Jumping back into the blog with a couple take-aways from Scoble’s move from Microsoft. In the event you’re one of the few who’ve missed it, Scoble’s departure set the blogosphere ablaze over the weekend. Yesterday Scoble was the #1 search on Technorati, ahead of the World Cup, and remains at #2 this evening. Beyond the love bantered about there are notable points about the news and the coverage of it. PodTech.net made the huge play many others surely had in mind. They took action and sealed a grand slam deal for any start-up. The score: instant credibility and visibility beyond their immediate communities. Wonder how many executives are kicking themselves today for not courting him more aggressively. Score another one for action besting inaction.
The story also presents another major case on the power of blogs. Not so much about the power of one blogger, which is obvious, but how a big tech story was scooped, covered and buzzed w/out the influence of mainstream media. Tom Foremski’s post earlier today covers the scoop in more detail.

Technorati Tags: Scoble, blogs, media

There’s a ton of posting going on around the need to monitor the blogosphere to track conversations about your company and brand. Conceptually the idea’s been talked about for some time. In practice it now appears to be finding critical mass. A couple must-reads include Andy Beal’s beginners’ guide to tracking online reputations. It’s an impressive deep dive into the depth and frequency required to be truly tuned in through monitoring efforts. Another is from Tom Foremski on the mania of finding influential voices through a silver bullet tool or site. I wholeheartedly agree with his take that the best way to figure out who important bloggers are (as well as how to best engage) is to go into the communities as a participant versus spectator.

Technorati Tags: Blogs, Buzz, PR 2.0, reputation management

Many thanks to Josh Hallett for Going Social’s new design. Already getting really good feedback on the new look and feel. If you haven’t visited his site, check it out. Great takes on navigating the blogging universe.

Kudos to Microsoft for showing how to flip customer concern into positive conversation. Similar to Jeff Jarvis’ public plea to Dell, Hugh Macleod put word out to Microsoft on gapingvoid and got quick resolution to his Tablet PC issue. What followed was a glowing post from Macleod and interesting commentary from those weighing in on the effort, especially from Robert Scoble. Microsoft’s proactive efforts represent the big leap progressive communicators are making. They’re not only tuned in and listening to independent voices, but more importantly, they’re empowering employees to act on information as a way to connect with and serve customers.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, blogs, PR 2.0, crisis management

Used to be when you did a speech and bombed the fallout was largely contained with the audience in front of you. Thanks to blogs the reach of a failed effort can be extended and intensified before you can say get out of town. Ask the PR folks at Yahoo who look to be containing damage from a failed speaking effort at EG2006. Valleywag, Gawker’s new Silicon Valley gossip blog, weighed in yesterday, reveling in Lloyd Braun’s performance and presumed run-in with Richard Saul Wurman. What’s more telling comes from USA Today’s tech lead, Kevin Maney. On his blog he called Braun out as being “exhausted, unprepared and seemingly clueless about the audience’s sophistication level.” Not the kind of stuff you’re used to seeing in print.

While this looks to be an extreme case in being under-prepared, execs should be forewarned that the coverage game tied to major conferences has changed big time. Beyond back channel conversations shared between participants, proceedings are covered as a matter of course through mainstream media blogs reaching audiences far beyond the confines of the conference sites. For better or worse, these days when you hit the stage the world could literally be watching.

Technorati Tags: Blogs, EG2006, PR, crisis management, social media

A common criticism of the PR profession stems from ill-informed, ill-prepared pitches  lobbed into  journalists  who are busier than ever.  Taking a page from Gawker’s playbook, bloggers are jumping into the ring to out PR folks who don’t make the effort to listen and learn before pitching their goods. A new site called  The Bad Pitch blog  amounts to an ongoing post of misguided media relations efforts fed by journalists to the blog’s authors.  Not to be outdone, B.L. Ochman also has a testy take today on the fundamentals of media relations and how to pitch her blog.  Although both include pretty brutal and personal beatdowns, there’s actually a noble cause to consider. They amount to a self-policing mechanism developing online that insures a baseline level of professionalism required as part of our work. Companies fork over lots of money to build relationships with the media and share stories that lead to coverage. Journalists expect to work with pros who know their pubs, beats and issues of interest before working a pitch. Those who bypasss the basics without respect for the true task at hand should expect to get their 15 minutes of fame online as similar sites pop up – before their clients show them the door.

There is a growing consensus among marketing prognosticators that companies must to think more like media companies to effectively reach consumers and key constituents. While it hasn’t reach a critical mass, the rise of blogs, podcasts and other branded content, coupled with the ability to offer this content easily, inexpensively and directly to consumers, makes this movement inevitable. Steve Rubel has a couple posts on the topic to check out – one that debates how soon “created media” will trump “earned media” and another today which suggests iTunes will put broadcast media bureaus out of business. Two good write-ups on the need to think like a broadcaster come include Mike Manuel’s PR 2.0 post as well as Randall Rothenberg’s New Year’s resolution.

BusinessWeek extended its blog beat to now cover automotive. Called The Auto Beat, the blog includes posts from leading BW auto writers including David Kiley and David Welch.  The idea of collaborative blogs written by mainstream media is an ongoing trend to address – especially when the content differs so significantly from traditional stories written by the same journalists.  We may get it, but we need to make sure executives understand how raw commentary may appear in reporter blog posts versus print or broadcast pieces.

Like CES, mainstream media outlets have joined full-time bloggers in full force to create running dairies of the North American International Auto Show. You can find everything you want to know about happenings at the show and state of the auto industry – if you can’t get enough through the mainstream media coverage. The far-from-incomplete list of blogs covering press week includes:

Jalopnik , Autoblog , Autospies , Edmunds , The New York Times’ Car Chase, CNET 

With the exception of the NY Times’ efforts, each pretty much replicates the avalanche of coverage already out there. Anybody see others out there that present a different take on the show, or alternative ideas for covering major events for that matter?

CBS News’ Public Eye Blog brings readers inside the news reporting process and now has taken things a step further. Buzz Machine links to CBS’s move to bring visitors to the blog inside editorial meetings to see what makes it or not onto their broadcasts.

Technorati Tags: Blogs, Media, Social Media