To sum up the attempt at my first blog in one word: Overwhelming. While I consider myself somewhat quick with computers, I have to limit that attribute to Excel and other database programs I use for most of my economics classes and research—the boring things computers can do, that I happen to be fairly good at. However, venturing into the much more interesting capabilities of the Web, I am simply overwhelmed, astounded, and somewhat confused at everything going on in the Web 2.0 world that I and many others just didn’t know about.

Some explanation. Overwhelmed, I say, because Wow! how do I keep up with all of this? Postings and comments, feed reading and taggings. All this while, of course, keeping up with Facebook and fine-tuning my Pandora radio stations. I remember feeling a twinge of pride the day I figured out how to add bookmarks on my PC browser tool bar, reveling in my one-click stops for Bank of America, the Weather Channel and GoDucks.com. Oh if only my former-self could see me now; posting after only some (ok, several) hours spent setting up a blog on the so-called “less intuitive” website (woo-hoo!).

Astounded, I say, because I am simply in pure awe of the millions who have the energy, time and quickness about them to keep track of all updates, news feeds and postings in the blogosphere. It has long been a goal of mine to keep up on my online news: CNN, the New York Times, and my local Oregonian. Outlets with all the information that my of-the-moment college budget disallows me to subscribe to in paper form (not that I would necessarily be able to keep up with rolled newspapers arriving at my doorstep everyday either). Alas, though, I have merely dabbled with news sites, once making CNN.com my homepage in an attempt to keep up with daily news, but eventually wimping out and changing back to my school’s homepage for quick links to e-mail and assignments. While I have not yet developed into routine of checking my newly created feed reader, I have been slowly surfing posts and blogs, letting links take me from page to page, wedging my way into, no doubt, the very tip of a billion-count blogosphere.

Lastly, I hesitantly add to my emotion of this experience confusion. I say confused because, well, how could I have never been a part of this? There are millions — millions — of people in this blogging community, and for a generation Y-er I’d have to say I am slightly embarrassed to feel quite so far behind. This feeling of frustration and confusion with technology makes me feel older than I should, and it’s also fair to mention I have a new soft-spot for my poor mom whom I’ve given such a hard time in the past when she navigates the screen with her finger, trying to maneuver her way through my parents’ dial-up AOL connection and web pages. Confusion will then be, perhaps, the first emotion I abandon as I venture on into the blogosphere. Blogging takes effort and interest, and it most certainly takes time. Devoting around a half-hour to hour per day, the haze starts to lift and the confusion dispels as I realize a relatively small time-commitment allows you to slowly gain a handle on the small blogging community you’ve introduced yourself to. Never, I know, will I be able to keep track of every blog I am interested in, but surely I can keep track of the ones I am gradually narrowing down to as my most important.

Introductions aside, I have created this blog to create conversation around crisis in public relations. Prompted to blog about a PR related topic, I’ve naturally sided with my favorite aspect of public relations: crisis management. However, I am not talking about corporate crisis management, nor am I particularly drawn to reactions to bad press or how to handle a recent Senator’s foul language. What I am interested in—and what I will try to blog about most frequently—is the lesser known, and surely, the less glamorous use of crisis management: that of community crises and local disasters. While it seems odd to be drawn to crises, I have both the personality and interests I believe are necessary to successfully plan and work through tough situations. Confusing to many, I thrive in stressful environments and somehow welcome consuming myself in a project or case. I am beyond detail-oriented and I respond to authority, believe in order no matter the chaos. This blog will serve as a forum for conversation around all crisis management uses, however, I will attempt to focus on this personal interest as much as news and recent blogging conversation allows.

To close, I’d like to draw your attention to a particularly interesting use of the public relations professional—or, as they say here, the news media strategist—in crisis management; that of mediator and manager to media in a child kidnapping case. This Laura Recovery Center manual lays out the PR professional’s function and purpose in working to find the missing child. Myself not initially realizing PR had a place in such a profound and intimate effort, it’s stories like these that put a human face on public relations and crisis management. This smaller-scale aspect of crisis management is usually not discussed nor addressed, yet is one of extreme importance to all local communities and emergency response teams. Should we drop a few corporate crisis case studies to make room for PR’s use on a human level like this child rescue effort? Absolutely. Not only can it advertise PR’s use to more than just offices and agencies, but it can help PR students like myself see a side of public relations I never knew existed.