| Date |
Topics |
Assignment |
Tuesday
Aug. 28
|
|
 | Assignment
(due 8/30)): Interview a fellow student (to be assigned in
class) and develop a 60-second introduction to present to the class
Thursday — along with a two- to three- paragraph written
introduction. Tell us what we need to know about this individual: Why
he/she chose to study PR, his/her educational and personal background,
his/her ideal career position, and any other interesting facts you
learn. (You may pick and choose among these points or add others. (The
format is wide open.
|
| Read: Wilcox chp 1,
"Preparing for Writing" |
|
Thursday
Aug. 30
The First Commandment
(PR edition)
|
| Today in class:
Mutual introductions
|
| Writing guidelines
|
| Six questions before you begin |
|
|
Tuesday
Sept. 4
|
| Persuasion: the toughest
job on earth
|
| Communications theories
|
| Introduction to team assignments &
projects |
|
| Team project (in
class): Develop a message and choose a medium for good
ol' SUD. Reports due in class 9/11.
|
| Team
organization: With your team,
choose and contact a nonprofit organization and gather baseline
information. You'll report on your choice briefly in class on Sept. 11
and be responsible for turning in a brief text (not outline) summary.
|
| NPO
baseline worksheet |
|
Thursday
Sept. 6
The
Second Commandment
|
|
Guest
(30 minutes): Kyle Richardson, AHA!
|
|
| Read: Wilcox 3: "Finding
& Generating News"
|
| Review:
AP style tips for PR writers
|
| Read:
10 Ways To Write Like a Pro ...
Fast |
| Interesting article
on the power of the right words (Pay special attention to the comment
on Toyota's "everyday" campaign.)
|
| Invitation: Fargo-Moorhead Ad Fed hosts
a free introductory meeting at 6 p.m. tonight at the Avalon Event
Center in downtown Fargo. You are all personally and specifically
invited!
|
|
Tuesday,
Sept. 11 |
| Class cancelled |
|
|
Thursday,
Sept. 13
The
Third Commandment
|
| 10 minutes for groups to wrap up SUD
exercise
|
| “Teachable Moments” — PR
in response to tragedy
|
| Due today:
Team reports on SUD recruitment exercise
|
| Today in class:
NPO baseline reports
|
| AP style review & exercise |
|
|
Tuesday,
Sept. 18
|
| Due today:
Report on 5 examples of PR activities in aftermath of terrorist
attacks
|
| News values
|
| In class: AP style exercise |
| |
|
|
Thursday,
Sept. 20 |
| Due today:
Reports on NPOs' experiences with the local media
|
| How to create news
|
|
| Read Wilcox 4: "Legal & Ethical
Guidelines" |
|
Tuesday
Sept 25 |
| Libel & slander
|
| Invasion of Privacy — why you need
photo releases
|
| Copyright & P.R.
|
| Trademark law |
|
| Individual assignment
(due 9/27): Complete the exercise on legal & ethical steps for SUD
materials. Summary will be turned in for credit.
|
| Read Wilcox 5: "The Values of News
Releases" |
|
Thursday
Sept. 27
The
Fourth Commandment
|
|
| Individual assignment
(due 10/02): Announcement news release on your assigned
classmate's dream job, using news release style and template.
|
| Check out this newsletter article on
honoring customer intelligence — discussing the differences between
media advertising (and PSAs) and the nature of the Internet. The
Adventive Report . You can also review and sign up for a variety
of free e-newsletters of interest at www.adventive.com |
|
Tuesday
Oct. 2 |
| Due today:
Announcement news releases
|
| Wilcox's and Carula's "news
release audit" rules (plus Nancy's addendum)
|
| Fact sheets, FAQs and media kits
|
| Distributing news releases |
|
| Team assignment
(due 10/09): Hard-news release for an event, new service or staff
appointment for your NPO.
|
| Read Wilcox 6: "The Feature
Story" |
|
Thursday
Oct. 4 |
| Feature releases
|
| Features for newspapers vs. trade pubs
vs. consumer mags vs. broadcast
|
| Custom releases "Special to the
___"
|
| Media kits |
|
| Resource links:
MSUM news bureau
NDSU news
bureau
Quark XPress media
center
Microsoft Great Plains press
releases
Polo (Ralph Lauren) media
relations
|
| Team assignment
(due 10/09): The pumpkin project. Develop feature story ideas for each
of the five specific audiences described on the assignment link.
Gather everyone's input into a single document to be discussed &
handed in.
|
| Read Wilcox 7: "Photos &
Graphics" |
|
Tuesday
Oct. 9
|
| Due today:
NPO news releases
|
| Due today:
Pumpkin project story proposals
|
| Preparing photos & graphics for media kits
|
| Editorial calendars
|
|
|
|
| Read Wilcox 8: "Pitch
Letters, Media Alerts, Press Kits & Op Ed"
|
| Read Wilcox 9: "Distribution"
|
| Team assignment
(due 10/16): Prepare a custom feature release on a person,
product, service or some other newsworthy aspect of your NPO for
release to The Forum. |
|
Thursday
Oct. 11 |
|
| Read Wilcox 9: "Radio, TV
and Webcasting," pp 225–255
|
| You could be doing PR for clients even
more bizarre than the mythical Pumpkin Growers. How about the
international museum of Spam?
|
| Team Assignment
(due 10/16): TV pitch/pitch letter for your NPO ... to be presented
(and turned in) next Tuesday.
|
|
Tuesday
Oct. 16 |
| Due today:
Feature release and media kit
|
| Today:
TV pitching (in class)
|
| Working with TV and radio news
departments
|
| Conducting news conferences
|
|
| Read Wilcox
11: "Working with the Media" |
|
Thursday
Oct. 18 |
No
class today. |
| Read Wilcox 9: "Radio, TV
and Webcasting," pp 255–256 |
|
Tuesday
Oct. 23 |
| Non-news promotional ops in broadcast
|
| PSAs |
|
| Team Assignment (due 10/25):
Prepare a PSA for your organization in three lengths — 10, 30 and 60
seconds. Be prepared to present the :30 in class on Thursday. |
|
Thursday
Oct. 25 |
| Due today:
PSAs, including :30 presented in class
|
| Review for Exam I |
|
| Review for test
on uncontrolled media. This is a **very** long page and may take
awhile to load. |
|
Tuesday
Oct. 30 |
| Exam I |
|
|
Thursday
Nov. 1 |
| Introduction to controlled
communications
|
| Diffusion Theory
|
| Audiences and voices |
|
| Read Wilcox 12,
Newsletters, E-zines and brochures
|
| Team
assignment: Collect samples of current print publications
from your NPO. Briefly analyze the image they project and their
apparent audiences. Summarize your conclusions for discussion in class
11/06 and in a one-page written report.
|
| Channels
of communication (relative effectiveness)
|
| Diffusion
theory of communication |
|
Tuesday
Nov. 6 |
| Due:
Reports & class discussion on publications and audiences
|
| Introduction to newsletters
|
| Newsletter varieties |
|
| Team
assignment: Produce a four-page newsletter for your
NPO ... **not** based on its current publication. This is an exercise
in fitting contents to target audiences, designing for the widest
possible readability, and using your creativity to accomplish both the
required purpose and perhaps to surprise the recipients. Every team
member must participate — and everyone's contribution needs to be
identified with that individual's initials. Read more on the
assignment page. Due Tuesday, 11/20. 15 points |
|
Thursday
Nov. 8 |
| Newsletters content patterns
|
| Matching production values to purpose
|
| The layer-cake approach to direct-mail
design
|
|
|
Tuesday
Nov. 13 |
| Working with printers: taking your Quark
to press
|
|
|
Thursday
Nov. 15 |
| Introduction to brochures
|
|
|
|
Nov. 20 & 22 |
Be thankful ... Thanksgiving break
|
Tuesday
Nov. 27 |
| Due today:
NPO newsletters
|
| Designing brochures that do the job |
|
| Team
assignment: Produce a single-page, three-panel
brochure for your
NPO. The brochure should be designed to serve one very clear purpose
(not “one size fits all”). It can use any combination of inks from
black to full color. Due Tuesday, 12/04. 15 points
|
| Resource information on brochures |
|
Thursday
Nov. 29 |
| Introduction to fund raising and PR
relationship
|
|
|
Tuesday
Dec. 4 |
| Due today:
brochures
|
| Direct mail |
|
| Team assignment:
Produce a five-part direct-mail fund-raising package for your NPO.
The brochure project may be used as the support piece. Assume that the
money is being raised in whatever time frame makes the most sense for
your group — for example, April or May could be best for a summer
recreation program. Due Tuesday, 12/11. 15 points |
| Read Wilcox 13,
World Wide Web |
|
Thursday
Dec. 6 |
| Beyond print: integrating the Web with
media coverage, print & face-to-face communications
|
|
| Team assignment:
Final project — Notebook with samples and recommendations plus oral
presentation on your NPO to be given in class 12/11. 25 points |
|
Tuesday
Dec. 11 |
| Due today:
DM 5-part packages
|
| Final team
reports in class
|
|
| Link
page — hyperlinks to review material for final exam |
|
Tuesday
Dec. 11 |
No class — study
day |
| Final
exam |
Section
1: Tuesday, Dec. 18 — 3 p.m.
Section 2: Tuesday, Dec. 18 — 5 p.m. |
|
Page last edited by Nancy
E. Hanson 10/17/02
|
