Taking A Bow On BNET

Exactly a week ago, something really really really good happened to/for me.

Even though I couldn’t officially spill the beans, I had to tell my friends (of course).

They were equally happy for me and, I suspect, a little frustrated that it would take me a week to come clean. This was my Facebook post that day:

A week hence

Now, that day has come, and I can officially tell you…

Today marks my debut as a BNET blogger.

Woo hoo!

In case – just in case – you’re not familiar with it, BNET is “the hub of the CBS Interactive Business Network, which

” … provides working professionals with the advice and insights they need to get ahead in today’s workplace. It isn’t a site for those who merely punch the clock: It’s for business leaders—of today and the future–who believe in the meaning of work and who know that nurturing excellence in their staff and their organization is the true measure of success.”

A lot of media properties make similar claims, but having been a regular BNET reader for a while, my personal opinion (and you can decide whether it’s humble or not) is that BNET provides real value for those in, and who care about, business.

So I’m absolutely THRILLED to bits about this!

Image: Ross Hall via Flickr, CC 2.0

My first post ran today: Are you listening to – or shouting at – your customers online?

Those of you who interact with me on various social networks know that this is a pet peeve of mine; when organizations don’t understand what a “two-way street means,” and instead opt for what I call the Billy Mays approach.

Do have a read, and if you like it, please share it, Facebook “like” it, Stumble it…

In other words, do pass it around to those you think would enjoy it, much as we share crudités at parties. They’re just enough to whet our appetite for more without making us feel engorged and sated.

Dude. Let’s make this the broccoli of crudités!

Because if you do, then I have a real chance at staying on as a blogger for BNET for a run of more than a few weeks.

And who wouldn’t want that?!

So. Please read, share, and let me know what you think – good or bad. If you have ideas for more posts (I’ll be posting once a week for the next few weeks, primarily on PR and social media), please let me know.

My crudités and I will thank you!

Bookmining on Twitter

Stuck for reading material?

Image: David Pritchard, Creative Commons

Just ask your social networks for their recommendations.

I had a $50 gift card to Barnes & Noble that was burning a hole in its sleeve.

I have a habit of using gift cards to get gifts for others, but this time I decided to treat myself.

W00t!

Look at some of the great recommendations I got (and am still getting)

on Twitter:

and on Facebook

I ended up buying:

Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond (I heard about it on NPR and have been wanting to read it),

Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh, who is one of the best Indo-Anglian writers EVER,

The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee-Divakaruni (ditto on the Indo-Anglian author thing, and because I think her take on the Mahabharata might possibly be better than that of Peter Brook’s), and

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard, which Leah Betty mentioned on Twitter while we were chatting:

And the $50 covered them all (including tax, free shipping).

Double W00t!

So now I have four great books coming my way, and a whole host of others to add to my “must read” list, especially when I need a new book fix.

Yes, I know I could use the library, but I’m one of those people who likes to keep the books they love.

They become some of my best friends, and there’s nothing like going into your home library and sitting down for a cuppa to get reacquainted with characters you haven’t seen in a while.

Just another way social media makes my life better.

So what if you’re not saving the world?

My social networks didn’t help me save the world today, or save a dog.

But they added immense value by opening up my world just a little bit more.

And it’s only by inhabiting an open, forward-looking world that we can progress, not one that shutters and bars the doors to change.

Thank you, SM; and thank you everyone who gave me such great suggestions.

I’m here because you are.

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.

Of Early Adopters, Tenons and Henry Wood

“Technically mocking isn’t a sport… yet… though I have made a proposal for the 2020 Olympic games.” ~ Brian Meeks

This is the final post in a three-part interview with Brian Meeks, who goes by the moniker “Extremely Average.” In Part I, Brian talked about why woodworking makes him a better writer, and stinking in the dark room. Part II saw him discussing why he hasn’t decided whether or not Mrs. Johnson was evil. My questions continue:

Tell me a little about your use of social media, personal and professional.

Professionally

I manage the social media and customer relations for a company from Vienna, Va.  It is ironic that 3 weeks after I moved back to Iowa, I should get a job 30 miles from my old home.

For PreferredVendor, I focus on building relationships within the Human Resources and Recruiting industry.  PreferredVendor is a SaaS (Software as a Service) company, which means we offer tools to help people manage their recruiting.  It is my job to promote the company, handle customer issues, and generally stay on top of all things social.

Personally

I have been involved in the social media industry for four years now. My first three years were in the virtual world of Second Life, where I made my living building spaces for corporate clients. It was during this time in SL that I discovered Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook etc.; I believe I started during or near the beta for all three of those.

My connections in the virtual world industry were always on top of the new stuff coming out, and that helped me discover each of them.

I remember when I first joined Twitter, it was novel and I thought it was fun. I didn’t know how to use it as a tool for networking, building relationships, and helping people find one’s blog.

I wish I had better understood its power early on, but I guess I got there eventually. There are still many people who don’t use this platform, so I consider the people using Twitter for marketing to be early adopters.

I love “Henry Wood Detective Agency.” It reminds me of a cross between “Moonlighting” and Alexander McCall Smith’s #1 Ladies Detective Agency. How did it come into being? Are you going to publish it?

That is high praise indeed. I loved Moonlighting and #1 Ladies Detective Agency, so perhaps they are sneaking into Henry’s world. Thanks so much.

As for how it came to be, when I first started the blog, I tried to avoid just giving a run down of what I was working on.

Many of my posts were stories with little bits of woodworking in them, and those bits were about what I had done that day. Henry Wood started out the same way.

The early chapters always related to what I was doing in my shop. The pictures were of my current project, which became Henry’s project. I felt that all the one off stories needed to be supplemented with a longer piece. So I started Henry Wood.

The response has been remarkable. I am, as of the writing of this response, at 22 chapters.

I think that if Henry makes it to 70,000 words, I will likely try to put it up on Kindle, Sony Reader, and the iPad. If he solves the mystery sooner than that, I may not.

I had delusions of grandeur with my novel that I mentioned, but haven’t done a thing with it.

So it is likely he may live forever on the blog and never venture out into the world. I would like to publish it though; it is more a case of me knowing how I tend to procrastinate with stuff of that nature.

What else do you like to do, other than writing and woodworking?

I love sports, especially Tennis, Baseball, College Football, and Mocking.

Technically mocking isn’t a sport… yet… though I have made a proposal for the 2020 Olympic games.

I feel I could be a world class mocker.

Last words?

I feel that if I added anything else, the people who have made it this far, would likely unsubscribe from your blog and curse your name, so I will simply finish with, “Thanks for Reading my Blog.”

It should be noted that “I can’t be trusted.” I said I was done, and yet I am still typing.

Dreadful.

There is one more thing, now that you mention it. I have a second blog, which I don’t do much with, but if you are interested, it is at http://socialmingler.blogspot.com.

Ok, now I am done.

Image of tenons © Brian Meeks, used with permission.

Brian Meeks used to make his living in the virtual world of Second Life, where he built spaces for corporate clients under the name Ecocandle Riel.  When the economy went south, he turned to Social Media and does this to feed and clothe himself.  In his free time, he does… well… social media… and publishes the blog Extremely Average. He can be reached by email at ExtremelyAverageOne (a) gmail (dot) com, or by carrier pigeon at the house with the big tree out front. You can also connect with him on Twitter.

Looking At Social Media Value The WIIFM Way

I came across an interesting post on the value of a Facebook fan today, via Todd van Hoosear and Dave Fleet (h/t to both of you).

Augie Ray, who posited this on Forrester’s blog, said:

It is a question I hear several times a week:  What is the value of a Facebook Fan?  I’ve seen answers ranging from $136.38 to $3.60.  I can’t blame vendors, agencies and consultants for trying to answer the question – the hunger from clients is so great that anyone promising a simple answer is likely to get attention.  The problem is that there is no simple answer to such a complex question. In fact, it may be best if marketers approached this question as if the answer is zero — unless and until the brand does something to create value with Facebook Fans.

Augie goes into great detail, so I urge you to read the entire post. Equally interesting are the comments, ranging from “heck yea” to “hell no.”

As I read through the comments, my thoughts kept coming back to this: how do we define value?

Dictionary.com has 19 – count ‘em – definitions of the word “value” as a noun. These include:

- relative worth, merit, or importance: the value of a college education; the value of a queen in chess.

- monetary or material worth, as in commerce or trade: This piece of land has greatly increased in value.

- the worth of something in terms of the amount of other things for which it can be exchanged or in terms of some medium of exchange.

- equivalent worth or return in money, material, services, etc.: to give value for value received.

There are several more, including definitions for music, sociology, etc. For those of us who work in PR, they’re probably not as relevant as the others (but maybe that’s just me).

If we strip through the different definitions – many of which assess value in transactional terms – it seems to me “value” is basically another word for WIIFM.

For example:

“What’s the value of my IABC membership?”

Translates to: why should I spend $300+ a year to basically pay the salaries of a small staff of an otherwise volunteer-run (i.e. non-paid) organization, if I’m not going to get something out of it? Learnings I can apply in my work? Business leads? Speaking engagements? Greater visibility within a community that matters to me… and how is that going to help me professionally?

“What value do I get from spending two-three hours a day on Twitter?”

Translates to: am I getting cheap thrills out of gaining more followers (let’s admit it, no one wants to LOSE followers)? Am I making new connections that add value (there’s that word again) to my life? Am I finding new business opportunities? Partnership opportunities? Media who’d be interested in my clients? Learning from people I ordinarily wouldn’t come into contact with?

“What’s the value of giving up an entire wall in my office to my husband’s 5′x4′ framed poster of David Bowie in The Man Who Fell To Earth?”

Translates to: was it worth giving up that much potential bookshelf space to make my husband happy? (Answer: yes, and it helps me to look at it periodically through the day to remind myself there’s life outside of work).

Here are some of the answers I got from a quick Twtpoll:

Whichever way you look at it, we get value from something because it does something for us. WIIFM.

As Augie says in his post, we can’t really blame companies for asking that question when they embark on a Facebook fan page or, really, any activities. They’re watching the dollars; the business has to do well, or else they’re history.

And we can’t really blame companies that come up with these “calculators” any more than we can blame spiritualists for producing ectoplasm, as they did in droves at the turn of the century; there’s a demand for an easy fix, and they’re fast to capitalize on it by catering to that demand.

That doesn’t mean it’s ok. Even though I plugged it a couple of days ago, you should read Sean Williams’ post on the theater of the absurd in social media metrics.

This is a graphic I use in my classes at Johns Hopkins (you’re welcome to use it if you like, just attribute it to me, please). It’s a very simplified way of looking at non-profit communications, certainly, but I’ve found it gets the point across:

If we look at social media efforts with the same lens, isn’t that what businesses are trying to do?

Yes, they’ve accepted that they can’t engage in one-way communication any more, but the whole point of adopting social media is to build relationships using these new tools and networks (and that word again connotes relationships) that result in outcomes that are beneficial to their businesses.

Those outcomes are business’ WIIFM. For fans/followers, it’s the value they get from interacting with these businesses. That’s their WIIFM.

So it means diddly-squat if your Facebook fans are worth $3 or $136, unless you’re planning to sell them, and I think that would be pretty dastardly.

If you haven’t engaged enough with them to motivate them into doing something, what’s the point of that “media value”? How is that adding to your bottom line?

If you can provide value to  your fans – answer their WIIFM – they will help you put your money where your mouth is – and that’ll be your WIIFM.

At the end of the day, isn’t that what’s most important?

More fodder on measurement:

• Don Bartholomew provides relief from your social media ROI angst
• An IPR paper on guidelines for measuring the effectiveness of PR programs and activities
• My presentation at PRSA’s 2009 International Conference on practical solutions to measurement conundrums

Image: Sam Agnew, Creative Commons

From “Check” to “Checkmate”

Today I had the pleasure of presenting a webinar for Ragan Communications, on smart communication strategy in the digital age.

This is a topic I speak on pretty often, and the more I do it, the more I’m convinced about something:

The more things change, the more they remain the same.

So now we have social media tools at our disposal. So what? The thinking behind good communication doesn’t – or shouldn’t – change.

If you have your fundamentals right (i.e. goals, measurable objectives, strategy, tactics), then all you really need to do is incorporate social into your overall communication strategy, keeping the focus the same.

And I don’t mean to belittle social by saying, “all you really need to do.” What I’m trying to stress is that you shouldn’t let your awe of the tools get in the way of something you know how to do… and do well.

On the other hand if, in times past, you weren’t focusing on how your communication plan was going to help your business/organization achieve its goals but were doing something because it was cool/your boss wanted you to/, then basically you were flying by the seat of your pants.

Which perhaps took you to climes fairly salubrious on occasion; but, I daresay, more often than not you landed with a thump and wondered WTF went wrong.

Anyway – that’s the point I try to drive home whenever I speak or teach on this topic, and that’s what you’ll find in this deck.

If you already know it – excellent! and you don’t have to bother going through it.

On the other hand, if you don’t, or are new to the communication field, it might help you. And you can always let me know what you think/ask more questions by leaving a comment below or tweeting/emailing me.

Heck, I’d love it if you left a comment below/emailed/tweeted me ANYWAY. What’s life without a little conversation?

How To Lose A Girl With One Tweet

A few days ago, my pal Geoff Livingston tagged me in his meme, Ways to Increase Your Twitter Following Ethically.

When Geoff tags, you play (image: ClintJCL‘s Flickrstream, Creative Commons). But given the folks I was tagged with, such as Ike Pigott, John Haydon, Lauren Vargas, Allyson Kapin and Shashi Bellamkonda, all of whom I hold in high regard, I was left scratching my head as to how I could contribute without being repetitive.

Today, I had the perfect experience to set me off.

The last few days, I’ve been on the receiving end of tweets from complete strangers, demanding I follow them. How? By sending me an @ message saying, “FOLLOW ME!”

Er… why? Because you say so?

I got so irritated after receiving several of these in a row, I ranted on Twitter:

Apparently I struck a chord, as you can see from some of the responses I got:

@PerfectPitchPR told me this would be a great “rant” post, so, PPPR, this one’s especially for you.

Don’t be a carrier

To pick up where Geoff left off, there are ways to get people to follow you, just as there are ways to make people scatter wildly every time you approach as if you were the carrier of a deadly airborne virus that would cause havoc among the unlucky recipients’ gene pool.

And sending an @ to someone you’ve had no interaction with whatsoever saying, “FOLLOW ME!” is the online equivalent of punching your fist through someone’s window and narrowly missing their nose. Not to mention it’s mind-numbingly gauche.

Here are some other ways to turn people irrevocably off to you, on pretty much any social network as well as IRL:

Pick a fight on Twitter with someone you don’t know, and about something that’s really not important, in the hopes of “engaging” them. People hate rubberneckers.

Send them a Facebook friend request that says nothing about why you’d like to connect with them. So you were one year behind me in high school? So were a lot of people. That doesn’t mean I want to share my online space with you.

We didn’t hang out in high school; why would we start now?

Ditto re: LinkedIn.

Breathlessly retweet EVERYTHING someone says. That’s not flattering, it’s stalker-like.

Put them on an email list – because it’s easy to find their contact information – that relentlessly bombards them with badly-written press releases and email newsletters. What happened to the concept of asking permission?

Numbers are just numbers

We seem to shout ourselves hoarse saying this, but the number of followers, friends, or connections you have matter not a whit if you’ve bought them, bullied them into submission, or bamboozled them.

All they are, then, are numbers, that don’t mean anything, because you haven’t bothered to take the time to develop a connection. Sure, you’re not going to become best friends with everyone you connect with (and I don’t know why you’d want to).

But why not do all the things that sound so clichéd – engage, listen, contribute – to actually develop those connections into relationships?

It’s really easy to lose someone with one tweet. It’s really tough to bring them back.

What Darby Taught Me About PR

It was about a year ago that my husband’s family (and therefore mine) went through the traumatic experience of learning that one of the uncles tragically passed away very suddenly while on vacation abroad.

Dealing with death is never fun.

While the family started coming to terms with their loss, I tried to put my PR background to good use: to find our late uncle’s “orphaned” dog, Darby, a home, using social media.

If you’re just tuning in to the Darby saga, you can catch up on my posts from last year here, here, here, here and here.

One year later, our uncle and his affairs are at rest, and Darby did indeed find a new home. Certainly this was huge for me on a personal level.

On a broader level, though, this entire experience does have some good takeaways (and some reinforcement) that I wanted to share:

1. Social media can be incredibly powerful.

If I hadn’t been blogging and tweeting, and asking others to do so, Megan Drake would never have picked it up for her column, and KOIN-TV wouldn’t have seen Megan’s story and brought Darby into Portland’s homes.

2. Traditional media is far from irrelevant in the 21st century.

No matter how many people were tweeting and re-tweeting about Darby, a traditional TV newscast was the catalyst we needed. If you read my first post on Darby, you’ll remember that was one of things I was hoping for.

3. Online communities can be extremely effective, even if they’re made up of IRL “strangers.” Some of Darby’s most avid fans on Twitter were people I’d never met. It didn’t matter. They cared about her fate, so they acted. The secret is to give them something to care about.

4. If you give people the tools to work with, and ask them to do something, they will.

I could have written my blog, tweeted about Darby and left it at that. I didn’t; I asked everyone I knew to re-tweet, forward emails, joined every relevant online group I could think of (and was even made the owner of one, which threw me a little!) and kept asking people to spread the word. Most importantly, there was a central location – this blog – for folks to get information from and get in touch with me.

5. There’s no substitute for elbow grease.

Yes, SM allows us to communicate instantly. Yes, we have the potential to reach millions of people with a single click. But we still have to write, to call, to reach out and follow up for it to result in something. At least “ordinary people” like us do; and the Seth Godins of the world had to at some point as well (which is how they became the Seth Godins of the world).

What would I have done differently?

Hindsight, as they say, is 20-20. For the most part, I don’t have any regrets about what I did or how I did it. The only question I ask myself is:

Should I have started blogging Darby’s plight earlier?

If you look at the timeline of the Darby posts, the first one ran on May 11, 2009. This was about two weeks after we first heard the news. At the time, I spent the first few days figuring out what paperwork needed to be done in order for me to move ahead with getting Darby adopted, and making/sending a ton of calls and emails.

I don’t regret how I spent this time in the slightest – it was very important that we have our ducks in a row – but I also waited to see whether a few promising leads would work out. They didn’t, which started putting me into panic mode. And that’s when I started blogging, tweeting (including setting up Darby with her own Twitter account), etc.

You could say that this particular rear view mirror is pointless; we found Darby a home and that, at the end of the day, is what mattered. However, if we’d started this cycle of information even a few days earlier, it may have saved us not just time and money, but Darby’s state of mind, which was deteriorating by the day. Fortunately she made it… but what if she hadn’t?

The bottom line

A year later, and even though I have had no contact with her or her new family post-adoption (and believe me, I’ve tried), Darby still reminds me of what powers public relations.

It’s people.

At the end of the day, regardless of whether you’re in B2B or B2C communication (or any other acronym you want to add to the list), you’re dealing with issues, products, services, whatever – that all affect people.

So you must find a way to make what you’re trying to say (your “messages”) relevant to those people (i.e. your “audiences” or “publics”), in order for them to take the actions that will, hopefully, result in you achieving your desired outcomes. You have to do so cohesively and in a timely fashion.

You have to be consistent… and you have to keep going. If a particular tactic isn’t working, you have to try another. And you can only do that if you’re keeping track of your progress. Which means you have to have measurable objectives in mind, which should inform your communications. Which are by, to, for, and of… people.

Funny how public relations works, isn’t it?

Photo of Darby by the brilliant and talented Susan Ragan, used with permission.

Riding the Social Media Measurement Waterfall

Image: Hamed Saber, Creative Commons

I’m tickled pink (and not just because that’s the color of the Elvis hoodie I’m sporting today, a little like this one) that Chuck Hemann will be our featured guest on the next #measurePR Twitterchat (have you marked your calendars? April 13, 12-1 pm ET, follow/participate on Twitter using the #measurePR hashtag).

Chuck Hemann, a 2010 Society for New Communications Research Fellow, is currently a social media associate for WCG, a global media services company focused on the corporate and product marketing and communications needs of leading healthcare companies. If you don’t already, you should follow and engage with him on Twitter.

When I was in Cleveland a couple of weeks ago, Sean Williams (another research and measurement rock star, who was featured on the second #measurePR chat), said Chuck was the “oldest 30-year-old” he knows. Now, I don’t know if that’s how old (or young) Chuck really is, but you can see where Sean was going with this remark.

Much like Rebecca Denison, I was curious about how and why this young man with an old soul developed this passion for PR measurement. Here’s what he had to say:

“About 5 years ago, a colleague of mine at Dix & Eaton gave me a copy of Katie Paine’s “Measuring Public Relationships.” At that point I was just starting at D&E and was brand new to public relations research. Sure, I had conducted research while in graduate school, but primarily my background was in political science/political research.

“After reading through the book I knew that this was the right career move for me. I, like Katie (and so many others), share a love for research and analytics. Determining the starting point for our campaigns, and then whether or not we executed against those goals gets me excited to come into work every day.

Now, with the explosion of social media my focus has shifted from traditional PR research to social media research. This includes a heavy dose of monitoring, but also use of Web site analytics and search platforms (both free and paid).”

So what are we hoping to talk about that will get Chuck’s juices flowing? Well, a few things:

First, and probably foremost, how do we use monitoring and analytics tools to inform benchmarks for social media campaigns?

Second, is there a “right” suite of tools to utilize?

Third, is there a new model of measurement/research in PR because of the explosion of social media?

Chuck is hoping for an interactive discussion so let’s get it rolling! Do join us: Tuesday, April 13, 12-1 pm ET. And don’t forget: #measurePR is the magic hashtag!

In Perpetual Motion: Reflections On a 2.0 Vacation

That’s me coming out of a London phone booth on Heddon Street last week. If any David Bowie fans are reading this, they’re nodding their heads; and if the rest of you are scratching your noggins wondering what I’m going on about, here’s why Heddon Street is legendary to Ziggy Stardust fans, of whom my husband is king (and therefore, by association, am I queen).

In perpetual motion

You’re also probably wondering why I chose a photo that’s a bit fuzzy to illustrate this post. I did so because it captures me in motion, and that’s what our vacation (which was wonderful) felt like.

We were in perpetual motion, as we took in the Globe, Abbey Road, Lord’s, Abbaworld (awesome!), some great restaurants and the whole point of going to London in some very crappy weather – to see Elvis Presley in Concert as my “milestone birthday” celebration. (After all, when you’re in one of the world’s most vibrant cities for five days, you want to do as much as you can.)

It’s also how I think of life today. Ever since getting back to the U.S., I’ve slowly been getting back to my “real” life, which was blissfully suspended for a week. And real life in the 21st century moves very, very fast. The kind of thing we say we want to get away from… which is why we go on vacation, right?

Kinda sorta. While we were traveling, I did keep my Blackberry close at hand, but I didn’t send too many emails from it (at least, I’d like to think I didn’t, though my colleagues at IABC/DC Metro are probably snorting right now).

So while the vacation was meant to be a getaway, I didn’t really “get away” as much as I could have… but was that a bad thing?

The 2.0 vacation

Because of my BB, for example, we were able to minimize how much paper (directions, addresses, etc.) that we carried with us while we were traipsing across the city. A green vacation… after a fashion!

And I was able to stay in touch with my Twitter peeps thanks to Ubertwitter. One of them, Howard Riefs, introduced me to the fabulous Tom Aikens, who very kindly made a reservation for me at Tom’s Kitchen (which you really have to go to when you’re next in London). The best eggs benedict I’ve eaten in a while, not to mention the best loo sign ever. Check it out:

They also told me how much postage I’d need to mail in some bill payments that I’d forgotten to drop off in the mad rush before we left. Staying connected helped me find one of London’s three remaining post offices (or so someone said) and take that load off my mind.

Because we had mobile connectivity, we were able to find some really dinky record stores – the kind that only take cash – that my husband’s been dreaming of going to.

And I was able to meet up with friends like Richard Bagnall and Ved Sen, and meet IRL tweeps such as Kristin Wadge, Russell Pearson, Bryce Keane and Sheema Siddiqui (the latter of whom organized a #shonalitweetup – love it!)

Whether we like it or not, hyper-connectivity is part and parcel of our lives, especially for those of us who live in the social media plane. Yes, that’s sometimes tiring, even irritating… but it can also be incredibly helpful.

So while it’ll take me a little time to get back into full 2.0 work mode, I’m grateful to the 2.0 world for adding dimension to a vacation that was a once-in-a-lifetime event for us.

You might call it a 2.0 vacation.

Five Ways to Land a Job in Social Media

This is a guest post from Chuck Hemann, someone I’ve enjoyed connecting with in the online world, and whom I very much hope to meet offline soon. Read on for great tips on landing a job using, and in, social media.

Social media jobs are popping up around every corner, and so are the people looking for those jobs. Unfortunately, the economic downturn took a heavy toll on the PR profession. Jobs aren’t as available for the experienced, or entry-level, professional. Because of the dearth of opportunities, many pros have taken to the Web in an effort to network and potentially land a new career.

If you’ve ever connected with me online or offline, you’ll know that I recently accepted a social media associate position with WCG, global media services company focused on the corporate and product marketing and communications needs of leading healthcare companies. I have enjoyed my current role as manager of research and online reputation for Dix & Eaton, but was hoping to land something more social media-focused.

If you currently have a job, or are recently unemployed and looking for something new, or even a recent college graduate who is trying to break into the workforce here are five tips that helped me land my job in social media.

1. Identify your niche

Social media may be new, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a host of cottage industries within the space. Are you interested in measurement/monitoring? Are you interested in community management? Are you interested in SEO? For me, that space was in monitoring and measurement so I made sure I got to know the folks from Radian6, Katie Paine, Don Bartholomew, Ken Burbary and a host of others you can find through my Twitter lists.

Do not try to be all things to all people. The end result will be you’ve spread yourself too thin, and probably not become noticeable in any one category.

2. Identify the “influencers”

I usually hate the term “influencers” as there’s really no standardized method to determine who’s truly influential, but in this case it makes sense to determine the 10-15 people in your niche that you’d like to read, and interact with. A Google search for any of the topics I’ve mentioned above will certainly help in that process, but don’t be afraid to ask. Use LinkedIn forums or Twitter or your own blog to ask people who they find influential.

3. Take a position

One of the pieces of advice I give to entry-level pros, and even more experienced professionals, is take a position. Nobody likes the guy/gal who waffles (unless you’re Switzerland), so figure out what your position is on the hot topics within your niche and express them.

Is this potentially dangerous? Sure, but prospective employers are looking for the ability to articulate and defend an argument. My first opportunity to do that on a large scale came when Jason Falls allowed me to share the approach to social media listening that I helped cultivate here at D&E on his blog. Search for those same opportunities within your niche.

4. Engage those “influencers”

Social media, regardless of the particular tool, does not come with an engraved invitation.

You either take the time to get to know the folks who are influential or you don’t. I haven’t “met” a person yet who is unwilling to engage people who engage with them. Take the time to get to know the influencers in your space and then engage them where they live.

5. Take it offline

Your online interactions can only take you so far. At some point, you need to meet the influencers in your space in real life. Whether you meet them at a conference, a tweetup, or just strolling through their neck of the woods you’ll no doubt gain more value from the relationship after you’ve met them in person. I’ve had the opportunity to meet many social media folks over the last two years and wouldn’t trade those experiences for the world.

These are just five things that worked for me. If you’re interested in other takes on landing a job, I’d encourage you to check out the posts from Teresa Basich and Lisa Hoffmann, both of whom have recently started new jobs in social media.

If you’ve recently landed a job in social media what worked for you? Do share!

Chuck Hemann, a 2010 Society for New Communications Research Fellow, is currently the manager of research & online reputation for Dix & Eaton, a communications consultancy with specialized expertise in social media strategies and tools. On February 15, Chuck will begin a new role as social media associate for WCG, a global media services company focused on the corporate and product marketing and communications needs of leading healthcare companies.

Image: Laurie Nadeau, Creative Commons

Who’s Guilty of Tweet-itis?

Even for someone with a thin skin when it comes to micro-blogging and Twitter in particular, I thought this was laugh-out-loud hilarious.

Image: Mark Smiciklas, Creative Commons

Haiti: Aftershocks of a Different Kind

You should read this terrific post that Geoff Livingston has written for Mashable on social media lessons from the Haitian earthquake. There’s a ton of food for thought there.

But I’m following the Wyclef Jean/Yéle Haiti story closely and today saw this report in Gawker.

While I’m not jumping to conclusions (I’ll leave that to the appropriate authorities), I do think there are enough valid questions to make me think that non-profits should be extremely concerned about the long-term impact on fundraising.

Which, let’s face it, determines whether they get to carry out their mission effectively or not.

Here’s how I responded to Geoff’s post:

Nice post, Geoff. I think the other really important lesson here is that while the immediacy that social media allows is breathtaking, it is equally, if not more, important to do your research before using these channels and committing to a path, because it could potentially have far-reaching consequences. I write this in context of the Wyclef Jean/Yéle Haiti “rumblings,” which are growing louder by the day (and as you know, did a brief post on this last week). Day by day more organizations are bringing Yéle Haiti on as a recipient of fundraisers, telethons, etc., yet there is justifiable speculation as to the workings of this organization.

Please understand I am not pointing a finger at Mr. Jean personally; I have no doubt he has the best of intentions. But the desire to do good and administering effective relief operations are completely different things. If it turns out that all is well with Yéle Haiti, no one will be more relieved than me. But if not, a very many people will feel let down, which might, in turn, affect fundraising initiatives for non-profits, particularly of smaller/upcoming organizations; and possibly even the way they use social media in the future.

What do you think? Am I over-thinking this? Nothing to worry about? Please share your thoughts, over at Geoff’s post, or below, or both.

Image: IFRC/Eric Quintero

Go Social, Give Wisely

The way philanthropic organizations have been mobilizing social media in recent years to raise funds isn’t really “shiny new stuff” any more. Still, the recent waves of donations after the earthquake have been coming at lightning speed.

In light of that, I’ve been intrigued by The Smoking Gun’s scrutiny of Wyclef Jean’s charity, Yéle Haiti (also reported on in today’s Washington Post). Having run communications for the ASPCA during some critical events in the animal welfare arena, I know how generous people can be with their money when tragedy strikes, even when they don’t have a lot to give. I also know how important it is that that money reaches the right hands.

I honestly don’t know what the deal is with Mr. Jean’s charity and am not going to play a guessing game. If you’ve been following the story, you can view his video response on YouTube, which Mashable picked up pretty quickly (h/t Lindsay Allen for finding it for me). I do think he is to be commended for springing into action so quickly after the earthquake hit and being a very public face for the poorest nation in the Americas.

What I will say is that regardless of who you’re going to give your money to, you should do your research and give where you trust that your donation will be wisely used.

Charity Navigator is a good place to start, and usually my first stop when I’m researching a non-profit organization (you can read their take on Yéle Haiti and why they don’t currently rate it here).

GuideStar is another resource, and there are some terrific blogs and writing out there on philanthropy, such as Tactical Philanthropy, which Wendy Harman of the American Red Cross directed me to.

Also understand that while you might give your money immediately, it will take time to reach those who need it most – it’s not an instant process, as Wendy, who answered a few questions related to the organization’s efforts in Haiti for me, explains:

Q. A couple of days ago, the American Red Cross confirmed $5 million in donations from a texting campaign. However, today’s Wall Street Journal reports that “it could be weeks, if not months, before any of that money actually can be used… the money won’t be routed from most U.S. wireless carriers to relief efforts until cellphone users pay their phone bills.” Is the ARC making this delay clear to potential donors? Does this have any impact on your operations? And how successful are campaigns such as this, in your opinion, to more traditional fundraising methods such as telethons?

A. We can now announce the public has donated $12 million in $10 increments from texting “Haiti” to 90999. It will take more than 60 days for these exact donations to get to the American Red Cross. In the meantime, we know how much has been pledged and will use existing funds from our International Response Fund to distribute the donations immediately.

This text campaign has been a supplement to existing fundraising channels such as donating online, calling 1-800-REDCROSS, mailing, telethons, etc. The ease of text messaging and the automatic $10 donation has helped raise awareness for the need for funds because it’s also so easy to pass around via twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites.

Q. How is the American Red Cross using social media to help Haitians in their time of need?

A. We’re proud of the social media philosophy and program we’ve had in place for a couple of years – we empower social media tools and the community on the social web to fulfill our mission. Many times we provide critical information for people who are affected by disasters. In the case of the earthquake in Haiti, we’re concentrating more on providing information to everyone in the United States who wants to help, and keeping everyone updated on how this tremendous outpouring of support is impacting people in Haiti.

Q. Is it working?

A. I hope so!

Q. Some of us in the communication field feel we can’t “do anything” to help in times of crisis. Do you think that’s true? If not, and we can indeed help, what can we do?

A. The best thing you can do is keep this story in the news. All attention is here now and for sure there is a dire emergency happening right now but make no mistake: this will be a massive long-term recovery operation and we could use your help in continuing to keep the people of Haiti in the minds of the public.

***

I’ve been trying to help spread awareness of the Red Cross’ efforts as well as those of Hope for Haiti, which 12for12K is partnering with (HFH is rated by CharityNavigator, by the way), as have many of the people I know, online as well as offline. As Wendy says, that’s the one thing that we communicators know how to do, so let’s keep doing it. And to everyone who is – thank you.

Do you have tips to share on giving wisely to charities? Any other thoughts you’d like to share? I’d love to know.

Of Sugar And Spice And Everything Nice

It’s my birthday, and I’m taking the day off, but I needed to say this to you, so here goes:

Remember the nursery rhyme? “Of sugar and spice, and everything nice, that’s what little girls are made of.” Little boys seemed to get the shaft on that one (I mean, who wants to be made of snips and snails and puppy dogs’ tails?).

That popped into my head this morning as I was looking at the incredible kindness and warmth flowing towards me today, my 40th birthday. Actually, the flow started a few days ago, when people started donating to my birthday fundraiser for Kids with Cameras via Facebook’s Causes application.

I’m thrilled to report that thanks to your generosity my goal of raising $800 was long surpassed and, as of this writing, we’re up to $966 that will go a long way in changing the lives of marginalized kids around the world. If you’d like to keep donating, though, don’t stop! Or do consider helping by “joining” the cause, spreading the word, etc. – you know the deal.

I may be beginning my own new decade today, but I’d like to think I’ve still got some sugar and spice left in me. And a large part of that is because of the people around me and I get to know each day. Social media, in particular, has opened up my world in a way I could have never conceived. So has IABC and the wonderful people I keep meeting through professional events.

And when those professional connections grow into relationships, boy, I feel like I’ve hit the jackpot. At last night’s IABC/Washington chapter meeting, for example, as I got up to make the announcements (because I’m chapter president and all), the entire room sang happy birthday to me.

WOW.

(By the way, my friend Shashi Bellamkonda took the photograph of me with Jakub Konysz, our chapter’s co-VP, Professional Development, who told me, quite sincerely, that I “look great for 40.” How cute was that?)

I am very lucky to have all of you as my sugar and spice. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I hope, in some small way, I am – or can be – that for you too.

And now – here’s to the Fab Forties. Bring ‘em on, I’m ready to rumble!

Photo: courtesy (cc) Shashi Bellamkonda www.shashi.name Social Media Swami Network Solutions

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 21^st 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.

Mirror Image: Carol Green

Who The Heck Are These “Media Mavens”?

I came across this MediaPost article today on what to do when social media “attacks.”

Apparently the “media mavens” surveyed in the report mentioned came up with the following as “counter-strategies” when advertisers come across negative comments in social media:

As one might expect, there is no magic bullet for countering negative comments: the two most popular responses were directly engaging the commenter, a tactic used by 47% of social media advertisers surveyed, and improving the quality of products or services being advertised, according to 33% of respondents.

Aside from these commonsensical but labor-intensive propositions, what other short-term fixes can online advertisers employ in dealing with negative comments? One strategy is neutralizing the negative comment, either by encouraging other consumers to leave positive comments (24%) or attempting to get the content removed by the publisher or blogger (14%).

You know what? Social media might still be shiny and new to some (ok, a lot of) folk, but there’s nothing new about being smart about your communication. And if advertisers are serious about growing their customer bases, they shouldn’t be looking for “short-term fixes” any way.

Why not just do it the old-fashioned way – by putting out a good service or product to begin with? Want to 21st century it up? Use the new SM channels to listen, engage and respond.I mean, seriously. You can’t stumble upon anything referencing social media and not stumble upon those words.

Good grief, as Charlie Brown would say.

Image: Divine Harvester

Posted via web from simply shonali

Digital Divide Continues – eMarketer

via emarketer.com

This is pretty interesting – according to a study by the Internet Innovation Alliance, only 42% of African-American and Hispanic consumers use the Internet regularly.

What might change that? The article reads:

“It is very telling that of those respondents who do not have Internet access, 43 percent cited either not knowing how to use the Internet or not seeing the need for the Internet as the reason why they are not online,” said Internet Innovation Alliance co-chairman David Sutphen, in a statement.

“But interestingly, 44 percent of these same respondents said they would be more likely to subscribe to Internet services if they were provided free lessons on how to use the technology and 30 percent would be more likely to adopt if they had more information about how they could benefit from going online. It’s clear that digital literacy programs indeed are a crucial part of the formula for closing the digital divide.”

What a huge opportunity for someone – or several companies – to educate and cultivate a whole new customer base.

Verizon, AT&T et al… are you listening?

Read the entire article here.

Posted via web from simply shonali

You Can Call Yourself a Social Media Guru If…

I couldn’t help but giggle when I read B. L. Ochman’s recent post on self-proclaimed social media experts, gurus, ninjas, etc. on Twitter “multiplying like rabbits.” Based on her search of Twitter bios, they went from 4.4k to almost 16k in seven months.

Wow. Rabbits indeed!

And then I saw this cartoon from HubSpot today.

At the same time, I couldn’t help but recall Lisa Hoffmann‘s post from earlier this year, when she posited that “if social media experts aren’t experts only the charlatans will be ‘experts.’” It sparked a great conversation on her blog, which you should read, if you haven’t as yet.

I do believe, however, that while expertise is earned, the title of expert is bestowed.

You Can Call Yourself a Social Media Guru If…

So, as far as I’m concerned, here are the top 10 things you’ll need to be able to do before calling yourself a social media guru. Counting down, now…

10. Make the sun rise in the West.

9. Along those lines, how about making the earth orbit the moon (thanks, Chip Griffin, for this one).

8. Speak Sanskrit backwards and forwards at the same time. (You’re calling yourself a guru, after all, gotta show some respek to the land from whence that term comes.)

7. Prove global warming.

6. Disprove global warming.

5. Leap tall buildings in a single bound.

4. Levitate on demand. Mine.

3. Get Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston back together again.

2. Make the Cubs win the World Series (direct your tomatoes to Colby Gergen for this gem, please).

And at #1 is:

1. Bring Elvis back from the dead. And no, the TCB concerts don’t count.

And When You Do…

… Please let me know so that I can sign up to worship at your altar?

Top image: Adrian Miles

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!

Image: Dan Queiroz

Sometimes Silence *Is* Golden

I just came across this story about a new groom tweeting and updating his Facebook status from the altar (h/t Marc Girolimetti).

Apparently the groom also felt the urge to tweet about his bride’s undergarments. And, it would seem, is slightly perturbed that the story was picked up by Mashable.

Um. Ya think?!

I guess we’ll have to wait and see whether Mr. Hanna gets a sudden surge in Twitter followers, which wouldn’t surprise me at all.

To each his (or her) own, for sure, and I sincerely hope it’s all sunshine and roses for the couple from here on out. But sometimes silence really is golden.

Image: nirbhao

Getting a Foot in the Door with GoodieRecruit

If you’re in the PR field, a Gen Y-er, a recruiter, based in the Washington, D.C., area, or “all of the above,” you’re well aware of Heather Huhman. Heather’s one of the most prolific tweeters and writers I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know, and she focuses on helping entry-level job seekers navigate the often- (and now, it seems, always) turbulent waters of getting their feet in the proverbial door.

In addition to her “day job,” keeping up her column and religiously sharing job leads, Heather recently launched Come Recommended, an “exclusive online community connecting the best internship and entry-level job candidates with the best employers.”

And if that weren’t enough to keep her busy, she’s now getting ready to add GoodieRecruit to the CR family of services, again focusing on entry-level recruiting. She calls it “next-generation recruiting for the next generation.”

I thought this was really interesting; one doesn’t typically think of hiring a recruitment firm for entry-level employees, so I asked her to tell me more about it.

What interested you about focusing on recruitment services for Gen Y-ers – what got you started?

I am passionate about helping students and recent college graduates pursue their dream careers – have been since I was in their shoes. Because of my experience as a hiring manager of interns and entry-level employees, I understand the needs of today’s employers and job seekers. I realize there is a need for change in the recruiting process as more and more baby boomers turn 60 every day and organizations seek more cost-effective hiring processes.

Have you ever been a recruiter yourself? What interests you about that field?

I have not been a “recruiter” by trade, but I’ve been in the position of hiring interns and entry-level professionals and very much consider myself a skilled college/campus recruiter.

Tell me a little about “experiential hiring.”

Employers always tell me they wish there was a way to “test out” entry-level candidates before hiring them – short of a three-month internship program, of course. Well, now there is – experiential hiring. This concept capitalizes on the notion that Gen Y learns best by jumping in with both feet and participating and serves as an extended interview of sorts. Think NBC’s The Apprentice.

How did the idea for GoodieRecruit come about?

The national unemployment rate has reached more than 10 percent, and the number is even higher among entry-level professionals. Because of this, there is a huge shift taking place in how organizations are going about attracting new candidates. Organizations are forced to work harder and smarter and not spend nearly as much money as they are used to. Many employers are reluctant to hire simply because they are not sure if the candidate is perfect for the job after only meeting with them for a very short period of time.

I saw a need to offer a cost-effective service for even the smallest organizations where employers and candidates could build a relationship. GoodieRecruit looks to create a recruiting service that is personalized so employers are sure they are hiring the right person.

You can read more about why I’m launching GoodieRecruit on our blog.

What’s the GoodieRecruit process?

For employers, the process looks like this:

1. If you are not already a Come Recommended member, we will work with you to complete your account.

2. A GoodieRecruit representative either comes to your office to observe the culture or surveys current employees electronically.

3. The GoodieRecruit representative meets, either in-person or over the phone, with whomever in your organization typically writes job descriptions to help them craft a description that will both appeal to Gen Y and clearly demonstrate what you are seeking in a candidate.

4. GoodieRecruit will work with you to identify a local nonprofit at which the “experience” can take place, based on both the specific position(s) you have open and preference for a particular nonprofit.

5. GoodieRecruit takes over the entire process from there—coordinating with the nonprofit, attracting candidates, evaluating candidates during the “experience” based on conversations with you and your team, narrowing down the selection for you to 2 to 3 top candidates, and providing you with a complete portfolio on each as to why you should hire them.

Will GoodieRecruit focus on specific industries?

Yes, GoodieRecruit currently focuses on identifying top entry-level talent in the following fields:

• Public relations/communications
• Public affairs/public policy/government relations
• Marketing
• Graphic design
• Development/fundraising
• Sales/customer service

Can you share five tips for new professionals to put their best foot forward when entering the job market?

1. Personalize your job search materials: Employers like to see that you have taken time to research their organization and have found ways to contribute if hired. This means describing how your past experience has prepared you for work with their organization in your cover letter and including accomplishments relevant to the job description in your résumé.

2. Dress professionally: Even if an interviewer says the interview will be casual, it is always a good practice to dress to impress. If the interview is business casual, you do not need to wear a suit, but slacks (or a skirt) and a nice shirt or blouse is appropriate and dress shoes are a must!

3. Come to interviews prepared: Show you have done your research. This is more than simply glancing at the organization’s Web site 10 minutes before walking into the interview. Research ways you can help the organization by thinking about how your past experiences fit into the job description and organization as a whole. Also, always come with thought-provoking questions.

4. Network online and off: It is crucial that Gen Y knows how to professionally use social networking sites and how to conduct themselves at networking events. These days, networking is one of the best ways to land interviews and be the first to know about upcoming opportunities.

5. Keep an online portfolio: This is less cumbersome to take to interviews and employers can peruse your work at their leisure. Also, online portfolios illustrate your technical abilities.

It’ll be fascinating to see how GoodieRecruit takes off as it integrates social media into the recruitment process; not to mention the obvious benefits to hiring organizations as well as non-profits who sign up to be the “lab” – what a great way to identify potential candidates for non-profit organizations as well. And candidates – remember those dress shoes!

Heather, thanks for taking the time to fill us in and please do keep us posted. By the way, Heather is also generously donating a GR package to the IABC/Washington holiday party raffle, where we’ll be supporting Bread for the City, so if you’re at an organization with entry-level hiring needs, you might want to come check us out, or contact Heather, or both!

What do you think of the GoodieRecruit premise and process? Do you have more questions for Heather? Do let us know by leaving a comment below.

“Demystifying Communication…

… in a Digital World” is an article Cision asked me to write for its Navigator, loosely based on this presentation I made at Goodwill Industries International‘s 2009 Summer Learning Event (which was great, every organization should put on an event like that).

I’ve subscribed to the Navigator for years, so was thrilled to be asked. Thank you, Cision, and in particular, thank you Scott Henderson for so graciously sharing the details of the Pledge to End Hunger for both the presentation and the article.

You rock.

Photo: fsamuels

Demystifying Digital Communications

Last week I had the pleasure of presenting a couple of workshops at Goodwill Industries International‘s 2009 Summer Learning Event in Grand Rapids, Mich. – an educational “retreat” of sorts for GII employees. I say “pleasure” because the event was organized beautifully, I got to visit Grand Rapids for the first time and, most of all, the workshops were a ton of fun.

The second class I taught (the first was on measurement) was on “social media 101.” What’s delightful to me about this kind of class is that you invariably learn as much, if not more, from your audience as they do (or you hope they do) from you. It was also one of the most engaged audiences I’ve spoken to, and I think the most fun part of the session was when attendees broke into a lively discussion on the pros and cons of social media adoption for nonprofits… all while we were exploring Twitter in real time. Remember this tweet from me that day?

Yes, it was so much fun that I couldn’t spell “sizzle” properly.

What was also interesting to me was that the attendees weren’t only GII employees in the marketing/public relations departments – there were folks from HR and IT present as well. What a great demonstration of willingness to break down intraorganizational barriers to communications to achieve a shared mission.

They also gave me some new phrases to incorporate into my vocabulary, such as “paying a personal visit” to employees who might be spending too much time online in the pursuit of personal pleasures, and “excusing them” if those suspicions turn out to be true. Ha!

Joking aside, the energy in the room was great; I wish I could have captured it.

If you’re at the 101 stage when it comes to learning about social media, here’s the presentation, sans a couple of slides I couldn’t get to (I told you the session was hot).

Many thanks to all my Tweeps who helped bring Twitter alive for the attendees that day, and to Scott Henderson for the great HungerPledge case study. You rock. And since the learning process is a continuous one, if you have tips to add for “newbies,” I’d love you to chime in and leave a comment.

~Photo: fsamuels

Don’t Dig Yourself, Lazarus

Yesterday I was millions of people taken completely unawares by Twitter’s DDOS (distributed denial of service). In plain English, that means that those of us who consider Twitter our virtual world were shut out from “talking” to our tweeps, conducting our informal focus groups and taking comfort from our cheering squads while the service was suffering from an outage.

Apparently this also affected Facebook, but since I’m one of those who streams content from Twitter to Facebook, rather than vice versa (or simply versa), the T outage hit me harder than the FB one. Just like Scott Monty tweeted:

Jokes aside (or gnashing of teeth, depending on which side of the fence you’re on), the outage reminded me of just how dependent fixated we communicators can get on our favorite channels of communication.

Seriously, if something did happen to permanently shut Twitter down… or Friendfeed… or whatever your preferred digital communication channel is – what would you do? And, more importantly, how would it affect your work?

I don’t know about you, but what I’ve learned over the years – and what was brought resoundingly home to me yesterday – is that good communication is not about using just one channel effectively (or simply very often).

It’s about using the right mix of channels to achieve your (or your client’s) objectives – and always having backups.

For example…

If you normally issue news releases via a wire service, do you also have a strong list of targeted media contacts whom you can connect with if the wire service fails… or if your client can’t afford it?

If your regular media monitoring service goes down, do you have a backup such as Google Reader?

If you communicate regularly with influencers via a medium such as Twitter or Facebook, would you still be able to reach them through good old-fashioned email, or not-so-old-fashioned Google Talk, AIM or Skype?

If you’re a company that uses Yammer, do you still have an alternate way to connect with your co-workers and employees?

Would you be able to pick up the phone and – be still, my beating heart – actually talk to someone who could move your communication plan forward?

When we talk about social media paving the yellow brick road to relationship-building, we’ve got to be able to walk the talk. Because if we don’t, the very thing we tell our clients we’ll help them do is at stake.

After all, it’s not about us; it’s about helping them achieve their goals and measurable objectives. And that means using what’s best for them, not for us.

That means being able to connect, with the right people, at the right time, no matter what the technology du jour is. It means keeping our communications alive, rather than digging into a deep and narrow hole from which might – just might – constrict us.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still a #twitteraddict. But I don’t want to be Lazarus.

What do you think? Do you have additional – or opposing – lessons to share on communicating in the 21st century? Do let me know and please tell me if I’m completely off the mark. This is your sandbox as much as mine.

Photo: Sarah G…

London Calling

I love London, no two ways about it. And next week’s first Twitgigs Experiment is another reason I wish I lived a little closer (just a wee bit).

What’s Twitgigs, you ask? A Twitter-gig, of course. But for a more-than-140 character description, my friend Rax Lakhani (who’s organizing it) says it’s a Twitter-enabled experiment at organizing a great evening of live music, and using the platform to enhance the audience experience.

Three bands – Essay Like Nephew (@EssayLikeNephew), The Seal Club Clubbing Club (@thesccc), Mike Dingham (@mikedignammusic) – will be performing at The Vibe Bar in Shoreditch on Thursday, August 6. It’ll also be livestreamed on the Twitgigs Ustream Channel, there’ll be live Twitterfall projections around the venue with various Tweet-stations for those who need ‘em, lots of Twitpic challenges (with cool prizes, I’m told)… and a hashtag voting system for the audience to vote for the winner of the Battle of the Bands.

Pretty cool. When I hear of something like this, though, the first question that usually pops into my head is… why?

The ever-patient Rax said, “Have you ever been to see a band and wished that you could tell them (and the rest of the world for that matter) exactly how freakin’ awesome they are!? Well, that was the initial driver behind putting on The Twitgigs Experiment. Twitter is the perfect medium to bring together musicians and music lovers.”

YES! Like Elvis!

So – how do you buy tickets and get involved? You have to follow @twitgigs (hey, this IS a Twitter-enabled event), and then buy your £5.50 tickets here (and you have to be over 18).

The Billy Mays Moment

But wait, there’s more! Rax has generously given me five tickets to give away to folks in London. So if you’re in London and would like one, re-tweet this post, and you’ll be able to go to what looks like a ton of fun.

I’m just glad I’ll be able to follow the event from across the pond. Don’t you love technology and social media?

What do you think of events like this? Do leave a comment; I’d love to know.

Phone booth & Big Ben photo: jpvargas

Iron Hand, Velvet Glove

My friend Katie Paine, who’s at Bulldog Reporter’s PR Measurement Summit 2009 in New York as I type this (and which I’m not attending), sent me an interesting note via Skype. Apparently the conference notebook contains the following reminder to “Please Use Social Media Courteously during the PR Measurement Summit”:

Social media create powerful opportunities for communicating among a network of colleagues — which can be used constructively but can also lead to awkward and unpleasant consequences when used ill-advisedly. During recent conferences in a variety of industries, for example, participants have provided real time commentaries of the events that have precipitated misunderstandings, embarrassment and even anger. For this reason we offer the following courtesy guidelines for participants in this conference:

1. Avoid participating in social media conversations during presentations. It’s simply impossible to concentrate fully on speakers analyses and advice while participating in online conversations or creating social media commentary.
2. Avoid over-simplifying a speaker’s comments or position in any social media commentary. Most speakers offer a complex and nuanced perspective which cannot fairly be distilled into 140 characters or even 1,400 characters.
3. Keep commentary on a professional level and avoid commentary on personal issues relating to participants.

Again – I’m not at the conference, and typing what Katie sent me as printed in the handbook, so if there are any typos, they’re Katie’s and mine.

I couldn’t help but think, though: for “courtesy guidelines,” aren’t there an awful lot of implied dont’s around?

I have certainly come across speakers who prefer attendees not to tweet (since that’s the most prevalent way of participating in SM at least that I know of) during their presentations. Granted, they spent a lot of time (one would hope) preparing and no one likes to think their audience is not paying attention. But if they’re going to decide for me how much attention I can or cannot pay while attending a presentation – well, I’m going to be thinking of spending my money elsewhere next time around.

Avoid over-simplifying a speaker’s comment? Their “complex and nuanced” perspectives can’t be distilled into “140 or even 1,400 characters”? Good grief. What else do PR practitioners do but distill “complex and nuanced” perspectives into every day speak?

Should commentary be kept to a professional level? Of course it should be. But one would hope the majority of folks who attend such conferences already understand this. It’s called, er, being adult.

I don’t know if Bulldog Reporter provided attendees with a conference hashtag (I assume most attendees are following their guidelines and NOT participating in SM), but surely printing that in the handbook would have been useful as a way to track these conversations and, what’s more, open the door to a whole new potential audience.

I’ve lost track of the number of conferences I was unable to attend but which I was still able to learn from simply by tracking the hashtags. And as far as not being able to pay attention to speakers if we’re using SM: well, we work in PR. Multi-tasking is usually our middle name (or one of them). And most of us are smart enough to stop tweeting or Skype-ing if we’re losing the presentation by doing so.

I threw out a quick poll on Twitter: 1) Do you think conference organizers should dictate SM use (tweets, etc.) during conferences? 2) Would you listen?

Here’s some of what I got back:

I’m sure Bulldog Reporter had the best intentions in mind while drafting its guidelines. I just wish it didn’t come across quite so much as a way to control – or eliminate – the incredibly multidimensional facet that SM can bring to such conferences. Nineteen Eighty-Four was a long time ago.

What do you think?

~Photo: just.Luc

Social Media Might Just Find Darby a Home

The Darby saga has been going on for weeks now (if you’re a first-time reader, check out my earlier posts at the bottom of this one to get up to speed, but long story short, she’s an “orphaned” GSD in Portland, Ore., for whom I’m trying to find a home).

When I started blogging, tweeting, etc., about Darby, I asked the question, “Can Social Media Find Darby a Home?” Truth was, I didn’t know. I just knew I had to get the word out about her any way I could.

Well, after several potential homes fell through – and I was starting to feel thoroughly discouraged – something wonderful happened yesterday. Portland’s KOIN-TV picked up Darby’s story via Megan Drake’s story on Examiner.com, and did a lovely segment on Darby at 5:30 p.m. (PT) yesterday. Here it is:

Check that Darby out. Isn’t she gorgeous? Truly an “e-star.”

As of this writing, I’ve heard from at least two people who are interested in adopting Darby, and very much hope one of them will work out.

Nothing’s a done deal just yet, though, so if you’re one of the many people who’ve been trying to spread Darby’s story, please share this video and/or post with those you think might be interested and/or able to continue the information chain.

As to thanks – there are so many of you to thank, I don’t know where to begin. For now, thank you EVERYONE who’s been trying to help, especially my Tweeps (or “support crew,” as one of them put it), and especially KOIN-TV; Megan Drake; Susan Ragan, whose stunning photos of Darby, including the one in this post, have put a face to this story; and the incredibly generous and kindhearted folks at Townhouse Pet Care Center, who are now caring for Darby free of charge until we re-home her.

The world is a better place with you in it.

Earlier posts:

• Can Social Media Find Darby a Home?
• Will Social Media Save Darby? The Saga Continues
• The Darby Chronicles: Part III

Will Social Media Save Darby? The Saga Continues

Since I first blogged about Darby the (female) German Shepherd, there’s been a lot of interest in her and her situation. There are so many people who have helped spread the word, and continue to do so, that I couldn’t begin to list them all here. But you know who you are, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

As an aside, almost all of you have connected with me through Twitter – what an incredibly effective communication platform (and guess what, Darby decided to get on Twitter too).

A few more details on Darby have emerged in the last few days, as well as answers to questions I’ve been getting. So here’s the Darby FAQ (remember, I’m not a dog trainer or behaviorist and am simply telling you what I’ve been told – any of this could change based on the environment Darby is in):

What’s the deal with the aggression?

A better way to describe this, according to the trainer at Townhouse Pet Care Center, where Darby is currently being cared for, is that she has a strong “prey drive.” This isn’t PR-speak; if you’re familiar with Shepherds (I grew up around them) and similar breeds, you know it comes with the territory.

The people who have had the most contact with Darby – the folks at Townhouse, my friend Susan Ragan and a good friend of our late uncle, all believe Darby can be re-socialized with the right attention and training. In other words, it’s highly unlikely that she’s un-rehabilitable.

What are Darby’s vital statistics and history?

Darby was adopted by our late uncle three or four years ago from a shelter. So she has the same history as just about any other shelter animal – not much. She’s a smaller GSD (between 60 & 70 lbs), spayed and from all indications in good health – she shows no signs of dysplasia, etc. But I don’t have access to any records on her, other than what Townhouse might have. Like any shelter animal, what you see is what you get.

Is Darby good with kids? What’s her temperament?

Yes, by all accounts she’s extremely loving and people- and kid-friendly. Like most GSDs, she’s extremely intelligent as well. She’s well-behaved, housebroken, and does not bark excessively.

Does Darby need to be an “only pet”?

I certainly think that would be an ideal situation, since she’d be in a non-threatening environment. However, if she does go to a home with other pets, she will likely settle down with the right amount of attention and training. I can’t promise you anything, though.

Have I tried to contact breed-specific rescues and other groups?

Yes. So far I haven’t had any luck in reaching them, other than the Oregon German Shepherd Rescue, who have acknowledged my emails and phone calls, but who have not made direct contact with me yet. (And yes, I’m still trying). The Oregon Humane Society has been extremely helpful in directing me towards certain rescue groups as well.

What if someone outside of Portland, Ore., wants to adopt Darby?

If this is the right fit, you bet I’ll talk to them. The folks at PetRelocation.com saw my earlier post and have made the incredibly generous offer of transporting Darby to her new home, wherever that might be, free of charge. So now we just need to find a home for her.

What’s going to happen to Darby in the next few days?

The perfect solution, of course, would be to find a “forever home” for Darby and move her there. Failing that, we need to get her into a foster home – of which there are potentially two right now – and continue the search for permanent placement.

Practically speaking, this would be a foster home in the Portland area. The folks who have stepped up so far, including her caretakers at Townhouse, have been incredibly generous with their time and support, but I would like to stop being a drain on their resources as soon as possible.

A couple of folks I’ve connected with through Twitter – both outside of Portland – are considering giving Darby a home as an option of last resort. But – and I can’t stress this strongly enough – they both have constraints and nothing is a done deal. So it’s critical that we keep looking for a home for Darby.

If someone’s interested in Darby, how can they contact me?

Email me at info@shonaliburke.com; if you’re on Twitter, tweet me. If someone you know or have passed the information along to wants to talk to me, please ask them to let me know how they got the information.

Will social media save Darby? I don’t know … yet. I certainly hope so; it has certainly been extremely effective in getting people around the country – and the world – talking about her.

I might add that Darby’s got more gumption than most people I know (including myself); she’s been hitting up Ellen, Oprah and Rick Sanchez as well (no response so far).

I can’t even begin to tell you how grateful we are for your support and concern for Darby. I hope you’ll continue to help put the word out there, however you can – by tweeting and re-tweeting this post, spreading the news among your online and offline networks, posting to your Facebook pages, etc. – so that we can put social media to use for Darby’s good.

Thank you.

Darby’s photo courtesy Susan Ragan

Can Social Media Find Darby a Home?

I love social media and networking. No surprises there. What is especially fascinating to me is their potential to bring together people who are virtually unknown [sic] to each other, and set the stage for something unique, something unintended and, quite possibly, something very, very good.

There are several examples of virtual “strangers” banding together to make a difference; certainly for non-profit organizations and causes, but also in response to personal appeals. Remember Beth Kanter’s birthday fund raising drive which raised thousands of dollars for kids in Cambodia? And how about the British teenager who was literally “saved by Facebook“?

I thought long and hard about doing this, and finally decided that if Chris Brogan can ask you to shave your head for charity (which I applaud, by the way) I can ask you to try to save a life.

Darby’s Story

My husband’s uncle died suddenly while vacationing in Panama a couple of weeks ago. To say it’s been a huge shock would be putting it mildly.

We are still not out of the rain forest, so to speak; unless you’ve been through it, you have no idea how much there is to deal with – or how complicated and arduous the process is – when a family member dies abroad.

Be that as it may, our uncle left no progeny behind… but he did leave a dog.

“Darby O’Callahan” is a spayed female German Shepherd, about 7 years old. I’ve never met her, but from what I hear, she is extremely affectionate towards people, healthy and quite a beauty. She’s also one of the few dogs I know who has her own Facebook page.

Should be a cinch to get her adopted, right?

Nope. It seems that Darby has lately been showing aggression towards other animals, which means she needs to go to a home where she’ll be an “only dog.”

Now, it’s quite possible this is a result of Darby’s recent stress, and her strong prey instinct (which is what the manager/trainer at Townhouse Pet Care Center, where she’s currently being boarded told me she probably has) could be trained out of her over time.

After all, if your “dad” had suddenly disappeared, and you’d been in a kennel for 3 weeks+, you’d be pretty ornery too… if you were still sane.

(Disclaimer: Much as I love them, I’m not an animal trainer or behaviorist, so I’m providing the information given to me by people who are more qualified than me in this area.)

I’ve been trying to contact a few different rescues in the Portland, Ore., area (which is where Darby is), but so far we haven’t had any luck placing her; I had a potential home for her which fell through when we heard about the aggression issue, which I was heartsick over. Several of my friends and family have received an email plea for me. Some of my Tweeps have been trying to spread the word.

Well, now I’m throwing it open to YOU. Can you help get the word out about Darby? Forward this post, tweet it, share it however you can.

The folks most likely to adopt her will, of course, be in the Portland area; can you activate your network(s) to see if we can reach people there? Perhaps even the media?

Approximately five to seven million companion animals enter shelters every year, and 60% of these dogs and 70% of these cats are euthanized simply because of a lack of resources.

Those are horrifying statistics in a country where almost two-thirds of households have pets.

I don’t want Darby to become another statistic.

Can you – the embodiment of social media – help find Darby a home? Anyone who’s interested, or wants to know more, can reach me at info (a) shonaliburke.com.

We would be so grateful. And I truly believe our uncle’s soul would be at rest.

Many thanks to the inimitable Susan Ragan for her great photographs of Darby, and to the folks at Townhouse for taking such good care of Darby while we try to place her.

Social Media, Social Karma

There’s an awful lot of social karma going around lately.

JOTW: My First Experience With Social Karma

For the last few years, I’ve occasionally guest-edited the free “Ned’s Job of the Week” e-newsletter. If you don’t know about it, it’s a free weekly newsletter that lists job postings sent to Ned Lundquist, ABC, by subscribers (as well as many he finds himself) in the spirit of sharing.

For a couple of weeks every year, I experience what Ned goes through on a daily basis: sifting through job postings sent by readers, looking for them myself, telling people how to subscribe and unsubscribe (even though the instructions are clearly listed in the newsletter) and then compiling all the information, along with other announcements that would be relevant (such as communication/PR events) into a newsletter that’s sent out every Monday.

It’s a lot of work, and I’m exhausted and relieved when Ned returns; but I’m always grateful for the additional connections I make by filling in for him, as well as honored by his trust that I’ll keep JOTW rolling along.

And I always ask myself: how on earth does he keep doing it?

The answer is very simple: Ned believes in social karma. Or rather, as he puts it, JOTW is dedicated to the “positive, unanticipated consequences of nedworking.” And no, that’s not a typo.

Ned didn’t start publishing JOTW to get something out of it. He did it to help a few folk he knew, and figured he might – just might – help himself along the way. Since its inception with a handful of subscribers, JOTW has grown tremendously; at last count, there are more than 11,111 members of the JOTW network. It now has a home on the Web as well as advertisers and sponsors.

The WIIFM Factor

Is Ned getting something out of JOTW now? You bet. But that’s not why he started it, and not why he keeps it going, or why he keeps it free to subscribers. And that, in my opinion, is why he’s successful.

Mind you, all this started several years ago, way before “social media” became the “buzzphrase” it is today. But to me, Ned epitomizes the inherent karmic element of social media. If you send something good out to your world – with no expectation whatsoever – something good will come back to you.

Twitter and Social Karma

One of the reasons I love Twitter is that it’s a perfect platform for social karma. Want to know who can enrich your network? Head to #followfriday. Want to show someone some Twitter-love? Re-tweet something interesting they’ve shared.

And through Twitter, I’ve come across even more instances of social karma.

Mark Story, for example, has started #blogmonday, where he highlights bloggers who might not be very well known. Arik Hanson posts interviews with professionals he thinks are “PR Rockstars” on his blog. Heather Huhman provides a wealth of PR resources by tagging relevant posts with #PRadvice. And there are countless others.

As far as I know, Mark, Arik and Heather aren’t necessarily “getting” anything out of their efforts. But I’m pretty sure they are enhancing their reputations (don’t worry, I’m not going to get into the whole personal branding thing here), building their networks and sowing the seeds for “positive, unanticipated consequences” which will have a beneficial effect on their work.

What’s the Communications Angle?

The first thing that anyone – including the many “gurus” out there – will tell you about social media is that it’s about listening, connecting and sharing. Everything else comes later.

If you’re a professional communicator grappling with the amoebic nature of social media, try thinking of it as your path to social karma.

After all, our business is communication, right? Sharing information, educating and informing audiences and hopefully, at the end of the day, doing some good by using smart communications to help organizations (or clients) achieve their goals.

Listening, sharing, connecting – this is what we DO. Don’t get intimidated by the technology behind it, or the buzzwords that tend to change quicker than David and Dania.

Call me naïve, but I believe social karma is a large part of what we do for a living. Social media is just another way to get there.

(Photo: Miss Bliss 55)

What about you? Is social karma part of your approach to communications? Have you found social media has increased your social karma? If you want to give props to someone who does, a comment would be a lovely way to do so.

Of Job Hunting, Cologne… and Twitter

On April 2, a few friends and I put on the “Dream Team” hats that Ned Lundquist, ABC, bestowed on us some years ago, to help folks “Pimp My Job.”

What on earth is “Pimp My Job,” you ask?

If you subscribe to Ned’s free, weekly “Job of the Week” newsletter, which I sometimes guest-edit, you know what we’re about. But in essence, we’re a group of communicators from near and far who provide advice – sometimes mercilessly – to those brave enough to ask for it. They submit their on-the-job – or job hunting – nightmares to us, and we have at it, maintaining their privacy. Advice is compiled and published in the newsletter. You can read previous PMJs here.

PMJ Meets IABC

A few years ago, when I ran IABC/Washington‘s programming, I thought it would be fun to do a real world version of PMJ – and sure enough, it was. A couple of weeks ago, we reprised our “act” at IABC/Washington’s Senior Communicators Council meeting (disclosure: I’m President-Elect for the chapter, currently also Acting President).

Given how dramatically the economy has changed in the past few years, I wasn’t quite sure how the SCC meeting would go (it’s one thing to pimp your job while you still have it, quite another when you, and more and more of your peers, are out of work).

It was wonderful. Folks shared their experiences, asked for advice, gave advice, and I felt a tremendous sense of camaraderie among the attendees. We had some fun too: can you guess which Indian goddess the Dream Team is trying to portray here?

“It’s Not Rocket Science”

Now, none of what we said is rocket science (I couldn’t resist). Career advice abounds, especially these days. But there were two things that stayed with me:

1) It’s easy to get depressed when you’re in a go-nowhere job/laid off/have been job hunting for years, etc. But as Kate Perrin of PRofessional Solutions said, you cannot afford to let the “stink of desperation” cling to you. That’s when you’re in such a poor frame of mind that it comes across no matter where you are, who you’re talking to, or what you’re talking about … and that will come through in your interviews.  Do I need to give you examples? I didn’t think so.

2) Senior communicators must start understanding and using online social networks. Being… well, me, I gave the attendees a quick demonstration of Twitter which, as we all know, is just one of the many platforms you can use to connect with people. Time and time again, I hear “we don’t get it,” “I’m not technologically savvy,” what the heck is the point of (fill in your epithet network of choice) anyway?”

The point is two-fold: first, it’s networking. If you have experienced the advantages of meeting and communicating with your peers outside of your work, you cannot afford to ignore online venues that afford you the same opportunities. Yes, you have to then take your online network offline and put it to work for you. But you can’t do that if you don’t have an online network.

Second, you are probably finding that these days, more and more jobs require a knowledge of the online sphere and social media. How can you be competitive if you don’t explore the spaces potential employers need you to have an understanding of? It doesn’t matter if you don’t consider yourself an “expert” (there are too many wannabe experts floating around these days anyway, as Beth Harte points out in this most excellent post). But you’ve got to be able to talk knowledgeably about it – and you can’t do that if you don’t engage.

In my enthusiasm to bring a Twitter dimension to the meeting, I asked my tweeps to submit questions for the Dream Team to me via Twitter, hoping to be able to answer them live from the session. Many thanks to all of you who did (you can read the entire event-related tweetstream here). The meeting had so many facets to it that we weren’t able to get to all the questions, but they (and the answers) have been published in today’s edition of JOTW.

A final word: if you don’t subscribe to JOTW, I strongly recommend you do. It’s completely free and you will experience the “positive, unanticipated consequences of nedworking” first-hand. Subscription (and unsubscription) instructions are at the top and bottom of every email. The annual March 32nd issue itself is worth the price of admission.

The Bottom Line

Yes, it’s tough out there. But it’s tough for everyone, not just you. So check your desperation at the door and start using the networks around you. That’s what they’re there for, and you’ll be the better for it.

(Thanks, Ned for the use of your photo)

Customer Service: Taking PR From “Good” to “Great”

A couple of weeks ago, Zoë Siskos of Social Media Group asked me if I wanted to test-drive a new Ford Escape. Not being a journalist or a car/A-list blogger, I was flattered but curious, and my first reaction was: “Sure, but why?”

Zoë’s goal (ergo, her agency’s) for her client was to get “non-car oriented people in Ford cars to test them out.” Nothing else was required from me: no blog post, nothing. I wasn’t going to be paid for this, and the gas was on me, but insurance was taken care of.

Now, I’ve done my agency time and I know how the whole word-of-mouth thing is supposed to work. But I’ve met Zoë, like her, and one of our cars was due to go into the garage that week, so I thought: why not?

I’ve never had a particularly good perception of the brand, a view that I’m sure has been colored by my husband’s vivid memories of being regularly stranded, years ago, in England due to a Ford Escort that would reliably overheat. We’re a Toyota family, and we like it that way.

The Ford Experience

The entire experience was more pleasant than I thought it would be. The company that delivered the car was prompt and polite, worked with me on timing (because of a request I put in with Zoë), and for one week I was able to escape pet fuzz and bask in that new car smell. I loved the heated seats and, for a change, driving the kind of car road hogs tend to steer clear of.

As far as driving and all that important stuff goes, if you’re interested you should check out what real experts have to say, like the folks at Edmunds.com. Or maybe Robert Gibbs in the first 40 seconds of this video:

So much for my car review.

The Real Story Here

What really made an impression on me was when it came time for the car to be picked up. I happened to have a new business meeting that day and, while driving there, several warning lights in the instrument panel came on. Fortunately I wasn’t stranded on one of Virginia’s vast highways, but the car shut down almost as soon as I reached my destination. As soon as my meeting was over, I sent Zoë a frantic email. Determined to leave no stone unturned, I called her as well.

She didn’t bat an eyelid. She called the local contacts and made sure they got out to me as soon as they could to give me a ride home. (The test car did start up, but I wasn’t about to take a chance on it freezing up on me again.) She called me back to make sure they’d been in touch with me and that I was alright. Not just that day, but through the entire process, Zoë treated me as if I was SMG’s most valued customer.

Taking PR from Good to Great

That’s what takes PR from good to great. If you’re not treating your clients (and even if you work in house, you still have clients… they’re just your colleagues) like your most valued customers, they’re probably not going to remain your clients very long. That applies to any kind of outreach you take on in the course of your work; as Zoë did.

In my opinion, Zoë is not just a good PR person; she has the makings of a great one. Keep your eye on her.

And when I’m in the market for a new car, I’m pretty sure I will at least take a look at what Ford’s offering. No promises, but I’m just saying…

(Image: courtesy Ford)

PR, Please Think It Through

Twitterverse was buzzing about Skittles’ foray into social media this week. No, I’m not going to give you my take on that, there are quite enough of those already. I did find Laura Fitton’s early summary of it extremely interesting, though, and Lauren Vargas’ and Liana “Li” Evans’ posts summed up my opinion beautifully.

My point is this: when you embark on PR of any kind, have you thought it through?

In my mind, it doesn’t matter how edgy your tactics are, or how many layers you’ve put into your campaign (and let’s face it, we PR people love layers almost as much as a bear in Antarctica).

What does matter is whether you’ve thought it through. Because if you haven’t; if you haven’t configured a response or action for every possible scenario, your campaign could fall flat, and all that time you put into it will have been wasted.

What’s the Plan, Stan?

Before you get ready to pelt me with M&Ms, I’m not saying the Skittles campaign bombed. That remains to be seen, based on what their goals and measurable objectives were.

The success or failure of your campaign will depend, in large part, on the contingencies you put in place. If you’re planning a media tour, what will happen if your main spokesperson falls through? If your kickoff event is outdoors, have you considered the weather gods?

If you’re planning a new site launch, are all the additional bits and bobs in place and ready to be rolled out at the touch of a button – and what happens when something goes wrong? Do you have a communication network, whether it’s as simple as a phone tree, or a more sophisticated system of communication that includes mobile, so that the key players can reach each other?

Sometimes, It All Works

The other side to this coin is making sure you’re poised to take advantage of those rare moments when synchronicity rules – and everything works just right. Your live reveal is perfect, the weather doesn’t interfere, your key messages are beautifully represented in the media, your public is excited, and even the media wants more (shock and awe!). Are you ready to capture this excitement?

Or, will you bravely enter the “new world” of social media, turning your website into a platform for conversation – and then not talk to the folks who flock there?

Our plans don’t always work perfectly, but when they do, it’s magic. And if you’re not ready to roll with the flow (which you wanted, I might add), you could lose a great many opportunities to engage your audience further and prime them to be future customers, donors or evangelists.

Contingency planning is draining and time-consuming -  no arguments there. But it’s well worth the time you put into it because, believe me, something will go wrong… or unbelievably right.

Just ask Skittles.

(Photo: Chovee)

What do you think? How important has contingency planning been in your PR endeavors? Can you share tips on what has and hasn’t worked for you? I’d love to know.

Home Is Where The Mouse Is… Maybe

A few days ago, Pew Research’s “Daily Number” was 38%: the percentage of Americans who, having lived in more than one place, don’t consider their current community home. Given that this is a country of immigrants, that isn’t surprising, and a feeling I (a naturalized American of East Indian origin) can relate to.

A couple of days later, we had a friend over for lunch. Canadian-born, he’s worked all over the world, including in several African countries, and now calls Liverpool, U.K., home. At one point he asked, “Where do you feel at home?” Initially, my answer was, “In this country, California” – because that’s where my husband is from, that was my first experience of the U.S., that’s where many of our good friends and family still live.

“Home” Is…

I kept thinking about that question, though. Where does one really feel at home? What is it that defines “home” from “away”? Can one feel at home in several places… or none?

… Where The Heart Is?

Pew’s report answers some of these questions, and the results aren’t surprising:

Among all respondents to the Pew Research Center survey, 57% say they have not lived in the U.S. outside their current state: 37% have never left their hometown and 20% have left their hometown (or native country) but not lived outside their current state.

The Pew survey finds that stayers overwhelmingly say they remain because of family ties and because their hometowns are good places to raise children. Their life circumstances match those explanations. Most stayers say at least half a dozen members of their extended families live within an hour’s drive; for 40%, more than 10 relatives live nearby. A majority of stayers also cite a feeling of belonging as a major reason for staying put.

(Emphasis mine).

Movers are far less likely to cite those kinds of ties. Fewer than four-in-ten say a major reason they moved to their current community has to do with family or child-rearing. Most movers have five or fewer extended-family members living within an hour’s drive of them, and 26% have none. The most popular reason that movers choose a new community, selected by a 44% plurality, is job or business opportunities, according to the Pew survey. About the same share of stayers (40%) cite job or business opportunities as a major reason for staying, but far more stayers choose reasons related to family and friends.

(Again, emphasis mine).

… Or Where The Mouse Is?

Where one feels at home certainly has to do with people and community – a sense of belonging. Which is why, as I continued to think about it, I realized that I feel at home in several places. This is not only due to the people I’ve met and relationships I’ve made, but because I stay connected to them through my mouse.

I keep up with them on Facebook and certainly via e-mail. And increasingly, my online home is Twitter, where I make new connections with fascinating people every day, taking offline relationships online and vice versa. Apparently there are quite a few people around the world who are interested in what I’m thinking about, in 140 characters or less, most of whom I’ve never met “IRL.”

That goes for me too. Because of the engagement I experience online, I’m fairly certain that should I experience another physical move, this community will help me root myself offline, to the point where I begin to feel at home – wherever I may be.

How Is This Relevant to PR?

One of the fundamentals of good PR is knowing your audience. And a key element of that is having an understanding of which media they consume, and which they don’t; where they like to get their information from. In other words – where they feel at home.

The media landscape is changing dramatically; today’s shuttering of the Rocky Mountain News has been drawing national attention. Will other traditional media stalwarts, such as the San Francisco Chronicle, follow suit? We’ll have to wait and see. What we know is that consumers have more choices than ever before, and the media outlets they call home – both traditional and “new” – are growing exponentially.

Let’s forget about the media for a second.

Consider the data from Pew’s Internet & American Life Project December 2008 survey:

Over half of the adult internet population is between 18 and 44 years old. But larger percentages of older generations are online now than in the past, and they are doing more activities online, according to surveys taken from 2006-2008.

Contrary to the image of Generation Y as the “Net Generation,” internet users in their 20s do not dominate every aspect of online life. Generation X is the most likely group to bank, shop, and look for health information online. Boomers are just as likely as Generation Y to make travel reservations online. And even Silent Generation internet users are competitive when it comes to email (although teens might point out that this is proof that email is for old people).

The Bottom Line

You may be an excellent PR professional who is not a Twitter devotee, Facebook junkie, or a fan of the countless online mechanisms that, for want of a better term, we call social media tools; and you are perfectly within your rights to remain so.

But as Internet users increasingly span generations, as millenials grow into their roles as business leaders and decision makers, I suspect you might be doing your employers or clients – and most of all yourself – a disservice if you don’t at least familiarize yourself with the online channels that help people meet, talk, work and grow – and where they feel at home.

Maybe, just maybe, home is where the mouse is.

What do you think? Where do you feel at home? Please share your thoughts and perspectives; I’d love to hear them.

Images: Pew Research Center

Point. Click. Connect.

Truth be told, I didn’t expect to be writing this post at this very minute; after all, one wants one’s first blog post to be slightly more than just “why I’m here” blather, doesn’t one? However, I was given so much help today in working out some WordPress kinks by Joe Perez of Zealous Marketing, it reminded me all over again of the power of connection that we, as communicators, possess.

Why do we do what we do? And by that I mean “public relations,” “social media,” whatever you want to call it… I’m going to call it “communications.” It’s not the easiest of lifestyles – one is often on call. And it certainly isn’t for the money, though of course there are those who have made a most lucrative business of it.

Well, I do it because I love being able to use my talents as a communicator to bring people together and figure out how to use communications to reach a shared goal, to achieve common objectives. It’s not always easy, since everyone doesn’t start out talking the same language at first. But it sure is fulfilling when we finally get there.

I believe – at least, I hope – that’s the reason most of us do it. Good communication enables powerful connection. And that connection can have a positive impact on lives at micro and macro levels which, in turn, can influence the way the world turns.

That power of connection blew me away today, when thanks to my Twitter community, I received expert help within minutes, and that was just for an issue I was having with this little blog (if you’ve been plagued by similar issues, by the way, check out Joe’s “Installing Google Analytics on WordPress” video). Imagine that power of connection at macro levels; what great possibilities lie within a communicator’s hands.

Point. Click. Connect. That’s all it takes.

About Shonali

“Who is Shonali Burke, ABC”?

I’m an independent consultant who is also an accredited business communicator (hence the “ABC” after my name) currently in my 14th year in the business. I’ve worked in two continents (Asia and North America), and on both coasts of the United States. I have small and large agency experience, as well as in several verticals in the for-and not-for-profit sectors. To read the extended version of my resume, please visit my LinkedIn profile or my VisualCV, though of note is that I’m adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins University’s M.A./Communications program, and serve as editor for Network Solutions’ Women Grow Business blog community.

I am continuously inspired and energized by the power of strategic and measurable communication to facilitate and impact business goals and, more importantly, to make a positive impact on the world we live in. That is why I work in public relations and communications. That’s why I hope most people do what they do, and particularly in public relations and communications.

I believe strongly in the power of community. To give back to the communications community that has given me so much, I am an active member of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), through which I also earned my accreditation in 2005. I serve on IABC/DC Metro‘s 2009-2010 Board of Directors as President, and am a past member of IABC’s International Accreditation Council.

If you need help with strategic communications planning and implementation and all that that entails – from research and measurement, to public relations, to integrated online and offline communication – please check out my website and let me know. And heck, if you just want to talk about the wonderful world of communications and PR, I’m here. Reach me at info (at) shonaliburke (dot) com.