Real World Communications & PR

Enter the Internet Cloud

At some point in the future we’ll all be working in and with "the cloud."

The cloud is (or will be) a cluster of computers that potentially contain all knowledge. According to Bill Gates, at week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the cloud is where he's betting Microsoft’s future, as is Google, IBM and others.

In the Internet Cloud or cloud computing, information is moved from individual computers to "a small number of vast computing 'clouds'," which would provide processing economies as well as energy savings. Even when an individual computer crashes, says the Financial Times, the cloud would reform and keep performing. "The sum of human knowledge would no longer be locked away on isolated hard drives, but accessible from anywhere, and widely shared.."

Blogger Alex Barnett has put it together nicely: "The Internet cloud [is] where the distributed and programmable network of services across the globe will serve all the data, resources and functionality we will ever use."

The term Cloud Computing is merely the latest "faddish phrase" adds the FT. "It's the latest incarnation of a vision that has been making the rounds for years. On-demand computing, utility computing, grid computing, software-as-a-service, 'thin' clients – these are all flavours of the same idea, as the locus of data storage and computation shifts to ever-bigger clusters of centrally managed machines.

"The arrival of the cloud is a great thing," Gates told Reuters just prior to the CES. "We have a lot of software people, including competitors, taking advantage of that. We are extending the Windows platform into that area. So it is the new frontier and it will be the frontier that companies will prove themselves out on. That’s where all of our investments are. ( Bill Gates Unplugged, Daisuke Wakabayashi, Reuters, January 7, 2007) Microsoft CEO and General Manager Steve Ballmar gave the cloud a passionate profile last year in his talk at the MS Partners Conference: http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/22613.wss

Gates talked about competing with Google or Salesforce.com in "the cloud of the Internet" where instead of being software on machines, they run on the Internet. IBM has recently come up with "Blue Cloud," which it will offer this year. In addition to the preceding, Amazon and Yahoo are also offering cloud computing. In contrast with IBM though, these are application based.

For those of us operating below the clouds, in what I like to call the real world, this is something to watch carefully. Remember how the fax sneaked up on us, and one day every company had one?

Silent Night

You can think of only one thing on December 25 at the mention of silent night. It's certainly been heard more than a few times around here. But since last evening, after friends departed our traditional Christmas eve gathering, I come to appreciate another notion of "silent night" or more accurately silent time.

The City that Never Sleeps, does in fact seem to doze on certain occasions, and this is one of them. Yards and yards of available parking spaces, avenues so clear of traffic we few pedestrians stroll. Against this backdrop,in a cozy apartment time to read, listen to some music. Even the dogs are more quiet than usual in between our walks.

In the silence there is time for thought, for recharging. A great space to communicate from when the routines resume.

Word Redeux

Moving from an energetic meeting this morning with an entrepreneur, on to a phone call with a newly appointed global General Manager who spoke with urgency about needing to reach and communicate with his people, then on to a flight reading through Harry Beckworth's book What Clients Love: A Field Guide to Growing Your Business (Warner Business Books, 2003), I am touched by the push-pull I encountered over the importance of words in today's world of the Web.

Take Harry's point. With everyone awash with messages -- 32,000 for each of us every day, he says -- it's Midnight Cowboy time. Remember the song...

“Everybody's talkin' at me.
I don't hear a word they're sayin'."

We, says Harry, have to think more about letting our actions speak and using images. Words are just worn out.

Are they? Listen to Mike Herman of H&H Laser in Cornwall, N.Y. Mike needs and wants marketing that gets out the words that convey all about the fabulous glass and tile etchings his shop produces. 

H&H can use some old fashioned coverage in the (print) media, and some search-engine-findable text on the Web. Yes, pictures will be great and part of the messaging.

Following the talk with Mike, a colleague recently promoted to lead a business unit for a major technology company said he needs words that set forth the purpose of the business and its goals clearly and convincingly for the staff.

Though we all are assaulted by messages everywhere -- now there are TV-like screens under the hand rails of escalators in Chicago airports -- we still need words to add precision and clarity.

Of course, the words mean the most to, and have the greatest impact on, individuals that will benefit most from the message. 

Social Media Rocks

Corporate leaders have a sharp eye on social media when it comes to driving success. 

Clearly, with Internet developments we are in a sea change when it comes to communications. Senior execs see that change approaching. Just today, a survey report from Toronto-based Veritas Communications reported that senior execs (85 percent) believe social media like Facebook, You Tube, and blogs are becoming essential to communications. Nearly half (46 percent) say social media tools are becoming even more important than television, radio, newspapers and magazines.

"It is astounding that one in two executives say social media is becoming even more important than television," says Keith McArthur, principal of com.motion and Senior Director of Media Innovation at the Veritas group. "TV advertising," he says, "is still where marketers spend most of their money, while social media represents a tiny sliver of the budget. It's clear that's going to change." The results are contained in a survey of 444 business and marketing leaders conducted by Pollara Strategic Insights. The survey was conducted in Canada.

Have specialists in communication provided corporate leaders with the strategic insights and tactical planning they need to win elections and maintain success?

Stay tuned.

In The Attention Economy, Go For The Second Attention

“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears…” says Mark Antony leading into the powerful speech in Act 3/Scene 2 of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.

In this post, I simply want to reinforce the importance of attention. Attention is something to be aware of when communicating – getting attention, holding attention, not abusing it. But as I look about, I’m awed with the depth of scholarship on the topic.

Attention Defined

Specifically, what is attention?

Answer: It’s applying the mind to an object or thought, or, being reDownload audience20bw2.jpg ady to narrow or focus thoughts, says Merriam Webster. 

Whether in marketing or organizational leadership, the audience’s attention is needed at the start. In consumer marketing, getting popular attention in most mid-sized metros meant connecting with three TV networks, two newspapers, a handfull of radio stations and several magazines.

Of course all that has chaned. We have so much communications and so little time and capacity for giving attention.

Attention has become scarce. Think about it. Overall, there isn’t enough attention span for individuals or organizations to meet society’s demands. This gives rise to the attention economy, named by economist Herbert Simon, and brilliantly explicated by Thomas H. Davenport and John C. Beck in The Attention Economy: Understanding the New Currency of Business (Harvard Business School Press, 2001).

In the attention economy, consumers receive services in return for their attention, which we don’t have all that much of! When consumers come upon an ad thrust before them or find on-line information and news they want, three things happen: (1) they ignore and skip on by, (2) they skim, or (3) they actually concentrate.

Feature author Alex Iskold offers this observation in his post earlier this year on The Attention Economy.

When information is abundant, the false positives are very costly - they are basically deal breakers. Consumers happily leave sites, knowing there are a ton of alternatives out there. Unfortunately, this becomes a lose-lose situation, because if consumers rarely find satisfying experiences then retailers won't get consumer dollars. The idea behind the Attention Economy is to create a marketplace where consumers are happy, because if they are shown relevant information - then retailers are happy too, because happy consumers spend money!

Should publics be paid for their attention? 

Truly, most marketers are not in a position to literally pay funds for attention. If we want quality attention, being compensated makes economic sense. The compensation will have to take the form of non-cash value – ranging from savings on a purchase to receiving information that offers personal utility, entertainment, or enjoyment.

I also like the notion that there are two attentions, proffered by Don Miguel Ruiz, author of The Four Agreements, in a report of his teachings by Mary Carroll Nelson. The first attention is what we’ve been discussing above – the moment of selectively concentrating on one aspect of the environment while ignoring other things. It’s here that we become aware, before moving on.

The second attention takes place when we go back and think about the subject of the first attention. It is here where we frame our thoughts and engineer our beliefs.

The mission of communications can be even more effective and powerful when it succeeds in securing the second attention from the audience.  Second attention means a relationship is either beginning or is being continued, and there is at some level a shared community of interest.

Yes We Have No Computer Today

Today the notebook is an ubiquetous accoutrement for any business traveler - whether or not the trip is for business.

We warriors of the road hunch over them in airline terminals. We search out wireless broadband hot spots. We tackle spread sheets and presentations while en route. We're "on" the notebooks at any chance we can get.

Driving from hotel to airport a CNBC commentator talks about productivity continuing to rise in the U. S. economy.

Why? Because of digital and telecom technologies.

Well, that and all of us hunched over the notebooks anywhere we happen to be. And when we're moving we have our always-on, wireless broadband networked PDA's.

Arriving at LGA for a stint through CLT on the RIC, to my horror, I realize I left the Dell LAttitude in the kitchen. "You have to FedEx it to the hotel," I pleaded.

"Not so fast, buddy!" I hear.
"What?"
"You have a lot of confidential information on that puppy. Doesn't make sense to risk the loss."

"Whaa, what am I going to do without it?"

"What did you do before?" I'm asked. Good question. I hustle to the news stand picking up newspapers to calm my jitters. "Ahh. I have the nifty new Treo. I can work on this on the plane.

"But wait! I'm running low on power." I move to Starbucks. "The power outlets don't work! Yikes!" On to Gate 18. They don't work there either. On to another gate. "Dead, dead, all of them are dead!" I moan.

Some college kid sitting on the floor with his long-life, deep-discharge PC, says, "In Holland they arrest you for stealing power!"

What is the world coming to? On I go, finding working outlets and new juce in the business center. Oh well, a long drink till I have to run back to the plane seems to suffice.

Back at the gate, I find myself sharing this lonely state with another warrior. "Great," he says.

"What do you mean 'great'?" then he utters the words I have heard ever since on this trip anytime I bemoan this computerless state."

"You're FREE!" the wariors chorus. (Think, Yes We Have No Bananas by Frank Silver and Irving Cohen.)

Epilogue. As the trip unfolds, I have spent one whole flight having conversation with my seat mate, hung out with my friend Monte Nagy and several of his DuPont colleagues, got my hair trimmed, saw "The Kingdom" (which I liked), and I'm still going.

Why are College Students so Silent?

For the first time in my career, in the past two weeks I had the opportunity to speak to college students in their classrooms. Interestingly this took place on opposite sides of the continent with students representing opposite sides of the brain, and yet I encountered a surprisingly uniform reception: silence!

Last week I had the pleasure of dialoguing with members of a public relations class at California State University - Northridge (CSUN), taught by my friend and colleague Jeff Duclos. Jeff is the principal of Von Jesson Duclos and is a candidate for mayor of Hermosa Beach.

This evening, I conducted a workshop session for electrical and computer engineering students at the State University of New York (SUNY) campus in New Paltz at the request of Dr. Baback Izadi who, starting this term, has become chair of the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department there.

The Cal State class will be dividing its 20+ students into teams that, in turn, will take on the Bob Hope - Hollywood USO as a client. Their mission is to help Gen. Mike Teilmann Ret. and executive director, to get the resources he needs to support the 60,000+ military and families who flow through the area every year. Meanwhile, the engineering group at SUNY in New York State are in various stages of undergraduate studies, leading to technical EEE and Computer Engineering degrees.

Common Threads - Silence

Interestingly, both groups shared a common attribute. As I presented in both groups, only one person in each raised questions; three others participated by asking or answering questions. The remainder were silent, some taking notes and others not.

The last time I was in a college classroom -- nearly 35 years ago at Syracuse University -- the smokers lit up when the lecture started. The discussion flowed and we had to be reigned in when the next group came along to claim the classroom. The same situation occurred at Providence College in the mid-1960's.

What's with today's silence?  Why isn't the dialog more spicy? Why aren't the questions more challenging?

My professor friends Jeff and Baback paused and then seriously explained that getting students to go beyond note-taking to asking questions, or to lead them to challenge or contribute does not occur. Both said that the sound of silence is a characteristic of today's undergraduates.

Implications

Well, 18-21 year old college students are products of their families and their domestic cultures. Have we become a consumer citizenry?  Has information become a commodity, something to be acquired at the lowest possible cost (OR at the least effort), and any embedded viewpoint accepted along with the hard and measurable facts?

In between the CSUN-SUNY-New Paltz experiences, I visited with my good friend, PR colleague and social commentator Dennis Signorovitch. Following a career with AlliedSignal and Honeywell Aerospace, Dennis now serves as a consultant with the prestigious Hawthorn Group and an adjunct professor at Mount St. Mary's College, Los Angeles.

Independent of my observations, and reflecting his hands-on experience, Dennis observed that "silence" is typical of today's students. Both Jeff Duclos and Baback Izadi agree and said they wrestle with this individually and at faculty sessions.

My interest is communications as a "success multiplier" -- whether it's communications internal to the organization or external with its customers and constituents. Communications can "move the needle" or help "resolve" an issue. What happens though when individuals in organizations retreat from communicating? What does it mean if they are conditioned to "absorb" information, data, perceptions, viewpoints without critical feedback?

I know these guys. Accepting silence is not something that Jeff, Baback, or Dennis accept. They will work to change the dynamics in their classrooms.

But is the University ready and willing to change the dynamic on a larger scale? If not, who is? 

Using New Media and Relying on Old Media

Tonight's premier of the opera Appomattox by Philip Glass will be an interesting test of the junction of very old media (opera), mass media (news) and new media (Web). The opera is presented by The San Francisco Opera

David Gockley, general director of the San Franciso Opera, is on somewhat of a "populist" campaign to bring opera to a wide range of audiences, which is part of a larger strategy to maintain the organization in an era where traditional support by business is declining and, to the degree this support continues, is much more commercial. Today's business underwriting is given with an expectation of positioning a brand or reaching underserved customer groups.

Gockley was speaking this morning with members of the Public Relations Global Network (PRGN), where I'm gathered with other operators of PR and communications firms from around the world. Since coming aboard as the sixth general director, David has developed high definition video which he's using to bring opera to people who don't have the financial capability to attend. Good stuff.

Beyond revitalizing the opera, David and his team are building new, diversified audiences with free screenings in parks, Giant's stadium, all kinds of innovations leading to tonight's debut.

The renaissance has, to a great extent, been supported by generating news coverage in the mainstream media that reach the richly diverse community of San Francisco and the Bay area, says Karen Ames who handles communications for the SF Opera.

While the opera has been working intensively with the traditional media, new Web sites have arisen that cover the arts, and they're adding a new voice to how the arts are presented and interpreted.  The Opera has received remarkable coverage in the media, with, I might add, great support from our host David Landis, founder of  Lanids Communications, Inc.  Meanwhile, about five local Web sites that cover the arts have appeared on the scene.  "It won’t be long before our promotion people begin using quotes from these sites," Karen adds.  Karen says these Web site critics "may be more welcoming" to the opera than the traditional critcs, especially given the Opera's outreach to multiple audiences and the edgy nature of tonight's program.

Historic Moment

"We're really at historic moment with tonight’s opera," says David. Philip Glass, who has developed performances for a wide range of audiences, approached him several years ago about setting an opera in the last days of the Civil War. It's set in the last battles of the war, as messages are going across between the Union and Confederacy. The opera focuses on how both generals were united in a belief that lives had to be saved. It shows Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee as men of high moral standards who were committed to saving lives and reuniting the country.

Act two introduces a "confrontational approach" to unfinished business that has contributed to separation since that war. It is not only about the legacy of rour relations with African Americans but also to people of various ethnic and racial backghrounds.

How the traditional media and the "new" Web sites respond will be telling, says David.

KEI & A Cool Gallery Exhibit

In the afternoon I found myself in one of the offices of Oxclove Workshop, a Web development company where CEO and founder, Ric Dragon has been doing a lot with search engine marketing  (SEM), which is a combination of search engine optimization and other tools. SEO, which has been around since the Web is the alchemy of getting search engines to put you nearer the top of the list -- whatever the is for the topic being searched.  "The SEO industry has been rife with charlatans," says Ric. In addition to that, "large expensive organizations providing the service but doing very little. The tragedy is their clients don't know the difference."

Well, it always pays to shop around.

But, I'm interested in SEM because of how it can support a dynamic communications campaign built around the New Laws of Web 2.0 Marketing and Communications.  To communicate effectively, it's essential to follow "new" procedures. One law is that communications has shifted from placement -- through ads or publicity using mass media -- to publishing on the Internet.

In a nutshell, it's about providing content that your stakeholders or audience will find useful and making that material easy to hook when they set about fishing with their favorite search engine. The content, as David Meerman Scott points out so effectively can be in the form of a news release, a white paper offered on your Web site, or a blog, just to name the most popular three vehicles. It's not just one-way push communications. Another of the new laws requires you -- the organization, brand, person -- play full out. That ranges from responding to those getting back to you through site e-mail "contacts" to blogging and replying to comments.

Keyword Effectiveness Index (KEI)

How do you make sure people can find what they are looking for? Here's were SEM comes in, Ric explains. The answer is we need to use words and phrases that they would type into a search engine box. We can use common sense and intuition to identify these phrases, or to go one better we can employ a structured keyword effectiveness process, which will generate a keyword effectiveness index (KEI). The KEI process is an organized sifting through presumed search words to locate the words and phrases .that are actually being used. The end result is a list of 20 or so words most used by people looking for what you have to talk about.

Using KEI is smart and it's an investment. The investment pays off, of course, in the measurable response back to your Website. Used heavily in pay-per-click advertising, we've begun experimenting with, using KEI to help guide news releases and blog copy. It should be far better than using common sense and intuition to identify keywords.

Gallery Exhibit?

But out discussion takes an unexpected turn when Ric says, "I am amazed with myself getting into this business." His passion is painting. We talk about the art world, and I learn of Ric's show October 13 -24 at the Brooklyn Artists Gym Gallery. The conversation drifts into the art world, some people we know in common. He hands me the catalog. Monoprints of bodies rollicking across the frame, colorful playgrounds of the imagination. Far, far from the rigor of KEI. A lot more fun too!

Check out the show 168 7th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215. Phone 718 858-9069

Use New Media to Listen? Great Idea!

Early in my career, I recall a great corporate ad campaign that urged all of us to give more attention to listening. Sadly, I don't remember the company, or the aesthetics, but I do recall the campaign. Some years later, I recall reading how Jack Welch, then CEO of General Electric, emphasizing the same in his executive seminars.

Of great interest are two recent blogs calling on us to remember to use the power of social media to, yup, listen.

It is not that marketing and sales don't listen, but we have developed strong habits for how we listen. In my office, we're discussing yet another focus group for a project. On another project, we at JMC are recommending a survey. And for a third client we're deep in the trenches mining data that will be followed by what we call Soundings Research. All of this is good.

But I also like the reminder that we should consider new communications as a tool for listening to the publics in addition to being vehicles for communicating to and dialoging with our groups. I saw this mentioned in Jennifer Laycock's blog in Search Engine Guide, and followed her to The Buzz Saw blog from Bill Balderaz.

Now we have to learn how to listen effectively!