In 2011, Arketi has was able to help families, individuals and companies from Greater Atlanta to Uganda and Afghanistan.

As a firm, Arketians collected with boxed and canned goods for the Atlanta Community Food Bank during its annual Arketi Turkey Day Food Drive. Employees filled up bags and the donation barrel to the rim during October and November. The food bank then distributed the groceries to low-income families in Metro Atlanta and throughout North Georgia.

Arketi also gathered snacks, toiletries, baby wipes and other items to send to troops at FOB Shank located in the Loghar Province of Afghanistan.

Another way employees helped out is by contributing to Hands of Love – an organization that improves the lives of children and their families affected by the humanitarian crisis in Uganda. Arketi “adopted” three children there and provided each of them with school supplies, clothes and a Christmas gift.

In 2011, Arketi gave “in-kind” offerings to several non-profit organizations, such as High Tech Ministries and HealthMPowers. Arketi provided public relations, event coordination support, design services and more.

Arketians supported clients with their community service programs, as well. For instance, Arketi staffers joined Knowlagent at the MUST Toy Shop, operated by MUST Ministries – a local non-profit organization that provides shelter and services to persons in crisis.

MUST’s store gave parents an opportunity to “shop” for items for their children with a volunteer personal shopper. Thanks to the MUST Toy Shop and volunteers, approximately 4,500 children delighted in opening presents on Christmas morning.

Arketi has been able to give back to the community in these several ways to help make the past year brighter for so many deserving people. Visit Arketi’s Community page to read more about its outreach programs.

The debate in hundreds of companies is ongoing: which department should monitor and maintain a company’s social media presence?

Many are managed by customer service/customer relations, sales/marketing, information technology or even human resources. But, Ragan’s PR Daily recently made the case for communications to facilitate online conversations in its article “13 Reasons Why PR Should Lead Social Media Efforts.”

Among Ragan’s reasons are that PR pros are natural storytellers, we know how to earn-and keep-attention, we think strategically and we know to connect with others.

I agree that an internal PR team should ultimately own social media outreach because it’s a method of communication. But, I also believe it should be a coordinated collaboration between various departments.

Representatives from key business units and departments should meet weekly. The discussions could plan Facebook, Twitter and blog topics, frequency of posts, and create responses to customers’ comments (if applicable). For instance, find out what questions customer service is hearing most and how they are responding.

Based on everyone’s input PR can then craft those messages and post them on the appropriate site. PR practitioners create the company’s overall messaging, which should always be included in social media outlets.

PR folks also develop communications plans for various projects and departments, and they should include social media efforts as a tactic.

Social media is simply another channel companies use to reach their publics. These tactics should be developed, planned for the long term and managed by public relations professionals.