May 29 2008

Social PR

May 29, 2008 – 10:02 pm

As the social media evolution continues, businesses want to engage in social media, and more than just blogs. The challenge for communicators isn’t necessarily learning best practices. It’s offering a unique, integrated blend of new social media, marketing and public relations services to the marketplace. Rather than throw-up a long ridiculous term, I have been shortening the many descriptive terms in this evolutionary offering to a simple description of “Social PR.”

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Social media has forced contemporary media to become 1) much more accountable to its readership and 2) extremely trend oriented. This fifth estate trend has also introduced a new level of dialogue between customers and the companies that serve them. Consider that:

* Message control is gone
* Media outlets predominantly cater to the communities, not the companies, and want great trend-based info to serve those communities
* Ethics and transparency are increasing musts. Companies will be held accountable if they are caught wandering from the path…

The way we react to social media’s impact is by moving away from message control, and getting back to creating value for the community served by the newspaper (or TV station or…). This is social PR. As Rich Becker likes to remind me, this is not really a new thing, just good old fashioned, principle-based communications.

These principles apply across tactical outreach. Whether that’s delivering a phenomenal speech, a good blog post, an intelligent social network application or a great newspaper pitch.

Communicating directly to the stakeholder or through the media, give them the information you have as a subject matter expert… The information that the community values, wants and needs. That’s what social PR really is: Socially intelligent, relationship building communications integrated across new and old media forms.

Generally speaking, reporters respond to this kind of pitch. This is no different than the general precepts used to create an editorial mission for a blog or social media campaign. And thus done well, Social PR is integrated across tactics.

This thinking is not new, but it has become lost in the past twenty to thirty years. Perhaps public relations is an art. So many practitioners don’t get it. But in my mind social PR is just the modern form of old-fashioned public relations: creating goodwill by being a contributing, participating member of the community.

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Geoff Livingston | Posted in Geoff, PR, Social Networks | Comments (7)

Q & A With BlogPotomac Co-chairs Geoff Livingston and Debbie Weil

May 29, 2008 – 6:12 am

Deb_geoff_youtubeGeoff Livingston and I decided to interview each other as part of the Q & A series leading up to BlogPotomac, to be held here in Washington DC on June 13, 2008. Our social media marketing unconference is rapidly selling out, BTW, so don’t wait if you want to attend. Register here.

We got a little more serious in our mutual interview than I intended. Namely, I forgot to mention that Geoff is a funny guy. I thought it would be a kick to work with him on the event; he hasn’t disappointed…

Question: Why are you co-chairing BlogPotomac?

Debbie: First, because Geoff was kind enough to ask me. But second and more important, I fervently want to see a coherent social media community develop in Washington DC, as it has in many other cities. When I say coherent, I mean offline as well as online. And not just the cool young geeks. But to include marketers and comms professionals of all ages in the public, private and non-profit sectors.

Washington, as wonderful as it is, is a very dispersed place. Virginia, Maryland, Capitol Hill, in-town DC – they’re concentric circles that don’t overlap very well.

Like Geoff, I also want to give back to my hometown of almost 26 years.

Geoff:

I got the idea from BlogOrlando and Josh Hallett. I thought that was exactly what DC needed, a great social media marketing event to pull us all together. So I started mulling how to do it.

Because Debbie and I were becoming friends and I wanted this event to be represented by the area’s leading social marketing minds, it made sense to chair it with her. It’s been great working with her, and she has helped me see some aspects of social media I would not have been introduced to if not for BlogPotomac.

Rohit_150px Ironically, the third and actually the highest top ranked social media blogger in the area, Rohit Bhargava, ended up being our opening night speaker. So the top three marketing bloggers in the region according to the AdAge 150 — all authors by the way (see here and here and here) — have come together to bring best social media practices to DC.

For me, it’s a service, and a way of giving back to a region that has been my professional home since 1994.

Question: Why aren’t you one of the speakers?

Debbie: Because Geoff and I agreed that we didn’t want or need the limelight with such a stellar line-up of speakers. Viget Labs, the third silent partner in this endeavor, who designed the logo and site, also felt that participating through organizing and creating the conference was the best way to move forward.

However, attendees will be hearing me throughout the day (Friday June 13, 2008) as I introduce our speakers along with fellow emcee Josh Hallett.

Geoff: I will actually be speaking in DC three times in June, and I attend a lot of events already. Aaron Brazell and I run our District of Corruption podcast, and my company is interim steward of the local Social Media Club. Locally, I feel I am accessible, and people have heard or are about to hear my schtick.

I felt the value was introducing local marketers to people they haven’t heard, but that I have been blessed enough to meet during my journey. I know that Debbie and Brian Williams from Viget Labs felt the same way.

I also felt having Josh Hallett there was really important as he started this whole BlogX thing.

As Livingston Communications is running the finances and operations of the event, having him emcee accomplished two purposes: Honor Josh, and free me to handle issues and make sure the event goes off smoothly. I will do the initial introduction of Debbie and Josh. The rest is pure service.

Question: What do you hope BlogPotomac will achieve?

Debbie: I’ve outlined my big picture goal above. More specifically, I’d like our attendees to leave with at least half a dozen specific ideas they can execute back at their offices, no matter what size their budget or how large or small their staff.

As they say… blog on. Or in this case… just do it!

Geoff: If everyone walks out understanding that social media is more than blogs and blogger relations, I’ll feel like a champ. I also hope people will feel encouraged and excited to go experiment. Lastly, I hope we make a little profit to donate to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Geoff Livingston | Posted in Interviews | Comments (1)
May 28 2008

All Your Profiles Are Belong To Us

May 28, 2008 – 11:13 am

social Nick O’Neill at the Social Times wrote an interesting post last week stating that social networking sites would be "dead" in two years. Meaning that individual sites will soon be a thing of the past and integration is coming.

(Picture Credit: BusinessWeek)

However, the integration of social networks will mean that each individual brand is set to lose revenue. Already we have seen that Facebook is blocking Google Friend Connect in an effort to protect user data. They’ve even created their own iteration called Facebook Connect. This move also proves that data portability remains a "nice to have" aspiration, not a "must have."

The question is whether or not the Web 2.0 industry of countless applications, widgets, and networking sites will want to make integrated sites and data portability a reality and whether or not it makes sense from a financial standpoint. FriendFeed is already an aggregator to connect multiple profile sites, and others have come into the mix (and gone) as well. But what about the idea of one site for all? Is it realistic, or even necessary?

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(Picture Credit: New York Times)

Just like there is no one universal e-mail provider, I don’t believe that we’ll ever see one universal site that integrates all of the current social network sites into one. People want choices, and the sites that survive will be the ones with the highest value proposition for each audience that they cater to.

So, let’s enjoy the individuality and options that are offered to users. One person’s trash is another person’s treasure. Consider the different social groups and people you may connect with on Facebook vs. MySpace and LinkedIn vs. Twitter. Variety is the spice of life.

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Larissa Fair | Posted in Social Networks | Comments (2)

Buy Geoff, Do Good

May 28, 2008 – 9:42 am

MediaPhyter Jennifer Leggio has the goal of raising $10,000 for Team in Training, the fundraising arm of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Team in Training funds medical research for blood cancer cures and provides patient and family support programs.

Geoff_small_04 To help do this she has secured the time and creativity of some of the smartest folks in the marketing/digital/social media space. This includes two hours of my time donated by the team here at Livingston Communications. 

Auction Details: Two-hour phone consulting / brainstorming session valued at $1K. Bidding begins at $100. Full details are available on the Geoff Livingston eBay auction site.  This is a great way to get me on the cheap (at least until the auction hits $600 or so), and do good at the same time.

Of course there are other consultants you could buy, if you are really excited…

Other Social Media Players Participating

Chris BroganChris Brogan uses social media and technology to build digital relationships for businesses, organizations, and individuals. He has merged his experience in technology (enterprise IT and wireless telephony) with his passion for social media, such that he’s showing organizations how to use these tools inside the firewall, as well as to build authentic conversations between coworkers, customers, and even competitors. Brogan is cofounder of the PodCamp unconference series (with Christopher S. Penn), exploring the use of new media community tools to extend relationships and build value.

Auction: Speaking engagement anywhere in the U.S. valued from $5K-$10K. Bidding begins at $700. Full details available on the Chris Brogan eBay auction site.

Joseph JaffeJoseph Jaffe is one of the most sought after consultants, speakers and thought leaders on new marketing. He is president and “chief interuptor” at crayon, a strategic advisory group that helps companies “join the conversation” through the power of community, dialogue and partnership. He has spoken to audiences in North America, London, the Netherlands, Turkey and South Africa and to companies including Yahoo!, JWT, Modem Media, Conde Nast and iVillage. In 2007, Jaffe authored the book Join the Conversation: How to Engage Marketing-Weary Consumers with the Power of Community, Dialogue and Partnership.

Auction: Dinner and brainstorming session in the New York / Connecticut area valued at $10K. Bidding begins at $1K. Full details available on the Joseph Jaffe eBay auction site.

Aaron StroutAaron Strout is vice president of social media at Mzinga, a Burlington, Massachusetts-based provider of online communities and social networks for businesses. In his role, Aaron focuses on blogging, podcasting, webinars, blogger relations, and evangelizing the benefits of social networks for business. In addition to his knowledge of the interactive and new media landscape, Aaron has more than 15 years of online marketing and advertising experience, with a strong background in integrated and online marketing.

Auction: Two-hour phone consulting / brainstorming session valued at $1K. Bidding begins at $100. Full details available on the Aaron Strout eBay auction site.

Greg VerdinoGreg Verdino is a recognized expert on business and marketing innovation, emerging technologies and Web 2.0. Equal parts marketer and futurist, Greg has made a career of identifying key trends and helping companies turn disruptive changes into a real, sustainable business and marketing advantages. He works as Chief Strategy Officer at crayon, a strategic advisory group that helps companies ‘join the conversation’ through the power of community, dialogue and partnership. He has been profiled in and quoted by a wide variety of business and news media including Advertising Age, Adweek, BusinessWeek, Forbes, Marketing News, New York Times, Newsday and the Wall Street Journal, as well as on television news outlets including CNBC and Fox News Channel.

Auction: A 60-minute keynote speech or 1/2 day workshop anywhere within the U.S. or Canada valued from $5K-$7.5K. Bidding begins at $700. Full details available on the Greg Verdino eBay auction site.

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Geoff Livingston | Posted in Geoff, Livingston Communications | Comments (2)
May 27 2008

SMC-DC: Now is Gone "2.0"

May 27, 2008 – 12:39 pm

yellow-thumb The DC chapter of Social Media Club will meet at 6:00 pm on Thursday, June 5 at Barnes & Noble in Clarendon to have a book discussion featuring the authors of Now is Gone, Geoff Livingston and Brian Solis. They will share their insights on this wonderful world of social media. If you missed the official book launch party in November, this is a great time to meet with both authors and also get your copy signed!

Books will be available for purchase on-site at Barnes & Noble. There is ample garage parking, some metered street spaces, and the store is metro accessible at the Orange Line’s Clarendon stop.

Light refreshments will be served.

Please feel free to join us for an informal dinner and drinks gathering at Whitlow’s on Wilson from 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm.

Hope to see you there!

BOOK SIGNING & DISCUSSION
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Barnes & Noble – Arlington
Clarendon Market Commons
2800 Clarendon Blvd. Suite 500, Arlington, VA 22201

DRINKS AND DINNER
7:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Whitlow’s on Wilson (beach bar, to the left in the back)
2854 Wilson Blvd.
Arlington, VA 22201

RSVP
Please RSVP to Larissa Fair via larissa@livingstonbuzz.com no later than Tuesday, June 3.

FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=19475921561

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Larissa Fair | Posted in Livingston Communications | Comments (4)

Twitter Down

May 27, 2008 – 8:12 am

twitter-down.jpg Twitter is the hot social network du jour. But for the life of me, I am having a hard time figuring out why. It keeps crashing (as it did again this weekend) and the experience is lousy. And no, Twitter can’t blame Joyent for its problems anymore. This social network clearly has structural problems that go beyond hosting.

Quite frankly, the live interaction leaves something to be desired, too. Yes, it’s outstanding for real time conversation and discussion. These values have been well discussed, here and on other blogs.

A new wave of users have joined Twitter, and etiquette seems to be wavering. It can be awful receiving personality attacks, unsolicited pitches, spam, and yes, even unwelcome advances (Someone recently sent me a rather unexpected and unwelcome home made movie link). Most of these situations are resolved with an unfollow, but they seem to keep coming. And while completely reasonable given the public microblog, it can be unnerving when people can cite tweets of mine from days, even weeks ago. It’s caused me to be more cautious about what I tweet.

The whole Twitter experience leaves me wanting to run away sometimes. Quite frankly, the duel combo of increased outages and unwelcome community behavior has caused me to do just that on increasingly frequent occasions.

If things continue on the current trajectory, Twitter’s hotness may be very temporary. FriendFeed is continuing to gain traction, and of course another social network can rise to fulfill the needed micro echo chamber of conversation. The competitors must be gearing up.

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Geoff Livingston | Posted in Geoff, Social Networks | Comments (6)

Goodness Gracious, Great Blogs of Fire!

May 27, 2008 – 6:14 am

2008blogsoffire3 Nick O’Neill of Social Times states that social networking sites will die in two years. In a recent poll that he conducted on the blog, Nick found that most people do not believe that social networking sites, such as Facebook, will eventually die. However, Nick predicts that, “within the next two years we are going to witness the proliferation of desktop social control panels which leverage various networks the same way that IM clients like Digsby and Gabtastik currently let users leverage any of their chat systems.” Nick also claims that he does not believe that social networking will necessarily kick the bucket, but that their ‘stand alone sites will soon be passé.’

Socialized’s Joel Postman states ‘there’s no such thing as a blogger.’ He argues that because the blogosphere is bombarded with a diverse crowd of users and subjects ‘classifying someone as a blogger doesn’t make sense.’ Joel claims that when a communication tool is new or not widely adopted yet, it is known as a strategy rather than a tactic or a tool. Rather than classifying a person who writes blogs as a blogger, Joel suggests people be called their actual titles, like a student, as ‘opposed to what communications tools they have chosen to use.’

According to aimClear Blog’s Marty Weintraub, people can destroy enemies using social media tools. Marty believes that, “in search marketing blogs and communities, social media reputation management experts inadvertently teach losers to build nightmarish nuclear bombs.” He states that the ‘best defensive tactics are undertaken preemptively,’ meaning that the best offense is a good defense by taking the time to build mini authority cross links. Marty also reminds fellow bloggers that although we offer advice to those losing in the battlefield, “we are also teaching the enemy how to take us on using our own weapons.”

The Viral Garden’s Mack Collier expresses his dismay on the infamous Twitter outages. He advises the folks at Twitter to ‘invest some time interacting’ with the loyal community that they’ve built by stating the reasons for their constant outages. Mack also goes on in saying, “There’s definitely something to be said for leaving a community alone and letting it grow organically, but at the same time, people will eventually leave a community if they feel that their opinions aren’t being heard or acted on.”

Mark O’Neill of Now Sourcing declares Friendfeed his current favorite social networking site even with the noise and information overflow. According to Mark, he finds the customized web application site to be useful for work and personal purposes. On the downside, Marks says, “By going through the link, the comments, the Like and God Knows what else, I find myself literally drowning.” Mark suggests that if Friendfeed cuts the noise, combines comments and works to improve features that it might turn into a ‘perfect web app.’

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Marinel Mones | Posted in Blogs of Fire | Comments (3)
May 25 2008

Questioning WIRED’s “Carbon Blindness”

May 25, 2008 – 11:07 pm
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This month’s WIRED cover story, “Attention Environmentalists” makes the case that all environmental issues are irrelevant compared to the impending global warming crisis. The argument focuses on how we should abandon organics, extinction, eco-balance all in favor of reducing carbon footprints. Ten controversial examples are given in typical technical geeky fashion, but in reality WIRED’s editors fail miserably in their attempt to make meaningful change towards the environmental effort.

In the counterpoint, given by uber-green activist Worldchanging Editor Alex Steffan, it is accurately noted that:

Climate change is not a discrete issue; it’s a symptom of larger problems.

How true. Imprisoning drug dealers has done little to reduce the widespread use of crack cocaine, heroine, crystal meth and other illegal drugs. A wildly different metaphor? I think not. Both are human behavioral issues. And both answers — those suggested by WIRED! and the War on Drugs — address the symptoms, not the societal behavioral issues.

With the environment, the behavioral issue is to deal with the consequences rather than the thoughtless consumption of the world’s resources for today’s needs. Tomorrow’s future has been sacrificed. The end result is a destroyed environment — polluted waters, destroyed air, horrific global warning, extinct animals, etc., etc. The entire global ecosystem is endangered, of which global warming is one of the most pressing of many systematic failures.

WIRED! – arguably the technology industry’s most important magazine — should be commended for even extending the issue beyond environmentalists (in general, the magazine has been increasing its eco-coverage over the past year), but coverage needs to be more responsible. Publishing Steffan’s counterpoint was a good step; however, the actual article needs significant improvement. Instead we are dealt ten forms of technological bravado that’s not fully researched, and often borders on buffoonery. Consider this audacious statement:

…take Stewart Brand’s advice from the opening page of Whole Earth Catalog: “We are as gods and might as well get good at it.” We’re in charge here. Let’s get to work.

Sensational, testosterone-driven, type-A machoism like this may energize the ubergeek to address dramatic eco-wrongs. Yet, as a leading magazine WIRED! owes its readers more factual, responsible approaches to this critical issue. If you can look beyond the inherently flawed theory behind the article, some — not all — of the suggestions could be worthwhile.

Ironically, in the same magazine on page 174, WIRED founder Louis Roseto in a 15-year self congratulatory article writes:

But we underestimated how slowly Old Media would auger in — and how irresponsible it would become in its death throes…. Faced with fierce competition for those eyeballs, Old Media is hawking the apocolypse…

Sounds like the pot calling the kettle black to me.

Related Buzz Bin Article: No Altruism in Green PR

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Geoff Livingston | Posted in PR | Comments (4)
May 23 2008

The Queen of Spain Rules

May 23, 2008 – 2:36 am

Erin Kotecki Vest writes the very influential Queen of Spain blog (as well as for BlogHER and the Huffington Post). Most recently she had a stunning interview with presidential hopeful Barack Obama. Whether it’s moms or politics, the Queen rules. But she also knows quite a bit about journalism and social media.

We had a chance to catch up with her at SNCR last month. Erin talked about the name Queen of Spain, and the differences between new and old media.

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Geoff Livingston | Posted in Interviews | Comments (6)
May 22 2008

Buzz Meter: Tumblr

May 22, 2008 – 2:28 pm

I recently discovered Tumblr, with a tip from colleague and friend Qui Diaz. As she said, Tumblr is like having a digital scrapbook. It takes micro-blogging to a whole new level by allowing you to quickly post text, photos, video, quotes, links, chats, and more. With the ability to post on the web, through IM (uses AIM) or your mobile phone using Vimeo, the possibilities are endless!

TumblrDashboard

Think of Tumblr as Twitter times 10. You can follow other users, and it even offers an archive and RSS feed for users to get updates. The dashboard provides a real-time stream of updates from anyone in your network that you are following.

Why use Tumblr? I think it’s somewhere in between Twitter and a “real” blog. It allows you to post quick random links that you may not want to have as a blog post, or that are too long for Twitter.

Visit me on Tumblr.

Visit Qui on Tumblr.

Buzz Meter Ranking: 3 out of 4 Buzz Bees

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Positive: Easy and fun to use, ability to post through mobile or IM. You can also easily integrate Tumblr to your own URL/domain name (mine coming soon!). It’s a nice, clean way to post anything you want from a variety of sources, whether it be YouTube, Flickr, or del.icio.us.

Negative: Does not have the ability to comment on the short posts, although it seems there are ways around that. You cannot tag your posts, so there is no organization, rather just a stream of consciousness. Also, editing the themes are somewhat limited, but I’m sure that there are ways around that as well. There have been some questions of content property on Tumblr, and who has the rights to such open information.

Conclusion: I like Tumblr. It’s a fun, no-brainer activity for me and a great place for all my random crap, er, thoughts. I see its value in between Twitter and a more robust blogging platform. I also see the concerns where it doesn’t allow for the same organization and interaction as other sites. But, maybe that’s what differentiates Tumblr from the crowd.

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Larissa Fair | Posted in Buzz Meter | Comments (3)