Everyone needs an editor (reprise)
By inmedia
Again, proof positive that everyone needs an editor. This is a good Friday afternoon chuckle if ever there was one. Enjoy.
Home is where the workplace is
By Linda Forrest
As I sit here, 36 weeks pregnant and a short week from my maternity leave, my commute into work has become untenable and so I’m thrilled to be living in an age where I can reasonably work from home. I’m not the only one, it seems, according to several interesting recent stories in publications like BusinessWeek and ComputerWorld. Both of these stories talk about entire businesses dismantling their brick and mortar operations, saving substantial overheads and, according to the BusinessWeek article, boosting productivity.
Because inmedia is a global operation, we have been working with remote consultants in different countries and different time zones for several years now to great success. We communicate constantly and although it’s not quite like being in the room, we are more than able to work together as a cohesive unit and deliver high quality service to our clients. Regardless of where the consultant is, we’re quick to send a quick note or pick up the phone to hash out ideas or collaborate on getting the job done. The tools that we need to connect with our media and analyst targets are, thankfully, easily transportable. The days of the hard copy press kit are quickly receding and thus as PR consultants, we are less encumbered by reams of paper and manilla folders.
It’s my opinion that the very nature of consultantcy lends itself well to this model, but of course, it wouldn’t and doesn’t work for everyone. Consideration must be given to the individuals involved and the nature of the work. Still, with experts on telecommuting predicting its increase in popularity and with coworking spaces gaining momentum, it’s undeniable that the more connected we become to our coworkers and clients, the easier it is to disconnect from the trappings of a traditional workspace.
Keeping your cool in the summer
By Danny Sullivan
Summer is great – the sun is out (even here in Glasgow), the barbecues are sizzling and the holiday feeling is everywhere. We might be facing an economic downturn, but the people will be damned if they’ll let it prevent them taking their summer break!
Of course, the holiday vibe can make things a bit challenging for those back in the office, especially for PR folk, who depend so much on stakeholder responses to help move projects forward. July and August can be a time when the best laid PR plans can end up being thrown out the window as a key spokesperson, reporter or analyst zooms off for a well-earned break, leaving a germinating news release or story pitch floating in limbo until their return.
But just because your most pressing work item has stalled, there must be other things that you can turn your attention to this summer. Here are a few that spring to mind:
– Look beyond the current stage in the process, is there work that can be addressed that is not dependent on your stalled step? Dealing with future items now will help things breeze through when things get moving again.
– Water the plants. Summer isn’t fun for everyone.
– Start looking towards the inevitably manic period that will occur in the September/October timeframe. Whatever preparations you make now will help you cope with the whirlwind that is to come.
– Buy ice cream for your colleagues and bring a bit of summer into the office.
– Use the time to get in touch with some of your key media contacts that you haven’t had time to chat with for a while. While they may also be away, there’s a good chance you’ll catch a few of them in the office, and these conversations can often yield some interesting opportunities.
– If you’re having meetings, why not try and arrange to have them at an outside location? Seems a shame to be stuck in meeting rooms when the sun is beating down outside.
– Develop some kick-ass pitches. Revisiting messaging and coming up with some new story ideas is always a good thing to do, especially if you have a little extra time on your hands.
– Write a blog post about it. Nuff said, really!
If the telegram is still around, then …
By Leo Valiquette
Since joining the inmedia team after almost a decade working in traditional media, I’ve been somewhat bemused by all the talk in the blogosphere of the impact of social media. Traditional media is withering away, some would have us think, in favour of content driven by the people for the people. The mass communication tools of Web 2.0 (whatever that really is) have empowered citizen journalism like nothing else could.
It’s the next generation of that same old video-killed-the-radio-star debate that’s been going on since, well, the advent of video. I heard it when I went back to school for journalism in the late 1990s. I lived it for eight years at a weekly business publication where the web wasn’t considered a threat, but a boon in the daily challenge of keeping on top of breaking news when your product hit the street only once a week. In that context, the web was the great equalizer. We enjoyed consistent, strong web traffic because our readers saw the paper as a trusted source of news and insight that was relevant to them.
I’ve blogged on this before, that being viewed as a trusted source of news will become even more important, not less so, in this age of citizen journalism. There is no doubt that traditional media is being forced to give some ground before a new challenger, but for the forseeable future they will co-exist.
This fact is readily apparent when one looks at the reach and influence of the trade and industry press that we target for our media outreach efforts on behalf of clients. As I write this, I’m in the final days of assuming Linda’s responsibilities before she heads off on maternity leave. The number of newsletters she subscribes to in order to keep her finger on the pulse of the news and issues relevant to her clients is astonishing. These are influential and widely read publications that we can’t afford to ignore if we are to provide the high degree of client service that inmedia prides itself on. And yes, there are influential bloggers among them, but many of those bloggers are still journalists working for a traditional media channel.
While the death of traditional media has been exaggerated, so too has the demise of traditional public relations and marketing efforts. In fact, shops like Social Media Group and Livingston Communications purport to focus exclusively on social media marketing and communications. In announcing the merger of the two agencies this week, Livingston CEO Geoff Livingston told PRWeek that agencies that attempt to provide both social and traditional media outreach end up selling their clients short because doing both “hampers their thinking.”
Huh?
That’s brand positioning speak if I ever heard it. Maybe I’m old-school and my perspective on the matter betrays archaic thinking, but I still think all these channels that fall under the heading of “social media” are just another set of tools to be integrated into a larger public relations and marketing strategy, not a strategy in and of themselves to be focused on to the exclusion of all else. And wiser souls much more savvy with this stuff than I agree. You engage with one or more of these channels because it makes sense to do so, because you’ve been able to confirm that they will allow you to engage in a fresh and impactful way with a specific segment of your community you have deemed important to your business growth and development. It must be much more than “let’s do social media because it’s all the rage right now,” or “drop Facebook, I’ve heard about this new thing called Twitter.”
Bottom line, no one knows for sure how the prevalence of social media will impact traditional media, or traditional public relations for that matter, over the long term. But even the telegram is still around, so that should tell us something. The only thing we can say with any certainty is that the message remains more important than the medium and being able to create a clear and impactful message will always be key.
How times have changed
By Linda Forrest
In previous posts, we have made fleeting reference to the changes in our business since we each began our PR careers and also to our interest in clean technology and protecting the environment in other ways. A post in today’s MarketingProfs newsletter marries those two topics together and therefore resonates with us.
When I was involved in more consumer focused media relations and publicity, there was, at the time, a requirement for hard copy press kits by the hundreds that were packaged together with the consumer goods we were offering up for review, sent out by mail, by courier and offered up at media events. As time wore on and as technology and how people accessed and consumed information changed, we gradually got away from hard copy photos and press kits in favour of electronic versions. Although it was not with environmental considerations in mind at the time, upon reflection, there was indeed a monumentous reduction in the amount of paper and energy used to distribute the relevant media materials.
Fast forward to present day, when technology is even more pervasive in our lives. I honestly have a difficult time recollecting the last time that I put together a hard copy media kit, but can confidently say that it was at least several years ago. It’s great that our industry has moved, or is making the move, to be more environmentally friendly, whether it’s a conscious effort or a happy by-product of the changing way in which media gets its information.
