Canuckflack

I’m mulling over an idea - a Conversation Audit - that would help companies evaluate whether they need a social media component to their regular marketing and public relations campaign.

The idea behind a Conversation Audit is to actually stop and take stock of the many ways you communicate with audiences, customers, consumers, stakeholders and regulators.

Only at that point will a company be truly equipped to judge whether a social media campaign is important to its needs.

Technorati Tags: conversation audit

It’s the return of Third Tuesday, folks. On Monday, May 5. A minority government brings uncertainty and unpredictability - even to your social calendar.

Facing off will be yours truly, Brandan Hodgson, and Ryan Anderson.

The point to be debated?

“…which social media tools are most useful and which are just code looking for a reason to be…”

Where?

Monday, May 5, 2008 at 6:00 pm

Clocktower Brew Pub
575 Bank Street (downstairs)
Ottawa , ON
613-233-7849

Now, I know Hodgson gets more belligerent the more he drinks, and Anderson is just a little fella, so the discussion should get more entertaining as the night gets older - and the more libations are quaffed.

And special thanks to Joe Thornley, the K’nex hub that keeps bringing us all together to talk all things social media.

The Kaiser’s nailed it with a 21 slide presentation: The Truth about the Age of Conversation. (Slideshare)
(full disclosure: I contributed to the first Age of Conversation, and will be writing for the second edition, now in preparation)

| View | Upload your own

Technorati Tags: social media consultants, age of conversation, social media business model

Well, I’ve finished work on it. A handy little guide for exploring the world of social media and building support for social media in a large organization.

I think the advice in this 23 page guide to secretly implementing social media in organizations could be equally useful for any government employee looking to try out new technologies - I’m pretty certain on that point, since I’m a government employee in real life.

You can find the guide at this link, and please feel free to share it with your friends, colleagues and bosses.

Here’s an excerpt, from the introduction:

How do you do it? How do you bring a spirit of innovation and experimentation to the communications shop of a large organization?

I’ve worked in a large organization – the government – for the last ten years. You can find bright, creative and resourceful people around every corner, in every department.

During the course of their careers, many of these people have thought of a move that could improve their work or their environment.

From experience, we all know that small changes in process or presentation are easily won. After all, it’s just another line on an approval sheet, or a tweak on the website.

Large organizations can also be convinced to launch a large-scale overhaul of their systems – whether it’s a supply chain, assembly process or online order system.

But it’s a real pain to get them to rethink their relationship with humans outside the security fence. After all, our customer service reps seem to be doing a good job, right? That sales force really does have a handle on the needs of the community, doesn’t it?

In speaking to hundreds of workers and managers for large organizations (government and private sector), I’ve been asked the same questions, over and over:

• How do you convince your boss to even experiment with social media?
• Doesn’t it mean a lot of extra work?
• Isn’t this sort of stuff blocked by our organizational policies?

This Secret Underground Guide to Social Media for Organizations is meant to help you answer some of those questions.

Technorati Tags: guide to social media, instruction, dummies guide, introduction, organizations, government

I had a chance to speak to a passel of Canadian government communicators about social media yesterday, and I promised them I would post a number of useful links to help them work around implementing social media in their workplaces.

So here goes:

• How the Social Web Came to Be, Part 1 and Part 2 and a linear time line in pdf
• Social Media Marketing vs. Social Marketing, via the Church of the Customer blog
• Network of Public Sector Communicators - a New Zealand blog written by a govt type
• 26 free tools to monitor buzz and online conversation. This is a must read, folks!
• Blog search tools: Google, Technorati, Blogpulse, IceRocket, Bloglines,
• E-government and Web 2.0, from Cisco.
• Introduction to Twitter (via KDPaine and Jeremiah)
• Big Brands and Facebook, a Forrester presentation
• the Three Types of Government Blogger, by me
• Four Tenets of the Community Manager, by Jeremiah, and even more detail and advice from Jake McKee

I’ve obviously missed a lot of resources, and I encourage my readers to mention more in the comments, so I can pass them along to the more disadvantaged.

Cross-promotion in support of a cross-promotion campaign!

The gist of this lengthy post: take a negative, add some humour and ingenuity and make it a positive!

God bless Rax from Splendid Communications. His agency has the Marmite account, and as part of their follow-up to a cross-promotion campaign earlier in 2007, he sent me this little note:

Canuckflack, Oh Canuckflack,
How we all love Colin McKay
So we’re writing him this romantic note
Because it’s Saint Valentine’s day!

His quirky take on the marketing world
Fills our lives with daily mirth
Which is why he is without dispute
The most gorgeous blogger on Earth…

You’ll always be our classic rock
As you guide us through what’s new
The communications industry has found itself
A poster boy in you.

Colin – a man like you, who knows his stuff
And can talk all things social media
Fills our minds with many naughty thoughts
About how we want to feed ‘ya…

So we’d like you to try new Lovers’ Marmite,
Which is laced with a bit of Champagne
You should have fellow citizens wondering
About that nice smell on the O-Train…

And so when you’re chomping on your morning toast
Before you head out to Uppertown
Don’t forget to reach for the Marmite jar
But you don’t have to put the butter down

Happy Valentine’s Day from Marmite
You’re our perfect date
Thanks for showing us some love
Instead of choosing to hate!

What cross-promotion, you may ask?

The fabulous Paddington Bear preferring Marmite over Marmalade ad:

But what’s the second level of cross-promotion?

Some little thing called “Lover’s Marmite” - a special blend of Marmite and Champagne only available for a limited time, with a special label on the back. A label where you can write the name of your special darling, as you hand them a jar of yeast extract that says “I Love You” on the front.

The only thing better would be used undergarments from your solo vacation to Thailand.

If that image wasn’t disturbing enough, take a look at the advert for “Lover’s Marmite”:

Honestly, I don’t know why I obsess over Marmite (the product), but Marmite (the marketer) has bowled me over twice in six months!

Technorati Tags: marmite, blogger relations, blogger outreach, Lover’s Marmite

Mitch has nailed it. A lot of companies being slammed by online controversies - like Hasbro - just aren’t used to dealing with emotional, irrational and impetuous humans.

Their relationship with the marketplace is framed by the work of their distributors, an import/export firm, or a licence holder.

The issues involved are often complex, with plenty of lawyers involved. Corporate positions frequently cannot be distilled into blogger-friendly language without affecting corporate interests in liability, finance or intellectual property.

Any corporate public relations pro will recognize their dilemma.

As Mitch points out, it’s hard for a company built to a fifty year-old model to adapt to a new business flow chock full of eddies, breakers and dangerous rapids.

Increasingly, though, they are trying. People like Petro Canada or Ford are dipping their toes into the social media swamp - and taking the punches and expanding their influence.

The transformation of the corporation demands participation and understanding at many levels - not just in the marketing and communications department.

As Doug Walker points out in a comment to Mitch’s post, the simplest point of contact may just be the customer service representative - if finance, facilities and human resources help you expand your CSR force to deal with the pressures that can be generated by social media.

And that means finance, facilities, human resources, and the call centre manager will all have to understand the needs and challenges of playing in social media.
Oh - and Mitch’s other point, about bloggers demonstrating the same qualities they demand from corporations? I agree as well.

Anyone can build a bully pulpit, whether they’re a fascinating storyteller or simply a demagogue.

It takes a level of dedication and transparency to actually maintain relationships and effect change in a community - small or large.

You know, a blog council is just like a big, fuzzy, comfortable blankie. In a moment of uncertainty and perhaps confusion, a blankie can be a touchstone, an easy gateway to a simpler and more secure time.

Especially if that blankie smells like your mommie, or good times in the park with all your friends.

Which explains the need for a blog council dedicated solely to the problems and achievements of large corporations entering the social media space. Some social media evangelists have jumped on the idea as too rigid or naiive, dismissing the idea that a large corporations could benefit from such an arrangement.

What they don’t seem to understand is that a “council” is an easy concept for senior executives to buy into. These people already belong to industry councils, economic councils and foreign policy councils. They understand the framework, they understand the cost structure and they understand the potential benefits.

And THIS is where our colleagues are right to question the impulse to create a council. Brian Solis moves around this idea in his post.

Councils are not created to convene coffee klatches and an excuse to fly into a new resort once a month.

THAT is called a seminar.

Councils are not pulled together to discuss common process challenges and develop best practices.

THAT is called a working group.

A council of senior executives, united in a common goal, is created to share influence. To increase the authority of council members in what can seem to be a fractured environment with little real leadership.

Even a Parent-Teacher Council dreams of expanded influence and increased authority, if only expressed through reams of volunteer lists and pizza orders.

I’m probably unnecessarily aggrandizing the influence that could be wielded by the Blog Council.

Still, the “benefits” a generic membership often include:

As I look at the children’s playground of competing cliques in social media, a council of Fortune 500 companies that happen to blog seems to be a good idea.

An idea that, if managed effectively, could influence how fundamental decisions are made about the role of blogs, podcasts, vidcasts and ephemeral communications like Twitter in regulated environments like:

Which might be of some concern to a social media universe currently obsessed with nodes rather than the network as a whole.

Or I might have taken too many poli.sci. courses in university.

Technorati Tags: Blog Council, corporate blogging

h/t to Sean at BuzzCanuck

Technorati Tags: viral, WOM, word of mouth

After spending all that time building intricately detailed and personal profiles in closed-off social networks, how in the world do you bridge between identities?

When you’re cruising so successfully in your tight slacks, how do you alert the world to the vast repository of flixster reviews, TV trivia team scores, thrown sheep and ironic 70s profile photos just a few keystrokes away?

With Open Social?

No - with the “are you social” t-shirt, designed by Aram Bartholl!

Just scroll through the dozens of social networks displayed on the front of the shirt and check off each one you belong to.

Now, those unsuspecting young women at the campus bar won’t have to spend endless minutes wondering exactly when you’ll abandon the polite chit chat and start discussing one of five things:

• the size of your “friend” network
• your progress on World of Warcraft
• the “open relationship” you have with your Bebo girlfriend
• how you and Tom Byron use Orkut to pick up Brazilian chicks, and
• Padma or Leia?

Life could be a lot easier, though. You could just print up a tshirt with your Facebook profile on it.

In all seriousness. Both of these tshirt ideas poses a tremendous risk to your personal information and the security of your identity.

You might as well have a bumper sticker on your car that reads “I keep my driver’s licence in the glove compartment.”
via Dino and Valleywag.

Technorati Tags: Facebook, Bebo, Orkut, privacy, identity, social network

It’s that time again. The Third Tuesday extravaganza, where you get to meet and mingle with the public relations, marketing, digital design and web marketing.

Next week, November 19, I’ll be under the spotlight. I’ll be talking about encouraging the adoption of social media and new technologies as a government communicator.

Judging from the reception I received at a CPRS session today, I may try to build on my “social media is like a water slide” analogy as well.

It’s sure to be a fun, informative and imaginative time.

You can find the details on Meetup.

And thanks to Joe for the kind words.

Technorati Tags: Third Tuesday, government communications, government blogging

Strumpette is being replaced by Furthermore. Like Eric, I had mixed feelings about the persona called Strumpette.

There is a place in the world for effective and well-targeted satire. It’s usually most influential when focused on a particular issue or community - like Valleywag or Spy.

Satire tends to fall apart and draw criticism when it is used to further barely concealed personal vendettas, or where the level of humour and insight varies among the authors.

It has been announced that Strumpette will be replaced by a site called Furthermore. Brian Connolly, who some have argued was the puppet master behind Strumpette all along, provides this explanation for the new name:

“…”furthermore” was selected as it captures the point where a debate gets definitive. Connolly said, “It is the exact moment when the conversation concludes amicably or somebody gets punched in the nose.”…”

I completely disagree. “Furthermore” is a bridge in a conversation, the point where a boring pedant continues arguing their point long after anyone else is interested or even listening. Similar bridges include:

• “let me finish”
• “I’ll tell you”
• “just one more point”

Every time someone has used “furthermore” in a conversation with me, they were well into a diatribe and not very interested in my point of view.

Actually, “furthermore” was usually flourished when I showed an interest in interrupting the speaker or making a point of my own.

It’s a rhetorical tool used to stifle conversation, not encourage it.

Revision: I just looked at Furthermore’s About page. I’m being unnecessarily polite. The concept is bullshit. Satire is fine, but when you add exaggerated masculine bravado and fight imagery, you get bullying.

Technorati Tags: Strumpette, Amanda Chapel, Furthermore, PR 2.0, PR is Dead

A really meta-meta-meta moment: Luke Burbank, one of the hosts of NPR’s Bryant Park, really felt that an interview with Sigur Ros, the gifted but notoriously distant band from Iceland, went badly. Very badly.

That’s because it did. It was painful. Why would Burbank have booked the band? Because a public relations hack called him up and suggested it. That’s right - this train wreck was recommended to him.

Maybe Burbank just didn’t prep well enough. I’m a suburban dad from Canada, and I knew Sigur Ros were a hard interview. Just take a look at this excerpt from an interview in the Guardian - from 2005:

“…On their astounding new album, Takk … , titles are back and most of the lyrics are in Icelandic. This spirit of glasnost also animates their interviews, which were once a barren tundra of single-word answers. In 2001, one journalist came away with just three usable quotes, one of which was “Yeah, yeah”. They’ll still admit that, given the choice, they would never talk to the press. “It would be nice, yes, if that was possible,” says guitarist and keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson. “That’s something I used to talk about, but I’m getting older and,” he laughs, “weaker. I used to be really sceptical about these things and not really trust anybody.”

Or maybe the flack had recently seen them give good interviews. The evidence seems overwhelmingly negative. They are not an “up with people” band.

As part of his process of repentance and healing, Burbank then brought in a music journalist to help him evaluate and dissect what went wrong with his earlier interview with the band.

It’s clear that the original interview did not make good radio. Jancee, the journalist, is blunt in her assessment of the interview and offers some brief insight into the process of interviewing musicians (like the suggestion, late in the video, that a sock puppet could interview David Lee Roth). Still, some of her commentary is amusing:

“I really do zero in on the drummer. Look at his yearning expression, it’s saying “ask me a question. I’ll answer it. I’m friendly. Over here!” … And really, the other band mates, they really will be puzzled, then they’ll be upset and then they’ll kind of jump in, usually, after a while.”

Jake McKee pointed to this NPR piece and held it up as an example of “turning that frown upside down.” When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Take the critical energy being directed at you, and turn it into a learning experience.

I agree that this is an interesting way to respond to criticism and defuse the situation. He was even-handed in his assessment of his own performance, as well as that of the band. Unfortunately, I found the technique just a little too coy: running a display-in-display critique of his own interview, with the help of a colour commentator.

All that was missing was the Madden Telestrator.

****Added feature: one commenter on the NPR blog suggested Tom Sndyer’s 1980 interview with Johnny Rotten as far worse. I don’t know if I can agree: at least Rotten was engaged and animated.

Technorati Tags: NPR, Bryant Park, Sigur Ros, interview techniques

Let’s stop this facade, okay? Public relations is not dead. For the vast majority of the world - in terms of population AND landmass - public relations practitioners still have another five, ten or fifteen years of holding back information, constructing media events and counseling executives and technical experts to “stay on message” and “bridge” from uncomfortable questions.

The “PR is Dead” theme is really a variant of a larger philosophy: information is free, and each citizen is capable of interpreting information as he/she sees fit.

It’s a lovely idea. Too bad it depends on three (or more) economic and social factors:

• intensive broadband penetration
• media integration across platforms
• computer literacy

Oh, and the money to buy a computer, a job stable and well-paying enough to free up the time necessary to sort your own information, and a cultural predisposition to questioning authority and information sources.

As Phil and Todd have pointed out, most people making the “PR is Dead” argument really are assuming that “public relations = increasing volume and winning attention.”

If we define our profession so simplistically, we certainly CAN be replaced by a good search engine optimization program - but only once the rest of the world has caught up to the technical sophistication of Silicon Valley.

Until then, the community of social media advocates is being pretty presumptuous about the capacity or willingness of large swaths of the earth’s population to jump on board with their ideas and innovations.

Technorati Tags: PR is dead, PR 2.0, Web 2.0, SEO

Wow. If Simon Dickson is right, the folks at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the U.K. are about to blow government blogging right open. And maybe even corporate blogging.

Forget restricting your corporate blogging to just C-suite executives. Opening blogging to everyone? Fine for tech companies, but not very workable for CPG companies.

How do you find a balanced and reasonable voice to represent your organization? Maybe by identifying three or four strong voices spread out throughout your organization, and giving them the tools to communicate. Foreign Minister David Milband is leading the charge, just like he did at DEFRA.

“…Miliband himself is joined by Jim Murphy, his Minister for Europe who ‘wants to hear your views on how the EU is doing, and to encourage discussion through this blog’. So whilst you’re not likely to get your referendum on the European treaty / constitution, you will at least have one outlet for your support / anger. Good luck to whoever’s moderating that one.

Then there’s Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles KCMG LVO, currently Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Afghanistan; and Lindsay Appleby, a First Secretary (ie relatively senior) in the Brussels office. Reporting from the front line, there’s Maria Pia Gazzella, from the Embassy in Chile. But most remarkable of all is Sarah Russell, who doesn’t even work for the FCO yet - she’s a Fast Streamer due to join in October 2007, so presumably we’ll be following her progress as she learns the ropes…” (Simon Dickson)

It’s important to remember that EVERY member of a diplomatic service is trained - extensively - in skills essential to a blogger:

• the comprehension of complex ideas and themes
• the synthesis of debates and positions, often conflicting
• the rapid creation of understandable but nuanced subject briefings
• and, most importantly for a government blogger, an acute awareness of the influence and impact of their words and writing.

Technorati Tags: government blogging, corporate blogging, diplomatic corps, diplomat

What’s the link between social media and skateboarding? Sometimes, social media experts will strike really poor bargains for their services - just like the early boarders who performed for stickers, decks and gas money.

I mean, in what other industry would thought leaders trade their hard-built reputation for a free camera, cellphone, iPhone or a free laptop?

A lot of social media experts are grinding out an identity as hard-working professionals - like the Social Media Group, or SHIFT, or H&K, or Crayon, or Converseon.

In skateboarding, there’s a lot of people who have jumped on a deck and found a new image or sense of group identity. There are a few boarders that have developed the skills - on the deck and in the office - to build strong identities in the sport and personalities that are eagerly sought out by marketers.

Sure, skateboarding has always had a distinctly commercial element. Even with its roots in home-made equipment and the growing legends of local or regional skaters, the continuing perception of skateboarding as an underground industry is largely manufactured. Today, it is part of a mainstream image industry.

Social media, as a profession for consultants, marketers and public relations hacks, is growing into a mainstream industry. For every mis-step amplified by bloggers and journalists, there are countless small improvements being accomplished in large and small businesses, not-for-profits, community organizations and local governments.

Still, I’m really growing tired of leading bloggers, authors and consultants crowing about how they scored some more schwag. Let’s keep this in perspective, people. Even community-access television can score $500 for a month’s sponsorship.

At some point, we’ve got to stop behaving like the stoners at the back of the school. Even skateboarders figured out that pocket change was poor compensation for their brilliant footwork.

Image above from a 70s era Skate Safety video.

Technorati Tags: blogger outreach, schwag, social media, payola

Short sentences that both amused and enlightened me:

“Older people are sticky”

That’s from a New York Times article about social networks that are targeting the older sundeck set, via Advergirl.

“Mad as a box of snakes”

Part of the introduction given to Irma Boom, the book designer, by Simon Waterfall, the president of D&AD. Via We Made This.

“Web development is for Spartan warriors”

One observation from 50 Designers X 6 Questions. Advice solicited from web designers. Via Communication Nation.

Well, bit of a breakthrough at my office. A government blog. I’ll blog and/or write about it when I have the energy, but thanks to the great support of my team and my bosses, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner has a blog.

That’s right. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner has a blog.

Why don’t you?

Obviously, this is a learning exercise for all of us. But we’re pretty excited.

Technorati Tags: government communications, government blog, egovernment, epolitics, outreach

Another season of Third Tuesday Ottawa social media get-togethers opens with a sought-after star: Mitch Joel. You may know Mitch from such previous work as his Six Pixels of Separation podcast or his Twist Image blog.Mitch will kick off this year’s Third Tuesday Ottawa season on September 25. A kick you in the ass kind of speaker, Mitch will discuss marketing, social media and web 2.0.
Free registration can be found over on the Third Tuesday Ottawa Social Media Meetup group.

Opposition party operatives have always trailed candidates during elections - Canadian as well as American. As technology has become cheaper, the level of data collection has increased. Just ask former Senator George Allen. It’s the YouTube primary.

Even Duke’s in the game. Today, he offers advice on how YouTube could help Senator-in-limbo Larry Craig get out of his predicament:

Cartoon from Doonesbury, naturally.

An additional tactic to respond to YouTube crises, and something I missed when it was originally floated on American politics blogs back in June: flooding the zone.

“… To flood the zone, upload dozens and dozens of random videos which have absolutely nothing to do with the clip you’re trying to make “disappear.” The real strength of the clips you’re uploading isn’t to respond directly to the video, but to confuse the YouTube user and make it impossible for them to find the video they’re looking for. The one thing every campaign can count on is that any web user has a slight case of undiagnosed ADD (attention deficit disorder). If they don’t find what they’re looking for seconds after the search has begun, they’ll tire, and give up the search …” (David All)

Wow. Just like having a “black site” in your back pocket, ready for an emergency, do you have a staffer maintaining dozens of YouTube identities, waiting to deploy them in a flood?

Or is that something you hire a consultant for?

Comments in the many references to David All’s original blog post note that Google’s ranking algorithm wouldn’t be fooled by this strategy, and that most YouTube videos spread virally - the correct link would be bounced from inbox to twittr account, oblivious to the flood of moronic fog.

You know, sometimes I think that YouTube channels may detract from a brand’s value.

Take SonyBMG, for instance. Everytime I watch, you know, an actual licensed music video that has been posted by SonyBMG, I am reminded that Warrant’s Sweet Cherry Pie is their most viewed video.

It’s right there in the “More Videos from the Channel” box.

Right below the video from Kansas.

P.S.: Warrant has NOTHING on David Wilcox’ Layin Pipe.

Technorati Tags: SonyBMG, YouTube, cgm, Cherry Pie, David Wilcox

An amusing song - if a little racy and rude. My blog’s WELL bigger than yours, by AsaBailey, and reshot using YouTube clips.

via Punk Planning and Planner’s Delight

David Bradfield has read my (admittedly small) mention in PR Week US, and asks:

“I figured it would be a lively and insightful dialogue, but skepticism seems to have outweighed opportunity (again). Is this really the case?”

Yes, Virginia. This is the case. Not just in Canada, however. The world has separated into three tribes of social media users:

• Evangelists, who are confident of their diagnosis and certain their prescription will succeed. Evangelists can be divided into two camps: those with a budget, and those without a budget. I should restate that … two camps: those with a client’s budget, and those without their own budget.

“We know you’ve got the money! We just have to spend it bonehead!”

That’s the voice of the evangelist consultant. $5000, $50,000, $500,000 - you have the budget, they have a range of tactics that will address your ailment. Note that I said tactic. By definition, a consultant will not be around long enough to measure whether a social media campaign has a lasting influence on a company’s relationship with its clients or stakeholders.

What about those without their own budget? Those are the true believers. They’re the ones that get a sour taste in their mouth when they say “word of mouth” or “buzz” too frequently. That’s because their original influencers were family and friends. These evangelists build shoestring campaigns of amazing complexity using the incredibly flexible 2.0 apps available to all comers. And they measure influence and impact several times a day - in the customer’s shopping cart and at their bank branch.

• Hobbyists. They’re the ones that play with social media in their spare time. Niche experts or generalists, hobbyists have spent a lot of time examining how social media will affect their job, their industry and their world. I used the future tense because some of them have been doing this hobby research for three, four or five years. And they still haven’t applied their knowledge to anything other than a hobby blog or family podcast.

Unfortunately, there’s always a reason: not enough time. not enough authority. not enough money. not enough confidence.

I don’t mean to be harsh, but

“drop your purse, honey! It’s GO TIME!“

• And, finally, opportunists. Once again, there are two camps of opportunists. There’s the executive that has heard their friends talk about some aspect of social media, or has noticed what their kids are doing at home, or realizes that their shiny new integrated marcomm campaign won’t take home any year-end awards without some hint of a social media component. These are what evangelists with a client’s budget call “walk-ins.”

The other camp is more practical. They are not obsessed with social media as a life changing development in how humans communicate. Practical opportunists recognize the advantages promised by social media - in the right campaign, with the right positioning, and with concrete links to company strategy.

The advances being made with social media are a mix of work by all three tribes. I’ve already suggested that crossover can happen among tribes. Many practical opportunists take a risk on a social media at the prompting of hobbyists hiding in plain sight in corporate comms or marketing shops.

What is holding up innovation and experimentation in public relations in Canada? The capacity to take innovative thought, personal inspiration and a clear understanding of corporate priorities and strategies - and identify which social media tools make good business sense.

Not a fun experiment, but good business sense.

In all fairness, I’ll leave the last word to a stand-in for the evangelist:

“…VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge…” (Original editorial from the New York Sun, hosted by the Newseum)

Technorati Tags: social media, technology evangelist, PR in Canada, Canadian public relations PR Week

There’s a lot to be said for