Musings about LA, start-up life, PR, Marketing, and Entrepreneurship

For the last week I’ve been staying in an apartment in Buenos Aires owned by long time family friends. I had been told that the owner’s granddaughter was in college studying something called Social Communications.

Hmmm.

“Social Communications?” I asked.  “Is that like what studying Public Relations used to be?”  Her grandmother wasn’t sure.

On my way to my daily stop at the corner coffee shop I ran into the granddaughter in the elevator and asked her about it.  She told me that her university is the only one offering it and it’s chided by other schools as “lacking focus,” as in not specializing in “Social Media” or “Public Relations.”

The emphasis of the degree is on the overall act of communications, the integrated approach. She’s going to share more information with me later but I found it fascinating as the current curriculum at most universities of Public Relations and/or Communications is doing a huge disservice to up and coming professionals by not expanding their focus to prepare future leaders to be well-versed in Communications Strategy vs. “Public Relations” (read: media relations/publicity.)

This is a topic that has been discussed in depth in my circle of peers.  Matt Meeks summed it up quite well in a comment left on my post “The Demotion of PR, the Rise of Communications”:

In my opinion, the problem is multi-faceted. It is an issue of education both in-house and with-in agencies as well as an issue of money. From an education standpoint, most PR and communications people graduate college with a degree in Journalism or Mass Communication, not degrees in Business, Management, Operations, etc. As a result, right of the bat, they are trained to think in terms of media impressions. They are writers. They are not analysts or problem solvers. The other issue is an education issue within the ranks of organizations. Because communications is not taught as part of business, executives often do not understand the full scope of its purpose. When it comes time for them to think about PR, they are often just looking for publicity.

I look forward to learning more in the coming days.

I just got back from drinks with a good friend who lived the agency life until going corporate (more on that later) and through the course of conversation hit on @oldspice, natch.

She said, “Can we just talk for a minute about the brilliance of Old Spice?”

“It is head shake-ingly brilliant,” I said, as I shook my head between both hands. It truly is.

I told her that among the many marketing insights that will influence countless case studies to come, two specific thoughts have been resonating in my brain.

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An interesting thing crossed my desk last week.  It was a corporate job description for, basically, what used to be a VP of Public Relations.  The word used instead to describe the position? “Communications Lead.”

This copy relayed quite strongly that this company was not looking for a “traditional PR” exec or someone who thought like one. Media relations would be important but this was about something much bigger – customers, thought leadership, partner relations, to name a few.

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(This article first appeared on LaLawag.com on June 24th and was co-written by myself and @melissarowley.)

In a day and age when sharing our stories, favorite videos, political views, product reviews, intimate moments, photographs, and random rants and raves across multiple digital platforms is part of our daily routines, our content is consumed at an unprecedented rate. Being accessible in real-time all the time can bolster our business and personal brands. That is the upside. The downside is the manner in which social etiquette is being increasingly bastardized in the Web 2.0 sphere because of a misplaced sense of entitlement and set of expectations our readers, followers, and Interweb friends have from absorbing the onslaught of our digital footprints.

One typical evening on Twitter a few months ago, Francisco Dao (@theman) coined the term social media entitlement syndrome. The dialogue I observed in my Twitter stream about SMES that night definitely struck a chord. As a frequent social medializer, I couldn’t help but wonder: a) have I ever had SMES? b) do I know people who do? c) can SMES be stopped?

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An industry peer and I got to chatting about developments with a new start-up client at her agency. They are several months into the retainer and have worked closely with the CEO to develop their product and corporate messaging which includes presentations, web copy, marketing collateral and press materials, to name a few.

She was lamenting how the CEO isn’t getting the kind of traction the company needs with their target market and the media.

“They just aren’t getting it,” she said. “What we’re saying is not resonating.”

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No. You Can’t Pick My Brain was referenced in quite a bit of commentary across the web, especially on my blog and in the entrepreneurial and creative circles. It was re-tweeted hundreds of times and drove more than 9,000 visits to my site.

Two sentences seemed to especially have struck a chord with my creative peers:
1) Creative ideas and connections are the real currency in this digital economy.
2) Strategic and creative counsel is one of the most under-monetized aspects of being in the communications and marketing business.

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RECURRING WEEKLY:
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Tuesday’s with Exectec
7:30 PM @ D’Amore’s Pizza Connection on Westwood
1136 Westwood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90024

Thursday Lunch
12PM @ Santa Monica/ 3rd

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APRIL EVENTS
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**Tubefilter Web Television Week Spring 2010: In celebration of the 2010 Streamy Awards, Tubefilter is excited to announce a full week of web television and digital entertainment related events from April 5 to 11, 2010 right here in Los Angeles.

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Monday, April 5th
Think LA’s: Meet the Board Mixer
6:00-9:00pm
Beechwood Restaurant
822 Washington Blvd.
Venice CA 90292

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RECURRING WEEKLY:
—————————-

Tuesday’s with Exectec
7:30 PM @ D’Amore’s Pizza Connection on Westwood
1136 Westwood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90024
http://www.exectec.us/

Thursday Lunch
12PM @ Santa Monica/ 3rd

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MARCH EVENTS
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Wednesday, March 3rd
Digital LA’s Celebrity Websites Panel
5:00-8:00pm
Madame Tussauds Hollywood
6933 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA

To be discussed:
- How are celebrities using their website to build their brand and fanbase
- What assets work on celebrity sites: movie pics, vids, blogs, Twitter feed, promotional, etc.
- How to tie new movies, concert tour dates, etc, into content
- Social Media: How to tie into the celeb’s MySpace page, Facebook fan page, Twitter. Who manages it?
- How do celebs view online/social media. Who gets it, uses it, etc.

Panelists included:
- Jeff Pierce, 65 Media, concepted JimCarrey.com website, currently a finalist for this year’s SXSWi Film/Web award http://jimcarrey.com
- Anthony Malzone, Art Director for Prince, manager of Prince’s online presence, including his official website LotusFlow3r http://www.lotusflow3r.com
- Karen Woodward, content manager, writer, Booeep.com, works with Greg Grunberg, Sophia Bush, Lauren Holly, Disney kids, etc. on their official websites
- Tim Carr, manages social media presence for TV stars Jaimie Alexander (Thor, Kyle XY), Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes), Patrick Duffy (Bold and the Beautiful, Step by Step).
http://gdptalk-efbevent.eventbrite.com/

AGENDA
- 5-5:30: Check-in and networking
- 5:30-6:30 Panel and Q&A inside Madame Tussauds Hollywood - the Awards room will be closed off to the public just for us!
- 6:30-8p Explore the rest of the museum - bring ur camera - there are more than 100 wax figures, from Hugh Jackman and Spider-Man, to Simon Cowell and Ryan Seacrest, to J.Lo, Brangelina, MJ, George Clooney, Obama, James Dean, and dozens more! Modern and classic celebs, actors and singers. And for Awards Season, 40 Oscar® Winners wax figures are on display, the only collection of its kind in the world! Explore til the museum closes at 8p.

Advanced registration required.

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I was reminded of this post, which has sat in a word doc on my desktop for two months, while reading “Can I Pick your Brain,” by Kevin Dugan. Thanks, Kevin, for inspiring me to finally get it posted.

I’m not sure where to start with this topic since I feel like it might offend many people who know me who have asked the very thing.  For close personal friends I can make an exception but there has to be a line drawn somewhere.

Several years ago I had upgraded myself to first class on a flight from LA to NYC, where I was living at the time. As the plane was boarding I was flipping through the current issue of Wired. Highlighted in the magazine was a book called “Ambitchous” (has since been changed.)  It was, ultimately, about how the female psyche can hold one back in business.  How we can under-value and under-appreciate what we contribute, and our desire to not push too hard or ask for too much because we don’t want to be “the Bitch.”  The author interviewed hundreds of women and is a career psychologist of sorts as well as having a strong background in business.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and it was my travel partner handing me a note. I opened it and it said: “Turn to page 76. That’s my book.”
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