Cision!!!!

Hello everyone,

Hope this post finds you all in good spirits after a good weekend of football! So last class period in PR Tactics II we took part in a webinar on a great program called Cision. I have to be honest, I had no idea of what was a webinar. But it is exactly as it sounds---a seminar on the web! The program is basically meant to serve as a guide for all communications professionals. It can really be useful to PR practitioners because it provides an updated database of media professionals. This can lead to more efficient press releases, news breaks, and PR strategies because direct contact information is given right through the program. There are some really interesting features that the Cision software offers. If a PR practitioner is trying to contact a certain media member, they can do it by using the software's smart search feature. This search not only allows for a practitioner to search for a certain member (like Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel), but also a particular outlet such as the Chicago Tribune. Each search result features basic contact information (email, mailing address, phone, etc.), influence ratings that range from 0-99, costs of ads, and related articles. Relationships can be developed through this search feature because the software allows for comments to be made towards different media personnel. In addition to smart search, Cision also features the ability to list build. As practitioners find outlets or members, they can add them to lists with the purpose of organizing contact lists. Once these list are completed, they can be exported through Microsoft Excel, which allows for the practitioner to have a soft copy of their contacts. This software can save a lot of time for PR practitioners by eliminating the strenuous search process that comes up when preparing strategies and tactics. I was surprised by so many things regarding this software but the biggest one was the price. Our professor told us that the cheapest price was thousands of dollars, and the most expensive is exponentially greater than that. Cision is a great program if it can be afforded. It provides great transparency and efficiency to PR practitioners, which results in better services for a client. I loved the webinar and hope to see more in the future! Have a good night guys! 

My continuing journey in PR

Hey everyone!

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post and I am excited to get back in the flow of expressing my thoughts with you all. Currently, I am starting my PR Tactics II course and I could not be happier about it! Yes, taking this means I am a step closer to Graduation, but it also signifies a huge step towards becoming a well-rounded PR professional. Of the things that we are slated to learn in this course, I am most excited about the social media tools that will be introduced to us. I truly am eager to get to work, finish this upcoming paper that we are going to be assigned, and learn all that I can. Personally, not much has changed with me. I am finishing my internship with the brewers and I am really sad about that. The organization took a chance on me and I have given everything that I could to it. I have even planne a Greek stepping event that is slated to occur on September 20th. No matter what happens in my future I know that the experience I gained at Miller Park will last a lifetime. I look forward to talking more with you guys! Take it easy.

-Rickey