In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, and the fact that I am part Irish on my mother’s side, here’s a top 5 list of what gets my Irish up:

1. The lack of a quick, surefire way of generating good media lists. We can send people to the moon, but we haven’t figured out a way to keep up with the high turnover in media.
2. Having to listen to yet one more story about the infidelity of Tiger Woods, John Edwards, or the Celebrity-of-the-moment.  Why can’t we just cover the news and move on?  
3. People who confuse 2-way “public relations” with 1-way “publicity.”  We’re not hawking a circus act here, folks – we’re bulding relationships.   This takes time.
4. Watching Congress try to work together.    We’d have better luck putting a bunch of wet, pissed off cats in a bag and having them duke it out. 
5. Guys at the gym who sweat all over the equipment.   Seriously, if your glands are that active, buy a treadmill and stay at home.   Eesh. 

OK, enough whining from me.   What gets under your skin?

If you haven’t read “The New Rules of Marketing and PR” by David Meerman Scott, you’re missing out on a top guide on how public relations has changed and “how to use social media, blogs, news releases, online video and viral marketing” to reach your buyers directly.  You can find the book at his website www.webinknow.com or from Amazon and other online bookstores.

I re-read the book this past weekend (the revised 2010 edition), and there’s one section that I didn’t feel represented PR professionals properly – or, at least, not the PR professionals I know, most of whom are in Arizona.    In chapter 7, “The New Rules of News Releases,” he writes that “many PR professionals have a fear of the unknown. They don’t understand how to communicate directly with consumers and want to live in the past, when there was no choice but to use the media as a mouthpiece….I also think there’s a widely held view about the purity of the press release as a tool for the press.  PR professionals don’t want to know that hundreds of millions of people have the power to read their releases directly.  It’s easier to imagine  a closed audience of a dozen reporters.”

The book is brilliant and has helped completely change the way we look at public relations. I don’t think he has quite captured the issue here, however. Granted, he travels a lot more than I do and talks to way more PR people, so he’s probably a better authority. I’m just going on what I know about myself and the people in my networks. I don’t see fear of the unknown, and I don’t see an inability to communicate directly with consumers. What I do see are professionals who take pride in their career, and who don’t like the sloppiness and lack of fact checking that often happens when anyone and everyone can issue a news release. There really isn’t an editorial function anymore for what’s put out online. Most PR people I know are excited about social media and while they recognize there’s more due diligence involved in reaching so many more segmented audiences, they appreciate the convenience and reach of social media tools.

A recent incident involving NBC Anchor Brian Williams is perhaps one example that struck me about the lack of verification that most untrained people would conduct. Apparently a rumor circulated that Chief Justice John Roberts was going to leave office, according to a report on RadarOnline.  The rumor actually started in a first year law class at Georgetown University as part of a lecture about the necessity of verifying the credibility of legal informants. Fortunately, Brian Williams double checked the story before breaking it.

Now that the floodgates are open, we can’t hold back anything on the Internet, so while the benefit is that many more stories can get out there and conversations can be initiated between companies and their customers directly, true PR professionals fear not the unknown, but the deterioration of the integrity of information.

This isn’t to say that all PR professionals hold themselves to a high standard, but it is part of the ethics code for the profession. Wire services like Businesswire are quick to proofread releases and keep an extra layer of precaution before a release goes “live,” but so many more companies and individuals are using free press release sites that have no editorial function. The result can be a lot of promotional crap out there – crap that doesn’t instigate conversations, but is just annoying. This is what I fear – not that anyone can read a release, but that anyone can write one.   It brings down the whole profession.

My big regret in hindsight was not being bright enough, or energetic enough, to drive down to hear author, blogger, and wine expert Gary Vaynerchuk speak in person when he was here in Tempe this past October at the Changing Hands bookstore.

I asked for, and received, his new book “Crush It!” for Christmas.   I’ve read several books that have summarized the social media wave and future trends, including PR 2.0 by Brian Solis, Now is Gone, by Geoff Livingston, and “The Social Media Bible” by Lon Safko, et. al.  All good books, but in my mind, Gary is the one who really “crushes it.” 

I like his book best because of 1) the personable way in which he delivers the message, 2) because it makes me feel like less of an anomaly in this world   (Sometimes I think I’d get more people to believe me if I were male, not female), and because 3) it follows my own book formula of writing something that can be read in a 2-hour plane ride.

If you find yourself in the middle of two camps, like me, you’ll love this book.   I’m divided between (mostly) younger friends in Camp A who “get” social media, engage in it, and are open to new ideas.    In contrast, many of my contemporaries and (mostly) older friends and business acquaintances in Camp B don’t get it.   So I feel validated when I’m with the Camp A-minded people, and impatient when I’m with the Camp B crowd.  

I get most annoyed when the Camp B personality asks me, “So how do people make money from a blog?”  Or, alternatively, when they claim they think twitter is nonsense because they “don’t want to read what someone had for lunch.”  Is their DNA that literal, that non-intuitive, that non-visionary?

As Gary V points out, his “Wine Library TV was never about selling wine on the Internet.  It was about building brand equity.”  And, more pointedly, as he talks about the trend of people moving their lives more and more onto social networking sites: “…it makes total sense that if this is where the eyeballs are going, this is where business has to go.  Money goes where people go…[advertisers] used to spend their money on traditional media – radio, television, newspapers and magazines.  Those platforms are losing eyeballs to the online world by the second…if the survivors in the traditional media don’t adjust to this new competitor, thirty years from now our kids will examine them in museums with the same curiosity they now reserve for dinosaur bones and fossils.”

"Young Frankenstein" 1974

The PR blogs are abuzz with differing opinions on how Tiger should have handled his 2:30 a.m. car fiasco.  Fraser Seitel, a crisis management expert and author of “Practice of Public Relations,” wrote an open letter to Tiger on Nov. 30th listing 5 critical PR moves Tiger should make right away.   Seitel represents one side of the PR debate, one with which I agree:   Go public, do it yourself, do it Tuesday, get it out, learn from your mistake.

Another view, represented by elite PR specialists such as Brian Solis, feels that Tiger should take time to compose his response before going to the media, and has a right as a private citizen to do so.

A third perspective is that Tiger owes no one an explanation, has committed no crime, and by coming forth he is “breaking into jail.”  You can see a good rundown of differing opinions on my fellow blogger Len Gutman’s post, The Trouble With Tiger.  

Well, as we all know today, he finally spilled the beans, and our worst fears were confirmed.   He admitted to “transgressions” without going into detail.     So what’s my armchair quarterback analysis?

I think David Letterman is a good example of how to handle a really bad situation.    When his affair with the intern came to light, he went public immediately.    American culture in particular seems to be more forgiving of the sin when the admission of guilt comes early, rather than being withheld.    When the celebrity retreats and dodges questions from the media, we become like the wild pack of villagers storming the walls to find Frankenstein.   We’re almost Monty Pythonesque in our quick ability to forgive and forget if the culprit steps forward and takes his beating.   Can’t you see it?   Frankenstein steps outside the wall, tells the crowd, “Hey, I did choke a few people to death, and maimed a few others, but I was feeling really bad that day and I’m going to take a sabbatical and get in tune with myself.”  And the crowd murmurs, “Oh well, in THAT case…” and fades away.   

Handling public relations crises means understanding human nature and human behavior.  It means realizing that no one who conducts an activity or profession under televised scrutiny, whether it’s politics, sports, or movies, is truly a “private” person.    It’s completely disingenous to claim otherwise.    The fame and fortune tied to those careers have the downside of 2:30 a.m. mistakes that become widely known.  

We wince for Tiger.   We know he has played the game with sportsmanlike character.   The least that someone of his stature owes us is quick acknowledgement so that they can tell the story their way, as best they can, in a 24×7 world.  I’m rooting for you, Tiger.   Today’s announcement was a step in the right direction.   A tad slow, but a good step.

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I’m happy to spotlight guest host Bill Prickett, APR (accredited public relations).   He has been successfully involved in Public Relations/Communications for more than 20 years, primarily in the nonprofit arena. He currently has his own PR Consulting business called Write You UP!  (www.WriteYouUp.com)  A prolific writer, he has had numerous articles published in national magazines and newspapers and wrote a quarterly PR column for a national trade publication targeting small businesses.  He’s also a published novelist and a blogger. (www.write-you-up.blogspot.com)  He lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas.

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Bill Prickett, APR

In case you haven’t heard, the US economy is in bad shape.  Not sure if you’ve read some of the news reports, but companies are hurting and laying off employees at an alarming rate.  That is, those business that are even staying in business.  Unemployment is out of control, and not expected to recover until late 2010. 

In the midst of this meltdown, it’s my hope that our profession and professionals would rise to the occasion and provide some much needed expertise in crucial business areas:

Encourage the Employees.  If you don’t think your employees are concerned, you are mistaken.  They are worried about their jobs, they are probably overworked and they are stressed about everything from finances to healthcare to job security.  They are asking tough questions about their future with the company or about the future of the company. 

In an economy like this one, it would be easy to take your team for granted, or worse, take advantage of them, knowing that most are probably too afraid to leave a job right now.

PR should be on the frontlines to help address those concerns.  Work with executive management to encourage the staff.  Find ways to recognize them, honor them…and appreciate them.  It doesn’t have to be a monetary reward; a public “thank you” goes a long way.  Build loyalty now, because there will come a time when the employment landscape is not so bleak…and those stressed-out employees will leave your company like a bad Pauley Shore movie. (Is there any other kind?)

Employ Constant, Consistent Communication.  Often during difficult times, business leaders want to just hunker down and work on solutions; they are in lots of meetings, discussing every aspect of the situation.  And unfortunately, not much information is getting out to the worker bees, who are wondering what’s going on behind the closed-door meetings.  As I share in my couple’s communications workshops, where there’s an absence of communication, fear and insecurity will fill in the blanks. 

When times are bad, we as PR Professionals must work harder to make sure we (and management) are communicating.  And what we say needs to be ongoing, timely and honest.  We want to provide our staff with regular information about the company and honest assessments of the current situation.  If things are going to get tough for a while, let them know.  If folks will have to handle multiple responsibilities, tell them. 

Whatever you do, don’t lie to the staff.  Ever!  It will not help the reputation of the company if we mislead our staff about the health of the business, and then cut half the workforce the following week.  Just as we would in a crisis situation (and this is a crisis-type scenario, make no mistake about that), we want to have our messages/talking points prepared and give them often.  As I tell companies preparing Crisis Communication Plans: Tell it first, tell it fast, tell it often and tell the truth.

It’s very easy during difficult times to shut down communications.  But find ways to stay in touch with all the team.  Get them together and allow them to talk about what they are feeling.  Have a pot luck, or order pizza.  In addition, find ways to communicate positive  information and good news.  Tell them what a great job they are doing under difficult circumstance, and thank them for their efforts. 

Embody the Conscience.  Every organization needs someone to be the conscience in times of trouble.  One who hope it comes from the top down, but that is not always the case.  But as those committed to both the reputation as well as the healthy relationships of the organization, it certainly is a responsibility that falls to the PR professional, who will stand up and speak loud as a strong, heart-felt voice of reason about ethics, fair treatment, equity and compassion.  Challenge business leaders to do the right thing, not just the most expedient thing; to act in a way that honors the vision, values and mission of the company.  Even during tough times, we should work to keep our organizations involved in the communities, giving to charities and treating our staff with fairness, dignity and gratitude.  Those do not change just because of hard times.

A bad economy is no excuse for bad behavior.  In times like these, we need good…no, we need great PR.

I’ve long had a less-than-perfect relationship with my mother.   I’m not good at PR 1.0.   She and I parted understanding the minute I entered college.

She had persuaded me to attend Dickinson College in Pennsylvania because it was a “good school.”   With apologies to my Dickinson friends, that was the last time I took advice from my mother!   I spent 3 years of misery there, with a brief shining year abroad in Durham, England. 

My mother has never understood what I do for a living, and when I wrote the first edition of my PR book in 2005 and told her about it, her first reaction was one of disappointment:  “Oh, I thought you were going to write fiction.”   No, “Congratulations!” or “Way to go, honey!”  Just disappointment. that I wasn’t going to write the Great American Novel.

Having been born before the Great Depression, she’s never really entered the technology age.    No voicemail, no answering machine, no computers, and only recently, cable.  So over the years we haven’t had that much to talk about.

Shame on me.   Recent events have turned us full circle, and we are communicating honestly to each other for the very first time in our lives, when she is 85 and I am almost 50.  It took a medical crisis to get us to this point, but thank goodness, in some regards, that it happened.   When the chips are down and you’re facing a transition to assisted living/long-term care, and as the daughter you realize the brunt of the responsibility for your mother’s safety and comfort is on your shoulders, you sober up.    No time for PR 2.0.   This is PR 1.0 time – the old-fashioned way – face to face.

I wish I could go back to that 20-something, 30-something, 40-something and slap her awake.   It’s easy to get wrapped up in technology and work, and forget what’s truly important.   Clients, books, awards and technology are very transient badges of honor.  I need not to be a “Daughter Dearest” before it’s too late….

Thanks to Amanda Vega Consulting, who asked me to be a guest on their blog.   Here’s a link to my post today, “Five personal PR pet peeves.” 

I heard a lot of great things about the Clint Eastwood movie, Gran Torino.  It was rated highly on Netflix, so when the DVD arrived in the mail this week I was very excited about watching it finally. The PR buzz around it has always been extremely positive.

So you can imagine how bummed I was sitting through what I found to be a very slow-paced movie, with (in my mind) not-so-credible acting from good old Clint, and not-so-credible plot development either.   I won’t spoil the ending for you, but that was not so credible either.

I go to a lot of movies where there is pure suspension of disbelief, including horror movies.  I posted about this for ValleyPRBlog recently.   But Gran Torino was different. This was a movie positioned as a drama, and one that was supposed to leave me feeling satisfied.

Ever bought an item based on the expensive packaging, only to find the contents were not quite up to expectations? Sometimes PR can be misleading. Or maybe I’m just a hard-to-please movie customer.