It's a good thing I've been 'out of pocket' the last two days...

flower fractal
Originally uploaded by iongh

It saved me from jumping in and messing up the very measured and thought-provoking response from Brian Solis on when 'pitching' is or isn't spam, and whether or not there's some new term to call reaching out to bloggers who -- from all you can tell, including their presence in media lists and contact information listed on their blogs -- are people who might like to know about something you want to tell them about.

And then it blows up.

I've written about that exact thing before here. And probably a dozen times before that. Some thoughts worth repeating:

I've been on both the shit receiving end AND on the shit throwing end of the PR machine myself. That's because I walk that blurry line, being both a "journalist" listed IN media map, and a PR flack USER of media map (and similar tools) where the journos and the PR flacks intersect (wish i could say connect--but that doesn't happen there).

Anyone having done any kind of media relations knows the reddening sting of a pissed off reporter saying, "You haven't read me, have you?" or "I already wrote about that," or "You're just blindly pitching." And yes, sometimes they're right. But they also fail to take ANY responsibility for how they end up in the endless loop of breaking-news tag.

They know that media map and other tools give PR people infinite details on their every bowel movement. So, if they prefer to be called, if their publication doesn't REALLY cover what media map says it wants to cover, if their beat is wrong, or if they just plain hate PR people and want them to know, then USE THESE TOOLS TO SAY SO. Don't be lazy on the front end and blame the folks who give you fodder for your stories on the backend.

Just like some BigPR SVPs who think they can pull a strategy out of their back pocket to 'build your brand' without understanding your customers, some journalists pull the "blame it on PR flacks" card because it's fast, easy and acceptable to do so. Rather than spell out (and update frequently) on their sites or blogs or in their publications (or God forbid in the tools they know PR people are stuck using) just how they want to interact with us, it's easier to shoot the proxy-messenger. All because an editor is bugged by some pain in the ass emails (news flash: we all get them), hasn't had a good night's sleep, or just plain needs to get laid.

The whole PR industry being broken is not news.

But the longer I watch the twitter culture blip blip blip in blog posts and tweets with holier-than-thou 'Oh Someone Bothered Me And Kept Me From My Important Work' emissions, the more I fume. That's why I'm glad there's pro like my colleague Brian who can address this issue both with humility and skill.

As Brian so passionately explains, there are several types of emails (used to be faxes, soon will be tweets) PR people send to blogger contacts, from actual spam to some thing we don't know what to call -- Brian thinks maybe Tofu -- where the PR person is contacting someone who is publicly noted as someone with x, y, z parameters (what they write about, where they live, their specified mode of contact--usually listed on their blog), and so: SHOCK - PR people contact them.

Enter the back channel. Those bloggers (as specified above--and I'm on the sending and receiving end as I blog AND work in PR and marketing) who are now getting lots of pitches on everything from the latest thigh reducers to stories they might actually care about.

These bloggers tend to do one of three things with the emails:

1) Ignore or Delete the email.
2) Respond to the email either positively or negatively.
3) Call in the cavalry to gripe about getting the email in a heroic effort to save the blogosphere from more unwanted email and protect their own precious time and overflowing inbox , all while making an example out of the flack.

Read those three general reactions above and you'll see why the PR person rarely 'wins.' And know too, that I have had EACH of those three reactions myself.

I'm not happy with those being the only reactions available. The only REAL solutions as I see are that we PR people:

1) GET OFF OUR ASSES and create the kind of tools I've been talking about for years -- open source opt-in wiki versions of what bacons/media map are to mainstream media. An online exchange, hub, whateveryouwanttocall it - TOFUPEDIA, or MEDIAPEDIA - that lets WE THE RECIPIENTS and WE THE SENDERS of these communications (emails and tweets and whatever comes next) tell each other what we want to know about, what we don't want to know about, and how we want to find out about it. PR 2.0 needs to go OPEN SOURCE. And after that's baked, top it with RSS and call it dinner.

2) STOP PITCHING AND BITCHING altogether and assume a new role - that of matchmaker between client and the customers they serve, where we serve more a hybrid CRM / business development role than a news-making, ink-producing role (although the news-making and ink-producing are byproducts of doing the CRM/BizDev well). We BECOME the matchmakers, one customer at a time, act as catalyst and then get out of the way. We are no longer pitching news, we are forging partnerships.

Stowe thinks Twitter and other micro-streams are the way to change PR. I am not so optimistic. Changing from Fax machines to email didn't change PR. Neither will changing from email to Twitter. What changes PR is that the BUSINESS OF PR has to change - everything from the tools we use to how we are measured and compensated.

Business' expectations of PR has to change too -- especially in Tech and Web 2.0. As long as 'hitting techmeme' is the goal by which success is judged, then baby, we-all-in-deep-doo-doo.

I've been craving the kind of solutions I mention, and I try assume the matchmaking role whenever I can with clients, although I DO MESS UP. And if I can screw up, your next screw up is right around the corner.

Quite honestly, the longer it takes for PR 2.0 tools to replace the top-down Bacons, Media Map, and Vocuses of the world, the more public floggings will take place at the hand of those who are well-meaning, over-spammed, or just plain arrogant.

---

technorati tags:
Pr pr 20 pr2.0 brian solis public relations media2.0 media 2.0 social media guru expert social media 2.0 conversations conversational blogger blog press relations relationship marketing publicity communications marcom blogger relations sorry bacn tofu spam email, marketing, advertising, PR

Irony

January 2009 Headline: New Currency; Rice Trumps Dollar

"Who's your Benjamin now?"
--Uncle Ben

watching on PBS

I'll See Your Chickens and Raise You a Great Whore

Well, Hillary's non-church-goin' ways may come in handy after all as her two front-running opponents scramble to cover up their spiritual kins' view of the "Truth."

The NYT reports on Texas preacher Hagee, who would make no friend of the Pope I'll tell you, what with the Pontiff at the head of the Great Whore, which, in Hagee's view, has done little more than spill Jewish blood, from the Crusades to the Holocaust. Tit for Tat I always say.

Mr. Hagee, it’s true, did not blame the American government for concocting AIDS. But he did say that God created Hurricane Katrina to punish New Orleans for its sins, particularly a scheduled 'homosexual parade there on the Monday that Katrina came.'

If God's grave wasn't empty, he'd be turning over in it.

---

technorati tags: Dingleberry-in-Chief, Bush, Politics, India, U.S. Food Crisis, Marketing, Advertising, PR, Hell in a Handbasket

Oh I know, Let's Blame India: Bush Does New Math

It appears presidential-librarian-in-waiting George Bush is blaming soaring U.S. food prices on..... today's winner is India! Does the U.S. really deserve anything less from the man we let steal the top job in the country?

“There are 350 million people in India who are classified as middle class. That’s bigger than America. Their middle class is larger than our entire population,” observed Mr Bush. ‘‘And when you start getting wealth, you start demanding better nutrition and better food. And so demand is high, and that causes the price to go up.”

Yes, according to Dingleberry-in-Chief, the fact that a box of Triscuits at Kroger now costs nearly $4.00 has nothing to do with the U.S.'s Trillions of dollars in deficit (courtesy of an unwinable war). Nor is it related to the falling value of the U.S. dollar that will soon be cheaper to use for wiping purposes than the toilet paper it buys.

The problem, as Bush sees it, is that India has a lot of people who aren't poor.

M.A. Nagvi, the vice president of the largest opposition force, the Bharatiya Janata Party, says President Bush is shifting from his earlier role of global "bomb inspector" to world "bread inspector."

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, a key national Communist leader, says the American president "has gone out of his mind."

Gone out of his mind? Heh. That Bush. He has all the answers.

---

technorati tags: Dingleberry-in-Chief, Bush, Politics, India, U.S. Food Crisis, Marketing, Advertising, PR, Hell in a Handbasket

Euphemism Day

Is Any Body ever going to say that calling Obama an "Elitist" is a euphemism for calling him an "Uppity Negro"? jebesus!

Q: What do you call a black presidential candidate with the most votes, delegates and primaries won?

A: Obama, the uppity nigger!

What a disgrace our politics have become.

Fifth Beatle Chocolate, Cluetrain, and Twitter

Received my Yummy Chocolate from non-twittering Rick Levine, Cluetrain co-author and chocolatier for Seth Ellis Chocolate in Boulder. This isn't your ordinary Dove Bar chocolate - this is the fine handmade homespun goodie-filled real dark deal. My Nestles-raised palate rebelled a bit at first, but by the second mint- delectable, I was all about the high-brow bon bons.

I scored the chocolate as part of RageBoy's social outreach (AKA email) which drew Rick out from hiding, and my big mouth into a dare whereby Rick would owe me if I could deliver a live body to his Boulder, Co address to deliver a message that used "RageBoy" and "Twitter" in the same sentence.

Michael O'Connor Clarke got involved on Twitter, pulling in Suw Charman of the chocolate and vodka blog (smelling a conspiracy theory are we?), who twittered a friend into going the one block from his house to Rick's chocolatey business and uttering the secret sentence. Rick obliged with a box for the messenger and a box for me, which arrived today via fed ex, complete with little freezer pack.

One more good deed signed, sealed, and delivered across the Interwebs.

Don't that just beat all?

--

technorati tags: chocolate, cluetrain, chocolatier than what, rick levine, business, advertising, marketing, CRM, VNP, Suw Charman, Twitter, MichaelOCC, marketing, boulder, yard leaving, bon bon, highbrow, an odd fancy high
del.icio.us tags: chocolate, cluetrain, chocolatier than what, rick levine, business, advertising, marketing, CRM, VNP, Suw Charman, Twitter, MichaelOCC, marketing, boulder, yard leaving, bon bon, highbrow, an odd fancy high

O the Humanity.

U.N. officials are estimating that the Darfur genocide has taken the lives of 50 percent more people than originally thought.

I am trying to parse that and it makes my bones hurt. I can't grasp it. What does this mean? Another half person dead for every person dead? I... can't. It's too big. It's too sad. It's too much.

What are we doing?
Who are we fooling?

In March, international figures, including U.N. data, put the death toll in Darfur at 200,000, with another 2.5 million people displaced.

But 300,000 are believed to have died in the tribal conflict in the past two years, said John Holmes, who also is the United Nations emergency relief coordinator.

Holmes said that sexual violence has increased and that food allotments for civilians affected by the civil war will be halved in a few days.

Holmes gave the U.N. Security Council an update on conditions in the western Sudan region, revisiting a report he gave a year ago.

"I am sad to say that the humanitarian situation remains as grim today as it was then, if not more so," he said.

Meanwhile, Hillary's tough talk is downright stupid - yet another publicity stunt among many.

If the phone rings at 3 a.m. with her in office, I hope she rolls over and goes back to sleep.

---

When It's Time to Call A Spade Hillary Clinton

That lying sack of shit shillary. I found this incredibly interesting reading from people who actually KNOW the people involved, and are not afraid to take a stand.

Wow. I had no idea who Ayers was except how Hillary portrayed him in that debate. Is there not a single fact immune from twisting in this twisted race?

---

Doc, What'd They Put Girl Repellant In Your IV?

First this, then this.

Well if I didn't know any better, I might think there is a gender gap in technology, Virginia!

---

Ladies, What the Hell Is Up?

You know, I've been in this business of solo-web-practitioner for six years now, and a couple of decades on the agency and enterprise sides before that, and I've had my say about what's frustrating and wrong with the web 1.0 and 2.0 gender divide, and I've stood up and yelled foul when it was not in the best interest of my career to do so, and I've found myself in the middle of some of the biggest Internet dust-ups of all time, but I never thought I'd have to write a post asking what the hell is wrong with you?

Not all of the ladies; of course not.

I'm talking about the ones taking advantage of the other ones. And they are numerous.

I've already done the disinfecting; I'm well aware that I'm biting the hand that feeds me here. So let me continue.

Here goes the general, sweeping observation. You tell me if I'm wrong...

When men -- male CEOs or marketing heads or agency leads -- look for help on social media projects from women-owned businesses and/or consultants who happen to be women, they do not come looking to put us through sixteen hoops, a dozen or more what-SHOULD-HAVE-BEEN-billable hours, months of hemming and hawing, and eight attempts at trying it themselves only to come back and ask 'what do you think?' all before signing the statement of work.

They do not as a rule take the ideas you give them for free in the course of detailed proposal work and run off to implement them with a 'maybe later on we'll work together!' They generally do not expect, ask for, or anticipate freebies or unpaid time on our part simply because their project is the most super-coolest-omgzbbq that you have ever ever seen.

SO WHY THE HELL DO WOMEN expect these things of other women?

Why do women in these same roles -- women who know their female colleagues are trying to make a living -- ask something of them that they would never ask of a male consultant in the same business? The female CEO who expects free help from her sister consultants would not think of asking her brothers in business for those same freebies.

Why is that? Because she would get laughed at? Ignored? Turned away? Not taken seriously?

Really--tell me why?

Did I miss the secret handshake class?

Was I sick the day they taught that women in business should give away free to other women what they wouldn't to a man?

Is there a rule somewhere that says only the men I do business with understand that I need to get paid?

I'm telling you, I find it more infuriating and frustrating than ever in the techmeme world of gangs and bangs and winner take all, we can't depend on the women business owners who seek our services NOT to do us a disservice.



---

technorati tags: Women, Blogging, Social Media, Web 2.0, Advertising, Marketing, Technology, PR, New Media, Sales, Business
del.icio.us tags: Women, Blogging, Social Media, Web 2.0, Advertising, Marketing, Technology, PR, New Media, Sales, Business

I listen to the new sound of BBF!

George and I were strolling down AM radio memory lane from our home towns tonight - what a cool cool site for taking you baaaack. If you grew up in the northeast, you'll probably find your old favorite radio station here.

This one reminded me of the old radio FREE advertising tactic (okay maybe a couple of promo tickets to a concert, but no ad agency required) of getting the audience to answer their home phones with an ad. I remember when I spent a week or two answering our home phone "I listen to the new sound of BBF!" in hopes of winning something from WBBF. "You never know when we'll call, so answer your phone that way every time. If we call you, and you answer 'I listen to the new sound of BBF,' you win!"

Lots of radio stations in our area adopted this cheap WOM ad tactic, though few of the families in my neighborhood would dare answer the phone with anything other than a proper 'Hello?' Polite phone voices were the "in thing" before SMS.

BBF never called me. But I think that bringing back the retro ad tactic of answering your phone with a slogan is worth a try. SO the next time you call me, don't be surprised if I pick up the phone and say, "I'm voting for Obama!" And you know what I win... We all win.

---

that's what you gotta do.

brush yer shoulders offf.

Tom on Social Networks circa 2004

This:

"On an only slightly less naive level, software that is social could try to imagine what is involved in the development of a society. I don't think Social Man began when a bunch of australopithecines began swapping cave art faves around a dead moose."

not-so-interim tom matrullo.
once there, now here.

---

You KNOW You Know

--

Big Blogger News, Sez Me - SezWho Comes to Blogger!!

In working with the folks at SezWho over the last several months, I've been on pins and needles waiting for the free service to be available for Google's Blogger blogs.

Well w00t!! That day has arrived.

Today SezWho announced a bunch of very cool news as part of it's SezWho 2.0 launch, including support for Blogger blogs and Drupal blogs and discussion forums and phpBB bulletin boards, and open APIs all around.

SezWhosers can not only rate comments, but posts as well, and they can also remain anonymous or be authenticated by email or URL, which I think is TRES COOL, because in saying I AM COMMENTING AS JENEANE OF ALLIED, I'm building one part of my reputation, and maybe I want to build my reputation as a marketing renegade by engaging in some conversations based on my GonzoEngaged URL. AND sometimes I just want to be me.

I'm not sure how it's all going to shake out as far as what blogs I'll use SezWho on first, but I am very excited at the prospects of trying it out on Blog Sisters especially, because, as the OLDEST women's group blog, that community needs some new life, some new ways to engage contributors that not only write on Blog Sisters, but have homes across the social web. I need something to encourage the ladies to come and play.

It's hard to beat the business model mantra of BlogHer and other women's communities who have found ways to monetize and even pay their contributors for participation. But when money's not the main point, there are still rewards to be had in participating -- social rewards -- and the one I like the best is FUN. Blog Sisters remains an open forum, a place for women to write about what.ever without worrying about how it might affect ad dollars or elite sensibilities. SO I think having a community-based reputation and discussion tool over there that we can use as a springboard for participating elsewhere is just what's needed.

Bub.bliciou.us has more info on the news: "SezWho 2.0 closes the conversational loop, delivering value back to site hosts (in terms of page views and engagement) and to participants (in terms of reputation and expertise building). SezWho captures valuable information about the history and expertise of individual social media contributors, encourages more thoughtful commentary, and cultivates community engagement."

I really like what Sarah Perez says on her blog and over at RWW regarding fractured conversations and why we care. Her experience discussing the topic -- where, once again, the mighty many ended up depositing their thoughts and expertise directly into Scoble's blog comments with no thread to their larger participation across other social sites -- is an example of why services like SezWho are needed. Sarah points out that conversations belong to everyone. And while this is ideally the case, I think they CAN belong to everyone and STILL be connected and tied back to the contributor, but only through tools that enable cross-media, Intersite, distributed-but-connected conversations.

I'll keep you posted about how it goes and here it goes as I move from enthusiasm into action over on Blog Sisters soon.

p.s. Mixed with my excitement over SezWho is sadness and actual panic over Eric Case leaving Bloogle, being that Eric was my only bat phone connection to Google's Blogger, and if you don't have a bat phone connection, you are often SOL when it comes to Blogger. 1.) I'm scared. 2.) GOOD LUCK ERIC and thanks for everything.

Like, for putting up with me during the migration to the new servers. Even when I was a bitch. And when I gave your email to 10 of my closest Blogger friends. And when I yelled at you because I paid $180 for blogspot hosting in 2001 and doesn't that mean something. And when I tried to reach you on sabatical. And if you wouldn't mind giving me your home number that'd be SUPER...

Seriously, Good luck Eric. Lets rock the conversatiola folks.

---

on a need to know bassist

Yep.

Re:Favorite Electric Bass Players
Sunday, February 05 2006 @ 08:02 AM CST

In no particular order, my fave bass players:

Geddy Lee
Marcus Miller
Flea
Joel Johnson
George Sessum
Mark King

Mark King of Level 42 is awesome. Geddy Lee is going to be on most people's lists. Marcus Miller is maybe pound for pound the best, most versatile bass player ever. George Sessum is a jazz great who I used to see perform every weekend in the jazz group Cabo Frio. George is one of the best funk bass players EVER and I saw him in little clubs that I snuck into underage. He is unbelievable. Joel Johnson is a great bass player no one probably knows - I played with him in a band in college. And I include Flee because I love his playing - though I'm a casual fan - I only have two RHCP albums.

There are more players I like, but those are my faves.

Social Workgroup for Hire...

Oh. I remember when I had this idea! It's still ready to happen, isn't it? I bet in another couple years social workgroups will be spinning off and acquiring other socos (social companies). You'll see.

(that is if we're not all hovering next to a barrel full of wood kindling looking for scraps of food on the street post economic meltdown. I'm pretty sure it will go one way or the other. Stay tuned for details.)

Two years ago I thought it might simplify projects to work from social workgroups - something we'd been wanting to do with the gonzo engaged group since 2001. We're not quite there yet, are we guys? ;-)

--

technorati tags: gonzo engaged, gonzo enraged, work-a-day life, good idea outtakes, social workgroups, social software, social underwear

so there was this tea place near art camp...

Blogger Is Slow Again

it needs to stop that shit.

---