I’ll share my response, but ask that you visit her post and read the comments by students (sign up required, membership is free). (After visiting that post, also consider going to Kelli’s blog at PRos in Training. It’s a good one.)

This revolves around a recent wiki (prspammers wiki) created by Gina Trapani of Lifehacker, tips and downloads for getting things done. Gina’s Web site is here: Gina Trapani, tech writer and web developer.

The short story? She’s been getting pitches to her personal e-mail address, whereas she has clearly stated links for pitching her and the other editors of Lifehacker (see left hand column). None of them say, “Write to my personal e-mail account.”

So, she has reacted in a public manner. Her choice to do that, of course. Most of us would likely have just filtered the emails and moved on with our lives. But, sometimes we all feel compelled to make a very public point. Right? So, yea! for Gina’s team. I really don’t see anything about her coming off as being malicious in her approach. So, I don’t have a problem with what she’s done.

Update: Kelli has pointed out something I didnt’ see. Gina did post this in Twitter: Twitter / Gina Trapani – “my PR blacklist: http://tinyurl.com/5xj5qh Feel free to add to it.” Well, by publishing it that way, and not providing any safeguard against people maliciously adding to the list with those that are not guilty, she’s just as guilty as those she condemns. Why? Well, she’s just created a vehicle that can harm others. In fact, it is worse. She has not just bothered people with spam, for instance, she’s created a process that may damage one’s reputation unfairly. Talk about Lifehacking. Sheesh!

Here is my comment to Kelli’s post. A bit long for a comment, so I’m adding it here in case you don’t want to go to PROpenMic. But, I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t want to. ;o)

Gina’s process of handling it, and how she’s dealing with it online, is much different than Chris Anderson’s. I’d say she has a valid argument and the nature of online business is that you can feel the backlash in a very public manner.

To me, the days of broadcast e-mails is long gone. It has been gone for over a decade, really. Maybe longer?

An example. That’s one thing I don’t really like about our network here. The invite tool is an invitation to print what many people likely perceive as spam. Scraping your address book to invite people isn’t personal in any way. It isn’t targeted, unless you consider a scattershot approach targeted. I don’t. Facebook’s many widgets are even worse. How many Facebook apps have you blocked? I think I block about 1 every other day.

My point? These practices and strategies (if you can use that term) are still being practiced, even built into the software we use, let alone built into PR firm practices and firm culture.

Years ago, and I mean 20 or so years, you could do a blast mail campaign to newspapers and almost be assured of vast pickup, particularly if you were looking to get into the class C & D papers (local dailies & weeklies). You can still do that today (for class C & D papers, only) and bet on pretty good pickup. But, does this really serve a client’s best interests? I don’t think so. It is lazy. It is unprofessional. It is not PR. Does anyone see any bridges being built through these scattershot approaches? Nope. The key phrase here is “mutually beneficial”, as in the PR practitioner needs to be giving Gina something she wants, not what the practitioner wants to have printed or covered. Why is such a no-brainer concept repeatedly lost on so many PR people?

Everyone holds responsibility here, but the onus is really on management. Is there frequent re-education / training? Is there a vetted process to assure who is using what names from what list? Is there oversight? Sadly, I’m betting the reality is that less than half of firms and organizations actually do that. And, I’m betting I’m being generous, too.

The reality may be a combination of two things. First, firms are trying to get the most out of every possible tactic (billables) and the client’s need for a ROI that they can buy into (retaining your client). These combine to engender a culture furthering these bad practices. Also, note that I’ve used the term ‘tactic’ yet, do we really believe there was any true strategy at work here? No. Strategy leads to tactics. There is no shortcut. You don’t have one without the other.

At least Gina exhibited mature and rational judgement in her effort to deal with the problem. Eh, not so fast … see above. Chris Anderson, on the other hand, well … he just came off looking like a very impudent child. Many of those he outed were not even PR people, some were people he asked to write to him and, worst of all, he uses the term PR and public relations to cover a wide variety of practices, like sales. Finally, his effort – by his own words – intended to do harm. Gina, on the other hand, just dealt with it publicly, yet (with a few exceptions) only published the domains of firms. Anderson is malicious, ignorant and myopic in his approach.

Related Posts:

POP! PR Jots: PR Pitching and Blacklists – by Jeremy Pepper

“Unsubscribe Lifehacker: My Email to Gina Trapani” « socialTNT

A Young Pro’s Take: Media Relations and the New PR Blacklists « PR Interactive

Tech PR Gems: Block & Tackle PR: Tackling the Blocking Bloggers

PR 2.0: Making Mistakes and Amends in Blogger and Media Relations

PR Squared: Open Letter to Gina Trapani of Lifehacker

A Whole Lotta Nothing – Stop asking, start filtering

This device is called a heliodisplay. The manufacturer has a new version with touchscreen abilities.

The M2i Heliodisplay is the most advanced free-space display. The M2i supports up to a 30″ diagonal (4:3 aspect) image. The M2i utilizes cursor control interactive capabilities enabling ‘virtual touchscreen’ control.

Sure, once you see the video, you’ll likely say it needs refinement. But, everyone will want one. Sadly, the cost is now about $20,000. Yikes.

So, PR-types, want something cool for that tradeshow display? This will draw them in. However, I fear the device will overwhelm the audience and your message about your product / service / cause may be lost in all the “ooooh’s” and “aaaah’s” that will ensue. And, if it is a windy venue, well … then I think you’re kind of in the tank.

Why am I so enamored with this device? There was a display I wanted to create where the video displayed in mist, fog or smoke. A bluescreen image sort of flying through the mist. I wanted it to be much larger, too. A 4:3 40-inch, or so, diagonal sized display, or larger. It almost worked, but never quite made the grade. Hey, I was experimenting with dry ice and also a smoke/fog machine, and doing it on the cheap side. These things cost money, ya’ know.

This video is relatively old, dated June 09, 2006, but this is the first time I’ve seen it. How about you? And, are there any other such cool displays out there?

View it at YouTube.

I do take a small bit of issue with the title – A frat for misfits at Ole Miss. Oh, misfits they may be in the eyes of some traditionalists at Ole Miss, but they are actually a quite positive cause celebre to most.

Fraternities and sororities at Ole Miss date to the 19th century. They remain serious business here, with big, white-columned houses, elaborate rules for rushing and pledging, and a history of turning out the state’s future leaders: U.S. Sen. Trent Lott was a Sigma Nu. His fellow Republican and Mississippian, Sen. Thad Cochran, is a former president of Pi Kappa Alpha.

The men and women of Alpha Delta are changing the old world character of Ole Miss. Good for them.

The Daily Mississippian covered the story back on November 13th.

Sports Illustrated even covered it in their SI Campus Chronicles section.

Unlike a lot of other fraternities, the Awesome Dudes have stayed out of trouble. Well, there was the one report by the Oxford Eagle Online of civil disobedience concerning a smoking ban in bars and restaurants.

Most customers were not lighting up inside establishments, with the exception of four Ole Miss students who are a part of the College Libertarians and the Awesome Dude fraternity. Instead of leaving Parrish’s and smoking outside as the other customers were doing, these students decided to smoke inside the bar in protest of the new law.

The group is said to have a Web site, but the adfraternity.com URL I found referenced is down. They are not mentioned on the official Ole Miss Campus Organizations Web page.

If you’ve never been to The Grove, you’re really missing an experience. It is beautiful, in so many ways. CNN featured the traditional symbol of southern football life. A good video, although Christi Paul fumbles the toss by calling it “Ole Miss University.” Um, it is THE University of Mississippi.

Kevin Dugan, of Strategic Public Relations, directs us to the latest news about dove evolution from Ogilvy & Mather, Toronto.

Two Advertising Age articles show how viral videos brought the ad reach equivilent to a Super Bowl advertisement to Unilever/Dove for a fraction of the dollars. It also likely generated more, and for a longer duration, word-of-mouth buzz for the products. Add to that the personal and emotional appeal of the videos and we begin to see how viral can work wonders. Can it work for everyone? No, not likely. But, as with all strategies and tactics, sometimes they work like a charm.

First up is Jack Neff with Better ROI From YouTube Video Than Super Bowl Spot, Dove’s Viral Hit ‘Evolution’ Is a Real Beauty.

With not a penny of paid media and in less than a month, “Dove Evolution,” a 75-second viral film created by Ogilvy & Mather, Toronto, for the Unilever brand has reaped more than 1.7 million views on YouTube and has gotten significant play on TV talk shows “Ellen” and “The View” as well as on “Entertainment Tonight.” It’s also brought the biggest-ever traffic spike to CampaignForRealBeauty.com, three times more than Dove’s Super Bowl ad and resulting publicity last year, according to Alexa.com.

Next up is Bob Garfield’s review of the spot: Tackling Ugly Truth, Dove Effort Evolves Beautifully, New Spot Punctures Our Anorexic, Breast-implanted, Tricked-up Barbie Doll Fantasies.

This Dove ethic corresponded so nicely with the lessons of inner beauty our parents always taught us, and with what sounds morally right, that it resonated far and wide. Never mind that it conflicts with all of our actual experience from the time we enter kindergarten. We all wish for it to be so, and so we credited Unilever with taking a stand.

At which point, the Dove Campaign for Wishful Thinking began evolving into something truly special.

Watch the videos: Dove Evolution and Dove Film. The first is a morphing-style video that shows a young woman transformed into a cover girl beauty through makeup, hair extensions, and the wizardry of Photoshop. The second is of younger girls expressing their frustration with body image in middle and high school. Pretty powerful stuff, really.

Combined, just the videos from Oglivy’s Tim Piper alone equal 1,212,750 views to-date. Add to that the views of the 100K+ related videos (consumer generated, for the most part) and you see the ground swell of attention. When I click on “Related” videos (sorted for “Relevance”) and just count the views for non-Tim Piper videos, the count is around 300,000 – on just the first page of results. That’s pretty impressive. Understatement.

Finally, we should not forget that this campaign had many agencies working on it with a variety of tactics and strategies. It brought Edelman and Dove/Unilever a Silver Anvil award in 2006.

Now, let us go in search of those videos that work successfully for a smaller organization with a miniscule budget. Face it, although the Dove campaign cost much less than a Super Bowl ad, their budget is still way out of reach for small organizations – particularly nonprofits. So, can we find them? Are they out there? Look around and report back.

I’ve been waiting for some enterprising federal prosecutor to pump out a string of indictments for link fraud online. Is this the perfect opportunity? I’m not a lawyer, so maybe one will jump in here and help out with a definition.

Payola online? Hey, I imagine it has already happened too many times to count. Will Google and Yahoo! and others join with prosecutors to help keep their link rank / page rank algorithms free (or, as free as possible) of taint? Why not. They have a lot of advertising dollars at stake here. Link ads have been propping up Google from the beginning, haven’t they?

In a conspiracy charge, “a group of conspirators (have) banded together to achieve some harmful or illegal purpose” and if that purpose is fraud – well, do we have the open door to a trial? I imagine that intent plays a role here. If the company seeking the links can be proven to use blog posts knowing that the testimonial is insincere and the blogger can be shown to have made the post solely to make money, well we have a beginning. However, that’s not likely to be easy to determine from the willing participants – after the fact. So, what we can expect is a sting operation. Yes, just like the guy on NBC that has been phishing for perverts, some industrious blogger or reporter (TV or print) can at least make a pretty good expose out of all this. How long do you think it will take for that to happen?

PayPerPost.com has a pretty funny tagline on its header – “As seen in BusinessWeek.” That brings back some scary memories. Just check the logo to the right. Now, most people that see that logo, I believe, think of the product as schlock.

The funny thing about the tagline at PayPerPost.com? Jon Fine decries it – and the ensuing online meme about it – in BusinessWeek as “a rhetorical race to the bottom.” He’s probably right.

Wonder if PPP will be asked to take that tagline down. And, what hubris does it take to use a negative article to help promote your own product? You’ll notice that there is no link to the BW column so people can see what it is about. Makes sense from a company willing to foresake transparency in their own business model.

It isn’t as if this hasn’t been happening all along, is it? My feeling is that anyone believing that these types of scams haven’t been occuring – under the table – for a long time in blogs is quite naive. And, it is a scam if the intention is stated that disclosure may not occur. That’s fraud, no matter how you spin it.

Think about it. The link loving bloggers – linking in faux adoration circles – are just one such example. How so? Think of the many feigned adoration posts by bloggers about some a-lister (just praying for a link back) and think of the lil’ chunk of their soul given up for that link. Don’t think it happens? Wanna buy a bridge?

If that doesn’t do it for you, then think of all the splogs out there. They are playing the links, too. But this one (PPP), using blogs with heretofore legitimage page ranks, is particularly sleazy. I think the hubris of admitting that disclosure won’t necessarily happen is the sleaziest part of all. No, it isn’t transparency to admit you are not practicing transparency. OK, if you mean the people behind the endeavor are being transparently sleazy. Yep, that’s transparent – in so many meanings.

A poster in Adrants Soflow Network says it (PPP) “is going to destroy the credibility of all bloggers even the ethical ones like myself that have even forgone monetizing my traffic via advertising so as to maintain an independent perspective on the industry that I choose to cover.” Funny thing is, on his mobile blog (not his personal one) I found this ad among a plethora of ads.

FAKE Testimonials?
That’s what Your Visitors Think. Get the Seal and ProveThey’re REAL! (Ad by TrustedTestimonials.com)

You will note, I hope, that the Trusted Testimonials site and the Pay Per Post site both have the same “Secured by GeoTrust” logo on them. Wonder if that Adrants poster knows he is running an ad for what may be the same type of site he abhors?

That company – GeoTrust, like those blogger associations (honesty police), will no doubt fail in securing trust among readers of blogs. And, of course, given the relationship noted above I am curious as to whether any of them are legitimate.

Let’s face it. Blogs are a combination of facts (as they are interpreted by the author) and opinions of the blog’s author that you cannot – with any hope of universal accuracy – trust to be truthful. At least you cannot trust them until you have done a lot of your own research and fisking. And, who’s going to do that – really?

Take a lesson from journalism. Approach everything with a healthy dose of skepticism – even traditional mainstream media. I trust blogs, in general, much less than I trust traditional media. The blogs I do trust are always as upfront as possible. They also only gain that trust after a great deal of time spent reading them and following links – researching what they write – to see if I agree. And then, even if I do agree, that’s just my own infopinion, too … isn’t it?

Gee, just look what social media has wrought. Anyone ready for another update to EPIC?

I honestly believe that this will be the largest nonprofit use of social media (blogs, podcasts, video, forums and more) that has ever been attempted (aside from political sites and some national / international NPO sites). But, I can’t say that for certain until I do some more research. You can help, if you like. Do you know of any site for a nonprofit organization that has posted this much, this often and using online communication?

Below you will see an outline of what our plans are and how we seek to accomplish these tasks. I have abbreviated the plan as it is actually written out and is 12 pages – single-spaced – in a Word document. I’m still working on it, too.

Here, in a nutshell, is what we’re going to try. I’d love to receive your feedback, suggestions and criticisms.

ASCCA is a nonprofit organization and resources are limited. They have devoted two internships (paid) to the process. The students will receive free housing, meals and $1,000 per month (the same salary camp program staff receive). That, I believe, is a remarkable commitment.

Beyond that, ASCCA has invested in two multimedia computers, digital audio recorders, video recorders (straight to MPEG) and software. I am donating the use of a digital video camera, digital photo camera and a digital audio recorder, too. This should enable the interns to easily capture, and quickly edit, the content they capture. More on that below.

• Two interns will run the operation. Their work hours are quite different from other jobs. They will follow, essentially, the same day that all of the campers and staff do – 7:00 AM until 10:00 PM each day. The camps traditionally run from Sunday at Noon until Friday at Noon.
• In an attempt to be realistic, I am seting an initial “minimum” number of blog postings at four per day. Actually, I believe it could be 8 or more per day.
• Posts will be a combination of audio, video, photos and text.
1. VIDEO: Our initial goal is to do short video pieces and they will be loaded up to our Google Video site and YouTube. These will highlight the program areas from lakefront and the pool to horseback riding and high adventure. We have over a dozen activity areas, so content will be widely avaialable.
2. AUDIO: These will be short interviews with campers, parents, counselors and visitors. The length will not, I pray, go beyond 10 minutes each. These will be hosted on our servers and delivered through the WordPress Podpress plugin and iTunes.
3. PHOTOS: Digital cameras will be used to capture dozens of photos each day. They will highlight four main areas: programs, camper/counselor relationships, barrier-free architecture incorporated into activities and cabin life. These will be hosted on our servers and in our Flickr Pro account.
4. WRITING: These will be observations by the interns about Camp ASCCA and the experiences of the campers and staff. Visitors (fund raising) will also be highlighted. We want honest observations. ASCCA has always been about the reality of abilities – not focusing on the disabilities. We want to offer answers/solutions which allow people with disabilities to participate. We don’t want any “poor pitiful crippled children” stories. Those always irk me.

I realize that is a lot of uploading. Now the sad news. One of the limitations we have at a camp is our location. We have satellite web access. That means that uploading is essentially dial-up. Camp is 10 miles from the nearest highway. A squirrel on the phone line can cause havoc. We may actually drive into town for the uploading of the video, audio and photo files. The only alternative is to keep the phone lines running all night.

With few exceptions, opensource software will be used for all of these projects. We have a wiki (PmWiki), CRM (SugarCRM), calendars (30boxes and Google Calendar), forums and/or alumni database (phpBB), eLearning (Moodle), photo albums (Flickr and Gallery 2), video (Google Video and YouTube) along with WordPress blogs and plugins.

The students have already used much of the software and they have seen the rest of it in action.

New releases will be delivered via a blog newsroom setup to the state and southeastern publications serving our campers hometowns. Most of these are mid-sized to small publications and usually appreciate the content. High resolution photos will accompany the stories created by the interns. Where possible, audio actualities will be included and sent to their local radio stations. Small town radio still does radio news, you know.

I am not sure what, if any, value online press release delivery services could offer us, but we may try them. We’ll likely only use the free services, unless someone wants to spot us for free access to a paid service. That would be a blessing.

Contacts will be made to these local news organizations and offer them email notification of stories or RSS feeds. They’ll likely prefer the emails, as most of the releases will be specifically targeted by locality.

Side projects include populating the Moodle eLearning site to help expand ASCCA’s appeal to school teachers in the areas of environmental education.

Among our many goals are: considerable search engine placement and optimization, increased visibility in online social media communities, a rebirth of ASCCA’s regional media releases, active involvement with our primary audiences (people with disabilities, parents, caregivers, teachers, therapists/medical, other nonprofits and our alumni – campers, staff and volunteers).

Yes, we will be pitching – news outlets and bloggers. We will be commenting in other blogs and developing relationships with sites/blogs addressing disability issues.

We are also interested in online fundraising, but that will come down the road. We want to develop a strong respectable presence online, first.

OK, that is a brief (believe it or not) synopsis of what we’ll be doing this summer. What do you think? I’m reserving some comments I have until I hear from you.

The campaign includes two blogs and a customized/branded RSS reader that you can download.

The blogs are Red Cross Media Alerts and Jefferson County EMA Media Alerts. Also, check out Ike’s version of a branded RSS reader. That is just one of many ways you could accomplish this neat little freebie. During an emergency situation, I can imagine some news people launching this to keep track of new posts.

I like this for several reasons. First, news outlets always want these Red Cross and EMA alerts. Many news outlets have not engaged in RSS and this is a way to turn them on to it easily.

Second, using Blogger (as Ike has) the sites are free. Any free hosted service will do. Perhaps this will spur other nonprofits into the blogosphere. Later on, they may start a blog from within their ranks – beyond news releases and alerts, after seeing how easy it can be to publish. Blogs are an easy way to tell your organization’s story.

Third – and Ike, this is where my students will love you – the branded RSS reader is so cool I’m going to require they make one as part of their final project.

Yes, I know some will say that RSS readers are everywhere and why would someone want your branded version. Well, if they have not adopted RSS and you are the one that gets them started, they may well keep your branded version for awhile. That means each time they start the reader (which you can add other feeds to, as well) they will see your logo and info. Now what is wrong with that? The effort to make one is so minimal that the real question might be “Why not make one?”

Finally, Ike is helping nonprofits get into new media and that is laudable. His efforts are also in line with the ideals behind Operation Link Love where we are trying to find examples of nonprofit blogging. Ike takes the next step of “paying it forward” and “giving back” by getting the nonprofits involved. Now that is admirable and I appreciate his efforts. Good job, Ike.

Earlier, someone claiming to be Amanda, of the Strumpy blog, posted a comment here using the IP of 24-136-10-126.hnc-bsr1.chi-hnc.il.cable.rcn.com.

Mike Driehorst did a fine job by fisking out the connection of Brian Connolly to that IP address in past online activities.

Well, Mike Krempasky now posts that Brian Connolly is posting comments on his blog using the IP address of 24-136-10-126.hnc-bsr1.chi-hnc.il.cable.rcn.com.

Add to this, Doc Searls directs us to a news story about Brian Connolly’s past online escapades. (Note: Kirstin, in comments below, suggests we be skeptical of some of the sources in the news story I have linked to here. I don’t know which sources she refers to, but – as with anything you read anywhere – a healthy dose of skepticism is required until you find / learn, as best you can, the trustworthy evidence.)
Hmmm? Isn’t this all a bit interesting?

RCN Cablevision offers static IP service and I imagine that someone in the hosting business would likely appreciate having one.

Mike Krempasky goes further suggesting that The Literati Group and Connolly are involved together in this uncrafty ruse. Connolly is in business providing hosting and he doesn’t realize that IPs get tracked? Hmmm?

Connolly stated to me that he has dynamic IP service. He stated to me that he is not the Strumpy blogger. He did imply that he knows who it is. Hmmm? Based upon Connolly’s past history, do you think he could have been giving just enough half-truths to make the story sound believable? I don’t know. Krempasky’s post spells out the possibility quite clearly.

Could it be that Connolly and the illiterati group are synonymous with arrogance and ignorance? Or, is this too easy to track? Again, I don’t know.

An easy way to check it is for everyone that received an Amanda comment, and everyone that received a Connolly comment, to all post the IP addresses that the comments came from on their blogs. That should settle this quite easily – or at least get us closer to a conclusion.

I wasn’t all that interested in seeing this through to a final end, but that was before I received a phone call today. I would not call it a phone conversation, because I had to ask for opportunities to speak. Brian Connolly was quite adamant in wanting to deter any efforts to dig deeper into this. Further, he expressed a remarkable disdain for transparency. Isn’t there a saying about those that “dost protest too loudly…?”

Ya’ know, yesterday I called Brian originally to be nice and clarify what was being written. I think that is the proper path to follow. When I learned of the new connections, I re-instated Mike Driehorst’s comment. I wrote to Brain today, again out of courtesy, to let him know I was reposting the comment. He called me and something about that call left more questions than answers. I understand he’s called other people today. Guess they are all thinking about this, too. So, let us see where it goes.

I have truly tired of this.

The Premise

Can anyone deny that Edelman Worldwide is the premiere PR firm when it comes to the bloggers they have online?

They have Richard Edelman, Phil Gomes, Mike Krempasky, David Weinberger, Marilynn Mobley, Josh Morgan, Guilluame du Gardier and now – Steve Rubel. They also have insights and the earshot podcasts.

It is almost Citizen Kane’s stolen stable of reporters, only flipped by being PR and bloggers. No, I’m not equating Edelman with Kane. Now that would be funny – and stupid.

Anyway, can anyone even come close to this bevy of new media offerings from senior execs and consultants? No. They can’t. Edelman Worldwide is ahead – by a mile (or more).

What Made Me Think of It

Richard Edelman stated:

If The Wall Street Journal goes after a client, we don’t have to accept that anymore. Let’s post the documents we gave The Journal; let’s show the interviews the newspaper decided not to show.

Well, people not only went after your client … they went after you, too.

Edelman Worldwide and Wal-Mart were tagged for not being transparent (enough) by two reporters and a few PR bloggers. Isn’t this the perfect opportunity to put the information that would clear up the questions out where all can see? You know, one of those “total disclosure” things we all dream about – but rarely see.

Edelman Worldwide’s team of PR bloggers should post their inside, and in-house, instructions used by all account reps re: how to deal with bloggers. Share the process that employees are required to follow. What training do they provide to their account reps for dealing with bloggers? Let us see the inner workings – at least as much as Edelman Worldwide is willing to share – and we all learn from the process. And please, don’t give us any of this proprietary nonsense. For me, I just want to see if any of these documents actually exist.

The Experiment

If we are going to carry these calls for transparency to their natural “bloggy” conclusion, how about this.

Let us have Edelman Worldwide do something bold and in keeping with the culture of the new medium we/they have so embraced. This will accomplish the following in the spirit of the all important Cluetrain Manifesto that helped start it all:

• Answer the questions that have been raised re: their pitching practices and remove doubt.

Cluetrain Thesis #28: Most marketing programs are based on the fear that the market might see what’s really going on inside the company.

• Take the leadership role a step further, while illustrating the power of blogs in a manner atune with this new WOM mentality.

Cluetrain Thesis #14: Corporations do not speak in the same voice as these new networked conversations. To their intended online audiences, companies sound hollow, flat, literally inhuman.

• Give back to the community, as leaders should.

Cluetrain Thesis #23: Companies attempting to “position” themselves need to take a position. Optimally, it should relate to something their market actually cares about.

• Embrace the character and supposed culture of the blogosphere.

Cluetrain Thesis #12: There are no secrets. The networked market knows more than companies do about their own products. And whether the news is good or bad, they tell everyone.

• Provide a learning experience for many, and …

Cluetrain Thesis #38: To speak with a human voice, companies must share the concerns of their communities.

• Be as blatantly transparent as any PR firm can be, or has been.

Cluetrain Thesis #53: There are two conversations going on. One inside the company. One with the market.

Cluetrain Thesis #36: Companies must ask themselves where their corporate cultures end.

Certainly anyone could pull other lines from the Manifesto. I just chose these. David Weinberger could certainly tell us if I chose the right ones, or if they even fit.

Sure, there are crib sheets available for all of us to compose our own policies and practices. But, wouldn’t you rather see the real deal – the pdf’s and pages from the Edelman intranet that state the policies and practices clearly?

Well, I’m not holding my breath or anything, and neither should you. Yes, the above was intended to be a bit loopy (in an almost sane voice). Some have taken this idea in other paths of lunacy re: “Let us see the phone call lists, daily diaries, meetings schedules and more.”

My point? Honestly, I think I have one.

There is no better recent example that would make this type of action quite powerful. Moreso, if a company ever chose to truly take this path – fully embracing these ideals we talk about so often – we might actually learn how well the many theses of the manifesto really fit and work.

The one thing that could – realistically – happen? The collective family of Edelman Worldwide bloggers could write posts of their own about how to pitch bloggers, what they are doing and how they will assure that these vaunted ideas of honesty and openness will be achieved.

The term “vaunted” was chosen on purpose. We do seem to talk about this new medium with a bit of bravado, don’t we? How wonderful to actually see it in action – some day.

Who is Michael Pucci?

For “22 years with GlaxoSmithKline, he has served as Vice President of Sales for the Cerenex Division, which launched Imitrex and Zofran in the USA. Mike then led Glaxo’s Sales Training Department for 10 years where he earned a CEO award and set the pharmaceutical industry standard for new rep training and distance learning.”

He now serves as Vice President of External Advocacy at GlaxoSmithKline.

Think of it. An evangelical army of 8,000 employees spanning the entire country with the mission of spreading your “talking points” about your company and industry. What could this accomplish? What is the value of a speakers bureau? What is a speakers bureau?

Well, it is an educational program. Isn’t that a function of PR? The bureau shares knowledgable people with groups to provide information via public speaking. The goals may be stated many ways, but let us go with these:

• To increase understanding and meaningful participation.
• To provide critical information to employers, interested stakeholders, community influencers.
• To put a human face and voice out there with your organization and initiate a more personal face-to-face relationship.
• It fulfills a community need. The number of civic groups, alone, that are always seeking thought-provoking programs would stun a herd of buffalo.
• It can be a crisis management tactic, too. This is the case for GlaxoSmithKline and the pharma industry.

Can it be a powerful tactic? Yes.

What would I, for instance, give to have an 8,000 person strong speakers bureau for Camp ASCCA Easter Seals? Um, which limb do you want? Pick one. Maybe two.

It would change the future of any nonprofit in an unbelievable manner. And, a positive change, under the right conditions. But, a non-profit and an enormous global pharma conglomerate don’t have anything in common, do they? For the sake of this discussion, let us compare them.

ASCCA’s speakers bureau would have to be volunteers. They would be counselors and staff. They could also be parents, past campers or donors. What is their stake in all of this? Well, they are believers. They drank the koolaid a long time ago.

GlaxoSmithKline’s speakers bureau is made up of the sales force. They are not likely going to be volunteers. Some will volunteer – maybe even many will. The smart ones, that is. The ones that realize their future hangs in the balance, will buy in. How many? I don’t know. 50%? More?

In fact, some – many? – may want release time or compensation for their efforts. Do you think Michael Pucci can convice all 8,000 to “give” their time? Um, if you do – you’ve been drinking something, too. Or, it may have come from the pharmacy stache. No, he cannot. He can ‘tell’ them to do it, but that isn’t the same thing. ASCCA’s participants ‘ask’ to participate. That is a big difference.

Personally, I love speakers bureaus, *if* I can be sure the speakers have a rational, and ethical, stakeholder relationship in the organization. They will be transparent and honest. They will say, “I don’t know” when asked a question they can’t answer. They will not exaggerate. They will do follow up, or share with appropriate personnel, any questions they receive. They will *never* be confrontational. And, their motivation must be shared openly with their audience.

People that say “command and control” of your PR message is old school have a point. But, in this case, you must have a significant monitoring process in place to assure that the 8,000 don’t do you in with a mistake. And, of course, prior to any monitoring – the key will be preparation and training of the bureau’s participants.

Pucci has created a 50 minute presentation for all of the participants. He is training them. How much he trains them, and how well, is going to be a major indicator of the success. People are already hearing that the speakers are being armed with “talking points” and the general public considers those to be the equivilant of spin and propaganda.

He states, ““What we’re leveraging here is asking our employees to talk to people, even if they just start with their family members.”

and

“He said the majority of questions the reps receive revolve around pricing, and he has given them what he calls a “learning system” that takes 50 minutes to master and will enable the rep to satisfy queries about the company and the industry. GSK reps made 15,000 presentations last year, Mr. Pucci said, reaching 1.8 million people.”

Source: AdAge

One of the most troubling aspects of this is Pucci’s assertion that he will have “masters” of PR in 50 minutes. That may be the AdAge author’s term and not reflect Pucci’s overall feeling. But, if it is a correct interpretation of Pucci’s opinion – the foolishness and hubris of such a statement is mind-numbing. Certainly the sales reps are already quite knowledgable about products. They are also likely quite persuasive. But, any goober that thinks he/she will train PR advocates in 50 minutes may be dipping into the free samples from the hallucinogenic section.

When the program has a flub-up, and it will (even if in just a minor way) – this will likely be one of the flaws pointed to in the evaluation. If Pucci can effectively manage 8,000 people speaking to 1.8 million people and not have one crash, he deserves to be ‘the’ PR action figure of all time. Could Pucci succeed? Yes. Do I think it will be a total success? No. It will depend on the level of error and the reach that failure causes, in the end.

So, what are the pros and cons of this grassroots campaign.

Start with those in the speakers bureau. Pharmaceutical sales people are generally well-educated and quite polished in their presentation skills. They have to be. One of their main target audiences is busy (and sometimes cranky, even a bit arrogant) doctors. How do I know? Some of our graduates are in the field. I do not know if any work for GlaxoSmithKline. Almost always, these students were among our best students. Seriously, they could be powerful advocates.

Now, a negative. They are the sales people. Hello! Some of these sales people are greedy lil’ buggers. You trust a lot of sales people, do you? Their stakeholder relationship to the company is quite personal and quite financial in nature. The sales people make a lot of money. They want to protect that salary. This doesn’t mean they will lie, or obfuscate, but it does offer a rational reason for skepticism among the audiences they will meet. They could present a trustworthy face – and message – to their audiences. But, I doubt all of them can.

How about the audiences they are targeting? Again, a plus is that they are targeting influentials in civic clubs and community organizations. Convince them, they – in turn – convince others by their adoption of a postive take on the industry. It does spread.

A negative? They are speaking to those groups. Another Hello! Have you been to a Rotary or Civitan club lately? Who’s in there? A lot of middle-aged – and elderly – men and women. Hmm? Aren’t those the people that take a lot of medications? Yep. Think they – or their parents – have already been hit by the rise in their insurance co-pays? You betcha. They blame the pharma industry and the insurers for that, too.

Oh, and these are not shy people. I have spoken to these groups … literally thousands of times. Seriously, these people are not shy about challenging you. They are not shy about asking probing questions. They can be quite skeptical. Also, they have a stake in this one. If they can tag you on a lie or misdirection … they will. That meme will spread faster, and wider, than any ‘truths’ you might share. You want WOMM – Word of Mouth Marketing? That will show you the power of WOMM … and the potential pitfalls.

So, what to take from Glaxo’s 8,000 evangelists? A bold move that may pay great dividends. It may also pay with a bite in the rear. The 24/7 news/infotainment cycle lives for these kinds of stories. They love to put locals on the air and interview them about how upset they were at the “propoganda” campaign of the drug companies.

I hope Pucci has the total trust and support of the C-suite. Given his 22+ years with the company, I’m thinking he’s on good ground. But, there is no such thing as a sure thing.

Overall, I like it – if it is well-planned and well-monitored. If the campaign is closely monitored and the training is excellent, it can work to a significant degree. Participant buy-in must be sincere. I hope it works, actually.

The post below this one contains a variety of links either found or provided by nice people that commented on the previous post about Glaxo. Thank you all. I’ve read them and listened to the latest ForImmediateRelease podcast. All of them had points that reflected my own thoughts on the topic. Some have a more favourable opinion of the plan, but all express concerns, too. I do not wholly disagree with the plan, but feel confident there will be – at least one – ugly incident along the way.

An Aside: Camp ASCCA, may not have a 30+ billion dollar corporation on the line. But, ASCCA does have an enormous reservoir of goodwill. Glaxo does not. ASCCA does have the lives and well-being of thousands of children and adults in their hands. So does Glaxo. Millions of them. Glaxo has a board and stockholders. ASCCA has a board and stakeholders. There is a difference. A big difference. So, both Glaxo and ASCCA have their reputations on the line and – most of all – they both need people to understand just what it is they do – and why they do it. A good speakers bureau can do this.

Some examples for ASCCA? Try explaining why a child in a wheelchair ‘needs’ to be tubing on Lake Martin? How about why a quadraplegic needs to be whitewater canoeing down the Tallapoosa River? Here’s a good one. Why should a child with hemophilia be rappeling off a 30-foot tower or a 100-foot cliff at Mount Cheaha?

Yeah, and you thought Glaxo had it tough.

Sorry, I’ve been thinking a lot about speakers bureaus and Camp ASCCA, lately. If you have read this blog, you know I love camp. You know I have volunttered there and worked there, too. We have a speakers bureau – and it is good. But, it is essentially the staff – Dana, Matt, John, Josh, Nathan, Heather and a few others. The Board does it, too, but we need a much larger group. It could change the camp’s world.