October 29, 2008 • 12:56 pm
Whether you are a seasoned practitioner or a student currently studying public relations, chances are you have some opinion on spin.
This past Monday, Penelope Trunk, author of Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success, gave a speech at the 2008 PRSSA National Conference in Detroit in which she referenced spin. I cannot remember her exact quote, but it was along the lines of spin being at tool that all practitioners should know how to use.
Penelope Trunk never once said that spin was the tool of choice of pr practitioners, nor did she even allude to using it improperly. She just explained that at some point in a PR practitioner’s career, they will use spin.
What do you think? Do you agree?
To me, her statement echoed a couple of things I’ve heard and believe. The first being you shouldn’t surround yourself with people who only tell you things you want to hear. You need that difference of opinion to shed light on different ideas and to foster discussion. (There was an uncomfortable exchange between Penelope Trunk and the host of the event which triggered countless discussions of spin.)
The other thing I’ve come to realize is that spin isn’t necessarily bad. Spin can mean shedding light on good efforts during a bad situation. You don’t always have to think of spin as hiding the bad. It is possible to deal with bad situations without creating some sort of “cover-up.”
I’ve been taught that spin is bad. Don’t sping things, blah blah blah. But why? Why wouldn’t you use spin when the weather is right? It’s about time that people start thinking outside the box and seek out cases where spin was used positively. (This is like case study books–there are never failed cases in those textbooks. How about showing spin in a different light?)
I completely agree with Penelope Trunk. PR practitioners will use some form of spin during their career. It is up to them to decide how they will use it and to abide by the ethics of the profession.
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October 1, 2008 • 11:58 pm
The University of South Florida, like many other colleges and universities around the world, offers service learning courses to students to bridge the gap between classroom theory and real world application.
This form of instruction has become the focus of my Advanced Public Relations team’s campaign. We are researching the attitudes and behaviors of USF faculty who are engaged in service learning to develop a greater understanding of service learning’s impact on student’s education. We are also seeking out limitations and negative implications regarding service learning, along with the positives, to develop a strategic plan to promote service learning among USF Faculty and help them realize its mutual benefit to students and the surrounding community.
I want to reach out to anyone who has either taught a service learning course, taken one or both. I want to hear your thoughts on this and further understand the attitudes surrounding service learning. Is it good, bad, tedious, useless, anything?
This inquiry will not be included in our research study, but it is a way for me to gain knowledge on service learning and branch out from one public to get a larger perspective. Also, my Advanced PR class is a service learning course and I’m interested to see if your perspective matches mine.
That being said…Here’s how I feel about service learning as a student currently in a service learning course: It’s tough, time-consuming, aggrivating and stressful. It is also fun, exciting, beneficial and a great way to practice your core PR skills. I love the class structure and the amount of work involved, but I feel like I’m a minority on this issue. Any students feel the same way? Complete opposite?
This was a curious post to see if anyone had any thoughts on the issue and wanted to share. I’d love to hear from you!
FYI…
Listed below are some very general questions we are looking to have answered through our research.
What are your perceptions on this type of learning?
Is it a better structure for learning?
Any negative thoughts on service learning?
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Karen Russel from Teaching PR tagged me in the “Top 10 80’s Songs” meme and so I thought I would share my picks. I mixed it up a little and threw in some songs that I really like from the 80’s that others may not have (A.K.A. some country songs).
In no particular order:
- Don’t Close Your Eyes – Keith Whitley
- Summer of ‘69 – Bryan Adams
- Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns N Roses
- Here I Go Again - Whitesnake
- Jessie’s Girl – Rick Springfield
- Fishin’ in the Dark – Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
- Every Rose Has Its Thorn – Poison
- Africa – Toto
- Power of Love – Huey Lewis and the News
- Better Man – Clint Black
I had to leave some out, but these are worthy of my top 10.
Alisha Levin, Dris Stephen, Lara Kretler and Kelli Burns: What are your favorite songs of the 80’s?
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