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PRobecast 63: Shrinking Newsrooms, PR Spammers and Wikis

Welcome to the PRobecast, Episode 63 of Topaz Partners' weekly PR-related podcast.

Todd Van Hoosear, Tim Allik, Wendie Larkin and Glen Zimmerman discuss:

1. Sales are up at the WSJ and USA Today

2. While newsrooms are shrinking

3. What are the implications for the future of journalism?

4. Social networking: MySpace vs. Facebook vs. LinkedIn

5. Plug for Peter Shankman's Help a Reporter Out service

6. Wikipedia, user-generated content and libel: are you at risk?

7. The PR Spam Blacklist: Topaz has stayed off the list (so far), but lots of good agencies are on it: how to fix the problems

8. Things to do: As promised, the discount code for next week's AMA Boston event on "How Consumers Control the Conversation about Your Brand with Web 2.0" is "amaSMC" - Sign up now!

Comment: email bmoc@topazpartners.com, call 781-404-2409


MP3 File

You can subscribe to PRobecast via Podcast Ready --

or iTunes.

Or simply use the RSS link here:



Opening Music: "Junk In A" by Pat Zelenka, available on the Podsafe Music Network and closing music is by Topazer Rob Capra.

Technorati Tags: PR, publicrelations, topazpartners, probecast,WSJ, USAToday, BostonGlobe, PRSpam, spam, blacklists, wikipedia, journalism, content

Block & Tackle PR: Tackling the Blocking Bloggers

It's happened again; a blogger has published a "PR Spammer" blacklist. This time the plaintiff is Gina Trapani of the very popular Lifehacker web site. She links to a blog post by Matt Haughey sporting a similar complaint.

Of course, we remember the similar rant and blockage from Wired's Chris Anderson last year. So what does this prove (aside from the fact that Topaz was on neither list--hah)? What can bloggers do?

1. They can block entire email domains, like Gina suggests. That's blunt-object surgery and doesn't really work except to raise awareness and offend the entire PR industry, including the majority of good-actors (I know, boo-hoo). Be prepared to get tons of GMail pitches then. Effectiveness: zero.
2. They can call out individuals. I don;t see that often except in egregious cases, so let's assume that never gets abused. Very effective, then. Shames the egregiously bad-actor and schools the rest of us.
3. They can post a "don't pitch me" policy. A site like Lifehacker is going to get pitched anyway, but PR people can't say they weren't warned. On the other hand, a high-profile site is going to get pitched no matter what. It's the price of success. Effectiveness: marginal to middling
4. They can engage in open, honest dialogue about how they like to be pitched and with what. The social networking channels are great for instant feedback, and people like Marshall Kirkpatrick of ReadWriteWeb use those channels very well. Even Brian Morrissey of AdWeek's Twitter stream poking fun at ridiculous PR practices can be viewed as constructive, or at least funny. Effectiveness: very

PRobecast 62: Controlling spokespeople, PodCamp NYC & mor

Welcome to the PRobecast, Episode 62 of Topaz Partners' weekly
PR-related podcast.

Doug Haslam, Tim Allik, Adam Zand, Rob Capraand Todd Van Hoosear discuss:

1. Controlling spokespeople: what do you do with your Rev. Wright?

2. What we did last wek: PodCamp NYC and Social Media Breakfast 7, "Hiring in a Web 2.0" (with a discussion of Adam's rockin' sports goggles)

3. Jesse Blaze Snider update: a little blatant plug for our current favorite PR project for client TalkShoe

4. Doug's kvetching about being left out of a Boston Business Journal article on Twitter is cut off by Adam's boasting about being included in an article about BlackBerries in the same publication. Then, the discussion devolves into an entertaining reprise of the mobile devices in meetings argument.

5. Things to do this weekend: Walk for Hunger in Boston, plus our annual Kentucky Derby picks.


Comment: email bmoc@topazpartners.com, call 781-404-2419



MP3 File


You can subscribe to PRobecast via Podcast Ready --

or iTunes.

Or simply use the RSS link here:

* Opening Music: "Junk In A" by Pat Zelenka, available on the Podsafe Music Network and Closing music: "Sweet July" by PodSafe artist and PodCamp mainstay Natalie Gelman

Technorati Tags: PR, publicrelations, topazpartners, probecast,walk+for+hunger, Twitter, Kentucky+Derby, TalkShoe, Natalie+Gelman, PodcampNYC, SMB7, socialmediabreakfast, Hiring+2.0, Jesse+Blaze+Snider

Renewing Membership in PRSA

On April 30th, my PRSA membership ran out. If I wasn't at a PRSA event - only my third event in the last year - I probably wouldn't have noticed until the next time I wanted to go to a PRSA event. Oh, I got the reminders to renew my membership, but had not.

I have been thinking about whether to renew or not since the first notice. I have been trying to see the value in it - the intrinsic benefits that make it worth me plunking down the $310 it would take to renew (or $280 if I skipped the voluntary contribution to the PRSA Foundation).Try as I might, nothing has pushed me to the point of breaking out the checkbook and stroking a check.

When Tweeting about my internal debate, one person replied (and I am paraphrasing, not quoting here): Do it! Great people. Good information. Support the profession. Now, there is no debating that there are great people in PRSA, and you can get some good information at the meetings. But, playing devil's advocate, I can still go to the meetings, and get the information, interact with all the great people, all for - on average - about $10 more. I base that on my attendance in the past. I don't go to annual conferences. I don't go to the two and three day seminars. I do go to the one night events.

Since I can still go to these events as a non-member, paying slightly more, it would take alot of one night events for the ROI to work in my favor. (True, it would take less events if I went to the big ones - but in 14+ civilian PR years I have not been to a "big" event so let's not muddy the waters, shall we?)

Oh, I know that using money only is a very basic measurement. The value of the knowledge or the value of the membership should be figured in. But, I have yet to run across an employer who said "I won't hire you if you are not in PRSA," so the value of the membership is open to interperation. And, as we already know, you or I can get the knowledge without the big pay out for membership.

Here's a thought - if the annual membership was $100, the events were TWICE as expensive as they are now for non-members and HALF as expensive as they are now for PRSA members, then you have a value proposition I can buy into.

As it stands now, I think I will keep that money and by some gas...

Twitter

By nature and training, I am not afraid of much. I have, on more than one occassion, proven myself in all forms of endeavors. I have, for lack of a better term, been there and done that and honestly don't feel the need to prove myself to anyone.

So why is it that when I think of Tweeting my stomach tightens up into a nice big knot?

I follow a bunch of folks on Twitter and marvel at the ease in which they Tweet about everything. Somehow, everything they say seems relevant, or at the very least interesting.

When I read my attempts at Tweeting, I think of the old expression - better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. Oops, too late...

And then, I wonder why I feel that way. I mean, really, I have been doing PR since the early 90's, sometimes under extreme conditions. I know PR. I think I am good at what I do. So do my clients. So do my co-workers - I think.

I get a manic rush of energy and confidence and resolve to Tweet more, then I do and once again feel like the village idiot walking into a Mensa meeting. I just don't get it. I mean really, I understand the technology. I understand the shift in communication methods. It all makes sense to me. So why do I struggle with it?

I won't give up, and someday, maybe, I will Tweet something and someone will go - Wow, that was good/funny/thought provoking. But for now, I can't help but think I am wasting everyone's time.

PRobecast 61: Earth Day, eBay, Rockstars and Voyeurs

Welcome to the PRobecast, Episode 61 of Topaz Partners' weekly PR-related podcast.

Rob Capra, Adam Zand, Todd Van Hoosear and Alison Raymond discuss:

1. Earth Day for PR people - How to approach it, and why every day isn't Earth Day

2. eBay, is it the new Google, which was the new Microsoft? (i.e., is it evil?)

3. Yoko Ono tries to control the message

4. Jesse Blaze Snyder needs YOU!

5. Web 2.0 and Yahoo's big(?) news

6. Are you a voyeur, or a content creator?

7. It's official, news releases aren't actually for news

8. What would YOU pay for a dirty, ragged t-shirt?

9. What to do this weekend (and next week)
* PodCamp NYC
* ROLFcon with iJustine on Saturday – yikes it sounds like an event for comedians with eating disorders
* NEDMA's Annual Conference
* Play poker with other PR pros
* The next Social Media Breakfast
* Take out a second mortgage to fill up your car with gas

Comment: email bmoc@topazpartners.com, call 781-404-2436

Intro Music: "Junk in A" by Pat Zelenka & Mike Jackson, from the Podsafe Music Network

Outro music by Rob Capra

MP3 File

PRobecast 60: Potter, Pope and Pitching by RSS

Welcome to the PRobecast, Episode 60 of Topaz Partners' weekly
PR-related podcast.

Doug Haslam, Tim Allik, Adam Zand and Rob Capra discuss:

1. Marshall Kirkpatrick of ReadWriteWeb offers a novel way to pitch: via RSS.

2. My Data is My Data. Is there a way to protect your data or privacy in the Web 2.0 world starting with Facebook? Also, Facebook Beacon lawsuit gets to court.

3. J.K. Rowling defending her brand or holding it too closely? Copyright infringement lawsuit vs. the publisher of the "Harry Potter Lexicon."

4. A discussion of the PR issues surrounding the Pope's last-minute addition of a visit with abuse victims from Boston area during to his American tour.

5. A recap of the Mass Technology Leadership Council's latest event on global business

6. What to do this weekend:

Follow former CSNY drummer Dallas Taylor on Twitter and get his new album;

Join MTV's "Cradle of Rock" contestant Jesse Blaze Snider on TalkShoe (a Topaz client that brings voice interaction to social networks). Jesse is pretty decent and a very nice guy, but the Topazers still wanna rock...

Therefore, join us on www.TalkShoe.com Tuesday, April 22 around 2 p.m. ET for the first "Really Big Topaz Shoe" - We'll Twitter, Facebook, e-mail and actually talk to you with details.

Support former Topazer Ashley Girard as she runs the Boston Marathon.

Comment: email bmoc@topazpartners.com, call 781-404-2419


MP3 File


You can subscribe to PRobecast via Podcast Ready --

or iTunes.

Or simply use the RSS link here:

* Opening Music: "Junk In A" by Pat Zelenka, available on the Podsafe Music Network and Outro: "Baby It's You" by the Taylor Neely Band, available at http://www.dallastaylorband.com/

Technorati Tags: PR, publicrelations, topazpartners, probecast, Facebook, Harry+Potter, ReadWriteWeb, RSS, Pope, MassTLC, Dallas+Taylor, Twitter, Jesse+Snider, TalkShoe, Marathon

PRobecast 59: The Two-Word Pitch

Welcome to the PRobecast, Episode 59 of Topaz Partners' weekly
PR-related podcast.

Doug Haslam, Adam Zand and Todd Van Hoosear discuss:

1. Mark Penn ousted as Clinton's chief campaign strategist: PR conflict of interest involved?

2. American Airlines Pilots Union directs disgruntled passengers to http://www.tellyouraastory.com/

3. Events recap! CTIA Wireless, MIT Communications Forum (Adam crashes the MIT Media Lab), BusinessWire breakfast on investor relations

4. Shel Holtz responds to our topic on paid seminars vs. free content

5. Flickr adds video and the members are revolting! iJustine is not revolting, however



(Via TalkShoe, a Topaz client)

6. New standard to beat: the two-word pitch

7. What to do this weekend: judging the Bell Ringers, Lez Zeppelin, "Rotary Club" and Beta House party

Comment: email bmoc@topazpartners.com, call 781-404-2419


MP3 File



You can subscribe to PRobecast via Podcast Ready --

or iTunes.

Or simply use the RSS link here:

* Opening Music: "Junk In A" by Pat Zelenka, available on the Podsafe Music Network and closing music is by Topazer Rob Capra

Technorati Tags: Pr, publicrelations, topazpartners, probecast, Mark+Penn, Hillary+Clinton, American+Airlines, CTIA, MIT, BusinessWire, Shel+Holtz, Ragan, Flickr, Talkshoe, iJustine, Lez+Zeppelin, Betahouse

PRobecast #58: Analyst Talks and Hawks

Welcome to the PRobecast, Episode 58 of Topaz Partners' weekly
PR-related podcast.

Doug Haslam, Adam Zand and Rob Capra
discuss:

1. Forrester on how to do a first-time analyst briefing

2. PR Week and PR Newswire survey on state of the media and PR

3. Shall we apologize, Shel?

4. April Fool's Roundup: and should you put out a real press release on April 1?

5. Second Life: Avatars invade Congress

6. Meetings without laptops

7. Red Hawk attacks A-Rod at Fenway

8. What to do this weekend: rickroll the Mets, Charity soccer in Arlington, and Curious Rob goes to the Symphony

Comment: email bmoc@topazpartners.com, call 781-404-2419



MP3 File

You can subscribe to PRobecast via Podcast Ready --

or iTunes.

Or simply use the RSS link here:

* Opening Music: "Junk In A" by Pat Zelenka, available on the Podsafe Music Network and closing music is by Topazer Rob Capra

Technorati Tags: Pr, publicrelations, topazpartners, probecast, Forrester, PRWeek, Shel+Holtz,PRNewswire, April+Fools, Secondlife, rickroll, Mets

Ego, Id and Super Ego in Social Media - The personal tagline

Just back from a very enjoyable social media breakfast - Breakfast with Jeff Pulver (and friends) - in Cambridge, MA hosted by Bryan Person and Jeff Pulver. Once I woke up, I liked real-time social tagging each other with post-it notes and stickers - besides, I enjoyed the conversations and food. It's a fun way to flatter friends or meet new people (I like that) and to put a name to a blogger/Twitter follower/favorite/social media guru, but it all raised an issue I've been mulling as I now revive my Topaz blogging. The process of networking (and social tagging) does feel a bit forced some times and when considered within some folks' online lives, makes me think one's ego is a little too super ;).

Breaking down social barriers is a great idea. Social media groups, networks and Tweetups do a superb job of this. I've seen that you get out of social media what you put in (I've been known to be very "social" at SNCR's NewComm Forum and SMC-Boston events), but I'm still struck by how important some social media folks profess to be or (more likely) are referred to by others in a room or social network. OK, it sounds harsh, but when did marketers, PR folks and vendor reps become their own personal brand/tagline outside of their résumé and job interviews?

I see this personal promotion in conversations, Twitter/Facebook status updates, podcasting, blogging and a seeming obsession with social media tools and shared experiences. Again not a bad thing, but I think we need to remember that there is balance in who and what we represent and importantly who we work for (and get paid by - even if we're sole practitioners/consultants).

For example in the PR world, I sometimes worry that a Twitter tweet might infuriate a journalist or tip off another agency to a new business target or even detail that you're having trouble with a current client/co-worker or simply wasting a lot of time. At its most extreme, a Twitter note or Facebook update can tell your "friends" that you will be out of town at a conference until Friday -- REPLY @: would you be so kind to leave a key to your condo under the doormat so I don't break a window?

OK, I'm talking extremes, but I do think it is important to remember your secondary branding and motivations (after the priorities of looking out for family, friends and self). These secondary, but critical, motivations should include your employer, future employers, clients, peers and school (if you're a young'n). It might even change the openness and direction of your social media interactions for the better. I love the Social Media Club ethos of "if you get it, share it" - I just suggest we remember who's in the audience and how our messages are being interpreted.

Food for thought as we contemplate if my karma is running over your figurative dogma?

The PR Rolodex Myth

One thing that has bugged me for years is what I call the "PR Rolodex Myth." This myth posits that a PR person or agency's relationships with reporters-- their Rolodex-- means that they automatically get better coverage for their clients.

• The Rolodex gets your phone call answered and your email read. That's it: When I first made the move to PR a former radio colleague, Rex Crum, was the tech reporter at the Boston Business Journal. We shared messages, congratulated each other on our new jobs, and I pitched him on a new client-- then silence. I was just getting my feet wet and my pitch was probably pretty clumsy, but it wasn't until the client actually had some news that he actually called me back to do a profile on the client. In the end, I got the placement but it had very little to do with our relationship.

• Bad pitches will crumble your relationship quickly: If you think I am going to give an example here, keep thinking. However, even now at a time when I feel I have some of those "Rolodex" relationships, the majority of my time is spent pitching reporters, editors and bloggers that I barely know or don't know at all. I use a relevant story, well told, crafted in a way to get attention. It's all about the Good Pitch (horn-toot alert). This is also why we have a Bad Pitch Blog along with constant tales of reporters grumbling about clueless PR people. This has nothing to do with who you know.

• Still, there's nothing wrong with relationships: If you do have those relationships, use them in they they can help: bounce ideas off the journalists and bloggers you know, get an idea of their editorial planning calendars first-hand, and maybe get the occasional inside scoop. Maybe there is a chance for favoritism in coverage, but never to the extent that a company ought to hire an agency based on its "Rolodex."
  

CTIA Tweetup: Wednesday, 6pm, Quark's Bar

There are a number of Twitterers living in Las Vegas or heading there for CTIA next week. Therefore I'm suggesting a Tweetup for Wednesday at 6pm at Quark's Bar in The Star Trek Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton. If it's too nutty at Quark's, we'll Tweet a new location, probably still in the Hilton.

If you're planning to go to the show, be sure to follow Topazers @susank and me (@vanhoosear)--I'll be coordinating the Tweetup. Also, follow @ctia for regular updates from the show (thanks @tlimongello). If you follow @hashtags (and you should), be sure to use the #ctia hashtag when you're talking about the show.

PRobecast #57: Giving It Away

Welcome to the PRobecast, Episode 57 of Topaz Partners' weekly
PR-related podcast.

Doug Haslam, Adam Zand and Tim Allik discuss:

1. CNET lays off 10% of workforce ...

2. ...leading into a discussion of the state of the newspaper business

3. The New York Times' David Pogue talks social media

4. "Tips of the Trade" - what, and how much, of our expertise should we give for free? Included, discussions of SEO at Social Media Club and Shel Holtz and Ragan Communications

5. What to do this weekend: more NCAA hoops, baseball opens and CTIA next week!

Comment: email bmoc@topazpartners.com, call 781-404-2419


MP3 File


You can subscribe to PRobecast via Podcast Ready --

or iTunes.

Or simply use the RSS link here:

* Opening Music: "Junk In A" by Pat Zelenka, available on the Podsafe Music Network and closing music is by Topazer Rob Capra

Technorati Tags: Pr, publicrelations, topazpartners, probecast, CNET, newspapers, David+Pogue, Shel+Holtz, CTIA, March+Madness

Brian Morrissey: Part Deux

Today is part two of my interview with Brian Morrissey of Adweek. I posted it on Monday here. This is a continuation of the interview where he discusses Twitter, PR and social media. Thank you Brian for being so gracious with letting us interview you!

Why Twitter? What got you started there?
I was skeptical about Twitter for a while, but I joined last summer, I think, as a way to keep in touch with a couple friends. I think someone from Agency.com followed me, which then led to a few others. Like any network it grew from there. I never started using it with any set plan.

Are you hoping PR people will learn something from your missives or are you merely venting (i.e., are we beyond correction)?
I don’t know, probably both. Since Max wrote that story, I have a lot more followers from PR. That’s cool, but I never started using Twitter as some way to vent about PR. I guess probably 5 percent of my posts are about it. One of the evolutions that I’ve found with Twitter is my audience expanded to include a lot more people in the marketing industry. One of the raps “traditional media” gets is it’s inaccessible, unlike blogs with comments and more personal commentary. I started to use Twitter as a way to bring people into the process a bit, from shaping story ideas to learning the frustrations reporters have with editors, companies we cover and, yes, PR people. That’s probably the biggest overall goal I have with Twitter now, if I have one. It would be great if new tools like Twitter enable reporters to close the gap between what we do and the people who read it. What I don’t want it to become is my lectures on PR. It’s not for me to tell PR people how to do their jobs. I’m only giving the perspective from my end.

Where do most of the conflicts come from?
The biggest thing that frustrates me is that there’s a disconnect between what PR people say they do and what they really do. There’s this idea that they’re there to “help reporters,” but that’s not true. Their goal, as I see it, is to make their client make good, control information and act as gatekeepers. Those are often in conflict with what I’m trying to do. On top of that, there’s too much spam coming from PR people. Trust me, I could write all day about the untargeted, useless stuff I’m bombarded with. Some people say “it’s your job,” but it’s not my job to get spammed. It actually detracts from my ability to do my job because of the time it takes and how often I’m interrupted. What’s most frustrating is the majority of PR people really have no idea what I do. If they did, they wouldn’t be wasting my team with some press release about an industry I don’t cover. Yet it seems the industry is in many ways predicated on “hits,” so the mentality, like advertising, favors bombardment.

You recently wrote about ad agencies not getting social media. That survey focused mostly on "traditional" agencies from what I could tell. Do interactive agencies suffer from the same problem?
I wrote about a study that found clients don’t think their agencies “get” social media.It’s a hard thing because social media is such a nebulous thing. I mean, we’re talking about conversations. Those conversations have applicability to all parts of a company, from marketing to product management to public relations to customer service. I find the debate of “who will own social media” utterly silly. Nobody will — not marketing, not PR, not customer service. I think it’s going to change how companies organize themselves.

The other side to that question, what do you think of PR agencies use of social media, are we using it effectively? What would you change about it?
I don’t know enough about how PR agencies use social media. I’ll say this: I’m impressed — or maybe alarmed — at how many PR people are on services like Twitter. (I kid about the alarmed part, btw.) It sounds corny but I’m a big believer that to really understand it, you have to do it, whether you’re an ad guy, PR person, reporter or whatever. It’s a tricky thing; getting your hands dirty is absolutely necessary. The question I have is how PR agencies end up “using” the channel. A lot of my frustrations with PR people stem from the same spray-and-pray approach used by ad agencies to bombard us with commercial messages. I get 150+ PR pitches a day by email and probably a dozen just-following-up-on-an-email-I sent calls. That’s why I don’t want Facebook pitches on top of that. Will these social media avenues just become another venue to promote the hell out of a client? I hope not. And I think it’s reassuring that many PR people use Twitter, because they’ll be less likely to pollute environments they use because they’ll empathize with regular users.

Wired Magazine's Top Business Trends for 2008

Wired Magazine tackles the "upside of the downturn" in its April issue, focusing on nine trends driving business in 2008:

"Sure, there's bad news out there, what with the panicky Fed and people whispering the R-word. But somehow, the wired world continues to churn out smart, useful, occasionally game-changing ideas.From the rise in instant manufacturing to the growth of open-source business models, these trends show that innovation can bloom even in a grim economic climate."

Here's the complete list of Wired Trends for 2008 with links to the underlying stories:

1. Open Source Tycoons

2. Social Networks Grow Up

3. Green on the Outside

4. Invisible Internet

5. Rise of the Instapreneur

6. Building a Better Banner

7. Invented in China

8. VCs Look for a New Life

9. The Human Touch


Topaz client Brijit.com is highlighted as a key player behind Trend #9, "The Human Touch" (AKA human-guided search):

"Algorithms Are Terrific. But to Search Smarter, Find a Person.
"... Brijit joins a growing number of ventures that are using people, rather than algorithms, to filter the Internet's wealth of information. Veteran entrepreneur Jason Calacanis has launched Mahalo, a "human-powered search engine" that uses freelancers and volunteers, overseen by editors, to compile results. ChaCha, another nascent search engine — whose investors include Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos — offers live guides to assist users with their queries via a chat window. And Squidoo, founded by marketing blogger Seth Godin, pays users to build link-rich "lenses" on topics of interest.

These ventures have a common goal: to enhance the Web with the kind of critical thinking that's alien to software but that comes naturally to humans. As Calacanis told a conference audience: "Google's mission is to index the world's information; our mission is to curate that wonderful index."

Read the complete article on Wired.com.

My Interview with Brian Morrissey of Adweek - Part 1 of 2

Early last week I noticed one of my Facebook friends, Brian Morrissey of Adweek, had a feed from his Twitter account saying simply, "doesn't want to get PR pitches in Facebook." It prompted a reply so I simply asked Brian if he would like to do an interview for our blog. Thankfully Brian did. Here's the first half of my interview, stay tuned for the second half.

Why did you sign up for Facebook? What benefits do you see there?
I signed up for Facebook a while ago. Executives there were aghast I used a young coworker's account to learn the site. They set up an account for me to be me. Obviously, since then Facebook’s exploded. Pretty soon, I got Facebook invitations from industry people. At some point, I started to use it more like LinkedIn. I estimate 90 percent of my “friends” on Facebook are people I either know as sources, PR people or people who are in the industry but I don’t know. The benefit of it that I see is mainly as a way to build some kind of connection with people outside of interviewing them. I can’t have coffee or drinks with people all the time. This is a way to mix the personal with the professional. Like most of social media, it works because it’s not dissimilar to how people interact in the real world. It’s just more efficient online.

Do you friend people you don’t know or haven’t spoken to before?
Yes, I do unless they’re spammers. I’m of two minds about this. I realize that as a reporter a certain amount of people will know me by name at least. I’ve been writing about this stuff for several years, after all. I’m a little uneasy about PR people “friending” me on Facebook because I understand they market their access to reporters to clients. I’d hate for that to somehow imply some kind of access. I know Saul Hansell has a practice of not accepting PR requests on Facebook. I never came up with a policy like that. For the most part, it’s been fine, I think.

You replied to my request for an interview through Facebook but in the past, you’ve stated you don’t want to get PR pitches on Facebook – do you only want pitches by email and phone?
Should I not have replied? I’d have preferred if you emailed me at Adweek. That’s why I requested you send the questions to my work account. I don’t want to get pitched on Facebook. It generates an email to my personal account. It’s just inefficient for me to get pitches there.

PRobecast #56: Something's Fishy

Welcome to the PRobecast, Episode 56 of Topaz Partners' weekly
PR-related podcast.

Doug Haslam (backup vocal), Sandy Kalik (lead guitar), Adam Zand (host, yo)and Todd Van Hoosear (on sports) discuss:

1. Trust your fish? Gorton's deals with a tampering crisis

2. Five years in Iraq: a discussion of the PR issues. See a pattern in this timeline?

3. Adam recounts a Mass Tech Leadership Council roundtable "Using Storytelling to Engage and Win Prospects & Customers" on presence and presentations by Robert Salafia of Ariel Group.

4. We actually say something nice about the Yankees, as they visit Virginia Tech, and the Red Sox stand up for their coaches

5. Starbucks gets into online communities, amid their stock woes

6. Coming on the blog: Susan Koutalakis' interview with Adweek's Brian Morrissey about his use of Facebook and Twitter

7. What to do this weekend: Purim, Easter and next Thursday, PRSA Boston's event on War Zone PR.

Comment: email bmoc@topazpartners.com, call 781-404-2419


MP3 File

You can subscribe to PRobecast via Podcast Ready --

or iTunes.

Or simply use the RSS link here:

* Opening Music: "Junk In A" by Pat Zelenka, available on the Podsafe Music Network and closing music is by Topazer Rob Capra

Technorati Tags: Pr, publicrelations, topazpartners, probecast, gortons, red+sox, yankees, baseball, iraq, adweek, arielgroup, brian+morrissey, starbucks

PR(SA) lessons from the war zone (TUESDAY)!

Let's face it, despite heroic efforts by both outgoing president Mark McClennan and our new president Tom Nutile--not to mention the killer event we did with the Social Media Club Boston in January--the Boston PRSA chapter still has a bit of a stodgy reputation. We're working hard to change that, and I hope you'll see that reflected in upcoming programs.

Next Tuesday's event is a great example of that. It's been five years since the beginning of the latest conflict in Iraq, and embedded journalism (not to mention milblogging) has been in place almost throughout. On the evening of Tuesday, March 25th, join us at the Newton Marriott to hear Shields and Komarow "share more than just war stories" as Tom said:

"You will learn, for example, how to build a public relations program virtually from scratch with a limited amount of time. You'll also learn how Shields and his colleagues coordinated and developed uniform messaging across both internal and external audiences."

PRSA Boston has added a live feed from Iraq for this program. Captain Vic Beck, US Navy Chief, Media Operations, currently handling media relations in Iraq, will join us from Baghdad via telephone hookup. Captain Beck, who is a public relations executive in Boston when not serving in Iraq, will weigh in on his current public relations duties in Baghdad and the lessons he has learned that will make him a better PR person when he returns to Boston.

Captain Beck will join our other panelists: Guy Shields, who helped design the embedded program in the winter of 2003 as a colonel in the Army and who now works for Raytheon Tewksbury; and Steve Komarow, who was embedded for USA Today and now is senior deputy international editor for the Associated Press.

Sign up now, and be sure to keep reading the Boston PRSA Blog.

PRobecast #55: Watch your mouth

Welcome to the PRobecast, Episode 55 of Topaz Partners' weekly
PR-related podcast.

Doug Haslam, Sandy Kalik, Rob Capra and Tim Allik discuss:

1. A Recap of the recent Social Media Club Boston meeting on SEO.

2. The SXSW Interactive Sarah Lacy/Mark Zuckerberg flapdoodle, lading to a renewal of the live-blogging/twittering debate

3. Why stalking might be a bad theme for a branding or PR campaign

4. "Off the Record." Does it exist?

5. Gov. Spitzer's PR woes

6. A discussion on profanity in the workplace

7. What to do this weekend

Comment: email bmoc@topazpartners.com, call 781-404-2419


MP3 File

You can subscribe to PRobecast via Podcast Ready --

or iTunes.

Or simply use the RSS link here:

* Opening Music: "Junk In A" by Pat Zelenka, available on the Podsafe Music Network and closing music is by Rob Capra

Technorati Tags: Pr, publicrelations, topazpartners, probecast,Spitzer, sxsw, zuckerberg, Sarah+Lacy, Profanity, socialmediaboston

Social Media Club Boston update

This Week's Event
Tomorrow the Social Media Club Boston will host the third sold out event in a row. We'll be talking about search marketing with a great panel that includes Amanda Watlington, Thom Brodeur of Marketwire, Greg Jarboe of SEO-PR, Andrew Komack of KoMarketing Associates and Sherwood Stranieri of SMG Search, a division of Starcom Mediavest Group. If you haven't signed up yet, add your name to the waiting list and we'll see if we can squeeze you in, but we're probably way beyond capacity at this point if everybody shows...

Thanks to Marketwire for sponsoring the event--this will be the third SMC Boston event they've sponsored.

Sponsors Wanted
We're looking for sponsors for future events. Check out our sponsorship page and drop a note to tvanhoosear@topazpartners.com if you're interested... (Hey Racepoint, since you signed up the whole firm for this one, how about sponsoring a future event (like the April one)... :-)

Speaking of PR firm sponsorships, thanks to our friends at Lois Paul & Partners for agreeing to sponsor the May event--their second sponsorship. Stay tuned for more info.

Volunteers Wanted
The Boston Social Media Club is looking for a Partnership Director. It's a great networking opportunity, good resume fodder and an opportunity to help make the Social Media Club even more successful in Boston. Check out the BostonVolunteers page for more information.

The Future of Direct Marketing
SMC Boston is teaming up with NEDMA to help push the social media agenda at the upcoming NEDMA '08 Direct Marketing 3.0 Conference at the end of April. If you're involved in direct marketing, you need to be at this show! Stay tuned for more information.

The Future of the Press Release
I (are we finally allowed to write in the first person on Tech PR Gems? I guess so...) continue to be involved in the roll out of the new social media news release effort (hey IABC, approve the comment I posted on your social media release news release please!). There have been some great comments and thoughts on the social media release recently--see the most recent PRobecast for some highlights. I've held back from the conversation a bit, because I really do want to see where this goes. I'll be sharing some more thoughts in the near future I hope, so please come back!

PRobecast #54: Twitter press conferences, Authentic PR, Oprah's World

Welcome to the PRobecast, Episode 54 of Topaz Partners' weekly
PR-related podcast, live from the South-by-South-West corner of the Topaz Partners offices.

Doug Haslam, Adam Zand, Rob Capra and Todd Van Hoosear discuss:

1. A Twitter press conference?

2. Should a PR agency blog about its clients?

3. The Social Media Release gets IABC backing, and comes under fire

4. A few words about Edelman's "Authentic" announcement

5. Oprah's webcast event

6. Baseball goes Social? The St. Louis Cardinals let their fans in on the scouting program. Plus a program that uses fantasy baseball to teach elementary school math.

7. Brian Morrissey of AdWeek-- another journalist on Twitter and Facebook

8. What to do this weekend. Judging children; comedy and hip-hop in Boston; next week, the next Social Media Club Boston event, "The Search for Social Media Success," March 13.

9. A nerd's eulogy for Gary Gygax, creator of Dungeons and Dragons



Comment: email bmoc@topazpartners.com, call 781-404-2419


MP3 File

You can subscribe to PRobecast via Podcast Ready --

or iTunes.

Or simply use the RSS link here:

* Opening Music: "Junk In A" by Pat Zelenka, available on the Podsafe Music Network and closing music is "Thank you Gary Gygax" by Uncle Monster Face

Technorati Tags: Pr, publicrelations, topazpartners, probecast, Oprah,socialmedia, gary+gygax, dungeons+dragons, oprah, socialmedarelease, cardinals, baseball+insights,baseball

Twitter in Plain English (Maybe a Little Too Plain)

Anyone who pays attention to this blog or listens to our weekly PRobecast have heard us go on about Twitter. Twitter, like many of these shiny new Web 2.0 tools thrust upon us in the last couple of years, can be hard to explain.

Hard to explain? sounds like a job for Lee Lefever of Commoncraft. Lee recently published his latest explanatory video, "Twitter in Plain English." While he leans on some of the more mundane uses of Twitter to make his case (no, I really don't want to know you are "off to bed." Really), it's still a good distillation of how Twitter works and why people use it.

Embargoes gone in a blog-happy world? Phooey!

There has been a lot of thought by PR folks into the notion of embargoes, and if they are meaningless, in the so-called freewheeling Wild West of the blogosphere. Brian Solis documents a good discussion with Robert Scoble here.

Conventional paranoia-- er, wisdom- stated that bloggers are largely not journalists, and wouldn't honor embargoes, either because they didn't know the rules of journalism or were gleefully ignoring them.

Recent events (promoting a news release that a client, Prospero, had been acquired by Mzinga) have proved what I have learned to become the case: that bloggers who want to deal with company news on a regular basis will honor embargoes, or risk losing the relationships-- and the scoops. Sounds a lot like "old" journalism, right?

Allen Stern of Center Networks spells it out in a recent post. He "gets it," (I know, jargon, but it;s short jargon). He honored the recent embargo, to the letter, posting at 12:00 a.m. Monday morning, the moment the embargo ended.

Want to know something else? TechCrunch, a site we feared might become the poster-blog for "getting it first" and breaking embargoes under the leadership of Michael Arrington, honored the embargo as well.

Again, isn't this like old journalism? And anyway, isn't the fear of certain outlets and embargo breaking ways old hat as well? CNET held that crown that TechCrunch was supposed to take, didn't it?

An amusing side note: Michael Arrington recently complained on Twitter about BusinessWeek breaking an embargo. He was whining and carrying on, but he had a point: it's not blogs, it could be anyone that breaks an embargo, and embargoes are still in full effect.

What do you do when a social media client has big news?

Today is an exciting day for one of our clients, Prospero Technologies. The provider of social networking technology and services announced today it has been acquired by Mzinga, another locally-based company in the industry.

What is particularly exciting for us is that this is a great chance for us, along with people from the new combined Mzinga, to exercise our social media muscles.

Aside from our pitching blogs and podcasts in the space (in addition to "traditional" media of course), blog posts from both Mzinga and Prospero have put individual blog posts (here, here and here) showing how-- and more importantly, why-- some of the key executives and team members are excited about this news.

Further, we are taking the conversation to Twitter today (Monday, March 3), first by linking to announcements and blog posts (including this one), and then by sparking discussions about social media and online communities in a way that engages and serves the community; just as Mzinga and Prospero have been doing on their own platforms. I had a great time getting limited word out privately on Friday, which even included talking to a few marketing folks in Second Life (ok, now I'm letting my social media freak flag fly).

On Twitter, please see the pages of:

http://twitter.com/astrout
http://twitter.com/jstorerj
http://twitter.com/crbrowning
http://twitter.com/hjstrout

Also, I will be monitoring and joining in this conversation throughout the day, and then summarizing what transpires (http://twitter.com/dough), as will my colleague Sandy Kalik (http://twitter.com/skalik).

Our industry colleagues at Perkett PR are in on it as well.

Please join us!

As PR practitioners with a strong social media background, we at Topaz look forward to opportunities like these and relish diving into them.