Why I love Blogging…

June 26, 2008

 

Note to self - Work on messaging and delivery…

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Posted by jaywalk1

AMEX Open Forum: Insights for the Gen Y Business Mind

June 22, 2008

I’ve started my own little speaking circuit without even really noticing it. If you haven’t noticed from my other posts, I am huge into PR, Marketing and Social Media. I believe in its power and am always more than happy to share my take on new sites or tools and how they can or cannot help you get your message out.

My first official speaking engagement came earlier this year at the Next Wave Action Summit. At the Summit, I spoke to current and soon-to-be non-profit leaders about ways they could market their cause creatively. This was the first time that I felt the presence of the social media awareness bubble that PR pros and Social Media enthusiasts always speak about. My second engagement was just last week.

Taking the shape of a presentation/group discussion, I shared my thoughts on the business with my 9 interns and members of the Technology and Design team in a presentation titled “Innovation in the Industry.” I highlighted some of what I believed to be good examples of big brands communicating online and engaging their consumers, and while selecting examples for the presentation, I noticed that more companies are creating branded online sites meant to serve as gathering places for people who work/play in their space. The latest company I noticed taking this approach was American Express with its Open Forum.

American Express Open Forum

I first learned of OPEN Forum while catching up on Chris Brogan’s blog, and when I went to check it out, first thoughts were: “I like it. Clean layout, good color choice, clear mission/tagline.” Second thoughts were “really useful network.” Chris figured out how great content networks could be and blogged about this in 2006, but it seems that businesses are now getting the valuable counsel they need to understand the power that comes both with being a part of these networks and being the network providers.

When asked what overall goal was, James Gross of Federated Media commented:

“Our goal was to bring together leading experts in an engaging experience at the OPEN platform itself. Thus, any of the authors work that was picked up on other blogs, social media engines like Digg, StumbleUpon, etc., would all give credit back to OPEN as being the keeper/facilitator of the conversation. In the new world of media, these trackbacks and links provide a new form of Brand Equity for OPEN. This again drives home the point behind the OPEN brand that they are here for Small Businesses to make their life better and grow their business.”

I am not sure that the message will be as clear as OPEN’s “here for Small Businesses to make their life better and grow their business,” but I do appreciate the fact that they created a nice platform where everyone can gather and focus on something they’re interested in.

The most useful or interesting part of the site to me was the events page which features video like this one, sharing discussions with business leaders.

To everyone behind the creation of the OPEN Forum, good job! To anyone who has not checked it out yet, please do!

4 Comments | Gen Y, Public Relations, Resources, Social Media | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by jaywalk1

True Life: I am a Chronic Procrastinator

June 20, 2008

I’m not sure if MTV’s ever done a True Life episode on procrastination, but if they did, I would have been the perfect candidate about a year ago.

In high school, I was a model student, but the minute I set foot on the streets of Foggy Bottom, I got the itch, the procrastination itch. If you’re like me, you know this itch well. You feel it every time you have to take something to the post office, have to do laundry or something as simple as emptying the dishwasher.

In college, I made it my unofficial mission to master the art of procrastination, and my biggest triumph came during my sophomore year at GW. I was taking English 10, the GCR that changed my life (really, it did… because of it I love reading biographies), and I was working on my final paper. It was an unholy 15pgs double-spaced and I did everything under the sun but sit down and right that paper. It was the night before the paper was due and I was on page one. No problem, right?

BIG PROBLEM.

Black Eyed Peas came to campus that night… I think we can guess what I did. I went to the concert, had an amazing time, got back to my room around 1am, pumped out 15pgs of one of the best papers I ever wrote, collapsed at 630am, jumped up with just enough time to sprint through the streets of Foggy Bottom, drop off the paper and go back to sleep.

There were many more stories like this, but all (well…most) of my procrastinating days ended when I entered the world of PR full time. People say Content is King. If content is King, then deadlines are Aces. Damned is the PR pro who misses deadlines. For this reason, I’ve learned to control my procrastination…by scheduling time for it.

Sitting at a desk for 8 to 9 to 10 hrs a day can make the day hard to get through, and with all the distractions of the internet (right now twitter is my main addiction), it’s hard to stay focused. In order to pump out the press releases, pitch, monitor blogs, edit podcasts and stay sane, I declare HPHs or High Productivity Hours. For example, if I need to get a report out by 4, I’ll declare 2 to 4 high productivity hours. That means no gchat, limited email responses, and only 2 or 3 glances at twitter (This is case by case though…there may be some good tweets…). When its not a high productivity hour, I am open to anything. So far, this system works for me. If you’ve got a system that works for you, let me know.

5 Comments | Gen Y, Public Relations, Work | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by jaywalk1

Ringing the Alarm: Revelations from 35,000 ft

June 16, 2008

Though it normally involves endless hours of preparation and tons of recovery time when you return to office, I really enjoy going on business trips.

My latest work project led me to San Francisco, allowing me to miss the metro issues and the unbearable heat that held the east coast hostage. Definitely two positives, but my trip had its negatives. The first being the fact that I had to fly United.

Now, prior to my trip, I had no issue with United. In fact, I’ve always liked their animated commercials with Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.

Besides being stuck in a tiny middle seat, I couldn’t really complain about my flights to California and back to DC. There was very little turbulence and I did actually get some sleep. It was the actions and comments of the United employees that really annoyed me and got me thinking.

The first occurrence took place just as we were gliding over the San Francisco bay. The flight attendant decided that this would be the perfect time to tell everyone that “in the case of emergency landing, please leave all carry-on luggage behind and exit the aircraft.”

I hope that you are now in as much disbelief as I and the other 100 people on the plane were. I gave the wings a nice once over (you know, making sure the flaps are in order, no smoke, etc.), and then I tried to understand why this flight attendant felt that it was absolutely necessary to tell us this, particularly at this moment.

I couldn’t come up with anything and after a few minutes, we were safely on the ground, so I let it go…until my flight back to DC.

The main door was closed, all electronic devices were powered down, and we pushed back from the gate. AFTER the safety video was over and we were heading towards the runway, the flight attendant thought she should share some evacuation statistics: “It took 30 minutes to board this aircraft, but in an in emergency, it can be evacuated in 9 seconds.”

My Reaction: Wait…What? Why are you telling me this?

First, I highly doubted that the 100+ people on board that flight could evacuate in 9 seconds, but that’s another conversation altogether. There I was again on the receiving end of a completely crazy (b/c of the timing) statement.

The only thing that made sense was the fact that the flight attendants felt the need to Ring the Alarm. I’m sure we’ve all come across people who have ringing the alarm down to a science. Even though things are going well, they just have to unnecessarily remind everyone about the potential dangers that we have worked so hard to pack away in the back of our minds.

Have you ever encountered people who like to Ring the Alarm at work?

Can they be cured?

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Posted by jaywalk1

Were you really talking to me? Thoughts on AA’s Bag Fee Communications

June 1, 2008

Background: The airline industry is having an extremely rough time. Sorry I don’t have anything over the top to share here. Fuel prices are really high, so airlines are turning the costs back on the customers in an attempt to avoid taking too hard of a financial beating. It’s sad, but it’s that simple.

American Airlines stepped out in front and began charging passengers fees for checked baggage, opening itself up to unavoidable customer backlash and bad press. Unfortunately, this is not the only thing American’s got going on these days.

Noone likes airlines fees, especially me! When I heard about this, I made sure to insert this into my list of conversation topics. I nestled it neatly between “Did you watch Grey’s?” and “How ridiculous was Dwight on the Office last night?”, so when I was catching up with a client, I pulled it out. I honestly wasn’t expecting the response I got.

Her: “Do you check bags?”

Me: “No. I rarely ever do. I hate waiting at baggage claim and have lost one bag too many that way.”

Her: “So, would you rather have them charge the people who do or raise the fare for everyone?”

When she put it like that, suddenly I was okay with it. Of course, American couldn’t put it like that, but they could have come close with their messaging and at least kept the people like me calm. PR Newser included several perspectives on AA’s actions. I found the memo by BusinessWeek’s David Kiley to Weber Shandwick the most interesting:

“Dear Client: Instead of instituting a fee for checked bags, which will be a lightning rod of bad publicity, please consider burying the cost of rising fuel in across-the-board ticket price increases. Consumers understand that many consumer prices are rising because of increasing fuel costs. What they don’t like, or understand, is when companies begin charging for items they have previously gotten for free-a single checked bag, a soda, a bag of chips, a WiFi connection, etc. The best solution to this problem is to stay out of the news, not to lean into it and ask for a pie in the face.”

Diagnosis: While I’m pretty new to the PR biz, I feel like American could have done a better job communicating online. When you throw in extra fees, and your main line of communication looks like this, you’re gonna be in trouble. American Airlines failed to make effective use of online communications from the beginning , so the best they could do was be reactionary, joining the conversation where appropriate and correcting inaccurate statements made by bloggers.

In Michael Bush’s Ad Age story, it was noted that American Airlines “hopes to have its own corporate blog operational within the next two quarters.” Frankly, “within the next two quarters” is about 3 quarters too late! I’m not saying that American Airlines should take a page out of Southwest’s book, but you have to admit that Southwest is doing a better job right now:

Prescription: American Airlines:

1. Get a real, personal online voice.

2. Start a blog, NOW…ok I’ll give you til Friday COB.

3. Make use of sites like iReport and YouTube.

4. Stay strong. We still love you…we just can’t go too easy on you.

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Posted by jaywalk1