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« March 2007 |
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| May 2007 »
...PR butt. Check out this recent post on PR blog Strumpette. It's from former GM of Fleishman-Hillard, Doug Dowie. He was convicted of conspiracy and wire fraud for allegedly over-billing about half a million bucks and offers some tips for PR professionals, especially those in senior management.
This past week was National Turn Off Your TV week, sponsored by the Center for Screen-time Awareness. This week encouraged people to turn off the TV and to find other things to do with your time. With the rising rates of child obesity in our country (and increased laziness), this was a great week for families to try and get the kids to read a book, go outside, play a board game, etc…
I decided to try turning off my TV this week. I figured it would not be hard at all—I am at work all day and then usually have busy evenings, so I figured I wouldn’t even know the difference. By Monday morning at 7:00 a.m., I realized this would be much more difficult than I thought. I normally watch the Today Show every morning while I am getting ready for work. I like it more for the background noise than anything else, but I realized that by the time I got to work, I felt like I had no idea what was going on in the world. My morning routine was thrown off, and worst of all, I had no clue what the weather was going to be like that day (and yes, I’m well aware that a newspaper would fill these voids – but I don’t get a subscription or have time to stop and buy one).
As the rest of the week wore on, I found out how dependent I am on television, and how quiet it can be when it is not on. I found myself doing things that I really needed to get done, e.g. finish a book I started about two years ago, balance my checkbook (which I don’t think I’ve ever done in my life), go for more walks, and learned to occupy myself in other ways than sitting in front of the TV. (However, I will admit that there were times that I had to cheat—how else would I have known that no one got voted off American Idol?)
Television is definitely an integral part of our lives, but it doesn’t have to consume our lives. Overall, I think I did okay without TV this week—but what do you think, could you do it?
I try to read as much as possible. Sometimes it is useless, entertaining information like this, but usually I try to read bloggers/articles that help me learn a little bit more about pr, marketing, technology or all of the above. That being said I have put together a list of five interesting posts and articles from this past week.
Sunday 4/22 Mark Cuban has a great post on TV commercials. I totally agree with him, but with up-fronts shrinking (the period when studios unveil their lineups and advertisers start purchasing ad slots), TV media is trying to make a buck anywhere they can; especially as the internet starts taking away market share.
Tuesday 4/24 Chris Shipley at DEMOletter (where friend and commenter Keith Shaw is also a contributor) has an interesting post on PR people sending releases about products and companies surrounding the Virginia Tech shootings. We would never allow our clients to issue a release exploiting a tragedy to sell product.
Thursday 4/26 Seth Godin, one of my favorite bloggers (I only wish I could write as pithy and succinctly as he does) has a great take on how individuals/companies market time.
Thursday 4/26 The New York Times has a very interesting article on a cottage industry popping up online that helps individuals retouch images etc. Which basically looks like expanded photoshopping, showing that anyone really can make money with this whole internet thing.
Finally, Jane Copland at SEOmoz ( a great blog if you don't read it) asks a question I have been thinking about since I joined LinkedIn - what am I really getting out of this?
Let me know your thoughts on some of these topics!
Here at BLAST, we like to generate a buzz and this spring we are using our talents to help those in need. Over the next couple months, team BLASTmedia is excited to be part of the 2007 Relay For Life in the fight against cancer. We have joined the Relay for Life of Hamilton County- Fishers and are eager to begin fundraising to support our local community and people battling with cancer universally.
Most of us personally know someone who has battled cancer in their lifetime. Relay For Life is a fundraiser to support the American Cancer Society and help find a cure through research. From big cities to small towns, communities come together to give hope to those dealing with cancer and to remember loved ones whose lives were taken by the deadly disease.
We will be at Fishers High School between 4 pm Saturday, June 9, and 10 am Sunday, June 10 showing our support by walking around the track (each team member walks one hour for 18 hours). If you are in the Indianapolis area and have an hour to spare- feel free to join team BLAST!
If you physically can’t make it but still want to sponsor our walks (Blast’s goal is to raise at least $1000), we accept any and all donations- just email me at Katie@blastmedia.com. Also, if you have any creative fundraising ideas, we would love hear from you!
Nothing’s better than a warm spring evening at the ballpark, especially when you’re lucky enough to live in Indianapolis. Dubbed the “Amateur Sports Capital of the World,” Indianapolis is home to the reigning Super Bowl Champions and is known worldwide for its Motor Speedway. If you’re not from Indianapolis though, you might not know about our world-class ballpark, Victory Field. Home to the Indianapolis Indians, the venue offers a great view of the downtown skyline, affordable entertainment (box tickets are available for only $13), and a Monday Dollar Menu for those peanut and Cracker Jack cravings. An afternoon or evening enjoying America’s favorite pastime is one of my favorite summertime activities. I don’t particularly care who wins or loses—it’s just for the love of the game. If you’ve not a made it to a baseball game in your city yet, what’s holding you back? Batter up!
Headline: For the first time, students at the Turner County High School prom were both black and white. Really?? In past years, white students had raised money for their own unofficial prom and black students did the same in this southern Georgia county according to the Associated Press. Unfortunately, traditions are hard to break as only two-thirds of the school’s students participated in the integrated prom and many white students still attended their own private party a week earlier.
On May 17th, 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas declared that racial segregation in schools is unconstitutional, but yet situations like these still exist. Does this surprise you?
We pitch a lot of different media every day and, increasingly, we are pitching blogs and Web sites. The cycle is usually the same: receive interest from editor, send image/info/sample, follow up and (hopefully) secure coverage to run. Every now and then an editor will ask for a bylined article from our client, but we're talking a couple times a year.
In the past two weeks, we have received three requests to write a submission about our own client for posting on a blog or Web site from various editors. We're happy to do it, and it's great because we have control over and insight into what is going to post - something that usually keeps us up at night. With so many bloggers out there who don't come from journalism backgrounds, is the perception of "PR people" changing? We all know that the term "PR person" can carry some negative weight with it, and it seems these new bloggers haven't yet been jaded by the endless barrage of PR pitches and actually trust that we are experts in our client's space.
In general, what is your perception of PR People? Useful, annoying, just for looks, what?
There have been two recent incidents of PR professionals being called out in the blogosphere for their actions. The first was a poorly mail-merged form letter to 37signals from Schwartz Communication which ignited over 51 comments to date. The other, professional blogger and tech maven Steve Rubel of Edelman Twittering about his PC Mag subscription (which he throws in the trash) that caught the ire of editor in chief Jim Louderback. I find both of these events interesting for a couple of reasons.
The first, Schwartz’s letter to 37signals. The comments either lauded 37signals for bringing this to the attention of their readers as a lesson learned, or condemned them for trying to ridicule a company who merely made a mistake. I won’t take sides other than to say that, as PR pros, we know how quickly bloggers can react to a situation and make a small situation quite public. That being said, I found it odd that Schwartz’s business development person who signed off on the letter wasn’t one of the first to respond to the negative comments or to the post in general. Their VP did end up posting and apologizing, but he was the LAST comment – coming in THREE days later! This would have been a perfect opportunity to show what many agencies preach to their client; monitor the blogosphere, be proactive and join the discussion. While Schwartz joined the discussion, in my opinion it seemed to be a little late in the game.
The second incident between Rubel and PC Mag is interesting on a whole different front. While Rubel did respond to the back and forth, he used one of the oldest apologies in the book - the qualifier. He pulled the “I apologize if you…” instead of “I apologize that I….” which really means I am sorry your feelings were hurt, but I didn’t do anything wrong. Louderbeck eventually took the high road by offering to even buy the drink next time they met (see the comments below the post). Despite his initial frustration at Rubel’s comment, Louderback cannot realistically “black ball” Edelman clients from being covered in PC Mag due to the big name clients the firm represents. However, if this had been one of us (smaller agencies) who had offended a media contact as important as PC Magazine, I feel the reaction would have been quite different. It would have been much easier for Louderback to ignore our pitches (not saying that he would) and encourage that all BLAST contacts be ignored. Why? Because Edelman clients have the political backing of Microsoft and Apple etc. We really wouldn’t expect any outlet to stop reporting on Microsoft because of a feud with an agency PR rep, but what if instead it was a startup tech company with a breakthrough product?
Over the years here at BLASTmedia we have always had a number of clients in the digital photography space. In the last 12 – 18 months this space has seen unprecedented growth and sales of digital photography cameras and accessories have single handedly outpaced nearly every category in the “consumer electronic space”.
A number of us here in the office have caught the photography bug and regularly post to our Flickr accounts and keep track of fellow photographers doing the same. There is something about capturing certain moments –certain people- and certain moods that only photography can do. My first passion is painting, but with limited time over the past few years photography has seemed to scratch the creative itch for me (I do continue to tell myself I’ll start making time to finish the 5’ x 7’ foot painting I started 6 months ago and haven’t touched since...).
Thomas Hawk is one of my favorite photographers/bloggers who currently lives in SanFrancisco and posts some fantastic photos on his blog and on his Flickr account. If you aren’t familiar with him, I suggest you add him to your news feeder as his photos and blog postings are worth consuming. Thomas has a fantastic post today, which details a photographer, Renee C. Byer, who won the Pulitzer Prize for feature photography for a series of 20 photographs that she ran in the Sacramento Bee chronicling Cyndie and Derek Madsen. Cyndie is a single mother of five and the photographs tell the story of her loss of her 10 year old son Derek to cancer. Of this particular series of photos Thomas says....”It's a troubling, moving and emotional series of photographs that show in the most poignant way how powerful photography can be”. After viewing the set, he couldn’t be more right.
See the set here.
As an artform, Photography is on the most powerful ways to detail human existence and highlight the frailty of life. It’s also a great way to blow off steam, reduce stress and capture any moment you deem important -forever.
After you’ve viewed Renee’s series, I might suggest taking a lighter look at some photos and check out my Flickr stream and another BLAST budding photography enthusiast (Chris Lucas) here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jkhendricks/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26006583@N00/
Now go out and buy a camera and start capturing the moments you deem significant!
Santorini's Famous Sunset
After the tragic sinking of a cruise ship near Santorini on April 6 from which two passengers are still missing, Reuters is now reporting that the island’s environment is being dangerously threatened by fuel trapped inside the ship. I find this most recent news to be very unsettling. My mom and I visited Santorini a few years ago and thought everything about it was fabulous. The island’s natural landscape was complemented by the friendly locals, comfortable accommodations and great island cuisine. The cruise ship had its mishap in between Santorini’s main island and its active volcano island—which hopefully will be unharmed by the ship’s fuel. If you’re ever lucky enough to visit, make sure to take a boat over to that volcano – it’s amazing. The most recent news regarding the two missing passengers is grim, but hopefully they will be found soon and in good health. Are there any other places you can think of that have been threatened by humanity – either by accidents or commercialism?
Katie:
Ole Jimbob is and wuz a great Redneck World Champion Pogo Stick Jumper.
Well it wuz a local contest and I wuz the only contestant! lol
So, Do I have to jump out of a by plane to time my fall and do I need to by a plane first. lol I think sometimes folks that don't git Redneck Humor hope I will fall out of the plane, but they just don't git it!!!
Katie:
If U want to show this Tech Gadget to 50 to 70 million houses 143 times a week on Redneck Adventures TV show well holla back
and if U have U got some more neat products holler back
Have a Redneck Day!!!
Jimbob
“We could have saved the Earth but we were too damned cheap.” - A Man Without A Country
For those of you who have never read his novels, but enjoy brilliant plots and humor so subtle you’ll laugh out loud, I suggest you take time to discover the work of Indianapolis native and recently deceased Kurt Vonnegut.
His favorite topic to write about was the end of civilization as we know it. With all his satirical predictions on the outcome of the human race, I almost believed Vonnegut wouldn’t die until he could say something to the effect of “I told you so.”
Born in Indianapolis and even doing a brief stint in PR for General Electric, Vonnegut went on to write many classics including my personal favorite “Cat’s Cradle.”
Vonnegut led a life typical of frustrated artists- he dealt with depression, and a failed suicide attempt led to a life of smoking heavily and criticizing society. But, he left behind his voice – although scratchy - filled with wicked inspiration.
"He must have surprised himself when he made a cat's cradle out of the string, and maybe it reminded him of his own childhood. He all of a sudden came out of his study and did something he'd never done before. He tried to play with me. Not only had he never played with me before; he had hardly ever even spoken to me.
"But he went down on his knees on the carpet next to me, and he showed me his teeth, and he waved that tangle of string in my face. 'See? See? See?' he asked. 'Cat's cradle. See the cat's cradle? See…”
"His pores looked as big as craters on the moon. His ears and nostrils were stuffed with hair. Cigar smoke made him smell like the mouth of Hell. So close up, my father was the ugliest thing I had ever seen. I dream about it all the time.
- Excerpt from Cat’s Cradle
I am one of those people who believe that humans are inherently good. I have been burned a few times in my life for putting too much trust and faith in this notion, but I still hold on to it tightly. Call it naive, call it optimistic, call it whatever you like - but I know there are other people out there like me. Take Betty and Bob Matas. I read about this trusting couple today on Yahoo! News. Betty and Bob, retired and moving from NYC to Phoenix, coordinated with a NYC taxi driver to drive them all the way there.
Yep, 2,400 miles across the country with a total stranger in a bright yellow SUV taxi. The taxi driver was nuts to pass on this opportunity, as he got paid $3,000, plus gas, meals and lodging. I think the Matas' also believe in the goodness of people. They are set to depart tomorrow, so hopefully they arrive to Phoenix safe and sound.
What are your thoughts on the subject of trust - do you immediately have your guard up, or do you have a more trusting nature?
Have you ever encountered a person who always seems to be in a good mood, no matter what? It’s great to meet somebody who’s so cheerful, yet sincere, that it’s guaranteed they’ll put a smile on your face. I’ve met one such person just down the street from our Fishers office. I occasionally stop by BP for a Wild Bean Café coffee to get me going in the morning and after over-indulging at Easter gatherings yesterday, I definitely needed it today. One of the clerks has a perpetual smile, plenty of compliments to give, and is energetic no matter what. I asked her about her positive attitude last time I stopped in and she said there’s no reason not to be happy and treat her customers well. She simply loves giving people a reason to smile. Just seeing her put me in a good mood and inspired me to get my week off to a great start!
I might’ve been getting more than the jolt of caffeine that I’d paid for—CBS News recently reported that laughter really might be the best medicine. Groups of people in India gather together for laughing sessions to boost their moods, relieve stress and improve their immune systems. Come to think of it, I did have a headache earlier this morning, and it’s gone now. Do you know anybody like my BP friend who helps you forget your troubles and just be happy?
As Mendy noted in an earlier post, we have been making the rounds at area Universities speaking about PR and looking for qualified intern candidates. We have begun the interview process and we thought we would share a top ten list of interview do’s and don’ts. Feel free to leave comments about any experiences you’ve had – good or bad. Now on to the list!
Top 10 Interview Don’ts
10) Don’t be late – a simple rule, but it is amazing how often this happens. Remember as cliché as it sounds, you only get one shot at a first impression.
9) Don’t be stiff – show your personality. Interviewing can be nerve wracking and we understand that, but show us who you are and why you are excited to be here - which brings me to number 8.
8) Don’t act bored – we don’t expect you to turn somersaults, but act like you are truly excited about the job…if you can’t be excited to interview you probably won’t be excited to come in everyday.
7) Don’t tell us your short-term goal is just to get a “job” - we don’t want to be your stepping stone. We seek those who want to be with us long-term. Sure things change, but we want those who really want to work here.
6) Don’t read your resume to us – tell us your experiences, your successes and challenges in your previous roles. You should be able to communicate this without looking at your resume.
5) Don’t say that you don’t know what we do – there are numerous ways to find out about our company. Just take a few minutes to find out some information and feel free to ask us questions.
4) Don’t tell us you are looking for an advertising or marketing or sales job – especially when we are a media relations firm.
3) Don’t have your first question be about pay – we know it is a concern but wait till you get past the first round of interviews.
2) Don’t talk about your personal life too much – remember this is an interview and not a social gathering.
1) Don’t forget to follow up. With email there really isn’t much of an excuse not to drop a line and say thanks for the interview etc…it will show us you really are interested in getting the position.
Top 10 Interview Do’s
10) Remember to dress appropriately – it is OK to ask the interviewer what is appropriate and remember it is always better to be over dressed than under dressed.
9) Do have a firm handshake – nobody likes a wet noodle! (Lindsey’s pet peeve :) )
8) Do some research (see 5 above) – knowing what we do is great. Even if you THINK you know what we do take a minute to dig a little deeper. It shows us you are interested in more than just getting hired and actually care about what you might be doing.
7) Smile – be happy.
6) Do make eye contact – it shows confidence and shows that you are engaged.
5) Do brag about your accomplishments – if you feel a project was a success because of your hard work tell us about it. This is the time for you to show us why you would be good, don’t be arrogant but show us why you are successful.
4) Have confidence – we work in a very driven industry and being confident is key to all of our interactions.
3) Take initiative – don’t hijack the conversation but take a role in the process. The best interviews are conversations about the position, your background, the company etc. Simply asking and answering questions gets old for both people.
2) Ask questions – no matter how silly you make think it is, we are willing to answer them and help you understand more about the company/position etc.
1) Have fun – If you are excited about the opportunity, have done your research on the company, and are confident in your abilities, you should be able to walk in and have a good conversation with us. We love people who are outgoing and personable. So have fun with the process and good luck!
Bar owners beware! According to the latest biannual market research study by N.J.-based Student Monitor, Facebook.com ties with drinking beer as the second most popular recreational activity among college students.
This is amazing to me, obviously a lot has changed since I was a student and it wasn’t that long ago. But who are these kids that would forego parties, tailgating with friends and their whole college scene?
I guess it makes sense. Why would you chance going out when you probably look better on FaceBook (who cares if the picture was taken five years ago)? I too, am guilty of occasionally spending too much weekend time on MySpace. What better way to get reacquainted with people without them knowing it? However, despite being able to vote in a mock presidential preliminary and put my life story online, MySpace is still not a substitute for actual human interaction – especially with all the carefree activities that college has to offer!
Social networking sites like FaceBook and MySpace are a lot of things- amusing, interesting, creepy…and best used in moderation.
Although I work in technology, I do not consider myself a "techie." If you asked 100 of my friends to name 10 qualities about me, that word wouldn't make the lists. However, because I do work with technology products, there are definitely occasions where I have busted out with some random tech knowledge around my friends. This usually results in being called a geek, nerd or dork. I never really thought about the difference between the three words until I came across a clip on Clipmarks that did just that. Here's the breakdown.
Did you fall into one of these categories as a kid (or do you now?)
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