Plan. Pitch. Print.

Uncomfortable transparency

In reading “Naked Conversations” I just got to the end about transparency. And I felt a little bad because I haven’t been transparent with you yet. You know who I am and that I do PR and for whom and that’s all great. And you know generally what I’m into.  But I also put out there that I’m taking a medical leave and didn’t say why. I feel like it’s really private and I frankly wondered what it could mean for me long-term professionally. Like if people found out, would they not want to hire me at some point in my future?

Well, I decided that’s it’s silly not to just say what’s going on and anyone who wouldn’t hire me becuase of this is not a company I’d want to work for anyway. P.S. I’m not looking either. :)

So, here it is in all my uncomfortableness - I have stage 3 squamous cell carcinoma. This is the first time I’m publically sharing this. Essentially I have oral cancer. I am under 30, never smoked, and a social drinker. I am not the statistic for this. It’s a freak random incident, but I have it. I’m 3 weeks into 6.5 week radiation and chemo treatments. And I’m doing ok given the circumstances. I’ve had some bad days and actually lots of really decent ones. The worst of it will come these next few weeks, but I feel emotionally and physically as ready as I can be.

So, this is why I’m not totally up to speed on what’s happening in the tech world and why I wouldn’t be posting often these next few months.

It’s actually been hard for me to be more disconnected from work and technology. I’ve lived, eaten, breathed it for 8+ years and now I’m having to step back a bit. I miss knowing all the breaking news, what’s happening on twitter, and who’s doing what, but it’ll all be there when I’m better. And I’m actually finding some time to do some of the catch up I’ve wanted (like reading Naked Conversations).

Ok, well that wasn’t so hard writing that. Let’s see how anxious I get when I hit…post.

Teaching clients to blog

Hello all! I’m back for a post. While I’ve been on leave, I’m FINALLY powering through “Naked Conversations” by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel. I’ve worked with Scoble in my former life at Waggener Edstrom when I did public relations for Microsoft products like MSN and Windows Live (to name a few). I’ve always found Scoble interesting because he’s the man who really turned Microsoft on to blogging. And not just blogging, but blogging right. He was authentic, critical when appropriate to Microsoft (his own company), posted frequently and thoughtfully, and created a real dialogue. It went a long way in helping people see the people who work and build Microsoft products every day and that helped Microsoft in ways that you can’t put a dollar figure on.

I currently (well pending my medical leave) work for Weber Shandwick. I work on Microsoft still (enterprise focused) and MySpace, but beyond that I also help coach and teach clients about blogger strategy, digital communications, and social media. I love digital communications. Like obsessed, love it. I am a total extrovert and online gives me a forum to express myself endlessly whether it’s here, other blogs, comments, friends blogs, Facebook, MySpace, etc. I’m also a huge believer in a blogger strategy as part of an all up communications program - whether it’s proactively blogging and commenting, or for some cultures at least monitoring.

So back to the book - the book is a bit dated in web years, 2006 but it’s still totally relevant. Blogging has proved to be an important aspect to the comms channel yet there are still lots of clients and companies that still don’t get the value of blogging or just don’t get blogging at all. As a PR strategist, you spend a lot of time discussing this with clients and once they agree they need one, coaching them and their teams on how to actually launch and sustain a successful strategy.

This book has so much great info in it for anyone who is either in my position and trying to teach or if you just are getting started with blogging and want to learn. There are great examples of success stories, evidence to support the main concerns for blogging (time, ROI, FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt), leaking info, cultural concerns, etc. They NAILED these issues in the book and it actually makes me laugh that in four years, they haven’t changed.

When I start working with clients on their digital plans, I’ve started to organize it in two ways – the first is just the basics of why have a blog, how it all works, and how we’ll get them started. We do a lot of coaching on content because most people write a blog like they are writing an internal e-mail and it can be HORRIBLE. They also seem to have a hard time figuring out what to write about. While we spend a lot of time up front, the goal is to have them independent in a few months with limited support on content. It takes a fundamental shift in communications, habit, and overall culture in order for it to be successful and those aren’t easy things to teach – it’s more like very persuasive conversations over a potentially long period of time.

The second step I’m thinking about is around refining content; adding more interactive and engagement aspects like Twitter, Facebook, and video; SEO; and coaching on commenting off the main blog and reciprocation. It’s just too much up front to get people’s heads around and I think you lose them if it feels too time consuming, too much change, or too much risk and time with no reward in sight yet. But these later things are some of the most important in taking a blog from a side project, to being really a valuable communications opportunty with customers and partners.

Other PR people out there? Are you still facing these issues? What other areas do clients need coaching on? Did you read the book – thoughts?

just an fyi

I am off from work for three months so I’m a bit checked out from technology compared to usual. so I will still post, but it will be infrequent I assume. just wanted to give you a heads up! if there are topics you want posts on, let me know! I’m at your disposal.

I heart Vanity Fair

I finally got some time to catch up on some back issue reading in Vanity Fair. I am now current and it just reminds me why this is one of the few magazines I subscribe to. They have some of the best articles that can keep you knowledgeable on world affairs, celebrity, politics, finance, and of course, the Kennedys and New York society. A few articles worth highlighting are below.

I also, just started following VF on twitter @vanityfairmag and @vfagenda. Any other articles in recent issues you think are worth calling out?

• “Tycoon, Contractor, Soldier, Spy” Adam Ciralsky, VF Jan. 2010 issue: The article is about Blackwater - the military contractor that was hired and has been working for the government in  Iraq and Afghanistan - and its operations in the Middle East. It’s insane how much they did and were involved in strategy. Since this article was published, they rebranded and were fired. The new company name is Xe Services (pronounced ‘zi’…odd naming choice).
• “The Distant Executioner” William Langewiesche, VF Feb. 2010 issue: This is about the role of sniper’s in the military today told from the perspective of a current sniper. The reporter shows you how warfare has changed and how differently soldiers act in killing the enemy depending on how close they are and which method is used - all through the perspective of one man.
• “Boogie Nights: An Oral History of Disco” Lisa Robinson, VF Feb. 2010: It is what it sounds like, through quotes from famous disco stars. I mean who doesn’t love disco? Totally interesting back stories on how songs got written and what they really meant.
• “Coloring the Kingdom” Patricia Zohn, VF March 2010: All about the women “inkers” who used to color the Disney animations. The article totally takes you back to a different era and gives a new appreciation to Disney animations from the old days. I loved Disney movies, especially Snow White and Cinderella.
• “Brutal Attraction: The Making of Raging Bull” Richard Schickel, VF March 2010: I’m a huge movie fan and a huge De Niro fan. The piece really brings to light part of what makes De Niro so special and the power of storytelling. Had the movie/story been told another way, it might not have been anything special.

tumblr’s Fail

tumblr’s comment functionality is a huge FAIL. tumblr has a model set up where it is utilizing a third-party, Disqus, to enable comments on tumblr sites. The problem is this: the third party commenting functionality isn’t available on all the themes. It gives you a work around where you can go into custom HTML and paste in some codes, but they may mess with your site design and not sure you can really make it work with all. It’s complicated, messy and hard. For a blog platform, one of the MOST critical functions is commenting. This to me, is a critical flaw.

As such, this blog may move. For now, please feel free to leaves comments in the ‘Answers’ box.

Side note on Disqus - they have sweet functionality for comments, enabling conversations to be aggregated off your site, sent through twitter, and lets you allow people to use their Facebook Connect, Twitter account login and more to leave coments. But not helpful if you can’t enable it on a blog.

Community and dialogue is the heart of what differentiates what people call traditional media and digital and if you make it hard for a community to talk, then why bother.