POP! PR Jots

Using Bloggers as Means, Not Ends Unto Themselves

2009-11-16T14:36:00.000-08:00

I work in public relations. I have never called myself a social media guru, or anything of that sort, because I have never believed that social media needed to be something special or different. It's a tool in the toolbox and those that are presenting themselves as social media gurus or experts are tools as well - ones that need to be locked into a toolbox and ignored.

Good social media is integrated into a marketing, public relations or communications campaign (yes, I ignore advertising as that is paid media, and I include marketing because of the border skirmishes between PR and marketing). It's nothing new, I've written (and spoken) about it before. And while I believe that internal social media people are important for corporations, they should be there quarterbacking and driving strategy, not just doing social media. Large picture.

The smart public relations campaign is going to integrate a community - whether it is an online community, or a neighborhood event. My favorite examples are from a few years ago, but they stuck in my mind: Breyer's ice cream held neighborhood ice cream socials, where the company would have full sundae bars in a neighborhood for everyone to enjoy the ice cream on a hot Phoenix summer day. Great community outreach, smart and a way to bring a neighborhood closer together. For Cold Stone Creamery's opening in Times Square, the big hit for the PR firm was Daily Candy. While I love Daily Candy, wouldn't the smarter hit be to the large companies in the Times Square area with a discount (like, oh, large media companies), create a huge buzz and then get lines ... that would bring out the local television stations? I'm just saying that it goes beyond just media to reach the community.

The Los Angeles Times article - Blogging moms wooed by food firms - hits upon that. The Mom and foodie (but mostly Mom) community has grown to be quite strong and powerful. It is a key demographic, the chief operating officer of the home with the full purchasing power who is also influential with other mothers, friends and family.

From a blogger perspective, Liz Gumbinner wrote an amazing post. I'm writing this post from a PR and blogger perspective. And from a PR perspective, the article shows corporations are reaching out to Mom bloggers ... but with no real strategies, just the usual junket mentality: invite people with influence and wine and dine them, and they'll write about you. And, according to the article, that's pretty much true.

The other thing that I'm getting from the article? Yes, the economy sucks. And, we're going to do whatever it takes to get ours. But that doesn't really work, does it? No, not asking to give the milk away for free, so no one buys the cow ... but demanding payment for everything is not going to work either.

But the pay-me mentality has a few issues, well a few truths that bloggers might not want to acknowledge:

Not everyone can write
Not everything is monetizable
Your audience is your audience, not a commodity to be sold and bought
And, there's only one Dooce (in other word's, you ain't gonna be the next Dooce)

The issue here is that this is old thinking, from marketing and public relations. It's the "let's do a junket!" mentality that doesn't work for long-term relationships, but is good for a short-term bump. It's the junket applied to a newish form of content and media. And, while it might work for some blogs (in particular, consumer electronics), it really does not work well with other verticals.

But both bloggers and public relations/social media people need to take responsibility for what is happening here. Is this getting worse, because of the economy? Is the media taking these opportunities to attack bloggers as unethical, and showcase their ethics? Or, is there bigger things at play, such as the FTC that PR and blogging continues to ignore. As I recently noted,

... the FTC will have wider repercussions than people realize, and will stifle much of the social media outreach done by marketing firms - think giveaways, etc - and will lead to tax implications from the IRS that have not been touched upon so far.

Just reading the article, those of us that follow Mom blogs and Twitter will easily remember the attacks on the Nestle bloggers - until the end of the day, Nestle left those bloggers out to dry and let them take the blunt of all the attacks.

That is not building a good, working relationship but leaving your partner out to take all the heat. A good relationship would have seen the corporation - or, at the least, the PR firm - offering air cover for the invited bloggers and taking the heat. While those Nestle attendee's seemed to be fine with the attacks (well, to survive), there was no reason for that to happen. They were just trotted out to Pasadena for a one-time gig, with no long-term strategy. One time dog-and-pony show, that ended fairly for everyone.

The old doesn't work. Well, it does work if it's done right (long-term thinking, strategy, relationship-based) but the old thinking doesn't work in today's world. The old thinking is also just lazy thinking, where you get junkets, short-term planning and not taking responsibility. And, unfortunately, I hear many PR firms recommending bringing Moms and other bloggers out to corporate HQ ... but with no thought of why beyond bringing them out there. Is there a reason, a long-term thought to the junket? Are you putting together a focus group/Mom board? If that is the reason, that can be the basis of a good relationship.

Now, I will be the first to admit that I am not infallible. But PR firms need to change their thinking - and marketing needs to stop looking at social media as earned media that is easily manipulated - and get back to building relationships. That means going to events for in-person relationship building, creating long-term thinking and strategy for campaigns that are not one-off stunts or events, and relationships based on mutual respect that bring value to both parties.

Is PR up to the task? If this article is indicative, not at all. But bloggers also need to not be so easily bought and sold - there's no value if you put out for everyone. There needs to be a middle ground found, but I don't have the easy answer.

And, yes, I misquoted Kant's Categorical Imperative (second maxim) for the post's title.

2010 Predictions in Social Media

2009-10-27T09:36:00.000-07:00

Today, Jennifer Leggio posted a group of people's 2010 social media predictions. She graciously emailed me and asked for my input ... but I was at a loss of what to say (shocker, I know). The PR lesson here is to always jump on requests for information, but at the same time to know what you want to say. I wasn't sure what I wanted to say, as I have a lot to say on the subject.

This was hard for me because for the past few years, I have thought that social media was going to disappear and just become part of marketing and communications, that the firms and companies would have finally caught up to us early adopters. Yes, I'm putting myself as an early adopter with a small group of public relations professionals that do not get the recognition they should get for being early: Tom Murphy, Phil Gomes, Mike Manuel, Constantin Basturea and more. If you want to know who you should really be listening to, look at the people that are not talking that much (some of these people do not update much), but are in the trenches.

And, the fact is that social media should not be a separate discipline anymore, nor should it ever have been. Public relations likes to relive its bad decisions over and over again. Back in the dotcom era, PR firms had "online news" teams versus "print teams" ... and it soon crossed over. My main WSJ reporter worked for WSJ Online, but wrote for the paper as well ... when she wrote for the paper, should I have handed off the relationship or stopped talking to her? No, that'd idiocy. So why is social media separate? Isn't it just part of the whole P in public relations? Yah, you don't need a book to know this, it is basic PR skills that we've forgotten.

As for the prediction, I've been wrong so far, but will go with that prediction for 2010, with an asterisk. I think that social media will finally be subsumed by one of the disciplines (public relations, interactive marketing, marketing - one of them) but will still be splintered across the board. Most of the social media mavens and gurus, though, will be finally sniffed out as empty suits, and that will hurt the industry more than most things - for a while, at least.

Social media shouldn't be a special job that is relegated to 25 year olds as they do not have the gravitas or years of experience to understand the deeper issues. No, not an ageist issue, but in public relations there are issues that arise that you need the years of experience to give good, deep thinking, strategic counsel that comes from years of experience ... not being on freaking Facebook or Twitter. It takes the understanding of the whole ecosystem, how social media is affecting public relations, marketing, communications and customer service. It takes the long-term view - not the short-term that is so popular in social media - and understanding what you do today is going to have repercussions in the future.

As for another prediction: the FTC will have wider repercussions than people realize, and will stifle much of the social media outreach done by marketing firms - think giveaways, etc - and will lead to tax implications from the IRS that have not been touched upon so far.

That is something that we - as marketers, public relations, social media, whatever the hell you want to call the discipline - are going to need to really think about. It's about the bigger story, and what might be happening because what the government is doing today. That is what we need to be doing, that is what we need to be thinking about ... and it might not be best held in the hands of people that can only think about social media.

My Suck Up Post to Jeremiah Owyang

2009-08-27T07:51:00.000-07:00

I expect to see a lot of these posts today - some as suck-ups, some as true congratulatory posts, some just to jump on a meme. It was announced today that Jeremiah (and a couple others) have joined his old colleague, Charlene Li, at Altimeter Group after leaving Forrester.

I have known Jeremiah since he organized the Lunch 2.0 at Hitachi (I still have the T-shirt and vandalized my old office with the sticker) and probably before then. I have been lucky enough to get to know him prior to Hitachi, and was happy for him when he made the jump.

I've read his blog off and on for the past few years, when headlines have caught my eye and there's things that I know I can learn from his insight.

And, I've watched him be attacked as a fanboy of social media and Web 2.0 by people that don't know him - but can easily throw rocks.

That's the thing - Jeremiah really doesn't talk much about his past experience, and he does love social media and Web 2.0 technologies (maybe, sometimes too much). But that exuberance is real, not just some fake excitement that many people have about the technology and space because it furthers their career. Jeremiah lives in this stuff, and enjoys it.

If you know me, though, you know my stance on social media experts - it's easy to talk the talk, but being in the trenches and actually using it is QUITE different. And that is the background that he doesn't talk about. He has fought the fight that those of us that do do the work have fought, and continue to fight. He's been in the trenches at a company culture not know for pushing the envelope, but keeping pretty steady.

The man has his battle scars - I am sure - from his work in social media at Hitachi Data Systems. That is what makes his a real warrior and someone to listen to in this space: he has fought the good fight, he's lost some battles, he gets attacked by others, but he takes it all and keeps soldiering on.

Let me be one of many to congratulate both Charlene and Jeremiah. Great addition to the team, and good luck on what is likely going to be a great journey - and I'm lucky enough to call him a friend (and his wife, who cracks me up with her eye-rolls at me).

Passing the Buck and Ethics

2009-08-24T08:30:00.000-07:00

If you've ever met me, and heard me talk about my first boss, you'll hear me wax poetically about how great a boss he is. I think I might have written about his rules before, but it's always good to rehash The Tiger's rules. He told me these one day when I was in his office, and I always remember them (with his explanations).

1. Blame up, praise down: what he meant is that he gets paid the big bucks (and I was a lowly AAE), and the buck stops with him. He would take the blame, and he would let the client know that we got the hits.

2. If I work late, you work late: No, not the scene from Scrooged but he just meant that if he left the office before me, he'd check in to see what I was working on and what could be taken off his plate. And vice versa - I would check in on him. Mainly, it came down to helping with time management, and being cognizant of what coworkers were working on that day.

3. Take responsibility and own up: While blame up was the end result - meaning he'd take the yelling from the client for a mess up - he wanted you to take responsibility with him if you made the mistake. Own up, and man up.

4. The client comes first: the client is paying your paycheck, so you look out for them. You go over the billing and invoices, and do the line item and make sure they are being fairly billed.

I try to work with the people I work with - in particular, the junior staff - with these thoughts in mine. The Tiger was one of the best bosses I had (yes, there were some bad things), but these rules have stuck with me since I worked for him. And, me and a coworker always tell him we'd work for him in a NY minute.

This seems like an era ago - not because it was 12 years ago, but because these sentiments seem to be lost at major firms nowadays. Time and time again during PR bitch sessions, I hear about senior staff throwing junior staff under the bus, or junior staff working insane hours, or interns wondering if what they're doing is actually public relations, or some bastardization - and can they say no.

So an incident this weekend with a marketing firm - Reverb Communications - brings all of this to the forefront. Thus far, the company has not fully responded to the allegations that they're astroturfing the iTunes Application Store, according to MobileCrunch. And, hey they put marketing first, so I refuse to call them public relations.

The two second version: Reverb is having its interns post comments on its clients iPhone applications to garner more downloads.

The question - and how it fits into the four golden rules - is at what point do the interns push back? Can interns push back at a job (forget the bad economy) and take a stance for what they believe is true and right? Don't the senior staff have an ethical obligation to be teaching their interns the right way to do things, the ethical way to behave in social media? (Yes, that's the rules tie-in).

I know that many public relations firms do go to their interns for brainstorming sessions, in particular for social media ideas. Hey, they're all on Facebook, so they MUST get it!!

But, well, being an intern you also tend to fashion your answers to best reflect what you think the agency wants; you want the job, you make sure your answers are right. Unless, well, you're headstrong like me.

The fact is the interns at Reverb probably should have pushed back - but it is quite easy for me to Monday Morning quarterback as someone whose internship is eons ago. Remember when you're an intern, and you don't push back because you (a) don't know better or (b) really want that job when you graduate from college. And who wouldn't want a job at Reverb? It's a hot shop for iPhone app makers, in the middle of the cool Apple environment. It's pretty much as close as working for an Apple agency as you can get.

So I asked two former interns, current and recent college students on their opinions. One went on the record, the other asked to go off the record. The off the record, of course, is the more damning and more telling.

From Monica Fineis, a Michigan State Alumna: This is sad. Third-party credibility is out the window. I don't think that anyone who represents a product should be allowed to review it, even with full disclosure. Do your advertising, do your promotions, but please don't mess with the reviews! If the reviews say your app sucks--change it! What happened to being advocates for the public? At my first internship, I might not have known better. We take transparency and honesty very seriously here (at my current firm) and theoretically if I was asked to do something like this now I would say no.

From College Student Doe, a current student: 1st incident - we were trying to promote a viral video and it was sent through the company listserv and to drive up views, employees were asked to continue watching etc. I know that this seems like a small thing but it made me feel uncomfortable because it would translate to impressions to the client and if alot of views were from employees, it seems wrong. I didn't push back because I didn't know if it was common practice done by everyone and I was just the loser intern who was behind the times. I wanted to learn; I thought I was learning. It's like looking up to adults because they were grown up and you weren't. I was an intern, these people have been working for years. What should I have said? Who would have listened? Profit is the answer, not ethics.

Nicely depressing, huh?

That is the issue in a nutshell: as senior practitioners, we have a responsibility to be as ethical as possible. But does that conflict with results for clients? As we see with Reverb, it's always inevitable that someone is going to expose your dastardly ways, and then the potential bad press may hurt business (that is a debatable point). And in this economy, we need to provide results all the time, or risk losing a client.

As an intern, you have to stop and ask if you feel comfortable doing what you are about to do. Do you feel comfortable posting reviews under a fake name? Do you feel comfortable with the directions you are being given, or fully understand what you are being asked to do? And, most importantly, do you have a good supervisor and advocate at the firm, whom you can speak to and ask for direction and help? If that supervisor and/or advocate tells you to just go along, at least you know that agency is not the right one for your long-term career path.

And, the reality is that these questions are not just ones you will grapple with as an intern, but ones you will confront throughout your career. It is a serious issue for public relations and marketing firms, and not one that is going to be solved by pointing to good PR people but by having real answers, real solutions for these situations and pushing forward for ethics in public relations ... or at least transparency.

Talib Kweli is Better at Twitter Then You ... and the new Facebook Pages with Twitter!

2009-08-20T23:23:00.000-07:00

Talib Kweli - for those that don’t know, a groundbreaking rapper from Brooklyn – is on Twitter. As are many other rappers and DJ’s. Twitter has become the new MySpace, to the point that Twitter (plus Ning) is the big threat to MySpace, not to Facebook (that’s another post – but something to think about).

On August 5, on his Twitter account Kweli gave his top ten ways to use Twitter (or Twitter no nos!, as he put it). I have cut and pasted his full list of top ten ways to Twitter from his account (apologies to Kweli, but it was too good not to post for more people to see), and include the original time stamps.

and number 1- never overtweet. (i just broke that rule, I'm out!) 4:26 PM Aug 5th

2. I will never say something on twitter I can't say to your face. Thats for the e goons 4:25 PM Aug 5th

3. I will never jump into your convo without visiting your profile to say what has been said, this makes you seem slow 4:24 PM Aug 5th

4. I will never ask you to follow me. I'd rather direct you to my site or ask u to follow someone I admire. No messiah complex here 4:23 PM Aug 5th

5. Never repeat what someone wrote without the RT (retweet) 4:22 PM Aug 5th

6. Never send a tweet to someone who is in the same room as you. 4:21 PM Aug 5th

7. Never have someone else tweet for you. Thats missing the point 4:21 PM Aug 5th

8. don't be the twitter police. If I don't like what you say I'll ignore you. 4:20 PM Aug 5th

9. twitter personal business esp. emotional stuff. twitter is not your personal diary and you invite confusion into your life this way 4:19 PM Aug 5th

10 twitter no nos! 10. Twitter other people's business. Should go without saying. 4:18 PM Aug 5th

Despite all the advice from social media / Twitter gurus, here is a man that is doing his own promotion for his CDs, and giving real world advice from real world experience, in a B2C way. This advice is much easier to listen to than that from “experts” who use Twitter to just self promote without real world experience.

The interesting news today – which prompted me to finish this post – was Facebook announcing that you can now push your Facebook Pages updates to your corporate Twitter account.

This is good news for corporations, celebrities and others with Facebook Pages. While you are able to populate your personal Facebook page with your Twitter updates because of the Twitter application and they are tied together with the status updates, corporate Facebook Pages had nothing (or, well, I couldn’t figure out how to do it).

Now, I agree with Om Malik and Fred Vogelstein that Facebook is about Google and data, and by incorporating Twitter into Facebook Pages, Facebook is able to “see” what corporations want to integrate into Twitter - as well as what members are fans, how they interact, etc. and how that can be used for marketing and ads.

So while some companies have already integrated marketing campaigns from Twitter to Facebook (e.g. send out a contest on Twitter, tell people to go comment on your corporate Facebook Page and become a fan), this makes it easier for the internal marketing / public relations / communications person to keep a consistent message. If the internal person or agency wants to send out a message to both its fans on Facebook, as well as its Twitter followers, it does not have to worry about going to both platforms but can send the message out on Facebook.

What does this mean at the end of the day for public relations? It means easier management of two of the hotter social media platforms – which means time savings for the executives. All in all, that’s not a bad thing.

YAWN: WSJ’s "New" Embargo Rules

2009-08-05T18:23:00.000-07:00

The big PR news for today was that the Wall Street Journal is no longer going to be honoring or accepting embargoed news, according to Paid Content. They want exclusives, and not to be one of many publications and sites that is pre-briefed under embargo.

Um, so what? No, I mean I understand why some people are up in arms about this, but let’s be honest. In my experience, WSJ would agree to a verbal embargo, but if something happened, they would run the story. For the most part, that has been fine for PR people. It was and is a relationship, one built on trust and an understanding of the PR and journalism dance.

But let’s get back to reality here – it’s the Wall Street Journal. It’s the paper of record, the big kahuna. It’s the paper that is one of the few national publications – USA Today, NY Times and WSJ – and one of the few (if not the only) outlets that people pay for online. It’s a paper that wants – no, needs – exclusives, and it likely tired of being scooped by blogs that neither understand the embargo dance, nor care to partake in that dance.

Why would the WSJ continue to be one of 20+ outlets being briefed? That is the buckshot approach for some public relations executives and firms. But, well, that has never worked and that is not an embargo situation, but scattershot PR.

And in this new digital age, the embargo is dead. News moves too quickly nowadays to rely just on an embargo. Yes, you can call up a reporter prior to the announcement and say “dude, got some big news tomorrow, no I won’t tell you, but don’t be that guy and pass and then be pissed you missed the story.” Of course, too many PR people have no idea what is REAL embargoed news, and what’s just news that is not embargo worthy. I tend to get more of the former, a bit of the latter. Hint: a new social media newsroom is not embargo worthy.

The new reality is that print publications run news online (and have for the past 10 years). They will run a more in-depth article in the print version, or write up a bigger story if there is an exclusive or if they have more information that makes for a deeper, more analytical story. Just look at the Wall Street Journal today – two stories on Whole Foods: one on the blog, and an in-depth article in the paper. Interestingly enough, the article has more comments online than the blog post.

That’s all under the WSJ umbrella. As Ali pointed out on Paid Content, both AllThingsD’s Kara Swisher and WSJ’s Jessica Vascellaro (who writes for the paper and the Digits blog) both covered the new Yahoo! home page, but Kara had the fuller article. When you are in a race not only with other outlets, but a part of your own – and sorry for anyone that goes up against Kara “Woman of a Million Scoops” Swisher, as her Rolodex rocks and she’ll get the online video interview as well.

The problem is that most PR people don’t get this. They don’t understand the value of an embargo that you go to one or two trusted outlets/reporters, and then you go out big post-breaking news. They don’t understand that there have never been any real hard and fast rules on embargoes, but are by the seat of your pants. And, they don’t understand how media has really changed.

This isn’t a “media is dead” idea. This isn’t a “print is dead” perspective. This isn’t “social media” or “Web 2.0” thinking. Many of those ideas are just meme attractors, and have no real value, especially in public relations. The WSJ is still the WSJ and the NYT is still the NYT and they have the top writers and thinkers out there (as do many newspapers with national presence).

This is about how embargoes no longer work in a world where media consumption has changed, and where people are consuming media on a 24/7 platform, and the news cycle is now immediate. People find out things first online; the fast reporters and bloggers get news up immediately, and then people read print (or read print articles online) for the more in-depth analysis, the executive interview and some exclusivity for that one or two outlets. The embargo has outlived its usefulness, but relationships have not been replaced, and the pre-brief is still in existence. It is about the way you do PR in a 24/7 news cycle. And, how you can out-maneuver others in a 24/7 news cycle.

Because, at the end of the day, media is media, reporters will still talk on background and the story will get out there.

Don't be THAT PR person at BlogHer (Or Any Event)

2009-07-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

It is BlogHer (the conference) time once again. A time to be part of a huge event – 1500 + attendees this year of female bloggers talking about what they write about, learning from each other, and being part of the bigger BlogHer community.

Well, let's be honest – it's likely 1200+ attendees and 300+ public relations people. And that's not counting the BlogHer attendees that are being sponsored to attend, and who will likely be pushing products or services while also attending.

As I have noted before on this blog, I am a big, big supporter of BlogHer and its community. This will be the fourth year that I am attending – second time for BlogHer Business – and I have built great relationships across the board because I listen, I engage and I don't push or pitch. Heck, I'm like a BlogHer male mascot, welcomed to attend because I go to learn, and can turn it off and not just be a pitch machine.

As I was speaking about this post tonight to a few of my friends that are here already, they noted that I am welcomed by the Mommy blogging community because of my involvement and attendance, and also noted that I am not here to pitch, but have become a part of the community by listening, discussing, and being myself. That at the end of the day, I understand about relationships and when is the appropriate time to pitch. And, when I do have something appropriate, I reach out to them and let them know.

Kids and Media BOF
Originally uploaded by hyku.

Follow these rules, and have a better BlogHer experience. These observations and opinions are based on my attending multiple BlogHer conferences, as well as the IMs and email conversations I have with Mommy bloggers and others.

1. BlogHer is not just about mommy bloggers. It's a huge group of various bloggers and social media people who write on topics that include motherhood, cooking, scrapbooking, politics, car repair and service, consumer electronics, and more. To characterize BlogHer as just Mommy blogging is to ignore the people and their full spectrum of interests. If you just want to consider them Mommy bloggers, you're missing the bigger picture.

2. Turn it off and listen. Yes, we're always supposed to be on - but turn it off, and be a person instead of a pitch machine. We're in public relations, and we are supposed to be experts in coversations. Public relations is supposed to be the leaders in social media because we understand that it is more than just pushing messaging. Public relations is more than just messaging points, but actual dialogue with key stakeholders. If you cannot understand this, you certainly should not be pitching bloggers nor attending events. For example, a top parenting site asked me why an intern and an Assistant Account Executive at a large firm would pitch a widget and not listen to the feedback: if the client wants a widget on their site, buy ad space. Nor did they really want to engage in any discussion beyond the script that they were handed. The parenting blogger felt that the firm neither understood nor respected their work.

3. Don't lie and don't name drop. Don't say “oh, your blog is the top in my Google Reader!” It's insulting because it rings hollow. Same thing is when you're at BlogHer, listen and have conversations, but no need to say “Oh, I read you and you and you.” Because you know what, while that's great, you're missing “her and her and her” that are likely just as interesting and worthy of reading.

4. It's give and take. It's not about you, but your clients. Yes, you are at BlogHer for your agency and your clients, but learn the soft-sell and pitch. It's a give and take relationship, where you are at an event to learn and network. You can (and should) follow-up with people post-BlogHer. Talk, have conversations, and follow-up later. The attendee's have paid good money to come to Chicago. Let them hang out with their friends, make new friends and have a good time. Meet them, have conversations that aren't pitches, find common interests and just be a person. And follow-up with them after the conference on your pitches and clients when it is more appropriate to discuss the clients' products, in a more relaxed setting.

5. There are panels and sessions. Go to them and listen and learn. That means not talking, which is hard for a lot of PR people, but actually learning from others and finding out what they want. Like that picture of me at the second BlogHer, where I participated, listened and learned: the things I wanted out of BlogHer.

There are other issues at play right now – such as the FTC investigation into blogs and paid-for-posts. These are extremely important issues and certain Mommy bloggers seem to be at the forefront of these discussions. But the reality is that the market will shake out – as it always does – and these sites will be less important because people will not trust them. If anyone asks to be paid for reviews or to look at your product, you just look at it as a non-starter and walk away. I know that BlogHer has looked into these issues as well, and is doing its part to keep its community on the up-and-up.

But as PR people, if you cannot turn it off, do not go to BlogHer. Yes, that seems a little harsh, but the reality is that you are not going to listen or engage, but just be that PR person. You know, THAT PR person. So, stay home – and stay out of the way for people that want to have a conversation and learn from bloggers, and build relationships. Which, as the media is flattening, is the most important thing: real relationships that are built on trust, honesty and mutual respect.

Mmm, that's a good cup of Nite Owl Coffee

2009-03-11T19:33:00.000-07:00

If you have been following the launch of Watchmen – from the advertising campaigns and posters, to The New Frontiersman and more, heck just read the in-depth look by Chris Thilk on all their movie marketing madness – the one thing that really was interesting to me was the coffee tie-in to the movie.

If you’ve read the graphic novel – and, well, the people who saw it opening weekend likely have read it – you will remember the scene where Dan serves Sally a cup of coffee after they rescued people from the burning building. I think the line was that he was still civilized.

And, when you first saw the coffee online – I don’t remember where I saw the link – but I do remember thinking it was another part of the film’s viral campaign, and that it wasn’t real.

But, well, the coffee IS real. The company – Organic Coffee Company – is real. How it all came into reality, well, that’s sorta unreal but still real.

Clay Enos – a photographer in his day job – is a founding member of OCC, which he views more as more of a coffee cartel than a company. Enos started the company a few months back, after assignment in Oaxaca, Mexico and being inspired by the people who make specialty coffee and their dedication and dependence on the farmers.

So, simply, he decided to become an importer and develop organic, relationship coffee with the belief that if you want good coffee, you don’t ignore the growers, but have a deep relationship with them that is based on trust and value.

And, being a photographer, he uses his own photographs to give the company and its coffees their own distinctive identity. And, since he started this out as a labor of love to honor world coffee, the majority of the profits are donated. When I spoke to Clay, he noted that the company is something that helps him express other principles, and a nice outlet for his photographs.

Talking to Enos, it's evident that he loves coffee and the idea of helping out others. His view of OCC is that it is a cooperative spirit, and that there be a sharing of the wealth. And, well, that coffee is a lovely social elixir – coffee is a lovely way to engage people. It’s the coffee way of life.

So, how did this all tie-in to Watchmen?

Well, Enos went to Ithaca College with Debbie Snyder – the wife of the director, and one of the producers of the movie. And, the photographer part of his life, well, Enos did all the photo shoots in the movie, behind the scenes, the one-sheets and the movie posters (all as work for hire).

As he noted, this was an overwhelming venture, was his first feature film. It was curious, excited, and as a portrait artist, you can’t do any better than a movie with five decades of costumes, hair, makeup – it was just ripe for portraits.

One thing to do behind-the-scenes, etc – but the portraiture work is totally different, an art book of portraits. With any luck, it will hold up past the movie tie-ins, as an example of great portraiture.

As he was doing the photographs, he thought of ways to tie-in coffee (as he notes, coffee is on his brain now). As he read the graphic novel, he noted that when they save the folks from the tenement fire, they then have coffee. Wouldn’t it be fun, to make that real? To do a Nite Owl coffee? And, well, Enos was in the position where he could make it happen and raise money for charity, and satisfy the fans - really, to let people have some of the best coffee they will ever have.

Thus far, the sales have been interesting because people are having trouble believing it’s real – it’s high-quality coffee that is not just for fans. Enos doesn’t care if it’s Nite Owl or one of the other coffees, it’s about the quality and how coffee is part of life.

Each coffee tells its own story, you’re drinking a place and people’s lives. It's fodder for conversation, and you can tell a story with the people. An equivalent of wine stories.

The Nite Owl and OCC coffees are about creativity, and having some fun. It's to inspire people to do the same, instead of looking down – the artistic mode, make better photographs instead of dismissing the idea that they couldn’t do well.

As for the coffee? Well, I got my can delivered - and it's some of the best smelling coffee I've ever smelled. It's rich, heady and you can tell it's going to be one helluva cup of coffee. So, as a fan boy, it's exciting. As a coffee lover, it should be great.

Mommy taught me not to lie

2009-01-18T15:31:00.000-08:00

Reading Dan Lyons' piece on the Apple / Media dance - and, let's be honest, it is a great one to watch as a PR person - one thing stuck out for me: The larger takeaway is what this episode says about how the media covers Apple. It's one thing for PR flacks to tell lies. That is, after all, what they get paid to do. But it's another thing for the media to join in on the action. (Emphasis mine, of course).

The article was dead-on. There are a few corporations that get an easy pass, and have a hardcore public relations machine. Apple is one of those, and as a fanboy of Apple (and, well, a person that likes to watch and practice good PR), it is amazing to watch the way they handle press and get out the message. Apple is one of the few (the only?) companies that could probably find a hardcore Apple blogger, tie him up, beat him to a pulp, tar and feather him ... and get defended by other bloggers. It's just that Apple mystique.

But, well, it's not the job of PR to lie. We're a bridge builder, a way for reporters (and, well, social media 'reporters') to get access to the corporation, and get information out to the public. We're not supposed to be the impediment for news, the gatekeeper, but the way to help people get the stories they want. Does this mean to answer every media request, and give out products for review willy-nilly? Of course not - you use your intellect on this stuff. Come on people.

But, no, it's not about lying. What is acceptable?

Pulling the Heisman - that's fine.
Omitting facts - not lying, but, well, omission of details - that's fine.
Blatant lying - well, that's just not. Some PR people can get away with it - when you are at a hot company, you have some leeway with the press. But, well, the press doesn't forget these things. And, it will eventually catch up.

The thing is that I understand where Lyons is coming from with his piece. This is the second time he's called out PR for lying - blatantly - to him, and it really should not be acceptable. That's not how PR works, it's not how PR should work, and it's too often an occurrence.

Hell, just step outside of PR to the publicity / entertainment side of things. How often do you see a report that a publicist said "oh, no, they're not getting a divorce" ... a week before they file for divorce. Paging Liz Rosenberg and Madonna. Hell, paging ANY large entertainment publicity shop.

But, this is the problem with public relations: lying sacks of shit, as Lyons calls them, make all of us who don't engage in this type of subterfuge look awful. The blame is also with reporters, however, who have been duped by "sources familiar" to do their bidding. Journalism, as a means to report the news to the masses, has become sensationalistic and unreliable (and, at times, just lazy), and why the public has become less and less trusting of the media. It's less media and journalism in mainstream press, and more editorializing and sensationalism.

But, the reality is with the shrinking and spreading of media - the traditional is getting smaller, while the new is growing bigger (and, well, more niche and like vertical media, but no one wants to admit that about blogs) - the lies are becoming too obvious, and getting caught too easily. It's the job of public relations to relay information, or truthfully sometimes to keep information private. But if you're getting calls from a reporter on such information ... it's already leaked and out there. And, well, damage control does not mean lie and obfuscate, but rather deflect or respond.

All in all ... pretty simple rules from kindergarten, with less naïveté.

In Defence of Lois Whitman

2008-12-18T20:15:00.000-08:00

Someone has to do this, and someone has to say what this really is - it's not just an attack on one PR person, but it's an attack on the PR industry as a whole.

I am not here to condemn Lois, but rather defend. Nor am I here to condone her actions, but rather speak to the PR industry about such actions - as well, as speak to others as a PR practitioner.

So, today she is being held up as everything wrong with the PR industry, because of her actions regarding CES. Yes, her actions and her own defence (or lack thereof) come up lacking - Phonescoop would not care about the clients her employee was pitching, and the laziness of just blasting the whole media list has its own consequences (for example, see Chris Anderson's blacklist) - but it is still a common PR practice, especially during trade show season. And, it is because we are under the gun to get X meetings at the trade show.

I, myself, have received three emails from one PR person asking why I have not responded to the first email ... maybe because I am busy and not attending CES as media/blogger this year?

And, yes, Lois and her PR firm has the distinct honor of being called out by The Bad Pitch Blog; I know Kevin, and I know that it takes many offenses to be publicly called out.

But, I'm here to defend Lois - not necessarily because I think she deserves to be defended, but because PR people are missing the bigger issue. It's another typical attack on PR, and not necessarily warranted. While she is quite a character, and seems to not notice how the game has changed, but added New Media to the firm's name in 2001 (hey, she was an early adopter!) to keep abreast of the latest buzz word game.

In today's world, though, public relations is becoming more and more relevant. With the media shrinking, freelancers becoming more and more prevelant, and, well, online media (or new media or social media) become fragmented where you need VERY targeted outreach to reach the right audiences, well, the PR executive and firm is the perfect choice. And, that includes all the social media / networking brouhaha. Who is better off talking to people than public relations? The classic generalist is trained to work with the media, the public and to engage in discussions, not just one-way messaging.

As for the start of this recent PR is dead meme, but let's put a face to it (with Lois) - it started with the embargoes are dead meme, which is just as dumb, if not dumber. The embargo is based on a working relationship, and when a PR person or firm gets burnt by a reporter or site, you stop working with them (giving them the pre-briefs), and shoot them the news at the same time.

And, really, 90 percent of the embargoes for start-ups are worthless. It's not embargo worthy news, they aren't public companies. You don't send off a release under embargo without getting a verbal or written "yes" that they will honor the embargo. That, again, goes to laziness.

In the era of new media, social media or whatever, though, the embargo might be on its last legs. However, for a public company, it does not. You want to pre-brief reporters on upcoming news, but that pesky SEC stuff gets in the way. So, you do under embargo - usually backed up by an attorney.

During the dot-com era, News.com was infamous for having the fast trigger finger. During the Web 2.0 bubble (or whatever you want to call the recent past), it was Mashable that was whispered about as fast posters. So, if you are a smart PR person that values your relationships, you don't pre-brief or embargo them - you give them the news the same time you send it out on the wire. If you don't get the hit, you don't get it.

And, yes, even I have been burnt by the verbal embargo. Back in the day, I pre-briefed two outlets: WSJ (my choice and person) and AP (the partner's choice and person). AP went early, and burned my relationship with the WSJ reporter and killed the better story (told from my POV, rather than the partners). It happens to everyone, but the good PR person learns from it and redoes the strategy for the next news cycle. Or just briefs.

But, back to Lois. While the PR bloggers love a good dog pile to attack another PR person when they come under fire - and in these economic times, it's a bigger blood sport than usual - with this highly visible and somewhat personal attack on a PR firm, it's an attack on all of us. It's another shot in the PR gut that we're dead.

And, well, we're not.

We're more important in a recession than ever before. But, if your PR firm or PR person has time to post in the middle of the day, you really should question what they are doing for you. Or if it is themselves they are thinking of first. PR needs to be client first, PR person second. Not the other way around.

And that also is hurting the PR industry.

Twitteriocy

2008-09-28T23:46:00.000-07:00

Twitter idiocy. Or Twitteriocy (I'm coining a term- run with it). It's what we are beginning to see on Twitter, and it is an easy thing to combat. Now, while Twitter right now is the hot thing for corporations, and we have begun seeing more and more and more companies getting accounts, well, it is becoming obvious that there is a right way and a wrong way to do it.

So, I am laying down my simple rules for not being a Twitter idiot. Because, well, no one likes an idiot.

Now, this all came about at Blogworld Expo. Once again, it was a great event and Rick Calvert did a great job. But, as the wonderfully charming Gwen Bell noted - with such the concentration on Twitter this year, next year should be Twitter World Expo.

Zappos had a party at Prive - the CEO of Zappos follows me on Twitter, and vice-versa - and I ended up at the bar with the CEO/CHO, Luke, of Fitfuel. I noticed the sticker of his Twitter name on his head (yes, he had it stuck on his head), so I asked him why he (and, well, most of his team at Fitfuel) was following me on Twitter. It's a simple question, right? I wonder why a lot of people follow me on Twitter as I tend to either talk about 80's music, rap lyrics, rap videos, my personal rules of PR and Twitter (okay, that might be why) and other random shit on my mind. Usually in threaded conversations, so they are discussions with others.

His response was that I must have followed first (not to sound cocky, but with 3000+ followers and following 1325, I rarely proactively add anyone). After that, it was just quiet.

Until he went back to his team and started talking about the stupid conversation he had at the bar about Twitter. I have dog ears, by the way, if you wonder.

See, isn't that nice? Nothing makes me feel better than being characterized as stupid. Now, the simple and easy answers could have been: we follow you because you're an influencer (ego feeding works with most people, just not me); we follow you because you are part of the Twit2Fit (thanks Jason Falls, Equinox and my Yoga person there, Maura Barclay, for keeping me healthy!) hashtag group (true, and, well, might be the reason, but who knows now and I don't care); we follow you because you have a lot of smart things to say about PR and Twitter (okay, more ego gratification, but hey, that would work because it means they know who I am). Shit, make up some reason why you are following a person.

So, with this in mind - and with me having set up a Twitter account for my day job - here are the rules that I have come up for Twitter.

1. Don't have your PR firm set up and be your Twitter account. That seems pretty simple, doesn't it? But, well, I heard a story at BlogWorld Expo of a PR firm charging $7000 for a week of Twittering, and have heard other stories of astronomical figures on setting up and monitoring the Twitterverse. How is aPR firm supposed to respond if they have to go back to the client and get the okay first? Um, social media and quick time conversations like Twitter do not work that way.

2. Don't follow everyone willy nilly. First, it makes no sense - if you follow someone, well, it does not matter unless they follow you back. Otherwise, you're a corporate shill that is just talking to nobody. You're talking to no one and it's obvious that you just are doing it to do it. And, well, if that's what you want, that's great. I have a lot of the Zappos people follow me ... but I so rarely wear shoes and they don't sell Havaianas yet (come on guys, get on the stick). But, I like the company, and don't follow all of them back. But, hey, they must like me enough to follow. My strategy? If someone follows the corporate account first, I follow back. If they Tweet about the company more than once, I follow. If they are a blog that I read that is in the corporate space (or a journalistic space), I follow to see what they are working on. Simple and easy.

3. Get Tweetdeck. At first, I was not a fan ... but if you are in-house and doing Twitter for work, there is no greater tool. Not only do you get the stream, the replies and direct messages, but it keeps your global searches right there to reply. And, well, if you are doing a corporate Twitter account, scan for your name and other terms that refer to what your company does, and what its products serve. Seriously, it rocks. And, those that know me know that I'm stingy with the likes.

4. Be engaged. Be personable. Be responsive. There's nothing worse than sending someone a direct message on Twitter ... and hearing nothing back. You followed ME first, and yet you are unable to respond to a question? And, well, that's just a direct message. If you are sent an @reply, and do not respond, do you REALLY want to be in the conversation, or you just glomming onto the next thing? If it's glomming, well, you are not ready.

5. Be a person. The other day, I noted that I do not like corporate Twitter accounts with no name, but said in my more usual way. Seriously, this is supposed to be a conversation, and you want me to talk to someone with no name? No reference? No bio? Um, no thank you. No, really, go away.

6. Twitter is not for everyone. For another, longer post ... social media is not for all corporations or entities. There are those that social media will NEVER be the right fit because of policies or legalities. Despite the mantra of the social media "experts", social media is not a right fit for all companies. It's a simple rule. In that, Twitter is not right for all groups - but that does not mean they should not be monitoring Twitter. You don't even need to download Tweetdeck ... you can use Filtrbox for Twitter searches (an added bonus to what is being said out there on blogs, and such).

I also spelled out rules for me following others yesterday. Just click on these links and you'll see.

If you are a corporation, though, what exactly are you trying to accomplish on Twitter? That should be the first question. For me, it was to monitor and participate and answer questions. It was cut and dry, and from engaging, I have been able to turn what were active detractors to active enthusiasts - by acknowledging, responding and helping. Simple as pecan pie.

Slave to Technology

2008-09-09T07:18:00.000-07:00

If you read my blog, you notice a trend: I often talk about what public relations needs to do, and how it needs to change. Sometimes it's a broken record, but it serves a purpose.

Now, I can be like a social media expert (something, btw, I never call myself because boy, is that a career-limiting path) and just talk about social media tools with no real world experiences or examples. Talking tools for tools sake makes you, well, a tool. Don't tell your audience about the new social media tools that have launched, because in a year or two, most of them are likely to be ignored or dead pooled. Or, in five years, we'll all talk about how quaint it was that we would recommend this or that to clients ... with no real ROI on the tools.

At the end of the day, social media and public relations is getting so caught up in the tools, that it is forgetting that it is just technology. The PR people and the firms are too dependent on technology and the tools - and these tools expand beyond social media. It includes email and instant messaging and using the computer all the damn time and never leaving the office. The tools that that PR people use almost exclusively in media relations are email and IM, and unfortunately ignore that phone looking thing on their desk.

That's a problem. A big problem.

During the big brouhaha on PR is dead, Frank Shaw built upon my post and said some of the things I meant to say.

It is not just about the relationships, but building the right relationships within the right verticals, and doing your research prior. And, yes, that takes time and involves sitting in front of the computer.

But, well, my computer monitor died - the notebook still works (I can hear it!) but the screen is dark. No clue why, and just need to go to the "doctor" to get it checked out. But it was a good reminder that we are too caught up in technology. We have so fallen in love with technology, that we can't do anything without it.

So, once upon a time, I was working at a PR firm. I was asked to help out on a media tour, and while I didn't know the client well, I knew the story enough to send out a quick round of email pitches (which another person had claimed to do). The difference? I actually called the reporters, and booked the media tour via phone.

Yes, I do good phone. I was able to get on the phone, quickly encapsulate the pitch into 30-seconds for a reporter, and get the meeting. I booked the tour in two days.

So, instead of just talking about tools and pontificating, here's my advice to PR firms with junior staff. Or, to any PR person that wants to have better media relations skills.

Put away your keyboard. No, seriously, have the keyboard taken away. Emails can be answered at a later time, and if it really is an emergency, the client will call you and your coworker will walk over to your office. But, in PR, very rarely is anything in PR an emergency (such, well, that will be a life and death situation). Put away the keyboard, and only use the phone.
Call up a reporter and offer to meet for coffee or lunch. No, it's not to pitch them, but to find out what stories they want to write about, and to learn more about them. It's this real world networking thingie. I know - a total mind fuck!
Pick up the damned phone. Deals aren't closed via email. Pitches aren't closed via email. Media tours are not booked or finalized via email. It's done by phone. It's simple - the strong use the phone, the weak stick to email. Pick up the phone and talk to reporters and analysts.

While technology has its place in public relations, we have been over-relying on the tools for so long that the basics of public relations - the relationships and the connectivity with face-to-face meetings and the ability to do good phone - have been lost. It's the few that can do it, and do it well.

We have become slaves to technology - and it has only become worse with the social media tools. Break the chains and get back to basics.

Can I can get a big cup of STFU please?

2008-08-13T14:44:00.001-07:00

How many times can you beat a dead horse? Apparently, every quarter if that horse is the PR is dead meme.

Well, this time it's more a slow build kicking of the horse: the recent meme started with the launch of Cuil, and Robert Scoble not being pre-briefed. There, he decided that he's done with the PR game.

Robert fed the fire with his recent post highlighting a company that he found through word of mouth - albeit a company that is not a mass consumer product, and likely will do okay with little PR.

It bubbled up in other posts - from Steve Rubel (who seems to forget that he's in PR and collects a pay-check at the world's largest independent PR firm), from TechCrunch, from Mashable. All people that have and continue to profit from PR people and PR firm relationships, with scoops and sneak previews. Here's the usual TechMeme crowd putting their voices into the one-way conversation.

A more balanced POV came from ReadWriteWeb - the pro's and con's of what is happening in PR.

So, here's my .02 - there's nothing new here. There's nothing new being said, just the same things every year (or is it every quarter now?).

I have written in the past that we need to train and educate. It's simple, and yet the firms aren't fully embracing it.

And, Ryost made the most pointed comment on Twitter to my first eye-roll on the situation: PR will become more valuable as newsrooms continue to shrink.

The fact is that social media is ONE part of public relations. A SMALL part, if you are a good PR person or firm. The other parts are traditional media (while it might be shrinking, it still reaches that middle part of the country), analyst relations, events, and more.

PR is about relationships. It's about relationships so much that Lowe's went to Abraham Harrison for it's recent project because of its relationships with people at Lowe and because of their relationships with bloggers. See - it's about relationships.

It's also about writing, about talking, about conveying a story. But, without those relationships, there's nothing there. And, unfortunately, with the industry's reliance on technology - let's email, let's launch a blog, let's get Twitter, let's do this and that ... well, you're failing in PR.

As my friend Andy Abramson (and, full disclosure, my firm) notes, it's BAM now: Bloggers, Analysts, Media. You need to have the right mix for the right story, and it's never one size fits all. Go and try to do local PR and see how far the social media only strategy works.

Social media is just a tool in the PR mix. And, it's just a good tool in the mix for certain clients and brands. For technology and consumer technology, it's great. For consumer goods, it's great. But, it's NOT the only thing. The PR bloggers - on some level - have become so enamored with the tools, that they are unable to take a step back but have become lost in their reflection like Narcissus.

But with the current posts - just concentrating on technology only - even the companies with no PR are not going to survive. You need to be able to tell a story, have trained executives that know what and what not to say in public, you need to have a plan.

The thing is - it's not just PR people that need to educate. It's bloggers and social media people. There are certain social norms that are kept in the norm, but seem to be ignored and broken in social media.

Now, I'm not talking about the embargo fiasco with Jeff Pulver; the PR person there should have not sent out a mass email, should have sent individualized outreach, and just asked the simple "do you do embargoes" without all the news.

I'm talking about being invited to press conferences or events. That invitation means that you are getting special insight - and by blogging guesses on what it is, just to be ahead of the curve - provides no real value to the readership, but is just guessing and hurts the press conference because the PR firm is inundated with people that want to be included in the press conference.

There goes that exclusivity and news hook.

So, here's my simple rules for public relations professionals.

1. Develop relationships. If you are a PR person - at any level - and cannot call up a reporter (not email, but pick up the damn phone) and set up a lunch to talk ... the you are not providing value. From the AAE to the SVP, you need to have relationships. If push comes to shove on a client deadline, everyone should pick up the phone and pitch and land a meeting. If the SVP is so detached from the media and client, what value is there?

2. Read. Not just blogs, but media. Traditional, social, new - be on a steady diet of media, so you think beyond today's news and come up with trend pieces and stories.

3. Think beyond today. It's not a race, it's a marathon. It's the long term strategies that work, not the panic. A good PR person never sweats, never panics but is calm.

4. For the PR bloggers that are calling for PR to be dead - if you believe that the industry needs to change, go to your local college and teach a session or two. Mentor students that email you - if memory serves, I have responded to and helped every college student that has written to me (War Eagle, my favorite PITAs) - both in the US and internationally. Instead of bitching about the state of PR, go do something.

I'm not prone to think PR is dead or dying. I do believe there are issues, but also talk to junior staff, help out when I get bad pitches (hey, I get them a lot and respond back to them), and try to help out for the most part. Instead of just talk, walk a little.

Taking Stock - Can Social Media Do What It Claims?

2008-07-30T10:35:00.000-07:00

July 5th was the five year anniversary of my blog. I started thinking about the bigger issues, and wrote this post on July 8th - and waited until I could get more information (see sidenote on bottom).

Ten-plus years ago, I started my career in public relations. One of the first campaigns I worked on was the Cure Breast Cancer stamp - working with a friend that was on the campaign, to get it launched and to get people to buy it.

That's a nice high for PR: doing some good work that changes people's lives.

I look at what I have done in social media, and it is not the same. And, while people are glomming onto social media, there seems to be very little being done in the circular nature of the social media consultants.

You don't hear/read about campaigns that are helping change the world. You don't hear/read about campaigns that are being done with the large agencies or consultants that are trying to help make the world a better place.

You read social media people talking about social media ... and that seems to be it. It's the self-fulfilling prophecy of Valleywag's 250. And, I have written about this before, and nothing much changes.

There are groups of social media people that fall outside this realm. There are networks that are more community than others.

I have spoken at and asked for help and advice from various social media fundraisers, such as TechSoup and NetSquared, and spoke to a few of these people at Blogworld Expo.

So, this is my challenge to the social media consultants and the power of social media. Prove to me that it works.

Here is one situation - help raise funds for Lisa Gift-Kelly at Clusterfook.

It's a deserving person, who has cancer and is trying to make sure that things stay afloat and is able to afford treatment, as well as make sure her family will be okay and not fall under the weight of health care costs.

Here's my question and request: show that social media can change the world. Right now, it's just talk.

Robert Scoble - rally your readers and community to give just $5 to one or the other. Heavy is the crown for someone in your position, but times like this call for a rallying of troops. And, it fits into your recent post that tech blogging has failed ... maybe because it's too insular?

Steve Rubel - you often talk about community, but then use the card that you did not ask for a leadership position. You started a skin cancer blog, but inexplicably let it die. Here's an opportunity to do something for someone with cancer, and to show leadership in social media and PR.

Social Media Club - you now have 44 board members of social media experts and consultants. Have them get the word out, have them work with the larger community of readership and help make the world a better place one person at a time.

Chris Brogan - you are one of the nicer people I know, and always do the good thing. Get your massive network to help out. It's not about blog tips, but it's about affecting change.

Jason Calacanis - while you might have retired your blog, you still have your Calacanis army on Twitter and your new newsletter. Rally your readers and followers. Plus, well, you are a mensch.

Now, there are tons of other people that I can think of to add to this list, but just using these four (plus SMC) as an example, and because of their position in social media. There are a ton of other people that write about social media non-stop, who have written books (Rohit Bhargava, Joel Postman, Geoff Livingston, Shel Israel, Brian Solis, Chris Heuer, amongst others) and would be good candidates to help spread the word and raise money.

Is that all that social media is? Is it to just sell stuff? Is it just a self-fulfilling circle that links to itself over and over? Or is there a higher value to social media, where we can make people's life better and really rally people to help others.

And, while there are organizations, groups and people that are doing good online, the vast majority of social media / blog noise comes from the consultants. Prove me right - that social media can do more than just be about social media talking about itself, but help change people's lives and change one part of the world. Social media consultants have a vested interest to do this, to show the world an example of social media doing good.

Go donate on the side through the SmartyPig Widget, or send people to Lisa's donation page.

When I wrote the post, my hope was to see if social media can do for Lisa what it claims the buzz can do for people.

As a sidenote: On a recent post, Lisa questioned if I was still helping her out, among other things. I have and had been researching alternative funding beyond Paypal, and doing traditional offline PR with face-to-face conversations with a myriad of people. As for the outreach that I am doing in my off-hours, in public relations you need to be ready and prepared for all and every question. I should have kept her up-to-date, and am now emailing her weekly. I apologize that I was not as proactive as she would have liked in the ten days between our correspondence and posts (which she has since taken down).

Do We Need to Embrace the Fan, and Other LA Conference Thoughts

2008-06-16T15:12:00.001-07:00

Recently, I attended OnHollywood. It sucked. Really, nothing else to say about the conference than that. From sneaking a look into the conference center, no one was really paying attention - or attending - the sessions. From watching the demonstration stations, people just stopped doing demos and looked bored. They had an open bar sponsored by Men7.tv (no, not a gay porn channel - and yes, I thought that too), and the event was best characterized by someone else that was down from San Francisco: SF is about networking, LA is about cliques.

A few months back, I attended Forrester's Marketing Conference in Century City.

We were sitting in Century City - a city I used to work in - and Harley Manning, the VP of research, pointed out that the reason that the Forum is being held in LA is that this city is a marketing city. Just look at the name of the streets - Avenue of the Stars - and this city embodies marketing (mostly of itself and entertainment).

Marketing's new imperative for success is engagement. You see it in the change of how brick and mortar stores are set up, such as the family setting of Jordan's furniture and all the bells and whistles. Or look at how Nike set up a community to engage it's customers - running tips from pros, a full community based on running.

I think he's wrong - yes, LA is a city of marketing but it is not an engagement city, but one of dreams and schemes. The city is built on falsehoods, on dreams, and never has had a foot in reality. It's fakery - the people and the industry - and it sells dreams. Sells them so well that it's not hit as hard during recessions (people will always use entertainment to escape).

Also at the Forrester Conference, Brian Haven talked engagement and understanding your customers.

It's a hot topic - and most marketing publications are covering it. But it is also risked becoming a buzzword. No, it is a buzzword ... and one that seems to be built on more what we want than what customers may want, or what corporations might want.

As an example, Haven talked about the launch of the Cincinnati Ikea - a hardcore fan of Ikea that was lobbying to bring Ikea to Cincinnati. She is passionate, she is an advocate, and she brings people to the brand. There was a connection to her with the brand - but the brand did not give back in that relationship ... to the point that legal came in and asked for a disclaimer and then asked for her to give up her blog domain bc of the Google juice was getting better than Ikea's.

Um, is Ikea wrong, though? Ikea has a responsibility to its shareholders, to its customers, to its brand to be ... on brand. This woman, to be blunt, was not on brand. No, I am not naive to think that everyone in Ikea is from Sweden ... but I do want the people to look a certain way, and the woman did not fit that mold. She looked Midwest, for lack of a better or tactful way to say it.

And, why do brands have to embrace its fans ALL the time? Let's not forget that fan comes from the word fanatic. And, well, fanatics are scary and can be detrimental to your brand.

According to Haven, Ikea should have engaged the Cincinnati Ikea fanatic, given her scoops on the store, outfitted her with new technology. They should have reached out and embraced her ... but that's wrong. Did they want to embrace the fanatic that took to camping out at their store prior to opening? Do they want to be associated with a woman that made up puppets and Saint Ikea, and other things she did? Or does the brand have a responsibility to stay on brand, and protect the brand?

Back to OnHollywood, the most interesting discussion I had was with Taz Arnold from SA-RA. We were talking rappers, Jay Dilla, Lupe Fiasco, Wale, and how the music industry is changing. If you think about it, the rap game has always had its own distribution system that was different than the rest of the industry - there was (and still is) the underground mix tape market, where people find new voices and sounds ... and might buy them. You still can catch people in different cities selling their CDs on the corner. When I was in LA for the last E3, I bought a CD at Roscoe's. Wasn't too bad.

"What's the deal with this rap stuff? Since Napster, the sales been crashing - and since Napster the game has been flooded by has-beens and never-wll-be ringtone rappers." Wale, The Mixtape About Nothing

Arnold and I were talking about the merchandising of rap, and how that is where the game is going. You have x million people buying a single - it's not about getting them to buy the ring tone next, but what about the clothing line? What about clothing lines or other merchandise? It's what Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco have expanded into, as well as the Neptunes/N.E.R.D and the Billionaire Boys Club. You have an audience ... you work with them to keep them in love with the brand, this time a rapper.

I love that one of the three interesting and smart conversations I had at OnHollywood was with a rap producer. He had a better grasp on the market than most of the so-called social media experts I know, and a lot more interesting thing to say than quite a few of the people speaking at the conference.

Also, I had no clue who Arnold was when I was speaking with him ... and then I see his cool "Hood" "Love" rings in the Estelle/Kanye "American Boy" video. And then him. Hmmm, typical me.

Writing this on the plane home from BlogPotomac reminded me of the ethics panel. Social media experts are SO caught up in their only little world - their own circle - that they cannot think of what might be accepted practices in other communities. Just because "we" don't like character blogs, does not mean they do not have their place (and, sorry, some of them are much better than other corporate blogs with real people, or the top social media bloggers). Just because we beat our chests about transparency and disclosure does not mean that campaigns are not being done with fake comments or fake stories by marketing and advertising firms. Social media purists got their panties in a twist about LonelyGirl15 not being real ... but the audience did not care. And, Hollywood points to Blair Witch Project as a great online campaign ... but if you remember, it was presented as a true story. Sacrilege in social media ... but did people care, or would people care nowadays? Shit, I got that stupid video of the office worker going insane 10 times one day ... and I looked at it and said fake (the rows were too narrow for wheelchairs, so ADA would have been all over their ass).

It is different in LA, and while the city seems to be behind in social media ... does that mean the industry here is wrong, or is it that the purist techniques from the digerati have no place down here, that it's a different market and different mentality? I watched the taping of Valley Girl/The Jesse Draper Show and thought "this would never play in SF" ... but maybe that isn't their audience (heck, talking transparency, the co-host "Coco" is not even her real name). I watched them taping, and realized I'm not their audience. The hostess did seem nice, and shy. When she walked by me, she gave a shy smile and little wave and because she was so tall, she seemed to be to be slouching. Embrace the height.

One perk in LA so far? The nice folks at SAS did handwriting analysis at the Forrester Marketing Conference. I'm a rockstar.

The Art of Strategy. Or How I Like to Say No, and People Hate Me for That.

2008-06-12T21:47:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow morning - or today, depending on when you read this - is BlogPotomac. It's an unconference, so more on the conversation and less on the one sided-lecture.

It's even a Powerpoint free. And while at Communitelligence's Executing Employing Social Media Conference, I noted that I'm not big fan of the verbose PPT presentation (I spoke on crisis in social media and influencing the influencers - btw, there is no such thing), I did prepare a one page slide for BlogPotomac.

All it had was one word big: Why?

This fits in to the pre-conference interview I did with Debbie Weil, and the recent question from Joe Ciarallo from PR Newswer. And, well, for people that really read my blog, sorta fits into what I have been saying for the past five years.

Any social media strategy should start out with that one question: Why? Think of yourself as a five-year old child and continually ask questions. Ask why.

Why does this make sense? Why are we doing this? Why is this the right strategy?

Social media strategy is that easy. No, I'm serious - and even though it won't play well in large agency life (btw, the days of real counsel and strategy and client push-back seem to be dead) - it is always the first question. And second question.

If the answer is "well, everyone else has a blog" - you're launching a strategy for the wrong reason.

If the answer lives in it's own world and is not connected to the overall public relations and/or marketing strategy, it's the wrong answer and disconnected from what is really needed.

Social media is not a separate strategy. It should not be a separate strategy, but an overall part of the public relations strategy. Social media is COMPLEMENTARY to the overall public relations strategy.

Here's a perfect example of charlatan social media experts giving out shitty advice: my Mom is a realtor, and social media is becoming hot there (and, since realtors tend to be luddites and late to things, Facebook should be over soon). Some asshat gave a presentation in Phoenix and told all the realtors to join LinkedIn and Facebook.

Why? Well, it really never trickled down what he was trying to explain (or, more to the point, he's like every other social media "expert" that spouts out buzz words and talks a lot ... but does not walk the walk and had no real point). The point he was trying to make is to network and grow ... but are you really going to search for a new realtor or look for a home on Facebook? Or are you going to throw a sheep at them? Yes, I got nothing but love for LinkedIn ... but in real estate, face-to-face networking needs to be the first step.

But, seriously, I hear the same things spouted off by the so-called experts that speak a lot ... but that's just it, they speak a lot.

If your agency or consultant spouts out to start a blog, bitch slap him/her. And hard. And many times. If your agency or consultant just says "engage" but has nothing beyond that, lay down the pimp hand. Repeatedly. If your agency's or consultant's sage advice for you during a crisis is to start a blog and start engaging (a true story that lead to a large stupid agency losing a large portion of the business of a client in finance), it's obvious that the agency or consultant has no idea what they are doing.

I blame the disappearance of the PR generalist and the rise of the specialist. It's the death of PR, and is getting worse with the silo-ing of talent. When I started PR, we had to be able to write, pitch, cold-call, do media AND analyst relations ... or we were pretty much told our career would go down one path of a specialist - with a sneer.

Don't call me a social media specialist or expert. I'm a mutha-fucking generalist.

But, hey, watch BlogPotomac here tomorrow - here on my blog!! You can watch me say no and ask why, see what I'm wearing, and talk about the Tao of Why in social media.

Online Video provided by Ustream

PR Pitching and Blacklists

2008-05-10T01:51:00.001-07:00

In all this tempest in a teapot over Gina Trapani's Wiki - PR people are ignoring a few basic facts: it was her personal email address; it's intrusive; PR is still not training; junior staff is not being supervised ... the list can go on and on.

I think I've pitched LifeHacker once in my career - and pretty sure I used the tips@lifehacker.com email address. Eh, I can't remember, but odds are I did ... because I'm sure that list is still being used, and the old firm isn't on the Wiki.

Bondage Teapot
Originally uploaded by publicenergy.

But, you know, one of the problems with PR is that we rely too much on technology. We are not dialing phones like we used to, so are missing out on the development of real face-to-face conversations and relationships.

So, I'm going old school. I've hired a former FBI agent. He used to be deep undercover in the mafia, and went by Johnny. He's digging up records for me - all legally, of course, with no pre-texting - for cell phone numbers. None of this wimpy work phone crap, though: I'm going hardcore and getting personal mobile phone numbers.

Because, when I call, I want to be able to reach the person immediately. No voicemail (like reporters return calls, snort). Just direct connects.

If this does not work, there is always showing up at the homes. That's the next step - popping over for breakfast or dinner (no pork, please, I'm Jewish). We'll get those meetings, and we'll get that coverage ... because I'm going that extra mile.

That's just how I roll.

Train or Perish

2008-03-19T13:26:00.001-07:00

Training seems not to be taking place in agency life, or for that matter, in corporations. Or, well, PR and communications cannot just move past pushing the message and learning to work. It goes back to when are we ever going to learn?

This past week, Johnson & Johnson pinged a few of the momosphere bloggers to invite them to a camp, and then sent out one of their PR firms, RF Binder, to make more of a mess (although, I am not sure of the order of the mess and who was responsible for what). I thank Erin Kotecki Vest for pointing me to the first post, and for letting me see the whole thing blow up from the start.

You used to be able to see the pitch letter here: one word of advice, if you cannot get a blogger's email address, move on or do it less obviously. Or, just be a good sleuth because you usually can find a working email address (she has since taken down the PR pitches).

I killed Jeremy Pepper
Originally uploaded by tmd.

I am not going to break it down and write what I think of the situation. Susan Getgood did a great job breaking it down, and you can get the full story from Stefania of CityMama / Kimchi Mamas (one point - no one ever reaches out to her as an Asian mom, but only via CityMama).

But, this just goes back to my old post - this is about community relations, not pitching media. That means getting to actually know the community, getting to be a part of it, reading blog posts - and meeting the people. It doesn't mean using the community, and I still laugh at some of the people I have run into at BlogHer over the past years that did not participate, but just walked around. Or when they did participate, did it in such a heavy-handed way, it was embarrassing for PR people that were there to learn, talk and participate.

So, instead, I'm going to bullet out my thoughts and backchannel chatter I hear about PR and marketing firms, and how they think they are working in social media and why they just don't get it. And, I am only naming names on personal experiences, not hearsay.

The office will not send us to events like BlogHer because they do not want to spend the money on building relationships, they just want us to pitch
The firm tells its junior staff to create Wikipedia profiles and change their clients entries to more complimentary entries, and delete bad information
The office's social media expert tells junior staff that it is okay to comment anonymously / fake names on blogs to steer the conversation - and encourages it
The firm's social media expert is respected by no one in the office, but seen as an empty suit
The firm will not send people to events because they are not billable to clients, and not worth the investment
Junior staffer in office decides he/she is a social media expert because they are on MySpace or Facebook
Join Twitter and just start adding people! Oh, don't participate in the conversation
Just spam people (thanks ContosDunne - I've only called you three times to be taken off your blog list, as well as email and you "verify" that I am off ... just to get pitched again a few months later)
Mass email bloggers, because it's no different than press outreach and you just have to cast a wide net
Social media is a waste, and all that matters are interactive ads

I am sure there are more examples out there, but this is what I could think of sitting down and not getting overly-frustrated

A while back, I used to write about the Clueless Train. It was great, because I would find some great photos ... but it looks like the train has left the station, and PR people don't care. This is sad, and will leave us in the dust because we won't just look at the landscape and realize that it's back to public relations.

As a note, this is why the Edelman Digital Bootcamp at UGA was so important - it was training the next generation of PR people to think differently and to embrace more than just the usual suspects. This is why SMU, Auburn and UGA seem to be a step ahead, and I cannot speak more highly of the students I have worked with there (and help them when I can): they care about PR, they get it is changing, and they try to embrace the new with the old.

And, while they may be a PITA, they should be listened to by senior staff, because they will have some good ideas.

As an aside, I am going to be speaking at BlogPotomac, and hope to hit on some of these details. It is events like these, though, that are good for both learning and meeting people. If you are in DC, please come by.

Technorati Tags: public relations, PR, communications, marcom, marketing , training, education

And say, children - what does it all mean?

2008-03-10T15:49:00.001-07:00

It's always interesting to read about SXSW , go to mixers/events in San Francisco, and listen to the people talk.

And, then go outside and walk around the City, and look at the graffiti that's creeping into my neighborhood, and see the homeless people on the streets.

This came to me last week, when I was walking to Supernova Mixer, and listening to Jeremiah Owyang speak on social networks. As usual, Jeremiah had a great presentation and interesting points.

And, he engaged the audience and had them interact on what people think the future is going to bring, and had good discourse and disagreement: is the Valley too male and old to think of what the kids are doing? How big is mobile going to be? What are the future aspects of social networks going to be? Is it air, as his colleague, Charlene Li says?

And, for us in technology and social media ... this is relatively important stuff. But, it also shows that the digital divide is probably worse in the Valley/Bay Area than other parts of the country when someone in the session says "No one shops at Walmart".

No, just no one you know ... and you should expand your social universe to find out what real people are doing, or what they are like. An elitist position like that is the big difference between success and failure, IMO.

As we are entering a slow-down in the economy (or correction, or whatever you want to call it), it's a good idea to take a step back and see what the real world is doing, and how it is doing, and how will what we are talking about have a real impact on the real world. And, by the real world, I mean every day people that DO shop at Walmart. Or, the people that are worried about money to the point that they are sharing a meal when they go out to dinner, as I saw last week (and this was a middle-class looking older couple). Yes, I like to go to the mall and watch people - it's my own way to focus group, and see what people are doing / thinking / reacting. Plus, the fact that the mall isn't that busy says a lot also.

Now, we can all have fun in our world discussing the Sarah Lacy / Mark Zuckerberg interview at SXSW ... but it just doesn't matter.

Now, we can all have fun in our world discussing what is going on on Twitter, or what the latest app you gotta have is on TechCrunch, and what is launching and why it might be better than X or Y ... but it just doesn't matter.

What does matter? Well, to the general public, the fact that the Young and the Restless just celebrated its 1000th week win ... that is big news. And, well, as a PR person, I'd love to get a win like that and get a client's product on the show (product placement rocks).

What does matter? The work that people and groups like Beth Kanter, Britt Bravo, TechSoup / Netsquared, Geeks Doing Good, BlogHer (among a lot others) are doing - this is work that might have a larger affect on our world, and is admirable. Heck, even Facebook is pushing people to give blood because of the crisis in the US right now.

What does matter? Well, opening our eyes and seeing what is going on in the world, and not so much in our own bubble. And, no, I'm not talking about the presidential race (because, well, that sure is spun and not real), but the neighborhood or the city you live in.

And why should this matter? If we continue to live in our social media worlds, we might be leading in some technology way, but we are also in danger of missing what is happening in the rest of the world - the real world - that might have more of an affect on our products, our clients, our jobs than we want to admit.

Go outside and watch how real people interact with one another, not just how geeks/techies interact. Learn about how what we do in social media can and should have an impact on the digital divide, and if we are making the world a better place.

Technorati Tags: public relations, PR, marketing, marketing communications, communications, SXSW08, Sarah Lacy, Facebook, Economy, Philanthropy

Working Nostalgia in PR - and Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T00:03:00.000-08:00

I don't write about product launches much anymore - well, never anymore - but this was just too good to pass up, especially since today is Valentine's Day. M&M's had come out with Green M&M's for Valentine's Day.

I didn't see any PR on the launch, and had to search for the press release (look, they did an SMR - and it didn't seem to do anything for them!) - but I did come across a POP set-up at Walgreen's, where I clicked the photo in this piece.

Despite the seemingly lack of PR on this (and, I watch enough TV, read one print and at least 2 online papers a day, that I am sure I would have caught something), the product did bring out old memories from when I was in the 5th grade.

And, being sick this week, I dreamt of the school (being sick brings out old memories and dreams for me).

In the fifth grade, my best friend (Ezra Bookstein) and I decided to go along with the urban legend of Green M&Ms, and start a horny collection of candy. Did we believe in the aphrodisiac properties of the M&Ms? Not sure, but come on, we were stupid kids. So, we had a lucite box, and we started filling it with green M&Ms, and then expanded it to other green candy, such as gummi bears and Now & Laters.

This went on for a few months, and the girls took notice of it, so decided to start their own corollary, the hot collection. Same idea, but since they were hot, it was all in red. I am pretty sure that Selma Beitner (aka Selma Blair) came up with the idea.

So, pretty much two groups of students at a school with a lot of time on their hands, disposable income for candy, and sweet tooths. I also learned about Greek history that year (thanks Mrs. Levy!) and how to write well (thanks Mrs. Levy!) and about orchids (thanks Mrs. Levy!) and about my namesake (thanks Mrs. Berris). Yes, I went to a small school.

Seeing the green M&Ms, though, brought back these memories - and it's a smart move to tap into nostalgia for products. It's why Transformers worked well as a movie, why there's talk about other 70's and 80's properties being made as movies ... or being re-released for my generation's own children. And, yes, I bought a few packs.

The three things I wanted to say about this post: first, the SMR doesn't work, or this would have had more coverage. A better written release, smart outreach, better PR would have done more. Second, yes, I went to school with Selma Blair, but haven't spoken to her in about 20 years. Third, hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Greg Brady gets Community

2008-02-11T16:39:00.001-08:00

I last wrote on online community, and how too often, the social media "gurus" just look to one community, and do not move beyond that community. I can name a couple examples this week alone, of product launches and video conferencing that just applies to the circle ... and barely moves beyond it.

Part of what I wrote about, though, was the communities that I was involved with. And, well, that left out a lot of communities that I have done SOME work with, but would not consider myself a hardcore member. But, that does not mean that they aren't out there, and I am trying to talk to them for my blog.

And, Jonathan Trenn touched upon this recently, as well - that the community is insular, and lacks diversity. And, just look around, and you will notice that he's not wrong.

So, in preparation for my community post, I was approached by MyLifeBrand. They ping me often on their latest communities and updates, and I usually flag them for future use, or to use in my pitch blog. So, when they reached out to me about Barry Williams taking his community to MyLifeBrand, I took the opportunity to speak to him. Come on, it's Greg Brady!

No, I didn't ask him about the sexual escapades on The Brady Bunch (although we did talk about the passing of the Al the Butcher). But, here's an actor (not what we expect to be on the cutting edge of social media) that is older (and, for some people, older than 25 is old in social media) but who probably gets it more than a lot of the companies and social media gurus out there. Or, he's been trained really, really, really well.

I think he gets it, IMHO.

Barry Williams from the Brady Bunch
Originally uploaded by grilled cheese.

So, below are the notes from the conversation:

The whole point of the community is that is the anchor for The Greg Brady Project (hence forth GPB) - and we went with MyLifeBrand because they seemed to have the kind of social networking technology that we were looking for. At GPB, you can go into the community, and aggregate all your social network sites that you are involved (MySpace, LinkedIn) and pull them into the community. It lets you import your friends, message friends, all within the community we are creating at the GPB.

One central point, though, is making the site a way to be a centralized social network. We brought in other tools that we like, such as MyBlogLog and Flickr, and put them into the community to help assemble the Greg Brady Project as a fan community portal with a blog, a blog that's written by me [Barry Williams] and co-authors and guest authors.

The co-authors are a big part of the fan base, and by sharing the platform of the GBP, we are giving the fans a voice within their own community. It's an actual conversation with my fans, and an authenticate conversation. We also have guest authors, who are usually other celebrities that come to share and give their perspectives on celebrity, working with me (or being my friend) through the years, and other fun anecdotes.

The whole idea of the GPB was that I was looking for a place to meet the fans. I had a Web site for 8 years, but it was a one-way street and I was looking to create and maintain and foster relationships, so I transitioned the site into a blog and a community. Now, it's more real-time than a static Web site.

And, now all kinds of interesting things have happened by creating the community to speak with fans, and also business partners and communities. It's a big world to explore with community, and it's a way for me to have a current voice that allows me to be real with the fans, share what I am doing and grow the community. And, I wanted to make sure that it was no another Brady Bunch fan site (but still Brady friendly). It's not for the minutiae of Brady fans, but a personal and current journey. This is an active site, where I am part of the community and active in the upkeep.

In the 42 years I have been in the business, I have met interesting and great people, I have great memories. And, people have asked me about those over the years.

I did not design GPB to be self-serving, but to give back and be part of the community. We did research, and we discussed how we were going to create the community. It took some time (about 9 months) to think through the layers, visit other sites, and found that the celebrity blogosphere ... well, there were a lot of elements lacking.

For example with a lot of other celebrity / Hollywood blogs, you don't typically have regular contributors. It's not usually interactive. We came to the idea of co-authors through an essay contest to the community. We were looking for enthusiastic people, and we found some great ones for the community.

The one thing that I have run into is that this is a time demand, and I knew that it would require a partnership with my fans. That's how I look at GPB - it's a powerful tool for social networking, and it's about caring about the relationships, and keeping and growing those relationships. Social media helps that, and it is always evolving.

The generation that really is on top of this is the younger crowd, the late teens and 20-somethings. And that fan-base is pretty large for Greg Brady, and I would not have had a way to reach them without these tools. This is about conversations with me and the fans. I bring in other celebrities for first-person experiences. And, with the MyLifeBrand partnership, the unique platform has allowed me to do more with the community, and gave me channels of interactivity with the fans.

This is what I loved about the interview: The one thing that I have run into is that this is a time demand, and I knew that it would require a partnership with my fans. That's how I look at The Greg Brady Project - it's a powerful tool for social networking, and it's about caring about the relationships, and keeping and growing those relationships.

Think about that - so many social media gurus and experts don't even get that it's about the community and the conversation, and yet here we have a 70's child star that gets it. He understands that it's about conversations, that it's about the community, he understands that it's about engagement and keeping them interested enough to coming back.

Why can't more corporations get that?

The Question of Community

2008-01-30T01:53:00.001-08:00

Back in October, I wrote a piece on PR losing to advertising for social media. A lot of people brought up a lot of good points (including that there doesn't need to be a fight).

A friend - Kevin A. Barry - noted that the most important part was "this is not PR anymore, but it's community relations." And, well, how true that is and has been.

And, I have been thinking about that for a while - actually going back to TechCrunch 40. This is a long-term, mulled over blog post, thinking about the events and activities that I attend in the Social Media, Web 2.0 world ... and what is the real value of these events?

Part of the issue is that social media is pretty much a misnomer. Many of the people that jump in as gurus or experts or consultants are Bay Area myopic, and think nearly 100 percent of Web 2.0 communities or Social Media communities ... and that ignores the real communities that do matter. And, that also ignores the past communities (Yahoo! Groups, Deja nee Google Groups, AOL - things that are still highly used, but just aren't "cool" enough now). The joke of it all is that if I look at my past career, I have been doing social media outreach for the past ten years ... it was just via message boards and enthusiast Websites.

The interesting twist is that the article in Fast Company calls out the Tipping Point as a false idea when it comes to influencers. I'm not judging if Watts is right or wrong, but the interesting thing is that it is all community based. People do not like to move out of their safety and comfort zone, and try out new communities. But, as PR people, we need to move beyond one into all communities. And be smart about it.

But, forget people - this is a total mindfuck for companies. From start-ups to large corporations, everyone wants to wrap their arms around social media ... but they do not want to spend the time it really does take to do community relations. And, yes, this is community relations, finding the communities that CARE about what your company or product does, and convey that you care just as much about their community and that's why you are approaching them.

Think about that - you have to humanize a corporation; corporations seemed to be able to at least convey some emotion at one point. There were connections that people felt for companies and products, and consumer loyalty. And, it went both ways.

That's the point: Social media is about more than just one community, the social media community: it's about all the verticals and other communities that likely matter more to your client or business.

So below are paragraphs on various communities I have been involved with - and insight and opinions on them. It's about relationships, not just media lists. Something too many people forget, or just don't get.

Photo Industry
I'm going old skool here, but this is how I got my start in PR: Kodak and then Ofoto. And, how did I help build communities for both? Enthusiast Websites. Working with the people that started DP Review or Imaging Resource or Creative Pro or Steve's Digicams. These were the original blogs that covered digital photography, and I was able to build relationships with them for my clients and myself ... to where I still talk to a few of them not because they are contacts, but because I think of them as friends (take notes - it's not just about pitching). I also worked in the Usenet groups, letting them know they could contact me about the latest KPro camera. How? I would join, read and announce occasionally. Not SPAM, just a quick note. See a pattern on how little things change over the years?

SecondLife
Yes, the online community that loves to be mocked by bloggers ... and one that I believe has taken a massive hit because marketing and PR people jumped into a community without looking or learning or experiencing the community. But, now that the marketing firms have left, it is back to the wonderful community that it was to begin with. There are still many active communities in there - the two that come to mind for me are the non-profits, corporations doing education (such as Cisco or IBM) or medical communities for support and education. It's a vibrant community, albeit not as big as it might have appeared with firms jumping in without looking. But, then again, would any business plop down in a community without research? No, but that's cool and Kosher in SL and other online communities?

Web 2.0
Yep, I'm lumping in all of Web 2.0 into one community, as a lot of it is a cult of personality or a cult of blogs. Look at the various blogs that cover the Web 2.0 space, and the followers that they have. At The Crunchies, you had a full Herbst Theater, and then people crashing the after party to the point that it was shut down for a little bit. Or, look at the past TechCrunch parties, and the cult of personality that surrounds Michael Arrington. Yes, he wields power with that blog, and does have influence.

If you have been to any of the Mashable parties, including OpenMashable in San Francisco, you see that the events have been drawing anything from 75 people to about 300 people in San Francisco. And, it's a pretty well read blog.

Plus, you have Read/Write/Web and CenterNetworks and B5 Media and GigaOm. All of these blogs and networks are well read, and have their loyal readers and all break stories. At the end of the day, they can all be under the umbrella of Web 2.0 communities, though. All of them started out in different ways - I still cannot break myself of the habit of thinking of GigaOm as a telco blog - but they have all expanded to cover a wider audience.

My favorite part of the community is Techmeme, though. Despite the recent snark on the algorithm, Techmeme is the cornerstone of the Web 2.0 community and what is being said and written and talked about at the events. While people might not want to admit it, Techmeme does run the news of the community.

Enterprise Irregulars
I include the Enterprise Irregulars (they all have individual blogs, and this is supposed to aggregate those blogs) because I love the geekiness of the enterprise, and I see Twitters and blog posts that seem to ignore this community, and to the point, just not get this community. If you are an enterprise technology, you read this group's group blog ... and you learn. And the best part is that this community is one such that if you do not know them, and do not have their respect, the knives can come out. Shit, I am friends with some of them, and they will still bring out the knives for me if I do not bring the goods. Outreach is only good if the client can deliver, and if they cannot, is it worth your personal reputation?

Public Relations
Okay, I include this because it is such a growing community - a lot of GOOD young PR bloggers that care about PR coming up through the ranks, but unfortunately a growing group of charlatans that are wrapping themselves up in social media with no experience, no skills and no right to counsel clients.

I digress. Through traditional PR and now through blogging, the community has grown and connections have grown, and for me, friendships started and cemented. Plus, meeting people I would have never met and learning of new and smart programs.

I would have never gone to Omaha if not for my blog, nor would I have met Jennifer Windrum at SRA. She reached out to me about something that is for a community that most of the social media people don't think about: everyday people, or in this case, American Idol fans. She showed me what they did tonight on American Idol, and how they are reaching people in that community about the pride of Omaha and their client.

Or, meeting Jason Falls in person, and having him talk to me about a true Twitter project that was better done than anything else I have read or heard about - but reaching an audience that most people don't think about, but is strong as hell: NASCAR and Baja 1000 enthusiasts.

I credit the kids at Auburn - the good kids I wrote of prior - and their instructor, Robert French, for really pushing smart ideas forward, and knowing that it goes beyond blogging.

Social Media
Read Chris Brogan. Read Jeff Pulver (also read him for VoIP). Read Jeremiah Owyang. Read Eric Rice. Read Teresa Valdez Klein. Read Liz Strauss. These people talk (and beyond talking, actually do - a rarity in social media bloggers) about social media and grasp what is going on. Do I agree with everything they write? Of course not, but they are good primers and understand community, and for the most part, do seem to express and talk about more than just one community. But beware the people that wrap themselves up in the flag of community evangelist - quiz them to see if they can talk beyond just Web 2.0.

Health
I wrote about the Health blog community before, and just want to reiterate that it has a different community, one that deserves and needs respect that goes beyond traditional social media outreach. A perfect example of its personal nature is the column that Amy Tenderich of DiabetesMine wrote in Newsweek.

BlogHer
I have written about BlogHer a few times - three, to be exact. And each time what I am trying to convey is that there is no other community like BlogHer.

In Chicago, there were 800+ people that came for the national conference, and another 550 attended in SecondLife. Think about that - 1350 people women (give or take a handful of men) that came together to share ideas and thoughts and views. And, no, the did not all agree with each other, and there were a few good arguments there about race and blogging.

Within the BlogHer community, though, I have been lucky enough to go to three events and meet and convene with MommyBlogger, Foodie Bloggers, Business Bloggers, Social Activism bloggers, Crafters, Political bloggers and more. But, the thing is that it is one big community with a wide variety of interests and thoughts.

Twitter
Twitter is a microcosm until itself. It has such a wide variety of users - and more outside the circle - that it can be overwhelming to read people's views in 140 characters or less. It is a community - one that actually mirrors the other communities that exist in social media, but one that is harder to communicate with from a brand stand point. How do you get people to friend your corporate Twitter account, unless you are really being part of the conversation and talking/responding? It is a hard balancing act. At least there are ways to search on Twitter now, so you can catch conversations and respond.

BlogWorldExpo
Though this was the first year of BlogWorldExpo, the group that Rick Calvert brought together outshined the no-shows and other missteps. IMHO, he should drop the usual suspects because they are just saying the same thing, and keep going with what the show brought that no other show has thus far in social media: the Godbloggers, the Milbloggers and the Political bloggers.

I have never met groups of bloggers that are more committed to what they are writing, more enthusiastic nor more passionate than these three groups. These communities showed what can be done with blogging when it's done from the heart, and rival BlogHer for a great show. Hopefully, this was just the first year of the event.

In respect to space, I did not write about all communities - Digg, Videoblogging, Environmental, Facebook, MySpace, Gossip Blogs, VoIP, etc. - that are just as active and have loyal fan bases. And have their problems and personalities.

And, there are other communities that I am learning more about, such as TechSoup/NetSquared, and the communities that LaughingSquid intersects.

That's the point, though: if you are doing outreach, it is about becoming a part of the community, working with the community, respecting the community. And, the communities are verticals, and are everywhere ... you just have to look and move beyond the insular circle.

Think less media relations, and think more public and community relations.

Technorati Tags: communications, public relations, marcom, marketing, blogher, blogworldexpo, community, community relations, PR, advertising

Time to Start Pitching a Recession?

2008-01-28T01:42:00.001-08:00

An interesting article in the New York Times today - Is It a Recession? Marketers Seem to Think So - highlights how that the marketing industry is ramping up spending, even if this might be a recession (and, well, we cannot say we are in a recession yet, according to statistics).

According to the article:

The willingness of Madison Avenue to act as if a recession is under way may seem confusing, because advertisers usually reduce their spending during downturns. Over all, ad outlays have fallen in previous recessions — 6.5 percent in 2001 compared with 2000 and 1.2 percent in 1991 compared with 1990.

However, many marketers spend the same — or even more — during hard times as they do during booms, on thetheory that they must make sure to be remembered by any consumers who are still shopping.

Now, it does not seem to be that way for PR - we are the misunderstood stepchild that seems to get cut - but it does bring up a good point: the media loves a story, so how are you tying up your client into a recession pitch or story? We know from the dotcom bust, that the age of social media really was born (all those out of work geeks, and they had to have some outlet). Will that be true this (potential) slow down? Will there be an increase in social media content because people have more time because they are out of work? If that is true, will there be an increase of blogs taking advertising (look at how Scoble is now taking ads - welcome to the world of professional content, Robert, and being part of a real media property) - and will these people spurn public relations and pull the "Eddie, what have you done for me lately (3:00 minutes in)" line and ask for compensation?

Yes, I think more people will turn to social media. I think blogs, mostly, and most likely part of large networks such as BlogHer and niches that are of greater interest to the individual, and less vanity. It will be part of a differentiator (but not as much of one) for the new job. And, yes, there will be more advertising as online ads are cheap ... and it will hurt those of us that do blog relations.

But, anyway, back to the post at hand: what are you doing for a recession pitch? The media loves the story right now, and while PR tends to tie itself to any meme out there with a tenuous link, there are opportunities here. It is about being smart, though, and having a real tie to a story. A friend of mine has a company that has a great story that can tie into the recession ... and that was my advice to him. He has two stories that can fit into the potential economics, from both sides of his service: the people that will make up the service, and the people that will use his service. The stories are quite different - how to make money, and how to save money - but they can tie into the economy.

So, what is your story?

Truth versus Blogosphere Truth

2008-01-16T18:28:00.001-08:00

The Internets can always be amusing, or interesting or just plain frustrating. It really just depends on what side of the fence you are, on any given subjects.

Today, I was reading some of my Twitter stream when a few came across about Ford Motor Company and Cafe Press, and a calendar. Okay, not exactly ground breaking, blogworthy news, but some people already jumped on a bandwagon so I had to check it out. Full disclosure: I was born in Detroit, and we had a Mustang, and I've bought stuff on Cafe Press.

This reminded me of a conversation I had a few weeks back with a well-respected reporter: there's truth, and then there's blogosphere truth. And, rarely do they meet. (Hey, look at my great graph illustrating it).

What do I mean? What happens usually in the blogosphere is that something is glommed onto as truth, and that might not be the full truth or even the half truth. But, with the blogosphere, things can spiral out of control quickly, and then the blogosphere truth will be so far away from the truth that it's laughable ... but it's not because the blogosphere truth will be held up as authoritative because of how Google works.

Here are four simple examples: Kryptonite Locks, FedEx Furniture, Staples and Ford. Each of these have been wrong information that has continued to spread out there, and for some reason, PR people like to bring some of these up as examples of why social media is so important.

I'm going to start with Kryptonite, and a full mea culpa. I jumped on the bandwagon as well, and I was wrong. The back story is that you could break open the old Kryptonite lock with a Bic pen, yada yada (good information when you wanted to get free candy, btw). The blogosphere truth was that Kryptonite ignored the blogosphere, and did its crisis communications wrong. The truth is that Kryptonite did do the right type of outreach for a crisis - they followed the rules of the game - but the game had changed. It went from billiards to soccer, or some random sports analogy. Kryptonite was reaching out to its core audience of bike message boards, and getting the message out there to the core audience.

But, well, that doesn't make for a good case study for PR people to push forward their own agendas on getting clients to bring out the wallet for more social media ... and the fact that PR people are still using this as a case study means it's time to move on and find a more relevant and truthful example.
FedEx Furniture was a great little example of how one kid can take a bunch of boxes for free (yah, sending out that many FedExes while he couldn't afford furniture is SOOOOO true) but no one wanted to dig. As PR people - come on, we're PR people before PR bloggers, it was not hard to call up FedEx and ask them questions (like, I admit, I shoulda done with Kryptonite). Hey, wait, there WAS a blogger that called FedEx and got their side of the story ... me. The truth was that there was more of a story here than the blogosphere wanted to know, or tell. But, not to place the blame just on the blogosphere ... mainstream media ate up the story as well, with no real digging or due diligence.
Boing Boing rushes out a post that claims that Staples charges for virus scanning. A PR blogger jumps on the story, and then realizes that he is just one of the fools that wrote up the story ... without getting the full story. But, hey, he gets to commend Staples for being on top of the blogosphere ... but doesn't see that blogging on blog truth instead of the real truth is just the bigger part of the problem.
So, today's Ford story. In the world of blogs, it is not okay to protect your brand, I guess. Or content (just ask Lane Hartwell). You can read the rehash of the story on the above link, but it's only a one-sided story, until the company itself comments on the post (which does say they are monitoring the conversation). But, as a PR blogger, once again, don't we have a higher sense of truthiness (or, heck, professional courtesy) to verify information before we hit publish? Call up the PR person? Send an email? I dunno - worked for me with FedEx.

The problem with PR blogging and blogging is that often, there is very little grey in the world. Bloggers rush out to push publish without getting the whole story, and that just brings half the truth (or blog truth) to the forefront. As PR professionals, none of us would want this done to our clients, but we rush to judgment for that bump in traffic, to be first. And, well, first is not always best.

Rushing to publish just makes a blogger part of the lemmings that fall for the bait of other bloggers. And to perpetrate the blogosphere truth, rather than the truth.

The irony, of course, is that we all counsel clients, and one of the things I would note when there was a fire drill is that the blogosphere tends to be self-correcting. And, often, it is, and that's a great thing.

But in some cases, the blogosphere truth becomes the gospel, and no amount of praying to anyone is going to help change that.

Blogworld: PR Do's and Don't's

2007-11-08T14:52:00.001-08:00

Lead by Sue Bohle - a few friends on the panel, including Brian Solis and John Earnhardt of Cisco. Eastman Kodak, SAP, PRWeb and BlogAds were also part of the panel.

::Don't like the format - it's about open media, new media so have it free flowing. The beginning started with a 'hold your questions' type admonition, which is not the way it shoulda been.::

PR people do need to reach out to the bloggers in their space - a unanimous decision - because bloggers are looking for various and different stories than traditional journalists. And, some can be more interested and be more passionate about the subject rather than the trade journalist.

If a blogger follows journalistic standards, then you can deal with them the same way. But, it's about knowing the people, the relationships. Treat them with respect - it's a golden rule.

There are distinctions on bloggers - from professionals to semi-pros to amateurs. And, it's a difference in outreach also. There's IM versus email versus Facebook walls versus Twitter versus commenting on blogs (I view that as comment SPAM, though).

About sharing the stories, the good, bad and the indifferent. Cross-pollinating the stories, to the point of online and offline engagement.

Should there be a new PR person, or can the traditional PR people learn. Do there need to be specialized teams, or can the traditional teams need to be trained.

PR is everyone at the company's responsibility - if you are an employee, you are in PR for the company whenever you are engaged in the public. There is a team for media relations, but we all have responsibilities in the public perception of the company.

Rachel Luxemburg also wrote on the panel.