MediaShift

You’ve probably heard the social media case studies about Comcast, Dell, and JetBlue. “They have all reinvigorated their brands using [Twitter],” said media consultant Ian Capstick. Their stories are told so often, they’ve nearly become social media case study clichés, he added. But here’s the rub: Lots of PR pros have trouble converting these Twitter case studies into their own success stories. “As it turns out, public relations thought-leaders suggest it's less about the tool itself and more about learning to adapt and adjust to the new medium,” Capstick wrote. He spoke with several of these thought-leaders and shared their lessons for using Twitter for PR.
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IARbuzz

Helpful reminders for the next time you work with video. For instance, here’s tip No. 5: “Use zoom to frame your shot before recording. This cuts down on zooming in and out, which can make your audience seasick, and it saves time while editing your video.”
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Mediaite

Have you heard about Donna Simpson? She’s a 600-pound New Jersey woman who’s all over cable news today. Why? She’s trying to gain 400 pounds! And she’s funding this diet with donations from her Web site. That’s right; people are paying to watch her eat. Cable news, says the Web site Mediaite, loves this story, because these networks are lazy. “Here’s a story with a light reporting load, but lots of eyeball-grabbing images and talking head fodder,” Mediaite’s Tommy Christopher wrote. Consider the Donna Simpson story — light reporting, lots of eyeball-grabbing images and talking head fodder — the next time you draft a pitch … to cable news, at least.
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PR Daily

During the next PR Daily webinar, David Pogue, the personal technology columnist for The New York Times, will explain how he wants to be pitched. At the end of the webinar, he will also take your questions — maybe one of his answers will help land your company or client in The Times. Related YouTube Watch David Pogue perform his song about the iPhone. This video was taken by an attendee at the #RaganCoke conference last month.
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PRBreakfastClub

You know all the books, blogs, gurus, and seminars that promise to help you master the work/life balance? “I say bulls*** to all of that,” PR pro Keith Trivitt blogged. “The constant chatter, articles, and blog posts claiming that ‘work-life balance’ no longer exists, or ‘to be successful, you must blend your life and your career,’ is a bunch of crap and needs to stop. It’s your decision, and it’s going to take a hell of a lot of trial and error to figure it all out, and that’s something that none of the so-called ‘experts’ in time management will ever be able to figure out for you.” What do you think?
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Ragan Career Center

Erie Insurance Group, a Fortune 1000 company in Erie, Pa., is looking for two senior communications consultants. Read more about this job.
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USA Today

Big news from the world of soda pop: On Tuesday, PepsiCo said it “plans to voluntarily remove high-calorie sweetened drinks from schools for kids up to age 18 in more than 200 countries by 2012,” reported USA Today. In 2006, Coke and Pepsi agreed to stop selling these drinks in U.S. schools. “Branding expert Jonathan Salem Baskin is skeptical of Pepsi's motives,” USA Today said. Baskin told the paper: “My heart and soul want me to believe this is a statement of principle. ... So how are we (Americans) supposed to show our appreciation to Pepsi? By doubling our consumption?” Coke has said it will stop selling sugary drinks to primary school students worldwide, but did not extend that promise to high schools. Related Village Voice Without soft drinks in schools, what will happen to the Pepsi Generation?
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Marketwire

The survey, by PR firm BackBay Communications, and Marketwire, found that 83 percent of financial journalists said the reputation of the financial services sector has dropped since last year, with 59 percent saying it declined significantly. The survey also noted that “54 percent of reporters [surveyed] rated the communications efforts of financial services firms ‘fair,’ while 21 percent said they were ‘good,’ 2 percent ‘excellent,’ and 21 percent ‘poor.’”
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MackCollier.com

A potential client asked social media consultant Mack Collier how much he would charge to create a Twitter feed with X number of followers and a Facebook page with X number of fans. That inspired him to write this blog post, a reminder of sorts. “Folks, this apparently needs to be repeated,” he blogged, “the number of fans/followers your social media presences has is meaningless … unless [your] followers either do business with you, or have some level of influence over the people that WILL do business with you, then they are all but worthless to you.”
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Chicago Tribune

If you fight the law — don’t tweet about it! “Law enforcement agents are following the rest of the Internet world into popular social-networking services, even going undercover with false online profiles to communicate with suspects and gather private information,” reports the Chicago Tribune.
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Reality Bites Back

The New York Times’ Peter S. Goodman analyzed the recruiting practices of many for-profit schools — practices that leave many students laden with debt and unable to find work. The story is useful for potential students and PR pros, wrote former journalist Steve Gosset. “Let's hope that some of the schools mentioned use the piece as a cautionary tale, not for how to do right by their students — although that would be a welcome byproduct — but how not to turn into a quivering mass of gelatin when a reporter calls.” He offered advice for the next time a reporter calls you.
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thoughtpick

For instance, speaking ill of your boss on a social media site — yeah, that will probably do it.
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New York Daily News

Marissa Shorenstein abruptly quit Wednesday, reports the New York Daily News. “She had been serving as acting communications director since Peter Kauffmann resigned in disgust on March 4,” Kenneth Lovett wrote for the Daily News. “Shorenstein, the fifth high-level administration official to bail in recent weeks, seemed to back up statements from those close to her that she was misled into making comments and taking other actions for the governor that weren't true.” Shorenstein, 30, earned $154,000 a year working for Paterson.
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Grammar Monkeys

Good thing you asked. Grammar Monkeys, a blog from The Wichita Eagle, has the answer. “Gerunds have only one form, and it looks exactly like the present participle — ending in ‘-ing,’” The Eagle’s Lisa McLendon wrote. “But you can tell a gerund is a gerund because it functions as a noun in the sentence. This means gerunds can be subjects or objects.”
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Mashable

Larry Charles, a writer for “Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (among other shows), is teaming up with Newsweek columnist, Dan Lyons, who authored the satirical blog, The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs, for a half-hour comedy series called “iCON.” “The series will take place in and poke fun at the Silicon Valley tech culture,” reports Mashable. Related PR Daily How to pitch Dan Lyons.
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Courier-Post

At a New Jersey Walmart on Sunday, someone made an announcement on the store’s P.A. system asking “all black people” to leave the store. Walmart is investigating the incident, which occurred around 7 p.m., according to the Courier-Post newspaper. Ashley Hardie, a corporate spokeswoman for Walmart, told the Courier-Post that the incident was “unacceptable to us and to our customers.”
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The Consumerist

Ever noticed that the only national newspaper sold at most Starbucks is The New York Times? That’s because in 2000 The Times made an exclusive deal with Starbucks. But no more — Starbucks will now sell USA Today, too. (None of this affects nonlicensed — or non-company-owned — Starbucks, the ones mostly found in airports and malls. They were exempted from The Times deal.)
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