General Session A: It’s Not Web 2.0. It’s Not Web 3.0. It’s Simply Life.

By Michelle Khouri, Quotes President

Peter Shankman, founder of Help a Reporter Out (HARO), presented the first session titled, “It’s Not Web 2.0. It’s Not Web 3.0. It’s Simply Life.” Shankman is a lively, passionate man whose life centers around social technologies. His presentation offered three main pieces of advice:

Transparency. As students, we come across the issue of transparency on a daily basis. From something as simple as “Why did I get this grade?” to a more weighted issue like “How will budget cuts affect my education?” we all just want to know what’s going on. Shankman jokes (more like a half-truth) that social media lets you screw up with a larger audience in a shorter amount of time. When you make a mistake, as a student, professional, or just on a personal basis, be transparent. Let people know. As Shankman puts it, “If people see you learning from your mistakes, they’re much more likely to forgive you.”

Relevance. “The media is NOT dying. It’s fracturing,” says Shankman. “The Grand Canyon was created by rocks fracturing. And some people say it’s kind of cool to see.” Making your news relevant is key in a time when “news outlets” can be anything from The Wall Street Journal to www.wsj.com to Twitter.com/WSJ. The big question is, “How do I make my news relevant?” It’s all about listening, says Shankman. In a “me, me, me” society, PR professionals need to take a “you, you, you” approach. “The second you start doing it for someone else is the second you get remembered, not recalled.”

Brevity. “LEARN TO WRITE. Social media requires us to write well. When you have less time to do it, you have to do it better.” Shankman emphasizes that in a time when media outlets are strapped for journalists, your audience has an average 3.7-second attention span and people only have a tolerance for 140 characters, being lengthy just isn’t a luxury. Being a good writer is more than just writing a good press release. It’s the ability to convey the message concisely -- in 3.7 second if you have to.