Rachel Sklar at the Huffington Post interviews fomer Fashion Week Daily turned DeadHorse Media Fashionista blogger Faran Krentcil.

My favorite part of the blog is the Deal or No Deal feature which mimics the converstations we all have with friends daily – in the shoe stacks at Nordstrom Rack, during the 75% off dress sale at Bluefly. Except at this blog, you get to hear what the stylist for the Scissor Sisters thinks – in this case, about a pair of Marc by Marc Jacobs suede studded pumps at 53% off.

If you are a student, or recent PR grad, take full advantage of the smarts at Forward – managing editor Erin Caldwell has put together a team of new and experienced public relations professionals, all passionate about making Forward “the online springboard for new and upcoming PR professionals.”

Forward Podcast 17 – Terry Fallis stops in to discuss the importance of social media for PR and the serious advantage PR students have in jobland if they are comfortable with blogging and other social media techniques: “If PR students are not getting involved with social media they will be at a distinct disadvantage.”

As someone who will be spending several hours of her day putting together a “Web 2.0 101″ style presentation, so that RSS feeders, social bookmarking and basic blogging protocol are met with more than a touch of fear, I ask: Are seasoned PR Pro’s relying on younger practitioners to manage and monitor social media and other emerging technologies instead of coming up to speed themselves? How is the workplace changing when entry-level practitioners have the knowledge and experience necessary for agencies to stay current and viable? With much of social media focused on a younger demographic, is this the right move? Does it add more “information superhighway cred?” What are the potential ramifications of putting less experienced PR’s in the social media arena without strong crisis management skills?

PR has had a rough and sometimes embarassing time figuring out how to navigate the blogging world – In fashion/beauty PR, the explosive situation with Pierce-Mattie and Jack & Hill (make it through all the comments if you can), just goes to show how contentious this mix can be.

Looks like PR is starting to take this whole social media thing seriously – and by seriously I mean do something other than freak out about the ability of bloggers to slam a client (and charge interested parties several hundred dollars for “experts” to hand-hold through the basics of social media). PR is finally coming around to utilizing social media technology to better track the conversations that will no doubt emerge as we find out, for example, that even Britney’s stylist wants nothing to do with her. (Oh shoot, looks like I deleted that email.)

According to the release “This week PR Newswire signed an agreement with blog search engine Technorati that provides real-time social media link tracking for all of their press releases.” Not only does this agreement allow PR professionals to stay in the real-time online loop, but it allows anyone to follow the thread. Hopefully, this will help to break down important barriers between PR and Bloggers – like access to information, and better implement the all-hailed two-way communication.

Of course, PR has been following client mentions through Technorati, Google Alerts and the like, but this partnership sends a strong message that PR recognizes the true influence of social media and is ready to make deals.

If you haven’t already, please favorite PR COUTURE on your own Technorati page (cute little green link on the right side-bar), or link to me in your blogroll. There are precious few female PR Bloggers out there, and even fewer who are willing to align themselves with something as frivolous as Fashion PR – show me some love and I’ll love you right back!