At last week’s Vocus User’s Conference, I had the pleasure of sitting in on Adam Singer’s session. He spoke about the importance of becoming a media company and about building equity in a community. Last week, we talked here a bit about the importance of building your own community via your own website or blog. Adam repeats that importance by saying, “Most companies are playing around ... Read More

Last week, I was a guest at #bizforum, a Twitter chat where business professionals discuss the pros and cons of trending business-related topics each week. Led by Sam Fiorella, the chief marketing sensei at Sensei Marketing, there are a few rules: Debate, debate, and, oh, debate (but do it professionally). I was invited to be a guest because the topic was a challenge to PR agencies, departments, and ... Read More

An entrepreneurial attorney with an MBA, Adam Zuckerman is a blogger and people connector inspired by the intersections of business, law, media, technology, and all things outdoors. You may have noticed that Maker’s Mark has tapped actor, comedian, and television personality Jimmy Fallon to narrate it’s most recent TV commercial, “It isn’t about hype.” For those unfamiliar, Jimmy is an ex-SNL cast member, now hosts NBC’s Late ... Read More

Adam Toporek is the owner of IntenseFence Management Solutions and blogs about small business and franchising. The past decade has seen some great public relations campaigns, particularly in the for-profit realm. Doritos knocked it out of the park when it “crashed” the Super Bowl, Tourism Queensland put its island on the map when it created The Best Job in the World, and Old Spice reignited its ... Read More

Stacey Hood serves as marketing director for Momentum Communications,  based in Birmingham, and is a founding board member for Alabama Social Media Association. Crisis communications, like many other areas in the typical PR practice, have changed dramatically with social media. Long gone are the days of the simple one-way reactive plan. There are many sources of crisis communications and it’s necessary to think of the variety ... Read More

#StopTheBitchingAndWorkItOut Andrew Worob is manager of digital communications at Ruder Finn, where he counsels clients of all sizes on how to develop and execute smart, successful programs that truly integrate traditional media with online media efforts. The client-agency relationship should be a marriage, not a war.  Are you a client that is frustrated at how your agency is handling your social media and PR needs? Or, ... Read More

I was riding my bike yesterday, thinking about this whole Lance Armstrong case getting stronger, and it occurred to me that athletes aren’t any different than PR professionals. A couple of weeks ago, when the Burson Marsteller/Facebook story broke, many, many, many people called me naive. They stated examples where PR professionals create whisper or smear campaigns. The statement, more often than not while calling me ... Read More

Valerie Merahn Simon serves as a senior vice president at BurrellesLuce and is a regular blogger for BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas. The other night, as I read through a certain news release for the fifth time, I began humming a slight variation to an Avril Lavigne song. Why do you have to go and make things so complicated? Writing like I know about or care about your jargon ... Read More

“For years, Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Facebook, has extolled the virtue of transparency, and he built Facebook accordingly. The social network requires people to use their real identity in large part because Mr. Zuckerberg says he believes that people behave better — and society will be better — if they cannot cloak their words or actions in anonymity,” from the New York Times on May ... Read More

It’s Facebook question of the week time. Woo hoo! Today’s question comes from Jenn Whinnem. Before I tell you her question, let me tell you how you can find her. She is a communications officer at the Connecticut Health Foundation (which will make sense when you read her question), she is a contributing author at SMB Collective, and she can be found on Twitter and LinkedIn. ... Read More