Archive for February, 2010


Google Alerts and AP Coverage in a Post-Licensing Agreement Environment

Friday, February 26th, 2010

by Stephen Lawrence*

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In the wake of my last post, search engine giant Google and the Associated Press (AP) reached an agreement allowing Google to return to hosting AP content.  Did the floodgates then open to overwhelm my inbox with those “author:  Samantha Critchell” Google News Alerts which I had previously set? 

Not exactly. 

During the full calendar week of February 14th – 20th, I received 18 separate alerts containing a total of 27 links. This was a slight improvement over the reporting of 16 alerts and 20 links for the previous period of January 19th – February 2nd. When broken down by source the pattern remains the same:

  • ABC News led with 14 links linking back to AP material hosted on their parent site.
  • Newspaper sites accounted for 10 more.
  • While the remaining three were either foreign or with no hard-copy editions.

The print to web ratio for the prior period, as I found, was evenly matched this week. 

  • Five of the ten Google alerted newspaper articles had a corresponding print presence. 
  • The remaining articles were web exclusives.

One might have expected to see a greater surge of articles since this most recent “experiment” coincided with New York Fashion Week and Ms. Critchell is the AP’s fashion maven.  Her subjects ranged from Marc Jacobs, Zac Posen, and Luca Luca to Naomi Campbell’s Fashion benefit for Haitian relief.  (During the previous period, topics ranged from the Golden Globes to Vera Wang’s designs at previous Winter Olympics.)

A similar Yahoo! News search supplies only six newspaper stories along with a smattering of local TV sites, a couple of which overlapped with the Google Alerts coverage.

To date, our BurrellesLuce readers have located over 80 articles published during that week attributed to Samantha Critchell (this includes the five mentioned earlier). And, these are only the ones relating purely to Fashion Week coverage.  There are an additional 100+ older articles which saw print in newspapers.

While there may well be a number of underlying factors at work here – ranging from other individual licensing agreements to spidering blocks – the raw totals are telling.

This week, we find an 8:1 disparity in Fashion Week coverage, or an 18:1 disparity in subject coverage for this print to web experiment. 

For my purposes, this was but a simple experiment. But would you be willing to subject your client to such uncertainties knowing these possible results?

*Bio: A native of Mesa, Arizona, I graduated from the University of Arizona with a major in Near Eastern Studies. I began my career with BurrellesLuce in 1997 as a reader. As with most readers, I developed a special relationship with my assigned papers – those small town dailies and weeklies of the same flavor that my family had been employed in for two generations. Currently, I hold the position of quality assurance specialist, troubleshooting daily production issues. Outside interests include woodworking, and keeping my wife and dog happy. Twitter: BurrellesLuce; Facebook: BurrellesLuce

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Posted in Media Industry, Media Monitoring, Public Relations, Technology | 2 Comments »

Say Yes To Being A Good Meeting Participant Or Just Say No To Attending

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

What would you do if a colleague was commenting on Facebook instead of paying attention to your presentation? A friend of mine recently faced this dilemma. While her meltdown over the incident was wildly entertaining and worthy of its own Bravo series, she still has unresolved issues with meetings and attendee participation.Checking_Email

The scenario that prompted this post:
My friend, an attorney, was presenting to other partners at her firm about a potential class action case. During her presentation she had the attention of all of the partners except one. This particular partner was in the midst of several pleadings, so my friend presumed the feverish Blackberry activity was related to the partner’s negotiations. Sadly, this was not the case. Upon returning to her office, my friend found that the colleague in question was commenting on Facebook pictures of another associate during the meeting. Her response to the slight was to storm into her colleague’s office and berate her for being rude and inconsiderate. Her colleague then responded that perhaps she would have paid more attention if the presentation was more interesting.

OUCH!

Two alpha females in the heat of battle could only be subdued by the senior partner of the firm. The senior partner offered a resolution of “get over it” and “move on with the important business of your respective case load.”

Unfortunately doing so is often easier said than done. I, like other PR professionals, attend many meeting during the week. And while some of them may not be as amusing as the activity on Facebook, there is still something to be said about respecting our colleagues, never mind the potential of missing some important information, during a meeting.

In an effort to help meeting attendees everywhere, I believe if we all adopt these three rules of courtesy and productivity we can avoid future occurrences of hurt feelings and hostility.

3 meeting rules that promote courtesy and productivity:

  1. Attend only if you will contribute or learn from the meeting
  2. If you MUST respond to an email or phone call during a meeting excuse yourself from the room. (If you do excuse yourself, let someone else in the meeting know how long you anticipate being gone.)
  3. NEVER tweet or post an update to Facebook during a meeting. (Chances are someone is connected to you or following you and will see your indiscretion.)

I admit I’ve tweeted during web meetings and responded to emails that could have waited with no regard for the meeting moderator or other attendees. For this, I apologize. I am committed to changing my ways and will no longer be seduced by the flashing red light of my blackberry or the call of social media during meetings. I hope my BurrellesLuce colleagues will hold my feet to the fire and join me in being courteous and productive.

If we can’t follow these simple rules we need to evaluate why we are attending meetings in the first place. Will any of you take the three rule challenge? Please do, and let us know how it changes your meeting “experience.”

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Posted in Career Advice, Public Relations, Social Media | 6 Comments »

BurrellesLuce Newsletter: Separating Social Media Fact From Fiction

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

Social Media Myths Revealed

Social media’s proliferation has helped to advance public relations and marketing practice. Yet, despite the long distance we’ve traveled in just a short time with social media, we still have much to learn about both its potential and its limitations. So whether you’re an experienced social media user or are just now developing this aspect of your communication program, all can stand to benefit from recognizing some common myths surrounding social media…

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Posted in BurrellesLuce, Career Advice, Public Relations, Social Media | 1 Comment »

Do Millennials Have A Secret For Balancing Work and Life?

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

by Crystal DeGoede*

The “Trophy Generation” also known as Millennials (born between 1980 and 2000) have possibly figured it out…the majority of young professional women, like myself, believe they will have gratifying careers balanced with fulfilling personal lives, according to research released by Accenture’s Millennial Women Workplace Success Index. 

The Accenture’s Millennial Women Workplace Success Index results are generated from an FitnessAtWorkonline survey of 1,000 millennial women, ranging in age from 22-35, who are employed full-time in the United States. (In the U.S., women will soon comprise half the workforce and Millennials are now one-third of the working population.)

Since most Millennials have that “can-do” attitude about responsibilities at work and look for feedback about how they are doing frequently – sometimes daily – Millennials want a variety of tasks and challenges and expect that they will accomplish every one of them. Positive and confident, Millennials are ready to take on the world.  (As a Millennial, I agree completely with this. If I am not challenged every day at work I end up getting bored, and I feeling as though I haven’t contributed anything.)

The study goes on to say that, Millennials need to see where their career is going and they want to know exactly what they need to do to get there. Two primary qualities as key to workplace success: the ability to balance personal and professional lives and a job where they can make a difference. And, since we are use to balancing several activities such as teams, friends, school, and part-time jobs we want flexibility in scheduling and a life away from work.

Some drivers of workplace success for Millenials:

  1. Medical benefits
  2. Good work atmosphere
  3. Open and honest communication with supervisors
  4. Flexible hours
  5. Classes and training for professional advancement
  6. Secure employment
  7. A workplace that encourages work/personal life balance
  8. Opportunities for bonus and investments
  9. Close to home/short commute

Three major factors for career success

  1. Doing the type of work you want to do
  2. Able to successfully balance work and life
  3. Being compensated at the level you think you deserve

However, what is most important to Millenials and their success?  66 percent cited family life, compared to 29 percent who cited career success.  Millennial women choose quality of life over the perks of a job. 

“In pursuing both a satisfying career and personal life, Millennial women will benefit from setting priorities and regularly monitoring both their progress along the way,” said LaMae Allen deJongh, Managing Director, U.S. Human Capital and Diversity, Accenture.

Almost half (46 percent) of Millennial women surveyed said they would be willing to give up some of their salary if it meant spending more time on personal life, while slightly more than half (54 percent) said they would be willing to give up time spent on their personal life for more income.  On average, women seeking more time have somewhat higher incomes and are willing to forego 15 percent of their income, while respondents willing to sacrifice time want a 32 percent increase in salary.

 Do you think the mentality of other generations is the same as the Millenials? If you were born before 1980 what is your driver for work/life balance?  Do you consider family life the most important to being successful? Would you be willing to take a salary cut in order to have more personal time? Please share your thoughts with the readers of BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.

*Bio: After graduating from East Carolina University with a Marketing degree in 2005, Crystal DeGoede moved to New Jersey. In her four years as a member of the BurrellesLuce marketing team and through her interaction with peers and clients she has learned what is important or what it takes to develop a career when you are just starting out. She is passionate about continuing to learn about the industry in which we serve and about her career path. By engaging readers on Fresh Ideas Crystal hopes to further develop her social media skills and inspire other “millennials” who are just out of college and/or working in the field of marketing and public relations. Twitter: @cldegoede LinkedIn: Crystal DeGoede Facebook: BurrellesLuce

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Posted in Career Advice, Public Relations | 7 Comments »

Location, Location, Location!

Friday, February 19th, 2010

Can Foursquare Put Your Client On The Map?
Location based social networks, like Yelp, Foursquare and Gowalla are the talk of the industry. A recent #PR20chat included a discussion on how can PR people use these new social networks to help their clients? I’m focusing on Foursquare because it appeals to the kid in all us, by rewarding us with points and badges for checking-in at locations and sharing information. If you check-in at a location more than anyone else, you become the mayor.

Finding Advocates
Social media lesson one – listen to the conversation and embrace your advocates. By encouraging people to check-in often, you can identify

Flickr Image: thinkpanama

Flickr Image: thinkpanama

your top customers or visitors. Many businesses are offering rewards for becoming the “mayor” of their location. I’m guessing your client would like to find an advocate like Jared Fogle, the Subway spokesperson?

Jon Newman of The Hodges Partnership (a BurrellesLuce client) shared ideas on his blog, Jon’s PR 1.5 for encouraging customers to utilize Foursquare when they visit a business. Encouraging positive buzz about a business helps to bring in customers.

Smart Moves
I recently checked-in at a movie theater, and allowed my status to be posted on Twitter. The theater, who was monitoring for mentions of their name, saw my tweet and re-tweeted it. My tweet validated messages they were trying to exhibit, and expanded the audience beyond my Foursquare friends. I’m wondering if there will be an extra reward when I become the mayor?

Christine Ngo recently interviewed Tristan Walker of Foursquare, on Ogilvy’s Fresh Influence blog. Walker shared how some businesses, like Intel, BART, and the Brooklyn Museum are enhancing users’ experiences with tips about locations and promotional tie-ins.

Partnering with Mainstream Media
Foursquare has recently partnered with several media outlets, like Lucky and Bravo. The magazine or cable TV network rewards users with badges or medals when checking-in at locations related to their content, like fashion week, a film or a TV show. Zagat’s new Meet the Mayor series will highlight Foursquare mayors of featured locations. Wouldn’t you want to read the article about you or your friend?

Granted, Foursquare isn’t for every business, but if you rely on people visiting your business, it might be a great way to encourage more foot traffic. Retail outlets, restaurants, hotels, CVBs and other tourist spots, should not ignore this tool.

Have you checked-out Foursquare or another location based social media? How have you incorporated it into your overall communication plan? We’d love to know if any of our BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas readers is a Foursquare dignitary (Mayor) so please let us know!

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Posted in Advertising/Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media, Technology | 1 Comment »

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