You say you want a revolution

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A couple of weeks ago I mentioned I’d been invited to be on a panel titled, “Revolution in PR Technology,” at joint meeting of the Community Service Public Relations Council and the St. Louis chapters of both the International Association of Business Communicators and the Public Relations Society of America.

I think the idea is to explain “how blogs, podcasting, wikis, RSS, and audio streaming technologies are transforming the world of communications.” The luncheon/panel is tomorrow in St. Louis and my contact emailed they have 260 people attending. Last time I spoke before 260 people was our high school production of Music Man.

Should be fun although I’m not sure I can explain podcasting in 15 minutes. The technical aspects aren’t complicated, but explaining why this is such a (potentially) disruptive technology is like tryin’ to tell a stranger ’bout rock and roll.

David’s coming along and we’re gonna try to sneak Andy in, so maybe between the three of use we can triangulate the panel on our respective blogs.

Squirt Cheese and the Declaration of Independence

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I stand by my earlier assertion that my friend David is too funny for his job. Offered as Exhibit A, this excerpt from his recent post exposing the role of Squirt Cheese in the founding of this great country:

Jefferson was not only a deep thinker and philosopher, but also an inventor of the first order. Having developed a more effective plow, and the color now known as Yellow No. 5, Jefferson turned his attention to the culinary arts. During late nights at Monticello, discussing politics in his hemp laboratory with George Washington, Jefferson experienced what modern readers would call “the munchies.” Washington, unable to chew effectively with his wooden teeth, implored his friend to invent a softened snack. Jefferson turned his considerable talent toward solving that problem, and soon invented a whipped cheese product that he stored in wooden bottles. A pump mechanism forced the cheese out the top of the bottle, allowing it to be applied to breads, crackers, and pemmican.

If you need further evidence of David’s genius, I offer this: Of the nearly 25 million blogs crawled by Technorati, only 217 include a reference to pemmican. I rest my case.

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.

Living Healthy (11) – Depression

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Approximately 1 in 5 people suffer from depression at some point in their life and it can often recur. When is it just “the blues” and when is it depression? There’s no blood test for depression. The majority of people suffering from depression are treated by their family physician. What is Beck Depression Inventory. Recorded January 7, 2006.

Making radio relevant again

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I’ve been reading Douglas Rushkoff’s latest book (Get Back In theBox: Innovation from the Inside Out) and was delighted to come across an interview with Rushkoff at Radio Marketing Nexus. Mark Ramsey talked with Rushkoff about “how to make radio relevant again.” Ruskoff misses the same things about radio that I do. AUDIO

“Because of my book tours I’ve been in a lot of radio stations, and even from 1995 to 2005 the amount of change I’ve seen has been shocking. There used to be this kind of quality to an FM radio station – I hate to be stereotypical, but there was a certain kind of chick who would be the receptionist at an FM radio station. There was a certain kind of guy that worked in the album room organizing the albums. There was a certain kind of geek figuring out the emphasis rack.

But FM stations are not really like that anymore. They feel much more like almost any other office, and if you didn’t see the control room you wouldn’t know you were in a radio station at all. They don’t ooze their culture anymore.

There was a smell and a quality and a texture to everything radio that I think was the fun of the industry. There was something so real about it. In the early days when I was a kid, you had Ron Lundy and Cousin Brucie – you just somehow knew those guys were there even though they were playing top 40 stuff. You knew it was a world of guys with records and personalities. And there’s so little of that on the radio today.

There’s almost nothing in mainstream radio that has that sense of this as a club of people in a cool place having a great time sharing some of their ecstasy with those of us driving to work or sitting in our bedrooms who wanted to have a taste of what it’s like to be an adult who understands music, who reads “Rolling Stone,” who understands why we’re fighting the Gulf War, or whatever it is. And I want to piece of that.

When I turn on the radio now I don’t feel that these folks have a piece of anything that I can’t get a piece of by going into Allstate to work in the morning. It’s just another working stiff with some computer telling them what to play and when to play it and when to read the ads.

I don’t trust the voice behind the music anymore because I don’t know that he’s really an expert or that he really cares. He’s not part of a living, breathing, fertile culture whereas if I go online and look at these Podcasts I know these people have done it not for the money but for the love of it. And radio is going to have to go a long way now to convince me that there’s somebody there who cares about what they’re doing for some reason other than the cash.

Finally, I would say the purpose of radio is to keep people company. And in order to keep people company there’s got to be a human being on the other side of it. The more truly human your radio station is the better it is at keeping people company. And the more computerized and business-like it is the farther outside the box you’ll find yourself.”

So there you have it. The pure, distilled essence of what’s wrong with radio today. And it seems like it would be very easy to fix. To get back in the box. But I fear we don’t even remember where we put the box.

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.

Ladies and gentlemen…SquirtCheez!

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In June of 2003, I posted a short list of “Blogs I Would Read If They Existed.” Leaving David Brazeal off that list was an oversight but David is easy to oversee. Not unlike Topsy. Tonight I am honored to be among the first to link to David’s new blog, SquirtCheez.

SquirtCheez has a long and illustrious history as a metaphor for the human experience. Homer called it the “nectar of fat and happy Olympian consumerism.” American colonial preacher Jonathan Edwards, in his most famous sermon, noted that SquirtCheez is the only source of sustenance that will explode upon being thrown into the flames of hell.

It’s totally unfair of me to put this kind of pressure on David and I will look like a total dumb-ass if he screws the pooch on this. But gosh darn it, I’m willing to risk it. Because David is part of that tiny, select group I refer to as: TFFTJ (Too Funny for Their Jobs). Please welcome him to the ‘sphere.

RadioWarren.com

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Warren KrechNow we’re talking. Long-time radio guy Warren Krech has started posting some interviews at RadioWarren.com. I immediately spotted several that I’ll want to listen to. I assume these are interviews he did on local talker KLIK and the station has blessed this re-purposing of the interviews. Good move Mr. Manager. I don’t listen to radio at work so I’ve never heard these. Now I will. And it might prompt me to listen to KLIK to hear more. See what’s happening here?

I looked for, but didn’t see, the feed link. Warren is almost podcasting and will, I’m sure, get that final piece in place. I want to be able to subscribe so I won’t miss any interviews. Or whatever interesting, informative audio (or video?) he comes up with.

And by posting these to an RSS enabled blog, he can open up the comments so we listeners can get in on the conversation. If you lose your way, I’ve added Warren to the blog roll and slotted RadioWarren.com under Links.

Forbidden cocktails in a swank pad

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Tiki Bar TVI think it’s great that the networks are making episodes of Lost and Desperate Housewives and The Daily Show available as (video) podcasts. But the really cool stuff is fresh, original, creative videos like we haven’t seen before. Like Tiki Bar TV, “Forbidden cocktails in a swank pad.” (Check out Episode 10A, Drinkbot Outttakes)

Four Eyed Monsters is a feature film and a video podcast. “We are still working on distribution for the feature film but for the video podcast we already have that figured out. That is the cool thing about the web, distribution is a non-issue.”

Exactly. There have always been talented, creative people out there making videos. But we couldn’t find them and they couldn’t find/reach us. No more. I watched a few episodes just sitting here in front of my box but I can see where it would be fun to load up a video iPod.

I am now completely in charge of my “radio” choices. I’ve got more of exactly what I like than I have time to listen to. That’s going to happen to my “TV” viewing as well. And every everything else. Sample some of the video podcasts at iTunes and email me your favorites.