Great things happening with the PRSSA Steven R. Levitt Chapter at UTSA

When I was asked to be a student contributor, I was excited. I hoped to be able to post at least twice a month, maybe more. That has not happened. Last week I began my final semester of undergraduate studies at UTSA as well as my final semester as the Chapter President of the newly named PRSSA Steven R. Levitt Chapter. Our Chapter is well on its way to a greater semester than it has ever seen. Below is a list of upcoming events that we are planning:

• On September 5, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. we are hosting the Annual Fall Pizza for Poverty Fundraiser at the UTSA 1604 campus under the Sombrilla. The spring event raised enough cash and food to provide 750 meals for the needy serviced by the San Antonio Food Bank. This was done with the generous donations of CiCi's Pizza, Dominos Pizza and Wal-Mart.
• September 24 and 25 we will be taking nominations for the executive board positions being vacated due to upcoming graduations.
• October 5; 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m we will be hosting the 10th Anniversary of the UTSA PRSSA Chapter and Roast of Dr. Steven R. Levitt at the UTSA 1604 Campus' Laurel Room (UC2.01.28). The evening is shaping up to be a great networking opportunity for our members. The night kicks off with a non-alcoholic mixer for the students and PRSA professionals. Will include a look back at the Chapter with raffle drawings throughout the evening. Dinner will include herb crusted chicken, roasted rosemary potatoes and a house salad. It ends with a Roast of Dr. Steven R. Levitt and the official announcement of the new name.
• October 9 we will elect the 2007-08 Executive Board and begin the transition period.
• October 14 - 18 and 21 - 26 in a joint collaboration with the San Antonio PRSA Chapter we will be enjoying the Fall '07 PRSSA/PRSA Shadow Days. This is an opportunity for our student memebers to be mentored by a public relations specialist at their place of business. If you would like to host one or more students or have further questions, please contact PRSSA Liaison, Robert E. Sheldon, APR at (210) 828-1880 or (210) 241-5139 (mobile); fax (210) 826-9974; email: rsheldon@cccinc.com.
• October 19 -23 a delegation will be attending the 2007 PRSSA National Conference in Philadelphia.

As you can see We will be very busy over the next couple of months. I want to mention that over the summer I was picked to serve on the 2007-08 PRSSA National Subcommittee for Internships/Job Services. I have been assigned the states of Alabama. Kentucky and Nevada. My responsibilities include contacting public relations businesses in these states and providing them detailed information on PRSSA JobCenter, a FREE tool for employers seeking public relations interns or PRSSA recent graduates. I am asking that if you know specialists in these three states that would benefit form utilizing PRSSA JobCenter, please have them contact me at (210) 639-8800 or by e-mail at glfrieden@sbcglobal.net. They can also contact our subcommittee chair Denise Kreft at denisekreft@gmail.com.

ABCs of Facebook

Learning About Social Media from Your Desk

While Facebook was originally designed as a tool for college students to network online, today, more than half of its 35 million active users are not college students, as reported in the August 20 issue of Newsweek, “Facebook Grows Up.” The growing population of Facebook users are above college age, and many are professionals.

Two things occurred in the last year to stimulate its dramatic growth. First, registration was opened to everyone. It no longer requires that you be invited by a current user. Second, developers started filling Facebook with tons of applications that people can use within Facebook. Many of those applications are rather silly, but some are quite practical.

So how can you use Facebook in a communications function? Interestingly, in many companies, employees are using Facebook to connect with each others in ways that they need but their Intranets won’t facilitate. In fact a few companies didn’t know this was going on until their IT departments banned use of Facebook at work and were met with huge outcrys from employees who were using Facebook to get their jobs done better.

Several of the podcasts I listen to have created fan groups in Facebook. I find it an interesting idea, though I think each is still toying with ways to make their groups more useful to everyone involved.

For more on this subject (and as your homework), listen to the New Comm Road episode #033 “Building Facebook Communities” by Bryan Person.

Top Media and Marketing Blogs Ranked by AdAge

Earlier this month, the folks over at Advertising Age kicked off a real-time ranking of media and marketing blogs. There are almost 400 on the list called the “Power150,” even though the list has quickly grown beyond 150.

Todd Andrlik created the list and automated it, as Ad Age reports, using three objective measures: algorithmic metrics based on Google PageRank, Bloglines subscriptions and Technorati ranking. There is also one qualitative measure of some sort.

So if you are looking for something to read, check out the list at AdAge.com/Power150. Some of the ones I’ve recommended are there – as are many that I’ve never heard of.

What I find interesting is how frustrating it is to want information on how you’re doing (your web site, your blog, your podcast, your whatever), to have access to reams of data and still to just be able to get a general idea.

For example, using Bloglines subscriptions is verifiable data. It is based on something real. Yet, just because someone subscribes, doesn’t mean they read.

The same is true for my organization’s podcast. I can count page views and certain kinds of subscriptions. I can even count downloads of each audio file. But I don’t know if any of my downloaders are listeners.

Become a Byline Blogger

Our chapter established the San Antonio PRSA Byline blog in February 2006 in order to
• provide and experience professional development for public relations professionals,
• advocate the profession of public relations and its ethical practice,
• conduct outreach to professionals and students (particularly in the San Antonio area), and
• foster an exchange of ideas regarding public relations and related topics, including use of social media.

If you are interested in writing for the San Antonio Byline Blog, here’s your chance. No blogging experience is required. In fact, pretty much all of our current bloggers had never blogged before.

The chapter will provide a brief training session to get you started. Bloggers in our group are asked to post at least twice a month – though work and family can come first. This is a chance for you to dip your toe into blogging without a huge commitment or risk. Plus, it’s fun!

Contact Christie Goodman for more information. Office team bloggers must be members of the chapter. The training session will be held on August 31 at noon (brown bag lunch) at the Northside ISD Learning Center, at Bandera and Grissom Road, Building D (on Bandera north of 401).

Data on Social Networks

Learning About Social Media from Your Desk

In June, Advertising Age reported on the growth of online social networks (June 11, 2007, page 14). Here are some key points they made.

MySpace = 57 million unique visitors
Largest and most diverse of the social networks. Audience is still growing. Unique visitors up 49 percent in the last year. Airs Fox TV shows and is a partner in NBC-News Corp. joint venture.

Facebook = 14.4 million unique visitors
Opened up membership last year. Unique visitors up 152 percent over the past year. Claims 85 percent of market share at universities, but more than half of users are out of college. Fastest growing group is 25 and up. Founder built the site while at Harvard. Recently started allowing developers and advertisers to create applications and widgets for use in Facebook.

Bebo = 1.7 million unique visitors
Unique visitors up 109 percent since last year. Has a younger audience than the previous two sites. Popular in Texas and the U.S. Midwest. International expansion is expected.

Gather = 1.7 million unique visitors
Average age is 42 and 72 percent of audience has a college education. Grew 11 percent in May alone. Trying to become more portal-like with content from Harvard Medical School and soon-to-launch partnership with CareerBuilder.com.

Friendster = 1.3 million unique visitors
Ad Age says this was the original social network (though Wikipedia gives the honors to Classmates). Experiencing a small resurgence. U.S. visitors doubled in the last year. But time on the site and page views are down. Still carries some kind of stigma.

Flixster = too small to count
Median age is 18. Focuses on movies. Currently trying to grow the audience before tending to making money.

Ad Age states that while MySpace is in front of them all by far, others are growing faster.

Note: Ad Age did not report on Zooped, which was mentioned by a commenter to my previous post. I had never seen it until tonight. It has quite a variety of features, including business networking. But I have to admit, I was a bit creeped out by someone’s raunchy profile photo on the home page.

Social Networks: Lesson 5 in Learning About Social Media from Your Desk

So far in this learning about social media series we have covered RSS, blogs, podcasts and Delicious. I was going to talk about something else this month, but social networking has seen a surge of interest of late.

First, what is a social network? In this context, it’s a way of networking online. When you go to a PRSA meeting, you catch up with people you know and you meet new people. The same thing happens online. In social networks, people tend to find others with similar interests.

According to Wikipedia, the first social networking website was Classmates.com, which began in 1995. Many others have sprung up since then. Some are focused to a particular demographic or industry. Others, like MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn are more broad.

When you join a social network – typically for free – you will be able to set up your own profile page and start looking for “friends” who are also in that network.

LinkedIn’s profile pages are designed mostly for resume-type information. It’s designed for professionals to find each other.

Facebook has garnered much attention lately because it has opened up its infrastructure to allow for users to bring in non-Facebook applications, like to-do lists, Twitter posts, maps and movie ratings. (Though I did find it a little creepy that the sign up page asks if you are interested in men or women and if you are looking for a relationship, dating or random play. Hopefully, that will change as more and more professionals are using Facebook.)

Homework: Your first assignment this month his to ask three to five people you know if they are using a social networking site. Find out what they like and don’t like. Share it in the comments to this post. If you are using one, share what you like and don’t like.

Ethics of Photo Manipulation Blasted Again

It feels like it should be obvious by now that magazines and advertisers “edit” photos of attractive people to make them impossibly attractive. It’s been going on for years. They tell us they have to do it so we will pay attention, so we will buy the thing, so we will trust them. Everyone knows it’s misleading. Everyone knows it furthers the myth that perfection is possible.

But it’s one of those things you know in your head but not in your heart.

Take the recent Redbook cover with Faith Hill. The folks at Jezebel.com got their hands on the original photo that was used for the doctored-up cover. On the cover, Faith is missing some blemishes. OK fine. But she’s also missing body parts. Her arm is thinner without the traces of natural flab that were there before. And that part of you that bunches up around a waistband has disappeared.

I look at the cover shot and think, wow, she’s in shape. How does she do that – especially after having kids? I never could. But I should. And so it goes.

And it’s worse for kids who don’t know the secret yet.

The ironic part is that Faith Hill is really attractive without any adjustments. So why do they do this?

The Today Show covered the story (which you can view online). The Redbook editor-in-chief Stacy Morrison had the audacity to say: “In the end, they're not really photographs. They're images.” Uh huh, and I have some swampland for sale.

One of the guests also said, “That’s what women want to buy.” Which is total *%#. It always has been but it is especially so in today’s world of reality and transparency.

They way I see it, making people appear better than is humanly possible is a deception. Rationalizing doesn’t take away the lie.

And this lie is harmful.

It’s harmful to adults – men and women both – in terms of our self concepts and expectations of each other.

And clearly it’s harmful to kids and teens. Jezebel.com come said it well: “In a world where girls as young as eight are going on the South Beach Diet, teenagers are getting breast implants as graduation gifts… it's __ing wrong.”

As a parent of daughters, as a woman, as a consumer, as an advocate of media literacy, I’m grateful to the likes of Jezebel.com and Dove.

Shel Holtz recently shared that he uses the Dove "Evolution" viral video campaign as an example in his presentations. One of those days, a participant slipped out during lunch, went to his hotel room and e-mailed the video to his daughter. She’d been having serious problems and was even suicidal. He later told Shel that the Dove video changed his daughter’s life.

Media images have an impact. Each of us has to decide everyday if we want that impact to be good or bad.

PR Podcasts up for Podcast Awards

The third annual podcast awards are now open for listeners to submit their votes to recognize the best podcasters in the world. More than 335,000 podcast listeners and podcasters this year submitted more than 6 million nominations with 4,097 submitted shows.

Two podcasts that I’ve recommended on this blog are up for awards in the business category: For Immediate Release and Inside PR.

If you are a listener to one or both of these podcasts, you know how good they are and how deserving they are to be awarded. Please go to http://podcastawards.com/ and vote. You can vote every day in fact.

If you have never listened to For Immediate Release or Inside PR, I encourage you to check them out. You can listen from your computer if you don’t have an Mp3 or iPod. I learn something from every show.

There’s one more podcast I want to pitch for that’s up for an award in the education category (mine was nominated but did not make the cut). Pediacast is a podcast by Dr Mike, a board-certified pediatrician. He is entertaining and highly informative. If you have kids at home, this is a great podcast to listen to. Try it out, and then go vote for it.

Don't Miss Our Local Teleseminar on Integrating New Media Into Mainstream PR Campaigns

PRSA is hosting another teleseminar on Tuesday. Our chapter will be hosting a viewing site to save you money. It normally would cost $150 for PRSA members and $250 non-members.

But at the San Antonio-sponsored location, it's free for members and only $20 for guests.

But who care's if the topic is relevant and if the speakers aren't good.

Well I can vouch for this one. I've heard one of the speakers (Katie Paine) and the moderator before. They are excellent speakers and they are practical and very helpful.

Here's the description of the teleseminar:

In the age of citizen journalism, businesses can no longer hide behind a veil of secrecy; they are naked to the public eye. One false step can have devastating consequences for a company’s online reputation.Spurred by the advent of online publishing tools like blogs and podcasts, organizations are circumventing the news media filter.

Forward-thinking PR practitioners are telling their stories themselves, and they’re utilizing search engine optimization, web content management, audio and video on demand, RSS, social bookmarks, social networking and virtual environments to do it by engaging their constituents in a constructive, mutually beneficial dialogue. Find out from these PR thought leaders how they successfully integrate new media into mainstream PR campaigns, and how you can apply their techniques, in this latest “Meet the Media” teleseminar.

You will discover:
• Why PR professionals are best situated to capitalize on social media.
• How to win internal and external support for new media initiatives.
• The benefits and drawbacks of the various enabling technologies.
• How these subject-matter experts create a compelling business case that wins budget approval for social media initiatives that take organizations and clients into uncharted waters.

Moderator: Public relations executive and new media pioneer, Eric Schwartzman, founder and chairman of online newsroom provider iPressroom and managing director of Los Angeles public relations firm Schwartzman & Associates. He also produces the PRSA award-winning PR Podcast “On the Record...Online.”

Panelists:
Phil Gomes, Vice President, Edelman
Greg Jarboe, Founder, SEO-PR
Katie Paine, author of KDPaine’s PR Measurement Blog

Tuesday, July 24, 2007 1:45 PM - 3:00 PM
American Red Cross, San Antonio Area Chapter, 3642 E. Houston St.

So come on. It's not that much time out of your day and you'll learn useful information. Plus it won't cost much -- especially if you are a member.

Register now!

Cool New Use for Jott

I have discovered a really cool use for Jott. In case you haven’t heard of this tool, it’s a free web service that lets you call a toll-free number and leave a message. The service then transcribes your message and sends it by e-mail. The transcriptions aren’t perfect. But they’re pretty close. It takes about 60 seconds to set up an account. And they don’t ask for personal information except your name, cell phone number and e-mail address.

I heard about Jott on Bryan Person’s “Tools of the Trade” segment on his NewCommRoad podcast.

For the last few weeks, I’ve been sending myself reminder messages, like “Postpone dentist appointment” and “Buy calamine.” That’s been really useful for this working mom of two little tykes.

But I’ve just come up with a use that is even more valuable to me. You know those cute little things children do that you don’t want to forget? I keep a MS Word file of little stories like that. It serves as a journal in a way. I used to be real good at updating it back when I was e-mailing photos of the kids to family members. I’d include a little story too. But now, I post those photos online. So I’ve gotten behind with the updates.

Enter Jott.com. When I’m away from my computer and I think of a cute, funny or touching story about one of my kiddos, I just Jott myself. Then when I get home, I can copy it into my master file. Like this one:

I was reading a story to [my 4-year-old]. There was a drawing of a dairy cow. She said, “Look Mommy. There’s a pig coming out of that cow’s bottom!”

Que cute!

Using Delicious in Public Relations

Learn About Social Media from Your Desk

In this set of lessons, I introduced readers to Delicious and talked about the value of using it to share your bookmarks. But what I find fascinating is how many ways there are to use Delicious in your public relations work.

One thing is to come up with a special tag for a particular topic, and then you and others can start building a set of bookmarks related to your topic. The advantage is that your searches will filter out items you are not looking for. For example, the folks who have been coming up with the social media release formats are using the tag: hRelease. I don’t know how they came up with that particular tag, but they’ve been using it, along with any other relevant tags.

You also can set up an account for a client or your organization and tag related items. For example, let’s say you are about to have some major announcement to media. You could create a “purpose-built” Delicious page that already has a set of bookmarks for web pages and related news stories on your topic. Include a link in your news release. Todd Defren of SHIFT Communications wrote more about this in his blog post, “Tagging: ‘Crowdsourcing’ vs. ‘Purpose-Built.’”

But why limit this to when you have big news announcements. You could do the same for topics that you deal with consistently. By creating a Delicious account for such a topic and tagging new items regularly to keep it updated, you are helping journalists in their research, but the information can seem more credible because it’s not always created by you. More on this too by the insightful Todd Defren in his post, “Daily Servings of del.icio.us Delights.”

Of course, you can use Delicious to help you keep track of trends in your industry or to see how your issue is being covered prior to your big announcement – along with your other media and web monitoring tools.

Some excellent tips are available on the Information Age Education blog post, “5 Things You Need to Know Before Using Del.icio.us, a Social Bookmark.”

For those who are feeling brave and a little geeky, Web Worker Daily provides some useful suggestions at “8 Tips for Better del.icio.us Bookmarking.”

If you haven’t started using Delicious, give it a shot. This is one social media tool that is really easy to jump into.

Goin’ Postal Company’s Response a Good PR Lesson

I recently posted about my dismay that someone would name their company, Goin’ Postal. A couple of days after I sent my letter, I got a response by e-mail. They could have said: "We’re sorry you got offended. We didn’t mean to. We were just trying to be clever."

But they didn’t.

The full response is below. (I did check with them before blogging this. Sorry it’s so long, but there’s good reason to share the whole response.)

Dear Christie,
Hello!

Thank you for taking the time to write to us. The name “Goin’ Postal” describes what we do, as we offer a variety of shipping and mailing options to customers.

To date, we have received 14 correspondences from folks who felt our name might be deemed offensive, but we explained that quite the opposite is true. We are firm believers in karma/the golden rule and the power of positive thought. If you believe in your heart that you can change negative conditions, and if you are willing to expend the energy to effect that metamorphosis …that positive change will make the world a far better place. We hope that Goin’ Postal will soon become a household name that is synonymous with family values, low prices and old-fashioned customer service, and that the former, negative connotations associated with that phrase will be shed and long forgotten.

Our chain is a family oriented network of locally owned and operated stores, and GPFC trains all franchisees not only to participate in their existing community activities, but also to create new community events for the benefit of the people and pets residing in those cities and towns nationwide. Our stores make a positive difference in every local community where a Goin’ Postal store exists. In short, our stores are focused on working diligently to provide low-cost shipping AND to making every community a better place in which to live though the owners’ and staff members’ active participation in areas of interest to them.

Goin’ Postal Franchise Corporation is also committed to making the dream of owning a successful business a concrete reality, especially for those folks who don’t have the high dollar savings required for the expensive franchises out there. Our store owners are former homemakers, teachers, military personnel, folks who were downsized in their former corporate careers, civil servants, and regular folks from all walks of life. Speaking of civil servants…many of our stores are owned by current and past postal workers, and the United States Postal Service is signing up our stores as Approved
Shippers almost as fast as we can open them, so the USPS is obviously not offended by the name. Many of the customers at every store are also postal workers, especially at Christmastime when they need to ship gifts to their friends and families. We often receive thank you notes and letters from postal employees who are pleased that a once negative phrase is swiftly becoming a positive phrase, due in part to the new association between the phrase and our chain’s high caliber of customer care, community involvement, and low prices.

A little known fact is that the USPS (United States Postal Service) also owns several trademarks to the phrase “Go Postal”, and the USPS has registered to use this phrase on a line of merchandise to be sold in Post Offices. Please take a peek at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (http://www.uspto.gov/) listings
at http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=tjqull.4.2
http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=tjqull.4.3 http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=tjqull.4.7

While we get an occasional email from someone who is temporarily upset by the name (14 correspondences in 4 years), those folks usually understand that we are attempting to put a positive spin on something that was once only known as terribly negative. Also, the USPS obviously doesn’t think the name is a bad one since the USPS wants to sell merchandise with a very similar name on it (Go Postal), and we feel that the USPS should be applauded for working to turn the phrase into something positive, just as we are.

While our first store opened 4 years ago in Zephyrhills (Florida), which is just outside Tampa, we have only been franchising for 31 months. In just 31 months, our chain has grown to over 205 stores strong, and is growing daily. We seem to be a big hit across the entire country…with our franchisees, their customers, the carriers, and vendors.

We hope that you will stop by to visit with the friendly family that owns your local Goin’ Postal store, to perhaps join them at their local events (low-cost spay and neuter clinics, child safety and i.d. events, bike rodeos, family sing-a-longs, and more) to help them to make your community a better place to live…and to join them in rendering the global community a more positive place for all.

Thank you again for taking the time to write to us, and to ask more about our company. We hope that we will have the good fortune of serving you as one of our customers in the near future.

Warm Regards,
Dr. M.J. Price
Vice President, Goin' Postal Franchise Corporation

What an excellent example of public relations as shown by the company clearly being genuine and honest. They were obviously prepared for questions like mine. But more importantly, they had a clear vision in mind before choosing the name of their company – a vision that was both tied to and bigger than their specific business goals.

This response demonstrates:
• There was careful thought before choosing the company name.
• There is deliberate intention for good – rather than being gimmicky.
• There is buy-in from the very people who could most be offended by the name.
• The company is monitoring responses about the company name.
• The company is taking specific actions in communities to remove the negative connotations associated with the phrase, Goin’ Postal.

I am still tremendously concerned about insensitivity in the marketplace and entertainment industry.

But from what I’ve learned about the company, Goin’ Postal, and the response I received, I have turned from a critic to a fan in this case.

How Can Having a Seemingly Insensitive Name Attract Customers?

Is it just me, or has there been a sudden rise in companies using insensitive names to gain attention. Do you remember the car dealership with the Jihad sale?

I thought I’d seen it all until while driving my kids to the doctor, I saw a new store called, Goin’ Postal. Can you believe it? Goin’ Postal, that derogatory term that arose from disgruntled and sometimes ill people who charged into a post office shooting people. Dead. I know people have used the term since then to be funny. But a store? A franchise to boot. Really?

That’s it, I thought. I’m not going to stay quiet this time. So I went to their web site to investigate a little bit.

Then I wrote a letter (e-mail). This is what I wrote:

I was just visiting your company web site and was heartened to see your emphasis on family and good customer service. So I'm wondering about the story behind the name of your company. What made you choose "Goin' Postal" over other options? Have you had any negative feedback due to the term's origins?

I first got an automated reply: “This email is an automatic reply. We'll reply with a more personal email soon.” It included details on where to get information in the meantime and about how important franchisees are (in case the reader is a current or potential franchisee).

Then I got an email from the vice president saying she was unavailable and would respond to e-mails on xyz dates. She included how she would prioritize which e-mails would be dealt with first. I found that quite thoughtful and transparent. Here’s her priority list:

(1) emails from franchisees' company email addresses
(2) ad approvals
(3) sign approvals
(4) requests for press releases
(5) requests for vendor approvals
(6) exams for grading
(7) continuing education emails
(8) questions from potential franchisees
(9) all other types of emails

But I was still waiting for a reply to my questions. Stay tuned for Part II for a surprise.

Forward Slash vs. Back Slash Smackdown

Let’s resolve the debate: Do web site addresses use back slashes or forward slashes? You hear both when people spell-out a web address. I suppose the “/” symbol to some people looks like it is leaning back, thus it’s a back slash. And to others, the slash is pointing forward, so it’s a forward slash.

Guess what? It doesn’t matter. There’s only one kind of slash in a URL! On most keyboards, it’s that key with the question mark.

So web site addresses are: www dot something dot com slash something. Don’t bother with the back or forward clutter. Keep it simple.

Mommy Podcasts do Nichecasting with a Capital N

I decided to take my own advice and look for some podcasts that are related to my hobbies rather than just those about my profession. For over a year, I’ve pretty much only been listening to PR/communications-related podcasts – really good ones that I’ve recommended here before (see posts on April 12, April 30 and May 28, 2007).

But a couple of weeks ago, I started exploring other topics. Here’s how it went: Let’s see. What are my hobbies? No time for scrapbooking or music or exercise or… Hmmm. So what then? Well, I can stock a child’s backpack in 120 seconds. I can cook a 30-minute meal in 20. And I can kiss an owie and make the hurt go away. Yep. That’s it. Mommyville.

So I started looking for “mommy” podcasts. I happened to hear Shel and Neville talking about Manic Mommies on For Immediate Release. And soon after, I heard Eric Schwartzman of On the Record Online talk about MommyCast – which he listens to as a dad. So I tried out both and am hooked. TOTALLY.

These are not little podcasts that reach a few hundred people. Manic Mommies was recently awarded Best Parenting Podcast in the Winter '07 Podcast Peer Awards. MommyCast is a Webby honoree and has sponsors like Huggies, Oral B and Nesquik. Their deal with Dixie is reported to have been for $100,000.

And these women are savvy. Both podcasts have other online features, like branded merchandise for sale. Manic Mommies is planning an “Escape” conference for moms this fall in Newport. MommyCast has an excellent online media kit. And – are you sitting down? – it states that according to Nielson NetMetrics, more than 2 million people listen to MommyCast.

Personally, thanks to these two podcasts, I’ve so far learned that either I’m not as crazy as I think I am, or I am that crazy but at least I’m not alone.

Sharing your Delicious Bookmarks

Learn About Social Media from Your Desk

The best part about using Delicious is that you are sharing your bookmarks with others – and they are sharing theirs with you.

Let’s say you are looking for information on scubadiving. You could spend an entire day doing Google searches and mostly find web sites that are selling gear. Or, you could go to Delicious, and search for the “scubadiving” tag. Or maybe you’d be more specific and search for “scubadiving tips.” Your search will display a list of the web sites other people found helpful on your topic. And you can see which ones have been bookmarked the most.

There’s more. But before we go on, you need to do some homework. Your next assignment is to bookmark a few web pages on any topic you like.

The first topic I focused on was web sites that have free or cheap photos and clip art. Then I gave the link to my co-workers so they would stop “borrowing” my CDs. Worked like a charm.

No Comment, No Dice: Investigative Reporter Shares Why You Should Confess

The basics of crisis communication are to admit you have a problem, made a mistake, or are overwhelmed by a situation; make any necessary apologies; and take immediate action to fix the problem.

The reporters that uncover these "problems" can often show up on your doorstep at a moments notice, making it easy for some in management, and even PR, to lose their cool.

So, what can be done to make it a little more constructive when bad news descends on an organization?

To find out, we turned our camera onto Brian Collister, a News 4 WOAI investigative reporter in San Antonio, Texas, and asked him to share a few tips for public relations professionals when someone like him comes calling.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Collister came to the PRSA San Antonio meeting this week to share his insights. My favorite quote that he gave was:

"I know you have a a canned answer, but I don't want your canned answer. I am looking for something more."

He also said that the public relations person is usually the last person he calls in the process - by that point he already has something that he has investigated and is looking for the organization, or person, to give its side of the story.

Though it is in the video, I think that it bears repeating that Collister, and most investigative reporters, see themselves as getting out information to the public that they have the right to know.

His advice, don't get caught up thinking that you are talking to him, but realize that you are talking to the people that you serve. In other words, don't take it personally, use it to connect with those that will affect your organization.

Cross posted at Communication Overtones

tags: Journalism, Crisis+Communication, San+Antonio, Brian+Collister, PRSA, Texas

Lesson Four: Using Delicious

Learn About Social Media from Your Desk

So far, we’ve been focusing on the basics of social media: RSS, blogs and podcasts. But there is much more. So if you’ve been worried that you’re not being “social” enough because you haven’t gone to the trouble of starting a corporate blog or podcast, you can relax. There are some tools online that will help you with your everyday work and hobbies and they don’t require planning teams.

One of these is Delicious (or Del.icio.us). This is a social bookmarking site. Basically, when you find some web page online that you want to bookmark, rather than adding it to your favorites – which are stored in your computer or server – you bookmark it to your personal Delicious page. You assign it “tags” or keywords. And wa-la, you’ve dipped in your toe, and you’ll never turn back.

One advantage is that you can access your bookmarks from any computer. You can also add to your bookmarks from any computer. But this is just the beginning. There are several ways Delicious can help you in your PR work. More on that later.

Your first assignment is to set up a free Delicious account. Go to http://del.icio.us/. Click on “Get Started.” All you need is a username and password.

Then be sure to do the next step to installs buttons. That way, when you see a web site or blog post that you want to bookmark, you can just click a button on your browser bar. And you’re off!

Interview: Red Cross Seeks Bloggers as Volunteers

Yesterday, I had a chance to sit down with Ike Pigott, who is the communications director for the American Red Cross’s Southeast region.  He also is a blogger at Occam's RazR.

Under Ike's direction, the Red Cross is starting to use blog engines to communicate critical information to the media and the general public in the midst of a disaster situation.  And the volunteers don't have to be in the field to participate. 

Online Videos by Veoh.com

 

Shel Holtz also interviewed Ike a few days ago, so if the 3 minute video isn't enough for you, you can listen to Shel's 24-minute, in-depth conversation with Ike about how the Red Cross is embracing social media as a tool during disasters.

If you are interested in being a volunteer, leave a comment here, or e-mail me at kamichat [at] yahoo.com and I will get you in touch with Ike. [Disclosure: I have been a Red Cross Public Affairs volunteer since 2001].  You can also see a sample disaster page about the 2007 Tornadoes in Georgia.  The portal page, where you can check for new pages and general information is on the Red Cross Online Disaster Portal Page.

Cross posted from Communication Overtones.

tags: Ike+Pigott, Red+Cross, Blogging, Volunteer, Kami+Huyse, PR, Public+Affairs, Public+Relations, San+Antonio

Is Ghost-blogging OK? It Depends…

There’s been a resurgence in the debate about whether or not “ghost-blogging” is ok. Some say no because the expectations in the blogosphere are different than in other spaces. And ghost blogging is not “authentic.” Others say it either is fine now or will be soon as social media evolves.

I think the answer really is… it depends (as FIR listeners are accustomed to hearing).

At its worst, the writer is putting words into the mouth of someone. Readers are lead to believe that the thoughts are from the “blogger” when they are not. It’s like the PR person who writes a speech for a CEO and then stands in her place to deliver the speech while pretending to be the CEO. The expectation of the audience is to hear from the CEO, in this case. Not a stand in. The same could be said about the expectations of readers of blogs.

On the other hand, not everyone has time to write all their thoughts down. Not everyone has good writing skills (that’s another issue). So for someone to employ the writing skills of another person is not only fine, it’s appropriate. In this case, the writer is putting someone’s thoughts into words.

This is typically what we do in speechwriting. When I write a speech for my boss, we sit down together first and she outlines her main points and how she wants to make them. I go back and write a draft. She’ll review it and give feedback. I’ll have another go at it and then hand her the disk. She always makes a few changes from there. She could do it all herself, but she is after all a CEO with other responsibilities.

When she delivers the speech, the words are her words. The thoughts are her thoughts. The same would be true if it were a blog rather than a speech. (Though the process likely would have to be quicker.)

I also don’t think that in these cases we should demand there be a statement on the blog about who actually wrote it. I know this is another controversial point. But in a speech, the speaker never announces that he or she didn’t actually write every word even though many, many people don’t understand that there was probably a speechwriter. In public relations, you just get used to writing things and not signing your name for credit.

But when a PR person is blogging on behalf of someone else and practically has carte blanche authority to write whatever, that's another story -- and one I would have concerns about.

So I guess what I am saying is: ghost-blogging is deceptive when it is deceptive, and it’s right when it is right. Like most other ethical issues, it just depends on the situation. Sorry, no black and white rules here. That is why it is so healthy to have these discussions.

For more on the debate listen to or read the following podcasts and blog posts. They are much more eloquent than I.

Inside PR podcast episodes #59 and #60

Dan York’s Disruptive Conversations blog
“Ghost blogging and the coming end of the Golden Age of blogging and transparency”

Sallie Goetsch’s Author-ized Articles blog
"Ghostwriting Does NOT Preclude Authenticity"

Bryan Person’s Bryper.com blog
“PR pro blogging on client’s behalf: Where’s the disclosure?”

Mitch Joel’s Twist Image blog
“What’s Wrong With Ghost Blogging? Or Insights From Inside PR #59”
“Ghost Blogging Continued...”