It’s tough being an island - all alone and conspicious.  There are many social media islands out there in companies.  These people have been tasked with “getting some social media going”; they’re doing what no employee has done before; and what’s more, it doesn’t even look like real work.

If you feel like a social media island at your work the good news is that tomorrow is your day because Sydney (and the world) is having a Social Media Day. It’s essentially the world’s first unified day that celebrates online communities and a chance for social media champions to get together, share a drink, and tell war stories about fighting the good fight to make the world a better and more connected, social place. 

The folks at Mashable came up with the global idea and Australia’s Laurel Papworth, social media strategist, has turned event manager to organise proceedings which will be held at ivy.

In Sydney, visiting BBC journalist and social media expert, Euan Semple, will be sharing his knowledge and expertise around introducing social media tools into large, successful organisation such as Nokia, The World Bank and NATO.

The worldwide event has drawn interest from over 8000 people across 86 countries, with nearly 500 worldwide events taking place tomorrow.  Attendees will use the hash tag #smday on Flickr, YouTube and Twitter.

When: Wednesday, 30 June at 6.30pm

Where: Ivy Ballroom at 320-330 George Street

How: RSVP to MeetUp here / Follow on Twitter / Join Facebook

Posted by Renee Creer

When I think MC Hammer I think three things:

1. Hammer pants;
2. Hammer time; and
3. You Can’t Touch This

I don’t think social media entrepreneur.  At least I didn’t until last night when we social media ruffians packed into a UTS lecture hall to hear the Hammer break it down at the Social Media Club in Sydney. 

I’ll out myself now as a fan of the guy.  Loved him in 1990 - bought the album, wore the pants, did the crab dance – loved him and then forgot about him once he left the charts.

In the mean time Hammer continued his journey, became a tech geek, ended up besties (well, ended up at meetings) with the early founders of Google, YouTube and Twitter.  He started a music website called Dance Jam, a blog (six years ago) and became the kind of social media star that has 1,640,910 Twitter followers and needs a desk top in his bathroom.

The man is a born and bred entrepreneur. 

Last night he began by recounting a story about how, after exhausting his neighbourhood of lemonade sales, he walked 8 miles (almost 13km) to a sports stadium which held 50,000 people.  He didn’t know what he’d sell the people once he got there but he knew he’d think of something.

Hammer sees the eco system around social media as similar fertile ground and encouraged the audience to embrace present opportunities. He is particularly interested in solving problems as to how to monetise social media and is no doubt a keen investor in social technologies, one of which he confessed is the Bump App.

Overall he was interesting, inspiring, articulate, entertaining, good humoured and straight up. Here’s what he had to say on…

Brands and social media:

• Never let anyone else tell your story.  Also, position yourself at the centre of the flow of information as this gives you more control and the ability to address issues and incorrect information.
• Perception has trumped reality; it’s more valuable now so continuing to manage your brand and create ongoing perceptions is paramount.
• Transparency is an asset and when brands don’t want to participate it leaves him to wonder what they have to hide.

Detractors and hecklers:

• From day one set the boundaries of your brand and if people are negative or add nothing to the conversation, block them!
• Dealing with conflict on Twitter sharpens your skill set and makes you more able to handle conflict.

The line between private and public:

• Artists are created to a particular image however social media forces artists to be themselves.  The line between private and public is gone and it’s more important to be yourself rather than the image.

The next big thing:

• Augmented reality eg.  you’re walking down the street and receive audio grabs of historical facts via your mobile phone.
• Mobile phone credit card devices eg. you can swipe credit cards via your mobile and the transaction goes through to your bank account.

Question of the night (via the Twitter stream):

• Dear @mchammer, can you give me any advice as to what I can and can’t touch?
• Answer:  You can’t touch the concept of Hammer time.

Aside from being awesome, he’s a believer in the law of attraction, a fan of ‘joining a dinner without being invited’, and the kind of person who could smell money underwater, so it’s clear to me that it will be Hammer time for a long time to come.

Posted by Renee Creer

On 29 June a bunch of PR people and food bloggers got together to discuss blogger relations in response to some recent and very public PR stuff ups involving food bloggers and journos.  At the meet up, a panel discussion was held with Helen from Grab Your Fork, Reem from I Am Obsessed with Food and Ed from Tomato.

L to R: Helen Yee, Ed Charles, Reem Abdelaty & Renee Creer

A few days prior to this, Text100 released their Blogger Survey 09 which reported that PR people were continuing some bad habits in regards to blogger outreach.  PR people:

• continue to blindly send corporate press releases to bloggers
• are failing to read the blogs and truly understand their target bloggers’ communities
• seem to expect bloggers to post corporate material, demonstrating a lack of understanding of the medium and the very reason why bloggers blog
• treat bloggers as they would journalists - not as influencers which is more appropriate

Based on my conversations with Helen, Reem and Ed and from the discussion on the night, I’ve put together some tips on blogger relations for PR people.

1. Question if blogger relations is appropriate. It might seem like a good idea at the time (you know, tag blogger outreach onto the back of your traditional publicity efforts to increase exposure - after all it’s a cheap way to generate some online buzz and impress your clients on how PR 2.0 savvy you are), however blogger outreach shouldn’t just be done because it looks like it can be done quickly, cheaply and easily.  Any PR activity must help to achieve overall objectives.
2. Understand the medium. A blog is essentially an online diary of someone’s experiences.  Blogging is a very personal endeavour, mostly undertaken in personal time.  The point of blogging is to have an opinion about something, share it and engage in two-way dialogue with other bloggers and readers.  Bloggers are driven by their own instincts and interests, they are not necessarily into the PR or media agenda and they are not mouthpieces for PR messages who can be easily bought.
3. Realise that bloggers don’t need PR people. Text100’s report highlighted that most bloggers get information from other bloggers or RSS feeds.  In addition, bloggers usually have a backlog of content they’d like to post so they don’t need PR people to provide content or news; they have done well enough without us for the last few years.
4. Understand a blogger’s needs. Interesting, valuable, remarkable content or experiences are important to bloggers; in this regard they are like traditional media. Bloggers also consider what their readers would like to hear about.  In addition, having time to post is a factor when it comes to blogging or not and for food bloggers in particular, having great pics is a necessity for a post.
5. Do your research. Take time to thoroughly look at and learn about the bloggers you wish to contact because they are not homogenous; they all have different interests, motivations and approaches.  Read the blogger’s ‘about’ page, read the ‘archives’ and use the ’search’ function. Learn what their interests are, how often and when they post - really get to know them and what they’re about.
6. Realise you can’t control bloggers. Bloggers are entitled to blog as they see fit and they are without external constraints (editors, stakeholders etc).  Just because you provide a product or experience and a blogger accepted it, it doesn’t mean they will write about it and it doesn’t mean they will write positively about it. Many bloggers feel uncomfortable with the sense of obligation implied or otherwise by accepting things, when it comes to being approached by PR people.
7. Realise you can’t control the message. In an industry built on managing or moulding messages, relinquishing control is often uncomfortable.  In some areas of PR and for some clients, having negative comments in the public sphere can be a bit of an affront.  Know that while bloggers will make corrections to errors it is inappropriate to request that negative posts or comments be removed.  As Mel from Fooderati said “you can’t ‘un-have’ an experience” so why would a blogger remove a post they have written?  As a PR, you can certainly respond and seek to rectify any issues but don’t expect posts or comments to be removed.
8. Take a personal approach. Do not send blanket ‘dear blogger’ or <insert name> emails and expect to get a reply.  When approaching bloggers, make a personal introduction - you’re trying to build a relationship after all - and don’t hard sell or waste people’s time with lame PR ideas. In addition, realise that some bloggers welcome PR contact but others don’t.  If a blogger hasn’t included their contact details on their blog, this would imply they do not wish to be contacted, so respect this.
9. Invest the time and best resources to do the job right. Constructing personal pitches and building relationships takes time and as Ed commented “intelligent targeting is labour intensive.”  Blogger relations requires time and competent, sensible, personable PR people.  If it’s a job given to junior staff, they will need a thorough understanding of the medium and the best way to approach bloggers.
10. Always explain and disclose. Saying “I do the PR for so and so” doesn’t mean much to someone who doesn’t know what PR is in the first place.  Go to the effort to explain who you are, what you’re doing, who the client is, how you see bloggers fitting into the picture; whatever you think will help the blogger understand why you have contacted them.  Always disclose and expect that if you provide something to a blogger, they will publicly disclose too.
11. Think about what you’re offering. Bloggers like to link to other blogs and many readers will read multiple blogs under the one area or topic.  It can be pretty boring if everyone is writing about Barry’s Biscuits in the one week, so think about what you’re offering and how you can offer something unique to each blogger.  Bloggers also want to be able to distinguish themselves from other bloggers.
12. Think about the content you’re providing. Many suggest that content for bloggers should be more conversational, should avoid corporate speak, and should be more web friendly.  Reem however made the point that bloggers are mostly all professionals so they’re familiar with corporate speak and don’t mind press releases.  In any regard, clear, concise information is best and sharable, condensed, web friendly content is recommended.
13. Be careful who you offer freebies or payment to.  Some bloggers will not accept any freebies because they feel it compromises their credibility.  It comes down to a personal choice so be mindful of this when approaching people.  In addition, it’s not appropriate to offer payment to bloggers.  While this does happen, in the States for example, and while you could probably find a ’pay for post’ blogger somewhere, it’s certainly not considered appropriate or ethical.
14. Follow up with manners not expectations. A great way to follow up with a blogger is: “is this of interest to you” not “when do you think you’ll write about this.”  As noted above, bloggers are not obliged to write about your product or service, so don’t assume this.  In addition, if a blogger has written a post on your client, sending a thank you email never goes astray.
15. Understand that bloggers talk. Food bloggers in particular are a large, tight knit community of people who regularly socialise together, link to each other’s blogs and talk all day (and night) on Twitter.  Know that if you spam them, are rude or inappropriate, or make unreasonable demands, they will all talk about you and your PR agency (within a matter of minutes) and it’s likely that your email will be circulated and possibly even published online.  Public naming and shaming has happened before.

That’s all for now.  I hope I’ve done the topic justice and I would love to hear feedback on these tips.  If you have any additional points, let me know.

You can listen to the full conversation here.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Here are some additional blog posts you might like to check out:

• Last Appetite: 4 tips for food blog PR
• Not Quite Nigella: 10 things you should know about food bloggers
• Time Out London: When are food bloggers just meal blaggers?
• The Guardian: Food bloggers and PRs to meet
• The Guardian: When the food bloggers met the PRs

Last but not least, thanks to everyone who came along on the night and thanks to Helen, Reem, Ed,  Restaurant Arras and Glen Frost for the photos.

Posted by Renee Creer
Photos by Glen Frost, Frocomm

L to R: Melissa Leong, Reem Abdelaty & Ed Charles Pre-talk drinks

Pre-talk drinks

Lately, there has been some very public instances in which PR people have been ‘named and shamed’ online - on blogs and in twitter - for the way they have approached food bloggers. 

It hasn’t been pretty and when situations like this occur, it doesn’t do anyone any good.  I attribute this strife largely to a general lack of knowledge and understanding about bloggers and blogging. 

So in an effort to improve relations between PR professionals and members of the food blogging community, Stellar* is hosting a ‘meet up’ and panel discussion.  Please click here for event details and registration.

If you would like to gain some insight into the food blogger communities in Sydney and Melbourne; gain an understanding of who food bloggers are, how they work and what they do and don’t want; learn how to approch bloggers (without pissing them off) and build positive relationships, then please join us for this FREE event. 

Likewise, if you have questions you’ve been too afraid to ask - now’s your chance!  Ask on the night, email questions through to us prior OR leave a question on our blog.

The format is a panel discussion followed by an open Q & A session.  Speakers include:

• Ed Charles
  Melbourne based freelance journalist and food blogger behind Tomato, which attracts +30,000 page views per month.
• Helen Yee
  Food enthusiast and the appetite behind one of Sydney’s longest-running food blogs, Grab Your Fork, online since 2004.
• Reem Abdelaty
  A passionate foodie with an aptly titled and popular blog called I Am Obsessed With Food.

Why are we doing this?  Because as we stated here “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem”.  We want to help to make things better and we thought that this would be a step in the right direction for all parties.

Big thanks and shout out to Restaurant Arras for providing a beautiful venue and ‘hatted’ nibbles for the night.  And to Ed for making the trip up from Melbourne.

Posted by Renee Creer

Here’s this week’s media wrap up. Please click on the publication title to read the full article.

Media

• Celebrity magazines continue to fall in sales with all but one announcing a decrease - Sydney Morning Herald
• Matthew Johns could return to air sooner than expected as a commentator after being ’stood down indefinitely’ rather than saked by the Nine network - The Australian
• The vultures are circling over Nine’s reality renovation show Home Made after the show pulled in a dismal 860,000 viewers on Tuesday night - Mumbrella

Advertising

• Online advertising increased by 14 per cent in the first quarter of this year which states people still trust or are beginning to invest in the online space - Sydney Morning Herald

Sponsorship

• NRL boss David Gallop made a point to personally write to major sponsors in the hope of them re-signing next year with an estimated $10 million worth of sponsorships on the cards - The Australian

Digital and social media

• A snapshot e-mail survey by Australia’s digital services trade body suggests that most companies are planning to increase the amount they spend on digital, despite the downturn - Mumbrella

Posted by Helen Lear

With Christmas fast approaching, our thoughts turn to eating, drinking, presents and of course… the office Christmas party.

Some see this anticipated event as an opportunity to show off their extra curricular skills - kung fu dancing, ear-splitting karaoke, jumping through their own leg (I’ve seen this and it’s awe inspiring!). Sound all too familiar?

You may think of the above as such tom foolery; that surely we, as PR extraordinaires, would keep our own Christmas parties as high end and stylish as our clients’. Ha ha, think again. Between us, we’ve seen and done it all!

So in the interest of saving you potential embarrassment (and possible retrenchment) here is our list of dos and don’ts for your office Christmas party.

DO

1. Carefully consider your party outfit. Anything that makes you look like you’ve fallen out of a lap dancing  club is probably not the most appropriate choice for advancing your career

2. Drink slowly. I’m not saying drink in moderation as, let’s be honest, that’s not going to happen, but do pace yourself. A flaming Sambucca over lunch is only going to lead to trouble

3. Ban all cameras and camera phones. Facebook can’t wait to get its little paws on that shot of you dancing with your dress over your head. Or, as Bono found out, sitting with a half dressed floozy on your lap

DON’T

1. Assume that because the work experience boy smiled at you that it’s a green light to clamber across the table and pash his face off. He was probably just concealing a burp

2. Complain that you hate your Kris Kringle gift. Your colleague probably spent hours trudging round the shops to find the offending diamante i-pod cover, so just pretend you love it and move on

3. Corner you boss for a quite one-to-one about your desired pay increase whilst spilling your drink all over their new shoes and telling them how much you love them. You may find your desk cleared the next day

These are merely our tips for the big event, the rest is up to you. If necessary, we are always available for reputation management should the need arise.

If you have any funny Christmas party stories we’d love to hear them.

Posted by Helen Lear

We’re in the business of blowing other people’s horns.  We’ve become so accustomed to this role we often forget to blow our own.  However, today we got this email from our client, The Wine Society, so we’re using it to blow our own horn:

“Thank you for all your hard work and dedication.  If people cannot see that Stellar* Concepts is the best PR agency in the known universe then there is something wrong with them.  I cannot wait to send around your PR update for the Young Winemaker of the Year because people will fall off their chairs” Eva Gero, Events Executive, The Wine Society

The finalists with MC, Jean Kittson

This is a big wrap.  It could be a slight exaggeration but who are we to disagree with a client.

What did we do to achieve such lavish praise?
For the second year we supported The Wine Society’s annual event, the Young Winemaker of the Year Award, with a publicity campaign.

What did we deliver?
This year to date we achieved 97 clippings nationwide and in NZ with a couple of big, juicy features still coming (see Sunday Magazine in Syd and Melb in Dec).  This equates to a circulation figure of 2,551,984.

Is this a lot of coverage?
Yes, yes indeed.  This is a veritable mountain of coverage.  If this coverage was a wine bottle it would be the size of a Melchizedek.

Why was this campaign so successful?
The story had national and international scope - so wide reaching appeal, while still being community centric (good for community press) + it allowed tailored, personal messages for specific media outlets.  Also, it was a newsworthy, topical event with a high number of participants which again, increased the appeal.

What was the business outcome?
Publicity helped drive a stronger field of entrants and attracted sommelier judges making the quality of the event greater.  It also helped to increase entrant numbers (up on 2007) and generated greater awareness around the awards program and The Wine Society itself.

I’ll drink to that!

Posted by Renee Creer

Here’s part 2 of our tips on getting your event in the social pages:

5. Hold your event later in the week when the social pages are being prepared and when people can feel a weekend coming on. If you hold your event on Friday or Saturday night don’t expect social coverage (see point 8). Wednesday or Thursday night is best and don’t rule out a breakfast or lunch timeslot for a product launch. Check the proposed date for other competing events on Social Diary, an industry diary of social events registered by people like us.

6. Don’t skimp on the invitation; it’s the first touch point so make it count. If it looks cheap you’re sending a message about what kind of event you’re putting on. Make the invitation stand out and try sending an invite that’s not just paper in an envelope. We always get asked about whether an email or hard copy invitation is better. Again, it depends on your brand and event but a birdie once told us that hard copy was good for social editors because they can put in a folder and it doesn’t get lost in their inbox.

7. Seven to ten days prior, leak details of the event to key media. This is a good way to touch base with social editors about the event and ensure they’ve saved the date in the diary. It will also generate buzz and you’ll notice a spike in rsvp’s as people start reading about it and getting excited. Social networking sites are also a great avenue to create buzz.

8. Be mindful of press deadlines. Sunday newspaper editions are put to bed by Friday lunchtime, so make sure journalists have everything they need and be sure to be contactable on Friday so journalists can check facts if needed.

9. Hire your own photographer so you can widen the publicity reach. Also, try and set up an exclusive shot the day of the event to ensure coverage the next day. On the night, don’t forget to ensure the social editor and photographer is being looked after because the coverage is written from their perspective.

10. Cross your fingers and hope for the best because these things are beyond control. Getting in the socials shouldn’t be your only measure of success. Other measures – attendance numbers, quality of guests, number of media guests, engagement with the brand and feedback from the client – should be used.

Did we forget anything? Let us know if you’ve got any other tips.

Posted by Renee Creer

I love a party. The best party I ever went to was a wake. Let’s just say if it was the subject of a joke it would start something like this: “Fourteen people and a blow-up dolphin are in a spa…” but that’s a story for another time because I would like to keep my job and reputation in tact.

We all know Sydney loves a party, but last week we learned that Sydney really, really loves a pool party, especially if it’s hosted by the notorious party master, Justin Hemmes.

Last Thursday we helped Justin launch ivy’s Pool Party, which was named Party of the Week by Amy Cooper in The Sun Herald S; just one of 14 clippings secured pre and post event.

At Stellar* we are often set the task of getting coverage in the social pages. This is not easy; competition is fierce, coverage can’t be guaranteed and reviews can be harsh.

If you’ve got aspirations for your event to make the socials or get the kind of coverage that will generate awareness, increase patronage, sell product or create buzz, the following list of tips will come in handy.

We’re posting this in two parts; the remaining tips will follow later in the week.

1. First, check your objectives. Clients often want a party without really drilling down on what the objective is and who their target consumers are. Who can blame them really? Parties are fun, however your objective might not be best achieved via an event. Similarly, if your targets are boomers, the social pages aren’t a good match and you should look at a more intimate event with different media targets.

2. Have a cool hook or theme that relates to your product or brand. The theme must be visually strong because coverage in the social pages is concise and image driven – so you’ve only got a small opportunity to get your message across. Plus, always include the brand or product name in the party title so that at the very least you’ll get a mention here.

3. You’re going to need young, good looking people, models and celebrities (they don’t have to be A list). That’s the simple truth of it. You’re going to need these people and lots of them, unless your product or brand is super sexy, has a certain level of cache, or the event idea is so out-of-this-world no one has ever heard or seen anything like it.

4. Events that offer a unique experience always have an advantage. They help with rsvp’s, talkability and coverage. Offer this via a ‘first ever’ happening, a special guest, a unique location, an exclusive performance - anything people can’t normally get, have access to, or experience. Aside from celebrities, media also love access to senior management, particularly if they have a public profile.

We’ll outline some practical tips in part 2, later this week.

Posted by Renee Creer

I once complained to friends about occupational food and wine fatigue brought on by Good Food Month.  The scorn that ensued was unparalleled.  I quickly learned that such talk about the struggle of eating and drinking one’s way through a month long parade of degustations, wine dinners, noodle markets, cheese tastings and the like, was best kept within industry circles with those who knew and could understand.

Indeed there are many conversations kept within industry circles.  This adds to the mystery of what we get up to here in the world of public relations.  This blog will hopefully expose some mysteries and open up some of those conversations to give you an insight into the industry at large and life at Stellar* Concepts.  Mostly we hope it will keep our clients, colleagues, friends and lurkers informed and entertained.

It seems fitting that we’ve launched our blog during Good Food Month; it’s by far our favourite time of year and we’ve been busy helping Brown Brothers, Citigroup, Brasserie Bread, Merivale, Café Sydney and The Trade Commission of Spain infect Sydney with their passion for food and wine.

Next year should be bigger and better with the recent announcement of the Sydney Morning Herald’s International Food Festival which will replace Good Food Month in 2009.

So, are we suffering from food and wine fatigue?  The question is, are you?

Posted by Renee Creer