During tough times such as now doing more with less has become the norm’ rather than the exception. Therefore, why should your social media strategy be any different. Many organizations are hesitant to allow workers to have access to social media applications at their work-stations even now amidst all the positive and compelling  evidence of the amazing things being accomplished. This is due primarily to the fear that employees will become distracted by the inherent social factor, the farm town gifts, mafia wars, pokes, super pokes and redundant quizzes. However by cracking down it’s possible that they are missing prime opportunities to optimize their brand, content and social currency.

Employee Evolution claims that the best strategy is to make every employee a social media representative, a tool for furthering the needs of the organization rather than a weight around the neck used to slow momentum.

I tend to agree with this view point. By allowing employees to take part while on the clock, you are giving them ownership of the brand, creating a sense of pride and loyalty that will ultimately serve to benefit the organization. Want to convince your supervisor? Here are a few key points to remember when presenting the case for social media at work:

1. Empower by encouragement-Give a person ownership and you will create a sense of pride, empowering them and also helping to ensure that they will be good public representatives of the organization. If you have ownership then you feel loyalty towards the organization that creates that feeling. Simple right?
2. Make everyone an equal-This is a big one. Rather than getting caught up in silo-type thinking, allowing only either the top reps or the grunts to speak out, let everyone be on equal footing. This supports the first point about empowerment. Doing this helps to humanize an organization making them appear to be much friendlier and appealing to the public.
3. Build creativity while cutting costs-Allowing everyone to participate means that an entire collection of creative minds with different skill sets will be utilized rather than a select few. Creativity tends to stagnate if not poked occasionally with the big fork of distinction. You also save money by taking advantage of existing resources, and who doesn’t want to save money?

Do you work for a progressive organization? Share your story about how you engage with the public via social media at work. Is it working for your company? Or do the employees take advantage? If you are banned from using social media while on the clock, why do you think that is?

OK, I’ll admit that I’m stumped on this one.  It’s starting to look like we’re actually going to get some sort of healthcare reform which, at least in general terms, I believe is a good idea.  If you think what we’re doing now is working, read the first paragraph of this article.   We spend more to get less than just about anybody else.

In my mind, it’s not acceptable for a nation as affluent (at least for now) as we are to have a fifth of its people uninsured.  I understand that “uninsured” is not the same as undoctored.  But it doesn’t make sense to me that the right way for millions of people to get healthcare is to wait until their needs are dire and then seek care in the most expensive possible venue – the emergency room.

That said, there’s a serious problem in the debate.  We have the Republicans decrying government intervention and insisting that the market can deliver.  With equal vehemence, the Democrats are defending a highly intrusive government role while claiming that there will be no rationing of healthcare.

As best I can tell, everybody’s wrong here.

The core underlying problem with healthcare is that it’s not actually a market.  A market is a place where multiple buyers and sellers come together, each with enough information to make at least somewhat informed decisions and with multiple options, including the option not to buy.  This is the infamous invisible hand – the natural mechanism for controlling the amount of demand for a product or service.

Healthcare doesn’t work that way.  First off, instead of a buyer and a seller, most transactions involve three parties, a seller (doctor), a user (patient) and a payer (insurance company).  The interests of the payer are diametrically opposed to those of the user.  Meanwhile, the user has the most to gain/lose, the least information, the least power and the fewest options.  These dynamics mean that normal buyer-seller equilibrium does not occur.

Moreover, one of the keys to market behavior is the ability of buyers to place a monetary value on the benefits delivered by the product or service.  This is essentially impossible with medical care.  There simply is no way to decide how much is too much for a treatment that will save or significantly improve your life.  Consequently, there is no natural upper bound on the demand for healthcare, which is why US healthcare spending is growing at nearly 7% per year in an economy with little or no inflation.

The implication is pretty obvious.  With no market to regulate demand, there has to be some externally imposed limit or we will spend ourselves into oblivion, which we’re already trying to do.  Call it what you will, it amounts to rationing.

We currently ration healthcare mostly based on the ability to pay, and to a lesser extent on the ability of doctors to talk insurance companies into paying for things they don’t want to pay for.  We also engage in a lot of cost-shifting (i.e., part of your health insurance premium pays for uninsured people to be treated in ERs), which limits transparency and manageability.

Other approaches have been tried.  The state of Oregon (formerly known affectionately as the Soviet of Oregon) explicitly rations healthcare by simply refusing to cover some treatments.  Maryland tries to strengthen the market by, perversely, mandating reimbursement rates for all healthcare providers and insurers in the state.  The idea is to eliminate the ability of large insurers to negotiate lower prices from providers, which should keep more insurance companies alive and create a better market for consumers.  How well either approach works is something I can’t say.

I don’t pretend to know what the right answer is.  I do know that pretending healthcare is a market like any other won’t get us there.

Oh, and one other thing. . .the plan that eventually passes is going to cost a trillion dollars or so that we don’t have.

Lobbying in both Brussels and the EU is becoming more and more complex and time-consuming. There is a need for better stakeholders mapping and targeted messaging. Are you an American lobbyist coming into Brussels? Here are 7 tips to do your best practice  lobbying “the European way”:

1. Watch out for the French, Italians, Spanish and Greeks : they prefer to use the indirect  “ through acquaintances” top level contacts, or the useful coalition approach.

2. Germans are like Austrians: they use first political contacts and often the longer national or European trade association channels.

3. The Brits, Irish, Nordics, Dutch & sometimes Belgians prefer the more transparent Anglo-Saxon direct lobbying and coalitions building.

4. The new C&E members are still discovering the new EU lobbying and tend to prefer one-on-one political contacts: their trade associations are not yet up to speed in Brussels.

5. While NGO’s, in need of EU funding for studies and research, claim to have less money, they are increasingly successful and sometimes even better organized than the private sector.

6. For critical policy issues, multinationals rely on direct company lobbying, ad-hoc business coalitions and co-operation with trade associations.

7. Key for public affairs effectiveness are better balanced lobbying of European Commission, Parliament and Member States with multiple stakeholder outreach, including the use of new EU online media.

But, gladly, the US lobbying techniques like breakfast meetings, Think Tanks, Forum meetings, stakeholder mapping, issue management and position papers, new media and internet outreach are also very popular with European companies. So no need to do a complete change of your American way of working…. just try to adapt yourself a tiny bit to the complexities of 27 different cultures across the European Union …

Eric Vaes

Carrotmobs, Jujutsu and Advocacy

Mike Smith led us this week with an excellent account of his experience in grass roots organizing during the Obama presidential campaign. More importantly — and if we listened well — he discussed how we might learn lessons from the campaign for future political advocacy whether that advocacy revolves around an election or the promotion of specific issues.

One of the key takeaways is to embrace potential allies and enable them to pursue their own online messaging in support of the issue at hand. This necessitates a relinquishing of top down control, and relinquishing such control is something many struggle with throughout all industries be they corporations, advocacy organizations, political campaigns or community organizers.

At issue, of course, is the actual message. What is it? How is it said and how is it presented? This is a classic case of who controls the messenger. In the parlance of the day, are there mechanisms to prevent others from going rogue? Or is that just the cost of doing business in the digital age?

The answer is not simple and the conversation about the answer is quite long. If we cut to the short of it though the answer is yes, no matter the vertical we need to give up our attempts to control every aspect of a brand or message and instead realize that we are a participant in an ever evolving conversation about it.

JUMP to read the rest of the post.

At this point in the fall, students can feel torn between the desire to take a well-deserved breather, and (in some cases) severe stress over finding their next internship or gearing up for the daunting task of job hunting.

Thanksgiving comes at a perfect time.  Just enough down-time to allow you to regroup, think through your plans and priorities, while also packing in the food and having some much-deserved fun.

It also happens to be an EXCELLENT time to begin or ramp up your networking efforts.  Here are some tips for preparing on your way home:

• * Make a list of everyone you’re going to see during this break, and (as much as you can recall) what they do for a living, where they work, where they live, what kinds of circles they hang out in. Then, of course, tuck that list away. It would kind of look mercenary if anyone found it.
• * Think about something that you can say about your next career development goal: I’m hoping to explore careers in X in the next few months by talking to people in the field, OR I’ve decided to explore Y career path and am looking for a spring internship in that field, OR I’ll be job hunting soon, and am really interested in getting a foot in the door in Z industry.
• * Remind yourself of some of your accomplishments. Folks will be interested in what you’ve been up to. Deliver the goods, with passion, and with just enough detail to let them know that you really sank your teeth into something.

Then sink your teeth into your turkey (or tofurkey) and pumpkin pie, and have some nice, relaxed (and subtly goal-oriented) conversations with your nearest and dearest (or those of your family and/or friends)! They may know people who can help, or have ideas for you that you hadn’t considered. Keep your mind open, and…be grateful for all that you will have received.

Happy Thanksgiving/Networking!!

Lets set it straight. How many people around care about the content of the 1,990 pages long Health Care Bill? Apparently not too many. Why? Because they don’t want to spend over a month going through at least 50 pages a day of excruciatingly boring, extremely technical encyclopedia they won’t understand. In 99.9% of cases (excluding politicians who will again take a vote on this issue) this approach is totally justified.

Yet, people have a right to be provided with accurate information about the matter that will soon significantly impact their lives. For this reason, it is journalists’ responsibility to report, inform and educate the public on important issues through newspapers, magazines, television, radio, and of course the Internet.

Yet over the past week, instead of being bombarded with an educated debate over the reform,  I have seen every possible preview of the New Moon movie, and heard interviews with Kristen Steward (Bella), undisputable idol of thousands of teenagers who seemed linguistically illiterate on Conan O’Brien show (the only funny dude among better paid comedians). [On the side: Unlike Steward, Taylor Lautner (Jake, the werewolf) impressed me with his communication skills and personal charm on the Today Show].

If I didn’t listen to podcasts [alternative media], I wouldn’t know about the crash of Boeing 747 loaded with cargo of Cocaine soon after takeoff in South America. And if I didn’t spend hours searching for relevant news, I wouldn’t know that Polish national airlines LOT is planning to sell [or liquidate] most of its assets including its regional unit that provides air shuttle between Warsaw and the capital of the province where I lived in the past.

Finally, I almost wanted to throw up when I accidentally turned on the Fox Strategy Room, network’s live online programming anchored by Courtney Friel. No doubts here… Friel is attractive physically but professionally she should consider changing her career. To say the least her performance matches the quality of the show, which is lower than ‘spirited TV Channels’ where people love sharing / screaming out their opinions – all in the name of religion. Nevertheless, she prefers to throw in much different symbolism into the show.

Mass Media = Mass Embarrassment. Period.

——-
Links:
- O’Brien with Kristen Steward
- Taylor Lautner on Today Show
- Boeing Crash
- Courtney Friel – Fox Anchor

P.S.
Summit Entertainment PR/Marketing Department  achieved its goal : I am going to see the movie tonight or rather tomorrow since it starts at 12:15 am and Fox made sure I won’t ever turn on Strategy Room again.

Wendell H. Ford Regional Training Center manages a very pro-active and well established Fish and Wildlife program for the Soldiers, Airmen and Employees of the Kentucky National Guard.  This program has established some of the most fertile conservations lands in Kentucky for your use.  Like any well managed program it has established rules and regulations to ensure the long term viability of the program, the wildlife and the conservation of the lands.

I want to personally invite each you to utilize this resource.  They provide a great opportunity to get away for a day and bond with family and friends. Mr. Nave and the entire staff is extremely proud of this resource and we will do everything within our power to ensure you have an enjoyable visit.

To ensure everyone knows of this opportunity I wanted to distribute the “Category Codes” or priorities for use:

A.   Soldiers/Airmen/Personnel actively training at WHFRTC.

B.  Kentucky Guardsmen

• Retired Kentucky Guardsmen
• Federal, State or Contract Employees assigned and supporting training center operation
• Kentucky Department of Military Affairs employees
• Retired Kentucky Department of Military Affairs employees
• Kentucky State Police assigned to Muhlenberg County

C.  Immediate Family Member (Spouse, Parents or Children of a military hunter/fisherman)

D.  Guest of personnel in Category  B (normally 2 guest per category B Personnel)

A few items to remember:

1. Always call ahead before you come to the site to ensure the areas are open for use.  We regularly close areas when they impact our ability to support military training.
2. Always remember that we typically have a 1 to 3 ratio of Soldiers and Airmen to Civilians eligible to utilize the site.  For example, a member of the Kentucky National Guard (CAT. B) could have his children, parents and spouse here along with 2 guests at any one time.
3. The Standard Operating Procedures utilized to manage the program is vetted through a Committee of sportsmen throughout the Kentucky National Guard that meets annually.  Any questions or concerns can be vetted through anyone on staff or the WHFRTC Website, AAR Link, and we will ensure the Committee is aware of the concern.
4. I as the Base Operations Manager would not be considered a typical sportsman as I do not hunt and rarely fish.  I am always available to answer questions and ensure this program is run in a way that all members of the Kentucky National Guard can be proud of.  If you ever have a questions or concern, my door is always open.

I want to Thank each of you for the support of this program and encourage its use to all eligible members.

LTC William L. McDaniel
Training Site Commander
Base Operations Manager
502-607-7922 Office
502-229-3305 Cell
http://www.whfrtc.ky.gov

There’s been some confusion, it seems, among Canadian media when it comes to the books on or by Alaska’s infamous governor (remember the turkey!) Anyway,  seems both the Canadian Press and CBC’s The National used the “Going Rouge” (as in French for red –I give you that because I honestly read “Rogue” the first few times I saw the cover) anti-Palin book of essays instead of the actual cover of Palin’s autobiography in stories on the publication. One way to avoid the confusion and get the best read on Gov. Palin is to pick up SARAH FROM ALASKA. Maclean’s writer Brian Bethune has declared it

“the only work [of the three] with even a pretense of neutrality, not to mention a dustjacket with Palin dressed in something other than red … the temperature is considerably lower in Conroy and Walshe’s book. They keep the focus on her weaknesses …. and her strengths.”

Published by Public Affairs

I recently attended a conference where members of local and state government were invited as panelists to answer questions from journalists. Being one of maybe four public relations professionals in the room, I felt very much like a child caught in the middle of an argument between mommy and daddy – a sentiment I expressed, which received lots of laughs and many knowing nods.

What I found so painful was that, while the airing of linens may have been necessary for this particular group, both parties listed complaints that would have been reduced dramatically if they employed either a real communications professional or the tactics used by such a professional.

Now I believe that media – the fourth estate – is responsible to uphold the truth. A journalist has a higher burden of professional ethics than say, a dog groomer, only because they have access to so many people. Public officials are one of the few that have an even higher burden to conduct themselves ethically. Now, we can debate how much that actually happens, but the point is, here are two groups that have vowed to work in the public’s best interest and are under a considerable amount of scrutiny to do just that.

Now, this particular meeting was filled with local and state elected officials and local and regional media. We could assume that some of these issues were do to those facts, thereby insinuating that local officials and local media are less savvy and therefore prone to step on each others toes more, but I would not agree. Having worked in public affairs in southern California, I have seen the same situations with very experienced,very savvy officials and journalists.

Now; the airing of dirty linens:

Journalists feel that elected officials are not forthcoming; working on personal agendas to the detriment of society and; generally not to be trusted. No one said this, but it was insinuated.

Elected officials feel like the journalists have preconceived agendas; are unprofessional, even ruthless in their coverage and; generally go running down the path with a story before becoming educated on the background, nuances and implications.

So, as I sat in this conference – listening to the complaints being hurled across the net and volleyed back – at every point I thought, ” a good PR person could help with that.”

Finally, because really, I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut, I raised my hand, made my mommy/daddy joke and then asked the question: Had it occurred to either group that utilizing the services of a trained communication professional might help bridge this relationship that was clearly so strained?

Nods, shock, smiles – the responses varied, but a few specific points were made:

1. Public agencies can no longer (or never could) afford PA/PI staff, so most public officials are on their own
2. Public officials don’t “look good” when they have “spokespeople”, so they prefer to do the work themselves
3. Journalists don’t like PR people because they want to go straight to the source (hopefully as unprepared as possible)
4. Journalists are experts in their fields, so they don’t need a middleman to help them along

I disagree with all of those points. My experience and what I heard in that meeting, tells me I am right.

Agencies are facing budget cuts, but they still have room for meal allowances, travel and all manner of ridiculous spending. Communicating with constituents is not a priority, so it is not budgeted. My feeling is that an elected official that has some type of public affairs support (not every water board director needs a full-time PR agency) would be more effective and better able to serve those that elected him. One senior level public affairs staff member could serve the needs of a dozen or more officials to maintain schedules, disseminate information, prepare statements, field questions…the list is endless, but the result would be a less antagonistic relationship with the media and better communication (i.e. transparency) with the public.

Journalists could support this effort and benefit from it by having a professional communicator who is available to provide background information and historical perspective, create interview opportunities and help build the relationship between the individual journalist and each elected official. Journalists see PR people as gatekeepers to the truth, but when there is mutual respect (which there most often is), the PR person will be standing at the proper entrance, holding the gate open, ready to usher the journalist in, just before the slam the gate on the competition who is about to scoop the story. (Just kidding on that last part – like good parents, PR people never acknowledge favorites!)

Journalist are people. Elected officials are people. Sometimes people need help communicating. As long as these two groups keep building tense relationships, withholding information, practicing “gotcha reporting” and failing to listen/hear, it’s the group that they have sworn to protect – the citizens – that will suffer.

Now, this video is old, but a perfect example of the elected offical / journalist relationship breakdown. Enjoy!

The AU students who came to our networking workshop before the SPA reception took these things away . . .

Developed using Wordle.net.

Did you go? Were you one of the 150+ students, alumni, and other employers there? Did you know that 8 out of 10 employers were looking for job candidates and 7 out of 10 were looking for internship candidates?! THAT’S 15 OUT OF 10!!! Ok, well, maybe not quite, but the odds were great if you were looking for a position, no matter who you were! Employers were looking for candidates at ALL levels of school and experience.

AU alumni also had advice to share. Here’s a sample of their words of wisdom . . .

So if you blew it, fear not. Yes, you missed out on a major opportunity. But there are other ways to network. Check out AU InCircle to connect with AU alumni, make connections through LinkedIn, and check our events calendar for your next chance to meet and greet!

“Globalization and Its Impact on Cultural Diversity by Purnima Bose, Associate Professor, English Department
Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Time:  7 p.m.
Venue:  IU Asian Culture Center, 807 E. 10th Street. 

Professor Bose research interests include globalization, the role of corporations in public life, anti-globalization resistance, and the Indian diaspora. She is the author of “Organizing Empire,” the co-editor with Laura E. Lyons of  “Cultural Critique and the Global Corporation,” and has published essays on colonialism, globalization, and activism in GENDERS, boundary 2, and the GLOBAL SOUTH.

Further to our recent post our blogs stats show a veritable stampede of readers (ok, 40 or so…) seeking to find out more information about the European Public Affairs Action Day. You will recall we have a panel at the 30 November event on “To Twitter or not to Twitter: digital tools in Public Affairs” featuring Pat Cleary from DC, Alexander Alvaro MEP and Mark Redgrove from Orgalime.

Alas, all that clicking was in vain as the organisers only opened registration today…Should you have been frustrated by our last post you can now however register online at here.

James

Today’s National Post ran a full-page excerpt from Daniel Goldhagen’s Public Affairs book WORSE THAN WAR. Goldhagen was in Toronto recently and spoke at a capacity crowd at U of T about the failings of the UN in the face of genocide and offered his prescription for change.

An End to Slaughter

Kostas Karamanlis - current Greek Prime Minister by the user neadhmokratia on Flickr

It’s time for the Greek elections (again – they seem to happen more and more often) and I am watching with more interest than it can possibly be good for me.

As always my interest revolves around political communications (public affairs will do that to you) and I have been watching digital communications attempts by the Greek political parties especially closely. Not to mention that I can’t vote (you can’t vote for Greek national election from abroad).

I will leave PASOK (Greek Socialist Party, currently the opposition) aside for now, I’ve mentioned before that in terms of online engagement and digital communications they have a well thought out strategy and seem to be innovating every day.

The current government party, ND (Nea Dimokratia/ New Democracy) has been lagging behind for quite some time in terms of online communications and engagement for quite some time with the possible exception of some of their most prominent members like the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dora Bakoyanni.

It seems that the upcoming election has nudged ND out of its traditional comms position and onto some engagement projects. The most talked about in the Greek blogsphere these days is what the party calls LIVE with the President, which quickly became known as #askND, due to the Twitter hashtag they have asked people to use when they are submitting questions to their Party Leader (usually called President in Greece) and current Prime Minister, Kostas Karamanlis (pictured).

The process is quite clear. Users can submit any number of questions they like via Twitter using the relevant hashtag. These questions will then go on to the ND blog and a voting process will begin. Kostas Karamanlis will answer the 10 most popular ones via “LIVE streaming video” (capitalisation theirs – as if answering live to a set of pre-set questions is some sort of an achievement which – duh – it’s not!).

As you can imagine all hell broke loose. Sure there were a lot of questions but let’s look into some worrying trends for a bit.

• Some questions were serious and legitimate
• More questions were a bit on the humorous side (well, quite a lot)
• Some questions (and here is the fun part) came from Twitter users with 0 friends and 0 followers

And here lies the problem. By seeing quite a large number of questions submitted by newbies on Twitter the Greek Twitter community started asking uncomfortable questions. Who are these people? Are the questions planted? How can we trust the process? How can we know for sure that the voting will be honest? (nikan visualised some of these – blog post in Greek)

New users posing questions is obviously quite legitimate. They might have seen the project on ND’s website and decided to start a Twitter account in order to participate – nothing wrong with that.

Leaving the Greek love of conspiracy theories aside, the problem is with how ND is actually running the process.

There is nobody to answer concerns
See, if PASOK had done the same and the same questions were raised they have a team of quite recognisable people (let’s call them Community Engagement Managers even though it’s an inaccurate term for what they do) who would step in and answer any concerns. The PASOK people would have been largely believed because they have been present for years and they have built up their credibility. There is nobody from ND doing the same and even if they did they are an unknown quantity – why should the community believe them?

Last minute engagement counts for very little
It’s a bit worrying that ND jumped onto the online engagement bandwagon so late in the day. It looks as if an election simply forced them to talk to people. Not cool with hardcore Twitter users and bloggers (and in Greece the majority is hardcore)

Discuss the process – be there
It’s a lovely idea and hats off to them for organising it but they are underselling it massively by not actually being there to fight for it. It’s too late for them to build credibility now but something could have been done if they nominated one of their comms people to handle this campaign and defend it to the online world.

If you’re doing it for traditional media exposure you’ve won
It all depends of course. This kind of project can be marvellous for getting you some exposure into traditional Greek media who might not understand the subtleties of online engagement. A tv news report into the wonderful project by ND will actually communicate an air of ‘we are here for the voter – we are listening to your problems’ instantly. So from that perspective I would count this as a short – term win.

The point of course is there is nobody to ask about all this.

Such a shame.

——————
Following a database meltdown (long live the server move processes) this post and the comments were uploaded again manually.