InsidEPR

Last Night’s Public Relations Society of America – Silicon Valley Chapter – Dinner

By Becky Frost

PRSA held its annual "what’s on the horizon" dinner last night at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. The room was full of PR pros looking to learn from the seasoned panel of journalists, including Kara Swisher of All Things Digital, Business Week’s Rob Hof , Forbes’ Victoria Barrett, Jim Goldman of CNBC, The Wall Street Journal’s Don Clark, and Robert Scoble of Scobleizer and BoomTown.

The panel provided interesting insights into what technologies have been or will be compelling, while entertainingly thrusting verbal jabs at each other. One topic the panel seemed to agree on was the disruptiveness of social media. This caused me to reflect on how the need to use technology for social purposes has and will continue to shape quite a bit of the innovation that we see emerging from Silicon Valley.

Hot topics that were mentioned included social networks, improving mobile technology, and the likelihood that the press will re-focus on the enterprise next year. (As someone who represents enterprise clients, this made me quite happy).

There has been quite a debate throughout the last few years about how the pervasiveness of social media will change PR. Some have predicted doomsday scenarios, while others have opted to completely ditch traditional PR methods in an effort to adapt. Ultimately, I think the best PR starts with relationships, no matter if they are built on a social networking site, or in face to face meetings. Like all things, a balance is needed to garner the best results.

To check out more coverage of the event, visit Kara’s post, or Rob’s post.

Let’s bring back the Pager!

By Chelsea Irwin

A recent article in the Chicago Tribune made me a little nostalgic about my old Motorola pager.
 
With all the technological advancements, a “beeper” is no longer considered a reliable or professional means of emergency communication. People carry BlackBerries, iPhones, or whatever other mobile device they’re checking at the dinner table. But with all these advancements we’ve lost the true meaning of “emergency.”

Back in the “olden days” a Pager was considered a sign of success for doctors, nurses, or even the occasional dentist. A page meant someone needed immediate surgery or a midnight root canal. Now-a-days, the phrase, “call my cell phone for emergencies,” is interpreted as, “I’m available if you need anything.” If we were to revert back to offering a pager number in case of emergencies, I can guarantee the meaning of emergency would gain some ground.

There is one caveat; this will only be effective if you only carry a pager – meaning no cell phone at all. This is because half the hassle of returning a page was finding a pay phone. Which by the way, good luck finding a pay phone, or $.95 to make a local call!

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting we start using pager code or clipping pagers to our Converse shoes, but simply remind people that it’s not a convenient time to contact you so it better be an emergency! 

A Stomach’s Rumble

By Elan Mualen

10:30 a.m. – It’s about that time again…A mere two hours at work and I am already beginning to hear voices. The voices are not coming from my head however, they are emanating from my empty stomach. The consistent calls from my barren abdomen prompt a quick email to my colleagues, ‘It’s about that time again…’ This is all that needs to be said, I know that even though lunch is an eternity away, everyone else has been thinking the same thing since the moment they walked in the door…‘What am I going to have for lunch today?’

Working in Alameda makes this decision a little difficult as being stuck on the island presents limited opportunities for trying something new. There are those days when my co-workers answer my call and venture outside our little bubble for delectable lunch outing.

One of the things I really value about working at Engage is the people. The culture and friends I have made here is what makes my mornings fly by and the afternoon lull come and go; we are a close knit group in a familial environment and it really keeps office life enjoyable. Having said this, lunch is really a time we enjoy spending together, whether it is eating our $1 ‘budget gourmets’ in the lunch room or dining at Scott’s Seafood as a company. Sharing the time together is what makes me look forward to my lunch hour (plus, a good meal never hurts).

As we are nearing one of my favorite holidays (Thanksgiving), I would like to take this opportunity to open up a forum in which we can discuss local restaurants which you frequent on your coveted lunch break. As the resident garbage disposal (don’t let the term fool you, I take great pride in good food), I would like to share with you some of the restaurants I have come to enjoy.

If it is sushi which you seek or just a nice Japanese meal with good service and atmosphere I suggest Katsu Sushi House located at 1465 Webster St in Alameda. For a nice sandwich and some palatable pastries, I recommend Jay's Coffee Teas and Treats located at 1414 Encinal Ave in Alameda. A new favorite of mine, as recommended by one of my co-workers, is Toomie’s Thai Cuisine located at 1433 Park St in Alameda. The food is very flavorful and the pricing is extremely reasonable. These are just a few of the local restaurants we frequent, please feel free to post additions and we can begin a list of local favorites.

Measure for Change

By Megan Atiyeh

I recently attended the fourth annual TechNet (www.technet.org) Innovation Summit. Speakers included CEOs from Cisco, Sun, and Sybase, as well as senior executives from Google, Kleiner Perkins, and the Haas School of Business. Topics ranged from the role of innovation in the global economy, competition from countries such as India and China, Green technology, to how current US policy both supports and inhibits innovation in the US.

Certainly some topics were more relevant than others but it was interesting to see a few recurring themes.

The Value of Measurement – Self-awareness is a critical piece of any effort to facilitate change. There was significant discussion about the importance of transparency and measurement as it relates to a CEOs ability to institute change in their own company or technology.

For Sun CEO, Jonathan Schwartz, it was the knowledge that data centers consume 3-4 percent of the total electricity generated, and that Google’s biggest expense, next to its people, is electricity. So, rather than focusing solely on increasing speeds and feeds, as is common in the technology industry, Sun built a slower but very power efficient server to address a key pain point for its customers. That decision created a $1B dollar business for the company.

Knowledge is power - Because the primary goal of PR is to help clients influence sales, it’s critical that we understand customer pain points and focus our communications efforts in those areas. It’s also critical that we work closely with clients to re-evaluate the effectiveness of our campaigns on a regular basis. At EPR, we emphasize measurement as a way to identify where we are, where we want to be, and whether or not we have succeeded in getting there.

So, how important is measurement for you?

PR Tips for Start-ups, Part II

By Kristin Kiltz

I just finished reading PR Tips For Startups: How To Get And Keep The Media Attention. I have launched several startups, and while you think you have it nailed down each time, there is always a lesson to be learned. Times are changing and launches should reflect this change. While I agree with most of Alex’s article, I do have some points of difference.

Alex from AdaptiveBlue’s main point is that product launches are just a starting point for any startup, but without continued momentum, your company will not go far. While I agree with this point, there is one thing I want to highlight; start-ups traditionally don’t have a lot of news to work with. So don’t hire a firm that only shows good results from a launch. Hire an agency that has a successful track record of pitching and placing creative ideas.

I’m going to add my two cents on launching at a conference. Lots of companies are making announcements at shows. It’s a reporter’s job to cover the news. They are going from meeting to meeting and then at the end of the day need to determine what to cover. Your new product is really going to get a paragraph versus a dedicated story. Is that what you really want? Launch at a time when you can get a reporter’s attention, it will generate better quality coverage.

Email Explosion

By Becky Frost

When it comes to email, what’s your number? You know, the number that prompts you to clean out the old inbox. I’ve yet to meet anyone who doesn’t have a limit to how much email he or she can take.

In today’s world, email can be a convenient tool or an unwieldy beast, depending on how it is managed.

I use my email as a "to-do" list, filing away informative emails after I’ve read them, and keeping my to-do’s in the inbox until they can be filed. This system works for me, but I’ve heard at least five other approaches to managing email. Here are some email management tips from the Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge for Business Leaders article, "Tips for Mastering Email Overload."

• Make action requests clear
• Give your reader full context at the start of your message
• Understand how people prefer to be reached, and how quickly they respond
• Use a subject line to summarize, not describe:
• Bad Subject: Deadline Discussion
• Good Subject: Recommend we ship product April 25th

There are many more suggestions in the article. Feel free to take a look and post your comments about what works for you.