Deirdre Breakenridge

I read a really good article in O’Dwyers PR Report, the March 2009 Food, Beverage & Nutrition PR Issue. The article written by Danielle Pagano, “Celebrity food: turning chefs into rock stars” discussed how in PR, having a good solid product sometimes isn’t enough. There’s a tremendous opportunity, especially today with PR 2.0 and social media communications to make a real personal connection with people. The article provides a recipe for turning a chef into a rock star in a 4-step process: the look, the philosophy, the trend and the show.

feel very connected to my social networking sites. First, there’s Twitter. I check Twitter in the early morning, I’m tweeting most of the day (unless I’m in meetings or it’s the weekend with family) and then I’m logged back in at night to tweet with friends. My second favorite social networking site is Facebook. There’s so much to do and many interesting ways to engage in conversation. And, even though I liked the old Facebook better, I’m still a big fan. I also enjoy sharing photos on Flickr and I’m finding more people to connect with on FriendFeed and Plaxo. But, there’s one social networking site that deserves recognition. What about LinkedIn? Well that’s a very good question.

This is my first video blog.  Please let me know what you think.  Thanks!

Yesterday was the official launch of my 4th book published by Pearson, Putting the Public Back in Public Relations, co-authored by Brian Solis. This is the first time that I worked on a year-long writing project with Brian, who is not only a pleasure to work with but he enriched the process and made this a wonderful and thought-provoking experience for me (Thank you, Brian). Every page of this book illustrates our passion for public relations, social media and technology, and how PR 2.0 is reshaping a well established, century-old industry.

What steps are you taking to understand the culture in a social network before you engage?

In order to truly be a PR 2.0 champion for your organization, it starts with your personal involvement in web communities. I believe you have to take off your marketing hat and become a trusted peer. Ask yourself the following questions …

I’ve been writing books on how public relations has evolved with the advent of the Internet since the late 90′s and as a PR professional, I have launched my fair share of books written by others since the late 80′s. When I compare launch strategies and tactics from 1989 and 1999, to what I’m doing today, it’s enough to make me stop and reflect. Both technology and marketing have become so savvy and one-to-one marketing/PR is the only way to launch a book in The Long Tail.

I posted an article on Twitter the other day about bloggers accepting gifts and how there was controversy over the topic. The article in PR Week focused on how paid blogger coverage received mixed reviews. This question has been weighing on my mind so I decided to ask a few PR professionals their opinions on the subject. I found out, as I spoke with these communications people, it’s a split decision as to whether bloggers receiving gifts should be and accepted practice. Just to preface the opinions written on this page, the folks commenting are not aware of any formal Code of Ethics in the blogosphere that includes the practice of gift giving to bloggers.