Late last week, Arik Hanson had an interesting blog post about PR flameouts and asked if we’re hurting, or helping, the industry by talking about them.
His point was about the Ocean Marketing debacle (and also included The Bloggess when she called out a PR professional by name) and whether or not it’s helpful to continue talking about these things.
If you don’t know what happened with Ocean Marketing, I encourage you to read Kevin Dugan’s post about it on Bad Pitch Blog. I won’t rehash it for you.
If you’re a regular reader of Spin Sucks, you know I’m an advocate of attacking an idea, but not a person. There is way too much agreement in the social media chamber. Unfortunately, if someone disagrees with you, they typically won’t comment or say anything. They just stop reading.
And that’s a shame. The only way we learn is to debate with an open mind. If we surround ourselves with people who agree with us all the time, we’ll stall.
Over here, when we see something that seems crazy to us, we blog about it. After all, the name of the blog is Spin Sucks. Continue Reading »
I’ve been thinking a lot about Ragu and the “crisis” they created by tweeting their video to social dads in a very offensive, and spammy, way.
Having read what C.C. Chapman (here, here, and here) and Adam Singer and Arik Hanson and Michael Schechter (on this very blog yesterday) wrote, I think everyone is missing the biggest lesson of all: Twitter is not a promotion and publicity tool. It’s not a sales tool. It is a social tool.
Granted, I’m not sitting in the room with Ragu and their agency while they decide their strategy, but based on experience, I can make an educated guess that they likely used Klout to determine who to target with their tweets.
And what do we all know about Klout? It’s a great FIRST step in determining influencers if you don’t already know who they are (and if you’re in PR and you don’t know who your client’s or company’s influencers are, shame on you!). But it’s NOT the way you develop your list and begin sending links to those perceived influencers.
I think Arik Hanson, Lisa Gerber, and I are the only people not in Austin this weekend for SXSW. Arik is turning off Foursquare updates, Lisa is turning off Facebook, and I’m turning off Twitter.
OK. Not really. Let’s be real. I’d die without Twitter, and I’m pretty sure my friends would die without their social networks. Even if we sit here and get more and more envious.
I remember being a little bit jealous last year, but it didn’t really bother me because I was traveling SO MUCH. For some reason, it’s bothering me more this year. It’s not like, you know, we have a new business launching in seven weeks.
But our jealousy is nothing compared to what we all learned when we turned on the news this morning. Our hearts and minds go out to those in Japan, Hawaii, and along the West Coast.
If you’re new to Spin Sucks, you may not know about HAPPO – Help a PR Pro Out, which was “invented” last year by Arik Hanson and Valerie Simon in order to help those looking for a job to network and broaden their reach.
The duo asked their friends across the country to champion their efforts in each city and to use social media to leverage relationships and help connect those seeking a job in the PR industry with employers. With some help from the Arment Dietrich team and Debra Caplick in suburban Chicago, I am the champion here.
And we’re hosting a live event in our offices on Feb. 24 from 5-7. Part panel discussion and part networking, we’ll also have adult beverages and snacks. Continue Reading »
It’s Christmas Eve so I’m cheating. Rather than do a normal a #FollowFriday for today, I’m giving you a complete list of all of the blogs I’ve recommended since I began doing this in March. Wow! I’ve been doing this since March. You’re going to find Twitter handles hyperlinked to people’s names and their blog URLs hyperlinked to their blog names (or taglines – those darn Canadians don’t follow the rules!).
If I had more time, I’d pull these into Twitter and Google Reader lists to make this super easy on you, but alas! I’ve run out of time. Perhaps I’ll do that next week.
So here they are…the people (with Twitter handles) and their blogs (with links). Continue Reading »
Recently, I had the privilege of speaking to a group of communications and journalism students at the University of Missouri. Toward the end of the panel, one of the students asked the following:
“What’s the most important question you’ll ask anyone you work with or interview for a job these days?”
I knew my answer right away. In fact, the way I remember it, I kind of blurted it out:
“What kind of network are you bringing to the table?”
See, for me it’s all about people. The people you’ve worked with, the people you know. If I hire you, I’m getting you. But who else am I getting? That’s what sets you apart in my book.
At BlogWorld last month, opening keynote speaker Scott Stratten called himself a relationship officer, noting: “People do business with people they like, know, and trust. That’s why relationships are so important.”
How does this play out on in an everyday scenario? Well, here are a few: Continue Reading »
A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from my friend Arik Hanson. He had an idea that he thought would help out-of-work PR professionals network with the jobs that are becoming more readily available at both agencies and companies.
The big idea:
On Friday, February 19, from 10 am – 2 pm CT, PR bloggers, agency leaders, and PR professionals from across the country will donate their time and talents to help fellow PR pros connect with employers as part of the first-ever “Help a PR Pro Out” day.Continue Reading »
Mark your calendars! On February 23, join Deidre Breakenridge and the Spin Sucks Pro team to begin thinking strategically.
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Late last week, Arik Hanson had an interesting blog post about PR flameouts and asked if we’re hurting, or helping, the industry by talking about them.
If you’re new to 
It’s Christmas Eve so I’m cheating. Rather than do a normal a #FollowFriday for today, I’m giving you a complete list of all of the blogs I’ve recommended since I began doing this in March. Wow! I’ve been doing this since March. You’re going to find Twitter handles hyperlinked to people’s names and their blog URLs hyperlinked to their blog names (or taglines – those darn Canadians don’t follow the rules!).
Today’s
