Ken Silverstein from Harper’s has done some undercover work for a story he’s written on Washington DC’s lobbyists.
As part of his research for the story he posed as a representative of a UK business with interests in Turkmenistan and contacted a few firms.
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Has anyone thought about the implications for our business when we migrate our shoddier media relations practices to the wider general public in the interest of the “art of conversation”?
I think we need to invest in some datebases, some collaboration software and some common sense.
There’s a drinks company in Europe that has the slogan “nothing added but time”. The inference of course being that time, is the most valuable element of all.
Time, it could be argued, is the single most important element when considering the impact of Web 2.0.
Time is scarce and incredibly valuable, and as our world continues to move more quickly it is becoming more valuable every day.
This is a theme, Neville discussed in last Friday’s For Immediate Release podcast (which has now passed the 250 mark – so Shel and Neville clearly have some secret sauce when it comes to time management).
I don’t know about you, but for me effective time management is becoming the most valuable skill of all.
The world of “social media”, “Web 2.0” etc. is creating new issues and this is where we need to start looking at the realities of the growth of online media.
For example, if you haven’t already read Brian Solis’ post on new media, I recommend it. Also take some time to check out Trevor Cook‘s updated paper on Social Media.
The thing that strikes me from reading both is the volume. There’s more and more “stuff”. In addition, much of this “stuff” doesn’t replace what we already have, instead its an adjunct.
My problem is that there’s a hard limit on how much more I can do. There are only a limited number of minutes in the day. I have a day job and a family.
Unless something is interesting, compelling or essential, it’s not going to weasle it’s way into an already full schedule.
That’s why I maintain we are at the early stages of this move online. A lot of these tools and services will die/change. And while I think you should absolutely dabble and explore, unless it’s key to your professional life, I’d take the pragmatic root.
Look at social networking. There’s loads of activity on Facebook (at the moment) so it’s worth keeping an eye on. LinkedIn, a much maligned service, is useful because it’s low maintenance. Although they’d love you to tinker with it and spam the world with invites, the reality is that set up is easy and you get alerted when one of your contacts changes jobs etc. That’s very useful.
Myspace/Bebo etc. well I’m a long time out of college. The reality is that I am incredibly selective where I invest my time.
I read RSS feeds, I read blogs, listen to (the odd) podcast, I tinker on Facebook for a few minutes here and there, post to Twitter once in every second blue moon and read updates from LinkedIn. Oh and the OnlinePR social network which now has over 50 members!
But I have hard limits.
I have always preached a pragmatic, don’t drink the Kool Aid approach. No change there. But with time becoming an even more valuable asset, decisions on investing it, become vital.
Social media, Web 2.0 will become more important – and in all probability will become a core part of your Public Relations jobs – but be careful how you engage with it.
Social media – there’s nothing to invest by time… 🙂
Apologies for the dearth of writing recently. My real life has been a little busy.
Is it just me or has Face Book taken off in a big way (outside the realms of US students)? I seem to be getting a load of requests recently.
It’s funny when “young” (for young now read sub-30 – how depressing is that?) discover that I’m on Facebook.
They are amazed.
And I know their “amazement” is along the lines of: “what’s an old geezer like you doing on Facebook?”.
Now that’s depressing.
My SONIDS is showing no sign of abating.
Attending the Delivering the New PR 2.0 conference in London today.
Philip is currently talking about the results from the Euroblog research project.
Some headlines:
Looking forward to a long weekend and then off to London for the latest installment of the “Delivering the New PR 2.0” series on Tuesday.
It takes place at the Marriott Hotel, Regents Park, London from 9.30am.
You can find more information in the online brochure here.
As always the usual crew will be present and accounted for:Philip Young; Neville Hobson; Stuart Bruce; and Chris Rushton.
Already feeling tired and over worked?
You’ll probably need some rest after reading Steve’s post.
Elsewhere I’ve you are in PR and you have an RSS Reader you’ve no doubt heard of, or read Guy Kawasaki’s post on the top ten reasons PR doesn’t work and the follow up post on doing your own PR.
There’s reams of commentary on these posts so I’ll skip the detailed analysis. Couple of thoughts. I think the posts oversimplify the problem and the solution, in fact the comments probably make for more interesting reading. One last thought: PR stands for PUBLIC Relations.
[Brian Solis has a written a detailed follow up on why PR mightn’t work and how to fix it].
Apologies for the radio blog silence. Travel, work and parenting has been keeping me pre-occupied recently.
I think I am beginning to suffer from SONIDS, a very new condition I’ve just named. I am wondering is it just me who has multiple orphaned social networking and application accounts?
At risk of ruining my already flagging web 2.0 credibility, I don’t visit most of these sites and I haven’t invested any time into building my “community”.
[There are exceptions such as my favourite PR social networking site which now has 47 members – ahem]
Some are better than others, I’ve quite a few links at LinkedIn, but at others like Facebook, MySpace etc. I am at the “socially inept/lack of personal hygiene” level of membership. This is fine I’m OK with it. Until that is I get an e-mail telling me someone has connected with me.
That’s when SONIDS sets in.
Should I try and do a better job at Social Networking?
Should I be building a “community”?
Do I have to use a username or my e-mail?
What’s the password?
Eh… nope that’s not it.
nope…
Maybe the password is in the confirmation e-mail.
Hurrah!
Nope… I had to change it… damn.
The stress of it all…. no matter what they say everything carries a price 🙂
I’m in Seattle this week and now I’ve remembered why I’ve been avoiding using Heathrow as my US connection.
You see I’ve written before about the pitfalls of parents not spending a little more time choosing kids’ names.
One of my thousands of namesakes is, how do I put this nicely, not very popular with the UK government. As a result whenever I am booked on a US flight out of London there’s a red flag on my ticket. Normally this is dealt with at check-in, when it becomes apparent I am a different Tom Murphy to the one they don’t like. It takes about 15 minutes, a couple of phone calls and then I’m on my way.
I had forgotten this rigmarole this morning as I landed in Heathrow (after a delay), ran back through security – “sir you’ll have to put that plastic bag inside your briefcase you’re only allowed one bag through security” – huh? – ran to the connections desk, got a boarding pass, ran to the bus, on to Terminal 4, just in time for boarding and then as I hand my boarding card in I am asked to sit quietly to the side. After a couple of phone calls I get the all clear and they apologize and tell me that they have to check as there are multiples of the same name on the flight. Now I know this is hogwash, but that’s OK, no big deal.
Also I should point out that all the BA staff were incredibly pleasant. I just wish my parents had called my Ziggy.
There’s nothing like ten hours on a plane in the middle of the middle section. Mmmm cosy…
Murphy's Law 