It’s very interesting to see the evolution of social media. From just networking with friends and looking at fun pictures, to conducting business and measuring interaction, social media has become the means of communication. The response time of a complaint or compliment on when someone is mentioned is astonishing. One time I mentioned, “Everytime Kate Perry E-mails me, I get excited for a split second thinking it was the singer, then it’s Vocus” and instantly Vocus responds “We’ll be sure to mention that to Kate!”
Its a great feeling having your voice heard, just recently I tweeted something negative about Cision, our best friend and worst enemy. I tweeted that Cision was going way too slowly and i’m sure I did a big “You Suck,” but I instantly got a response asking to do something to my brower to speed it up. Great customer service there. However, that is not the point of this post. Continue reading →
This post is a result of joking around on Teh Twitters with Josh Sternberg, who pointed out that social media, God bless it, has a tendency to get blown way, way out of proportion in terms of, well, everything. Of course there are some things that the deserve the hyperbole–you know, like the snowmaggedeon/snowpacolypse. But being the pragmatic, rational people we are, when we see people make overblown statements it just makes us wonder, “Hmm, what’s the real message behind this message?”
I recently saw a tweet from someone who complained that Verizon had it out for them and that they’d have to wait until their contract was up to get a new phone when the one they had was dysfunctional. The next day, I saw a tweet complaining that a hotel didn’t let people walking on the street into the lobby when it was pouring rain outside.
Seems we’ve all discovered the customer service side of social media. Hundreds of companies are in the social media sphere now to not only spread the word proactively about their organizations, but also to do damage/crisis control with less than happy customers.
But when does legitimate customer dissatisfaction turn into a public twitter and blogosphere annoyance? Continue reading →
As social media becomes more and more popular there’s another issue that is a direct result of its growing popularity: more social media conferences. In Arik’s recent post, he discusses his views that our society may in fact be over-conferenced.
I think the thought itself is interesting, but I have to admit that my gut reaction to hearing that assertion is that it just isn’t true. I will admit, there are a lot of different conferences out there. Just take a look at Mashable’s most recent conference guide. Looking at that list, you’ll notice that there are oftentimes several conferences during the same time period. However, there are also a couple things you won’t see there: overlapping cities and subjects. Continue reading →
Recently I had the opportunity to attend a local event sponsored by LaBreche and Twin Cities Business named: Reputations. The keynote? None other than Chris Brogan. The event also featured a solid panel of communicators and leaders from local agencies and organizations like Best Buy and Select Comfort (disclaimer: client).
Leading up to the event, I was both excited and skeptical. Excited to hear how a major brand like Best Buy manages its reputation online. Skeptical because I have heard the same song and dance a few too many times now.
Unfortunately, like a number of other folks at the event, I left a little disappointed. Continue reading →
In one of today’s posts Arik Hanson suggests conferences get more midlevel speakers. He notes about VIPs
“They don’t actually do the work. They’re typically brilliant people. Tremendous speakers. But, they’re not on the front lines. I want to hear from the folks in the trenches sometimes. What’s working? What isn’t? What surprised you?”
Ask and ye shall receive Arik….
In case some of you hadn’t heard, 7 members of the PRBC crew will be participating in the The 2010 Media Relations Best Practices Summit on March 3rd in New York City.
I hate that one of my first official blog posts on this site has to do with the fact that I am admitting defeat. Less than a month ago I wrote on the proper way to bid farewell a job, boss, and fellow colleagues before making my way to a new position, in a new firm where I wanted nothing more than to be the success I previously was.
There is a great statement: life doesn’t always turn out the way you plan. Less than a month after making my move to my new agency I decided the culture and environment was not for me, and I made the decision to call it quits. That’s right, call it quits–with no job, no future opportunities and a nice hefty mortgage to pay. Continue reading →
Times have definitely changed. We used to talk with each other every day, seven hours a day, five days a week. During those moments, I couldn’t bear the sight of you.
Currently with the popularity of e-mails, Twitter, Facebook and text messages, it seems we rarely speak anymore. Please don’t be sad. It’s because of all these other forms of communication that I’ve really grown to miss our relationship.
Remember the times we used to talk with journalists and reporters? Sure not all the conversations were glorious, but the point was it was a conversation – there was a hint of a personal connection. Continue reading →
Think back to Valentine’s Day in elementary school. Remember the valentine’s themselves, the classroom parties and, of course, the Sweethearts. The sugary little morsels that are synonymous with the impending holiday.
When I first learned that New England Confectionary Company’s Sweethearts had made their way to Twitter, I’ll admit that I was shocked. My initial thought was that the target demographic for the beloved Valentine’s Day treat wasn’t on Twitter. Not to mention the fact that it just seemed obscure that heart shaped candies had their own Twitter feed. Continue reading →
As someone who’s been using Foursquare since it was in its ghetto/doesn’t always function/impossible for you to add a new location phase, I’ve found it very entertaining to watch this platform grow. As it becomes increasingly accessible, more and more people have started to use it (especially since the Blackberry app came onto the scene!).
For me, the defining moment of when Foursquare had become “acceptable” was when my boyfriend started to use it after months of making fun of me for insisting on telling the world where I was. I never thought that moment would come! Besides its growing popularity, I’ve also noticed an increase in discussions surrounding its purpose and the proper way to use it. In fact, TJ wrote a post about her foray into Foursquare just last week. This is to be expected for any new medium, just as we saw with Twitter before. Continue reading →
It’s very interesting to see the evolution of social media. From just networking with friends and looking at fun pictures, to conducting business and measuring interaction, social media has become the means of communication. The response time of a complaint or compliment on when someone is mentioned is astonishing. One time I mentioned, “Everytime Kate Perry E-mails me, I get excited for a split second thinking it was the singer, then it’s Vocus” and instantly Vocus responds “We’ll be sure to mention that to Kate!”
In one of today’s 
