Google’s Friend Connect Arrives (Tonight)

Must admit, I’m intrigued by Google Friend Connect (Note: Not up yet. Later tonight.)

The details are here: Google Press Center: News Announcement.

Lots of other people are, of course, buzzing about it. See Techmeme: Previewing Google Friend Connect: Website owners can make any site social (Sean Carlson/Google).

Now, since it is just launching, I’m not too sure we can take advantage of it in this semester’s classes, but I’ll hope. I’d like for all students to be able to get an account. But, Google is rolling it out piece meal, like they usually do with Beta releases.

What’s The Benefit?

What might it do? offer to our student projects? Well, it can make a digital resume a social site, for instance. Would we want to do that? I don’t know, but some aspects seem compelling. The simplest explanation comes from the release above, “any website owner can add a snippet of code to his or her site and get social features up and running immediately without programming — picking and choosing from built-in functionality like user registration, invitations, members gallery, message posting, and reviews, as well as third-party applications built by the OpenSocial developer community.”

Websites that are not social networks may still want to be social — and now they can be, easily. With Google Friend Connect, any website owner can add a snippet of code to his or her site and get social features up and running immediately without programming — picking and choosing from built-in functionality like user registration, invitations, members gallery, message posting, and reviews, as well as third-party applications built by the OpenSocial developer community.

Visitors to any site using Google Friend Connect will be able to see, invite, and interact with new friends, or, using secure authorization APIs, with existing friends from social sites on the web, including Facebook, Google Talk, hi5, orkut, Plaxo, and more.

So, although we wouldn’t want to necessarily add that info to the resume, we can put it on a sub-page. The student uses that to build their own network over time. Also, what about potential employers and internship providers that are digital adopters and want to connect with the student in their social networks? Well, now you can do it on your own domain.

Does it change the rules?

No, but it can change the opportunities.

Best practices will still rule. In fact, they are going to become even more important. This is, after all, as much an opportunity to screw up your online reputation as it is to enhance it. ;o) Translation: Don’t post anything you wouldn’t show Grandma and Grandpa.

I’ll be watching and signing up. Hope for a quick invite for me. No. I’m not holding my breath. ;o)

This could turn out to be a really good, easy way to explore socializing a site, while not spending too much time on coding and more. After all, we’re developing PR practitoners, not creating developers and coders.

Update: Well, I have (of course) not yet been graced with an invite to Google’s Friend Connect. Big shock. But, I have seen more talk about it out on the Web. Something I have since learned is the possibility that all of these new tools will be in an iframe. What’s that? Well, let’s call it a page within a page, or a frame (featuring content from other sites) inside an HTML page. Um, that’s not really “integrated” now is it. Hmm? See Google Friend Connect Tries to Strangle the Social - ReadWriteWeb (Hat tip: Google Friend Connect - Error 404 - Your Friends Not Found | My Blog Posts)

Well, this makes me a bit less energetic about the whole project. I’d still like to see it and try it for classes, but I was really hoping for something a bit more truly integrated. Still, I have yet to see the service, so I’m reserving my final opinion until later.

Crowdsourcing II :: DOs and DONTs of Online Reputation Managment

Christi Eubanks, of my PRception, asks me and dozens of PR educators and practitioners to share our “top 3 DOs and DON’Ts for personal online reputation management.”

That’s a good question. We talk about it in class from time to time.  Jeremy Pepper just wrote an interesting post on this very topic - Reputation - Both Corporate and Personal -  at Pop PR!

That’s also a tough question. Only three? I’m going for three of each. I’ve seen some of the other answers, so I’ll try to hit some areas maybe not covered there, yet key beginner first steps to online reputation management. You may post your comments here, but really … the best thing (I believe) would be to post in your blog and ping Christi of my PRception.

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The Agony, Comeupance, and Learning Experience of Social Media Rage

Note: To outside visitors. This is long. Way too long. What you will find below are essentially thoughts I have jotted down each day since learning of the story. I’m putting it here for my students. Tired of sitting on it, I’m just going to post as is. If you read it, pack a lunch.
Danger, Will Robinson.

---

This post began the day I learned of the Edelman blog controversy. My thought, after I added each paragraph, was to discuss this in class and then post about it only when there was more information available. Certainly, there were impulses to hit “Publish” and I fought against them.

Why? There is so much pettiness and piling on in the world of blogs. So often we hear “Kill the umpire!” or “Throw the bum out!” I just sit back with a perplexed feeling. I feel like I’m often watching children fighting. I prefer to learn from mistakes… mine, and the mistakes of others. And, most important, I did not know the details. I still don’t know all of them, but I sure know more than I would have a week ago.Also, social media is so new. I’m not surprised that something like this happened. In fact, I believe it is happening elsewhere - in many other firms and via independent practitioners and consultants. Anyone that doesn’t think that’s happening is, I believe, fooling themselves.

Besides, I have already posted my suggestions as to what Edelman should do given their controversy re: blogs, Wal-Mart and transparency. Thing is, I posted that on March 13th, 2006. That was the first Edelman / Wal-Mart snafu. I didn’t expect them to do all of those things, way back when. I still don’t expect them to do all of them today.

Today, I choose to address the recent posts of Richard Edelman.
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Robert Scoble Interviews Australian Wiki Providers

We have discussed wikis in class. The most recent example, aside from our own exercises, relates to a former student that pitched wikis to her new bosses - Wall Street lawyer-types doing mergers and acquisitions.

Her bosses took her suggestion to heart and, as she recently reported to me, they have the IT department working on implementing them for their business practices.

Robert Scoble’s ScobleShow offers an interesting interview with Mike Cannon-Brookes, CEO of Atlassian and Jonathan Nolan, director of Atlassian’s developer relations. Their firm is offering “Enterprise Wikis, Project Management, Bug Tracking … (or) enterprise software solutions to the world’s leading organisations.”

Cannon-Brookes made one remarkable statement. He revealed that among Atlassian’s customers “pretty much every major American investment bank is a customer.” He also noted that SAP and Oracle are customers of his company.

So, students may gain a little insight into who and why companies are using wikis from this interesting interview. Go watch it, please.

Update: Speaking of wikis, here are two Peanut Butter wikis from UK educators Richard Bailey and Philip Young. These are fine growing resources. The mediations - Resources for students of PR, Journalism, Social Software, Media Ethics and the PR BOOKS - Recommended sources for public relations wiki. And, as always, we can not forget the NewPR/Wiki from Constantin Basturea.

Kayak Satirical Ads :: CGM and Ads May Sting

When I first saw the new Kayak.com TV ads, my first thought was how different they were from other launch ads. They were intended, I believe, to be funny - sort of like the “Roaming Gnome” ads from Travelocity. However, as I saw more and more of them, it became apparent that these are more edgy than anything anyone has done recenlty.

The Kayak site introduces the ads with this: “We hope you’ll agree that we are equal opportunity satirists and will enjoy the ads in the humorous tone in which they were created.” Well, it hasn’t quite gone that way - for everyone.

Paul English, a co-founder of the site/company, has posted some of the more angry anti-Kayak.com emails they’ve received about the ads. (Danger, Will Robinson! Some pretty vulgar angry stuff in there.) The Alaska / Big Oil ad seems to have touched a nerve. OK, more like jumped up and down on it - with an ice pick.

Another aspect that interested me, even more, is how Kayak is incorporating consumer generated ads / media (CGM) in the mix via YouTube. David Weinberger, one of the authors of the Cluetrain Manifesto, has even joined in the fray with a Joho post about the ads and developing his own Joho Kayak ad.

You may see all of the Kayak produced ads here and all of the consumer generated Kayak ads here. As of this post, there are 132 CGM ads in there. That’s impressive. The viewing numbers are impressive, too. Many ads have more than 100 views.

My thoughts? It is a crap shoot. Be edgy, but risk hacking off a lot of people. So, contingency planning is key if this plan is going to be implemented. This is a perfect example of how a company might want to involve PR in their advertising campaign planning. Hey, if you’re going to run ads that will inevitably make people mad, then be ready with a planned response strategy and implement it real-time.

I searched Technorati for posts about the ads, but didn’t find any - other than Joho. The rest were about - gee, kayaking. There are not any posts tagged kayak.com. So, I don’t know if Kayak has such a planned response in action. The meme hasn’t developed (and may not), but better to be prepared than caught flat-footed.

Paul English’s transparent post of the email flames is a refreshing touch, in a way. He writes, “Our goal was to be funny, and controversial. We wanted to take some risks, we knew some people would be offended. The response has been huge with overall positive comments.” Well, where are the positive ones, Paul. I don’t doubt you have them - and some are available in YouTube - but how about sharing those, too. Some are posted to the CGM ads available in YouTube.

One of the comments on the YouTube Kayak Alaska / Big Oil ad actually claims that the Kayak site and ads are part of an astroturfing campaign. (That will fit nicely into my next post.) The comment, from TheOrioleGuy, claims:

Desire: I want to promote my liberal agenda about the environment, plus vilify the Bush administration and oil companies. Problem: I need to bypass the laws and limits that restrain political action committees. Solution: set up a simplistic “travel search site” as a front business, and use the television advertising for it to accomplish my goals… thus bypassing PAC guidelines. Pathetic.

So, do we really want our new company / site to be dragged into some wild “George Soros / Al Gore (kind of) conspiracy theory” meme online? Hey, stranger things have happened. And, TheOrioleGuy has just started it for Kayak.

This will be interesting to watch. I’ve written to Paul English to ask about the campaign. Something tells me the guy is getting tons of email, so I won’t hold my breath for a reply.

PayForPlay, PayPerPost … The Bane of Online PR and Marketing - Link Fraud

Pay for play isn’t new. Think Armstrong Williams, VNR scandals, CEO vanity magazines, advertorials and more. Now, there is shock and horror about PayPerPost.com (PPP). It is a bane. It is a poison. But, it is as old as hemlock in digital years.

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?

Disclaimer Longer Than Blog Post … Bait for Satire, or Reality Setting In?

So funny, yet so sad. The legalese is longer than the content.

Starwood Hotels is attempting something that is sort of like, well … it is trying to be like … well, it started as faux blogging and now it is …. well, just corporate blogging. In fact, it is corporate blogging that fits many stereotypes of legal and management “interference” - some PR practitioners like to call it.

Starwood launched The Lobby.

The blog states their focus and purpose:

To help keep Starwood Preferred Guests on top of the latest travel trends, Starwood and ElectricArtists have assembled a team of travel writers to contribute to this site. Every weekday this site will be covering the latest and greatest in worldwide travel.

A legitimate idea. However, the authors in the blog seem more like jingle writers than travel writers. Each post is a commercial for some Starwood hotel or amenity.

Still, that’s not too bad of an idea. It is just the way they do it that seems contrived. Too planned. Too dry. Too predictable. The posts range from 100 to 200 words, with a few exceptions - the average is about 150. (This will be important later.) All of the posts are the equivilant to sidebar contextual ads with nice photos. It is one long list of short advertisements.

Starwood is using MovableType (MT). Many sites do. That isn’t uncommon. MT makes a fine CMS, aside from just a blog. But, The Lobby’s posts have links for tagging and bookmarking the site which many/most associate with blogs more than a dynamic site.

At first Starwood’s “The Lobby” did not have comments turned on.

Some people criticized them for that. B. L. Ochman called it a “dud” for more reasons than just the absence of comments. The Inside PR podcast also felt that the absence of comments did not help the blog’s legitimacy with audiences. There was no opportunity for a conversation.

So, Starwood turned comments on for some/most of the posts. However, in this instance they only made things worse.

If one is seeking to lay blame for this, I imagine the place to point is to upper management and the legal team. I doubt it is what the creative people wanted.

When Starwood did turn on comments, they couldn’t help but turn it over to the legal department, first. So, now you have one of the most ridiculous comment sections, on every post offering comments, that you will see on a blog - in blogging’s brief history. The legal disclaimer is actually longer than the posts. Seriously, the post at that link is 194 words, whereas there are 282 words in the disclaimer before you may comment. And, most of the other posts are like this, too.

Need more irony? The title of one post is: Head and Shoulders Above the Rest. Um, no Starwood. This this is more like what happens when you don’t use Head and Shoulders^TM … you appear flakey (or legally anal) - people notice, and you are embarrassed.

Sigh. So, bless their hearts, at least they are trying. How they could not see that their practice will bring snickers is kind of scary, but why am I not surprised?

Admittedly, there is legitimate concern for companies and individuals regarding the comments some people may leave in your blog.

Jeremy Pepper wrote:

Is it worth pushing the boundaries in a blog to get traffic, then end up in a libel suit? Are certain blogs that we all have seen - making fun of ugly people on the Web, making fun of Star Wars fans - worth the potential for a libel lawsuit?

Corporations have traditional boundaries and standards of practice. They are loathe to change them when the fear of legal entanglement may be the result. So, what you sometimes see is this kind of silliness.
I don’t know. Starwood can defend their tactic, of course. But, isn’t it kind of funny? Their fear is worth more text than their travel related content? B. L. was right. The Lobby is a dud.

Honestly, it reminded me of contract management. The rule-of-thumb was always - CYA or CYB. Here is the complete disclaimer you must wade through before getting to the comment forms:

BY CLICKING “I AGREE” AND SUBMITTING A COMMENT YOU AGREE TO THE FOLLOWING TERMS & CONDITIONS:

You agree not to submit any comment that contains unlawful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic or other material that would violate the law.

You agree that all comments submitted by you should be relevant to the article and remain respectful of other authors and commenters.

You authorize Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., its affiliates, properties within the Starwood system and third party service providers (collectively, “Starwood”) to collect, process, use and display the information provided by you (including personally identifiable information) for any lawful, Starwood business related purpose, to store the information at and transmit the information to various locations, either directly or through its third party vendors, throughout the world, whether within your country of residence, the United States, or elsewhere; and to contact you regarding the information you provide.

You assign to Starwood the right, but not the obligation to edit, remove, modify, publish, license, print, transmit, display or otherwise use any comments you submit to Starwood and all accompanying personally identifiable information via all forms of media now known or hereafter devised, worldwide, in perpetuity, without notice to you and without compensation, and you waive any moral rights you may have in having the material altered or changed in a manner not agreeable to you.

You agree to indemnify and hold Starwood and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, agents and employees harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorney’s fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of Your breach of these terms and conditions or Your violation of any law or the rights of a third party.

That is on every post where you may leave a comment. Can you believe that? I find it amazing.

Um, and you don’t click on “I AGREE” … you click on Preview or Post.

Do you really want to see and read that every time you want to post a comment?

Perhaps the better path to follow (aside from the obvious “Drop the facade.  Don’t blog.  Make it a static site.”) would be requiring all who wish to comment to simply register for your site. Then, they see the disclaimer once and are bound by the rules. As Starwood is doing it now, the blog is a chuckle on every post, at first. After a few times, it will become - simply - a pain. Are they really going to turn these posts into purchases of services at their hotels? I don’t know, but I doubt it.

Here is an idea. Take the reigns off of the writers. Be bold. Take a chance. Let them write critically about your hotels and services. (I know. I’m dreaming.)

I don’t think Starwood Hotels did any reading or research into the mindset of most bloggers and blog readers. If they get laughed at online, it is their own fault. Of course, their target audience is probably not bloggers. It is business travelers. But, they are online and therefore open to these types of critiques.

What do you think? Is this a good practice by Starwood? Will they succeed? How would you suggest they blog?

Thanks to B. L. Ochman and Inside PR’s David Jones and Terry Fallis for the link.

Google Calendar Beta

Was chatting with my brother online today and he made me realize that Google Calendar is out in beta. I hadn’t noticed. Very cool. Thanks, Bill.

I love it already. Still, there are some aspects that I would like to see beyond this Beta version. Naturally, they are still working on it so here is my wish list.

A shared output that can be viewed like a traditional calendar. You know, with little boxes in rows and columns. Google’s, just like 30boxes, simply provides the feed. Why not allow a the caledar box view? Perhaps because it frees them from having to host such an animal. The way they are doing it, Google just has to deal with delivering the RSS feed.

The calendar already allows for pop-up notifications as well as notifications by email and SMS. You can have reminders sent to your cellphone. The calendars have public and “invite a friend” capabilities, too. Excellent idea by Google and much appreciated.

This tool has potentional to be tied into Google video and podcasting along with Flickr. The possibilities are many and broad. But, we’ll have to wait as the 3rd party developers get started working with the API.

Can’t wait to see the mods and hacks that will be coming down the line. CBS News reports:

Google is publishing an “application program interface” (API) which will enable independent programmers and web developers to create applications that work with the calendar.

That will almost certainly result in a number of rich applications including event web sites using Google calendar as well as added features such as two-way synchronization between Google Calendar, Blackberries and programs such as Microsoft Outlook.

Nobodies Anonymous :: 12 Step Program

To be honest, I only spent about 20 minutes on this, so reader beware. Without a great deal of time to work this up, I’m just going to share it with you in the hope that we can make some sense out of it.

The recent launch of I’m nobody… who are you? was spurred on from the snarky and rude editorial by David Murray and it made me start to think about this. Do those stuck in a world where they only trust what they know (traditional old school strategies and tactics for communication) need a 12 step program? I don’t know. But, if they do, would it look something like this:

Nobodies Anonymous: A 12 Step Program for Nobodies

Liberally taken from, and adapted from, the Alcoholics Anonymous 12 Step Program, here is a 12 step program for those that feel wary of social media and online communication.

Face it, some people are drunk on blog and social media koolaid just as some are addicted to only using the strategies and tactics that they are comfortable with practicing. Maybe we all need a little help.

So, here is a sample 12 step program.

Definition: Word-of-Mouth

1. We admit that WOM / social media no longer allows us to have total control over the message.

Reputation management has become more unmanageable thanks to social media. But, we want to understand how - if at all - we can engage in conversations to at least provide direction for the conversations.

Word of mouth is the passing of information by verbal means, especially recommendations, but also general information, in an informal, person-to-person manner, rather than by mass media, advertising, organized publication, or traditional marketing. Word of mouth is typically considered a spoken communication, although web dialogue, such as blogs, message boards and emails are often now included in the definition.

2. Social media has provided a power greater than traditional media and information systems and now gives everyone a voice.

Blogs, alone, now offer everyone their own personal op-ed page. Add wikis, podcasts, photo and video sharing services and it gets mind-boggling. With meme aggregators and search engines, the possibility for anyone to have a voice in conversations has arrived. Moreso, the ability to voice those opinions is constantly expanding and growing. From podcasts to social photo sharing groups, the ways to participate are mind-boggling.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to one simple reality. The game has changed. No one person or deity is in charge of the message anymore.

Source: Wikipedia. I only use Wikipedia because it, too, is a social network. The definition is not, IMO, the best.

There are no clear rules anymore. The ability to engage groups, small and large, in conversations sees a new launched opportunity every day. Yesterday, it was MySpace. Today it is Meebo, or a dozen others. Tomorrow? Who knows.

The unpredictable nature of communication today means you might as well start praying if you are not actively involved in these conversations. To make it business - or communication - related, millions and millions of relatively equal voices are now capable of impacting your reputation. WOM was once ethereal. It was out there on the winds of public discourse. Now, it is written down and stored in search engines. It is public record and easier to find and adapt in your own voice than ever before.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves (and our company or organization’s reputation online).

Ah, what a perfect way to discuss online tracking via search. From search engines to news alerts and RSS search, the opportunity to see what people are saying about you, your products, your services and more has never been so easy - and so intimidating. The most important lesson here is to determine when to engage and when to leave well enough alone. Perhaps even more important is to learn how to engage and find any and all references to your reputation online.

5. Admit to yourself, those in your organization, your stakeholders, and to any other interested human beings the exact nature of your wrongs.

This is all about the engaging in conversations in an honest and transparent practice. People and organizations find themselves challenged, or even attacked, online every day. The art of Fisking is being honed by millions, too. So, best to fess up and take the high road. The low roads will inevitably be monitored by snipers and snarkers with the goal of picking you off. It is scary. Just like overcoming performance anxiety (stage fright) in speech, the best way to succeed is to prepare. Practice. Learn. Get involved and become comfortable with online tools and tactics.

6. Be entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

Left that one alone. Why? Well, because customers (or stakeholders, whatever you want to call them) have a right to voice their opinions. And they are. It is easier than ever before. Plenty of people online see themselves as the ultimate arbiter of what is right and wrong. That is the nature of blogs, for instance. It is a personal voice shared with whomever surfs on by your little soapbox. And, you know, for some people - those they influence - they may be right. They are not gods, but they are idols to some. Some people call them influencers. Come on, you know that some people today see personal voices as more trustworthy than traditional information sources. And, that personal voice could just be Biff in his basement. But Biff could take your company or organization for quite a ride if you aren’t careful. Actually, he or she, could take you for a ride even if you are careful.
7. Humbly ask your stakeholders to remove our shortcomings.

On this one, you might as well ask them to and let them do it. They will anyway. But, you can have a voice, too. Engage. Participate. Learn.

8. Make a list of all persons you have harmed, and become willing to make amends to them all.

This one makes me chuckle. Think of blogrolls and link love. Think about CRM and customer service. The rules have changed. Write to your critics. Write about your critics saying, “Hey, you know. You were right. This helped and we have changed.” Also, respond to them in their blogs. Now, you only do any of this if it is justified. If it is a rational response. Yes, there may be some people you don’t want to respond to - and shouldn’t. But, at least be aware of them - and watch them. Even anonymous character bloggers are being picked up by more traditional media. In Canada, they had an anonymous blogger for a TV network talking about the candidates and issues. It was popular.

9. Make direct amends to these people wherever and whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

Fess up. Make things right. Be willing to say, “I was wrong.” Or, be willing to say, “I’m sorry.” The most important thing is to mean it. Be sincere. There are many ways to accomplish the “making of amends” to those you’ve done wrong. First, saying you’re sorry (see above) is the easiest and often all that is required. Other than that, give refunds or replace their damaged goods whenever appropriate. That can get expensive, so it has to be a truly unexcusable error on your part to prompt the action. I’m not saying give away the store. Hey, for some online detractors, a link back with a comment in their blogs may provide all they want.

10. Continue to take personal inventory and when you are wrong promptly admitted it.

This one is easy. Track. Track. Track. Monitor. Monitor. Monitor. Engage when necessary. Then, if you engage, fess up when you are wrong.

11. Seek, through prayer, meditation or whatever works for you, to improve your conscious contact with whatever overlying force guides your life. Human beings, customers or stakeholders - whatever you want to call them.

It may be as practical as praying only for knowledge - or seeking out the knowledge yourself - and come to terms with what is important for your organization’s communication plan. Think communication audit.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps. Try to carry this message to other communicators, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Hey, think Code of Ethics. What a concept. Maybe we could all actually read it and then - the big shocker - practice it, too.

I am also thinking that the word blog should be used less and less. Even social media is too over used.

Although word-of-mouth (WOM) is also another buzz phrase, it is most likely the best - easiest to relate to - concept to start using as a more encompassing phrase / term. WOM is easier to understand, or accept. There is familiarity. It just covers more areas of communication as there are more channels and tactics today. So, consider the above to be a WOM 12 Step Program for new communication experiences.

Just thinking out loud, here. Sometimes that is dangerous.

Update: Thanks to Lauren Vargas’ comment below, I have found her 12 Step program “Coming to Understand”. On a somewhat different topic, whe offers an “approach (that) can surely be adapted to the rebuilding of public trust in the communications industry.”

In the interest of this research, ‘Him’ is the Customer. We must first admit the customer comes first. We live in a customer-centric ecosystem in which we, our jobs/passion, is dependent upon this audience. (Source)

Edelman Worldwide Has The Premiere Stable of PR Bloggers

Thinking about the Edelman Worldwide / Wal-Mart story of last week gave me an idea. Yeah, I don’t really think this might happen, but I do believe it would be a true test of all the “bloggy goodness” a lot of us have been talking about for a few years now.

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.

Buzz-o-phone Word of Mouth

Matt Galloway, by all respects, seems to be a very nice guy. He is an independent blogger trying something different in his online activities.

Someone sent me a link to Steve Rubel’s blog where he posted a notice about Matt’s site - Buzz-o-phone. So, I thought I’d go look at what she was talking about.

Since Steve and Edelman have recently announced he “will be charged with helping the team win new word of mouth business as well as in developing/executing client programs” in his new role as a Senior Vice President for Edelman Worldwide, I thought he would be the perfect person to speak about the good and bad of these types of sites.

I thought an SVP would likely have some opinions about this kind of tactic. So, I commented on the post with some questions.

No commentary on the value of this? Good or bad?

How will businesses deal with the WOM this may generate? How would you counsel businesses to approach this new feed of consumer backlash for their product(s), service(s), brand(s) or company?

I would like to hear your counsel on these issues. I bet others would, too.

Richard Edelman believes Steve knows about WOM. He wrote, “I have always been impressed with his honesty, his passion for his craft and his commitment to changing the public relations business.” Even more important, in relation to this post - Edelman wrote, “What do we hope to achieve together? In short, we want to persuade our corporate clients to commit to the blogosphere.”

Well, I think this discovery of yet another WOM site is worthy of Rubel’s commentary - as a leader online. It deserves more than just a mention … a link. As of today, no response from Rubel.

But, I did hear from the site’s creator - Matt Galloway. His site is getting attention. Today Matt made it to RocketBoom with Buzz-o-phone.

Matt saw my comment and contacted me. Matt wrote, “I saw your comments on Buzz-o-phone over on Steve Rubel’s blog. You ask some great questions. It will be interesting to see if Buzz-o-phone gets enough momentum to be taken seriously by marketers. If you write about this in the future, please let me know. I’d love to read your thoughts.”

So, I wrote back with some questions. The questions, and Matt’s responses are below. I appreciate and respect his open and honest sharing of information. I have only edited for some stray characters that were created by the email transmission. His responses, and my questions, are in their original form.

A Note: There are some references in here that might offend the truly faint of heart, but they are - compared to some of the things I hear students say - quite tame by comparison. Nonetheless, I offer that warning. Some might say, “Robert, that’s silly.” However, I think about audience a lot. And the audience for this post could be anyone in the world. So, there ya’ go.

Danger, Will Robinson. This is long.

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