Orlando Tweetup II

by Kim Taylor

Do you Tweet & live or work in Central Florida? If you answered yes, this is your lucky week. The second Orlando Tweetup will be Thursday, April 30, at the Enzian’s Eden Bar.

Tweetups are a great way to connect and network with local Twitterers; so far almost 100 people are confirmed to attend.

For more event details, visit the event Facebook page here.

Of course, you can also follow Otweet’s tweets for more information.

Why the “Wrap Rage”?

There is an interesting article in April’s edition of Print Magazine by Debbie Millman that talks about product packaging and “wrap rage.”  Why is it so hard to get those darn packages open?!  Then when you finally manage to get it open, your reward (other than finally unveiling your item), a bunch of nicks, scrapes and battle wounds from your skirmish with the piercing plastic and troublesome twisty-ties.

Wrap Rage - Debbie Millman - Print Magazine April 2009

Amazon has launched a new packaging approach that has helped remedy this.  They’ve packaged items like the Fisher-Price toy shown here in recyclable cardboard boxes with out all the plastic and gadgets.  This of course is a much greener approach.

So why on earth does this torturous packaging method continue to prevail?  The answer to this can be found as we take a look at the Aesthetic-Usability Effect.  The Aesthetic-Usability Effect is a theory that asserts the following:

“Aesthetic designs are perceived as easier to use … more effective at fostering positive attitude than unaesthetic designs and make people more tolerant of design problems.”

From "Universal Principles of Design" (click to view larger)

What this means is that even though the hard-to-open packaging is not the most efficient solution, it is more widely accepted because it maximizes the aesthetic appearance, visibility and presentation of the items therein and thus we “tolerate” the packaging flaws.

The important thing to note here is the impact of design and the role it plays in acceptance.  In its application to product packaging, by increasing aesthetics it allows for more receptiveness and helps build positive relationships that allow us to over look and to be more forgiving.  The key is that we perceive these items as easier to use – even if they are not.

So what does this mean for the future of product packaging?  Will there ever be an end to the “wrap rage”?

New PR?

by Roger Pynn

I got into a fascinating exchange with FastCompany expert blogger Francine Hardaway when she reviewed Brian Solis and Dierdre Breakenridges’ book Putting the Public Back in Public Relations: How Social Media Is Reinventing the Aging Business of PR.

I admit I haven’t read their book yet – but I will because it looks truly interesting. However, the crux of the exchange between Francine and me has been over the question of whether the introduction of social media has resulted in a “”new model of social media PR” that is somehow more honest and pure than what has been practiced in the past.

In his Management Strategies Newsletter, Consultant to PR firms Al Croft of A.C. Croft & Associates in Sedona, AZ, said it beautifully: “Today you have a fresh batch of new media tools and techniques to play with and audiences that don’t pay as much attention to print media as they used to. However, the best marketing PR campaigns have always been based on solid strategies.That hasn’t changed whether you’re dealing with a magazine editor’s exclusive or efforts to impress an influential blogger.”

Public relations won’t change due to the advent of social media. It will adapt to it … the same way it adapted to that new thing called television in the late ’40s. Public relations people won’t change either. There will always be those who stretch the limits of good taste. Neither will social media change clients. There will always be good clients … and there will always be those that good public relations people shouldn’t waste their time with.

Social media has a charming policing power that either makes people “get it” or singles them out for laughter they never hear.

A Shocking Question

by Elizabeth Buccianti

Just like any good social networker, I notify my contact list via several online mediums when I post a blog entry. I was in for quite a shock when I read my father’s reply to one of my e-mails – “That’s nice dear, what’s a blog?” Needless to say I was shocked by his reply. I couldn’t imagine that someone in their 50s, who is fairly tech savvy, had never heard of such a prevalent social medium.

As I began researching Internet usage statistics, the information available quickly dispelled any perceptions I had about how many people actually read blogs. According to a study conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, only 33 percent of Internet users identify themselves as blog readers (equivalent to 24 percent of all adults) and only 42 percent (equivalent to 32 percent of all adults) said that they have ever read a blog. While 42 percent of Internet users add up to a healthy statistic, it doesn’t match up with the current Web 2.0 buzz.

As a public relations professional, I am constantly bombarded with professional association luncheons, magazine articles, Webinars and, of course, blog postings training the PR community for the time when communications will be predominately disseminated via social media vehicles. Many industry leaders have gone so far as to declare the death of the traditional news release. While it would be easy to get caught up in the buzz and latest trends, it’s important to remember that we’re still in a transitional period.

There is a significant population that is in tune with the latest and greatest in online communication, but there is an equally important audience that has yet to catch up. When creating communication programs, or any business strategy, utilizing online communication methods can make for an innovative approach, just make sure your strategy spans all generations.

My New Year’s Resolution

by Roger Pynn

I know I probably should have done this a long time ago, but these are challenging times and I’ve spent the first quarter of 2009 worrying about whether I’d have a newspaper to read and whether technology would deliver us from the evil of a world without local dailies.

But as Q2 rolled in I realized Denver was still there, as are a number of other cities whose addiction to pulp ended abruptly one day when their beloved local presses ground to a halt.

And so I’ve resolved to focus on something else: the need for business to commit to communicate in the void.

For a quarter of a century I’ve been advising clients not to rely on the media to get their message across. “It isn’t their job,” I’ve told them.

That’s truer today than ever.

Smart management must invest in a toolkit full of communication vehicles that satisfy the information needs of its stakeholders. Companies have to embrace the way their constituents get their information, rather than either relying on the same old same old, or worse hoping to shape the information habits of those they hope will be their “friends,” to use the vernacular of a rapidly growing social network where many are finding they can establish what we used to call meaningful relationships.

Don’t wait for people to find you. Find them. Be part of their world. Be daring enough to risk their commentary in your backyard and welcome the fact that they have an interest in you. Be willing to respond … but do it openly. Forget the word I hate most: spin.

Spin is for your tennis game.

Remember one of my favorite quotes: “Honesty is a virtue. Candor is a risk.”