, on their own or via highly-paid lobbyists (many of them former lawmakers) pay for access to politicians in Washington.  I have met Times reporters at the College Media Conference every year, and was able to get a piece in a Times blog last year by pitching a reporter who had just completed his presentation.  


This process of give-and-take between journalist and public relations professional is common practice and ethical.  If you have a good relationship with a reporter -- pitching only those stories that are truly newsworthy, returning phone calls, not limiting yourself to being a "fair weather friend," and maintaining the highest standards of honesty and integrity -- you have a much better chance of getting coverage of your event, product, location, individual, or, in my case, college, than if you do not have a good relationship with that reporter.  That's a PR 101 lesson, not "get(ting) too cozy with the P.R. professionals who strive to influence coverage," as the Times' public editor alleges.  A journalist and a media relations pro must understand their roles.  They are not mutually exclusive.  They are similar -- tell a story that is worth people's time, enlightens them, and in some cases, advocates for the common good (though that last point is always open to interpretation).

In the back of my mind I think there must be another reason for the Times to go after David Pogue (@Pogue).  Maybe, someday, the Times' PR person will tell us what it is.

Your thoughts?

One last thing...I'll let you in on a little secret.  The second commenter at the end of the WiredCampus post, "mahoneypoststar," is Mark Mahoney, who was a student in a broadcast journalism class I taught at Dutchess Community College about 30 years ago.  Mark was a gifted student with a great sense of humor and a way with words.  He started out at my old radio stations, WEOK/WPDH in Poughkeepsie.  Today, he is the editorial page editor of the Post Star in Glens Falls, NY.  Two years ago, he won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing.  To say I'm proud of him is a dramatic understatement.  I offer my thanks to him and to so many of my former students for their words of support and gratitude and retweeting Jenny's WiredCampus post.  Their faith, confidence and affection are deeply appreciated.  The sense of fulfillment I receive from working with and mentoring them is one of the wonderful aspects of my job, particularly at a college like Marist that truly is a community, or as some say, a family.

Networking for Fun and Profit

Networking is how you will get a job. My students hear me say this a dozen times a semester. That’s why I bring successful former students of mine back to the Marist campus to talk about how they got their first job, progressed into the position they have today, and get noticed for their accomplishments. Those alumni and alumnae, in turn, offer their help to review resumes and cover letters, provide advice on how to conduct the job search from application to interview to acceptance, and generate leads on openings in their own organizations or at other companies.

The Marist network is very strong in many fields.  It’s not just communication; it’s information technology and computer science, teaching, criminal justice, finance and business administration.  Many alums have signed on to be part of the Marist Alumni Career Network, a great resource for students getting ready to graduate and alums who are looking to move up or move into a new field.  Generally speaking, Marist students enjoy their four years at the college, learn, work substantive internships, make many friends, and have a good time.  All of those activities go far in preparing someone for the work world.

I also take my students to Manhattan every semester to see Marist grads at their places of work. This year, we visited Kaplow (@kaplowpr), where Robert Gedarovich (@rgedarov) is supervising digital & media strategist for technology & consumer practice (nice title).  Among his accounts is Foursquare (@foursquare).  We also visited David Heinzinger (@dvyhnz), senior account manager at G.S. Schwartz.  Bob and Dave have made names for themselves in the use of social media in public relations.  Their roads to where they are today serve as an inspiration to current students, many of whom fret they won’t find a job, particularly in this down economy.  Positions, especially entry-level, are opening again, and as part of that Marist network, I often get job leads from my former students or from Marist grads whom I’ve gotten to know through twitter, facebook, LinkedIn, or other social media platforms.

How else can a prospective public relations pro network?  If a student is not a member of PRSSA (@PRSSANational), s/he should be.  There are workshops, conferences, and other events, some of which have minimal cost.  Attend them, mix and mingle, introduce yourself, and exchange business cards.  More and more students are printing their own business cards, which are a great, inexpensive investment.  No matter how technologically advanced we become, the business card will always be around.

The social media platforms I mentioned earlier are also networking opportunities. If you’re a public relations major, I invite you to go through my twitter lists, especially PR and SocialMedia. There are many pros on those lists, people who may someday be a potential employer.  Follow them and create a conversation with them.

Participate in twitter chats.  There are many, but two I recommend in particular are #journchat (Mondays from 8 to 10 p.m. ET) and #prstudchat, held monthly but with frequent hashtag posts daily.  Both are a mix of journalists, public relations practitioners, and current students.  You can also joined their LinkedIn groups –  for #journchat: http://linkd.in/lytBeM; and for #prstudchat: http://linkd.in/kDuSSo.  Search for other groups on LinkedIn that represent your interests and participate in those discussions. 

There are twitter chats on a wide variety of personal and professional interests.  My "adopted son," Luke Shane (@LShane262), is a phenomenal marathon runner.  I've watched him in the Philadelphia Marathon, where he finished 53rd out of almost 9,000 runners in 2:42:52, and the Boston Marathon, where he finished 341st out of nearly 30,000 runners, despite running on no fuel thanks to an errant fire alarm in our hotel at 5 a.m. marathon morning.  He has been networking in the running world, has some very well-known marathoners following him, and participated in his first #runchat tonight.  Luke had many of his points retweeted and he picked up more than a dozen followers because he knew what he was talking about and he knows how to create and encourage conversations via social media.  Luke's blog, Witness the Fitness, was an inspiration for me to start "Looking Through Stained Glass."

Follow blogs and offer your informed opinion.  There are many, but among those I recommend are RepMan, PR at Sunrise, The Bad Pitch Blog, PR 2.0, Euro RSCB Blog, and The Flack (although I despise that term).  Read posts and comment – but use your real name.  Many of these blog writers are partners or other senior members of firms.  If you are on their wavelength, or even if you’re not but can defend your point of view, you will get noticed.  If there is an opening, you could be contacted by the blogger, or you can apply and be a familiar name to the person who will make the hire.  Prove your value, your knowledge, your ability to think strategically.  These are qualities sought by employers.

The days of applying for a job via a newspaper “want ad” are over, and you may be surprised that the offer that comes from a Monster.com posting is a glorified boiler room cold calling operation.  You have a better chance of getting that first job by making contacts and becoming known.  You will still have to prove you have the skills and character traits to earn that job.  Once you get it, work hard, do more than is required, get noticed for your successes, and future offerings will come to you.  PR is a small community.  My students marvel at how intertwined individuals are.  Co-workers today may be competitors tomorrow, and vice versa.  Who knows how someone you meet today can help you down the line, or how you can help him or her.

One last thing…what a week I had!  It was exceedingly busy and will be for the remaining fortnight of the semester, so there goes the idea of posting at least three times a week.  Alex Shippee (@AlexShippee34) graduated from Marist a year ago and is someone whom I greatly respect and deeply admire.  I don’t know too many 20-somethings who read Dante for pleasure.  Alex does.  He is well read, an outstanding writer, and best of all, a wonderful person.  When he gives me advice, I listen.  I asked Alex for feedback on my first few posts and I hope he doesn’t mind me telling you what he said:

“High quality content goes a long way. I was blown away by your ambition to post 3 times a week (!) and definitely wish you luck, but you know better than I that blog content sits a while. Weak posts can do more damage than a period of silence. If you're ever unsure about a particular post, let it sit in 'drafts' while you think about it. Knowing you, you'll have another great story before too long, especially if your first three blogs are any indication.”

Excellent suggestion, Alex.  I’m still learning, too and I appreciate your help.  You can follow Alex’s blog at http://alexshippee.blogspot.com/

Just Another #MaristMonday

I don’t like being called a “social media expert” because I don’t believe there is such a thing.  The social media evolution, or should I say revolution, makes it nearly impossible to keep up with every new networking or bookmarking site. Last June, when I spoke at the College Media Conference in Baltimore, MD, I mentioned a Web site called namechk.com.  It listed 149 such sites which you can check to see if your user name or “vanity URL” is still available.  Fast forward to earlier this month.  I gave another social media presentation to 140 senior communications officials from colleges and universities across the U.S. (as well as Japan and Spain) at the Public Relations Society of America’s Counselors to Higher Education conference in Washington, D.C.  When I showed namechk.com again, the number of sites increased to 160.  Entrepreneurs and technorati want to be the next Mark Zuckerberg or Jack Dorsey (founder of twitter), and established mega companies like Google and Yahoo! experiment with new applications to keep us eternally connected to one another – or at least to their platforms.

Yes, I enjoy speaking about social media, but no, I’m not an expert.  I share what I’ve learned by doing, succeeding, failing, repurposing. Tips from other users more intelligent than I are much appreciated, too.  Such is the case with #MaristMonday on twitter.  That suggestion came from 2007 Marist alumnus Michael Sterchak, an analyst with the Federal Reserve in New York.  

Marist employees get together after Commencement for a community-building BBQ called Marist Fun Day to celebrate the hard work of the college’s faculty, administrators and staff and the successes of the academic year.  That moniker makes me think of The Bangles 1986 hit “Manic Monday” and its catchy riff, “Just another Manic Monday.”  Unfortunately, I do not get to attend Marist Fun Day because I am usually overseas teaching a religious studies class (this year in Greece, Turkey and Rome for a course on the life and writings of St. Paul).  Even though I’m not there, I can’t get The Bangles' tune out of my head as I silently sing “Just another Marist Fun Day.”  You’d think I would have taken the next logical step to come up with the catchy hashtag that encourages a sense of community among the Marist College Family.  I didn’t.

It was Michael (@michaelsterchak on twitter) who suggested #MaristMonday, which has developed into an opportunity for students, faculty, staff, administrators, alumni, parents and others to share their current Marist experiences or fond Marist memories.  I also use it as a Marist version of #FF (Follow Friday) and share the twitter handles of Red Foxes who are new to the medium or newly-linked with me.  On a couple of occasions, #MaristMonday became a trending topic, no small feat considering Marist is a relatively small college.

Michael took his creativity a step further.  On September 21, 2009, I tweeted “Today is #MaristMonday, but tune in Wednesday for the biggest announcement in Marist history.”  Michael retweeted that with the hashtag #BigNewsMaristWednesday.  For the next two days, more than 2,000 individual tweets tried to guess what the big news was.  That campaign generated buzz and excitement and pushed traffic to the Marist Web site for the announcement of a $75 million gift – the largest donation in Marist history and, as noted by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, the 12^th largest gift made to any nonprofit organization that year.  The generosity of the late Raymond A. Rich included a 42,000-square-foot architecturally and historically significant mansion on the Hudson River in Esopus, NY, and the creation of the Raymond A. Rich Institute for Leadership Development.

How many visitors came to the landing site on the Marist homepage highlighting the big news and the slideshow of the Mansion?  I’ll let Google Analytics show you the spike in traffic for that day:

A second URL for the news release announcing the gift showed similar statistics.  By comparison, 641 visitors viewed Marist Public Affairs news release pages yesterday.

That’s when I saw, first-hand, the power of social media, and I’ve been a proponent ever since.

There will be additional posts on social media down the line, but I would like to note an event held one week ago tonight.  For junior communication major Marissa DeAngelis (@MSDe526), what started as a project for Professor Mark Van Dyke's (@markavandyke) public relations class turned into a learning opportunity for her and about three dozen Marist students, faculty, staff and local residents. Marissa, who is from Scituate, RI, organized a “TweetUp,” a gathering of twitter users connected to Marist who met face-to-face, many for the first time.  It was also one of the first TweetUps on any college or university campus in the country.

Marissa, who will be in my COM470 class next semester, senior Alyssa Bronander of Wyckoff, NJ (@ARBro), who was in my class last semester, and junior Luke Shane of Bolton Landing, NY, (@LShane262 – who ran the Boston Marathon in 2:44:49 the day before and still had the energy to give a dynamic presentation at 9 p.m. Tuesday), all Communication majors, gave tips on how to best use social media. They detailed their forays into blogging and tweeting and the personal and professional connections they have made.  Dean of Undergraduate Admission Kent Rinehart (the official @Marist tweeter) discussed how the college uses social media to communicate with current and prospective students and their families.  I discussed the pros and cons of “digital footprints” and how they can help or hurt a student’s (or for that matter, anyone’s) search for employment.

Marissa’s organizational skills led to a well-run event.  Alyssa will graduate in less than a month, and I can sum up her talents by a hashtag that some wise public relations agency, corporation or nonprofit will heed: #HireThisWoman!

Also in attendance was Chris Cornell (@cornell140), director of social media at Thompson & Bender, a Westchester-based public relations, advertising and marketing firm and the man behind TwitterProfessor.com. Chris also reported on the event for The Examiner, a weekly newspaper covering New York's Westchester and Putnam counties. The full article can be found at http://bit.ly/eMkkMJ.

One last thing...I’d like to thank Sarah Abouelmakarem (@Abouelmakarem), a Marist junior communications major with a concentration in public relations, for creating the banner at the top of this blog.  Sarah used her artistic skills to develop the stained glass motif.  We’re going to work on it just a little more, but her generous offer to give a visual identity to this blog was unsolicited and is greatly appreciated.  Thank you again, Sarah.