Mike’s Points

For your browsing, reading and thinking pleasure, may I direct you to:

I’m Done With Social Media, Dave Fleet/davefleet.com

The Golden Rule of Media Relations, Kami Huyse, APR/Communications Overtones

Demystifying “Above the Fold,” FluidDesign blog

The Social Medium is the Message, Marcel LeBrun/Media Philosopher

The Press Release Page: A New Approach to an Old Problem, Mike Manuel/MediaGuerrilla

And, finally, some co-workers recently started a cigar blog. So, if you are a cigar connoisseur of any kind, check out El Cigarro Maximo.

–Mike

(UPDATED: 3:30 p.m. Oct. 11, 2007, with another great point, added at the top.)
For your amusement and awareness (in no particular order), I offer:

Amanda’s Backstory Reveals Ugly Character: Did you Know?, infOpinions/Robert French

What can happen when you push the PR pitch too far, Corporate Engagement/Trevor Cook (courtesy of Paull Young via Twitter)

Global PR Blog Week 3.0 needs your ideas, PR meets the WWW/Constantin Basturea

To respond or not to respond, Airfoil Public Relations/Tonja Deegan

Flickr Famous, BlogWorks/Laurie Mayers

On the American Cult of Individuality, History Mike/Michael Brooks

Signal to Noise, Occam’s RazR/Ike Pigott

While I am still alive and kicking, blogging has (unfortunately for me) taken a third-row backseat to life’s other activities. As noted before, I tend to find blogging (or just writing in general) therapeutic and a good way to crystalize things (See bottom of post for reference.). While there are a lot of great issues and other bloggers’ posts to write about, I try not to be one to whip out a post without much thought into it. (I’ve been lazy before, and got burned.)

But, I have come across several great posts and other tidbits (a.k.a. points, hence the headline) and I offer them up now to you for your digestion:

Will we never learn?, a shel of my former self/Shel Holtz

PR-Squared’s ‘Social Media Tactics’ Series…Edgework with Social Bookmarking, PR Squared/Todd Defren

Social Media Bandwagoning, Media Guerrilla/Mike Manuel

Are skateboarders more savvy than social media experts?, Canuckflack/Colin McKay

Blogger Relations: Good Intentions, Bad Execution, Lessons Learned, PR Squared/Todd Defren

REFERENCE: TOOLS: HANDBOOKS: A Selective and Brief Guide to Handbook, Temple University/David Dillard (from the Young PR Pros Yahoo! Group)

God Angrily Clarifies ‘Don’t Kill’ Rule, The Onion (courtesy of Chris Thilk, I think, but can’t find his Twitter about it.) (NOTE: Some readers may not like some of the language, but the point is very clear.)

The iPhone is a piece of s&%$ and so is your face, TheBestPageintheUniverse (I’m neither an Apple groupie nor a hater, but did see the humor in this. Again, parental discrepency is advised.)

(UPDATED 4/20/07, 10:30 a.m. with two Virginia Tech links of interest.)

For your browsing, reading, laughing and thinking pleasure (not necessarily in that order), I offer:

PlanetBlacksburg: Stories (with commenting available) and photo galleries.

PlanetBlacksburg on Twitter (courtesy of Jim Long on Twitter)

Virginia-Pilot page (from Weds.), NewsDesigner.com: “Striking front page by the Virginian-Pilot today. And a gutsy editorial choice.”

How To Work Faster on High-Res Screens, the thinking bog.

Crack Smoking And Swamp Walking Do Not Mix, The Futon Report

Thursday Afternoon Caption Contest, PR Differently

‘ . . . a naked grab for bucks,’ The Bad Pitch Blog

– Mike

For your reading and browsing pleasure, I offer some great reading, and a few new blogs I’ve added to my Bloglines account.

Retooling the Public Relations Industry, Ed Lee/BloggingMeBloggingYou. Ed makes some great points in the changing ways we receive information and the change our industries needs. However, IMO, print and broadcast will still be major players for many years to come (especially magazines).

Marketing in Second Life, Todd Zeigler/The Bivings Report. The key is Todd’s final couple of sentences: “Bringing an old mindset to a new medium doesn’t accomplish anything. Your only chance of having real and sustained success is if the mindset shifts as well.”

My First Time on Second Life SUCKED, Aliza Sherman/Rants and Raves. As with the cyberbullying issues of a few weeks ago, real live creeps into the cyber world.

Eight Meaningful Measures of Social Media, Kami Huyse/Communication Overtones. Yeah, I know, I’m late on this one. But, in case you haven’t read Kami’s blog post, now you know about it.

SoSaidTheOrganization.com. “How Government Organziations Communicate and Integrate Social Media.”

PresentationZen.com. “Garr Reynolds’ blog on issues related to professional presentation design.”

TechnoMarketer: Matt Dickman on “exploring the convergence of technology and marketing.”

For your learning, thinking and even a bit of laughter pleasure, I offer a few other great points:
Apples, oranges, blogs and boards, David Binkowski. Great overview of why discussion boards are useful and their value.

The value of WOM (it’s a cartoon), Amena/Idegosuperego

Business etiquette pointers for PR students, Karen Miller Russell/Teaching PR. And, those pointers are not just for students.

Be careful. That seems to be the message for many of the “other great points” below. So, without too much further ado, I offer:

Leaving the Bad News Trail, Jeremy Wagstaff/loose wire blog. I’ve always said that news is typically negative because, by definition, “news” is out of the ordinary and most of the ordinary is good, positive. But, Jeremy makes a great point: “Old media should look for a way of using its reporting strengths and resources and tell … stories that reflect the community, the good parts and not just the bad parts. They’re harder stories to tell and they run against the grain of every newsroom lesson we’ve learned, but if we’re serious about connecting to the communities around us, we need to understand them better.”

Bloggers are wimps, Colin Mckay/Canuckflack

If you’re using Google Images for your Chyrons, make sure you read what they say, Peter Shankman/PR Differently

Blogbots replace boring bloggers, Ariel Waldman/Shake Well Before Use

The inaugural Week’s Best for PR students, Karen Russell/Teaching PR

Do You Trust Your Clients?, Leo Bottary/Client Service Insights. Some sound advice and an example that, like journalists, PR pros need to be skeptics. Our best service is objectivity.

For your reading, learning, browsing and thinking pleasure, I offer:

Account planners can be your friend, PR; Colin McKay/Canuckflack

24-Hour News Cycle (R.I.P.); Mike Manuel/MediaGuerrilla

Five Lessons for Viral Video Campaigns; Todd Defren/PR Squared

I Get Letters from Idiots, Michael Brooks/HistoryMike

– Mike

It’s interesting how people independent of each other are part of a collective discussion on a certain topic. Today, I’ve seen a few posts and comments that deal with the influence of bloggers. Influence dealing with ads and companies like PayPerPost or SponsoredReviews, and biases a blogger may have.

First, here’s the round up:

Colin McKay/CanuckFlack in a comment

On Blogs, Advertising and a Crass Capitalist World (and at ToledoTalk.com)

SponsoredReviews: A New Assault on the Blogosphere’s Credibility (courtesy of Matt Sussman/FutonReport.net)

Since it’s more human nature to complain than it is to praise, I think people who blog have a negative reputation; more so from those who are not familiar with blogging.

Yeah, it may not be fair, but life’s not fair.

But, we all can do something about it. It is encumbent upon those who blog to be:

• Transparent: If you have a close association with or are being paid to post about a product, service, company, etc., let your readers know. It won’t hurt your credibility. It will, though, if you hide it and get caught.

• Honest: This is similar to being transparent. Be forthright and upfront. Don’t make up information to support your cause. The means rarely justify the end.

• Open to opposing opinions: You’re not always right. (I know I’m not.) Listening to others’ opinions doesn’t mean you’ll change your opinion. Be humble and have a thick skin.

• Thorough: Similar to being honest, if you are going to play citizen journalist, be an irate or happy customer, or call someone out, be sure you have your facts right. You don’t have to go to the ends of the earth, but be reasonably thorough. And, when you’re not thorough and make a mistake, fess up.

Blogging is still in its infancy. If it is to become more widespread, open for the general public to join and participate, and generally accepted, we must have credibility.

– Mike

For your reading, thinking, surfing and chuckling pleasure, I offer:

Kodak enjoys the digital moment, BlogWorks. (UPDATED after the initial post, after a bit more of blog browsing. Count this among the chuckling links!)

Wells Fargo At The Paris Hilton, Wells Fargo/Guided By History

I’m not saying anything, but . . . ., Colin McKay/Canuckflack

How to Successfully Promote Your Company in Second Life, Kami Huyse/Communications Overtones

Someone else joins the bloggers-with-cancer club, Bob LeDrew/FlackLife.

Honor Among Publicists: Resolutions for 2007, Todd Defren/PR Squared

Do Cookies Destroy Rainforests?, Marc Gunther