Users on Twitter started a weekly tradition that continues to gain strength -- "Follow Friday" where people recommend other Twitterers to their followers.
I visited former Cypress Mayor Tim Keenan or @tjkeenan on Twitter and Linda Keenan of Creative Media Recording for my first Follow Friday AudioBoo. The Keenans are one of my favorite people -- simply hands-down high-quality people.
I joined OCTA as its media relations manager in 2002 and Tim was the chairman of the board of directors. We worked on several high-profile news events and navigated through some sensitive issues that helped cement the organization's positive reputation.
Before sitting down for my official audio interview in a professional sound studio, I turned the tables on Tim and activated my AudioBoo app for my iPhone and interviewed Tim and Linda.
I want to share my heart-felt thanks to Tim and Linda for their constant support and infectious bright outlook on life.
A recent graduate of Cal State Long Beach and a current student talk about how social media has altered the journalism and public relations landscape.
May 5 -- Cal State Long Beach's Journalism Department hosted the 2010 Journalism Day: "What Friends Are For: How Social Media Are Revolutionizing News and Public Relations."
I shared my insights on the dynamic changes to both journalism and public relations and how students should optimize opportunities in social media.
Other panelists included representatives from major print, broadcast, online and public relations organizations, local, national and international. For more information about the event, click here.
Everyone counts. It's not a cliche for the U.S. Census Bureau because it's worth $400 billion in federal funding for local communities. Two student teams from Chapman University's public relations program were part of the nationwide effort to boost participation in the once-in-a-decade national count.
Under the counsel of their professor Joan Gladstone, a veteran crisis communications and issues management expert from Laguna Beach, both teams at Chapman won the highly coveted national mention honors.
The five-member teams worked on the Census case study that involved the four cornerstones of effective public relations -- research, plan, implementation and evaluation -- in the rigorous two-month Bateman campaign.
I was the professional adviser to the team that helped steer a PR campaign to increase participation in the Census among their peers at Chapman, Santa Ana City College students, Santa Ana residents and transit riders with a focus on the Latino community.
The other group, advised by former OCTA intern and community relations specialist Danielle Alvarez, a Chapman graduate who now works for Boost Mobile, honed in on Chapman students, the Vietnamese-American community and the homeless population.
As we listened to both teams' presentations Tuesday night (May 4), Danielle and I were struck by how polished and professional the students were and how brilliant they were in executing a highly strategic and creative campaign.
We agreed the competition brought out the best in all of us, but more importantly, it made a difference in the students' own lives and in the lives of the people they touched.
Ted Nguyen’s team:
Stephanie Baum
Candice DeForest
Janelle Maluenda
Jessica Pauletto
Courtney Shepard
Danielle Alvarez’ team:
Travis Culver
Maria Delano
Alyssa Mihm
Philia Pak
Amanda Vo
Click here for an iPhone interview with adviser Danielle Alvarez and PR student Janelle Maluenda.
Hear this iPhone Audioboo of one of the team's award-winning U.S. Census program.
Read more about the award from the Public Relations Society of America.
Visual communicator and social media practitioner Kristin Johnson and Orange County fire inspection official Michael Slocum wed April 30 surrounded by family and friends in a breath-taking ceremony.
At the beautiful setting of Rancho Las Lomas nestled at the foothills of Saddleback Mountain, TLC's film crew was on hand to document one of the centerpieces of any celebration -- the wedding cake.
Here is a short slideshow of the reality TV show's "Fabulous Cakes," with a sweet behind-the-scenes sampling of the celebration of the new Slocum family of Rancho Santa Margarita.
And please join me in congratulating the wonderful couple and offering a heart-felt toast -- to a delicious life!
Join me in welcoming Sarah Swensson's "Rail Safe Sarah" blog as she provides critically important information on rail safety.
Sarah led the charge for a pioneering effort to reach out to Orange County's diverse communities. She organized a news conference and community roundtable to highlight the importance of rail safety awareness and solicit ideas on how community leaders could help.
OCTA Chairman Jerry Amante and O.C. Supervisor Janet Nguyen joined more than 100 community leaders and 17 members of the news media in the dynamic discussion.
We want to especially thank Kim-Yen Huynh, president of the Asian American Business Women Association, and Bobby McDonald, president of the Orange County Presidents Council, for hosting the successful event and generating enthusiasm for spreading the rail safety message.
We have created this informational guide and online toolkit to share our thoughts and firsthand experiences using social media to help create greater public transparency, enhance public accountability and strengthen public engagement at the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA). Please feel free to use this social media guide in developing your organization's social media presence.
We'd love to hear your feedback. How is your organization using social media? What have you learned? Was this social media guide useful to you? What are some ways we can use social media to create greater transparency and public engagement?
Thursday, Jan. 28 could be the birth date for high-speed rail in America. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Bidden are announcing the award of $8 billion in federal stimulus funds to help make bullet trains a reality across the United States.
California is the top recipient of federal funds with the Anaheim to Los Angeles portion of the statewide system an early winner among the contested systems vying for the jobs-producing funds.
Our friends at the California High-Speed Rail Blog are reporting that the Golden State is receiving approximately $2.35 billion in federal passenger rail stimulus funds -- $2.25 billion of that goes directly to high-speed rail.
"California has made signicant investments in passenger rail that have led to remarkable ridership growth," a White House statement read. "Over 5.5 million people per year now ride on California’s three intercity corridors, making these routes the busiest in the U.S. after the Northeast Corridor." Check out this great map from the TransportPolitic blog of the winners in the race for stimulus dollars. California -- winning one-quarter -- is clearly the victor. But others winners of American Recovery and Reinvestment Funds:
Florida -- $1.25 billion to build a rail line connecting Tampa on the West Coast with Orlando in the middle of the state, eventually going south to Miami.
Illinois-Missouri -- $1.1 billion to improve a rail line between Chicago and St. Louis so that trains travel up to 110 mph.
Wisconsin -- $810 million to upgrade and refurbish train stations and install safety equipment on the Madison-to-Milwaukee leg of a line that stretches from Minneapolis to Chicago.
Washington-Oregon -- $590 million to upgrade a rail line from Seattle to Portland
North Carolina -- $520 million for projects that will increase top speeds to 90 mph on trains between Raleigh and Charlotte and double the number of round trips.
