Gearheads: The Sterling Communications Blog

Online Therapy for Journalists...

In the last month or so, we've seen the launch of both angryjournalist.com and happyjournalist.com, sites that allow journalists to share the ups and downs of their profession. Some of the angry rants I found uninteresting and others were poorly written, but the early reflections of that site's founder, Kiyoshi Martinez, did catch my attention. Check it out.  Kiyoshi Martinez - nerdlusus blog – Two weeks later, reflecting back at the AngryJournalist.com experiment. 

Not surprisingly, the angryjournalist site has WAAAAY more participation than the happyjournalist site.  Some things never change!

Link: Introducing HappyJournalist : Joe Think » Online News Blog Archive.

The Web's impact on the news...

... is probably not what you think. At least according the Project on Excellence in Journalism:

It was believed at one point that the Net would democratize the media, offering many new voices, stories and perspectives. Yet the news agenda actually seems to be narrowing, with many Web sites primarily packaging news that is produced elsewhere [...].

While it's fashionable for critics on both sides of the political spectrum to decry the alleged biases of the mainstream media, it seems like traditional news organizations are still primarily responsible for the reporting that gets done, while most of the blogshere focuses on commentary. So what happens if (or when) "old" media can no longer offer to actually gather the news? Hmmmm....

Looking for funding? This site could save you time and aggravation

TheFunded.com bills itself as "a community of leading entrepreneurs from around the world."  Whether or not they're "leading entrepreneurs" is probably a matter of interpretation, but they have been in front of the venture community and they're ready to share their thoughts and experiences.  I'd take the negative stories from those who didn't get funding with a grain of salt, but there's a fair bit of helpful information on  the site.  And some of the "color commentary" is downright entertaining.

NWW offers 20 useful social networking sites

Don't have enough time to go looking for news and info? Or even to e-mail friends and colleagues? If so, Network World suggests you try using social networks. They've selected 20 of the most useful ones for IT professionals (many of which were new to me!).

Great reasons why SaaS has become impossible to ignore

Phil Wainewright recently wrote on the Eight Reasons SaaS will Surge in 2008

The article outlines the benefits of the SaaS model, highlighting in particular how the enterprise will move in the direction of SaaS as the economy slows or moves towards a recession. I found his point on commonalities between SOA and SaaS particularly relevant to our clients:

"SOA and SaaS become bedfellows. I’ve always believed SOA and SaaS were two sides of the same coin — their common currency being the services model. So much so that, in the hiatus between the ASP bust and the resurgence of SaaS, I produced a website about SOA called Loosely Coupled. During that time, I got to know Jeff Schneider, one of the most insightful and knowledgeable practitioners blogging about SOA. Imagine my surprise and delight when I read his Top 100 SOA Predictions for 2008 this week:

    #1 - The incredible value of SaaS is realized and buyers want in
    #2 - The buyers realize they need enterprise SOA to effectively pull off SaaS
    #3 - #100 are irrelevant."

 

Smile every day

Man, I can't get enough of Cute Overload! Highly recommended for starting the day out with a smile.

Five ways to improve reporter relations

I like this article from Ragan... it makes you laugh, but it drives home true and relevant points about relationships today between media and PR peeps. The five points are as follows, but be sure to read the quick piece for the context behind the point. They hit home.

1. Do a little reporting.
2. Have an actual conversation.
3. Retool your press release.
4. Turn your Web site into a positive media experience.
5. Promote your expertise, not just your products.

The iPhone development fund

Today's Apple media event to unveil the much-anticipated iPhone SDK also included a surprising wrinkle. John Doerr, of Kleiner Perkins Caulfield and Byers, one of Silicon Valley's preeminent VC firms, announced a $100 million iFund to finance companies developing new applications for the iPhone "platform." It's an unusual arrangement, to say the least, and provides another proof point about how the iPhone is transforming the mobile marketplace.

The Social Media Release: Love it or leave it?

Yesterday, the International Association of Business Communicators announced that it will take the leading role in helping to develop standards for the creation of the social media release (or SMR, as they're calling it).

Here are three key elements of an SMR, according to IABC (oh so many acronyms...):

• Elements of the release, such as news, quotes, boilerplates and contact information, are separated into sections, with core news facts presented in concise paragraphs or listed in bullet format, making it easy to identify the news and copy-and-paste pieces of the release into an online article or blog post.
• Multimedia, including audio, video, screencasts, animation and images, are available for incorporation into online articles and blog posts.
• Social media tools are included, such as Technorati tags writers can use to see what others have written on the same topic, social bookmark accounts that make it easy to offer archives of relevant pages, and RSS feeds that enable writers to subscribe to updates.

Check out IABC's announcement in traditional release format here, and in the social media format here.

Right off the bat, the two versions look vastly different, with the SMR format looking and reading more like an outline and - of course - including links to related news, video and audio (Press release + video/audio/links - transitions = SMR?). If I were a journalist, I think I'd prefer the SMR version, as all of the key facts, spokespeople quotes, etc., are easily identifiable in the outline format.

What are some thoughts from a PR perspective? Would it be hard to make the switch from writing traditional releases to writing in the SMR format?  Would your clients be open to this kind of change?

Cultivating Corporate Collaboration in a Web 2.0 World

In the rush to deploy Web 2.0 tools for corporate collaboration, companies not only need to consider how the tools integrate with their current systems but also how best to train employees to make the best use of them. One senior VP at a software company goes so far to bring in his 16-year-old son to help employees learn Facebook. One day, all this collaboration will work seamlessly and feel natural. For now, however, it's a patchwork of programs and processes that demands design, implementation and coaching resources to help rather than burden employees.