It’s time for today’s RoundUP of my picks for public relations, marketing and journalism stories that inspire.

Public Relations

In 2010, Congress and iRobot established National Robotics Week to

• Celebrate the US as a leader in robotics technology development
• Educate the public about how robotics technology impacts society, both now and in the future
• Advocate for increased funding for robotics technology research and development
• Inspire students of all ages to pursue careers in robotics and other Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math-related fields

-nationalroboticsweek.org

This year’s National Robotics Week is April 8-16.  The organization is

calling for event submissions from robot-enthusiasts across all 50 United States. Events can include robotics competitions, expos, parties, meetups, workshops, classes, camps, and open houses or tours of companies and universities. To submit a National Robotics Week event, please visit http://www.nationalroboticsweek.org/Events/Submit.

-via PRNewswire

The organization has thought of everything in terms of PR for anyone person or organization holding a robotic event.  They give libraries, universities, schools, museums and others the tools to succeed and to present a unified message for the organization and week. This is public relations at it’s best.

They have designated social media hashtags, a template press release, downloadable robotic trading cards (which are awesome!), logos to use on social media and public relations materials, an activity book for teachers, posters, and more.

Visit the website for more details.

 

Marketing

If you’ve ever shopped at Walmart, then you’ve probably experienced “Markendising” by WhyteSpyder.

What?!?!? Markendising? What in the world is THAT?!?!?

According to the WhyteSpyder, the “Walmart commerce experts” website, “markendising” is the future marketing.

MARKENDISING defines our communication approach that combines marketing and merchandising in order to satisfy the demands of today’s omnichannel shopper. Marketing utilizes a blend of pull-marketing tactics and content marketing philosophy. Merchandising accommodates today’s virtual shopper with detailed product attributes and information. MARKENDISING provides the shopper with accurate, high quality product data and content that is searchable and consistent in every channel. MARKENDISING directly stimulates product sales both online and in-store.

Our MARKENDISING program helps manufacturers setup, manage, optimize, enhance and expand product information on the product detail page (SKU page) with major retailers, specifically Walmart.com and Samsclub.com. Staying aligned with strategic visions of Walmart and Sam’s Club, WhyteSpyder produces and manages content while leveraging any distribution technology accepted by Walmart/Sam’s Club that are beneficial for manufacturers and their agencies.

WhyteSpyder’s digital marketing execution capabilities for advertising agencies include UX design, photography, video, content marketing, publishing, database management, email marketing and Ecommerce services. We are best fit in supporting agency strategic plans with retention-based marketing as we nourish existing programs to achieve higher awareness, engagement, lead conversions and sales.

–WhyteSpider‘s website

 

 

If you’re intrigued about WhyteSpider’s “markendising”  . . . on Feb. 17 and Feb. 20 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., WhyteSpyder will be hosting a Q&A livestream to answer any questions suppliers may have following the Walmart summit meeting”

 

 

 

Journalism

Burhan Özbilici, 59, was awarded the 2017 World Press Photo prize for this photo of the assassination of the Russian Ambassador to Turkey.

 

Özbilici is an Associated Press photojournalist in Ankara. He was also awarded the Izzet Kezer Photo Prize by the Progressive Journalists Association in Turkey for the same photograph.

 

To read Özbilici’s interview with Deutsche Welle, Germany’s public international broadcaster, click here.

Here are two quotes from that interview:

“It was a horrifying, painful, terrible incident. I wish it hadn’t happened, but it did. But if I hadn’t been there, some other person would have been there instead of me. I could have run but I didn’t. I simply did my job and fulfilled my duty as a journalist.”

 

What kind of difficulties do journalists and photojournalists face in Turkey these days?

The situation is not very promising. It’s not our job to make political statements, just like it’s not their job to deal with journalism. It would be more than enough if they just left us alone. Independent journalism is the only condition for a society to survive.”

 

That’s a full lid for today.  I’m off tomorrow, but will be back on Friday, February 17.

Thanks for following! Have a wonderful day!