stories from a Public Relations life

newest stories

2007-09-06T00:55:00.001-07:00

newest stories

2007-07-22T23:05:00.000-07:00

Cross-posting, by Paloma Cruz

2005-07-16T19:26:00.000-07:00

Shameless promotion of headlines in my other blogs:

Bilingual Life

undocumented immigrants being charged with criminal trespassing
16 years of Café Tacuba/ "La Vibra, the Houston Chronicle’s Spanish weekly entertainment supplement, has Café Tacuba as their cover story last week. The story is, of course, in Spanish, but it covers their career and talks about their next concert (last Saturday in Houston)."
a brief history of anti-immigration. "Metroblogging’s Paul Chavez walks us through the history of anti-immigration sentiments in this country in a post about the Minutemen coming to Houston."

Houston Life

City events

Library Life

A Texas Digital Library. "Four Texas university systems and Rice University will collaborate on a digital repository whose goal is to offer online resources, such as teaching aids, dissertations, and practical information, although not books."
Sunday hours added to Houston Libraries
returning library books on time. "LifeHacker recently published a post entitled How to finish library books on time which has a link to a tabbed system to… well, finish library books on time and (here’s the important part) return them on time as well."

Ordinary Life

I’m in a mood - welcome to retail therapy. "These posts will be things I want to buy, but can’t. It’ll be a virtual shopping bag, just shy of actually taking things to the checkout counter to pay for them."

Pasadena Life

watching Emily. "In case you haven’t been paying attention, Hurricane Emily is headed to Texas."
senior health workshop. "If you’d like help in understanding the new Medicare Prescription Drug Program taking effect in 2006, the Madison Jobe Senior Center is teaming up with the Pasadena District Social Security Office to host a free workshop, Tuesday, July 19th, 2 - 3 p.m., to explain the details to you."
great Pasadena photo. "Houston Photobloggers has a fabulous photo of Capitan Theatre, in Pasadena. As far as I can tell, it’s the only photo of Pasadena in their collection, but certainly worth a look."
the city of Pasadena has a budget… sort of. "At first glance, Pasadena’s 2006-10 budget forecast may look bleak. However, the document is intended to give the city a starting off point to plan for the future."

Public Relations life

work for Gizmodo. "Gawker Media is expanding its technology coverage, and is seeking to fill the following positions. All these roles are full-time, and paid accordingly, though we take a relaxed attitude towards external freelance."
do I own this brand? "The redesign of the Diva Marketing Blog has prompted a discussion centered on the question who owns a brand?"
are bloggers journalists? "This is a question that comes up frequently in my life, from both ends of the issue. If I’m covering a topic in one of my blogs and request information from a company or organization, should they treat me the same as they would a Houston Chronicle reporter? At the same time, if a photoblogger calls my office wanting to set up a shoot of one of my clients’ buildings, would I give him or her the same consideration as… say, a photographer from 002+ Magazine?"
the wonderful world of media relations. "John Wagner’s comments in Now It’s The Corporate PR Folks’ Turn To Be Slammed about his experience with the media has had me thinking about the adversarial quality of my daily dealings with the members of the press. And I’ve been thinking about the many things I do, every day, to make those dealings better."
PR blogging isn’t ego polishing…"…or so says John Wagner in his post PR Bloggers Not All In It For Self-Promotion. In it he responds to some recent criticism and attacks that public relations professionals have received, in particular PR bloggers."

teaching life

Operation Backpack. "It’s the city’s largest ever school supply drive."
more seniors are raising their grandchildren. "I come from a family of teachers, so I’ve pretty much heard every teaching story you can think of. I know, my sisters know, and all teachers know that more children are being raised by their grandparents these days than ever before."
back to school at Pasadena ISD. "The Pasadena ISD Web site has a Back to School Guide up to help parents get ready for the August return date. Here you will find everything from enrollment processes to meal prices and school holidays. Worth a visit."
a blog to save Fort Bend ISD. "A good example of how a community blog can generate conversation and interest in a grassroots initiative."

Web Junkie life

the value of a wiki. "The Chronicle: Wired Campus Blog has this wonderful post describing the true value of a wiki, Disaster Response, via Wikis."
how to be a more productive blogger
the 50 Coolest Websites of 2005
productivity tip: stop checking your email
now I’ve heard everything… Wayback Machine is being sued

news posts, on the new site - 7/11

2005-07-10T22:53:00.000-07:00

Here are the wonderful posts you've missed so far at the new home of stories from a Public Relations life:

news posts, on the new site

2005-07-05T14:14:00.000-07:00

Here are the wonderful posts you've missed so far at the new home of stories from a Public Relations life:

round-up of tools and posts, 07.02.05
round-up of other news, tools and posts, 07.04.05
problems already, 07.04.05
the value of in-house staff, 07.05.05
good email strategy, 07.05.05
how the new email laws can affect you, 07.05.05

moving to Word Press

2005-07-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

(...reprint from Paloma Cruz...)

After testing Word Press for several weeks, and comparing it to Blogger, I've decided to move my blog projects to the palomacruz.com domain and update using WP. What that means is that I'm going to begin reposting everything from the blogspot.com sites to palomacruz.com. It also means that all new posts are going on the new locations.

Reasons why I'm making the change

More control over posts. The ability to track statistics. Trackbacks. More control over commenting. Hundreds of themes.

I like it better.

I'm thinking about moving this update log from MovableType to WP as well.

I'm still thinking about it.

***

The new address for stories from a Public Relations life is: publicrelations.palomacruz.com.

PR blogs and posts

2005-06-28T22:23:00.000-07:00

Another round-up from blogs on my RSS reader list:

From a shel of my former self: meanderings on organizational communication and other issues by shel holtz --

iTunes with podcast support is out. "Apple has released its latest version of iTunes—4.9—which features podcasting support. I’ll be trying it out as soon as possible."

From Corporate PR: Commentary on the current and future practice of corporate public relations from Albrycht McClure & Partners (A.M.P.) Communications --

Enough Already. "The latest dust-up over blogs and PR has hammered it home to me. The focus on tools is getting to the point of self-serving PR babble and boring me to tears. (Amen Tom!)"
Good Advice on FAQs. "Here's some good advice on FAQs."

From Micro Persuasion: Steve Rubel blogs on how weblogs and citizen journalism are impacting public relations --

Dow Jones to Host Blog Virtual Seminar. "On July 12 I will be participating in a virtual seminar Dow Jones is hosting on blogs. It will address "how you can use blogs to boost sales and marketing, while also ensuring you protect your company from risks associated with this unregulated medium." Guests include experts from the legal community."
Purina is Podcasting. "Purina has launched a podcast called 'Animal Advice.' The programs feature veterinarians and pet lovers discussing topics such as animal training, pet surgery, behavioral theories and pet insurance."

From On Message from Wagner Communications: News and views on marketing, advertising, media, PR and grass-roots communications from John Wagner, principal of Wagner Communications. For communications professionals AND their clients. --

Creating Dialog With Key Audiences. "I believe that creating dialog starts with a mindset that is often missing in traditional communications, one that places as much value in the conversation as it does in the messaging."
Part II: Creating Dialog With Customers. "In the first part of this post, I discussed the importance of listening to your key audiences -- creating the forums and tools they can use to dialog with your company. How are forward-thinking organizations doing this? In every way imaginable ... customer forums, councils or roundtables, focus groups, surveys, e-mail, blogs, etc.Here are a handful of examples culled from my client list."
Part III: Creating Dialog With Employees. "...some of the old-fashioned tools continue to work well in employee communications -- surveys and focus groups, for example. Both enable employees to provide anonymous feedback and can provide real insight into what the rank-and-file are thinking."

From PR Opinions: Some thoughts and opinions on the Public Relations profession and industry. Hosted by Tom Murphy --

Unexpected title of the day: PR and blogging.... "Other findings included that 70% of journalists who use blogs use them for work, with the most popular uses including finding story ideas (53%), research (43%) and discovering story sources (36%)."
Rant: Leave my PR tools alone.... "All PR practitioners understand that the most effective campaigns use the appropriate tools, in the appropriate manner to reach, educate and inform a specific audience. These audiences vary from staff, to customers, prospects, analysts, journalists, the local community etc. etc."

From WET FEET PR: An ongoing look into public relations from an entry level standpoint --

Blogs Are Here To Stay. "One feature that distinguishes Blogs from other media is that the people control them. When I say the people, I mean anyone – anyone that consists of the general public. Bloggers come from all walks of life. Ordinary people, like you and me, are Blogging. Ordinary people who might otherwise lack a voice are becoming valuable sources of information overnight."

do as I say, not as I do

2005-06-25T22:59:00.000-07:00

This is not a business blog.

Okay, a more accurate statement might be that the purpose of this blog is not to generate business for me or my organization. I don't send my clients here to show them that I was a good choice. I don't send my prospective clients here to convince them that I know what I'm talking about. The purpose of this blog is... catharsis, connection, improvement, innovation, etc., etc., etc.

This is my soapbox. After approximately 10 years in the business, I have things to say. I flatter myself that, every once in a while, people might want to hear my opinion.

Some days my point of view is only evident in the links and headlines I choose to share. I consume huge quantities of information, filter it and share what makes it through and stays on my radar. (Pardon the mixed metaphors here.) Invariably, the things that make it to this particular blog are related to public relations or my ability to do my job.

Truthfully, I don't follow my own advice for this forum. If I were advising a client to include a blog as part of his or her communications plan, it would have things like a clear objective, tracking measures, a consistent message, a consistent delivery schedule, and integration into the overall marketing communications activities for the organization.

Very few of those things are evident here... or in any of my topic-specific blogs. Since this isn't a business blog, I don't have a communication plan. As you can see from the earlier part of this post, I don't have a clear objective. The message isn't consistent. The delivery schedule is, sort of, daily.

I'm not trying to brand myself. I'm not trying to set myself up as a PR guru, or a blogosphere star, or a new media trailblazer.

So what am I trying to do in this space? I don't know.

Thankfully, I don't have to use this space as an example of how to do things right. Though I should strive to be better.

And on that note, I'll sign off with one question: when you look at your business, your PR or advertising or consulting business, do you personally do the many things you advise your clients to do to ensure a successful enterprise?

more things I meant to talk about

2005-06-25T21:27:00.000-07:00

Is traditional media through?

From Business Week, Stop the Presses? Not So Fast - Even amid high costs and fierce competition from online media, newspaper companies have more potential than they get credit for.

Are newspapers going the way of the dinosaurs? Advertising growth has been anemic (we at Standard & Poor's expect it to lag real gross domestic product in 2005). Subscriptions have been declining. Competition from other media, particularly the Internet, is substantial and growing. Input costs for paper and ink are quite high -- and rising. Employee-related expenses are also climbing."

Writing

From Poynter online, Allude at Your Own Risk. In an age of cultural fragmentation, how much can a writer assume about readers' knowledge?

What is a writer to do?
Is the allusion you want to use appropriate to the subject? If it could be used just as easily in other contexts, or serves mainly to highlight your own broad knowledge and deep sophistication, then it is probably a bad idea. Don’t show off. Try something else.
Will the passage be understood clearly by a reader who does not catch the reference? Allusion should enrich the reader’s experience by providing an additional layer of meaning. But if it gets in the way of grasping the principal meaning, it is intrusive and counterproductive.
The headline "'It’s dead, Jim,'" about the end of the last Star Trek television series, generated a set of exchanges at testycopyeditors.org among fans of Star Trek, people who loathe Star Trek, and people who are entirely indifferent to Star Trek. The appropriateness of an allusion to a catchphrase from the original series of more than 35 years ago speedily got lost, as Web discussions tend to do, in a thicket of personal preferences. But what I recognize and what I prefer may or may not have any connection with what the reader will recognize and respond to.
This gets to the fundamental point that no writer can afford to ignore: Who is in the audience? You can afford to be at least moderately literary if your readers are college-educated—even if they don’t get the reference, they will never admit to ignorance. But newspapers and Web sites try to cast a wide net, to include multitudes of readers who did not go to college, or who do not know the books you have read, the films you have seen, the songs you have listened to.

Blogs

Study: Majority of Journalists Use Blogs. "ClickZ reports that a new study by Euro RSCG/Columbia University shows that more than 51 percent of journalists use blogs regularly, and 28 percent rely on them to help in their day-to-day reporting duties. "
From Micropersuasion, Analyzing Blogs is Your PR Agency's Duty. "It's my conviction that the greatest answers do not lie so much the data itself or even in the analytics, but in the deep thread-by-thread content analysis that really only a blog-savvy PR professional familiar with all of the issues can accurately distill. The only outsourced provider I have seen close to accomplishing this is TechDirt. The best PR agencies are not just mouthpieces but your eyes and ears. Are they watching the blogosphere for you for critical insights?"
At ClickZ, Study Bolsters Blog-Related PR Practices. "The trend toward PR agencies setting up blog-specific practices got a boost this week, as a new study found that more than half of journalists use blogs in the course of their work."
Visit Easy Bake Weblogs for a quick question and answer session on blogs, 40 Questions About Blogging.

things I meant to talk about

2005-06-25T20:13:00.000-07:00

Blog Content Strategy

Diva Marketing posted Blog Content Strategy, an "Interesting analysis of 3 blog pundits' blog content strategies - Robert Scoble, Dave Winer and Steve Rubel - by AdamNation. According to Adam Weinroth these A-list bloggers provide very little original "thought" content, rather they offer links to other blogs often including summary information. "Acting more like radio DJ's (playing attractive mixes of someone else's original content), rather like artists." (Adam's quote)."

This was then followed by (or preceded by, can't keep my dates straight) by The Diva Marketing Blog Approach To Blog Strategy. Excerpt:

The customized blog strategies that we create with you keep four elements top-of-mind:
Your customers and stakeholders
Your marketing goals
Your business goals
Your company culture

Good enough

Seth Godin started a discussion on The seduction of "good enough" that touched a nerve. Excerpt:

1. Humans tend to work on a problem until they get a good enough solution, instead of a solution that's right.
2. The marketplace often rewards solutions that are cheaper and good enough, instead of investing in the solution that promises to lead to the right answer.

I read this and kept thinking about the many, many times I said "let's just use it like that, it's good enough." Makes me sad.

A wiki experiment gone bad

In case you missed it, the LA Times tried to create a wiki. It was a disaster that lasted only 24 hours. Here's some coverage:

Corporate PR's Policing Costs. "The failure of the LA Times' wikitorial experiment brings to light one of the important factors for the success of commons-based publishing: the cost of policing it."
From KTRK Channel 13, A journalism experiment that went foul and pornographic.

Blogging uses and rules

From Helzerman's Odd Bits:

Legal issues around blogging, discussing a "panel discussion at Gnomedex centered around legal issues with blogging."
Blogging as a social tool, where she writes:"Today at Gnomedex, photographer Julie Leung presented on blogging as a social tool."

From others:

Library Stuff writes, Marketers Scan Blogs For Brand Insights.

workshop: Generational Differences in the Workplace

2005-06-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

PRSA Houston is holding an interesting workshop for the July luncheon: From Xer to Boomer to Geezer--Generational Differences in the Workplace.

The workshop will be led by Chris De Santis. From the PRSA Houston Web site:

He has special expertise in dealing with generational differences in the workplace, applying the principles of Emotional Intelligence to leading, executive coaching and the application of a variety of instrumentation including multi-rater feedback to develop and enhance performance, and how to develop and leverage long term relationships in the selling process. He also teaches and has a depth of knowledge in facilitation, listening and platform skills developed through his work experiences and background in the theater.

The luncheon will be held on July 6th at 11:30 a.m. at the Courtyard on St. James Place, 1800 West Loop South #1770, Houston TX 77056.

helpful info & things I found interesting

2005-06-24T20:09:00.000-07:00

(...reprint from stories from a Web Junkie life...)

From Bob Parsons, Your credit card info and identity will probably be stolen -- unless you understand a few simple rules. How to avoid the hassle of your life! "If you don’t know how to detect Phishing, your personal info will be stolen. You need to be aware of what Phishing is, and how to detect and protect yourself from it. It’s important that you read and make it a point to understand the rest of this article. If you don’t, you can be very sure that your credit card information (and quite possibly your identity) will be stolen."

According to Pew Internet, "Some 55% of adult internet users have looked for "how-to," "do-it-yourself" or repair information online and roughly 1 in 20 internet users – about 7 million people -- search for help on a typical day. The prevalence of this activity is yet another example of the many ways online Americans use the internet to gather practical information for their everyday lives." The report is available via PDF online.

Even the Army knows blogging is here to stay. Evidence? They now have policies on blogging, as shown in Arianna Huffington's recent post: Army's Rules for Blogging from the Battlezone.

Business Week reports that on June 27th bloggers might benefit from a Supreme Court ruling for journalists. "That's because Floyd Abrams, a lawyer for the reporters, has said in court and publicly that this reporter-source privilege should apply to bloggers as well."

Found via LifeHacker, a link to 50 smart money moves. "CNN’s Money magazine lists 50 personal finance tips ranging from real estate to retirement to career networking to home gadgets that save you cash."

Found via Blogger Buzz, Fifty (50!) Tools which can help you in Writing. "Roy Peter Clark from Poynter Institute has posted up 50 tools that can help you when you do any kinds of writing. This is a extensive list of writing tools, but by no mean you need to apply all of them when you do any writing."

the LA Times wiki experiment

2005-06-22T21:11:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you cannot improve upon someone else's words. Catherine Helzerman of Helzerman's Odd Bits wrote:

Gee ya think?! LA Times gets spammed

As has been widely reported, the LA Times pulled down its editorial wiki within 24 hours of its launch.
I like wikis as much as anyone. Before the IBM blog guidelines were published, there was (and still is) a wiki on our intranet where employees could weigh in with their thoughts, edits, etc.
But one must wonder, how could anyone not see the potential pitfalls to opening up a page on the LA Times website that anyone could edit?

Read the rest of her post for her thoughts on a good idea going bad.

a job well done

2005-06-19T07:36:00.000-07:00

Summary: if good press is like making a deposit into a bank account, and bad press is like making a withdrawal, then this week our balance suffered no changes at all... and that's a good thing.

The most important part of my job, as far as I'm concerned (and many many of my project clients agree) is getting the word out about something. A service, product, intiative, location... it doesn't much matter what it is, my goal is to educate, disseminate and call the prospective market/customer base to do something.

Some years I'm more succesful than others. Last year one of my clients saw a 25% increase in positive media coverage. Another saw a 30% increase in attendance to sponsor-supported free events. Another saw an increase in overall customer share.

I like seeing the bottom line being positively affected. I like that my words, my actions, my ideas are an important part of making that happen. It's what makes me get out of bed and into work (almost) every day.

There are times, however, when it's my job to make sure that something doesn't get out. When I'm tasked with the challenge of making things seem better, or not as bad as the media needs it to be for a good headline. When I need to have conversations with media reps, on the record and on the air, and do it in such a way that it doesn't seem like we're hiding anything, but still tells our story. It's quite a challenge.

Media relations is the part of my job that I least enjoy. That's not to say I'm not good at it, I am. I just wouldn't want to do it fulltime.

This week I had one of those interviews that was supposed to be a throwaway and turned into something different. It was supposed to be a fluff piece about how the community was rallying to support a neighborhood organization and its services. The reporter was trying to turn it into a piece about how the umbrella group that funds that neighborhood organization wasn't doing its job in funding it appropriately and was neglecting that specific community. In other words, the reporter wanted a bigger story than was there.

I had a directive from the manager of the umbrella group to make it positive. I had a directive from their PR rep to make it positive. I had a directive from the community rep that she wanted the story to be about them. I had a list of questions from the reporter, all based on budget issues. And I had no previous experience with this particular reporter.

The end result is that the story wasn't as positive as we would have liked, but made no impact whatsoever on the image. How do I know? Because no other reporter called to pick up the story. The easiest way to see if a story is going to have a long lifespan is if another station or a reporter from another media calls to do the same story, after its run. There hasn't been one single inquiry.

Things I kept in mind throughout the interview:

since it's a taped interview, it's okay to take a moment to respond -- answering a question without thinking about it will only increase my chances of providing the wrong answer
it's okay to say "I don't know" -- as long as I promise to check into it and get back to him, and actually do it
don't repeat his question when I provide an answer -- doing that will only ensure that I repeat negative words, giving him a better chance at a good soundbyte
I don't have to give him the info he's asking about, as long as I give him an answer to the question he's asked
go into the interview with an agenda and keep it in mind the entire time
in this case... "be positive!"

Of course, I wasn't in the story. I didn't give him any good soundbytes, anything he could use that would support his story. He did do an "officials say" during his closing, but that was it. And all the info I gave him contradicted what he had intended to use.

I balanced the story, and kept almost everyone happy. So, in this case, it was a job well done.

Get Your Name in the Paper

2005-06-17T21:07:00.000-07:00

I found this via Micro Persuasion's Blog to Get Your Name in the Paper.

Michael Kanellos, Editor at Large of CNET, recently wrote How to get your name in the paper. Here's an excerpt:

It's an age-old question. "We are one of the world's leading manufacturers of polymer-based rectifier diodes. How do we get better coverage in the media?"
News coverage is clearly more of an art than a science. Apple Computer commands less market share in PCs than Acer or Toshiba, yet Apple events and conferences generate the kind of frenzied news coverage that would make it seem the equal, in economic terms, of ChevronTexaco. When Sun Microsystems bought StorageTek, reporters and editors launched into detailed speculations on the meaning.
If Hewlett-Packard tomorrow morning said it planned to buy the Orkney Islands, the world would shrug.
Many blame the imbalance on media bias while others seem to claim the problem lies in how companies position themselves. In reality, both these factors play a role, but so do things like routine, jealousy and behavior.
So how do you get the media to work for you? Here are my rules and recommendations...

The shortcut list:

Every day is a new day
Criticize your enemies
Don't take it personally
Rarely claim to be first
Let the execs speak
Don't make up words
Leak like crazy

Michael's bio, from CNET: Michael Kanellos is editor at large at CNET News.com, where he covers hardware, research and development, start-ups and the tech industry overseas. He has worked as an attorney, travel writer and sidewalk hawker for a time-share resort, among other occupations.

inflating ciruclation

2005-06-17T20:36:00.000-07:00

I know that this isn't really PR related, but it's close enough to merit a mention:

3 arrested over newspaper circulation numbers, reported by the Houston Chronicle.

Three former employees of the newspapers Newsday and Hoy were arrested today for their alleged roles in schemes to inflate ad prices by overstating the newspapers' circulation figures, prosecutors said.
The arrests were the first in an investigation by U.S. Attorney Roslynn Mauskopf into alleged circulation fraud at Newsday and the Spanish-language Hoy, both owned by the Chicago-based Tribune Co.

As if print ad prices weren't expensive enough...

posted by Paloma Cruz

2005-06-16T20:42:00.000-07:00

OK, a mix of posts and crossposts for your entertainment tonight:

Legal Guide for Bloggers

2005-06-15T19:34:00.000-07:00

Link found via Blogger Buzz.

Electronic Frontier Foundation recently published the Legal Guide for Bloggers, which you should bookmark in case you ever have a question on the legality of your posts.

Excerpt:

Whether you're a newly minted blogger or a relative old-timer, you've been seeing more and more stories pop up every day about bloggers getting in trouble for what they post.
Like all journalists and publishers, bloggers sometimes publish information that other people don't want published. You might, for example, publish something that someone considers defamatory, republish an AP news story that's under copyright, or write a lengthy piece detailing the alleged crimes of a candidate for public office.
The difference between you and the reporter at your local newspaper is that in many cases, you may not have the benefit of training or resources to help you determine whether what you're doing is legal. And on top of that, sometimes knowing the law doesn't help - in many cases it was written for traditional journalists, and the courts haven't yet decided how it applies to bloggers.
But here's the important part: None of this should stop you from blogging. Freedom of speech is the foundation of a functioning democracy, and Internet bullies shouldn't use the law to stifle legitimate free expression. That's why EFF created this guide, compiling a number of FAQs designed to help you understand your rights and, if necessary, defend your freedom.
To be clear, this guide isn't a substitute for, nor does it constitute, legal advice. Only an attorney who knows the details of your particular situation can provide the kind of advice you need if you're being threatened with a lawsuit. The goal here is to give you a basic roadmap to the legal issues you may confront as a blogger, to let you know you have rights, and to encourage you to blog freely with the knowledge that your legitimate speech is protected.

Thou shall... PR rules in a blogging world

2005-06-15T19:26:00.000-07:00

Micropersuasion recently published 10 Commandments for The Era of Participatory Public Relations that's going on my list of must-reads. The condensed version:

Thou shall listen
Remember that all creatures great and small are holy
Honor thy customer
Thou shall not be fake
Covet thy customers
Thou shall be open and engaging
Thou shall embrace blogging
Thou shall banish corporate speak
Thou shall tell the truth
Thou shall thinketh in 360 degrees

Read the post for the definition of each.

a new concept in publishing: printing blog content

2005-06-14T20:30:00.000-07:00

Tribune Media Services and Arianna Huffington are partnering for a new concept in blog content: publishing blog entries in print.

Huffington: Idea to Syndicate 'Post' Content Came from TMS Execs
When Arianna Huffington called Tribune Media Services to tell executives there she'd still be able to write her syndicated column despite all the time she's devoting to her new group blog, a new TMS feature was born.
***
Excerpts from the blog will be syndicated each day by TMS, which will introduce he package on a yet-to-be-determined date soon after May 9. Huffington said it's lso possible that newspapers with the time and resources would be able to individually select what to publish from the blog.

Interesting. Blogging is primarily the blogosphere taking printed content, in all its forms, and filtering it into our blogs with our little quips. We have created citizen journalism, online evangelism and a promotional force that commands millions in advertising budgets.

Blogging is now a corporate gig, a marketing phenomena, a public relations must-know and must-use tool. And the rags-to-riches stories about people making a very profitable living online, blogging for dollars, are mythic online.

So now we have the flow of information going in reverse: beginning online, on a blog, and ending up in print. Now we have blogs doing more than influencing media, and stealing advertising dollars, we have blogs slowly replacing standard media.

It's a brand new day. I'm just glad I know what a blog is.

By the way, have you visited The Huffington Post? At first glance, without seeing the word blog, I would have described it as an online magazine. The lines blur, for me. Still, the writing is interesting and the format is groundbreaking. Check it out.

Find Your Future - Tips for Successful Job Hunting

2005-06-13T20:10:00.000-07:00

From the Public Relations Society of America, Houston Chapter, Web site:

Join PRSA Houston members, for a New Pros monthly professional development session June 23, 2005 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Kirksey Architecture.

Our speaker will discuss ways to land your dream job and how to hold on to it once you get your foot in the door. Please bring your resumes and portfolios with you.

Guests are asked to register online to reserve a space!

The mission of the PRSA Houston New Professionals Group is to support PRSA Houston chapter goals while providing new professionals with a valuable outlet to expand their knowledge of public relations through networking and professional development opportunities.

New Pros Objectives include encouraging participation in PRSA Houston and connecting New Pros throughout Houston; scheduling regular professional development and social events for New Pros; integrating members into the National New Pros Affinity Group; and encouraging New Pros to become accredited in public relations.

New Pros programs and activities target PR professionals with up to five years of experience in public relations, as well as graduating students and professionals new to the industry.

Understanding the Hispanic Market: Business Opportunity or Matter of Survival?

2005-06-12T16:01:00.000-07:00

One of the questions I receive most often is: how do I market to Hispanics? It's a question that both amuses me and annoys me.

The answer I want to give: you market to Hispanics the same way you market to anyone else, you find out what they need, what they want, who they are and you tell them how your product is going to help them.

The answer I usually give them: you need a marketing consultant... no, I don't really. I tell them that I need to learn about the product and do a market analysis before we can talk about communication methods. I may discuss methods that have worked well in other projects, but nothing works well across the board, so I try to stay away from that other than to show that we've had good successes.

LaVERDAD Marketing and Media is attempting to answer this question by coordinating a "campaign to raise corporate and community awareness regarding the needs and business opportunities that exist with the Hispanic market."

Here's an excerpt from the Hispanic Ad article discussing this seminar series, Raising Awareness About Hispanic Consumers In The Midwest:

The seminar, now in its third year, explores insights into the Hispanic consumer and what every organization should know about the U.S. Hispanic market. It highlights the dynamic changes occurring in the Hispanic market at a local, regional and national level. Participants learn what best-in-class companies such as Procter and Gamble and Wal-Mart are doing right to win the hearts and minds of Hispanic consumers as well as potential employees, and how to deliver culturally and linguistically competent communications to the largest and fastest growing market segment in the U.S.

In Houston, the local chapter of the American Marketing Association started a Hispanic Marketing special interest group to help address the need to reach this market segment.

For additional information and resources online, visit:

the Hispanic Marketing channel at AdAge.com
HispanicAd.com
HispanicBusiness.com
the Web site for Hispanic Trends Magazine

For more information on the seminar series, visit http://www.laverdadmarketing.com.

Getting Reporters to Open Your Emails

2005-06-11T22:27:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, a public relations rep sat in a meeting where she was supposed to be an observer. At this meeting, of a non-profit board where she served as WebDiva on a volunteer basis, they were discussing an upcoming gala. The person running the public relations committee was giving her report of how she had promoted the gala by sending information to hundreds of reporters.

The mechanism was a blind WinFax distribution. With no follow-up phone calls or advance prep work. Which, of course, resulted in no media coverage. No surprise there.

That was at a time when the question was: how do you get reporters to read your faxed press releases? Today's question is: how do you get reporters to open and read your e-mails?

About.com's advertising channel tackles this in an article entitled The Ultimate PR Edge: Getting Reporters to Open Your Emails. Though some of it is basic, it's always a good idea to refresh your knowledge. And, of course, you will learn something new, or remember something you'd forgotten you knew.

The one don't I want to stress is don't "Allow typos or grammatical errors." Please, don't use my blog as an example of good PR writing. This is first-draft communication, with very little, if any editing. Almost straight from thought to cyberspace. On the job, I live and breathe the proofing process.

Anyway, there's today's tip... given at midnight. :-)

new words added to... everyone's vocabulary

2005-06-10T23:56:00.000-07:00

I found this via a library blog (h20boro lib blog) and thought my fellow writers would appreciate it:

New Words Added to OED
The Oxford English Dictionary has added some new words, including several relating to abs and carbs, foods words (spaghetti alla carbonara, Havarti, jalfrezi, Prosecco, biscotto, carpaccio), slang, and ... semesterly? derivatize? (which I hope is different in meaning from derive) ... and, only about 50 years late, dagnabbit (and dagnab, as a verb and adverb).

I like the idea that language is an ever-changing thing, almost a living, breathing entity that adjust and transforms depending on those who use it.

I like the idea that we are always moving, and influencing, and can have lasting effects on everything, even dictionaries, even records which may serve as archives for the future.

I wonder if podcasting and blogging are already in there...

too tired to write, running out of words

2005-06-09T21:35:00.000-07:00

There are days when I feel like I've written the great american novel - in quantity, if not quality. At the end of the day, signing my name is too much writing.

There are days when I've spent hours being charming, friendly, cooperative -- not a normal thing for me. Days when I've used up weeks' worth of goodwill, whether I want to or not.

There are days when I put into practice the fine art of standing in four-inch heels for three straight hours, while being charming, friendly and cooperative. And trust me, it is an art form.

There are days when I can feel my voice screaming, in my head, to the client sitting in front of me, "LISTEN TO ME! YOU ARE PAYING ME BECAUSE I KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS THAN YOU DO! YOU ARE PAYING ME BECAUSE I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING, AND YOU DON'T!" All the while, I am smiling serenely, waiting for my turn to speak... calmly.

There are days when I wish "off the record" actually existed, or that I could trust reporters to keep their word when they promised me something. And when I watch the news at the end of the day, I can tell you which reporters I've worked with, what their styles are, and whether or not I would have any confidence in their attempting to be objective.

And there are days when I've said so many words, to so many people, that actually holding a conversation with a real person is beyond my capabilities. I just don't have the energy.

Perhaps tomorrow I'll write about the good days.