Flack's Revenge

Online Privacy Fears: Does FOMO trump TMI?

The Journal had a big What They Know article series about the growing market for information about online personal info and activities; it cast the vendors that serve the market in a pretty dark light. Earlier this year, TIME magazine ran a similar piece. And, just yesterday, the NY Times had a story How to Fix (or Kill) Web Data about You.

What all of these stories have in common is that they send an alarm about online users' vulnerabilities regarding personal information and privacy. And, if in the process, the most influential of media knock the vendors who serve the industry down a few pegs - well, isn't that the point?

I am not saying it is not a valid issue, and that there aren't information providers who take things too far. But there are also those who play by all of the applicable online privacy and marketing information rules and regulations and offer a valuable service to the marketing and PR industries.

I can't help but thinking, too, that most people really do not concern themselves much with the issues raised.  An article in Sunday's Times discussed social networks and the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) - basically, the angst one gets about missing out on fun while reading others' social media updates. Ironically, FOMO can compel us to share more, not less.

It must not just be FOMO bot other human impulses that compel us to tweet, blog, Facebook, etc. My point is, in a world where we wear our activities, thoughts and opinions on our online sleeves, do people seem to care much about guarding online privacy? Are the media's concerns overstated?

Black and Bloomberg (Video Killed the Education Czar)

Bloomberg's embattled pick for schools chief, Cathleen Black, was removed from the position last week. In the end, it seems the empress had no clothes - or at least not everything needed to convince others (and herself) that she could do a good job as New York City schools chancellor.

I don't wish any ill will to Bloomberg or Ms. Black. The whole episode must be an embarrassment for both.

But I do like to riff on topics related to PR and communciations, and to spot and call out irony when I see it, and this episode was rife.

I think it is ironic that someone who comes from the media world was undone by the media spot lights. If it wasn't video and media training that doomed her appointment, it played a role, and showed how unprepared she was, according to this New York Times article excerpt:

Ms. Black struggled to grasp the complexities of the city’s budget process, despite intensive tutorial sessions that began on the day of her appointment and, according to advisers, never really stopped.

When her staff sought to prepare her for television interviews, through mock question-and-answer sessions, she tripped over basic facts and figures, including the process for deciding which schools to close.... Aides decided she was largely unfit for such high-profile appearances and all but ruled them out.

Ms. Black clearly could have used some more media training, she does not appear to be a very sympathetic figure, based on excerpts from the Times article Black Admits Being Ill Prepared:

A day after her surprise ouster as New York City’s top education official, Cathleen P. Black acknowledged that she was ill-prepared for the demands and visibility of running the nation’s largest public school system..

Although she endured stinging criticism of her management style and public statements as chancellor, she said that she was particularly irritated by unflattering snapshots of herself that appeared in the New York City news media.  “The worst pictures!” she complained.

...in an interview with Fortune magazine, her first since Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg urged her to step down as schools chancellor on Thursday, Ms. Black also suggested that gender might have played a role in her rocky reception over the last three months.

Should People Get Media Training Before they use Twitter?

Over the past several years we have seen the PR field challenged as never before, and change, as tactics that outlived their usefulness were updated or fell by the wayside. I know this because I have lived and blogged about it - recall my PR Death Watch series of posts.

However a funny thing happened on the way to peace, love and social media understanding. Some picked their heads up and realized that: yes, traditional media still matters. And so do press releases (see Revenge of the Press Release).

And what about other conventions that may now seem quaint - like media training, and prepared statements?

In a world where everyone has a microphone, it does not take long before quite a few start to sound like those bores with the cringe-inducing speeches and wedding toasts.  I share below a couple examples by way of recent articles that prompted this post, with excerpts in italics:

Wall Street Journal - City Ballet A Twitter over Posts

New York City Ballet is set to become one of the country's first major performing-arts companies to govern its employees' posts on Twitter, Facebook and other social-media outlets.  And Devin Alberda, a member of the company's corps de ballet, is part of the reason why.

After news of his boss's drunk-driving arrest was made public, Mr. Alberda tweeted: "Thank goodness riding the subway while intoxicated isn't a misdemeanor offense," adding the hashtag "#dontfireme." In another tweet, he mocked a character in a production...

New York Times - When the Marketing Reach of Social Media Backfires

...what happens when behavior on social media is deemed antisocial? Two large marketers, Aflac and the Chrysler Group, are struggling to answer that uncomfortable question in the wake of incidents that took place within days of each other. The incidents, involving remarks on Twitter that were judged to be tasteless, inappropriate and insensitive, point out some inherent risks of social media.

It is interesting, because the very formality of public speaking or a press interview would normally put most people on guard; but put them in front of Facebook and Twitter, and they just blurt, oblivious of the consequences.

You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube, and I don't think anyone wants an overly scripted world in which people need handlers to tweet. I do think some form of social media training is called for, and companies that haven't done so already need to come up with and enforce reasonable social media policies.

People who tweet or blog on behalf of a company (or even if they are doing so independently, but their name is closely associated) should go through some basic training akin to media training to govern the ins and outs of social media. Some of the rules of the road may seem to be common sense, but there are many gray areas and pitfalls.

Bulldog Reporter Piece on State of PR Blogging

A Pew Research study that was in the news last week concluded that youg people are spending less time on blogs and more time on Twitter and Facebook.  This has led to some questions about the state of blogging and what this means for people in the PR field.

In my article that is in Bulldog Reporter today, I explored this topic - in brief, I argued that blogging remains relevant; but those who are involved with PR and social media need to make sure that it is just one part of an integrated strategy.

What do you think?  I urge you to visit the link, read the article and participate in the discussion.

Are You Tweeting to Me? I'm the Only One Here

The Middle East is on fire with revolution. As many news articles have documented, social media has played  a key role, e.g. dissenters have used Facebook to organize and Twitter to have their voices heard. The governments in power have responded by trying to squelch the chatter.

The Internet was supposed to be this fault tolerant, decentralized system that is not easy to defeat - yet, as the recent New York Times article reported, the Egyptian government successfully located its "off switch."

It seems that next arms race will be in cyberspace; Kelsey Judd recently wrote on the Fusion PR Forum blog about speak2tweet.

After the Egyptian government cut off the country’s Internet access, the companies Google, Twitter, and SayNow (Google’s newly acquired social-media-voice company) found a way to help the people by creating speak2tweet. It’s a cool new service that allows people to call a phone number with a message that is posted to Twitter.  The alternative service is not restricted to the normal limit of 140 characters.   Egyptian protestors used this as a tool to express their outrage and bring to light injustice... This is revolutionary because it allows people to tweet without the Internet; all they need is a voice connection.

Regarding Twitter and speech integration, there is a related story that is more about road warriors than revolutionaries.  Time Magazine wrote this week about new social media apps for car dashboards.  One example cited is Ford's AppLink:

Then there's Ford's AppLink, a new feature of the manufacturer's Sync infotainment system. A conceptual cousin of Entune, AppLink lets creators of apps for Android, BlackBerry, and iPhone handsets build software that uses Sync's display and speech capabilities rather than inducing you to futz with your phone when your eyes should be on the road... OpenBeak.. lets you listen to your Twitter feed using Sync's speech-synthesis feature.

 

As the Media Turns: Has Apple Bulldozed One Deal Too Many?

It is one of those truisms that is especially relevant in the PR world: don't pick fights with those who buy ink by the barrel. While in most cases it is electrons that are at stake these days, the principle is the same - and one that seems to be lost on Apple.

Using the same approach and sharp elbows that worked so well in music and smart phones, and in an apparent attempt to convince yet another distressed industry that rising tides of coolness and brand can lift all ships, Apple is playing hardball with publishers and media companies.

I am talking, of course, about Apple's efforts to find a mutually agreeable model for monetizing content from publishers, and this week's chapter, in which the company announced the launch of subscriptions on its App Store.  If the move was meant to appease the industry - which had complained about lack of support for subscription pricing - this has not worked, judging by the headlines.

Let's not forget, these are media companies, which all have pretty big megaphones, of course. These are the downtrodden left-behinds of the digital era, a group that has the sympathy of the public and vaunted principles of the Fourth Estate (and its status as a special and protected institution) behind them.

If Apple is helping them find a way out and show a way forward with new content platforms and monetization gambits, it is on their terms.

Did they make their latest move because they want to respond to industry conerns, or is it because others like Google are cozying up to publishers with better deals? Probably a little of both, see this post Clash of the Tech Titans: Google One Pass vs. Apple.

I have started to see some negative articles about a vendor that has always been a media darling (what a tortured relationship, this morning an NBC Today newscaster discussed possible government antitrust action Apple and almost in the same breath gushed about an Apple store coming to Grand Central Station).

Yesterday's Wall street journal article Apple Risks an iPad Backlash said: 

By playing hardball with media companies on App Store subscriptions, Apple risks a painful rebound. Few media outlets can afford to not have their mobile applications available through Apple's App Store. With the iPad, Apple has an early lead in tablets, with a 75.3% share of global tablet shipments in the fourth quarter, Strategy Analytics estimates. And while its share of smartphone shipments was only 16.1%, the iPhone is the phone of choice for many affluent consumers. But that hardly justifies Apple's terms for subscriptions sold within its App Store. The company will keep 30% of the revenues and won't automatically give publishers information about their subscribers.

Yesterday, TechCrunch ran a post Why are You Defending Apple? It said: 

As you’ve doubtless heard by now, yesterday Apple revealed its new fee structure for premium content: all apps that offer premium content outside of the App Store have to also offer it via Apple’s official in-app purchases (this includes Amazon’s Kindle) and Apple takes a 30% cut of all subscriptions...

My reaction has been one of trepidation. I don’t like where this is headed, and I think that many who consider themselves technophiles are completely dropping the ball by rationalizing what Apple has done......

I don’t like the precedents that Apple continues to set. The App Store has existed for less than three years, and Apple has been drastically changing the rules on the fly...

I don’t take issue with Apple demanding a small processing fee to handle credit card transactions, but 30% is too much, especially combined with the restriction that publishers can’t change their pricing to adjust to the tax. Not every business will be able to offset the decrease in margins with the increased purchase volume promised by one-click payments. And companies that are in the business of reselling premium content with fixed costs, like MOG or Amazon, don’t have many options… The App Store isn’t a storefront in the way that Amazon.com or Walmart are — this isn’t just an extravagant affiliate fee. We’re talking about the primary method of app distribution for one of the most important computer operating systems, ever.

Imaging Centers up their Image

I am a sucker for a good headline and a good story about PR. That is why yesterday's Wall Street Journal  article Boosting Medical Scans' Image caught my attention (it also doesn't hurt that I have three radiologists in my family and I worked as a field service rep at GE Medical Systems early in my career).

It seems that imaging centers are working hard to add amenities and become more inviting places in advance of tougher accreditation rules coming in 2012 that might drive up costs. Also, manufacturers of these systems - like my old employer - are making the scanners more patient-friendly and less intimidating.

According to the Journal:

Some hospitals are upgrading their imaging facilities, giving them a spa-like feel intended to help patients overcome fears they may have of the procedure. The Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, Ga., has added amenities like separate dressing rooms. The women's area offers warmed waffle-weave robes, household magazines and a waterfall. For men, the waiting room resembles a mountain lodge with dark teak wood, traditional robes, masculine colors and hunting and fishing magazines.

At some children's hospitals, imaging machines are decorated in an outer space, jungle theme or a "pirate island" theme to represent an "adventure" for young patients getting a scan. Advocate Hope Children's Hospital near Chicago even added Jeff Koons's artwork to a CT machine and room. Some hospitals are buying Philips Electronics NV's miniature "Kitten" scanner, which children can put a special toy through that activates a video about how the scanning process works.

This kind of reminded me of other types of establishments that became famous for turning otherwise hum drum experiences into entertainment events; theme restaurants like Rain Forest Cafe come to mind, as well as supermarkets like Stew Leonard’s here in the Northeast - they have petting zoos and talking cows in their dairy isles.

While I don't know if people will go out of their way to get a scan for entertainment value anytime soon, it seems that these changes can be good for the business of medicine, good for patients and good for the image of the profession. The article relates the experiences of one imaging center, at Northwestern Memorial Hospital:

The new equipment and facility has meant 80 patients a day are now scanned at the new clinic, up from 45 at the old clinic on the same number of machines. She says the redesigned machines mean fewer patients need sedatives to help get through the scanning procedure.

I decided to get my older brother's take; he is a radiologist, CEO at Hudson Valley Radiology Associates, and chairs various hospital and medical boards; in short, he knows the field well. 

Dr. Mark Geller said: "Imaging centers are focusing on customer service and patient satisfaction in an effort to differentiate themselves in the marketplace from their competition and in anticipation of reimbursement regulations looming in the future tied to patient satisfaction.  It is good business, plain and simple.  All of this is good for patients and referring physicians.  The unfortunate part in all of this is the assumption that quality of care is the same everywhere.  That is simply not the case.  Making a care decision purely based on amenities may not be in the patient's best interest.  My counsel would be to shop quality first (equipment, doctors, technical and support staff), and then, all things being equal thereafter, chose your provider based on service metrics and ambiance."

1 Space, 2 Space, Red Face, Blue Face (Slate Rants on Punctuation and Brings PR into Fray)

My job as a senior manager at a PR agency requires me to do a fair amount of editing and writing.

Yet I am an engineer by education, and my training in these things has been mostly on-the-job (see my previous post about tips for effective writing). I am a believer in the importance of getting these things right; but am not nearly as strict and excitable as some others are when it comes to grammar and style.

Yes I am sure you have all run across the grammar taskmaster, an interesting and amusing breed (often unintenionally funny, as they tend to be rather humorless).  This is a long way of pointing out an article in Slate that my colleague Heather sent to me.  It rails against the practice of uisng two spaces after the period in a sentence.

I have heard arguments for both sides. Writing for Slate, Farhrad Manjoo makes a pretty convincing case for one space (I always though that using two makes the text look a little less cramped).  The article brings PR into the fray as a-two spaces offender.  Here is an excerpt:

Can I let you in on a secret? Typing two spaces after a period is totally, completely, utterly, and inarguably wrong.And yet people who use two spaces are everywhere, their ugly error crossing every social boundary of class, education, and taste.* You'd expect, for instance, that anyone savvy enough to read Slate would know the proper rules of typing, but you'd be wrong; every third e-mail I get from readers includes the two-space error. (In editing letters for "Dear Farhad," my occasional tech-advice column, I've removed enough extra spaces to fill my forthcoming volume of melancholy epic poetry, The Emptiness Within.) The public relations profession is similarly ignorant; I've received press releases and correspondence from the biggest companies in the world that are riddled with extra spaces.

A very interesting and informative article, but not a quick read - did Farhad need to (ahem) use so much space to make the point?

 

Flack's Revenge cited as Top PR Blog

The frown from my "oh well, back at my desk again" post New Year's blues has turned into a smile as I realized this morning why I suddenly have a bunch of new Twitter followers.

Paul Roberts included Flack's Revenge in his roundup of top PR blogs (and mentioned my Twitter name as well). 

I am in very good company, and am extremely honored to have made Paul's list (he says in his post that I often beat him to the punch on topics; Paul, if it is any consolation, I'd venture to say that there are just as many times when you are out in front of me).

Paul's blog is a great read, it should have been on the list (altough I guess it would not be good form to nominate yourself), I have enjoyed the bliog and Twitter exchanges with Paul and often retweet his stuff.

Thanks, Paul and look forward to continuing the collaboration.

Good PR and Diplomatic Cable Writing: Not so Different

People who read this blog might expect to see some dark humor here that relates to the title of the post and the WikiLeaks imbroglio.

Well, I think SNL did a pretty good job of that over the weekend,with their sendup of TMZ and Weekend Update segments on the topic (above), and I don't think I could do better, although it is tempting to try.

No, this post is about something I take quite seriously: writing. An article in the New York Times yesterday shared writing tips about diplomatic cables that the reporter thought could apply equally well to cub reporters; similarly, I believe that the PR field can learn something from them as well.

Here, the topic is about writing in a way that is interesting and commands attention

Richard E. Hoagland, the ambassador to Kazakhstan, thinks good cable-writing is so essential that he has written a guide for junior diplomats, “Ambassador’s Cable Drafting Tips.” Many of the tips would be familiar to any cub reporter trying to get an editor to bite on a story.

“The trick is to catch readers’ attention,” he advises. “The first three to five words are all they will see in their electronic queue.”

His specific recommendations? Avoid flabby writing, citing as a typically egregious example any memo that starts: “ ‘The ambassador used the opportunity of the meeting to raise the issue of’...”

On the importance of telling a good story:

And work on storytelling: “Despite what some in Washington will tell you, there is nothing at all wrong with colorful writing, as long as it communicates something.” But he adds a caveat: “Cute writing is never acceptable — cute is for toddlers, not for professional diplomats.”

Mr. Hoagland, who accompanied Mrs. Clinton to meetings this week, declined to discuss the substance of the leaked cables. But he was happy to discuss style. As a general rule, he said he instructs staff members to think like journalists. “Not everything we churn out is great writing,” he said, “but we try to keep up the standards.”