Cover Story

Maria Russell of the PRSA discusses her experience with the Public Relations Society of America, and Syracuse University.

SEO and social media expert Nichola Stott (Founder, themediaflow) and PR and social media specialist Claire Thompson (Founder, Waves PR) discuss the launch of their new joint venture, SEO PR Training.

Brandy interviews longtime journalist and public relations specialist John Ruane, author of The Wizards of Spin, which talks about the evolving news media and how this pseudo-journalism is changing America and how citizens get information.

How to Hire the Right PR Firm with guest Katherine Heaviside, President of Epoch 5 Public Relations. We learn the steps you should take when vetting the right PR solution and the need to sign up with a firm for a long term agreement or for a specific project.

Scott Gerber is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, media personality, public speaker and the most-syndicated young entrepreneurship columnist in the world.Scott tells about Sizzle It, a website that featues the latest on entrepreneurship and his book, Never Get A Real Job, which is marketed to 20-somethings who find themselves looking down the long barrel of a traditional career path.

Monique Tatum, CEO of Beautiful Planning Marketing discusses Celebrity PR as she tells us about the upcomingReality of Fashion, Reality of Aids Event For Fashion Week 2011, plus she fills us in about the newPRLearningCenter, which offers Do-It-Yourself PR classes.

Public Relations, Social Media And Customer Service are the focus of a recent blog post by returning guest Shonali Burke. Shonali explains the shoe fiends dream as explained in her Waxing UnLyrical blog.

Bullseye PR CEO and co-founder John Rarrick discusses Strategic use of Social media for brand building, podcasting and other forms with social media for clients.

Measurement by quantity, quality and influence. Shonali Burke, ABC, principal, Shonali Burke Consulting, discusses how measurement has and has not changed, and the most practical way to tackle it.

Personal Public Relations Branding, differentiating B2B public relations from B2C public relations, b2b companies leveraging content to promote and market and more are discussed with Award-winning PR and marketing communications executive Wendy Marx.

Taking Command Of Your Messaging and realizing that social technologies are a priority for public relations professionals. Meg and Brandy discuss a recent blog post on the subject and Brandy tells how this philosophy is being applied to WebmasterRadio.FM and the AffCon 2010 Conference.

JungleBuzz is A New Free Resource and Discovery Site for PR and Communications Professionals, and PRServiceBureau.com: On-Demand PR Services for Behind-The-Scenes Administrative Tasks, are introduced to us by Gina Milani, Founder of PRServiceBureau.com.

Brandy and Meg look into an Inc.com post entitled How to Bootstrap Your Public Relations They offer examples and analyze ways around hiring a PR specialist or outsourcing your publicity.

Dr. B.J. Fogg is the founder and director of the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University, where he also teaches Computer Science. Learn how Mass Interpersonal Persuasion can apply to your Public Relations efforts.

Meg recaps her visit to SES San Francisco 2010, plus Brandy and Meg discuss a recent AdAge article on How Social Media Is Helping Public-Relations Sector Not Just Survive, but Thrive, plus PRWeb lists the 25 Essential PR Bloggers You Should Be Reading.

Deidre Breakenridge, author, entrepreneur and President/Co-Founder of Mango! Marketing. discusses Creative PR and Social Media Policy with Meg.

Marc Harty, CEO of MainTopic Media, talks to Meg about The Visibility Economy: 5 New Marketing Truths To Attract Business and Build Lasting Authority and more.

Brandy and Meg have a conversation with Joy Scott, CEO of Scott Public Relations. Joy talks about her exciting new white paper The 7 Steps to Thought Leadership in 2010 – and Beyond. Listen in as they chat about the importance of thought leadership in your field.

Meg is joined by Riana Malia,, Head of Operations, North America for Catch Friday and Catch Friday Media. Riana is a successful entrepreneur and founder of Soiree Creative- an event and lifestyle experience firm, as well as one of the most sought after Lifestyle Coaches. Discover how a Virtual Personal Assistant can help your PR Efforts in this edition of Cover Story.

Steve Safran is senior vice president of Media 2.0 at Audience Research and Development, and editor of the Lost Remote Blog.He discusses a recent blog post entitled, How to be a good PR person – or PR client

Serengeti Communications Director of Social Media Li Evans discusses the release of the Social Media Marketing Book, plus a new social media strategy tool called Social Snap, a dashboard that gives organizations quick insights into the results of their Social Media marketing program in one place.

Vocus Vice President of Product Management Philip Braden tells us about the companys global expansion of their online news release distribution service by acquiring privately-held BDL Media Ltd., a provider of on-demand public relations software and services in China and expanding operations in Europe with addition of over 2,000 customers, a premium media database and media research facilities in France and Morocco.

Meg and Brandy preview the upcoming Thrive Online Web Seminar, an all-day online conference designed for the business owner and marketing professional focused on maximizing Web presence to drive business. We hear from scheduled speakers Anne Holland from WhichTestWon and Marketing Sherpa, and Chuck Hester from iContact.

CMO of Newsforce Dana Todd discusses the state of online news following her SES New York 2010 presentation on Real Time SEO panel, plus we hear a short preview of a preview of Adtech San Francisco 2010.

Network Solutions Social Media Swami Shashi Bellamkonda discusses the Social Media Results Uncovered in Small Business Success Index Study report that states facts like Social Media Adoption by U.S. Small Businesses has doubled since 2009.

David Meerman-Scott, author of World Wide Rave, Creating Triggers that Get Millions of People to Spread Your Ideas and Share Your Stories. David previews his SES New York 2010 keynote presentation, based on one of his best selling books, entitled The New Rules for Marketing and PR.

Society and Celebrity Publicist Shamin Abas, who runs her own Palm Beach, Florida based PR Agency, talks about the clients whom she has been able to optimize their exposure and reach to generate ROI.Shamin fills us in on her ongoing business relations with high profile clients like hip hop clothing and music mogul Russell Simmons and advertising guru Jordan Zimmerman.

Paul Chaney, aka the Social Media Handyman, is a social media marketing consultant, coach, speaker, and author of two books, Realty Blogging, and his latest, The Digital Handshake. He discusses strategies for building your business through social media.

PitchEngine CEO Jason Kintzler tell us how their Social Media News Release, PR Web Free Releases, Online PR Newsroom and PR 2.0 Social Media Template Tool connects PR pros, agencies, and media who want to engage and implement social media practices.

James E. Lukaszewski, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA, CCEP, chairman and president,The Lukaszewski Group Inc discusses Crisis and Reputation Management and how Social Media may not be the best solution to resolve these kinds of issues.

Jiyan welcomes Stuart Foster, Social Strategist at Mullen and founder of the Lost Jacket Blog, about some recent blog posts he posted on how Viral marketing does not exist unless your content actually goes viral, plus Why would you pitch a story when you could create your own.They also discuss influencer relations, convergence, social media influence in PR and more.

Vocus Managing Editor, Newspaper Content David Coates and Vocus Managing Editor, TV/Online/Blog/IRO Content Julie Holley elaborate on their white paper study on State of the Media 2010, which takes a look as new media business models and notes that content sharing trends are likely to continue in 2010. The White paper can downloaded at this link: http://www.vocus.com/resources/state-of-media/index.asp

Christine Perkett, President and Founder of Perkett PR discusses the Public Relations Trends for 2010 that she posted on SmallBizTrends. She describes how social media is enhancing PR and not hurting it plus how social media should be embraced more and how we should definitely advocate transparency.

Jody Turner is the founder of CultureofFuture.com, a premier connector of inspirational people and information, presenting at world events, gleaning and reporting back influential design and lifestyle trends to companies worldwide. Jody discusses Dynamic Strategic Trending and how her company was able to connect with such major brands on these trending studies and how these studies her company conducts help build the transparency and visibility of the brands that they study.

APR and Executive VP, Public Relations for Success Communications and PRSA Group Chair/CEO Michael Cherenson previews the PRSA 2009 International Conference. He also fills us in on a newly launched PRSA project called the Business Case for Public Relations.

Rita Tateel discusses Celebrities as Brands: How to Work With Celebrities and Talent; Where Celebrity Media and Culture Is Headed in 2010. Kathy Lewton and Steve Seekins on When a Recession Hits, Reputation Matters More Than Ever. Scott Beaudoin, Jaya K. Bohlmann and Jayne O’Donnell discuss A Focus on Social Values to Drive Business Results

Jenny Schade previews her PRSA 2009 Conference presentation on The Invincibles: Key Essentials for Bullet-Proofing Your Career and Mike Smith discusses his presentation on Barack Obama: A Case Study in Public Relations and the Citizens Campaign.

Brandy Shapiro-Babin interviews Deirdre Breakenridge who previews her PRSA 2009 International Conference presentation on Social Media and the PR Revolution: Its Not Just PR Anymore. Maria Reitan interviews Kyung Han and Rachelle Spero who preview their presentation on Sphere of Influence of Key Opinion Leaders in Health Care Social Media.

We get a PRSA 2009 International Conference Breakdown with Conference co-chair Marisa Valbona, APR,Fellow PRSA, president, CIM Incorporated. A breakdown of sessions, workshops and networking to come at the event coming to San Diego.

Bob Garfield previews his PRSA 2009 International Conference Keynote, which ask the question: Is traditional media falling apart before our eyes, and more importantly, are we prepared to pick up the pieces? He explores this topic in his latest book, The Chaos Scenario.

Shonali Burke previews her PRSA 2009 International Conference presentation on PR measurement and practical ways in which PR practitioners can apply measurement best practices to their programs and campaigns.Gayle Falkenthal and Joan Gladstone preview their presentation on Let’s Talk Business: Independent Practitioners Share Advice for New and Established PR Practices.

Nicole Jordan from the Rubicon Project discusses her work in the fast-paced world of high-tech PR in the Silicon Valley, and she gives her observations on the evolution of public relations.

We continue with our conversation with Kami Watson Huyse, APR to discuss her blog post on Communication Overtones on the top 10 risks for ignoring social media in your current PR strategy.

Kami Watson Huyse, APR is back to discuss her blog post on Communication Overtones on the top 10 risks for ignoring social media in your current PR strategy.

Michael J. Smith is an innovative communicator, has been elected to leadership positions in the technology marketing profession and helps clients think outside the box.He takes us inside the political side of public relations and introduces us to his new startup public affairs firm

Integrating Inbound and Outbound News Release Tactics (and How Social Media Fits Into the Mix) with PWR Media Managing Partner Malayna Williams.She weighs both points of Using inbound efforts to gain exposure for your news stories by optimizing your online coverage via search engine optimization and syndication across multiple Web portals (hoping journalists, bloggers and consumers find you), or using outbound efforts to reach targeted journalists and bloggers to draw attention to your story in an effort to garner traditional and online coverage.

PRSA New York Chapter President and Head of CKPR Deborah Radman discusses her background in corporate communications, crisis management, public affairs and both business-to-consumer and business-to-business marketing. She also discusses her work with the PRSA's Counselors Academy, an industry group comprising the senior most executives at the helm of major public relations firms in the U.S and the PRSA Jobcenter Mentorship Program.

Dana Willhoit, lead press release writer for the PressReleaseSite.com, and she tells us about her work as an award winning newspaper reporter with 17 years experience in the field and how print media has fallen to the digital surge.

Concluding our coverage of the 2009 PRSA Silver Anvil Awards, Brandy welcomes back the chair of the Silver Anvils Awards Committee, Jim Roop and the Chair of the PRSA Honors and Awards Committee, Joice Truban Curry. They're back to recount all of the happenings of this year's Silver Anvil Awards Ceremony.

Melanie Magara, the Assistant Vice President for Public Affairs at Northern Illinois University, discusses their Best of Silver Anvil crisis communications winning campaign regarding last year's tragic Northern Illinois University campus shooting.