Constantin Basturea's new site gives PR practitioners a vote

June 17, 2006 • Joseph Thornley • No Tags

Constantin Basturea has launched a New PR site that enables readers to vote for articles on public relations topics.

Constantin is also the force behind the PubSub PR Community list and the NewPR Wiki. Here he is delivering yet another concept to draw PR practitioners together as a community.

On the New PR site, bloggers submit their news articles from their sites using an easy posting form. Posters may submit an image and a summary of their article, both of which will appear with the article title and URL on the New PR site. Articles can also be assigned to an appropriate PR category (e.g. blog relations, employee communication, ethics.)

Visitors to the site can comment on an article or “promote” it by casting a vote. Tabs enable the visitor to view the most recently posted articles or the headlines of articles ranked by number of votes.

Appealing to the “ego factor”, the site also shows registered users how many “Props” they have received for articles they posted.

A Forum allows visitors to conduct discussions on a traditional discussion board. Not surprisingly, one of the first strings dealt with the issue of bloggers voting for their own articles.

Bottom line: Yet another intriguing riff on social media from Constantin. Digg it!

Tom Keefe turns the lights back on at CommaKazi Speek

June 14, 2006 • Joseph Thornley • No Tags

It was a long time between posts – 9 months, in fact – but Tom Keefe has fired up the generators and brought CommaKazi Speek back to life.

Tom, who delivered a presentation on building online communities at the 2006 IABC Conference in Vancouver, currently is preparing a presentation to the management of Volkswagen Credit, where he works, on the benefits of social media. Hopefully, Tom will be successful in convincing his management team to engage in social media and he will be able to share the insights he gains from their efforts in this area.

Welcome back Tom. We missed you.

David Maister asks for advice on creating awareness

June 12, 2006 • Joseph Thornley • No Tags

Management guru and author David Maister has posted a request for advice on how to reach a broader audience with his blog and podcast.

Over the years I have read and benefited from David Maister’s wisdom in several of the books he has authored and co-authored.

So, I’d like to give something back to David by offering my thoughts on what he should do.

First, David, I’d advise you to start by reflecting on the nature of blogs and podcasts. Blogs and podcasts are not based on the broadcast model. They are based on the notions of community, sharing and conversation. In this medium, number of readers is less important than the quality of the relationship you have with those who become part of your community by visiting or subscribing to your RSS feed.

A passionate core community can help you achieve your objective. For example, you’ve reached me. I’ve read your books and now I recommend them to others who lead public relations consultancies. I buy copies of your books for new employees, ensuring that tomorrow’s leaders become familiar with you and your teachings. I link to your blog and note when others share my enthusiasm for you. And I’ve added you to my blogroll.

I’ve done all of this because I run a public relations firm and I subscribe to the perspective on trusted relationships and professionalism. I try to put into practice the approach your recommend in your books. And I value the insights you offer in your blog and podcast and the conversations that you spark. (In fact, you may recall that many months back I posted a comment on your blog encouraging you to add the Trackback capability so that bloggers like me could continue the conversation through postings on our own blogs.)

But that’s me. What about your other subscribers? You can learn a great deal about what draws readers to you by analysing your blog statistics and comments. The comments people offer and the number of links you get to individual postings should provide you with insight into what is popular and what draws and holds your community’s attention.

And you can be even more proactive in understanding your community. Why not conduct a survey of the subscribers to your blog and your podcast. Ask them why they have subscribed. What are they looking for? What do they value? What more or different content/features would they like you to offer? What do they do for a living? Where do they live?

This will provide you with much greater insight into what your current readers value and who they are. And you can use this information to refine the content you provide. After all, it’s all about the content.

Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson conducted a survey of listeners to their For Immediate Release podcast. And the results provided them with real insight into their audience and how they could fine tune their podcast to better serve their interests. And in this medium, the key to bigger numbers may be to drill deeper into a defined audience.

Of course, you could broaden the content of your postings to appeal to a more general audience. I think that this is the approach followed by Manager Tools. Their content is useful to anyone who works in any kind of office environment. If you were to do this, of course, you might disappoint and lose some of your core audience, who value your insight into the particular challenge of managing professional services firms.

Finally, do more of what you just did. By asking for advice, you engaged your community in a discussion. That bound them more closely to you. That generated links. And you can be sure that it increased awareness of your expertise and your blog as others read posts like this.

Microsoft needs a new chief cheerleader

June 11, 2006 • Joseph Thornley • No Tags

Robert Scoble is leaving Microsoft. That’s big news for the company.

Scoble’s impact on the Microsoft’s image has been profound. He reminded us all that the company isn’t just a few aggressively competitive and astonishingly successful businessmen, but it is also thousands of individual employees who are probably a bit like you and me. This was an important accomplishment for Microsoft.

The 2006 Edelman Trust Barometer found that “in six of the 11 countries surveyed, the ‘person like yourself or your peer’ is seen as the most credible spokesperson about a company and among the top three spokespeople in every country.” And Scoble has been tremendously successful in becoming “the person most like me” for most bloggers.

Without doubt, he put a great face on Microsoft. And he continued to do this even in his post about leaving the company. Complimentary all the way through. A class act.

So what now? In his post about his decision to leave, Scoble himself observed:

I’m not the only blogger at Microsoft. There are about 3,000 of them here. They are not having the plug pulled on them. They changed the world. I just was the cheerleader.

Microsoft desperately needs a chief cheerleader to follow in Scoble’s footsteps. But none of the 3,000 bloggers in the company currently come anywhere near his profile.

Are any of the current bloggers capable of stepping into his shoes? Or will Microsoft have to reach outside the company to bring in another outsider with Scoble’s combination of skills as a communicator, cheerleader, networker and all round nice guy?

PR community warms to social media, but unevenly

June 11, 2006 • Joseph Thornley • No Tags

I’ve just attended three conferences in the past month – Mesh in Toronto, PRSA Counselors Academy in Savannah, and the IABC International Conference in Vancouver. I came away with a sense that the PR industry is warming to the importance and potential of social media to transform the practice of public relations.

However, adoption is neither uniform nor universal. The conversations I participated in showed that the industry ranges widely in both awareness and understanding. The attendees at Mesh are technophiles who have embraced the full range of social media and are looking for the new cutting edge applications that will further empower online communities and collaboration.

The group that has farthest to travel were the participants in the PRSA Counselors Academy.

It’s noteworthy that Counselors Academy is composed primarily of principals and owners of mid-size firms. There could be several explanations for these people to be late to the party. Mid-size firms rest heavily on the key skills and vision of their founders, whose imaginations may not have embrace social media. Or perhaps it reflects the need for principals of small firms to be closer to day to day client work. They may not have the ability to gaze into the future in the way that large firms with their corporate leadership can.

Whatever the reason, the mid-size firms ignore social media at their peril. As was pointed out by Peppercom’s Steve Cody when he told people attending his workshop at Counselors Academy that

“Complacency is a killer. It’s critical to figure out how to differentiate yourself because the marketplace is rapidly changing.

“Agencies that just keep on doing what they’ve been doing for years are heading for trouble. The field of dreams approach does not work. We all have the same kind of relationships with journalists. … The more you are seen as just an order taker and a tactical media relations operation, the more your business will be marginalized.”

Much more encouraging however was the IABC International Conference in Vancouver. At last year’s conference in Washington, I can only recall there being one session focusing on blogs. This year there were half a dozen – and virtually every one was packed. The presenters were outstanding: Neville Hobson, Allan Jenkins, Shel Holtz (at three sessions), Tom Keefe, John Gerstner, Tudor Williams, and Tod Maffin.

It’s clear that the IABC conference participants, populated by communicators from larger organizations and business, are engaged in figuring out what social media means to and for their organizations.

Overall, I’m encouraged. And looking forward to next year’s conferences. Without doubt, the pace of adoption of social media will accelerate in the coming year and – based on the pattern of adoption that I witnessed this year – new stars are likely to emerge and other established players may suffer for their tardiness in joining the discussion.

What do you think? Am I seeing patterns that don’t exist? Do you have a different view of how the industry is embracing social media?

German Chancellor Angela Merkel launches podcast

June 8, 2006 • Joseph Thornley • No Tags

Sebastian Keil picked up two reports that Angela Merkel today will launch a podcast.

Podcasting is an ideal communications vehicle for government leaders. It closely follows the broadcast model that politicians use every day. Political leaders generate a regular stream of speeches and voice clips, ideal content for podcasts.

Merkel ~~Keil~~ is the second major government leader that I know of who is taking advantage of social media. She joins David Miliband, Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs in Tony Blair’s UK government, who started blogging on January 2, 2006.

It is inevitable that others soon will follow them in their use of social media.

If you know of other examples of government leaders or senior government officials who are podcasting or blogging, please tell me about it by leaving a comment on this post.

IABC International Conference – Shel Holtz

June 7, 2006 • Joseph Thornley • No Tags

Blogger and podcaster Shel Holtz led a session on The practical impact of social media on your organization. And as he has several times through the conference, he held the attention of an audience that included a full range of experience and knowledge from veteran bloggers through to novices who have not yet subscribed to a blog.

Shel noted that this IABC Conference has had at least five sessions on social media, compared with only one or two in the past.

Some truths:

New media do not replace old media. Yes, old media may shrink. But they also adapt to do the things they are best at.

The press release is not dead. It is being reinvented. Look at the new release format developed by Todd Defren.

Markets are conversations.

The audience controls the message. Once you have put out a message, the audience takes it up and talks about it. They extend, build and comment on it.

And it’s not just the most-read bloggers who count. The Long Tail means that everyone counts.

Therefore, institutions must cede control in order to participate in the conversation.

Blogging and other social media software have lowered both the technical and cost barriers to the point that virtually anyone with a computer can participate.

We are going through a seismic change that is driven by shifts in trust combined with demands for transparency. Communications must change to reflect this.

We have entered the era of social computing, in which power is in the hands of communities, not institutions.

The technology doesn’t matter. With the coming of IE7, people will no longer need to be conscious of RSS. They’ll just look for the orange icon. And they’ll be as unconscious of what RSS is as most people today are unconscious that they use SMTP every time they send an email.

RSS feeds have tremendous potential for eliminating email clutter in organizations. It is an ideal platform for the distribution of news and announcements.

Shel provided several examples of corporate blogs. When questioned about the time requirement for blogging, he noted that one CEO had indicated to him that he sees communication as part of his job. And he sees blogging as a useful new tool. So, he blogs. But he doesn’t spend more time on communication. He has simply shifted to his blogging some of the time that he previously spent on other communication activities.

One interesting example of a company that is exploring the potential of creating new communities is wetpaint, with their stable of wikis, such as wikifido.

Tagging is enabling people to experience the wisdom of crowds, seeing what others considered important and relevant to a topic. This is being used by individuals and companies. IBM tags information on their intranet to make it easier for other people to find it. Hill and Knowlton collects and shares market intelligence using del.icio.us.

Podcasts and vidcasts are beginning to make their way into corporations.

The impacts:

Personal relationships are being developed online. Many bloggers and podcasters experience the doppelganger effect of meeting someone in real life who they feel they already know and have a relationship with through their social media interacitons.

For business, new forms of trust are emerging on the net based on sustained exposure and interactions through social media. Hobson and Holtz frequently receive invitations to make joint presentations even though they have no business together.

The workplace will see new methods of collaboration and more two way communications replacing top down communications. These communications will be less formal, more conversational.

To be used effectively, blogs and other forms of social media must be integrated into a comprehensive communications strategy. They should not be approached on a standalone basis. They have particular strengths and uses that should supplement, not replace other communications vehicles.

IABC International Conference – Wednesday sessions

June 7, 2006 • Joseph Thornley • No Tags

The 2006 IABC International Conference wraps up with s series of All-Star Sessions featuring some of the top-rated speakers from past IABC conferences. (All-Stars seem to need extra sleep. Today’s sessions don’t begin until 8AM, compared with the 7:15 and 7:00 starts for the still-aspiring speakers on Monday and Tuesday.)

The first of my All-Stars, blogger and podcaster Shel Holtz, will lead a session on The practical impact of social media on your organization. The programme tells me that I will learn how to “convince management that a different, less-controlled approach to communication is in the company’s best interests.” Yep. Something that I think we’ll need to do frequently in the next year.

Then, I’ll join fellow Canadian Pat McNamara for Fuel your business: Strategies from one of Canada’s fastest growing companies. Pat and her company are based in Toronto (where one of our offices is located.) She has built and sustained a very successful business that has a remarkable record for attracting and retaining a talented team of consultants. (She’s also introduced me to PRSA’s Counselors Academy.) Pat’s a real All-Star and I can’t think of any better way to spend my morning than at a discussion led by her.

The conference’s Closing General Session will feature TJ Larkin’s presentation on Communicating big change. According to the conference programme. “…studies show that 80 percent of companies say that their change communication is a ‘major failure,’ so clearly radical change is called for.” Larkin was the hit of last year’s conference in Washington for his presentation on the relative merits of online and traditional print communication vehicles. This year’s session promises to be no less thought provoking.

And that’s it. My IABC Internal Conference. Three great days of learning, discussion and thought. Now, it’s time to put these lessons into practice.

Living transparency – Chris Clarke's first day

June 6, 2006 • Joseph Thornley • No Tags

Chris Clarke started work at Thornley Fallis yesterday. I’m a couple thousand miles away in Vancouver – and yet I know what his first day was like and that it was pretty good. Yikes!

So, we hired a blogger. Yep. That’s what we wanted to do. So that we could learn. So that we could advise our clients from direct experience on what they will (and should) experience as they embrace social media.

But that doesn’t mean that I didn’t hold my breath while I read Chris’ blog. Happily, we seem to have come out OK on day one. I know there will be some days when we aren’t quite the place we would like to be (no company is.) But for now we’re OK.

And I plan to take another deep breath and encourage Chris to keep posting. Honestly. Intelligently.

Right now, our company blog policy is two words, “Blog Smart.” Up until now, that has meant that people like Terry Fallis, David Jones and I said pretty much what we wanted. With one exception. We didn’t give away client secrets.

I think that I’ll ask Chris to work with me to develop a slighter longer policy that provides more guidance to new bloggers (we have a bunch of other people who are launching a new blog. More about that later.)

As a first addition to “blog smart,” perhaps we should add “Cause no harm to any person.” I think this should be enough for each of us to be honest about what goes on in the workplace, but also to ensure that we pause before we publish anything that might embarrass or otherwise hurt a colleague (there are other more effective, one-on-one ways to deal with office strife.)

What do you think? “Blog smart. Cause no harm to any person.” Is that enough for our blog policy – or do we need to add more?

IABC International Conference – Tudor Williams & Shel Holtz

June 6, 2006 • Joseph Thornley • No Tags

Blogs, Wikis and Podcasts- What’s Next? Over a hundred people were interested enough in the answer to this to show up at a 7AM(!) presentation by Tudor Williams and Shel Holtz.

In the past year, blogs and podcasts have emerged as important communication vehicles. They have not yet become mainstream, but the pace of adoption is accelerating.

Several members of the audience talked about a variety of experience with blogs and podcasts. Experience ranged from people whose companies had not yet begun to explore social media through to active podcaster Donna Papacosta who both blogs and podcasts.

Williams and Holtz suggested that blogs, wikis and podcasts should be introduced only as elements of a comprehensive communications strategy. If they are introduced as “neat new technology,” they will surely fail.

Social media reflect the natural evolution of communications from the sender driven, one to manyh controlled communications model established in the twentieth century. Today, we can have one to one communications controlled by the receiver in which everyone can participate.

Social media have a profound impact on our communications strategies. The immediate availability of information requires immediate response. Communications tools are now integrated on the web and readily interchangeable. Collaboration has become possible at an unprecedented level. We can share information, not just disseminate it. And with all of this, scope of access to information is expanding rapidly to include not just text, but video and audio. Podzinger is an early example of an application that enables the content search of audio files.

Immediacy: The attitude of the day is that “I want it and I want it now.”

Integration: Devices have been integrated and the telephone/BlackBerry has emerged at the centre.

Access: Search engines have created an attitude that “If it’s out there, I can find it.” And the engines continue to evolve and be supplemented. Tudor pointed to Clusty as an example of another new search engine.

Collaboration: Blogs, wikis and podcasts are user friendly collaboration tools. Anyone can do it – without knowledge of coding. And it is not necessary for people to be in front of their computers to access and use these tools. Blogs can can be accessed from web enabled phones. Podcasts are ideal for communication with distributed sales forces who can download the podcast and listen to it at their convenience, in their cars, at home or anywhere else.

One questioner asked whether companies would ever accept the threat to confidentiality that blogs represent. Williams and Holtz pointed out that companies have learned to live with innovations like the fax that have in the past been seen to represent a similar threat. Companies must develop policies for the use of this technology that ensure the security of data.

What is next?

Trends in communication:

More individual publishing
More noise
More media outlets
More direct communications
More accountability for results

Trends in marketig

Customer empowerment
Atomization of media
Fixation on ROI
Integration of marketing communities
Quest for the cult brand.

Trends in internal communications

Democatization of information
Strategy shift – information to influence
Focus on engagement and loyalty
Focus on ROI
Globalization
Simplicity
Personalization

What are the implications of these trends?

Demand for collaboration, access and integration will increase.
Need for consistent strategic management of the metrics
Evolution of the social marketing.

Implications for communication strategy

Collaboration – strategies to share and interact
Access – strategies to network and connect
Integration – merging of the three major functions of the internet

Other concepts to watch:

The wisdom of crowds and tagging.

Edgeio

A good session. Unfortunately, the session ran overtime. The people around me had many questions and observations. More time would have enabled them to jump in.