Take a deep breath. On August 16th, the unthinkable happened for the millions of Skype subscribers around the world. For two days, they were left stranded without the ability to make Web-based phone calls or even chat with one another, sending everyone back to the very communications devices they were so intent on leaving behind – email, phones, and instant messaging. For two days, basically everyone subscribed to the Skype “Out” service literally. So when your service goes down, what…
PRWeek Interviews PR Pros on the Ascendancy of Facebook
PRWeek recently interviewed me, along with a few other PR pros including, Gerald Kimber White, John H. Bell, David Almacy, B. Bonin Bough, and David Haase to discuss Facebook’s impact on the PR industry. It would have also been interesting to include Facebook’s inhouse PR spokesperson, Brandee Barker – I wonder if she’s had a chance to read this yet. PRWeek is the primary (traditional) source for news and information in the PR industry. Author, Alexandra Bruell, explored why PR…
Building a Bridge Between Your Story, Bloggers, and People – Part I
To all of you advanced new media PR professionals, this post may seem a bit remedial in comparison to some of more technical and exploratory subjects we usually cover. Last year I ran a series covering blogger relations Forward Moving, a specialized blog dedicated to PR education. Due to unexpected demand, I’ve been asked to update these posts and re-run them as an ongoing series. I’m happy to do so. I’ll try to double up on posts to make sure…
Social Media Manifesto Makes Junta42’s Most Popular Articles of the Week
The Future of Communications – A Manifesto for Integrating Social Media into Marketing is still going strong, and I hope it continues to do so. Things have such a limited lifespan in the blogospere these days, that I am happy to see that it is still making the rounds. Junta42 promoted the article as one of its featured articles for the week in an email newsletter that was sent to site members. Junta42 is new expert and user-generated search engine…
Deleting Users, Audience, and Messages from PR and Social Media
Attention PR and practicing Social Media professionals, step away from using “messages” to target “users” and “audience.” They are no longer filling the theaters, stadiums, and auditoriums to hear from marketers. I’ve been in tech PR since 91 and have been also guilty of using such terminology. Back in the day, users really were users in the tech business and when we were researching who they were, they would ultimately become the audience for our marketing initatives. Not everyone (aka…
PR and Social Media are Still Oil and Water
In many ways, the recent discussion of Marketwire’s acquisition of PRNN and how it was positioned as an example of the pioneering developments in Social Media and news distribution reminds me a bit of PRWeek’s claim that PR was entering an era of PR 3.0. Attention, executives at wire services and industry magazines, before you jump into the comments section here, believe that I fully acknowledge your good intentions. However, perhaps your excitement and enthusiasm may have clouded your judgment…
PR is About Relationships, Just Ask Robert Scoble
The crossroads of traditional PR and Social Media is on an inevitable path to a very public boiling point. In the realm of Social Media, conversations are king. As much as we talk about how to participate in Social Media, it doesn’t mean a thing if we don’t take a few steps back and remember that regardless of the technology, meaningful conversations are about respect and relationships. And, I should also point out that the most rewarding dialog has always…
Facebook is the Online Hub for Connected Professionals
As part of the new media regime, strategically participating in Social Media is not only critical to the evolution of PR, it is necessary in order to effectively communicate with the people that can help you extend the conversations that matter to your business. Where do you start? How do you jump in? It all starts with listening and watching, and eventually, participation becomes clear. I too will do my part to help you identify the networks and strategies necessary…
Marketwire Acquires PRNN – But is This Really Social Media?
Social Media is the new gold rush and traditional PR services are scrambling to stay relevant as new tools, channels, and experts are forcing a long overdue renaissance. Nowadays, the word “social” is getting tossed around by anyone and everyone as if it was a golden adjective with huge dividends for instantly inflating personal expertise and credibility – regardless of whether or not they truly understand and practice social media. And unfortunately, it’s bound to only get more polluted as…
Tangler Introduces Embeddable Forums to Spark Global Conversations
What if the comments section in important blogs or popular discussion forums were portable and accessible from various sites and blogs across the Web, but still synchronized the conversation so that everyone could participate in one global discussion? Imagine the implications and benefits that such a network could have on any social media strategy and public relations campaign. Well, Tangler is enabling the idea of portable, global conversations across the web, similar to the way YouTube videos are displayed in…
