Why Books Should Become More Important

There has been a lot of discussion happening online lately about the influence of social media on Search Engine Optimization. Jeff Sonderman writes in an article for The Poynter Institute that Google has again made a move that will significantly impact the information you receive when you search for something online. Now when you search the information presented to you will be as Jeff writes, "shaped by each user's online friends and social networking history"

I think this is 'neat' and certainly makes the networks we live and work within increasingly tighter and more influential. But should it make our social networks more or less relevant? While I appreciate learning what my friends are reading, listening to or watching, will that enhance my ability to find the right information?

Think about this for a moment. Searching online is now an acceptable practice for almost every student - from public, to high school, to university. The information presented to them is determined by a search engine ... the people at Google ... I mean the advertisers paying Google to make sure that their information is presented at the top. Now, add in this new social element and students are going to be presented with information that is further convoluted by what they did online yesterday.

As much as we know the information on the internet shouldn't be trusted, even someone like me who works in PR has to remind myself every now and again to validate sources and that sites like Wikipedia aren't verified to be accurate. At what point will we not be able to trust any of the information we receive? How will that impact us? Will it matter?

It makes me think that books, newspapers, and magazines that create vetted, peer-reviewed content using multiple sources have a serious responsibility and opportunity to help keep us from ourselves in the land of (in)-convenient content.

Source 

A New Definition for PR

PR does not stand for press release. PR is no longer just media relations. And PR should not be an add-on to your business. Public relations can help to elevate your brand, create the foundation you communicate with, and engage your customers, employees, and partners in ways you've never even dreamed.

The advantage PR people have always had is that they keep a birds' eye view on your company and are quick to identify trends, issues, and opportunities - and not just for media - but for your marketing, R&D, product, and human resources teams. Paying attention to every function of your business and trained to analyze perception, the role of the PR person has changed from the gal (or guy) that used to spend the entire day on the phone asking journalists, "Did you get my email?"

The influence of social media and the integration with marketing and internal communication initiatives now has PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) revisiting the definition of public relations. Check out #PRDefined on Twitter and the PRSA discussion PRDefined to keep up to date on the definition development. Then get ready - tomorrow, three definitions will be shared with the public. In three weeks PRSA will then compile feedback to make revisions. Fingers crossed with another round of feedback we'll have a final result by end of February, early March.

Side Note: Crazy to think that this is the modern way of creating definition of words and phrases. I wonder if this was recommended by Oxford?

Jumping in with Sebastien Loze at CM Labs

Happy Monday everyone. I can't think of a better way to kick of this week than with a discussion with my friend Sebastien Loze. I had the pleasure of working with Seb when he was the Product Marketing Manager at Presagis - where his creativity was well-known and his ability to make the most complex concepts (to a PR person like me) simple. Working with Seb is always a great experience and now that he is the lead of marketing initiatives at CM Labs I expect we're going to see some big things in the very near future!

Name: Sebastien Loze

Title: Director, Marketing & Partner Sales

Company: CM Labs Simulations Inc.

Home Base: Montreal, QC

Twitter: @SLFeeding

Pets:  Does a 4 year old daughter qualify? 

Quirks: Many along with a passion for photography and surrealist poetry

Contact Info: sebastien.loze@cm-labs.com / 514.690.5693

DTP: Seb, you’ve recently taken on the role of Director of Marketing at CM Labs. Tell us, how has the transition been?

SL: CM Labs is a company full of expertise, passion and bright people working to deliver solutions for a very complex problem in the industry: “How do I ensure that my training and analysis of complex equipment is more accurate and effective than “good enough” simulations?” It’s a common question asked in our industry – one that many of us need to consider and resolve – and for operators of equipment it’s one that when answered correctly saves time, money and more importantly keeps people safe.  

My role is challenging and exciting; it requires me to leverage both my marketing (and market) experience as well as my computer science/engineering background. I’m surrounded by a team of savvy and passionate engineers and like with any new job, am focused on communicating their incredible expertise to our community. There is a learning curve as with any new role, but the idea of developing CM Labs’ corporate and technology story is incredibly exciting.  

DTP: You have always been an ally to PR – you’ve helped me cultivate many a trend and customer story – now that you’re responsible for PR have there been any surprises you’ve learned about the profession? 

SL: I am still ramping up on this aspect of my work and it is very interesting to see that our community is a very small world when it comes to the PR community and through this small network there are a lot of people offering to help PR newbies like me develop best practices and build relationships with the media. By the way thank you Cerys ;) 

DTP: Many think that PR is synonymous with media relations. What does PR entail at CM Labs? Do you see its role growing within your company? 

Storytelling and public relations has been a missing piece of the communications puzzle at CM Labs in the past. We’re now making this a priority to help share our expertise with the community as a whole – not only related to our products and services – but related to the great people we have at our company.  

As we build our marketing team moving forward, we’ll expand our initiatives to further embed PR into the fabric of CM Labs.  

DTP: How would you describe the integration of PR and marketing at CM Labs? Where and when should the two roles intersect most? 

SL: They are feeding each other in term of content, but I support a vision where marketing activities embed the PR activities in a holistic combined activities approach. Marketing tells a story, define the path and PR is both: sharing the story and ensuring that feedback and trends are properly brought back to marketing.  

DTP: How do you balance the idea of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” with the latest tactics and tools you’re dying to try?  

SL: Today in our stage of development of our PR and marketing activities, I am facing a much simpler paradigm: “if it doesn’t exist, make it happen!” So I am having a brutally candid approach to PR. We’re identifying what we are able to do now, and what we will work toward in the future. 

DTP: Are there any tools that you find particularly useful? (i.e. web-based tools, video, monitoring, distribution, etc.) 

SL: I am a serial browser so I had to simplify and limit my time searching the web. I created a few dashboards with Netvibes which allow me to view all the content I want in a single webpage – it’s sorted and organized the way I want it to monitor news, track blogs, and to make sure I have all the newswires monitored without having to surf for hours on many different websites.

DTP: Over the last few years we’ve seen a shift in how marketing and PR people are getting their information in front of their customers. Can you share one of your favourite, “go-to” tactics?

SL: We work at both ends of the spectrum - we have very good relationships with existing customers where we focus on 1:1 conversations and direct communications. At the same time we are working strategically with large international organizations like NATO to bring awareness to an audience that may not be familiar with CM Labs. For me, it’s important that we accurately assess the different groups we communicate with and ensure that we develop content that is valuable to each audience. From there we can best determine what tactics we use – whether that’s a webinar, speaking opportunity or video campaign.