Lately, I’ve been focusing more on my offline life and neglecting my google reader, and as a result, neglecting you.
Between work and everything else, I spend a crazy amount of time online, so I am not sad about shifting focus, but the truth is that a lot of your posts and comments enhance my offline life when it comes to thoughts and discussion about PR, Marketing, Advertising, Politics, Volunteering, Health, being a Gen Y-er/Millenial, and just living in these times.
Today, I am renewing my vows to my reader, myself and you. If you’re linked here, you’re in my reader and I’m saying thank you, please keep writing! (And if you’re not linked here, and you think I would like your posts, include your blog address in a comment or email me james.walker@prprescriptions.com.)
10:06 AM today. The exact time my blood pressure went up becuase I couldn’t comment on a news story. This news story: When Your Kid Attacks…By Blog.
I caught this story on the source of all, Twitter, from @danschawbel. The title was interesting enough for me to follow the link and read the story. The article is definitely a nice piece and I wanted to tell the author so, in addition to asking for the blog address of the person who wrote this: “My Mom is about as subtle as a Tomahawk missile.” Anyone who put’s a phrase like that together needs to be my reader.
Here’s the thing. I scrolled down, filled out the form and then realized that there was no comment option. Here’s what I had to choose from.
I’m calm now, but I say shame on you Boston Globe web team and/or whoever is responsible for the lack of feedback options. Feel free to moderate comments but don’t go as far as completely leaving out the option to do so. I just wanted to be social…
As it’s coming to a close, I’m feeling pretty good about this Tuesday. I was productive, dipped out during lunch for a little tech talk at the Media Future Now Lunch and got to think for a bit about Twitter.
The Media Future Now lunch was organized by none other than Shana Glickfield, the DC Concierge, and panel members included:
- David Almacy, VP of Waggener Edstrom Worldwide’s Studio D Group for the North American region
- Peter Cherukuri, Roll Call Group, Publisher
- Ben Coffee Clark, Fleishman-Hillard.
- Ernie Mosteller, Blattner Brunner, VP, Interactive Creative Director.
- Sarah Romer, Washingtonian, Director of Sales & Marketing, Washingtonian.com
The Panelists talked about talked about a variety of things including the growing attention directed towards and the use of social media, the election, the role of technology in both campaigns and digital spending in this economic downtown.
David Almacy, Waggener Edstrom VP and former White House Director of Internet and E-Communications definitely wins the PR Prescriptions speaker of the day award for his way with words. David’s presentation included focused on the White House’s adoption of internet technology and social media tools. He also gave new definitions to the terms ROI and OD:
- ROI: Risk of Inaction. Refers to the consequences of lost relationships, conversations, business partnerships if not engaged in social media.
- OD: Over Digital[ize]. This was in reference to some PR pros’ tendencies to not keep things simple and pump too much digital talk into business pitches.
David started with a screen shot of the first White House website, which looked nearly prehistoric, and moved on to share stories about the BarneyCam and the involvement of the White House’s use of the Google government search, the iTunes government podcast section and Twitter to get news and other important info out.
Must say that David and the White House team were very smart in their use of the internet and social media. They were observant and learned as they went, realizing a couple things:
1. You where the people are, and you need to make sure your content can do the same. In the case of the BarneyCam, it wasn’t long before traffic to the video on YouTube and other video sites surpassed viewers coming to the Whitehouse.gov site. It’s about getting the content out there.
2. If you’re not doing it, someone will do it for you. When he and his team set out to create a twitter account, he was surprised to find that one was already setup. Fortunately (in large part because of his team’s online strategy), the person who set it up did so using the official White House RSS feed.
They aren’t perfect, but I wish more companies were willing to experiment as much as the white house has so far.
Between Twitter, the papers and Ad Age, I’ve gotten different bits of info on the Chevy Aveo Livin Large campaign, enough to want to check it out.
Ad Age writer Jean Halliday reports:
“Chevrolet is trying a new twist on viral marketing. General Motors Corp.’s volume brand said it’s offering up to 10 free rides a day to college students on six campuses in a Chevy Aveo5 hatchback and filming the experience.
Students are encouraged to ham it up. The videos will be posted within 24 hours of the ride to a special site, AveoLivinLarge. From here, the students can see the footage, pass it along to friends, or upload it to their blog pages or sites like Facebook.”
Later in Halliday’s piece, Chevrolet North America VP Ed Peper is quoted saying that the “College Cab” program “leverages the online tools young people are already using in a fun and interesting way.”
I have to say that the videos, especially the ones featuring freestyles, are pretty good. They provide a nice 3pm metal break, but I imagine that Chevy’s goal isn’t to go viral. It’s probably closer to something like selling more Aveos, and they’ll do it not because they were able to get some nice videos online but because they were able to create a cool experience for their target audience inside the car.
When it comes to cars, you can have the greatest commercials, the most clever taglines and the craziest celeb plugging the model for you, but in the end, it’s about the car. How do I feel when I get in? How’s the ride? Did I feel at one with the wheel? (Ok, the last one may be a little personal, but you get the point.) It’s about the experience.
This jumped out at me becuase I recently had a few errands to run and needed to rent a car. When I went to pick it up, they didn’t have the one I requested and asked if I wouldn’t mind trying out the HHR.
I would never have voluntarily chosen to get into this vehicle. It just didn’t speak to me, at least not in the same way the ultimate driving machine did. It took about 10 minutes to get used to it and before I knew it I was zipping up and down 66 and 395. I know some of you are making faces right now, but this thing can move! Even though it was by accident, I came to like the car. I had to actually get in the car to see myself in the car. Not an earth-shattering revelation, but it just occurred to me.
To all the marketers and PR pros out there, before you begin putting all your stock in going viral, remember that the best way to do it is still getting nonbelievers to have their own physical, offline experience with your product or service.
With all the election happenings, I’ve been a little delayed with the recap from last week’s Social Media Club DC event.
Here’s a quick description:
Social Technologies in Associations and Non-Profits: Understanding the Present, Exploring the Future
“As associations and non-profit organizations begin to implement social technologies in their work, we are learning valuable lessons. Drawing on research findings, strategic insights and the actual case examples of two leading organizations, this session will explore the current state of social technology use in associations and non-profits. It will also examine future applications of these tools.”
The speakers all shared great points about the use of social tech in associations, if you have any questions at all, these are your people. I’d like to focus for a bit here on a few findings from research conducted among associations:
- Associations are mainly still in the experimental phase when it comes to social media/ social technologies.
- Many of the associations who do blog focus on issues relevant to them, but some do have blogs which focus on the association.
- Some associations are using social networks and some are using wikis internally.
- Almost half (48%) of social tech conversations are being driven by the Marketing or Communications Team.
- 13 % of conversations are being driven by people working on Membership.
Jeff’s general thought on this: As far as adoption of social technologies go, associations are moving forward. Groups are now trying to develop social media policies (who on staff should blog, including volunteers, featuring external content, endorsing external views). We need to bring it (the use of social tech) out of this marketing focus area and spread it across the company.
Jeff touched on something that associations really should pay attention to, the Facebook effect. Much in the way facebook and other social technology have empowered the masses, they are empowering your members and changing expectations of membership. People are creating their own groups on social sites and, in some cases, are using official association logos to recruit members. What are the major issues here?
- These “members” aren’t really linked to the organization. They don’t pay dues and aren’t connected to association happenings.
- You aren’t a part of the community!
I’ve done searches and surprised a few clients with myspace pages, facebook groups and twitter mentions that they had no clue about. If you (or your account team) is not already monitoring your online presence, please start or find someone to do it for you and let you know what’s going on.
There’s no reason to try to jump in and take control of every conversation going on, but there’s also no reason to NOT know what people are saying about you, your brand and/or association.
So I’m on Bolt Bus right now and making full use of the wifi. The music for today’s ride will be provided by iTunes, Tuneage and the baby crying in the back row.
I am extremely glad to be breaking out of the district for a little bit, but I am also glad that I will really be able to catch up on family happenings, the greatness of NYC, my reader and email.
Part of this email catch up will involve posts to del.icio.us. Before I became addicted to all things social, I was “that guy.”
Who’s “that guy”? The one who emails himself great links so that he could either read them later in the day or store them for later use. No worries I am no longer that guy!
I knew of del.icio.us, much like the way my great aunt knows of Facebook, but I never bothered to use the site. Thankfully an awesome person sat me down and showed me Common Craft vid on it.
Instantly, I saw the inefficiency of my ways and signed up. If you’re reading this, you know I’m into Public Relations, Marketing, Branding, Social Media and cool things. That means that you’ll find bits and pieces of all of these on my page.
I hope you find the links there useful, and let me know if you have any links you think I’d want to check out.
1 year 2 months, the amount of time my LinkedIn profile says I’ve spent as a full-time professional in the Public Relations industry. Not a great deal of time, but I’ve seen, heard, said and learned a lot. There will be more posts in the coming weeks which relate more closely to my daily dealings, but for now, I’d like to weigh my professional experience against something else, my social media experience.
1 year 2 months, the time I’ve spent working as a Public Relations professional
vs
2 years 3 months, the amount of time I’ve spent experiencing social media
I am not an expert and don’t claim to be. (The first point in Dave Knox’s post on the Cult of the Amateur definitely made me think about that for a bit.) However, I’ve experienced enough to know a little about social media’s reach and power. When thinking about it, a few words and phrases come to mind: crazy, interesting, shocking, massive.
I won’t be so bold to say that everyone participates in social media, but I believe that a good percentage of the people who do participate or benefit from it don’t even realize. David Meerman Scott’s post Why “do you use social media?” is the wrong question for marketers to ask really led me to think about that.
I really think Scott is right when he says:
“Practically everyone uses Google and other search engines regularly and the search results frequently include blog posts or YouTube videos or other social media content high in the search results. So even though people may report ‘no’ when asked if they use social media, nearly everyone has been to a blog or other social media content through search.”
Scott’s final point in the post was that we should “use social media data with caution” and not let our bosses diminish the hidden value of social media. I can recall several arguments discussions at work when the power/weight/reach of social media has come into question, and it’s not always the bosses either. There are a few naysayers in the younger ranks as well. The battle conversation normally is focused on one thing:
blog audience vs. media impression/circulation
If we just look at the base data, we are missing the point. People who read blogs are generally very engaged and want to know more about the topic they’re checking out. They may blog, have facebook accounts, network on LinkedIn, read wikis, and share content through email too. They’re engaged. Many of them do it without even thinking about it.
I’ve heard the phrase “Each One Reach One, Each One Teach One” used at several workshops and conferences. When I think about the power of social media, I think about the power it gives each one to reach five or ten or fifteen really engaged people who share what they’ve learned with 15 or 20 more really engaged people and on and on. In the end, isn’t that we want? Just a thought…
By now you may be rolling your eyes, but I’m gonna say it. A social campaign is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get.
When I first checked out the Big-Mac Chant Off, I thought a couple things:
1. Don’t like the design….we’ll not the whole design, just the font.
2. Potential for a great campaign!
We can ignore the first thought, just me being picky. Regarding the second thought, how did I know it had the potential for greatness? I just think about how many versions of the Oscar Mayer commercial exist:
I knew that people might produce some really good chants, but I never expected that the top chants would be this diverse in style. They include elements of funk, soul, rap, synthesized sound reminiscent of T-Pain, southern-style snap and reggaeton.
Not sure if this speaks to the MySpace audience, McDonalds audience, the type of music most popular in our generation or all of the above. All I can say is Mickey D’s, job well done. Thank you for engaging!
The debate about banning or blocking social sites has been going on for some time. Listening to the conversation, it seems like the most heated debates surround the topic of banning facebook, with some making the argument that it hampers productivity and others claiming that it can help the employee get work done.
I have blogged about my productivity before. Truth be told, finding a balance or system for getting work done while being engaged in social sites wasn’t easy, but I did. It is my responsibility to get the work done, and at times, social sites like Twitter have helped tremendously. I am a firm believer in the idea that all that matters is that the work gets done on time and done well. Outside of that, what else matters?
Initially, I felt the urge to join the conversation Matt Elliott started, but I wanted to come up with something different from the majority of the comments already posted at Brazen Careerist. I wanted to find a way to articulate to employers what social media means to most people in my generation, and it hit me last week on the metro as I was reading Geoff Livingston’s white paper The Socialprise.
Geoff’s paper includes some nice insights, and I definitely encourage you to check it out. The thing that led to my great metro moment was actually a quote he provided from Charlene Li. Promoting Groundswell, the book she co-authored with Josh Bernoff, Li said:
“Social Networks will be like air. They will be anywhere and everywhere we need and want them to be. And also, without that social context in our connected lives, we won’t really feel like we are truly living and alive, just as without sufficient air, we won’t really be able to breathe deeply.”
EXACTLY! That is it right there! It’s like air! If you take social sites away, it would be like trying to breath with no air! If you’ve been following PR Prescriptions at all, you know I like to make musical references. Here’s one for today’s post:
Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown - “No Air”
But how do you expect me to work all day and NOT Tweet?!
My world revolves around it, it’s so hard for me to breathe.
Tell me how I’m supposed to breathe with no air? No Air… No Air…
Common Craft is a great company I learned about in early 2008. In their own words: “We are two passionate people and Common Craft is our company. Our product is explanation.”
They may want to add the line “Smart PR pros love us.” I know I do. Common Craft has been extremely helpful in explaining social media and networking tools to co-workers. Normally, I give my two cents on a given tool/application/site and follow up with: “Check out the Common Craft video.”
As Zoe Siskos, author of medium & the message, says in one of her recent posts, most people don’t know what Common Craft is. Zoe brilliantly developed a short video called Common Craft in Plain English, and while they don’t detail all the possibilities (and they shouldn’t), the Common Craft creators Sachi and Lee LeFever do a great job of answering not only “What is this?” but also “How and Why would I use this?”
Here are some of videos I normally tell people to check out:
Social Media in Plain English
Twitter in Plain English
Social Bookmarking in Plain English
If you liked these videos, check out www.commoncraft.com and spread the word!
Lately, I’ve been focusing more on my offline life and neglecting my google reader, and as a result, neglecting you. 
Posted by jaywalk1
Posted by jaywalk1
Posted by jaywalk1
Wait…I Can’t Comment?
October 27, 200810:06 AM today. The exact time my blood pressure went up becuase I couldn’t comment on a news story. This news story: When Your Kid Attacks…By Blog.
I caught this story on the source of all, Twitter, from @danschawbel. The title was interesting enough for me to follow the link and read the story. The article is definitely a nice piece and I wanted to tell the author so, in addition to asking for the blog address of the person who wrote this: “My Mom is about as subtle as a Tomahawk missile.” Anyone who put’s a phrase like that together needs to be my reader.
Here’s the thing. I scrolled down, filled out the form and then realized that there was no comment option. Here’s what I had to choose from.
I’m calm now, but I say shame on you Boston Globe web team and/or whoever is responsible for the lack of feedback options. Feel free to moderate comments but don’t go as far as completely leaving out the option to do so. I just wanted to be social…