I have been buried under a series of 70-hour work weeks lately and can not even keep up with my Twitter account.  I feel badly for not having blogged for a couple of weeks because of the relationships that we have formed via this site.  Sorry, guys.  The keyboard is willing but the flesh is weak.

I am going to do my best to get back in the saddle soon, though.

Mark

Post from: The Intersection of Online and Offline

My Apologies

©2009 The Intersection of Online and Offline. All Rights Reserved.

Ok.  So it’s Tuesday.  Yesterday was Memorial Day in the US and an banking holiday in the UK.  So technically, I am still on track - and starting to have real fun with #blogmonday. The whole purpose is sharing linkey love with some of the “hidden gems” of the blogosphere. Yeah, you gotta write a blog post, but you were going to anyway. But contribute to #blogmonday by blogging about who you like - and why.

Last week, my votes were for:

• Heavy Bag Media
• Shannon Paul’s Very Official Blog
• Kami Huyse’s Communications Overtones
• Digital Street Journal
• The Fail Blog
• Greenversations
• Technosailor

Here are this week’s contributions:

Blogs That Need to Make it Onto Your Blogroll

• Doug Haslam’s blog.  While this is not part of his official blog, his fundraising effort for the Pan-Mass Challenge to raise money for a cure for childhood cancer leave him in sole first place in this category

Blogs You Might Not Read - But Should

• Mike Rupert’s “This Should be Illegal Blog.”  Disclosure: former Georgetown student.  But hell, any blog with this title is worth taking a look at, right?  And this is a good example of using social media for local grassroots efforts.
• Elspeth Murray’s Blog/Web site.  Elspeth came to my attention through her chronicles of a trip back to childhood places in Scotland.  I enjoyed reading it and I think you will too.
• Warren Sukernek’s “Twittermaven“.  Warren is just plain smart, but makes you think even more about Twitter — if that’s possible.  Give it a read.

So spread the linkey love. Even it it is Tuesday.

Mark #blogmonday Story

Post from: The Intersection of Online and Offline

Fifth #Blogmonday

©2009 The Intersection of Online and Offline. All Rights Reserved.

I don’t know Doug Haslam personally, but consider him to be one of those friends whom I have not yet me.  He’s a Red Sox fan, I’m a Red Sox fan.  He writes for Media Bullseye, I write for Media Bullseye.

I have a soft spot in my heart for noble charities, and Doug is contributing to one of the most noble:  the Jimmy Fund.  Doug is going to be riding his bike for the Pan-Mass Challenge, a grueling bike trip/fundraising effort with proceeds going to be Jimmy Fund.

It’s one thing to stroke a check or to get one’s head shaved on St. Baldrick’s Day as I did a couple of years ago, but Doug is putting his body to the test where others have their tiny bodies at risk — children.  Childhood cancer is, for me, the cruelest of diseases.  It does not have to be, however.  The are fine organizations like the Jimmy Fund that raise millions to fund childhood cancer.

Two years ago at Jimmy Fund Telethon Day, I happened to be at Fenway Park with my then six year-old son, who, thank God (and I still do) is perfectly healthy.  We watched then seven year-old Jordan Leandre, a recovering childhood cancer victim, round the bases in what was one of the most emotional scenes I have ever witnessed.  I posted a YouTube video below;  fast forward to the end and you may not be able to keep a tear out of your eye as well.

So I am using his space to ask you to help someone who is doing so much for others. Please consider making a donation for Doug.

Mark

Post from: The Intersection of Online and Offline

Help Doug Haslam Ride

©2009 The Intersection of Online and Offline. All Rights Reserved.

The Spice Girls are, in my book, perhaps the worst band of the last century (sorry, fans), but I invoke the name of one of their more tortuous songs to talk about measurement.

This article has been bouncing around in my head since the “For Immediate Release” call-in show on April 25, 2009. The guests were Chip Griffin, CEO of CustomScoop (disclosure: a sponsor of The Hobson and Holtz report); and Aaron Weber, Insight Manager at Spiral16. (further disclosure: I am paid to write this article by Media Bullseye, a sister company of Custom Scoop.)
The guests described a variety of topics, including what constitutes good social media measurement and when it gets “creepy,” meaning you might make a Tweet complaining about a product and then hear from either the products’ representatives or perhaps a competitor. At that point, I had not encountered any “creepiness,” aside from a comment on my blog from Comcast after I took on DirecTV.

The lively podcast (and call-in) discussion got me thinking about “what I really, really want” out of a monitoring service. I have blogged and written articles about measurement and the ensuing steps your
can take for online reputation management ad nauseam, but I have a new wrinkle to add to the discussion:

1. Capturing the right information from the right sources is just the first step, but
   adding context to content is the next, critical step that many monitoring services lack; and

2. Those who do offer some sort of analysis of blogs posts, media mentions and not even
   tweets are often “hired guns” who lack the ability to ascertain the nuances that make a mention, positive, negative or neutral, let alone a favorability ranking. You can’t tell me that someone sitting in another office who has 10 other clients can know more about your issues than you.

The Conundrum

• Are those who do monitoring, either inside or outside of organizations, looking at
  the right thing to measure? and

• Are the right people actually doing the measurement?

My answer is: a) sometimes, and b) not really.

My public relations measurement uber-hero is Katie Paine, whose book “Measuring Public Relationships” is still the best read out  there on the topic, and I am going to borrow liberally from her book in order to help make sense of this.

What to look at

There are two types of horrendous monitoring, one worse than the other. The first is a “clips report” simply regurgitating a bunch of stories without providing any frame of reference to what it all means.

Lame.

What is still bad, but marginally better, is measuring “impressions.” Impressions are a made-up number that is still imprecise. Some organizations say it is 2.7 times the circulation number (counting pass-alongs) and some say it is simply the circulation number itself. This concept is fundamentally flawed as well because just because your article appears, it is a not a lock that the number of people
who see a publication = the number of people that you reached. This is at best flawed, and at worst, downright lazy. Still lame.

Non-Lame-ness

Here’s the Katie Paine part that, when I first read it (and then taught it) was one of those serene moments in which the universe makes sense. She offers up a simple way to measure the messages that actually get through to your audiences. Does it matter how many people buy the publication that your earned media piece runs in? Hell, no. But does matter how many people actually saw the message(s) that you were attempting to convey? Hell, yes.

Katie elegantly calls this revelatory statistic “Cost Per Message Communicated,” meaning that when you cut through all of the (lazy) monitoring mumbo-jumbo, the simplest and most precise way to determine the value of the public relations effort you have undertaken is to a) capture the right information an b) measure the messages that were available to your audiences.

I’ll talk more about this in the second article, but what I “really, really want” is a monitoring system (technology AND subject-matter experts) who will:

1. Capture all of the print, radio, television, blog, online news, Twitter and message
   board stuff that is said about my organization or issue;
2. Separate the “wheat from the chaff” and let me know - concisely - what I need to pay attention to; and
3. Help me understand the value of my public relations, public affairs or even crisis communications outbound messaging - not the “thump test” of number of publications or impressions, but how many of my key messages reached their intended audiences.

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Social Media Measurement, Part One: What I Want, What I Really, Really Want

©2009 The Intersection of Online and Offline. All Rights Reserved.

I am starting to have real fun with #blogmonday.  Since I started it, I have learned about topics as varied as different ways to enjoy bacon (but it sucks that I cannot partake because I am on a diet), social media karma as well as how cool a town Omaha is.  So what more do I need?  I need YOU.

I need you to share some linkey love with some of the “hidden gems” of the blogosphere. Yeah, you gotta write a blog post, but you were going to anyway. But contribute to #blogmonday by blogging about who you like - and why.

Last week, my votes were for:

• Dan York’s Disruptive Conversations
• Kami Huyse’s Communications Overtones
• David Armano’s “Logic+Emotion” blog
• Toby Bloomberg’s “Diva Marketing” blog
• Jim Long’s “Verge New Media”
• James Kotecki’s “Emergency Cheese”

Here are this week’s contributions:

Tried, True and Terrific

• Heavy Bag Media.  I like Jackie Peters’ writing style, but also enjoy her tweets about the wonderful places where she eats in the LA area (see prior note to being on a diet, however).  Jackie’s latest post is writing that I like: direct, concise and slightly snarky: “…too often marketing is approached as an ad-hoc jumble of tactics tossed against the wall in the hopes that one or two pieces will stick.” Bra-vo.
• Shannon Paul’s Very Official Blog.   I love her topics, her thinking, as well as the fact that often offers not just random thoughts and questions, but quite often, very thought-provoking posts.  I love movies that, after which, you have to go for a cup of coffee to think about and say “hmm.”   For me, Shannon’s blog is the online version of that movie.  Have a read if you would like to be enlightened and entertained.
• Digital Street Journal.  I love reading Jonathan Trenn’s blog, because, dammit, I learn something new about every time I cruise over there.  His posts are longer than most, thoughtful and really examine issues.  It’s kind of like the BBC of the blogosphere.

Blogs That Need to Make it Onto Your Blogroll

• The Fail Blog.  Any blog that makes you laugh out loud needs to be part of your weekly reading.  It’s all about typos, people crashing into things and other items that that make you glad that you are not part of Darwin’s Master Plan:

Blogs That You Might Not Read - But Should

• Greenversations.  Yes, Virginia, the federal government CAN spend your tax dollars in meaningful and creative ways.  Jeff Levy of the Environmental Protection Agency does a lot of things right, and the “Greenversations” blog is just one of them.  I am not what you would call a tree hugger, but I sure can recognize good social media outreach when I see it.

Random Blogs of the Week:

• Technosailor.  Aaron Brazell’s blog is informative, like me, he is in the swampland that is the Nation’s Capitol, and, most importantly of all, he is a Red Sox fan. Read the blog.

So like I said, start blogging, Bubbeleh.  Spread the linkey love.  You’ll thank me for it in the morning.

Mark #blogmonday Story

Post from: The Intersection of Online and Offline

#Blogmonday Number Four - Bubbeleh, Blog!

©2009 The Intersection of Online and Offline. All Rights Reserved.

I debated what to call this post because it is an “open letter,” but calling it a letter to my “former students” seemed too, well “formal.”  With graduation happening on Saturday and I will have the immense honor and pleasure of handing you your Master’s Degree diplomas - and I will do so with a sense of pride that I feel the need  to express.

Since many of you who are graduating were in my first class, we all began this journey together,  I feel a deep bond with you.  And there are a few thoughts that I would like to express to you, the Class of 2009, and for the rest of my wonderful group of students.

Many of you may remember that, each semester, I reminded you that, although this was hard, we all were on a journey — together. And it was occasionally time to stop worrying about the grades and start thinking about the journey.  I did some thinking to, and here are just some of my thoughts.

Teaching many of you has been one of the greatest joys in my life, but it was I who learned from you.  Through your intelligence, intellectual curiosity and honesty, you made me better.  You pushed me to work harder. You challenged me to be at my best, each and every single class.

I have also had the distinct pleasure of staying in touch with many of you and providing career advice, life advice and basically anything that (I hope) was of value.  That too, is an honor;  it lets me know that ours was not just a temporary relationship, but a bond that was forged through tough work and sometimes, tough love.

For the class of 2009:  I feel an immense surge of pride and cannot wait to see you on Saturday.  Teaching with you, working with you, learning from you has been an immense pleasure and joy.

I was there for many of you on Day 1 — and I will have the honor of being there on the last day.

I thank you all humbly for this wonderful experience.

Mark

Post from: The Intersection of Online and Offline

An Open Letter to My Georgetown Family

©2009 The Intersection of Online and Offline. All Rights Reserved.

As I mentioned in my inaugural post, I have started #blogmonday because I want to share some linkey love with some of the “hidden gems” of the blogosphere - as well as introduce some very good blogs that you might not know about.  It’s like #followfriday on steroids.  Yeah, you gotta write a blog post, but you were going to anyway.  But you have to blog about who you like.

Last week, my votes were for:

• Dan Thornton’s “The Way of the Web.
• Jason Falls’ Social Media Explorer
• Shonali Burke’s “Waxing Unlyrical.“
• Lee Odden’s Online Marketing Blog
• Robert French’s “PR Open Mic.”
• Maren Hogan’s “Marenated.”
• The American Latina

Here are this week’s contributions:

Tried, True and Terrific

• Dan York’s Disruptive Conversations.  Dan is a frequent contributor to “For Immediate Release” and offers a true technologist’s view to the social media tools that we use as communications professionals.
• Kami Huyse’s Communications Overtones.  I had the pleasure of doing a Media Bullseye Radio Roundtable with Kami but knew that she was “wicked smaht” about social media and public relations strategy long before that.
• David Armano’s “Logic+Emotion” blog. This guy is smart. Scary smart.  I have used his stuff even in my Georgetown classes.  He thinks up answers before most of us have come up with the questions.

Blogs That Need to Make it Onto Your Blogroll

• Toby Bloomberg’s “Diva Marketing” blog.  Any blog that states “…my imagination soared with thoughts on how this media could create old-fashioned, corner-grocer-store relationships and real-time customer service in a world that had forgotten the importance,” is one you need to read.

Blogs That You Might Not Read - But Should

• Jim Long’s “Verge New Media.” Jim was/is in television production (every time I see a tweet, he’s getting ready to meet someone BIG), but he brings and interesting perspective of someone who started in “old media” but gets “new media.”

Random Blogs of the Week:

• James Kotecki’s “Emergency Cheese.” With a blog name like that, you just HAVE to click on it, don’t you?  DON’T YOU?  James offers interesting political commentary, mainly via video.

I get it, I get it. It’s not as easy as #followfriday, but please consider a quick post giving props to those whom you think are deserving of it. Write a post, give some love, get some karma.  Ask Shonali Burke.

Mark #blogmonday Story

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Third #blogmonday - What are You Waiting For?

©2009 The Intersection of Online and Offline. All Rights Reserved.

If you read this blog semi-regularly, you’ll note that I occasionally fill in for Chip Griffin as a co-host on Media Bullseye Radio Roundtable. It’s always fun and we always have a few laughs.  And I always learn something.

Yesterday, however, I did my best to stay on top my game, because our host was the esteemed Neville Hobson, he of the “For Immediate Release” fame. And of the thought-provoking Neville Hobson blog. And a bunch of other smart, interesting projects evidence by his 4,053 Twitter followers.

With a guest who has forgotten more about podcasting that I will ever know, I have to admit that I was a little nervous.  Have a listen and see if you think I pulled it off. And if the Roundtable folks had conducted random drug testing (read: Manny Ramirez) I would have been banned from the show because I managed to throw myself down a flight of stairs the day prior - and was in a slight percocet/flexoril/celebrex/neck brace haze.

Hope I did you guys proud, Jen and Chip. Or maybe I’m better when I’m higher than a kite? Jen Zingsheim sums things up much better than I can — her summary is below.

Mark

This week, Jen Zingsheim was joined by co-host extraordinaire Mark Story, and the very special guest was Neville Hobson, from the UK–of FIR podcast fame. The Roundtable discussed the recent results of a survey of FIR listeners, the World According to Mom blog-tag effort, and whether PR is suffering a slowdown borne of the recession, or if there are other reasons for budget declines.

Click here to listen to the 39-minute discussion.

• First, the Roundtable spent quite a bit of time discussing the results of the FIR survey, calling out some noteable findings. Jen was surprised at the gender split (77 percent of FIR listeners are men), and Mark offered his thoughts as someone who took the survey. Neville provided a lot of insight as to why they collect this information–and why they make it publicly available.
• Next, as Mother’s Day is this Sunday (still time to get flowers and a card, and don’t forget to call mom!) the group discussed Catherine Connors of Her Bad Mom, and the effort to “go around the world in 80 clicks.” This effort linking mom bloggers across the globe demonstrates the international power of community, and the ability to link to one another through a shared experience–motherhood–in addition to shared interests.
• Finally, the group touched on an article that ran in the New York Times about PR facing a downturn during the recession. Is the recession really the reason for a decline in business, or is this a correction, and does it take into account the introduction of new tools, such as social media?

Click here to listen to the 39-minute discussion.

Post from: The Intersection of Online and Offline

Media Bullseye Radio Roundtable Drugged-Up Edition: Super Guest - Neville Hobson

©2009 The Intersection of Online and Offline. All Rights Reserved.

As I mentioned in my inaugural post, I have started #blogmonday because I want to share some linkey love with some of the “hidden gems” of the blogosphere - as well as introduce some very good blogs that you might not know about.

My sincere hope is that, through writing about other bloggers, we all can increase the reach and scope of our own blogger networks, help promote some really smart people who don’t have the high Technorati rankings (yet) as well as share our own online rolodexes of “must reads.”

Here’s my ask:  if you are into the idea, please write a post about who you read, like my friends, Shonali Burke, Chip Griffin, David Wescott, Heather Lauer and others who tweeted did last week.

Last week, my votes were for:

• Occam Razr’s
• It’s Not a Lecture
• Shel Holtz
• Neville Hobson
• Katie Paine
• Shilpika Das
• Matthew Chamberlin (even though he turned out to be fan of the New York Yankees)
• and for the “other” category, Media Bullseye.

Here are this week’s contributions:

Tried, True and Terrific

• Dan Thornton’s “The Way of the Web.” Dan is based in the U.K. and writes a terrific blog on social media and marketing measurement.
• Jason Falls’ Social Media Explorer.  Jason is smart, funny and profane. Just what I look for in a blogger.
• Shonali Burke’s “Waxing Unlyrical.“  She had an amazing post last week on social media karma, something that is near and dear to me and others who do “Follow Friday.”

Blogs That Need to Make it Onto Your Blogroll

• Lee Odden’s Online Marketing Blog.  Good measurement and statistics for SEO have gained prominence, and with good reason, in no small part to tighter ad budgets.  You’ll usually learn something you did not yet know on Lee’s blog.

Blogs That You Might Not Read - But Should

• Robert French’s “PR Open Mic.” Robert not only teaches his students well, but has built an amazing platform for public relations professionals to interact, share ideas, blog — and most importantly — for students to show off their own work.  I wish that other universities would do this as well as Robert does.

Random Blogs of the Week:

• Maren Hogan’s “Marenated.” With a clever name like this and insight about recruiting and human resources, how can you  NOT love this blog?
• The American Latina (confession: former student).  With an intro that states that she offers “…notes from a confused twenty-something capricious, slightly neurotic, intelligent, beautiful latina breaking all the rules and making up new ones along the way as she figures out who she is and what it means to be a Latina in the US,” how can you NOT read this blog?
  

While it’s not as easy as #followfriday, won’t you please consider a quick post giving props to those whom you think are deserving of it?  Write a post, give some love, get some karma.

Mark #blogmonday Story

Post from: The Intersection of Online and Offline

Second #Blogmonday - Join the Fun - and Karma

©2009 The Intersection of Online and Offline. All Rights Reserved.

I consider myself fortunate because I get to learn a lot from some very smart people.  I do social media in my day job, teach it at my night job, blog (duh) and get to so some freelance writing and podcast work on the side.

The best part?  Just about every day, I learn something new.

I have to confess, however, that my daily reading does not include some of the real blogosphere luminaries (I promised, no more about Scoble).  Aside from Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson (whom I consider A-Listers), my daily reading consists of some of whom I consider to be the “hidden gems” of the blogosphere.  And that’s why I came up with the wacky idea (boldly stealing #followfriday) with #blogmonday.

My dream is that, through blogging about other bloggers, we all can increase the reach and scope of our own blogger networks, help promote some really smart people who just don’t have the high Technorati rankings (yet) as well as share our own online rolodexes of “must reads.”

So please, feel free to join me in promoting some of the smart people out there.  And trust me;  I plan  to make this a weekly occurrence in the hopes that it takes off.  If you’re not in this one, you will more than likely make it into another.  So here are my entries for the inaugural #blogmonday.

Tried, True and Terrific

• Occam Razr’s - Ike Piggot’s blog not only makes me think about more things that just social media, I learn something new every time I read it.
• It’s Not a Lecture:  David Wescott makes you think;  and he developed (and executed) a brilliant idea on the “Global Moms” initiative.  Plus. he’s smart as hell.
• Rounding out this week’s list is a combined entry of Shel Holtz’s and Neville Hobson’s individual blogs as well as their out-of-this-world entertaining and smart podcast, “For Immediate Release.”

Blogs That Need to Make it Onto Your Blogroll

• Katie Payne’s Measurement Blog.  Katie literally wrote the book on public relations measurement and has helped me solve many an argument at work or consulting on the value of public relations.  She figured out the answers before many of us came up with the questions.

Blogs That You Might Not Read - But Should

• Shilpika Das’s “Wired Conversations.” Full disclosure:  Shilpika is a former student of mine, but writes amazingingly insightful posts.  She is smart, a great writer and someone who makes me think.  The student has become the teacher in this case.
• Matthew Chamberlin’s “Clearcast Digital Media.“  Matthew has been both a social media marketer and a video producer, so writes stuff that makes you think about the the differing aspects of social media converge.

Random Blog of the Week:

• Over the Monster - As a die-hard Red Sox fan (and I died hard many times before the first Red Sox World Series Championship, like in 1975, 1976 (Bucky Effing Dent) and of course, the Bucker-led 1986 team).  But if your are a Sox fan, add this to your blogroll.

Bonus Feature - Online Magazine and Podcast Series

• Media Bullseye.  This is Chip Griffin’s online, offline and “Radio Roundtable” venture, often executed by Jen Zingsheim (who, oh,by the way, announced that she hot MARRIED on Twitter last week).   Again this meets my criteria that every time I read or listen, I am educated and entertained.  Full disclosure:  I write for Media Bullseye and occasionally step-in as a co-host, but I wouldn’t do it, unless, in the New Hampshire vernacular, these guys weren’t “wicked smaht.”

That today’s inugural entry.  While it’s not as easy as #followfriday, won’t you please consider a quick post giving props to those whom you think are deserving of it?

Mark #blogmonday Story

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#Blogmonday - Let’s Share the Linkey Love

©2009 The Intersection of Online and Offline. All Rights Reserved.