Flip cameras get a mobile app

Flip camcorders just got another utility with a new mobile software application that supports sharing from your BlackBerry, iPhone or Android phone--and the new app is free.   At the moment, the app only supports certain model phones within those categories, including the Apple iPhone, iPod touch; Blackberry Curve 8520, Curve 8900, and Bold 9000; Google G1 (T-Mobile) and MyTouch (T-Mobile).  You can find the apps at the Flip Share website or in the app store for those phones.

That means you can shoot and share video from any location where your phone's working, and without a laptop--so if you're sending communicators out in the field to gather video or stills, they can post from events and offsite locations directly, without coming back to the office.  For iPhone users, the app allows you to create video playlists and favorites, and all the apps allow access to your Flip Channel--a private channel where you can share video with other users.  The latter feature means video can be shared from a remote location to colleagues in your office, who can phone in reactions, questions or ideas to the on-site recorder.

Find out more about the the 2nd-generation Flip MinoHD Camcorder with 120-minute capacity or check out all shoot-and-share camcorders on Amazon.

Related posts:  Find out why the Flip's part of my communications utility belt

October 2009 updates on online video tips and trends

Why your online videos can now be longer

27 ways to Flip your PR visuals

where's that kodak zi8 camcorder?

It's not quite Where's Waldo or Flat Stanley--yet--but I've had a postcard of sorts from my out-for-testing camcorder. A few weeks ago, I sent out the Kodak Zi8 HD Pocket Video Camerato the first of four testers--all university communications shops--so they could compare its features and functionality to other ultralight camcorders like the Flip MinoHD Camcorder. Here's a still shot of the camera in use for an interview with a faculty scientist at Rockefeller University in New York City, sent as a progress report. After a 2-week test in New York, the camera's on its way to Oregon for two weeks of testing.

I had the chance to see my tester's preview footage yesterday, and each tester will be posting footage and impressions on this blog so you can see the camera in action, and hear how it compares to other ultralight camcorders. Feel free to post your questions about this or other ultralight camcorders so our testers can try out your ideas. (Photo by Joe Bonner)

our Kodak Zi8 test

I'm excited to be launching a wide-ranging test of the new Kodak Zi8HD ultralight camcorder, with the help of some clients and colleagues around the U.S. The camera has just arrived and while it's getting charged and assembled, here are some early thoughts I can share with you and my testers, who'll get the camera next:

• Weight: It's still lightweight, but with its larger battery and the need for an SD card to extend the memory, this 1.4-pound camera's heavier than the Flip MinoHD Camcorder or the Flip UltraHD (the 120-minute version), which are 11.2 ounces and 12 ounces, respectively. See the view top left, showing the battery compartment.


• Connections: After the Flip, with its pop-out USB connection (which doubles as a charger and as the path to upload your video), my first impression of the Zi8 was "My, doesn't this come with an assortment of cords and plugs," and none appears to do more than one function--so you have a charging cord, an uploading cord and the cable to connect to a TV or monitor. There's a pull-out USB on a flexible short arm (see photo right). A full charge requires 2 hours!


• Memory: Flip cameras come with built-in 30-, 60- or 120-minutes of juice, and charge relatively quickly via the USB port for later models (or with new AA batteries for the smaller, older models, useful for those who don't want to take chances). The Zi8 "has limited internal memory--perfect for a few practice videos/pictures," according to the manual. So I've added $88 to the price with a 32GB SD card, the maximum memory this can accommodate, which will allow up to 10 hours of recording.
  

On the plus side, there's potential for widescreen filming, longer videos, and an external microphone jack--all catnip for those of us who've been playing with Flip cameras. My first impression: Can't beat the Flip for intuitive design and ease-of-use out of the box, but the extra features open up lots of possibilities. Watch this space for updates from me and my testers in the weeks to come.

And Flip has just reduced prices on its cameras, so you can now get the HD versions for around $150-160, instead of their earlier just-over-$200 price. (Photos for this piece? Took them, yes, with a Flip camera.)

Buy a Kodak Zi8

Buy a Flip MinoHD Camcorder (the 60-minute version) or Flip UltraHD (the 120-minute version)

but don't write off the flip just yet

Here's a nice example of a video shot with a Flip MinoHD Camcorder in which the lack of an external mic didn't seem to affect the quality. Check out the video and see for yourself...and leave your comments below.

testing a new ultra-light camcorder

For all that I love the Flip MinoHD Camcorder and what it's done to make online video inexpensive, fast and fun for communicators, I'm always looking for new social-media tools for my pocket arsenal. The soon-to-be-available (Sept. 15) Kodak Zi8, another HD ultralight camcorder, seems to offer some competition in the form of:

• widescreen capabilities for video or still shots with a 16:9 aspect ratio,
• a jack for an external microphone, which allows audio recording in stereo--a real advantage,
• capacity to record up to 10 hours of video if you use a SD/SDHC card slot that can hold up to 32 GB (which, unfortunately, is not included in the price).

My Zi8's on pre-order (an option on Amazon.com but not the Kodak site) and to test it, I've asked a small group of communicators from universities around the U.S., many of them among my clients, to participate in a round-robin of trials with this new camcorder. I'll be shipping it to them and posting their video and their comments here on the blog for all to see and share. We'll start the trials this month and continue through October, posting as we go. I've selected communications operations that used both Flip cameras as well as larger, more traditional camcorders, and am hoping they'll give us examples of sound and image quality in a variety of settings and conditions.

This gives me a good chance to remind readers that I don't review products that are given to me for free by the manufacturer--I pay retail for them and test them just as you might, and don't receive a fee for doing so. Links to Amazon-available products do return a small fee to me if you purchase them through this blog, and I use/read/test whatever you see listed here. In the case of my Zi8 reviewers, none of their comments should imply an endorsement, nor are they receiving a fee or any compensation except the use of the camera for what may seem all too brief a time.

While we're all waiting for the Zi8 launch date, you can find out more about this new option with the specifications list, the available accessories (that remote control's intriguing), and product reviews. and the user guide and support information.

I'm looking forward to getting these samples and reviews. What questions do you want answered about the Zi8 (on its own, or in comparison to the Flip or a more traditional camcorder) that would help your communications operation? Leave them in the comments and we'll do our best to cover them!

reboot communications office space?

When I think about rebooting your communications operation to fit today's shifts and changes--from technology to the economy--strategy's normally at the top of the list. Today, though, I'm thinking strategically about how your office, your physical space, also needs a reboot to make it functional for the communications challenges ahead. Here are a few ideas I've been mulling (or trying out) to make my space and yours fit for the future:

• Take down the TVs and put Twitter up for the office to monitor news: I've been known to create a newsroom-like atmosphere in a communications office by wall-mounting TVs dedicated to showing CNN with the sound off, to allow anyone to monitor news in real time. Today, I'd be showing a Twitter feed, customized to the office's topics and focus. In this post on RSS, pointing out that Twitter's far more real-time than syndication, Robert Scoble says: "I'm not in the news business anymore, but if I were I’d keep Twitter up on screen. I’ve been looking closely at Google Reader’s latest features, Twitter, Facebook, and FriendFeed...most of what shows up...shows up in my Twitter feed up to a day earlier." Wondering why everyone needs to see it? There's been more than one day when someone wandering by, an administrative assistant or a colleague down the hall alerted us to breaking news--and if only a few get to see the feed, only a few perspectives will reign.


• Reduce the file cabinet space. Most communications offices are replete with file cabinets and cupboards to store all those annual reports, printed news releases, and other paper-based information tools. I set out more than a year ago to revamp my own offices, and this previous post includes a link to ways to set metrics for your office's paper reduction. Lessons learned: I don't miss the paper, I gained loads of storage, and my focus is improved with fewer stacks sitting around.


• Expand the electronica space: Key to my paper reduction has been theKindle 2, which stores my books, as well as speeches, any PDF or Word documents I need to take with me, magazines, and blogs. You can avoid loads of delivery and recycling of periodicals and newspapers by stocking a few for office-wide use. It sure clears up the shelf space, and the newer, larger-format Kindle DX is a boon for art directors, graphic or web designers, or anyone whose communications work includes lots of photos, charts and visuals, or just more storage space (3,500 documents fit in the DX). But you'll also need to dedicate space to recharge all those devices you're using in lieu of paper, and perhaps, secure storage. Good news: most of the devices are small, but you may need to expand those power strips for all the plugs and cords.


• Stock up on stocked backpacks: Just as local reporters are going mobile, with stocked backpacks full of audio and video equipment, so should you have ready at least a couple of kitted-out packs. Consider stocking ultra-light camcorders like the Flip MinoHD Camcorder, or the Kodak Zi8 HD Pocket Video Camera (available now to pre-order for delivery in September), which adds an external microphone jack for improved sound recording. Choosing a backpack? Try a backpack that comes with chargers, tripods, and cleaning kits for cameras or choose from among the many other electronics backpacks.


• Make room for visitors and drop-bys. Crowdsourcing, collaboration and creative brainstorming with outside sources are the methods of the day. While square footage can be tight, consider dedicating one cubicle as a drop-by space--you can alternate its use for telecommuting full-timers and outside visitors. Then invite in some outsiders for a day or more: visiting colleagues from other organizations, competitors, supporters, consultants. Lend them space in return for some insights and observations, a type of co-working that can advance your rebooting efforts.

If you've rebooted your space, downsized your archives and created a new look, feel and functionality for your communications office, snap a picture and send me an explanation at info[at]dontgetcaught[dot]biz to share with others. Need to rethink your approach? Consider one of our facilitated retreats or workshops to brainstorm ways to make your space fit your new needs.

27 ways to Flip your PR visuals

For the most part, the tiny low-price camcorders like the Flip camera or the forthcoming Kodak Zi8 are simple and intuitive: The built-in USB port and uploading software, the small size and the simple operation combine to inspire--and take all the lugging, planning and setup away as barriers to capturing video. And while some communicators want to stick to their broadcast-quality equipment array, Flips and their ilk can inspire unusual approaches to communicating information about your company, organization or agency.

If you're trying to reboot your communications operation, getting your team savvy about online video's a must. (You know that, but for more ammo, ideas and data, see all my posts on online video here.) Got a reluctant team or one that's more versed in writing than video? Hand them this list of easy ways to break into online video--along with one of the ultra-compact camcorders--and make these options a weekly assignment, no matter what your staffers normally do. You may find that the best videos come from the most unlikely folks, and may uncover some new talent in the process. See how long these last you--and send me the results you think work best for posting on this blog, at info[at]dontgetcaught[dot]biz:

1. 5 views: Send 5 people out (at an event, on an ordinary day, to a meeting, on the showroom floor, to a lab, to a class), cameras in hand. Let each one choose a specific perspective, then have them shoot their video strictly from that view. Could be as simple as having them sit in different places in the room, or dividing the shooting directions (only left, only right, only to the floor, etc.), or at different times during the event. Mix the different views into a mini-movie.
2. Abstractions: Shoot anything but the usual. Look for patterns, not people. Zoom in or out to turn a figurative scene into a series of shapes.
3. Baby b-roll: Your website or blog needs just as many "b-roll" shots as any network television show. Shoot people walking down hallways, talking, playing sports, shopping, participating in what you're offering. Ultra-compact cameras make this easier than ever. The trick will be making sure your team captures these most ordinary moments.
4. Birds' eye view: Record from above. You may need to get on the roof, a balcony, a ladder, or some other platform. Shake up the viewpoint. Things to shoot: crowds moving in or out, traffic patterns, desktops, architectural details, shop windows, you tell me...
5. From the ground up: Do the reverse and shoot from below. Duct tape the camera to your shoe, if need be--get creative. Experiment and find out the results from shooting the ant's eye view at your building or your offices. (Just one example: In an animal hospital, shooting near ground level, aiming up, tells you what the pets see. What else can you discover?)
6. Still life: Use the built-in function to capture stills from every video, so you can use them to extend the utility of having a camera on the scene. Stills can go into your blog, your website, or emails after events or interviews.
7. Wheelies: Mobilize the camera on wheels. At a hospital, let patients in wheelchairs record as they roll through. Put the camera on a bike, cart, car, lawnmower, a rack of clothes, or a shopping basket, and see the view that rolls.
8. View from the top: Give a leader a camera at a graduation, a meeting with top officials, a walk through your headquarters. Ask her to interview someone. (Yes, you can.) Instead of putting your top folks on camera, get their point of view and put them behind one.
9. View from the middle: Find a middle manager, lab specialist, office manager. Ask them to share what they see, and what's important to them in conveying what your organization does. What do they want to share?
10. Hallway interviews: At a meeting (on-site or not)? Just maneuvering through the workplace? Pull out a Flip and conduct an impromptu hallway interview (helps to have brainstormed your questions beforehand). At a conference, these can provide a great sense of "meeting buzz," and may unearth news. Keep it simple, not stilted.
11. Handout videos I: In this version, hand out the camera--to customers, visitors, students, alumni, suppliers, business partners, colleagues--and see what they come back with. You can do this at a special event or just on an ordinary day. (If you order your camcorder direct from Flip, you can give it a custom design--perhaps one that says "Return to communications office?") Check out these videos from a Travel + Leisure contest in which visitors to Washington, DC, landmarks and venues are challenged to use Flip cameras to make their own guided tours. If the visitor doesn't have a Flip, several sites will lend them out.
12. Handout videos II: If you're putting speakers out there, ask them to carry an ultra-compact camcorder--and record audience questions that can be answered later on a blog, Facebook page or website. Check out my own experiments in this vein here. It's how I handle all my "speech handouts" now. There's no replacing the freshness of an audience asking questions, and no better way to capture it than with a mini-camcorder.
13. On-the-spot training feedback: Coaching someone for a media interview or speech? Use a small camcorder to record their practice...then plug it into a laptop and show it to them instantly for review. No cables, no fuss.
14. Foreign correspondents: Sending staff to conferences? Have them check out a Flip and cover the conference, from capturing some speaker segments to capturing details of the venue, the exhibits, anything on which you need intelligence, easily captured. If you have visiting scholars, attendees or execs, ask them to record for a different perspective.
15. Venue specifications: If your organization has its own conference facilities and they're booked by internal or external groups, make a video tour of the venues in your control, describing their capacity and features. Upload them to your website, or email them directly to inquirers.
16. Scouting trips: Same goes when you're scoping out meeting facilities or event venues. Take a Flip and record your impressions and the visual sweep of the space, as well as any details you might forget.
17. The one-question interview, 20 times: Send your team out to conduct one-question interviews from time to time--of customers, visitors, suppliers. Use the feedback to shape your communications, and in some cases, post it to share with others. Or, choose a question that gets to an issue you want to cover, and collect 20 responses. Mash them into a mini-video response.
18. Right before you start: Catch a speaker or official just before he or she begins a big ceremony, speech or presentation. One or two questions will suffice for a spontaneous perspective.
19. Right after you end: Same goes at the close.
20. The river: It may be the parade of customers in your door (or past it on the sidewalk), the graduates marching toward their diplomas, or any other parade of moving people. Use the camera to capture the flow by following the crowd, or keep it stationary to see them go by for another unique perspective.
21. The rock in the river: An alternative: Stand still with the camera and let the crowd/customers/grads/passersby swirl past and around you.
22. Visitor/customer questions: Ask random visitors/customers/attendees: What's on your mind? or What's the biggest question you have for us today? Capture the answers.
23. Walk me through it: What should I know about your business--as a customer, supplier, supporter? Take me on a tour and show me. If there's a process I have to go through as a patient, applicant, or visitor, clue me in and make me comfortable with it.
24. Show me the shortcuts: From the secret hallway to the fastest way to find parking, show me how to make my interactions with you simple and fast. A compilation of staff suggestions--for reporters, visitors, customers--is a great way to do this.
25. Show me the long way around: Do the opposite, and walk the perimeter of your campus, your warehouse or your meeting space. Take the time to see what visuals you get by avoiding the shortcuts you usually take.
26. Show me the back room: Whether you're my favorite store or my favorite website, I want to see what you're hiding in the back. A little behind-the-scenes video is one visual no one else can copy. Use it to your advantage. What's new, what's next, what's in store?
27. From the unexpected side: The first time I visited the Vatican, an architect tipped me off: Approach St. Peter's basilica not from the front, but the side, the better to experience the curved sets of columns flanking the front. What's the unexpected--and better--view of your business? Capture it on a video.

See a review of the Kodak Zi8 here, which notes it's the first camcorder of this size with a microphone jack. It goes on sale September 1, 2009. Photo from the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Eye Level blog.

coaxing turtles into media interviews

It's the first rule of media relations: The biggest barrier to communicating your research, trends, or news is whether the source decides to participate. You may have a great story and reporters willing to cover it, but if the source decides to hide within her shell like a turtle, that story doesn't have much chance of success. That's why many of us are reading "No Turtles: Faculty-Media Relations," with a sense of familiarity. In it, Michael C. Munger, who chairs political science at Duke University describes the syndrome:

So whether it's "I'm not good enough" or "I'm not paid enough," faculty members turn into turtles. They draw their heads and limbs inside a protective shell and won't come out. If they do poke their heads out briefly, they embarrass themselves because they have no mental framework for media relations.

No one mulls this issue more than the communicators trying to put experts together with reporters, but even their best efforts may not be enough. In a recent blog post, Joe Bonner, Rockefeller University's director of communications and public affairs, highlighted this passage from Munger's essay:

Even the most outwardly focused campus news service will fail to bring faculty members out into the spotlight unless they are trained to deal with reporters and are rewarded for it.

"But how do you get reluctant faculty interested in practicing in the first place?" Bonner asks -- and it is the critical question for communicators tasked with carrying out the training and coaxing of experts. He says, "the key to getting scientists comfortable with the idea of communicating with reporters and the public at large is to get them early, while they are in graduate school or working as postdocs and before they've become junior faculty members."

I agree with that--any trainer will tell you it's easier to learn public-speaking and media-interview skills early, before you develop bad habits, fears and firm opinions about why it's not worth your time. (Put another way, you'll have less to un-learn if you learn early.) And it's also true that more's needed just to make the training possible. Here are some tactics I've used in a variety of settings to coax experts out of their shells and into training:

• Gently promote the coverage others are getting: I say gently because--especially with faculty experts--the appearance of self-promotion often creates more problems than opportunities with their peers. But if you update your experts about good coverage, you can convey, over time, that interacting with reporters is valued (and build up some competition). Think internal, think water-cooler, and physically post it where it can be seen and discussed, or circulate a one-page report. My favorite was a one-pager called "Got You Covered"--a simple letterhead underscored that this would be a regular report, and let my communications team compile a few bullets each week highlighting especially good coverage.
• Recruit some allies. I'll never forget the time I got a tour from a university media relations rep. At the time, I worked for a major scientific society, and we stopped to see a scientist active in the society--who confided that she routinely threw away messages to call reporters, to the horror of my host. "Does the society offer some training?" she asked. We did, and I promptly signed her up. Likewise, you should recruit allies at professional societies or other organizations in which your experts are active--and where they may get recognition they prefer for media efforts. Then work with your allies to reinforce those opportunities.
• Listen for what motivates them. I've seen research scientists run from media interviews--until they needed a donor, a technology transfer partner to take the research into the commercial sector, or some other motivator that had nothing much to do with the goals of the communications office. (In my favorite example of this, a researcher with a great new product was more excited by her coverage in Packaging News than in the Wall Street Journal--but we made sure she got both.) Ask your experts what they want, what would help them, and listen for the chance to motivate them into media interviews. The gratitude often means they'll respond again when you call.
• Make it fun and easy. I love handing groups of people Flip camcorders. They're pocket-sized, cute and easy to operate, and those factors can help motivate your experts to get comfortable with a camera. Why not issue one to a few experts at your organization and ask them to spend just 10 minutes a week recording some insights they might share with a reporter--then email it to you for internal feedback? You might wind up with some useable material and your expert will be developing a comfort level with communicating on video.
• Share training opportunities. Repeat. It takes more than one annoucement that training's available to convince otherwise busy, skeptical or shy experts to practice. So cultivate not only your home-grown trainings, but those offered by others...over and over again. Sooner or later, the message will sink in. Check out the "Communicating Science" workshops offered by the American Association for the Advancement of Science for scientists and engineers, ask professional societies and local groups, and, for women experts, you might suggest that they enter my Eloquent Woman blog's contest to win 15 weeks of free public-speaking training (and a free Flip Mino HD camcorder) if they enter by July 31, 2009.

Flip camcorders: new features, bargains

For all you Flip camera fans, there are new options: The new Flip Ultra and Ultra HD camcorders now come with more memory (up to 8GB in some models), larger screens and a new HD version. Look for the second-generation Ultra cameras, both under $200, for the new features, but note that you can get the original 30-minute-size Flip Ultra for as little as $59.99 on Amazon. The cameras are quickly becoming the video camera of choice for many users, and I'm a big fan. Check out this announcement from Flip for more details.

branding your flip video camera

I'm a big fan of the ultraportable Flip video camera, and now the camera itself is "designable" with your own logo, artwork, photos or available designs from Flip -- if you order directly from the company. Here's a great example of how that can look, from our colleagues at News Generation, where the camera served as a holiday gift to all staff members. Is there a catch? You'll save about $20 on the Flip Mino on Amazon.com, but can't get the customization unless you order direct from Flip. If you're going to issue your communications team branded Flip cameras--whether as a bonus, for identification purposes or branding purposes--make sure you attach an assignment to use it to advance your organization's social media outreach with new videos. Check out our other posts on the Flip camera here and all our social media posts here.

flip gets a thumbs-up from Pogue

New York Times reviewer David Pogue reviews the Flip Mino HD camera--billed as the world's fastest, smallest, thinnest high-definition videocamera--and gives it a big thumbs-up, particularly for its improved images and sound recording:

It grabs really great-looking video. It’s not up to the quality of hi-def tape camcorders like the Canon HDV30. But especially when the light is good, the Mino’s video is incredibly crisp and the colors are true. Best of all, the Mino HD preserves its predecessor’s uncanny low-light abilities. The resulting scene actually looks brighter in the video than it does to your naked eye.

The audio is good, too, even when you’re interviewing somebody who is 10 feet away. Clearly, there’s a lot of engineering mojo going on in this little machine’s video and microphone circuitry.

I use Flip cameras in media and speaker training, to record audience questions when I speak, and to easily incorporate video into my websites. It's ideal for social networking media, because the contained software makes it simple to upload, email or share your results online. Check out the new HD version and post your comments below.

new: smallest HD camcorder

I'm a big fan of the tiny Flip video cameras (you can see all my related posts here) and wanted to pass on the latest version: The Flip Mino HD camcorder is billed as the "world's smallest" HD camcorder and costs $229. Most video cameras today are sold as components of mobile phones, and it's significant that Flip's made its cameras just as convenient and lightweight. Check it out...

and the flip video camera goes to...

Yesterday, don't get caught sponsored the annual Washington Women in Public Relations PR Woman of the Year Award luncheon, with the honor going this year to Marilyn Deane Mendell of Win Spin CIC. I'm a former winner of the award, so I got to relax and enjoy watching the activity around our raffle donation of a Flip video camera --the small but powerful camera that's taken over 13 percent of the videocam market, and includes a USB port plug and all the software you need to edit, email and upload videos to the web. Colleague Susan Matthews Apgood, co-founder and CEO of News Generation, had the lucky ticket. Congratulations to Marilyn and to Susan, and to the benficiaries of our raffle, WWPR's pro bono client, Doorways for Women and Families. Want your own Flip video camera? You'll find the best price right now on Amazon--just use the box below or click on the links in this post to find it.

iabc q&a: trust employees?

Bringing the Flip video camera to my social media talk for IABC Washington last week worked so well that at least one attendee, seeing the crowd around me after the talk ended, used the camera to record a question so others had the chance to talk to me live. Here's her question:
My favorite example of trusting employees with social media tools comes from Microsoft, where it's estimated that tens of thousands of the company's employees blog about the company--without any review or interference from Microsoft. Colleagues of mine at the company say that, while many of those blogs share internal memos and inside views, just as many gripe about the cafeteria food or other, less high-minded topics. Microsoft, which is ubiquitous enough to have a constant stream of customer feedback, even hired tech blogger Robert Scoble for a time to blog about the company, no strings attached. (See Scoble's latest "what bloggers want from PR people" post here.) They've kept the lines of communication open, which helps the company's credibility--and ensures they know more about what employees and customers want.

Many other major corporations let employees write their corporate blogs to give an inside, human perspective that adds to the company's image. Check out Google's blog here, which covers its products, but also provides insight into its internal culture. One of my favorite posts stems from an employee who decided to order a huge amount of Silly Putty, and the adventures that resulted from trying to divide 250 pounds of the stuff to share with fellow workers--you can see that here.

My own take: The comments and feedback you get via social networking sites or blogs represent opinions and ideas that would exist without the technology. You just wouldn't know about them. Wouldn't you rather know?

And to answer the question, yes, I do think companies can trust their employees with social media tools like blogs, Facebook and Twitter. In fact, when I train companies and groups to create blogs or social networking pages or sites, I recommend that they find bloggers they trust--and let them do their thing. Readers today look for authentic voices, and there's nothing that sounds less authentic than an edited blog. John Palfrey of Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society has said it well: “Once you get to the point where lawyers review everything in a blog, it ain’t a blog anymore.” (Check out this related post about internal communications blogs.)

That's why I'm glad that my latest blogging client, a retail business, told me they wanted a blog that would let their on-the-floor sales staff show off what they know. They're the product experts, and they know the customers. Each salesperson has a distinctive set of skills and knowledge, and the owners -- who don't have the time to blog themselves -- see the blog not just as a way to reach new and existing customers, but as an employee benefit. They want their staff to have visibility, and expect it to build stronger customer relationships. The owners also have worked hard to create a system that makes it as easy as possible for the staff to add blogging to its other duties, including no reviews by the owners. I'd recommend trying this approach before you assume the employees can't be trusted. You may be pleasantly surprised, and you'll have a better blog or social networking site as a result.

Still thinking through this approach? Your company or organization may benefit from one of our customized social media orientation/strategy sessions to think through the options. Contact me at info[at]dontgetcaught.biz for more information. (Thanks to Emily Deck for capturing this on the Flip video camera!)

IABC Q&A: How to measure social media?

At my talk last week on "The (Social) Medium is the Message" for the Washington chapter of IABC, we used a Flip video camera to capture audience questions. The first was this one (see video) on how communicators can measure the impact when they use social networking sites, blogs and other so-called "new media" as communications and PR tools.
The answer: It depends on your goals and your audience. Don't plunge into blogs and Facebook under the impression that every other organization or company's doing it. Who are your audiences? Is that where they want to be reached by you? What are your company's goals? Can they be accomplished this way?

Having said that, we're also in a time of experimentation with new technologies and applications for traditional communications and public relations. In that spirit, don't expect the measures and data you've had in the past--you may need to begin with more qualitative results and then move to quantitative data based on your goals. At the same time, web-based applications and social media options give you lots of precise data: who's accessed what, when, and how frequently, plus wide-open options for your customers to communicate with you directly. The best course: Using social networking sites and blogs to optimize your audience's ability to give you feedback.

Check out my e-handout from this session, where you'll find links to the Blendtec "Will It Blend?" videos, which started as a $50 experiment and now account for a 700 percent increase in sales of their home line of blenders, which start at $400. Talk about your ROI... (Thanks to Emily Deck for capturing the question on the Flip video camera.)

IABC talk: "handouts" no more

When you're invited to speak about "new" and social media, should you have handouts? I say no, and this post is what all my audiences will get in the future: a complete set of links and a summary of what's said, so they can explore on their own.

This session for the largest U.S. chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators was titled "The (Social) Medium is the Message," and prompted me to go back to Marshall McLuhan...who presciently said that the medium is the message because it “shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action," just what social networking and other "new media" tools are doing today. And, even more apt, he said “it’s not so much the message as the sender who is sent," which sure sounds like Facebook to me.

To practice what I preach--you need to follow the audience--I started by asking the group to put their questions to me before I started talking. Those who really wanted to get hands-on used my Flip video camera to record their questions, which I answered in person and will post and re-answer on this blog in a few days. The meeting was also live-Twittered here by an audience member. Then I asked the audience to rate themselves on how far they've come in adopting social networking and "new" media technologies in their communications, based on how far into the metaphorical pool they've come: Olympic swimmer? Still wearing water wings? Dipping a toe in? Standing by the chaise on the dry pavement? It was a mixed group, with lots of early adopters, experimenters, and beginners, with a healthy mix as well of enthusiasm, curiosity, skepticism and struggle.

We looked at research on where communicators lag behind audiences and clients:

• A McKinsey study conducted this summer looks at areas where companies are satisfied--or not--with use of Web 2.0 technologies, and some of the barriers to adoption. The good news: where users are satisfied, they report building bridges to customers and suppliers and an expectation that the technology will lead to innovation. Satisfied firms that invested in Web 2.0 plan to invest more. Useful: Dissatisfied company users report that their IT units often are a barrier to implementation--while satisfied users say the leadership on Web 2.0 came from leadership or some other unit than IT.


• Smaller surveys from TNS/Cymfony and London-based Parker, Wayne & Kent note, respectively, that agencies don't "get" new and social media, according to their clients, and that PR pros in particular prefer print to online media, despite the latter's proven popularity with consumer audiences.


• An interesting anecdotal report from New York Times reporter David Pogue relates reactions from an audience of PR pros when they were asked why their organizations weren't using Web 2.0 technologies.

We discussed where audiences are heading, with many of the studies found in my posts on audience data, which you'll find collected here. And here are links to some of the examples of emerging and enduring trends I shared with the crowd:

• Online video: We've told you before that viewers of lunch-hour online videos are more likely to make purchases after viewing. Take a look at a leader in that regard: Blendtec's "Will It Blend?" videos boosted sales of its super-strong home blender 700%--the first five videos cost them $50 to produce, and today, companies pay them to feature products in the videos. This month, NBC joins in with 2,200 hours of live-streamed coverage of the Olympics, plus videos in formats for all sorts of devices, desktop to mobile. And even nonprofit causes like the Ad Council are seeking supporters from online video.


• Internal/employee communication: Check out McDonald's new Station M--but you'll only get so far, as it's for "crew members." Rick, the blogger, was voted on by fellow employees after submitting an essay and video--and now has been taken off deep-fryer duty for a year. The site is multilingual and worldwide.


• CEO blogs: We've already told you we love Bill Marriott's CEO blog, which sets a high bar--and enjoys thousands of comments from customers. CEO blogs, while still unusual, offer one of the most effective customer relations tools. See our other posts related to CEO blogs here.


• Targeted social networks: Following the audiences that prefer customized content that's more specialized than Facebook and MySpace, companies are creating networks like Disaboom, focused on people with disabilities for chat, jobs, networking, shopping and more; and Shop Like Anna, a site for 8-to-15-year-olds to meet up with friends and yes, shop. The latter offers an unusual parent signoff for safety. Also check out our post on youth audiences and New America Media, which offers young folks--the most diverse generation in U.S. history--news segmented by ethnicity.


• Beyond links to mentors: Sites like BakeSpace, a targeted social networking site for bakers, have upgraded to match users with baking mentors. GottaMentor, a site now in beta, runs all the way with the idea and offers mentoring and shared "pearls of wisdom" for early, mid- and late-career professionals.


• Twitter for nonprofits: What does your nonprofit do that could warrant frequent updates to your audience? Try building interest in upcoming events, the strategy behind Washington's Shakespeare Theatre Twitter feed with updates from the theatre's stage manager. The theatre also offers video, podcasts and a blog.


• Photo collection help: The Library of Congress photostream on Flickr asks viewers to help identify people in thousands of photos from before World War II--and lets curators answer the questions these shots prompt in photography and history buffs.

Not everyone in the audience put a question on video, but I'm going to edit and post as many taped questions as possible with answers here to continue the conversation--and share it with you.