This is a guest post from Ben Cotton, a researcher at the Centre for Public Relations Studies. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @bencotton or read his blog at www.socialwebthing.com.

I was thinking the other day what would have made my life easier in my final year at university. Looking back it was a hectic period – amongst all the deadlines, presentations, portfolios and exams we were looking for that dream graduate job. At times it was difficult balancing the two: trying to clear the immediate university workload, whilst attempting to plan for the future, namely searching and applying for jobs (all over the country) in the industry. It was an uncertain time.

So to make things a bit easier for PR students, I have put together a list of 2010 PR Graduate Schemes, when they open, close and links to apply. I’ll be updating it over the coming months. I hope you find it useful.

Note to companies: if you have a scheme please email us and we’ll add you to the list.

Band & Brown (via Facebook)

• Open: Now
• Closes: 15 November 2009

Blue Rubicon

• Open: Now
• Closes: 31 January 2010

Chime Comms

• Open: Now
• Closes: 15 January 2010

Diffusion PR

• Open: Now
• Closes: 31 Januray 2010

Edelman

• Open: Late November 2009
• Closes: TBA

Fishburn Hedges

• Open: Now
• Closes: 11 January 2010 and 8 February 2010 depending on when you want to start.

Fleishman-Hillard

• Open: Now
• Closes: FH continually run a scheme which lasts 6 months and candidates may be offered a job at the end.

Four Comms

• Open: December 2009
• Closes: TBA

Hill & Knowlton

• Open: April 2010
• Closes: TBA

Hotwire

• Open: December 2009
• Closes: TBA

Shine Comms

• Open: January 2010
• Closes: TBA

Weber Shandwick

• Open: TBA
• Closes: TBA

Today sees the official launch of an online charity founded by former Big Brother Producer, Lucy Buck. The charity, Childs i Foundation, aims to help the hundreds of Ugandan babies abandoned and left to die every year in the capital Kampala. Through the foundation’s ‘Buy a Brick’ online donation scheme, the public can now donate by purchasing virtual bricks to fund the first phase of the project to set up a babies’ home.

Child’s i Foundation wants to help put an end to the problem of child abandonment in Uganda by setting up its ‘Child Abandonment Project’. Developed with leading experts in social care in the UK and Uganda, this unique model has three elements: a support programme to help mothers at risk of abandoning their babies; a transitional home to provide short-term life-saving care; and a family placement programme to ensure every child grows up in a loving family.

The idea behind the charity’s digital fundraising is to minimise running costs by carrying out all activity online. This means more funds can be spent on the things that matter and less money is wasted on bureaucracy.

Read more in the Bright One Social Media Newsroom >>

This is a guest post from Lucy Yeatman, a PR at Ruder Finn in their Global Health and Advocacy division, and a volunteer with Savvy Kids. You can follow Lucy on Twitter at @Luce_Y.

Is your organisation always under pressure to generate new web content in order to engage supporters? If this is becoming difficult, a great way to do this is by producing a video to place on your site. If done well, videos can be a powerful communications tool which can convey the messages of your organisation in a dynamic, genuine and engaging way.

“A video?” I hear you ask. “Surely, that requires a lot of time, money and technical know how?”. In actual fact, producing a simple ‘mash-up’ style sequence set to music using something as simple as a flip camera requires minimal effort and editing, and can make a huge impact. What’s more, a flashy corporate video can often send out the wrong message for a third sector organisation. A simple creation often better portrays the community your organisation represents by personalising the story.

Demonstrating this point brilliantly is the “Don’t divorce us” video created last year by ‘the Courage Campaign’ which fights for marriage equality amongst gay and lesbian couples in the U.S:

No filming was even required to create the video. Instead, a request for photos was sent out on the website asking supporters to submit photos of themselves holding “don’t divorce us” campaign signs. These were compiled into a simple slide sequence accompanied by a cool soundtrack which produced a powerful and emotive result as I’m sure you’ll agree. The video also conveys a truly community-generated feel whilst the process of making the video simultaneously created a call to action to engage supporters and reward them.

We took inspiration from this at Bright One recently when we provided recommendations for a filming session at the pilot sessions for Savvy Kids, an organisation that goes into schools and trains teachers to educate children about the psychology behind nutrition. We filmed children holding up large signs showing their attitudes towards food and nutrition. Down the line, we’ll do the same, aiming to produce an inspirational video that hopefully conveys the change in attitudes brought about by the programme.

So, what are you waiting for? Give it a go! We’d love to see links to any results in the comments section! To get you started we’ve included some handy hints for filming below.

Lucy’s Top Tips for video filming:

1. Aim to get a variety of shots, some close up head shots, other full body shots
2. Ensure the area is well lit
3. Do a test prior to filming to ensure sound is working
4. Always film too much. It’s easy to edit down, but more difficult if you don’t have enough material to play with
5. Record each shot twice in case something goes wrong and the material is not useable
6. Experiment and try out things that you think will work well e.g. asking people to enter the shot in different ways
7. Think about whether consent forms will be needed from participants
8. Remember to get permission from the copyright holders if you are going to use music or images
9. Have fun and don’t be afraid to try new creative ideas out!

Welcome to the BRAND NEW Bright One website! Take a look around and discover all the new pages, features, and different ways you can connect with us. We’ll be updating it over the next few weeks, but do let us know of anything you come across that is out of place.

As a wise man once said:

Your website is a work in progress that never ends

Actually, it was our fantastic web designers, Dharmafly, who said that. We don’t know how wise they are but we like what they’ve done with the site anyway.

We’re also delighted to reveal our four ambassadors. Robert, Neville, Kristin and Andrew are all inspirational and visionary industry leaders. With their support, Bright One can ensure we have access to insightful direction and advice as we continue to grow. You can read more about them and their involvement with Bright One here.

And all of this – our fantastic ambassadors, the new branding and website – comes at an important time in Bright One’s history – our first anniversary!

Yes, just 12 short months ago, Bright One announced itself to the world in PR Week. We’ve come from strength to strength ever since, working with some fantastic clients such as Junction49 and Refugee Week, all that would not have been made possible without our fantastic volunteers.

To celebrate, we’re holding a birthday party. All of the information and RSVP is here. So come down, meet with some of the faces behind the name, and find out a bit more about what we’re up to.

You never know, you might like the idea of some our current opportunities and see your face on our new site sometime soon!

And of course you’re more than welcome to leave any feedback you have in the comments below.

Happy first birthday to everyone at Bright One!

This is a guest post from Adam Lewis, a PR at Shiny Red. You can read Adam’s blog, Flawless Buzz, or follow him on Twitter at @flawlessbuzz.

PR week has recently posted an article on the prospects for recent graduates hoping to enter the PR industry. Unsurprisingly, most graduates are finding it difficult to get their big break with considerably more applicants applying for considerably less places shown by the Association of Graduate Recruiter’s survey which found that there are 48 applicants for every graduate vacancy. This figure is likely to be far higher in the PR industry, one of the most sought after industries for recently graduated students.

Personally, I found that this mark was closer to the 100 mark. This added to the fact that there are usually significant barriers for students applying like degree class, certain GCSEs gained, and only allowing graduates from a top class university which means that a graduate must be pretty clued up when applying to go into PR.

After applying for various grad schemes and experiencing various internships, here’s some advice which should help you get one step ahead of other graduates applying.

1. Get into social media

Should go without saying but even if you don’t want to get into digital pr or social media, having a decent amount of knowledge about it will do you. Start a blog, start tweeting, post some flickr photos, upload a youtube video, start chatting on facebook. If you’re not doing any of these, you’re seriously lacking behind a lot of your competition.

2. Get some knowledge

Read anything you can get your hands on. Papers, blogs, web magazines, newsletters, practically anything which someone in PR might have had a hand in creating. The more you read, the more opinions (with substance) you should have on subjects. Learn about campaigns you like/don’t like, read about what’s the latest social media tool/fad and have a look at what every PR person should know.

3. Get some experience

Why do you want to work in PR? Is it the allure of fast cars, exotic women and high-flying celebs? Well, it shouldn’t be because it really isn’t like that. The best way of finding this out is to go get some experience. You’ll find out if PR is right for you, which sector of PR is right for you and if the company you’re working for is good for you. There’s no point in starting at a low-level at a PR agency to find out you hate the industry and/or sector (found out after experiencing an internship in a sector I didn’t enjoy). And it can’t harm that CV can it?

4. Get some research done

How do you know which companies to apply to? By doing a lot of research. PR Week lists the top companies for different sectors, some companies actively advertise internships up for grabs, and if you go to a company’s website they usually have some information on their clients, recent work and personnel. These often give you a decent idea on whether that company is right or wrong for you.

5. Ask

Because of the nature of the job (or maybe just a coincidence?), nearly everyone I’ve met in PR is incredibly nice and extremely helpful. I had no idea what I was doing when I started out in the social media world. So I asked. And people answered. This isn’t just lowly people at the bottom of the PR pile who work for some terrible company. This is everyone who I asked, from MDs of start-ups to CEOs of some of the biggest agencies in the country. If you’re really scared, just ask me! There are enough people out there who got into PR in some part to other people helping them and who are more than happy to pass their wisdom on (I hope).

These 5 steps should help any budding PR enthusiast have a head-start on other graduates, but what advice do you have for students and grads looking to break into the PR industry?

We’re celebrating the 1st anniversary of the launch of Bright One with a big birthday bash and you’re invited!*

This is a chance to say thank you for the fantastic work that our current volunteers have been doing over the past year, let others know what we’ve been up to in case you want to get involved too, and we’ve even got a few special announcements that we’ll be making on the day.

It’s taking place at Revolution in Soho, London, on Thursday 24th September from 7pm. You can get your free tickets here.

It’s an awesome venue, with funky decor and mood lighting, so you can look good while doing good!**

Feel free to get in touch if you want any more details about Bright One or the party, but otherwise we’ll see you all then!

* Wearing of party hats essential
** Wearing of birthday suit non-essential

This is a guest post from Katy Thompson, a PR at Comminique PR and volunteer for Bright One on the Pixel Project, a campaign looking to raise US $1 million for the Violence Against Women cause. You can follow Katy on Twitter at @katy_lou and follow the Pixel Project at @pixelproject.

Having been a user of Twitter since June last year, I thought I was fairly confident with it as a means of communication. So when I found out that the Pixel Project needed members of the team to tweet, I was really keen to get involved and offer my time – knowing how little time it takes to update my Twitter feed in a day.

Despite working in PR, the detailed guidelines that flew across on email came as a bit of a shock – there were three pages of really important details to read and remember before I even considered tweeting. The guidelines, though daunting, were incredibly helpful and offered examples, stock tweets and ideas as to how best to engage with followers whilst incorporating the campaign’s key messages.

It was really challenging making sure that my tweets stayed on message. I found myself scrutinising news stories to make sure they were suitable – checking that they were on violence against women wasn’t enough, they had to deal with the aspects of the problem that the Pixel Project was combating and I was petrified of putting up anything too controversial. Small things became massively important like re-checking spelling and making sure that all my links were given the full TinyURL treatment, whereas I might not be so particular over my own personal feed.

I tried to tweet every 30-60 minutes to keep our followers informed and maintain a conversation but searching for relevant news and keeping up with our replies was surprisingly tough.

It was great, though, to feel so involved in the campaign. It’s amazing to be the voice of the Pixel Project for a few hours a day and feel like I might be making a difference to the violence against women cause.

On the whole, tweeting for PR purposes could not be more different to maintaining a personal account. The tweets involve so much more thought and careful wording and squeezing key messages into 140 characters is no mean feat. But conversing with other people who care about the cause and look to your words for guidance is so rewarding and I hope that the campaign can go from strength to strength from here.

Katy’s Top 5 Twitter Tips for Charity Campaigns

1. Produce a set of guidelines for people in charge of Twitter accounts to follow
2. Pre-prepare example messages that can be tweeted on a regular basis
3. Keep the messages less personal and as relevant to your campaign as far as possible
4. Tweet regularly to keep supporters engaged and informed
5. Use link shorteners such as TinyURL or bit.ly to help fit links into your messages

For more information, check out the Pixel Project website or follow them on Twitter at @pixelproject.

As a PR student, it is important to read around the subject in order to compliment your studies, find out the latest issues, and get to know the day-to-day workings of an exciting but complicated industry. There are lots of sites out there dedicated to PR, not to mention waves of blogs and forums, so finding the best ones to read can be a hard task.

To help you out, we’ve pulled together a list of some of the top PR-related sites out there. Some are more news focused, some are written specifically for PR students, while others are written more tongue-in-cheek. Either way, there’s something out there for everyone. If you’ve got any of your own sites that you’d recommend for PR students, leave a comment and we’ll add them in.

Happy reading!

1. PR Week – www.prweek.co.uk

The PR industry bible, PR Week is essential reading for those wanting to know the ins and outs, the who’s who and all of the latest developments in the PR industry. A brand new website also features community blogs, with contributions from high profile executives from a range of sectors. Also worth checking out is PR Week’s Best Companies To Work For, which lists agencies that were chosen from a field of 114 as outstanding places to work, by independent judges from the PRCA and the CIPR along with PRWeek – www.bestplacestowork.prweek.com

2. Profile Extra – www.profile-extra.co.uk

Profile magazine is the award-winning member magazine of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), the UK and Europe’s leading public relations professional body. Profile magazine provides its readers with an informative package of pictures, news and features. The printed magazine is published six times a year, while the online version – Profile Extra – is updated on a weekly basis. Many of the stories in the online version are taken from the printed copy, but not all, and they also provide new stories, never previously published, from industry figures.

3. Behind the Spin – www.behindthespin.com

Behind the Spin is a magazine for public relations students and young practitioners. It is supported by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and based at UK universities with CIPR-approved public relations degree courses. Behind the Spin publishes articles online throughout the year, with articles about public relations or of interest to PR students and young practitioners. Though based in UK universities and supported by the CIPR, they take a global perspective on PR.

4. PR Moment – www.prmoment.com

PR Moment is a new online magazine for the PR sector, whose editorial looks behind the scenes of the PR industry, highlighting best practice and giving readers an insight into recent PR campaigns. Their editorial features regular reviews of the media from a PR perspective and digs behind the scenes of high profile PR campaigns. The site also contains interviews the leading lights of PR, so you can find out what it’s like to work in the sector, and talk to leading journalists about their media requirements.

5. Brand Republic – www.brandrepublic.com

Brand Republic is is a site that covers the whole of the communications industries, including advertising, marketing, media and PR sectors. Brand Republic also produces exclusive content from its own award-winning editorial team, as well as a series of exclusive content, research and information partners. A roster of expert and opinionated industry blogs on the site are written by individuals who work in the worlds of advertising, media, marketing and PR, which means readers can hear from and interact with opinion-formers in different parts of the industry.

6. The World’s Leading – www.theworldsleading.net

The World’s Leading is written by people working in the PR industry, for people working in the PR industry – with a bit of a differfence. A site that deals in gossip and rumour and in ridiculing the pompous self-importance that too often permeates PR industry, it is a fun insider’s view into the inner workings of PR.

7. PR Fail – www.prfail.tumblr.com

Set up by Jonathan Hopkins, PR Fail uses Twitter and del.icio.us to automatically collect examples of bad PR things from across the world. The aim is to help PR people be better and give journalists and bloggers a way of sharing their bad experiences. As well as just collecting examples of bad PR in one handy place for case studies and things. Studetns should spend a few mintues on the site and discover what not to do! PR Win does the same thing, but for good PR things.

8. Gorkana PR – www.gorkana.com

Gorkana’s news pages feature up-to-the-minute breaking news from across all sectors of the PR industry. From people moves and senior appointments to pitches and account wins, Gorkana PR covers news from all agencies and in-house departments, no matter what size. They also like to get under the skin of the PR industry and their features section takes a look at what makes PRs tick, considers what companies are doing to promote their brands, and reviews industry trends.

What about you? What websites would you recommend PR students visit? If you’re studying PR, what sites do you visit on a regular basis?

This week saw Bright One hold our first ever Summer Party!

It was a fantastic event with a great turnout, with just the right mix of volunteers, clients, friends and people interested in getting involved. While some masterfully avoided the karaoke, some spent most of their time hogging the mike. Either way, there were plenty of good times had and good drinks drunk.

If you couldn’t make it this time around, you won’t be missing out for long as we’ll be holding more events soon and you can get in touch if you had anything you wanted to find out about.

Thanks to all those who came along and see you at the next one!

>> Read the full announcement in our Social Media Newsroom

We’re delighted to announce that Bright One is the UK communications team on The Pixel Project, an independent volunteer-led campaign to raise awareness and funds to stop violence against women.

The Pixel Project sees the Pixel Project team partnering with Malaysia’s Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) and the USA-based National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) in an innovative and truly global campaign to raise US$1 million for both organisations to support the victims of violence against women and help address this dramatic problem in their respective countries.

Bright One will be managing the UK publicity for The Pixel Project, which aims to launch in January 2010, and will be helping to drive the global web 2.0 campaign which has already received a great deal of interest.
The Pixel Project enjoys the United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) commendation and intends to reach its fundraising goal by getting a worldwide audience to collectively unveil a world-exclusive million-pixel collage of photographs of group of global celebrity male models online for $1 per pixel.

Award-winning international photographer Jillian Edelstein has been announced as the principal photographer for the campaign, and she will be photographing the male celebrities. South African born Jillian has an enviable portfolio of celebrity portraiture, and has been involved with a number of charitable projects, including recent work with Gwyneth Paltrow for Save The Children Fund.

>> Read the full announcement in our Social Media Newsroom