Book Club: Putting the Public Back in Public Relations

After publishing Putting the Public Back in Public Relations with Deirdre Breakenridge, one of the greatest rewards was the ability to connect with wonderful people all over the world who are facing extraordinary challenges while also accomplishing amazing things.

I’ve learned first-hand from their experiences, obstructions, struggles and resulting triumphs in almost every industry imaginable. In turn, I shared my journey and escapades to offer outside perspective and ideas to help trigger new opportunities.

As these exchanges continued to surmount, I realized, the common thread tying each instance together was the book. Every company I would speak to initially purchased books for their PR, service, marketing, interactive, digital, and social media teams to read, discuss, and then hopefully innovate inside. In turn, representatives from many organizations  took the initiative to ask for a call, Web chat or in-person visit to discuss the book and also take the time to answer questions from the team.

What unfolded was an online and offline book club that connected ideas, questions, and guidance.

I would like to extend the same opportunity to your company or school.

If you purchase books for your team, please let me know if you’d like to host a book club chat where we can discuss the lessons, examples, concerns, and thoughts contained in the book or those that stemmed from reading it. Or, if your class is reading the book this semester or next, let’s arrange a virtual visit.

In most cases, we hosted a video discussion via Skype to save on travel fees and time. We simply organized the book club team in a conference room with a notebook and webcam one side and me with a notebook and camera on the other. Seamless and effective…

Some of the companies that have hosted Book Clubs to date include:

- Facebook
- Southwest Airlines
- Home Depot
- Wynn
- Forrester Research
- GM
- San Francisco University

Please reach out and let’s explore the possibilities of hosting a live chat.

I would also like to take a moment to thank Lara McCulloch. She created and hosted the first Twitter-based book club series, discussing a chapter online every week. Thank you Lara. And also, thank you to everyone who helped organize a book club in the past.

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  • http://twitter.com/jbaird4 jbaird4

    I am in the process of reading this book. I am a college student and I feel a lot of what I am learning in my classes is the old PR; news releases, pitching, looking at old case studies, etc. I understand some of what I learned or am learning is important, but I just wish my professors were teaching what is presented in this book It's so interesting and relevant, but it's disappointing to know that I'm learning much more from this book alone than I've learned from 3 years of studying PR at a university. I wish I was reading this with my class and professor so we could have an opportunity to do a video discussion, but for now I guess I'll just keep myself up to date.

  • hosseinemami

    hi, my name is Hossein Emami. I am mass communication PhD student in Iran. 2 days ago,
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    • http://www.briansolis.com briansolis

      Hossein, thank you very much. I hope your speech was well received!

  • http://twitter.com/sharisax Shari Weiss

    Brian, I feel very fortunate to have had you as a speaker for my PR classes at San Francisco State. Your exciting view of the new world of business communication really invigorated our studies of the New Rules for PR.

    In addition, I was able to lead a few of the book club discussions for Lara's group. Not only did I have an opportunity to share insights with some great people, but I made friends with them as well. Here is an archive of our discussion: http://smbookclub.pbworks.com/Archive-Sept-15%2…

    Good luck with future discussions.
    Shari Weiss

    • http://www.briansolis.com briansolis

      Shari, thank you for the opportunity. Meeting you and now collaborating with you is a pleasure!

  • http://www.drewhslater.com/ Drew Slater

    I am almost done reading you book for class at USF and I have also been blogging about it. The information in the book is awesome!

    • http://www.briansolis.com briansolis

      Thank you Drew. Do you have a link to the blog handy? Cheers!

  • carolehagen

    I finished reading this just last week and would say that anyone looking to effectively reach their audience and use social media Web 2.0 should want to fully digest your social news release info. Well done.

    • http://www.briansolis.com briansolis

      Thank you Carole…

  • http://twitter.com/dawnarteaga Dawn Arteaga

    Thanks Brian, I just finished your book and it inspired me to come up with my top ten list of ways to FAIL at PR 2.0. I hope you like it: http://dawnarteaga.com/?p=370

    I think it's so ironic that as we get more and more wired, the real key to successful public relations is making sure everyone knows you are human. Do you agree?

    • http://www.briansolis.com briansolis

      Dawn, thank you. That's a great post…I bookmarked it!

    • http://twitter.com/dawnarteaga Dawn Arteaga

      Thanks Brian, I appreciate it!

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  • http://twitter.com/RalfsVilands1 Ralfs Vīlands

    Book is great. English is not my mother language but it took 64 hours to reed it. Inspirational!

  • http://twitter.com/RalfsVilands1 Ralfs Vīlands

    Book is great. English is not my mother language but it took 64 hours to reed it. Inspirational!

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  • http://www.methods2earn.com Vijayraj Reddy

    i already have the book and its awesome…

  • lauren.vella.

    Hi Brian. As we all know, social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Linked In have allowed us PR people to connect with our public on so many different levels. We all saw how “MySpace” was “phased out” if you will and made into a site for music sharing for up-and-coming artists. Do you see this happening with sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Linked In? If so, what do you foresee as the next best thing in social media and PR? Is Facebook, Twitter, etc. here to stay…for good, in your opinion?

    • http://www.briansolis.com/ briansolis

       Myspace is what it is because it stopped competing for relevance. Very important to recognize in studying the social media landscape…

    • lauren.vella.

      That’s a great point. Do you see Facebook or Twitter eventually doing the same thing? Thanks for your reply.

    • http://www.briansolis.com/ briansolis

       Not any time soon….because they are competing for relevance.

    • Meghan Sears

      When competing for relevance, what steps should a social media site take?

    • Anonymous

      Very interesting dialogue!  Most are aware of Myspace when it was the “one and only” in terms of social media.  Brian your feedback on Myspace no longer competing for relevancy was a great point.  I pondered on that thought, along with the implications on Facebook and Twitter to remain “dominance” if you will!  Just another reason why understanding the concepts discussed in your book are important!

    • Bea Preece

      As an organization, they spruced up the services offered through the site, added a line of broadcast products and changed their graphical interface. Nonetheless, the issues with their browsing platform constantly crashing made people walk away from it when there was a product that was servicing them better. The brand was made irrelevant by its competitors, such as Facebook and even Google+. After they lost their followers, they did not seem to be able to bring back what the new users of social networks wanted and their new innovations in their application became unpopular. I happen to think that Facebook’s new Timeline looks very much like My Space used to look.

    • http://www.notarypublicealing.com/ Notary Public Ealing

      The fact you are saying about the timeline is really true. I agreed..

  • Charlotte Johnson

    HI Brian. Our PR Campaigns class had to read this book as part of our curriculum. I think is was the most interesting and useful book I’ve had to read…given by a professor anyway. I really enjoyed Chapter 8 where you discuss “humanizing the process of writing releases.” I suppose it is a no-brainer that we are supposed to direct releases at people, but the way you wrote it, “humanize,” has made it easier to do. So thanks for that. Also, I am wondering if you have any further tips for staying away from the “forbidden words?”

    • http://www.briansolis.com/ briansolis

       Hi Charlotte, thank you for reading the book and for leaving a comment. I’ve several posts on it here if you search “news release” and “press release.” They should help!

  • Meghan Sears

    Hi Brian. My name is Meghan Sears and I am in the University of Michigan-Dearborn’s Public Relations Campaigns class as well. I agree with Charlotte in saying that your book was incredible and one of the most interesting reads i’ve had in college. After creating my twitter page, @MeghanBSears, I posted about your book in one of my first tweets. I posted “Whereas content was king in Web 1.0, conversations and community and participation therein are “the new black.” This was one of my favorite quotes in the book. It speaks so much to where public relations is going now and was the main topic of the book. I think that all public relations professionals and students should read this book. A question I received yesterday at an interview was “Do you believe social media has longevity or is just a trend?” Of course, the book speaks about how social media is helping to bring the public back to public relations and that is one of the reasons that makes the social media revolution so great. How would you respond to this question?

    • http://www.briansolis.com/ briansolis

      Hello Meghan! Regardless of the networks, technology is just a way of life. Social networking is now like a phone…it’s how you stay connected. It’s how you communicate. Social media isn’t going away just like the phone isn’t going away. They “will” evolve however. :)

  • Bea Preece

    Your book is being used in my PR class at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Prior to chosing communications, I was an anthropology major, so when I read your book I was curious to see how much it would deal with culture and society. It is a fantastic book.  PR in association with sociology and other social sciences needs to be in the middles of this knowledge created by the technologies of the Internet and digital media that are used to support the agency within the political and economic context; to form a good idea about the type of freedom the new media represents and how this link creates a value system in which every culture meaning created everywhere will be equated with the people who use it, the digital world, its financial mechanisms, and its political views.

  • Tanya0607

    I was assigned reading for this book in my Public Relations Campaigns class and I must say I’ll be keeping it for future reference. The book is a great introduction to aspiring PR professionals and gives insghts on various factors that play a part in the PR world such as how to stay up to date with the everlasting changes of the field, and how social and television media affect PR and the outcomes of a campaign. It’s so important for professionals to get familiar with social media and how the world uses it and is affected by it because it helps build relationships and relatinships bring success. Crisis management and the different stages of PR were insightful and very much a reality of the Public Relations world.

    • Anonymous

      I agree with Tanya!  This book is a must read for PR professionals.  The importance of navigating and being aware of the changes and new concepts in the PR world is vital.  I think it can help those new to the PR world as well as experienced individuals not accustomed to using social media in their PR duties.

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    Now days maintain public relations becomes very easy with the helpful social media like Facebook and all. We can make a network of people and by daily updates we can be in touch with each other…

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  • Anonymous

    Your book was assigned as part of my course for a class I’m taking at University of Michigan-Dearborn.  This book has now made it’s way into my personal collections of book/texts.  You did an excellent job of speaking on/about the implications on PR in the modern world.  Especially, the implications due to the use of ever changing technology and social media sites.  As a college student and user of social media I found Part II and Part III of particular interest! The portions that focused on the following: Facilitating Conversations: New Tools and Techniques and Participating in Social Media.  I found your novel to address modern ideas in a way previously unaddressed by texts normally assigned.

  • http://www.facebook.com/myriea.amaya Myriea Minuit Amaya

    Hi, 

  • http://www.facebook.com/myriea.amaya Myriea Minuit Amaya

    Hi, I really liked Chapter 4 Traditional vs. New Journalism. It really captured the evolution in journalism and the role of citizen journalists today. The uploading of pictures, videos, and comments on social media have truly changed the world of journalism. The power given to citizens is incredible, giving firsthand accounts of events worldwide as you stated. I think it is important that this was recognized, because our generation influences  stories through “individual voices” through this new breed of media networks. Social media has given society a way to tell others their thoughts and experiences, worldwide. Bloggers truly do have an influence on society. I think that it is a great way for people to express themselves through their opinions and first hand experiences. We all hold valuable information that is no longer solely provided by traditional news media in which much of society trusts with information. 

ABOUT ME

Brian Solis is principal at Altimeter Group, a research-based advisory firm. Solis is globally recognized as one of the most prominent thought leaders and published authors in new media. A digital analyst, sociologist, and futurist, Solis has studied and influenced the effects of emerging media on business, marketing, publishing, and culture. His current book, Engage, is regarded as the industry reference guide for businesses to build and measure success in the social web.

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