Use freedom to talk online

The official word

Friday, Nov. 20, 2009

"I think that the more freely information flows, the stronger the society becomes," President Barack Obama told China's future leaders during a town hall meeting in Shanghai on Monday. "The more open we are, the more we can communicate."

His response, which can be read in its entirety at www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room, was to an online question to which he further replied that while he doesn't use Twitter due to clumsy thumbs, he's a "big believer in openness when it comes to the flow of information" and applauds the Internet as a powerful tool to generate new ideas and encourage creativity.

What's more, he said, it mobilizes citizen participation and he credited his presidential campaign success to the free and open online flow of bottom-up information.

"Through the Internet, people became excited about our campaign and they started to organize and meet and set up campaign activities and events and rallies. And it really ended up creating the kind of bottom-up movement that allowed us to do very well," he said.

Certainly, the buzz of 2009 has been social media and how best to connect and communicate with the millions of people online.

For public relations and marketing professionals, social networking and how PR is a part of this conversation has been the focus of several of this year's speakers with Public Relations Individuals in Southern Maryland, including Sean Carton, CEO with idfive, in June, and Will Burns of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce at PRISM's successful fifth annual public relations and marketing workshop in October.

Attendees have clamored for "more!" and plenty of Webinars, conferences, crash courses and the like exist to quench the thirst. Until PRISM's next sessions, here are a few droplets to keep moving you toward the trough.

While President Obama candidly described himself as one who doesn't tweet, there are plenty of tweeters who are getting it right. The microblog attracts about 6 million of the Internet's users. Unfortunately there are many who just don't get it, including the majority of Fortune 500 companies who tweet sparingly, without personality and focus on brand only rather than engaging in conversation, according to Weber Shandwick's recent study.

Think of Twitter as passing by someone quickly and having just a moment to share a sentence (140 characters, to be exact). Facebook is the neighborhood picnic where you're catching up on family and friends, or at least those you allow to become part of your circle. LinkedIn, meanwhile, is like the cocktail party where you're networking and connecting with job candidates or references, sharing your expertise or maybe recommending colleagues.

Pamela Cox-Otto, CEO of Interact Communications, in a recent Webinar with higher education colleagues offered statistics indicating who is online for information, social interaction or recreation, explaining that generation X is online for all three purposes, generation Y is more likely to be online for the latter two purposes and baby boomers for the former two. Who's your audience? And, how are you connecting with them online to meet their expectations?

Carton reminded us that there is a move from real time to "my time" online, where people are engaged on their own terms and own timing, and through Twitter and Facebook one can create a "community of interest."

Burns encouraged us to engage in the online conversation through blogs and to encourage members of our organizations to be part of an authentic conversation by contributing to the blog. His suggestions for blog entries included offering a peek behind the curtains, writing about staff and what they're contributing to the community, showcasing your product, sharing client stories, offering advice or new information and creating local gatherings. Most importantly, let your personality and passion emerge, and ask for feedback.

You've got to be in the conversation to understand the conversation. If you have hesitated to create an online presence, make 2010 the year to dive in.

‘Tis the season

PRISM's annual Christmas gathering will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Dec 16 at Hawthorne Country Club at 8760 Hawthorne Road in La Plata.

The evening of networking is open to members and nonmembers to connect with like-minded PR and marketing professionals. Music will be offered by members of the College of Southern Maryland's Latin Ensemble.

As is traditional, revelers are invited to bring an unwrapped new toy donation as part of PRISM's efforts to bring holiday smiles to others in our community. This year's recipients will be Angel's Watch Regional Center in Hughesville. The center provides emergency, domestic violence, hypothermia and transitional shelter programs for homeless single women and women with children from Calvert, Charles and St. Mary's counties.

Gifts to consider include anything that can fit into holiday stockings, such as playing cards, games, gift cards, candy, school supplies or toy cars. Most of the children are 13 and younger, including infants and toddlers.

To RSVP, e-mail gretchen.heinze@charlescommunityfoundation.org or call 301-885-0108. Cost is $15 for members and $20 for nonmembers and includes appetizers.

PR tip of the month

Your gratitude attitude. It doesn't need to be Thanksgiving to strike a gratitude attitude, but it has been a gratifying experience on Facebook this month as we've counted down to next week's holiday.

Many friends have taken up the challenge to post a daily thankful status as part of their updates during November. My hope is after three weeks of this daily discipline it will be fully integrated into our routines and we won't want to halt the daily dose of thanks.

Karen Smith Hupp is on the past president's council for PRISM and director of community relations at the College of Southern Maryland, she can be contacted at karens@csmd.edu.