Well, I thought I’d avoided the Oregon Plague (i.e. the terrible head cold that’s been going around), but I think I was wrong. Fortunately, not everyone’s brains are filled with fog and some folks managed to put out some great stuff this week.

PR Colleagues: Don’t Forget to Brush Up on the Basics (Arik Hanson on PRSarahEvans.com)

Facebook Faces the Music: As the Multitudes Lash Out Over Privacy Infractions, Social Media Giant Reverses Its Policy (Bulldog Reporter)

Five Crucial Tips for the Perfect Pitch Letter (Bad Pitch Blog)

Dig Deeper & Never Stop Bringing New Ideas to Your Client (Leo Bottary’s Client Service Insights)

Small Steps to Improve Client Relations (Dave Fleet)

Making the Most of a Phone Interview (Barbara Nixon)

Target Practice (Megan Soto)

Build Blog Posts Like Building Blocks (Chris Brogan)

A Quick ‘n’ Dirty Guide to Setting up Social Media Monitoring (Social Media Explorer)

The Dangers of Astroturfing (MWW’s Blogworks)

It’s a brand new term of linky love posts. I tend to slack off on these when I don’t teach Advanced PR Writing, but for at least the next 7 weeks, you’ll see regular installments of my favorites each week.

The background: My students write two blog posts per week, one of which needs to be in response to something that I find interesting (and worth our linky love) during the week. I try to find a wide variety of things to chat about. Sometimes I provide a little commentary and sometimes I don’t.

So, with that intro… here we go.

(Students, every single one of these blogs is in my feed reader, maybe they should be in yours, too.)

The 2009 Edelman Trust Barometer (Phil Gomes via PROpenMic)
You’ll need to be a PROpenMic member to see this. Phil opens up a discussion about Edelman’s annual trust survey results. What do you think of the results? What does it say about PR?

Candidate Question: When Should I Start Job Searching (Lindsay Olson)
I get this question all the time. The short answer from Lindsay? Now.

Back to Pitching Basics (Dave Fleet)
Great overview and a terrific reminder about tailoring your pitches. What can you learn from this post? Anything you find surprising?

Three To Dos When PR Fails You (PR Squared)
I love this post. I’ve had a client for whom we’ve had a hard time getting coverage for over the last several years for many reasons. Thanks to advice from Todd and others, I’ve been able to steer them toward ideas like these to great success.  Do these tips help you think about the possibilities for clients (now or future)?

Ghosts in the Blogosphere (Kel Kelly)
Ghostwriting is a no-no. I always appreciate Kel’s perspective. She tells it like it is and it’s always a good read. What do you think?

A Window into Nonprofit PR Work (via Tiffany Derville Gallicano’s PR Post)
Windy Hovey, a recent graduate of the SOJC graduate program writes about working in nonprofit PR. This is an outstanding post with lots of good tips. Anything striking to you?

Wisdom From the Computer Goddess (Media Bullseye)
Jonathan Bernstein interviews Chesa Keane on SEO specifically related to reputation management online. I can’t overstate how important this topic is. We’ll be discussing more in my Spring social media clas, but I’m curious what you think (or if you’ve ever thought about these issues)? 

Be Careful What You Post (Shankman.com) and How Not to be an Online Influcencer (David Henderson)
Many lessons to be learned here. A bad tweet, a big response, a mini crisis… great reminder for the realities of the social web. What can you take away from these?

By the Numbers: Inauguration Day’s Impact on Social Media (Mashable)
“The social web flexed its muscle yesterday with Twitter reporting five times the normal tweet volume, and Facebook/CNN showing mind blowing engagement. Tweets containing “Obama” hit 35,000 per hour during his speech, and topped 150,000 for the day while @whitehouse_gov jumped on the scene with over 5,000 follows in the first day.”

Happy holidays! Some of my favorite posts from the last week or so to keep you entertained during your winter break. You’re probably starting to get bored about now, right?

The STAR Approach to Storytelling (Lindsay Olson)
When we say focus on results, here’s a great way to think about it and make it happen.

Stories of the Year (from AdAge)
The article includes the big pr/mktg/adv gaffes of the year. I just love lists.

Firearms Manufacturer Misfires (from Bernstein Crisis Management newsletter)
A firearms manufacturer uses a notorious sniper as a testimonial in its annual catalog and creates quite a commotion. The problem? The company’s collective head is so far in the sand it is unlikely to ever recover.

Social Media Predictions 2009 (PRSquared)
Many folks contributed to this conversation, Todd is just one. Worth thinking about and spending some time with this one. Things will continue to change… will you be ready?

Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Design and Delivery (60 min webinar with Garr Reynolds via Safari Books Online)
Well worth an hour of your time. Garr distills many of the core principles from his book so you can begin to think about putting your presentations together differently.

Capturing the Total Value of Public Relations (Proving the Value of Public Relations)
What do you know? PR has multiple dimensions (beyond impressions) and Don B has found a way to visualize how they fit together. I like this description. I’m going to be focusing much more on measurement in the next couple of terms, so if you’re registered for my classes, you might take a gander and also peek at my delicious.com measurement tagged resources.

A Beginners Guide to Tech Talk (Small but Fearsome Pixie) and the new PRTechNewbies Wiki
Technology has a language all its own and if you’re dropped in the middle of a project for a tech client – or brand new at a tech PR firm – this post and wiki could be your life raft. If you’re reading this and you ARE a tech PR newbie, add your own terms to the wiki.

Job Hunting Advice for December Graduates (Les is More)
Solid advice for graduates entering the job market during a very scary time.

Photo via Flickr by 1Sock

We’ve survived week one in the University of Oregon School of Journalism & Communication. The rain has arrived and there are quite a few great posts to share. Take a look.

Just Relax: Questions That Make Interviews More Conversational
Meg Roberts shares a list of questions for you to ask in interviews. Starting a conversation in an interview can be tough, but having a list of questions will help you get a better feel for the company and ensure it’s a good fit for you.

Twitter as a Tool for College Students
Robert French at Auburn University share ideas that he gleaned from asking the “why bother?” question to his Twitter community. Be sure to click on the link to show all the responses Robert got via Twitter.

Getting More Twitter Followers and Twittering for Business
Julia Roy shares her 10-second rules for deciding if she should follow someone back on Twitter. If you are new to Twitter, take heed. Most people who Twitter would agree with Julia’s ideas about deciding if they should follow you back. A photo, a short bio that tells me who they are and a web link is the basic cost of admission.

Beware the Charlatans
Ugh… Todd Defren shares a story of an unethical SEO strategy and explains why I get these comments that say “I agree!” or “I just found your blog, it’s great!” without really saying much else. I never assumed it was an agency’s actual strategy. This post makes me sad.

Facebook Profiles Can Be Used to Detect Narcissism
A study, reported here in Science Daily talks about how researchers can identify narcissists from their “quantity over quality” approach to social networks (which reflects real life, too.)

Social Networking Sites Viewed by Admissions Officers
From Chicago Tribune. Okay, news flash!! People are looking at your social network profiles and making judgments about you based on them. And we’re not talking judgments like, “gosh, that dress isn’t your color” or “that beer bong doesn’t match your eyes.” We’re talking judgments like: “you can’t come to our college” or “we won’t hire you at our company.” Clean it up. I would argue that completely private profiles aren’t the answer, but that’s another blog post.

Guest Post – On Being Shy
Via Chris Brogan. I know students have a hard time with networking events. It’s not always because they are shy, necessarily, but it’s intimidating to think you need to hold your own with professionals. Great tips here.

Photo via corbis. Duck colors, even!

Lots of great stuff in the blogosphere this week, so I’m putting a special edition linky love together here just for you!

• Is online reputation management as simple as optimising Google juice and minimising digital dirt? (PR Conversations)
• How “Janet” Fooled the Twittersphere she’s the voice of ExxonMobil (Web Strategy by Jeremiah)
• GUEST POST: Voice of the Intern (PR Squared)
• A sort-of-unified definition of public relations – without a single mention of “marketing” (Tough Sledding)
• 50 Topics Marketers Could Write For Their Companies (Chris Brogan)

All worth a read for different reasons. Hope you’re having a great summer!

Next week is the last week of the term, so this will be the last of the linky love posts for a while. Probably for the rest of 2008, in fact. It looks like I won’t be teaching Advanced PR Writing in the fall, which is the sole purpose for writing these posts. I might do some other version of recommended links, though. We’ll just see. You better be holding your breathe in anticipation!

PR for PR (Naked PR): Does the PR industry need some PR for itself. Something we’ve talked about on PROpenMic, too.

5 Great Marketing Blog Lists and What You Can Learn From Each (Influential Marketing Blog): I love lists! This is a great collection of the best top lists for marketing blogs.

Ready for Chindia, Millennials, Brand Promiscuity? Trendspotter Unveils Top Trends to Impact PR (Bulldog Reporter): What trends are expert “trendspotters” using and why does it matter?

Brodeur Survey Tracks Beat Reporters Take on Social Media (Brodeur/Marketwire): The results of a survey about what blogs/social media sites beat reporters read.

Fashion Brand Christian Dior Cancels Sharon Stone Ads in China Following Actress’s Controversial Remarks about Earthquakes (Bulldog Reporter): [excerpt] Facing the possibility of a boycott of its products, Christian Dior said this week that it had dropped actress Sharon Stone from its advertising in China after she suggested last week that the earthquakes in Sichuan Province were karmic retribution for the country’s treatment of Tibet.

The Long Tail of Obama’s Online Fundraising (PR Blogger): [excerpt] Perhaps surprisingly, the amount of money raised by Obama ($38m) was considerably more than that of Clinton ($6m) who, given who her husband is and was, has the biggest name in the Party. The reason behind this is because Obama has taken to a new democratic way of fundraising which follows the notion of The Long Tail theory.

As I write, more than 3, 000 items loom in my feed reader. Yes, they are looming. Mocking me for having too little time to read this week. It’s been a busy week! I quickly pulled a few good posts for this week’s linky love:

From Kami at Communications Overtones, Beat Reporters Have a Love/Hate Relationship with Blogs and Bloggers.

Crisisblogger Gerald Baron offers thoughts on The Moral and Economic Value of Saying You’re Sorry.

KD Paine asks How Many Different Types of Conversations are There?

SheGeek tells us What College Students Can’t Get From Blogging. I disagree with many of her points (for one, I know of at least 6 of my students that got their job because they blog), but they are worth considering.

Chris Brogan offers some advice to Make Your Linked-In Profile Work for You (I’m using some of these tips!)

Fun With Brands (Dear Jane Sample): Random, just-for-fun post (you could create your own…)

Finally, a couple of interesting “in the news” items from Daily Dog:
PR Pickle for Treasury Dept: Federal Court Rules Paper Money ‘Unfair to the Blind’ — Historical Adaptations Deemed ‘Insufficient’
-and-
Indictment in MySpace Suicide Case: Missouri Woman, Who Helped Create Fake Account, Faces Conspiracy and Fraud Charges (if you’re not familiar with this story, at least give this post a read)

Got my feed reader down to 2,600 picking these links. I’m making progress.

Photo: fast kiss by kansunkea

As usual, some great stuff this week… so we’ll get right to it!

Dinner With a Millennial (Les is More)

GNTV: How BuzzLogic Calculates Influence
(Global Neighbourhoods)

Is Your Consumer Using Social Media? (AdAge)

Ten Ideas for Conversation (Conversation Agent)

True Story of a Bogus Blog (AdWeek): The blow-by-blow of the not-so-real Ms. Heidi Cee at Hunter College.

Is Jet Blue Using Twitter to Spy on Its Customers… Or Blow Their Mind? (Awake at the Wheel)

Five Thoughts on the Future of Public Relations (PR Squared)

Papa Johns vs. Cleveland, A PR Tragedy (MarketingProfs): Heard on Twitter the line at Papa Johns was 200+ long in Cleveland at some locations.

The Coming Backlash Over Green Marketing (Seth Godin)

A lot of love for the social media posts this week. Some agency thinking and a little on current events. Enjoy.

Some Differences Between Pitching Mainstream Press and Bloggers (Chris Brogan): Chris asked the Twitter-sphere what they thought and got some interesting results. The comments are also terrific. Bloggers are different and you have to understand the culture before you pitch them anything.

Have You Lost that Loving Feeling (Unspun from SHIFT): An inside look at agency life. For those of you who have, or are, interning at an agency, how does this compare to your experience?

Get Into Twitter or Get Outta PR (PR Squared): Todd Defren says that Twitter is necessary for PRos. I agree (and said so in the comments). What do you think?

How To Get Placement on Blogs (Social Media Explorer): A new blog for me. I really liked this post and I think Jason does a great job of summing up blogger relations and even giving an example.

Dinner With a Millennial (Les is More): Just an amazingly inspirational posts for those of us who work with millennials and those of you who are.

Some posts on current events -
Hannah Montana’s PR Crisis is Vanity’s Fair’s Treasure Trove (Daily Dog). Sarah Wurrey at Media Bullseye had a good article on the same topic.

The Danger of the Soundbite (MarketingProfs): Commentary about the Reverend Wright and his potential damage to Obama’s campaign.

Now I have a headache, so I’ll leave you with those!