 |
||
|
|
|
||||
|
|||||
|
Newsroom: e-Newsletter Winter 2007 – News from CHEN PR 2007 Reflections It's that time of year again - how can it be? - to take a look back and say, what a year it has been. As predicted, money poured into all things Green, Apple launched its iPhone and Google countered, consolidation reigned, eBay struggled to stay on top, data breach became a household phrase, just as social networks replaced a handshake and YouTube showed us the money in video. Our beloved blogger Fake Steve Jobs was identified as the very Real Dan Lyons, who to our amazement and delight has continued to parody those we love to hate and hate to love. We thank you Dan. In celebrity news, we'll continue to watch Britney spiral, hope she hires (and can keep) a capable publicist and trends upward in '08. Celebrations Earlier this month, we hosted our third annual American Red Cross benefit. To date, our events supporting the Red Cross have raised more than $35,000. We were touched by the hundred-plus devoted pals who came despite the snow and dueling Pats game to toast the season and show their support. Special thanks to Linda Driscoll at the Red Cross Metrowest, and John Gallant, president and editorial director of Network World, for working with us each year to make this a fun and heartwarming evening. This year's silent auction included many old favorites (like vintage wine, Red Sox tickets) as well as some new items (original artwork, a tour of a local police and fire station, signed books from The Globe's Dan Shaughnessy, Beckett and Ortiz autographed baseballs, and tech celebrity lunches with Dan Lyons, Erick Schonfeld and Chris Shipley). Thank you to Myrsini Morris who always makes the planning look so effortless, and to all who support the event, making it better year after year. This quarter we also strengthened our team with several new hires. Kim Kennedy joined the firm as senior account executive, Rebecca Hellman and Danielle DiGiovanni joined as account associates and Ben Sharbaugh joined as the intern we can't live without. New Client Greetings We welcomed several new client partners since our last newsletter, all in hot markets with exciting stories to tell.
And, for the third year in a row, we're honored to be working with the MIT Enterprise Forum on its annual Innovation Summit. This year's conference, dubbed "Power, Drugs & Money," will highlight developments in energy, life sciences and financial services. We hope you'll join us on February 7th at the Boston Seaport World Trade Center. Three Questions and an Expert A tech journalist with 24+ years of editorial leadership, Paul Gillin recently added critically acclaimed author to his resume. Here Paul talks about the book and offers insights into fruitful social networking. For more musings, visit Paul's blog at www.paulgillin.com.  They're people or groups who are making a meaningful impact on a market or community of interest using the new breed of social media tools. These tools include blogs, podcasts, online video and social networks. In the last five years, we've seen a revolution in publishing. No longer is power of the press limited to those who own a press. Today, anyone can publish to a global audience at little or no cost. This is an enormously powerful concept when you think about it. People who lack the traditional tools of influence, including mailing lists, subscribers, broadcast licenses and millions of dollars in capital can amass impressive degrees of influence in specific markets. This influence is derived from the value of what they say as well as the relationships that they develop online and in person to disseminate their messages. My book isn't about blogging; it's about how patterns of influence are emerging in these highly distributed communities where there are few rules and no hierarchies. How should public relations professionals deal with the new class of bloggers? You need to treat them as you would treat mainstream media, but with some qualifications. Understand that new influencers are motivated more by their passions and interests than mainstream journalists. They want to engage with you in a meaningful way, not just get your press release and an interview with the VP of marketing. Think of it as engaging with the editors of highly technical magazines or vertical newsletters. You don't have to treat every blogger like The Wall Street Journal. Spend some time up front identifying who has the ear of customers and the press. Services like Google Alerts, Technorati and del.icio.us help you determine who influencers are. In my view, you should court major influencers as you would the elite press. While they may not have the reach of national publications, their audiences can be quite large and are usually passionate about the subject matter. I would argue that blogs like Adrants and Engadget are as influential in their markets as publications that have been around 30 years or more. Remember, also, that some of these influencers have the ear of the media. Increasingly, major news stories start in the blogosphere and make the jump to newspapers and magazines. I have several examples of this in the book, and it's good material to show your clients who may question the wisdom of investing resources in these outlets. Before you approach these influencers, spend some time on their sites learning what they're talking about. They're very open about their opinions and motivations. They're also very open to speaking with PR professionals. What turns them off are cold calls and contacts from people who clearly don't understand what they do. It's just like dealing with reporters in that respect. A lot of people are afraid of engaging with bloggers and social networks because of the possibility of negative commentary or criticism. How reasonable are those fears? You have much less control over the influencers than you do over traditional media. That's because the people writing blogs and commenting on enthusiast sites are often the people who use your products. If your company has product problems or customer relationship issues, a blog is probably not a good idea. You're just asking for trouble. However, if your customers are mostly happy and enthusiastic about what you do, then you'd be crazy not to give them an outlet to engage with your people and with each other. A few companies have been caught in storms of online criticism, but in most cases they deserved it. The blogosphere has the power to amplify negativity, but it doesn't create problems that don't already exist. If you do have negatives issues being talked about online, then you need an engagement strategy. Denying problems or remaining mute are not effective tactics. Admit to shortcomings and mistakes and promise to do better. Where you feel you've been treated unfairly, argue your position dispassionately on your own site and try to engage off-line with your critics. Don't ever get caught in flame wars. One thing that many people don't appreciate is how forgiving the blogosphere is. Even companies that have been savaged there in the past have late been applauded and welcomed when they engaged constructively with their critics. The blogosphere is actually a remarkably civil and polite place. Sure, there are some rude and crazy people there, but the behavioral standards that are emerging stress transparency, deference, and courtesy. You shouldn't be afraid of it. Happy Holidays We wish you much joy this season, wonderment in miracles large and small - and a happy, prosperous 2008! - Everyone at CHEN PR About CHEN PR CHEN PR helps firms market their vision and sell their products and services. We accomplish this by partnering with clients to define their brands and maximize their valuations via thought-provoking, results-driven communications. Our work showcases how their ideas and innovations redefine the way we work and play. Founded in 1996, the agency works in a wide range of technology areas including enterprise and open source software, security/privacy/compliance, networking and telecommunications, life sciences, energy, storage and semiconductors. To discuss how CHEN PR can assist your company, please contact Vice President Randy Wambold at 781-672-3119 or rwambold@chenpr.com. | |
| |
© 2008 CHEN PR, Inc. |
