Mark Evans leaves the Post, joins b5media

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Blogger and National Post Technology reporter Mark Evans is now former National Post Technology reporter Mark Evans.

Mark Evans and Shel Israel at Third TuesdayToday, Mark announced that he has left the Post to join b5media as Vice President Operations. Now I understand why Jeremy Wright was at the inaugual Third Tuesday when Mark interviewed Shel Israel!

Congratulations Mark. We’ll want to get you to speak on your own at one of our Third Tuesdays. I’m sure you’ll have lots of interesting things to share as you embark on this great new adventure.

Thanks to Alec Saunders for being the first to point to this news.

IABC International Conference – Monday afternoon sessions

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Tod MaffinEven lunch can be a productive time at IABC Conferences. Podcaster and blogger Tod Maffin will override dessert with his presentation, Twenty-first century communication: Are you e-xperienced? The advance blurb for Maffin’s presentation suggests, “While [communicators] may be actively employing today’s new media, they’re probably playing using yesterday’s old rules. … Tod will explain his model of ‘swarm communicating’ – and show you how to undo years of indoctrination in top-down communicating and embrace being an influential part of a viral swarm.” Oh yeah, I’ll be there ready to swarm! 

Tom KeefeLater in the afternoon, I’m looking forward to Tom Keefe’s presentation, Building an online community: New medium, new challenges? Promised takeaways include: “incentives and disincentives to online participation”; “applying social network theory to online community building”; and “a strategy for communicating with a mixed group of techno-phobes and digital evangelists.” I can definitely use the latter at family gatherings.  

IABC International Conference: Mark Burnett

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Mark BurnettMark Burnett delivered the keynote address. Some takeaways:

“There’s so much spin in America that’s untrue. I read my own press releases and ask, ‘Is that really me?'”“Canadians are like Americans with manners.”“In America, you can come from nothing and have a chance.”

“Only idiots try to communicate to everybody with a canned approach.” There are four kinds of people: the engineer kind of person; the artist; a passive person; and the aggressive person. “Analyzing those four kinds of people is how I’ve moved forward in my career.”

“Looking at our world, the only thing that won’t change in the next five years is movies – people will still go the movie theatre. Television will change. More and more people have access to broadband at work. Five years from now, the new prime time may be between 9 to 5 during the day.”

“Doing the same thing won’t work. You always have to be ready to fall on your face. Playing defensively is boring. You have to be willing to take chances in order to win.”

A very entertaining, totally engaging personality. I think I’ll tune into one of his shows. Maybe the one coming up this autumn that he’s produced in collaboration with Stephen Spielberg…

 

 

PRSA Counselors Academy: Robert French, Josh Hallett, Giovanni Rodriguez

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Counselors Academy topped off the first day with top level panel discussion of the future of newspapers and the implications for PR. Robert French and Giovanni Rodriguez originally were to be joined by Tom Foremski. However, Foremski came down with a “bad knee”. So, Josh Hallett was recruited to pinch hit fresh off his all star turn in the Bloggety, Blog Blog session immediately prior to this panel. (After almost three hours on stage in two successive sessions, Josh gets the Energizer Bunny award from Counsellors Academy.)

Giovanni RodriguezGiovanni Rodriguez

Rodriguez asked the audience to think of Blogs as Do It Yourself (DIY) publishing; Podcasts as DIY broadcasting; and Wikis as DIY communities, markets and social movements.

These three developments, with their consumer generated character constitute challenges for both journalism and PR.

Giovanni indicated that he is involved in a work thatthe Society for New Communications Research has initiated to understand these challenges and to become an information resource regarding them. Rodriguez laid out a list of 10 things to watch:

10 Historic decline: “We can’t kid ourselves, newspapers have been in decline for a long time.”

9 Consolidation: “There are now three major newspaper chains in the U.S.A. … There are fewer stories being told. There is a troubling uniformity in reporting.”

8. Metros in trouble: “Some major city newspapers are in trouble. … They are in highly populated centres, but they are not getting the circulation and advertising necessary to support them.”

7. Stocks: “Family controlled papers are disappearing. Publicly held companies will tend toward a similarity of voice” as they seek to maximize returns.

6. The Internet – Advertising: Google’s advertising growth is being drawn from media like newspapers and magazines.

5. The Internet – Debundling content: Craigslist and Yahoo Finance are focused content internet channels that break down the newspapers’ model of bundling content.

4. The Internet – DIY Content: podcasts; wikis; blogs

3. Content across platforms: “The future may be about focusing on the content distributed across all channels. Telling a good story is still the core of journalism. Now, the channels are broader.”

2. Talking about “my” generation: myspace.com; Ohmynews; backfence; Greensboro101.

1. Investing in “my” generation: “Rupert Murdoch has not done anything with myspace.com – yet. However, there is no doubt that he and other large organizations are studying social media closely.”

Rodriguez concluded with the observation that, “There are always opportunities for innovation at times of change. … The future of journalism is innovation. Look for the new leaders who understand these ten rules and others.”

Josh HallettJosh Hallett

Josh Hallett’s consulting to both public relations agencies and newspapers gives him a unique perspective on the impact of social media.

Most notably, he is working with the Orlando Sentinel on new media channels. The Sentinel is transferring their columnists and B reporters over to the web.

Looking at the early results, he noted that blogging is having an impact on news gathering and writing. A couple of the Sentinel’s columnists use blogs as opportunities for citizen input on developing stories. Lawyers, interested parties and others comment on their blogs regarding stories. And the coverage can evolve as a result of this input.

In response to a question, Josh added that “In only two cases in the past year have stories been held for the print edition. They post on the blogs that they are working on stories and start to see tips start to come in.”

Josh noted that this development has implications for PR pros as well. As we see the stories develop this way during the day, we may be able to participate in the process of shaping them.

One potential negative impact on the public: “We are getting more and more into the daily need. We can construct our news feeds as content silos in which we do not encounter any news that disturbs you.”

Robert French

The driving force behind Auburn University’s progressive approach to blogging and journalism, Robert French is also a practicing PR pro and a “reformed journalist.”

Auburn is using social media in its classes. And French indicated that this is having a positive impact on the career prospects of his students. In fact, he reported, one student has just been recruited by Edelman in New York to work on the Wal-Mart national campaign. Edelman in New York. A dream job for a new graduate.

So, how are social media integrated into the student’s curriculum?

“All of my students are required to blog,” said French. “They must interact with other PR bloggers. … They must write in their blogs two times a week and they must comment in their blogs two times a week.

“We teach our students to write the new kinds of press releases using wikis,” he added. “Our students have taken to livejournal and myspace.com. They have incorporated SMS into campaigns.

“We practise Experiential learning. We run campaigns for clients in our classes. You cannot graduate unless you have run one of these campaigns.”

French believes that, “More of these programs will pop up in universities and colleges around the world” And he counsels PR executives to look for students who have this kind of interaction.

Robert also reported some recent research findings by both New York University and Auburn on the use of blogs by newspapers:

  • New York University has looked at the major market websites for the top 100 newspapers; 84 were incorporating blogs; some were incorporating podcasts and video.
  • 83% of the newspapers surveyed by Auburn are being updated as events happen on a 24/7 basis.
  • 60% never place anything behind a paywall.
  • 68% do not provide extra services to print subscribers in their online offerings.
  • 35% of their online efforts account for less than 15% of the newspaper’s overall budget — it’s inexpensive to do and many are still wary
  • 69% indicated that their online effort generates less than 15% of revenue — they can’t figure out a way to make money from it

Finally, he observed that the content in print newspapers is beginning to suffer because investigative journalism is being cut and younger, less experienced people are being used as reporters.

PRSA Counselors Academy: Julia Hood

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Julia HoodCounselors Academy Steve Cody conducted an interactive one-on-one conversation with Julia Hood, Editor-in-Chief of PR Week.

Cody led off the conversation by noting that the membership of Counselors Academy is predominantly small and mid-size agencies and that these firms have a sense that “PR Week seems to give inordinate attention to the large agencies.”

“The large firms have larger marketing budgets, more staff, huge global clients and better opportunities to get our attention,” Hood responded. However, she added, “We pay an inordinate amount of time trying to cover medium sized agencies.”

On the question of how she believes PR agencies are doing in relation to advertising in getting the seat at the executive table, Hood had a positive message, seeing PR, “Definitely making strides. The thought leadership that is coming out of the PR world is definitely resonating, especially with CMOs (Chief Marketing Officers). … More and more, you can see advertising agencies understanding this. Advertising agencies are bringing PR agencies in earlier and earlier. That shows that advertising agencies realize that they are not doing the total job.  …. For PR, this is the moment.”

The most animated discussion revolved around PR Week’s treatment of the ethical controversies in which major agencies have become embroiled.

Speaking directly to the overbilling scandal involving Fleishman Hillard’s Los Angeles office, Hood initially suggested that, “No agency leader can say, ‘It can never happen to me.’ So I don’t sense a lot of glee coming out of the industry at Fleishman’s expense on this.”

She was challenged aggressively on this position by questions from the audience. One questioner asked, “Where is the institutional control? the tone of the coverage has been allowing them to get away with it.”

To this, Hood responded, “I think we’ve been pretty unflinching about Fleishman’s responsibility. Fleishman, at the end of the day, was not on trial. I don’t think we let Fleishman off easy. There were times when I wasn’t talking to anyone at Fleishman. At times I felt we had a reasonable point of view and they thought we didn’t.”

This answer elicited follow up question, “Have agencies cut you off?” Hood seemed nonplussed at this question and after some hesitation answered that, “I sat with a senior Fleishman person one time and they were not very happy. But we got through it. For myself, I take this responsibility very seriously. Communicate your displeasure, but don’t abandon the normal rules of dialogue.”

Question: “Who is responsible.”

Hood: “The individual is ultimately responsible.”

Question: Why isn’t there more criticism?

Hood: “It’s not PR Weeks job to impose an ethical standard. That’s the job of organizations like the PRSA. I don’t feel the need to come out on this because I’ve seen evidence of the industry dealing with it.”

Hood was also asked about her reaction to recent reports of attempted “pay for play” (allegations made by Robert Reich). “When talking about the issues of credibility and media and PR’s role,” she offered, “PR has to have an interest in preserving the credibility of the media platform and not undermining it. … We asked CMOs whether they would consider paying for media coverage and, thankfully, the vast majority said no. … This is something you have to address every day. And you’ll have to challenge clients who want to take the easy way.  … It’s a very grey area. A daily reality check to say, Is this crossing the line?”

Hood was also asked for her sense of why mainstream media do not accord PR the same level of coverage that they give to advertising. She noted that, “Richard Edelman just did a Q&A in the Wall Street Journal. Crispin Porter + Bogusky [the subject of a cover story in Business Week] is not really an advertising agency … They were on the cover of BusinessWeek because they challenged the conventional mindset of their industry. … Richard Edelman has changed many of the rules of the game by being out there and talking about their clients. … A lot of PR people do not want to talk about their clients. …. What does that do to the PR industry and its own promotion efforts?

“Finally, I think there is still a basic discomfort on the part of journalists in covering PR, because they know how important their relationships with PR agencies are – and they don’t want everyone to know. …. There is a certain amount of plausible deniability going on in the media … As long as those people feel there is something wrong with disclosing that there is a give and take, there’s a problem there.”

Finally, Cody asked Hood to put herself in the shoes of a start-up PR agency and to suggest how she could get on PR Week’s radar screen. She responded “The first thing I’d do is go online and get a copy of the editorial calendar. Six weeks before publication, we decide on what to do the feature on. Idea generation is absolutely critical. … If you see something in the editorial calendar that you have a unique expertise in or a story about, contact the publication.

“The second thing would be to make sure I know who the news editor is and who the features editor is. All the reporters have beats and they will return to the people who helped them the last time. They want people who will get back to them. Be interesting. Be quotable and be prepared to go on the record. Let us know what the trends are. If you pitch us, give us a clear idea.

“You see stories about large agencies because agencies large agencies pitch us.  We need help to find you sometimes.”

To close the session, Cody asked, “Is Pr Week making money? How can firms here who can’t afford advertising help you out?”

Hood responded that, “PR Week is doing quite well. What’s really pushed us ahead are special projects. … I believe that display advertising is not going to be the centre of the universe for PR Week. …. One thing that does bother me is people who want to be in the magazine who don’t subscribe. That level of participation for your trade publication …. you should get at least one subscription for your company.”

Julia, I’d love to subscribe. If I do, can I persuade you to cover Canadian PR agencies?

Counselors Academy: Monday afternoon sessions I'm hoping to cover

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The afternoon sessions promise a good look at the present and near future:

Julia Hood: Town Hall luncheon interactive conversation with the editor-in-chief of PR Week

Not sure what to expect of this session.

Josh Hallett: Bloggety, Blog, Blog

The conference program says: “From Newsweek’s cover to CNN broadcasts, blogs are the most hyped tool for today’s communicatiors. Find out if the hype’s justified. And discover how our new communications world can evolve into a practitioner’s dream – or nightmare.”

I’m looking forward to this session. Given the profile of its membership, Counselors Academy is a good indicator of the extent to which social media tools have been adopted by small and mid-size firms across North America. At last year’s session in Phoenix, the people who attended Giovanni Rodriguez’s blogging workshop showed only very early awareness of RSS feeds and newsreaders. It will be interesting to see how much farther these media have proliferated in the past yer.

Tom Foremski and Robert French, moderated by Giovanni Rodriguez: The Future of Newspapers/The Future of PR

Another forward looking session. It’s advance billing: “This panel … will look at the financial stress that many newspapers are under and examine a number of possible causes. What does this mean for the future of newspapers? What does this mean for the future of public relations? The panel will debate and discuss a number of recent trends including the impact of Craigslist; competing sources for news; citizen journalism; and new media (blogs, wikis, RSS, podcasts, etc.)” Hmmm. Wonder what the “etc.” could be…

Mesh Day One: Can Blogs Influence Politics?

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This session featured a panel of well-known Canadian political columnists Paul Wells and Andrew Coyne along with Brad Davis, the Director of Internet Communications for the Michael Ignatieff Liberal leadership campaign. Warren Kinsella moderated the discussion.

Paul Wells got off a couple of great zingers (doesn’t he always?)

  • “We are being flooded by commentary by people who “don’ know jack, can’t write the english language and give it away for free.”
  • “99.9% of Sun columnists don’t add anything to anyone’s day.” (You have to be Canadian to understand this reference. The Sun Newspaper chain fashioned itself after British tabloids in order to build an audience. They now are having the greatest problems adjusting to sweeping changes in the media market.)