Owing to a glitch in the space / time continuum, Robert French was unable to post the following to my entry on his and others’ comments on Robert Scoble and Shel Israel’s book.
I think you’re focus on the self-promotion aspect misses the bigger picture.
As for you (more specifically your work), I think it is one of the few good examples of using blogs in PR. I’ve said that to others, pointed my students to it, and even written about it in my blogs.
This goes beyond self-promotion. The book is being developed around a tight circle and, at times, failing to recognize all the players. That’s wrong. If someone gets praise for a practice another has done – and successfully so – well, that’s just not right. It is especially wrong when one of the adopters previously called the practice ‘tainted’.
And, this isn’t backlash. It is commentary. I’ve been thinking and writing about these things for quite awhile.
My response:
I guess I have the luxury of being outside of academia – so I can be a bit cynical.
I wasn’t trying to get into what anyone may have or have not done or claimed credit for. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in 10 years of working in agencies is that self-promotion is the number one priority of most PR people.
Part of the reason I think I haven’t been successful in the agencies I’ve worked at is I don’t walk up and down the halls and say “I did that.” So now I’m on my own.
As far as the book being shot through with a lot of PR folks talking about themselves, if it is, then I don’t think that’s Shel and Robert’s fault, that’s just the nature of the beast.
The book will come out, make a splash and then fade off into the sunset as a new ‘thing’ comes down the pike and everyone in PR rushes off to learn about it lest they become extinct.
In the meantime, some of us in marketing and public relations – folks like you, Hugh MacLeod, Seth Goden, Jeremy Pepper, myself and a few others – see the forest for the trees and adjust accordingly. I’m not going to walk up and down shouting “I GET IT!!” but I’ll let my work and my blog speak for myself.
PS – Robert, thanks for the kind words about my blog. And thank you for working hard to mold the next generation of PR practitioners.
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