InsidEPR

Fried Food, Farm Animals & Ferris Wheels -- Summer Fun at the Alameda County Fair

By Caitlin Mattias

In honor of the 100th anniversary of the Alameda County Fair, I decided to drop by with a few friends to sample some fried goods and take in the scent of farm animals. I’m not sure what it is about fairs that are so appealing to us – the bizarre competitions, risk in riding rickety roller coasters, or the tantalizing smell of high-calorie foods – but I always look forward to aimlessly wandering the fairgrounds in summer and am disappointed when the fair moves on at the end of its run.

Some highlights you can see pictured here include: deep fried Oreos, cookie dough, corn dogs, cheese and funnel cakes; goats in sweaters; the view from the ferris wheel and more. If this whets your appetite to see (and consume) what Alameda County has to offer, make sure to hit the fairgrounds in Pleasanton before July 8th!

 

 

Try our video maker at Animoto.

Google, Microsoft launch Tablet War—And the Band(width) Plays On

By Bob Eastwood

Last week, Microsoft Corp. announced the introduction of its new tablet PC dubbed Surface.  It sports some cool new never-before-seen-in-tablet features like a kickstand to hold it upright, a touch keyboard cover that snaps on using magnets, a flexpad for scrolling and clicking, and the ability to write directly on its touchscreen with a stylus.  Its debut  is set to coincide with the upcoming fall release of Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system featuring a new tile-based GUI that seems specifically designed to target the mobile device market.  The Surface has similar size display (about 10”) and price as the iPad ($500 to $1,000).  CEO Steve Ballmer was on hand to announce the new tablet, calling it part of a "whole new family of devices" the company is developing.

Huh wah?
 
The news generated a buzz, and many questions on a variety of topics not normally associated with the software giant.  It’s one thing to release a device to showcase your fancy new software, but another thing entirely to announce a family is on the way.  I wonder how HP, Dell and a host of other device-making MS customers feel about this—bad enough to find a new software supplier?  And, of course what could have driven the Seattle-based company to such hubris?  Well, we didn’t have to wait long for the answer.

This week, Google announced its latest foray into the tablet market.  Tablets running Google's Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) mobile operating system and carrying the Nexus 7 name took center stage at Google I/O, the company's annual developer’s conference, held in San Francisco.  Both Google and Microsoft are taking a page from Apple and its dominant iPad — dictating both hardware and software design.  The 7-inch Google tablets are expected to cost $200 to $250, going head-to-head with Amazon's $199 Kindle Fire.  Some reports have Google's tablet launching in July, which will likely be before the Surface hits stores.  So, it seems MSFT had no choice but to enter this sector, with software like Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS eroding their mobile market share.

With the tablet wars in full battle-mode, what are we to make of all this hyper competition?  One thing is certain:  tablets and mobile devices like them will continue to drive network bandwidth demand for at least a decade to come, pretty much doubling every year.  With that, we can expect further technological innovation and business consolidation in the smart box, and network management software markets that will have to meet these demands.  Already, technologies like software defined metro networks and intelligent policy enforcement  are taking advantage of these trends with keen new products.   And as tablets get smaller, thinner, and lighter; someday they will join another list of items including keys, toys, remote controls and cell phones under the heading “Where did I put that thing?”  OMG, I think it’s streaming video right now!

Professional ethics never go out of style

By Caitlin Mattias

As public relations professionals, our days are consumed with writing, social media, conference calls and our clients. It’s easy to focus on today’s to-do list and forget some of the principles that underpin our profession. At least, until we see how, when disregarded, those principles tend to blow up.

Yesterday, the Los Angeles Times reported that Wal-Mart has cut ties with a public affairs agency that they had hired to lobby LA-area officials to approve building a Wal-Mart in the Chinatown section of the city. In a series of questionable events, a member of the agency’s team attended a private press conference held by a pro-labor group in opposition to the Wal-Mart while posing as a student journalist. Not content with being a passive observer, this poseur actually conducted an interview at the event and used an assumed name.

Naturally, word got out. An anonymous tipster informed Gawker of the situation and before long it hit major dailies, and even TIME. It’s frankly distressing to see public relations presented in such a negative light, but it serves to draw our focus back to the professional ethics that Engage upholds daily. We hold great pride in representing both ourselves and our clients accurately and professionally.

The Public Relations Society of America developed a Code of Ethics that we find to be an excellent guideline for acting professionally and appropriately. Chief among them is:

“Honesty: We adhere to the highest standards of accuracy and truth in advancing the interest of those we represent and in communicating with the public.”

Though this is hardly the first brush with PR scandal that Wal-Mart’s experienced, it’s also serves as an important lesson to businesses seeking a new PR team – though upholding professional ethics might be assumed, it’s something worth asking about as you explore who is best to represent your company in the public eye.

Talkin’ Tech with IDG in San Francisco

By Mike Tomlinson

Last Wednesday I had the privilege of attending IDG’s first 2012 summer meet-up, held at the Thirsty Bear Restaurant and Brewery in San Francisco. The event was packed with journalists from TechHive, PCWorld, Macworld, who gathered to talk new technology and to network with other people with tech-related careers around the Bay Area.

While washing down fancy hors d'oeuvres with the finest IPA Thirsty Bear had to offer, I chatted with several prominent figures including PCWorld Senior Editor Loyd Case about the Microsoft Surface tablet and how Windows 8 may (or may not) change tablet operating systems as we know it.

I also had the opportunity to talk with PCWorld Senior Editor Mark Sullivan, who (among other topics discussed) offered some great timeless pitching advice to tech PR professionals—keep it short, simple, and direct, respecting the time of those you’re pitching and understanding that post-pitch silence doesn’t mean ‘never’, it just means ‘not right now.’ Overall, it was a very insightful and well-attended event and I hope to see some of you at the next IDG meet-up later this summer!

Trade Shows: Steal the Spotlight

By Leslie Schmidt

So you want to stand out at a trade show? Don’t expect to sit back and wait for prospect to come to your booth or attend your panel just because you’re there. You need a spark. You need to lure them in and grab their attention.

Here are the top five ways to steal your competitors’ thunder (plus my own personal favorite):

1. Food, Glorious Food

At last month’s Management World Conference in Dublin, NetCracker offered candy to pull in the attendees passing by. Although I think my choices of candy would have differed from the available sugary gumdrops (maybe some Sour Patch Kids, Peanut M&M’s, Reese’s Pieces – you know, the good stuff), it was still a huge hit.

One company, Lantiq, stole the crowd at last year’s Broadband World Forum with their table full of sausage, cheese and chips. They even provided BEER!  Which brings me to my next point…

2. Drinks, Drinks, Drinks

Food is one thing. However, if you really want to lure in conference attendees who have been wandering the event floor searching for their next form of entertainment – try something other than coffee.

The Lantiq booth not only offered visitors some delicious food; but also, it offered something to wash it down with. After coffee, beer seems to be the beverage of choice at these events. Companies that use this tactic will see the crowds fill their booths. 

3. Shower them with Gifts

Giving away gifts is a popular way to get attendees to visit your booth - we’re talking everything from branded pens to calendars to T-shirts.  However, I personally would not list this gimmick as a top favorite. My issue with handing out gifts (aside from pens, everyone loves pens!) is that the attendee will exit your booth once you hand over the goods.

At the 2011 Cable Show, the FOX Networks booth played the celebrity card by having American soccer star Cobi Jones sign soccer balls for guests. If you ask me, a soccer ball sounds like quite a large gift - unless you’re planning to leave in 5 minutes.

4. It’s All Fun & Games

What grown-up doesn’t like to play games every now and then? (Ask anyone in this office and they’ll let you know that I do). There were several companies offering games at Interop 2011 but the top contenders were:

• Xerox, who offered guests a chance to become a cartoon. With a professional cartoonist on site, each guest could sit down and watch on screen as they slowly began to look like Goofy.
• Ixia brought in a mechanical “bull” resembling the inside of a computer – Would have been quite entertaining to watch!
• Another booth used gifts and games to reel in their visitors – Race for an Xbox? Absolutely!

5. Draw Them in with Visuals

It has been said that humans are considered visual creatures. When planning next year's booth or PowerPoint presentation for an upcoming speaking session, think big. Think visual. Give yourself a presence. Get them to “Ohhh” and “Ahhh”.

As an example, here are a couple of twitter reactions to companies with a strong visual presence at this year's Cable Show:

‏@MarielenaSan
Amid Kardashian and RHONJ sightings, Univision had a wildly spectacular presence at #cable12 Boston

‏@robpegoraro
One part of my #cable12 reporting: the fascinating @NDS Surfaces demo, and why it reminded me of giant telescopes

And, now to my personal favorite: the above and beyond, untouchable and original thunder stealer -the flash-mob. If you didn’t hear or see via social media, Cisco did the unthinkable – they brought the flash-mob to NCTA’s Cable Show. Sure it has been done, but never at a trade show. It was unexpected, memorable and received a ton of attention. Check out the video to see just how it went down.

The trade show world is big - plan your next appearance wisely and go steal the spotlight!

Apping it Up in SF: Where Apps Come to Be Discovered

By Suzanne Panoplos

A couple of weeks ago, my colleague and I dropped in on the San Francisco App Show, hosted at the UCSF Mission Bay campus.  The event, a mashup of venture capitalists, developers, entrepreneurs and essentially anyone who loves apps, showcased 10 apps ranging from an application that will help you enjoy a hassle-free commute to an application that allows you to create a digital “concert scrapbook”.

The discussion was lively, hosted by tech sage Gina Smith and featured live presentations - with one presenter calling in via Facetime. The event was truly casual with presenters talking through their successes and challenges while members of the audience would readily raise their hands, offering advice or assistance in the form of technical expertise and translation services.

Two applications really stood out to us as being useful, interesting and chocked full of mass appeal.  The first app, Crowdcall by SocialDial, was an application that provided easy-to-use worldwide conference calling for up to 20 meeting attendees with no charge to anyone attending the conference call.So there are plenty of free conference call solutions out there – what is so special about this one? 

Well, with a push of a button, you can call everyone scheduled to attend your meeting for free - no matter where they are in the world. There are no dial-in numbers of passcodes to remember and the other meeting participants do not need the app to participate in the call. There are also no line charges, services charges, app charges – free means free. With all of the hassles involved with scheduling meetings these days, it is the perfect way to streamline the process. Now if someone can invent an app that would also check everyone’s calendars, find an open slot and schedule the meeting, life would be close to perfect.

The other application that we thought was just downright cool was Junaio, an augmented reality app designed to make the “world around us come alive”. With Junaio, you can simply use your phone “to scan” items like product bar codes, picture, etc. to obtain more information about that product or service.  For example, Scan a painting and get information about the artist or scan a product and have a 3D user manual open up.

 At the App Show, the demonstrator scanned a Lego box and you could see a 3D image a fully-built Lego vehicle with a little Lego figure walking around the vehicle and jumping in and start driving. This definitely made everyone sit up in their seats as the Legos we all enjoyed in our youth seemed to come to life.

So as our evening of “Apping it Up” came to an end, I couldn’t help wonder 'what's next' and if at this time next year, there was an app that would read my mind and type up this blog automatically.  One can only dream

Friday By the Bay: California's Great Outdoors

By Molly Reynolds

As summer rolls in to the bay area, we’ve noticed something about the majority of our “Friday by the Bay” series; most of our suggested activities require the participant to be outside. Winter, spring, summer or fall, you can (almost) always be outside in California.

You can see in our slideshow that whether you’re in hiking the redwood forests, taking in a surf contest in Santa Cruz, relaxing in wine country, putzing around Alameda or enjoying a baseball game in San Francisco, you’ve gotta embrace California’s great outdoors.

Engage/Reverb Partnership Offers Clients the Best of Both Worlds

By Jeannette Bitz

A few weeks ago, Engage announced a partnership with Reverb Communications, which serves the publishing digital entertainment industry, to offer public relations and marketing to cloud service providers and gaming companies. A year or two ago such a partnership might have seemed strange.  What could two agencies serving such different markets offer each other’s clients?

A great deal, as it turns out. Today, consumer apps are being served up via the cloud. When you consider that one Reverb client, for example, introduced an app that had a million downloads, the decision to pursue new revenue opportunities in the gaming industry becomes a no brainer to most cloud providers.

Users and companies that service the gaming and cloud markets are realizing they need to know more about each other. Increasingly, more of Engage’s clients are developing applications that require a greater understanding of marketing to both the business and consumer markets. At the same time, Reverb’s gaming clients are realizing they need to forge relationships with cloud hosting providers or evolve their business to become their own hosting provider.

The Engage/Reverb partnership is the first of its kind. Together, we advise our clients on the best methods for translating their unique messages across all distribution channels and to relevant audiences—whether they are consumers, developers, carriers, investors or the media. At Engage, we are able to tap into our cloud and mobile experience to provide gaming companies with the knowledge needed to address these markets. In turn, Engage will leverage Reverb's experience to provide clients with the resources and assistance needed to address the consumer market.

Engage clients will also appreciate the fact that Reverb has a similar business philosophy that approaches the agency-client relationship as a partnership with a clear focus on the client's success. We also both have put in place practices and policies that have made our firms attractive for employees, resulting in high retention rates. In short, our clients benefit from working with smart, stable teams with deep experience in their respective markets.

As we announce our partnership in advance of the E3 show, the largest video game conference, we are looking forward to a successful relationship that will be beneficial to all of our clients. I will share my insights from the show in a subsequent blog - so stay tuned.