Catch that train
Jeremy Pepper, in his own inimitable way, calls out PR agencies for paying lip service to the idea of community.
I still laugh at some of the people I have run into at BlogHer over the past years that did not participate, but just walked around. Or when they did participate, did it in such a heavy-handed way, it was embarrassing for PR people that were there to learn, talk and participate.
I sometimes wonder why I’m one of only a handful of PR people who attend events like SXSW. Or a BarCamp. Or any social media gathering. The time I spend at these events not only helps me build my knowledge and experience of social media but helps me get my cilents in front of people who know me as a person and not as an annoying email.
Then again, maybe I shouldn’t be giving away my secrets…
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Comments
Which is why I never asked to go to events, I just told them I was going to events for work.
If you ask, you’ll get a no. If you tell them, they just figure you know what you are doing and pay for it. And, it always came back to information that was good for clients (if they knew what to do with it).
The sad thing is, giving away your secrets won’t make a difference. It’s not that the other P.R. folks *happen* not to know that they should be immersing themselves in the social-media world, but rather than they’re not even in that frame of thinking at all — and might not recognize it even if it bit them in the seat of the pants.
Well that digs up the whole training issue. PR folks in my experience spend the least on training. Not saying this is in all agencies…but in my experience anything not billable comes under scrutiny. If it incurrs a cost on top of that….GASP. We’re cheap and missing the bigger picture/opportunity.