DISQUS

Let me reiterate that I believe Bing will take over for Google as the number one search engine in the world on May 17, 2010.

Kyle

A week ago I would have been disagreeing with you Danny, but I lost my iPhone in the pool this past weekend and as I mentioned on my own blog yesterday I'm actually feeling quite liberated. Too often I would depend on my iPhone as a way to do something in lieu of reaching out to actual humans and you see it constantly at events and even when out on a Saturday night. How long can I last without another "smart" phone? Not sure, but it's been nice while it lasted.

/kff
.-= Kyle Flaherty´s last blog post ...Phoneless and Loving Life =-.

It was a fun interview to be a part of, but one thing I would add that didn't make it into the story, was how important REAL relationships still matter. The only reason I got involved with my now boss Pam over Twitter was through my prior "offline" friendship with Laura Beck of Porter Novelli Austin.

Online tools can only go so far in establishing relationships, whether for networking or not.

Thanks for your insight in the article John, I think it really will help a lot of folks out.

One thing I'd love to do is put together a panel some night in Austin to talk about these issues, a real brainstorm on how people can attract more talent to the PR industry, get better results out of the people they have using the new methods of communications, ideas around billing, etc. Would be cool to have some agency reps, vendor marketers and even a journalist/analyst.

Need to put some thought behind making this happen.

This is off the cuff and a bit all over the place, but...

Yes, I believe that part of the thesis is correct in that most of the talented people I have met in PR/Marketing did not self-select that role. In fact if you asked them in college what they were going to do after graduation I doubt many of them would have said PR/Marketing. This naturally will create an industry of people with disparate skill sets, some that fit well into the PR/Marketing roles and others that do not. However, this is no different than many other industries that do not require a singular or additional degree. Therefore I say no to the fact that this non self-selection is "the problem".

The root of the problem, in my humble opinion as a PR/Marketer for 12 years, is the lack of accountability within PR/Marketing roles within agencies and corporations. This absence of accountability has been around for various reasons, specifically due to the difficulty in measuring PR or Marketing ROI and the antiquated hourly billing structures of service organizations. Both of these elements are slowly being dissolved, primarily due to better connectivity and social media, and when security blankets evaporate the crying often begins. In this case journalists/bloggers/malcontents continuing to hammer on the "PR sucks" meme or PR/Marketing people trying to go and hide under another security blanket by declaring themselves a "social media expert". Unfortunately for the latter that security blanket is being removed much faster than the previous one, but due to the same reasons.

Now we come to the portion of our show where we try and figure out how to fix this problem. When I first started in the PR business there was a mad rush to hire former journalists and editors to the agency side, which didn't always work, but did always invigorate the troops including myself. But now we need to look in a multitude of directions and I absolutely love the analogy to Bo Jackson. Perhaps it's the nerd who can communicate well like yourself and Louis or the former interior designer who has terrific writing skills or the small business owner looking to make a change.

But they must have one thing in common (probably more than one, but I've already bored you enough), the ability and desire to be held accountable for what they do and the desire to measure their success based upon their personal goals and the goals of their company. At the same time companies and agencies must shed themselves of antiquated measuring sticks for PR/Marketing (including billing structures, but that is another post I'm sure) and come to the table with the same level of commitment as this new breed of marketer.

Narrowing it all down; the problem is not in the self-selection, but in the way in which WE select those that fill the marketing/PR roles and the way in which the company/agency holds US accountable within that position. As these two elements shift we will, I hope, see more and more talented folks like yourself and your colleagues and less and less "PR is Dead" memes.

Sorry for taking up so much space, but you really got me thinking this afternoon! Now back to work so that when the folks come around to hold me accountable I'm ready ;)

This is great Josh, loved it!!

/kff

Danny, I never choose folks I follow on Twitter because of their avatar, in fact looking through some of the folks I do follow I see pictures of foxes, office buildings, babies (assuming they aren't Twittering) and more. A face is not critical to good conversation, a mouth (or in this case something to type with) truly is the key. When I decide to follow someone it is done by looking at what they say in their profile, following through to their blog and reading their last few pages of tweets. It is a long process, but I think it has been worth the effort over the past few years.

As for this particular case; I actually saw your avatar today because I already follow you by going through the above process. But today was different and your avatar grabbed my attention and I grabbed my mouse; I clicked on your profile, went to your blog and got more info on what you were talking about...seems to have educated me through many paths of connected networks and links. Bravo.

Plus we get the side benefit of this interesting conversation, not too shabby.

/kff

Josh, I love this thinking...one thing that has really put me off from blogging even myself is the horrible repetition of content by people who aren't actually DOING the work. I trust people who get their hands dirty, not pontificate from a lectern. You have a unique perspective as someone working at an agency, but also really knowledgeable about technology AND PR. This isn't some comment to kiss your ass, it's to make the point that not enough people are just simply rolling up their sleeves and getting to work on this stuff.

I think Aaron, you and myself need to get together and produce some joint kick-ass content...get people moving!

/kff

Every person and/or client who has asked me this question I have told one thing: "Listen". Go out and listen, carefully, to your community, old school and new school. Don't do anything until you have listened for a sufficient period of time. If you understand your business and you understand your customer they will tell you what to do in terms of any social media activity.

Kyle

I'd love to first see you continue doing what you've been doing the past few months, some really great stuff has been written here and on Twitter and it has been helpful in my own work. What I would like to see more of is some of the 'behind the scenes' stuff you go through at Ford and trying to push the social marketing line further and further. Your post about how you got Alan Mulally to answer some questions on Twitter was terrific and showed how often we need to just take the chance when the timing is right.

Also would love to hear more about how you deal with the drum of negativity that can often time come with your public position. I feel it in my role, so I really can't imagine the magnitude in which it comes at you. How do use this to your advantage? What do you do when it just becomes a bit too much (assuming it does)?

Keep up the great stuff Scott, it's helping many of us become better at our own jobs...and I'm not one to just throw compliments around ;)

/kff

Yet another fine example Mr. Monty. Your making a huge difference in proving that communication, no matter the platform, always works best when you are honest and transparent. I get that everyone will be excited about the "Twitter" aspect of all of this, but to me it speaks more to Mr. Mulally's communication style and leadership style. When you have that type of person running the ship it makes the ride much more smooth.

Keep it up!

Scott, what a well thought out post and one that should be read by anyone trying to discuss this situation intelligently. I continue to follow all your online commentary because I think it is important.

Keep up the good fight my friend!

/kff

Josh, good stuff, wish I had been at the session b/c the data portability issue is something I'm really interested in seeing how it gets addressed. I'm currently doing some stuff with semantic HTML, even with no official spec, and the challenges are pretty daunting at this point.

I guess I'm the opposite because, and I've written about this on my blog many times, BofA has on more than 6 occasions risen well above other banks for my wife and myself. Whereas our local CU, Sovereign Bank and Cambridge Savings completely failed us several times and treated us as if our money was not worth their time. In just the past six months I've moved all of our accounts to BofA, particularly after one of the worst experiences I've ever had at the hands of ING.

So perhaps here is the true problem with BofA...inconsistency across their branches. My local branch in Boston rocked and my new local branch in Austin kicks butt. However they are obviously not training folks correctly across the gamut to ensure a consistent experience. Big companies can do great customer service, but if they do it inconsistently they will always be viewed as poor service providers.

/kff

Bravo Scott, something that needs to be said and folks, myself included, should all look in the mirror. Here is where social media can police itself, however, because you can quickly un-follow their blogs, Twitter, etc. Something I've been doing with more regularity as of late.

The other thing I wish people would do less of is tell us about their stats...it is becoming nearly unbearable. I've even criticized myself for this, yep, nobody is exempt from my wrath. Wait, is that being narcissistic?

Folks, folks, you're missing the point...Gooey Butter Cake is absolutely the best. It may or may not be on my top five reasons why I married a girl from St. Louis!

OK, I guess there was more to this post than delicious references. I have seen very limited interaction from tourism bureaus/bloggers and you would think that you would hear from folks when you Twitter you are going to be in a certain city and need a recommendation. Seems like a goldmine to me, not only for tourism boards, but certainly hotels and restaurants. The latter is interesting since in many cities ownership groups have a bunch of restaurants in their stable and could do a really comprehensive job getting involved in the conversation.

/kff

If you are staying in St. Louis for any amount of time definitely check out the new Busch Stadium and of course the Budweiser tour (even if you hate beer, the tour is staggering). And if you need any St. Louis eatery recommendations you just let me know...more specifically my wife who is a native.

Looking forward to seeing you in Austin!

/kff

Bravo Chris, great post and something we all need to think about more often as we travel (real and virtual) through this social media industry. Some of my favorite moments has been when I got to introduce my wife and son to folks I've become friends with through blogging/twitter/etc. It is as if they already know each other and through that introduction we all gain a bit more visibility into each other.

/kff

Dave, per our Twitter conversation, I can comment on your blog IMMEDIATELY, but not on those other two...kudos my friend. I'll have to let those other blogs know.

/kff

We will certainly miss you in Boston, but so very happy for you. Outstanding!

/kff

Since I'm going through this currently with building out means for our community to engage with each other and our company this is a hot topic. I blogged about it last week and came up with four initial steps I am taking that are similar to what you are saying, although I do believe the first one is paramount and we should spend more time discussing:

1. Engage the current user base to discover what they want to discuss, how they want to communicate, their likes, their dislikes…essentially building a “community advisory board”;

2. Evolve our blog to discuss the overall industry, openly looking at the competition, unveiling our product roadmap for insight and more;

3. Leverage our star power;

4. Worry more about our content than the social media apps we are using;

Currently I'm in the first and second layers and will be updating throughout the process.

Thanks Chris for continuing to make me think!

/kff

If there is a better case study for the power of Twitter I have NOT found it! ;)

/kff

I believe the analogy is apt and I completely agree with you around the use of micro trends. However I'm still left wondering if it truly can be 'social media engagement' when there is little to no interaction back from the candidate or even the candidate's people. Is Obama using social media tools in a better way to raise money and create community awareness for himself; yes! Will he continue to engage with that community in this manner after he is elected President; not sure. And therein lies the rub for me since social media is continuous and evolving, not one-way and abruptly ends when the person gets what they want.

Perhaps I'm being too literal in this regard or simply pessimistic? Either way, thanks for getting my brain functioning this morning!

/kff

I've definitely been there and I had to make the decision that Twitter (for me) was a place to hear from my professional network and what they are up to and at the same time I've also decided to cap the amount of folks I'm following to between 280-300.

I did a major 'cleanse' a month or so ago and it has seemed to help me focus my Twitter stream and get what I want out of Twitter.

/kff

Anthony, thanks for the compliment about my blog :)

I think you are right in a way, there is such an enormous amount of content out there and it is constantly piling up, especially as we all have to do our 'real jobs'. I have found, for myself, that I go through these moments where it just all feels like there is too much and I cull my feeds, networks, 'friends', etc. I wrote about this a bit last week.

IMHO this is what is happening for even the average Joe who might not be as social media inclined. They start by subscribing to some feeds or getting on Facebook or even Flickr. Each day I'm seeing more and more people who are jumping into the fray, all age groups, mainly because they DO want an easier way to stay connected with human beings and not just the TV.

I'm enjoying your blog!

/kff