It Is Not A Flippin’ Bandwagon
Posted on August 16, 2012 ·
There is an anecdote making the rounds about a focus group where the moderator turned to an early 20-something and asked, “How often and when are you online?”
In response, the attendee gave him a confused look, pulled out her smart phone, “What do you mean? It is ALWAYS on.”
This is where we live now – and will live every day moving forward. A world changed by connectivity and access; to each other, to brands, to corporations, to issues, to elected leadership.
Articles like this one just published in the Idaho Business Review do a huge disservice to how we as a global culture are interacting, communicating and evolving. (Advertising, PR firms help clients make best use of social media - sorry it is behind a paywall.)
The piece starts off with, “As the social media landscape continues to grow, Idaho business owners may wonder whether they need to jump on the bandwagon. ”
It is not a flippin’ bandwagon.
To call it such minimizes the broader context of what is at stake.
Tools, platforms and technology emerge, grow, gain traction, evolve into something else or die. That is the product lifecycle that has existed since we became an industrialized world.
In the article, several peers in the communication space here in Idaho make the argument that social media doesn’t fit into every public relations strategy.
If you only think of it as a tool, you’re right.
If you truly understand the full context of how communication has changed globally, that is shortsighted and dangerous.
Every organization and individual needs a healthy respect and awareness of where your brand and issues are being built, looked into and attacked – and that is online and interactive. Just as any good business leader develops a business plan that evolves on a quarterly and annual basis and integrates multiple facets of revenue drivers and market opportunities, so should any progressive communicator develop a plan that integrates all aspects of where conversations are occurring. Every client and situation is unique. But all deserve the respect of knowing how the current communication dynamic incorporates so much more than it did 20, 10, or even 2 years ago.
Social media is no longer new or different or separate. It lives right there with you in everything you do. And it is on, 24/7
Now, does that mean every company needs a Twitter feed, an iPhone app or a Facebook contest? Of course not. To suggest that that is the only way organizations engage in our new normal is a bit, dare I say, old school.
Being engaged online means being aware and responsive to conversations occurring about your industry, your brand, your competitors, your trends. It is the ultimate corporate intelligence tool, SWOT analysis source and focus group resource. It provides insights and awareness you would never have otherwise.
Most importantly, if you aren’t aware of the vulnerabilities you fall victim to them.
Your reputation is not just shaped in the newspaper today – it’s being shaped instantly by (often) millions of people who were never exposed to your company even two years ago. It’s about conversations, so companies and individuals need to decide how they are going to tell their story as part of the conversation and be aware of where those conversations are occurring.
Thinking that you have privacy these days is naive.
We are no longer gatekeepers. Acknowledging that is the first step.
But it is not just outward-facing, it has also changed the way internal/employee communication and recruiting is handled. Social media has become one of the biggest tools in the HR world. If you are applying for a job, you WILL be researched online. And, in most cases – if you don’t have a presence in some way, you probably aren’t going to be competitive in the job market or even in the business development game if you are an entrepreneur. There is rarely a potential client that walks through our doors that does has not done an assessment on where we as a firm exist in the digital world – not just professionally, but personally.
Being a true business counselor to clients requires that we as communication professionals remain alert, at the forefront and progressive in our approach to the evolving landscape. It is our duty to be the devil’s advocate, to challenge assumptions and the status quo ways of doing things.
At the end of the day it is not about choosing this or that, old or new, it is about assessing all of what is at our disposal for the best integrated proactive approach.
- Jess Flynn
(A good friend and great brain, Tac Anderson, is writing about where he believes we are now – the Post Social Age. Take a gander at his blog )
In Support of Public Disclosure
Posted on July 18, 2012 ·
Confession time.
In my previous life as a journalist I was not always considerate or respectful of public relations professionals. In fact, I believe I yelled at or hung up on a few (sorry!). The disrespect stemmed from a lack of understanding of the synergy that exists among communicators.
I took my job as a journalist seriously. It was the Fourth Estate, a profession protected by the US Constitution. In my work as a broadcast journalist I tried to uphold the values of the Society of Professional Journalist Code of Ethics:
- Seek Truth and Report It
- Minimize Harm
- Act Independently
- Be Accountable
As the world and how we communicate evolves by the second, it’s that mindset I try to reflect back on in my current role as a communications counselor and business owner.
I was flattered to be asked to join the Idaho Statesman Editorial Board as a Community Representative beginning this July. The editorial pages across the country are the target of slings and arrows, and do throw quite a few themselves. I am the first to admit I often raise my voice in the early morning quiet of my home when reading editorials. But I strongly believe that we can only try to understand issues if we embrace multiple sides of the story.
I do not always agree with the position on the page. But I embrace the discourse it inspires. They always make me think. They always sharpen my responses – whether in support of, or opposition to, the points being made.
In announcing my appointment, an online commenter raised a concern on Editorial Page Editor Kevin Richert’s blog
Reader: Conflict of Interest? You have a PR professional who will no doubt be seeking some earned media from the Statesman. Yeah, no conflict there.
Kevin Richert/Editorial Page Editor: You raise a fair question, and it’s one we’ve discussed. When editorials deal with current or former Red Sky clients, we will state that conflict upfront. And there may be times when Jessica will have to recuse herself from an editorial.
I would add that this is not unprecedented. I have had to personally declare conflicts on a few occasions. On another occasion, when I had a deep personal conflict on a topic, I recused myself entirely from the discussion and drafting of an editorial — and didn’t see it at all until the paper showed up on my doorstep.
At the end of the day, it is about what the Association of Opinion Journalists stated, ’promoting a healthier civic culture by helping raise the quality of public discourse.’
I am honored to be a part of that.
Will I agree with the stance of all the editorials? No.
Will I speak up and share my opinion and insights from my experiences and my connections in the community? You bet.
While the journalist code of ethics doesn’t transition directly to my current role, I still respect and seek to embody its ideals as a PR practitioner. And when it comes to my role on the editorial board, it will again be the driving force.
Ruminations, Pontifications & Observations for 2012
Posted on February 22, 2012 ·
It would be wrong to call this ‘Top Predictions for Communications in 2012′ or anything of the sort. One obvious reason being, it is nearly two months into said year.
So, here are a few observations I’ve been ruminating on and pontificating about regarding what awaits in 2012 for communicators.
Content curation will be king (or queen)
It has been hard to avoid the push for companies and agencies to shift to be more adept content creators - those who develop the information to facilitate conversations, rather than merely trying to influence the flow and consumption of information. With the glut of information out there we saw a rise in content aggregators; collectors of what flowed through the ether who pulled it into RSS feeds or hashtagged twitter streams.
2012 will be the year of content curation, when we don’t settle for mere collection but seek perspective. When we value those who turn a critical and knowledgeable eye towards gathering and grouping content in a way that shows context and deeper insight.
In the words of Rohit Bhargava: A Content Curator is someone who continually finds, groups, organizes and shares the best and most relevant content on a specific issue online.
I believe that this is the natural role for journalists, particularly ‘newspaper’ folks as they evolve into true multimedia journalists. While we have become a society which consumes snippets, clips and posts there is still an appetite for full and deeper knowledge. Those trusted sources who have established themselves in the ‘speed of thumbs’ news cycle as resources but who can also provide the breadth, depth and true roundness of a story or issue.
To get to that point, media will need to embrace the following…
Collaboration among competitors
In the who-has-it-first-who-cares-if-it’s-right world we’ve seen source checking go by the wayside in the need for speed. And beating the other guy – whether that guy is a blogger, tweeter, live cable scroll, news website or livecast – is paramount.
But at the end of the day we consume our information, breaking news or otherwise, from a wide group of sources. When there is a topic at hand we find interesting we aggregate it ourselves through hashtag streams, google alerts and live searches. So it stands to reason that by news sources collaborating on large-scale ongoing coverage with the goal of making it more easily findable and consumable for their audiences – all will benefit.
At a local level this could mean television, radio and print journalists using a consistent and shared hashtag or post tags for events like elections and significant breaking news events. At the national level – cross-linkage with sourcing ala Huffington Post or live web and twitter chats with multiple media source responses.
Upstream and Downstream Social Networks
In the social media sphere I won’t dare to predict what is coming next. Heck, how’d I know a year ago I would be one of many Pinterest addicts or kicking the tires on Path? Networks will emerge, rise, gain relevance and following or die. The cycle is the same as it’s been for genrations as we develop and dismiss technology. It’s just on hyperspeed. But as Tac Anderson (Futurist. Digital anthropologist. Blogger: @newcommbiz Head of Digital Strategies EMEA for @WaggenerEdstrom) notes in a post, these new networks are falling into two distinct categories and will continue to do so.
Something that I haven’t posted about yet but have been working out in my head is the concept of Upstream Social Networks (USN) and Downstream Social Networks (DSN). Social networks like Path are USN where our updates originate from and social networks like Facebook and Twitter are DSN, collecting all those updates. In fact if I look at my Facebook page it’s mostly posts from Posterous, Instagram, Path, GetGlue, Goodreads, SoundTracking, and the occasional Foursquare checkin.
Part of this is workflow and part of this is features and control of content and privacy. Path allows me to choose who I share what with much better than Facebook and their groups setting does. I also see using Path much easier than managing Google+ circles.
Trendspotters over reactionary gatekeepers
For public relations professionals, the gatekeeper role is truly a position of the past. Besides being conversation facilitators between companies, organizations, stakeholders and the public – PR pros must increasingly shed their tactics hat and truly become trendspotters and counselors to provide ongoing value to their clients.
Being ‘the person that knows everything and everyone’ is what PR pros of 2012 and beyond need to embrace. Being social and connected – and not just by having thousands of Twitter followers – will be a key skillset for our craft. Having the breadth of knowledge, good instincts and sharp insights to be a business counselor will be more valuable than how quickly you can write a tweet, pitch a news release or craft a statement. Can you curate content to help guide business decisions and provide insights to the reactions certain actions will cause? Can you predict potential human behavior responses? Can you identify national and global trends as they emerge so your business and clients can be at the cusp instead of in the dust?
Short-Term Memory Trumps Nostalgia
I’m a college football fan, but not a fan of the system. I’ve always been frustrated (especially for my recently woeful Longhorns) when a late season loss creates more havoc than an early season loss. While their overall records will wind up the same, a loss towards the end of the season will have significant repurcussions on a team’s post-season chances.
That had me thinking a lot about our memory, and how the speed and mass of information filtering through our mindset has essentially relegated our long-term memory to the far far reaches of our conscious.
Consider Joe Paterno. No matter where you fall on the spectrum of how responsible he was for the horrific acts that allegedly unfolded at Penn State, no one can deny that the dominant memory of this man is now the incident(s) that sullied an entire university’s reputation. Paterno’s six-plus decades of service and good deeds are severely diminished by the immensity of what came to light in the last year. Our short-term memory, bolstered by how search engines spider through content and present results, is trumping nostalgia and the full breadth of a person’s existence.
What does it mean for communicators? That past acts and reputations can not only be destroyed but essentially eliminated by the latest misdeed. That reliance on a company’s entire history of performance to protect them during tough times is naive. Building, bolstering and protecting reputations is a crucial 24/7 job. And communicators must evolve to ensure their important role as counselors in the atmosphere of 2012 and beyond is recognized.
Don’t Judge A Book by Its Cover
Posted on October 19, 2011 ·
I grew up as a tomboy, a wanna-be jock, a hyper-competitive point-me-at-the-goal-and-I’ll-run-over-anyone-to-get-there kind of gal. Needless to say, that competitive fire has followed me through my adult life and been the spark that helped me co-found a company and embrace the entrepreneurial moniker. But, I’ve also checked off the boxes on some other milestones.
- Freshman 15 (& adult 20+)? Check
- Aching joints as I entered my 30′s? Check
- Speed demon rep slowing down a bit on the soccer pitch? Double check
- Increasing pants sizes and a bit of mid-section softness? Check
Vanity drove me to suck it in, down Advil to compensate for muscle and joint strain & pain, avoid doctor appointments for the usual pains of getting older, and like many of my generational peers – try out various diets from time to time. Problem always was… I. LOVE. FOOD. I mean, I really love it. Heck, I’m a food blogger in my other life who espouses the wonderful attributes of bacon, charcuterie, cheese and pasta. Cutting back and being disciplined about what makes me happy? No way.
Through it all, whenever I talked about getting in better shape – for vanity or other reasons – supportive friends, colleagues and peers always said ‘But you look great!’ or ‘You are so young and look even younger.’
A wake-up call this week drove home the point that you can’t judge a book by its cover.
As I blogged about earlier - Red Sky is a proud partner in this year’s Go Red For Women event on November 3 in Boise. We are helping to spread the word about the free BetterU program designed to makeover your heart and educate participants on heart healthy lifestyle.
I’m a big believer in practicing what you preach, modeling behavior and never asking others to do things you wouldn’t. So when the program recommended getting a checkup from your doc to set baselines on your key numbers I sucked it up and scheduled an appointment I’d been avoiding.
I’ve been having chest pain for several months. Dull, aching pain on the upper left side of my chest. It was easy to dismiss and ignore. I’m 35 and look alright for my age, what could be the matter? Yes, I’m stressed every day but who isn’t? Work by it’s nature is stressful and I’ve always thrived in that environment. But like I said in my last, now prophetic, post - It always starts out like a normal day until… it’s not. There is always something more important that focusing on yourself…until you’re faced with no other option.
I’m a 35 year old woman and as of two days ago I’ve been placed on high-blood pressure medication and ordered to make significant changes to my lifestyle. Two hours of poking and prodding, chest x-rays, EKG and a blood panel indicate the chest pain wasn’t something to dismiss. Apparently something – lifestyle, stress, diet, exercise, etc. is causing blood pressure to be significantly above normal and my heart is showing the strain (and showing signs of something delightful called Left Ventricular Hypertrophy)
As I jokingly said to my doc when she checked my blood pressure… “So… you’re saying that scoring 100 isn’t a good thing in this case?”
Um yeah, it’s not. I love to wear the color red & have a burnt orange alma mater, but landing in the dark orange/red category on the AHA blood pressure chart isn’t an accomplishment I wanted to claim.
I’m embarrassed. I’m scared, ashamed and mortified that I’m finding myself in this position.
But I’m also pissed off. That my ‘edge’ of being able to juggle stress and responsibility might have caused this. That my lifestyle of laissez faire could be contributing. That I’m having to make changes from what is comfortable. That I’m facing this right now in the so-called prime of my life. And – I’m definitely pissed at myself.
Heck – I own Bacon chapstick and socks and am was trying to make it at home. And I bought a book about salt’s impact on global development. Now I’m having to follow some different rules of life
- No caffeine (are you kidding me!)
- Significantly reduce sodium intake (bye bye bacon obsession & cheese for a bit)
- Reduce stress (um, what? How am I going to do that!?)
- 30 minutes of aerobic exercise daily (so my 90 minutes of soccer exertion once a week doesn’t count?)
- Take BP meds and take my BP daily (I now own a BP cuff, I feel like my grandfather)
But in the midst of my complaining and whining I’m extremely thankful for a number of things:
- That through serendipity or dumb luck, being part of Go Red had this issue at the forefront of my mind and I acted on it.
- That I’ve got the opportunity to make changes
- That I have supportive friends, colleagues and family members who are supporting me in making the changes I need (It’s always good to have that friendly voice asking you if you need an exercise buddy to nudge you towards what you need to do.)
- And that I can (try!) to put my shame and ego aside to share what I’m going through to try and help one more person to listen to their body and make changes to get heart-healthy.
3 Words
Posted on January 24, 2011 ·
I often share with folks with my concept of sherpas. Finding those people whose opinions, insights and path you respect. They are out in front cutting trail and you can take their path and be part of their journey – learning and growing along the way.
I consider Chris Brogan one of my sherpas – (along with Tac Anderson, who I affectionately think of as ‘The Original Sherpa.’ Heck, that would make a great t-shirt!)
Do I always agree with the insights these two share or the path they are going down? No. But they always get me thinking, force me to revaluate my position, my opinions and develop stronger strategies and insights of my own.
Case in point – I really enjoyed the concept of 3 Words that Chris shared last week…“I come up with three words that I use as guidance for how I should conduct my efforts in the year to come. I set goals around these three words. I build deadlines and projects around these words…”
I have trouble setting resolutions. They’ve never really sat right with me. But I love a good mantra. And I love ’3′s. 3 words? I can get behind that, stick to that and be inspired and focused through that. Per Chris’ guidance on coming up with your 3…
Here are my 3 Words for 2011
Bones. Breath. Reach.
Bones - because this is a year where I need to really get the bones of the house in order, the infrastructure, the stability upon which to continue to build our agency. Growth has been good and good to us. Unstructured and unsupported growth would not be.
Breath - because besides needing to stop holding my breathe all the dang time I need to remember to take a breath first. Before I react, before I interrupt, before I dismiss an idea, before I say yes, before I say no.
Reach - because this year I need to extend my reach. Reach beyond the comfort zones of the groups and connections I have made to date. Expand my reach in my industry, expand the reach of my voice, reach for new opportunities.
