Inside PR: Google+ Communities, Twitter Photo filters and Facebook Democracy Fail

December 16, 2012 • Joseph Thornley • Gini Dietrich, Inside PR, Martin Waxman

Episode 3.19 of the Inside PR podcast has just been published. In this week’s episode, Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman and I talk about a number of things that caught our eye.

First up: Google+ Communities

Google has added Communities to its Google+ Network. Think Yahoo Groups. Discussion groups organized around specific subjects.

Introducing the Inside PR Google+ Community

We’ve set up a Community for Inside PR listeners on Google+. If you like the podcast and would like to suggest future topics or discuss each week’s episode, click over to our Google+ Community and join the conversation.

Worth watching

Will the Inside PR Google+ community get as many members as the Inside PR Facebook group? Will there be better discussion on Google+? (I’m betting the conversation on Google+ will be much better, if not more voluminous.)

Twitter upgrades(?) with Filters on Photos

Is this a step forward? Or a defensive move in response to Instagram pulling its integration with Twitter? I’m not sure about the companies’ moves. I bet our listeners have more insight into this than I do.

Facebook drops its commitment to user democracy

Does anybody care? Was this ever a real thing or did Facebook’s thresholds so high that it simply fed a feeling of powerlessness from the outset?

Listen to the complete podcast

Inside PR 3.19 [ 15:52 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

And tell us what you think

This week, I’m encouraging Inside PR listeners to join the Google+ Community and find out whether this will be an instant success, a slow build, or a complete fizzle.

Feeling lucky

December 11, 2012 • Joseph Thornley • life, Thornley Fallis, work

This morning, I arrived to a darkened office. That’s not surprising, because it was 7 AM and I was the first person to arrive.

As I turned on the lights and walked into our then–empty office, I realized that I’m a lucky guy.

Why? Because 16 years after having co-founded Thornley Fallis, I still love my job.

Yes, there are challenges. There are disappointments. There is stress. But I know that I can rise to these challenges and be the master of my destiny. That’s invigorating.

And I love what I do. I love watching the changing patterns of communication and the evolving relationships we have with the institutions around us. I love learning from what I observe and changing the way that I apply my own skills for myself and for my clients.

I chose to be the first person in the office this morning because I wanted to get to work to tackle the day’s challenges, to stretch myself, to learn and to do something that I find meaningful.

So it’s 7 AM in a darkened office, and I feel I’m a lucky guy.

Truly appreciated: The Rogers Charging Station at Third Tuesday Toronto #3TYYZ

November 28, 2012 • Joseph Thornley • #3TYYZ, charging station, Rogers Communications, Third Tuesday

You’ve had a busy day at the office, using your mobile phone or tablet pretty much constantly. Then it’s time to rush out the door to your favourite event, like Third Tuesday Toronto. You arrive and you want to check in and begin Tweeting and what do you discover? Your battery is almost dead. So you start searching for an electric outlet and asking your friends if they have the connector you need for your phone or tablet.

Well, that almost happened to me last night at Third Tuesday Toronto #3TYYZ with Julien Smith. But not quite. Because our Third Tuesday sponsor, Rogers Communications was on hand with their charging station to enable me and anyone else at the event to recharge our mobile devices enough to get us through the evening.

So, thank you to Rogers Communications for being a generous sponsor of Third Tuesday and then going even farther and offering us the extra benefit of two staff and equipment to keep us charged and connected.

(Disclosure: Rogers did not ask for this post. And yes, they are a sponsor of Third Tuesday and a sometime client of my firm. And yes, I am a happy Rogers customer – cellphone, tablet, home Internet, home phone, cable TV. Disclosure complete. 🙂 )

Julien Smith at Third Tuesday Ottawa Storified

November 27, 2012 • Joseph Thornley • 3TYOW, Julien Smith, The Impact Equation, Third Tuesday

Julien Smith is a smart guy who has given a lot of thought to how and why we connect with one another in real life and online and how we build meaningful relationships through these connections.

Last night, he kicked off his two-city Third Tuesday mini-tour to promote his new book, The Impact Equation, which he co-authored with another smart guy, Chris Brogan.

Julien did not disappoint the Third Tuesday community. He gave us a lot to think about in a witty, laugh out loud presentation.

I’ve captured some of the highlights and bon mots from his presentation using Storify. Enjoy.

[<a href=”//storify.com/thornley/julien-smith-at-third-tuesday-ottawa-3tyow” target=”_blank”>View the story “Julien Smith at Third Tuesday Ottawa #3TYOW” on Storify</a>]<br /> <h1>Julien Smith at Third Tuesday Ottawa #3TYOW</h1> <h2></h2> <p>Storified by Joseph Thornley · Tue, Nov 27 2012 04:58:35</p> <div>With @misssolange at #thirdtuesday listening to author @julien The Impact Equation #ottawa http://pic.twitter.com/9aaXTMWeSamantha – STARFISH </div> <div>So excited to hear @julien! #3tyow this was before the event. Lovely guy. http://pic.twitter.com/aICX95zHStéphanie Montreuil</div> <div>Awesome crowd at #3tyow http://pic.twitter.com/aLM6M74mKristine Simpson</div> <div>.@Julien takes the stage #3TYOW http://pic.twitter.com/NABRBz3TVictoria Procunier</div> <div>If you want to support Michael O’Connor Clarke go to supportmichaelocc.ca #3tyowKristine Simpson</div> <div>Wisdom and impact doesn’t have to come from age – Julien Smith #3TYOWHeather MacIntosh</div> <div>Be bold. Always. @julien #3tyowStéphanie Montreuil</div> <div>Persistence running – man needed to outrun his prey, a selection pressure, a forge. Become a weapon or be destroyed #3tyowHeather MacIntosh</div> <div>It used to be adapt or die, now it’s adapt or suck @julien #3tyowStéphanie Montreuil</div> <div>Children naturally adapt. To succeed, we must be like children. #3tYOWKimberly Valentine</div> <div>In order to adapt we must become and stay like children @julien #3TYOWMark Blevis</div> <div>@Julien smith’s talk is him talking to one striking image after another. Keeps your attention…robinbrowne</div> <div>If you can’t be number 1 or number 2 in a category, get out… and create your own category says @julien #3tyowKristine Simpson</div> <div>. @julien: the ugliest shows in the world are a growing trend (those flat toe shoes, can’t think of the name) #3TYOWStéphanie Montreuil</div> <div>It’s not easy to look at something ugly and recognize it will become beautiful. @julien #3TYOWMark Blevis</div> <div>Always easy to defend the status quo. Ugly is a process to becoming beautiful and useful @julien #3TYOWStéphanie Montreuil</div> <div>I don’t want people to copy, I want people to evolve @julien #3TYOWStéphanie Montreuil</div> <div>"We should be constantly adopting to the needs that are around us." @julien #thirdtuesdaySolange Tuyishime</div> <div>@julien makes the case for freestyle agility. #3TYOWMark Blevis</div> <div>. @julien showing us a parcours video: look at what people can do vs what you expect them to be able to do #3tyowStéphanie Montreuil</div> <div>Parkour … Parcours … Moving through your environment … Invented to run from cops #3TYOWHeather MacIntosh</div> <div>It’s amazing what people do, when they realize they have to. @julien #3TYOWEmily Charette</div> <div>You have to be like fire and turn your obstacles into fuel @julien (via Aurelius) #3tyowStéphanie Montreuil</div> <div>The problem is in your head and you can’t get out of your head. So stimulate your mind, break patterns says @julien #3tyowKristine Simpson</div> <div>If something seems inevitable to you, do it today before others do it. @julien #3TYOWJoseph Thornley</div> <div>"What truth do youconsider obvious that no one else believes"? @julien #thirdtuesdayHenry Troup</div> <div>Don’t react to the marketplace as it is, everyone else has already done it @julien #3tyowStéphanie Montreuil</div> <div>Start the company you think is obvious that others don’t see yet #3TYOWHeather MacIntosh</div> <div>#3tyow @julien you don’t want some exposure, you want maximum exposure, some of the timeJoel Elliott</div> <div>“…think about how to leave an impression on those who matter and help them gather around you.” @julien #theimpactequationMelissa Adey</div> <div>"Being vulnerable is the new cool," – @Julien at #3TYOW about his book, Impact Equation http://pic.twitter.com/WtfROCvTAdrian J. Ebsary</div> <div>Now I have another book by @julien to add to my must-read list: The Flinch http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0062Q7S3SJoseph Thornley</div> <div>Our brains our like malfunctioning alarm systems. We see risk because our ancestors saw risk. Break the cycle says @julien #3tyowKristine Simpson</div> <div>"We’re in the safest time ever so we should be taking more risks than ever." @julien smithrobinbrowne</div> <div>When you Flinch – big amount of pain and no one is willing to follow you. Choose that route. Hard but worthwhile @julien #3tyowStéphanie Montreuil</div> <div>Become familiar with this phrase: "I don’t know, but I’m willing to find out." #3TYOWMichaela Schreiter</div> <div>Disrupt your own industry on purpose says @julien #3tyowKristine Simpson</div> <div>If someone is going to cannibalize you, might as well be you. Dare to innovate @julien #3tyowStéphanie Montreuil</div> <div>Aim to galvanize your weaknesses and fix them @julien #3tyowStéphanie Montreuil</div> <div>Politicians can learn from @julien "what I used to believe is… Now what I believe is…" #3TYOW #EvolveDontFlipFlopMark Blevis</div> <div>A great speaker: @julien #3TYOW http://pic.twitter.com/NBNRvpmFJoseph Thornley</div> <div>Excellent talk tonight @ #3tyow by @julien. Being different is not always bad but being first is always betterraymond snow</div> <div>Great evening with @starfishevents. We’re inspired to make things happen. Thank you @julien! http://pic.twitter.com/MTvXxEr1Solange Tuyishime</div> <div>Succinct closing by @Julien at #3tyow: Talk -(without) Action = Shit.Andrew Moizer</div> <div>@julien thanks for a great talk tonight at @3tyow! Always thought provoking.Glenda Myles</div>

Julien Smith brings The Impact Equation to Third Tuesday

November 13, 2012 • Joseph Thornley • #3TYYZ, 3TYOW, Julien Smith, The Impact Equation, Third Tuesday, Trust Agents

When social media was shiny and new, we talked about it constantly. Every new tool, every new publishing platform, every new social network fascinated by enabling us to reach out, to be heard, to connect with others in a new way, in a way that we couldn’t previously.

Social media gave the people formerly known as the audience a voice. Social media gave us all a means to publish what we thought. Social media gave us all a means to connect 24 hours a day seven days a week, regardless of where we were, with our friends, our family, others who held our interest.

But a few short years later, social media is no longer the new thing. It is a fixture in our lives.

That doesn’t mean that social media has lost its relevance. It’s just that our attention has moved away from the shiny new objects, the new tools, to what they can help us do and how that affects the way that we relate to others and to society.

Julien Smith and Chris Brogan are two smart guys who’ve spent a lot of time considering the interplay of social media and people, communities and organizations. And as they’ve done that they’ve gained insight into how people connect and form meaningful online relationships. They’ve tested their theories through podcasting, blogging, speaking, real-world events, by trying out virtually every means of connecting with others and then examining the effect that they had. Through them, we see that each and every one of us can be heard, can find community, can form relationships, can have impact.

In addition to their online efforts, Julien and Chris shared their insights through their book, Trust Agents, a New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-seller. In Trust Agents, they examined the interplay of trust, reputation and influence in social media. And Julien travelled to Third Tuesdays across Canada to meet and talk to the community of communicators, marketers, public servants, business people and students who wanted to know more about how to build online community.

Now Julien and Chris are back with a new book, The Impact Equation, their follow-up to Trust Agents. And once again, Julien is coming to Third Tuesday Toronto #3TYYZ and Third Tuesday Ottawa #3TYOW to share his insights.

A lot has happened in two years. No longer is social media a shiny new thing for techies. Now, it’s mainstream. We’re all creating, sharing and connecting on it. But are we making being as effective as we’d like to be? Are we having the impact we want to have?

Julien and Chris believe that we can have the impact we want to have. And they’ve charted out a formula – the Impact Equation – to guide us in this.

“We’re not writing about Twitter and Facebook and Google plus and interest and path, because who cares? Those things are temporary and they aren’t the things that matter. The people are what matters,” Julien and Chris write. The real focus of The Impact Equation is “about getting a larger audience to see and act upon your ideas and learning how to build a community around that experience to take it all to an even higher level.”

The Impact Equation is something that everyone who participates in social networks or creates and shares content can use. And Julien Smith has tested what he writes about and personally demonstrated that we can have an impact on the world around us.

If you’d like to participate in Third Tuesday with Julien Smith, you can register online to attend either Third Tuesday Toronto #3TYYZ or Third Tuesday Ottawa #3TYOW.

The Impact Equation could make a real difference in how you approach online community and publishing.

BONUS: Every attendee will receive a copy of The Impact Equation when you check in at the event. So, you not only can hear and meet Julien, you can get your copy of the book personally signed by the author.

Thank you to our sponsors

Third Tuesday is supported by great sponsors – Cision Canada and Rogers Communications – who believe in our community and help us to bring speakers not just to Toronto but to Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver as well. Without the sponsors we couldn’t make Third Tuesday a truly Canadian affair. So, thank you to the sponsors of the Third Tuesday 2012-13 season: Cision Canada and Rogers Communications.

Goodbye Mouse. Hello Touchpad.

October 29, 2012 • Joseph Thornley • Logitech, Microsoft, t650, technology, touchpad, Windows 8

I love technology. Not so much that I crave every new shiny object. But I do love to get new things that make my life easier or extend my reach.

While I love learning and mastering new things, I know that not everybody is like me. As a business owner, I have to be pragmatic in what technologies I introduce into our workplace. I have to respect those people who would rather keep working with something that does the job just fine than spend time learning a new way of working for what might turn out to be a marginal improvement in productivity or capability.

And that brings me to Windows 8. On one hand, I see the promise of the first major upgrade in the personal computer interface since Windows 95. On the other hand, I am concerned that the effort to learn a new user interface will far outweigh its potential benefits. So I’m going to make myself the test dummy for Windows 8 at Thornley Fallis and 76design.

I’ve ordered an initial Windows 8 notebook computer to test Microsoft’s new operating system. It’s a Dell XPS 13, a truly sweet Ultra book. I’ve been using one of these systems with Windows 7 since last spring and it’s the best notebook I’ve ever owned. Thin. Light. Capable. So it’s a natural platform for my first test of Windows 8.

From what I’ve read, Windows 8 is a much different experience. It’s built so that I can navigate using gestures on a touchscreen. That works when I have the notebook sitting on my lap. But when I’m at my desk, that just doesn’t work for me. My notebook is hooked up to a larger second screen and it sits behind a wireless keyboard. A surefire recipe for back trouble if I’m constantly reaching across the keyboard to touch the screen.

I want to replicate the touchscreen gestures on my desktop, without the need to lean forward to reach my computer screen.

So, it’s goodbye traditional mouse. Hello touchpad.

In anticipation of the launch of Windows 8, I ordered one of Logitech’s brand-new T650 Touchpads. This touchpad promises to let me use all of the gestures I would use on the screen itself, but on a glass trackpad sitting on my desk beside my keyboard where the mouse traditionally would be.

It arrived this morning. And within only a few hours of use, I realized that I will never go back to a traditional mouse. Even on my current system operating Windows 7 it makes everything on the computer easier. Scrolling. Selecting text. Switching between programs. It’s all just so much more fluid using the touchpad. Even if I ultimately don’t move over the Windows 8, Microsoft has done me (and Logitech) a huge favour by prompting me to look for a modern alternative to the mouse.

What about you? Do you still use a mouse? Have you tried a touchpad? What do you think of each?

Public Relations' Identity Crisis

September 5, 2012 • Joseph Thornley • branding, integrated communications, public relations

Are you suffering a public relations crisis of identity? Do you find yourself struggling for a way to describe what you do that avoids using the term “public relations?” Not because you’re embarrassed by what you do, but because you know that people will apply an outdated stereotype to you the second you use the term?

If you answered yes to these questions, then you’re in the same boat as me.

The new PR

Terry Fallis and I started our public relations firm, Thornley Fallis, in 1995. And we thrived with our traditional PR offerings through 2002. Then the world shifted – and kept shifting.

Today, our hottest offering is video storytelling and production. That’s followed closely by designing and building online experiences. And then comes social media. Yes, we still offer traditional media relations (who doesn’t want to see their company positively mentioned in a national newspaper or trade mag?) However, the traditional PR services are now part of an integrated offering that starts with discovery and builds on this with strategies that are channel agnostic. Different things work in different contexts. And we need to be able to offer a complex solution.

That’s the new PR. However, do I refer to it as PR? Not often. In fact, I try to avoid using the term public relations when talking to business contacts and potential clients. All too often, I notice their unconscious tic when I say PR as they summon up images of the PR as it was in the 90s. So, I use other terms like “integrated communications,” “communications for the connected era,” “delivering remarkable experiences.” Anything to avoid being pigeon-holed with an outdated PR stereotype.

Gini Dietrich has been led to a similar place. In a provocatively titled post, Self-Hating PR Pros and the Change in the Industry, she writes:

“A few weeks ago I was in a meeting with a prospective client. At the end of the conversation, the chief marketing officer said, “I see you don’t refer to yourselves as PR pros… and your proposal doesn’t have any mention of it. Why is that?” I explained that when people say they need a PR firm, they really mean they want someone to get them stories, which is an ego-driven metric, and only one tactic of a larger marketing and communications program. … So the industry has begun to see a move toward other descriptors of what we do (social media, marketing, integrated marketing communications). Meanwhile, many of us have stopped saying we do PR.”

New Clients

Something else has happened as we have diversified our services. We’ve been given opportunities to produce more complex, sophisticated and far reaching programs for clients. But often, those opportunities have not come from our traditional public relations contacts. Instead, they’ve come from marketing executives who have invited us to pitch our ideas in competition with advertising and digital agencies. These marketing executives see public relations as an important, but very specific subset, of the solution they are seeking to put in place. We want them to see us as providers of a holistic strategy, not simply the providers of a specific channel or tactic. And by avoiding direct reference to our origins as a PR company, while still offering the capability, we can compete on a level playing field with new competitors.

Challenging Corporate Culture

So we live in a gray zone as we transition from what was and what was clearly understood to what will be and has not yet taken its final shape. That presents us with challenges of the intellect and of the imagination. It also presents us with cultural challenges.

People in the new PR may find that the organization they are working for defies their expectations of what that organization should look like and how it should operate. They find themselves working alongside people with different expertise and skills than they might have worked with a decade ago. These people may also come from different types of organizations that had very different cultures, business models and ways of organizing themselves.

This can lead to a cultural war as people attempt to superimpose what they knew and understood onto the new organization. (We’ve gone through this phase ourselves). People want to be challenged. But they want to be challenged within known parameters. We need some certainty to provide a foundation for creativity and growth.

A Crisis of Identity and a Wide-Open Future

So for me, PR is going through a crisis of identity as we transition from the old to the new. A crisis that’s driven by a people’s retention of outdated stereotypes, by a shift in our playing field, and by the cultural challenge of mixing new skills and new people together to provide non-traditional solutions.

It’s an interesting time. It’s a time of rapid change and great uncertainty. It’s a time in which we may look like we’re running away from our public relations roots. But I prefer to think that were running toward something. We just can’t describe it clearly yet. And isn’t that the best part of discovery? More things are possible then we may yet realize.

We're looking for freelance PHP Web Developers to work with the 76design team

August 30, 2012 • Joseph Thornley • 76design, careers, employment, WebDeveloper

76design is looking for a few great freelance developers to round out our skill set and provide us with the capacity to deliver all of our projects during the busy autumn and winter business cycle.

If you’re interested, you’ll possess a strong combination of the following expertise and experience:

Strategic and Analytic Thinking

• Understanding of fundamentals of new marketing and communications principles
• A solid understanding of information architecture practices
• Gathering, reviewing and validating project requirements

Skills and Assets
• Demonstrated experience with the following: Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP5
• Experience with a modern MVC web framework like Zend Framework, Java Spring, etc.
• Background in web API programming
• Polylingual programming beyond PHP considered an asset (Java, .Net, Ruby, etc)
• Comfortable with use and function of a variety of modern CMS: WordPress, Drupal;
• Experience customizing WordPress development, themes, and plugins
• Direct experience with social media tools and platforms, such as Facebook, Google+, Twitter, etc.
• Work with tiered deployment environments
• Experience with a version control system like SVN
• Experience with automated deployment using tools like Phing, Ant considered an asset
• Use of OO and design patterns
• Working knowledge of web standards, SEO and accessibility
• Front end development experience working with XHTML, HTML5, CSS3, Javascript, Ajax

Bonus Points
• Unix system maintenance, shell scripting
• Apache web server configuration, virtual host management
• Experience with Microsoft SilverStripe CMS
• Experience with modern ORM such as Doctrine
• Knowledge of Apache Software Foundation Projects: Lucene / Mahout
• University degree in computer science or software engineering

Interested in working with us? If so, click over to the 76design Careers page and apply on the link provided on that page.

Marketing with Integrity – Selling Likes and Followers

August 29, 2012 • Joseph Thornley • Facebook Likes, Integrity, Marketing, Twitter Followers

I received this email in the middle of the night. You may have received it or something like it too.

It asks, “I was wondering if you sell Facebook Likes and Twitter Followers to your clients to improve their social media credibility?” The writer then goes on to suggest that, “Some companies sell 500 Facebook likes to their clients for $100, and buy the service from me for $15. It’s a huge profit margin and is a really easy add-on to sell to your current customers.”

My answer in a word is NO!

No, we don’t sell Facebook Likes, Twitter Followers or any other kind of social gesture. Buying followers amounts to pure deception, in my mind. Especially if the intent is to suggest that a large number of followers conveys greater credibility.

True credibility is earned. It is ascribed to you by others based on their experience of you. If you believe that the number of likes or followers conveys credibility, then purchasing them amounts to deception.

If you are a marketer, don’t follow this path. It is marketing without integrity.