Category Archives: Blogging

PR Technology Panel

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The big “PR technology” panel went off reasonably well today. Not my best showing but it’s been a while since I did one of these. [AUDIO: 5o min] I got a little distracted when my nano (which I was using for a timer) shut off. But it could have been worse. And the room was packed.

Tony Calandro did a nice overview of blogs, RSS, podcasting, etc. I added a few thoughts on podcasting. and Richard Callow (www.mayorslay.com) did convinced me that a smart politician with good people advising him/her can get a lot of mileage from blogging and podcasting. I was very impressed.

You can listen to the discussion if you care to download this 23 meg MP3 file. Questions from the audience were not mic’d so I left those off.

I came away with the sense that the PR community sort of knows what blogs and podcasts are… and want to know more. But they have miles to go. Controlling the message is hard-coded into their DNA and the idea of open, unfiltered, uncontrolled communication will make many of them –and their clients– uncomfortable for a long time.

Is your company ready to blog?

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In an interview for the Bacon’s Navigator, Sally Falkow writes that Jonathan Schwartz, President and COO of Sun Microsystems said that blogging had played a major role in the revitalization of Sun’s reputation. Sun has gone from the 99th to the 6th most popular server company, largely because it has embraced authenticity and transparency in its communication initiatives, according to the piece.

Among the benefits of corporate blogging (according to the Falkow piece):

  • Increases search engine visibility and thus brand awareness
  • Offers a direct communication channel to the public
  • Builds credibility and trust
  • Allows you to tell your story, uncensored by the media
  • Makes your organization more “real” to the public

Is your company ready to blog? Check the culture of your organization:

  • Can you let go of the controlled ‘messaging’?
  • Are you willing to be authentic and transparent?
  • Do you have the resources – writers, time, budget – to create the content for a blog that others will find compelling?

I remember (many years ago) pleading with our CEO to get computers for the newsroom. And lots of heated meetings on why we did (or did not) need to network our computers. The idea of email seemed silly at one time. I remember all of this like it was yesterday. I get the same blank, puzzled looks from some of our top folks when the subject of blogs comes up. What possible value could a corporate blog have?

Can we let go of controlled ‘messaging?’ Not entirely.
Are we willing to be transparent? Up to a point.
Will our company ever have a corporate blog? I expect we will, and it will probably happen like this:

Somebody in senior management will be at a meeting or conference and someone they know and trust will talk about their experience with blogging and ask if we are using this tool. Fortunately, when they return to the Mother Ship, they’ll find a cadre of experienced bloggers ready to help.

Postscript: (24 hours later) Not every company is ready to blog. I happen to think most companies should not attempt this. This only works if everybody (top to bottom) is jumping in with great enthusiasm. If there’s any doubt about whether this is a good thing for your organization… don’t do it.

Blogs worst marketing idea of 2005

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Brandweek Magazine ranks blogs among the worst marketing ideas of 2005:

Blogs provide almost no new information. They’re frequently inaccurate. They contribute to the hysterical polarization of our nation’s political discourse. And they’re often written by people who can’t, you know, write. So naturally marketers have flocked to associate their brands with them. Seriously, it’s not entirely clear why so many marketers have rushed to get themselves name-dropped in one of the most unreliable media environments yet invented, but we’re sure there’s a PowerPoint presentation on their ROI being prepared as we write this.

I especially like the part about “hysterical polarization of our nation’s political discourse.” Riiight.

The people formerly known as the audience

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The phrase above is attributed to Jay Rosen, a blogger and journalism professor at New York University. I thought it nicely summed up an article written by Katharine Q. Seelye (Answering Back to the News Media, Using the Internet). Subjects of newspaper articles and news boradcasts taping interviews, gathering email exchanges, taking notes on phone conversations…and publishing them on their own web sites or blogs, creating a new world where the audience and sources are publishers.

As far as I know, this has not happened to any of the reporters that work for our various radio news networks. But it will. One of our guys (intended as gender-neutral) will record an interview and pull some “cuts” for the story. The person being interviewed will be recording the interview as well. And they’ll post the full transcript (or the audio) on their website. Not necessarily to question the accuracy of our story, but just to let the public see what we did –and did not– include. Is this “fair” or “okay?” Don’t know. But that’s beside the point. It’s happening.

If is was a hot topic, I’d post the entire interview myself. Unedited. [Thanks, Morris.]

Dave Winer: Are we more than our stories?

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Could it be that our purpose is to tell a story, and that the better lived a life is, the better the story that survives after you’re gone?

An intriguing question posed by Dave Winer (a couple of years ago). If I read the post correctly, he’s wondering if there is really more to us than the stories we tell. For those of us that attempt to share our hopes and fears, successes and failures (in journals like this one)…is there really more to us than our blogs? Reminds me of a great T-Shirt David (Brazeal) found on someone’s blog: Enough about me. Let’s talk about my blog.