Semester's end - Intro to PR

It has been fun - and challenging - to post to my blog several times a week for my Intro to PR class. Now the challenge will be to continue to post where no credit is at stake. And what will be fun - is choosing the topic! While much of what I blog about will likely still include Public Relations, because of my job, it will be more likely to be more personal.

I picked up the "2012 Writer's Market," and it has an entire section on blogging - intending to digest this tonight. I'm done with school! It's time to read and write what I want for a while, and that is the most exciting news of all.

Dates on your blog posts

Shel Holtz (of Holtz Communication + Technology) recently posted on his blog about "Keep dating your blog posts; it adds important context." I know this is a recent post because it is dated December 8, 2011! This is Holtz' point. Some bloggers feel if they don't date their posts, they get more views and more shares. I agree with Holtz that it is very nearly dishonest to NOT date a blog post. Readers reactions are determined, at least in great part, by the currency of what they are reading.

Holtz says, "Without dates, the credibility and validity of every post I see is suspect." I completely agree. How is a reader supposed to know if the post is current, valid or applicable if there is no date? I wouldn't cite a post that didn't have a date, because I believe it loses credibility.

There are six comments so far on Holtz' blog - all in agreement blog posts should have dates. One comment states, "The only reason(s) to have non-dated posts are selfish. They don't take the reader (today's or tomorrow's) into consideration." Amen to that. Readers have a right to know the timing of what's been written, to determine not just if the WANT to read it, but HOW they should read it. Without a date, there is very little context - and very little reason to read the post.

Accidental Tweet?

During a staff meeting at work today, we received exciting news that someone who has caused our company a lot of stress was leaving the position that allowed her to do so - and going to a company where she could cause us no stress. Sad that there were so many cheers and "Yahoo!"s at someone else leaving their job - but we were so excited. Several of us started sharing the news with others. I searched on-line, as a change in this high profile position should be pretty big new - but there was nothing. Should have clued me in.

Come to find out - the person was only VISITING the other company, but is expected to remain right where she is. Causing us stress.

The news initially stemmed from a tweet that was - most assuredly - a mis-tweet. Let that be a lesson - Twitter is a wonderful tool, but certain things you hear via Twitter may need to be verified elsewhere.

What do you do for a living?

Jeri Cartwright posted in her blog on Ragan.com about how frustrating it is to try and explain what she does in "Public Relations." There is such a mix of needs and skills - sometimes when someone asks what you do, you really want to respond, "What DON'T I do?"

On any given day at work, I will perform a wide variety of functions, beginning with internal communications, community relations, event planning and coordination, editing a press release or some talking points, and moderating several of our Facebook pages and one of our three Twitter accounts. And that's just for starters.

Cartwright ends her post with, "which of the following fall under public relations? Which ones should not? I can honestly say, I'm not sure anymore." In her compilation of responsibilities, she lists: PR, Media relations, Community relations, Government relations, Lobbying, Public affairs, Marketing, Advertising and Campaign strategy (elections). A pretty good list, and it barely scratches the surface. There are just too many things that fall under "other duties as assigned." All of which make PR one of the best jobs there is. Just don't try and explain it.

Religious Public Relations

Just glancing through my "Intro to PR text book," and ran across the sentence, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has video testimonials of thousands of its 6 million members in an attempt to re-brand Mormons as regular people." Cracks me up! the reason I "ran across" this sentence is because I had underlined AND highlighted it when I read that chapter. Regular people? Regular people? And there are actually more than 13 million members - world-wide.

I have to understand that coming from persons who don't actually know any church members, perhaps members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have been portrayed as still having multiple wives, having horns, and other old stereotypes. Just kind of cracked me up to see that in a text book. Goes to show you, even text book authors make errors and commit misnomers.

Public Relations - Not Always Glamorous

Or, title #2, "Public Relations - Rarely Glamorous." My friend, who is the director of PR where I work, had a lousy Tuesday. She drove a longer commute than normal to attend some meetings she had not planned on. This, after only two hours of sleep because her son was sick all night. Her nanny arrived to save the day, but my friend still had to work all day and try and get her son into the doctor.

When she finally left to go home, after about 8 hours of work, I was notified of an incident - I began gathering more information to see if she would be needed, and when I called to tell her about it, she turned around and started driving back, "just in case." Thus - she left work for the second time, two hours after she left the first time - and still had her long commute and a sick child.

My friend is great at her job and takes it very seriously. She is also, I must add, a fabulous mother. However, as illustrated above, her job is not always (or is rarely) glamorous. She is occasionally on TV, often quoted (and occasionally misquoted) in print. Her name is well known in the industry, and she earns every glamorous moment she experiences.

Black Friday on Thursday?

Seriously. At one time we could wait until the sun had set on Thanksgiving before we worried about Christmas. It's always been a big deal to check the ads on Thanksgiving Thursday, make a Christmas shopping list and map out the early morning shopping route for BLACK FRIDAY. Which used to start around 4 a.m. But now? Now we start Black Friday on Thursday. Thursday at 10 p.m. Actually - even before that. I received an e-mail from Amazon.com on Monday, with their "early Black Friday deals."

So, is it just me? Or have we forgotten the days of the week? Is ANY special Christmas sale labeled "Black Friday?" Can we not have "shop this Tuesday and save?" What's the big buzz with Black Friday? Yes, it's been around a while. People have been getting knocked down and trampled for some years. Black Friday does have a special meaning ..... biggest deals of the year, right? So I get the PR in that - maintaining the whole "Black Friday-dom" of before-Christmas sales. It has a ring to it - but can we let Black Friday be Black Friday, and anything before that be an "early-bird sale" or something?

When I'm in charge of holiday PR, Black Friday will go back to the day after Thanksgiving. And it won't start at midnight - that's absolute madness. There is no reason to start the sales until the semi-reasonable hour of 6 a.m. We'll enjoy Thanksgiving Day - I won't even let newspaper ads be delivered before 3 p.m. on Thanksgiving, so people will enjoy their families and their dinners before worrying about shopping lists.

It will simply be, Thanksgiving.

The Health of Traditional Media

I've been concerned for a while about the health of traditional media. Is it on its last legs? I would like to argue that it is not. By traditional media, I'm specifically talking about television, magazines and newspapers. Oh! And books.

While it is nice to be able to pull up whatever item you'd like to view on the Internet, I don't think the Internet can replace television news. It's a nice addition, to be sure, but how nice is it to be able to vegetate in front of the TV on occasion, and have the news come to you?

And magazines and newspapers? I'm guilty of checking Internet news several times a day, but it cannot replace (for me) HOLDING a newspaper or magazine in my hands, reading what I wish, turning (and perhaps earmarking) the pages. It's way harder to take your computer into the bathroom with you, too.

Books. That's all. Books are bound, page-turning novelties. If you're making your Christmas list, don't give me Kindle. Give me a book. I don't care. I'm in front of a computer all day - and half the night. When I get ready to read something for pleasure, the only way it can be a pleasure is if I can snuggle up with it. Can NOT do that with a Kindle.

While perhaps the younger generation has grown up with reading and finding information on the Internet, I sincerely hope they don't ruin media for the rest of us.

Battling negative PR

Have been noticing the news today of some of our favorite starts. First, Robert Wagner, and the reopening of the case of Natalie Wood's death thirty years ago. Second, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutchner's divorce, after his scandalous affairs in their supposedly open marriage.

How do you react to that kind of news when it is about you? It would be nice to think you could just tell the truth and all would be well. In Robert Wagner's case, that would be nice. Unfortunately there are a lot of allegations coming forward that he will likely have to fight. How, after 30 years, do you do that? If I'm Robert Wagner's PR consultant, I advise him to stick to his story - that it was a tragic accident. He and Christopher were on the top deck and heard nothing - then discovered Natalie was missing. On the other hand, if you're on Natalie Wood's side (say - her sister), you want to get to the bottom of it, so you fight to uncover the truth, if need be. So I would advise her to keep the allegations in the news, ensure the investigation happens, and don't let it die until you're satisfied.

With Demi and Ashton - that is just a sorry state of "affairs." What a mess. I don't believe for a minute that they both agreed to an open marriage. But that's beside the point. If I were to advise Demi, I would keep her in the public eye in a positive way as much as possible, and advise her agent to find her a spectacular role to play - if she still wants to act. I would tell her to remain non-committal about her marriage. "It's over, and it's nobody's business," and to portray nothing but beauty and pride. You don't want to know what I'd advise Ashton. But to be fair, he should be positive about his relationship with Demi and speak nothing bad of her. The marriage didn't work. That's it, that's all, finito. And I would further advise him to lay low for a while - no naked hot tub parties for the time being - just out of respect.

There you have it - two very different public relations dilemmas facing some very different stars. But probably very similar ways of handling them. Pride, respect and honesty - as much as they can manage.

Social media to help find runaway teen?

Really - What better tool could there be? Allie Loftis has been missing since November 4. Her mother returned from work that Friday night, discovered the 13-year-old was gone, and reported her missing. Since that time, family and friends are using a variety of social media tools to try and find Allie. It is presumed she has run away, as she has once before. Also, she was struggling at school, and having "typical teenage angst." I hope that's it and she's safe and sound somewhere.

Allie's father, Tony, has several degrees and works in ......... Public Relations! So social media is a natural tool for him to use to find anything, or anyone. Shel Holz interviewed Tony about the social media being used in the search for Allie. With the goal being to get the word out about Allie to the New York area (where she is presumed to be, as she is familiar with Brooklyn), tools used include Twitter, Facebook, and the podcast Holz recorded. Along with those tools, Tony is working on a Find Allie YouTube channel. With Twitter, besides creating fresh tweets, Tony's team is monitoring Twitter feeds and answering any questions that come up.

Tony's initial tweet instigated a Huffington Post article, which more than 3,000 people like or recommended it - widening the reach. The "Find Allie" Facebook page has 600 follower. On Allie's own Facebook page, people are posting how much they want her to come home. The fact that she hasn't even responded to friends, makes me wonder if she can.

In any event - social media's reach is far and wide, and can work successfully in many situations. Some of which you hope you never need to.

New PR for Perry?

The Republican candidates participated in another debate tonight, one in which some wondered if Gov. Perry could redeem his "fumbling, forgetful performance" at the last debate. Alas, it was not to be. But did anyone really think it would be? I cringed for him (along with everyone else in America) when he was addressed with a question. I don't believe he ever directly answered a question. Rather, he would turn the answer into something he did feel he knew about, and even then he struggled. I wondered aloud several times, "Who are his PR people? How are they going to spin this one?" I mean, someone is dressing him really nice, but they really need to find someone to stand up and talk for him, too.

I'm sure Gov. Perry is a very nice man. He seems like he would be a lot of fun at a party. I just don't see him being our next president - not even close. I feel for his PR team that has to figure out how to recover after every debate. After his forgetful episode, which - yes - happens to everyone, Perry tried to downplay the "Oops," saying, "This isn't about who's the slickest debater." Well, yes, it is. You'd better be able to think on your feet if you're the president of the United States.

In any event, I feel bad for Perry - he's way out of his league. And so, perhaps (since we're not seeing much in the way of recovery), is his PR team.

PR for Paterno

I suppose SOMEBODY has been working on the variety of scenarios the Penn State scandal could have resulted in and determining what to do in each case. But I think even if you were one who thought Paterno would be fired immediately - you're still at a loss for words. Besides, "Wow."

He made a mistake. He made a horrible mistake. One which he regrets and wishes he could change. The decision to let him go seems obviously correct, yet horribly sad. And yet, what is more sad? The immeasurable devastation resulting from his not following up more thoroughly on sexual abuse reported to him. Beginning with abuse against eight boys - who were in a PROGRAM FOR TROUBLED YOUTH! Who knows the end result of these crimes and how much they were perpetuated? Nobody.

What do you do when you are fired at the age of 84, with the tremendous career and legacy of Joe Paterno? To quote Joe Pa, "With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more." We wish he had, too.

Haters are good?

I was in a luncheon today, and a friend told me, "Don't be a hater!" I didn't think to much about it. When I came home and got ready to post to my blog, I looked at Ragan.com and saw the headline, "5 surprising reasons haters are good for your business." I thought two "haters" in one day was too much of a coincidence - so I'll report on the haters.

Ragan's article explains that a hater is someone who is disgruntled enough to actively talk about how much they hate you and your business, and they generally don't have enough of a life to do much but find their way to your social media channels, post negative comments, and ensure they pull up on Google results.

That sounds like a terrible thing, but Ragan says the reason haters are actually good for your business include: haters expose vulnerabilities (so you can fix them), haters can be converted, haters bring attention (you can counter the negativity), haters publicize frequently asked questions, and haters validate social media efforts (fans and friends stick up for you).

So don't hate the haters! They draw attention to your product and business. If they point out actual problems, it gives you a chance to fix them. If they promote falsehoods, it gives you the opportunity to correct them and tell the truth. Haters draw attention and provide you the opportunity for free advertising. You gotta love 'em.

PR Still Matters

Doug Flora posted an article on ragan.com today called "10 reasons PR still matters." He talks about the growing pains PR has been going through, including all the changes social media has brought to bear, but he says for these very reasons, effective communication is even more important than ever.

His first and, I think, his most important point is, "In the social universe, messaging is key." He says that it isn't enough to have lots of "likes," friends and followers - if your key messages aren't getting "out there," then your social media efforts are a waste of time. Makes perfect sense. To do social media for social media's sake doesn't make any sense. It only makes sense if your message is reaching the ears of your intended public.

He ends this piece by talking about ROI - and it isn't just about dollars. You can assign a dollar value to just about anything, but you have to make sure it means something. You have to "build a reservoir of good will" to help your company overcome crises, as well as everyday difficulties. Additionally, he reflects on Steve Jobs' passing, "A bulletproof reputation can protect a brand even during trying leadership changes."

So - go after social media - knock your socks off. But be sure you're knocking your customers' socks off, too.

While we're on the topic of PR ...

My company sponsors a fabulous program in Northern Utah, for girls in grades 6-9. It is called "Expanding Your Horizons," and is based on conferences begun by a national group in California: http://www.expandingyourhorizons.org/. It is an amazing opportunity for young girls to meet women in STEM professions, participate in three fun hands-on workshops, all while mingling with girls their own age - no boys allowed.

It's sad but true that too many girls seem to take "the easy way out" (I know I did). That is get married - then you have another income and you don't have to worry. The problem is (one of the problems), no matter what you think, you don't know what will happen with that marriage. And not just that one or the other of you may decide to leave at some point. Your husband may become disabled, or he may pass away - you never, ever know. Girls need to be prepared to be prepared to take care of themselves - and maybe even their family. It's a lot better feeling to know you can rely on yourself than to hope you can rely on someone else.

So my PR point today is showing the number of ways my company has used technology (PR) to advertise and promote this conference, which, by the way, 500 girls from Cache Valley to Davis County are attending. We have used e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, newspaper ads and radio. Also some snail mail that went to schools (because some firewalls are so strong that our e-mails bounced). It was a MASS mass-communication effort - and it worked. At least 10 of our workshop presenters and/or assistants attended EYH when they were younger - and now they are working in STEM-related careers.

PR and non-profits - What does it take?

What are the types of issues that would confront PR for non-profit organizations? We've seen the United Way in the news, unfavorably, when leaders were pilfering more than their share of earnings. They also make the news when someone who needs services doesn't "qualify." The United Way also makes the news for service projects and funds that help people and organizations - but when the chips are down, does the good out-weigh the bad?

My thoughts are these: First, negative stories far out-weigh positive ones, so when negative situations hit the news, the PR group had better be prepared to hit the ground running so they keep their organization afloat. A non-profit's PR department needs to ensure at all times that their organization is reflected positively in the news, and ensure positive publicity whenever possible. This way, when something negative does happen, they won't be trying to come up with positives that out-weigh the negatives. They'll already be there. Second, when the negative does happen, the non-profit's PR should never try and sweep it under the rug. Rather, they should acknowledge the incident, explain it as best they can, make it right if necessary and then move on.

Lastly, I would say that above all a non-profit's PR group needs to be in it for the cause - they need to believe in what they are doing, or nobody else will.

Now that's what I call PR!

What? Harry Potter will disappear from stores soon? Seriously. After December 29, Warner Bros. says they will no longer ship Harry Potter film titles to stores - even the final installment! OK - so immediately one side of me thinks, "I'd better go pre-order the final installment!" The other side of me thinks, "Fine! I don't need no stinkin' Harry Potter films anyway!"

Why announce, before the video is even out, that no more will be sent to stores? If I were Warner Bros. PR guy, I would send them final film out pre-holidays in true Harry Potter fashion, then issue a special edition of the final film (in Lord of the Rings fashion), and THEN, I would issue a special, special collection of all eight films together. But that's just me.

So it's an OK tactic to do what WB is doing - I just think they're missing an opportunity. They'll make great gains short term, but I believe they'll lose long term. Of course - never say never. Just when we think the very, very last Harry Potter DVD has sailed from WalMart's shelves .... I'll bet we see something "very special" come along.

Internal Communications - Is it PR?

I hadn't thought about internal communications as being public relations, until I read a chapter in my text book about employee communication. Internal communications is indeed public relations! It's just a different "public" (a word I still hate when used in this context).

So many tools that are used in external communications (traditional public relations) can be - and are - used for internal communications. And, as a company, who is our most important customer? The employees who work for us, of course. A sentence in my text says, "... well-informed employees interacting with an organization's stakeholders will have significant positive influence on relations with customers, the community, investors, and the media, to name a few important groups." That is so true. You know those rumors you hear in the real public? How often do you think they start with employees? Pretty darned often, I'll bet. So if employees are happy and well-informed (or even simply well-informed), the public will be, too. They will have the facts from reliable sources.

I don't think internal communications is given enough thought in companies today, and the function needs to be re-thought. Another idea from my text book, "People are seeking meaning in their work lives," really stood out to me. I think that too often we think employees come to work, do their job and go home - end of story. Oh - and receive their paycheck. I believe that more importantly, employees want to make a contribution and to feel good about what they do. I know I do.

So let's remember our most important customer and take care of our employees. What would companies have without dedicated, well-informed and satisfied employees? Not success.

When Your Campaign Staff Quits

Apparently Michelle Bachman's entire New Hampshire staff quit .... yesterday? The rumors were flying about this yesterday and Bachman's "team" said it wasn't true. But, today ... it is true. So what do you do PR-wise when your staff quits? You apparently say you didn't need them! "It has been said from the beginning that we have an Iowa strategy...." As if they didn't need the New Hampshire staff anyway. Perhaps this is true. Perhaps they weren't being utilized so they hit the road. So why the untruth yesterday? "No, that isn't true!" When, indeed it was.

The second thing is where to go from here. Maybe their tactic of "We always had an Iowa strategy" will work. I think it will be hard to deflate the rumors of a failing campaign, and hasten the recovery on this.

If you ask me - it was a big mistake to lie yesterday. Maybe they didn't know the facts yet - but I seriously doubt it. PR Truth #1 - DO NOT LIE. For one thing - it will never hold water. For another thing, once caught in a fib, it is harder to gain trust.

PR Can Solve Any Problem!

OK - PR can solve just about any problem. Particularly if PR is involved at all levels - all the time - I believe they can alleviate or mitigate just about anything. If a company leaves PR out of planning and decision-making, but then expects them to save the day, they will pay the price.

I do wonder if Netflix can be saved, but that goes back to my original point. Where was PR when the decisions were being made to jack the prices and split the services? If they were involved in those decisions - or even aware of them - they failed miserably. Netflix is doing too much too little too late - we need to see some fancy footwork from them, I think.

We have seen, however, major disasters in this country, and the companies (or stars) have managed to recover, thanks to great PR. I think even Charlie Sheen has come off smelling like a rose - in spite of being kicked off of his show. I don't think he's hurting too badly. I even think British Petroleum is doing OK - and their initial PR was abysmal. They're still getting tremendous gigs, all while "rebuilding the gulf."

So yes, PR can solve any problem - if it is worth solving and if they have the opportunity.

What's up Netflix?

OK Netflix - did you fire your entire PR department? First you make crucial mistakes in communicating (not) very important changes to customers. Then, a month in, after admitting you didn't communicate appropriately but explaining the need for the change - you ........... undo it? The price hike remains, but customers are back to dealing with one customer rather than two. I don't think the price even matters anymore. It's been bad PR from the start - leading right into bad recovery (again, bad PR).

With Netflix stock down 60 percent over the past three months (only three months!), it seems difficult to imagine an effective recovery - ever. It will take lots of PR (good PR), and lots of butt-kissing (an early PR term). If I worked for Netflix, I would initiate some pretty intimate communication with their remaining customers to ensure they stick around, and then working to woo back those who left. Being undaunted by the anticipated rejections, I would also go after new customers, explaining the many benefits to being a Netflix customer compared to going elsewhere. My final step in this process? Never jerk my customers around again!

Netflix needs to now be constant, consistent and cool - but not too cool. They need to be approachable and willing to meet their customers needs. And they can't just tweet about it - they need to continually satisfy their customers and, most of all, put their remaining money where their mouth is.

So Who's Romney's PR Guy?

With the wide variety of Republican candidates campaigning to run for president, Mitt Romney seems to have taken center stage - being the only member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - commonly known as Mormons, who is in the running. Why this draws so much interest amazes me. I don't remember worrying about candidates' religion before. Although it seems like the fact that Jimmy Carter was a Baptist was a conversation point back when. It would be nice if people were as concerned about a candidate's capabilities and desires as they are about his or her religion.

However - I think Romney's PR guy (even if it's himself - which it could be) is doing a bang-up job. The guy is irrefutable. He defends his religion, but draws attention back to the campaign, back to our country and what it needs - what he can provide. PR at its finest.

From a recent story on msnbc.msn.com, it seems people are becoming less concerned about Romney's faith. In fact, 66 percent of Republican voters say they have no concerns - only 13 percent say they are concerned. In my humble opinion, this is, in part, thanks to great PR.

Mormons may differ in their beliefs from other Christian faiths, but to say they are not Christian. It is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. With Jesus Christ being in the center of the name of the church, it's hard to deny that Mormons are, indeed, Christian. Anyway.

Four years ago as Romney campaigned, while he did well, he didn't have the presence he does today. He has obviously been doing his homework - and so has his PR guy.

PR for Jobs

Is it PR when you focus on the life and death of a person? You bet it is. People are big business. Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder, passed away yesterday, and within hours his biography went from #437 to #1 on Amazon's bestseller list - and it isn't even published yet. The publication date also moved up immediately, from November 21 to October 24. People (including me) care about Steve Jobs and for what he stands for - but make no mistake, a lot of the PR surrounding Jobs, even surrounding news about his death, is about making money.

Suddenly there are stories about "The spiritual side of Steve Jobs," "Steve Jobs as master showman, cult hero," 5 memorable quotes from Steve Jobs," and "Timeline: Steve Jobs' career." And that just lists a few. Add to that, the author of Jobs biography also wrote biographies about Henry Kissinger and ....... Benjamin Franklin. Now that's keeping some good company.

Yes Jobs was (and still is) fascinating. He was undeniably successful, intense and intriguing. It's natural for people to want to know more about the man. Even existing Jobs books are increasing in sales.

Have I ordered my copy of Jobs' biography? You bet.

Our Contribution to History - Disappearing?

I read an interesting article in The New Yorker, appropriately entitled, "Oral History." The piece shares how Columbia University's oral-history archive was founded by a historian who was worried that people weren't writing enough down - because of telephone use. People weren't writing letters like they used to, and these letters had also served as important documentation for historians.

Allan Nevins, the historian mentioned, would absolutely roll over now - with use of e-mail, Twitter (used to announce such important trivia as Beyonce's pregnancy and Osama bin Laden's death), Facebook, texting, telephone calls (much increased with the immediacy of cell phones) - any documentation that survives the delete key would be nearly impossible to track down, unless of course you were on the appropriate Twitter channels and had the right "friends."

Are we losing history? Is the documentation still accessible? I think Ian Parker (author of The New Yorker piece) makes a great point. Not that we need to know exactly where and when Beyonce announced her pregnancy, and surely bin Laden's death was recorded elsewhere - in TIME Magazine if nowhere else, but what else is lost. Family history for sure. Letters were once a great source to help family historians piece together facts important to them.

Coincidentally, I'm reading a purely fictional account of a woman tracking down the happenings of her ancestors, which surprisingly included a Sioux Indian woman. A missing piece of the puzzle was found in an oral history library in South Dakota. If not for that, she would have hit a brick wall.

So, oral history is great! But .... who is recording these now? I'm not against new technology, or social media. Quite the contrary. I merely support our descendants' right to know what happened to their ancestors. I'm sure points of history important to the world will be recorded by "someone, somewhere," but what of the trivial, the mundane - that will be so important to persons trying at some point to trace their roots? I'd like to think many of us are keeping journals with these most important tidbits. But if my rate of record-keeping is any indication, we're not meeting this important need.

The Oddest PR Trial Thus Far

A totally random crisis occurred yesterday in the office. I arrived at work at 6:20 a.m. I received an e-mail from a co-worker, informing me that I should "try my link" because every time they did, it went to porn. The referenced link was to a site I am using for on-line enrollment for a conference aimed at girls in grades 6-9. At first, I didn't believe it - I thought the problem MUST be on the co-workers computer, and I told her so. Shortly afterward, I received a call from another co-worker who works on this project, telling me that yes, indeed, when someone tried to register on our site - they would be directed to porn (actually an escort service - but porn nonetheless).

It was somewhat difficult to not only decide what to do first - but to not freak out. (Maybe I did freak out a little bit.) Although the enrollment site is managed by a third party, I first contacted my IT department, explained the issue, and asked them to ensure the porn site was blocked, should someone in our company access the site. It should have been blocked to begin with, so I wanted to ensure our system had not been violated. I then called the third-party web administrator and explained what had happened. They assured me they could fix this really quickly - in just 3-4 hours! To me, 3-4 hours was a little long to just allow girls and/or their parents and teachers to access the site and be forever damaged. I couldn't log into the site to shut down registration, but a co-worker was able to - thankfully in time so that I only received one call - from a mother - and she was a very good sport. I also placed a note on a secondary site stating that "registration was closed due to technical difficulties" and would re-open shortly. Whew!

Where does PR come into play? How damaging could this event have been to my company, and to the conference - which is nationally known? My team was able to avoid repercussions because of quick actions and also PROBABLY because of the time of day. The web administrator I called was on her way to Japan - she wasn't happy to be called so early, but was able to take care of the situation before leaving the country. Also, because it was early, there was not a lot of activity on the site. If there had been more activity, or angry parents, my reaction would have been very different and demanded more time and creativity - ranging from a notice on the site, to personal letters to the parents - and who knows what else.

This event got my heart started early on a Tuesday morning. Who would expect such an event? I guess that now, I will.

Facebook as Free Advertising?

What strikes me today is how easy it is to advertise using social media. I'm sure I need to work on a more strategic method, but it's incredible how much awareness my Facebook pages generate. One is for a product my company is making - and gets many "likes" and "shares," as well as favorable comments. I haven't ever seen a negative comment there, although there is some pretty hefty competition. It's a great place to share videos, product status and good news.

My other Facebook page is for an event. It has helped to draw awareness to the event as we plan and prepare for it, and now that registration is open, it's helping to draw participants in. I've posted an advertising video on this page, the registration link, and maintain a status of "how many more participants can sign up," helping keep some healthy tension - which helps fill the registration.

And that's just about Facebook for business purposes. My personal Facebook page is a great resource to let family and friends know of upcoming events, including time, address, date, etc., and of exciting events that have happened in our family.

No wonder the postal service is in trouble!

TMI?

I've just read Jim Horton's post on http://online-pr.blogspot.com/, "Crisis - A Fictional Case." In this post, Jim describes a fictional story where a sudden explosion occurs, and is immediately mass-broadcast by numerous cell phone photos, Tweets, blogs, TV interviews and on Facebook. He says there was no opportunity for the company to control the flow of information. The story was instantly blown out of proportion, alarming employees and leaders both on-site and out of the area, as well as family and friends of employees, and neighbors of the plant that had the explosion.

While in this fictional story it ended up that, indeed, people had injured and even died in the explosion, Horton makes an excellent observation about the proliferation of "uninformed information flow" in the social media age. Everyone is a reporter, just as when cameras went digital, everyone became a photographer. Suddenly, everyone appears to be an expert. That said, is there anything PR professionals can do about this dilemma, besides put out fires?

While it's true the immediate outpouring of information in Horton's example could not be prevented, the fictional company could have had a better crisis communications plan in place that would've helped alleviate some of the pain. The VP of communications was not immediately alerted by someone at the plant involved. Rather, it was someone from another office who informed him - he was actually getting his information from AP, like any reporter. So, among other failings, right away, the communicator didn't have a link to accurate information.

As I've mentioned before, mass flow of information can be our best friend - but it can also be our worst enemy. Thus, as PR professionals we must be prepared for the inevitable - the crisis at our workplace - and have an excellent plan ready to go when it happens. We can enjoy the rapid spread of good news when that happens for us - but we can never be too prepared for the rapid spread of bad news.

PR Challenges When Contagion Strikes!

Wow. I saw the move "Contagion" over the weekend, and it was really incredible. At least the idea of it was incredible. A woman travels overseas, shakes hands with the casino chef who has just wiped contaminated pig's blood off of his hands (but not very well). She interacts with several other people at this casino, then goes home - through several airports and a pit stop with an old lover. Then .... people start to die. Including her.

The PR aspects surrounding this scenario really stood out during this movie. First, you have a blogger who realizes this is a problem before anyone else, because he saw a video of someone sick on YouTube - and he can't get anyone to listen, so he goes off on his own. He decides he knows the cure - fakes that he has the illness and makes himself well using forsythe. He makes millions of dollars from this position - which is all a lie. He winds up arrested, but his blogger fans bail him out.

The Center for Disease Control finds itself in the worst situation in anyone's memory. Particularly when their fearless leader is overheard warning his fiance to leave town and join him - before others know her town is soon to be quarantined. So they have this media disaster to extinguish.

There was a lot of talk in the movie about Twitter, blogs and the Internet. Ten years ago, this type of situation could possibly have been managed better, since the spread of rumors would have taken longer. The opposite viewpoint, of course, is that the spread of warnings and good news (vaccines) would also have taken longer.

So this whole scenario just really brought to light how things have changed in the Internet/social media age. In good ways and bad ways. I don't know how such a situation could be managed well, because there are so many sources of information. It wasn't like the CDC was even in control, which, in days past, it would have been.

There is no good reason to NOT communicate

Reviewing a ragan.com article today, by Rob Biesenbach, struck a familiar chord with me. I've been bitten by some of these "6 lame excuses for not communicating," and would like to expound. One such reason is, "We can make it better." This is what happens with communications sometimes that get stuck in a never-ending review cycle. EVERYBODY thinks they're an editor. While some edits are well worth the wait, in general when non-editors try and re-write your stuff, it doesn't make the communication better at all - and often makes it worse. So, write well, choose a trustworthy (and quick) editor, and get the communication off your desk.

Another reason for not communicating is "we don't have all the information." This one bit me badly on 9/11. I'll never forget that it took the entire day to get a communication OK'd to send out. By then most employees had seen the news over and over throughout the day, talked to their families and other sources, and were on their way home. Ridiculous - and sad.

"The lawyers won't let us" is another reason, and I believe that - at least sometimes - if you know darn well that what you're saying is right, it's better to ask forgiveness than permission. Obviously you don't want to get your butt in a sling - so you'd better be certain you know what you're talking about, and that it won't land the company in hot water.

"They'll as a question we can't answer." Oh well! Biesenbach is right - no one is expected to know everything. There may be some questions you will have to get back to people on. It's better to be communicating what you know, than nothing at all.

They've already been told? That's a great one. Even if "they" have, if "they" are your company's employees, they need to hear it from their company's leaders, who may not do it without a nudge from PR.

We don't have time? Not a good excuse at all. Nobody has time - we all make time to do the things that are important. And as a PR professional - what is more important than communicating?

Avoid bad PR practices, OR .... Be Honest!

Gil Rudawsky wrote an article on ragan's website, called "5 bad PR practices that will frustrate journalists." Rudawsky started out as a journalist and is now a PR pro, and he lists here some common sense thoughts about what NOT to do as a PR professional. (http://www.ragan.com/PublicRelations/Articles/43636.aspx)

His points to seem to be obvious, but if you've worked as a reporter/journalist - or as a PR professional - you've probably seen PR folk try and get away with these very things. Rudawsky lists "No one home" as the top no-no, noting that you should NEVER send out a media release and then not have someone available to talk about it. I agree that is a huge mistake - a release can never tell the whole story, and if you want the press to have yours, you'd better be prepared to tell.

I think all five of Rudawsky's points actually refer to the same mistake - and that is being dishonest. The remaining four points are 2) spinning the news, 3) flat-out lying, 4) no homework, and 5) sly pitching. If you want to build relationships with reporters, and if you ever want a reporter (or colleague) to trust you again, the initial relationship had better be based on honesty and trust. You don't even have to like each other - although I think it helps - but you'd better have a reputation for being honest and straightforward.

What could be more important than honesty - in any kind of business, really - but especially when you're in the public eye, as a PR professional.

What else would I post about today?

Turn on the radio ..... turn on the news ..... fire up the Internet and what do you see today? On the 10th anniversary of 9/11 - it's all about 9/11. As well it should be. We can read about commemorations and ceremonies around the U.S. We can listen to memories of those affected, and see how things have changed - in New York, around the country and around the world - since 9/11. An MSNBC article is titled "From Sydney to Paris formal ceremonies pay tribute to those who perished," reminding us U.S. citizens aren't the only ones whose lives were lost and whose lives have been affected. I believe that everyone alive on September 11, 2001, will always know exactly were they were that morning their world turned upside down.

What does that have to do with PR? In a cold and impersonal way, I would say that a company or organization providing information in the public realm who does not publicly acknowledging the day - particularly the tenth anniversary - would be thought very cold and impersonal, definitely affecting how they are thought of by their publics (I hate that word). Since public relations is about developing effective relations between organizations and groups that are important to them, acknowledging the day that so greatly affected each one of us is a very good way of reaching out. Reaching out is a way of sharing a common issue, a common concern, a common need to make sense of it. And if we can't make sense of it, at least we can stand together and go forward with strength.

Where was I? I was at work in a meeting about changing benefits, sharing my expertise about how to best communicate the changes that were coming in 2002. I stepped out for a moment, and a colleague told me a plane had flown into the World Trade Center. I thought that was just terrible - unbelievable - but I didn't understand what was happening. Like many, I was very slow to comprehend the magnitude of the day. Of course, by mid-day, I was beginning to understand, and instead of working on benefits communications I was working on communications about the events of September 11.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Highly Effective PR Event Using Social Media

The team I work with recently had an opportunity to use a number of available PR tools. We had a major event happening at work, with a lot of natural attention surrounding it. At the last minute, a supporter of the event decided to take a backseat, and suddenly our team was not only doing the event coordination, we were solely responsible for any and all PR surrounding it.

With 24 hours notice, my team coordinated a ustream account to be able to broadcast events leading up to the event, the event itself, and a post-event press conference. They jumped through incredible hoops to successfully use this tool - and were able to have live coverage. We used a number of media tools available to inform the public of the broadcast, including Facebook, e-mail to large groups and Twitter. These efforts generated more broadcast, web, Twitter and print coverage than past events with more support.

The reason I'm posting this in my blog is not just to brag about my team (they are absolutely incredible), but to talk about the availability of media tools in achieving great things for our business. (Using media tools to achieve great things in our personal lives will be another post.) Of course, it helps to be entrenched in social media before you absolutely need it. It's helpful to have a great number of business "friends" on Facebook, and maintain a chatter about your business there so the right people are paying attention. You can even have additional Facebook pages specifically for your business or company, as well as different products or events. Twitter requires a high number of followers for this tool to be effective in spreading the word about anything. E-mail groups to include business associate, partners and acquaintances can be used periodically to ensure these relationships. Setting up and maintaining these useful tools is immeasurably useful when the need is great.

I've been on Facebook for about three years, Twitter for one, and foursquare for less than that. Four years ago I wouldn't have known what social media was, let alone think it could benefit a business. I encourage everyone to venture out - if you haven't already - and try out these tools. They aren't going away - their only promise is to expand and diversity. They can help build your business savvy, as well as increase awareness and support of your business, products and events.

For Twitter's sake!

I just read Chris Abraham's blog on, "Twitter success demands both top influencers and everyone else," at http://bit.ly/oo6Mu0.He makes a lot of good points. He asks, "Do you focus on the most popular and ignore the rest in social media?" He indicates that some people when using social media want to refine their followers and fans, but disputes the necessity. When narrowing your scope, as Abraham says, you are preaching to the choir. By not limiting your followers and fans, you are reaching countless people and groups who will now benefit from your wit and wisdom. You may gain loyal followers that you would not have had if you limited your following.

Where I work, we have several Twitter accounts. One for our propulsion business, one for community outreach, one for corporate news and another for composites news. Each has a distinct group of followers - as well as some commonalities. So while the purposes of the accounts may vary, we can gain momentum by retweeting. We will often tweet from one account and second the motion by retweeting from another account, thereby having an even greater reach. As Abraham says, "A wider and more open-minded audience has more positive effects than we can realize." And while I'm seconding the motion - I think I'll tweet it. There!

While Twitter has expanded our audiences, as well as increased the speed of receiving breaking news, it has also made our writing more concise. I never realized just how much could be said in 140 characters or less. Cut out the fat - say what you mean - and be done with it.

Like many, I didn't understand Twitter's value at first. But now I do, and like Abraham I believe we should "engage in the thousands and even the millions .... and allow [our] markets to define themselves." And don't get me started on Facebook. Who knew I had so many friends???

JCOMM 2300

I'm excited to begin my JCOMM 2300 class - Introduction to Public Relations. My first assignment is to create a personal blog, and begin to post my thoughts and analysis about PR industry observations. I'll be using materials from current events, PR-centered blog articles, PRWeek articles, PR/Communications academic journals or research reports, or general observations in the PR industry.

This is going to be a great exercise to help me become more familiar with the PR industry. While I work in the Communications field, and cover internal communications, community relations and external communications - my specialty is internal communications. This course, and using this blog, will help me expand my knowledge and skills in PR, helping me in both my current job and future positions.

So here is my start! Once I delve further into the course materials, I will be writing much more.

TTFN