Projects in the Works

Right now my focus is collecting data and writing the paper for the International PR Research Conference. The deadline is Feb. 15. Other projects on the horizon include getting in an application for the AEF Visiting Professor Program, collecting data and finishing my PCA paper, and getting a paper going for AEJMC. I’m also debating starting a proposal for a new book–this time on the intersection of business and social media.

IPRRC is a go!

I am sitting here at the computer and my acceptance just arrived for the 13th Annual Public Relations Research Conference. Now I have until January 15 to pull together the paper to be eligible for competitive awards or February 15 if I don’t.

Review in PR Bridge

Bob Batchelor reviewed my book on his popular blog, PR Bridge. As Bob explains:

Truckloads of books have been written about social media as a business tool and its consequences for the business world. Those of us interested in popular culture, however, have waited for someone to tackle social media from a broader perspective. With Celeb 2.0 by Kelli S. Burns, my friend and colleague at the University of South Florida, that long-needed gap has been filled.

Read his full review here.

Listing in Social Web Resources

Thanks to Linda Olsen for including Celeb 2.0 in her list of social web resources.

More on the book chapter

The book chapter still needs at least 2,300 words to reach 6,000 words. My goal today is at least 500 more words, maybe as many of 1,000 words if I’m very productive.

Book Chapter Progress

I’ve crunched all my data for my book chapter in Web 2.0 in Education: Applying the New Digital Literacies edited by Michael Thomas. Now, I just need to put the finishing touches on the front part of the paper. The due date is November 30.

Celeb 2.0 is available

Celeb 2.0 looks at how blogs, video sharing sites, user-news sites, social networks, and message boards are fueling America’s already voracious consumption of pop culture. Full of fascinating insights and interviews, the book looks at how celebrities use blogs, Twitter, and other tools, how YouTube and other sites create celebrity, how Web 2.0 shortens the distance between fans and stars, and how the new social media influences news reporting and series television.

IPRRC Abstract

I’m exploring a new topic–the FTC Guidelines for Endorsements by bloggers. I’m shaping this into an abstract to submit for the IPRR Conference in March. I’m not sure yet how I want to tackle this issue. I was thinking about a survey of mommy bloggers, so I asked my mommy-blogger friend, Fiona Bryan, aka Bantering Blonde, her opinion. She suggested exploring this issue from the perspective of PR practitioners.

Project Timeline

I have organized my whiteboard in my office with the deadlines for projects I plan to pursue this year. I have an abstract due for IPRRC Oct. 31, a book chapter due Nov. 15, a PCA abstract due Dec. 15, an IAOC abstract due March 1, and an AEJMC paper due April 1. Also an article for Journal of Marketing Comm (special issue on social media) is due July 1.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

It’s hard to imagine that I am finally at this point in my career, but at the same time, I also can’t believe it has taken so long. I spent my first two years teaching at two universities as an instructor as I finished my dissertation (MTSU and Elon). When I came to USF in 2006, I chose to apply only one (out of a possible two) years from Elon where I was an assistant professor for three years (plus the one year as an instructor). So now that I am in my fourth year at USF, it is finally time. It’s a little scary, but it is time. The transitions between schools and states has been difficult and certainly hasn’t helped, but I am finally where I want to be and I hope to stay.