Smackdown In Listserv World :: And Other News

I have been remiss in posting, so here is a lil’ recap of my experiences over the past few weeks.

The most recent event was a smackdown I received in a listserv about PR. I responded to a post requesting information about programs that offered pay-for-play interviews.

… Is anyone familiar with other “shows” that interview clients and put them on air as a pay for play?

My question:

If I may ask, before responding, why are you interested in pay-for-play? Do you intend to utillize (sic) their services for yourself or a client?

Now, I was simply seeking some rationale for pay-for-play. Of course, I do not believe any such rationale exists, but - hey, I thought I’d ask. Also, it may have been my ‘mispelt’ word - utilize - that set the smackdown in motion.

So, I get this back:

I gotta tell you - if I was (name removed) and got this kind of answer, I’d be royally pissed. I cannot imagine any conceivable reason why you’d need to quiz (name removed) - or anybody on this list - as to why they need information you (by implication) have before you provide it.

You will note that I have purposefully removed the names of the parties. It was a relatively public listserv, but their names are not important.

Smackdowns are to be expected online. I got another one a week or so back for having a signature on my emails that was longer than my question.

The lessons learned through all of this are many. Some of them include:

1. Be careful what you ask. Don’t have a thin skin about any responses you may receive. Blogs and lists are unpredictable.

2. Be careful how you ask it. I could have been more inquiring and complete in my question. I also could have allayed any fears that I was going to ambush the person after their response.

3. As with blogs, there is ‘netiquette’ in listservs. The person providing the smackdown is a well-known PR/Marcom practitioner. I have interacted with him on more than one occasion before. So, I responded to the smackdown with, what I believe, was a kind and non-confrontational response explaining my reasons for posting the question.

4. Don’t post too fast. I find this to be a particular fault for me in listservs. I have a question and I dash it off. I should take more time.

5. Snip whenever you can. For instance, snip the signature file on your emails whenever you can. Don’t include 400 lines of previous messages (unless the particular list requests it) in your replies.

I like listservs. Sure, a lot of it is goofy, but there is learning to be done there. I read the posts and rarely contribute. My main practice is to read and then search for related information. I learn that way. Sometimes it is a bit time consuming, but the result is always good. Learning. What a concept. Read more

Personal: Rick’s Thoughts from Ashley, Former Student

Rick Pearson is a friend of Ashley, a former student of mine. Rick, in only a few months, has been stricken by leukemia and his condition is serious. It is critical. His family is seeking your thoughts and prayers - nothing more.

Ashley has revisited her old blog from class and writes of a blog that was started on August 13th by Rick’s fiance and family to keep family, friends and supporters around the nation up to date on Rick’s condition. The first post in the blog tells of the events that led to the blog’s creation and the subsequent posts relate the story of a devout Christian family’s prayers and hopes for Rick.

I hope you will visit the blog and keep Rick, his family and fiance in your thoughts.

I write about this for several reasons. Rick’s plight is a touching one - especially considering all of this came upon him in just a few months time. With all that has happened in the world, especially recently, it is a reminder that there are so many people in need and dealing with such emotional and life threatening events. And, in all the talk we go through about blogs in public relations, marcom and business - it is good to remember that the vast majority of blogs are personal sites.

Finally, and the personal tie I have to the story, Ashley is an absolutely wonderful person. Truly, Ashley is easily one of the best students I’ve ever had the privilege to know. More importantly, she is also a wonderful person that you will just love if you ever have the opportunity to meet her.

Please visit the links above and offer them your thoughts.

Trail of Tears About To Begin Out of New Orleans?

Not sure why, but watching coverage of New Orleans post-Katrina made me think of the Trail of Tears.

No, I don’t see the two events in history to be parallels, but the Tears part seems appropriate. If trucks, barges or planes don’t appear soon - I fear we’ll have thousands walking their way out of the bayou.

My brother got tagged by Katrina in Miami. My Dad felt some of the effects in Gulf Shores. My Uncle Bill has been tagged by it in Covington, LA and my cousin - thankfully - left New Orleans for Houston. They are all OK. We even felt the storm in the form of tornado activity in Auburn. We’re safe, too. I wish the same could be said for thousands of others.

Give to the Red Cross online or call 1-800-HELP NOW (1-800-435-7669).

More thoughts … Read more

WP.com :: WordPress.com - Follow Up

UPDATE: Amazing. Just as I hit post on this, I received a comment on the previous post from Lorelle. Follow that link and see what a WordPress.com blog looks like. Thank you, Lorelle. First, for confirming that it is WPMU. Second, for being on the prowl for links and helping ease the frustration level. You’ve got to see her blog. It is a perfect example of WordPress evangelism. That kind of information should be on all the empty links I describe below.

Another UPDATE: The links have been fixed. (Read the post below.) Seems someone did the wise thing and put redirects in their .htaccess for those URLs to the WordPress.com mainpage. Great going WP! Only took a half of a day. Perhaps someone actually reads this blog after all.

Now, on to my hopes for WordPress.com….

Another learning experience. I fear WordPress has erred in some of their tactics in this startup of WordPress.com.

When you are doing a launch of a new initiative, you must think through all the possibilities. I fear (in fact, am about to show you evidence) that WordPress did not think this thing through. They need representation. I imagine many are now in a scrammble to give it to them.

This isn’t intended to be harsh criticism. Just helpful thoughts for how to catch up, now that the errors are painfully evident. Remember. I am a fan. I want WordPress to succeed.

WordPress wants to be a leader. They want this latest initiative to give them greater buzz and strengthen their brand in the online world - particularly for business. So, they should have crossed the T’s and dotted the I’s. They haven’t. It will cause angst among people wishing to find out about this new offering.
Read more

WordPress.com :: Wish I had an invite

In case you haven’t guessed it from my rantings and evangelical fervor towards WordPress, I love the blogging platform.

Well, there is news! Matthew Mullenweg and all the WordPress developers have something new for you - hosted blogging at WordPress.com.

I believe that WordPress.org is now trying to pump up interest in WordPress MultiUser. A great tool for creating a blogging community. I’m betting that is what they are using to provide this new offer at WordPress.com.

Update: It may also be that WordPress is offering something more akin to what many hosting providers are offering: a .gzipped version of WordPress that may be launched immediately by a simple script. Darn. I want to find out more. WordPress needs to win in this race for the business world’s fav blogging platform. Read Bucks for blogs: Businesses, bloggers look to score deals, forge links at S. F. summit (Mercury News)

Another Update: I now find this rather old comment thread at WordPress Suport Forums and it led me to this recent post in WordPress.com (Wednesday, July 20th, 2005) that makes me feel WordPress.com is using MultiUser. We’ll see.

I’m excited for WordPress. This could be the boost they need to start gaining wider MSM / Trade Press coverage.

WordPress.com is an easy and powerful way to start blogging.
Why Blog?

* Connect with an audience of dozens to millions.
* Stop sending mass emails to everyone.
* Archive your thoughts.
* Why the heck not? (WordPress.com)

and, from Qumana we find two features:

* WYSIWYG editor
* Side-panel features like categories can be moved around to better suit the order you prefer.

The WYSIWYG has already been available as a plugin. The drag-n-drop tools is in the 1.6-ALPHA-2 version and is used in the MultiUser version.

Thanks to PR meets the WWW - Constantin Basturea, Nevon - Neville Hobson, and DL Byron for the tip off to this new offering.

We are using MultiUser for PRblogs.org to give free blogs to PR practitioners, educators and students. That project is in conjunction with James Farmer of BlogSavvy. Many thanks to James. He is offering new blogs to educators at edublogs.org, too. James thinks way ahead of the curve.

Best wishes to WordPress with their new offering. After people start to see this blogging platform (on an even larger scale - building communities) I believe the others may have some very worried expressions on their faces. It is that good.

Related links:
Matt on his WordPress presentation at the BBS05
Donncha O’Caoimh’s blog
Reference to James Farmer’s work in the Multiuser blog

Ben Saunder’s $100 Ticket To Antarctica :: Bloggers Funding High Adventure (Were laws broken?)

Ben Saunders has embarked on a new adventure - and he hasn’t even left for Antarctica, yet. I like and respect Saunders, having written about him several times in this blog. Of course, I only “know him” through his blog.

Saunders sent out this email to all those that have visited his blog and commented in the past. He wants us all to visit South - his new blog which promotes the new expedition. The effort is part Houdini act (no one has done it before - on foot) and also a realistic effort for Saunders. I imagine that if anyone can do it, he’s the guy.

Many of you already know what I’m planning - the first return journey to the South Pole on foot: a two-man, 1,800 mile trek from the coast of Antarctica to the Pole and back. The Norwegian Roald Amundsen made this journey in 1912, using dog sledges. His rival, Captain Scott tried to make the same journey on foot - and died in the attempt. In the 93 years since, it’s never been done.

Every other South Pole expedition has either been flown out from the Pole, or used dogs, kites or vehicles. Ours will be by far the longest unsupported trek of all time, and we’re calling it SOUTH.

In the past I’ve been lucky enough to have some amazing corporate sponsors, such as Serco. But for this expedition we thought we’d try something new. I want SOUTH to be owned (at least in part) by the people who’ve sent messages when I’ve been out on the ice, the people who never need to ask why, the people who believe in dreaming big.

I do not mind receiving email from Ben Saunders. I don’t want to opt-out of his future mailings. I admire him and all of his wild adventures.

Sadly, Ben may have violated the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (Pub. L. 108-187, S. 877). Why? It is commercial. It is marketing. It does not contain an opt-out function. And, I didn’t request it. I’ve commented in his blog before and do not remember any disclaimer stating that he might write to me - even solicit me - via email. There isn’t one there now, that I can find.

Hey, his email doesn’t bother me. It does, however, point out the need to understand all of the ramifications of our actions when using information we compile in our blogs. Just because someone shares their email address with you, it does not mean you can use it for anything. Ben Saunders needs a coach. And not one for his athletic pursuits. He needs one for his online activities.

The IP of the email is from the UK. Ben is a Briton. I searched back for the IPs, etc. and it ’seems’ legit. Certainly the promotion is for real, as it is promoted on his sites.

Strange thing is, his blog is probably one of the best implementations of a blog for PR that you will ever see. It is a beautiful Web site. It is compelling and entertaining. The story is unique and allows visitors to live vicariously through Ben’s writings. (His writing is good, too.)

And, his appeal seems genuine and honest, at least to me.

I’ve never been much of a salesman, and I feel especially awkward writing this - because essentially I’m offering you a slice of the biggest dream I’ve ever had. I hope you’ll look beyond the ice and the cold and the machismo, and see this for what it really is: a story about daring to dream really big dreams, and being daft enough to open your heart and ask everyone else to join in and help out.

I hope Ben gets his $100 contributions. Of course, he only offers 1,800 for sale - the length of the trek. And I bet he gets all $180,000 in contributions. He’s already received takes on 10 of them, with the last mile ‘reserved’. $1,000 down, $179K to go.

Good luck, Ben.

Ben’s quote of the day:

“Courage or ambition may take you to the Antarctic but it won’t take you far inside without being found out; it is courage and unselfishness and good temper and helping one another and a willingness to put in every ounce you have.”

- Sir Ernest Shackleton

New Look :: infOpinions?

Needed a break from grading videos and grading final projects. So, what does doofus do? He redesigns the site. Go figure.

So, let me know what you think. Still pretty simple. Actually modded/hacked the Jakarta theme from Jose Mulia. Thank you for sharing the theme, Jose. His design won the “Most like a Paper Diary Prize” in the 2005 WordPress Themes Competition.

Several aspects of this theme appeal to me:

• rollover of text makes it darker - so it is easier to read
• the buttons in the top righthand corner for bumping up/down text sizes and alignment
• pretty decent contrast
• uncluttered - sort of
• good CSS, uses some images - but not too many

You can visit Alex King’s theme browser to see all of the available free themes for WordPress. Just one more reason to consider WordPress when thinking about blogging.

With a $10 domain name, an inexpensive $5 to $10 hosting plan, and very little work - you have a site and a blog. It is actually quite simple and gives you much more flexibility than say the Typepad or Blogger accounts. The costs are equal to - or less than - any paid hosted options, too.

Update: I’ve also installed the WordPress Technorati Tags plugin and playing around with that. It makes creating tags not represented in your catergory names much easier. So, the latest tags are below.

Technorati Tags: infopinions | blog | Jakarta | Jose Mulia

Sub-Domain Link Blog :: An Example For My Offer Below

Just wanted to put up an example blog for anyone wishing to take me up on this offer of a free PR/Marcom blog. Check it out. There are so many themes available to get you started. Just visit Alex King’s WordPress Theme Browser to see the 140 themes available.

Hey, if you are a PR, Marcom, Advertising or Journalism practitioner or educator and want to ride the blogtrain, you’re just one email or comment away from realizing your (and my) dream!

Awh, something to smile about. Thanks, Eric.

Many thanks to Eric Eggertson! I needed a lil’ boost. You’ve made my day. Thank you, Eric!

Mutually Inclusive: Communications Blogs You Should Subscribe To…

More Youth Driving Blogs…

Today, Steve Rubel highlighted one of my favorite bloggers - Elliott Back.

Elliott, ever the enterprising and inquisitive blogger, has created a bit of research into blog names. Read What do YOU call your blog?. This relates to marketing and public relations. Naming of products is an involved research project. It incorporates sociology, anthropology and much more, too. Well, this is Elliott’s study into the naming of our products - blogs.

My favorite part:

Quickly coding a solution in C#, I wrote a program to tokenize the blog names by whitespace and punctuation, and place the resulting words in a hashmap for counting purposes. This gives a tab-delimited (paste into Excel!) text file of words used in blog titles and their frequency. Here’s the top 10 breakdown:

Hey, sure … just a lil’ C# script here and pasting there … You really should look at his work. Very impressive.

I noted, in a previous post, that there are many young (under 25) individuals creating all sorts of Web content platforms. Sadly, I neglected to identify an even larger group - plugin creators. These are the individuals that are developing add-ons which give power, functionality and enhanced user options to these CMS platforms. Elliott is one of them. Check out his list of plugins for WordPress (the blog CMS we’re using). I count seven that he either wrote or co-developed. Once again, Elliott shows his mettle. I love being impressed by students. Really do.

Think about it. What do his efforts say? He’s curious, inventive, eager to explore … just one ‘average Cornell student’, as his blog used to say. If Elliott doesn’t understand something, or sees an intruiging idea - where others see nothing - he goes out ‘in search of…’

Elliott always has something interesting to share. This hilarious collection of 1983 Bill Gates “Teen Beat” photos is easily worth a trip to his terrific blog.

My Brother Has Made Contact Again

Good news and a bit of irony from my brother, Bill. He finally got out of the coastal area and is in Bangkok now. In his hotel, there is a restaurant named ‘Tsunami’.

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