As I was working on my New Year’s resolutions, I came up with the “4Fs” to help guide my accomplishments in the 2012.  The 4Fs include: Fix it, Focus, Forward thinking and Fire it up (with Follow through).  My video details the 4Fs and how you can use them to stay on track with goals in the New Year.  I hope you’re all working on your New Year’s resolutions to make 2012 the best year yet. I look forward to many more exciting discussions and continued learning in 2012. Happy New Year!

I’m kicking off a PR guest blogger series on October 3, 2011.  Several of my blogger friends have offered to help out while I’m working on a new project, which I’ll be sharing soon.  I’m excited to announce the names of my blogger friends …

When it comes to recording and editing videos, I’m lucky to have a Macbook Pro.  I use iMovie to capture and edit my videos before I upload them to YouTube.  However, many PR and marketing professionals don’t have a Mac and they’re using PCs. With the increasing demand for interactive video content and many of us starting to do our own vlogs, the need for a quick and easy video solution grows.

I was really excited to see that YouTube recently launched a quick solution for PR and marketing professionals that want to dabble in editing by fine tuning the videos they upload to their own channels or to their brands’ channels.  Here’s how it works. Once you upload your video to YouTube, you have a choice of whether or not you want to edit.  There’s good news for those who want to experiment. You can change the audio, saturation, contrast, lighting, etc., and if you’re unhappy with your changes, you can revert back to the original version of the video you first uploaded.

I decided to play around with some of the settings to see if it made a difference in the quality of the video.  The first new feature I tried was the “Stabilize” feature, which is great if you use a hand held device to take your video footage. It removes any shaky camera motions. You’re also able to change your video to capture different effects.  For example, you can change your video to Black & White, Sepia, Lomo-ish and Cartoon, to name a few of the effect options.  I liked the Lomo-ish effect (high contrast) for a crisp and more colorful image.

Other editing features include Fill Light, Saturation, Contrast and Color Temperature. This was a trial and error process where you can move the selection bar on each editing function to a +1 or -1 to achieve the look that you like.  There’s also a handy little button that says, “I’m Feeling Lucky,” which is a quick and easy way to fix the lighting and color.  For me, this was the best bet that led to a more finished looking product.

Here is a screenshot of one of my videos.  You can tell the original version on the left is a bit lackluster, and not as colorful as the edited video on the right.  For this video I used the “I’m Feeling Lucky,” feature.

Now, there are no excuses for PR and marketing professionals.  It’s getting easier to capture the videos and you can edit them for better quality.  Have you checked out the YouTube editing features yet and if so, what did you think?

I’ve been busy with “marketing agency life” for the last 20 years.  I took a brief break for some in-house PR, but it didn’t last for long.  Whether you’re working at an agency owned by someone else or you’re running and managing your own company, it requires a tremendous amount of energy, flexibility and dedication to the agency. Long hours and weekends were the norm, but I loved every minute of it.  Today marks a new point in my career; it’s the day that I turn the page, and I close the marketing agency chapter.  I’m very excited to announce my new business venture, Pure Performance Communications, which is a communications and technology consulting firm.

A little bit about how my new company came to fruition: Pure Performance, Inc. (the parent company) is a technology consulting firm that was founded in 1994 to help organizations with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and website strategy, design, and development. Seeing the need to fuse communications and innovative technology, the company launched a new subsidiary company, Pure Performance Communications.  Our goal is to help organizations visualize a better approach to communication that leads to deeper levels of engagement, both internally and with the public.

I’ve immersed myself in technology for years and I’ve devoted my career to educating other PR and marketing professionals regarding innovative communications and how technology facilitates the great collaborative communication that we experience today.  It was a natural progression for me to move toward consulting at this point in my career.  The new company specializes in PR, marketing and social media strategy and collaborative technology consulting.   I’ll also be able to continue my passion for teaching through speaking engagements, workshops and in-house training sessions for organizations.

A few of my colleagues asked me if I was going to miss the marketing agency life.  To answer the question: it will be a good change.  Although I thrived in the high stress environment and I also enjoyed working with numerous creative teams to develop and implement PR and marketing programs, it’s time to move forward. I want to devote the next 20+ years of my career to guiding companies strategically to convert their marketing messages into communication that delivers more powerful connections and better relationships.  Of course, I will also continue on my quest for knowledge. The more I can learn about communications and technology, the more I can give back to my industry and to the many people who have supported me along the way.

I hope you will join me as I turn the page and celebrate the launch of Pure Performance Communications, my new consulting venture!

Here’s our SMR announcement and my video explaining the PURE approach:

On September 21, 2011, I’ll be participating in the TEKGROUP Online Newsroom Summit to discuss how newsrooms have changed from static areas of a website to interactive and socialized newsrooms.  The evolution also includes how companies are using their newsroom for web disclosure, meeting the updated requirements of Regulation FD in 2008.  Today’s newsroom allow you to not only build stronger relationships with journalists and bloggers but also deliver meaningful information to the public.  I hope you will join me on the 21st for this free and informative webinar!

I was interviewed for a virtual event called the Future of Media: Radical Integration presented by Cision, which will take place on August 23, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. ET. The question I was asked: how important is owned media in the marketing mix today; an interesting question for PR professionals, as our focus has been on relationships that result in earned media. My question and many others will be answered to show how PR and media is evolving. The event has 30 experts and 15 questions, all in one hour. I hope you will tune in to what I think will be a very informative hour. Here’s a link to register and my video about the event.

http://futureofearnedmedia.com/

Because this week is the #PRStudChat ‘Social Good’ session, I wanted to share information about another event for a really good cause.  The #BlueKey Tweetathon is a Twitter event beginning today at 9:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. ET, to help support the USA for UNHCR’s campaign to raise awareness about the refugee crisis and to urge Americans to speak out for refugees.

As a Blue Key Champion, I’m happy to take part in a program that will use Twitter to increase knowledge about a serious issue that needs attention.  Did you know that at the end of 2009, approximately 43.3 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide?  This is the highest number of people uprooted by conflict and persecution since the mid-1990s.

The needs of refugees continue to grow worldwide.  According to the UN Refugee Agency’s Global Trends Report many of those uprooted by conflict within their own country grew by 4 percent to 27.1 million, which is largely the result of persistent conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia. In addition, there are an estimated 26 million people (which breaks down to approximately 10.4 million refugees and about 15.6 million internally displaced persons) who were receiving protection or assistance from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), an increase of one million people over 2008.  Lastly, among the large number of people displaced by conflict, women and girls represented 47 percent of all refugees and asylum seekers.

If you’d like to get involved, you can join the #BlueKey Tweetathon to raise awareness by following the hashtag on Twitter, as well as the @UNRefugeeAgency handle.  In addition, there are many other Blue Key Champions to follow.  You can check out the participating champions on the UN Refugees Facebook page.  I’m especially excited that “Kite Runner” author Khaled Hosseini’s wife, Roya, will be joining the Tweetathon at 10:00 a.m. Pacific/1:00 p.m. ET.

You can also get the word out about the USA for UNHCR campaign with a few simple tweets:

• For just $5, your #BlueKey could help @UNRefugeeAgency save a life. Get your key today: http://ow.ly/5d4VC
• Did you know that there are more than 43 million refugees worldwide?http://ow.ly/5d54i Your $5 #BlueKey could open a new door for them.
• “Kite Runner” author Khaled Hosseini says “anyone can be a refugee” http://ow.ly/5d59P Your $5 #BlueKey could help change that. Get it today!

I hope you will join in the USA for UNHCR #BlueKey Tweetathon to help spread the word about the refugee crisis, and together through our Twitter communities, we can make a difference.

Get your Blue Key today!

When it comes to PR and managing the reputation of the brand, it’s important to be proactive by setting the proper systems in place.  The Social Media Gatekeeper System is a great way to keep social media managed and under the guidance of the organization.  It’s a preventative measure, should employees who initially set up social sites leave the company unexpectedly.

Here’s my video with information on the Gatekeeper system.  Hope your Gatekeeper System is in place, so that you are managing social communications properly within your company.