Not Just Another Day
If you’re like me, right now you are sipping your coffee (or tea), reading your morning paper (or more likely, scanning your RSS reader), making a mental checklist of everything you must take care of today.
Just another day.
Image: Lance Johnson, Creative Commons
If you’re like me but on the other side of the world, you are winding down after a hard day’s work, figuring out what to cook for dinner (or what takeout you’ll order), stretching your bones that ache after a day of sitting in front of, and staring too hard, too frequently, too long without interruption, at a brightly lit screen.
Just another day.
Just another day can change in the blink of an eye.
A public relations professional
takes a wrong turn in unfamiliar terrain and a mini-triathlon turns into a narrow escape from a broken neck.
An aspiring singer
steps out of her car to escape the swelter of a malfunctioning air conditioner and is shot to death.
An account manager
traveling on a routine business trip dies in a terrorist attack, his last words memorialized.
As I head to the American Red Cross’ Emergency Social Data Summit this morning, I expect to hear many more stories like these, and how social media – the ephemeral thread that binds us all, whether we like it or not – adds a previously-unimagined dimension to crisis and disaster response.
It will not be just another day.
Even if you’re not there in person, you too can join by following #crisisdata on Twitter, keeping tabs on the Emergency Social Data blog, or watching the livestream on NextGenWeb.
It will not be just another day.
Filed under Communication, Events, Social Media | Tags: #crisisdata, crisis communications, disaster response, emergency social data summit, Social Media | Comments (4)
How To Think Like A Reader With Ann Wylie
Yesterday was a bit of a red-letter day. It was my husband’s birthday (and he thanks you kindly for all the good wishes, both here as well as on Twitter), which is a pretty big deal in and of itself.
Over and above that, though, IABC/DC Metro (y’all know I’m current president, right? Disclosure and all…) hosted a very special event: a three-hour writing workshop, sponsored by Johns Hopkins University (additional disclosure, I teach there) and Marketwire, with the renowned Ann Wylie, who promised to teach us all to “Think Like A Reader” and “Cut Through The Clutter.”
I’ve been a fan of Ann’s writing and teaching for years, but this was the first time I got to meet her in person.
Quite frankly: she’s amazing. She’s friendly, down-to-earth and has a fabulous dress style (and her hair is pretty fabulous as well).
As you may have seen, I live-tweeted a fair amount of her workshop (with Ann’s permission). There were so many nuggets that it’s tough for me to give you all of them, but here are a few:
- “Irrelevant information is not benign; it hurts. It costs attention, and that’s one thing no one can afford to spill.”
- “Would you put a stamp on it?” That’s a good rule of thumb to help you decide whether to send a communication or not.
- The definition of a paragraph: cover one idea, and then hit “return.” So think about packaging your information into smaller ideas.
- “Go from we to you. Stop talking about yourself. ‘You’ is the most re-tweeted word in English.”
If you haven’t already, you should definitely sign up for Ann’s writing tips via her free e-zine or, better yet, Revving Up Readership. And no, she didn’t ask me to say that; I really think you should.
Here are a few more tips from the master. I’d say “mistress,” but somehow that doesn’t feel right…
Filed under Communication, Events, Writing | Tags: ann wylie, iabc dc metro, iabcdc, johns hopkins, marketwire, think like a reader, Writing | Comments (4)DMC10, Twitter and The Blue Ball
Earlier today I presented at the 2010 Digital Media Conference, put on by PotomacTechWire and DigitalMediaWire.
My panel focused on “Twitter and the Media,” and included luminaries such as Rohit Bhargava, Jodi Gersh, Kevin Dando and Chris McGill. If ever a panel made me feel smart…
It was a fun afternoon, for which I prepared by downing copious amounts of the delicious tomato/basil soup on hand. And I hope those who attended got something out of it too.
For me, it was great not just to meet/reconnect with my fellow panelists, but to see folks like Mike Smith, Liz Shea, Ashley Houghton and Stephanie Wonderlick.
We talked, as you might imagine, about various aspects of Twitter. And while I enjoyed all the comments, something Chris said particularly struck home:
Twitter is for everyone… even if all you do is use it to listen.
If you think about it, that’s really true. You can use it to gather intelligence, keep on top of your brand… and you don’t have to be an active user to do that.
Now, if you’re consider Twitter as a marketing tool, then yes, you have to really dive in and not just listen but engage, converse, yada yada yada.
And all that is stuff I say all the time.
But if you’re not ready to do all that, at the very least you can use it to listen.
I do think you should be smart about the social platforms you decide to use, and that’s what yesterday’s webinar/post was about.
If you don’t know what your goals are, you’re going to have a tough time figuring out how to reach them.
But if you’re just getting started… why not just listen for a while?
You might be surprised by what you hear.
The Blue Ball
After the panel was over, the beauteous Jodi (and she really is beauteous) gave me a personal tour of Gannett and USA Today‘s properties in NoVa. Here’s the famous “blue ball:”
Happy weekend!
Filed under Events, Social Media, Speaking, Twitter | Tags: #dmc10, blue ball, chris mcgill, gannett, jodi gersh, kevin dando, rohit bhargava, Twitter, usa today | Comments (3)Getting My WGBiz Groove On
Hard drive or no hard drive, life must go on, right?
Which is why I’m really glad today’s finally here. I’ll be heading out to the first-ever Women Grow Business Boot Camp shortly (thank you, sponsors Network Solutions and Steptoe & Johnson LLP), which, if the “buzz” and enthusiasm for is anything to go by, will be quite remarkable.
Here’s the 4-1-1 on it, and if you’d like to join us virtually, we’ll be live-streaming it today (thank you, Stacy Yamaoka of Yayastream!). Ready? Just stay current with the schedule, and press “play” below at 9:30 am ET today. Else, you can follow/join the conversation on Twitter, by using the #wgbiz hashtag.
See you there!
Image: Melanie Holtsman, Creative Commons
Filed under Business, Events, Women Grow Business | Tags: #wgbiz, boot camp, Women Grow Business, yayastream | Comment (0)Scones, Sparkle and Sharing at DC’s First Social Media Breakfast
I attended my first Social Media Club (DC) event yesterday – a “social media breakfast,” which was founded by Bryan Person (read more here) – and the inaugural event of its kind in DC.
Wow – what a great time. First of all, it was sold out (well, it was free, but if you wanted to share in the extremely tasty, hot breakfast, you had to shell out $10, which I think is a deal). Teaism‘s cup was running over, if you’ll pardon the expression, of social media maniacs. And we’re a hungry bunch, in more ways than one, so we were eager listeners when Andi Narvaez, who was running the show, kicked things off.
Speakers Geoff Livingston, Shashi Bellamkonda and Alex Howard were fabulous, as was the organization by Andi and her cohort, Rachel Rule. I had a terrific time being a “head of table,” along with Mike Schaffer – and we were even at the same table, which was great. Among others, I got to meet James Walker, Lorna Webster (all the way from Fredericksburg, Va.), Ashley Settle and catch up with Kim Oser (we were all at the same table).
Though I’d meant to post this much earlier, in a way I’m glad I didn’t get a chance to do so, because I’ve found some terrific recaps of the event, such as in Shashi’s Examiner column and Alex Priest’s excellent writeup.
As you’ll read, the speakers all agreed on mobile being a top trend (and you can see how this is a theme in Geoff’s recent post over at Mashable on the Haitian earthquake implications for non-profit organizations).
Shashi made an excellent point (out of many) about integrating social media into your websites (“people aren’t going to come to your site to talk about your product/brand”), and Alex ripped through so many trends (including geo-location, niche networks, privacy – or the lack thereof – and real time) in his Prezi presentation, I felt like a benevolent hurricane had blown through the room. Fortunately, he’s allowed us to embed his excellent presentation, so have a look (tip, watch it in fullscreen mode, it’s much more fun).
Our table had an amazingly free-flowing discussion once the speakers wrapped; we covered everything from how businesses are using Foursquare, to governance of the Internet, to the successful integration of different applications. In fact, they pretty much had to throw us out (ask Mike, I’m not kidding). It was a great way to start a day (and week).
By the way, I’ve seen a few disappointed tweets from folks who didn’t know it was happening. Folks, if you subscribe to SMC-DC’s blog, and/or follow their tweets (#smcdc), and/or join their LinkedIn group, you’ll know when the next one is, won’t you?
The Real A-ha Moment
For me, the real “a-ha” moment was the engagement that we all shared, and the clear enjoyment we had in meeting each other, particularly when so many of us only knew each other from Twitter.
So in my opinion, while social media and online networking clearly has new and exciting heights to scale, I think we’re also going to see a resurgence of offline interaction in the days, months and years to come. Because all the trends the speakers spoke about had one thing in common, no matter how cool they were – they enable us to make better connections with each other.
The online world making us more human? Who’da thunk it.
If you were at #smbdc, what did you think? Did your table have other conversations you’d care to share? Do tell!
Image (cc) courtesy Shashi Bellamkonda, Social Media Swami, Network Solutions
Filed under Events, Social Media | Tags: #smbdc, #smcdc, alex howard, alex priest, andi narvaez, ashley settle, bryan person, geoff livingston, james walker, kim oser, lorna webster, mashable, mike schaffer, mobile, prezi, rachel rule, shashi bellamkonda, social media examiner, teaism, trends | Comments (10)Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall
With IABC/Washington’s first chapter meeting of 2010 coming up next week, I thought it would be interesting to see what our moderator, Daria Steigman, had to say of the communication changes over the past decade (h/t Geoff Livingston for giving me the idea from the final BlogPotomac). That’s what our meeting’s focusing on, or “looking back, looking ahead,” as its title goes.
I know Daria will have a lot more to say come next Thursday, but in the meantime, here’s a peek into her grey matter to get you thinking. And I hope we’ll see you next week – it’s not often that Shashi Bellamkonda (Network Solutions), Torod Neptune (Waggener Edstrom), John Taylor (Sprint Nextel) and Paul Sherman (Tech Wire Publications) gather under the same roof. Early bird registration ends Jan. 12, so hurry, hurry, hurry!
What, in your opinion, is the most dramatic change we’ve seen in the communication landscape since 2001?
I tend to think that Web 1.0 and the democratization of access to information changed the landscape in the 1990s. That said, the arrival of Web 2.0, and the ability for everyone (or anyone) to be a content creator, publisher, and sharer of information transformed the communications landscape in the first decade of the 21st century. If you think about some of the key developments and the tools we take for granted, they weren’t around when the century started. If you did a timeline of some of the key platforms, you have 2003 (WordPress, MySpace, LinkedIn); 2004 (FaceBook, Flickr), 2005 (YouTube), 2006 (Twitter).
How has this impacted you as a communications practitioner?
It’s clearly had an impact on how we do our jobs, but it has had less impact for me on how I approach it. Perhaps because I came out of the public affairs arena, I’ve always thought about audiences in buckets. By this I mean that no organization has One Audience—but instead multiple stakeholders. And while you need message consistency across your audiences, you need different language and different approaches to reach different people.
While I’ve always thought of this as “duh,” I’ve been surprised in recent years that so much of the social media conversation has been around this very topic.
From a day-to-day perspective, the biggest changes may be the speed of information and the volume of business intelligence that we need to track. It’s also the enormity of the task.
It’s not like blog posts and videos are replacing old-school marketing, because not everyone’s using social tools or using them the same way. So our jobs are just getting bigger.
At the same time, I’ve been really pleased to see the conversation move away from siloed work stations (i.e., public affairs, public relations, media relations, marketing, customer service, and so forth) to how these must be integrated for an organization to be successful.
As a business owner, I have to add one more transformative element: the democratization of access to people. These same tools that allow us to share our stories also enable us to identify and engage with people across the globe.
Is there anything you miss about “the old days”?
Not really, because I think that this shift to a more level playing field vis-à-vis access and information is a social good. And while some rail that we’re all spending our time online, I actually believe that this technology is making us less isolated.
Our communities may no longer be bounded by geography, but they’re just as strong.
What’s next?
Data, data, data. Data-driven research has always been critical, but we’re just starting to harness the enormous amount of information that is all around us. Two other big trends are mobile (of course) and real time. Real time is going to be increasingly important, both in the data context and also for reputation management.
Daria Steigman, founder of Steigman Communications, has been helping companies and other organizations tell their story for over 20 years. She’s also the author of a bimonthly column and a blog that both focus on the business of running a business, entrepreneurship, communications, social media, strategic thinking, and Independent Thinking.
Looking Back, Looking Ahead: IABC/Washington’s January Chapter Meeting
I know it must seem like IABC/Washington‘s the only thing on my mind at present – I assure you it’s not. But I did want to let you know about what I think will be a terrific event as we usher in 2010. And given how crazy the holidays get, I wanted to get the word out earlier rather than later.
Our first chapter meeting next year will bring together some of the smartest people in the DC metro area to look at the changes (often dramatic) that our business has seen since the turn of the century (and you know I’m not just talking Twitter) and tell us what they think lies in store for us. Nobody has a crystal ball, but I’m pretty sure we’ll get some interesting insights from these folk.
To loosely quote from our invitation: “… what will 2010 bring? Can we expect any changes for communication professionals in the National Capital area.. what are the communication trends we’re likely to see … and how can we learn to harness technology to work even better for our organizations and clients?”
Here’s who you’ll meet and get to hear from:
Shashi Bellamkonda, director of social media and “social media swami” for Network Solutions; Torod Neptune, senior vice president/Global Public Affairs practice leader and GM of Waggener Edstrom‘s DC office; John Taylor, senior manager of public affairs at Sprint Nextel; and Paul Sherman, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Tech Wire Publications.
I know – we don’t have a single woman on the panel, which is terrible – though we did try and we’ll have to do better next time! But we were able to convince Daria Steigman, founder of Steigman Communications and a former chapter president to moderate, so ladies – Daria will represent.
Save the date (or register now): January 14, 2010, 5:30 – 8:30 pm, and we’ll be meeting at the Hamilton Crowne Plaza in downtown DC.
I anticipate great people, great networking and killer learning… and hope to see you there!
Filed under Communication, Events, Networking, Social Media
| Tags: communications, daria steigman, iabc washington, john taylor, paul sherman, Public Relations, shashi bellamkonda, Social Media, torod neptune |
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