Attending EVERYTHING

I think our industry places too much emphasis on conferences in an era where there are amazing tools to congregate online and find like minded people. I am not suggesting that face to face meetings aren't important, they are critical. But schmoozefests at fancy resorts aren't the kinds of face to face meetings I want to do.

And 'by invitation only' or high priced events are particularly bad in my mind. The most interesting people you can meet are the outsiders, the up and comers, and the hackers who can't afford to lay out $4000 to attend an event and are never going to get an invite to an event where you have to know somebody or "be somebody" to get in. So I avoid those most of all.

I saw this quote today on Fred Wilson's blog and it just hit me. Right now, working in an industry focused around social media I feel like there are conferences, panels, meetups, tweetups, camps...you name it, something EVERY week.

I guess for those who are making a shift into this industry or have that overwhelming feeling that they have to attend EVERYTHING to learn---rest assure that you don't. The information you want to know can be found in other ways.

Sure, going to events are definitely important as face to face interaction (aka--get off your damn computer, go outside and meet someone) helps foster relationships and network you to many opportunities.

But, at many events, the same people show up. Many become friends and it's great to see them, but from a business perspective---the stuff and people you want to meet are not necessarily the ones at every event. They're the ones at home building the next technology. The ones having private dinners with CMOs from big brands doing big things. They're the ones who are having their own smaller meetups to discuss the next thing with 3 or 4 people who are going to change the way we think. I agree with what Fred says, the outsiders and up and comers are the ones you want to meet.

Now of course, being one of the organizers for Digital DUMBO, one could say that I promote the very thing that I'm saying is what you shouldn't be doing. I'm not. I don't expect everyone to come to the event. Trust me, I absolutely LOVE meeting tons of new people but I don't want it to become an event without a purpose. The goal is to bring together the Digital DUMBO community, have them interact, share ideas and maybe throw some work around. We've been very lucky with the success of it and are continuing to figure out ways to make it "not another networking event."

In Kelly Samardak's recent Just an Online Minute column recapping the event, I was extremely proud of her comment.

“There are a lot of britches at DigitalDUMBO drinkups, but nobody acts too big for them — and that’s 100% the reason why no matter how crusty I feel, I will always make the trip across the river to play.”

That's how all events should be. You should feel equal. Interested. Motivated and excited. You should go to things because you have a purpose for being there, can bring something to the table and have a good time doing it. Don't go to go. Go because you want to. If you're not really into the event, it's OK to pass. That time can be put to doing something that can change the exciting and growing world that we're in right now.

PR 2.0-A slideshow

Thought this was pretty interesting showing the changing role of PR with social media's impact.

Social Media and PR 2.0

View more OpenOffice presentations from Jame Ervin.

PR Agency Social Media Check In: Edelman

About: Edelman is the world’s leading independent public relations firm, with more than 3,200 employees in 51 offices worldwide. Edelman was named PRWeek’s “2009 Agency of the Year,” PRWeek’s “Large PR Agency of the Year” (three times in the last four years), and Holmes Report’s “2008 Global Agency of the Year”; and was listed as a top-10 firm by Advertising Age in 2008 and 2007. In 2007, CEO Richard Edelman was honored as “Agency Executive of the Year” by Advertising Age, and he was cited in 2007 and 2008 as “Most Powerful PR Executive” by PRWeek. Edelman’s network includes specialty firms Blue (advertising), StrategyOne (research) and BioScience Communications (medical education and publishing).


Social Media Sites on Corporate Website:

• Flickr
• YouTube
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Edelman CEO Richard Edelman's Blog
• Issuu Online Publishing

Client/s Using Social Media to Enhance Campaign/Brand:

• Filterforgood.com : Brita's campaign to reduce bottled water waste. Integrated Facebook, Twitter, blog post widgets.
• Go Red for Women: Connecting thousands of women across the country empowering them about heart disease. Using Flickr and Facebook.

Other Cool Social Media/Digital Assets from Edelman:

• The Edelman Digital Blog
• Steve Rubel's Micropersuasion Blog (editor's note: Steve was a main reason I started blogging on my former employer's blog.)

Summary: Edelman's kicking ass on the social media front. I'm not surprised. With Steve Rubel being one of the pioneers of social media thinking for PR, many of the tactics that I'm looking for in these posts come from ideas he wrote about over the past few years. They're carrying over the necessities of making their clients social across all of their websites and doing it well. Not all clients have a Twitter---which is great because not all clients NEED a Twitter. Their website is extremely impressive and easy to navigate. Awesome.

Do you know or work for an agency doing great things with social media with their clients AND internally? Leave suggestions in the comments!

Starting a series

My last post quickly asked about PR agencies having a visible presence on their websites and their social media presence. I received some great response. Thank you!

To dive deeper into this, I thought I'd actually take a closer look at a couple of agencies and see what they're doing.

Some things I'll be looking at:

• Presence in social media in general
• Visibility of social media presence (links to sites, etc...)
• Clients they're working on and providing social media strategy/campaigns to

Why am I doing this? Well, not too many people have taken a look at this space so I figured "Why not?" A lot of PR agencies are looking to be the ones owning the social media budget (something I and my company strongly agree with), so who are the ones practicing what they preach? Who are the ones leading the march and really showing others how to do it? Who can we learn from?

Note that there are a TON of PR agencies so bare with me. I probably won't hit them all and I'll probably go after the bigger ones first as they're the most well known.

If you'd like to submit others to be included, please leave them in the comments and a thank you in advance!

PR Agency sites practicing what they preach

I haven't checked out PR agency websites in awhile, but was referenced to Coyne's today and had to check it out. They've integrated the basic social media sharing bookmarks to the top of the page.

Pretty cool they have this so front and center.

Know of any other agencies doing this?

Basics

If an agency or consultant can't begin with objectives (recognizing that different objectives map to different channels), build a plan based on this alignment and then measure it, then they need to learn how. Aimless Tweeting is for the birds.

-Attention PR's Colin Nagy, in AdWeek

Social Media- some things you can learn from PR people

While there is much debate over who OWNS social media, and many people argue that no one OWNS it, I thought this video from Will McInnes, Managing Director at Nixon McInnes provided some good sound bites. Especially since he thinks PR people are key to moving social media forward in the right direction.

"We need to know more from those PR people about telling stories, about narratives about editors and the end audience and those are skill sets that we really need at the moment. So we need the PR agencies to step up and evolve quickly."

Twitter Date? Circle Yes or No

Would You Twitter Date? | Poll, dating and technology, social networking | geeksugar - Technology & Gadgets -via my favorite Geek Girl blog GeekSugar. Take the poll on their site.

What do we think about Twitter being a major competitor to popular sites like Match.com and eHarmony?

Think about it. You already see what they're interested in via the content they tweet. Many post real photos as their icons. (Me excluded---although come on, my avatar is damn good looking.) You can check them out in person at a tweetup. Reply to them and start a nonchalant conversation. It's FREE.

Some people may think this is über nerdy, but it really could become the next place to find your soulmate. I know people already who have met because of Twitter (and Tumblr actually---there's another one.)

What do you think?

FourSquare + Yelp would make me really happy

I love Foursquare. I love checking in and playing the "game" with friends.

Case in point: Last night at dinner my dinner date and I sat down at 10 Downing for dinner. We started chatting and both of us immediately said "We have to check in!" I grabbed my Blackberry. She grabbed her iPhone. Done. Next bar we went to: same thing. Did the bartender eye us weird? Absolutely.

What I also use FourSquare for is a reminder of where I went that week so I can Yelp it. It would be great if Foursquare and Yelp synced up so I get a reminder (similar to OpenTable) asking me how the restaurant/bar/park was.

Being one to ask for customer service/features openly---I posted this thought. And, because the guys at FourSquare rock and answer replies all the time I received a message this morning that FourSquare is "playing with some of these next-morning reminders for things like Tips and To-Dos. Stay tuned..."

Awesome.

PR Tip: Listen to your PR person

From "With PR on the Rise, Here's a Refresher Course in the Basics"

Best one of the list:

Listen to the people you paid to help you. Don't hire a PR person or agency and then ignore them when they tell you that the story you're presenting is either too boring, a lie or, even worse, a lie that'll get found out. I've heard 100 PR people say "yes, I know it's bullshit, but it's what they wanted to say." Not only is going against their advice a waste of your money, but it's also going to undermine your PR people's credibility and therefore your ability to earn media when you do have something to say.

THANK YOU.

Dear Urban Outfitters- I agree. Let's Talk. Just not here.

Urban Outfitters is one of my favorite stores. It's the one place to buy clothes that make you look hip, hipster, stylish, cute---everything. I don't know too many girls in New York who don't own things from this store. Gladiator sandals. Flowy tank tops. Summer dresses. Plus, all of the fun stuff in the "Accessories" section. (We all own at least ONE coffee table book about sex positions, places to take visitors in NYC, Audrey Hepburn, lines from Sex & The City---take your pick)

I recently ordered a pair of summer sandals from Urban. Needed new ones. Plus, they were on sale. ($35 including shipping for some cute shoes---yep. Done.) Shipping was scheduled to take 3-5 days. Took 1 1/2. Awesome. I love them. They fit. No problems. The usual Urban ordering experience. (Note: I usually prefer shopping in store but the shoe selection is never as good as the online.)

Then today I received an email thanking me for the purchase and asking me to leave some feedback. (Photo above) OK. That's nice. Sure. They then outline the next best steps.

1. Find your items on UrbanOutfitters.com
2. Click the "Review" tab
3. Rank Your Item
4. Leave a Comment About the Item
5. Upload your photos & video
6. That's it!

Wellll, "That's it!" isn't really a fair statement. They want me to do a LOT of things on their site where I'm not a visitor every day. First, I had to go find my purchase. OK, so I have to go back to my receipt, find the name of the shoes. Hmm. It would have been easier if a simple link appeared directing me right to what I bought. Then, I click Reviews and can comment. But , once I DO comment/review/upload content... what do I do next? Do I get notifications if someone else writes about the shoe? I don't really care. I like them and it's not like I'm going to be buying them again.

While they ask for my location so I can "connect" with others---I don't really need to meet someone who likes Urban Outfitters. I can find people in the store for that, or ask one of my girlfriends that frequent the store as well. I just don't see the incentive to reviewing the shoes on the Urban Outfitters site. Am I getting a discount? I know reviews are helpful. I look at them when buying, but there has to be a better, easier way to do this.

Urban Outfitters is a perfect example of a place to integrate Facebook Connect and take the brand to a community where people already talk about it. By encouraging users to submit content to their own site, it just doesn't make sense. I'm there to shop. NOT be part of a community. If I purchase shoes, I should share this easily with one click on Facebook. Then, my girls who have similar taste can see. Like them. Heck, they can even buy them right there or go back to the Urban site for shopping of their own. Urban does a good job already by including popular sharing features on the items. I can post a dress that I want to my profile and add a comment. That's great! Getting an email to feedback on the site a few days after delivery---that's not doing it for me.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not here to just complain about it, I want to propose this new way of connecting people who shop on the site. Urban has a huge fan base. I'm sure their numbers for online shopping are HUGE. Let's make it easier to share all of the fabulous finds to places I go to every day. Make it easy and the content will come naturally to building solid reviews and a solid fan base connected online in one easy place.

Have you come across any other sites your frequent often that would benefit from better social network integration? Would love to hear about them in the comments!

PR for yourself-not as easy.

Do you ever feel like, as a PR person, the hardest person to do PR for is yourself? As you're so used to doing work for your client, it's hard when the chance to promote yourself comes up?

Why is it so easy to pull together media plans and say NO to them, yet really hard to do so for yourself?

End thought.

DVR Proof---not gonna happen

I watch TV sparingly. I have my favorites. 30 Rock. Gossip Girl. Lost. Law & Order SVU (I consider that one more an addiction/problem---that's another post) With my schedule, I rarely make it home to watch these shows so the DVR is my best friend when I want to focus time on "escaping reality." I still fast forward through anything that is not the actual content. I'm sorry but I don't have time. I see my advertisements on websites and that's enough. If I have control over seeing someone advertise to me or not, I'm going with the latter.

So, when I read today that Jay Leno is going "DVR proof" I had to laugh. Sorry folks---we'll find a way to fast forward you if you're pushing ads. I'm interested in seeing how he actually does this, but if it's going to be him plugging brands for a few seconds---I think he may lose fans anyway.

What do you think?

DIY PR- Example

In follow up to my post about the little things that can help Internet startups with some basic PR efforts, this gem crossed my inbox. (Thank you Kyle) This story is PERFECT when discussing PR for startups. Look at the ambition.

In a nutshell: Chris Hedgecock, entrepreneur has a used car website called CarsForaGrand.com. "He bought a car for under $1,000 from the site and drove it coast to coast in an attempt to get some news coverage and visitors to the site. They were successful in appearing on a dozen news broadcasts and driving almost half a million visitors to the site in three weeks - all for free."

If this isn't a great example of having ambition and creative thinking for a PR strategy, I don't know what is. He had a friend who works in PR write up a press release. He then had another friend without ANY PR experience help with the outreach. (Not to kill my industry---but see? ANYONE can do PR!) They outreached to local TV stations. Talked to assignment editors. And then guess what happened? THEY GOT ON AIR.

As Chris says in the blog post: "if you have an idea get off your ass and just go for it. The worst thing that can happen is you will learn something new, and you might just succeed beyond your wildest expectations in the process."

It's a great quote to live by in general, but for timeliness and relevance sake---applies to if you want to go out and get attention to your startup company.

Startup PR---more than an event

This past Thursday I organized an event through the nextNY group titled "PR for Startups." Why did I do it? I started to notice a shift in some of the questions on the nextNY thread looking for PR advice. "When should I bring a PR agency on? Why is it so expensive? Are people doing PR themselves or hiring a person to do it?" I also saw friends who have their own startups do some killer PR strategies without a single PR person.

So, I decided to organize the event (with some pushing from a friend as well--thank you) Organize a group of PR leaders in the industry, bring in journalists and startups and have an open round table to discuss tips, what the media wants to hear and when they should hire someone.

I could go into detail about recapping the event, but Mary Kathleen Flynn already wrote a great piece about it on The Deal here, Allen Stern posted videos from the event on CenterNetworks here, David Parmet wrote and Matt Caldecutt provided a quick recap on his blog as well.

What I want to cover is what I learned...I'm going to cut them into parts and do a few posts to spare this blog becoming one page of text and ideas.

Do startups need "public relations"---meaning: do they need the traditional term of public relations? The full messaging planning sessions, development of target media lists, counsel, brainstorming for creative ideas? Do they need the 1:1 time we give most clients if they only need us during periods of growth? Long term media plans and relationship building for 6 month long lead stories?

• Dare I say no for some of them? I think startups need more immediate ROI outreach. New startups. Those that are running out of capital, they don't have the time or money to invest in a PR budget. When Sabrina Horn, founder of The Horn Group highlighted that startups need a MINIMUM of $10k---I swear I heard gasps. That is a LOT of money and many still don't get what they're actually paying for. Some even said (and I agree) that the $10K a month could go to a few developers/design. (I guess I can pause here too that when I'm saying startups I'm thinking about web startups---that was the major audience of the group and the industry I'm dealing with. Other startups for physical products, this can be a completely different topic.)
• So, what is needed? In my opinion, they need SOME type of media plan. A plan to get coverage, get interest from the audience and get people engaging, clicking, submitting content to the site. They need it quick and they need it done without spending too much time. If a startup is limited to people, resources for PR---they need to be putting their time into developing the product. Meeting with potential investors. PR is not a major priority---I totally get that. But, what NEEDS to be a priority for them is when there is an open opportunity for their startup to get media coverage and a quick spike of people who could spread the word about their product- there should be a way to quickly help them get that. Current economic climate, need in the market---stories are aching for experts, products that a startup could provide commentary on.
• A small amount of effort should be placed in getting to those stories---is that "PR"? Sure. In a way. More, it's strategic planning that you should plan for. Don't think of it as PR. That word in a way is so broad and can scare so many people. You've been working your startup for months, years even. It's your baby. You know how to sell it. You know what you need to talk about. That's a great start. It's a better start then half of the companies out there who spend budgets on training people to talk about their company. You don't need that. You have that. Develop a simple set of messages as to why your company is newsworthy, how it fits into the overall industry and what makes it different from the rest.
  
• The important question: Who's going to do this? Well, you can do it yourself. Find a friendly PR friend who has some free time and a lot of interest in you and your company. Or, contract a freelancer. There are tons of PR people out there who are willing to do work like this. Quick media hits for specific needs---it can be done. Plus, it helps them with their relationships with the press, helps them improve their skills and it's something many PR people LIKE doing. Ask them. (I know some who will help! Trust me.)
  

What do you think?