Archive for the ‘Media & Pubic Relations’ Category

Yay!

The city of Birmingham has stepped up with a new website!

(mmm… new website… pretty colors… tasty… mmm…)

So, I was clicking around, looking for the RSS feed for news and updates…

Nothing.

One step forward, one step back.

For more in Ike’s post, visit Occam’s Razr by clicking here.

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The other day a colleague of mine sent me an e-mail. She has, in the past, written news releases, but needed a few hints from me to make her pitch better. Having been a journalist, I’ve seen my fair share of news releases, good and bad. One of the nice things about being a turncoat is that I write news releases like a journalist.

While the academy is teaching students how to make their news releases more newsy. I just make them newsworthy. There are several points that make a news release more valuable to your local editor or reporter.

It’s well known that news releases should hit the 5W’s and an H. We also know they should be timely, newsworthy, concise — focused to the community a publication serves. But there’s more that makes ordinary news releases extraordinary.  This is my list:

To see Rodger’s list and read the rest of his post, visit Your PR Guy by clicking here.

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The inaugural post of 2008 seems like a good opportunity to speak about the importance of Passion.What is Passion?  Why is it important?  What does it do for us? … Passion is enthusiasm!  Passion is grit!  Passion is infectious!  Passion is the exclamation point!!

Think back across your career.  It’s likely that the most seminal events in your history sprang from Passion… either because you organically became passionate about a subject or career choice, or, because you were inspired to action by the Passion of another.

For more on Todd’s post, visit PR Squared by clicking here.

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Filtering is a delicate balance — an craft, moreso than an art.

Publishing to the internet carries a degree of responsibility. You are accountable for what appears on your site, even the comments made by others.

This is the 800,000 pound elephant-shaped obstacle in the room for big businesses that are considering a foray into new media. When you buy into the conversation, you may get more than you bargained for. The more people involved in your community, the more risk you carry about what they say. You do have options:

To see the options and read the rest of Ike’s post, visit Occam’s Razr by clicking here.

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Happy New Year everyone!

The discussion around blogger relations is more relevant now than ever. And quite honestly, with every debate, exploration, and analysis, these conversations only fuel the advancement and improvement of Public Relations overall.

It makes us think.

Lest we forget, there is a significant percentage of bloggers, reporters, and analysts who think we’re useless - we’re merely spin artists who focus on pitching, blasting, and cranking out poorly written press releases. We contact people without caring or knowing their interests or passions without knowing what we’re talking about or why it should matter to them. That’s the perception.

Don’t be that PR person.

No, seriously. Chances are, at one point in your career, you contributed to the stereotype. So, let’s do something about it now.

To view the rest of Brian’s post and download the free e-book, visit PR 2.0 by clicking here.

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Happy New Year, my friends.

May 2008 bring you happiness, friendship, love, prosperity, and joy.

May it finally bring all of us peace.

2008 will bring many, many changes - I promise you, no matter how prepared we think we are, we won’t be. It’s just the nature of change. If we were always prepared, it wouldn’t be any fun, would it?

For the rest of Peter’s post, visit PR Differently here.

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2007 2008

Well, [insert year] has been another one of those years. We’ve laughed together, clied together, and huddled together.

Remember [insert mental trigger for funny anecdote]? And then how we [insert anecdote others wish to forget]? Good times, to be sure.

Then we all endured the [insert landmark negative cultural event]. Remember where you were when [event] happened? I was [needless maudlin detail that will forever be linked to mammoth event].

2008 will surely be better.

For the rest of Ike’s post, visit Occam’s Razr here.

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(My last big post of 2007. Thanks for making Year One of Occam’s RazR such a fun ride. Please subscribe, if you haven’t already. Welcome Digg users!)

Time to channel my inner Grinch.

I was recently given a piece of chocolate, lovingly wrapped in homily. Inside the foil was written:

“Spending time is a greater gift than spending money.”

Well, isn’t that a wonderful sentiment? Too bad I can’t agree with it. I understand the intent, that spending time with loved ones around the holidays is important, and means more than any paltry gift. But it turns out that not every gift is paltry.

For instance, if I offered you $100,000 to skip Christmas with your family, you’d probably do it. Some might not, if that sum wasn’t significant to them, or they knew a relative was dying and wouldn’t be around. The value of “time” is as fluid as the circumstances surrounding you.

For the rest of Ike’s post, visit Occam’s Razr here.

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Excellence in Action? Fugitaboutit!

Kent State has a new branding statement for 2008: “Show us the money — and we’ll spend it!” At least that’s the message I get from this morning’s Akron Beacon Journal editorial page. KSU’s lavish spending made the ABJ’s Top Five “most galling” decisions of 2007. The complete text of the commentary appears at the end of this post.

The headline, “King Lester doles out our treasury,” positions Kent State as some sort of fiefdom. Management behavior supports that impression and the ABJ’s editorial (and previous coverage) reinforces the “brand.”

I loathe the term “branding,” as it’s one more result of allowing our “evil twins” in marketing to hijack PR’s most important cargo. Back in the day, we simply called it “reputation,” and the savvy PR professional knew that reputation grew not from our client’s advertising or marketing strategies but from the client’s performance and its character.

For more from Bill’s post, visit Tough Sledding here.

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The Rockridge Institute reported  that Presidential hopeful John Edwards is framing debates using progressive values. Why is this important? Simply, a new frame introduces a new conversation about an issue. And this gets people thinking differently.

On the front page of The New York Times, Edwards  says,

Some people come from nothing to being wildly successful and
their response is, ‘I did this on my own.’ I came to a different
conclusion. I believe that I did work hard, and I think people should
work hard, but I think my country was there for me every step of the way.

For more on Rodger’s post, visit Your PR Guy here.

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