This week we are talking with Shannon Whitley, from the Voice of Tech blog about his experience with the social media release (SMR). Later today, we will also publish a podcast with Maggie Fox from the Social Media Group on the very same topic. Shannon currently works for a global law firm as the HR Systems Lead. He brings his experience of building interfaces and integrating systems to life with the Portable Release XML (PRX) format for the SMR to be distributed over newswires.
BB: Tell us a little about your history with the SMR.
SW: In May 2006, I read a blog post by Shel Holz on a new template that some guy named Todd Defren had released in response to Tom Foremski’s famous rant, “Die! Press Release! Die! Die! Die!” I had been issuing press releases for some of my software products and found the process cumbersome and expensive. When I saw Todd’s template, it immediately struck me as something that could be turned into an electronic document and used to streamline the press release process. I asked around to see if something like this already existed, but no one could point me to a working solution.
There is already a pretty good model for using electronic documents in the world of shareware distribution. I thought that the same model could be applied to the distribution of news, using the SHIFT template as a starting point. My goals were pretty simple: news authors would only need to write a release one time, and all of the pieces of the release would already be broken down and identified separately for easier distribution among the newswires’ computer systems. I worked on this idea for several weeks, and it resulted in the creation of the Portable Release XML (PRX) format.
Most people have a hard time relating to "geek talk" about electronic documents and XML schemas. To help others see the potential uses for the technology, I created PRX Builder, a tool for generating Social Media News Releases. Under the hood, it’s all XML, but the end result is a nicely-formatted news release. The power in each PRX release is that it’s not only human-readable, but computer-readable as well. This means that a newswire can pull in a release directly across the Internet. It also means that pieces of a release can be displayed separately, depending on the needs of the reader. For example, if a journalist only wants to see the photos in a release, no problem. If someone is reading a release and wants to add the contact information to their experts’ database, it’s a simple mouse-click away.
I contacted Todd Defren in June of 2006 and we worked together on the first versions of PRX Builder. We later joined forces with PR Newswire and integrated with their distribution services. PRX Builder was released to the public in October of 2006.
In addition to working on PRX Builder, in November 2006 I joined Chris Heuer’s New Media Release discussion group. By October of 2007, I decided that I could make a larger contribution to that group and took on a leadership role with the hRelease Working Group. The first draft of the hRelease working document was finished in December 2007and has been released for public comment.
As of today, the hRelease draft is still open for comment. I’m currently calling for additional feedback on the document and challenging more people to get involved in the review process.
BB: What is your hope for the SMR?
SW: I’d like to see the old-style news release adapt to the online world. We can provide news consumers, be they professional journalists or casual readers, with rich, shareable content that can improve the impact of the news. The Social Media News Release, at its core, is about making news easier to share, and providing more media in one place for news consumers. My hope is that people will recognize that the Social Media News Release is not a disruptive, revolutionary approach. It’s just the next step in the evolution of the press release.
BB: What are your thoughts about the multiple groups now developing SMR initiatives?
SW: I’m encouraged by the work that is going on in these groups. I want to see more experimentation with different approaches because we are all still trying to figure out what works best with new methods of display and distribution.
One thing I’d also like to see is that new products or services in this space reduce the hype in their announcements. One of my favorite social media commentators, Brian Solis, says that the SMNR is not just about technology, it’s about reducing the spin in our writing. It’s ironic that some of the recent releases about SMNR efforts have included so much hype.
Additionally, I’d like to see more sharing among these various groups. For instance, the hRelease project has been a public effort and is open to all, but most of the groups working on their own have elected not to participate. If you understand Social Media, then you understand that sharing content is a primary focus. We can’t share anything if all of our efforts are separate and distinct.
BB: What do you think has to happen next for SMR’s success in general?
SW: Although many of us have worked diligently on these projects, it’s important that an established, professional group come forward and take ownership of this initiative. I’m pleased to say that there will be a forthcoming announcement regarding this exact thing once details are ironed out.
BB: What’s your favorite aspect of social media?
SW: I love the creative aspect of writing new code and sharing my applications with people all over the world. My work has also brought me many new online friends and I’m learning something from each one of them. That part of social media, the education that comes from sharing, is probably my favorite part of these projects.
BB: What do you think of corporations’ current efforts online?
SW: I’m pleased to see large corporations like Ford Motor Company, Coca-Cola, Cisco, and Verizon issuing social media news releases. The standard is being set now and I think it is only a matter of time before all releases have at least one version that is geared for online consumption.
Where we are lagging is in the exploration of new, better distribution processes. The newswires should provide simple, inexpensive solutions for distributing news in an online format. Many people have been calling for this for a long time and I am still looking forward to a time when boring, plain-text releases are not the norm.
Q: What’s next for Shannon Whitley?
SW: TBD
Shannon’s a bright guy who does good work. We’re all in a better place because of his contributions to this crazy world of social media marketing and communication. Thanks Shannon. And thanks to you, too, Buzz Bin, for giving him some spotlight time.