Welcome Tulane Internet PR Students – Sign In Here
I've invited the students in the Tulane class I teach in Internet Public Relations to come onto the blog and contribute while class is in session. I hope they'll comment in here to introduce themselves. Part of the class grade is determined by participation: here on the blog, on the Friday Skype chats that start February first, and in class. Some people shine online and we can all learn from them.
The classroom Tulane provides this term has fifteen PC terminals, all running Vista, and a teacher's workstation PC, also on Vista. I can toggle from the workstation to my MacBook running OSX using a dongle (pardon me).
Too late into the class, I asked the students, one by one, to come up and Google themselves on the PC projected on the wall. Interesting way to get to meet people — and for them to see how they look to folks in the outside world. Every student has a different style of working the web. When you watch them demonstrate, you learn something.
So I hope my students will pipe up in the coming weeks and teach us a thing or two about online PR and we'll try to return the favor.
Steve O'Keefe
Adjunct Professor
Internet Public Relations
Tulane University
I am a senior with a major in Public Relations and a minor in media arts. My company for campaign is HRI. HRI offers creative ways of real estate development to cities that are becoming blighted. Products that are offered are packaged in condominiums, town homes, and hotels.
These products are offered to large companies and individuals. Example of these products are American Can company apts, River Garden, and Mills Row.
Hey I am Ashley Kwiatkowski, a senior at Tulane. My major is Public Relations. My campaign is promoting a green club at Dominican High School. This club will deal with environmental issues and will get the students involved to help out the environment. My goal is to start this club at Dominican and have it spread to all the Catholic High Schools in New Orleans. I think that internet PR is a great way to get the high school people involved and get the word out. Now more then ever this age of kids are on the web making this the perfect tool to promote this green club.
Hi, my name is Megan and I am a junior here at Tulane University. My major is Digital Design with a double minor in Business and Public Relations. I am from just north of Houston, Texas. I also play on the Women's Basketball team here. After I graduate I hope to get my MBA from Tulane's Freeman School of Business. From there, I hope that I can find a career where I am happy and successful!
I am a senior and I am majoring in Communications and minoring in Public Relations. I am from Bath County, Virginia. Currently, I am interning at the New Orleans CVB in their Communications and PR department. I am also applying to VCU for their strategic PR Masters program and madly searching for PR jobs in the Richmond area. I am doing my Internet Campaign on Mignon Faget by designing a hypothetical jewelry line targeted to boost Mignon Faget's national and global sales.
Greetings classmates!
I am a PR pro working at Deveney Communication and represent clients such as Starbucks, the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism (CRT), the Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Planet Beach and the New Orleans Museum of Art. My project will be focusing on a new client of mine, M.S. Rau, the largest art and antiques gallery in North America located on Royal St. in the French Quarter. I will be using the Internet to publicize their various pieces to a national audience of high-end/luxury connoisseurs. I previously worked at another agency in town before relocating to Boston post-Katrina. There I worked with such clients as the U.S. Department of Defense, Olympus Fashion Week, Stanley Tools and the state of Massachusetts.
Looking forward to getting to know you all,
Joel Mandina
My name is Lisa Fedele, and I am a Senior Communication Strategist at Deveney Communication.
In my role at Deveney Communication, I specialize in strategic planning and project management. I am also responsible for overseeing Internet development and new media projects. Currently, I concentrate my efforts on projects for the LSU Healthcare Services Division, the Louisiana Office of Tourism, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse and the Touro Joint Replacement Center.
Prior to joining the Deveney team, I was a consultant in education marketing and communication working for well-known entities such as Columbia University.
Before my consulting experience, I owned Vi-Comm, a visual communication firm that specialized in new media technologies.
This semester, I will be developing an online campaign focusing on the Grand Opening Celebration for Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse New Orleans.
Hi, my name is Lindsay Glatz and I am the last of the Deveney Communication team currently in the Online Publicity Class to blog. I am also our associates and summer scholar coordinator, meaning I am the person to contact if you are interested in an internship with firm.
I started with Deveney Communication as an associate in January 2005 and following Katrina I was one of our four-person PR team managing crisis communications for New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Louisiana Office of Tourism in the French Quarter. As an intern I was talking on behalf of our clients to media giants like CNN, NBC, USA Today and all the major networks and international outlets covering the story.
Our associates have managed major campaigns for us with clients like Wal-Mart, W Hotels, New Orleans Museum of Art and Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. Any students interested in our internship program should check out site http://www.deveney.com/about/associates.asp or send their resume to me at lglatz@deveney.com
I currently represent Planet Beach Franchising Corporation and will be building a campaign around the launch of their new Planet Beach Nutrition Program. Planet Beach is the creator of the Contempo Spa concept, a new hybrid of the UV services and day spa treatments which provide overall wellness and skin rejuvenation.
The company currently has over 380 worldwide locations and is experiencing rapid growth. With a corporate office based in Marerro, La. the company is bringing this New Orleans lifestyle brand to communities across the globe.
Planet Beach recently launched a new website and currently in the beta testing phase for their new Nutrition Program. Planet Beach Nutrition is a comprehensive skin wellness, weight control and detoxification program that is designed to complement the Planet Beach Contempo Spa Experience. This program offers a full line of nutritional supplements, nutritional meal shakes, holistic skincare products, a body contouring kit and E-Boost, a vitamin power pack for people on the go. The launch of this program will also include an Online Wellness Portal to access meal plans, track results and correspond with a personal wellness coach.
I will be promoting the Nutrition Line nationally with a focus on the 36 markets included in the beta test.
Hey everyone!!
My name is Henry Rodriguez and I am a Junior at Tulane. I am from St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana and working on my major in Public Relations with a minor in Journalism.
My campaign is promoting a compilation album put together by Say Yes Studio. The album is composed by local artists/bands who have recorded at Say Yes and are showing everyone that the music scene is still very much alive after Katrina.
Hi. My name is Holly Kirby and I am a Junior at Tulane. I am majoring in Media Arts and PR and minoring in Marketing.
I have chosen to work on a campaign for a friend of mine that has just started up an event planning company. It is called ETC – Event Planning and it is based in Bay St. Louis, MS. I have chosen this company so I can hopefully ultimately help out a friend get her company off the ground!
Hello, my name is Whitney Plaeger, and I am a senior at Tulane. I will be graduating this May (hopefully if all goes well,) and in the midst of applynig for PR jobs on the west coast (mostly California and Washington areas). I am a Public Relations/Psychology double major with a minor in English, hoping that out of all that education, a job awaits for me. I am a native New Orleanian and looking forward to Mardi Gras and parade time! Well, that about sums it up for me at this time. By the way, this blog if being written during class break, NOT during lecture (Just in case Professor is documenting the times on these blogs.)
My name is Edgar Lane I'am a senior majoring in PR/MRK. I look forward to this semester to learn everthing I can and apply all my knowledge to go out into the world fully prepared.
The company I chose was Entergy New Orleans and I will focus on redevelopment and emergency issues. My goal is create stronger community ties and education about hurricane safety.
Welcome to the blog. For your campaign, I recommend you consider how to use the Internet to court government rehab contracts on the funding side. I imagine your firm gets contracts from governments more than private sector funds. How can you influence those deals using the Internet?
On the selling side, you might look at ways to use the Internet to vend the units, not to consumers, but to real estate professionals including brokers, agents, insurance companies, mortgage companies, title insurance companies, etc. This will likely lead to greater unit sales than vending them directly to home buyers and individual investors.
Welcome to the blog, Ashley. Your project has an interesting combination of being very local (a high school club) and very global (the Internet). How can Dominican High School students use the Internet to grow their club?
Look for ways to use the Internet to communicate internally among club members and also to conduct one PR campaign to bring the club to the attention of others online. That campaign might be built around an event or activity that club tries to organize.
Welcome, Megan. Sounds like you are accustomed to reaching for heights. Please tell us a little about the portfolio company you're building a campaign around.
A successful career is usually fashioned, not found.
Welcome MG. Is “New Orleans CVB” the Convention and Visitors Bureau? I have a brother, Kelly O'Keefe, who teaches at the VCU Adcenter in Richmond. You might contact him but, fair warning, he's going to ask me how you're doing in class.
You campaign seeks to take a local Jewelry manufacturer, designer, and retailer and take the line global. But growing too fast has killed as many companies as growing too slowly. There is no way MF can handle the capital required to become a national retailer. On a retail level, a regional expansion is called for before anything more ambitious.
However, the Internet makes every brand global, so there is a way to tap an international audience and project the MF brand globally. Is there a way to systematically increase the number of images online that show celebrities wearing MF jewelry?
Wow, Lisa, we are privileged to have not only a working PR pro but also an entrepreneur in new media in our midst. Thank you for contributing.
I imagine that's a grand REopening celebration for Ruth Chris, since she started the chain here in New Orleans — is that correct? The founder of the steakhouse chain recently passed away. Who is the new face of Ruth Chris to the public?
“As an intern I was talking on behalf of our clients to media giants like CNN, NBC, USA Today and all the major networks and international outlets covering the story.”
Wow, heady work for an intern. It was all hands on deck in those days and I'm glad to know you were there on the ship pulling with the rest of us. PR is no longer about “saying,” it's about *doing*. Well done.
We are lucky to have the corporate headquarters of a 380-branch franchise here in the New Orleans metropolitan area, where there are so few Fortune 500 companies. Hopefully, you'll come up with a strong campaign that helps them stay here and prosper!
Consider the ways the Internet can be use to sell the Planet Beach story to potential franchisees, not just consumers looking for spa therapy.
Henry, welcome. St. Bernard Parish was one of the hardest hit areas in the Gulf region and I'm honored to have a Chalmation in my class!
Look for some theme that's about saying yes. Saying yes to what? In class, we discussed the difficulty of using MP3s to promote the studio because the sound quality of MP3s doesn't reflect the important nuances of a studio. Look for ways to share the quality of the sound by offering CDs rather than MP3s.
Whitney — caught you! Just kidding. Welcome.
Jobs don't usually await people — you have to dig for them or sometimes, even, create them. Good luck.
Please tell us something about your portfolio organization.
Edgar, welcome.
Entergy New Orleans is the local affiliate of the Entergy Corporation which operates throughout the Southeast U.S. If I recall, Entergy New Orleans declared bankruptcy after Katrina and is still operating out of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Is that correct? That's going to be an interesting PR issue for you to deal with in your campaign.
It will be interesting to see what you can do to use the Internet to burnish the image of Entergy among residents, government agencies, and even Entergy's own employees.
Joel, welcome. It's nice to have a working pro on the team. Thanks for contributing.
Deveney Communication is a leader in the online PR in the New Orleans area. John Deveney, the firm's CEO, was co-chair for the PRSA Annual Conference here recently, which is a lot of responsibility. I've had several Deveney employees as students because John believes in training.
Doing PR for Rau Antiques online sounds like a fun campaign. I'd be curious to know how you will spin the fact that Louisiana state law has resulted in some strange rulings concerning auctions. Any web auctioneer from this state will have to deal with that issue. It's a fascinating PR challenge for you. Is there a way you can change perceptions with your campaign?
Hooly, welcome.
There are challenges in work for a small local operation. Most don't have well developed web sites or advanced technology to compete online. But it can be done. Internet PR offers great benefits to those who have to compete with their wits more than money. I look forward to seeing what you can do.
Yes, RCSH is a New Orleans born brand. The New Orleans location was damaged by Katrina and did not reopen.
Ruth died in 2002. The company is currently public and is headed by CEO Craig Miller.
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