Grabb-Bagg

Upcoming Workshop

2009-04-02T11:26:00.003-04:00

The Internet is a tool – not nirvana or the magic bullet.
That’s what PR Lifelines in Health Care conference speaker Kathy Lewton warns health care PR professionals when considering results-driven tactics. Today’s multiple media channels are imposing big changes in the PR environment. Hear what Kathy says about balancing today’s new social media channels with the tried-and-true personally delivered product on the audio podcast below, and get Kathy’s view on how you can stay on top, be proactive, and effectively utilize today’s social media channels by attending the April 10 PR Lifelines conference at the IUPUI Campus Center.

Listen to Kathy Lewton’s audio podcast:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8hpf-jlTKA

Don’t wait for the April 6 deadline to register for the PR Lifelines conference. Register NOW:
http://www.journalism.iupui.edu/PRconferences/LifelinesHealthCare/Registration.html

Stay in touch with conference news by following us on:
Blogger: http://prlifelines.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/PRlifelines
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=128914830300&ref-mf
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8hpf-jlTKA

(And, in the interest of full disclosure and shameless self-promotion - yes, my buddy Dan Millar and I are speaking at this one!...nonetheless, I'd appreciate it if you would consider it, or if can't - at least pass along the information to colleagues and contact lists of those you think might find it interesting. In the interest of keeping this low cost - only $50 for the day - we haven't sent postcards, done ads, or sent expensive conference brochures. - consequently, we're relying on our friends to spread the word!)

Digital Denizens

2008-09-23T19:54:00.006-04:00

I've managed to make it through week three of my Digital Instructional Design class - learning a few resources, trying to understand the breadth and depth of tools available to me to use in teaching, and feeling - generally - a little out of my league.
Today, however, I found an article which includes a quiz to help folks understand where they fit in the spectrum of digital denizens.

"Mark Prensky, an author and educational consultant, has posited that individuals who have grown up with technology – digital natives -- differ radically from those who have adopted technology later in life – digital immigrants. In 2001, he published an article which has been creating a buzz in the educational community. The article is titled Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants: A New Way to Look at Ourselves and Our Kids .

In this essay, he describes digital natives as:

* Growing up with technology
* Accustomed to quick access to information
* Comfortable with multitasking
* Reliant on graphics to convey messages quickly
* Thriving on instant gratification and frequent rewards

and digital immigrants as:

* Adopting technology later in life
* Preferring to print media over electronic media
* Depending upon others to access electronic resources for them
* Reading instruction manuals before using software rather than jumping in and skimming menus, responding to error messages, or using online help

I was pleased, when I took the quiz that I actually fell into the "digital native" category and not the digital recluse or digital refugee.

"Digital recluse – A person in this category absolutely refuses to knowingly use electronic technology. Computers are forbidden in his/her household. Microchips exist only in tools where their true nature is disguised (e.g., automobiles, microwaves, heating/cooling systems).

Digital refugee – A person in this category uses technology unwillingly. It has been thrust upon him/her by his/her environment. Although using technology is a chore, not using it is even more of a challenge. S/he may have grown up with technology or may have been forced to adopt technology as an adult. S/he prefers hard copy and distrusts electronic resources. S/he may regularly enlist other for assistance in the use of technology, particularly reducing technology to a non-electronic form (e.g., printing e-mail before reading it).

Digital immigrant – A person in this category has willingly traveled to the land of technology. Although unfamiliar with the full potential of various electronic tools, s/he holds an underlying belief that technology can be a useful tool, especially for repetitive tasks. S/he may have grown up with technology or may have adopted technology as an adult.

Digital native – A person in this category uses technology in executing a wide variety of tasks and readily adapts to changes in the tools that s/he uses. S/he may have grown up with technology or may have adopted technology as an adult.

Digital explorer – A person in this category pushes electronic tools to the limit and is always on the lookout for new tools that do more, work faster, and work more easily.

Digital innovator – A person in this category doesn’t just look for new technology tools, s/he builds new tools and/or adapts old tools to new purposes.

Digital addict – A person in this category is highly dependent upon technology tools. S/he may become quite distressed when access to technology tools is disrupted."

The quiz is available at Stockton University: at http://loki.stockton.edu/~intech/spotlight-digital-denizens.htm

Greetings from San Francisco

2008-09-18T23:27:00.003-04:00

I'm spending this week in San Francisco, attending the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development (SHSMD) Conference and discussing the vagaries of healthcare planning, marketing and public relations. My colleague Dan Millar and I gave a presentation on Wednesday morning dealing with Crisis Communication and Social Media (you can see the link to our survey on the subject to the left), which went very well. We laughed at the opening session entertainment featuring political satirist Mark Russell - with his political jokes, piano and still entertaining audiences with hat and bowtie.

Today's opening session featured author Andrew Keen, who bills himself as the "anti-christ of silicon valley". His remarks regarding Web 2.0 and the "Cult of the Amateur" were interesting and provacative. His premise is that Web 2.0 has created an environment where - while everyone has access and can be an author - we have lost respect for expertise and there is little or no mechanism to proof, check, authenticate or serve as gatekeeper to prevent false and often crazy information being labeled as "the truth." He told one story where he was talking to a person before the last election, and the person said -"I could never vote for Al Gore, he's Jewish!" Andrew asked, "how do you know that?" The answer was, "I read it on the internet!" Falsehoods, lies and malicious information are now being passed off as accurate or true. Keen says that this total lack of respect for expertise has already led to negative impact in the Music Industry, Journalism and a variety of other fields as "talent" is no longer being paid for being talented, and he chastized marketers for falling into the trap that the Internet (YouTube, Facebook, Google, etc.) provides a forum for "free marketing" - when in fact it isn't free, the internet companies are th e only ones being paid, and advertising is not discernable from informational content, and eventually it could "all be marketing" - so there beign no such thing as paid marketing, we're putting ourselves out of a job. Take a look at his Blog, or read his book, "The Cult of the Amateur"

Fred

Wordle

2008-09-06T06:22:00.002-04:00

I finished my first assignment for my online distance learning instruction class this week, and was intrigued by all the interesting resources out there. For instance, despite having been on iTunes a gazillion times to download music, I was unaware that there was a "iTunes University" with thousands of free downloads of class lectures and videos from dozens of schools and hundreds of topics. I also learned about "Wordle" - a fun little toy that creates word clouds from any block of text:

You can see how it interpreted my blog above.

Fred

Technology here I come

2008-09-03T19:36:00.003-04:00

As anyone who has ventured to this little blog knows, I haven't been a house-afire in keeping my postings current. SO, to push the effort a little and to get this Boomer a little more comfortable with the technology of the 21st century, I've signed up for a class in designing a class in distance learning. Might as well dive in - sticking my toe in didn't help.

The course started this week with assignments in learning how to post things in OnCourse, the software for the class. I'll keep you informed as to how it goes!

Fred

Being Bad

2008-08-08T14:44:00.002-04:00

I'm being bad!

This blog thing seemed like a good idea at the time, and it has made me better at monitoring my RSS blog feeds. But keeping up with other folks blogs is one thing...keeping up with my own is something entirely different.

So, if you stumble across this blog - realize it hasn't been updated for a while and are in the mood for some PR discussion...plug in to PRSA's professional blog: ComPRehension (http://comprehension.prsa.org/).

Oh, and I will get back on this thing...

Fred

Another vacation photo

2008-07-11T06:52:00.003-04:00

I posted my excuse for not posting in June - my trip to Norwegian Fjords, and actually had a real live person suggest that I post another vacation pic...
Your wish is my command...

Getting Help

2008-07-11T06:45:00.002-04:00

My friend Robbie (she is the Web Content Coordinator at St. Francis) felt sorry for me and my feeble attempt to enter the blogosphere. She offers help...reminding me to keep my posts:

frequent,
short,
with bullets

...and she reminded me to monitor other folks blogs more often, and cite those things that are worthwhile on my blog.

Yes M'am

Here's one she sent me:
A Sample Blogging Workflow
http://www.chrisbrogan.com/a-sample-blogging-workflow/

FB

Asked in class

2008-07-05T11:58:00.002-04:00

The other night in class, I was asked - again - to explain the "log" system we use in crisis to avoid getting too behind in a "now" is too late environment.
So, here you go - fairly simple -
1) Select a time frame (either 15 minutes or 30 minutes) for the cycle.
2) Pre-write your "first" release or notification - recognize that your information will post on a blog, be typed up as a release or set on your Web site as a "diary" or "journal" and your first statement can be pre-written so little or no time is lost - ours is "At ____(time) St. Francis was notified that _______(brief statement of what you told when notified; e.g. that there was a chemical spill in the hospital's NICU, or whatever)...and the hospital's (organization's) crisis team has been called and is responding. We will have an update for you in just 15/30 minutes when we know more."
3) Work your cycle - 10 or 20 minutes of information gathering, 3 or 5 minutes to draft a short paragraph indicating what - new - you KNOW (no speculation). In the second and subseqent releases - be open to questions and advise that you will answer them in subsequent announcements as you learn the answers.
4) Keep the "cycle" going for the first 2 - 6 hours of the crisis until you have staff, and you have passed the initial period of time when you have more unanswered questions than answers.
5) Switch to a "traditional" crisis response with news conferences, news releases posted at designated times (e.g. twice a day) and integrate all your communication processes from face-to-face to blogs, web sites, faxes, etc. etc.

That's it.

Sorry, been gone...will re-energize in July

2008-06-29T10:48:00.003-04:00

This is supposed to be a "professional" blog...but like a lot of newbie bloggers, time and focus got away from me last month. One big reason is that I took three weeks away from the work world for a vacation through the fijords of Norway. Anyway, I'm back and will attempt to post more regularly starting in July.
FB

Still Here

2008-05-29T10:14:00.002-04:00

I admitted to being a newbie. And, I see now why so many blogs fail. It's too easy to fall behind and fail to post. Reasons abound, work schedules , home issues, travels, etc. May went by before I knew it. If anyone sees this and has a suggestion on a good way to stay on top of things, other than just putting it in my calendar and forcing the issue...let me know. I suspect the lack of visitors to blog has also had me questioning - "why bother!"
Fred

Survey results starting to come in

2008-05-05T15:02:00.002-04:00

The Crisis communication and social media survey (link on left) is starting to create some results. There are already some interesting findings:

More than half of the respondents either don't have a crisis communication plan or it is not separate from their organization's disaster plan
About 2/3 of the the respondents have the senior PR person as primary spokesperson in a disaster
Most used news releases and reactive news media interviews to convery their key messages.
Most also used ongoing employee communication tools to keep their employees informed during the crisis
New media or social media is not being used widely yet -

The link to the survey is provided on the left..if you haven't completed it yet, I encourage you to do so...if you have, share the link with a friend!

Mike Snyder's Seven Deadly Sins recap

2008-04-25T08:41:00.002-04:00

A colleague, Mike Snyder, receently recapped a 1980's article on the "Seven Deadly Sins of PR" in a local publication, Inside Indiana Business. It's worth reprinting in its entirety here:

The Seven Deadly Sins of Public Relations

By: Michael Snyder - Managing Principal, The MEK Group
A few months ago, a prominent Central Indiana executive – someone who should have known better – asked me: “What is it exactly that you do?” Having been asked this question hundreds of times over the past quarter century, I replied: “Just like a company’s brand and reputation, every corporation has public relations whether they want it or not. The only question is whether they want to strategically direct it or let it drift on to the rocks.”
A variation of this question gave rise to a remarkable white paper in the 1980s titled “The Seven Deadly Sins of Public Relations.” The irony? Today they’re far worse. In a YOUTube, anybody-can-write-a-blog environment, these seven deadly sins not only remain in force, they have intensified in toxic magnitude. Left unchecked, these sins can and will devastate profit, reputation, employee performance and corporate earnings, particularly in an intense 21st Century interactive environment.If you’ve ever wondered why companies who develop and deploy a strategic public relations focus seem to do better than others, here are the updated seven deadly sins that illustrate why: The Faucet Philosophy of PR The Faucet Philosophy deadly sin is often better known as “We’ll turn on the PR when we think we need it.” This fairy-tale belief has outright killed more than a few companies, particularly in a lightning-fast Internet setting where leaked confidential e-mails take on a global life of their own. When senior executives embrace and engage in strategic reputation management, the benefits ramp up quickly. When they’re caught off guard in a crisis, they generally pay through the bottom line.Functional Myopia This one directly relates to the question that I was asked by the Indiana executive who didn’t know the value of professional PR. Even when I was working in Southern California, I was surprised at the business people who thought PR mostly specialized in retail grand openings or “getting something in the paper.” Professional public relations may or may not involve the tactics of media relations or special events. PR is inextricably intertwined in strategic brand development, where the third-party independent endorsement achieved by focused public relations creates and sustains a corporate brand far more effectively than stand-alone advertising. As advertising giant Al Ries declares: “Advertising is brand maintenance. PR is brand building.” In an online environment, this is more true than ever.Local Anesthesia This deadly sin often rears its head when a negative story or comment appears in a small newspaper and the top corporate executives blow it off as inconsequential. Even small newspapers have Web sites, and those Web sites are accessible and linkable everywhere. Back to brand development, as brand legend Scott Bedbury puts it, a brand is based on collective experience and perception. A company can make a public claim about its performance, but if they don’t live it, somebody’s going to blow the whistle, even in a small rural Indiana town. The negative outcome can be global.The One-Shot Communications Tic This deadly sin erupts when senior management sends out a generic blast e-mail to all employees or the media about a complex situation and then wonders why people don’t “get it.” Sustained messaging strategies designed to communicate to specific vertical audiences are a requirement in the 21st century. Good News Neurasthenia Every executive wants to communicate good news about their company. The deadly sin is committed when that’s all that they’re willing to communicate. If Johnson & Johnson had used this deadly sin as a strategy back during the Tylenol crisis, they likely would have lost the essential consumer faith required for them to stay in business. Executing a professional PR program often requires courageous honesty, but the benefits are immense.The Shadow Delusion This deadly sin manifests itself with the false belief that companies can operate out-of-sight or under the radar. When prodded for a public statement or disclosure, the management response is to stonewall or provide limited information. The fact remains that nature abhors a vacuum, and that means in the absence of credible information, people will simply make it up. That made-up information quickly becomes word-of-mouth, which is almost irreversible, particularly in the short-term. Without existing key relationships and a credible reputation, an otherwise sound company can quickly fall prey to the consequences of this deadly sin.The Hysteron Proteron Approach Many people rely almost exclusively on what marketers call “self-reference criteria,” which is a ten-dollar way of saying “I believe it, therefore everybody believes it.” A “hysteron proteron” is formally defined as “a logical fallacy of assuming as a premise something that follows from what is to be proved.” You beat bad information with good information, and good information comes from quality research. In the Google and ChaCha search engine age, there is no credible excuse for not doing your homework when trying to communicate with target audiences.In the pre-Internet world of 1985, PR pro Joseph Awad certainly got it right with his first presentation of the Seven Deadly Sins of Public Relations. Today, they’re even more lethal. Left unchecked, these transgressions represent company-busters and brand-bruisers. Don’t let your most valuable corporate assets – your brand and your reputation – fall prey to these deadly sins. Repent now and reap the benefits.

Some Recommended Blogs

2008-04-07T20:06:00.002-04:00

I've started reading some blogs regularly to get a better feel for the medium, and to begin to gather more research for our social media and crisis communication project.

The ones I like include:

Blogs to start reading:

http://blog.holtz.com/index.php/weblog/hct-home/
http://www.paulgillin.com/
http://crisisblogger.wordpress.com/
http://www.pr-squared.com/

Try them out.

My Teaching Gigs

2008-04-04T09:41:00.005-04:00

I was asked if I was doing any other teaching than that listed in the recent faculty summary at IUPUI.

The answer is "yes"....I teach a series (one course at a time) at the University of Indianapolis (http://www.uindy.edu) in the evening MBA program (http://gradbus.uindy.edu/evening/) . It is part of a "marketing certificate" series, where the students need at least 3 classes beyond the core one to earn the certificate...

Here's the info:

MBA 670 – Marketing StrategyThe focus is on the marketing processes and tools for building strategies which deliver superior levels of customer value and profitability. This course is designed to coincide with the professional certified marketer program of the American Marketing Association and subsequent designation exam. Syllabus for MBA 670
Concentration Courses Available (9-15 credit hours)
Marketing

MBA 641 – Integrated Marketing CommunicationsMore and more organizations have recognized the need to have multiple areas of business development all on the same page. Whether it is integration functionally or literally, the disciplines of marketing, public relations, planning, government relations, and other sub-disciplines must come together as a unified, coordinated whole. This course concentrates on creating an understanding of Integrated Marketing Communications using a combination of lecture, interactive exercises and guest speakers from the business community. Syllabus for MBA 641

MBA 642 – Not-For-Profit MarketingThe world of not-for-profit is different from large manufacturing and service industries. From inclusion of fundraising, use of volunteers, and limited resources, not-for-profit marketing uses a different mind-set and expanded set of tools from it’s corporate counterpart. This course concentrates on the differences between the for-profit environment and the non-profit sector, including healthcare, human services, government, religion and utilities. The course reviews the traditional elements of marketing and their application in a non-profit environment. Syllabus for MBA 642

MBA 643 – Service Marketing -To gain an edge in service marketing, one must first build a strategy. That strategy must limit itself operationally and in scope or one ends up with service too diffused and ineffective. Customers can be classified in many ways; two obvious ways are the cost and convenience of serving a particular group. Good service meets or exceeds customers' expectations. A service provider can do a lot to position itself so that it can manage these expectations. Service Marketers find themselves going beyond the “4 P’s” to consider people, process, politics and the physical design that is the “servicescape.” This course concentrates on the intangible aspects and customer focus of service marketing and teaches the tools and strategies needed to succeed in a service industry using a combination of lecture, interactive exercises and guest speakers from local service organizations. Syllabus for MBA 643

MBA 644 – Public Relations - In today’s ever changing environment, marketers will sometimes find themselves reporting to public relations professionals, having public relations people reporting to them or working alongside PR professionals as equals. Marketers must have a clear understanding of the nuances of this communications-heavy applied social science and its sub-disciplines including special events coordination, media relations, investor relations, consumer relations, government relations and publications. This course clarifies the differences between marketing and public relations and provides those in either discipline area an understanding of the strategies and tactics of public relations and how those interact with the strategies and tools of marketing. Syllabus for MBA 644

Working on Crisis Communication and Social Media Project

2008-04-01T10:24:00.000-04:00

Hi all

As mentioned, Dan and I are working on preparing a presentation for the AHA SHSMD conference in September which will focus on crisis communication and social media.

To help us look at how folks are using media in crisis and are using (and plan to use) new and social media, we developed a short survey on Survey Monkey. It takes about 8 minutes to complete, so if you haven't yet taken it...would you take a few minutes and respond?

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=lePNFw4D8iU6EHS5L2J_2fGQ_3d_3d

Thanks, Fred

Social Media Tips

2008-03-31T12:32:00.000-04:00

I'm working on a project with my Buddy Dan Millar in preparation for a National H ealthcare Conference in September in San Francisco. The topic is one of the "usual" ones - but with a wrinkle, to add discussion of how, where and when to add a social media component to crisis communication. So, when this morning's Web Marketing tip sheet came up with social media tips...I bookmarked it! http://www.wdfm.com/marketing-tips/lee-odden-social-media.php

If any of you folks who stumble upon this new blog have any additional tips - particularly where, when and how social media is being used in crisis communication (especially in healthcare)...please comment and let me know.

Pax Vobiscum,

Fred

My friend Corie asks...how would I advise Barak

2008-03-31T08:55:00.000-04:00

My friend Corie (http://www.CorieCommunications.com) asks in her post how I would advise Barak Obama to distance himself from his Pastor who made remarks that have injured his campaign.

I'm glad I'm not a political pundit, I'm much too blunt. I'd probably advise him to tell the truth and let the chips fall where they may. If he knew his Pastor's views - I'd say say, and say whether he agreed at that time and (I would hope) that his experience in Senate has taught him that his Pastor was wrong if previously agreed, if he didn't agree. Say so - (as he's done). The Truth will make you free.

FB

Adjunct Faculty Posting

2008-03-25T16:37:00.000-04:00

Just got word from IUPUI...they've posted me on their adjunct faculty section of the Web site.
Aint new technology wonderful.

Check it out!
http://news.journalism.iupui.edu/Faculty/Bagg_Fred.php

FB

Welcome to Grabb-Bagg

2008-03-25T13:55:00.000-04:00

Grabb-Bagg is a blog for professional communicators, public relations professionals, crisis communication and issues management experts as well a professionals in healthcare marketing and strategic planning. It is designed to create a dialogue around topics and questions related to these fields.

Although I have been in Communication, Marketing and PR for decades, this is my first foray into blogging and the world of Web 2.0.

Any questions for an old pro, trying to learn the "new media'?

FB