The Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center, the highly-respected (and now nationally-known) Newburyport-based organization that developed a ground-breaking program toward ending domestic violence in local communities, is one of the many local charitable entities supported by Matter. We have contributed to this organization in a number of ways over the past few years and just yesterday more than 30 of us (including friends and some family) participated in its Annual Walk Against Violence.

The work that takes place daily at the Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center is nothing shy of tremendous and it puts in perspective so much that we prioritize in our respective days. I’ve enjoyed getting to know the selfless dedicated staff of the JGCC who work so hard to help others, and I am consistently in awe of their commitment to success. Supporting this organization has been a significant source of pride for me.

However, an equally great source of pride continues to be the wonderful, committed and supportive people who work at Matter every day. In addition to being outstanding PR professionals, we have so many “good” people who understand that the success we experience in work is only one piece of a complex puzzle that makes daily life positive. With regularity, Matter employees sacrifice their personal time and energy for the benefit of others. During yesterday’s walk, I was reminded by a friend of how significant it is to have so many employees, friends and family spend a good portion of a beautiful Sunday in October for this cause. While not necessary, it was another nice reminder of how fortunate I am to work side-by-side with such a wonderful team.

A few weeks ago, one of my college professors asked me to speak to a class about my job at Matter and how I got here.  The class, called “How to Sell Yourself in a Tough Economy,” focuses on branding yourself and getting ready for the interview process that follows graduation. I remember how helpful it was to hear from someone other than a professor about what life was like after college, so I immediately wrote back and said I’d be happy to visit.

…and then reality set in.

Me? Speaking to a class? A little over a year ago, I had no idea what I wanted to do, and now I’m supposed to influence young minds about the job search process and life as a PR professional? Oh. My.

However, after all was said and done, I learned a lot about myself and my job. Specifically:

There is no daily routine to PR. A student asked me to describe what I do on a day-to-day basis, but I couldn’t tell them. PR is such a whirlwind, and that’s why I love it. Sure, I could name some of my daily tasks, but that doesn’t accurately paint the picture of what life in PR is like. Schedule? No thanks. I’ll take craziness over routines any day.

I’ve come so far in a year. Explaining to this class how I got here was hilarious, mostly because I couldn’t remember all of my extracurricular activities I did to build out my resume from when I was interviewing. Instead, I talked about how I have awesome clients and get to work with all aspects of their businesses every day. I work with so many people and on so many different projects that I feel I’ve grown more in a year at Matter than I did in four years at college. In the world of social media, I would have to say that I am currently #WINNING (or #failing for my college career, can’t quite decide).

Working in a PR agency is not for the faint-hearted. I saw the students’ eyes widen as I explained my job description and responsibilities – and I’m not going to lie, I felt that way too when I first started. I realized that not everyone can – or would like to – do what I do, and that’s what makes PR folks a special kind of breed.

I’m lucky to have such an awesome job. Matter has the coolest employees and benefits, and I’ve come to lean on my colleagues more like I would with a family. A majority of what I talked about with the class was our fun after-hours events and the vibe of our new office. Side note to all future presenters out there: If you tell the college students that your office has a company-branded kegorator, they will pay attention to what you have to say.

So take it or leave it, folks. Sometimes it takes a blast from the past (or a simple return to your college campus) to remember where you are, how you got there, and look forward to what’s next.

As a new face to a new role and title here at Matter, I thought I’d write my first blog post stating the obvious. Well, I should rephrase that: write my first blog post stating what’s obvious to me, the Video Production Specialist, in regards to videos and social media. I will give it to you short and simple, after a few selling points:

• 17M connected their account to at least one social site (Facebook, Twitter, Orkut, Buzz, etc.)
• >12M auto-share to at least one social network
• 150 years of YouTube video watched/day on Facebook (2.5x YOY)
• >500 tweets/minute contain YouTube links (3x YOY)
• An auto-shared tweet results in 6 new youtube.com sessions on average
• 100M users take a social action (likes, shares, comments, etc) every week
• >1/2 of YouTube videos have been rated or includes comments

Videos are 53 times more likely than text pages to appear on the first page of search results. - Forrester

Month over month growth rate for video traffic referral by source:

• Facebook: 40%
• Twitter: 38%
• Yahoo: 35%
• Google: 15%
• Bing: 3%

Video has become one of the most effective ways to motivate people towards certain behaviors. Video is a highly effective persuasion techonology. – Dr. BJ Fogg, director of Standford’s Persuasive Technology Lab.

So how do you capitalize on this wealth of eyeballs? Follow this simple Video Social Media Checklist:

1. After you’ve uploaded your video to the video platform(s) of choice (at least YouTube), use your metadata. Having complete titles, descriptions, and tags will make it easier for your videos to be found in the first place.
2. Enable social sharing buttons in players
3. Enable embed codes for sharing
4. Embed and/or annotate clickable calls to action
5. Promote sharing at video completion
6. Review performance
7. Repeat – create and upload more videos!

Please share some of your video social media success stories in the comments below!

Sources: http://www.youtube.com/t/press_statistics, http://www.slideshare.net/ReelSEO/social-video-marketing-strategies-for-great-social-video

Now that we’ve turned the calendar into the month of October, we also are kicking off the fall season. It’s somewhat bittersweet to open the fall, as it signals the end to summer here in Newburyport, but on the plus side there isn’t much that beats a walk through the town center as the leaves are changing.

But I digress. The opening of the fall, for me, means the chance to renew a part-time job I’ve held on weekends for the last seven years as an Instant Replay Official for the Merrimack College hockey team. In the course of thinking about the obvious differences between my pursuit of PR and my pursuit of video review, I found a series of similarities that found some common ground (let’s call it a neutral zone):

• The key is in the details – Sometimes the most important guidance a client can gain is when you are able to make a recommendation based on the little things. Maybe you tried to fill a speaking role for the client with a customer that made sense geographically, but what about the customer who came to you six months ago in the same region that has some speaking experience on the circuit? In terms of instant replay, nothing ever happens the same way twice. The key is to remember the games you have worked in the past to dictate which events need to be “marked” as replay material, and which cameras capture it best. This means considering details such as what time was left on the clock when it happened, what number was stamped on the “mark” and other important factors.

• Remember where you’ve been to know where you’re going – In the PR world, a long-term memory can be very important. Remember that journalist you spoke to a year ago? It turns out you may need to pitch them again if your client wants to pursue a vertical market you hadn’t considered initially. In the realm of instant replay, it’s important to know which referee crew you’re working with: if Crew 1 called on you four times last game; then you need to “mark” events much more frequently then Crew 2 who only came to you once.

• Say what you mean and mean what you say – Public relations is a very fast-moving industry and by adding extra words or by not making yourself clear the first time, it adds unnecessary cycles to your day. In the instant replay world, fans want the call to be right, and the subsequent time you take to be minimal. This means you need to speak up when you’re on the phone (over the crowd noise) and be direct (make sure you and the referee understand each other).

And most importantly:

• The ability to multitask – The application in PR is evident every single day: prioritizing a to-do list, attending meetings, pitching media and talking to customers. As a replay official, you need to have a keen eye on the action at all times to pinpoint reviewable situations and always be ready in case a goal is scored.  Oh yeah, and don’t forget to sound the goal horn when the team scores!

I like connecting with people and have always found the phone to be my preferred channel to do exactly that. If I can’t see you in person, I’d like to hear your voice. I’ll gladly read your words, but I’ll always prefer to embrace the words you say.

Recently I’ve been calling a list of companies in follow-up to a Matter mailing and that exercise has reminded me of my affinity for the phone. Some of my calls have been positively-toned, and some not so much. (That’s part of the gig…) In all cases the calls have been exciting – and often very entertaining.  Case in point: this week I shared some information about our newly packaged TIP program on a call, and heard some details about a son’s start of freshman year at college. I’m a big fan of my time in college – uh, who isn’t? – but I’m also a big fan of that time of life in general. On these calls I’m not only introducing myself and my company, I’m picking up a piece of personal information that I can use as a connection in the future.  Yes, that all can be achieved to a certain degree over email. But attaching a voice, one that supplies a sense of confidence and genuine interest in the conversation, is far more preferable. A good, high-energy interaction (while becoming rarer these days) lets the players read the situation by the words chosen, the volume at which they are delivered, and the tone they convey.

If I prefer the personal touch of the phone in sales situations, it’s certainly no surprise that I prefer the same opportunity to chat live with media contacts when I’m pitching a client.  The media relationships I maintain today are a serious source of pride for me, and I can remember numerous lengthy calls with many of these people over the years. More than a few of those calls were way off topic – but the discussion helped strengthen the relationship, built up a level of trust and provided continuity for future pitches. Again, email is the perfect tool of convenience, but I doubt the people I consider friends in the media community would consider me the same if I hadn’t often picked up the phone to connect with them.

I’m always impressed by those adept at setting the perfect tone in an email or letter. I’m extremely fortunate to be surrounded by a strong set of writers here at Matter. They are spot-on when they deliver their messages in pitch notes, press releases and all other communications, and, with obvious exceptions, their content is always a pleasure to read. But what really makes our team exceptional is that they always know when picking up the phone is the best fit for the situation.  They know that some calls, especially cold calls, can be lengthy, inconvenient and potentially awkward or nasty.  But they also know that over the phone is often where the best PR relationships are formed and where the best results lay.  When it’s time for a connection, do you reach for the keyboard instead of the phone?  Maybe you should give your voice a chance to convey your message and let me know how it goes.

I’m a PR newbie.

Well, let me qualify that: I’ve been in the industry just over 4 months now, and it’s amazing how much one can learn about PR in such a short amount of time.

That being said, I walked through the doors of Matter as a clean slate, willing and eager to learn the ropes armed with the skills and experience I had packed along for the ride.

PR lingo? That I had to learn as I went along, as no phrasebook had been tucked into my new hire packet. Vets, you’ll probably get a kick out of the terms I found to be foreign. Future newbies of Matter Communications, allow me to spell out a few things:

OPP: [op] Noun

1. Short for “opportunity” — not just any opportunity, but a coverage opportunity, or strategic outlet that’s been deemed a prime target to convey your client’s key messages.

EOD: [ee-oh-dee] Noun

1. Acronym for “end of day” — a common deadline.

• “I need this by EOD.”

*Note* I believe it was Nick Porter who got to field my awkwardly formal email in response to a deadline he sent me:

Hi Nick,

What does EOD mean?

Thank you,

Talia

PUB: [puhb] Noun

1. Short for “publication” — this could refer to a magazine, newspaper, broadcast media outlet, or blog.

2. A fine malt beverage establishment…at (you guessed it!) EOD, of course.

*Note* Have you seen the new kitchen kegerator?

Hashtag: [hash-tag] Noun

1. The “#” prefix symbol on Twitter — the community-driven tool used for adding additional context and metadata to your tweets. It helps those with shared interests find information on Twitter.

• #PRisforlovers (No? Ok, I’m still learning.)

2. Also known as “the pound sign” on your touchtone key pad

UV: [yoo-vee] Noun

1. Acronym for “unique visitors,” or the number of individual web users to visit a site.

• Put on those shades…as of today, Examiner.com has a UV number of 7 million. That’s hot.

FU: [ef-yoo] Verb

1) An acronym for “follow up” — a means of being thorough, checking in, or being the squeaky wheel to get results.

• “FU with the executive and make sure we have the right contact information.”

*Note* Best if used in combination with other words, as was not done on my first encounter with the term:

One-line email from a Matter colleague: “FU.”

Me: “GASP!#$….Why are they so hostile?!?

PR: [pee-ahr] Noun

1. Acronym for “public relations” — doing anything and everything communications-based to help your clients with whatever they need, whenever they need it.

• May include: anything (that will get them positive results that matter…by EOD)

My colleague Rachel Schlacter & I share the above definition. What is your personal definition of PR?

*Note* My friends and family have a very hard time understanding what I do. Explaining it? #Forgetaboutit.  I guess my colleague Matt Mendo (#2) has had similar experiences.

Today I came across an article on 10 reasons why working in PR is tough. The author, Andrew Worob, was careful enough to include a disclaimer that (of course) many other professions are much more challenging, and he just wanted to have a little fun and acknowledge the many reasons we PR pros often end our days collapsing onto a couch or bar stool, grateful to have survived another day. That said, I agreed with most of the reasons he listed — the demands, sporadic schedules, and pressures of not just doing the job, but doing it well, can seem quite overwhelming at times. But my experience has been that the rewards are just as astounding. So with that, I give you my 10 reasons why working in PR rocks:

10. You’re never bored. Whether you’re working on multiple clients or just one with multiple challenges, the pace and the problem-solving skills required in PR ensure that no day is ever a dull one.

9. You’re always learning something. Smart PR professionals dive head-first into their clients’ industries, most of the time having to absorb ideas and acronyms that are completely unfamiliar. Our brains get a lot of exercise.

8. You get to be creative. One of my favorite parts of working in a PR agency is the brainstorming, coming up with big ideas, offering plans and recommendations, and then figuring out how to “wow” everyone from the client to their customers and the media who we’re hoping will cover them.

7. Nothing is more satisfying than securing big hits. Sure, it can be mind-numbingly frustrating to pitch and pitch and follow-up and even after you’ve secured the interview, nothing is guaranteed to come out the way you (and your client) want or expect it to. But when it does? Exhilarating.

6. Okay – one thing is more satisfying: securing big clients. Going after new business is exciting and it takes a lot of effort. In the PR world, it’s nice not only because of the added revenue it brings, but also because it’s a fantastic, validating feeling when a company or organization puts that kind of trust in you and realizes what a positive impact you can (and will) have on their business.

5. The people. Let’s face it, we’ve all said at one time or another that it takes a certain kind of personality to do this job. We’re a fun, smart bunch.

4. What other jobs allow you to tweet, update Facebook and read blogs…and call it work?

3. There are a lot of career growth opportunities. If you’re ambitious and prove yourself, you won’t be stuck doing admin tasks or glossed over by those above you on the food chain. We’re all strapped for time and talent, so we are always looking to groom and propel those who are good at what they do.

2. To your friends and family, your job is a little bit “mysterious.” Admit it, most of us explain what we do time and time again, and it doesn’t sink in to many of our loved ones. While some say this is annoying, I say embrace it.

1. It just is. I love my job…and I bet most of you do, too.

Last week, my adorable seven-year-old son Owen came bursting up out of the playroom, leaving his best friend with a paused game of Wii Mario Kart so that he could use the bathroom. He sprinted to the bathroom, did his business, and came back through kitchen in a blur, then paused at the top of the stairs before heading back down. He looked thoughtfully at me as he adjusted the twisted waistband on his shorts and asked: “Mom, why haven’t they invented pants with a toilet in them?” I laughed and said that he should invent them, but that plumbing was likely to be a big design challenge. He smiled with his big brown eyes and without another word, dashed away, back to playing.

This seemed a moment made for Facebook sharing, so I posted it, where it was met with a few Likes and some cynical (and funny) commentary such as “that’s called a diaper” or “because it would be hard to walk around!”

I posted it because it made me laugh out loud, and I wanted to share that. But the adult responses (including my own) made clear the massive gap in imagination between 7 year olds and grown-ups. And it made me wonder when it is that we lose the limitless optimism that underlies a child’s assumption that any invention is possible.

It reminded me of an article I read a couple months ago in Fast Company that highlighted a study by Latitude research about children predicting the future of computing. Here’s the part that’s thought-provoking. Only 4% of the children’s wishes were unattainable right now (teleportation and time travel) given what engineers are currently capable of. In fact, one of the children wished for the ability to search with an image, rather than text. Incredibly, Google announced Google Image Search the day the study was released.

Leading me to the conclusion that while wild imaginations might lead to crazy nightmares and very strange storytelling among the ten and under set, we adults could use a dose more of it in our everyday lives. Just imagine the things we could accomplish and invent if we suspended our inclination to say “because it would be hard” and instead, thought really creatively about solving problems, and then tried with boundless energy to make something amazing happen.

In our PR jobs, we get bound up by what’s practical: “the client might not want to hear this idea” or “they’ll never do it anyway” or “my manager will think I’m crazy for suggesting a different way” or “this reporter probably won’t take this meeting.” What a waste of energy and time. For my part, I’m using this pants-toilet incident as an object lesson in the benefits of being more childlike, and a little less practical. I expect that in addition to doing better work, I’ll be having a lot more fun.

Oh, and I fully expect that when Owen gets his prototype off the ground, we’ll all be more productive during the day, since we won’t have those pesky bathroom breaks to slow us down.

Sourced from The New York Times online, "The Elusive Big Idea," by Neal Gabler

Last week I read an article in The New York Times called, “The Elusive Big Idea.”

It scared the crap out of me.

We’re living in a time when information is fast, efficient, neatly-packaged & delivered— suspended in a magical (and convenient!) web of ether just waiting to be accessed.

…But how much of it are we actually processing?

As a new PR professional, I’ve noticed a change in my way of thinking. While I was in school, I took home books or articles, read them at a steady pace, underlined, revisited— and mulled, if you will. Most of the time, I would then sit down and start writing in order to develop and lengthen these study-lounge musings.

I find there to be much less time these days to study and mull. I’m submerged in the deep end of the information pool where quick facts, stats, industry news headlines, blurbs, and witty one-liners leave me drenched. Keeping the best interest of my clients’ business in mind, I pay attention to a much different, and much wider range of topics now than before. Relevant information is quickly bouncing back and forth between status updates, twitter handles, and blog posts. Web addresses aren’t even written in full anymore— our short messages are shortened further by bit.ly’s and tinyURL’s, even embedded behind # and @ signs.  It’s enough to make my head spin. I’ve learned, though, that scanning alone does not produce the best results.

As Gabler writes in his NYT piece,

“In the past, we collected information not simply to know things. That was only the beginning. We also collected information to convert it into something larger than facts and ultimately more useful — into ideas that made sense of the information. We sought not just to apprehend the world, but to truly comprehend it, which is the primary function of ideas. Great ideas explain the world and one another to us.”

Does this new trend of “apprehension” truly make us more informed? Smarter? I’m inclined to say no, that it only gives us the ability to move more quickly —finish the lap— call out a message first in order to win the recognition of passing the baton. We can certainly find the answer to just about any question online, but we need to remember to reflect on what we know first. The relevancy, context, and reliability of what we find must then be considered, as well as how we plan to use our new information sensibly.

Getting a bit more philosophical, can you say that you’ve thought through your own worldview, end to end, amidst the blur of contradicting information that’s available to us? If there was a line drawn across a particular ideal you’ve lived by, would you be able to confidently stand on one side armed with sturdy reasoning, or are you positioned a bit more shakily (and perhaps more safely) in the gray middle area? Have you thought through any one thing so thoroughly that you could ignite a fiery debate, and still stand unburned on your own turf?

As intellectual people with such amazing innate potential, I hope we can all say yes.

“We are like the farmer who has too much wheat to make flour. We are inundated with so much information that we wouldn’t have time to process it even if we wanted to, and most of us don’t want to.”

Isn’t it strange to consider that this overload of information, be it significant or trivial, has actually occupied space in our minds meant for new ideas?

For the maintenance of my own sanity, I need to set aside some time to step away, process, think, and comprehend. This is the key to generating innovative ideas! There comes a point when in order to be a good PR pro (or person of real substance, for that matter), we may need to disconnect in order to reconnect to our own thought process.

A recent national survey commissioned by TeleNav examined Americans’ attachment to mobile phones and the results showed that we are willing to give up many joys in life over our beloved mobile devices. So just how attached to mobile phones have we become?

According to the study, guilty pleasures were among the higher rated items that people would be willing to give up for a week over their mobile phone such as alcohol (70%), chocolate (63%), caffeine (55%) and even sex (33%).

As a PR professional, I consider my mobile phone to be a luxury item that allows me the freedom to step away from my computer while still remaining connected to my clients, family and friends, and the world-at-large. In the ever moving fast paced world of PR, I hold my cell phone in high regard and consider it a necessary tool to perform my daily tasks. But would I give up some of life’s greatest pleasures to in order to keep it? Chances are, probably not.

Others, however, seem to place their iPhone, Blackberry or Android higher on the priority list. In fact, they are even willing to go as far as to give up exercise (54%), shoes (21%) and their toothbrush (22%) all before parting ways with their mobile phone. Health and hygiene is now second to mobile phones? Maybe it’s time to draw the line.

But it doesn’t stop just there. The impact of mobile phone on our lives is becoming personal. From deciding who would make a good match for us (83% of iPhone users thought other iPhone users would make the best romantic partners) to the way we communicate an end to a relationship (18% of smartphone users have ended a relationship via voicemail, text message, email, Facebook update or Twitter post), it’s seemingly apparent mobile phones have become as important to us as our loved ones. Or perhaps even more so as 22% of smartphone users even said they would rather go a week without seeing their significant other than surrender their phone. And they say chivalry is dead.

Advancements in technology have allowed us many things, including our cell phones. And there’s no denying that they have become a part of our daily lives. But before you read another email at the dinner table, or reach for your mobile phone before stepping foot out of bed in the morning, consider this: just what would you be willing to give up. You make the call.