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Audio Post: Andy Lark's session (summarized)
A summary of Andy Lark's session, "How participatory communications is changing public relations: A walk through the blogosphere."
Lark is CEO of The Lark Group and former vice president of global communications at Sun Microsystems and Nortel Networks.
Lark's Bark
Andy Lark is a techno-evangelist. He's one of those people who can make technology seem really fresh by delving behind the mechanics and analyzing the way new tools impact communication. The change is nothing short of revolutionary - from transmitting content (one way) to engaging participation by stakeholders (two way).
The whole notion of a two-way dialog scares executives. Suddenly, they can't control the message. Their power to withhold information and discussion are gone.
All over the Net, on blogs and discussion forums, people are talking about your organization. It's a free for all of inside information, rumor and speculation. The shift started when Amazon let consumers write their own reviews of products. Andy says communication will never be the same, and that PR people better learn how to
listen.
Lots more to come on this engaging keynote.
PS On one visual, Andy showed his newsreader. He reads Nevon!
How Much Content Should You Post Online?
In a pre-conference session yesterday, one practitioner said that he feared putting too much information on his organization's Web site press room because "if reporters can find everything they need on their own, why would they ever call me?"
This comment took me aback. Media relations is a relationship business, thus I don't feel that working relationships should be dependent on
controlling access to information - forcing reporters to call.
In fact, if we post a lot of content, we are more likely to get our organization's unique point of view across effectively. We can then use our "face time" (even if by telephone) with media to develop more a more strategic dialog about our plans, vision, and leadership.
Others in the room offered testimony about this concept. By posting lots of information, they reported that media called looking for more in depth information and quotes.
Interesting. We'll see what others think about this here in the Windy City.
Hot Topics in PR from Chicago
PR people are always lamenting that other people won't let them do their job properly. Executives, lawyers and other know-it-alls edit words, topics and communication strategies. Then, when the modified plan fails to produce results, blame rests with the PR person.
Wrong! The issues of authorization, approval and counsel are important ones. As a profession, we need to advocate about the expertise we bring to the table. Goodness knows that our professional associations - well intentioned as they might be - are lame advocates for the profession (when is the last time you saw a
business page story about communication?).
These are the issues we're discussing in Chicago at
Ragan's Strategic Public Relations Conference. Experts are gathered to share best practices, tips and techniques that work inside organizations. We'll delve deep into media relations and new technologies.
Along the way, we'll interview attendees to find out what's on their mind. What's working, and what's not, in PR today? What are the big challenges and lessons learned?
We'll share all that and more with you right here. Stay tuned.
Biting the hand
Our experience dealing with the Red Cross has been perplexing. They are terrific about raising money and assisting people struck by natural disasters. But their communication and organizational skills could use some improvement.
For the past five weeks, we have been unable to get through to the Red Cross financial assistance line. Everyone hands it out to us, but reaching it has been an acknowledged exercise in frustration. Katrina overwhelmed the system and flooded the agency with calls.
Then came Rita. These two back to back events maxed out systems and crisis plans.
We read the same media stories you do about the Red Cross sheltering evacuees in hotels and helping out with the bill. We wonder how that process works - and no volunteer we have met can tell us. We ended up paying our tab with precious emergency cash.
From shelter to shelter we go - looking for answers. Where are the key messages, information databases and frequently asked questions (FAQs)? And why are they taking information down on paper instead of computers? Who's going to re-enter data for a million-plus evacuees?
The Red Cross is making me cross.
D'Nile - A Lake in New Orleans
Gerard Braud contributed this report. He is a former television environmental reporter:Those of us from New Orleans will have lots of crisis communications lessons to share in the coming weeks. Since I specialize in crisis communications and write crisis plans, I'm about to die, seeing how unprepared my own home town is to communicate. My heart aches and I am sick so deep down inside that it is hard to put into words. Yes, I've previously offered to help, "but it's too expensive" and "we don't have time" were the responses. Those, by the way are the standard responses of most government agencies, most business and most other institutions. Yes, the City of New Orleans contacted me 3 years ago to write a crisis communications plan for them, and the job never got funded.
Ironically, in 1990 I did a television series called, "When the Big One Hits", that foretold all that we have seen unfold this past week with Hurricane Katrina. When I did the series, city leaders told me I was sensationalizing what might happen. I have so many secrets I could tell about how so much of this could have been avoided.
The biggest lesson I can share with my colleagues is to stop the denial in your companies and agencies. It can happen. It will happen. Maybe in a year-maybe in 50 years. Are you ready?
D'Nile isn't a river in Egypt: it is a large lake in the city of New Orleans.
Gerard Braud (Jared Bro)
Link to Web site and contact info
If the Intranet is part of your crisis plan
If the Intranet is part of your crisis plan, you better update it today.
Intranets across the Gulf region went dark when the electricity went out. Servers housed or backed-up in the affected areas became inaccessible. Companies with key personnel and generators found themselves locked out of office buildings secured by landlords who were worried about looters and liability during a mandatory evacuation.
During the exodus from a land mass the size of Great Britain, many employees didn't have laptops or Internet access. Their primary focus was far more simple: food, water and shelter.
So how do you reach them? How do you get your workforce back up and running so you can resume operations? Ponder that
reality. This is not a drill; it just happened.
Companies were forced to post internal information publicly. I previewed some early shots I captured for the audience here at Ragan's International Communication Leadership Summit in Toronto - and people seemed stunned to see benefits and other information posted openly on the Web. More to follow on this topic, including screen shots. We'll definitely delve into this in detail in Chicago at the upcoming
PR conference.
Hurricane Katrina blew away crisis plans because of its sheer scale, scope and duration. For now, take a peek at this
public message board for desperate employers.
Being the News
When my 78-year old Mom gasped, I wheeled around. On
CNN, Wolf Blitzer had cut to a reporter in a helicopter flying over New Orleans. They were headed to St. Bernard Parish (county), where Mama Pizzo has lived since my Dad returned from Korea.
Like watching a slow train wreck, we stared transfixed as bridges and roads we knew came into view above the flood waters. As the chopper flew slowly down the main thoroughfare, we traded knowing glances. This would be the first media report we've seen showing her neighborhood.
Sure enough, in the blink of an eye, her subdivision came into view. There was her pharmacy. A few seconds later, we saw the church and senior center where she lunched regularly. In a few surreal seconds, the new Wal-Mart Supercenter came into view, then grocery stores and other places at which she shopped.
All under water.
It's one thing to watch the news, yet another to
be the news. It can be unnerving at times. While others see a city in ruins, we see familiar landmarks. We are haunted by memories and the realization that nothing will ever be the same. Friends and family are now dispersed over eleven states; the thought of a casual barbecue with familiar faces seems remote.
That was Katrina. When Rita came through the Gulf, it brought another tidal surge that flooded St. Bernard Parish a second time. I told Mom she should consider herself special - how many people can say they've been wiped out
twice in one month? Not one to miss a counter punch, she retorted that she upgraded her home to an indoor swimming pool.
Humor is something the hurricane can't take away. Maybe it's a defense mechanism, but we're coping even as we cling to the images on TV like an ant to a crumb at a picnic.
We're starving for the New Orleans we knew and love.
Goodwill Goes Far
Texas-style hospitality from
Jason's Deli. It's the little things like this that impact an evacuee on a daily basis. Not only are we grateful - we're becoming regulars. This is a socially responsible way for a brand to make new customers and foster loyalty.
