Archive for August, 2008
Censorship S*cks
4 years ago
Way to go, China. You get to host the 2008 Olympic Games—an opportunity which any city in the world would kill to have—and what do you do? You counteract all the fuzzy feelings which the games are thought to foster—sportsmanship, community, international goodwill—by censoring the media. So much for coming together as one big, happy, diverse family.
As it turns out, the prospect of receiving filtered news created quite a tizzy, with everyone from The Wall Street Journal to Perez Hilton mouthing off. And no wonder, seeing as how China both reneged on a promise and rendered scores of More >
Making Market Noise – and “News” – to Reach the Right Audiences
4 years ago
One thing I’m seeing more of today is the evolution of the news release – beyond informative or noisy to becoming effective as a starting point for new conversations with a new audience.
It used to be that PR firms pumped out run-of-the-mill releases to promote a new product, or announce the new vp. These can be effective for creating buzz, and visibility. But not necessarily as an actual tool for the sales team.
If I were to ask your sales team if they thought that the one person they want to buy your products read your news releases – I’d lay odds that the answer would be a resounding
More >Ah, Email.
4 years ago
I promised myself that I would go email free for 24 days of my sabbatical. I lied.
I managed to sneak my crackberry out of the office, before our IT maven could deactivate it. By day 2, I was sneaking a look at least once a day. By day 7, I checked email every night.
I didn’t answer many, but only because I was taken off of most work-related distribution lists. But I did figure out why I had been so drained. Just skimming hundreds of –‘there-could-be-something-useful-in-there’ emails takes a real toll on the eyes, if not the soul.
Now, I never intend to be one of those More >
So who takes sabbaticals, anyway?
4 years ago
I just came back from my first sabbatical in 26 years of working. I almost bailed out. It could have been scripted: 6 weeks before departure-day, a crisis erupted. (Severe enough to make me think I ‘needed’ to be here.)
There are 4 reasons I ended up going:
1) I stayed local, and could swoop in for an EMS search-and-rescue if truly needed.
2) I knew from painful experience that the meetings/crises/whatever which seem so urgent at the moment fast fade into oblivion.
3) I learned – mostly from 3 years in Alaska – that the things you do, not the day-to-day work, are what you More >
Securing the Keynote
4 years ago
Getting that coveted keynote at one of the industry’s major events just got even more political. Not only must you be a recognized industry leader through conventional channels – the online communities need to know who you are and care about you, too.
That’s where you’re starting to see agendas being formed – that’s where the talk is – (like Interop)
So if you’re contemplating ways to work your way up the speaker food chain – whether it’s just getting your first slot or moving from the last panel on the last day to primetime – here are some tips:
- Post, post, post – about the topics you More >