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:

• 38 % - Internet
• 32 % - Word of mouth
• 21 % Information in mail
• 13% Membership newsletter
• 5% Newspaper

 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.

I love this nugget from Seth Godin, What smart bosses know about people who read blogs, dividing the business world into those who read blogs and those who don't: business blog readers being those who thirst for insight.  Bit of a generalization - sure - there are a lot of thirsty people who haven't been sufficiently exposed to blogging yet.  But it makes sense in that I don't know a single blog reader who falls into Seth's 'I'm doing fine, leave me alone' category.

Thus spake Mark Evans – tongue firmly in cheek and successfully getting his final laugh of the night as he leaped from the podium at Third Tuesday last week.

Mark is a journalist-turned-blogger. He left newspaper writing at a surprising time in his career as a youthful but highly regarded senior tech reporter for the National Post.  Today he is a pure blogger at online start-up b5media.  When I heard about his move, Web one-point-oh words like bubble, start-up, VC, dot com and uh-oh crashed into my brain. But things seem to be going well for him.

Ably hosted by Michael O’Connor Clarke on the beery Third Tuesday Toronto stage last week, here are three lessons Mark gave to PR people who want to pitch bloggers on story ideas, products, etc.

1. Familiarize yourself their style, tone and interests first, just as you would with journalists.
2. Build relationships. Start with a couple of bloggers who you know and trust. Get involved in the blogosphere before pitching. (Couldn’t agree more. It seems to run counter to the spirit of the blogosphere to write an occasional blog, or to pitch bloggers, when you don't read or comment on other blogs).
3. Simply ask if they're interested before pitching. Most bloggers want attention; they check their stats frequently. Odds are they will say yes, send me stuff, and you’ve established friendly grounds just through the ask.

All common sense for a by-the-book PR type, but it’s good to hear it validated from someone with Mark’s unique perspective.  I asked his opinion on free media passes for bloggers at paid events. I’m not satisfied I’ve found the answer yet. I manage media relations for an annual event of 1,500 participants and 80 journalists. The event has grown over five years only because of the wonderful bloggers who understand the sense of humour with which the event was created. Every year we have bloggers show up requesting free media passes.  We’re at limited capacity and the event relies on ticket sales. How can one ethically decide which bloggers are allowed in?

Mark clearly respects organizations that incorporate blog relations appropriately into their communications strategy.  It was one of the more enjoyable presentations I’ve seen at any social media event in the last year - partially because he was so accessible. Thanks again Joe and Terry for another great TTT.

If you’re in Toronto next Tuesday, Jan. 23, and interested in chatting to a diverse group of ad and PR people about social media, please feel free to drop by Throng, held informally at 7pm at Paupers Pub (Bathurst and Bloor).

This Month's Topics (to discuss or ignore as we choose)
1. "You" as Time's Person of the Year, and "The Consumer" as Advertising Age's Agency of the Year.
Is this an important way for the social media message to get through to the mainstream? Is it just two magazines copping out from having to make a real decision? Have you put "Time's 2006 Person on the Year" on your resume yet? Mary Keating, head of our national tech comms practice, comments on the two proclamations here.

2. Biggest Word of Mouth stories of 2006.
Let's review the most interesting WOM stories, viral marketing initiatives, social media successes and failures. What does 2007 hold in this arena? Come armed with some examples if you can.

Show up whenever you can, leave with your brain full. No formal speaker, just conversation among a smallish group of marketing and PR types. Please let me know if you plan to drop by so I can hold the table size.

There’s a department store in my neighbourhood which I’ll call Zippy.  Every time I approach the check-out counter, the cashier and I greet each other, then the conversation goes something like this:

Me: (nicely) “Just want you to know upfront that I don’t have a Zippy card, I don’t want a Zippy card, and I don’t believe in department store cards so please don’t offer me one.”

Cashier: “Did you know that by purchasing a Zippy card you can get 10% off today?”

Me: “Yes, but I don’t want one. Thank you though.”

Cashier: “Do you have an air miles card?”

Me: "No. I don’t use automated loyalty cards."

Cashier: “Are you sure you don’t want to sign up today? There are lots of benefits.”

Me: “I tried to tell you I didn’t want one and I know it’s your job to try to sell me one...”

Cashier: “Actually we’re not on commission when we sell Zippy cards.”

Me (still being nice-ish): “Then why do I have this conversation so frequently? What do you suggest I say upfront to avoid wasting everyone’s time?  I genuinely want to know.”

Cashier: “We’re actually trying to help our customers by giving them bigger savings. We’re doing them a favour.”

Me: “But I don’t believe in department store cards. I don’t want you to have my information, and I don’t like the massive interest rates."

Cashier: (quietly): “You have to understand that our employees have to ask you even when you tell them not to. There’s a customer form which queries whether the customer was asked to sign up for a Zippy card. If they weren’t, the employees hear about it.”

Me: “I feel bad for the employees. But why are you asking your customers to do employees a favour? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? I’ve been coming here less frequently just to avoid this conversation. I don’t want to feel guilty with every shopping experience.”

Cashier: Swipes my debit card a little sharply and doesn’t respond.  

Well, I tried. We the shoppers need our own vendor management system so we can figure out how much our attention and shopping habits are worth. And companies should seriously consider and adapt to the needs of their customers rather than forcing customers to adapt to them.

It feels like everyone is talking about Word of Mouth (WOM) marketing – so I guess the WOMMY cobbler's kids have their shoes firmly laced up. Last week I went to the ‘Word Up!’ WOM conference organized by Profectio with a diverse speaker list which included Andy Sernovitz of WOMMA, Rick Murray of Edelman’s me2Revolution, Maxine Friedman of BrandIntel, Brent Hill of Feedburner, and our own Ted Graham speaking about influencer networks.  

Not surprisingly about 80 per cent of the day focused on online opportunities. Is this in synch with the real needs of our clients? I think it's where we're going, but judging by the audience Q&A most marketers are still focused on traditional needs.

Two sessions I really liked were Andy Sernovitz’s overview of the industry and Matchstick's case study on seeding products with bloggers, which included an analysis by Professor Andrea Wojnicki at the Rotman School of Management. I'll write up the blogger case study in a future post, but here are some points from Andy's presentation.

• Andy feels we're in a WOM revolution. Eight-two per cent of Fortune 500 companies say they plan to start a WOM campaign next year...but...people are asking for it without really understanding what it is.
• The trust of people (the word 'consumer' was banished by one of the speakers) is the medium that WOM marketing uses. If marketers pollute that trust, they destroy their own credibility. 
• Word of Mouth means genuine two-way dialogue.  It's no longer about shouting at people, or dumping ads on them. It's executed by giving people a reason to talk about your stuff and making it easier for that conversation to take place.
• WOM is earned by being remarkable and staying remarkable. Krispy Kreme had great WOM marketing when they were hot out of the oven. When the product became available in gas stations, it was no longer remarkable.  
• Our new reality is that consumers are in control. UA the UE: 'You are the User Experience'. It’s not what your ads are, or your press releases say, it’s what your online users say about you. You can't hide, and there is a permanent record.
• Tools like blogs and emails make the conversation much easier as they're all about forwarding and linking, compared to static web sites or marketing material.

So...thanks Andy, and I'm sure I didn't do it justice. It was an excellent opening for the conference, and I learned some funky new acronyms.

Update: For more on the conference see Buzz Canuck's summary of the day and Dave Forde's link to speaker presentations.