Solis--Nominated for 2009 Blog of the Year

PRNews presents an annual PR People Awards ceremony to recognize their outstanding professionals. Brian Solis is one of the nominees for 2009 Blog of the Year. Congratulations, Brian, on the nomination; and good luck on Dec. 1 when the awards will be presented in Washington, D.C.

Strengths and Weaknesses

After reading Dave Fleet’s 14 Key Attributes for New PR Professionals, it would be a good idea to take a personal inventory. I am certain that I have experience in the traditional skills. I have received positive comments on my work ethic, writing, proofreading (attention to details) and being proactive.

The new skills are ones that need strengthening. Learning more about SEO and encoding would be very helpful, and I have a good idea of where to go for help. Increasing my knowledge and involvement in social networks would also be beneficial. A large part of me is reluctant to reveal so much about my self; and frankly, I have no desire to share parts of my life with the entire Web world. A shortage of time is the main reason that I have not connected with more people on facebook. For the professional reasons and contacts, I will make it a much higher priority.

Dave Fleet: 14 Key Skills & Attributes For New PR Pros

Dave Fleet has listed skills and attributes that he believes will add to the success of new PR professionsals. He included both traditional skills and new skills. I would say that the game is the same, but the playing pieces are now different. The same rules apply--honesty, communication, writing, work ethic--but the pieces that move you around the board have changed. Players who can prove their worth by using blogs, social networking, RSS, etc. may find shortcuts to the finish line.

FTC: Bloggers Beware

On Monday, the Federal Trade Commission established guidelines for the first time that will regulate blogging and mandate that testimonials reflect typical results.

Bloggers must disclose that the product was given to them for purposes of a review. Returning the product once the review has been written is another option. Web writers must also reveal any payment or freebies they received for product reviews.

The FTC is trying to insure that consumers receive accurate and unbiased information. The final guidelines are going into effect on Dec. 1. The vote was 4-0 by the FTC commissions to approve the 81-page notice of rules.

What will this mean for bloggers? For the ones who are working as professionals, it shouldn't make any difference. They may welcome the regulations. For those who write for less than honest reasons, it could result in some needed changes.

Reputable bloggers would begin their post stating that the product they are writing about was a gift or that they are being paid for their post.

One Way to Handle a Major Mistake

In case you haven't heard, CBS Late Show host David Letterman told a "little story" on Thursday to his live studio audience. He talked about finding a package that someone had left in his car. In the package was evidence that he "did some terrible, terrible things" and a letter demanding $2 million. He immediately contacted the authorities and the person was caught.

Letterman looked directly into the cameras and to the audience and explained that he had sex with some of his co-workers. He made no apologies or excuses for his behavior. His did not admit to being at fault nor did he blame anyone else.

This had not leaked to the press so he had control over the message, timing and delivery. Some people think he did the right thing and respect him for confessing publicly. Others think it is just a ploy to improve a bad situation. What are your thoughts on how this was handled?

I find it interesting that early this morning I was able to view a YouTube video of the entire story from his show. Tonight when I want to link it to this post, I cannot locate the same version. This CBS news story is the only one I can find.

PRSA Ethic Recommendations

In the Sept. issue of TACTICS, the monthly periodical of the Public Relations Society of America, there is an article about ethics on page 14 that relates to my blog on Sept. 2. The PRSA’s Board of Ethics and Professional Standards has the responsibility to give advice on issues relating to their Member Code of Ethics. Two possible situations are discussed with recommended practices for members to follow.

The first situation is referred to as PSA-9: Pay for Play which is “when there is intent to hide an exchange of value between a PR professional and a journalist. It occurs when PR professionals make undisclosed payments to journalist or media to publish or broadcast a client’s story.”

Here are their recommended practices:

"• Disclosure must be requested in any pay for plan situation. Journalists should be notified that any gift or in-kind service in exchange for placement should be clearly disclosed to the reader, value, bias, accuracy and usefulness.

• While it is a common practice to offer free and special travel and lodging rates or product demonstrations items to journalists, we should encourage those journalists to disclose, to protect their independence and integrity.

• Some trade publications sponsor trade shows and special editions that require fees to participate (then they run articles featuring only paid participants’ products in special show editions)—participation fee is required for the coverage. PR professionals should ask for participants and publications to disclose these fees."

PSA-10: Phantom experience is the second situation that you may encounter. A phantom experience is “providing information that overstates or distorts the actual experience being brought to the table by an organization, a company, a group or an individual. The practice of falsely claiming experience, knowledge, and/or implying direct experience or knowledge is unethical and may be unlawful in certain employment circumstances, and in government contracts and contract applications.”

When information (no matter how insignificant) is fabricated, it ruins the entire résumé, presentation or Web site. Beyond that, the reputation and character of co-workers, organizations and agencies will suffer damage beyond repair.

Specific ethical practices they recommend:

"• Candor: Provide clear, simple and truthful information, including helpful facts or data, which the customer, prospect, employer or client many not easily be able to find.

• Corrections and clarifications: When information that you’ve provided has been changed, edited or otherwise make to be inaccurate, then aggressively correct that information in as many formats and forums as you can find it.

• Truthfulness: Information that is provided, which may have more than one interpretation by different sources or users, should be detailed enough so that the users can evaluate what they are looking at and getting from their perspective.

• Transparency: When previous information has been inaccurate, incorrect, misleading or false, the practitioner has an affirmative obligation to publish, pronounce or notify those who might be adversely affected by the information as it was previously made available."

September is PRSA’s annual Ethics Month. I recommend the online article “Can you be just a little more ethical?” by Jenny Schade. She talks about everyday ethics and how to develop and maintain your own ethical standards.

Brian Solis/Deirdre Breakenridge

One of the books I am reading is "Putting the Public Back in Public Relations: How Social Media is Reinventing the Aging Business of PR" by Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge.

Solis is "globally recognized for his views and insights on the convergence of PR, Traditional Media and Social Media "according to amazon.com, and his blog is highly rated by Technorati.

Breakenridge is President and Director of Communications at PFS Marketwyse, a marketing communications agency in New Jersey.

You can follow Solis at his blog to learn more about what's new in PR.