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Updates from April, 2009

  • PlayStation’s This Week’s PRWeek Cover Story

    mike manuel 9:35 pm on August 11, 2008 | 2 Permalink
    Tags: , prweek, ,

    PRWeek Cover Story on PlayStation

    Aarti Shah with PRWeek pens this week’s cover story (PDF) on client Sony PlayStation. The piece is a bit of a case study that recounts some of the company’s fairly well-known missteps over the years, but more importantly, it digs into PlayStation’s rebound and recovery efforts the last 18 months — and how their social media strategy is leading the way.

    “After a huge misstep in the blogosphere, Sony PlayStation has come back with a plan to engage consumers and win back trust.”

    If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ll know I’m a big believer that our industry *desperately* needs more case studies. I started to talk about this program for the first time earlier this year at the NewComm Forum. This cover story peels back another layer, and we’ll continue to share more leading into the fall at a handful of industry speaking gigs including the PRSA International Conference in October.

    And yes, before you ask, that’s exactly how I sit in all my client meetings. Enjoy.

    Related Links:
    Submit Now! 2008 SNCR Excellence in New Communications Awards

    [Photo credit: PRWeek - Cross Posted to Voce Nation]

     

  • Next Third Thursday’s “Groundswell”

    mike manuel 11:34 pm on May 7, 2008 | 0 Permalink
    Tags: groundswell, , third thursday

    Groundswell

    So, you may have noticed there’s this little lime green book bubbling up everywhere called “Groundswell,” and my hunch is that if you read this blog, you’re probably already reading this book too. At very least, you’re familiar with the book’s co-authors, Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, both are long-time industry analysts for Forrester Research, and generally speaking, are pretty smart folks when it comes to analyzing the adoption and application of social media in business.

    It’s with this in mind that SNCR and the organizers of Third Thursday - Silicon Valley have invited Charlene to come in and speak at our next meetup about what the Groundswell is, how it’s impacting businesses today, and perhaps highlight some of the recent research and case studies she and Josh share in their book.

    If you’re in the midst of formulating your own social media strategy, this is one of those must-attend talks.

    Our discussion with Charlene is set for next Thursday, May 15 at 6:30 p.m. in downtown Palo Alto. Details are on the Third Thursday Meetup page. We’ve just about reached our capacity max for this event, so please RSVP soon if you’d like to join us; oh, and bring your Groundswell book.

     

  • PlayStation Shares “Lessons Learned” Blogging

    mike manuel 9:25 am on April 25, 2008 | 7 Permalink
    Tags: , newcomm, , , , sony,

    Sony PlayStation

    The case study chat with the new media team behind Sony PlayStation’s blog went well yesterday afternoon at the NewComm Forum, we actually covered a lot of ground - everything from content development and technical design to community management tactics and measurement. By the end of our session, the PlayStation guys had shared 15 “lessons learned” over the last year. I won’t re-hash all those here, I think some of them were fairly obvious and well documented, but there were a few lesser known/lesser discussed tips that shook out that are worth mentioning, here are three:

    Sorry, Your Clever Blog Name Doesn’t Matter

    Well, it matters less than you think, especially for big brands, big companies like PlayStation. Fact of the matter is that most people are typing “playstation blog” or a simple variation thereof in the search engines to find the blog. A lot of referral sites are also attributing/linking to the blog with the same simple terms, so, you know, if you’re working on a blog right now, don’t kill yourself over-thinking the name. There’s a good chance people won’t remember it or use it anyway…
    (More …)

     

  • Sharing the PlayStation Story at NewComm Forum

    mike manuel 10:41 pm on April 21, 2008 | 2 Permalink
    Tags: , ,

    New Communications Forum 2008

    Tomorrow afternoon I’ll be heading north to participate in another New Communications Forum, one of only a very few must-attend events for me each year. At this year’s conference, I’ll be co-presenting a case study on corporate blogging with clients from Sony PlayStation. The PlayStation guys have a very interesting and colorful story to tell and this will be the first time it has really been shared, at least in its entirety, so I’m looking forward to the discussion. We’ll be speaking on Thursday at 11AM, hope to see you then…

     

  • SNCR Award Deadline Approaches

    mike manuel 5:00 pm on September 24, 2007 | 0 Permalink

    Just a quick alert that the entry deadline for the 2nd Annual Excellence in New Communications Awards is approaching this Friday, Sept. 28th. These awards recognize excellence in the use of social media and new communication models across multiple disciplines — and will be presented later this year at the SNCR Research Symposium in Boston. If you think your new media work is the kind of stuff that oozes excellence, I encourage you to consider submitting a nomination. Our industry needs more case studies and better models of value and success — you may just have one of them. Good luck!

    Technorati Tags: , , , ,

     

  • SNCR, Filling the Knowledge Gap

    mike manuel 4:49 pm on November 3, 2006 | 3 Permalink

    I’ve been working in the background the last few months with Jen McClure on the SNCR Research Symposium and Awards Gala, which took place earlier this week in Boston. Congrats again to all the award recipients and a thank you too. The winning case studies will help support and advance the society’s research efforts next year — and I can’t emphasize the importance of that enough.

    I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, I think there’s a lot of noise in the PR industry right now, especially as it relates to social media. What we lack, however, is a healthy stable of case studies and best practices that we can model and build on. I think what the SNCR is doing, along with related efforts by groups like WOMMA, Social Media Club and even the Third Thursday meetup network will, in their own ways, help fill this knowledge gap.

    We need to push industry thinking forward, but I don’t think that can really happen until we have a foundation of shared experiences (and less rhetoric) to build from.

    Technorati Tags: , , , , , , ,

     

  • SNCR Awards Deadline Extended

    mike manuel 9:37 am on September 6, 2006 | Comments Off Permalink

    A quick update: The SNCR Awards Program will be extending its deadline for case study entries to Sept. 15th (more here). For the uninitiated, the SNCR Awards recognize excellence in the use of social media and new communication models across multiple disciplines. The awards will be presented later this year at the SNCR Research Symposium.

    While there’s no apparent lack of social media experts these days, there’s a huge lack of practical case studies and best practices to showcase this expertise, model and build on. I’m hoping the SNCR Awards will start to fill this gap.

    Jennifer McClure, our organization’s executive director, tells me we’ve already received some solid entries, but several companies have requested extensions, so we’re pushing the deadline back one week. That said, if you work for a company (or represent a client) that’s applying new media strategies and tactics in a PR or marketing program, send us a quick write-up (submission form).

    Related Post

    SNCR Awards, Seeking Case Studies

    Technorati Tags: , ,

     

  • SNCR Awards, Seeking Case Studies

    mike manuel 11:44 pm on July 5, 2006 | 2 Permalink

    When it comes to the application of new media, so much of what’s happening right now is still in its formative stages, but there are companies and organizations and people that are nonetheless doing amazing things, and it’s with that in mind that the Society For New Communications Research (SNCR) is seeking nominations for its inaugural awards program (from the press release):

    “The SNCR’s awards, which will recognize excellence in the use of new communications models and solutions, will be granted at the Society’s inaugural research symposium, which will take place this Fall. Additionally, the award-winning case studies will be published in the Society’s online publication, New Communications Review.”

    “The SNCR’s awards will recognize innovative organizations and professionals who are pioneering the use of social media (i.e. blogs, wikis, podcasts, collaborative tools and other forms of participatory communications) in the areas of marketing, public relations and advertising, politics, entertainment, academics, and community and cultural development.”

    Now, full disclosure, I’m an advisory board member and the best practices chairman for the SNCR, but regardless of this, I think I’ve also been fairly vocal online and off about the industry needing to get past all the new media rhetoric and hyperbole, and concentrating instead on real-world application and usage models — and the SNCR awards have been designed to scratch that itch. They’ve been designed to simply capture, recognize and showcase industry excellence.

    Case study nominations are being accepted here in one of three award categories (business, academic or professional), and you have until Sept. 8th to get your stuff in, so there’s plenty of time. In November, we’ll be naming the award recipients at the SNCR’s inaugural Research Symposium. You can find more on that here (PDF) if you’re interested, also on the society’s site. Any questions, just drop me a note.

    Technorati Tags: , , ,

     

  • NewComm Forum Approaches

    mike manuel 5:31 pm on February 13, 2006 | 1 Permalink

    The new media marketing universe, or at least what looks to be a good chunk of it, is set to descend on Palo Alto the week after next for the second annual NewComm Forum. The speaker lineup looks sick, as does the schedule, so my hat’s off to Elizabeth Albrycht, Jen McClure and their team for pulling together what I expect will be another kick-butt conference. If you can peel away from things to attend either the pre-conference boot camp, and/or the day sessions it’ll be well worth your time and money — in fact, I was given this promotional code (NCFR200) last week which apparently shaves $200 off the registration (more here).

    On day two of the conference, I’ll be leading a panel talk with the influencer marketing team at Yahoo! (”Engaging the Influencers“), who are also my clients, and we’ll share and discuss how the combined Voce/Yahoo! team is actively listening to and engaging with influencer communities, as well as reviewing some of the tools and tactics we regularly use, and finally digging, I hope with help from the audience, a little deeper into some real-world examples of how this program works *with* marketing and PR inside the company. If there are things you’d like to hear us discuss, leave a comment here or send me an email.

    Two more conference-related things worth pointing out here:

    First, my “esteemed” colleague and now two-time NewComm speaker, Matthew Podboy (Active Voice), will be leading a discussion the afternoon of March 3rd, entitled “New Marketing Case Studies,” with Dave Parmet and DL Byron, which from what I hear, should be very interesting.

    Finally, and most important, Voce’s teaming up with the SNCR, BlogHer and Girls for a Change to host a dinner fundraiser the evening of March 1st to support non-profit organizations pioneering the use of new communications tools. It’s a good cause with some great entertainment lined up, so I wanted to simply call it out here and encourage folks to RSVP.

    See you at NewComm next month!

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  • New Think Tank to the Study Impact of Social Media & Participatory Communications

    mike manuel 9:48 am on October 31, 2005 | 1 Permalink

    For several months now I’ve been actively (albeit quietly) working with a small group of progressive media professionals on the formation of a new non-profit organization called the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR.org).  Today, the SNCR officially launches (press release here) with a broad charter to “study the impact of emerging modes of communication and the growing phenomena of participatory communications….”

    Jennifer McClure (of NewComm fame) is the SNCR executive director and has already brought impressive levels of energy and leadership to the organization.  I have to also commend Jennifer for bringing together an impressive mix of professionals (academics, journalists, marketers, and communicators) to form an organization that I think is uniquely capable of dissecting the new media landscape from all perspectives.

    As far as my level of involvement goes, I’m working with the group in two capacities: Namely, as a member of the SNCR advisory board, but also as the chairman for the organization’s best practices, standards and awards committee.  This is really important because I see pockets of innovation and new thinking surfacing across media disciplines, and if the Society can (in some small way) collaborate with industry thought leaders to identify best practices, establish some standards and showcase great work, I can’t help but think that this will bring *real* value to those people and businesses that are presently navigating the social mediasphere alone.

    Look for more updates on the SNCR in the months to come.  In the meantime, you can subscribe to the SNCR blog.

    Update: Fellow SNCR members, Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson, interview Jennifer McClure in the latest For Immediate Release podcast (episode 81).