October 27th, 2012
Social media success stories and strategies featured prominently in this year’s PRSA 2012 International Conference in San Francisco from October 13-16, 2012. For those who did not attend — like me — social media (blogs and tweets) brought the conference to our desktops and mobile phones. Here is a brief round up to give you some of the highlights.
Reflections on the PRSA International Conference in the City By The Bay. Ric Pratte posted on The Meltwater Group Blog: ”…Social media has had a dramatic influence on public relations. Transparency, trust, crowdsourcing and storytelling are just a few of the hot new themes in our profession…Another popular theme was the blurring lines of public relations and marketing…Storytelling, one could say, has become the alchemist that transforms corporate speak into interesting, value-adding reading material.” Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: PRSA 2012 Conference San Francisco, Social Media
Posted in Conferences & Webinars, News, Social Media
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August 30th, 2012
If your company pays a blogger or journalist to write a favorable article under their own bylines should you a) cross your fingers and hope no one will find out? 2) add a disclaimer that that he or she has been commissioned to write said article?
It’s pretty clear what the ethical thing to do is. If you need a little more convincing about why you should mention the paid relationship: “Full disclosure” is the legal term. “Transparency” is the mot du jour. Those terms should guide us in all that we do in our professional communications.
But when you are a big company involved in a court case, as is Google against Oracle, it’s not always so black and white. Nilay Patel writes in The Verge that both companies were ordered to disclose which journalists and bloggers they compensated. Google initially replied that it had not paid anyone, but after the judge responded that Google had “failed to comply,” Patel writes that Google then listed “a number of people who have commented on the case in two categories: current and former Google employees, and people who work at organizations who receive donations from Google.” Google included in the list Stanford Professor Mark Lemley who provides “outside counsel” on “unrelated cases.” Oracle also complied by noting in a subsequent filing that it retains Florian Mueller, who writes FOSS Patents, as a consultant.
A blogger is technically anyone who posts public commentary in today’s “translucent” world. The lesson here is that even if you don’t actually commission someone to write on a specific subject, the fact is if that person does write about your company, and also happens to be affiliated with your organization, this must be disclosed from a legal standpoint.
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Tags: paying bloggers, paying journalists
Posted in Media Policy, Netiquette, News
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May 4th, 2012
Three incidents have left me frantically searching for news alerts and updates about police and fire activities in my neighborhood. Each time I find myself in the middle of the crossfire, I wonder why our local newspapers are not taking advantage of social media to keep us informed.
It’s no secret that social media offers instant news-gathering and news-disseminating communication channels at little cost. Web sites, Twitter handles, Facebook and LinkedIn business pages can keep residents (and subscribers) updated on the fast-breaking news their beat reporters are gathering. Most of that news will be stale if it waits for tomorrow’s paper.
Debates rage on about whether newspapers, and journalism will survive an era that glorifies bloggers and citizen journalists who need little more than a computer and an opinion to get started. To me the answer seems obvious. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: hyper-local websites, Marin Independent Journal, MarinIJ, newspapers, Social Media, Twitter
Posted in News, Social Media
Author:Julia Glenister | 1 Comment »
April 19th, 2012
Jottings by a tech PR consultant on a tireless quest for the next best tool, application, widget or Web site to help “balance” life between the cyber and real worlds.
If Twitter is the modern day equivalent of a soapbox, then Muck Rack Pro is the cocktail party (sans drinks and hors d’oeuvres). It’s a virtual forum where you can schmooze and make witty repartee with the press in the room. All you need is a computer or smart phone for Muck Rack Pro to drop you into any number of conversations with thousands of journalists who are tweeting about today’s breaking news or the article they are writing. It’s as if you have a bionic ear. Select a few search terms, and Muck Rack Pro does the eavesdropping then delivers the relevant tweets to your inbox from the far corners of the twittersphere.
Eavesdropping with Muck Rack Pro
I can imagine you might be saying to yourself that you can already find tweets about the topics you’re interested in by searching for key words on Twitter or with tools like HootSuite and Seesmic. This is true, but Muck Rack Pro zeroes in on the journalists who are discussing your topics on Twitter. That means you can be one of the first to hear about story opportunities, jump into the discussion and pitch story angles. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in My Favorite Tools, News, Social Media
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January 28th, 2012
Facebook uses the freemium model to sign up hundreds of thousands of followers. LinkedIn offers free trials to entice potential advertisers to try premium services with free ad placement credits. Will the free trials and freemium business models that have launched some of the most successful recurring revenue business and services work for your company?
Mike provides a link to Aria’s White Paper entitled
Comparing Free Trial and Freemium Models, providing more detail on the various models and how they work to convert paying customers. The White Paper evaluates the various strategies (Opt-in or Opt-Out, Demoware, “Value Gap”) and best-practices for successful adoption of services.
About Aria Systems
Aria Systems provides subscription billing and management services to help Global 2000 companies such as Disney, EMC, CA, Hootsuite, Roku and VMware monetize their products and services online. Free copies of Aria System’s Subscription Billing for Dummies book are available for download.
Aria is a client of The JAGWIRE Group.
Tags: Aria Systems, free trial, Freemium, recurring revenue, subscription billing
Posted in Marketing, Monetizing IT, News
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September 12th, 2011
Marcy Gordon describes herself as “a reader, writer, eater, traveler” on her “Come for the Wine” blog, but she’s much too modest. While she didn’t invent Post-Its or fly around the world in a hot air balloon (yet) she did come up with the name “Travelocity,” that little Website that we all use now and again to book our travel. Through hilarious tweets and travelogues she takes her captivated readers on Odysseys through the world’s vineyards and far-flung travel destinations. She’s managed to attract a devout following on Twitter, and she was kind enough to share her social media philosophy with The JAGWIRE Group in this interview.
What Social Media apps do you use, and why?
I only use Twitter. I like its low barrier to entry, nothing to maintain, nothing to manage, just point and tweet. And when the day comes when we all move en masse to the next big thing, and that day will come, there is nothing lost as twitter exists in the moment.
Which ones are you steering clear of, and why?
As I said above I only use Twitter. I pretty much steer clear of everything else.
I don’t like the user interface of FaceBook and dislike the constant changes in privacy policies. Essentially I have a deep distrust of Face Book. Social media is a moving target and for now the home base tool of choice for staying in touch with the people you already know or for creating a home base for some businesses is Face Book. But Face Book feels constrained to me and I have no interest in reconnecting with anyone from my past.
I find no value in Foursquare and all other “check-in” type of apps. These apps are just noise to me. Goggle Wave seems to have washed ashore with no one on it and I have no desire to join Google + at this point in time.
I used to be an early adopter of all new technologies, but now I am a diligent laggard. I don’t have the time or inclination to be out on the SM front lines determining if something is worthy. I let the masses prove the concept, and if the buzz is maintained and people I trust like it, I will consider joining. But I have no desire to be first in to the burning building anymore. My fireman days are over. Prove it to me first. My time is too valuable to be beta testing. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in News, Social Media, Talking Social Media Column
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August 8th, 2011
Jottings by a tech PR consultant on a tireless quest for the next best tool, application, widget or Website to help “balance” life between the cyber and real worlds.
I wish I could say my favorite tool of the day is a new discovery. One that will bring you great fame and fortune. I would love nothing better than to promise you a shiny new social media toy that will captivate you for the next few weeks or even months (if your attention span is a little longer than the norm).
But no … If I’m completely honest (and I always am). 
It’s without a doubt, something you’ve been hearing about ad nauseam: Twitter.
I have to admit, I didn’t get the Twitter thing at first. In fact, I sat on my new Twitter account for a good seven months while I “played” with Facebook and LinkedIn. I signed up for Twitter more than three years ago on June 9, 2008, but my first Tweet wasn’t until January 26, 2009. I can assure you that I wasn’t going to tell anybody what I had for lunch or about my latest mundane thought. To the uninitiated, it sometimes seems that is all people talk about on Twitter.
As a PR practitioner, I was feeling growing pressure to get with the Twitter program. The catalyst for me was when one of my enterprise software clients was ready to launch a new Website alerting people to breaking news and commentary on cybercrime. It wasn’t long after that when I began to see how useful it was to my other enterprise clients who were releasing industry trend predictions and writing by-lined articles for the niche trade press. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Social Media, Twitter
Posted in My Favorite Tools, News, Public Relations, Social Media
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May 18th, 2011
“In the past three years, state agencies have spent more than $20 million in taxpayer money on outside advertising, public relations and media campaigns,” writes Gregory B. Hladky of the Hartford Advocate (May 17).
A policy advisor for Connecticut Governor Dannell Malloy is quoted in Hladky’s article “Is The State Spending Too Much Money On PR?“ as saying that when the new administration took office in January they were surprised to find how much money was being spent on outside PR consultants. [Note that the $20 million under scrutiny here is in addition to PR staff already on state payroll.]
Personally as a California resident, I’m relieved that this week’s revelations about Arnold Schwarzenegger having fathered an illegitimate child 10 years ago broke after he left office. Imagine the PR tab California would have to bear to address this latest scandal!
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Tags: Dannell Malloy, Hartford Advocate, Is the State Spending Too Much Money on PR?, Public Relations
Posted in News, Public Relations
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May 18th, 2011
With the US Justice Department’s criminal investigation of Goldman Sachs underway (in addition to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s civil fraud suit) the once venerable investment banking firm faces a delicate tightrope walk over what it can say publicy in its defense.
Legal counsel has contributed to a public relations failure if you ask Sanford C. Bernstein & Co analyst Brad Hintz. He told The Washington Post on May 16 that when you ask a major law firm what to do when you are under oath you are told to keep the answers very short, don’t offer new information. “If you do that when you are on television you sound very wooden and you come across as if you’re dodging and weaving and that is where Goldman has lost in terms of public relations,” he concluded.
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Tags: Brad Hintz, Brad Hintz Says Goldman Sachs `Failed' Public Relations, Goldman Sachs, The Washington Post
Posted in Public Relations
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March 14th, 2011
If you are at the South by Southwest Music and Media Conference and Festival in Austin this week run don’t walk to the nearest movie theater screening Something Ventured, a new documentary offering an insider’s look at the genesis of some of the most successful tech companies in the US. Something Ventured, narrated by Po Bronson, features interviews with the original VCs of the 1950s and 1960s, and offers a rare glimpse of what the Silicon Valley was like 50 years ago when the two words “venture” and “capital” were auspiciously joined to form an industry that would eventually fund 27,000 companies to the tune of $47B.
Luck of the VCs
In this 85 minute film, the original investors and founders of such companies as Apple, Atari, Cisco, Fairchild Semiconductor, Genentech, Intel and Tandem Computers share their memories of successes and failures. Listening to the candid and occasionally self-effacing recollections of these gutsy investors and entrepreneurs who brought us the personal computer, fault-tolerant computers, human gene-splicing and the router among other innovations that we take for granted today, it is striking how much of their success is due to serendipity. The investors and entrepreneurs interviewed in this documentary include Nolan Bushnell (Atari), Reid Dennis (Institutional Venture Partners), Bill Draper (Draper Richards), Pitch Johnson (Asset Management Company), Dick Kramlich (NEA), Tom Perkins (Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers), Arthur Rock (Arthur Rock & Co), Don Valentine (Sequoia Capital), Dr. Herbert Boyer (Genentech), Jimmy Treybig (Tandem Computers), and Sandy Lerner (Cisco Systems). Each has a fascinating story to tell about how they followed their gut to bet the farm on long-shot investments. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Apple, Apple Computer, Arthur Rock, Atari, Bill Bowes, Bill Draper, Cisco, Cisco Systems, Dick Kramlich, Don Valentine, Dr. Herbert Boyer, Fairchild Semiconductor, film, Foundation Capital, Geller Goldfine Productions, Genentech, Intel, Jimmy Treybig, John Morgridge, Leonard Bosack, Mike Markkula, Miralin Productions, Molly Davis, Nolan Bushnell, Paul Holland, Pitch Johnson, Po Bronson, Rainmaker Communications, Reid Dennis, Robert Campbell, Sandy Lerner, Something Ventured, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, SXSW, Tandem Computers, Tom Perkins, Traitorous Eight, Venture capital
Posted in Monetizing IT, News
Author:Julia Glenister | No Comments »
