It’s no surprise that at Matter, we have a lot of clients embracing social media. However, what’s interesting is the way these clients go about integrating it into their communications strategies. Over the past few months, I’ve been involved with discussions about how to best go about leveraging corporate blogs, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube with two separate clients, and they have very different approaches, both equally valid and interesting.

The first client has a very grassroots outlook on social media. Rather than living by a set of stringent rules, we know what we can and can’t say, and we don’t ever post anything questionable. Our focus right now is to use social media as a platform for educating, answering customer questions and handling the occasional product or shipping issue. Over time, we plan to add more structure to the program, but our efforts thus far have been appreciated and encouraged by our followers and fans.

The second client has been engaged in social media initiatives for a while now, and has even integrated elements into its annual customer conference. We’re currently expanding the program and our client contact is putting together a set of rules and guidelines for other members of the organization who want to participate. As I was reviewing this plan recently, it really struck me not only how different the two social media methods are, but also how equally effective they both are.

What also struck me was the different levels of “maturity” (for lack of a better word) of the two programs. The more structured program has been in practice longer, while the more casual one has just been initiated. My prediction is that over time, the more casual program will become more structured as the number of our fans and followers grows. But we have to be mindful not to over-engineer the programs, because if we do, we run the risk of ruining trusted and effective methods for reaching end-users.

What are your opinions on social media program structures? Do you prefer a set of rules, or would you rather use loose guidelines for social media outreach? What do you think end-users prefer?

My Father is an eternal optimist. Without energy or effort, he’s able to identify the positive aspects of every situation. Bad weather is an opportunity to read a good book. A home project gone awry becomes a learning experience. He’s that type of person and perhaps similar to someone you may know. His spirit and enthusiasm are a wonderful influence on many, including his youngest son. However, unlike my Dad, my pragmatic nature makes me a realist. I take things as they are and not what I hope they will become. I wear my opinion on my sleeve and I expect others to do the same.

I believe that the upcoming business quarter and the start of the year ahead could use a healthy dose of both my perspective and my Dad’s. Some believe that the challenging economic situation of the past few years has reached its bottom. While there are still some scenarios that could make the economy even more challenging, somewhat of a leveling out is being experienced and I believe that we are working toward a healthier business world.

Here at Matter we’ve been stepping forward since the spring and as a result, we are a stronger organization. I see even more creativity in the programs being proposed by our teams, as well as a new level of consideration from existing clients and new business prospects. Also, I see the best and brightest PR people in the business embracing new media opportunities and doing what they’ve done for our clients for years: generating results that drive business, even in tough economic conditions.

Like many of you, I’m finished hearing about the challenging economic world around us. And, frankly, our agency’s entire six year history has evolved through the “challenging” economy so I haven’t been able to play a better card. So, like my Dad…I’m looking forward and feel good about what I see.

For those of you who don’t know I’m a celebrity fanatic, always looking for the inside scoop, rumors and gossips into celebrity lives.  Sunday night I tuned into the MTV Music Video Awards, just like the other 11 million viewers and witnessed Kanye West’s PR mistake.  For those of you who haven’t heard yet, Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift’s award speech during the beginning of the show, stating that Beyonce should have won the award.  After witnessing this embarrassment for Kanye I couldn’t help but think of the PR no-no that just occurred.

There are a few PR lessons to be learned from Sunday night’s PR mishap that I personally witnessed:

1.  Whether it’s a business, individual, or organization, be respectful of your peers.  That means your customers and potential customers.  In this Kanye West/Taylor Swift incident, Kanye West knows the hard work that goes into the music business.  He should have been respectful Of Taylor Swift winning the award, she earned it.  And just like our clients, when we are pitching, talking to reporters or drafting press releases, we don’t need to patronize the competitor.

2.  Respond quickly if you’re going to respond at all.  Any PR pro knows how fast you need to respond when something is handled negatively in the media.  Have a plan of action before you respond, and keep you customers and stakeholder’s top of mind.

3.  Be tactful.  In Kanye’s case he tactfully apologized immediately, admitting he was wrong and should not have interrupted Taylor’s acceptance speech.  He went to the media and communicated that what he did was wrong.  I believe this was the most tactful thing from a PR perspective he could have done.  He didn’t wait until a few days later; he immediately responded and faced the media.

At some point, nearly every company faces a public relations crisis of some scale.  One of the best ways to survive a crisis is to prepare for one. Planning ahead also gives a business more of a chance to turn a crisis into a positive.  Getting in front of the story, in Kanye’s incident, I believed helped him.  He got in front of the media before they could get to him, and he was honest.   Bottom line, its clear crisis communications begins before a crisis.  Being aware of the tools and mediums out there that can help you prepare for a crisis is critical, however, learning from your mistakes, to me, is one of the most useful methods.

“I hate turkeys. If you go to the grocery store and you stand in front of the lunch section too long, you start to get pissed off at turkeys. You see, like, turkey ham, turkey pastrami, turkey bologna… Somebody needs to tell the turkeys, “Man, just be yourself!””

That’s right, I just opened a post with Mitch Hedberg. And I’ll tell you why. Today I was reading about the official launch of Facebook\’s @Mentions, and the quote immediately came to mind. In fact, I’ve thought of the same joke several times over the past couple of years as Facebook has (shamelessly?) scrambled to hijack some of Twitter’s monumental success. It’s not like Facebook is desperate for users. They’ve long been one of the front-runners in the social platform marathon, but their repeated attempts to encompass the essence of Twitter have always felt like the bitter behavior of the cool guy who got turned down for a date for the very first time.

This move, however, is considered by some to be an extremely smart maneuver. If Facebook is truly looking to compete with Twitter in the long term, they’ll have to continue to provide simple and efficient ways to share thoughts and information. That’s the foundation on which Twitter was built – the ability to share, openly, with friends, family AND total strangers – a function that Facebook developers have thwarted, until recently, in the interests of users’ privacy. It seems that if Facebook really wants to overpower their sprightly frenemy, they need to take the concept of “introduction” to the next level. Mashable’s own Soren Gordhamer recently wrote:

“Twitter could be seen as one massive introduction system, where users recommend other users both through retweeting and mentioning the person using the @username option.”

So is that what’s coming next? Will Facebook soon offer the ability to quickly and easily share friends’ status updates with a mere couple of keystrokes? Will wall posts be forced into shorter, more concise phrases? Will information sharing be taken to yet another new level? Not only will you be exposed to the rapid updates from friends and strangers, you’ll be able to spread their personal thoughts across the platform. You can already seek out new acquaintances based on what they’re thinking this very minute. The total, wide-sweeping access is incredible. And here I’m suddenly remembering why I joined Facebook in the first place back in 2002.

Facebook was private. It was understated and simple. If I had something to share, I could do so with the people I had named as my friends. Yes, Facebook does continue to provide privacy tools – if you don’t want your information out there, you don’t have to let it go. But I have to wonder when it will all collapse upon itself. Will our social minds expand until they boil over? Will we return to a time when we no longer need strangers to hear what we’re thinking, what we’re doing, what we’re buying, eating, drinking, watching? And if we do, what will be there to support our once-again private personas?

There’s nothing wrong with innovation, or keeping up with the competition. But just as we advise clients to only use the tools that work for them, shouldn’t our tools sometimes stick to what they do (did) best? Mitch gave turkeys some good advice, I think. “I already like you little brother. You do not need to emulate the other animals. You got your own thing going.”

Like so many people, I was driving to work this morning, piecing together memories of this day eight years ago. It was day two of my journalism internship at the local newspaper and, as I waltzed through the door at 9 a.m., I was startled by a blockade of writers and photographers hovered around the newsroom’s sole television set, mouths agape, some with tears in their eyes.

When we realized what was happening, we all wanted to go home, call friends and family, and embrace loved ones. We wanted answers; we wanted to stand in front of that TV until we understood. For a moment, we weren’t hard-nosed reporters looking for a scoop. We were just people.

As a country, we were overcome with sadness on Sept. 11, 2001. The sorrow grew as days and months passed, and we learned the stories of the 2,752 victims who lost their lives. This morning, I listened as radio DJs spoke about the terrorist attacks and the various memorial services that are being held, and, eight years later, I felt a pang of grief. What can I do?

Then, the DJ said: “The best thing we can all do today is remember. We must never forget.”

It goes without saying that we must always honor and pay tribute to the thousands of people who died in the towers, in the planes, in the Pentagon and in the wake of the destruction that occurred that day. Our hearts go out to their families, friends and colleagues. Certainly, we must never forget.

I communicate with the media all day and work closely with photographers on behalf of our many clients in the photo industry. As I scanned the news this morning – to remember – I feel the urge to also honor and laud the people who have kept the victims’ stories and the day’s photographs so fresh in our minds.

One effort that particularly caught my attention and evoked emotion was David Dunlap’s narrative, and compilation of photographs and videos, on the New York Times’ photojournalism blog, “Lens.”

Yesterday, Dunlap posted “From the Archive: Moving Images” with imagery from the CameraPlanet Archive, which contains videos and photographs of the World Trade Center taken before, during and after the attacks. CameraPlanet is donating its 500-hour video archive to the National Sept. 11, 2001 Memorial & Museum. Today, Dunlap followed up with “Showcase: The World, as of 9/10/01,” with images from an exhibition that opens today, entitled “Twin Towers Once Stood.”

As a former journalist and PR professional who relies on the media on a daily basis, I am proud of the work that is being done to honor the people who were lost on Sept. 11, 2001. These individuals and organizations have captured an integral chapter of our country’s history and, each year, they find new ways to share it and make it relevant to us all. More importantly, they force us to remember.

With journalism and photojournalism of this caliber, people all over the world – and young children who are just now just learning about that tragic day – will do what they can to pay their respects; they will do what is most important now. They will never forget.

As a former Boy Scout (okay, full disclosure: I lasted maybe one year…), the importance of “being prepared” was hammered into my head quite a bit when I was growing up. Honestly, it’s still probably one of the best pieces of advice anyone’s ever given me in life. Especially in PR, preparation is everything.

In the past couple of weeks, I’ve witnessed how “being prepared” has helped my clients slam home runs in interviews, dodge sensitive questions from reporters, secure approval for special projects and form tighter relationships with TV producers. Sometimes as PR professionals, we focus so much on coming up with a great idea, getting the interview opp, or outlining the key messages we’d like clients to get across when they are being written about or filmed. But taking a really careful, comprehensive approach and spending just as much energy preparing our clients for these various scenarios is just as important (if not more so). Being prepared means thinking of all the things that could go wrong and having a solution at the ready…whether it’s a canned response to a dicey question or a back-up presentation in case a Web demo doesn’t go as smoothly as planned. Being prepared also means anticipating sources of anxiety for the client or the reporter / producer, and making sure everyone’s on the same page as to how we can avoid stumbles and annoyances throughout the process.

This morning, while staffing a TV shoot for a consumer client, my colleague Diane and I got a nice compliment from the producer we were working with. She smiled a big grin and said “Oh, you’ve done this once or twice before…” She was jokingly referring to the fact that we had all sorts of visuals already set up by the time her crew was ready to start taping – and honestly, from that moment on we hit a nice stride, working through minor hiccups and ultimately landing a successful shoot. The reason? Both our client and the producer recognized our team was prepared to deal with anything that popped up, and there was no need to panic when things didn’t go as planned. It was a nice feeling…made all that time spent on preparation totally worth it.

We appreciate CRM guru and master of multiple media Brent Leary sharing examples of effective PR pitches and a pushy, just plain cold PR approach in his latest blog post, “Blogger Relationship Mis-management: Saying No to Madame Yes.” It’s always great to hear these real stories from the blogger trenches. We’re proud also to see Matter client Pamela O’Hara from BatchBlue Software got a mention as one of the friendly folks. Score one for the nice guys!

Besides considering the insight Brent provides, let’s discuss a related point. How formal or friendly should your PR communications be?

Sitting here in my home office on Friday, September 4th, thanks to our CEO, Scott Signore, giving us the day off and making this a long(er) Labor Day weekend, I can’t help but blog about the end of summer. 

My wife and children just left to go to the beach. I’ll join them shortly.

With them gone, though, I’m reminded of the second day of school when I was a high school teacher some years ago. You see, when you’re a teacher, the first day of school is filled with long, boring speeches from the superintendent, the assistant superintendent, the assistant to the assistant superintendent on down — it’s painful. The third day the students show up and it’s game time. But, on that second day, you’re alone in your room with only your thoughts of summer end and school begin. I feel that way now. Both reflective and upbeat.

So with the sun setting too soon, I’ll make this quick. The topic of the day, class: the local economy. Take notes, please.

Our office is in state that is 50 miles tall and 40 miles wide. It is a small state that has had big economic problems. With a 12.7 percent unemployment rate, Rhode Island’s recent numbers rank it second only behind Michigan in number of unemployed. You’ve heard the bad news, I’m sure. For a while we were drowning in it. It seems, at least to me, that for a long time there every HARO opportunity that popped into my inbox was in regards to this sad subject. I’m tired of hearing about it. You? So I’d like to share a small slice of some recent news you might have missed on the economy, argue that things are getting better and support my argument with what I’ve heard and seen locally, lately.

The good news, according to a recent Associated Press piece I read, is that unemployment may have hit bottom here. The national rate fell from 9.5 percent to 9.4 percent. Rhode Island recently crept up three-tenths of a percentage point, but gained 900 jobs. Many of my clients have recently added staff, as have some of the new business prospects I’ve been working with.

We just recently added a new person here in Providence and awarded a well-deserved promotion yesterday, too.

I’m feeling better. Good even. I’ve had four new business meetings in the last week or so. I helped secure those meetings with two pitches, really. The first is that public relations is an economical way to get your messages to the masses, drive demand for your product/software/service, and create credibility that can ease access to capital. The second is that as organizations determine how to best navigate through the final months of 2009, many will start to re-invest in public relations pursuits. Those, on the other hand, that have steadily maintained a PR presence in these tough times, have likely gained a competitive advantage from doing so.

The message — if you’ve been practicing PR strategies and tactics all along, great! If you haven’t, start now!

The message seems to be sticking.

I believe that we have hit bottom. I’ve got a positive outlook. If others believe, practice positivity, invest, recognize a ROI, increase sales, hire and grow their businesses we’ll all be in a better place sooner rather than later. Together we can, right?!

So I offer my thanks to two locals that have been practicing positivity all along: BatchBlue Software and Providence Geeks. As well as others I’d like to learn more about including Providence Pecha Kucha, Business Innovation Factory and Betaspring. There are more.

And there is hope. Even though the summer is at end. Perhaps the recession is too?