Craigslist Praises PR

Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, spoke last month in Detroit about how he developed a simple Web site that grew to be a national phenomenon.

Craigslist began as a happy accident. Newmark described himself as a nerd that never intended to create anything of the magnitude the site has today.

He described changes in the PR field due to both technology and globalization. Truth and messages used to come from the top down, but now most information is distributed peer–to–peer. Students will have an advantage in the field if they are comfortable with that peer–to–peer interaction.

The Internet allows you to scale back campaign messages. Instead of reaching an audience of 10,000, it is now possible to reach 10 million. Newmark also said the world was changing and was no longer one of face–to–face interaction. He uses new media to say up–to–date on changes.

Newmark ended, strongly encouraging students with one request, “Get off my lawn and get out and vote.” Due to the past election’s turnout rates, it is safe to say they did. 

Living Legends and Social Media Savvy

Greeting everyone from D-Town, as it is affectionately called! 

The past few days have eye opening and the professional sessions have provided all five of us, along with the other 1,000 plus students, with great information! Yesterday morning we all attended “Meet the Living Legends of Public Relations” made up of a panel of four wonderful PR professionals with a long list of accomplishments behind each of them.   I know we’ve all gotten really great quotes and I hope that we will be able to share notes with everyone real soon.

Another cool session we got to attend feature Craig Newmark, founder and customer service representative of Craigslist, as the keynote speaker. A self-proclaimed nerd, Mr. Newmark compared his top 10 Internet company to a flea market. Weird, I know, but it actually does make sense! Both talk to people and while they are trying to buy or sell something it isn’t necessarily the main goal. Starting as an informal email between him and a dozen of his friends, determining what his community wanted and/or needed has turned in to a multi-million dollar business.

I just wanted to close with something that has become even more apparent to me while being at the PRSSA National Conference. I know Leslie already touched on the Social Media session we attended, but I just wanted to reiterate what stress has been placed on this form of communication in multiple sessions in the past three days. If you aren’t on Twitter and actively using it – change that now! I wasn’t a believer and now I can’t get enough of it! Many professional speakers are on Twitter along with their company! Get up-to-date with the current Web sites and applications. I promise you won’t be sorry! This is a quickly growing part of our industry and it’s part of our job to know what we’re talking about and doing. It just might help you land a great job out of college to jump-start your career. And if you are social media savvy then I would suggest getting in contact with Leslie and write a short article about one medium for the PRecedent!

Hope we are giving y’all good information and updates! Can’t wait to get back and share everything with everyone!

– Jillian Bowin