Kelly and I recently sat down to reflect on our experience at the Ragan Social Media Boot Camp and to provide a few tips for businesses and organizations striving to create a social media presence.

The women’s basketball community converged in Charleston, South Carolina on Sept. 9 and 10 as our local Kay Yow Cancer Fund, in partnership with the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and The V Foundation, held two days of events in support of women’s cancer research.

Reaching the masses on social media seems like an easy thing to do. Facebook has more than 800 million active users, with more than 50 percent of them logging in every day, Twitter claims 300 million.

But, while these vast user populations may represent great opportunity for the consumer-facing side of the business world, their translation into the business-facing community remains a bit unclear.

In judging the value of participation in this forum, BtoB marketers and decision makers often see two sides to the debate:

1. A complete lack of presence could reflect poorly on a company – especially in a BtoB world where staying “ahead of the curve” is everything.

2. With indistinct analytics, lead-generation value and return on investment, how can a budding BtoB company justify the expenses and time commitments associated with maintaining a social presence?

Furthermore, those businesses that go with door #1, often quickly become frustrated with their results, and fall back into door #2, unable to justify the investment.

I personally believe that with social media, you get what you put in. So, I’ll bring this discussion back to the bare bones of PR. Our overarching professional theme – know your audience – doesn’t magically disappear when thrown into the realm of social media...

I raise my proverbial hat to all PR rock stars that have the golden quill –that keen ability to whip up a perfectly clean press release with precise AP style, concise language and problem solving messaging. But, no matter how strong your inverted pyramid is, it’ll all fall down without a proper cornerstone – and I’m talking about a skillfully crafted quote.

The Finale Celebration and check presentation of the Kangaroo Express "Salute Our Troops" campaign was held last week at the Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, N.C., It was a memorable event, and the $2.5 million donation provided a vital measurement in analyzing the success the campaign. But to go beyond quantifiable analytics, to look past the numbers, is to paint a picture that tells a qualitative story - a story of corporate and community unity.

So, as I look back at the "Salute Our Troops" summer, and reflect on what made this campaign the most unique I've ever worked on, I hope you'll not only enjoy the photos from the check presentation, but also recognize an element of consumer engagement that went far beyond wallets and into the hearts and minds of communities around the nation.

I wasn't around when public relations relied on compiling and mailing press kits, faxing releases or banking on relationships with one or two local newsroom buddies, and I'm glad.  Why? Because there has never been a better time to be in PR than right now.

The game has changed.  PR pros are currently in a transformative stage, evolving, but not just to survive as the fittest among communication experts, but also to rule the tangled infrastructure of emerging media channels and technological trends.  We are evolving to take full advantage of the resources that have been put in front of us, and as a result of society's changing needs, PR skill sets are growing into something a lot bigger than any press release or fact-sheet could ever describe. Yet, we will always remain behind the scenes, speaking through the talking heads and illuminated screens that you rely on.

While following the debt ceiling debate via social media, I've not only been informed and entertained, but I have also developed an extreme case of curiosity.  Not in regard to any specific proposed figure, tax rate or legislative topic, but I began to wonder... how does the government's social media influence compare to that of other global brands?

Growing up in north Raleigh, near Durant Road, I would pass Eaton Corporation's Capital Boulevard manufacturing plant a handful of times a week and I always assumed it was some sort of food distributer -"Eat-on," I don't know exactly why I made the assumption, I was imaginative and more concerned with the soccer fields down the street, and ice cream.

Fast-forward more than a decade - while applying for internships, I did my research, noticed that Largemouth worked with Eaton, recognized the logo, and visited their website, finally. Much to my surprise, I didn't see any information about restaurant delivery, and for as much as I knew about power quality and distribution products, the site might as well have been in German -I'm far from fluent.

The point is, for the beginning PR professional, working on behalf of a highly-technological company whose products you hardly understand can be intimidating, especially while pitching -when you really need to be an expert. But, if you do your research, clearly define a purpose, and engage as much as possible with people who are relevant to that purpose, you will provide a valuable service, project professionalism, and open up valuable relationships for future collaboration. So, from my personal experience, here are a few words of advice:

It is truly exciting to work on behalf of clients who lead the masses rather than follow the trends.

For instance, last week I bounced out of the office to meet a client, and on my way to lunch at a popular RTP restaurant, a flock of hungry, hurried businessmen and women were out in full force. In my quest for a prime parking spot, I was utterly surprised to see an entire row of spaces solely dedicated to hybrid automobiles - I was even more surprised to see that most of them were occupied.

I've just about completed my first month as a full-time account coordinator here at Largemouth's RTP home, and although I was in and out of the agency as an intern for a semester, that experience provided only a taste of what full-service communications really means.