Some of my PR blogging buddies have called for a moratorium on PR & social media events - there have been too many in Toronto recently. Most of these events are similar - same messages, same case studies. But I just finished watching a great CPRS-hosted presentation on social media & PR featuring Eli Singer - someone whose name was familiar from my Second Life CaseCamp experience. Firstly - kudos to CPRS for hosting this event online so we didn't need to spend time travelling. And Eli did a good job of providing new and interesting content, making this one worth the time.
Eli presented a case study on blogger relations for the Frank Gehry exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO). Two noteworthy points:
1. In a post-event survey, the AGO found that the Internet and word-of-mouth drove the majority of awareness of the exhibit, specifically:
2. Bloggers and media each have different reasons for attending press events, and this translates in several ways. For example, many bloggers invited to the Gehry exhibit asked that they be allowed to bring dates - indicating they see this as a social event. It's a good reminder that a lot of bloggers have full-time jobs unrelated to their blogging actvities, and are genuinely passionate about the experience. In fact - blog coverage on the Gehry exhibit focused specifically on the event, while media coverage picked up the angle that Gehry was supporting a sport celebrity going through a minor scandal at the time. Media pick up the angles that will hold greater mass appeal. Bloggers seem to stick to their select audience.
Eli stated that this was the first time RocketBoom had been invited to participate in a press event. That surprised me as I've watched Rocketboom for a long time and am pretty sure I've seen them invited as press to other events.
The technical difficulties had some of our group leaving the room in frustration and I couldn't stick around to hear the second half. But otherwise it was a thoroughly enjoyable presentation.