How Does an Epidemic Start?

Malcolm Gladwell’s, The Tipping Point, is a book about how epidemics get started. It’s called “The Tipping Point” because it discusses the factors or “tipping points” that make and cause an epidemic. This word-of-mouth phenomenon would be nothing if it wasn’t for mavens, connectors, and salesmen. As Gladwell says, there is always a point in the beginning that determines whether or not it will be an epidemic. It’s important to understand this as PR professionals because this is a skill we will have to master.

As I stated before, mavens, connectors, and salesmen are what cause “the tipping point”. So what causes an epidemic to stick? Connectors are the connecting factor that causes events and movements to spread. These are people that are known by a lot of people, as a reliable source of information. People trust what connectors have to say, which allows the message to continue. Connectors bring people from different cultures and sub groups together. For example, in Gladwell’s book he talks about Paul Revere. Paul Revere was a connector who passed information so quickly in a time where there were no phones or cars. Revere was carrying a very important piece of information and that was that the British were coming. The other type of person is called a “maven”. Mavens are the people who have the important information. These are the people who told Revere that the British were coming. The last type of person is called a “salesman” and they have “the skills to persuade us when we are unconvinced of what we are hearing, and they are as critical to the tipping of word-of-mouth epidemics as the other two groups” (page 70).

I believe I am a connector at heart. I know people in all sorts of different groups.
I also think I hold qualities of a salesperson too. I have always been good at persuading people. I was in charge of PR for Phi Mu one year and I had to persuade people to vote for our candidate for Homecoming.

Luckily, for our class, we get to experience The Tipping Point with a little more hands on approach, the Relay for Life kickoff. We are hoping to create awareness of cancer and hopefully little things like this kickoff will lead to big changes like a cure to cancer. As Gladwell states, “we need to prepare ourselves for the possibility that sometimes big changes follow from small events, and that sometimes these changes can happen very quickly”(page 11).

Social media is something that has helped and made it easier for epidemics to start. Things like Twitter, Facebook, and Blogging help to create epidemics. For example in class we were told to participate in Blog Action Day. Blog Action Day was a day that allowed all bloggers to unite and talk about important information about our climate in hopes to cause change. As PR people I will be using these social mediums to connect and inform people.

Blog Action Day-Climate Change

Climate change is something that affects everyone around the world. Climate change doesn’t just mean a change in temperature. This issue affects and creates famine, wars, floods, and fires, among many other things. We have to make changes now.
Its funny I read someone’s Facebook status the other day that said “I guess there is no such thing as global warming since the hottest year was in 1998, not 2009.” Global warming is unpredictable weather changes, like floods, tsunamis, hurricanes and sometimes raising temperatures, as well as decreasing temperatures. Global warming does not necessarily mean drastically raised temperatures. It’s caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases resulting from human activity such as fossil fuel burning and deforestation. It’s important to understand that this is happening now, there’s no more time for questioning whether or not global warming is real. Our children are going to have to live with our mistakes. We need to change how we live our lives.
As a PR person I serve as a connector to raising awareness about climate change. It is my duty as a student and a PR person to start taking steps now to prevent any more damage to our environment. I want to work for a Green company because I want to make a difference. I want to be working for a company that understands and is making steps to control climate change. I don’t want to be the problem. I’m happy to see that the new trend for companies and products is to go Green. Hopefully everyone will soon catch on and start making changes before it’s too late.

Blog Action Day!

I just registered for Blog Action Day! I also am following on Twitter...I encourage everyone to get involved! Little things like this will make big changes!
This event reminds me of the book we are reading in PR Admin, The Tipping Point. The more people pass the word the more "connectors" will hear about it! Blog Action Day is the tipping point for awareness and hopefully CHANGE in the way we treat our environment. This years topic is climate change. Blog Action Day is a chance for anyone and everyone to get involved-a chance to unite people across the world! Do your part and register today!
I feel as though since I am a PR student that is it my duty to participate. This is my future and I want a role in it! Since I am a PR student I have the skills and knowledge to make a difference...I mean come on it's called "public relations".

Relay for Life Pitch

Congrats to everyone today! We had our Relay for Life Pitch for the kickoff in November. It is finally over! This semester our class paired off in teams and pitched our ideas for the kickoff. The Relay for Life committee picked my group's pitch! This years slogan will be, Celebrate a Memory, and every group's ideas will be used. We have gotten a lot of food donated and hopefully we will get the decorations donated too. We have gift certificates from Piggly Wiggly and Deanos pizza as well we some others. Thanks to everyone who is helping and who was involved in today's pitch! This event will be a lot of work, but I think our class will do awesome!

Facebook, still a growing social media?

According to Advertising Age, even though a lot of web 2.0 start ups aren't very profitable, Facebook is continuing to make money. They just crossed the 300 million dollar mark and they are still growing.
Facebook is such a huge social media. Parents, teachers, organizations, and companies are all now joining the Facebook madness. It is not something you can escape anymore. Companies are continuing to advertise on Facebook and people are continually joining, that Facebook is not going anywhere anytime soon.
Though, as the numbers for revenue and users grow, so does the need for a bigger company. Right now, Mr. Zuckerberg says that Facebook has only 1,000 employees, one employee for every 1 million users. If this continual growth keeps up, the company is going to have to do some serious re-modeling.

Public Relations Qualities

When it comes to being a PR professional I think it's important to have a wide array of skills. Between the new attributes and old attributes, it's important to have many of the skills listed on davefleet.com.

Some of the skills I feel as though I have are of course writing, which is the most important skill of all. Every PR professional needs to know how to write. I also have good communication skills. I know how to talk to people, how to pitch ideas, how to speak in front of an audience, and how to persuade people. I'm a real straight-forward person. I don't mind working in groups and I'm always a "team" player. I'm also a very proactive person. I don't wait around for someone else to do the job. I like to have things in order and I like to have them done perfectly. My work ethic is another thing I pride myself on. I understand PR professionals don't usually have a 9-5 job. My PR classes now pretty much take over my life.


When it comes to "new" PR attributes I think I hold some pretty big ones. I know how to blog (obviously), I have just created a twitter account, or microblogging (thanks to Dr. Miller :)), and I am very involved with social networking, I have a facebook account.


Though, I still need some improvement in some of the areas on the list on davefleet.com. I am not the best proofreader ever and I could also use help with understanding media relations. I know we went over media relations briefly in Writing for PR, but I don't think I fully understand the whole idea. I also am not aware of RSS, SEO, and coding. I have taken a few computer classes, but these technical computer terms still get me.


For class, I would like to brush up on some of my weaknesses and build my computer and Internet skills. I feel as though technology will play a huge role in PR in the future.

Why did I choose PR?

Ever since high school I remember always being interested in writing and really anything that dealt with Mass Communication. When I came to college I immediately declared my major and I have not changed it since. I love the Mass Comm. Department and I love my concentrations-Advertising and Public Relations.

I think my major will open up many opportunities for me in the future. It's a major that will allow you to get any job. Everyone needs a good PR person, right?

Find me on Twitter!

CaraRyanW