How dare you denounce the gods!?

March 26, 2010 Kate Ottavio 3 Comments

A recent tweet by a friend of mine struck me. She said something along the lines of “just because I don’t agree with So-And-So (big name social media guru) doesn’t mean I need to get privately burned via direct message.”

I approached her via DM explaining how every once in a while, I’d like to respectfully disagree with some of these PR and social media professionals we have collectively dubbed “gods.” Respectfully disagree as I would do with anyone else. But why haven’t I? Why can’t I?

Because: I would literally be stoned to death via 140 characters at a time by an overwhelmingly loyal band of lemmings. Yeah, I said it. Continue reading →

Danielle Cyr

Geolocation 2.0: Check into Your Purchases

March 25, 2010 Danielle Cyr 7 Comments

As you leave the office and breeze through your post-workday errands you check prices, scan the purchasing list to be sure nothing is missed and, of course, you check in at your chosen bottle of Kraft dressing or package of Gillette razors. Makes perfect sense, right?

Geolocation is a growing trend with many checking into their offices, residences and local haunts on platforms such as FourSquare, Gowalla and Loopt. But checking into your favorite product is a bit different. Unique? Yes. A bit much to digest? Yes. The next wave of geolocation? Undoubtedly. Continue reading →

Jeff Esposito, Mike Schaffer

Examining Tiger’s Masters Return

March 24, 2010 Jeff Esposito and Mike Schaffer 3 Comments

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, chances are that you’ve heard the sports news that has also made its way into the gossip rags and morning talk shows – Tiger Woods is returning to the PGA tour at the Masters.

While the return of the world’s top golfer will help the Tour’s ratings, it also marks an interesting event for the media. In his public apology spoken press release, Woods did not field any questions and has not answered any questions about his marital infidelity. So while we’d like to say that the media will stick to the tournament at hand, drama sells and the opportunities for juicy questions and an irate golfer are some must-see TV in the making.

But hey, you don’t come to this blog to read about sports or infidelity so let’s get to the root of Tiger’s return to the PGA at Augusta National as a PR move – one that is safe, nostalgic and was strategically planned. Much like a CEO, Woods is advised by some top notch PR folks who carefully chose when he would return to golf. Given the course’s history, importance and pageantry, the Masters is an intriguing choice for Tiger. Our two in-house Sports PR experts don’t agree with each other on this topic:

Jeff Esposito

What a Great Move

March 24, 2010 Jeff Esposito Leave a comment

The introduction for this post can be found here

Stacked Deck – Every flack likes controlling an interview situation as much as they can. The course is private and the only folks to get in will be credentialed or have tickets. According to the PGA’s site: the Masters is more restrictive of media credentials than any other major, and it is the one tournament where the media is not allowed inside the ropes, so chances are that the TMZ’s and Talk Soups of the world will not be granted access to the course. In a sense, the PGA can pull out a wild card and only offer press passes to the regular golf writers making the event pretty sterile. Continue reading →

Mike Schaffer

Dumb Move, Mr. Woods

March 24, 2010 Mike Schaffer 7 Comments

The introduction for this post can be found here

As my esteemed colleague outlined above, some people believe that Tiger Woods returning to competitive golf at the Masters is a good PR move. I whole heartedly disagree.

Let me count the ways:

Walk Before You Crawl – Would you want your first game of the season to be Game 7 of the World Series or even the Super Bowl? From a sheer golf mechanics perspective, Tiger will not be at the top of his game. He will not have played a round of competitive golf in nearly six months when he tees off at Augusta. Why not work your way into peak condition before the biggest tournament of the year? Continue reading →

Keith Trivitt

Is it Time to Introduce Analytics to E-mail Pitching?

March 23, 2010 Keith Trivitt 12 Comments

I don’t usually write about the more tactical, day-to-day issues of PR and marketing, choosing instead to focus on the delicate work-life balance, thinking like an entrepreneur and why I think it’s OK to not have a traditional PR background. But today, bear with me for a bit, as I’m going to get pretty tactical on something every PR and marketing professional uses probably every single day of their jobs: the e-mail pitch.

Ahh, yes, the infamous “pitch.” Loathed by many, MANY, but in today’s smart phone-obsessed world, about as important as ever in terms of driving successful media outreach for brands and organizations. I won’t get into the whole debate about whether e-mail pitches should or should not be used, but there were a couple of interesting points I wanted to hit from Cone’s main points in the article on about how we can all make our e-mail pitches a bit more refined and increase the rate that our e-mails to bloggers and reporters will A) get opened; and B) actually get us some type of response. Continue reading →

CTMichaels

The BCC…Not Cool

March 23, 2010 CT Michaels Leave a comment

E-mail has become a big part of our lives, when e-mail goes down, our lives shut down. There are so many things you can do with e-mail from e-mailing 300 people in a matter of seconds to just talking it up with friends in China. There is one thing e-mail related that should not be abused. The BCC function. Oh the BCC, the Blind Carbon Copy, also known as the Blind Courtesy Copy and the Big Chicken Coworker.

To all of you who are unfamiliar, the BCC function basically lets people see an e-mail that is sent, but people who are addressed in the TO: or CC: line of an e-mail don’t know this person has received the e-mail. There are many times I’ve used the BCC function whether it be to keep my supervisors in the loop as to what is going on while interacting with a client, or to joke around with one of my friends who doesnt know, and even playing Mr. Matchmaker and clueing my friend into knowing what is being said about them to a potential love interest. The BCC function can be great to be secretive, but when used in deceptive ways, not cool. Continue reading →

Christina Khoury

Free Labor or Priceless Experience

March 22, 2010 Christina Khoury 47 Comments

Internships are a vital part to any student’s college experience, especially a communications student. What we can learn in college classes is limited. Don’t get me wrong my professors had successful careers in the PR world ranging from an FBI Public Information Officer to a senior vice president at Fleishman-Hillard. They blended their classes with information from the books and anecdotes from real life experiences. But in my opinion, to really learn the most about PR, students need to really experience it through internships. Continue reading →

TJ Dietderich

Your Copy Sucks: Talkin’ British

March 22, 2010 TJ Dietderich 8 Comments

Lately a lot of folks have asked me questions that come down to a matter of Britishocity. Is it “gray” or “grey?” Is it “theatre” or “theater?” It’s okay if you’re confused about these things because, to be honest, you probably had little to do with dumping a bunch of Twinnings into Boston Harbor. Or is that Harbour?

We’ve whined about the differences between American and British English before, but spellings are a whole ‘nother animal. Or is that animaul? (Hint: it’s not.) If you care, here are some commonly mixed-up spellings that differ across the pond.
Continue reading →

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