When attending an industry event, you expect to meet industry leaders and learn from their experiences and expert opinions, but lately I’m seeing fewer and fewer speaking slots given to those who participate in unpaid, outside submissions. As Program Manager at blast! PR, it’s becoming very clear that the majority of relevant industry events are handing over speaking gigs to anyone whose got the money, instead of those speakers who provide the most qualified content. Event directors are losing the battle against their company sales teams, leaving them with little to no programming freedom and an agenda full of sponsored speaking sessions.

I understand the fact that the economy is putting all of us in a tough position and companies have to do whatever keeps them afloat, but you have to wonder — if everything is heading toward pay-for-play, who’s going to even care what the speakers have to say anymore? One of our clients programs a huge industry event and has given us tons of valuable insight over the years we’ve had the pleasure of working with him. He has told us numerous times that the few paid speaking slots they have on the agendas are labeled as such, and are often the windows attendees use as their personal intermissions. Knowing they are paid gigs, attendees are just expecting the CEO to get up on stage and boast about his/her company’s product or service. For this reason, they will often use the opportunity as a restroom break or go into the halls to converse with other attendees. Can you really blame them?

When did the main objective of industry events change from putting butts in the seats by gathering the brightest minds in the business together to share tips and personal experiences with newcomers and trade hopefuls? Value isn’t always monetary.

Crystal Archbell, Program Manager

SpotLight Device Tracks Runaway Dogs

Is your dog a hairy Houdini? This new product which tracks runaway mutts might be your best counter defense.

The SpotLight GPS pet locator, which attaches to your dog’s collar, tracks your pup’s whereabouts, alerting you if your escape artist travels beyond a pre-programmed safe zone. The device is made by Positioning Animals Worldwide, Inc. (PAW) in partnership with the American Kennel Club Companion Animal Recovery program (AKC CAR).

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There’s an odd event that I’ve experienced a few times over the last ten years I’ve spent running an agency. Here’s the nutshell:

• You are invited to pitch for a prospect’s business.
• You submit proposal and give pitch.
• They talk to other agencies as well.
• Prospect tells you, “Thanks, but we went with another agency.”
• Months later, you find that prospect never engaged another agency who supposedly won the business.

To me, in some ways this is worse than actually losing out to another agency. Not landing the client is just part of competition. But lying about going with someone else really puzzles me. Would I really care if the program was put on hold or that the prospect’s budget was cut? No. I wouldn’t think any differently of the prospect company.

People sometimes do odd things in business to save face, but I truly don’t understand the motivation here.

An article in iMedia Connection describes how ad agencies are angry about how Zappos handled their RFP process. Apparently, they received over 100 (yes 100) proposals for the lucrative $7 million account, however didn’t give each the review time they deserved.

100 proposals. That’s a lot of reading for anyone and even if you did go through them all with diligence, there’s no way you could accurately remember each one to make an informed decision.

blast! PR was lucky enough to be part of the Zappos RFP process last fall for PR agencies, and although we didn’t get the account (came in a tight second though!), they still were very courteous and appeared to give all participants’ proposals the time they deserved. I think this may have been because of how they handled the RFP process, because I can’t imagine they personally invited 100+ PR agencies to submit a proposal.

We were honored that we did receive that personal invitation from one of the decision makers and had a lot of fun coming up with creative ideas for Zappos. The process was very pleasant and even though we didn’t get account, it was more than worth the effort the team put into it.

Maybe Zappos should have been a little more exclusive in who they opened up the process to for the advertising RFP so less time was wasted. Or maybe agencies should have been more selective in deciding to submit a proposal. But the bottom line is that proposals are part of doing business as an agency - whether you get the gig or not - and complaining isn’t going to do anything but leave a bad taste in everyone’s mouth.

Posted by: Bryan

Surely, everyone has seen the video of the “Cameron Village Blob” by now. I’m not sure where it was first posted, but once it was announced on Gawker’s science fiction blog i09, it was EVERYWHERE. [Editor’s note: Great publicity for the city of Raleigh!]

When I first saw this video, I was convinced that there was NO WAY that this could be real. With all the stuff that is forged online nowadays with PhotoShop and whatnot, I just knew this was a hoax. Until…

On Wednesday, Tyler Dukes at News 14 reported that city officials are claiming that, not only is the video legit, but the “monster” is assumed to be a colony of tubifex worms. WORMS!!! It’s explained that these worms “attach themselves to roots and work into weak points of the piping” and their movements in the video are reactions to the light of the camera. [Another editor’s note: Gross.]

I recently moved down the street from Cameron Village and this video makes me cringe. I have made it a point to never watch it again because I’d rather not have nightmares of a Toilet Monster. But in case you haven’t seen it yet, brace yourself!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELoqZiamr4E

Crystal Archbell, Program Manager

At blast! PR, we work with a lot of start ups. They come to us with excellent ideas designed to directly answer the social media generation’s major pain points and blow the 800-lb gorillas out of the water. They’ve poured everything they have into creating what they see as the “next big thing.” But despite how much we believe in them (and we do) or how great the press coverage is, there still remains the biggest hurdle for 99% of start ups – getting people to change their old habits.

For the “bleeding-edge” generation that we claim to be, we are still creatures of habit. Our email may be riddled with spam, but we’ve given that email address to everyone we know so we’re not going to change it now. Facebook changed its user interface and we hate it, but hey, it’s bookmarked on our browsers and we have all our pictures there so we’ll just deal with it.

What does it take for someone to change their habits? A personal offense by their current social media service (Facebook accidentally deleted your Christmas ’07 album, and you don’t have the back ups)? A forced submission (all your other friends are doing it)? Or is it that there are just so many new social media start ups out there that people don’t even know where to begin to look if they are dissatisfied?

The Internet changes and improves by the second. I recommend not getting yourself stuck in habits at all, and leave yourself open minded enough to experience all the next big things you encounter online. You might just find exactly what you’ve been looking for.

Carla Vicens, Senior PR Specialist

Twitter is undoubtedly the most popular way to exchange and discuss news topics nowadays. Be it politics, pop culture or even severe weather, if something has happened, chances are someone you’re following is going to Tweet about it.

The past week has been coincidentally filled with the heartbreaking celebrity deaths of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. As you can imagine, Twitter buckled under the pressures of the Tweeting frenzy, especially this past Thursday with the death of Farrah Fawcett followed by that of Michael Jackson. Twitter even had to disable its Search feature in order to maintain Tweet functionality.

It really makes you wonder – what would happen if there was a national disaster? What if Twitter had been around on 9/11 for the WTC catastrophe or the London Metro attacks? Would Twitter have survived?

And it’s not only Twitter. Many news sites and celebrity blogs were down following the announcement of Michael Jackson’s death. Are the Web sites we’ve come to depend on to provide us with up-to-the-minute news updates going to be there when we need them most?

For more information on how Twitter handled the event, visit: http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/06/25/its-kill-feature-time-again-at-twitter-to-stay-up/

For more information on how the entire Web was affected, visit: http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/06/25/the-web-collapses-under-the-weight-of-michael-jacksons-death/

Crystal Archbell, Program Manager

We all know the recession has been lagging around for what seems like (or is) years now. We’re reminded disproportionately in the media about the negatives, but I have actually seen a consistent positive result in this somewhat unique time. Employees at businesses of all ilks are trying harder to make a good impression. They’re actually acting like they appreciate my business and are pleased when they make a sale; something that in recent years has been noticeably absent during my consumer outings. Retail establishments are consistently referring to me as a “guest” and are always available when I need any kind of assistance. Restaurants are treating me like a five-star establishment even if they’re a two star. My bank now has greeters at the door to help me “find my way” to the teller counter. Sure, this is unnecessary as my navigation skills are honed enough to cross a room, but the point is that they are trying to deliver a new level of customer service.

So what’s causing all of the new niceties floating around in this depressing economical time? Is it that those who have jobs are thankful and trying that extra bit? Is it a corporate directive to purposely establish customer service as a differentiator? Is it a more qualified pool of people taking on jobs they wouldn’t have accepted a couple years ago when things were “good”?

Whatever it is, I’m enjoying it while it lasts. As America went box store crazy, the convenience, selection and discounts grew, but feeling like anyone really cares about my purchase and experience withered. I hope we can learn from this recession and make sure that when things are “good” again, we don’t allow the customer service to drop into its own recession once again.

Bryan Formidoni, blast!ronaut

According to our friend Abbey Klaassen in her recent Ad Age article, “Carl’s Jr. Pairs With Popular YouTuber for Viral Success,” the fast food chain who refuses to offer healthy options on their menu has solicited the help of YouTube comedy group Nigahiga to promote their new portobello mushroom burger.

I found the ad, which depicts a guy speaking really fast and acting ridiculous with a burger (rubbing it in his armpits, even!), to be pretty annoying. But there are some key elements that may have helped propel this ad into the viral spotlight.

First, they went with a high profile influencer – someone who’s following on YouTube is probably very in line with their target demographic. Secondly, they clearly gave the ad creator total creative control. You don’t see any fancy logos or brand assets here. Just a guy who loves his burger. Perhaps too much…

Lastly, we’ve seen our fair share of viral video and crowdsourcing campaigns bomb in the last few years (think a certain SUV) or deplete thousands of marketing dollars for a final video that is less than memorable (think a certain hamburger condiment.) Carl’s Jr. didn’t create a contest and open it up to the world. They knew what they wanted and the knew exactly the person who could deliver the video and the audience.

Carla Vicens, Sr. PR Specialist

iPhones and smartphones and tricked out mobile devices are the status symbol – who has the coolest/latest gadget, what kind of awesome apps does your phone boast, does it also play MP3s and give a great shoulder massage? The vast majority of the consuming public has one, and the advertising world is abuzz with how to leverage a channel that their audiences are carrying around in their pockets no matter where they go. We hear ideas about being able to send you a discount coupon via your mobile phone for the very Starbucks you happen to be walking past at that moment, but is that pie-in-the-sky or right around the corner? And mobile devices are highly personal, so what kind of privacy implications does that level of communication hold? Is it a channel that consumers consider sacrosanct and advertising will only be deemed intrusive? Are there enough safeguards in place to make it a viable option?

At this point, smartphone app developers are seeing success, and some companies are using display and video ads via mobile browsers or text-based ads via SMS. Personally, I have little to no exposure to this on my phone, which has a touch screen similar to the iPhone and mobile IE capabilities; I rarely see ads on the sites I visit on my phone, and I never get text ads. It just makes me think that the channel is not being targeted properly (or at all) and I wonder how much return companies are seeing.

Being on the front lines of events in this industry, I know everyone’s talking about mobile, but what are the cool new advertising techniques that are actually moving forward to keep up with innovation in the devices themselves? I’d love to hear insight.

Morgan McDowell, Sr. PR Specialist