Minding Your Manners In An All Too Public Age

August 25th, 2010
by BurrellesLuce Insider
Colleen Flood*
Flickr Image: CarbonNYC

Flickr Image: CarbonNYC

After seeing, hearing, and reading all the recent hullaballoo about employees publically quitting their job, I was reminded of how important manners are and how we often overlook them.

Take the case of Stephen Slater, former active employee for JetBlue Airlines, turned possible folk hero. While Slater was treated rudely by a passenger he was providing a service to that day (and he claimed, many other customers spanning his career), I don’t think, and I’m sure many agree with me, that it was necessary for him to so rudely and publicly exit his career. 

Also, I’m sure there were young children on the plane and as a parent of children under 12 I try to instill good speech and certainly don’t want them to “overhear” a flight attendant on a loudspeaker uttering curse words. Never mind having them see a grown man whisking down a safety slide when clearly there was no emergency. 

We were all taught as kids “two wrongs don’t make a right.” Then when we got older, we were taught that “the customer is always right.”  Mr. Slater forgot theses pearls of wisdom. 

Recently, I started following Jodi R.R. Smith on Twitter after reading her article, Gracious Good-Byes – Career Transitions. While Jodi has some great tips on protocol for an exit strategy, she also has periodically written pointers on manners in general, not just for the workplace. These are two that standout to me:

  • Attention Clerks: Customers who took the time to enter your store should be waited on BEFORE those calling in by phone.
  • Politeness costs nothing and gains everything.

To that I would personally add:

  • Everyone’s time has the same value – be punctual and never assume a colleague or friend is less busy than you.
  • Be courteous to family, friends, colleagues and strangers – say good morning; give a compliment; smile at someone on the street.

I also decided to weigh in with a youngster’s take on manners.  While my 10 year old was unaware of the Slater JetBlue fiasco, he did have some interesting responses to my questions on manners:

What are manners?

A. Manners are what you use to be nice to other people and let them know you are a good person.

What is courtesy?

A. This means you are aware of other people and not yourself all the time.

How do you show consideration?

A. Don’t say words that would hurt people’s feelings. Listen to them. Then when they are done you speak and you say thank you if they say something about you that you like.  Also holding doors and asking people how their day is is nice to do.

Do you think adults and kids treat each other with respect?

A. I think most people respect each other most of the time, but, it’s human-nature to ignore someone or say something mean once in your life.

Uh oh…but you apologize right??

A. Yes, you can say sorry and make it up to them with a smile.

So what has happened to manners or at least having the dignity not to act so rashly in front of an audience of onlookers?  Perhaps, the increased acceptance and need to document every moment of our lives via online and social media plays some role. Perhaps workers feel compelled to vent and unleash frustrations publically when they might otherwise have handled the indiscretions privately because they are more likely to get a response from their boss or peers. Or perhaps some aren’t as concerned with their public image as their public relations or media relations counterparts. What are your thoughts? Please share your ideas with me and the BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas readers. 

***

 *Bio: Colleen Flood has been a sales consultant with BurrellesLuce for over 12 years and is eager to become a more integrated part of the social-public relations community. She primarily handles agency relations in the New York and New Jersey metro-area. She is not only passionate about work, but also about family, friends, and the Jersey Shore. Twitter: @cgflood LinkedIn: Colleen Flood Facebook: BurrellesLuce

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2010 Bulldog Reporter Media Relations Summit: Sally Falkow, Press Feed, Interviewed By Johna Burke, BurrellesLuce

August 23rd, 2010
by Johna Burke

Transcript -

JOHNA BURKE:  Hello, this is Johna Burke with BurrellesLuce, and I’m here at the Bulldog Media Relations Summit.  I’m joined by Sally.

 Sally, will you please introduce yourself?

SALLY FALKOW:  Hi, I’m Sally Falkow from Press Feed, the social media newsroom.

BURKE:  And, Sally, you’re doing a session tomorrow about social media strategy.  Can you please share the two big things that whenever anybody is trying to develop their social media strategy for their communications and their public relations – what are the two core things that they absolutely have to keep in consideration?

FALKOW:  Only two?  We’re only allowed two?

BURKE:  Only two for the purpose of this quick video.

FALKOW:  OK.  Well, first and foremost, I think you have to listen. Before you even start doing anything else, you have to listen to the conversations.  We heard a lot this morning in the first session from people saying how much conversation and discussion there is out there, and that the role of PR people is changing from managing news and getting our news out and working just with mainstream media to actually participating in and shaping and directing what was discussion or conversation.  So you need to know what is being said, you need to listen.

And the second thing, I think, is you need to really understand how you fit into the business and what the business goals are.  And you can’t measure if you haven’t set a measurable goal.  So you need to know what it is you’re aiming for, and then you can figure out how to get there.

BURKE:  Sally, always great insights from you.  Where can people find you in social media?

FALKOW:  On Twitter, sallyfalkow.  I’m pretty much just sallyfalkow, all together, one word, lower case.  If you search that, you’ll find me pretty much all over.

BURKE:  Great.  Thank you so much.

FALKOW:  OK.

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2010 Bulldog Reporter Media Relations Summit: Maggie Fox, Social Media Group, Interviewed by Johna Burke, BurrellesLuce

August 20th, 2010
by Johna Burke

Transcript -

JOHNA BURKE:  Hello, this is Johna Burke with BurrellesLuce, and we’re here at the Bulldog Media Relations Conference.  I’m joined by Maggie.

Maggie, will you please introduce yourself?

MAGGIE FOX:  Sure.  My name is Maggie Fox.  I’m the founder and CEO of a company called Social Media Group, and we are one of the world’s biggest independent social media agencies.

BURKE:  Now, Maggie, you just did a panel, and I was just wondering, you know, so many people are talking about social media.  For those people, perhaps, that haven’t quite started or don’t have a lot of traction yet, can you please share your couple of tips on how PR professionals and communicators can get going in social media?

FOX:  Sure.  Well, I think we have to recognize that social PR, that reaching out to people of influence and connecting with them in the hopes of getting them to tell your story for you is no different than traditional media relations.  It is not brain surgery, the approach is very similar. The only thing that is different is the language.  It is, you know, what they’re going to want from you, the way they’re going to want you to approach them, and kind of that human relationship piece, I think, is a lot stronger.  The other part of it is, you know, that the reality is if you want people to tell your story, you want people to talk about you, you want them to share your content, it has to be good.  So the notion that you are becoming a broadcaster, you’re starting to produce content of entertainment quality or asking other people to experience something that is really special is what’s always going to break through to us.

BURKE:  Great.  And where can people find you in social media, Maggie?

FOX:  They can find me on Twitter @maggiefox, all one word, or on the Web at socialmediagroup.com.

BURKE:  Great.  Thank you so much.

FOX:  Thank you.

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Social Media and Negativity: Turn That Frown Upside-down

August 19th, 2010
by BurrellesLuce Insider

by Denise Giacin*

Flickr Image: striatic / hobvias sudoneighm

Flickr Image: striatic / hobvias sudoneighm

A couple weeks ago, in my quest to understand this global monster called social media, I wrote a piece on Fresh Ideas called, Social Media: The New Solitaire?. That post generated a lot of chatter over whether or not a company should allow employees to use social media. This week, I want to build off of it and discuss social media in regards to negativity. Is it possible that some corporations are afraid to use social media because of negative backlash and not because they are concerned with employees slacking off?

Sure, utilizing a social media platform for your company does make you more susceptible to negative comments, but shouldn’t the positive outweigh the negative? How about taking this idea a step further… what if you could show your customers how well you handle negativity by using social media to be proactive or to handle an issue if it does arise? Allow me to explain.

Last week I was patiently (okay, rather impatiently) waiting for my brand spanking new Droid X to arrive. I casually tweeted, “repetitively clicking on a shipment tracking number isn’t going to make it get here any faster #FedEx #whatilearnedtoday.” 

I didn’t mean for this to come across as negative. Although, I suppose if you’re FedEx you wouldn’t want me complaining about the speed of packages being delivered. To my complete shock I received a tweet back from @FedexLaShelia saying “@denise10283 This is Fed Ex LaShelia. Would you like my help?”

Hey, now this is service! I politely tweeted her back with a big thank you and explained I was just antsy.

BurrellesLuce also has similar social media practices in place. As a company, we will respond to blog, Twitter, and Facebook postings to name a few. We want to know what our customers are saying and choose to take an active role in responding to all inquiries – positive or negative. I can say from personal experience that every inquiry, I’ve responded to, we were able to resolve the issue and I was able to gain some valuable learning experience.

In my opinion, for that reason alone, I can say it is worth it to monitor and actively participate in social media, but you have to do both.  Every company would love to hear positive comments (who wouldn’t?) but I believe it’s the relationships you can salvage by paying particular attention to the negative comments that are the most important.

Does your company have a plan in place for dealing with negativity on social media? Do you have any tips you can share? 

***

*Bio: Prior to joining the BurrellesLuce Client Service team in 2008, Denise worked in the marketing industry for three years. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Connecticut, where she gained experience interning in PR and working for student organizations. By engaging readers on the Fresh Ideas blog Denise hopes to further her understanding of client needs. In her spare time, she is passionate about Team in Training (The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s charity sports training program) and baking cupcakes. Her claim to fame: red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. LinkedIn: dgiacin Twitter: @denise10283 Facebook: BurrellesLuce

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Is Digital Media Changing PR’s Role in News-Gathering?

August 18th, 2010
by Tressa Robbins
Flickr Image: Yago.com

Flickr Image: yago1.com

The Oriella PR Network issued their 2010 Digital Journalism Study recently. The survey consisted of 770 journalists across 15 countries, and is used to find out how digital media has changed the nature of news-gathering. In reviewing this study, I naturally paid the most attention to those items that directly affect public relations and media relations practitioners. 

For example, according to the report, “interest in traditional news content remains healthy.”  Results showed:

  • 75 percent of journalists surveyed indicated they like to receive emailed press releases, and
  • 52 percent want to receive still photography.

Interestingly, demand for social media news releases (SMNRs), chosen by 19 percent of journalists in 2008’s survey, and 15 percent in 2009, has leveled off at 16 percent in 2010.  

  • Video content has fallen to 27.5 percent from 35 percent.
  • Audio / podcasts have fallen to 15 percent from 19 percent.

The report notes it is possible that these declines may be due to the fact that publications have the capabilities to produce their own multi-media content now. Previously they were more reliant on content from third parties.

Considering the international reach of this survey, I was curious if our own U.S.-based media followed suit. I set-up a (very un-scientific) three-question survey on PollDaddy and asked my Twitter and LinkedIn journalist connections to respond. There were only a handful of responses, but the poll answered my question.

  • 85 percent of journalists who responded to my survey indicated they prefer to be contacted via email. 
  • 44 percent said it was okay to contact via Twitter, but keep in mind that I posted the survey on Twitter and LinkedIn so the journos that responded are those that are on social networking sites – be wary of assuming this is true across the board.
  • 67 percent want to receive hi-res photos with press releases.
  • 55 percent would like to see supporting documents (such as backgrounders, bios, fact sheets, etc.) and/or attributable quotes. 

When I asked for additional comments, one respondent replied, “I wish press releases had original quotes instead of marketing-speak.”  Another responded, “Short, sweet and to the point. Make it catchy. Make it actually newsworthy. Make it interesting. And don’t send something that’s happening that day. Timing is EVERYTHING.”

Jessica Pupillo, freelance writer and editorial director for St. Louis Sprout & About, opined: “Put the news release headline in the subject line of an e-mail. Also put the text of the release in the body of the e-mail, and ALWAYS include copies of the release and access to photos on your online press room. Include a phone number where you can be reached during reasonable hours (7 a.m. to 9 p.m.). If you don’t answer your phone when I call, I may just skip your news.”

The author of the Digital Journalism Study results report surmised, “Time pressures remain – it is down [sic] to the PR community to facilitate access to relevant stories so they can turn it into a compelling story as efficiently as possible.” And, goes so far as to state, “While the communications landscape has become increasingly complex, journalists continue to rely on PR professionals to address the basics of news gathering in the content they produce. Communicators that overlook this essential need do so at their peril.”

If you’re a media professional, do you agree with the survey findings published in the Digital Journalism study or from my poll? What do you wish public relations professionals would do better? If you’re in PR or media relations, how are you tailoring your strategy to meet the changing needs of journalists? Please share your thoughts with me and the readers of BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.

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