Avoiding "ghost town" in media, views from the edge

 

@rcrissinger of @bumbershootPR "dropped in" Friday

@Okieprof

"Welcome to ghost town," said Rob Crissinger, UCO alum and vice president of BumbershootPR.
He was speaking to my Twitter for Media class on a return engagement, about what happens to your image and contacts if you don't tweet valuable content consistently.
I think he was talking to me, because I tweet seldom, usually when I'm teaching this class twice a year.
But the class, #clarkclass, has taken on a life of its own, and now in its eighth session, attracts alums using it consistently.
Crissinger was a non-traditional student, to say the least, but he's taken his varied interests, humor,  and found his perfect job, doing public relations and more for entertainment types in Oklahoma City for @BumbershootPR, an edgy, energetic "boutique" agency that breaks rules and builds success, not ghost towns.
And he seems to know everybody. @rcrissinger can rattle off 50 names, all with @ in front of them who you should follow if you want to stay in contact with as you move into communications positions after graduation.

@rcrissinger in #clarkclass

If you want more of his comments, tweeted by my students during his session, go to twitter and #clarkclass, and scroll down till you see them.
Yet for all the emphasis on digital media from Crissinger, he sees it as a tool for making connections as humans. His advice is always practical.
His advice on getting a job: "Go to things, take your phone and photos and hashtag it, so they get to know you."
I especially liked his comments on news releases: "News releases are not dead. Done  right, they're magic." "Learn to write." He relies on traditional media empowered by social media. 
Here are the student debriefing comments, recorded by @AshleyNapier21.

@rcrissinger debrief

• Don’t follow everyone who follows you, especially if you don’t care for them
• The easiest way to get a job is to go to things, it helps get your name out there
• Bring yourself out in your tweets, make them personal
• If someone gives you a shout-out, recognize that
• Don’t show your strategy
• If you are not constantly active on social media, you’ll lose your recognition
• Tweet a lot, but don’t tweet the same thing over and over
• Consistency is important
• Be subtle, especially if you are trying to network
• Reading is very important
• To tweet a lot or not to tweet a lot? People from different fields view it differently
• People can get recognized just by showing up
• Know something about the person who you are wanting to network with
• 80% personal tweets/20% business tweets- important rule to remember
• Even if you don’t want a job in PR, show up to PR events, you’ll get noticed
• He uses his social media to build people up
• He doesn’t appear to be an introvert
• Be interested and love what you are doing
• Keep people guessing
• He loves his job so much and is very passionate about it
• Bio’s start conversations
• He puts a lot of emphasis on writing news releases
• He uses traditional media and empowers it with social media to spread it around