Some Cool Apps from links for 2006-04-21
April 21, 2006 by Robert · Comments Off
Web 2.0 I don’t really like that term/phrase. No one has done a good job of defining it. It is thrown around with such ease, yet never well defined.
But, whatever we wish to call all of this, below you will see some of the applications that interest me.
There is the list from Baris Karadogan and then three links to some new software, or Ajaxy sites, that seem pretty cool. They likely have some niche applications, but not too sure about broad adoption / usage. Still, fun to look at.
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A list of Web 2.0 companies from the blog “From Istanbul To Sand Hill Road” by Baris Karadogan.
infOpinions? links for 2006-04-18
April 18, 2006 by Robert · Comments Off
An interesting blog that I have read before, but did not del.icio.us link. So, here it is now. I forgot that I had my automatic del.icio.us link posting utility turned on. Well, it is here now, so be it.
Creating Passionate Users: Why face-to-face still matters!
(tags: face2face communication facetoface)
infOpinions? del.icio.us links for 2006-03-07
Still experiencing some quirks with del.icio.us automatic blog posts. Anyone know if there is any development going on to improve the feature at del.icio.us?
PR firms be able to assure transparency
when bloggers ultimately control the info they are pitched…
At any rate, here are some new links.
Coincidently, after yesterday’s post, there is news about other Edelman blogging activities. The NYTimes ran a story I only saw after the post about Rubel’s posting activities.
The Times story raises some interesting questions about how PR firms should deal with the bloggers they pitch. The difficulty here is, after you pitch and provide information - no matter what you ask the bloggers to do re: transparency - you have no control over the results.
So, this NYTimes story highlights some of the pitfalls of blogger relations. I imagine this is only the beginning of the stories we will see - on a number of companies - re: their blogger relations efforts.
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Wal-Mart (NYTimes Story) Enlists Bloggers in Its P.R. Campaign - New York Times
The unfortunate part of this story: “But Mr. Manson has not encouraged bloggers to reveal that they communicate with Wal-Mart or to attribute information to either the retailer or Edelman, Ms. Williams of Wal-Mart said.”
The article does state: “Wal-Mart has warned bloggers against lifting text from the e-mail it sends them. After apparently noticing the practice, Mr. Manson asked them to ‘resist the urge,”‘ because ‘I’d be sick if someone ripped you because they noticed a couple of bloggers with nearly identical posts.’”
Is that the reason to be concerned about posting without attribution - for fear of being caught? Or, is the more salient point to ask that the bloggers openly state that this is part of a reputation management strategy? or where they got the info and why it was shared?
These are enthusiastic bloggers. They want to be evangelists for Wal-Mart. So, will they even see it that way? Will they see it as encumbent upon themselves to be transparent about where the info comes from and the purpose of the blogger relations program? I doubt it, in all cases. Some will, some won’t.
Ultimately, the question comes down to, “Where does the responsibility for transparency fall here?” How far should the PR firm go to try and assure that transparency be adhered to in a blogger relations program? (Rhetorical questions, for the most part, but I’d like to see your opinions on the subject.)
Bloggers may have “no rules” or “different rules” - but, that does not mean the PR firms should foresake the traditional best practices of assuring transparency. Ultimately, if they do, stories like this - uncovering unfortunate lapses in practice - will serve to undermine the value of the programs.
Mr. Manson is identified as “Marshall Manson, a senior account supervisor at Edelman who writes for conservative Web sites like Human Events Online, which advocates limited government, and Confirm Them, which has pushed for the confirmation of President Bush’s judicial nominees.”
Hat tip to Josh Hallett for pointing out the link.
Other Links:
- Talkshop
- IABC Measurement Commons
- IABC Communication Commons
- WordPress Randomized Blogroll Plugin | Gerd Riesselmann: Notes From the Bog
- Here at WCER
- RSS Pundit: When Opposites Attract–Ten Interesting Public Relations Blogs
- Nonprofit Blog Exchange | NetSquared
PR Licensing and PR Measurement - infOpinions? del.icio.us links for 2006-03-04
March 4, 2006 by Robert · Comments Off
For PR practitioners, the issue of licensure has been around for a long time. Edward L. Bernays’ final years were spent hoping for some form of PR licensing to take hold in the US. Visit the Museum of Public Relations for a bit of background about Bernays’ work.
Also, from the PRbytes listserv (forgive me, I cannot find the originator of the post), there is an interesting download entitled: PR Measurement Comprehensive Overview.
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So, is this an argument to *not* have PR licensing?
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Kudos to Cyrus in the PRMindshare listserv for tips to this, and the NYTimes article, links.
MediaPost - infOpinions? del.icio.us links for 2006-02-26
February 26, 2006 by Robert · Comments Off
MediaPost offers some very interesting articles. You may follow the links to their articles and subscribe to any of their email offerings. I enjoy them, most of the time, and suggest you consider subscribing, too. The service is free.
From their site: “MediaPost Communications is an integrated publishing and content company whose mission is to provide an array of resources to super-serve media planners and buyers.”
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a little late to the conversation, but a good read … “This is why I’m sending out a little cyber band-aid to those poor folks, because their vice president really left them hanging last week.”
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I love these types of article … “FOR MANY ADVERTISERS, BEHAVIORAL TARGETING has come to be synonymous with online. Certainly the topic of BT has become the red-hot center of attention in online ad circles…”
GlaxoSmithKline - del.icio.us links for 2006-02-25
February 25, 2006 by Robert · Comments Off
Links to sites / blogs that have written about the GlaxoSmithKline program to unleash 8,000 sales people as goodwill ambassadors for the pharma-giant
This relates to my previous post about Technorati search while trying to find said articles.
Thanks to all who commented and emailed with links to articles of interest. Many thanks!
My post on Glaxo’s effort will follow.
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“I take exception to Ad Age’s verbiage that calls the move “unprecedented” since its a strategy Anita Roddock used decades ago with the Body Shop.” And others did it long before that, too.
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Colin should be ranked #1 in authority on this one. He provides great background information on Glaxo’s grassroots “salesforce as PR” campaign.
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A search of the Blogdigger “Headlines from PR Weblogs” group for the term “glaxo” .. a helpful tool, but did not provide an exhaustive search result
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This is an issue on which credibility is key, and sending out employee ambassadors is likely to be much more effective on that front than an advertising campaign.
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a related article by Paul Holmes on the pharma industry
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Easily one of the best sources for posts on the Glaxo 8,000 Evangelists.
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Yahoo! often provides good search results, but they put news and blogs in the same result, so … harder to filter.
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Not as good ad Google Blog Search, but some good results.
links for 2006-02-24
February 24, 2006 by Robert · Comments Off
PR Action Figure My new favorite PR blog has post number two. This one is particularly interesting to me. Harold Burson is about the same age as my parents. Although Mr. Burson does not feel that his generation is “The Greatest Generation” - I do.
My parents were born before the Great Depression and lived through it. My Dad’s family actually lived through it above the timberline in Colorado. Yikes!
My parents were also a part of the nation’s war effort during WWII. Mom, for instance, packed parachutes for paratroopers. Dad served in the Army on Okinawa and elsewhere in the South Pacific. Both overcame uncounted obstacles and prospered.
Mr. Burson is of that generation and I respect them all, with deep gratitude, for all they did to build - and save - a remarkable country.
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“I am a first generation American. My parents emigrated from Leeds, in the English Midlands, to Memphis.” He doesn’t call his generation, The Greatest Generation, but I do. ;o) Read more of his 85th birthday commentary. It is great.
Style and Design - infOpinions? del.icio.us links for 2006-02-23
February 23, 2006 by Robert · Comments Off
I like this site. It fits with Mandarin Design and several other sites. Check it out. Fun stuff there.
WOM and Wikis - infOpinions? del.icio.us links for 2006-02-22
WOM, or word of mouth, is quite popular these days. They have their own association - WOMMA.
I have concerns about WOM (as it is being discussed by some today) as well as guerilla marketing. I don’t see these issues being discussed as transparently as I believe they should be. Now, I may have missed some posts by some people, to be sure. But, some of those I have found are even a bit - frightening.
…WOM,
by those that practice and evangelize it as a tactic,
requires a clear statement of transparency by the firm practicing it…
WOM is by far the marketing tactic most susceptible to error, inaccuracy and transparency woes, in my opinion. The simplest illustration would be the old game of putting 20 people in a circle and letting a story filter around from one to the other. Just give the first participant a scripted three or four paragraph story and let them whisper it to the next in line. When the 20th recipient of this story recites her/his version to the group, you can be assured of giggle and groans. Happens every time.
Now, take that and magnify it with millions of blogs. Sure, with blogs you do have the longtail back to the original link (sometimes). But, let us not forget that bloggers are *not* journalists and do not play by any rules.
The argument I hear most often to counter these concerns is “caveat emptor” - let the buyer (reader) beware. But, we went away from that years ago, didn’t we? Now it is “let the seller beware” and that means social responsibility and transparency from business, government and nonprofits. Is the globe - or clock - spinning backwards?
Guerilla marketing has problems, too. The instance I think of most often is the paid participant that wanders into a coffee shop and sits down with a laptop. They begin either playing with software or surfing a particular site. Another paid participant comes in and sits near the first to casually sit, first … then observe the other … finally to ‘vocally’ call attention to what they are doing. This brings in the ‘marks’ at surrounding tables to look in and, perhaps, participate.
Kindly put, this is a flim-flam. Blatantly stated - it is a flim-flam… even if the ‘marks’ are made aware at the end of the exercise. A blog seeking to do the same, it no different - really. So, where are the statements by those espousing blogs and these tactics? Not enough talk about it from the most highly visible bloggers, in my opinion.
I have an email exchange from Matt Galloway, the developer of our first link’s site - Buzz-o-phone. Now, be sure that you understand *I do not* claim that Matt is guilty of the above infractions … nor, do I believe his intention is to cause harm. But, whenever I see these kinds of tactics unveiled, it makes me think of damage control and contingency planning. I will post the conversation with Matt - with his permission - later on.
Wikis are the focus of our second link. Elizabeth Albrycht has a great article about wikis in business. And there is a new ‘wiki search engine’ at Qwika. So, check both of them out. Elizabeth’s article should be required reading - not only for my students - but every person interested in online communication and collaboration.
- Welcome to Buzz-o-phone!
How would you counsel businesses to approach this new feed of consumer backlash for their product(s), service(s), brand(s) or company?
(tags: buzz CSR CSM customers complaints PR public+relations)
- Qwika - a wiki search engine
Qwika is a search engine designed specifically to search wikis. Our aims are to cover all sizeable wikis in all sizeable languages, translate them, make them easily findable in the shortest possible time.
(tags: wiki search wiki+search)
Wikis, Political Correctness, and Tabloids - infOpinions? del.icio.us links for 2006-02-21
February 21, 2006 by Robert · Comments Off
Wikis are the topic du jour of Elizabeth Albrycht. As usual, she does the topic justice with a mini-treatise of wikis in corporate communication.
Absurdity in PC advertising watch dog activities is our second link. Wonder how this group feels about the tolerance issues of Girl Power or Girl Power or even Girl Power? Hmm? All three could spark some PC conversations. Combined, they present quite a contrast.
Finally, tabloids are taking over! That may be true - also - for the sensationalism of “tabloid news,” but we are talking about the “layout” format in this link. Interesting changes afoot.
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The definitive “CorporatePR” Wiki article: “Many of us who are early adopters of this technology believe that the wiki is an intriguing collaborative tool that has the potential for vastly improving knowledge worker productivity.”
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Bad Apples … not in the cereal, but in the PC message police. This is too goofy to be funny.Kellog’s is to “refrain in the future from denigrating or disparaging apples or other fruits”…
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“…the European edition of The Wall Street Journal is now a tab…”
CSS and Accessibility: infOpinions? del.icio.us links for 2006-02-20
February 20, 2006 by Robert · Comments Off
Food for Style and Design thought. A very interesting CSS tutorial - real time. Look at the page develop as more CSS elements are added. Quite an interesting tutorial idea.
Also, accessibility is a key issue for all web surfers. You want your audience to have the most “barrier-free” trip to the site. There are a myriad of browsers in use today.
An example: Remember that many people - especially in developing countries - are likely looking at Web pages through old (really old) browsers on machines running Windows 95 (or earlier). So, if that is your audience - be prepared to reach them. That brings us to the Firefox Accessibility Extension to check your Web pages. How fun. 
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A very interesting tutorial … real time … from Digg … http://digg.com/design/CSS_Live_–_Watch_a_page_come_together.
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Excellent tool for both assisting people with disabilities access web pages and to find the problems and fix them.
