The world of PR has woken up to the impact of blogging.
I had the pleasure of speaking at the Chartered Institute of Public Relations' Northern Conference in Leeds on Thursday. The most popular workshop was Stuart Bruce's fascinating introduction to the world of blogging. The questions confirmed that PR people are concerned that they don't know enough about blogs - and anxious to learn. Stuart was joined by Simon Collister, another committed PR blogger.
In my keynote speech, I explained why blogging is such a powerful tool for consumerism. For the first time, consumers have the ability to create a voice for themselves in seconds. If the cause is topical, the traditional media will give consumer blogs plenty of publicity. The PR profession has to come to terms with blogging - and social networks such as myspace.com - if it is to give effective advice in the new media age.
My other favourite workshop was Michael Bland's session on crisis management, entitled When it hits the Fan. Michael did a lot of media training for me at Eagle Star in the 1990s and has become one of Britain's experts on crisis communications. His advice is spot on: think about what your audience wants to hear, rather than what you want to say. It echoed what I said to the conference: in a crisis, always have sensitivity for human emotions and be prepared to say sorry, we got it wrong.
The event was superbly managed by Don't Panic - what a wonderful name for an event management company!
Hey Rob, enjoyed your presesntation at the conference. I agree with you that PR needs to get to grips with the 'new media dynamic' :) but it is precisely the attempt to categorise, box and package new media that often ends up self-defeating. As a father of two I know that at the first sniff of corporate infiltration young people either run from the medium, or block the advertisers.
Again thanks for the presentation
Posted by: Jonathan Traynor | July 10, 2006 at 10:15 AM
Thanks for the plug, Rob.
When are we going to see a First Direct call centre in Second Life??
Posted by: Simon Collister | July 10, 2006 at 10:26 AM
Jonathan - thanks for the comment. I agree that PR's response to blogging and social networks must reflect the mood and tone of the users of new media. That's why many still think the corporate blog is an oxymoron.
Simon - I'll let you know when we appear in Second Life! (Assuming Paxman has left...)
Posted by: Rob Skinner | July 10, 2006 at 09:24 PM