Gearheads: The Sterling Communications Blog

Salesforce Integrates Google Apps

As Salesforce integrates to bake Google Apps -- word processing, spreadhseets, presentations, instant messaging, wikis, etc. -- into their CRM, TechCrunch reports that by summer, Salesforce will be reselling Google premier edition itself for $10 a month per user, twice as much as Google charges. Salesforce will offer telephone support, however, and put everything on one bill. Not sure if the extra money is worth the phone support, but the deep integration with Salesforce may be the tipping point for IT managers in smaller offices struggling to streamline software deployments. If Google/Salesforce can make the hybrid platform available offline through Google Gears, and up the quality and quantity of third-party apps, that would eliminate yet another reason for sysadmins to buy software.

Simple, Straightfoward Rules for Participating in Nike's Forums

The legalease in the Terms and Conditions of Nike's support forums is kept to a minimum. Better still are the rules, which are short and to-the-point. I could do without the shouting ("NIKE" rather than "Nike"), but you can tell that the copywriters won most of the arm wrestling contests with the lawyers:

• Be Relevant. Each forum is dedicated to a topic designed to help people share information about NIKE's products and their experiences with those products. Stay on topic. Don't talk about NIKE policies, future products, speculations or rumors about NIKE and NIKE products, or anything else off topic.
• Be Constructive. Post only constructive comments and questions.
• Be Courteous. Flaming and insults are prohibited. Do not post content that is offensive, libelous, defamatory, indecent, harmful, harassing, intimidating, threatening, hateful, abusive, vulgar, obscene, pornographic, sexually explicit, or offensive in a sexual, racial, cultural, or ethnic context.
• Be Private. Do not post personal information, including your email address, IM address, or phone number. Do not solicit personally identifiable information from other Registrants or Website users.
• Be Personal. The Forums are not to be used for any commercial purpose. Do not post any advertising or commercial content whatsoever. Do not post any content that involves the transmission of "junk mail," "chain letters," or unsolicited mass mailing or "spamming."
• Be Yourself. Do not impersonate anyone else.
• Be True. Do not post any content that includes information that is false, misleading, inaccurate, fraudulent, or deceptive, or that promotes illegal activities;
• Be Legal. Do not post any content that violates any applicable local, state, national, or international law. Do not post any content, or take any action, that is designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment or to interfere with or disrupt the Website or services connected to the Website.

It's sad that companies even have to bother with what would appear to be common sense guidelines, but you can't do much better than this.

"Media Relations in the Era of Layoffs"

I came across a query today from a Ragan's Media Relations Report editor who's wanting to know if the recent slew of layoffs at traditional media outlets has affected the way PR people are pitching. Specifically, she asks the following questions:

• With newsrooms getting cut to the bone, and journalists forced to do two or three jobs, how are PR people being affected in terms of pitching?
• Are you finding there are less targets to pitch?
• Is it harder to get overworked journalists' attention?
• How do you get around these challenges?

I can't say that I've noticed a drastic change in responsiveness from media or in availability of contacts, which leads me to wonder if the decline in traditional journalists has been offset by bloggers and other new media folks. I'd be interested to hear your feedback on this subject.

Google Jumps Head First Into Web Services With Google App Engine

At first glance, Google's announcement of its application-hosting tool seemed to be a shot across Amazon's bow. Here's the TechCrunch take:

What this all means: Google App Engine is designed for developers who want to run their entire application stack, soup to nuts, on Google resources. Amazon, by contrast, offers more of an a la carte offering with which developers can pick and choose what resources they want to use.

Google's goal is to make it easier for web developers to build and scale applications, instead of focusing on system administration and maintenance. But to do so, developers must use all of Google's tools, including authentication, shopping carts, and so on. What Amazon lacks in simplicity and cohesion it makes up for in flexibility. Pricing hasn't been announced, and the service is in limited testing, so the jury's still out. But this is one service to watch for anyone interested in platforms-as-a-service.

Facebook Getting its Ducks in a Row for IPO

In March 2006, BusinessWeek proclaimed that Facebook's founders had put it on the block. Facebook's on the Block.  Well, the times, they are a'changing.

Let's look at the events of the last 30 days alone:

Event 1: Sheryl Sandberg left Google to join Facebook as COO.  Hmmm, looks like they're  bringing in some order to the business and appealing to potential investors who might balk at investing in a company run by a 23-year-old CEO with no prior business experience.

Event 2: Messy lawsuit with ConnectU is being tidied up (finally).  That's GOTTA be good news for Mark.

Facebook to Settle Thorny Lawsuit Over Its Origins

Facebook Can Afford to Buy Back Its Good Name

Looks like somebody is preparing for an IPO, and maybe sooner than we expect.

From the "What Were They Thinking?" Dept.: Mark Penn

You're the CEO of a worldwide PR with controversial clients including Countrywide, Microsoft and Blackwater. You also conduct polling for millions of dollars for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. In fact, you're Mrs. Clinton's chief political strategist. You've helped craft her messages, including those against free-trade agreements as unfair to workers in the rust belt. So, do you think it would be a smart PR move to meet with officials from Columbia to help secure passage of a bilateral trade treaty with the United States she opposes?

No.

I'm not sure what Mark Penn was thinking. In March, Sen. Clinton told reporters to look into a story about Barack Obama giving speeches critical of NAFTA while his chief economic adviser has gone to Canada to hint it's all just political rhetoric. She said:

"I would ask you to look at this story and substitute my name for Sen. Obama’s name and see what you would do with this story ... Just ask yourself [what you would do] if some of my advisers had been having private meetings with foreign governments."

Oops. Whatever your political leanings, it's obvious that Mark Penn is a gold mine for pundits, a lightning rod for opponents and an object lesson in conflicts of interest. That's not going to help on his company's next business pitch.

Business Is Not Personal? Really

Michael Arrington scheduled the TechCrunch50, a conference for web 2.0 startups to launch themselves and their products, at the same time as DEMO, a conference for web 2.0 startups to ... uh ... launch themselves and demo their products. Chris Shipley at the Guidewire Group has a few words about Arrington's statement that DEMO needs to die:

I’ve been advised against this post by PR mavens, and Chris - who is far nicer than I - may blow a gasket here, but I’m saying it: I’m tired of dancing around an ego that everyone seems to agree is over-inflated. Michael Arrington needs to get over himself and realize that the tech industry was thriving long before he came on the scene and will continue to long after he’s gone.

Whether that's true or not, the title of Shipley's post, "Let's Get Real - Business Is Not Personal," doesn't seem to fit the tone of the latter part of her post. Business feels very personal here. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall in the meeting when "PR mavens" advised her against this post. Regardless, I wonder which conference Walt Mossberg decides to cover.

Astroturf and Surf

Slide, which makes widgets for Facebook and other sites, was caught posting fake reviews for their own app. Apparently, they doubled down by then including the fake reviews from Facebook on their own reviews board. It only took a few moments of surfing to track back the astroturf to Slide employees. At least it wasn't their CEO posting anonymously.

The ROI of green IT

Many companies pursue green solutions because it's "the right thing to do." But many more aren't pursuing them until the ROI is there as well. Ted Samson of InfoWorld blogged last week about his continual surprise "by the persistent assumption that being environmentally conscious and fiscally smart are at odds with one another," citing a guest on NPR who suggested the "looming recession should compel organizations to abandon green IT initiatives." Samson went on to say this NPR guest "dismissed green efforts as "feel-good" projects that don't do much to help an organization's bottom line."

Samson's post provides examples of how many green-technology projects and investments positively affect the bottom lines while delivering environmentally friendly benefits. "After all, the very purpose of such projects is to reduce energy consumption and other costly waste at an organization. These steps then result in environmentally friendly benefits, such as a smaller carbon footprint and fewer squandered natural resources."