communication – Page 112

HigherEdBlogCon: April 3-7

HigherEdBlogCon 2006, a weeklong online conference, got under way today with two virtual presentations about podcasting in the classroom:

Giving the Students What They Want, a 15-minute screencast about the pros and cons of screencasting and podcasting.
Legal Issues in Podcasting, a two-part PowerPoint presentation.

This virtual conference is geared mainly toward the academics interesting in Web 2.0 apps in the classroom. But a couple of sessions look promising for higher ed PR/marketing folks. The Tuesday, April 4, case study on how integrating blogs and Blackboard can improve a PR course (not yet posted), might be worth tuning in for.

Blogging and PR

PR blogger Robert French points out that the Florida PR association is hosting a blog week next month to promote the value of blogging to PR practitioners. Brilliant idea — and one that French himself has been involved in on a more global scale through Global PR Blog Week.

Alas, such events are rare indeed. So are PR organizations that use blogs as a means of connecting their members. As French points out, the FPRA is one of the few statewide public relations organizations with a blog. My own professional organization, the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), is still groping with this whole blogging thing, and precious few folks in academic PR or marketing are communicating through the blogosphere.

I’d love to see more PR practitioners blogging. What’s holding us back?