entrepreneurs

Happy New Year all! Below are highlights for January events in LA. February promises to be a packed month with Twiistup Week anchoring many of the activities. As I hear about other events I’ll update this page. Also, a buddy is helping me get a proper calendar set-up. Cheers to a new year, new beginnings and new opportunities! -Nicole

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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
Santa Monica Promenade

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JANUARY EVENTS
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Tuesday, January 6th
Social Media Club LA: Focus on Film
6:30-9:00pm
Blank Spaces
5405 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 9003

Social Media Club LA focuses on the unique mix of entertainment, technology and culture that makes LA an epicenter of the next evolution of the internet. The LA Chapter was founded in July of 2008.

The upcoming meeting will focus on the effect of social media on the film industry.

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Last week I had the pleasure of once again joining Al Krueger, Jennifer Leggio and almost Brian Solis (something came up) for Comet Branding Radio to talk about potential threats to the PR industry-at-large if not able to grasp social media or how it incorporates into business strategies. The topic spawned an engaging discussion that took a step back, looking at social media’s place within the larger map of communications, marketing, the sales cycle and branding.

All participants are fans of social media and have a solid grasp on how to make the PR/social media integration a smooth one but many PR people don’t have that grasp, as Jennifer pointed out. Part of what’s holding PR back from evolving away from current prejudices is reluctance by the old school to give way to the new school. There is still a total lack of understanding by the majority of PR people regarding WHAT their role is when it comes to contributing to the organization, which goes back to education, which is a much larger topic for another time.

Social media has clearly emerged as a powerful communication tool on multiple levels.. The amount of information collectively generated has unearthed a treasure trove of insight that helps companies with lead generation, customer service, market research, and product development. It’s become such the shiny toy of the marketing world that it’s birthed an entire industry, but should it stay a separate practice or become absorbed into an existing one, if not several? Is Social media, in the long run, going to claim a new distinct discipline to join advertising, marketing and PR?

Here’s some highlights of what was discussed.

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The December event calendar is decently busy for LA. The past week I attended three: Dealmaker Media’s “VC Outlook for 2009” roundtable and mixer, Kick-off of Techkaraoke LA and the launch of Girls in Tech LA (followed by a little celebration at the Libertine.) It took me two days to catch up on rest.

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This article first appeared on Bub.blicio.us November 23, 2007. Jason Calacanis is known for his direct delivery style and he had some strong words for entrepreneurs on what it takes to fight and conquer. In light of ongoing occurrences with start-ups trimming staff and cutting budgets it seemed appropriate to re-post.

“Business is not about being nice. If you want to be nice go to a church social.”
- Jason Calacanis

Ah. The infamous Jason Calacanis. I’ve heard so much about him over the years and even remember pitching SA Reporter way back when during the boom. Now here we are a short 9 years later and I’m attending the Fireside at Startup LA with him and host, LA’s own, Heather Vescent.

I don’t know Jason as a person at all and have only met him a handful of times, almost every time with him giving me a look of total lack of recognition and “yeah, what do you want?” all over his face. I was told recently that this is a tactic he uses just to see how people will react. Good thing then that when he shook my hand limply at Startup LA and said, “Yes, I remember you” in a totally bored voice I simply said, OK, and turned around and walked away. I’m not one of those ass-kisser types no matter how many people want you to sign their napkin.

It was with great curiosity that I sat down at a table in the front with my purty little Macbook popped open in front of me with Bub.blicio.us name tag proudly on display to capture the entire conversation word for word. You always hear, “You either love Jason or hate him. There is no in-between.” I was looking forward to watching him go and go he did.

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This article first appeared on Bub.blicio.us on August 13th, 2008. Since that time I’ve heard a tremendous amount of feedback from fellow PR and Marketing professionals who struggle with this very thing- gaining acceptance of PR’s expanding role into the realm of marketing and branding.

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This article has been brewing in my mind for five years but it just kind of sat there, not taking shape, only growing larger in substance. Two blog posts this week have kicked my ass in to gear to finally get initial thoughts down on (e)paper.

Steve Rubel, prominent blogger and, dare I say, PR person, started it off with this. Then Arrington followed up with this.

Both completely reinforce what I’ve long believed:

PR has a branding crisis.

I’ve been in Tech PR for 10 years. I studied PR and communications in college after finding a natural affinity towards the field. The first 6 ½ years of my career was at PR agencies in Silicon Valley, beginning in 1998 right during the hay day. The only thing that mattered was getting press coverage. Everything moved so quickly that the way you proved immediate results for that boat load of money they were throwing at you was by the thud factor, or clip book, as it’s more commonly known.

There was no patience for PR strategy that involved developing deep relationships with customers to turn them into advocates for your brand. The Internet was pretty nascent to most of America so there was no reaching customers directly or being in engaged in blogging and social media. It was all press all the time. With some analysts thrown in for endorsement.

After only four years into my PR career I saw how narrow the definition of “PR” was. Clients would come to us to promote their companies but it was always through the media and rarely through non-traditional “PR” avenues. I witnessed time after time the demand from my clients for creativity in campaigns and promoting the company but some of the best ideas generated to directly connect with the audience were shot down if it didn’t guarantee press coverage. This, to me, missed the point of what PR should ultimately be used for.

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