A New Chapter

By lulugrimm, 4 May, 2010, View Comments

Life is a series of steps and it’s not the destination it’s the journey, right? Statements that are much easier said than believed most of the time because the majority of us have places we want to go and we just want to get there.

I am a pretty big proponent of the above. My life experience has shown me that everything I do in life sets me up for the next ‘thing’ I’m supposed to do. Personal or otherwise (they all tie together really), everything that has happened in my life, from crawling to walking, secondary school to college, job to job has been a necessary progression of lessons that primes me for my next endeavor. Some of these lessons I enjoy very much and others not so, but each is monumental in the bigger picture that is my life. Each step, lesson, failure, success and everything in between is responsible for where I am today.

As it pertains to our careers, I think that being acutely aware of your desired destination(s), both near future and twenty years out helps you to better navigate through the journey part if you know what direction you’re headed. Totally logical, but somehow astonishingly difficult or everyone would be where they want to be, right?

Last Friday marked my last day as marketing communications manager at the job I occupied for the past 14 months. Today marks my new beginning in a digital PR and social media specialist role for Mall of America. A role and opportunity that I’m honored was presented to me. It is an exciting time in my career.

It’s not just exciting because of the position I’ve landed in, but the path that has led me here. Each job I’ve had has taught me an obscene amount. Not just about my discipline and many others, but about management and business overall. I’ve loved and have deep gratitude for each job experience. While I have love for each job, there was something about each that didn’t fit for me – to the extent that staying was not a long-term option. So, I did what you’re not supposed to do early on in my career, despite being told that I should ‘put my time in’ or not switch jobs because of how it will ‘look.’ I mustered the courage to act based on what I knew in my gut (but was so scary to do) – I moved around a bit in pursuit of what I wanted for myself and what I knew I could find; an environment and/or organizational culture that better suited me and what I value as a professional (a place and team like MOA).

Doubtfully treading through these waters most of the time, I was exposed to a phenomenally diverse set of experiences and afforded many opportunities I would not have had if I chose to play it ‘safe’ or ‘accept’ what I knew wasn’t really for me. There have been a number of times in the past few years that I’ve questioned the path I chose. Simultaneously, I kept on doing the next right thing, even if I wasn’t sure of any of it at the time. Faith is key in any journey.

The beauty in all of this is that by setting my sights on something greater, not giving up on it, doing the work and having a general respect for the process, I’ve now arrived at the most desirable of destinations at this point in my career life. I’m so looking forward to the next journey, whatever it brings.

Collaborative News: WCCO’s The Wire Wants You!

By lulugrimm, 2 April, 2010, View Comments

There is a plethora of ways to get your news and information nowadays. I mean, really. You could be of the traditional variety, consuming your information from the newspaper, magazines, TV or radio. You may be the type that’s turned to newer media, like Twitter (TNN – The Twitter News Network), Facebook, blogs (which typically have a narrowed beat or focus), and media applications on your mobile device to get your info. Or, you may be like me, a hybrid, who consumes media in a variety of ways; online, mobile app and print newspaper, public radio, Twitter, other print media and my local news broadcast at 10 most evenings. Regardless of the many news and information consumption options we have, there is one commonality: Everyone consumes information and news; it’s just a matter of how (through what mediums).

I’m progressively amazed at how unimpressed people are with the good old news media in general. What used to be the go to source for news and information, mediums like the newspaper, television and radio (traditional media), have been labeled sleazy, laughable, poor sources and overall untrustworthy in their delivery of media goods (this is what I hear and sometimes think as well). Why is this?

Whether you’ve consciously taken note or not, the media business structure as we know it has been turned upside down by advancement in technology, the tools that accompany it and what it allows people like you and me to do. To sum it up (this is the really short version and I’m speaking broadly), the old way of doing things put power in the hands of news folks, who served as a one-way distribution channel to the masses. People would sit in front of the tele and take in the news or read the paper to get a feel for what was going on out in the world. If they had opinions about it they may share them at work the next morning, with family and friends, but beyond that nothing would happen. Since the dawn of the World Wide Web and its rapid evolution, tools like blogging and social networks have sprung up, creating a many-to-many communication empire of sorts. Meaning of course, that now, people like you and me can take in information or create our own and share our opinions, events, ideation, etc. with the world; on Facebook, on Twitter, on our personal blog if you have one, on forums or comments on other people’s blogs and on and on (new media). With the exception of few, this has made things incredibly difficult for traditional news media, as their viewer/reader/listenership has tanked some, advertisers inevitably advertise elsewhere, which has ultimately thrown a wrench in the existing revenue model.

So, what the heck do you do if you’re a large media distribution channel and your audience has started to find you less relevant because they can seek their information elsewhere and have a dialogue about it?

Well, if you’re WCCO, Minnesota’s CBS affiliate network, you create The Wire, an online tool that allows anyone (with access to a computer and internet) to participate in developing news stories, buzz or events happening in the Twin Cities (and beyond). From actual story or event creation (providing they’re relevant stories and community events, not fluff or advertisements) to just sharing photos, video or comments about a developing story via a few simple clicks.

Recently, I had the opportunity to have a little chat with John Daenzer, director of new media for WCCO, about The Wire. John is an awesome dude and part of a team that endeavors (IMHO) to bring the public into the news room as much as possible. Whether it’s Jason DeRusha’s ‘Good Question,’ one of the many blogs that shed light on and encourage community engagement — or the various other segments that educate, provide value and try to integrate all technologies to reach all audiences the way that works best for them. Above all, this team doesn’t pay lip service to wanting to bring the community together; they actually DO IT and keep trying and finding new ways to do so, which I appreciate. Here’s a little bit about the wire straight from one of the main peeps behind it.

I think it’s a pretty neat idea and I hope that WCCO continues to see some traction with it. The fact they have a genuine desire and have put such hard work into trying to CONNECT with their audience in a new and interactive way is delightful. I realize that this will be a revenue generator for them as well (through ads of course), so I know it’s not completely selfless, but still, the effort and investment in their community is more than I can say for most mainstream media.

As with most things of social media nature, it takes time to determine if it will be useful to the masses (and of course there are always kinks). As of now, I think there’s a contingency of folk who use other services, like Twitter and Facebook, to talk about events and news they want to contribute to, share, etc. that may find this more interesting after they play with it a little. I’ve already started to include it in my morning news scan and see potential for it to be a great source of information. It just needs to keep growing, and from what I’ve gleaned from my WCCO peeps, they continue to adjust and tweak things daily. The ultimate perk I see with The Wire is the ability to team up with a traditional media source to have a truly collaborative, or at the very least, more conversational news experience.

So, check out The Wire for a few minutes. It’s simple to navigate and if you have any trouble at all, check out the FAQ page or watch this video and you should be well on your way. I’m very interested to know: What do you think about this tool? Will you engage with it? Will it improve your relationship with local media? I’d love to know. Thanks for stopping by :-) .

Intro to WCCO’s The Wire (A WCCO production)

Marching Together: Recap of Mobile March

By lulugrimm, 29 March, 2010, View Comments

My passion for the convergence of technology and the communication disciplines placed me at the first ever Mobile March over the weekend, a mobile event focused on the intersection of mobile technology and trends, and the multitude of ways mobile development is affecting business. Mobile March is the offspring of Mobile Twin Cities, an event held monthly that focuses on trends and software development on all mobile platforms, founded and led by Justin Grammens.

The day-long event brought together mobile enthusiasts from all walks — software developers, communicators, marketers and advertisers — to learn about and openly discuss the topic of mobile technology; where we are, where it’s headed and what it all means – so far as we can tell at the moment. The event was formatted as a dual track series, allowing attendees to mix and match business and mobile development tracks or just stick to either track all day. There was something for everyone.

Mobile March: What and Why with Founder, Justin Grammens

The event had many highlights, and of course not all can be covered here, but the one theme that stood out to me was “Marching Together.” Evolving technologies and the integration of them into existing business practice is not monopolized by any one person or company. It is, and will remain a learning curve for all of us. As the day progressed, it held that Mobile March was merely an educational forum intended for people to productively collaborate and walk away with better information to more effectively implement appropriate mobile elements into business strategy. Here are a few event highlights. Hope you find useful.

IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE PART OF MOBILE

Keynote, Mark Mosiniak, director of business development for Best Buy Mobile, gave a well-rounded presentation that spoke to the rapid evolution of mobile (see below) and how Best Buy is making modifications to fit in this space to proficiently help the consumer make the best buying decisions for their mobile needs. “What today is all about is getting us together to share ideas. Not just in our ecosystem, but ultimately to make mobile easier for the customer and consumer,” said Mosiniak. Best Buy’s initiatives include education and digital support for customers to make purchasing a new, or even foreign or updated mobile device, more manageable and helpful for the buyer. Key points us marketer/communication folk (or other) can take away:

Mobile technology is advancing quickly…

  • 10 years ago 3G licenses were signed, the first pocket PC devices were introduced, the first mobile game was introduced (remember snake?) and the first Bluetooth enabled phone hit the market.
  • Three years ago RIM owned the marketing in email centric devices, Internet browsing was possible but not engaging, 3G products hit the market in force, and Apple announced the iPhone.
  • In the past year the first Android phone was released, 2,500 apps in the Android marketplace, there were 20,000 apps on iTunes and 8 million downloads.
  • Today, Android is fastest growing platform with 30,000 apps, 4G products are on the market, 150,000 iPhone apps are on iTunes with more than 3 billion downloads, there are 4 billion mobile users worldwide, people are transferring what they do on their PCs to their phone, and people want their mobile experiences to be fast, simple and solve immediate needs. There are so many platforms — Windows, Palm, Symbian OS, iPhone, RIM, Android —We need to think beyond iPhone and Blackberry. There is a lot of opportunity here!!!

The majority of people DO NOT have Android or Smartphones… they have TEXT!!! We are the uber geeks, not consumers! The point here being that, thinking from a tech savvy box isn’t always a good thing, as the majority of the population runs on less sophisticated technology, but uses it well and via SMS. We should focus marketing efforts here. “Consumers want that brand, color or price point, not complicated application arrangements that require vast amounts of knowledge they don’t have to operate. Developing apps that actually relate to the consumer market would be a much better spend in developer time. We don’t need yet another Twitter app. The creativity comes in how you’re building the relationship with the customer, not the creativity in the app!!!

Mark’s 5 Ideas for Mobile (notes)…

  • Single Sign On – Different sign ins are inefficient and so difficult from a usability standpoint. Users should have a universal sign in for all of their accounts.
  • Blur the lines between customer service and marketing – At Best Buy, they use ‘Tips and Tricks’ video that train and teach users how to operate their technology better. This could be applied to almost anything. It’s no different than it’s always been, but now we have the ability to provide help digitally. Make use of it!!!
  • Online to Offline – Barcodes for customers via SMS, i.e. text this number to get customer reviews from the Web interface or Web site on your mobile, 2D barcodes, etc.
  • My phone is my wallet – Create the ability for mobile checkout, i.e. Best Buy’s Rewards Zone tap and go and pay pass
  • Small Business need apps too!!! – Obviously, small business rarely has the resources a larger organization may have to there are certain similar traits that can transfer from biz-to-biz,

Where is the $ in apps?

  • The purchase point (people purchasing the actually app)
  • In the life enhancing ability of the app to the consumer
  • Marketing of the applications

Mark’s slide deck can be found here.

HOW TO SET STRATEGY IN MOBILE

This panel discussion was solely dedicated to mobile strategy (although people so badly want to focus on tactics – always makes me chuckle). Panelists were Damon Allison of Vision Information Services, Robert Shidla of Verizon Wireless, Scott Thomsen of Launch Media and Doug Rozen of Carlson Marketing.

Immediacy and snackability are two of mobile’s distribution channel perks; they allow users to get a taste of something very quickly.

What are key considerations if you’re thinking about mobile strategy? (notes)

People get blinded by the shininess of mobile. This is marketing; you need to have a codified vision of success. Walk, run, leap begins with the foundation of thinking and planning. At the end of the day these are marketing programs. We are talking to the consumers – start thinking about what the challenge is you’re trying to solve. With a plan, be willing to adapt. This ecosystem is moving at a rapid pace. What you have today will be different in 18 months. KPIs and ROI should remain consistent. What are you trying to achieve? What’s the delivery mechanism or carrier mechanism? If you don’t have in house capabilities to determine your mobile strategy, find a partner (agency/mobile development company) that thinks about who the customer is, what the customer is thinking and possesses the knowledge of what technologies your audience uses in order to determine what to do next.

Three Mobile Marketing Strategy Recommendations

There was far more to the events of Mobile March. A lot on the development side and more on the business side. Here’s a broader recap from the Minnov8 gang.  If you know of other recaps, feel free to share links in comments. I look forward to the next Mobile March and how much will have changed by then, from both a mobile development standpoint and how we’ll see mobile marketing transform. Looking at the current chronology, I can only imagine how things could change in the next six months to a year. Thanks to the event organizers Phil Wilson, Linda Cummings and Justin Grammens for putting this together!

The Beauty of Technology: Recap of SMBSXSW from Afar

By lulugrimm, 15 March, 2010, View Comments

There are so many opportunities to be educated about new trends, tools, technology and what it all means for the bigger picture. Often, we pay a fee (sometimes hefty) to sit in rooms with folks and hear the brilliance, perspective and idea sessions that explore the next big thing. But what about all the people who can’t attend these events…  due to finances, their employer arguing that the investment is unworthy, family responsibilities and other circumstances?

Resourcefulness is something I’ve learned a lot about this past year (more on that lesson in a future post). I’ve had the luxury of attending quite a few amazing events in recent months, but there are certainly a few that I’ve been sad to miss. So, what do I do when I can’t physically be somewhere but want the knowledge? I seek out the information and find that I can get pretty darn close to an event without actually having to be there. Case in point:

I was unable to make it to South by Southwest Interactive (SxSW) this year. While sad, the greatest thing about events like this is that technology transcends geography. With the help of a nifty little service called USTREAM, I was able to watch the entire Social Media Breakfast SXSW via livestream from my bed on Sunday morning. It was fantastic.  I took in presentations by thought leaders Becky McCray, Tac Anderson and Rick Mahn with appearances by awesome Social Media Breakfast Founder, Brian Person and event moderator, Albert Maruggi.

Thanks to technology, the following is what I learned from my bed on Sunday morning…

The Missing Ingredient in Social Media Strategy is… the strategy! – Tac Anderson

With all the talk about social media strategy nowadays, it’s funny that the one thing missing from most social media strategies is often just that, the actual strategy. Shannon Paul hit this topic astonishingly well a few weeks ago, with great commentary from Tac and others – and its reference was the starting point of his discussion. I highly recommend you read Shannon’s post: “The Mising Ingredient in Most Social Media Strategies.”

Tac defined strategy as: Creating operational alignment between all functions and activities of a business.

Current research on publicly traded companies says: Return on assets has gone down and is on a downward trajectory. By 2025 the net worth of all publicly traded companies will be zero (research attributed to John Hagel).

Problem: This means that the way we run our businesses today isn’t working. In order to achieve scale (way back when), we had to give up intimacy. In order to achieve scale, we put processes in place. We removed people from the company.

Solution: With Internet and social media, we can achieve intimacy and scale. We can connect people inside the company with people outside the company. Quoting Lane Becker (who quoted someone else): “Businesses thrive on the network when they adapt to the network, not the other way around.”

Three ways to create/adopt a SM strategy:

  • The Bolt On strategy (not a strategy): Let’s start a blog or a Twitter account. Someone will blog/tweet and everything else will stay exactly the same inside the company. Social Media is NOT a bolt on component.
  • The I’m going to force social media to comply with existing code of conduct (not a strategy). It sucks the life out of SM.
  • Making your company optimized for social media. What would it look like if every part of your company were built to maximize the benefits of social media? This is the ideal and highly underdeveloped point at which most organizations find themselves currently.

Back to both John Hagel and Lane Becker to summarize our discussion: Socil Media as part of the operational alignment is about creating edges and flows inside your company. Innovation happens on the edges where you get creative friction and where things and things can even be a little messy. What SM can do if you optimize the right way is create those edges and knowledge flows… can start happening inside your company.

Tac Anderson is Digital Consulting Director at Waggener Edstrom, blogs over at New Comm Biz and is all around awesome (from what I read and see – we have not met). Tac rocks and you should read his stuff.

How Technology is Changing Small Town America – Becky McCray

“I was just chatting with some people at my table and what I find to be true is that everyone has a small town connections,” said Becky as she grabbed the mic from Albert to begin her talk. She finds it amusing that people continue to ask her, “How did you ever get interested in technology in such a small town?”  To which she politely says, “There is electricity in small towns. “

Becky owns a liquor store and a cattle ranch in small Oklahoma town. She started out as a small town entrepreneur and is an eternal geek. This intersection of passion has landed her in a position to help rural communities really ‘get connected,’ said moderator Albert Maruggi. The opportunity to connect more people through technology specifically as it pertains to small and rural business is her aim and sweet spot.

Becky talked about a few trends happening in small town America that are transforming small town communities and business.

Convergence - Techies are invading rural communities and effecting change. She illustrates with the example of Aliza Sherman. Sherman lives in Alaska in a 300-person town and her five-person company Conversify has grown far past its borders.

Rural is getting more and more wired. Rural communities are progressively experiencing broadband connectivity. Jay Pinkert (may have slaughtered that name) in Wisconsin has worked to wire a whole section of the state for broadband in order allow people to connect and develop through technology.

“We are at a moment where everything is going to change, said Becky. “My anti-tech mother is on Facebook poking her grandson.”

Folks in small towns are at an advantage. Because of the scale, the education process is a bit different. Teaching the skills and tools is easy. Then you can teach the commandments:

  • Be helpful
  • Build Community
  • Reputation is forever

I look forward to learning more about Becky by checking out her blog.

How to Start a Social Media Breakfast – Rick Mahn

Rick’s road to founding SMBMSP was born out of a strong desire to bring the conversations he was having online and in other small communities to his back yard a.k.a. the Twin Cities. Upon observing a little gathering happening in Boston beginning in 2007 called Social Media Breakfast, Rick began a conversation with Brian Person, founder of the Social Media Breakfast concept and it was suggested that he start a breakfast in Minneapolis.

A little more than two years later, SMBMSP has 1,874 members and averages a 300-person event each month. There are often people dissatisfied because they don’t get a ticket. A problem Rick is looking to solve as best he can.

Some of Rick’s thoughts…

Community: SMBMSP opens up opportunities for the community itself. It’s a catalyst for the people ‘doing it’ to come forward and help the rest of the community.

Recruiting help for events: In terms of seeking out help for the events, Rick looks to the people who are really passionate about SMB, topics, issues, etc. (which sometimes takes a while) and enrolls them in the events.

Large group discussion: When small, the breakfast is a great place to have dynamic discussions about how social media is transforming industries. As the breakfast has grown to large numbers, the format has been modified to panel discussions with a moderator instead of a speaker model. Panels are more productive, as they offer many perspectives instead of just one. Ample Q & A is built in to encourage strong audience dialogue.

Sponsorship: In the beginning it’s hard, unless you have really good fundraising skills. Rick admits that he did not:-) “I’m an IT guy,” he said. “Not an events guy.” Looking for mutually beneficial partnership/sponsorship venues is key.

Of course, there is more, but I’m signing off here.  SMBSXSW can be viewed in its entirety here.

A few other quick tips for following events you cannot attend:

  • Hashtag: Find out before the event kicks off what hashtag has been designated so you can follow the conversation on Twitter. If you’re not on Twitter, you can still perform Twitter searches via search.twitter.com, and you’ll be able to obtain information, links, photos and video from anyone who uses the event hashtag.
  • Google: A simple Google search can be so effective. Just search for the event name and you’ll likely get a long list of blogger who are live-blogging the event. These posts are often better than being there because the information has already been synthesized for you. A great example of a wonderful blogger covering SXSW is Greg Swan. I’ve been following his daily recaps over on Social Studies.

Have anything to add? I love it when you do.

Couples and Money and Communication, oh my!

By lulugrimm, 1 March, 2010, View Comments

In the spirit of talking about things other people don’t talk about openly, but at times desperately want to or should, I’d like to share a little something about an exercise my husband and I are doing to be better communicators and build a stronger marriage, specifically as it pertains to MONEY.

My hubs and I, a.k.a. Chad, have been married for a little more than one year and have been together for almost seven (wow). We communicate beautifully in most areas, but like many couples out there money is not our simplest issue to explore. We have different experiences with money (as everyone does). These experiences helped to develop our value systems and behavior patterns with money, which inevitably are also different. Sound familiar? Well, it’s usually the reality of most couples and people out there in some regard.

We’ve had our fair share of money arguments along the way, but managed to come to a decent understanding before we were married. We knew we had further work to do, but hadn’t found the magic potion on our own just yet. We interviewed other couples, our parents, chatted about it during premarital couples counseling and talked about possible money management methods and systems in private at home. Despite all of these efforts, the doing something piece, the taking ACTION piece wasn’t falling into place.

So… for Christmas we decided the best gift to give each other was a money class we’d both heard amazing things about over the years called ‘Couples and Money,’ taught by nationally known financial educator, expert and author Ruth Hayden.

We went to our first of five classes last Monday and I gotta say I’m really looking forward to the next four.  The following are my takeaways so far:

  • One of the first things mentioned in class was: It is socially and politically incorrect to talk about money. In our culture. In our relationships. And consequently in our families. Well, no wonder money is hard to discuss!!! It’s kind of a no brainer and really a huge relief when you think about it this way. Our societal and cultural framework doesn’t have the ‘let’s talk about money like sane, rational and open adults’ built into it in a healthy way. In essence, it’s embedded as a natural dysfunction in our cultural and relational fabric.
  • The purpose of this class is to make us a better management team; It’s about learning and being in partnership with money. It was explained that there are two parts to money: Counting and Managing. Counting is ability to know how much you make, how much you need, budgeting, etc. The management piece includes how you make it work, how you make decisions, how you and money coexist, etc. (after you’ve counted the money). Many couples think that if they count it and the numbers ad up that that’s most of the battle. There is much more.

  • Class is about DIALOGUE and INTROSPECTION. I find personal reflection to be one of life’s most important, and often most difficult things. I’m a big advocate for Emotional Intelligence and its importance in the bigger picture. It is my experience that when I take inventory of my stuff, my interactions with the rest of the world are far simpler. This class is no different. This class will challenge both of us to take a hard look at our part in how we view and interact with money — and then we will come together to discuss it. When thought about in this way it makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it? I know that in past discussions about money I walk in thinking I’m right, which sets the discussion up to fail because I haven’t really dug deeper. I hope that makes sense.

  • People don’t change unless they have to. Then they change just enough to get out of crisis. Love this because of the truth in it. Won’t get into it too much, but obviously the goal of this class is to change the necessary behaviors around money so we can be in better partnership with it and our mates.

I look forward to sharing more about what we learn and how it helps us navigate through developing better communication and a  strong financial partnership for a successful future! As always, I love to hear your experience or thoughts if applicable:-).

SMBMSP #24 – Social Media and Retail

By lulugrimm, 27 February, 2010, View Comments

I’m delighted to be moderating next week’s (3/5) SMBMSP (Social Media Breakfast Minneapolis/St. Paul) at Rick Bronson’s House of Comedy at the Mall of America, 4th floor (Upper East Side), 8-10 a.m. Retail panelists include:

In developing a solid line of questioning for the panel, I want to know what YOU think in order to round out my questions for the event. We’re a crew who likes to collaborate, so let’s do it. Tell me what you want to know about the relationship between social media and retail, okay?

We only have about 45 minutes, so I’ll take what you peeps give me and try to pack it all in to answer your questions. There will also be some Q & A, so if you post here and it’s unanswered you’ll have the opportunity to ask. I look forward to what you all come up with.

I’ll start: I’m really interested in how retail venues are utilizing location-based social networks like Foursquare in their marketing mix.

I look forward to comments!!! Thanks in advance :-) . P.S. For those that already commented via Posterous, Twitter and Facebook – THANKS!

Reflection: Inspirations From the Web

By lulugrimm, 14 February, 2010, View Comments

When I came across the criteria for the SobCon2010 “Blog it, Earn it”contest via Liz Strauss and Terry Starbucker, I was elated with not only the fact that I could win and all expense paid trip to SobCon2010, but more importantly that I could address how a person online has made a difference in my life; how they’ve made my life easier, better, smarter, more productive and more meaningful.

There are a lot of people online (and off) that make a difference in my life because of the content they share, the conversations we have, and the connections we make, but rarely do I articulate in writing how these people have impacted my daily life (I try to tell them all in person).

While there are many, I want to share one that has and continues to make difference. That person is Brian Solis. Note: I could have written about this without the incentive of winning a trip, but being a relatively new blogger, I wasn’t prepared to write a random post about why I have a purely professional crush on Brian :-) . The following is why I dig Brian:

As a young public relations practitioner that has a knack for establishing mutually beneficial relationships between an audience and its publics in a more human relational way, I believe Brian truly encapsulates and demonstrates superior insight and knowledge to the discipline of marketing communications and far beyond.

Upon entering my first agency job I took a lot in, as is to be expected. I love public relations and the foundation upon which it was built, but in the agency setting I found myself at times wondering why PR could seem so impersonal and contrived. My capstone project in college had addressed the question of how social networks were impacting the public relations industry, so naturally I began to gravitate to the online marketing group’s side of business in the agency (where social media was housed). The unfortunate thing about the agency was that the synchronicity between practice groups was more of a fight than a collaborative effort. Who owned the social media piece of an account (PR or online marketing) or who got hours seemed more of a priority than getting down to business and developing sound strategies of how to provide clients with the best means to reach the folks they were trying to reach.

During this time I began to read Brian Solis’ blog then called PR 2.0, now called Defining the Convergence of Media and Influence. Additionally, I got my hands on “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations,” a phenomenal book coauthored by he and Deirdre Breakenridge.

Brian’s thought leadership surrounding communications and how technology and new media are profoundly influencing a firmly rooted discipline(s) has fascinated me since discovery. Brian has a very simple way of articulating some very difficult things. Essentially, he has managed to take existing silos and present ideas, concepts and realities that are influential in breaking those silos down or at the very least allow people to look horizontally through them, instead of just vertical.

Finding his content and position early in my career has given me confidence in my view of the public relations profession, which is that PR is far more than news releases, media relations and getting someone to write a story that reflects your client in a positive light for the sake of it, even when that may not be the case (a one-way dialogue between an organization and its publics). It’s more about truly connecting a group of people to an entity for the right reasons and can be done in a really personable way instead of the old oiled and typical public relations engine, which at times may be nothing more than a relationship with a reporter or follow protocol that in my humble opinion is a small piece of the true PR puzzle. Among my favorite posts from him are those concerned with the Conversation Prism. The idea that “I hear you. I’m listening to you. I understand you,” as a means to create a community for your entity instead of the illusion of such.

The Conversation Prism: The Art of Listening, Learning and Sharing (Creation of Brian Solis and Jesse Thomas)

I’m not saying that traditional means are not important or profound in their own right. Without our foundation, the new could not exist. What I am saying is that there are far better ways to connect people to what they need and what will make them loyal to your client, company, etc. that serve everyone better, and yes, will probably require more work (a two-way dialogue). It is this that makes me so excited about public relations and communications.

Brian’s contribution has allowed my excitement about things such as this to grow, given me the tools to be a better practitioner, brought me cutting edge approaches to a field I love and ultimately the inspiration to continue on my path. I thank Brian for helping me be a better, smarter, more productive practitioner by the content he shares and the hard work he does to produce this content. It certainly makes the PR discipline more meaningful to me.

Brian does a really great job making himself accessible to interested parties, despite being very busy all the time. He responds to his blog comments, tweets back and forth and engages with a lot of people regularly (basically, he practices what he preaches). It’s nice to know that if ever I had a PR 2.0 challenge, I could ping him and he’d do what he could to help out (I don’t know that this will ever happen because he writes about everything before it becomes a problem – for me).

I was lucky enough to meet Brian for a small second and exchange a hug at Blogworld/New Media Expo in 2009. I hope to have a better chunk of time with him someday to chat about his evolution through this discipline, life and what’s next – really just get to know him a bit.

I look forward to his new book, “Engage: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web,” which hits stands any day now and can be pre-ordered over at Amazon.

Thanks to Liz Strauss and Terry Starbucker for presenting the opportunity to chat about how Brian’s contributions have impacted my life. Hope to see you at SobCon2010!

Listen, Connect, Publish: Takeaways from Reputations

By lulugrimm, 8 February, 2010, View Comments

Human business advocate and one of social media’s finest, Chris Brogan, rolled through Minneapolis last week to keynote the LaBreche and Minnesota Business Reputations Event at Best Buy Headquarters. Some other folks have recapped the event and shared about the panel discussion, so if you’re interested in other perspectives just Google or Twitter search #BroganMpls and you should have access to some good posts and tweets from the event. Additionally, I captured a few afterthoughts from Jason Douglas, Keith Privette, Christian Betancourt (fodder for another conversation) :-) and a clip from the Q & A with Chris.

A few things…

I dig Chris and this is why: Chris is just a guy who knows how to talk to people (the human-to-human way), and as the result of being an excellent relationship cultivator, he’s managed to build something profoundly great and share it with a lot of people.  If I can look back and say that I built something similar with those around me and gave it away, I’ll be one heck of a happy gal.

My regard for Chris goes a bit beyond his keynotes and his public social media persona. I’ve had a few opportunities to get to know Chris outside of his keynotes, both at Blogworld in 2009 and over dinner when he passed through town last week, and it’s nice to be able to say that his insides match his outsides, as in he’s not full of shit IMHO (in my humble opinion).

The Keynote: My Thoughts

Instead of the obligatory hello, Chris began his talk by addressing the audience with the Zulu greeting Sayubono, which translates into “I see you.” Chris explained that “I see you” is at the heart of this whole social media thing.  If you take whatever hat you wear off for a second (public relations, marketer, CEO, student of life, etc.) and look at the logic behind this, it should make sense. Being impersonal and going through the motions in life is boring, not particularly enticing and usually has little action associated with it. It’s lazy. If I get something in the mail (or via another medium) that is irrelevant to me and poorly executed, someone obviously didn’t really take the time to understand why they needed to chat with me. They didn’t SEE ME. And by the way, I’m not just talking about this in terms of how marketing communication people address their audiences’ needs. I’m talking about with your check out gal at Target, with your friends and family. I’m talking about everything you do. What’s the point of any of it if we don’t SEE one another? Seeing is the beginning of it all, and most importantly something we have complete control over.

Listen. Connect. Publish. The keynote was framed by these three verbs, and upon them a discussion was built. Here are some raw notes:

Look for the relationship. SEE YOUR PEOPLE .By listening to your publics it should be pretty simple to determine what it is they need you to say to them. How do you build content around the people you equip? Peeps will reveal what they need. You can’t assume they want to talk to you there (various mediums). When you find where they are you need to participate where they are, you’re there to be a participant – not there to manage the brand. Equip them! It’s amazing what happens when you give people collaboration tools. Help people belong. Build the relationship, a relationship that yields and benefits. Listen and BE HELPFUL. The important thing is DO NOT USE the tools if you’re not willing to listen, if you’re not willing to build relationships.

Sentiment. Many post-event discussions with peers reeked of disappointment with the event overall. The social media literate tended to find the event repetitive in nature or took issue with having the same discussion, or as Andrew Eklund stated in a Minnesota Business recap (nice thoughts over there btw), “Social Media is having a hard time growing up.” Here’s what I say to that: The social media literate were not the intended audience for this event. Beth LaBreche said it herself during the panel discussion. While she appreciated the turn out, she was hoping for clients and prospects less versed in the social media discipline to show up and get some wicked education. Problem is, you stick the Brogan in as headliner and you draw his fan base and those who may want to be his fans because they’ve heard about him from his fan base.

To the literate: While hearing about listening and creating the appropriate content based on the information we’ve uncovered by monitoring, listening or whatever, the reality is that so many people still need to hear the YOU NEED TO LEARN HOW TO BE HUMAN message, which is really at the core of the whole listen, connect and publish thing (and Brogan happens to carry that message well). The underpinnings of social media are the humanity piece. My strong belief as someone who has participated here for a while is that teaching people about the human part, about what that really means is most of the battle. At the end of the day a lot of people don’t know how to just have a conversation with people, let alone figure out how to go talk to a bunch of people they don’t know strategically. Add the “we should market to people using social media” piece without a foundational knowledge of this and you’re in a world of trouble.

Those of us that want to (and some are) get into the sophisticated realm of growing social communication channels, developing new measurement infrastructure, social products and services for consumption, etc., keep doing it. DO IT! Then when you’ve done it, you can get on stage and TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU’VE DONE.

Until then, I think we should expect to remain on the 101 information highway for a while because that’s where the majority of folks are. Those of us who have been playing on the playground for a while need to keep doing what we’re doing, help others, keep ourselves right sized in the whole scheme of learning curves, give back what we’ve been given and create results using our preferred communication medium.

What do you think?

For those of you that don’t know who Chris Brogan is, I recommend you Google him  (you’ll find that he blogs regularly over at www.chrisbrogan.com about community and social media, he’s co-author of New York Times Bestseller, Trust Agents, is president of New Marketing Labs and participates in a number of other endeavors). You’ll either be into his voice or you won’t. I’m acutely aware that not everyone is a fan.

Collaborate to Inform: A Reader Writes In

By lulugrimm, 5 February, 2010, View Comments

In addition to my great social media friends and colleagues, I have a lot of wonderful friends and connections that do not hang in the social media sphere per se. These are folks that may use Facebook, LinkedIn or MySpace (yes I just said MySpace) for personal use, people that are just getting on various social networks to make professional connections or reunite with people from high school or college. Their intentions do not exceed this purpose, however, the desire to do more as the result of mass growth in social media use for business, etc. is sparking curiosity. I get messages from many of them saying things like, “Half the time, I don’t even know what you’re talking about.” It’s not that they’re disinterested (well, some are and give me a hard time); it’s that many of my status updates aren’t really relevant to them. I forget most of the time that terms like augmented reality and mentions of various mediums like Twitter, Foursquare and Plancast etc. are not really that commonplace. With that being said, it’s time to talk to those that don’t really talk about and/or do this stuff ALL THE TIME.

I want to take this opportunity to directly and more thoroughly approach a series of related questions that one of my IRL (in real life) and Facebook friends asked me after my last blog post. (I’d be so grateful if experienced readers take this opportunity to share your thoughts and help others that know far less than you do). I’ve inserted her Facebook message below. NOTE: To capture this image and make quick and easy edits I used a program called Skitch. Skitch is a great tool to pull images off the Web, edit them and convert for easy insertion into documents and blog posts.

I’d like to start by thanking Jane (fictitious name) for asking me her questions, allowing me to use her private question to me as subject matter to post. To keep the identity of her business and name private, I’ve blacked out references to each.

Jane is in a position, like many I know, where she serves as content curator for her workplace(s), spokesperson and brand evangelist for what she represents. While she is all of these things, she’s not familiar with how social media can help her spread the word about her awesome company, its product benefits and brand promise. The boss has assigned her the task. As the result, she’s asking:

What to update? How to get loads of followers? How to make people see our updates?

These are great questions and I’m so glad she asked (me – and I’m hoping you too). The questions are tricky to answer directly because there are quite a few steps in between these questions. Some conversation starters are below (I replied to her privately as well). My goal here is for as many peeps as possible to come in and share links (perhaps to a related post you’ve written) to helpful resources for beginners and drop a useful tip that address her questions. I’ll cover a few, as we’d be here quite a while if I tried to cover it all.

Because I believe that newer communication tools are about creating a two-way dialogue (instead of one-way message distribution model), here are a few suggestions for learning about existing communities and how you may create your own.

Primary and Secondary RESEARCH. My number one approach to just about anything is RESEARCH. I like a blended approach of secondary research (research that others have done and documented) and primary research (gathering my own conclusions and data as the result of first hand experience).

Some helpful secondary resources I use are Google, Twitter Search, Technorati or BlogPulse (blog search tools). You’d be surprised what you’ll dig up as you move through the resources that come up. One thing leads to another. There are many blogs that cover social media and creating online communities out there (they touch the technology piece all the way down to strategy and supporting subjects). Your blog searches will help you hone in on these. Some of my favorites are: Chris Brogan, Brian Solis, Social Media Examiner and Mashable. Others I enjoy can be found in my ‘Stuff I Read’ section.

In regards to primary research, hop on and establish yourself in the mediums you plan to participate in. Practice makes perfect, right? So, if you’re comfortable enough after you know what Twitter is, open an account. WATCH and LISTEN to people. Using Twitter Search (search.twitter.com) seek out keywords that are relevant to you using quotes. (Example “public relations” or “social media.”) By searching for specific terms, you will be able to find exactly who is talking about the subject matter you are interested in. This will help you determine if you want to follow this person/people and if the conversation is a place you want to engage. If you have a prospect list or are curious if specific people are utilizing Twitter (or another medium), go to Google and type in “Jane Doe on Twitter” and anyone by that name will pop up. This is very useful, as you can get granular very easily to determine where you should be spending your time.

Analyze your research. Upon gathering information, sift through it and make some decisions about what you’ve found. Does the data found fit within the overall PR, marketing and business strategy of your company, or will it help you develop a stronger mar-comm strategy? Perhaps you will determine that you need to set up some Google Alerts and use Twitter Search everyday for a week or month and log the results to get a better idea of what’s being said and how you may create community for your people. Does your company culture suit having open conversations with its publics (hopefully it does), or does it just want to blast out one-way messages in hopes of making a sale? If that be the case, you may want to just advertise to save your brand’s reputation.

Closing thought.This may be shocking, but if you know how to talk with another human being, and I’m talking like human-to-human, none of these things will be a problem for you. Yep, I said that. Think about it. These mediums are tools that allow communicators the ability to do what they’ve been doing all along: CONNECT with (audiences) people by realizing common interests (which suggests that you’re a good listener), SHARE and GIVE of yourself genuinely. In essence, create a community or be a good community member. Just may have to do a little extra work to figure out the technology:-)

This is a small piece of the puzzle here and it’s intentional, as I’d love for the awesome community who live this stuff to share the rest in comments.

Integrity, Social Media and Business: One Big Uncomfortable Family

By lulugrimm, 16 December, 2009, View Comments

I had a serendipitous moment yesterday while (finally) writing this post. I saw a tweet come up from one of my peeps, Albert Maruggi (@AlbertMaruggi) that simplified my thoughts a bit (thanks Albert!). Our Twitter conversation reads:

Albert: “Lincoln said, ‘Character is what you do when people are not looking.’ Social media are the constant eyes focused on brands. Now what?”

Me:“Integrity better be a priority (smiley face).”

Albert: “Remember what JR Ewing of Dallas TV fame said, ‘Once you get passed honesty, integrity is a piece of cake.’”

Integrity is something I think a lot about. Growing up, “insides matching outsides” (my preferred definition of integrity) was at the top of the “principles you better practice list.” Over the years, that little phrase has transformed into a question I ask myself regularly as well as what I expect from my surroundings (business relationships, employer, professional associations, personal life, etc.). Why? Well, because without truth, what’s the point? How can anything truly successful be built? I don’t think I really need to make a case for what a lack of integrity and honesty leaves in its wake. Just watch the news or read the paper (yes I just said news and paper) and you’ll find many examples of integrity breech.

Integrity has found its rightful place at the head of the business communication revolution table. Words like authentic, transparent and genuine (all synonymous with insides matching outsides) are among the most popular vocabulary words of today. Not because people do these things particularly well, but because the act of exuding these characteristics is highly desirable, especially as it pertains to communicating. Integrity is what we crave and expect in our interactions with other humans (brands) — and we should expect nothing less.

Technology innovations (such as social networks) and Web 2.0 culture (collaboration culture) not only foster this dynamic, but have the ability to hold communicators and businesses accountable to act with integrity, which has ultimately sent a large percentage of folks into panic mode. For the majority, it’s incredibly scary, as we’ve comfortably been living in the one-to-many culture for quite a while, so the ability for anyone to take hold of a message and say whatever they like whenever they like is a tad overwhelming. And why wouldn’t it be? It’s not necessarily businesses that struggle with this are lacking integrity or being dishonest, more so that they are used to talking with people in a much different way as the result of age, business type, poor teaching or advising and the list goes on. The humanizing of brands is in full swing and many company heads are slowly starting to realize that the behavior shift in people (consumers) and the preferred way to communicate is here to stay.

The intersection of new communication tools, like blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. and good ‘ole traditional marketing-communication practice present the ability to do more better, if we choose.

In answer to Albert’s comment/question, “Lincoln said, ‘Character is what you do when people are not looking.’  Social media are the constant eyes focused on brands. Now what?” I think it’s very important to reflect upon a few things here when thinking about engaging in the world of social media:

First: If your character needs an overhaul (meaning, you are dishonest and lame or have other issues), take a look at yourself (business) and take responsibility and action (emphasis on action) for what you can do better.

Second: Consider what you value and how you want to convey that (how it plays into your overall business communication strategy).

The sad reality here is that people are hopping into a very serious set of communication tools without a defined communication strategy or real distinction of what their company or brand truly represents. In essence, lacking a solid foundation from which to build something — not mapping out how to translate their insides (company culture) to the outside (public) successfully.

The next decade will be fascinating to watch. Not just which businesses succeed and how, but how the marketing-communications discipline will change as the result of ongoing innovation and its ability to empower people to hold business and other powerful entities accountable through transparent platforms. It’s just the beginning of it all and can only get more interesting.

What are your thoughts?

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