I never thought I would call the Vatican "edgy," but it looks like they just might be increasing their outreach into areas that are very relevant for those that drive on busy highways every day. If I had received this via e-mail I would have never believed it actually came from the Vatican. But sure enough, it was on the Vatican press site today. The "Drivers' Ten Commandments": 1. You shall not kill. 2. The road shall be for you read more...
Interview: Red Cross Seeks Bloggers as Volunteers
Yesterday, I had a chance to sit down with Ike Pigott, who is the communications director for the American Red Cross’s Southeast region. He also is a blogger at Occam's RazR. Under Ike's direction, the Red Cross is starting to use blog engines to communicate critical information to the media and the general public in the midst of a disaster situation. And the volunteers don't have to be in the field to participate. Online Videos by Veoh.com Shel Holtz also interviewed Ike a few days ago, so if the 3 minute video isn't enough for you, you can listen to read more...
Command and Control: YouTube Puts Corporations on the Defensive
Ad Age carried a great article about the terror struck into the hearts of pharmaceutical companies that find themselves on the losing end of a battle with Michael Moore-style filmmakers who are using YouTube to criticize the industry. What really caught my eye was a quote from Dorothy Wetzel, former consumer-marketing chief at Pfizer and now senior VP-management supervisor at Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, where she works on AstraZeneca accounts. These budding Michael Moores are a worry to the industry "because there are no internal controls on YouTube, but you have to get used to read more...
Behind the Scenes: Anatomy of a Successful Digg
Public relations are all about the “relations.” Mass e-mailing press releases and other non-personal tactics never work unless there is hard hitting news, i.e. “a hurricane is on the way and here are the shelters that we have set up for people.” My Red Cross days coming through, I guess… However, in mainstream and social media who you know counts. A good story can be picked up and go viral quickly if you grease the skids a bit. If you don’t believe me, listen to Rob LaGesse. Yesterday, I posted about a whiz kid in India that managed to do a read more...
Content is King: A 16-Year-Old Does Content Analysis of Engadget
In my work as a public relations consultant, I often monitor blogs for my clients. And sometimes, I am able to form a friendship with some of the bloggers that I monitor and interact with on a daily basis. This is true of Rob LaGesse, who is a local blogger with whom I have come to respect. Through him, I have started to follow a 16-year-old blogger and coder Yuvi, who lives in Chennai, India. Yuvi has come up with a way to do a thorough content analysis read more...
