Preston Parker, president of the Social Media Club of Cache Valley
Local Chapter of Social Media Club
Goals have been set, and the club is underway
Jan., 27, 2010
The Social Media Club of Cache Valley is a local chapter of a larger organization based in San Fransisco. Social Media has been a recent advent and includes internet websites such as Facebook.com, Twitter.com, and MySpace.com. The group meets every second Thursday at Borders to socialize with other club members and share ideas about how they can better utilize social media.
Preston Parker is president of the club, and is excited to see the local chapter take off.
"Social media is literally the wave of the future! I would encourage everyone to come on down and see what all this hype is about. You won't regret learning about this incredible new use of technology."
The Social Media Club of Cache Valley meet every second Thursday and invite all to attend free of charge.
Ty Mortensen
Director of Public Relations, tymorty@gmail.com
-END-
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
United Breaks Guitars!
I’ll start this out on somewhat of a philosophical principle: The endeavor of any company should be to deliver a quality product and leave the customer wanting more. That’s how things work in a free market economy. If you can’t deliver a service which the customer is satisfied with it will result in a lost customer. You will eventually go out of business.
United Airlines safely flew Dave Carroll, and his band Sons of Maxwell, from Halifax to Omaha. (With a layover in Chicago) Their checked luggage on the other hand didn’t receive such a safe delivery. United employees moving luggage were careless and damaged Carroll’s Taylor guitar ($3,500 in monetary value, more in sentimental). The band’s bass was also thrown and damaged.
Safe delivery of luggage is assumed by customers and airlines alike. United Airlines had no legitimate excuse for what happened.
According to Carroll’s first song, “United Breaks Guitars,” he tried for a year to get some kind of compensation for the damage done. The final answer was “No.”
United Airlines probably wouldn’t consider compensating a passenger $3,500 to be a feasible decision financially if they damage a great deal of luggage. So, it says something about the company’s luggage services that they wouldn’t offer any kind of compensation. Damage must occur frequently.
Obviously, United didn’t expect Carroll’s song and accompanying music video to take off like it did. With over 7 million views for the first song, and 800,000 on the second, the company has taken a huge hit.
Since all of this, United has finally stooped low enough to offer the Carroll the compensation which they’d been denying him for a year. As Carroll says in a YouTube statement “United has been in contact with me and they have generously, but late, offered some compensation and I’m grateful for that, but as I’ve said before, I’m not looking for compensation.”
Back to our philosophy talk; United Airlines was fully responsible for the damage of Carroll’s instrument. Regardless of the financial implications, they should have come clean with their mistake from the beginning. Only after significant damage had been done to their image did they seek to make amends.
Now onto Carroll… His tactics have proved to be hugely successful. As I’ve mentioned, he persistently tried to settled the dilemma with United Airlines. They continually said “no” even after he warned them about songs he would write about the incident. It all still ended up being fruitless. Carroll wrote the songs to prove a point and to poke a little fun at the situation.
Because of his campaign to make a statement and hopefully make a difference, Carroll and his band Sons of Maxwell have been featured on several television talk shows and their band has seen an increase in popularity. Using the vein of social media to get a message out became viral, and was a very wise move!
See video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo
United Airlines safely flew Dave Carroll, and his band Sons of Maxwell, from Halifax to Omaha. (With a layover in Chicago) Their checked luggage on the other hand didn’t receive such a safe delivery. United employees moving luggage were careless and damaged Carroll’s Taylor guitar ($3,500 in monetary value, more in sentimental). The band’s bass was also thrown and damaged.
Safe delivery of luggage is assumed by customers and airlines alike. United Airlines had no legitimate excuse for what happened.
According to Carroll’s first song, “United Breaks Guitars,” he tried for a year to get some kind of compensation for the damage done. The final answer was “No.”
United Airlines probably wouldn’t consider compensating a passenger $3,500 to be a feasible decision financially if they damage a great deal of luggage. So, it says something about the company’s luggage services that they wouldn’t offer any kind of compensation. Damage must occur frequently.
Obviously, United didn’t expect Carroll’s song and accompanying music video to take off like it did. With over 7 million views for the first song, and 800,000 on the second, the company has taken a huge hit.
Since all of this, United has finally stooped low enough to offer the Carroll the compensation which they’d been denying him for a year. As Carroll says in a YouTube statement “United has been in contact with me and they have generously, but late, offered some compensation and I’m grateful for that, but as I’ve said before, I’m not looking for compensation.”
Back to our philosophy talk; United Airlines was fully responsible for the damage of Carroll’s instrument. Regardless of the financial implications, they should have come clean with their mistake from the beginning. Only after significant damage had been done to their image did they seek to make amends.
Now onto Carroll… His tactics have proved to be hugely successful. As I’ve mentioned, he persistently tried to settled the dilemma with United Airlines. They continually said “no” even after he warned them about songs he would write about the incident. It all still ended up being fruitless. Carroll wrote the songs to prove a point and to poke a little fun at the situation.
Because of his campaign to make a statement and hopefully make a difference, Carroll and his band Sons of Maxwell have been featured on several television talk shows and their band has seen an increase in popularity. Using the vein of social media to get a message out became viral, and was a very wise move!
See video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
A letter to my dear Cousin, Delroy.
Delroy,
You asked about my major so I thought I'd give you a better idea about what PR is...
Public Relations - We're the people who supply information to the public on behalf of another entity. Public relations practitioners represent public figures, companies, and a whole slew of other kinds of organizations. Corporations, Nonprofit organizations, Actors, Athletes, Politicians, Schools, and Countries are just a few examples.
Tiger Woods has a whole team of PR people who were extremely busy last month when news about Woods' numerous extra-marital affairs surfaced in the media. Woods' didn't want to talk to the public about his shameful acts, but no matter. His PR staff probably had a better idea about what was going to have the smallest negative impact on his already poorly effected public image.
The Woods example serves as a nice segue into an explanation about the different roles in which PR professionals serve:
Crisis Management – During a time of crisis, a PR practitioner talks with media, the public, or whoever else is concerned with their representative. Messages are crafted about proposed solutions to the problem or whatever else will improve/lessen the damage done to the image of the body being represented.
Marketing – PR can be a very economic form or advertising via crafting press releases which are sent to news organizations, blogs, magazines, etc. These press releases can serve as the framework for a story or feature article used by a journalist or publisher.
Internal PR – Professionals who represent leaders in companies. This type of PR involves crafting messages within a company, from one group to another. Usually from the top down.
You asked about my major so I thought I'd give you a better idea about what PR is...
Public Relations - We're the people who supply information to the public on behalf of another entity. Public relations practitioners represent public figures, companies, and a whole slew of other kinds of organizations. Corporations, Nonprofit organizations, Actors, Athletes, Politicians, Schools, and Countries are just a few examples.
Tiger Woods has a whole team of PR people who were extremely busy last month when news about Woods' numerous extra-marital affairs surfaced in the media. Woods' didn't want to talk to the public about his shameful acts, but no matter. His PR staff probably had a better idea about what was going to have the smallest negative impact on his already poorly effected public image.
The Woods example serves as a nice segue into an explanation about the different roles in which PR professionals serve:
Crisis Management – During a time of crisis, a PR practitioner talks with media, the public, or whoever else is concerned with their representative. Messages are crafted about proposed solutions to the problem or whatever else will improve/lessen the damage done to the image of the body being represented.
Marketing – PR can be a very economic form or advertising via crafting press releases which are sent to news organizations, blogs, magazines, etc. These press releases can serve as the framework for a story or feature article used by a journalist or publisher.
Internal PR – Professionals who represent leaders in companies. This type of PR involves crafting messages within a company, from one group to another. Usually from the top down.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Bluegrass, Old-Time-Country, Folk, and a pinch of Rock n' Roll!
Last week I saw this incredible new local bluegrass group called Dry Lake Band. (named after Dry Lake in Sardine Canyon) They are probably the best local act I've seen; 4-part harmonies, banjo, mandolin, upright bass, and a fiddle!
I play bass for my friend Ben Hibshman's band, the Shuttles (Folk/Americana), and we're doing a show with Dry Lake Band along with another bluegrass girl-band called The Pretty Darns this Friday. Bluegrass, Old-Time-Country, Folk, and a pinch of Rock n' Roll.
If you like some twang or bluegrass, you should consider coming. If you can't make it it's no big deal, I just wanted to pass the word along. I think you guys would enjoy this music.
Here's a flyer I did, it should have all the information you need:
These groups appeal to a broad variety of people - Bring your friends and family!
$5 admission.
Date: Friday, January 15, 2010
Time: 8:00pm - 11:00pm
Location: Why Sound - 31 Federal Ave. Logan, UT
I play bass for my friend Ben Hibshman's band, the Shuttles (Folk/Americana), and we're doing a show with Dry Lake Band along with another bluegrass girl-band called The Pretty Darns this Friday. Bluegrass, Old-Time-Country, Folk, and a pinch of Rock n' Roll.
If you like some twang or bluegrass, you should consider coming. If you can't make it it's no big deal, I just wanted to pass the word along. I think you guys would enjoy this music.
Here's a flyer I did, it should have all the information you need:
These groups appeal to a broad variety of people - Bring your friends and family!
$5 admission.
Date: Friday, January 15, 2010
Time: 8:00pm - 11:00pm
Location: Why Sound - 31 Federal Ave. Logan, UT
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