CorporatePR

EuroBlog 2006 Initial Results

I am a little late to the party, but I did want to comment on the initial results from the EuroBlog 2006 survey, which were published last week (press release here).  I was struck by the same things Neville was, primarily this slide:

Yes, you are reading that correctly.  The perception of being cool is rated vastly more important than receiving feedback from your audience.  Yup.  Perception trumps reality.  The subtext here is all about control, about pushing messages to the audience.  In fact, the factor most limiting the use of weblogs was cited as "inability to control the communication content." Clearly, there is work to be done in educating PR professionals in Europe (and I would argue in the US as well!) that control is disappearing.  In fact, in most conversations I have with PR people, the first question that comes up has to do with control.  Actually having to have a dialogue with potentially hostile people is seen as tremendously frightening.

One of the researchers, Dr. Ansgar Zerfass, highlighted a troubling trend in his quote in the press release.  He said, "It's not the technology, but the lack of ideas and concepts that holds back the spread of weblogs within public relations."  For a purportedly creative industry to demonstrate such a widespread lack of ideas and concepts is scary.  Perhaps PR people have become too wrapped up in process, in measured (and measurable) steps.   The free-wheeling, chaotic world of participatory communications is an entirely different animal.  It will force a rapid sort-out of critical thinkers vs. rote do-ers.  And that is all to the good.

The most pressing need in terms of convincing people that blogging and social media is worthwhile is communication of their benefits.  We see many case studies about the costs of doing it badly, but far fewer about the rewards of doing it well.  With all of the blogging books hitting the market this spring, however, I suspect we'll start to see more positive examples.

Full results of the survey will be presented March 16-18 in Stuttgart, Germany, at Public Relations and Social Software: Meeting the Challenges of Weblogs, Podcasts, Wikis and RSS.  I'll be speaking at the event, offering examples of those needed benefits as well as sketching out a theoretical framework for how to integrate social (participatory) media into overall communications strategy, one of the other factors highlighted in the survey as missing, and therefore holding back use of weblogs.

When is a Blog Really a Blog?

This is the question University of Akron graduate student Beth asks:

And here is my question to all…blogs are a form of consumer generated media, they are created by the user. When organizations and companies blog this alters the medium. The consumer is no longer the creator and user but the receiver of a message an organization wants to communicate with its audience. And more often than not the audience does not always post comments on corporations blogs making the medium less interactive. So are these blogs really blogs? Any thoughts?

In 2004 there was this huge rush to define blogging.  It seemed every other post I read was doing it.  That tapered off a bit in 2005.  Now, at the beginning of 2006, I think it is probably good to revisit the question of definition.  This is because I see this year as a transformational one for -- in particular -- corporate blogging. 

Last year saw an increasing number of corporations and other organizations dipping their toes into the blog waters with varying degrees of success.  I think that this year, you will see those initial experiments either abandoned or wrapped ever more tightly into the corporate brand and communications strategies.  That is why I think it is important that we revisit some of the fundamentals, and figure out if our initial assumptions and definitions are still valid, or if things have changed.

Beth proposes two things.  First, she defines a blog as consumer-generated, basing the definition on the author vs. the tool.  Is this valid?  Is a corporate blog not really a blog?  One thing we must remember is that the authors of corporate blogs (done correctly) are, in fact, people (and consumers!).  One of the benefits of blogging is that it can give corporations a human voice.  So, I am not sure her definition stands up.  But, if the blog is anonymous marketing speak, then, no, it isn't a blog, even though they are using a blog tool. 

Which brings me to her second point:  if the audience isn't interacting with the (corporate) blog, can it be called a blog?  Well, if you believe in part 1 of her definition, then you can't even ask the second question.  But if, in fact, being "corporate" doesn't automatically deny you the blog label, are there other barriers to defining a blog?  Is demonstrated interaction required? I say demonstrated, because a reader to a blog doesn't usually find any indication how many other people are reading it, unless there is a counter of some kind (and those numbers are likely inaccurate anyways, given how many people read through feeds, aggregators, etc.).  So, if you can't define a blog by how many people read it, can you define it via demonstrated interaction (comments, trackbacks)?

Some people would definitely state that if a corporate blog does not allow for comments or trackbacks it isn't really a blog.  I would tend to concur with that, as inviting conversation is an important (maybe necessary) part of the definition.  But, if a company does provide the option, but no one uses it, what then?  Can that company claim to be blogging?

We are looking here at a 3-part (at least) definition:  1) based on author characteristics; 2) based on the tool and what it enables (comments, trackbacks) and 3) based on the audience.

What do you think?  And one more thing to think about:  Is the reader of a blog just a "receiver"?  Does the ability to write a comment (a response) change that association?  Receiver is so passive...

A Change of Description and Plans for 2006

You may have noticed that I just changed the description of this blog to "Commentary on the theory and practice of organizational communications from Elizabeth Albrycht".  I made the change because so much of what I write about these days, and what I plan to write about in 2006, is a bit broader than simply "corporate public relations".

I have considered changing the name of the blog itself, but given the technical headaches that entails, I'll leave it as CorporatePR for now. 

So what can you expect from me this year?  I will be writing a lot of theory as I continue to work on my project of constructing a theoretical foundation for the new communications.  This ties in nicely with my graduate work in media studies/communications/philosophy.  Eventually, this will turn into a thesis.

I'll also continue to offer useful (I hope!) advice on how to turn the theory I discuss into practice.  I believe we need a tight connection between theory and practice, or one can quickly fly off into the ether, entranced by theory that has little basis in reality.  I hope you will all keep me grounded (those who know me well, know that I have tendencies to fly away).

What are my goals?  Well, as chair of the research committee for the SNCR, I hope to chivvy my fellow fellows along to start questioning some of the assumptions we have about new communications, and testing those assumptions to find out if they are valid.  We'll be launching a peer-reviewed journal later this year, of which I will be the editor, and I hope many of you send in a paper.

I also hope to spend a significant amount of time educating my fellow professionals.  Through teleseminars, workshops, the Forum, the RSS Summit and other events, I will be on the road quite a bit this year, sharing what I and my colleagues have learned.  If you would like to hear from me or another SNCR member, please contact me.

Longer term, I'd like to spend some time talking to university students.  I hope to line up some guest lectures, both to get a better idea of what people getting ready to enter the profession of communications are thinking about, and to figure out if becoming a professor is really what I'd like to do.  If you'd like me to come speak to your class, please contact me.  I am particularly interested in talking to students in Europe.

Finally, I will do private consulting with companies who are seeking to better understand how to use these new tools.

I am looking forward to an exciting year!

Corante Marketing Hub is Live

I hinted at a new endeavor last week, and today I can finally talk about it.  I (and CorporatePR) have become a member of the new Corante Marketing Hub.  We are a group of bloggers from around the world who will have given permission for our content to be aggregated in order to form a great resource for marketing.  But this is more than just machine aggregation.  Renee Hopkins Callahan, who writes for Corante's Idea Flow as well, will be editing the site, adding insight and ideas.  I was very happy to see some good friends on the list of contributors, and am exited about meeting some new, smart people.

I've added the list of headlines from the Hub on the left-hand side of this blog.
 

Blogroll Changes

You may have noticed that I have changed my blogrolls (finally!).  I have created three different categories, and I'll be adding a fourth next week.  I have chosen to list the blogs written by members of the Society for New Communications Research, as well as the site that aggregates the feeds.  This list does not include everyone in the SNCR, because not everyone writes a blog.  I also decided, due to the fact that there are so many PR blogs now, I would link to the aggregate pages and digests available vs. lots of individual blogs.  I have also linked to two sites that gather lots of good thinking and resources, Global PR Blog Week and the New PR Wiki.  I am open to suggestions for other sites.  Finally, I have added links to blogs by people who are speaking at the upcoming New Communications Forum.  Some of these people are members of the SNCR, and they appear on that list instead. I didn't want to have duplicates.  If you think that is confusing, please let me know.

Some exciting things are happening on another front, and you'll find out more about that next week.  In the meantime, if you have feedback, by all means comment away!

Buried

Sorry for the lack of posts...I've just been buried in getting the program together for the New Communications Forum, preparing for one-day seminar at the University of Sunderland next week, and writing a big article on tagging for PRSA's Tactics Magazine.  Oh, and putting our first research proposals together for the SNCR, blogging over at the Plenary Panel blog in preparation for IABC's Eurocomm, and getting my panel organized for Les Blogs 2.0.

Exciting work all around, but it leaves me with little time to blog, especially because TypePad is so SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW these days.  Too frustrating for words.

So please stay tuned...I should be coming up for air in a week or so.

I hope to get to see a bunch of you in the UK next week, in Paris in December, and in California in the spring!

My Blogroll Needs Help!

I know, I know. My blogroll is outdated.  I have received an inordinate number of emails on this subject, requesting changes of URLs, proposals for link exchanges, and so on over the past couple of weeks.  I REALLY need to spend some time on this.

I am thinking about a variety of schema for changing it, and once I decide on it I'll make the changes - probably after the 19th when I return from my PRSA seminar in New York next week.

If you have any suggestions on organization, please let me know!

Hurricane Katarina Relief

Each time I refresh my favorite new sites, it seems the news from New Orleans is getting worse.  I have visited that city a couple of times, and my heart just bleeds for these poor people.  If you can afford to, please donate something to help them.  I recommend the American Red Cross. 

This weekend, bloggers from around the world are posting about the tragedy and how you can help.  You can find information about how to participate here.  You can find out more information at Instapundit and keep track of fundraising progress at the Truth Laid Bear Relief Site.  If you want to, you can log your contribution here.  To date, we have collectively raised $227,443 and more than 1,321 blogs are participating.

[Technorati tag: flood aid, hurricane katarina]

Light Blogging Ahead

I am headed off for a couple of weeks in St. Jean de Luz on the Basque Coast of France.  I probably will not be able to resist pontificating about something, so will drop by with my two cents from time to time, but otherwise, I'll be laying by the pool, walking along the cliffs, watching the surfers at Guethery, reading, and working on my tapestry. 

Ciao!

Interviewed

Roland Piquepaille of Technology Trends , Blogs et Entreprises and Company Blogs interviewed me the other day for the latter blog.  The result is here (based on my novel-length (oops) email response to him, plus a nice conversation).