PRSA Announces New Definition of Public Relations

In an effort to modernize the 1982 definition of public relations (the last one was developed on 1982), PRSA created an interesting crowdsourcing process using social media. Professionals were invited to submit comments to the “Public Relations Defined” blog. PRSA then created a word cloud to see which key words appeared most often. From that, three definitions were developed for professionals to vote on, again through social media.

So here’s the winning definition:

“Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.”

See the announcement, “A Modern Definition of Public Relations,” to see the other two finalists and related discussions. There is also some reflection about why the word ethics doesn’t appear in the definition.

The whole initiative is not PRSA’s alone, by the way. It was developed out of a collaboration among several PR related organizations. 

So what do you think? Will this definition stand for decades to come?

Trust

A new survey finds the public perceives low-level employees as more trustworthy within most organizations. I find these results interesting as they dovetail with what I’ve seen informally in my public relations work over the years.

If true, this trend has multiple implications for practitioners focused on a number of important roles – community relations, internal communications, media relations, etc. For example, it may be more effective in crisis situations to have a well-trained local employee handle the media questions or meet with the mayor than to jet the big guy out from headquarters. Or, perhaps a service project featuring a group of blue-collar employees may have a more positive impact than a vice president handing over a check while the TV cameras roll.

Deciding who delivers the message can be as important as deciding what the message is.

So what do you do?

I noticed a guy down the street had been home a lot lately so I struck up a conversation with him while walking the dog while he was in his yard. Yes, my neighbor confided, he was now unemployed and looking for work.

I asked the usual question: “So what do you do?” I received a simple answer: Auto parts. He was area manager for a firm that sells parts to car dealers’ service departments. These being hard times in the car biz, orders were way down and he was among those let go.

He asked me the same question and I gave him the wordy Cutlip/Center/Broom definition of PR, which furrowed his eyebrows. “So you’re a psychologist?” No, I replied, but that’s part of it. “You’re in advertising?” Well, I do some of that. He struggled on with my reply and finally hit on an answer: “Marketing! You’re in marketing!” I figured that was as good as it gets, nodded, wished him well and went on down the street with our dog.

This is not an unusual problem for our profession. The latest evidence might be the current discussion among LinkedIn’s APR group. An entertaining YouTube video of curbstone interviews, asking pedestrians to define PR, provoked the LinkedIn exchange.

Maybe I’ll just say “marketing” next time someone asks what I do. It’s no surprise the public doesn’t understand what public relations is when PR practitioners have a hard time explaining what we do.

Express-News Editorial in Error about PR

Yesterday, the San Antonio Express-News published an editorial, “BexarMet needs more than PR,” that frankly gives a pretty dim view of our profession. I have no issue with the headline. BexarMet does need more than public relations. We’ve long known that public relations campaigns cannot fix operational or leadership problems.

The editors are also right to question any expense taken on by the board. I wouldn’t argue that the BexarMet’s days are likely “numbered.” I don’t claim to know anything about the (non-San Antonio) PR firm or the contract it’s been hired to fulfill. And clearly, BexarMet’s history in the PR department has been – shall we say – questionable.

I grant the Express-News editors all of that.

In fact, let’s set aside that this is BexarMet at all.

My concern is the implication that public relations is singularly interested in making someone “look good,” or burnishing a “bruised public image” or casting someone in a “positive light.” I can honestly say, none of these goals are in my job description.

It is paramount that organizations be effective at communicating – especially those that serve the public interest directly. And communication is more complicated than it may seem. There's a whole body of knowledge are research in this area. Communication requires not just speaking, but listening as well. Organizations that are in trouble typically need counsel in this area. There is no shame in getting help where it is critically needed.

Naturally, as in all professions, a few bad PR apples have gotten the spotlight. But these don’t represent our profession by any stretch. If we’re doing our job well, our successes are our organizations’ successes.

Take a look at the code of ethics and professional standards that guides our work. All PRSA members pledge to abide by this code. Any PR practitioner worth his or her salt would of course counsel an organization to do things like, as the Express-News editors call for, end scandals, improve service where it’s been weak, and work with lawmakers constructively, among other things like being in dialog with constituents and customers. And I'm pretty sure that, deep down, the editors know this too.

Meet SA's Newest News Anchor

Local CBS affiliate, KENS5, introduced its newest news team member, Jeff Vaughn, on January 11 with his first on-air newscast. Much was made of the new anchor joining the team, as he replaced long-time on-air personality Chris Marrou. Jeff has inserted himself firmly into the San Antonio community, visiting favorite local restaurants with his wife and getting a quick education on San Antonio politics, traffic and weather.

Social Media Breakfast San Antonio has invited Jeff to speak at the February breakfast due to his early and consistent involvement in social media. Jeff can be found on Twitter at @JeffVaughn, on Facebook at his public Fan Page, and on his personal site, Jeff Vaughn Media.

Jeff will speak about how social media has changed the way his industry works. He says social media is changing the landscape of news delivery in so many ways. Journalists are now using avenues like Twitter and Facebook as sources for stories, but there also is another layer. Whereas before the relationship you had with a reporter was based on watching , listening or reading - it's now become a two-way conversation. Reporters are interacting directly with their audience, and it's having a significant impact on the development of the story as well as on how the audience interprets it. To quote a Twitter friend of mine, "News is no longer at 5, 6, and 10, IT'S NOW. "

What: February Social Media Breakfast San Antonio with Jeff Vaughn, KENS5 Weekday Evening Anchor
When: Wednesday, February 17, 2010; networking 7:30 a.m.; presentation at 8 a.m.
Where: Absolutely Everything Catering, 3915 San Pedro 78212
Who: Anyone intested in social media and local/national news delivery
How: Go to the Social Media Breakfast SA Invite to register for the breakfast

Apply for Free PR Counseling for San Antonio Non-Profits

There are just a few more days left before the application deadline. Non-profit organizations in the San Antonio area can submit an application to participate in our chapter's annual Giving the Gift of Guidance luncheon (on Dec. 3). Every year, PRSA, which is made up of public relations professionals, invites non-profits to send up to two representatives to its December meeting. Each non-profit will be matched with a group of PRSA members who will spend the entire luncheon consulting with the non-profit to develop a basic public relations plan. The Gift of Guidance program is absolutely free. It’s PRSA’s way of supporting charities and other organizations who contribute so much to our community. The non-profit representatives are also PRSA’s guests for lunch.

The deadline for applications is Friday, November 6. Applications may be sent to Trisha Box at tbox@gvtc.com.

Eight Decisions Businesses Should Make for Using Twitter

For the last two days, PRSA San Antonio and the SA Public Library have kicked off our joint training sessions for local businesses and organizations on getting started with Twitter and how to use some amazing business tools that are available free on the library web site.

Since the Twitter part of the session is designed for organizations and businesses, I created a list of decisions they need to consider for using Twitter to engage customers and partners. Here they are:

1. Create a username (Twitter ID) that is short, memberable and associated with you. A factor in this decision is whether to use a branded or indiviual username or a combination. There are pros and cons to each option.

2. Select your Twitter image. Do you want a photo of yourself or the owner or do you want a logo. Again, the right choice depends on how you will use Twitter.

3. Create a background for your Twitter “home page.” This is also where you will put information about your company that won’t fit in the 160-character bio in your profile. You can either design your own template, or find a free one online or hire a designer who knows how to do it. The background and info should reflect your brand clearly.

4. Decide who in your organization will tweet and set a general guideline for how often. This is probably more important in the early stages. Later, the enagement of your followers will guide your level of activity. But I must say, if the boss’ photo and name are on the account, then the boss should be the one using the account. If he or she can’t or won’t, then someone else’s name and photo should be on the account.

5. Plan how you will promote your business’ Twitter ID. Include it in the footer of your emails, on your web site, in all your fliers and brochures, etc.

6. Plan for how you will respond to criticism. If there is any, it was happening already. Twitter gives you an opportunity to engage critics and customers who are having trouble.

7. Make sure you have set up organizational policies for your employees, including for their personal use of social media in terms of how it might affect your organization. Tie your social media policies to your existing ones. For example, that policy you have prohibiting sexual harassment applies to the online world.

8. Decide how you will measure success. Why are you using Twitter? There are very specific ways to measure links to your web site through Twitter, types of tweets that tend to get retweeted, growth in followers right after a specific appeal, etc. You can also build in processes like asking customers how they heard of you.

There is more information and suggestions about most of these topics online. In addition to searching, you can refer to our chapter's Delicious page for some links. (Click on the "Twitter" tag.) I'll also be posting the session PowerPoint slides there later today or tomorrow.

PR-Based Novel a Fun Read

There’s just two more weeks left of summer reading time, and I thought I’d tell you about a book I just read by the late PRSA Fellow, Stan Sauerhaft. Stan has been a top exec at two big global PR firms and has taught and developed PR curriculum. But this book, End Game, is a novel of the good vs. evil sort, where the protagonist battles it out with a guy who will stop at nothing to get ahead.

What I found especially interesting was that the setting was a large PR firm and its mergers and acquisitions division. Stan weaves into the story what amount to little case studies of PR work in the M&A world that few of us ever see. The best part is that, given Stan’s experience, it presents a more realistic view than the “Wag the Dog” and “Sex in the City” type portrayals.

It’s not out in audio, which is why it’s been on my shelf for a few years. But on vacation last week, I finally got to read a real book that I was holding in my hands.

Did I saw two months of summer reading time left? Actually, it’s more like 13 days.

Twitter Search Your URL

Steve Rubel, director of insights for Edelman Digital, reminds us that when we are monitoring mentions of our organizations on Twitter, don’t forget to monitor links to your web site. In his blog post, Put Eyes Behind Your Back: Monitor Your URLs on Twitter, on June 30, Steve lists a few Twitter search services that will also show you links that use shortened URLs. Others are mentioned in the comments to his post.

PR Week Study Finds the PR Industry is Struggling to Integrate Social Media

PR Week reported in “Top PR Firms Fail to Make the Grade Online,” last month that PR agencies are not doing enough “to capitalize on the explosive growth of interactive marketing, the incredible influence of the social Web and the oasis of opportunity in content marketing.”

The researchers used Website Grader, a free SEO tool that measures the marketing effectiveness of a web site, to evaluate the web sites of top PR agencies. The study gives detailed results and lists the scores of the top 25 agencies.

The study is based on the assumption that in order to be knowledgeable in social media tools, PR agencies need to be active in using those tools for themselves rather than just on behalf of their clients. The study rightly doesn’t claim that one social media tool, like blogging, is more important than another.

You can use Website Grader to get a free analysis of your web site.

Quick! This Webinar is Today: Bad Pitch Night School (During the Day)

Authors of the Bad Pitch Blog are hosting a teleseminar next week on how to “make yourself pitch machines!” Here’s their description:

All attendees will learn a smart, step by step approach to pitching that includes hilarious case studies and goes beyond that simple email. From looking at the whole pitch lifecycle, including the truth about pitching bloggers and using social media, to tips that will no doubt make you better-informed (and tell you how) plus the keys to pitch inspiration, we'll help you improve your game. Plus we will show you our tricks!

The one-hour teleseminar is today, July 29 at noon central time. The cost is $49 and includes free e-book, Full Frontal PR handbook. A few scholarships are available.

Get details and register now!

Lesson from Domino's: Don't Wait Yourself to Death

As Beth mentions in her post, “The Dark Side of Social Media?” communicators worry that the Domino’s episode will cause more companies to avoid social media. But this kind of crisis can happen whether or not you are using social media. Others are.

But your response can be much more effective and immediate if you are already using social media -- this is if you decide to respond at all.

So what do you do when your company is attacked online? If your organization has a large consumer base or perhaps a strong regional one, like a sports team, then this is really something you need to think about.

A PR representative from Domino’s told Ad Age early in the crisis that they weren’t going to respond publically yet, if at all, because they didn't want to "alert more people to the story." And, of course, by waiting, the Domino’s story became huge. Frankly it was easy to predict after looking at the video that it was going to spread. In three days, there were more than 1 million views of the main video on YouTube (there were multiple versions posted). That’s roughly 1 million people being disgusted by what they saw happening in a Domino’s kitchen.

At about the two-day point, Domino's hosted its video response. Doing its own You Tube video was a smart tactic. And while there were some production issues, the content almost hit the mark. The CEO said “we’re sorry” [check], he said “here’s what we’ve done about this incident” [check], and he said “here’s what we’re doing to keep it from happening again” [almost check]. The problem was the CEO’s focus was on the individual store where the video was shot. But those 1 million viewers were worried about their pizza no matter which Domino’s store it was from and employees were still feeling unheard.

There have been many commentaries offering ideas about how Domino’s should have responded. I’ll just say that a good rule of thumb is to find out where people are talking about you and join in to the conversation. In this case, Twitter was buzzing. There were tons of tweets sending people to the icky video. And there were tons of rumors. If people are talking about your organization negatively on Twitter then you need to be on Twitter answering accusations and dealing with rumors. If they are on Facebook, you need to there. See Beth’s other tips as well.

My lesson for today is don't wait.
• Don’t wait until the bad news hits major news media.
• Don't wait until you have all the facts straight.
• Don't wait until you know who is saying what.
• Don't wait until you have got the permission from legal.
• Don’t wait until you are an expert in social media.

Waiting can bring down your organization.

Participating and responding online can turn bad perceptions into good ones that last.

Podcast Interview with Michael Cherenson, PRSA’s chair-elect for 2009

You may remember the recent visit to our chapter by Michael Cherenson, PRSA’s chair-elect for 2009. Now he's been interviewed by Shel and Neville on their For Immediate Release interviews podcast. It's an excellent interview, and as usual Michael does not hesitate to answer the tough questions.

Listen now online or download the audio file to listen on your iPod or mp3 player.

Insights for PR Firms in a Recession Environment

Tough economic times will affect many industries. Some will be hit hard, but experts predict others, like health care, will weather the storm just fine. I’ve come across several stories trying to anticipate the effect on the public relations profession. I’ve never worked for a PR firm, but if we just look at that sector of our profession, there are some interesting prospects. I want to share two with you.

First, a recent episode of the Inside PR podcast focused on actions agencies can take when confronted with an economic downturn. The three people in the conversation (Terry Fallis , Martin Waxman and Julie Rusciolelli) are all with agencies, and part of their conversation points to opportunities agencies can take advantage of when companies reduce their in-house PR staff (sigh) and turn to agencies to take on some of that workload.

By the way, Inside PR is a podcast that I have strongly recommended you listen to before. I still do. It’s insightful and entertaining.

Second, Joseph Thornley, CEO of Thornley Fallis, posted a story, “Managing through the coming recession,” from an agency exec’s point of view. It presents some strategies that those of you in similar positions might want to consider.

Check Your E-mail Release for Spam-like Issues Before You Send It

Another PRSA member forwarded this link to me. It’s so cool. With this tool, SiteSell’s SpamCheck, you can just test a news release or advisory before you send it by e-mail. You’ll quickly get a report telling you how likely it is to get caught up in spam filters.

I tested one I sent a couple of months ago and was happy to get a low score of 0.2. It says that any score under 4.5 is great. The really cool part is that it tells you the precise problems it identified so that you can fix them if you choose.

Note that this tool does not keep you from spamming reporters with mass irrelevant messages. We have to tend to that ourselves.

PRSA Byline Blog Comment Policy

Given our chapter's recent programs related to social media, one of the messages that came through clearly was the need to have policies. We realized that for this blog, we had posted a policy for our blog team members, but we hadn't posted the one for commentors. So here is our official policy.

PRSA Byline Blog Comment Policy
We want to hear from you and encourage comments, critiques, questions and suggestions. We ask that you simply stay on topic, respect other people’s opinions, avoid profanity, offensive statements, illegal content, and anything else that might otherwise violate our standard terms and conditions.

Please understand that we reserve the right to edit or delete comments for any reason we deem appropriate. Obscene, racist, and otherwise objectionable comments will be deleted at the discretion of the moderator. If you do not provide a valid e-mail address, we reserve the right to delete or not publish your comment.

The opinions expressed here are not necessarily the opinions of PRSA and we assume no responsibility for such content. Please do not post any private information unless you want it to be available publicly. Please see our privacy policy for more information.

Some First Steps for PR Folk to Engage with Social Media

Let’s say you’re a high-level PR professional. A boss or an owner. And you’ve avoided dipping into these new-fangled social media things for some logical reason like the time required or because the way you’ve been doing things has been working fine.

Let me share some practical reasons you may want to give social media a try.

Blog monitoring – You need to know what people are saying about your company or client. By monitoring conversations on blogs, you can get a jumpstart on issues that could otherwise blow up. Dell reports that they get a three-week heads-up about issues before they hit the mainstream media. This is something you can do for free. And it’s a minimum. Later, you can learn to participate in the conversations to build the brand, enhance reputation and dialogue with influencers. A key audience to be monitoring is the reporters you are likely to work with. Many are bloggers themselves.

Social networks – Let’s focus on Facebook. Why on earth would you want to set up a Facebook page? Because reporters are there. They are communicating with their audiences and their sources there. I’ve even heard of one who will only pay attention to pitches he gets via Facebook, not e-mail or phone. Again, it’s a minimum. You don’t have to reveal your family secrets on your page. And you certainly should keep it professional. Later, you can use Facebook and other networks to connect with your company’s or client’s key constituencies who are there. Again, it’s free.

Social bookmarking – Services like Delicious are highly useful tools to support your media relations or community relations work. I’ve posted some how to’s on this subject before. See the last post for links. And yes, it’s free.

Twitter – Using Twitter can be powerful for public relations. The thing is, you will not understand its value until you sign up and start using it. I’m sorry, but it’s true. Twitter is not the only service of its kind, but it’s the most popular. It’s where many journalists are. It’s where portions of your audiences likely are. People will tell you it’s addictive. But that means they aren’t using it well for their business. You can. But it’s all theory until you set up your account. And guess what. It’s free.

If you try any of these tools, the worst that can happen is you won’t find them useful and you’ll stop using them.

Our chapter is holding a full-day professional development session specifically on this topic to demonstrate ways to get started or expand participation. I’m sure there will be more posts about it in the coming days.

So here’s the bottom line. Social media is not merely an additional vehicle for distributing or even exchanging information. It is not a trend. It is a manifestation of social change that we are in the midst of.

Should Twitter be Used in Church?

Two news stories came to my attention this week, both involving the micro-blogging tool, Twitter. New technologies always stretch our boundaries, and these two stories are no exception to that observation. And, they point out a traditional struggle for public relations practitioners, the ballance between an individual's right to privacy and the public's right to know.

Case #1
The Rocky Mountain News recently decided to assign a reporter to cover the funeral of a three year old on Twitter. The child died after being hit by a car driven by an illegal immigrant with an arrest record. After the initial horror of thinking --what if that were my child?--I thought about the stress of having to relive the event electronically. But that's not the central issue here. The central issue is whether the public's right to know about the funeral was justified by the live streaming of events during the funeral OR if the family's right to privacy was more important. INterestingly enough, the coverage was given a thumbs down by media watchers as being bland and uninteresting.

You can read about the coverage and follow links to other parts of the story here:
http://poprl.com/1JX

Case #2
On Friday, the San Antonio Express News ran a story on Imagine Fellowship, a local church which uses Twitter during its services, allowing the participants to Twitter about the sermon, with the comments appearing on a giant screen behind the pastor. Imagining I was in the pastor's place, I thought how harsh the criticism could be and how distracting while trying to speak. Again, though, the broader issue seems to be the line between individual privacy and public information.

As these new technologies can enhance our productivity and broaden our reach, we must insure that they don't also interfere with individual rights.

P.S. I would link to the story, but the Express-News Web site is horrendously hard to navigate if you try to find a story more than 24 hours after it appears.

Update
A nice person from the church sent me this link to share: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/religion/Blest_be_the_tweets_that_bind.html

Quick Options for Finding Blog Coverage of Your Client, Company, Product, Etc.

I got an e-mail from a friend the other day who was looking for quick suggestions on how to monitor blog coverage or conversations. I thought I’d share my answer with you and you can add your suggestions as well if you’d like.

There are three big services – free. I use the first two all the time. I’m going to check out the third. Just like free media monitoring, it’s beneficial to use more than one source.

Google blog search http://blogsearch.google.com
Blogpulse http://www.blogpulse.com/
Technorati http://technorati.com/

The advantage that Technorati has over the others is that it somehow calculates a ranking for each blog which can help you determine which ones to target. The disadvantage is that its searching capabilities have declined significantly in the last year. So you will miss some important ones if this is the only service you use.

A really good paid service that I've tried and loved is Custom Scoop. It does media monitoring including blogs. You get an e-mail each morning listing and linking to all your coverage for each search term. You can do a free trial through: http://www.customscoop.com/fir (FIR just stands for the For Immediate Release podcast, one of three PR/comm. podcasts I don't miss.)

Kami's Blog Now in the Second Round at PR Week

Congrats to Kami Watson-Huyse, APR, for making it to the second round of the PR Week competition for the "most worthwhile" PR blog. See my previous post, "Two Days Left to Vote for Kami’s PR Blog."

You can vote for Kami's blog, Commuications Overtones, until 5:30 est, Friday. She won't win any prizes. But it's fun anyway.