Welcome to the Intro to Public Relations Course Blog at St. Edward's University

This is the course blog for our class. As part of your participation in this class, you will be expected to actively contribute course material on this blog. The idea is to get you to engage the course material critically and to have you keep your eyes open for interesting PR efforts to share with the class. I want you to become an active learner and to start being on the lookout for material to incorporate into the class instead of relying on me, as the instructor, to tell you what is important.

Throughout the semester, you will be required to identify 4 examples of current PR practice which illustrate a concept discussed in class and examine them by applying key course concepts. Your analysis should pertain to the most recent course material covered. For this assignment, no duplicate examples will be allowed. If someone already posted on your example, you will need to find another one.

Due dates:
It doesn’t matter what day you post your examples & analysis, as long as you follow this schedule:
1. The first example/analysis is due between 01/15-01/31.
2. The second example/analysis is due between 02/01-02/21.
3. The third example/analysis is due between 02/22-03/20.
4. The fourth example/analysis is due between 03/21-04/10.
Please note that you cannot simply wait until the end of the semester and add 4 posts at once. You will only receive credit if your posts follow the schedule listed above.

The Assignment:
1. Start your post with an appropriate title. Make sure the title describes the PR effort or identifies the key players.
2. Throughout your post, link to additional information, news releases, key websites, or anything else of importance to your example.
3. Briefly describe the example by answering the who, what, when, where, and why. You don’t need to spend more than 2-3 sentences on this part.
4. Indicate what concept you are illustrating with this example (i.e. effective crisis management, strategic planning, etc.)
5. Analyze the example by applying course concepts and evaluating their effectiveness. In other words, make an argument that these concepts were employed well or poorly, back up your position, and explain what could have been done better. The point of the analysis is to show that you understand key course concepts and that you can apply them to real life examples.

Happy blogging!