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Friday FAIL – PR Fail and PR Win

Posted on August 15, 2008 by Luke Armour

To pay homage to the twisted twins PR Fail and PR Wins set up by Jonathan Hopkins and Brendan Cooper (a new overseas FH colleague) respectively, I’m turning this week’s Friday Frivolity into Friday FAIL. Actually, it’s also just an excuse to highlight some of the hysterical things that brighten my day from the Fail Blog (Pictures and Videos of Failed moments).

So in honor of PR Fail and PR Win…

fail owned pwned pictures
see more pwn and owned pictures

fail owned pwned pictures
see more pwn and owned pictures

fail owned pwned pictures
see more pwn and owned pictures

I actually have my own thoughts about PR Fail and PR Win and they boil down to:

  1. I’m tired of PR people getting bashed, but
  2. I understand why some of us deserve it

I know a lot of great PR people who are trying to turn that image around – and I hope I’m one of them – but it’s a big, dumb boat to turn.

Incidentally, here’s a REALLY provocative and interesting post from Sweeney, bashing Michael Arrington bashing PR folk – definitely worth a read. Also, for more information about PR Fail, visit Brendan’s PR Fail commentary and the subsequent conversation he had with Jonathan.

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Filed under: Frivolity, Future of PR, Professional Development, Proud of PR, Public Relations | Tagged: , , , , | 2 Comments »

Oh, How Small the World has Become

Posted on February 9, 2007 by Luke Armour

connections.jpgPhoto by Daycha Kijpattanapinyo

Here’s a little story that demonstrates the connections we’re all making online through this crazy social media network. It never ceases to amaze me.

Follow along closely, ’cause this is intricate.

Most of you know that being a part of the blogosphere means you’ll run into the same characters over and over again, especially in niche corners of the blogsphere’s web such as communication pros, cat fanciers, and lactivists. So I knew of Erin online about 18 months ago and met her online shortly before she started Forward. She invited me to contribute to the Forward blog not long after. Somewhere along the line I met Paull. It wasn’t long before I knew Erin and I shared the same passion for PR and social media and that Paull and I had the same questionable sense of humor.

Fast forward to my job, where we hire a young woman who finds out I’m a social media freak. She tells me not long after her hire that her former professor started a blog. So I checked it out. His name is Bill, his blog is ToughSledding. I check him out, I subscribe. I mean, he’s the only other NE Ohio PR blogger I know of.

Fast forward to Paull’s world tour, where he leaves Australia and travels the world, New York, Washington DC, Toronto Canada, Ohio, Norway, Denmark and more. He and Erin spend some time with me here in Ohio. It is amazing to think how it all transpired for them to be sitting in my living room one day. But then he and Erin headed out and things were back to normal here.

Then I get the following email from Bill at ToughSledding:

I’ve been conversing with Paull Young (through Facebook) and learned that he’d been in the area to visit his “mate” in Ohio. Thought maybe it was time I introduced myself, since we’re both blogging on PR topics and we’re both in the neighborhood.

I was floored. Kent State University is about 50 minutes from my house. Bill had made a comment to a post at Forward, started chatting with Paull on Facebook. Paull sent him a video of him speaking at a college in Toronto and Bill emailed me because of Paull.

I tried to get people at work to recognize the sheer brilliance of a medium at work when a fellow visiting the states from Australia can meet up with a guy in Ohio who works with a graduate of a school whose professor happens to have begun a conversation with said Australian, causing the professor to email the guy in Ohio who lives/works nearby. Bill understood the complexity of it. We agreed to find a time to meet up, but had never found time.

So I went to a PRSA luncheon in Akron on Thursday to watch Sage Lewis teach PR folks about SEO and Web 2.0. I got there a little later than most and there were only a few chairs left. I found a seat, went to introduce myself to the table when it dawns on me that the person I’m about to shake hands with is Bill from Toughsledding.

Absolutely amazing. It came full circle around. Bill thought it was amazing as well, and told the assembled crowd about it. It’s a medium at work. Always. Recognize it. Realize what it can do for you, your business, and your clients.

Filed under: blogging, Blogosphere, Future of PR, Proud of PR, Public Relations, Social Media | Tagged: , , | 2 Comments »

I have the Power of 150, you insignificant noisemakers, you

Posted on January 16, 2007 by Luke Armour

No, wait, I wrote that incorrectly. I am one of the pr/marketing bloggers that made it into Todd And’s The Power 150: Top Marketing Blogs. In fact, I’m lucky number 100! Take that Steve Rubel of Micropersuasion! Oh, wait, he came in at 15. Take that Kevin Dugan of Strategic PR and The Bad Pitch Blog! No, shoot, both of his blogs beat me at 24 and 45, respectively. Who else, ah, have at thee, Shel Holtz! Crap, he’s 28. I’ll bet I beat that good-for-nothing Todd Defren – let’s see…curses! He soundly beats me out at 34. Ha! I beat eSoup, whatever the hell that is.* I guess that’s some consolation.

Todd rated these blogs using Google PageRank, Bloglines Subscribers, Technorati Ranking, and the ever subjective Todd And Points. I’ve got to admit, when I set up those other 234 Bloglines accounts and subscribed only to my own blog and The Daily Dilbert, I felt kind of stupid. But it’s all paid off now.

Seriously, I think what Todd has done is really quite amazing. You can read his original post here. If I weren’t so busy faking podcasts and writing about the important pr/marketing issues that made me of the the Power 150, I’d have thought of something equally as clever and subjective. Something like “The Chainmail Armour 200,” “125 Blogs in Shining Armour,” or, perhaps, “The stuff I try to cram in my head every week from smart people on their blogs 2.1!”

Honestly, Todd, thanks for taking the time, for enjoying my shambles…uh, rambles, and for contributing so joyfully to this social media space. Congrats to the other 149, yes, even those of you from 1-99.

*note: I’m just kidding. Well, I wasn’t, but I wanted to know what eSoup was really all about, so I visited the site and it looks really good. Sharon has some impressive things on both eSoup and her own website. So, no hard feelings, Sharon, I just…I went for the funny line, okay? Please forgive me. I mean, eSoup? It’s a punchline in this context. How’s that for a tagline? eSoup: simplify, organize, punchline

Filed under: blogging, Blogosphere, Future of PR, Marketing, Proud of PR, Public Relations, Social Media, Todd Defren | Tagged: | 4 Comments »

Beth Farrell wins SNCR Award of Merit

Posted on November 5, 2006 by Luke Armour

My friend, former co-blogger and former fellow graduate student won an award from the Society for New Communication Research for her outstanding work in non-profit blogs during her graduate studies. She posted about it here and on her own presentation page. The SNCR posting reads:

The Society’s awards program honors innovative organizations and professionals who are pioneering the use of social media (i.e., blogs, wikis, podcasts, collaborative tools and other forms of participatory communications) in the areas of marketing, public relations and advertising, politics, entertainment, academics, and community and cultural development…

In the Education category, two Awards of Merit were presented:
· Vanderbilt University News Service
· Elizabeth Farrell for a student research project.

Beth was nominated by the outstanding Auburn U professor Robert French who sent her case study in for consideration. If you know Robert, you know he is passionate about social media and he also does great work in the non-profit arena. He was particularly interested in Beth’s work from the start and was impressed with the results.

One thing you need to know about Beth, her work is incredibly thorough. Professors remember her for her great work, her great formidable, solid, thorough work. Robert told me in an IM that her work is “quite…um, comprehensive.” I’m not making fun, well, I might be. Because Beth’s work is incredibly well planned out and somewhat exhaustive. Other students used to love having her in classes with group work. Me included.

Social media is changing the world. Whether people want it to or not. Whether people think it is or not. I just hope communicators, especially PR folk, get it together to be champions of this change in the way the world builds and maintains relationships. That’s why I got into PR, to tell stories, to be a voice. I’m especially intrigued by the SNCR work, and their tireless efforts to bring new communication into the light.

Congratulations, Beth, and good luck with the future plans.

update: added a link

Filed under: Proud of PR, Public Relations, Social Media | Tagged: , | 1 Comment »

Are you proud of PR?

Posted on September 29, 2006 by Luke Armour

Here ye, here ye. If you’re proud of PR, we want you to shout about it!

Well, maybe shouting is a bit harsh, but my good friend Paull Young wants to hear why you’re proud of PR. And I mean “hear” you. Paull’s seeking audio comments for an October release of the Forward Podcast. Read his post here for more information. Deadline is October 5th.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a seasoned pro, new hire, recent graduate, or freshman in college. There’s got to be a reason why you choose PR as your career. Even if it was a terrible mistake and you’re miserable, send Paull a comment so we can save other almost-PR-pros. Seriously, be proud of our field, stand up and tell someone. So fire up your Waxmail, your Audacity, your lame Windows Sound Recorder, your GarageBand, your Skype, or audio recorder of choice and send him an mp3 today!

Filed under: Admin Notes, Future of PR, podcasting, Proud of PR, Public Relations | Tagged: , | Leave a comment »