Came across this excellent piece from the net savvy executive on how one should manage and deal with bloggers, podcasters, you-tubers and other digital denizens. They have coined a new term for it called Social Media Relations. This could be an interesting offshoot from traditional public relations which is usually more concerned with Main Stream Media (MSM).
The key roles of Social Media Relations?
1) Coordinate the development and implementation of social media engagement strategy and policies, including blogging policy, formal blogger relations programs and social media monitoring programs.
In my years of experience in the leisure attractions business, I have learnt – often through the hard way – that drawing people can be a challenge. There is just an incredible amount of competition from other leisure and recreational options, plus lots of advertising clutter. You just can’t out advertise the FMCGs, fast food chains, or big shopping malls.
How does one hope to compete against well-heeled shopping centres, restaurants, cinemas, and other places of urban air-conditioned splendour? Especially if one only has a miniscule budget.
Well, here are some tips that you can consider. I wouldn’t say they are foolproof but at least they improve your odds.
It is sad but true. Singapore’s claim to fame as a clean and green city may be under threat if we do not buck up.
In a recent news report on Channelnewsasia, it was cited that littering is on the rise in Singapore. In the first 10 months of this year, a staggering 4,800 were caught littering compared to only 3,800 for the whole of last year! One only has to look into the grisly photos submitted on STOMP to verify that we are indeed degenerating in hygiene and civic mindedness.
What is alarming is that education apparently has little impact on “filthy” attitudes. A recent Straits Times poll show that more than 50% of youths are nonchalant about littering and feel that it is either the government or somebody else’s job to clean up after them.
Certainly, they cannot plead ignorance. A recent study conducted by the National Environment Agency cited that most students were aware of environmental issues, scoring 90 out of 100. Yet, it seems that dirty habits still persist.
Was emailing to both Ivan Chew and Siva, when the idea for this blog post struck me. After all, in the age of digital democratization, time is probably the most scarce resource. We only have 24 hours a day, and there is only this much you can do.
Here are some modern day Weapons of Mass Distraction:
Ever wondered why people blog and visit blogs so often? Well, here is an elegant way to depict the virtues of blogging courtesy of the Church of the Customer blog by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba. It talks about what the single most important factor in blogging is all about, and consolidates views into a nifty PDF file.
Nice and useful stuff when lobbying your internal stakeholders!
With the democratization and increasing portability of information, people’s attention span and capacity for reading has dimished at an astonishing rate. I must admit that I am one of those who suffer from this affliction.
In the past, we used to be able to plough through thick tomes of knowledge, fantasy, religion and whatever else captures our fancy. I could dawdle for hours and hours in libraries, picking up one book after another and devouring it with relish. I especially loved reading encyclopedias, and occasionally, I could read from cover to cover.
Not any more it seems. With the lure of easy information on the web, and the quick availability of bite-sized information on blogs, book summaries, wikipedia, and the like, I have become a scanner rather than a delver. Information now gets delivered to my cranium in small, often miniscule bite-sized pieces, instead of elaborate and complex frameworks.
I believe that I am not alone in this. Many have remarked that youths and teens nowadays tend to multi-task and acquire information from varied sources rather than a singular one. They do not have the stamina or patience to sit in one spot and read line after line. Short cuts, acronyms and abbreviated words seem to be the order of the day.
As a marcoms professional, I often fall into the stereotype of thinking of customers as “targets”, “demographic groups” and “segments”.
Ad men and women are especially prone to this, and an entire discipline – media planning – was hatched with the sole purpose of cornering prospects every which way they go. We want to make sure that our entire arsenal of Weapons of Mass Distraction (also WMD) are trained to hit as many vict….sorry customers as possible.
I came across this post from marketing guru Seth Godin about service on an airline. Thought it was interesting enough to share.
Joel Spolsky shares this great story from a flight attendant:
Alright, I am gonna dote on my company for a few minutes. As most everyone on here is probably familiar with, last night was a nightmare for people travelling to and from the Northeast. We currently have 5 flights a day from CMH, 4 to/from JFK and 1 to/from BOS. Last night, out of CMH alone, Delta cancelled 3 flights, American cancelled 2, and Continental cancelled 1 and those are just flights that I know of. After we found out that our flight was delayed until 2223, the captain and the rest of us station employees decided to pool our money and we purchased pizza for all passengers on board our aircraft. Since the pizza place wouldn’t deliver to the airport, one of our crewmembers volunteered to go pick it up. Once the pizza was brought back, the passengers were boarded, our live tv and xm were turned on and the pizza was served by ALL the crew, not just the flight attendants. The Captain, FO and other airport crewmembers went above and beyond. Granted I may be a little biased, but I was glad to be here last night. The feeling of seeing that plane take off and those people get to where they are going, even if they were late was pretty darn good. Not too many other airlines that I know of will do that for their customers.
It’s not just “not too many other airlines…”, it’s, “not too many employees.” Wanna bet she had more fun than most flight attendants that day?
I wonder if we will ever encounter this in Singapore? It would be great to have char kway teow or chicken rice delivered to us on a delayed flight!
I attended a talk this morning by Mr Colburn S. Wilbur, former President and Trustee of The David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Yes, David Packard‘s the guy who founded HP together with Bill Hewlett. The Packard Foundation has in excess of US$6 billion of funds, and employs about 120 staff.
You may think that giving away money is probably the easiest thing in the world. Not so, according to Colburn. In fact, a key challenge is how one can use the resources of foundations to make a positive difference.
Some of the main takeaways are as follows:
Handling of Family Issues. Dynastic foundations may face challenges when there are conflicts between family members. Different generations may also have different views on philanthropy.
Establishing Mission, Vision and Strategy. This is important as foundations, just like any other organisation, need to be clear on their goals and direction. What are the key causes that are being supported? What is the due process of accomplishing those goals? If these are not established, foundations will simply be flooded with myriad requests.
Strategic Approaches. These cover areas like services, capital, research, communications, education, policy changes, KPIs, and general support.
Implementation of strategy also figures largely. How you do it is sometimes more important than what to do. Key issues include the size and duration of grants, evaluation, “thinking big”, and exit strategy.
Communicating Mission, Vision and Strategy. No point to give money if the impact is minimal and participation is limited. Key channels include websites (and blogs?), emails, press publicity and internal communications.
Continuous Improvement. Finding out if your grant giving has made a difference though surveys, meetings with grantees, and keeping your boards informed.
Finances and Staff. Who should handle investment decisions at the foundations. Also, who are the staff members that should be involved?
Values and Ethics. Giving right versus giving smart. Managing media and public attention, as well as government interest. A study around the world has shown that there are 5 main values, namely Integrity, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness and Compassion.
Sometimes foundations encounter what Colburn calls a Dilemma Paradigm. In other words, handling issues like truth versus loyalty, individual versus community needs, short versus long term, and justice versus mercy. The key to resolving these?
1) Do what’s best for the greatest number of people (ENDS-BASED)
2) Follow your highest sense of principle (RULE-BASED)
3) Do what you would want others to do to you (RECIPROCITY-BASED)
Finally, of course, is the act of making the decision. To do so, one needs to look at the 3 perspectives above and also have the moral courage to do so.
Winston Churchill himself has said
“Without courage, all other virtues lose their meaning.”
What struck me the most were the innovative ways of giving. For example, Packard Foundation had temporarily bidded for a piece of prime land with the intention of turning it into a public park, guaranteed a building to lower interest rates for a non-profit, and started an insurance company together with other foundations for childcare centres after premium rates went up the roof after the recent spate of childcare molest cases in the States.
Oh yes, US foundations need to distribute at least 5% of their assets every year. Their tax on foundations are only 2% currently which is a lot more attractive than the up to 52% tax rate which may otherwise apply for estate and other duties there. They also get a tax deduction for philanthropic gifts.
