All posts tagged Congressional Black Caucus

PR Prescriptions Turns 2

Caught up in the black hole of new business, I completely missed the opportunity to do a birthday post for PR Prescriptions.

2 years…and 5 days ago, I decided to jump into the blogosphere for the 2nd time.

The first time was a complete experiment for a PR student group I started, and with graduation came the transition of the group and the blog. The second time around, I was a little older, a little wiser and a little more comfortable on my Gen Y soapbox.

Through this blog, I’ve met some amazing people, made some great friends and learned a great deal. I’ve also had the opportunity to dig into several interesting issues. Here are some of the posts I enjoyed working on over the past year:

As always, thanks to those of you who have come along for the ride. Hope you’ll roll with me for another year, but for now, join me for a song from Mr. Wonder.

The CBC Needs To Be More Social

cbc_alc 09If you were out and about in the DC area over the past weekend, I would expect you to know that the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) just hosted their 2009 Annual Legislative Conference, but I wouldn’t expect you to know what happened there.

Why? I don’t think the CBC used social media as much as they could have to promote the conference, the people in attendance, the issues being discussed and the solutions created.

**Full disclosure – I was NOT in attendance at this year’s Annual Legislative Conference. Not because I was boycotting or anything of that nature. Just couldn’t make it. Before I go any further, I would like to say this:

Only a small group of people can attend conferences like these, but to create the change that needs to occur, many more people need to be informed and engaged. Social media can help achieve that goal.

Though I could not attend, I tried my best to catch up on what was discussed, but it was not particularly easy. Honestly, if I wanted to party, I would have had no problem gathering that info on Twitter, but for some reason, the pure content or true substance of the meeting was hard to find.

You have a problem when someone who is actively looking to connect can’t find you. It makes it harder to engage, and you open yourself to the risk of losing the interest of your audience in the process.

I did, however, come across video from some of the panels that took place this weekend. My favorite thus far is the Black Power Panel (relax, it’s way less militant than it sounds.). I like it because it happens to cover an area that I’m particularly interested in, the use of social media among people of color.

CBC logoIt’s a long video (1hr, 40mins), and if you’re not up for watching the whole thing, I would queue it up and then jump to 1:11:40. The panelist speaking touches on some key things related to how people in the communities of color and elected officials are missing out on opportunities because of how they *are* using social media today.

Okay, so I’ve pointed out the social media #FAIL. Now I’d like to give a quick list of my PR Prescriptions on how the CBC could have better utilized social media to connect with people to provide more real time coverage.

* Official Tweeters – There were probably over 100 (maybe 200) people at the conference on twitter using the #CBC hashtag. Some spoke about the panels and live-tweeted. Most, I found spoke about the celebs they saw and the parties they were planning to attend. Fun, but not the best in terms of substance.

Next year, the CBC really should have official designated tweeters operating their own handles sharing the meat of the conversation, utilizing tools like twitpic to share behind the scenes pictures and services like What the Hashtag? to claim, define and share those hashtags.

* Official Bloggers – The key for this is integration. The CBC already produces the ALC Daily, the conference newsletter. This information should definitely be leveraged online, and then, you take what you have and enhance it with tweets from the conference, pictures, video and everything else.

Official bloggers should be announced (promoted essentially), and they should be on the floor, in the panels and at the galas gathering content, creating content and providing more context on happenings in real (or close to real) time.

* Media Partnerships - I won’t try to prescribe how the CBC should play with media partners, but a few that they could partner with come to mind. Here they are:  The Grio, The Afro (I followed their tweets!),  The Root, AOL Black Voices, TV One.

* Create a site to Build on the Discussion – There were GREAT panelists at the conference; many with their own businesses and non-profits really having a positive impact on the world. Conferences like these really are the beginning, and a site that linked to all of the panelists, businesses and other groups making the change spoken about the conference (and a site that documented their progress) would add some real value that people could take back to their communities.

I could go on, but I think the point was made. There were missed opportunities to engage people like me who wanted to be there but could not for one reason or another.

Feel free to respond to any of my thoughts, but here are a few places where I would like input from you:

  • Was the CBC doing something online that I missed?
  • Agree/Disagree with anything said?
  • What else would you suggest for the coming year?

The Call to Communicate: Renewing the Vows

I’ve been a little low on the posts lately because I was busy soaking up information at the National Minority Quality Forum‘s 2008 Leadership Summit. This two-day summit was hosted by the Forum in conjunction with the Congressional Black Caucus‘ Health Braintrust. Summit organizers Dr. Gary Puckrein and Congresswoman Donna Christensen (D-VI) gathered a group of brilliant physicians, pharmacists, researchers, pharmaceutical representatives and health communicators together to focus on working towards health equity and improving the health, health care and well being of everyone in America.

I had the opportunity to sit down with some of the brightest minds in health and learn more about the folllowing topics:

- Ehtnic and Racial Disparities in Pharmaceutical Therapy

- Management of Diabetes in Minorities

- The Social Determinants of Health

- Minorities in Clinical Trials.

Time and time again, attendees heard about the many problems currently present in our health care system, but another message managed to make its way into the conversation, the need for us to take personal responsibility. Honorees Congressman James Clyburn, Della Reese, and Rev. Jesse Jackson all reinforced this message with stories of their struggles and the struggles of those close to them.

I am not sure if I could ever completely convey the effect that those special people had on me, but it was like renewing a vow, a vow to communicate for the greater good. In many ways, the summit recharged me, and I am now ready to jump back in with the writing, the podcasting, the pitching and the blogging.

I hope you all at one point experience what I have over the last few days and get the opportunity to renew a vow of your own.