Eric Schwartzman

In this exclusive podcast recording, a distinguished panel featuring four former White House Press Secretaries share invaluable insights with public relations agency professionals on key message development, navigating unforeseen challenges, and maintaining accuracy in political campaigns.

The panel discussion, moderated by Dan Schnur, Director of the Institute for Politics at USC, brings together seasoned strategic communications professionals who played pivotal roles in shaping political communication strategies.

The panelists include Camille Johnston, Director of Communications for First Lady Michelle Obama, Noelia Rodriguez, Press Secretary for First Lady Laura Bush, Shelia Tate, Press Secretary for First Lady Nancy Reagan, and David Demarest, Press Secretary for President George H.W. Bush. Their collective experience and expertise comprehensively explore the intricacies of crafting and delivering effective political messages.

This enlightening panel discussion, presented by the Public Relations Society of America Los Angeles Chapter and the Public Relations Society of America Western District, received generous support from sponsors, with Golin Harris as the Platinum sponsor, BusinessWire as the Gold sponsor, and VMS as the Silver Sponsor.

Event sponsors included the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics and MWW Group, and special thanks were extended to Weber Shandwick and Korn/Ferry International. The event, which took place at the historic Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles on July 13, 2010, was expertly produced by Denis Wolcott of The Wolcott Company.

Please note that there is a subtle, background hum throughout the recording, attributed to unavoidable external factors encountered during the panel's recording.

Introduction and Panel Overview (02:30)

Dan Schnur, the moderator, introduces the esteemed panelists, each with a rich background in political communication, setting the stage for an enlightening discussion on "Developing Key Messages in Political Campaigns."

Proactive versus Reactive Communication (13:12)

The panel delves into the dynamics of proactive versus reactive communication within White House press affairs. They explore the significance of predictability in managing communication and how spontaneity can sometimes be the adversary. The discussion delves into what truly makes news in the political landscape.

Navigating Unexpected Challenges (17:48)

Bush White House Press Secretary David Demarest discusses the true test of a White House communicator when faced with unexpected events. Drawing from the military adage that "No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy," the panel explores how even the most meticulously laid plans can go astray when unforeseen circumstances arise.

Grace Under Fire (19:02)

Shelia Tate shares a poignant anecdote from the day President Reagan was shot. The exchange between the president and his cabinet members at the hospital underscores the importance of responding with grace and composure in the face of adversity.

Authentic Communication (23:32)

The discussion turns to the challenge of authentically communicating a leader's personality traits while under the scrutiny of the news media. The panel emphasizes the need to align public relations activities with the true characteristics of the leader, ensuring an authentic message.

Building Public Speaking Skills (27:02)

The panel explores the process of assisting First Lady Laura Bush in developing her public speaking skills, including engaging in local market new media interviews to enhance her communication prowess.

Advertisement and Event Promotion (28:01)

A brief advertisement promotes the upcoming Social Media Boot Camp in Los Angeles on Aug. 18-19, 2010, with registration details.

Navigating Press and Protecting Privacy (30:59)

Current White House Press Secretary Camille Johnston discusses various aspects, including First Lady Michelle Obama's speech to the NAACP, safeguarding the privacy of the president's daughters, ground rules with the news media, and the treatment of Sarah Palin's children by the press.

Adapting to the Age of Social Media (36:00)

The panel reflects on protecting President Bush's teenage children from media scrutiny, particularly in the age of social media, and how approaches to this challenge have evolved.

Crafting Proactive Messages (38:25)

David Demarest outlines his methodology, emphasizing Research, Strategy, Tactics, Plan, and Budget as crucial components in crafting proactive messages that resonate with the American people.

Symbolism and Values (43:39)

The discussion touches on the significance of The East Wing versus The West Wing, First Lady Michelle Obama's White House garden as a symbol of healthy eating habits, and the potential risks involved in starting a garden on The South Lawn. The garden's evolution into a symbol of the Obama administration's values is explored.

Anti-Drug Campaign and Media Spotlight (47:28)

Former White House Press Secretary Shelia Tate discusses First Lady Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" campaign against recreational drug use, shedding light on how it brought media attention to drug prevention programs.

Overcoming Comparisons (51:04)

The panel explores First Lady Laura Bush's ability to carve her own path and overcome comparisons with her mother-in-law, emphasizing her unique qualities.

Transitioning to Government Communications (54:24)

The panelists share advice for private sector public relations professionals looking to transition into government communications. They also address the age-related aspects of government communications, considering that White House Press Secretary salaries are often lower than those in the private sector.

Questions and Answers (01:03:03)

The podcast concludes with a segment for questions and answers, allowing the audience to engage with the panelists.

Conclusion (01:14:26)

The podcast wraps up, leaving listeners with a wealth of insights into the world of political communication and message development in political campaigns.

In this episode, two former attendees of Digital Marketing Seminars -- Laura Meade Kirk of Amica Insurance and Angela Nebel of Summit PR Strategies -- discuss where they were before they took the workshop, what they learned and where they are now.

I've led hundreds of these workshops all over the world. 

SHOW NOTES:  

01:34 -- Laura Meade Kirk, a former Providence Journal reporter, discusses her transition from the newspaper business to the field of public relations at Amica Insurance.  

04:24 -- How Amica Insurance is currently using social media for business communications, including the use of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.  

05:21 -- What makes the Social Media Boot Camp different from other social media training courses, conferences and workshops.  

07:37 -- Resources currently focused on social media communications at Amica and the biggest challenges she is currently experiencing with respect to leveraging social media at the company.  

11:04 -- History of the Social Media Boot Camp, which was created five years ago for the Ministry of Information at the Government of Singapore, UCLA Extension and the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).  It has also been presented privately for numerous organizations including Johnson & Johnson, Toyota, City National Bank, Environmental Defense Fund, United States Marine Corps, US Dept. of State, NORAD NorthCOMM, US Pacific Command and many, many others.  Read past attendees testimonials.  

12:26 -- Angela Nebel, principal at Summit PR Strategies in Michigan discusses her professional background and what lead her to attend the Social Media Boot Camp.  

14:45 -- The group dynamics of the Social Media Boot Camp and the benefits of networking with other attendees.  

15:47 -- Challenges of using social media for clients, demonstrating value and how she's keeping up-to-date.   1

6:49 -- Importance of establishing social media fluency and how that accelerates the learning curve.  

17:30 -- Maintaining ongoing relationships after the boot camp and using one another as resources moving forward.

Briefing

Public relations agencies operate in a highly competitive industry. 

In this interview with communications agency Stan Rosenfield who represents Robert De Niro, George Clooney, Danny DeVito and many others, you learn what it takes to make it as a personal publicist in the entertainment business and how to snag a PR agency internship. 

In addition to serving as president of Stan Rosenfield & Associates, a Los Angeles entertainment public relations firm, he teaches Strategies for Representing Talent in Public Relations at UCLA Extension and is a frequent guest lecturer on Entertainment Public Relations at UCLA, USC, and Loyola.

SHOW NOTES:

02:11 -- Entertainment public relations agency professionals who represent creative talent need to know these three things to be successful.

04:15 -- "A" list talent belongs on the cover of the magazine. "B" list talent gets featured in articles inside the magazine.  If you're an "A" lister and you go inside the magazine, you've done damage to yourself.

04:52 -- How social media has changed the entertainment PR business. Some celebrities have millions of followers. 

06:25 -- To keep up with where the entertainment PR agency Business is headed, you need to keep up with technology.

07:34 -- The importance of understanding mainstream news media and social media.

09:12 -- Entertainment PR Agency Internships, and what it takes to snag one.

11:39 -- Paying your dues by serving as a PR Agency assistant at an entertainment PR firm and tips for successful interviewing.

13:24 -- The famed PR Agency leader Warren Cowan, and what made him such a great entertainment publicist.

17:04 -- Pitching the media for celebrity clients, issues oriented PR, reputation management, and introductions on talk shows.

18:58 -- PR Agency internships at Stan Rosenfield and how to be considered.

20:24 -- Where the PR Agency business is headed.

21:44 -- End

In a detailed and informative discussion with Gregory Reeder, Director of Marine Corps Internal Communications at Defense Media Activity and Editor-in-Chief at Marines Magazine within the United States Marine Corps, we delve into the multifaceted realm of digital public affairs within the military context.

01:48 - Explore how the US Marine Corps (USMC) is effectively adapting from traditional official communication channels to the dynamic landscape of unofficial, digital public affairs platforms. This transition is exemplified by integrating platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, which have become integral components of the USMC's communication strategy. Gregory Reeder underscores the importance of effectively managing these channels to engage with a diverse audience while maintaining the core values and mission of the USMC.

04:27- Gregory Reeder provides invaluable insights into the USMC's decision to restrict access to digital public affairs platforms within the U.S. Department of Defense's nonclassified computer network. This decision was driven by the need to balance enabling communication and information sharing and safeguarding sensitive information. Reeder discusses the challenges and complexities of maintaining operational security while still harnessing the power of digital public affairs.

06:14 - Delve into the intricate nuances of Information for Official Use and how compromises, even within non-classified information, can potentially impact operational effectiveness. By delving into concrete examples and scenarios, Reeder clarifies the rationale behind certain restrictions and emphasizes the need for judicious decision-making regarding information dissemination.

07:41, our discussion takes us to the heart of the Defense Information School's mission in preparing service members to excel in digital public affairs through rigorous and disciplined training programs. Reeder illustrates how these training initiatives equip personnel with the skills and knowledge required to navigate the intricacies of digital public affairs effectively. Practical examples and success stories underscore the importance of this training in maintaining the USMC's digital presence.

10:02, we delve into the art of selling the concept of digital public affairs, particularly the use of social media, to high-ranking officials within the Pentagon. Reeder shares anecdotes of successful persuasion strategies that have allowed the USMC to gain support and resources for its digital public affairs initiatives, highlighting the pivotal role of demonstrating tangible benefits and outcomes.

14:43, we closely examine the Department of Defense's comprehensive new policy governing digital public affairs. Reeder provides a detailed overview of the policy's key objectives, such as enhancing transparency, promoting effective communication, and safeguarding security. Concrete examples of how this policy has been implemented within the USMC underscore its significance in shaping digital public affairs practices.

15:58, we explore the www.marines.mil website and the USMC's dedicated efforts to cultivate a vibrant and cohesive online community for Marines to connect, engage, and participate in digital public affairs. Reeder shares how this online platform has facilitated dialogue and camaraderie among Marines and underscores its role in fostering a sense of belonging and shared purpose.

17:26 - The establishment of the DoD's new media cell and its pivotal role in expanding access to resources and opportunities within digital public affairs. Reeder elaborates on the cell's mission and how it collaborates with various military branches to optimize digital communication strategies and initiatives.

18:51 - The intriguing concept of arming Marines with not only traditional weaponry but also with the tools and knowledge necessary to engage effectively in the realm of digital public affairs. Reeder provides examples of how digital literacy and proficiency are now regarded as essential alongside traditional combat training, ensuring Marines are well-equipped for modern challenges.

21:17 - The paramount importance of practicing maximum disclosure with minimum delay in the fast-paced landscape of Internet time. Reeder illustrates how digital public affairs necessitates swift and transparent communication, especially in crises, by drawing real-life examples of effective and responsive digital communication.

24:55 - Gain a deep understanding of strategies for leveraging digital public affairs tools without compromising operational security. Reeder's insights into the delicate balance between transparency and security underscore the importance of responsible and strategic use of digital public affairs platforms.

This in-depth exploration provides a rich tapestry of insights, examples, and strategies within the domain of digital public affairs, offering a valuable perspective on the US Department of Defense's approach to navigating the ever-evolving digital public affairs landscape.

Image by Geoff Livingston

Korn/Ferry International [NYSE:KFY] Executive Vice-President of Corporate Affairs Don Spetner talks about the impact of Linkedin on the executive recruiting industry, nurturing contacts using social media, and the death of the cold call.

This is Spetner's second appearance on this podcast.  Last time, he discussed the public relations job market, the social media communication skills candidates need to compete, and strategies for job hunting in our current economy.  

This interview was conducted as research for my book with Paul Gillin Social Marketing to the Business Customer, the first book about B2B social media marketing.

SHOW NOTES:

02:52 - Impact of LinkedIn on the executive recruiting industry.

05:07 - How social networks solved the biggest challenge of recruiting, the hard lesson Korn Ferry learned with Future Step and Linkedin's ability to give recruiters and hirers access to passive candidates who are not actively searching for a job.

07:35 - Impact of Linkedin on Korn Ferry's business.

12:45 - “We think the finding of candidates is becoming commoditized,” says Don.  “The real value comes in helping clients assess the fit of a candidate and follow in services to help them retain and maximize the performance of the candidate.” Korn Ferry is the only search firm with an online assessment tool to analyze how candidates think and their emotional make-up.

18:27 - The art of nurturing and maintaining contacts using social media.

21:04 - How LinkedIn has replaced the cold call in the recruiting business.

24:20 - Where Korn Ferry is headed.

25:30 - Advice to those seeking high-profile jobs.

26:50 - Can job seekers use social media too aggressively?

31:19 - End

Photo by Fouad Ghazizadeh on Unsplash

In the face of a looming crisis, CEOs and business leaders are under immense pressure to safeguard their organizations' reputations and financial stability. They often turn to crisis management public relations agencies to navigate these treacherous waters for guidance.

In this exclusive podcast by Eric Schwartzman, United States Navy Public Affairs Officer Jim Hoeft shares invaluable insights from coordinating communications during one of the most catastrophic events in recent history: the 2010 BP Oil Spill Crisis in the Gulf of Mexico.

As CEOs contemplate their potential crises, Jim's experiences shed light on the importance of crisis communication, social media's role, and the perils of reputation damage.

Crisis Management Insights: Lessons from BP Oil Spill for CEOs

0:55 - The State of Affairs Amid Crisis

Jim provides a vivid picture of the situation at the Joint Command Center in Louisiana during the BP Oil Spill. His account underscores the critical need for effective crisis communication, especially when the scale of disaster is overwhelming.

2:30 - Navigating the Approval Process

Understanding the intricacies of the approval process for communicating operational updates is crucial. Jim explains the challenges and protocols of disseminating critical information during a crisis.

3:15 - The Chain of Command

Jim delves into the National Response Framework and the coordination among various agencies. CEOs can draw parallels between these structures and their organizations, recognizing the importance of a well-defined chain of command.

4:15 - The Power of Social Media

In a digital age, crisis communication extends to social media platforms. Jim details the management of the Official Site of the Deepwater Horizon Unified Command, emphasizing its presence on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, and more.

5:37 - Engaging with Feedback

Responding to feedback on social media is a critical aspect of crisis communication. Jim highlights the challenges and importance of addressing public concerns in real time.

8:21 - Social Media in National Crisis

Jim's insights reveal that the BP Oil Spill marked the first instance of the Federal Government's use of social media tools in a national crisis. CEOs can learn how online communications fit into the national response framework and adapt these strategies for crisis management.

9:35 - The Challenge of Monitoring Social Media

Jim discusses the difficulty of manual social media monitoring and the absence of reliable sentiment analysis tools. This highlights the need for advanced monitoring solutions to gauge public sentiment accurately.

11:20 - Leveraging Social Media Trends

Jim explains the utilization of social media trend reports to inform command decisions. CEOs can recognize the value of data-driven insights in shaping crisis responses.

13:25 - Resource Allocation

Crisis management requires dedicated resources, and Jim sheds light on the staffing needs for effective social media monitoring. CEOs can understand the importance of allocating resources wisely during crises.

15:23 - Prioritizing Communication Channels

CEOs can glean insights into prioritizing social media communication channels optimizing their crisis response strategies.

19:21 - Social Media in Disaster Response

Jim discusses which social media channels have been most influential in disaster response scenarios, offering CEOs guidance on selecting the right platforms for their crisis communications.

22:14 - Shortcomings of Crowdsourcing on Facebook

Jim highlights the limitations of Facebook as a government crowdsourcing tool, providing valuable lessons for CEOs considering such platforms in their crisis management efforts.

24:05 - The LMRP Cap Containment Strategy

Jim touches on the latest containment strategy during the BP Oil Spill, showcasing the evolving nature of crisis response tactics.

25:31 - Embracing Online Communications

Jim underscores the lasting impact of online communications in the national framework, signaling the need for CEOs to integrate digital strategies into their crisis management plans.

Conclusion

Navigating a crisis, especially one of the magnitude of the 2010 BP Oil Spill, requires swift action and effective communication. CEOs and business leaders searching for crisis management public relations agencies must heed the lessons from this podcast episode. By understanding the role of social media, the challenges of crisis communication, and the perils of reputation damage, they can better prepare their organizations for the storms that may lie ahead.

FohBoh is a B2B niche social network for restaurant owners and their suppliers.

Launched in late 2007 by veteran restaurateur and entrepreneur Michael Atkinson, it has built a base of 14,000 members, most of whom are restaurant owners.

FohBoh's core purpose is to help restaurant owners make more money during an economic period that has been dismal for their industry. That entails a core focus on operational excellence, public relations, content marketing, social media promotions, and online visibility.

FohBoh's novel monetization strategy is to sell conversation monitoring and consulting services, with advertising making up only a minority of the revenue.

It's been a struggle in this business environment, but FohBoh is growing and appears to have running room.

Some people say the best time to start a company is in the middle of an economic downturn, Atkinson says.

We are a survivor. We grow our revenues daily and are way past the point of validating our model.

Atkinson has learned a lot about business-to-business social communities from the experience. Context and relevance sustain a community, he says.

You have to understand the community before you figure out how to monetize. The membership will find out immediately if you don't have domain expertise.

This interview is guest-hosted by Paul Gillin and was conducted as research for our book Social Marketing to the Business Customer, the most comprehensive collection of best practices for B2B marketers ever assembled.

Photo by Hemant Latawa on Unsplash

Are you ready to learn the logic behind the argument that convinces companies to invest as much as six-figures into social media initiatives? 

If so, this episode featuring Nielsen Online Digital Strategic Services EVP Pete Blackshaw (@pblackshaw) is for you.

Pete currently  CEO of Cintrifuse, a Cincinnati-based venture capital group that creates jobs, brings talent, attracts investment, and unlocks our region’s potential to lead innovation in a wide range of industries.

You’ll learn:

How to position social media as an extension of existing corporate activities.Which departments in the organization are spending the most on social media?Selling social media in an apathetic environment.Common red flags likely to sand bag the sales effort, and how to overcome them.Shuffling the org chart for more effective social media engagement.Analysis paralysis, word-of-mouth, Apple Computer’s marketing strategy and more.

Pete is also cofounder of the Word-of-Mouth Markting Association and author of the book “Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000” is about running a business in today’s consumer driven world.  

SHOW NOTES

01:35 – If you want to win buy-in for social media initiatives, don’t present it as something news.  Instead, present it as a logical extension of what the organizations is doing already.  Companies are already invested in public relations, customer service and investor relations.  Show them how social media can help them conduct these processes more effectively and efficiently.  

02:37 – Over 200 reporters at The New York Times have Twitter accounts. So if you’re already invested in resources in managing relationships with the mainstream media, then deepening those relationships via social media is a natural extension of what a company is doing already. Convincing a PR executive that they need apparatus to listen to what reporters are saying on Twitter, or a customer service executive that they need to be listening to what customers are saying is going to be the path of least resistance, since social media allows them to extend the reach  of what they’re doing already. To appeal to a brand manager, you’d focus on how listening to social media can help preempt the brand from negative consumer generated content that could go viral.  

06:58 – Originally, social media initiatives were driven by progressive public relations business units, but market research has become an advocate as well. In an effort to marry social media with customer relationship management, call centers have also become interested in listening platforms.  

09:22 – Marketing is a key stakeholder for winning buy-in, because marketing is where the lion’s share of the budget lies, but marketing serves different masters in different organizations. One the places social media monitoring delivers the most value is during new product launches, and again because companies are so heavily invest in launching new products, this is also a great area to implement a social media initiative, because there’s so much money riding on product launches already, it’s going to easier to find budget.  

12:10 – Apathy is one of the biggest challenges when it comes to implementing a social media initiative. When things are going well, people are less inclined to allocate budget.  But the brand gets slapped around publicly, or there’s a recall or a crisis on some kind, that’s an opportunity for winning buy-in and resources.  Negative conversations that go viral are a wakeup call to management.  

14:22 – In regulated industries, winning buy-in and resources for social media can be particularly tough, because listening is a liability.  

16:29 – It’s one thing to wax poetic about conversations and dialogue, but practicing what you preach involves collapsing the wall between public relations and customer relations, because the skills required to deal with volatile, emotional customers are, with training, transferrable to the company Twitter page. If you buy-in to the notion that customer conversations are influencing the purchase funnel, you need an organizational model that centralizes customer feedback so that all business units can benefit from it.  The opportunity for public relations is enormous, because listening platforms provide early warnings that can be used to circumvent a potential catastrophe.  If you have the tools to figure out who the real influencers are, you can use that information to develop customer advocacy programs. But the end of the day, you’ve got be able to package that data so it’s relevant to the different business units.  

23:35 – Pete doesn’t see any real distinction between monitoring social media for B2C vs. B2B companies.  He says the same rules apply.  In his case, given the number of self professed “social media experts,” that’s become the B2B social media channel for a service like Nielsen BrandPulse.  

24:29 – The internal use social media is promoting greater free flow of information inside the organization, fulfilling what we hoped to gain from intranets in the early days of web communications.  

29:23 – CRM is the most important thing for companies to be able to do.  It’s more important than blogging or tweeting, because it’s the key to maintain intimacy with customers. In the case of social media, you’re dealing with customers who bring a different value to the table, like influence with other customers via social media.  

31:30 – There is also the danger of being overly analytical.  Analysis can lead to paralysis, and brands can forfeit opportunities if they over analyze the data.  

33:02 – Apple Computer understands how winning products and great experiences drive conversation.  You can preach social media or pimp for followers until the cows come home, but if your product is lacking, or service under delivers.  Apple uses their website to build anticipation and they create brilliant videos that people like to share.  They understand how to create content that people want to share, so they get phenomenal pass-along.  But they have the core product down.  They’re great products that provide great user experiences.  

35:04 – “Although we romanticize everything being open and free, the reality is a lot of word-of-mouth is also driven by mystique,” says Pete Blackshaw.  We want what we can’t have, and exclusivity can be leveraged in social media to create demand as well. A new website called Secret Cincinnati amassed a huge amount of traffic in a short period of time by promising to tell you something you don’t know already.  

36:54 – You can also use those conventional processes that the organization is involved in already which are inefficient as opportunities to secure budget for social media initiatives.  For example, running focus groups is a very expensive undertaking.  For the price of a focus group you could listen to the web for an entire year, and get a real time focus group that’s always there for you for the same investment.  

38:27 – For Pete, in some cases, he may be selling social media listening platforms by undermining the value of conventional platforms.  But Nielsen is more sophisticated than that, he says, and certainly weren’t willing to forgo modernization to protect their existing products.  

40:31 – End

Image by Le Web.

Activity streams and data visualizations let us consume vast amounts of data in short periods of time.

Together, they may just be the magic bullet for business to realize the true value of the social web.

The problem, there are no interoperable standards for activity streaming and most companies hoard their data, says Google Open Web Advocate Chris Messina (@chrismessina) in this exclusive interview about how activity streams and infographics will revolutionize the way organizations conduct business, and how employees and project teams prioritize and manage work flows.

Today, we think of a Facebook news feed as an activity stream. But we've only just scratched the surface of how activity streams integrated into work flow processes will fundamentally change the way we collaborate.

Using Google Buzz, the open source community and Facebook's product development process as examples, Chris makes it easy to understand how and why activity streams are central to online collaboration, how they sharpen an organization's competitive edge and how they will ultimately result in better products and services.

Given the sheer volume of data that's out there now, information parsed in smaller, bite-size chunks is more valuable than gigs and gigs, because it's easier to digest in a shorter period of time.

Like status updates, activity streams make data easier to appreciate. Â We have learned to attenuate ourselves to dropping in and pulling out of streams to prolonged state of "ambient intimacy."

Google Buzz is the search giant's first attempt at an activity streaming service, which is being used by project teams to collaborate on business projects. Social graphs are a byproduct of activity streams.

The are the collection of messages, relationships and interactions that occur in activity streams, and if you create infographics to better understand that data, the you can glean meaningful business intelligence from all the data. But currently, most organizations are not making their data available.

They're hoarding their it, depriving employees and customers from using it to better understand how they can improve their business processes.

This is a missed opportunity because data affords company's retrospective insight, intelligence about the nature of the way its employee's collaborate, and the ability to maintain a faster, more responsive, healthier organization. If organizations do get over the hoarding hurdle, they're still going to need to find a way to make their data useful, and that's where data visualization comes in.

Pictures are worth a thousand words, and realizing actionable business intelligence from raw data is significantly enhanced through infographics that make it easy to understand the meaning of the data.

Yet even Facebook, with all the data it has about its users, gives users very little in the way of insights to help us better manage our attention online. Â They hoard data as well.

Facebook could provide so much valuable intelligence about what motivates us online, but currently, they even struggle to present us with ads that are relevant to our interests. In all fairness, the same is true of Google.

In fact, as popular as Google Analytics is, it really tells us very little about human behavior because it doesn't allow us to correlate social signifiers against how people spending time on our websites.

Numerical statistics don't give us any social intelligence about what people think about our sites.

Search engines are still the dominant channel through which we find information online. But that may very well change.

Finding social interactions and websites through activity streams make a lot of sense. Google Buzz is designed to fill that niche. According to Chris Messina, the businesses who will do the best in this new streamy environment will be the one's who figure out how social interactions apply to the value proposition they deliver to their customers.

ActivityStrea.ms: Is It Getting Streamy In Here?

SHOW NOTES 02:08 -- Research conducted by Leysia Palen at the University of Colorado at Boulder about how people exchanged information via social media on the day of the Virginia Tech massacre, where people predicted with 100% accuracy the names of 21 of the 22 fatally shot students.

03:53 -- Within organizations, there is a need for information to flow more freely. But often there are peculiar, archetypal boundaries inside organizations that restrict those flows.

On the flip-side, in open source communities information flows much more transparently, making it easier for people to get their work done with fewer interruptions.

05:01 -- There is a distinction between newsfeeds and activity streams. It is important to realize that channels such as Facebook messages, twitter direct messages and SMS, while part of the fabric of the social web, are point to point communications, like email, so they are invisible to most of us. E-mail was specifically designed as a point-to-point communication channel. You can add other people, but there's no way to send messages to everybody. That's is the problem that the social Web solves. Rather than force a message into everyones inbox, social media makes it possible for information to be discoverable, either through search or through modeling activity streams. Â Social media reduces the loss of fidelity and the friction associated with replicating information within organizations.

06:57 -- What's been most interesting to Chris about working on Google Buzz is how the social networking service is being used within the enterprise to keep people on the same page. Unlike e-mail, which requires significant effort for newcomers to speed on what transpired before they were roped in, Google Buzz makes it easier to bring people into a conversation stream that's been going on for some time with a format that is more intuitive and chronological than an email grist.

07:52 -- Activity streams are a better method of representing conversations because unlike with search, where the information you are get is based on a keyword you come up with, activity streams give you the opportunity to experience information serendipitously. And activity streams also give us the ability to monitor popular behavior and make decisions based on trends. So the notions of discoverability and trend watching are made possible by the activity stream format.

In a B2B context, employees might use their activity stream to keep abreast of deadlines and stay on top of priorities by monitoring the actions of their colleagues.

09:06 -- Sourceforge, a website where open source developers collaborate to share and improve code, sets a good example of how organizations might use the social Web to improve their processes.

Github.com is a newer alternative to Sourceforge that revolves around an activity stream. "So you can go in and follow different people's activities. Watch a repository of projects. For example, if Audacity was on Github, I could go in and I could watch it.

If things were added to that repository, they would show up in my stream," says Chris Messina.

"Watching is a way of tuning in or listening to updates that happen in that context." On the flip-side, if you subscribe to the edit history of Wikipedia page you can keep abreast of the changes, but there's no way to participate in an RSS feed.

10:35 -- In a B2B context, organizations could use activity streams to improve workflows. For example, if you were working on a project with others, project dependencies and milestones could trigger status updates to inform you that the project is ready for your contribution.

You might have software agents looking for certain types of activities or patterns that trigger responses or alerts and make workflow processes more efficient. Or even on a much more basic level, if someone is out sick, rather than send an e-mail to their manager, they could post a status update to the company's activity feed and notify the enterprise instead of the old chain of command, the archetypal model, which is not necessarily the most efficient.

11:10 -- "The Starfish and The Spider" by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckman, which compares top-down, militaristic organizational hierarchies which define the industrial age to decentralized systems, which have the capacity to reproduce and self heal.

The metaphor is that if you crush the head of a spider, its legs are useless. But if you cut off the leg of a starfish, it will regenerate into a new starfish.

"So from an organizational perspective, if you can design your team's to be regenerative in that way, then your organization, as things change -- as people move jobs, as they quit -- will be able to respond much more quickly, and that much less cost," says Chris.

"What that requires is for you to punish much more responsibility and control down to the edges of the network as opposed to centralizing power at the top. And that's how you wind up with the much faster moving organization."

13:05 -- "For example, at Facebook -- and I know this because I have friends there -- everyone has access to live running code. They all build stuff off of the live database. There is no secondary, replicated database that they work off, because there's so much data, it just wouldn't make sense. It would take two weeks just copy it.

So instead, they build apps, and they have certain ways of testing it so it's not going to break stuff, but they are working with live data. That means that every single engineer and developer has equal access and can build really compelling, interesting things and can then push it back up the stack to become part of the Facebook product within a week. And, in fact, they do weekly pushes. And what that means is that, let's say last week I worked on a new feature that does something fairly simple. I don't have to wait six months to see that feature go into production,

How social media has caused the scope of marketing to expand inside organizations, why customer service needs to pay attention to customer influence, the concept of relinquishing oversight as a way of regaining control, aligning social media policy with business strategy and integrating social media into destination websites featuring Jeremiah Owyang.     

Digital Marketing Strategy Tips

01:03 -- A discussion of marketing keynote speakers lined up to present at the Digital Impact Conference. 

06:27 -- An overview of the broader trends in social media based on Jeremiah Owyang's research at the Altimeter Group.

07:41 -- Heather Armstrong's experience trying to fix a broken Maytag washing machine and how she finally managed to get results by warning her Twitter followers. "So that you may never have to suffer like we have: do not ever buy a Maytag.

I repeat: our Maytag experience has been a nightmare." Interestingly enough, a Forbes.com story about the incident quoting Pete Blackshaw, the previous guest on this podcast, "The problem with call centers and consumer relations departments is that they tend to look at consumers in a vacuum, independent of influence," which suggests that organizations need to look beyond individual customer interactions to try to evaluate the customer's social media influence, which is one of the things that social CRM attempts to accomplish.  

According to Jeremiah, the takeaway is that what happens in support can quickly become a marketing or public relations incident. 

08:27 -- "Customers don't care which department you are in.  They want their problem fixed. The scope of marketing has grown significantly... Companies are siloed and it's tough [for them] to think holistically about their overall customer experience," says Jeremiah, who will address this theme in his keynote at the Digital Impact Conference.

09:25 --  A discussion of analyst Charlene Li's upcoming book Open Leadership explores how leaders can let go of control to gain more power back because the power has shifted to those using social computing platforms, and organizations need to acknowledge this.

10:24 -- Glassdoor.com, a new website where employees can rate their employers, and Unvarnished, which allows you to rate your colleagues and the quality of their work, both reinforce the notion that there are no more secrets.

11:00 -- According to Jeremiah, social media policy is a critical component of effective online organizational communications, and he says there are three different policies that organizations need to consider developing. The first is a corporate policy, which would address how to deal with the social Web, and in particular, during a crisis.  

The second is an employee disclosure policy, which would tell employees what they can and can say in public spaces online.  And the third one, which he says most companies don't have in place and which might have kept Nestle out of trouble, is a community policy, which would dictate how community members should behave and describe to dos and don'ts.

11:56 -- An example of a community policy Jeremiah's seen that he thinks is well done is Dogster's Community Guidelines.  He also says early adopters like Intel, Microsoft and Sun have had community policies in place for some time now.

12:51 -- Best Buy is a good example of an organization with an effective social media policy designed to work for employees who may not have advanced degrees.

13:20 -- Inside the enterprise, legal is a standard pocket of resistance. Brilliant strategists should engage them early on. And there are often turf wars between corporate marketing and the social media team because they usually have different ideas about achieving their objectives.  Also, product managers are typically inclined to approach situations differently from strategists because they want to build online communities around products, and the strategists wish to build communities around a lifestyle or a brand.

14:01 -- When policing social media policies, Jeremiah suggests turning that over to the employees themselves and crowd-sourcing those capabilities. Use an internal online community to allow people to call out when people are doing things wrong and doing things right.

15:27 -- There's nothing wrong with a measured, step-by-step approach to social media policy development.

16:10 -- Not all organizations should be rushing into social media. In Jeremiah's opinion, organizations should approach social media to mitigate risk when they have the proper research and plans in place.  Companies need to consider what it means to be social, and Jeremiah encourages a pragmatic approach.

17:01 -- Using mainstream media advertising to send people to their Facebook page without considering where the transaction occurs.

"If you're making money through ecommerce on your corporate site, why would you be so quick to send traffic away from a chicklet or a Facebook advertisement away from your site? Most companies say because I want to have trust or word of mouth, but they haven't thought it through carefully about the ramifications and what that means," says Jeremiah.

18:06 -- Customers visiting your corporate website may be further down the sales funnel, so you may not want to be so quick to send them away.  The future of social engagement, as Jeremiah sees it, is integrating the social experience into your own destination website.

19:14 -- In terms of who Jeremiah Owyang looks to as thought leaders in the social media space, he mentions Steve Rubel, Charlene Li, David Armano, Jen McClure, Marshall Kirkpatrick, Ben Parr, and Louis Gray because he sees them putting out new thoughts instead of just rehashing what's out there already.

21:30 -- End

Photo by Thomas Hawk.