The week may have started with a monsoon that ravaged the east coast, but some Irish luck brought out the sun and looks like a warm weekend. So here’s this week’s Five for Friday.

What Bloggers Should Know About PR And Advertising – I love this post from Jason Falls for a number of reasons. The first is how the article spells out what PR is is and what it is not. A lot of times, dealing with bloggers I have received a similar response from some bloggers that Jason did. I work with a lot of great mommy bloggers, and for the most part they understand what flacks can/can’t do. Some of the worst experiences I have had are with the bloggers who don’t buy a domain but sit on a .blogspot or a .wordpress and ask for monetary exchanges before even talking about the program at hand.

Almost Everyone Gets PR Wrong – Nick Morgan makes some great points in this Forbes article. While I can say that I never thought of PR as a way to keep score, it makes perfect sense. I love the examples of Washington and Toyota and how they are using PR in the wrong way.

Would You Check in to a Box of Tampax? For Charity? – Now while I can safely say that I’ve never tried FourSquare or Gowalla, I can say that this is a great way to raise funds for charity and an innovative way to connect with the consumers by the companies.

Has social media jumped the shark? Image - @evilprguy

13 Observations From South by Southwest (SXSW) – This is an interesting post for those of us who didn’t attend SXSW. From some accounts I don’t feel bad especially after reading this horror story and the non attendee commentary from Danny Brown and Ari Herzog. The biggest take away from the piece isn’t the experience but rather the fight I’ve been fighting for the past year plus at my company:

11. It’s About Retention
I was heartened to see that with a few exceptions, most of the conversations, exhibiting companies, and sessions at SXSW positioned social media as a way to engage with current customers, rather than as a way to drive awareness or first-time sales. I hope that we continue down this path, and focus more on the social, and less on the “media”. There was also a lot of talk (especially among the big brands) on operationalizing social media, and creating true best practices for how to thrive in a real-time world where every customer is a reporter.

What I learned from *not* attending SXSW – This is in a similar vein as the previous post but also makes a great point that applies universally, not just to the specific conference. It seems like people need a conference as an excuse to meet in real life. Why not make your own meetings and talk over a beer or coffee?

The week may have started with a monsoon that ravaged the east coast, but some Irish luck brought out the sun and looks like a warm weekend. So here’s this week’s Five for Friday.

What Bloggers Should Know About PR And Advertising – I love this post from Jason Falls for a number of reasons. The first is how the article spells out what PR is is and what it is not. A lot of times, dealing with bloggers I have received a similar response from some bloggers that Jason did. I work with a lot of great mommy bloggers, and for the most part they understand what flacks can/can’t do. Some of the worst experiences I have had are with the bloggers who don’t buy a domain but sit on a .blogspot or a .wordpress and ask for monetary exchanges before even talking about the program at hand.

Almost Everyone Gets PR Wrong – Nick Morgan makes some great points in this Forbes article. While I can say that I never thought of PR as a way to keep score, it makes perfect sense. I love the examples of Washington and Toyota and how they are using PR in the wrong way.

Would You Check in to a Box of Tampax? For Charity? – Now while I can safely say that I’ve never tried FourSquare or Gowalla, I can say that this is a great way to raise funds for charity and an innovative way to connect with the consumers by the companies.

Has social media jumped the shark? Image - @evilprguy

13 Observations From South by Southwest (SXSW) – This is an interesting post for those of us who didn’t attend SXSW. From some accounts I don’t feel bad especially after reading this horror story and the non attendee commentary from Danny Brown and Ari Herzog. The biggest take away from the piece isn’t the experience but rather the fight I’ve been fighting for the past year plus at my company:

11. It’s About Retention
I was heartened to see that with a few exceptions, most of the conversations, exhibiting companies, and sessions at SXSW positioned social media as a way to engage with current customers, rather than as a way to drive awareness or first-time sales. I hope that we continue down this path, and focus more on the social, and less on the “media”. There was also a lot of talk (especially among the big brands) on operationalizing social media, and creating true best practices for how to thrive in a real-time world where every customer is a reporter.

What I learned from *not* attending SXSW – This is in a similar vein as the previous post but also makes a great point that applies universally, not just to the specific conference. It seems like people need a conference as an excuse to meet in real life. Why not make your own meetings and talk over a beer or coffee?

The week may have started with a monsoon that ravaged the east coast, but some Irish luck brought out the sun and looks like a warm weekend. So here’s this week’s Five for Friday.

What Bloggers Should Know About PR And Advertising – I love this post from Jason Falls for a number of reasons. The first is how the article spells out what PR is is and what it is not. A lot of times, dealing with bloggers I have received a similar response from some bloggers that Jason did. I work with a lot of great mommy bloggers, and for the most part they understand what flacks can/can’t do. Some of the worst experiences I have had are with the bloggers who don’t buy a domain but sit on a .blogspot or a .wordpress and ask for monetary exchanges before even talking about the program at hand.

Almost Everyone Gets PR Wrong – Nick Morgan makes some great points in this Forbes article. While I can say that I never thought of PR as a way to keep score, it makes perfect sense. I love the examples of Washington and Toyota and how they are using PR in the wrong way.

Would You Check in to a Box of Tampax? For Charity? – Now while I can safely say that I’ve never tried FourSquare or Gowalla, I can say that this is a great way to raise funds for charity and an innovative way to connect with the consumers by the companies.

Has social media jumped the shark? Image - @evilprguy

13 Observations From South by Southwest (SXSW) – This is an interesting post for those of us who didn’t attend SXSW. From some accounts I don’t feel bad especially after reading this horror story and the non attendee commentary from Danny Brown and Ari Herzog. The biggest take away from the piece isn’t the experience but rather the fight I’ve been fighting for the past year plus at my company:

11. It’s About Retention
I was heartened to see that with a few exceptions, most of the conversations, exhibiting companies, and sessions at SXSW positioned social media as a way to engage with current customers, rather than as a way to drive awareness or first-time sales. I hope that we continue down this path, and focus more on the social, and less on the “media”. There was also a lot of talk (especially among the big brands) on operationalizing social media, and creating true best practices for how to thrive in a real-time world where every customer is a reporter.

What I learned from *not* attending SXSW – This is in a similar vein as the previous post but also makes a great point that applies universally, not just to the specific conference. It seems like people need a conference as an excuse to meet in real life. Why not make your own meetings and talk over a beer or coffee?

The week may have started with a monsoon that ravaged the east coast, but some Irish luck brought out the sun and looks like a warm weekend. So here’s this week’s Five for Friday.

What Bloggers Should Know About PR And Advertising – I love this post from Jason Falls for a number of reasons. The first is how the article spells out what PR is is and what it is not. A lot of times, dealing with bloggers I have received a similar response from some bloggers that Jason did. I work with a lot of great mommy bloggers, and for the most part they understand what flacks can/can’t do. Some of the worst experiences I have had are with the bloggers who don’t buy a domain but sit on a .blogspot or a .wordpress and ask for monetary exchanges before even talking about the program at hand.

Almost Everyone Gets PR Wrong – Nick Morgan makes some great points in this Forbes article. While I can say that I never thought of PR as a way to keep score, it makes perfect sense. I love the examples of Washington and Toyota and how they are using PR in the wrong way.

Would You Check in to a Box of Tampax? For Charity? – Now while I can safely say that I’ve never tried FourSquare or Gowalla, I can say that this is a great way to raise funds for charity and an innovative way to connect with the consumers by the companies.

Has social media jumped the shark? Image - @evilprguy

13 Observations From South by Southwest (SXSW) – This is an interesting post for those of us who didn’t attend SXSW. From some accounts I don’t feel bad especially after reading this horror story and the non attendee commentary from Danny Brown and Ari Herzog. The biggest take away from the piece isn’t the experience but rather the fight I’ve been fighting for the past year plus at my company:

11. It’s About Retention
I was heartened to see that with a few exceptions, most of the conversations, exhibiting companies, and sessions at SXSW positioned social media as a way to engage with current customers, rather than as a way to drive awareness or first-time sales. I hope that we continue down this path, and focus more on the social, and less on the “media”. There was also a lot of talk (especially among the big brands) on operationalizing social media, and creating true best practices for how to thrive in a real-time world where every customer is a reporter.

What I learned from *not* attending SXSW – This is in a similar vein as the previous post but also makes a great point that applies universally, not just to the specific conference. It seems like people need a conference as an excuse to meet in real life. Why not make your own meetings and talk over a beer or coffee?