Overview
I was going to wait till tomorrow to blog but the excitement is still in the air. Thanks to Paula Stern for putting this great Conference together. The facilities, food/coffee & organization was top-notch at Kfar Maccabia and despite MegaComm being a predominantly Technical Writing audience, the Conference focus had a leaning towards Marketing, PR, Media and the likes making it interesting and user friendly.
I have taken the liberty to summarize Keynote speaker Jeff Pulver and Alan Weinkrantz talks early on in the day.
Jeff Pulver at #MegaComm
The highlight of the event was the Keynote speaker, Jeff Pulver (@jeffpulver), known for his work in Popularizing Voice on the Internet. Jeff is an inspiring speaker even for one who has heard him talk many times about the changes in personalization over the internet, and how it happened.
The channel for communication with the masses may have changed however they still require you to open yourself up to voluntary communication in order to be successful. Being vulnerable is allowing yourself to be successful.
Jeff inspires one especially when relating how the technology which came about was usually considered ‘dangerous’. Take email for instance, once companies had policies to limit who had email, but it took around 5 years to catch on, pretty much like Social Media today.
Whatever it is that breeds productivity, using Social Media as a Listening/Hearing and Connecting tool inspires one to something more meaningful. “Create friendships, find something to talk about, engage”. He says.
When Twitter followers came to and started sharing their stories, serendipity, humanity and peoples voices started to matter!!
The birth of the backchannel, finding open frequencies to humanity…matter.
Jeff relates that during 911, despite emergency services available, the radio channels where on difference frequencies and couldn’t engage in communication. Since then these frequencies of communication have been homogenized.
During the Haiti crisis, Tweeting for cries of help were Repeated (RT) and it was “like magic amplifying what everyone was saying”. The US Airforce got involved as a result of Jeff retweeting Ann Curry (@anncurry) and replied to Jeff: “We’re on it”.
Over 75 industries are affected by the backchannel. Even the Dali Lami said his outlook towards humanity has improved as a result of seeing the outflow of assistance and human connection on Twitter.
Twitter is a backchannel to listen to what is being said and making opportunities for the job market. The world has gone flat since Facebook & Twitter. Disintermediation is real, meaning that disruption is positive. It’s not about We the people, but rather about Me the people. You have a voice that matters and you’ll discover you can change the world via amplification.
Jeff describes the times he has Tweeted requests for help and people in the street around the corner helped him to unload his boxes. Invites online via Twitter & people Tweeting in other peoples behalf enabled more connecting via these backchannels.
The message is clear: The Human Experience Matters.
Were You at #MegaComm?
Strategic Public Relations > The Focus on Branded Content
Axxx Wxxxxxxx has been focusing on content around brands and sponsorships for some time now.
He says news traditionally comes from media but the barriers to reaching the media was traditionally via the PR firms. A lot can be demystified by doing it yourself. With his own video camcorder he creates his own content telling stories leveraging his position as PR Agent at companies.
So how is it done?
• Basic PR is still the same -> Message, Interesting News, Consistent Outreach…
• Using various types of coverage you can do both traditional pitching and New Media pitching, re pitching the stories via blogs or via YouTube and engaging with your audience
• Using common think strategy, reading certain publications and becoming a trusted source of information
• Following media sources or journalists on LinkedIn
• Being quoted in other places
• Using branded content and creating a body of work
The Rules
• Have a great message
• Easy to download press room
• Focus on a few things
• Manage expectations
• Engage your management
• Show your humanity
Also, mash up external content.
Ramp up your noise level.
Be discovered. Be found.
Have faith in your product.
Stop Selling and start story-telling…
