Are headlights targeted communication?

by Roger Pynn

As a passionate First Amendment rights advocate, it is difficult to question almost any act of censorship … but a story of a recent court ruling in Central Florida sparked a letter to the editor in the Orlando Sentinel that really gives me pause.

Letter writer Reg Lyle wrote to question whether flashing your car headlights is free speech if your objective is to tell other drivers to slow down because there are police nearby.  Circuit Judge Alan Dickey had ruled that warning speeders of their potential to be stopped qualifies for the constitutional protection.

But Lyle suggests otherwise.  When targeted communication is intended to obstruct justice, whether in the form of a flash of the headlights or perhaps warning a terrorist that an undercover law enforcement officer has infiltrated their branch of al-Qaeda, should the communication be protected?  Is there any difference?  Is the First Amendment intended to get in the way of our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness … which law enforcement officers are paid to protect?

Suit Up

 Vianka McConville

 

 

You had to have been living under a rock to not have witnessed the media frenzy over Facebook the past few weeks.  Facebook’s founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, rang NASDAQ’s opening bell this past Friday, as the company became public.  Every move has been scrutinized leading up to the opening.  Really, I have never seen such coverage of one company (that is not involved in a scandal) from so many angles.

In the continuous stream of news and visuals, what strikes me most is Zuckerberg’s consistent relaxed dress.  He can be found in jeans, a T-shirt and hoodie every day.  I am all about relaxed office dress codes – casual Fridays! – but there is power, authority and respect in a suit.

There is a time and place for everything and while some may think his casual dress is part of an effort to change business, I think such relaxed attire is inappropriate in the business atmosphere.  Non-verbal cues including dress often speak louder than words.  Even as business changes while millennials take over the jobs of baby boomers, I don’t see the suit going away.

Lessons Left Behind

by Roger Pynn

I’ve been through a series of losses recently, and when dear friends and family members pass away I guess it is unavoidable that we become reflective and introspective.  Perhaps it is also something that comes with age, but at a number of these funerals and memorial services I’ve been struck by the lessons those we mourned and honored left behind.

One loss that hit very hard was that of a dear friend and client, Gary Sain … a giant in the tourism and hospitality industry.  As I listened to those who had come to praise him, including corporate and community giants, I thought of all the times he had said to me, “why not?”  Gary just refused to take “no” for an answer if he believed in something … and he always believed BIG.

I’m grateful to him for the reminder that just because others don’t understand isn’t reason to give up … it is a call to action to package your ideas and clarify and communicate them, but most importantly to do so in a positive way, never allowing yourself to get on the defensive.

And although I don’t know Jack Zenger, his blog post for Forbes about the value of communicating honestly came from something he experienced in one of the most unimaginable of all life situations … the loss of a child.  You should read this, not just because it is exceptionally well-written, but because in the midst of the horrifying loss of an adult son, he recognized lessons all of us can benefit from in the compassionate yet assertive words of a physician.

What I’ve been left with through these losses and the lessons is a realization that these people all seemed to know that sharing life lessons is an important responsibility … and that they didn’t wait to share them.  They shared them when they were alive and we celebrated them when they were gone.

What are you sharing?

Fact or Tweet?

by Heather Keroes 

At least one online publication has learned a lesson the hard way … just because it’s on Twitter, doesn’t mean it’s true.  Last week, actor George Clooney hosted a star-studded dinner/fundraiser with President Obama at his “quaint” Studio City home (an affluent residential neighborhood in Los Angeles).  The dinner was certainly an elaborate and news-worthy affair, with Jack Black, Salma Hayek, Barbara Streisand and many other celebrities on the attendance list.  Ben Hoffman, a comedian (who was not in attendance at the event), decided to “live tweet” as if he was there amongst the elite dinner crowd.  What many realized to be farce, however, was lost in translation as at least one publication, Silicon Valley Insider sister publication Business Insider, fell for the gag and reported Hoffman’s tweets as fact (in particular a racy joke was supposedly said by Obama about John Travolta’s recent lawsuit woes).  The writer even tweeted about it.

In an effort to make a correction (and save face), the publication has since changed the story’s headline to “Check Out These Hysterical ‘Live Tweets’ From Tonight’s Obama-Clooney Fundraiser.” The moral of this story (and a reminder for us all): Twitter is not a regulated news service … although the following would have made for one really hilarious dinner party.

Where Will They Learn to Write?

by Kim Taylor

When I’m asked what skills are most important for a potential new hire, my answer will almost always include the ability to write well (not good, by the way) and resourcefulness.  Written communication isn’t only important for our business, it’s important in every business.

Written communication is the clear expression of ideas in writing, including the use of proper grammar, organization of thoughts and sentence structure.

Simple, right?  Not if you look at the results from 2012’s FCAT writing scores.

“The 2012 scores from the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test writing exam were significantly lower than last year’s marks. The percentage of fourth graders scoring acceptably — earning a 4 or better on the 6-point scale — dropped from 81 percent to 27 percent, for example.” (Source:  OrlandoSentinel.com)

The solution:  lowering the grading scale until adjustments can be made.  But, don’t worry; this year’s tougher grading was only due to a greater “focus on spelling, grammar and good details,” which had been graded with “leniency” in previous years.

Perhaps it’s a leap to judge the quality of a fourth grader’s writing and fear that it won’t be corrected by the time they’re ready to enter the workforce, but if they don’t learn to write in school, where will they learn to write?

Power to the People

We’re happy to welcome Dionne Aiken, former C&P’er and current freelancer extraordinaire, back to Taking Aim for the following guest post!

by Dionne Aiken

The pyramid of power is shifting as “we the people” are becoming more empowered and involved in causes for justice, equal rights and freedom.

With the Occupy Wall Street movement, the “99%” in NYC sparked what is now a widespread movement both nationally and internationally, drawing attention and media coverage to their voice and fight for “equal justice for all.”  Their website continues to be a source of information for passionate protesters and organizers who want to be heard by the “1%.”

Google, Wikipedia and YouTube (as well as a number of other websites) had their logos censored with a black bar to make a statement and spread awareness about the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the detrimental effects it could have on our “freedom of speech” on the Web.  The viral campaign catapulted by their informational website & social media hooks led to more than 7 million petition signatures and consequently the house postponing the drafted bill.

“Make him famous” became a popular phrase when a video about war criminal Joseph Kony went viral. The entire campaign spilled over into Facebook and other social media sites and even took to the streets in their gurilla style “Cover the Night” event.

The Trayvon Martin case is another example of passionate individuals fighting for justice. Citizens took to the streets with “hoodie” movements and protests. This also spilled over onto Facebook and led to more than 2 million petition signatures to prosecute George Zimmerman.

These examples give “power to the people” a whole new meaning, as individuals are continuing to join the fight for equal rights and ‘justice for all’ while making their voice heard. This voice is amplified by Web and social media platforms which provide a sounding board for sharing and spreading information quickly and virally.

It is inevitable that this communications phenomenon will continue as the nature of our online arena and interactions therein continue to evolve and become more “governed by the people.”  Will your message be heard?

Selling a Book by its Cover

by Dan Ward

News magazines used to cover war.  Now they’re engaged in a Cover War.

In the event you haven’t opened a newspaper, turned on the TV or logged into Facebook over the past week, you may be unaware of the war that is being waged between Time and Newsweek, a war to see who can produce the most provocative cover and force consumers to give them a second look.

It started with Time’s decision to publish a cover with a photo of a young mother breastfeeding her 3-year-old son.  Newsweek quickly followed with a headline naming Barack Obama our first “gay president,” under a cover photo of the commander in chief under a rainbow-hued halo.

The covers are meant to provoke, to generate strong positive or negative reactions that will drive consumers to plunk down a few dollars to see what’s inside.

We often talk about provocative communication for our clients, developing messaging strategies that can break through the clutter and the “information overload” so that audiences will stop to listen. But we also advise clients that once you have your audience’s attention, you better have something to say.  What will engage them? What will educate them?  What will persuade them?  And most importantly, what will convince them to keep coming back for more?

It’s not enough just to provoke.  There are plenty of shiny pennies out there and today’s hot topic can easily become yesterday’s news.

Time and Newsweek have grabbed our attention.  The question now is whether they can keep it.

You Don’t Have to Be a Brain Surgeon

by Vianka McConville

 

You learn something new every day.  Traditional media is a great source of information, but social media continues to combine knowledge with experience capturing niche markets.  For example, recently 14.5 million people were reached through live-tweeting brain surgery.

The patient, a 21-year-old woman, allowed for the brain tumor resection surgery to be captured via video, photos and consistent tweets.  Hospital staff performed the updates.  The updates are impressive including graphic photos and clear videos.

“We wanted to spread the educational experience as far as possible,” said Natalie Camarata, Memorial Hermann’s digital marketing manager, as told to Mashable.

The experience is absolutely educational – surely for the medical community and curious Internet followers, but also for digital communicators.  There may not be too many limits for social media (if any), which provides an opportunity to push boundaries for clients and create novel campaigns.  It is time to seriously think outside the box.

*The hospital also debuted the first-ever open heart surgery live-tweet in February 2012.

Brilliant Use of QR Codes

by Julie Primrose

QR codes have been around long enough that their novelty is starting to wear off.  Many people are even predicting that they won’t be around much longer.  While there are many examples of creative QR codes out there, most of them seem more like gimmicks than thoughtful uses backed with solid strategy.

However, this latest usage of QR codes by Emart, described as the Wal-Mart of Korea, is a great example of using QR codes to strategically target potential customers.

What makes this example different is the shadow-enabled QR code gives Emart customers a distinct benefit they wouldn’t have received if they hadn’t scanned the code.  This strategy targets customers when the company wants them to shop and it offers a coupon the customers wouldn’t have received if they weren’t at Emart during the target hour of 12 to 1 p.m.  Customers were engaged by the “Sunny Sale” campaign at the right time and place, which resulted in tangible sales results for the company.

Thank You, Perry Mason

by Roger Pynn

 

I wish the folks at the Poynter Institute would conduct a study of the leading institutional participants in social media.  The journalism community Poynter so devotedly serves has to be right up there near the top, yet articles like Adam Hochberg’s headlined “George Zimmerman’s lawyers hope to win trial by social media in Trayvon Martin case” really don’t seem to take that into account.

Hochberg’s article is well-done and interesting in its exploration of the use of social media by Zimmerman’s attorney Mark O’Mara, but it seems to draw some magical line between social media and the traditional media when in fact nearly every newspaper in America has linked itself inextricably to the social networks O’Mara is using to disseminate information, build support and possibly influence the jury pool, either intentionally or as collateral damage.

Attorneys learned long ago to use every possible tool at their disposal to convince the public that their case was right and their opponents were wrong.  Smart ones didn’t wait for media coverage, they instigated it.  They know (as one source tells Hochberg) that part of the attorney’s responsibility is to “protect their client’s reputation in the public eye.”

That would be a fun debate, but is there any difference here?  Social media is about targeted communication … taking advantage of tools that allow you to connect directly with people interested in your story.

The far more troubling issue for me is lack of media restraint when it comes to covering trials.  Clearly, both journalists and media marketers have discovered the depth of public fascination with trials (thank you, Perry Mason), but there seems very little concern for the role coverage may be playing in outcomes.