Where Do You Stand?

A story posted to the Columbia Missourian Web site late last night discusses a proposal that would take away Missouri employers’ right to implant a microchip into the arms of their employees. The story cuts right to the issue:

Your bosses can still make you work weekends and give you projects you loathe. But Missouri lawmakers have voted to make it a crime if they order that a microchip be implanted in your arm.

The article states that employers would be fined up to $1,000 for demanding that a worker get an implant. One thing the article doesn’t explain: Whether employers would be forced to remove the microchip after paying that massive fine. I mean, such a steep, steep fine might be punishment enough, but still …

This story really got me thinking. I mean, what kind of world do we live in where an employer can’t take its workers down to a microchip factory and forcibly have a radio-frequency identification device placed under their skin? How are these employers going to track their employees every move?

The most important question that needs to be addressed is what would happen to Florida-based VeriChip Corp., the nation’s only federally approved maker of human microchip implants (according to the Columbia Missourian)? That company may have to look toward employers in other states to forcibly have employees microchipped. I give the Columbia Missourian credit for trying to find out such an answer. However, VeriChip’s spokesman thought it would be best to not return the reporter’s call. That’s a classic PR snafu. At least he could have stood up and said “No comment” like the countless other companies that we do NOT advise.

By the way, for those of you who don’t know me, this post is mostly in jest. I do not condone microchipping humans … and neither do Cathy or Melissa — or at least I hope that’s the case.

A couple of months ago, my colleague Amber goaded Melissa into writing a blog post by calling her a hypocrite. In her follow-up post, Amber said, “I can completely understand and empathize with Melissa’s concern about finding the time to blog. It’s a common response to social media – at least for me and others who aren’t addicted.”

When I read that I thought, “That’s me; she’s talking about me — one of the people addicted to the internet.” I took umbrage at that post, and thought, “I’m not addicted! I can stop any time I want to!” In fact, I took a little break from my personal blog for about a month, turning away from my online life to focus a bit more on my offline life. In this space, I’ve stepped aside briefly to allow my colleagues to have more presence in this collaborative corporate blog. My respite from blogging, however, did not make national news as the unplugged project of Ariel Stallings, fellow blogger and BlogHer pal, whose 52 nights of text, Twitter, IM and blog-free living did.

Am I a tech junkie? Yes, I guess I am. Even while I’ve managed weekends of online-free life, it never lasts long. And even while I’ve taken breaks from contributing online content, I have never stopped reading and absorbing. It’s that, more than anything, to which I am addicted. Like a true addict, here comes the rationalization: I’m doing it for clients! It’s my job, my responsibility! But it’s really more than that; I have a driving need to know what’s going on in people’s minds, in my industry, with people I care about and people I find interesting.

I’ll let you know when I need an intervention.  

Yes, the words “annual report” do tend to make communications professionals collectively bang their heads on their keyboards…but it doesn’t have to be that way. No, I’m serious. Stop laughing hysterically. You’re starting to scare me.

Recently I had the pleasure of speaking to about 70 members of the St. Louis Community Service Public Relations Council (CSPRC) regarding annual report production. I enjoyed it not only because they laughed at my references to Monty Python and Jimmy Buffett (which makes them way cool in my book), but also because annual reports can actually be…gasp…fun to do.

Hear me out before you call me a freak - read through my Top 10 Annual Report Tips, then judge for yourself. (Bonus tip: play some Buffett in the background while you’re reading - it automatically makes anything you’re doing more fun.)

1. KISS (Keep It Simple, Sweetheart!) Don’t set out to write “War and Peace.” Just hit the high points.
2. Be true to your brand. Make sure your annual report reflects your brand. If you don’t know what your brand is, I’d suggest defining it before you go any farther. Go. Now. I’m serious. You’ll thank me later.
3. Repeat after me: audience, message, measurement. Ask yourself three questions: Who are you trying to reach? What do you want them to know? How will you know if they got your message? Answer them, and there’s your strategic plan for your annual report. (See, I told you this was fun!)
4. It’s a thesis, not a last-minute term paper. Make a production schedule and stick to it.
5. Your cousin Martha and her snazzy new digital camera do not equal professional photography. Don’t try to cut corners here. It won’t be pretty, in any sense of the word.
6. It’s a storybook, not a financial textbook.With nonprofits, people want to hear all the ways their donations are making a difference. With for-profits, people want to know you’re being good corporate citizens. You can’t convey that message with dry numbers (apologies to all the CPAs out there). Tell your story in words and photos, and find the heart of your organization. Yes, it’s there - go find it.
7. It’s impossible to love your donors/board/executives too much. People like to see their names in print. They like to see pretty photos of themselves (see #5) even more. 
8. Give a sneak peek at future goals. Letting people know you have a strategy for future growth is a good thing. They’ll trust you much more if they think you know what you’re doing. This has worked for countless political candidates (notice I said “think you know what you’re doing”), and it’ll work for you.
9. Make it Googleable.If you post your annual report in pdf on your Web site, it’s not searchable. Post it as an html document, and put a link on your home page.
10. Save some trees - go digital. You can print annual reports on demand these days - no more finding 10 boxes of old annual reports to throw out (might as well throw cash straight into the wastebasket), and no more need to take out whole forests to print your report (see #1, BTW). And, do you even need to print hard copies to send out to everyone on your list? Send a link through email or RSS (or heck, even Twitter) - you’ll increase traffic to your Web site and earn kudos from conservationists. It’s a win-win, people.

Any other tips to add?

A year ago, one of our clients, The Doe Run Company, asked our opinion about an opportunity they received to invite employees to participate in keeping a day journal for consideration of an upcoming book. We advised them to participate with authors Joni B. Cole and B.K. Rakhra, who together had authored two earlier books chronicling the many different roles and careers of women across America. For their third book, “Water Cooler Diaries,” Cole and Rakhra solicited day-journals from more than 500 women who each chronicled their day on March 27, 2007. The result is 35 full-day diary entries and dozens more diary excerpts from women 23 – 64 in careers that span the spectrum from rancher to actor.

Our team was thrilled that three Doe Run employees took the challenge: a mine geologist, a metallurgical engineer and a technical service engineer. From their entries the authors selected one full day diary entry and one excerpt for inclusion in the book.

Our client could have simply said thank you to the three employees, purchased a book and moved on. Instead, our client contacts asked, “what can we do to fully celebrate the participation of these three women?” In short order the pr team (our client and our firm) prepared a full strategic communications plan that supports the client’s position as a leader in the industry. The Result: Joni Cole and our client were featured on TV, radio and print; invited to speak before 300 business leaders for the Winning Women organization; participated in a company event celebrating the efforts of all three Doe Run employee diarists; and hosted local Girl Scout troops to a special event at the Missouri Mines Historic Site at which the author and the three Doe Run employees educated young women about diverse careers.

A year ago, when the opportunity first presented itself, our client could have seen it as too much work and too slim a chance to receive any value for the effort involved. Instead they took the time to look for the opportunity behind the assignment and found a bigger picture that’s worth framing.

I grew up with the St. Louis Rams (am I dating myself?) and I was broken hearted to hear from Yahoo! Sports that at least three groups have had talks about purchasing the Rams franchise. Luckily, my sadness was short-lived as Rams Managing Owner Chip Rosenbloom announced he has every intention of keeping the Rams in St. Louis.

His statement read:

“It has only been four months since my mom passed away. Her passing immediately caused speculation that we were selling the team. When a team is passed from one generation to another it becomes to some a calling card that the team must be for sale. So to reply to this article: Nothing has changed since my mom’s passing. We’ve been approached by several people. We plan on using the season to show that the performance on the field will be exciting and to honor my mom. And while we deal with her estate I can assure you we have every intention of keeping the Rams in St. Louis and will have no further comment on this article.”

Every time we provide our clients with message training, we insist that telling the truth is the most important tip to remember, followed by not speculating on the situation. Mr. Rosenbloom (or his publicist), in a very matter-of-factual way responded by stating the facts and nothing else. It is because of Mr. Rosenbloom’s clear and concise message, and by dismissing the Yahoo! Sports article’s accuracy, St. Louis Rams fans across the country slept better last night.

Steve Cody, aka Rep Man has a post on the PRSA blog, ComPRehension about “Walking the Walk.” In it, Cody encourages PR firms to blog, as a way of gaining the experience of strategies they may be recommending to clients.

“Blogging is so much more than just an important tool in the overall public relations counselor’s arsenal. Rather, it represents that rare opportunity in which we can not only provide counsel, but ‘live the experience’ as well,” he says.

I felt a bit dismayed as I read his post. While I agree with what Cody says, it’s unfathomable to me that there are firms out there who still have not experienced social media as a service to their clients. PRSA seems to have a gentle stance on social media; they’re encouraging knowledge but not saying what we know to be true. If you’re a professional communicator, get social media experience — not now, yesterday. It is, in my opinion, PR malpractice to not be intimately familiar with the most widespread, accessible and popular communication tools of the last twenty years.

In fact, I think firms who are not embracing social media and who claim to be “more traditional” PR firms might as well say, “We don’t e-mail information. We fax it.”

I realize this is a pretty strong statement, but if you’re a PR professional worth your salt (or salary) you owe it to your clients and your firm to get smart about today’s and tomorrow’s communications tools. Blogging is just one slice of the pie. Your clients’ communities are using Twitter, Facebook and instant messaging to communicate. The media is using these tools as well, in fact, pitching via Twitter is fast becoming a perfectly acceptable and by some, welcomed method as it limits the pitch to 140 characters.

It’s time to take stock. If you’re thinking of hiring a PR firm, find out about their social media experience. Ask to see the firm’s social media resume. What are they doing for themselves in the online space? Do the members of the firm blog professionally and/or personally? Are they capable and practiced at monitoring the online conversation about their clients? Find out what online tools they would explore using to support your company’s objectives.

Yesterday, I was interviewed by a reporter from a Charlottesville publication about my home office. When asked about my “routine” for working at home, I launched into my spiel of all I’ve learned since I began working in a home office two and a half years ago.

I am the only member of Standing Partnership who works full-time from a home office. Since my move to Charlottesville from St. Louis, I’ve had this privilege which is sometimes a curse, sometimes a blessing. Some of my colleagues work from home a day or two a week, but I make a big distinction between working from home temporarily, and working at home: doing it full-time with no outside office as an option.

The reporter stopped in her tracks when I told her that before I start work every morning I get completely dressed down to shoes, do my hair and makeup and put on lipstick. “Really?” she asked, somewhat astonished, I think. Yes, I wear lipstick in my home office. Why? Because I need to feel like I’m going to work; need to feel like, even though my commute may be down two flights of stairs and my office is, in fact, in the same structure in which I live with my family, when I cross that threshold, I am at Standing Partnership, ready to face the day.

I have stored up many of these tips for working at home, some learned through experience and some shared by others who telecommute or have worked in a home office full-time for a number of years. I’ve learned that working at home is not for everyone. It takes a lot of discipline and structure. It requires working space that matches the employee’s work style. It requires trust and freedom from the employer, which must be earned.

Do you work at home, sometimes? Have you or do you work at home, full-time now? What tips and tricks have you learned that make working in your living space successful?

I have become obsessed with watching primary returns on CNN.  Isn’t the “magic map” cool?  Watching last night the commentators pointed out the rural areas Clinton continues to win by a very wide margin. 

By now, everyone is familiar with Clinton’s argument that she is the only Democratic candidate who can secure the vote of white, bluc-collar voters.  And everyone in our industry has followed the Obama campaign as a fascinating case study in social media.

When reading a recent survey by Scarborough Research that analyzed digital savvy consumers and where they live, I began to think about the correlation of Obama’s  success in social media and his seeming inability to reach white, blue-collar voters.  Here are just a few of the headlines from the research:  

The “digital savvy” sound like they could be that nasty e-word, “elite.”  I wonder what  this means for corporate social media campaigns.  What do you think?

Twitter has been the discussion EVERYWHERE as of late, including the Standing Partnership lunch room. One of my colleagues who shall remain nameless challenged me to provide him with thoughts about Twitter’s usefulness.

BusinessWeek’s Stephen Baker is currently writing a story on the growth of Twitter as a business tool … in 140 character chunks ON TWITTER! Why is this useful? For PR professionals, it proves that the media is accessible beyond our old school media lists and telephone books. With over 600 people following Baker’s story, it illustrates the fairly-accepted notion that journalism is moving beyond the print methods of yesteryear.

Industry-based conversation takes place at all hours on Twitter, from searching for an SEO expert to social media best practices. Many prominent bloggers, who are often inappropriately pitched via their blog, also use Twitter and often report when they’re spammed (because truly, 90 percent of “blogger outreach” is spam) by a public relations person trying to get them to peddle products unrelated to their blogs’ content. A group of public relations practitioners (myself included) have taken it upon ourselves to debunk the myth that all of us are spin-doctors reaching out to anyone and everyone for a hit. By putting ourselves out there, and allowing our personalities to be known, we can show that we are people too, and we may be more relatable than just another nameless product pusher.

Personally, I have been using Twitter for nearly a year now; hardly a first adopter but not exactly a new adopter. I have 158 followers and I follow 138 others. Yesterday, one of my Twitter followers, DtotheK told me that I was the top St. Louis area Tweeter according to TwitterLocal. Recently I had some concert tickets stolen, and upon learning of it, one of my followers told me that through his connections, he could help me replace them should I not be able to replace them using traditional channels. Twitter connected me to someone who made my life just that much easier.

What’s next? I’m betting my skeptical coworker will be on Twitter within the month. With Twitter-based love connections, business deals virtually inked in 140 words or less and at least one marriage proposal occurring via the microblogging site, anything is possible.

If you’d like to follow me on Twitter, look for me as one of the top Tweeters from TwitterLocal’s St. Louis feed.

We talk a lot about the vast possibilities that the Internet has afforded PR, especially on this blog. But it is not often we reflect on the limits of the Internet, as Felix Salmon points out in this Portfolio article.

 If you were to help build a list of limits, what would you include?