Author Archive
Posted June 6th, 2007 by Kelby
Twitter has been on the minds of many folk inside the walls of Digital Influence Group and outside. BusinessWeek’s Catherine Holahan (with whom I’ve had the pleasure of working a number of times) wrote a piece discussing how bloggers are increasingly adopting tools like Twitter that enable them to quickly post entries to their blogs using their cell phones. While these devices may limit the length of posts (even on my Treo I am not a big fan of typing long messages on the tiny keyboard), individuals no longer have to wait until they get in front of a computer to write about the conversation they had at lunch or kids can quickly update their parents on their current whereabouts.
What really got me thinking about Twitter (after my initial use of the service failed to capture my attention), was the two CNET colums, one taking a pro-Twitter stance the other an anti-Twitter. I thought both authors did a great job presenting their cases, and while I remain in the anti camp, I understood the arguments for the service and continue to think about how the service could be used as something as just an online journal of mundane activitites.
As my colleague Kevin noted, it is all about “how” one uses Twitter that demonstrates the service’s value. While I agree with this, other than a few specific instances (families staying in touch with each other), I can’t think of any particular compelling reasons to jot down little details about what I am doing, going to do or thinking about doing. Maybe my life just isn’t that interesting…
Anyone using Twitter in an interesting/offbeat way? I would love to hear about it.
Posted February 22nd, 2007 by Kelby
I came across the topic of “Revolutionizing Medicare and Healthcare through SecondLife” today, but was unable to attend because of other commitments. This topic is of interest to me as Digital Influence is currently working with several companies that are beginning to engage with patients via online services and any discussions and keynote speaker insights that took place could be very valuable to their initiatives.
Does anyone that attended this have any feedback on today’s event? Who were the keynote speakers and what insights did they provide moving forward with virtual world healthcare systems? I look forward to learning more about this event.
Posted January 19th, 2007 by Kelby
Last week I had the pleasure of attending a meeting of the Boston Social Media Club. Todd Defren from Shift Communications was there to discuss the past, present and future of the new media release which was particularly interesting as we’ve been working on producing a version of the Social Media Release that appeals to our clients, and more importantly, the audience that will be viewing them.
I’ve spoken to a couple bloggers to get their perspectives on the new release and the feedback has been pretty consistent. Most don’t really care how the information is organized (text, multimedia, tags, etc.) as long as it is available and easily accessible. As we complete our version of the SMR and begin to think about how to best get it into bloggers hands, I would love to feedback from people (PR folk, companies, bloggers) who have used the new release on what their experiences have been, and from others who haven’t seen one but have some thoughts of their own.
Posted December 8th, 2006 by Kelby
I thought December was supposed to be the quiet month, but not here at DIG . We’ve been busy and I thought I would give a quick update on some of the things we’re working on.
Yesterday we purchased our own island in Second Life. Many still don’t get Second Life or think it’s a fad that will come and go. We think it’s the next iteration of the Internet. Remember back in the early 90’s when companies were starting to get a feel for the Internet and weren’t sure why they should have a Web site? Well, that’s where we currently are with Second Life. Yes, it’s still in its early stages as individuals, communities and companies (both in and outside of SL) sort things out, but it won’t be too long before visiting SL is as second nature as jumping on the ‘net. We’re excited to be doing our jumping now and hope you’ll look us up.
If you don’t know, my title at DIG is VP of Digital Media Releations (DMR). What exactly is DMR? Good question. Look for more information here and on the Digital Influence Group site. We’ll be providing an overview of what it is, who’s doing it and how it can help your business. If you have any thoughts I’d love to hear them.
One last thing, we agree with individuals like Jonathan Schwartz at Sun and others who are looking for a new version of the press release that better meets the needs of businesses. Much like Shift and Tom Foremski did, we’ll be examining the press release and the tools now available to publish, post and find news (think tags, RSS, wikis, etc). Others have also talked about this project. In fact, on Tuesday Edelman released a new tool to create this release. As Foremski puts it so well in his post on Edelman’s news, it will be interesting to see how the SEC and news release services react to the growth of the new media release. I’m not so sure they’ll react as soon as Tom thinks they will, but with increased use and promotion, they’ll eventually have to respond (look for this in mid-2007 IMHO). Regardless, we’ll be looking at this further to see where we can help advance it and look forward to your suggestions and feedback as we go.
That’s it for now. More later. In the meantime, enjoy the holidays.
Posted November 21st, 2006 by Kelby
This week’s Holmes Report contains an excellent article on public relations in the blogosphere. I won’t summarize the article as Paul does an excellent job examining the conversations in place, but basically it examines whether PR pros have a place in the blogosphere or if recent PR miscues demonstrate that PR needs to run hard and fast away from digital relations. Personally, I think PR definitely has a place (and not just because that is what I am paid to do) and that many firms and individuals are doing excellent work on behalf of their clients, building relationships and publicizing their messages.
The joy and pain of the blogosphere is its open nature. When you mess up, everyone knows. Much like the same phenomenon that prompts travelers to slow down when they see an accident on the highway – everyone wants to take a moment to see the carnage and tell their friends about it – bad PR stories spread far and wide and fast. When online PR is done well, the only people who know are your client and the audience they talk to (blogs, communities, etc.) who are interested in what your client says and benefit from the new or expanded relationship with your client.
Edelman and its WalMart fiasco is a prime example of how not to do PR online, but that same firm does outstanding work for other clients and is a leading voice in the PR industry for digital media relations. Shift, and its work with Tom Foremski and the new media press release, is another example of a firm taking an active and vocal role in setting online best practices. Other PR pros doing excellent work in this medium are taking a less vocal role, but are quietly building relationships with their clients and bloggers. People like Tom Foremski, Marshall Kirkpatrick, Liz Gannes, and others who may not know my first name, but they now know those of my clients who swim in their pond – and at the end of the day, that’s what matters.
Regardless of where you stand, or think you stand, on the online digital PR scale, I recommend that you read Paul’s article. In addition to providing some useful suggestions on how to best communicate online, it gives an interesting perspective from those like Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia and the Dreamland residents in Second Life who have encountered “bad” PR.