Twitter: The Great SM Proxy

Studying the room after a few minutes, it was clear that a few people were lost. The speech had been billed as a view into the future of social media, and the speaker had not spent nearly any time discussing Twitter.

Perfect! The audience – a group of communications executives from the cable and broadcasting industry gathered on Manhattan’s Upper East Side -- was exactly where I’d hoped. My unorthodox approach had made them question what they believed to be good and true, that Twitter WAS the future.

It’s easy to become all consumed by the ubiquitous nature of Twitter, believing it is setting the tone for the future of digital communications and conversation. In some ways, it is, but it’s unwise to overlook the myriad start-ups rolling out cutting-edge SM applications, whether GeoIQ for location-intelligence visualization, Klout for influence scoring or Hearsay for corporate SM compliance.

“Wait,” you protest. “Services such as those rely on a few digital media platforms for their content. Without Twitter, they wouldn’t exist.” Not necessarily.

A recent report pegged Twitter usage at just eight percent of the U.S. population, so its ubiquity may be more a mindset of “in the know” communications professionals than reality. That’s dangerous. Not because being Twitter-conversant isn’t important, but because of how many practitioners are treating the service: as the only game in town.

What about Hyves in the Netherlands? Or Renren in China? Wait, is Orkut still going strong in Brazil? As much as we think the world is global, localized services – even in the digital universe – can and often do win out.

Therein lay the secret. Look to Twitter as a proxy, not the be-all-end-all. Applications only pulling in and crunching Twitter content streams will soon be doing the same for other platforms (JitterJam, recently acquired by Meltwater, is a good example).

And when that occurs, where will you be? Will you have built programs and campaigns so specific to Twitter that you’ll be forced to continue down that path, or will you expand your line of sight to an even richer flow of information from additional sources?

When Recruitment Sites Fail

The company-endorsed (in fact, promoted) blemish to its own reputation. It's been lurking under your nose for years. Right there in plain sight.

Behold the over-looked, under-funded and outdated recruiting Web site. Not the Flash-intensive, smiling faces, bells-and-whistles marketing front-end, but the applicant back-end.

I've been guilty of ignoring this aspect of recruitment branding myself. As a senior communications executive, I had believed that functional applications systems were keeping pace with the more visible work my teams were doing. I was wrong.

So what can organizations do to propel their online application process (or "getting you in the system," as HR specialists are fond of saying) into the 21st century? I offer three suggestions:

1. Deploy a Universal Template. With multiple organizations using common solutions providers such as Kenexa/BrassRing, adopt a universal template for automatic population of basic data fields, with applicant information stored in a virtual, secure clearinghouse. A number of universities have been using a common application for years -- it's time for the corporate world to catch up.

2. Ensure Mobile Compatibility. The rise of mobile devices, whether smart phones or tablets, increases the chances that potential hires will be using them to input their data. When a drop-down menu is rendered useless on an iPad, expect your social-savvy applicants to dust off their #fail hash tags.

3. Set Expectations. Advise the applicant on the opening screen as to what information you'll be gathering (or in some instances, will not be requesting). Sites run the gamut, from simply asking for a resume upload to suddenly springing a 60-question MBTI-like personality assessment. Follow the no surprises rule, and your non-complete percentage will plummet.

Having worked with (and in) HR organizations for years, it's clear that many recruitment specialists share these sentiments, but are content with "good enough" when faced with budget and time pressures. But is "good enough" the impression you want to leave with high potential talent?

ACCP 2011: Engaging Corporate Communicators

When the request came from the Association for Corporate Contributions Professionals to present a keynote at its annual conference, I jumped at the chance. I figured there would be no better platform to share information about Bausch + Lomb's new global signature program -- the Pediatric Cataract Initiative -- which is focused on conquering a critical cause of childhood blindness.

Yet as I put pen to paper last week (then bits and bytes to a few slides), a realization hit... this would not solely be about the program we'd created, but about why it's been so successful to date. Namely, that the B+L communications team is 110-percent on board (in fact, we co-founded the program alongside our peers).

Only by truly engaging communications peers can corporate philanthropy programs exceed the social and business results to which they aspire. How should you engage? I offer three simple tenets -- bring the important players together from the start, deliver a program with focused differentiation, and rally around a goal that's bigger and more promising that what is simply "achievable."

While the slides mean little without the accompanying commentary, feel free to download a PDF version by clicking here.

The Speed of New: Gator Edition

Mid-week, I'll be in Gainesville, Fla. at the invitation of the Alpha Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America, leading a discussion on how our profession is rapidly changing with the 24-second news cycle.

What will be especially intriguing are the viewpoints of University of Florida students -- young professionals who, in many cases, have only known the round-the-clock, digitally-driven news and content production environment. Will their experiences match up to the new demands of the communications industry?

For those of you playing along at home (or in the dorms), slides can be downloaded here.

Philanthropy's "New Normal"

“Corporate giving is undergoing a dramatic shift. Expectations are changing from transactional relationships to partnerships, with the company and recipient collaborating for success,” notes Mark Shamley, president and CEO of the Association of Corporate Contributions Professionals. “Philanthropy needs to be integrated with business objectives. As a result, the selection process is also evolving."

I just put my next PR News "Management POV" column to bed, focused on this topic, which has resulted in a significant shift in how Bausch + Lomb is approaching philanthropy. If you're a PR News subscriber, look for it soon! If not, I'll also cover the topic as part of my luncheon keynote at ACCP's annual conference on March 8 in Seattle.

PRSA Rochester Luncheon Slides

Join me and colleagues from my adopted hometown -- Rochester, NY -- on Thursday, January 27, for an abbreviated version of the "Speed of New" discussion as presented at the 2009 and 2010 PRSA International Conferences. Click here to visit the PRSA Rochester home page.

PRSA International Conference Slides

Looking for slides from my presentations at the 2010 PRSA International Conference in Washington, D.C.? Well, you've come to the right place.

Click here to download slides from the "Working at the Speed of New" pre-conference seminar.

Slides from the "Shake & Stir: Blending Social and Traditional" can be downloaded here.

PR News Crisis Management Seminar

If you dialed in for PR News' crisis management Webinar today with John Deveney (Deveney Communications), Glen Nowak (Centers for Disease Control) and me , thanks for participating. My slide deck can be downloaded here.

PRSA "Mash Up" Webinar

Slides from the September 2 PRSA "Mash Up" Webinar hosted by Cathy Dunkin, Tom Hoehn, and me are available for download here. They won't mean much without the commentary, so we hope you join us live!

Syracuse University (Newhouse) Slides

Thanks to the graduate students and faculty from Syracuse University's renowned Newhouse School, with whom I had the pleasure of speaking with last evening. As promised, my presentation content is posted here.