*Warning Spoiler Alert*

Although I was pleasantly surprised to see Whitney Thompson become the first plus-sized model to win ANTM; I couldn’t help but notice that public relations wise, the she was the better pick over her competitor Anya.

Whitney is student from Atlantic Beach, Florida, and she has spent her whole life battling stereotypes against full figured women. She proclaimed in the casting session that “I have hips and I have breasts and I am proud of that.”

Compare that to Anya, the Hawaiian native who seemed to do better overall in the competition, but came across as a ditsy blond with some sort of strange speech impediment. She had a great energy in her photos, but her TV commercial was pretty terrible.

As much as Producer Tyra Banks and her band of zany judges try to deny it, ANTM is about producing models that will appeal to the masses. Girls like Whitney are repeatedly chastised for being too “commercial,” and yet the prize is all about being commercial, and being the best role model. Girls are punished over and over for being “fake,” but every picture is taken in a ridiculously unrealistic situation and then retouched to the point where they look more like paintings than photographs. Whitney’s story is endearing and relatable and will make a perfect cover story for seventeen magazine.

With Dove’s Real Beauty campaign seeing huge success, it was the perfect timing for curvy Whitney to take the crown. Even Tyra herself has become a spokeswoman for healthy body image when appeared on the cover of People Magazine, after an unflattering picture appeared in the tabloids, with the caption “You Call This Fat?” Perhaps, after eight seasons of stick thin models winning, Tyra saw this as the perfect time jump on the “real women” band wagon.

What do you think? Does Whitney’s win change your perception of ANTM or the modeling industry?

The American Quarter Horse Association announced it is lowering the amount of points necessary to qualify for the Bayer Select, Bank of America Amateur and FedEx Open World Championship Shows, the three biggest competitions for the association. The decision comes after a trying first half of the year. The price of hay, grain, and shavings (the three basic ingredients for caring for a horse) have skyrocketed. With the addition of gas prices looming at around $4 a gallon, getting a horse to a show is more expensive then ever. Getting a horse from point A to point B requires a gas guzzling truck or SUV to pull a horse trailer. Generally speaking, a truck that gets around 12 miles a gallon normally will only get 8-10 while hauling horses, which means a lot more trips to the gas station.

Horse owners are stuck between a rock and a hard place because you have to feed and shelter the horse first, but once you get done with that the amount of money left to pay for horse shows is significantly smaller than it used to be. So what do you do? Not feed them? Unlikely.

AQHA President Ken Mumy had this to say: “In these days of increased prices for nearly everything, we want to serve our members in the best ways possible. With today’s rising fuel costs, exhibitors are feeling the pinch, and by lowering the points, our hope is that members will be able to qualify more economically. We always look forward to seeing the best competitors at the World Show and want to help people who are World Show bound.”

The AQHA reports that qualifiers are already up compared to 2007, which was also a tough year in terms of prices.

I think this is such a smart move on the AQHA’s part. It is so simple and yet I believe it will have a huge impact on the association’s image. It makes them seem more human, and in touch with what is happening in the world. The PR department is doing a good job communicating with its members, through website announcements, newsletters, and articles AQHA trade magazines, to assure them that while there is this problem of rising prices, the AQHA is going to stand by them and try to help.

While, I would imagine competitors who have the means to pay the huge entry fees to the world shows, which can range from $500-$4000 per class, probably don’t worry too much about the cost of gas, it is still a nice gesture for the association to make.

Last Tuesday I woke up very early caught the van up to the PRSSA’s Regional Activity “Northwest Networking: Hiking Towards PR Success.” As part of the activity, I toured Edelmen and Maxwell PR, attended a job fair, and listened to a great speaker, Kyle Warnick.

The whole trip was pretty fun, I got to hang out with a lot of people from the journalism school who I have had classes with, learned what the inside of a PR agency looks like, and talked with some people who actually work in some agencies.

I wanted to take the time to say thank you to one of the people who made the regional experience worthwhile: Taraneh Foster, general manager for Woloshin Communications. Taraneh was nice enough to spend almost an hour and half talking with Bryan Saxton and I when we were only suppose to have a half hour. She actually read our resumes and writing samples and gave good, helpful feedback. Unlike the woman who scoffed when I told her I wasn’t sure what a media list was, Taraneh seemed to be there to help future public relations students instead of simply searching for cheap labor. She gave tips on everything from what to put on our resumes, to where to get cheap business cards. She even encouraged us to send us revised copies of our resumes, so she could critique them. I really feel she went above and beyond the norm of what’s expected at a job fair, and just think that as students we should be so very grateful to have role models like her to look up to.

So here’s to you Taraneh, thanks for making the Portland Paddle a great experience, and I promise this blog post is not in lieu of a thank you card.

When I first learned about PROpenMic in class, I was absolutely fascinated. The site was created by Robert French, a professor at Auburn University, and is aimed at public relations students, faculty and practitioners. I think it is so cool that a social network can be so narrowly focussed towards one segment audience. I think part of what makes this site successful is the time and dedication that French puts into it. He comments on almost every member’s wall and actively participates in almost every discussion (although that might be getting harder since membership passed the 600 mark).

PROpenMic was created through a Web 2.0 site called Ning, which allows users to created their own social networks. I couldn’t help myself but create one of my own site. It’s called Equine Enthusiasts and it is a network for people who, ride, train, own, or are involved with the horse industry. I had originally named it Horse Space, but I decided I don’t want Tom, you know the “Tom,” suing me when my site gets to be as big as Myspace.

Launching Equine Enthusiasts has been a great exercise in networking. After I launched the site, I emailed everyone that I know who is involved with horses, which is about 30 people. I asked that each person check out the site and tell everyone they know who might be interested. I also posted a Myspace bulletin, and personally invited my horse-riding friends on Facebook. By about 11:30 p.m. last night, two hours after it began, I had four members. I considered this a victory in itself, because most of the horse-related networks on Ning only have one or two members. Following French’s example, I welcomed each member and tried to engage them in conversation by asking them a question or commenting on something they wrote in their profile. By early this evening, our membership was up to twenty-two. French must be an extremely busy man because I am already spending a lot more time on managing the site then I ever intended too, and I have only a fraction of the membership! Not to say that I’m not having fun, for I’ve met a lot of people who are interested in the same things I am, and have made a few good contacts with local barn owners.

If any of you out there are looking to practice your social networking skills, I would say starting a Ning social network is a great way to do it. The pages are easy to set up and manage. Plus, I bet it would be a good thing to put in an E portfolio because it demonstrates the following skills: leadership, management, technical and public relations.

Today, in class, we learned about the new social media release created by Todd Defren. The new template is useful for disseminating information to the media because it allows them to pick out which information they would like to use and leave what they don’t. The new release will be beneficial for companies because it will increase transparency and open the lines of communication between the organization and their audiences.

The template allows the public relations professional to post links to articles that relate to the topic. This helps with transparency because it shows that the company is not trying to hide anything. Our teacher, Tiffany Derville, pointed out that journalists are going to find out everything about your company anyway, so you might as well just make their job easier and put it all out in the open.

Another reason that the social media release will be useful for companies who are trying to reach a younger audience. Most young people don’t want read a text heavy document, the social media release allows viewers to get the information through different media such as video.

One of the best reasons to use a social media release is that is accessible to everyone, not just journalists. Companies can post the release on their website, and then anyone who does a simple search can find the information they need.

What do you all think of the new social media release?

I was interested in the Yahoo! Search Blog because of the recent swirl of controversy over Microsoft’s huge offer to buy Yahoo! I was expecting to read a blog that was boring and full of technical jargon that no normal person could understand.

I was pleasantly surprised, however, to find that the Yahoo! blog is easy to read and full of interesting updates for users. The posts contain pictures and clear, concise instructions on how to use features and how they can improve the Yahoo! experience. Many of the posts were about events that Yahoo! is hosting such as conferences with speakers, or trade shows they will be attending. I think that information would be appreciated by Yahoo! followers because might see that an event is being hosted in their area and decide to go.

Overall, I rate this blog: Good

On a scale of 1-10

Ease of Finding: 8 - The blog is pretty easy to find; when I typed in “Yahoo blog” into my Google Search - sorry Yahoo, but Google is my homepage - it came up third on the list. Not bad, I certainly didn’t have to search for it, but it seems like they could do some kind of search engine optimization to get it to be the first link that pops up.

Frequency: 4 - A little inconsistent. Some of the posts come about every other day and then they will just stop and there won’t be another post for around a month.

Engaging Writing: 9 - The writing is conversational and easy to read. Use of bullet points and graphics also makes the posts engaging to read.

Relevant: 9 - All of the posts are relevant to Yahoo readers.

Focused: 7 - The site is geared toward Yahoo! users and the posts are focused on topics casual Yahoo! users would find interesting. Perhaps they could include more posts for the technically knowledgeable.

Honest: 8 - The site seems to be very honest. The posts don’t come across as promotional or “fake.”

Interactive: 6 - The site is pretty interactive. Links take readers to other posts and users can make comments about the posts. Additionally, readers can add the posts to their del.icio.us and digg pages.

Responsive: 3 - It’s hard to determine, but I looked at some of the comment pages and Yahoo! does not seem to respond to the comments posted on the site.

Yahoo! Search Blog received a total of 54 out of a possible 80. Not too bad. Overall, I enjoyed reading the Yahoo! Search Blog and I would encourage frequent Yahoo! users to check it out!

A few weeks ago my BA 317 marketing professor was lecturing about what gets consumers attention these days. Companies are no longer finding success using traditional advertising and marketing techniques. Consumers have trained themselves to ignore more and more of the advertising messages they see on a daily basis. My professor says that these days, to get the attention of consumers, companies must send out unique messages.

This got me thinking about PR campaigns. If organizations have an interesting angle to promote, it is a lot easier to raise awareness. When something unique happens in an industry, people outside of that industry often take notice. For the United States Equestrian Federation that something is a horse named “Theodore O’Connor.”Standing at only 56 inches-tall, “Teddy” is a pony among horses, and yet he has rocked the sport of three-day eventing. The pony-and-rider’s equestrian discipline—eventing—is a three-phase competition when dressage, cross-country and show jumping are combined to test the pairing in a variety of skills. He, along with his rider, Karen O’Connor (no relation), first caught the worlds attention in 2007 after placing third at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, but it was their double gold medal winning performance at last year’s Pan American Games that solidified their place in history. In January, Teddy was awarded USEF’s Horse of the Year award, capping off a huge year for the little horse.

Teddy did for eventing what Seabiscut did for horse racing. His story is unique, and has sort of an “under-dog,” appeal. Stories about the “little horse who could” appeared all over the country including this one by the Washington Post, and this story by USA Today. All the media coverage succeeded it attracting a new audience to the sport of three-day-eventing.

As the 2008 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event kicked off earlier today, the world had their eyes on one small horse. It seems the world can’t wait to see what he has in store for us this year.

The American Quarter Horse Association - the largest equine breed registry in the world - made history last week by becoming the largest breed association to introduce association approved classes in “open” and 4H shows. This means that AQHA members can now receive points towards year-end award and incentive fund money while showing their horses at smaller, often less expensive, competitions. The AQHA is relaxing some of its current rules regarding the structure of approved horse shows to accommodate the change.

Before the change, competing as a novice rider in AQHA shows often meant showing against riders and horses at the very top of their game; people usually spend thousands of dollars on training and supplies to become the best. This new rule means everything to novice AQHA members, such as myself, who don’t have enough time or money to compete at the higher levels. 4H and open shows generally have smaller classes and more diverse competition. In other words, it levels the playing field so that beginning riders can get their feet wet in the world of horse shows without getting intimidated.

In terms of public relations, this was a genius move on the part of the AQHA, not only will the change increase show accessibility for current members, but also encourage new membership. AQHA has been a leader in creating new programs to educate and involve new members in the quarter horse shows.  Hopefully, other breed and horse show associations will be quick to follow in the AQHA’s footsteps.

As for me, my summer plans have certainly changed: I will be attending a lot more horse shows!

Here at the University of Oregon, it’s ASUO election time! Ok, so for most student, this doesn’t elicit much excitement. But, for me, the student government elections are quite entertaining. Students who looking to pad their resumes, join in a circus of campaigning, debating and shmoozing. Not to mention the killing of hundreds of trees to print those stupid flyers they force you to take. Their positions on campus issues are generally identical, and the whole campaign generally becomes wrapped up in ridiculous grievances and scandal. No wonder no one takes campus elections seriously.

Such is the case this year; however, the battle between Oregon Action Team’s Sam Dotters-Katz and Johnny Delashaw, and Rock the Yellow’s Kari Herinckx and Jesse Hough has brought up an issue worth debating: Oregon Student Public Interest Group. Dotters-Katz and Delashaw are promising to reduce the funding for OSPRIG, while Hough is an active member. According to the Oregon Daily Emerald, OSPRIG is set to receive almost $120,000 of student fees next year, and this year’s campaign has caused some students to wonder, “what’s all that money paying for?” Turns out, most of the money is used off campus to pay the salaries of OSPRIG researchers.

While the ODE’s articles decrying OSPRIG’s spending are not surprising, what is surprising is the lack of communication coming from OSPRIG itself. With so much to lose, wouldn’t it make sense for them to put a some of their money into a PR campaign that fosters understanding of OSPRIG purpose and accomplishments? As a PR student, I have been a little dumbfounded by the organization’s poor response to this issue. It seems like the least they could do is write up a little something about what OSPRIG has done for the university. By looking at the website, it is hard to see how any of the money has benefited our campus directly, so why should our student fees pay for it?

This issue has really highlighted the need for public relations because it is all about maintaining good relationships with your audience. OSPRIG certainly should have spent more time justifying their spending to the very people who are paying their bills: the students.

Technology is flying by faster than I ever imagined. Before I started taking Advanced Public Relations Writing with Tiffany Derville, I thought that blogging was just for teenagers who write about high school drama and prom date disasters. But after reading “Trust Media” study by Edelman and Intelliseek, and attending the PRSA luncheon with the class last Thursday, I realize that blogging is for everyone. People blog about all sorts of things whether it be a club they are involved in or their business.

I plan to use this blog to talk about public relations issues that are interesting to me. I am particularly interested in discussing public relations stunts and crisis management. I hope that by being able to write about real world PR issues, it will make the issues we learn in class all the more valuable.