1. I’m not perfect, I may not know an Oxford comma from an Oxford shirt, but there are some basics
2. We’re professional communicators!  Being able to communicate at a minimum threshold of competence is one of the essential tools in our toolbox.
3. Typos happen.  They’re forgivable.  But when I see you’ve used the wrong form of a word I know it’s not a typo.  Either you don’t know the difference, you don’t care enough to take 10 seconds to reread your 140 characters (which should be unnecessary), or … you’re drunk.
4. Caveat to #3 — If you’re employed and have good job security you can slip occasionally.  If you’re among the hundreds looking for a job, take the extra effort to get it write right.  Even if it means using two tweets, dropping the person an email, or changing what you were going to say.  It’s worth it — there are people out there looking for candidates without officially opening up a job posting.  Impress them with your content and form and maybe something will happen.  Turn them off to you right away and it’ll be hopeless.

Lose / Loose

• Lose: To misplace something.  Do not lose that pen, it’s Bob’s.
• Loose: Inappropriately fitting. Watch that top of yours when you bend over, it’s a bit loose.  There are other uses of the term loose, but we’ll skip those for now.

Waste/Waist – My goodness, really?

• Waste: Refuse (as in trash, not as in to turn something down) or to dispose of without proper concern. Don’t waste the bad printouts, use the back for notes.
• Waist: That thing around your navel (not naval) where your pants sit (on some people, depending on what’s in style). Remove your arm from her waist and go see the HR manager!
• Double example: You’re wasting away, you’ve hardly got any waist left.

Through/Threw/Thru

• Through: Any normal use of through you can think of  in which one thing goes ‘within’ another and emerges on the other side – went through heck, walked through the house, put his fist through a wall.
• Threw: What a quarterback or “woman scorned” does.  He threw the football, She threw the vase.
• Thru: Doesn’t.Really.Exist.  Listed as an informal use of through, though many retch at the sight of this.

Peace/Piece

• Peace: A state of calm or the opposite of war (unless you’re a Rent fan). …hold your peace…; peace prevailed after the treaty was signed; even though he was ticked at me, he flashed me the peace sign.
• Piece: A smaller portion of something larger or a coy reference to something illicit. Piece of cake, piece of pizza, piece of….well – y’know, or the mafioso looking guy was definitely carrying a piece, you could see its outline through his jacket.

Affect/Effect

• Please see this “Your Copy Sucks“

That’s it for this edition.  If there’s anything not included in this one, or the prior post, or in any of our “Your Copy Sucks” posts, let us know in the comments.

For those of you haven’t caught it, PRBC has been nominated in Arik Hanson’s PR Readers’ Choice Awards for Up and Coming Blog. Take a look at the list in that category (and the others) for some great blogs and vote for your favorites.  I’m not saying I’ve got a favorite in the Up and Coming group – but if you vote for us I might send you a Unicorn .

And with that, kick up your heels and enjoy our Top 5(+3) posts from this week (based on pageview and in alpha-order). Cheers!

• 4 ways to beat the social media clock
• 4.5 Tips for Bulletproof PR
• Clients and Phone Interviews – What’s Your Role?
• The Official PRBC Guide to Summer Fridays
• A Possible Facebook & Twitter Bubble?
• The Secret Worries of a PR Firm Boss
• Selling Ourselves Short with Social Media
• Tricks of the Trade: Small Talk

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• 30 July 2010 : Friday’s 5 • 30 July 2010
• 29 July 2010 : Twitter is one big, fat inside joke between 100 million people
• 28 July 2010 : Your Copy Sucks: Punctuation Ruins Lives
• 27 July 2010 : Do You ‘Crunch Proud?’
• 26 July 2010 : What the Old Spice Guy Videos Lacked: Real Messaging

So are Facebook, MySpace, and all the other social media sites.

And so’s the internet (Ha!)

Those familiar with my writing know that at this point I’d find a good definition of fad and see if these sites fit the bill.

But here’s the thing people — it doesn’t matter.

For those of us in the section of this business working directly with our clients’ target audience on behalf of our clients (i.e. those not doing strictly ‘press relations’) for today and tomorrow does it matter that Twitter, any of the other platforms, or social media as a whole are mere drops in the bucket of the history of communications tools and techniques available to reach our audience when compared to the stalwarts of the business — press releases, white papers, byline opportunities, etc?

No.

We can, of course, take the high road and proclaim what the ‘best’ methods of communications to be. But all we’d be doing is listening to each other talk about how smart we are. We might be able to lead the horse to water, but certainly can’t make it drink (and in this instance I’m not even sure we’re leading the horse to water).

The world has changed (then again, if you’re reading this you likely already knew that).

It’s our role, and always has been, to deliver the message to the right audience, not tell them where to listen. If we can achieve that as well, then great. Really though, no one in our business is launching a media platform revolution on their own, or on their client’s dime.

I’m not advocating the abandonment of the tried and true tools.  They’ve each got their role, but to discount social media or go at it half-cocked ignores an audience that’s sitting there waiting for our content, regardless of whether or not it’s where we think they should be.

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• 30 July 2010 : Friday’s 5 • 30 July 2010
• 29 July 2010 : Twitter is one big, fat inside joke between 100 million people
• 28 July 2010 : Your Copy Sucks: Punctuation Ruins Lives
• 27 July 2010 : Do You ‘Crunch Proud?’
• 26 July 2010 : What the Old Spice Guy Videos Lacked: Real Messaging

Under these horribly delicious and highly inconceivable conditions we might have ended up with sites like…

• LockedOut: Rather than connecting you with classmates and fellow alum from former workplaces, instead LockedOut allows you, with proper permissions, consents and privacy settings of course, to have your address book entires – current and future – deleted from the contacts of those you don’t really want contacting.  Your roommate from college who never paid the last month’s rent – you never have to see his consulting firm’s pitch.  That guy, you know the one, from high school – the one that’s got an idea for the next big and always hits you up for an investment – you’re basically nonexistent to him.

• SexSquare: You don’t really care where you friends eat, drink, and have long walks in the park.  What you want to know is the prime spots in your community to avoid being arrested for indecent exposure or having a coitus interruptus moment during a romantic interlude on a park bench, restaurant restroom, or under the oak tree in the park.

“Since you’re at Nevada Jack’s try the third stall on the right – it’s always the cleanest”

• FrenemyBook: All the people you actually care about you’ve kept in touch with (so a total of about 5).  On FrenemyBook you get to check out the pics of all the people you never really liked, but imagine you might now if you lived in the same town (which thank god you don’t as you got out of that hickville as soon as you could buy a Greyhound ticket).  While showing the pics to your colleagues at work (who plan to add to your LockedOut profile as soon as you change jobs), you’re required (as in you’ll lose your membership if you don’t) mock the pics of their kids.  Meanwhile you know full well they’re doing the same thing.

And of course…

• Twit-ter: People you know really well, or in some cases, not at all go online and send out their thoughts in 140-character bursts.  Here, however, everyone’s a twit.  Hmmm, maybe we’re not that far from bizarro land on this one

Disclaimer: I haven’t the foggiest idea if anyone actually owns any of these names as Trademarks or other forms of intellectual property – if you do, sorry.

Sign up for the daily PRBC mailing here

• 30 July 2010 : Friday’s 5 • 30 July 2010
• 29 July 2010 : Twitter is one big, fat inside joke between 100 million people
• 28 July 2010 : Your Copy Sucks: Punctuation Ruins Lives
• 27 July 2010 : Do You ‘Crunch Proud?’
• 26 July 2010 : What the Old Spice Guy Videos Lacked: Real Messaging

In case you missed them this week, below you’ll find our top 5 published stories (based on pageview and in alpha-order). Enjoy!

Channeling the Overwhelming Side of Public Relations

Defending the PR Profession: A Call to Action From the Collective Industry

How to Deal with a Diva

Seeing a Different Side of the “Public” in Public Relations

Sentiment vs. message in social media – which do you value more?

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It’s time we change that, and insist our industry’s representatives and trade associations defend our long-standing reputations and work to rebuild trust among many industries for the value of our work.

Recent indictments against the value of public relations, from Michael Arrington’s numerous rants against PR and some non-creative publicists, to Brant Cooper’s baseless attack against the industry in a recent Business Insider column, have shown that despite our tremendous abilities to build brands and create positive exposure for our clients and employers, the PR industry is failing—quite badly—to uphold its own reputation. The profession has seen its reputation diminished with minimal, if any, effort as a collective group to improve others’ views of our work.

The public relations industry needs to follow the advice it gives to clients every day—do everything you can to proactively build your brand and corporate reputation, and protect your brand when it is being attacked.

We must keep in mind—and simultaneously educate those outside the profession—that public relations is more important to a free society than we get credit for. For without public relations, many small companies and start-ups would toil endlessly to receive the same public exposure and advocacy as larger competitors do, at the most dollar-effective rate versus advertising and marketing.

We are laying out a call to action for the organizations and associations within the industry that have the ability, resources and most importantly, the power, to proactively defend the profession’s reputation and educate all business sectors about the many benefits effective and responsible public relations can offer.

Our industry can no longer sit idly by while these baseless attacks carry on, aiming to degrade the solid work that the PR and communications industry produces year-in and year-out. Our counsel and strategic work has deep and long-term value (as do our media relations and publicity tactics) beyond the figure at the bottom of a bill. It is time we take a stand, communicate to our key audiences, clearly define to all parties our true value and stand up for ourselves, our colleagues and our profession. Enough is enough.

The onus to right this ship—to proactively take a stand against these baseless attacks and rants and present factual data, case studies, analytics and anecdotes of success for businesses that have used PR—falls squarely on all of us as individuals and as a collective group. This collective movement will pressure industry associations to finally, after many years of posturing with little to nothing to show for it, stand up, take a stance, defend our industry, proactively highlight the many positives this industry produces and defend all of our reputations.

The time to fight to keep our professional reputations intact and in good standing is now. This is not a task for one person, one well-placed blog post or a single campaign. It will only be effective as a proactive collective effort, delivered from the industry, over time, as a whole, representing the true voice, passion and expertise of all.

We start now. We are proposing a new manifesto detailing how our industry should be represented to the public. Upon completion, it will be delivered to the industry’s main lobbying and education association, PRSA, on behalf of the industry. It’s incumbent upon all of us to be involved in this process.

To ensure your voice is heard in this manifesto, which we plan to present to industry representatives within the next month, send us a quick e-mail at pr@cogcomm.com. We’ll get you connected with a Google doc we are developing. If you contribute, your name will be included as a signatory of the manifesto, and you will be helping to shape the future and positive reputation of a profession we all love (and love to hate sometimes).

Furthermore, we propose developing a very simple industry-wide voluntary seal of approval (early working title: Public Relations Ethical Standards of Practice, or PRESP) to be devised and overseen by a neutral group of industry professionals, and which will include no more than 10 rules of engagement and ethical practices by PR professionals. This seal of approval will be free for any agency to use and advertise throughout their websites, client proposals and marketing materials as a declaration of that agency’s ethical work, so long as they agree to abide by the conditions established by their peers—you.

Our professional world is fighting for its own survival within certain, and an ever-increasing number of, business sectors. Our work has stood on its own for decades. It time we take a stand to defend ourselves, and it’s time our industry’s representatives back us on this effort.

Keith Trivitt | PR Cog

Note: The views expressed in this post are solely those of Keith Trivitt and PRCog, and do not represent the views of Trivitt’s or PRCog’s respective employers, nor of any individual PRBreakfastClub writer.

The primary purpose of public relations is to uphold and enhance the reputation, exposure and brand affinity of companies and organizations. However, as a whole, our industry does a poor job of building its own credibility, positive exposure and brand affinity among its main constituents—businesses and entrepreneurs.

It’s time we change that, and insist our industry’s representatives and trade associations defend our long-standing reputations and work to rebuild trust among many industries for the value of our work.

Recent indictments against the value of public relations, from Michael Arrington’s numerous rants against PR and some non-creative publicists, to Brant Cooper’s baseless attack against the industry in a recent Business Insider column, have shown that despite our tremendous abilities to build brands and create positive exposure for our clients and employers, the PR industry is failing—quite badly—to uphold its own reputation. The profession has seen its reputation diminished with minimal, if any, effort as a collective group to improve others’ views of our work.

The public relations industry needs to follow the advice it gives to clients every day—do everything you can to proactively build your brand and corporate reputation, and protect your brand when it is being attacked.

See more here

In case you missed them this week, below you’ll find our top 5 published stories (based on pageview and in alpha-order). Enjoy!

• Going to the Darkside: A Flack Turns Marketer
• In the Event of an Event
• Learn More, Tweet Less
• Not “just a PR professional”
• Thank You For Being A Friend

Sign up for the daily PRBC mailing here

• 30 July 2010 : Friday’s 5 • 30 July 2010
• 29 July 2010 : Twitter is one big, fat inside joke between 100 million people
• 28 July 2010 : Your Copy Sucks: Punctuation Ruins Lives
• 27 July 2010 : Do You ‘Crunch Proud?’
• 26 July 2010 : What the Old Spice Guy Videos Lacked: Real Messaging

My number two cringe-inducer is “Well that’s just semantics.”  The phrase implies that the difference between the opinions being expressed is merely cosmetic – just a matter of words. But here’s the thing, while that may be true for a significant number of topics, there’s two key problems:

1. If it truly is just word choice, and the discussion is still ongoing there’s obviously something more to it than just word choice
2. For communications professionals it makes a word, erm – world, of difference.

Let’s start at the top:

Semantics defined (emphasis added):

3 a : the meaning or relationship of meanings of a sign or set of signs; especially : connotative meaning b : the language used (as in advertising or political propaganda) to achieve a desired effect on an audience especially through the use of words with novel or dual meanings

So what we’re dealing with when talking “semantics” is the connotative difference and, for our purposes in the communications world, how to achieve a desired effect on our audience.

That pretty much sounds like part of our job description to a T.  Or does it just barely fit the bill?  Certainly it doesn’t pass muster to encompass all that we do, but it’s a pretty hefty chunk.

Without any further wordplay, or wordsmithing, the point is this – words have meanings – usually a very specific meaning.  They 1) can’t be interchanged willy-nilly, even if they’re next to each other in the thesaurus and 2) even words that “mean the same thing” have a unique power, a hint of something else, an implication of degree (e.g. smoldering vs. hot), etc. The rights word used at the right place and time can be used to spin (or rather frame) a story the way you’d like your audience (or rather community) to receive it.  Outrage, calm, anxiety, excitement, anticipation, boredom, intrigue – can all be at your beck and call with the write words (pun intentional).

So, yes, the difference may be ‘semantics’ – but that’s exactly what we’re, as professional communicators, here to do.

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• 30 July 2010 : Friday’s 5 • 30 July 2010
• 29 July 2010 : Twitter is one big, fat inside joke between 100 million people
• 28 July 2010 : Your Copy Sucks: Punctuation Ruins Lives
• 27 July 2010 : Do You ‘Crunch Proud?’
• 26 July 2010 : What the Old Spice Guy Videos Lacked: Real Messaging

In case you missed them this week, below you’ll find our top 5 published stories (based on pageview and in alpha-order).   Enjoy!

• Getting Things Done
• Not “just a PR professional”
• Portfolio Tips
• What You May Not Realize When Measuring PR Success
• Where Next for the News Release

Sign up for the daily PRBC mailing here

• 30 July 2010 : Friday’s 5 • 30 July 2010
• 29 July 2010 : Twitter is one big, fat inside joke between 100 million people
• 28 July 2010 : Your Copy Sucks: Punctuation Ruins Lives
• 27 July 2010 : Do You ‘Crunch Proud?’
• 26 July 2010 : What the Old Spice Guy Videos Lacked: Real Messaging