Flack's Revenge

Elements of Effective Content Curation

Tom Riddle of CIThread wrote a series of posts for the Social Fluency blog on the topic of content curation.

He discussed opportunities and challenges of harvesting content and expertise for the purposes of social media engagement.  Content curation can help here, and Tom details some of the requirements for a good system in his latest post, Lead Social Conversations with Content Curation:

When evaluating content curation solutions, be sure to look for collaborative ones that:

• Allow the marketer to create multiple precisely-targeted content streams, by identifying timely topics that can keep your experts ”on message,” while offering enough variety.  Allow the marketer to specify which topical content streams go to which subject matter experts
• Facilitate collaboration so that the marketer or expert can recommend content to each other and annotate it with notes on suggested approach
• Gives the subject matter expert the option to either directly publish the article or route it to the marketer for finishing touches.

Fancy Ketchup ("Squirt in Mouth and Just Add Fries!")

Does anyone like those ketchup packets that they hand out at delis and fast food places?

Wall Street Journal wrote yesterday about this, and a new one that Heinz will be coming out with to improve on the ketchup packet design (excerpt below):

Some people rip off the corner of the packet with their teeth. Others, while driving, squirt the ketchup directly into their mouth, then add fries... After observing these and other "compensating behaviors," H. J. Heinz Co. says it spent three years developing a better ketchup packet.

Heinz says the new "Dip and Squeeze" packets will begin replacing the traditional rectangular ketchup packets later this year...

Squirt ketchup in mouth, add fries... now that is a neat trick, will need to try this. 

It all kind of reminds me of a comedy routine that Jim Gaffigan, one of my favorite comics, did on the subject.  Gaffigan is great, he has a very dry delivery and can make topics ranging from Hot Pockets, to ketchup to bowling and escalators outrageously funny.  Here is the text of Jim's riff on ketchup packets:

I do wish I was there when they decided on the size of those ketchup packets; I am not saying I need a gallon but maybe enough for more than one fry!

I always end up opening 20, I look like a heroin addict. "I'm gonna party once I get set up here!"

Does anyone ever use just one ketchup packet? "Do you have 1/2 of a quarter of an ounce of Ketchup? It's just so darn rich.  I need a resealable packet.  One that I can store in my purse!"

They always give you three packets... and when you go back up and ask for more, the guy handing them out always treats you like you're taking from his personal stash: "Hmmm, looks like my kids aren't having ketchup tonight!  Enjoy, ketchup glutton!"

Sometimes printed on the ketchup packet it will say "Not for resale" I didn't even know that was an issue... I've been to a lot of flea markets, no ketchup packets!  You know, if you're in a position where you have to sell ketchup packets, I don't think that's going to hold you back.

If you're lucky, you'll get a ketchup packet that's labeled "Fancy Ketchup"  Ketchup, you're being modest, you're way more than fancy, you're elegant!

Arrington Spins Out ("We're super excited about our relationship with him going forward")

I was on vacation last week and intentionally shut off work, tweeting and blogging to relax for a bit. 

I did watch the headlines and tracked the story about CrunchFund (wow, sounds yummy), the new VC arm of AOL/TechCrunch, and the resulting controversy over TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington's role at the news site (which culminated in him leaving, rather, being forced to leave this week).

There are so many interesting facets to this story. Tons of great articles and posts have been written, and I won't rehash them here. I will say that I think this points to the growing up of blogging, the issue would not have raised eyebrows several years ago, because blogs were generally not bound by expectations of editorial independence.

In some of the articles I read, people in the tech field did not want to be quoted on record about this because of the power of TechCrunch and Arrington. I do not have anything personal against the guy, and admire what he built; however he was outspoken about PR (among many other things) and often panned PR agencies and their clients by extension (see my post about his rails against press embargoes).

So I found some of his statements defending the move and his intention to try to juggle both roles (VC and editorial) to be ironic, as they sounded like just so much spinning - the following excerpt is from one of the first NY Times articles about the controversy: 

“I don’t claim to be a journalist,” Mr. Arrington said, though he breaks news and writes prolifically. “I hold myself to higher standards of transparency and disclosure....Friendships and marriage are far more potent than financial conflicts,” he said. “I firmly believe that the reason we are a popular site is because we have built reader trust, and the only way to build reader trust is not to trick them."

Then the news broke earlier last week that Arrington would in fact be leaving TechCrunch. In what must have been the final insult, he was dispatched with faint praise by a PR spokeswoman (according to an article in this week's NY Times, see below): 

AOL, which will still invest a large part of the CrunchFund’s $20 million, dismissed any question of a dispute between Mr. Arrington and the company. “We love Mike and it was the right, amicable decision that we came to together,” said Maureen Sullivan, a spokeswoman. “We’re super excited about our relationship with him going forward.”

Really? That is pretty rich. I have a hard time envisioning an "amicable decision." Indeed Michael taunted a bit (from the same article):

But there were signs that the parting of the ways was less than amiable. In a Twitter post Monday, Mr. Arrington taunted Arianna Huffington, who runs the AOL Huffington Post Media Group that includes TechCrunch, writing: “ok @ariannahuff. Let’s go ahead and talk about how this really played out.”

At the conference, Mr. Arrington wore a T-shirt that read “unpaid blogger,” an allusion to an earlier statement by Ms. Huffington that Mr. Arrington must step down as an editor but could remain an unpaid blogger.

Arrington vs. Arianna: Tale of the Tape

Bloomberg, Bartz, Arrington Departs: Axe-giving Gone Wild

Two recent high profile departures were in the news - less for the circumstances leading up to them, and more so about how the message was carried (a third one, too, but I will get to this).

The first involved the resignation of New York Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith. Mayor Bloomberg signed off on a press release that did not reveal the real reason Goldsmith was leaving (which had something to do with an arrest for a domestic disturbance).

Some said that Bloomberg made a mistake; it is in the public's interest and our right to know, according to this line of thinking. In defending his decision, Bloomberg made no apologies and said, essentially, that making the real reason public was up to Goldsmith and his family if they so desired.

The second involved CEO Carol Bartz and her departure from Yahoo. She sent an email to the entire company immediately after getting the call from the chairman.

While some of the coverage that I read focused on the fact that she was fired over the phone, much of it called attention to (and questioned) her decision to send a frank email. Some said that they thought it was an example of refreshing honesty; others thought it amounted to career suicide and was a pretty dumb move.

An article in Fortune covered the Yahoo episode in an article The New Rules of Firing (and Being Fired).Here is an excerpt:

The situation highlights the changing rules of engagement in corporate America. Increasingly, employees from the entry level to the corner office are worrying about shaping their professional brand and how a sudden departure will affect their image, work relationships, and career prospects.

Where a previous generation of workers might have gone along with the thin subterfuge of a mutual parting of ways, today's sophisticated professionals would do well to carefully plan the messages they send in the wake of being fired, say career experts.

There was one more recent unceremonious departure that many people, especially those in tech have been buzzing about. My next post will focus on Michael Arrington's dismissal from TechCrunch.

4 Pillars of Effective Blogging

It can be a challenge to implement and sustain successful corporate blogging programs.  Today, Tom Riddle of CIThread has contributed a guest post on the Social Fluency blog about this topic.

He describes the challenges and starts to outline solutions,as part of a series on how content curation can breathe life into corporate blogging programs.  Here is an excerpt (below, in italics).  I encourage you to visit the link and read the full post:

Blogging programs are almost always a good idea... After a month or two however, most programs start to fall off the rails. Why? Everyone is busy with the roles and responsibilities that come with their day jobs. Most aren’t skilled writers...

The best blog posts involve ideas that:

1. Are timely
2. Reflect your area of expertise
3. Align with interests of your constituencies
4. Are written in a conversational style

 

On the Internet, Nobody knows if You are a Dog - or a Friend

Judy Gombita wrote a nice guest post for Marketing Mel, a very thoughtful essay about the layers of   friendships and relationships. 

Judy reflected on a term that she learned from one of her teachers when she was in school ("friendlies" vs. friends), describes how she came to know Mel and write the guest post, and links these ideas to the broader world of on and offline relationships. She wrote (excerpts below in italics):

...inserted into my lexicon was her novel word and intermediary concept: “friendlies.”  ...your friendlies are more than acquaintances, but haven’t reached the status of fully bloomed, time-tested lasting friends

..... it was through #solopr (one of my “featured” chats) that I met Marvellous Mel...I respect and very much like everything I know about Mel—her smarts, integrity, sector expertise, warmth, people skills and sense of humor. Yet in my mind at this stage I still classify Mel as a “friendlie” rather than a friend.

Why?  Simply because we haven’t known each other long enough to test the long-term strength of our online alliance.... But it’s still early days.

Similarly, Judy and I have had some very nice online exchanges, and at one point she invited me to write a guest post for PR Conversations.  I suppose I am friendlie, and perhaps on the way to becoming a friend of Judy's.

Ironically, just this Sunday, I had the chance to take in the movie Catfish (spoiler alert), which looks at the layers and nature of friendships from another (and much darker) perspective.

This amazing documentary was created by young NY-based filmakers - I won't give everything away, but will say that it shares the experiences of the lead as he got very close to the various members of Michigan family (and the family's Web of friends) based on a reality that was presented through Facebook - a false reality, as it turned out.

In the movie, Facebook was presented as a storytelling medium, an artist's canvas that can let people paint any reality that they desire.

Thought provoking stuff, as you might imagine, for a PR person and anyone, really, who dabbles in social networking (and who doesn't these days?).