Dick Grove
Social Media Has Made Us One Big Community Again
06.13.10
But many of the doors are now locked…
I come from the Midwest and grew up in a place and a time that symbolizes both in fiction and reality a simpler way of life and a more trusting way of life. It’s actually true, you know, we knew most of our neighbors…the good ones and the bad ones…by their first names. Communication technology was so advanced when I was a kid in that small town that most families even had a telephone…only one of course, and centrally located in a foyer or main hallway. We even knew the local operator by their first name and she (yes, sexism was rampant at the local telephone exchange) would listen in, as all of us would periodically, on a party line to catch the latest gossip. “Party line”…that’s similar to an online forum for you folks of less advanced years. And it’s also true that locks more often than not went untested and unused. It wasn’t a matter of naïveté’ but rather of trust amongst us that our neighbors within the community wouldn’t breach our privacy. And if the need to do so arose, there must be a pretty damn good reason…not for their personal nefarious gain but usually for our own safety or protection. We actually looked out for each other in those small communities.
But that was a long time ago in a place now far away. Communities are no longer defined by geographic and cultural borders nestled against a river or mountain or seashore, and held together by a common goal of common interests, good will and advancement. Communities in today’s Social Media age are virtual without physical borders. And while still bound together with common interests and advancement, good will isn’t a key element any longer except as a courtesy to not impede the advancement of the common interest or knowledge. Facebook, Linked in, Twitter, et.al. are the new “hometowns” of everyone, everywhere…hundreds of millions of human beings connected with other hundreds of millions of human beings sharing everything from the mundane of pet food recipes and relationship gossip to the importance of intricate technological formulas and global business strategies…and literally everything in between. Staggering! .
And “privacy”…well ironically that’s gotten a little more complicated. On one hand on the personal side we can’t wait to reach out and expand our network of relationships with others of similar interests, goals, and commonalities. But to do so, we must by definition relinquish that same information to the Internet abyss as the bait to attract others to join our community network. But isn’t that the point of using social media to expand and grow your community…to open ourselves up?
It’s on the business side however where the irony of social media privacy is even more prevalent. Networking as a business tool is as old as social mankind itself. Learning of someone or something new from another is the very essence of building or maintaining a successful business. I believe it’s called progress. And obviously one of the real business advantages of the Internet and social media in particular is its networking capability. Why then if networking is so important to success, do so many businesses and business executives decide to go “stealth” i.e., make themselves difficult or impossible to contact by others that might greatly expand their business acumen? It’s like locking your door with a triple lock within the business community you’ve chosen to live. My favorite is the private email or non-existent email address…but with an added layer of an old-fashioned receptionist gatekeeper to keep it even more secret. Or on Linked in for example, one is forced to play a game of “Six Degrees of Separation” just to hopefully make contact…not to invade someone’s privacy but to simply network for positive results.
Modern technology…the Internet…social media…If you’re going to enjoy the benefits, get used to a few inconveniences. Even in a small town in a time long ago, we knew that hiding was a dumb way to grow a community or a business.
Categories: Grove Report
Ryan Gerding
He Got one Call Right
06.03.10
The baseball world is in an uproar over a badly blown call that ruined a perfect game by Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga. A perfect game is one of the rarest feats in baseball. Though there have already been two this season, in all of recorded baseball history there have only been 20. A pitcher throws a perfect game when he gets every single batter out. No hits, no walks, nobody reaches base. Last night, Galarraga was one out away from a perfect game. History was about to be made. The final batter tapped a slow ground ball to the second baseman, who turned and fired it to Galarraga who was covering first base. First base umpire called the runner safe. The perfect game was ruined. One small problem: he was out. The replay pretty clearly showed that Galaragga had caught the ball well before the runner reached first.
Fans were apoplectic. Online message board and Twitter caught fire. The manager was furious. Galarraga’s teammates berated the umpire as soon as the game was over. The Governor of Michigan has even gotten into the fray. Umpire Jim Joyce, who has been calling games for more than two decades, instantly became the most hated man in baseball. And while there’s no doubt Joyce made a bad call on that play, from a public relations perspective, the next call he made was spot on.
Umpires generally don’t talk to the media. In fact, they almost never do, and especially not immediately after making a controversial–and incorrect call. But Jim Joyce did. Moments after heading to the umpire’s locker room, Joyce agreed to talk to the media. And he did something that crisis communicators and PR pros wish their CEOs and politicians would do more often: he very quickly, very succinctly said, “I made a mistake.”
“It was the biggest call of my career, and I kicked the (stuff) out of it,” Joyce said, looking and sounding distraught as he paced in the umpires’ locker room. “I just cost that kid a perfect game.”– Associated Press
Then, with tears in his eyes, he sought out the pitcher whose perfect game he ruined, gave him a hug and apologized. I’m guessing that Jim Joyce probably hasn’t gotten a lot of crisis communication training. I’m assuming he’s not had many sessions with highly paid media trainers. Yet in a few short moments, he was able to do what most public figures facing intense scrutiny cannot our would not do.
Did it help? Maybe a little. Fans will be fans and I’m certain when Joyce takes the field to umpire today he will be met with a chorus of boos. But perhaps among some of the people whose opinion matters most to Joyce, the anger has been tempered a bit.
Jim Leyland, Detroit’s manager declared after the game (and the apology from Joyce), “the players are human, the umpires are human, the managers are human.” And even Galarraga, the pitcher whose dreams of a perfect game were destroyed, seemed to be taken by Joyce’s response. “You don’t see an umpire after the game come out and say, `Hey, let me tell you I’m sorry. He felt really bad. He didn’t even shower.”
Jim Joyce’s apology for the bad call won’t make the call go away. Nor will it likely keep him from always being remembered as the guy who ruined a perfect game. But maybe, just maybe, the way he handled the situation with honesty and humility, will at least give some folks pause before vilifying a guy who probably feels almost as bad as the person whose dreams he ruined.
Categories: pr marketing
Cindy West
The Love And Hate Relationship We Have With Facebook
05.16.10
I have watched the debate over Facebook Privacy issues all week and it is fascinating. It’s like a feeding frenzy, probably one of the dilemmas of Social Media. From so called “influential’s” canceling their Facebook pages, to let’s burn CEO-Mark Zuckerberg at the stake for his evil intentions. All this consternation triggered by f8 and an exposed foolish chat post. I guess he wasn’t thinking about his own privacy when he posted that.
It shouldn’t come as a big surprise to those of us that regularly surf the internet, but the majority of our data has been collected way before Facebook came to the web. To raise such a fuss now is making ourselves look foolish, since we actually opted in from the beginning. Common sense tells you nothing in life is free. It is illogical to think you can provide a service to millions of people at zero-cost to anyone.
A lesson I learned a while back, is when you get something for free it is easy to get addicted and hard to go without when the owners of that service, decide the free ride is up and now you have to pony up to stay connected. Darn that GM for putting a “free” satellite radio in my car.
And what’s been the upside? I have met some amazing people on Facebook. I have connected with relatives I haven’t seen for years and my classmates from 19XX…(gotta go to Facebook if you want me to share that!) People have reunited with each other, all possible because of Facebook. Since when have you had so many friends?
Want PRIVACY? You’re in control because you are the one that hits UPLOAD & SHARE. By adjusting your settings you decide whom you want to share it with and what others can share about you. And if it goes beyond that…maybe you shouldn’t have posted it to begin with.
I agree with one thing. Facebook could make the privacy settings easier to navigate. And those oversized pop-up ads are a little much. I would ask that they be balanced on the side of the page and not allowed to exceed the width of the column.
But seriously, if you truly want to have an opt-in or opt-out on privacy, then maybe Facebook should become a platform for which you pay. Although, you could always go back to typing emails. Now there’s a fail-safe platform for privacy.
Here’s my revolutionary suggestion if you really and truly value your privacy …don’t post it. I have a friend, quite intelligent and very social, but has never once communicated via email or ever made an online purchase…and certainly doesn’t socialize on Facebook. He’s digitally disconnected, but content.
But for me a life without Facebook… would be frankly…boring.
Categories: pr marketing
Cindy West
When One of Your Own is the Recipient of Giving
05.07.10
Here at INK we pride ourselves in taking on a good cause or two each year. We do that because we are publicists who know how to tell a client’s story to the media. And because of our media expertise, we have managed to raise a half-million dollars for a non-profit for wounded veterans, Freedom Is Not Free, and provide media coverage for a fair trade company called the Leakey Collection, a business created by Katy & Philip Leakey for rural Kenyans to provide food, education and medical care for their children.
Since we are usually on the giving side it was incredible when one of our own was recently part of an amazing experience for his child through the “Make A Wish Foundation“. So we would like to share his experience to hopefully inspire others to believe as we do that sometimes an action or experience can be a valuable gift.
Hi, I’m Matt Lowe. For the last two years I’ve worked at INK’s Kansas City headquarters. It’s rare to have an experience that you can describe as “once in a lifetime,” but thanks to the “Make A Wish Foundation” our family was given just that…an experience that we will cherish forever. I know, it sounds cliché, but that’s because you’ve never been on a make a wish vacation. So let me say this: it’s the most awesome gift you will ever give your child, when everything- and I mean everything (meals, condo, airfare, tickets to theme parks a rental car….) is provided for you by anonymous donors. And on top of that everyone you meet treats you like a King (or queen, or Princess, depending on your role in the family.)
Our family is blessed with an incredibly brave and unbelievably hilarious 7 year old girl named Josephine. At age 3, Josephine was diagnosed with an illness called OMS an autoimmune neurological disorder. Its name describes its symptoms: opsoclonus is jiggling eye movements and myoclonus means involuntary muscle twitching. It is also known as Kinsbourne syndrome or “dancing-eyes-dancing-feet.” It’s a rare disease and not much is really known about it, so our family is kind of like a “test.” Needless to say this kind of uncertainty can be stressful.
So rewind to almost a year and a half ago when a co-worker of mine here at INK (the amazing Kristen) had returned from volunteering at a place called “Give Kids the World”, an entire village in Orlando dedicated to giving sick kids the time of their life. Kristan described her experience (the 24 hr Ice cream parlor, the daily visits from Santa…) all I kept thinking was “this sounds like something Josephine would LOVE.”
The months went by but the idea of “Give Kids the World” kept nagging at me, so I decided to just call. As it turns out, GKTW is run by the “Make A Wish Foundation”. All it took was that initial call and the decision process was set in motion. About one month later I received one of the best phone calls of my life. “Hi Matt, we at Make A Wish Foundation just wanted to let you know that Josephine will get her wish.” I almost lost it. I was so excited, I had to call Rebecca right away as well as my parents, brothers, best friends, co-workers. I did what came naturally, I shared the great news.
We were able to visit Disney World, Epcot, Universal Studios and Sea World- during an all expenses paid week long vacation. From the first moment your car arrives to take you to the airport (in our case a stretch Escalade limo with disco balls and laser show going), to the free admission to the parks, to spending time at the Give Kids the World Complex, not to mention the FREE ice cream parlor, the two pools and the life size candy land park, it truly was a dream come true for our little girl. Every morning Santa dropped off a new supply of toys for Josephine. Our little princess got to meet and have a Royal breakfast with every princess at Disney World. We never had to had to wait in line, our meals were provided for us… but most importantly, it was the first time that we as parents, did not have to worry about anything.
For the first time in a very long time- Rebecca and I were able to relax because we were taken care of just as much as Josephine (and that made all the difference.) From the limo service to the airport, the airline tickets, the amazing accommodations- it was so nice to have the responsibility lifted from our shoulders allowing us to sit back and enjoy this memorable moment with Josephine, without the concerns that normally fill our days. Truly a dream come true.
Categories: Behind INK
Ryan Gerding
On Bunions and battles
04.29.10
A quick search on Twitter found that in the last 48-hours, about 10 different people have “tweeted” about their bunions. For all their ‘followers’ and the rest of the world to see. Bunions. We truly are a society that shares everything. Our food, our sicknesses, our kids…everything. 24-hours a day, seven days a week, we tweet and Facebook and blog and tell everyone everything about everything.
I thought about that yesterday while watching a rough cut of a new documentary, “Hold At All Costs”. We’re working with the filmmakers to help get the word out about the film. It’s a tribute to the men and women who worked to defend Outpost Harry near the 38th Parallel during the Korean War. Outpost Harry was the scene of a bloody, brutal 8-day battle between American, UN, and Greek forces and Chinese and North Korean soldiers. It happened near the end of the Korean War as both sides were negotiating over where the line of demarcation would be between North and South Korea. To prevent the Chinese and North Korean forces from occupying more land prior to the truce being announced, Allied orders were to protect and hold Outpost Harry “at all costs.”
The men and women in the film talk about the eight days of hell they went through on that hill in the summer of 1953. The descriptions of horror and hope and bravery and friendship are engrossing. What amazed me was one soldier saying that after the war he had never spoken to anyone about his experience at Outpost Harry for 50-years. Not even to his wife. Not once. Wow. We tell the entire world when we have eaten a good sandwich. It took these folks 50-years to tell their own family about their involvement in what some say was the most significant battle in the Korean War. Obviously it’s a lot easier to talk about sandwiches and sports and American Idol than it is to talk about the horrors of war. So when the folks who fought in forgotten battles in a forgotten war decide to share their experience, it’s important that we take the time to listen. And learn. And appreciate the fact that because they don’t share every bit of the minutiae of their lives with everyone, when they DO decide to talk, they really have something important to say.
So take a few minutes, if you could, and watch the trailer to the film below. Ironically, we’re working on a Facebook page for “Hold at All Costs”. Click here to read an interesting Q&A with filmmaker Glenn Palmedo-Smith. Check it out and share your own thoughts and stories. And share this with your friends and followers. It’s a way to pay tribute to these great people. And it beats talking about bunions.
Categories: Client News
Subscribe to P4P!
Videos
INKster Photos
Via our RSS Feed.