Today, conferences and events take on a PR 2.0 approach by promoting engagement long before the conference begins. Participants are encouraged to get to know the speakers and form relationships with other attendees prior to registration in the physical setting. Rich Teplitsky and I are the co-chairs of the PRSA T3PR Strategic Views on Technology and the Changing PR Landscape Conference in New York City on June 11th. Our approach and goal for this conference is to let everyone engage through social media before the event, and get the conversations going so that we’re all comfortable IRL (in real life).  We want this program to be more intimate; when everyone meets in person, it should feel as if we’re old friends.

I’ve been to many conferences with large numbers of people.  You shuffle from room to room and barely have a moment to interact. Maybe you see a few faces that you recognize here and there but most are unfamiliar. The information is great, but it’s always better if you feel you have a personal connection to the people speaking and to the people around you.  Wouldn’t it be great to walk up to a group of people and jump into the discussion because this was the very topic you were talking about with them on Twitter?  Or, approaching the presenter after a session and rather than introducing yourself for the first time, you’re actually adding a few more comments to an ongoing dynamic discussion that was started a few weeks ago.

For this very reason, the T3PR Conference is holding a pre- event chat on May 24^th at 3:00 p.m. EDT (using the #techprsa hashtag).  Our speakers have graciously agreed to participate to get to know attendees better, for them to interact with one another and to offer an inside look at what’s to come.  Thanks to @prsarahevans, @missusP, @jacobm and @eschipul, the conference participants and/or anyone interested in Strategic Views on Technology will dive into conference topics and be able to interact with the speakers one-on-one.

We’ll spend an hour answering questions geared toward the various speakers’ presentations and allow our speakers to provide their insights.  We’re hoping to get a very dynamic discussion started. Then, we’ll take these conversations to New York City and continue them beyond 140 characters, in a more personal conference setting. Strategic Views on Technology and the Changing PR Landscape is you and your PR technology challenges.  So, bring your questions to the chat session and then talk to us more when we meet you in person.

Hope you join in the chat session on the 24^th.  I’ll “see” you then!

For those of you who don’t know Adam, he is a PR consultant with more than 10 years experience on both sides of the globe.  His career has included stints with Hill & Knowlton in both Australia and the UK, managing PR for the Australia cricket team, and currently is a consultant at London-based Paratus Communications (www.paratuscommunications.com) where he is increasingly blending traditional media with social / digital channels.

Adam launched his own Blog, The Comms Corner in November 2009 to look at the evolution of PR on the back of the surge in social / new media adoption, while passing on some advice / help along the way.  As part of this ‘journey’ he decided to give up newspapers for 12 months from January 1, 2010, to see what a ‘newspaper-less’ life would be like…

Here is my Q&A with Adam:

Q1:  How did you come up with the idea/experiment to stop reading newspapers for an entire year?

It was New Year’s Eve and I was doing some pre-party shopping with a friend. On the way back the train station I spotted a newsstand, had some spare change in my pocket and bought a copy of The Sun (the UK’s most popular daily).  We got talking about New Year’s resolutions on the journey back (while I paid more attention to my paper, obviously) before I jokingly said: “Wouldn’t it be funny if I gave up newspapers for a year.”  After initially laughing it off, I thought there might be something in it, especially due to the timing.  The year 2009 had been an incredibly tumultuous year for print media, with bad news about its future becoming an all to regular occurrence.  But, as far as I could tell (based on a quick search), these worrying forecasts were predominantly based on quantitative indicators as opposed to qualitative ones.

Upon further investigation, I couldn’t find anyone (from a media-related field) who had ever done something similar and chronicled the experience.  Time was ticking at this stage and I had to get ready for my NYE party so I had one last flick through that copy of The Sun, took a deep breath and said goodbye to newspapers for 365 days…hoping (aka praying!) that my little sacrifice would be worth it…

Q2: Do you think the experiment is harder or easier than you expected it to be?

Like any ‘habit’ it has been a very difficult one to break.  For as long as I can remember, my day has started with a newspaper (or two), another one or two over lunch and then another one on the way home. That’s maybe an hour of newspapers a day?  So to begin with, the tangible / physical element of the experiment was incredibly challenging (represented by the video I shot during week two http://thecommscorner.blogspot.com/2010/01/mission-impossible-avoiding-newspapers.html).  Once I dealt with my ‘separation’ issues, the intangible challenges came to the surface, most significantly being the ‘narrowing’ of knowledge I feel I am experiencing.

I’m just not taking in the same breadth of news as I was, which no matter how you look at it, can only be a negative thing.  I could also argue that it has been easier than I expected because it’s been exactly 50 days since I read a paper and I haven’t come close to caving in…yet.

Q 3: Now that you are not reading newspapers, what is your next best source for news and information?

People, definitely, followed by Twitter, Google Reader and All Top. My BlackBerry has also become even more integral in my news gathering routine, making the most of apps / sites that deliver news straight to my handset.  The one that has surprised me has been breakfast radio – my initial plan was to religiously listen to the radio each morning as their programmes are essentially dictated by each morning’s papers, which would mean I’d get my fix that way.

But, I haven’t done that as much as I thought. I’ll try and catch some breakfast TV if I can, but it has mainly been people – either in person or via Twitter / Social Media – that have filled the void thus far.

Q4 – How do you feel about the subscription based newspaper model?  Do you think that would help newspapers to be more profitable and would consumers adopt this model?

The experiment has confirmed one fear I had from the very start: by taking newspapers out of the equation, quality would be replaced by quantity.  So, from that perspective, I’d happily be a poster child for Rupert Murdoch and the subscription-based model.  But would the average consumer see it that way? I’m not so sure.  The best indication I think we have is the way music is obtained / consumed.  For guaranteed high quality music, you’d head straight to iTunes and happily pay what the ‘product’ is worth.  If quality is not a factor for you, a method of obtaining music without paying (i.e. via a file sharing client) is probably the way you’d go.  @TrevorYoung shared a term with me recently which, for me, sums up it up really nicely: we are experiencing a ‘niche-ification’ of media consumption at present, and subscription-based models are just one element of this evolution.

Q5 Would you ever consider a year without consumer magazines, books or trade publications?  How hard/easy do you think this experiment would be?

Great question and easy to answer…for me.  I think I could get by without magazines and trade publications, but I think I’d really struggle without books.  Actually, to be more specific, I couldn’t live without books about people. I read Michael J Fox’s biography, Lucky Man, at least once a year to remind myself of how lucky I am. I’ll reach for High Concept, the biography of the now deceased Hollywood producer, Don Simpson, to remind myself of the perils of excess.

Without being too over-the-top, there’s no way I’d be who I am today without the influence of the books I’ve read over the years.  As people, the one thing we have in common, is life’s ‘journey’ and nothing can give you that perspective like a book can…or as I’m finding, newspapers for that matter!

Here are a few things off the a very large event “To Do” but it gives you a sense of what needed to be list accomplished back in 2000:

• Develop event micro site
• Send out a “Save the Date” via email
• Develop e-vites / RSVP date
• Distribution of save the date and invitation to approved list
• Follow-up by telephone to secure attendance
• Develop launch promotion simultaneously with invitation
  • E-blasts
  • Newsletter e-mailing
  • Event postcard
  • Update promo page on site
• Media alert with event details
• News release prior to event and post event release to capture the key highlights of the launch/photo opportunities
• Develop media package
• Small gifts for event attendees
• Reminder e-mail one week prior
• Prepare Presentation/Signs/Visuals
• Photographer to take event photos
• Follow up survey for event participants

There were other “To Dos” on the list but this pretty much captured my agency’s thinking back in 2000.  This list would look significantly different for a 2010 event.  Today, you would see much more social media thinking in your event planning and community building to engage your event participants, long before the program takes place (not to mention afterward too).  What would today’s checklist look like?  Here are a few things I’d put on the list. Feel free to add more!

Social Engagement Event Checklist

• Set up a Ning site and invite people to create up profiles and participate.
• Use eventbrite.com for invitations and RSVPs

• Create videos about the event and share them on YouTube (also embed them into your blog, Facebook, etc.) and with conference speakers and bloggers who may be interested in attending.
• Use a Social Media Release (SMR) to let everyone know the details about the event and to give a glimpse into some of the topics, speakers, etc. and then share it in your social communities.
• Set up live streaming for the event (ustream.com).
• Develop an event badge or widget for download.
• Encourage participants to ask the speakers questions prior to the event to get the discussion going and to see what interests the audience for better participation the day of the program.
• Ask your speakers to blog about the event and to discuss their topics (to give participants and potential guests an idea of what the session will encompass).
• Ask speakers or special guests to share event updates within their social networks.
• Create Twitter hashtags around the event and get the discussion going before the day of the event.  Hashtags should be used during and after the program too.
• Designate a member of the event committee to tweet during the conference using the hashtag.
• Take pictures (twitpics) and tweet them out during the event for people to share.
• Set up an event group or fan page on Facebook to share information photos and video from the event.

This list looks very different than our list from 2000.  Ten years ago we weren’t thinking about the importance of community and participation, and how true engagement and building a community around events leads to success.  What types of strategy do you put in place to capture your audience and to keep them interested and coming back for more events?  I’ll be discussing this on February 6^th.  Hope to see you at Event Camp (or at least virtually there)!

To support our New Year Celebration, the Gift of Learning and to thank everyone involved, #PRStudChat is going to recognize its community with special gifts based on learning.  There will be gifts of learning for everyone (because that’s what we’re all doing – sharing and learning together).  We’ll be announcing the special prizes the day of the chat session.

We don’t want the feeling of thanks and appreciation to go unnoticed.  The Holidays are a time to celebrate those people and relationships that are special and #PRStudChat has helped us to develop so many.  Valerie and I want to recognize all of the devoted participants, who have helped us to build a strong community and also give thanks to several of our special guests over the past several sessions:

@briansolis

@missusp

@ssmirnov

@laermer

@heatherhuhman

@alecjr

@rupertmike,

@dhutson

@angelahernandez

@davidspinks

@amybp

Along with our special guests, we would like to highlight some of the participants who have made special contributions to the group, including Heather Whaling, @PRtini, winner of the Putting the Public Back in Public Relations giveaway for the comment most retweeted, and all of the students and educators who participated in the #PRStudChat Student Chat Challenge. Congratulations again to the winning school, University of Maryland, led by Brooke Fisher Liu, Assistant Professor of Public Relations (@bfliu)

I also want to personally thank Valerie for her hard work, energetic participation and incredible devotion to #PRStudChat.  She’s been a tremendous asset in making our community thrive and grow.

As we move forward in 2010, it’s important to remember that #PRStudChat is based on a community that learns and grows together.  I’m learning from all of the members, whether they are students, professionals and/or educators.  None of us are experts and I personally steer away from that word.  I’m sure I’m not alone when I say, “Together we have the opportunity to learn even more.”  We’re fortunate to learn through the sum of our parts, which is a far greater experience.

When Brian Solis gave his keynote at the April 30th 2009 PRSA Digital Impact Conference, he discussed how the world of social media is evolving so rapidly that even the “gurus” are in a perpetual state of learning.  He stressed that there are no experts yet, just students.

I agree with Brian, and for me, #PRStudChat has been a fantastic experience to meet, discuss and build relationships with new friends.  It’s more than just a monthly discussion; it’s a group of passionate people who talk everyday about a common interest.  It’s people who believe in public relations and want the very best for the profession.  In the New Year, we will have good reason to carry on the celebration.  We should continue to be thankful for the abundant amount of information that’s available to our community, and keep giving back by sharing with one another.

By participating in #PRStudChat you are contributing to the gift of learning…for everyone involved. If you have not already done so, I encourage you to join the #PRStudChat LinkedIn Group to help keep connected to the group between chats. Thank you for a tremendous 2009 and get ready to learn even more in 2010!

• Personality
• Body language
• Ease of use and editing
• Story telling
• The short attention span

Review my top reasons and share with me why you’re using video and how it’s helpin you with your social media programs.

The discussion began with a simple question: How does Social Media change PR?  I immediately discussed how the approach to communication changes and how Social Media allows us to have conversations directly with consumers and other important stakeholders.  It’s really the human conversations and connections that are so important (a one-to-one strategy rather than the broadcast messaging of the past).  It was very interesting to hear the reaction from my new friend who said, “I can tell you are a PR person because you have very ‘thoughtful’ answers.”  We discussed how social media and conversations are raw.  The blogosphere is filled with passionate dialog and flows with information.  I laughed and said, “Yes, I know, I’m working on my raw.”

The statement is so true!  As PR professionals, we are trained to think, be concise and thoughtful and give the “appropriate” answer.  Social media is the exact opposite. It can be very raw, which is representative of human nature and interaction.  It’s a challenge to work in an industry for 20 + years and to one day realize that the approach you took for so long has completely changed, as a result of the social media landscape.

But, in order for PR professionals to stay in tune with the marketplace, help their brands to achieve growth and to be successful in their own industry, they have to embrace Social Media.  It’s time to explore different approaches and get out of our comfort zones.  Now, I completely understand that there is a happy medium between the “thoughtful” PR answers and the Social Media “raw” of today.  We just need to find that balance and, then, Social Media will help us to truly connect and develop the kind of relationships with our influencers that we have touted for years.

Here are some photos from the book signing event.  There was no shortage of laughter and/or great conversations:

Getting Social IRL Pictures

I leave you with a couple of questions to ponder:  Are you getting the most out of Social Media and are you working on your “raw?”

Perspectives on Branding

But, there’s another outstanding reason, different than any other interview in my career.  The series is based on various perspectives on a number of diverse topics (delivered in the form of questions).  Perspectives on Branding gives two very different points of view for each question; one from a marketing/branding agency expert who answers a question and the other from a branding expert, on the client/customer, side answering the same question.

Here’s a taste of my interview answering the question: What’s the role of PR in establishing and promoting a brand?

PR serves many functions for brands that want to increase awareness, manage reputations and build relationships with key stakeholders.  Although companies have valued PR for years, they do more so today because PR is one of the strongest tools in their interactive marketing arsenals.  Communication professionals have learned that the new PR 2.0 landscape allows a brand to interact one-on-one through social media tools including RSS, podcasting, streaming video, blogging and social networking, to name a few.  These 2.0 resources enable brands to talk directly with customers, prospects, media, and of course, new influencers or bloggers.

PR 2.0 is not a new principle.  As a matter of fact it’s been around for over a decade.  It’s only recently that a tremendous focus on enhanced Web 2.0 collaborative applications allow professionals to fully take advantage of the communications resources available in web communities.  Pre-Web 2.0, brands were using PR to go through the media and other important groups as credible third party endorsers.  Today, not only are professionals able to develop those relationships (for example, using 2.0 sharing tools to help journalists build their stories with social media releases – the SMR), but they are also able to interact with new influencers or bloggers in ways that were never possible and with more reach and impact.

However, bloggers, like other influencers, have expectations too.  Similar to media relations and a PR person’s approach to media outreach, there are rules of engagement with new influencers.  Brands can engage with bloggers to increase brand awareness and build relationships that lead to endorsements, however, you can’t just jump right into their conversations.  It’s very important to listen first, to hear what your influencers are talking about and what interests them, and then provide meaningful information or communication that they can then share with their followers or members of their communities.  In many cases, these very influencers are the people who buy a brand’s products/services. Because social media allows sharing in communities, brands are reaching people directly and can listen, learn, interact or engage in new ways to build awareness and brand loyalty through a great experience.

There’s more to the interview, so if you want to read the rest of my answer or to find out the other perspective from the client/customer side, then you will have to read the Perspectives on Branding book!

Using your expert branding perspective how would you answer the question, “What role does PR play in establishing and promoting a brand? And, is your perspective on the agency or the client/customer side?

So, here’s my take on approaching the complex yet critical function of measurement.  The easiest way to provide you with info is to take an excerpt from Chapter 18: A New Guide to Metrics from mine and Brian Solis’ book, “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations“  Hope this excerpt helps you to keep track of the conversations:

You can use these tools to automatically track conversations in addition to searching individual social networks:

Google Alerts-A free service that monitors Google, Google News, Google Blogsearch, and Google Images for your predefined keywords and sends an alert when they appear online.

Radian6-A commercial suite of Social Media tools to track, analyze, and engage in conversations, and to measure and report trends based on keywords and topics. Radian6 monitors all forms of Social Media, including blogs, top video-sharing and social-networking sites, forums, opinion and review sites, image-sharing sites, microblogging sites, and online mainstream media.

BuzzLogic-A commercial service that identifies influential online discussions on any topic, enabling marketers to better target their stories and insight to both opinion leaders and the engaged readers who follow them.

Nielsen BuzzMetrics-A commercial service that measures consumer-generated media (CGM, a.k.a. user-generated content or UGC) and online word-of-mouth to help companies understand and track conversations.

Social networks and microcommunities-Every social network includes a search box that enables you to search for conversations and activity related to keywords. For example, conversations taking place in Facebook, Plurk, MySpace, BackType, DIGG, YouTube, and public customer forums will most likely go unnoticed in any of these automated listening tools. It’s important that you search these services manually, especially if they’ve been identified as hotspots for discussions about your brand in the original listening audit. See the next chapter for a full list of services.

Blogpulse Conversation by Nielsen BuzzMetrics-A free tool for assembling, tracking, and messaging threaded conversations and memes. When a blogger publishes a post and other bloggers link to it, the original post (seed) creates a thread or meme, which extends with every new post that links back to the original.

Remember, because Social Media is rooted in conversations, participation, and engagement, measurement also includes the other areas I mentioned in the last post including:

• Traffic
• Leads or sales
• Calls to action
• Engagement
• Relationships
• Authority
• Education and participation
• Perception
• Registrations, membership, and community activity

How are you measuring these areas and what’s working for you?