Looking on PRSA.org, I found this article regarding the DC conference this year and message control. It's an interesting account by Greg Radner, head, PR Services, Thomson Reuters. This short article is applies to what Comm 300 is learning now - developing and delivering messages.
With more than 30 sessions related to social media management at this year’s PRSA 2010 International Conference in D.C., it is clear that figuring out social technologies is a priority for public relations professionals, even if it takes them out of their comfort zone. Public relations is about controlling your message, but trying to take control in a communal environment is often a losing battle.
The Conference provided a perfect case study when Mickey Mouse made a surprise appearance to promote next year’s Conference location of Orlando, FL. Shortly after the session, an e-mail was distributed to the PRSA blogging crew asking us not to use images of Mickey in our blog posts. It was to prevent unauthorized commercial use of the image, but it got me thinking about control of content in the age of real-time news. Armed with cell phone cameras, images of Mickey had already been shared through Twitter and other social networks across the Web by many of the non-blogging attendees.
As Charlene Li suggested in her Tuesday morning keynote address, PR professionals need to learn how to “give up control but still be in command.” To that point, I spoke with many attendees who stopped by the Thomson Reuters booth with questions on how they can better manage the monitoring and measurement of their communications once they are released into the marketplace. It’s an issue that is top of mind across the industry, and the exhibit hall was filled with providers offering solutions to help address this need.
Today’s tools allow PR professionals to listen to and participate in the conversation, rather than trying to tame the message. Here, knowledge is power and the social sphere provides a rich river of gold. These tools allow for real-time monitoring of the online conversation and employ measurement tools that can extract market sentiment and opinions from the discussions. So, while you cannot always control the message, you can listen in on how your message is being received and use that information to respond as necessary.
There’s a rich vein of information out there, so get out your tools and start mining it.
While I wasn't at the DC Conference, I'm curious to find out if those who were there thought about the use of Mickey Mouse to promote next years conference. Did you think of the implications of distributing Mickey Mouse's trademark across social networking platforms? In a world where everything exciting, new, fun, engaging, etc. is immediately shared via texts, blogs, tweets, status updates, messages, and other outlets, I think it's quite the task to share a message while hoping it's imagery or logos to not be subsequently reproduced. Mickey Mouse had no choice but to be subjected to picture-taking. Almost every technological device can capture an image - phones, computers, cameras - is it realistic to expect people not to share his surprise arrival? If there is anything to come away with from this experience, it's from Charlene Li's aforementioned keynote address:
"PR professionals need to learn how to “give up control but still be in command.”
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