Inside PR 2.60: A blind man in a cave discovering fire for the first time

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This week we received lots of comments, and we just want to say thank you again for the wonderful comments. Keep them coming.

We want to especially thank Jody Koehler for sending out a tweet telling everyone to listen to Inside PR. We truly appreciate the support.

We also received a comment from Liza Butcher, a recent PR grad, who shares her thoughts on last week’s tips for interns show.

And we received a question from Kristina Dempsy who works for Sara Brady Public Relations in Florida. Christina wanted to know the background of the Inside PR podcast. So we take a walk down memory lane and share the story of Inside PR.

Joe, Gini and Martin then go on to talk about the new social network, Google+ Project.

Joe is excited about Google+. He has started to distance himself from Facebook, because he feels Facebook has become a platform he cannot trust. However, Joe worries that as we explore Google Plus we will all be blind men in a cave discovering fire for the first time.

With Google+ Circles, +Hangouts, +Huddles, +Mobile, +1, Gini, although she doesn’t say this often, is just overwhelmed.

Martin compares Google+ to Wave, complexity was the problem with Wave, and Wave eventually died out.

We will be following Google+ very closely to see if it catches on or not. If you have started using Google+ and have a comment, send it to us.

Gini had the opportunity to interview Steve Rubell and posted the interview on Spin Sucks and she shares some interesting parts of the interview with us.

Stay tuned to next week when we talk about some summer PR reading suggestions.

Do you have an idea for a topic you would like us to discuss? Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the Inside PR Facebook group, leave us a comment here, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini DietrichJoe Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter.

Our theme music was created by Damon de SzegheoRoger Dey is our announcer.

This week’s episode was produced by Kristine Simpson.

Post written by Kristine Simpson.

Inside PR 2.59: Interns and Restructuring

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One of our listeners, Yasin Akgun, asks,

As a final year marketing student about to embark on a summer internship I would be grateful if you could discuss what you guys think makes a good intern, examples of good students you’ve had and common mistakes that you’ve seen them make.

We thought this was a great question, and really well timed, as most of us are in the beginning of the summer intern season.

Because of that, we spend a few minutes talking about, from our perspectives, the qualities that make a great intern.

They include:

* Act as though you’re auditioning for a full-time job

* Take initiative and always go the extra mile

* Show that you have the ability to reach out and meet other people

* Show a  thirst for work

* Ask questions

* Learn how to negotiate

* Learn the gentle art of persuasion

* Really begin to understand where you best fit

* Have a “let me figure that out” attitude

* Be creative

* Find a project that you can see from beginning to end

And, while we’re talking about interns and their roles within the PR industry, we saw some interesting news about a global agency changing the titles of their staff and restructuring to fit the changing times.

GolinHarris is moving from generalists to specialists to adapt to the way consumer behavior is changing…and changing quickly.

The New York Times broke the story a day before the announcement and details what the agency is doing.

From the article:

The four specialties are strategists, who analyze a client’s business; creators, people like writers, designers and producers who generate ideas and tell brand stories; connectors, people who reach target audiences through traditional and social media as well as other channels; and catalysts, account leaders overseeing relationships with clients.

Martin Waxman makes a great point: It seems like they’re borrowing from Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Tipping Point.”

But, in this case, their creators are his mavens, their catalysts are his salespeople, and their connectors are, well, his connectors.

This really is a sign of the times, but Joe Thornley wonders if GolinHarris simply is responding to the smaller, more nimble agencies that are already well down the road of adding specialists to their teams.

What do you think? What qualities make for a great intern? And what are your thoughts on the GolinHarris restructuring?

Do you have an idea for a topic you would like us to discuss? Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the Inside PR Facebook group, leave us a comment here, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini DietrichJoe Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter.

Our theme music was created by Damon de SzegheoRoger Dey is our announcer.

This week’s episode was produced by Kristine Simpson.

Posted written by Gini Dietrich.

Inside PR 2.58: PR movies and wiping the slate clean

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Just before we recorded the show, I had lunch with Guy Skipworth, a friend, colleague and long-time listener.  He had an in-person comment for us: that we should talk about PR more…

Thanks Guy, good point.

So… in the spirit of the comment and the fact that summer movies are being released, we thought we’d look at a few films that depict PR.  And while most of them deal with stereotypes and preconceived notions, they shed light on why so many people have a negative perception about our profession.

Here’s the list:

  • Sweet Smell of Success – a brooding black and white drama about the darker side of PR with Tony Curtis as a sleazy press agent who will do anything to curry favour with a powerful columnist.
  • Days of Wine and Roses starring Jack Lemmon as a burnt out, former reporter and current alcoholic, whose job is less about messages and more about procuring women for corrupt businessmen. Billable hours anyone?
  • A more contemporary PR film is Wag the Dog, which features Robert DeNiro and Dustin Hoffman.  The comedy revolves around a fabricated war that’s presented as a real event to take the heat off a president’s personal issue.
  • Other movies about PR include Thank You for Smoking and America’s Sweethearts.
  • Martin predicts the next big PR movie will be based on The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis.

What movies would you add? Please let us know.

In the second half of the podcast, we talk about Steve Rubel’s ‘scorched-earth’ approach to his blogs: he deleted all his content opting instead for a new online presence on Tumblr.

Gini starts by talking about the strong community she’s built at SpinSucks and why she wouldn’t want to leave it. She goes on to say that you can always recreate the content but not the community.

Joe advises everyone whose name is NOT Rubel – not to try this at home.  He feels Steve can do it because of his leadership position in PR and social media.

Martin asks about the notion of creation and the implications of deleting what is, in essence, a public record.

Joe says the nature of community is that we don’t own what we’ve created once it’s public-it belongs to the community. However, he also commends Steve Rubel and other thought-leaders who experiment and try the extraordinary.

Steve Rubel – do you have anything to add?  And, we’re interested to hear from all our listeners, too.

Do you have an idea for a topic you would like us to discuss? Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the Inside PR Facebook group, leave us a comment here, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini DietrichJoe Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter.

Our theme music was created by Damon de SzegheoRoger Dey is our announcer.

This week’s episode was produced by Kristine Simpson.

Posted written by Martin Waxman .

Inside PR 2.57: Google acquires PostRank. Are you happy? Sad?

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It was a busy week in social media: the roll-out of Google +1 and the Twitter Follow button. But even bigger news for people who have been measuring online engagement was the acquisition by Google of PostRank. Of course, we have views. And we share them with you.

We also close out our discussion of the big spring conference season with our perspective on Blog World Expo East and Mesh.

Enjoy.

Do you have an idea for a topic you would like us to discuss? Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the Inside PR Facebook group, leave us a comment here, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini DietrichJoe Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter.

Our theme music was created by Damon de SzegheoRoger Dey is our announcer.

This week’s episode was produced by Kristine Simpson.

Inside PR 2.55: The value of Counselors Academy

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Gini, Joe and Martin are back at PRSA’s Counselors Academy Conference in Lake Las Vegas for the second of our two shows.

For those who may not be familiar with the conference, Martin tells us the annual conference is all about the business of PR and invites PR agency leaders across the globe to join the conversation.

Joe says if you run an agency, there are many great reasons to attend and then turns the mic over to some of our colleagues in attendance for their perspectives.

Lisa Gerber says she got into PR with no clue about the business and Counselors helped her raise the bar on her own performance.

Johna Burke finds value because it helps people evolve beyond tactics like managing accounts. This shift is what’s going to propel the profession forward.

Tom Garrity enjoys peer to peer conversation and gaining business insights.

Jean Walcher came first to learn, but this year wants to be reinvigorated by the open and intelligent conversations.

Joe mentions that 3-am feeling when you’re thinking about your agency, you can’t sleep and wonder what you’re going to do next. You may be facing one of those difficult situations where it’s tough to talk to the team. Counselors can be a remarkable source of advice. Meet other smart people who freely share their learnings.

Martin says that when he started at Counselors, there were a lot more multinational agencies but now the organization is geared to independents and entrepreneurs.  He references first learning about social media from Giovanni Rodriguez at Counselors at a session both he and Joe attended. But they didn’t get to know each other until a year or so later when both realized how much of a seminal moment that was.

Gini talks about the networking and how you can have open conversations with your competitors and discuss issues like profitability and margins and other things PR folks don’t learn in school.

At this point, Jean poses a question: Do you reward employees for bringing in new business?

Gini says she’s tried many types of incentives. She recently hired someone by incenting them to create their own job; the person is responsible for developing proposals, closing the business and she has goals based on profitability.

Joe attended a CA session led by Rob Adler on motivating employees and says the same question came up.  One agency gives 5 per cent of a new client’s fee revenue to the staff person that brought it in – for as long as they have the client.

Martin says it can be difficult to figure out the right kind of incentive, because if new business is being generated by the agency leadership and you’re not paying it out, the incentive becomes like an empty promise.

That brings us to an end for this show. Counselors Academy’s next conference is May 6 to 8, 2012 in New Orleans. Disclosure: Martin is conference chair.  You may want to check out the website for an overview of the other programs they offer throughout the year.

Do you have an idea for a topic you would like us to discuss? Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the Inside PR Facebook group, leave us a comment here, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini DietrichJoe Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter.

Our theme music was created by Damon de SzegheoRoger Dey is our announcer.

This week’s episode was produced by Kristine Simpson.

Inside PR 2.54: Live from Counselors Academy – talking about a PR imbroglio

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We’re on the road and face to face at Counselors Academy’s annual conference for PR leaders, where we’ll be doing the next two shows.

Joe leads off this week’s discussion with: the Burson-Marsteller / Facebook imbroglio.

Gini recaps her blog post and sets the scene.  BM had been working with media and bloggers to create a whisper campaign against Google and its social media platform.  The PR firm did not disclose the client.  After much speculation, Facebook admitted they were behind the program. BM issued a statement saying the initiative contravened its policies but did not come out and apologize. PRSA was quoted in a story saying that since only 14 people in the agency are members, they’re the only ones who can be held responsible for the ethics breach.

The story reminds Martin of a classic ‘50s film, The Sweet Smell of Success, with Tony Curtis as a less than honest press agent who conducts a whisper campaign of his own.

Joe says this is a challenge any firm faces. The story affects all PR and communications employees as well as the image of PR as a whole. What he finds most disturbing about BM’s response, is that they use misdirection to colour the perception of who’s responsible for the information.

Tom Garrity discusses the issue of reporters who jump over to PR. He suggests this is a good reminder to re-analyse how we look at and respond to social media in the marketplace. He references a survey his firm conducted in New Mexico that ranks PR and journalist as the lowest trusted professions.

Johna Burke asks what this invokes for agency proprietors as we create partnerships with clients and knowingly or unknowingly get caught up in the 24/7 news cycle.  What can we do internally to resolve and manage situations like this?

Joe responds that an ethics code is not good enough. Ethics should be job one, the core of an agency’s culture, how we treat ourselves and how we treat the outside world.

Martin tries to look at it from the other side: how a call from a high profile client could colour a firm’s perceptions of the assignment, and that it’s important to hold onto your ethics and beliefs and not get caught with stars in your eyes.

Gini wonders when your defences come up and you realize something like this is a lot like Watergate.

Lisa Gerber references the point at which a crisis is inflamed or diffused and how a minority can make the majority look bad. She thinks PRSA should come out with a stronger stand and not simply focus on its members.

Gini would like to see our profession held accountable like other industries.  Martin talks about how an industry-wide code of ethics that all organizations could sign would help establish professional standards… then gets off his high horse.

And that’s where this week’s podcast ends. We’d love to hear your comments on our topic, or any questions you may have.

Please send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the Inside PR Facebook group, leave us a comment here, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini DietrichJoe Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter

Our theme music was created by Damon de SzegheoRoger Dey is our announcer.

This week’s episode was produced by Kristine Simpson.

Inside PR 2.53: A Reflection On the Year that Was

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It’s been a year with Martin Waxman, Joe Thornley, and Gini Dietrich hosting Inside PR and we’re looking forward to our contract negotiations. We’d all like 100 percent raises. Too much?

What a fun look back and, it seems, our Magic 8 Balls are working.

Some of the underlying things we’ve chatted about during the past year and highlight in today’s anniversary episode:

– Comments: Dead or not?
– Billable hours: What’s the solution?
– Privacy: Sony, Apple, and responsibility.
– Tracking and measurement: Sysomos, Radian6, Salesforce, and more.
– Trends: Video, search, location, mobile payments, social media policies, and the tablet.
– eBooks: Are they changing the way we’re reading?
– All three of us have had big transitions in the past year: Martin merged his agency to become energi PR, Joe created Corum Research, and I launched Spin Sucks Pro!

Next week we’re doing a live recording from Lake Las Vegas for Counselors Academy. If you’re going to be at the conference, be sure to come by and see us! You might even get a guest appearance on next week’s show!

Do you have an idea for a topic you would like us to discuss? Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the Inside PR Facebook group, leave us a comment here, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini DietrichJoe Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter

Our theme music was created by Damon de SzegheoRoger Dey is our announcer.

This week’s episode was produced by Kristine Simpson.

Inside PR 2.52: The launch of Spin Sucks Pro

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It has been a busy week in the news – Prince William and Kate’s wedding, President Barack Obama announces the death of U.S. most wanted man Osama Bin Laden, and Canadians re-elect Stephen Harper as Prime Minister and give him a majority government. But none of this news is as exciting as the launch of Spin Sucks Pro.

So this week on Inside PR Gini’s wonderful voice guides Joe, Martin and our listeners through the ins and outs of Spin Sucks Pro.

As the tag line says, Spin Sucks Pro is professional development for PR and marketing pros. Spin Sucks Pro is an easy way to further your professional development while learning from the best PR and marketing minds.

The five categories of professional development fall under:

– Business

– Strategy

– Planning

– Content

– Social media

Right now you can get access to recommended resources, for example suggested blogs PR and marketing professionals should follow. Or check out the section where PR and marketing professionals are talking about issues in the public relations, marketing, social media and business worlds.

As Spin Sucks Pro grows you will eventually be able to measure and show off the work you have done on Spin Sucks Pro. For example, the leadership board, collecting badges, getting trophies and more.

Because Spin Sucks Pro is only in Beta, the registration package to have access to all the content is only $50/month.

Next week Inside PR celebrates their anniversary. So if you have an idea for a topic you would like us to discuss send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the Inside PR Facebook group, leave us a comment here, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini DietrichJoe Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter

Our theme music was created by Damon de SzegheoRoger Dey is our announcer.

This week’s episode was produced by Kristine Simpson.

Inside PR 2.51: Stepping up

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This week we start with a listener comment – a tweet, really – from @autumnthompson who asks what a new person like her can do to further her career. In past episodes, we covered advice for students looking for their first job, but we haven’t discussed how to move ahead in your career. So thanks Autumn.

Joe starts by saying you’re never too young to stand out: be curious, listen, learn and talk about what you know and build your network. The people you meet at the beginning of your career are going to be with you throughout your work life. And always strive to do your best and be outstanding.

Gini adds that you should use social networks to get outside your four walls and find people to connect to inside and outside your agency and develop relationships.

Martin suggests you should begin those relationships early.  Just because you’re connecting with a potential employer doesn’t mean you’re looking for a job.  Martin also references an article by Susan Balcom Walton in the Spring edition of PRSA’s Strategist, entitled ‘Demonstrating value to boomer bosses: a memo to millenials’, that offers helpful advice on navigating the work force during the early part of one’s career (subscription required).

Martin asks Gini about her recent blog post on things organizations should consider when they’re entering the social arena. Gini says the post is based on a five-step process she and her team take clients through as they help develop a strategy.  They begin by listening, then assess where a company’s customers and prospects are. This is followed by engagement, measurement and refinement.

Joe suggests including two more items at the front end. He encourages businesses to start by asking: is there a business case; and does social media make sense within the corporate objectives? And then they need to look at the questions around governance.

Martin says companies should establish a social media policy for staff from the beginning, making sure people know and understand the parameters. Joe thinks social media policies should go beyond responding and should include privacy, security, intellectual property, accessibility, liability, data jurisdiction and communications/languages policy.  According to Gini, this really isn’t any different than an employee code of conduct for real-life events.

And that’s a wrap for this week.  Next week, it’s the first anniversary for Gini, Joe and Martin.  Any ideas on how we should celebrate?

Do you have comments? Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the Inside PR Facebook group, leave us a comment here, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini DietrichJoe Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter

Our theme music was created by Damon de SzegheoRoger Dey is our announcer.

This week’s episode was produced by Kristine Simpson.

Inside PR 2.50: Practice what you preach

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On this week’s Inside PR podcast, Joe, Gini and Martin talk about the importance of not just knowing about social media, but using it as well.

Just like you would never hire an agency or a public relations consultant who has never written a press release, it is hard to justify hiring the same agency or person who has never used any social media tools.

It is official. Social media is not a phase and it is not a new toy. Clients and companies around the world know that social media is something they need to use to communicate with their audience.

However, just knowing about social media and knowing its importance is not enough. As public relations professionals, we need to learn the inside and outs of social media tools.

For example, Gini Dietrich talks about updating the software and plugins behind her blog and receiving a fatal error. It was a mistake she is glad she went through, because now she knows the importance of backing up files and information. Not only is this new skill beneficial for her, but she can now advize clients on best practices, when and how often to back your blog information. This is a skill only someone who actively uses blog would have ever figured out.

In conclusion, just do it. Get a Twitter account, start a blog, use Facebook and LinkedIn, check in to Foursquare, etc. Welcome to public relations and welcome to the skills you will need to know to be successful in public relations.

Do you have comments? Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the Inside PR Facebook group, leave us a comment here, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini Dietrich, Joe Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer.

This week’s episode was produced by Kristine Simpson.