In Case Santa Reads Blogs

I'm much bigger on giving gifts than receiving them -- unless I am buying the gift for myself, that is. So I don't have huge expectations this Christmas and will probably get a bigger kick out of watching my kids and husband open their presents than I will out of opening my own gifts. But with that said, there are a few things I'd love to get as a busy communications person. So, Big Man, if you're listening, all I...

Where Everybody Knows Your Profile

As many of us search for great talent in a tight hiring marketplace, the advice offered by Lena West in Social Media 360 bears noting. Companies can no longer afford to compete on cash, bennies and perks. They need to be cool and hip - or at the very least have a clue. . . Companies that don't have a seat at the Internet's conversation table really are not part of the dialogue and good companies with bright futures are...

Spinning Your Wheels - Pay for Placement PR

Yesterday the Wall Street Journal published an article about a small business owner named Ms. McKay that became frustrated with her first PR agency because after three weeks of starting her PR program and paying $3K, the agency hadn't generated any press coverage. So she took it over herself and unknowingly secured a spot on 20/20 about rude people - and she was one of the featured examples. She lost customers based on the coverage, so she decided she needed...

Social media influence on IT pros

The social network IT Toolbox just released the second "wave" of its ongoing survey project that examines how much social media influences IT decision-makers. The first set of results focused on the trust IT pros place in social media, showing that they rely on peer-generated content more because it "probe[s] more deeply into a solution than dealing with a vendor and their customer references." The second survey examines the influence of social media at "distinct stages of the purchase process...

The Steroid Era

Besides being a communications professional, I'm also an avid baseball fan, so today is a very interesting day as these two passions are converging. The long awaited Mitchell Report was released at 2 p.m. today, and the names included are coming out slowly. Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Miguel Tejada and Eric Gagne are among the most notable to be named so far. A total of 78 are named. Bud Selig's press conference just started, and as it unfolds, I have...

Social Media's implication on PR

I attended last week's 2nd annual Society for New Communications Research Symposium in Boston. One of the big draws for me was the first session delivered by Paul Gillin, John Cass and Greg Peverill-Conti, titled "New Media, New Influencers & Implications for the PR Profession." Implications for the PR profession -- OK, so we finally can cut to the chase. From the conference program: This study explores these changes to the media and communications landscape and includes: an examination of...

Media Control Dept.

Two reminders of my day job hit me during my quick getaway weekend in Orlando. First of all, I wish Universal would buy better biometric readers at their turnstiles. Either no one has told me that I'm in the witness protection program and my fingerprints have been altered or they have the worst readers in the industry. More amusing for someone who just returned from media training 42 people at one of our clients a week ago was the intro...

Rest in peace, Marc

I was so very saddened to learn yesterday that Marc Orchant, a client of ours and well-liked and respected blogger, did not not survive the heart attack that felled him on December 2. In my post last week, I remarked how, despite knowing Marc for less than a year, I quickly came to know what a smart person and great human Marc was. And seeing the outpouring of support since made me understand that so much better. It is just...

Sun is Shining on Russia

Last week, I attended a semiconductor networking event in Austin sponsored by SEMI and Concurrent Design focused on new opportunities in the solar market. I have lived in Austin for nearly seven years, and I must say - I was floored by the turn-out. It had the same energy as a start-up party during the dot com glory days when I lived in San Francisco. People were excited, and yes, people were even cheering - with their microbrews in the...

Methinks they buried the lead

Let me preface this by stating for the record that I hated those assignments I got as a journalist to take a huge collection of survey data and summarize it in a coherent article. With that said, however, I have to take issue with the summary of the CEO survey recently published by PR Week. The article covering the survey of 144 CEOs from companies ranging from under $10M (25.7%) up to $1B or more (17.4%) and everything in between...