"New Media" Observations

The Colbert Report: Interview with Bill McKibben of 350.org

2009-08-19T08:33:00.003-04:00

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Bill McKibben

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Health Care Protests

Check out Bill McKibben's interview on The Colbert Report about the basics of why 350.org is such an important number to recognize...

Live in Vermont? Join the movement on a local level and stay connected with events, friends and fellow supporters.

Visit 350Vermont on:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/350-Vermont/107938942997

Twitter: http://twitter.com/350Vermont

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/350Vermont

Get Involved Locally in Saving Our Planet: 350Vermont on Facebook

2009-08-13T10:13:00.004-04:00

350 Vermont | Promote Your Page Too

350Vermont is now on Facebook! View statewide events, connect with fellow supporters and stay up-to-date on news and information about the movement...

Get Involved Locally in Saving Our Planet: Share Your 350Vermont Stories

2009-08-11T08:43:00.032-04:00

The above videos describe the movement, highlight a few Vermont pledges, and explain that 350 is one of the most important numbers in our lives. Get involved locally with 350Vermont by making a pledge to participate in the movement or by joining one of Vermont's many statewide events with friends and family on October 24, 2009.

Show your support by taking video of your pledge and at your event on October 24, 2009 then upload to 350Vermont's Youtube Channel...

You can also take and share photos of your event and endangered places in Vermont that need to be saved for future generations by visiting us on our 350Vermont Flickr Photostream...

Tower Keypers are now on Facebook

2009-08-07T12:49:00.005-04:00

Friends of "Ethan Allen Park"

Promote Your Page Too

Friends of Ethan Allen Park group is not on Facebook. Connect, learn and share content with the group that is responsible for overseeing the Ethan Allen Park and Tower. This group consists of neighbors around the park that volunteer to keep the park and tower available, clean and safe for Burlington residents.

Check us out!

Ethan Allen Park Tower Keypers Group on VPR

2009-08-06T16:23:00.006-04:00

Vermont Edition interview by Sarah Ashworth with Lisa Coven of Burlington's Department of Parks and Recreations and John J. Ciempa, chair of the Friends of Ethan Allen Park a community action group that jeeps watch over the historic monument.

News Story Courtesy of Vermont Public Radio:
Burlington's Ethan Allen Tower sits atop Indian Rock, a craggy bluff that rises almost 300 feet near the shores of Lake Champlain. The castle-like structure was built in 1905 to honor Ethan Allen, and is made out of native stone, known as "Mallet's Bay Marble."

In 1974 the City of Burlington was forced to close the tower because of safety concerns. But within a decade, a group of citizens had come together to help rehab the 39-foot tower, and open it back up to the public. About 25 local residents have taken responsibility for locking and unlocking the tower daily. They call themselves the Tower Keypers, and we caught up with one of their members and with the city's parks department early one recent morning.

Mobile post sent by jciempa using Utterli. Replies. mp3

7th annual 2009 Lake Champlain Martin 16 Invitational Regatta at the Malletts Bay Boat Club

2009-07-30T13:22:00.003-04:00

For immediate release:
July 30, 2009

NEWS ADVISORY

WHO: Northeast Disabled Athletic Association (NDAA) and the Malletts Bay Boat Club (MBBC)

WHAT: NDAA is proud to announce the 7th annual 2009 Lake Champlain Martin 16 Invitational Regatta at the Malletts Bay Boat Club – MBCC – in beautiful Malletts Bay, Colchester, VT on the weekend of August 1st and 2nd.

WHEN: August 1-2, 2009

WHERE: The Malletts Bay Boat Club, 662 W Lakeshore Dr, Colchester, VT 05446.

WHY: The two-day event will witness sailors with disabilities vie for the coveted Berg Cup in one-design sailing aboard the innovative Martin 16 sloop. With great volunteers from MBBC, sailors from all over the northeast and Canada will converge on the Malletts Bay Boat Club for the spirited competition.

Regatta fee is $35.00 (Canadian at par) and includes registration, boat charter, breakfast, lunch and Saturday night dinner. Scholarships are available.

Volunteers are needed to assist during the regatta. Some duties include unloading and launching boats, assisting sailors, serving food and sailing as a companion. Contact us if you’d like to volunteer.

For more information, contact Patrick Standen by calling 802-862-6322 or via email at patrick.standen@myfairpoint.net.

9 pound lobster at VT Hannaford

2009-06-21T14:28:00.002-04:00

So I was shopping in the North End Hannaford in Burlington VT for my Sunday dinner and when I passed the Seafood department I saw a crowd of people looking at this 9lb lobster that was for sale.

Can you say yum!

There looked to be two large lobsters about the same size.

Can you imagine the amount of butter you would need :)

It's Everybody's Business with Jack and Suzy Welch

2009-06-17T08:17:00.015-04:00

This morning I was reading through some of my daily IT email newsletters and came across a Microsoft ad highlighting a new business show called "It's Everybody's Business with Jack and Suzy Welch."

Being the curious person that I am, I decided to click on the ad to see what content would be served up. First off, as an ad buyer this type of ad is a great idea for many businesses to adopt.

Secondly, I have to say that this online business show sponsored by Microsoft is filled with a ton of information for business and IT managers. The way Jack and Suzy Welch facilitate problem solving is very cool to watch. I encourage everyone to check it out.

The episode about Connect by Hertz reminded me of a nonprofit organization here in Vermont called CarShare Vermont. Over the past few months CarShare VT has begun providing a car sharing program with vehicles parked around Burlington. They also have a website where members can sign up to use a car. It seems like a really a great program for both car owners and non-car owners alike.

About two weeks ago I remember participating in an online survey that was posted on Front Porch Forum by CarShare Vermont seeing if members and potential new members would be interested if a truck was added to their fleet. I think that adding a truck to their fleet would give the nonprofit an opportunity to reach new customers. Furthermore, it would provide a vehicle for people who own a car, but need a truck from time-to-time to deal with chores around the house or the occasional moving of larger items around from one location to another.

I wonder if CarShare VT had similar problems to solve during the development of their business model.

twtvite :: BTV Tweetup! (via @pmgnicole)

2009-06-16T14:44:00.003-04:00

Join fellow Vermont Twitter'ers for the Tweetup event at Breakwaters on Burlington's beautiful waterfront tonight June 16, 2009 from 5pm to 7pm...

http://shar.es/rx2m

Posted using ShareThis

The Third Act

2009-06-03T13:38:00.004-04:00

The Newfronts 2009 from The Thrid Act by Digitas.... Live discussion!

http://www.tinker.com/event/2009_digital_content_newfront

Reflections and Observations from the Burlington Vermont Social Media Breakfast

2009-06-02T10:20:00.012-04:00

The below two posts titled, “What I Learned from CC Chapman at the BVT SMB” and “What I Learned from Todd Defren at the BVT SMB” are my notes of the key talking points that were presented to the group of communicators at Burlington’s first Social Media Breakfast.

There was a ton of great information about how social media can be used to help businesses communicate, build a brand community and provide a tool for two way communication.

Social media has become a hot topic in Vermont over the past few months. Click here for a PDF presentation about the changing landscape of online public relations that was developed by myself and Pat Heffernan and was presented on May 15, 2009 at the Women Business Owners Network annual conference (WBON). This presentation gives a good explanation about what is going on in the world of public relations and how online news distribution is changing. It goes nicely with the notes provided in earlier posts from the Burlington VT Social Media Breakfast.

Amongst all the discussions of how and why to use social media there are two important topics that are not being mentioned in conjunction with social media.

The first is ethical behavior that should be followed when engaging in social media and the second, my personal favorite, is the innovation that social media has the potential to create.

1.) Social Media Ethics:
When we get right to the point of what social media offers, it is quite simple – word of mouth marketing (communication). Over the last few years, companies like Kmart and Wal-Mart have been paying for bloggers and other social media players to sing their praise within the social media lexicon.

This may indicate that social media experts, agencies and practitioners are not following ethical guidelines. It may also indicate that clear guideline are not developed. Addisiojntlly, it also tells us that everyone is confused about the ethical standards that should be followed when engaging in social media.

Since social media is a tool to help facilitate word of mouth marketing (communication) it is clear that practitioners should be following a code of ethics. One such Code of Ethics has been set fourth by WOMMA.

Finally, anyone engaging in social media communication should be transparent and genuine in what they are say online. If they are being paid, there should be a disclaimer on each post. As stated by Todd Defren at the Burlington Social Media Breakfast, “authenticity and reputation is everything” in the world of social media communication.

Paid posts should be treated the same way an advertorial is treated. END OF STORY!

2.) Innovation:
Another aspect that I am not hearing much about is the fact that social media creates a community of "brand lovers" and "brand haters." Both are good and neither should be ignored. For the first time in the history of communication we have the ability to literally record every conversation about our product of service. As CC Chapman says, “people love to talk online.”

The online technology and tools behind social media allow for every conversation to be monitored, wharehoused and analyzed.

For a moment, let’s step out of our mind set of the corporate communications officer. Yes social media creates innovative ways to communicate, but beyond that it creates digital focus groups that are filled with product and service INNOVATION.

What, did he say INNOVATION? Yes that is correct. Can you say product development, quality control and engineering?

For many companies that engage in social media, the information that is gathered is mainly used to help shape their communication, marketing and public relations strategy. However, there is loads of data about specific products or services that those social communicators (a.k.a customers and clients) are talking about. If you are savvy, you are also simultaneously paying attention and gathering data (conversations) about what is being said about your competitors.

This information is extremely valuable to product designers, engineers, quality control officers and service providers. Part of every social media campaign should have a section that explains what to do with all the data once collected. It should include what other departments need access to that data and who is responsible for analyzing that data.

After the conference, I briefly chatted with Todd Defren about how product or service innovation is incorporated into their client’s social media strategy. Todd mentioned that they mainly focus on how to innovate the way a client communicates, but he left me with the following example of how one client used the data to create product innovation:

Todd spoke of a client that he had worked with in the past to build a social media campaign. This client was a manufacturer of receipt scanners. Aside from using the data to improve their communication efforts, they took it upon themselves to analyze the data that they collected about their receipt scanner and used it to enhance their current product through incremental product innovation.

Can you say brilliant!

The above example highlights how smart companies can create product or service innovation by using the data collected when engaging in social media.

What I Learned From CC Chapman At The BVT SMB

2009-06-01T13:41:00.003-04:00

- Dont focus on the tools first!
- Have a solid, down to earth good business.
- It's all about who you know. Social medie is all about the people.
- People love to talk online.
- Bad conversation is ok. It gives you a chance to step in.
- Online you repretation is everything!
- You buy where you know.
New Book = "Trust Agent"
- Social Media is not a push technology.
- Give reasons to gather.
- Social media takes a lot of hard work & planning.
- Have real conversations.
- Think long term.
- Good consultants work with clients and teach them how to use the technology.
-Google "The third act" to check out Wednesday event
Flickr.com/commons
Facebook ads is a great demographic research tool.

Question = CC mentioned that businesses should bypass legal and pr. How do highly regulated corporations engage in social media when they have to go through legal and pr to meet FTC regulations?

Geolocate this post.

Posted with LifeCast

What I Learned From Todd Defren @ BVT SMB

2009-06-01T13:34:00.004-04:00

Social media = worlds biggest potluck
Don't be a wallflower
Don't be a Blowhard? He thinks he knows what hes doing wout ever listening
-Content marketing = what you bring to the party.
- Newspapers are dying
- Death of television is happening.
- Public relations death = death of media relations.
- The social media marketers job is to make sure a client is found.
- "Findability" is cheap
- Tactics = dont wait for the traditional news release.
- Content audit!
- Content marketing = repurposing content

PROCESS
- Know thy customers and what competitors are doing.
- Engage before the creation of content.
- Follow the rules of Active engagement.

Geolocate this post.

Posted with LifeCast

Utterli Test Blog Post

2009-05-29T11:51:00.001-04:00

Mobile post sent by jciempa using Utterli. Replies. mp3

Test Lifecast Blog Post

2009-05-29T10:36:00.003-04:00

I am testing out iPod Touch & iPhone blogging apps.

Posted with LifeCast

Test Of LifeCast Blog Post

2009-05-29T10:36:00.001-04:00

Posted with LifeCast

Mediabistro on April Fools Pitches

2009-04-02T15:25:00.003-04:00

Mediabistro features the Clean Green Vermont Alliance's April Fools prank in their April Fools round-up. Cheers to all involved!

http://www.mediabistro.com/prnewser/stunts/april_fools_pr_foolishness_businesswire_wont_play_113114.asp

April Fools Day 2009 Nuclear Power Spoof: 1972 and Good as New?

2009-04-01T16:43:00.001-04:00

Burlington, VT — Drawing a parallel between a Pontiac LeMans and Vermont’s only nuclear power plant may seem like a bit of a stretch to some, but not to David Blittersdorf, the leader of a new organization called Clean Green Vermont Alliance. The Pontiac LeMans parked on Burlington’s Church Street Marketplace this afternoon and Vermont Yankee were both originally unveiled in 1972.

Billed as “The Car of the Future,” the glow yellow-green LeMans features much of its original equipment – including the engine, seating, dashboard, and “optional” lap belts—in addition to new accessories such as a 1972-appropriate music track, flashing lights, detailing, and a smoke machine. David Blittersdorf and “Rad Man” were on hand to conduct a mock-press conference, demo of the car, and a “trip down 1972 memory lane” as a means of showing that technologies, engineering, and even culture have come a very long way since then.

“There are many products we use today that date back to 1972 – calculators were invented that year, for example. But most of those products have evolved, become much more efficient, safer. I use calculators all the time – there’s one on my cell phone – but it didn’t cost me $795.00, like it would have in 1972. My Toyota Prius is a hybrid, and its seat belts are not “optional” safety features, as they once were in the LeMans. So it begs the question, do we really want something designed and constructed in 1972 to run until 2032?”

The reference to the year 2032 is no accident, as Vermont Yankee was first placed on line in 1972, and its owners have requested permission to operate the plant until 2032, twenty years beyond its intended life span. “Look, this 72 LeMans still runs, and it passed the State’s inspection – but it only gets 12 miles to the gallon, on a good day. As a long-time resident of Vermont, I prefer our roads carry vehicles that can run on a minimum of 20 miles a gallon, and have drivers benefit from all of the advances in safety engineering of the last 37 years. It’s just common sense. When it comes to a nuclear power plant, I feel very passionately that 40 years is long enough and extending the life-span for another 20 years is a risk we Vermonters can’t afford to take.”

The 1972 retrospective and spoof of nuclear power occurred during the busy Burlington lunch hour, with Rad Man offering satiric comments on being “green” and providing members of the crowd with green glow sticks (spent “nuclear fuel rods”). Blittersdorf briefly addressed the assembly and pointedly remarked that he believed recent nuclear energy advertisements billing nuclear power as “green” had to be a “joke.”

Clean Green Vermont Alliance is an organization dedicated to increasing Vermonters’ awareness of the environmental, health and safety hazards posed by fossil and nuclear-fueled energy sources, at a time when the environmental, health and safety advantages of renewable energy power sources are now widely accepted.

The organization’s April Fools campaign features video segments from the event and encourages visitors to post pictures of other 1972 products since replaced by better alternatives at: www.72GoodAsNew.com. Towns and not-for-profit supporters will also be able to sign up online to request use of the “72 Car of the Future” for community events.

Event photos and video available after 3pm at: www.72GoodAsNew.com/news

Car of the Future

2009-04-01T13:09:00.000-04:00

"Friends of Ethan Allen Park" Publicity

2008-04-17T12:43:00.001-04:00

Burlington's own WCAX CH 3

Fox44

It is always great to see local media involved with community efforts. And for those interested in joining the "Friends of Ethan Allen Park" feel free to contact me at jciempa@gmail.com.

Friends of Ethan Allen Park get recognized

2008-04-02T21:33:00.001-04:00

One of the groups that I chair was recognized this evening at City Hall by the Community Economic Development Office to honor their volunteerism. On behalf of the volunteers,

I had the honor of receiving the award, along with David & Ann Arms, which will be hung at the Burlington Department of Parks and Recreation's main office. I decided to post this entry because as I was at the event, I realized that every day volunteers work in the shadows to better a situation. Most, if not all of them never expect to be recognized because they love what they do.

The "Friends of Ethan Allen Park" are the same way. They are a group of neighbors to Ethan Allen Park that recognized a situation where a historical site was being misused and abused. David Arms decided to create a group that would look after the park, which has now become an group of 17 plus that go up to the tower twice a day to lock and unlock the gate so that the public can enjoy the park and all its perks. (The tower being one).

Groups such as the "Friends of Ethan Allen Park" truly embody the nature of public relations. Each member of the group brings a talent, but it is ultimately up to the groups ability to "communicate" both internally and externally to be successful. In order to get volunteers, one must learn how to market the group. To spread the word, one must become a publicist. To get government aid $$$, one must become a lobbyist.

The below video is an interview with Vermont's Own, WCAX Ch3 that our group landed in 2007. Enjoy

Fun Ad Campaign from "Tide To Go"

2008-03-30T00:58:00.002-04:00

This online ad option takes the TV commercial to a new frontier. Visitors to the Mytalkingstain site can upload photos of themselves and crop it to show the face. It is an interesting viral way to create something funny while advertising to your friends. It definately makes people want to go to the site and create their own "Be the Stain" commercial. Additional. once you have completed creating your ad you have options like email, downloading and html code grabbing to spread the ad to friends. I personally chose to grab the html code to post on Myspace. The two spots I did had different facial expressions and my favorite is the top commercial. I suggest that you check it out and upload your own photo to create an entertaining tide commercial.

Donations of the funniest kind

2008-03-13T19:40:00.001-04:00

Playing around on the internet

2008-02-08T11:12:00.000-05:00

The other day I heard about Sprout, an online systems that allows users to build live media content. Curiosity got the best of my so I asked Sprout for Beta testing access and made this neat Test content. It is pretty basic and really not useful, but I just wanted to paly and get my feet wet before attempting bigger things. So enjoy. Also, I realize that in my HR post from two days ago I said that I would be writing about retnetion, and don't woory I still plan too. So for those patiently awaiting that post, its on the way. Check back tonight.

Funny Comedic Skit on PowerPoint Presentations

2008-02-06T19:55:00.000-05:00

Hall Radio HR Radio Recruitment Seminar

2008-02-05T21:24:00.001-05:00

On February 5th, 2008 I attended a HR radio recruitment seminar at Burlington's DoubleTree Hotel. The event was organized by Hall Communications, Inc., and featured Chris Stonick of Stonick Recruitment Incorporated, a nationally recognized media consulting and employee retention agency since 1989 who has been featured in HR Magazine for innovative HR practices involving radio recruitment advertising.

All in all, I think that Hall Communications did a great job keeping the seminar informative and non-sales driven. In addition, it was nice meeting Sue from 99.9 the Buzz in person, (someone who I have spoken to many times before over the phone, but until now had not met in person).

During the event I was impressed with a few ideas that I felt would be appropriate to share with "NMO" followers. Over the next two days I will highlight some of those ideas.

In the US the average tenure for an employee is two and a half years. This statistic applies to employees who are considered "active job seekers." The definition of an active job seeker is someone who has been fired, is out of work or miserable with their current job. These are people who HR does not want to hire, but in many cases will hire if they see their employee pool as low.

Passive job seekers are people who are not currently looking for work, but would consider changing employer if a good opportunity arose. These are the people HR should hire and can reach through creative and thoughtful communication strategies.

Passive job seekers are the applicants that tend to have a higher tenure within an organization while active job seekers tend to last only the average of 2.5 years before bouncing to another company.

To reach passive job seekers, an employer needs to find an avenue that is less direct. While newspaper classifieds offer direct avenues to reach active jobs seekers, radio can offer a way to reach passive job seekers.

Many passive job seekers are not looking for a new job because they are happy with their current employer. This means that they are not looking in the classifieds (and in many cases not listening to the radio). However, radio recruitment reaches influentials in a passive job seekers life. In most cases these influentials are their spouse, family members, friends or acquaintances that are the ones who actually hear the radio ad and then pass along the recruitment information to the passive job seeker through “word of mouth."

Passive job seekers are much more valuable every employers workforce because they are currently employed and are in most cases good at what they do during the workday.

These are employees who are doing their job, doing it well and happy where they are in their current position and with their current employers. Businesses who want to be profitable and productive should understand that they these employees because they are extremely valuable, harder to recruit, and offer longer tenure to a single organization.

Tomorrow, I will discuss retention of passive job seekers and how that can impact you bottom line. But until then, employers with great employees should realize that they have an asset (their employees) that cost more to replace then to retain.

Opportunities for "new media" in HR

2008-01-31T19:01:00.001-05:00

From time to time, emails from job sites that I subscribed to when I was looking for work three years ago appear in my inbox. Back at the beginning of the month one such email came into my inbox and caught my attention. It was for a Campus Manager position with NBC Universal.

A part of public relations is internal communications and HR. So from time to time I read such emails to see how other businesses are explaining the job duties of their current openings. This helps so that if a client needs HR support from the agency I work for, I am up to date with how other organizations are describing similar positions that a client may be looking at recruiting for in the future.

Anyway's, when I read the description for GE's campus manager I figured I'd blog about how social media could be adapted to this position.

First, the position requires that the campus manager manage 1500 interns from the United State's east and west coast. HR being my primary interest, I pondered how to facilitate seamless communication efforts at low company costs, and lower the stress level for the campus management team who may now be fielding hundreds of daily emails, and traveling from coast to coast.

The campus manager could develop a podcast that each of the interns could subscribe too. The campus management team could produce a 30 or 45 minute update, once or twice a week, depending on how much information needs to be disseminated to the interns. The podcast could be posted to a private corporate blog where interns could comment, ask questions and offer advice to fellow interns. Plus it would gather a nice historical account of what an NBC intern may have asked in the past so that a new intern could first search the blog before asking an already answered question.

Secondly, the blog would begin to create an online community that would allow other interns to connect with each other from coast to coast. Comradery is what HR is all about, isn't it? ;)

It may seem like that it would take a lot of money and effort to create a podcast, but in actuality, podcasting equipment could be purchased for under $200 and if a corporate blog did not need to be developed (for privacy reasons one may want to consider a private, secure blog) it would cost next to nothing.

As for the time involved in production, the campus management team would be able to shift how they are currently spending time and spend less time managing emails and focus more on managing a blog where the whole intern community could also pitch in to answer questions (if an intern saw a post that they already know the answer too.)

NBC universal is not the only business that could adopt such a strategy to manage internal communities, and there is more than just blogging and podcasting that could be implemented. I am just on a podcasting kick this week and decided not to address the many other new and social media opportunities that a campus management type position could adopt to facilitate communication and education. I will save that for another day since I am meeting friends out for dinner, and already running late.

Just my two cents.

P.S: Feel free to comment or add to this by telling fellow NMO readers what other businesses can do or are doing to adopt new and social media into their workplace culture. Oh and NBC, if you have something like this we would love to hear about how it is working...

Cheers, JJ

Vermont 3.0

2008-01-23T17:03:00.000-05:00

While listening to Vermont Public Radio I overheard that on Saturday, January 26 2008 there will be a career fair for creatives and techies. Some of the work we do at my office deals with recruitment from some clients so I decided to check into the site to see what Web 2.0 strategies they are using to spread the word about the event.

I have to say that I am extremely impressed with the fact that they adopted Facebook and used the Fan site option to spread the word to Facebook members.
For bloggers, podcasters, people with their own website and those that might have MySpace I like the way that they developed mini flash and still ads that people can take and place on their website of choice.

Kudos to Vermont 3.0 for their innovative efforts in grassroots marketing and online social networking.

Love 2.0

2008-01-22T22:44:00.001-05:00

Time Magazine is one of the publications that I subscribe too. Unfortunately, my day is spent reading many newspapers to see what journalists are writing about and by the time (no pun intended) I get home I lack the motivation and energy to read anything else.

However, today was a little different. My intent was to come home and continue watching my online marathon of "Lost" season 1-3 to get ready for the return of "Lost" season 4 on January 31. But, that all changed when I saw this week's Time cover story, "The science of Romance."

Now I am not some shmupie sucker for romance, and I am not a big player in the game, but why we love and the act of engaging in romance intrigues me. Something about the science of human behavior and the explanations about why we act the way we do, stirs in internal cauldron of my curiosity.

Romance, like any other human behavior, is driven by instinct and requires its own visual, tactile, auditory, and neurochemical and olfactory processes necessary for successful communication.

How these processes work, affect, both positively and negatively, the way we communicate with the one that we are attempting to be romantic with and deliver respective outcomes.

Broken down to our simplest form of communication we use verbal and non-verbal cues to engage in flirting with the desired in hopes of fulfilling our romantic desires. Simple communicative gestures such as stance, a weak smile, scent and tone of voice are tactics used to communicate that you are single, ready to mingle and open to any possibilities.

What I found the most interesting about the articles within this week's "Time" issue was that romance has adopted Web 2.0. In particular, romance has adopted social networking. Since like eHarmony and Match.com offer social networkers a place to go that is focused on finding and delivering romance.

These sites have been around for a few years, but my prediction is that as more people adopt and accept the use of online social networks more people will engage and participate in such eDating communities.

Some evidence I take from just looking at the amount of my friends that now belong to such services. In addition, during 2006 more sites were developed for this purpose with revenues reaching $649 million.

Let me know what you think of the article. It has some very interesting information.

Laptop Pisser of the Year

2007-12-31T23:53:00.000-05:00

Well, I have been traveling around and my HP Pavilion laptop's hard drive failed while in FL. I am somewhat bummed because I had drafted a few posts that were good and wanted to share them, but unfortunately saved all posts on my hard drive which failed.

What a pisser.

Anyways, I wanted to praise Staples for their excellent service offered while dealing with the hard drive failure, which happened on New Year's Eve. I was extreamly surprised by the fact that Staples (which carries my extended warrenty) had tech support available on New Years Eve, but they did and were able to help.

It sucks that my HP laptop's hard drive failed, but the fact that Staples (my extended warrenty carrier) was able to help on New Years makes me happy to be a valued customer.

With that said, once I get back to VT it will be a few days until I am able to blog again. So Happy New Year and see you in 2008 when my laptop is repaired.

Cheers,

JJ Ciempa

I am an ENFP

2007-12-12T22:45:00.001-05:00

Over the last few weeks our office has been involved in discovering the type of work and communication styles each of the team members are as a way to learn more about how to effectively work together.

We have been using the Myers-Briggs type indicator to determine what each of our personality types are and interestingly enough my type has a natural draw toward begin a journalist (ENFP). This is a strong indication to why I chose public relations as my profession. I also learned that the dolphin is the animal that represents an ENFP.

To break it down for you, my letters stand for:

E = Extroverted; N = Intuition; F=Feeling; P = Perceiving

After completing our team building I learned new ways to communicate with the other 15 different personality types. In addition, I gained an understanding that my profile is good for intuitively seeing underlying connections between relationships. This is particularly important since the "R" in PR is all about relationship building and maintaining.

An ENFP is also known for their role as the "inspirer." We are able to invest into a relationship with another individual and stir up some inspiration to get ideas started and goals accomplished.

Our uncanny ability to intuitively understand people within a relatively short period of time proves that we are an asset for any "PR" position because we see important relations connections that others cannot.

Our decision making process is based on intuition and perception which for other types may come off as soft facts. However, we consider the impact of a decision on a personal level and try to accommodate everyone's interests.

As for the "limited" negatives that come with an ENFP. We can tend to fail with follow through on our duties if we do not feel excited about them and need to keep ourselves in check so that we do not jump to the wrong conclusions.

Aside from that we are born communicators, risk-taking, ingenious, people-focused, intuitive and energetic people with a wide range of abilities and possibilities to embrace and bring to the world around us.

Let me know what your type is and feel free to comment about mine...

Thoughts about pitching to bloggers

2007-12-04T22:46:00.001-05:00

While reading the "Global Neighborhoods" blog titled, "Note to communicators: Join in, don't pitch" the following thoughts came to mind and compelled me to post the following comment.

Unfortunately, I think part of the problem is that many agencies push their publicists to pitch to influentials rather than contribute to the conversation. In a strict business sense it is viewed as a more cost effective way to disseminate information because it can reach a wider range of “influentials.”

That same release that was sent to you, most likely went to other bloggers with a similar beat. The tactic of pitching only requires a publicist to draft a generic news release that can then be sent to hundreds of editors, journalists, bloggers and key influencers with the hopes that at least 30% of the recipients run with the information.

What you are asking is for the publicist to join in many different conversations. This would require many tailored bits of information and a higher level of involvement that is not as cost effective. Imagine the amount of time that it would take to write 100 different releases of information, tailored to specific conversations of that day’s post.

I will ask my first question: What has a better return on investment when attempting to get a client into the blogosphere? Pitching a generic news release or building relationship by joining in on the conversation?

As summed up by Katie Paine in her new book “Measuring Public Relationships” (http://kdpaine.blogs.com/bookblog/) many of us tend to forget that the “R” in “PR” stands for relations. Thus, many publicists do not focus on building relationships with the influentials that they rely on. Instead, they solicit them with news release emails, phone calls and negative attitude if the release is not picked up in the media outlet.

I will ask a second question: What's more valuable? Generating a many hits with a generic news release or building dialogue with bloggers?

Focusing on generating blog hits through shotgun pitching strategies is not a good way to show any client ROI. If successful all you accomplish is getting it through the gatekeeper at that moment in time, but eventually the backlash will be that the blogger you keep pitching too feels abused and eventually blacklists you severing the relationship building opportunities that could have blossomed by joining in on the conversation.

My third question is how do you make blogging more cost effective? As for solving the problem of how to join in many conversations, a publicist should not be the only person blogging for a client. They should build a blog list and offer higher level strategy and best practices advice to the client on how to appropriately blog. They should also encourage the client to get employees engaged in all blogging efforts. There is no one who can talk more about the company than its employees.

Finally, does pitching have a place in PR? For much of traditional media, pitching will never go away. For example, the only way to get into the Wall Street Journal print edition is to pitch your story to a key reporter or buy advertising. However, I agree with you and many other bloggers (myself being new to the game) that a publicist should not try to infuse old communication techniques, such as pitching a story, to new media outlets, such as blogs.

Bloggers start blogs to create a forum for open discussion on a topic of interest that the blogger enjoys facilitating and is knowledgeable about. People go to blogs to participate in conversation and share ideas and opinions, while they go to traditional news outlets to consume vetted information.

As a side note, I want to point out that I am not affiliated with Katie Paine or her new book. Rather, I’m in the process of reading the first pages and felt compelled to share some thoughts from reading her book in my comment. I also recommend it to anyone looking for solid information about measuring their public relations.

Feel free to comment on my latest thoughts.

Belated thoughts about Anderson's actions on "The Long Tail" blog

2007-11-25T21:49:00.001-05:00

I was asked by our intern at the office my thoughts about Chris Anderson's actions in regards to posting 329 publicists emails on his blog. Below is what I thought of the entire incident.

Having followed Chris Anderson’s blog prior to his actions of posting roughly 329 PR professional’s emails my opinion is a bit mixed. The unfortunate thing about Chris’ actions is that it has brought about negative reactions from other journalists toward fellow PR practitioners.

Shortly after Anderson posted the emails, Pulitzer Prize-winning music critic Tim Page of the Washington Post responded to an unsolicited news release that he received about D.C. Council member Marion Barry's views on a community hospital issue with a jocular note back to the publicist stating:

“Must we hear about it every time this crack addict attempts to rehabilitate himself with some new--and typically half-witted--political grandstanding? I'd be grateful if you would take me off your mailing list. I cannot think of anything the useless Marion Barry could do that would interest me in the slightest, up to and including overdose.” Source of above information came from George Simpson of Media Post.

I agree with fellow publicists that it was unprofessional for Anderson to post a list of emails and to call them “lazy flacks,” since we are supposed to work together. As for Tim Page’s reply to the unsolicited press release it too was inappropriate, and agree with Washington Post Management’s decision to have Page publicly apologize

However, both of these responses to those press releases raise a bigger ethical issue about how we as publicists distribute releases to journalists. They both point to a lack of due diligence on the part of the publicist who should determine if the email they have for a editor/ journalist is the right person to send a particular press release too. Simply relying on media contact information from purchased databases, such as Cision or online editorial information is not an end all resource for smart media/ blogger outreach and media relations.

There are no excuses for why a publicist should not be able to take the time to call the publication to ensure your press release reaches the right person and is not seen as spam or lazy behavior. As a member of the PR industry we are responsible to ensure the industry’s image is not seen in a negative way.

Web 2.ooh am I exhausted

2007-10-09T23:03:00.001-04:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - In studying and/or promoting web-technology, the phrase 'Web 2.0 refers to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis and folksonomies — which aim to facilitate collaboration and sharing between users. The term spread following the first O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004.

I pulled the above definition of Web 2.0 so that anyone reading this post could have a quick understanding of the term. But more importantly, it is included to give understanding to the efforts needed to be a Web 2.0 player or "social networker" in our new generation of web communities.

While sitting in my townhouse and setting up the many social-networking site accounts that I belong to (Facebook, Myspace, Vermont PR, PRSA, Del.icio.us, Technorati, MyRagan) and the list goes on, the realization that in order to be a web 2.0 player much effort is needed to build profiles and create content on each of my social-networking sites. More importantly, once I have all these accounts set up, continual time will need to be invested in each of the accounts so that information is managed and updated on a regular basis. "Talk about a second or third job all by itself."

One neat idea that came to mind while building a database on my computer to keep track of all my social network accounts was that it would be really nice if someone developed a social-networking site content management program that allowed us to manage all our sites from one program. (If this already exists could anyone in the know recommend and comment about it so that I can begin using it for social-networking site management). The premise of the program should be similar to an offline blog editor (my favorite being Windows Live Writer) where many blog accounts can be managed from a single program.

How do bloggers communicate

2007-10-06T15:03:00.001-04:00

As a new blogger and communications consultant I am trained to communicate flawlessly with precise execution of spoken language.

However, as a member of society that is not how we communicate with each other. Flaws are everywhere. Sentences do not make sense, and use of words may even be incorrect.

One of my biggest concerns about blogging is that readers will see my writing flaws and discredit my thoughts. Errors in punctuation, mis-spelled words and maybe even non-complete sentences will happen from time to time. Should the reader expect perfection or look beyond the written text to the messages being published.

Do we as bloggers communicate our written posts according to a set of style rules similar to that of the newspapers? AP Style. Or Do we as bloggers communicate our written posts according to how we speak them?

Many fellow bloggers feel that we should communicate through our blog according to how we would communicate in person. On one of my favorite podcasts, "For Immediate Release" a brief discussion took place about how bloggers communicate when blogging and both Shel and Neville agreed that when they blog they write their posts as if speaking them to the reader.

I think that when we communicate via blogging spelling and grammar are important, but should not be the focus when determining if what the blogger communicates is valuable.

As more blogging happens the written word becomes better formulated with less errors, but the purpose of a blog is to communicate ideas, generate conversation and provide a publication outlet for everyone. Not just journalists, writers and professionals.

If this is true, then as a blogger will my written errors decrease the validity of my thoughts, messages and information being relayed thus discrediting my ideas within the posts?

I would love to have a comment on this thought to see what fellow bloggers feel about blog writing style.

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Microsoft Virtual Earth Plugin

2007-09-29T19:47:00.001-04:00

It is Saturday night and I am just about to go out with my crew, but first wanted to share this neat plugin offered with WL Writer. It allows you to attach a virtual earth and or map to a post. this would come in really handy for discussion with the need to show where the location is for an event, construction site, event and any other need for displaying a location. The above "Birds Eye" shot is of my house and you can see my vehicle parked in the driveway. The below is a map of Burlington's New North End.

I have to say this is a very neat plugin that adds value to many types of blog posts.

TEST

2007-09-28T20:42:00.001-04:00

This was a test to see how Windows Live Mail works with the blog live writer. It's a neat program that allows you to post emails to your blog for further discussion. The whole Windows Live family has impressed me so far, and the Windows Live Mail is like Outlook, but with Web 2.0 applications built into the program such as (said above) blogging, RSS feeds brought to your inbox and much more.

TEST

Test Post Using Windows Live Writer

2007-09-25T22:36:00.001-04:00

I am writing today utilizing Windows Live Writer to see what type of options are available with this powerful blog content editing software.

So far, set up was very simple. After downloading Microsoft NET 2.0, the downloading of Windows Live Writer Beta was a breeze. I am in the process of now setting up my blog configuration and testing the features of Live Writer.

More posts will come shortly after I get used to using this interesting and easily adaptable software.

Cheers! And as always, more new media observations to come.

John

P.S: Enjoy the photo from my vacation in the Gulf of Mexico from two weeks ago.

"Podcasting" for all the right reasons

2007-07-10T22:25:00.000-04:00

Podcasting is a powerful tool. The verbal translation of our words is much stronger than written text.

Point in case: I was having a discussion over IM the other day with an old friend and we were trying to have a deep, opinion based conversation. Through text, my words came off as harsh and pessimistic. All meaning was lost because the person on the receiving end had to rely on their interpretation of how I would say what I was typing. Translation was skewed, and the text was read and processed differently than how it would have been conveyed if spoken.

Keep in mind that this was a friend that I was speaking too who got it wrong. Just imagine if I was having a similar conversation with someone I barely knew, let us say through email or by responding to a comment on a favorite blog. They would not have only got it wrong, but they would have probably ended the conversation and not spoken to me again.

The above personal case study helps illustrate how podcasting can be applied to business communication for better management of the "whole" message. I use the word "whole" because you can better convey the meaning of your message when it's spoken. Text allows for the message to read, but not necessarily translated the way it is intended to be interpreted.

The power of podcasting breaks down that barrier of miscommunication that can happen if your reader misinterprets what they have read.

In business communications organizations can utilize podcasting for customer relations, employee communications, and shareholder relations (to name a few) for types of communications that would have traditionally used the written word in the form of a report or memo.

Our busy lives inhibit us from being able to read through the many memos and reports we may have emailed to us on a daily or weekly basis. If those same messages came in the form of a podcast, we would then (as information consumers) have the ability to listen and consume key information while in our car, at the gym or during our lunch break. Listening to a podcast is less time consuming and offers greater flexibility in consumption of messages delivered.

It just makes sense in many business communication situations. It will also help develop loyal customers, employees and shareholders by providing them with the information they need to feel informed, respected and valued.

That’s it for now, if you have a comment about this posting feel free to offer your observations and thoughtful comments about podcasting and its use in business communications. Check back soon to see what other observations I will have on podcasting.

Cheers,

- John

"Social Networking" at its' best

2007-06-21T22:19:00.001-04:00

While listening to an "Across the Sound (ATS)” http://www.acrossthesound.net/ pod cast from my iTunes library, Joseph Jaffe mentions that in order to truly understand new media one needs to immerse oneself into social networking sites, blogging, podcasting and the many facets of this new communications industry.

Step one for me was to begin understanding online social networks. Prior to today, Facebook was my only social site, and in keeping with good advice from “ATS” I am in the process of signing up for and setting up LinkedIn, Myspace, and Audience Buzz. All of which are quite time consuming.

As always, observations about each social network site to come.

If you have comments or want to share your experience with each social network site, please comment on this post.

Cheers,

JJC

Welcome to "New Media" Observations

2007-06-18T18:43:00.000-04:00

Welcome to "New Media" Observations,

The goal of this blog is to provide open and endless dialog for those interested in learning about "new media" and where it fits into public relations and socially responsible marketing communications.

More content to come.

-John