First there was Stephen Davies, the Sunderland PR student who launched a blog, acquired great technical skills and developed a network in rapid time. Next stop? A placement at LEWIS PR in London.
Now there’s Erin Caldwell, the final year Auburn PR student who established a blog, learnt some skills and worked a network. She then went one better, establishing an edited group weblog. Now she’s been hired by Edelman’s Washington DC office. Here’s how her boss describes this coup: ‘We decided Erin was head and shoulders above the competition before we met her.’ That’s personal PR.
I find it very easy to write about these two because neither is a student of mine. I’m very impressed with both, though I’ve never met them. That’s social media.
Note two more similarities. LEWIS and Edelman are perhaps the two PR consultancies most active in blogging and social media (though I praise Hill & Knowlton too). And Philip Young and Robert French both get it – they’re blogging PR profs.
PR Studies 
Interesting point about social media, Richard.
Once upon a time we hand wrote job letters (without a spell checker!) and although not many secured a post before a face-to-face interview, a lot never got the chance to shine because their application letter let them down. (A friend of mine who is a newspaper deputy editor still has a one strike and you’re out policy on spelling and grammar).
I have been lucky enough to meet Stephen and Erin, plus quite a few well-known PR bloggers, and I am struggling to think of examples where actually talking to someone changed my opinion of them.
The point I making is that blogs really do reveal personality – strengths and weaknesses. Yes, you have the opportunity to shape what image you project, but you also give out a wide range of other personality signals, some of which you may well not be aware of. It is something new recruits to PR would do well to bear in mind – not least because blogosphere errors are hard to redeem and HR departments can, and do, Google names.
Once again, thanks for the kind words Richard.
And congrats to Erin. Wow!