New Millennium PR

Second Life Media Coverage, Conflict, and How Not to Approach My Avatar

As real life media coverage of Second Life continues to go strong (for example, see today's BBC article Second hype or second life? and the Wall Street Journal's Avatars at the office, subscription required), and more people become aware of this virtual world and flock to join, whether for social or business reasons or both, it's inevitable that there are going to be interpersonal, cultural, community-based, and business-related clashes and conflicts. And the extent to which these are effectively handled and managed will be critical to the growth of Second Life.

Eric Eggertson has an interesting post about the recent decision by Second Life gated community Dreamland to ban PR and marketing professionals who have allegedly made public statements claiming to be the "first" at something in SL that longer-term SL residents believe to be untrue.

Says Eric: 

"This is an interesting case of having to defend your reputation in a semi-official way, as opposed to keeping an eye out for rumours, and trying to combat them with information.

... it will be interesting to see if this goes in a positive direction - encouraging discussion of expectations and rules of behaviour - or if it's the virtual equivalent of the blacklists, where corporations are assumed guilty until they appear before a committee."

Getting to know the expectations and norms is important in any environment, and seemingly more so in Second Life where perhaps currently the sensitivities between pioneers and early residents, and the more-recently joined, are somewhat delicate.

By the way, if you've got the time and the money, a conference that's sure to be fantastic and may touch on some of these issues is State of Play IV: Building the Global Metaverse taking place in Singapore in January. The program promises to cover taxation of virtual property, global virtual world journalism, legal regulatory issues affecting virtual worlds, intercultural communication, and virtual worlds as global learning environments. 

And speaking of interpersonal conflict, for anyone wanting to make nice with my avatar Ceara Moore, please note that calling her a "bitch" when she doesn't immediately offer you friendship -- maybe because she's never met you before, your profile says nothing about you, and you haven't even made the effort to engage in small talk -- doesn't cut it. And simply propositioning Ceara on the street with a "wanna f***?" doesn't cut it either.

Those approaches never worked on me in real life and they're sure as heck not going to work on my avatar in SL. Just goes to show that there's more overlap between RL and SL than some may realize.

Tags: secondlife, avatar, cearamoore

Why Gary Goldhammer Should Do Social Media Stand-Up

Ok, I'm a total believer in the value and importance of social media. But as we're all still learning how to do it right, we'll make plenty of mistakes along the way. Gary Goldhammer shows us how not to social media pitch, unless you want Kevin Dugan on your a**. Here's a short excerpt: 

PR Pro: “It’s Brian from Aay PR. So how’s the news biz treating ya?”

Reporter: “Circulation is down, I could get laid off any day and the public hates us, thanks for asking. Do you have a point? I’m really busy.”

PR Pro: “I feel you, dude, no worries. I just wanted to engage in some conversation and be authentic. Pretty cool, right?”

Reporter: “Pretty annoying, actually. I gotta go…”

Read the entire post here.

And Gary, if the whole PR thing falls apart, well, man, you can try your hand at stand-up.

Everything and the Kitchen Sink Post

It's pretty sad when you feel guilty for not having posted on your own blog for a while. I have a decent excuse though -- for client work and upcoming projects, I've been spending a lot of time on MySpace, on Flickr and in Second Life. So in case you think I've gone AWOL, well, I've just been hanging out elsewhere for a bit.

Some comments as I get caught up:

• This past Monday the Social Media Club's first D.C. get-together took place. Chris Heuer facilitated a great round table discussion between people from a diverse range of backgrounds. In attendance were quite a few PR professionals, other communications professionals, advertising folks, and entrepreneurs. The discussion was still going strong when the two hours scheduled for the meeting were over, so the fact that a good number of us continued talking afterwords over dinner and pool at Buffalo Billiards enabled us to delve deeper into some of the points raised earlier. Chris hopes to have the audio of the evening, as well as previous SMC events, up soon.
• There are several conferences and events I wasn't able to attend (see last bullet point, darn) this year, but really wish I could have. An important one was this week's Society for New Communications Research Inaugural Research Symposium Awards Gala in Boston. Congratulations to the 2006 Awards Winners, many of whom can be seen on Flickr.
• The Le Web 3 conference (I'm hoping it'll be a memorable trip for me on many levels) has created a Planet LeWeb3 page that lists all of the registrants' recent blog posts. Pretty neat.
• Sometimes even the best laid plans fall by the wayside, and one of the worse times this can happen is during a live interview. Read how Shel Israel successfully dealt with what could have been a disaster on Italy's Sky TV. (Oh, and remember the many variations of the joke that starts with, "A priest walked into a bar and said..."? Well, here's Shel's version with nuns.)
• John Wagner posts a refresher on blogging terminology.
• Allan Jenkins points to Microsoft's Ms. Dewey, a search engine receptionist with attitude. I typed in the word "avatar" and Ms. Dewey commented, "Between you and me, virtual reality creeps me out. I mean, talking to someone who isn't real..." Heh.
• And here's a cool new blog to check out, Lucas Mast's Sneaker Blogger and corresponding Flickr pictures. I first met Lucas back in May at Third Thursday and learned there are two things he has a real fondness for, dessert and shoes. I'm definitely willing to trust the opinion of someone to whom time zones mean nothing when he's trying to buy the latest fashionable footwear.
• Finally, if you're not in San Francisco tonight attending the Vloggies Awards, they'll be podcast through PodTech.net and iTunes.   

Spin Thicket has a Bit of Spin for Everyone

After what has got to be one of the shortest betas around (Scott Baradell's weekend e-mail invite to test his new baby), Spin Thicket was introduced today. As Scott explains it:

"Spin Thicket has no agenda. It's as much for people who read PR Watch as PR Week. It's as much for fans (or haters) of Michelle Malkin as Kos. It's as much for people who see bias in the NY Times as Fox News. Throw it all in the wash and turn on the spin cycle; that's the idea behind Spin Thicket."

Judging from the links already submitted, there'll be some serious material as well as some just-for-fun stuff (what else would you expect from the man who admits to enjoying politics as much as women in bikinis?). And, as promised, there'll be contributing blogs that you'll like, and others that you'll wish you could blast to smithereens. All part of the mix.

Go check it out.

 

Crayon... In Real Life and Second Life

The big news of the day? Crayon.

With world headquarters at Crayonville Island in Second Life and a SL launch party scheduled for Thursday, October 26, Crayon's founder Joseph Jaffe and the well-respected Shel Holtz, Neville Hobson and C.C. Chapman have created a new company that is, in the words of Shel,

"...something of a mashup. We’re not an agency or a consulting firm, but we do bring the best of what those types of companies have to offer. We’ll approach our assignments with fresh eyes that see the new environment in which traditional marketing and advertising is failing so dismally.... Engagement, conversation, co-creation, involvement—these are the approaches that we are anxious to bring to our assignments. Not as an afterthought or add-on, mind you, but as the cornerstone of our work."

Or as Neville puts well,

"We think we have something compelling to offer that will enable every client to do what every business really wants - get to the future. First."

Very exciting stuff. Congratulations to all!

Disclosure, Transparency... and Alliances, the Ties that Bind

I don't have anything new to add to the already extensive and excellent discussions about the PayPerPost and the Edelman/Wal-Mart RV blog issues, so I won't talk about them, or at least not directly. But I do want to comment briefly about disclosure, transparency and alliances.

For most people there's little question that employment, or financial or other specific incentives, should be disclosed, because these can and often do have a bearing on someone's objectivity. Or certainly motivation. But it's the other things, the interpersonal and sometimes more powerful ones, that also carry weight.   

While the PR and communications world is vast, anyone who spends time there knows how incredibly small it is at the same time. And who is friends with whom, who has forged alliances, who has some sort of connection... whatever.

I, for one, will always take a stand, whether publicly and online or, when more appropriate, in private, on issue that are important. Because at the end of the day it's my reputation. But there are also people, and they know who they are, who I will always give the benefit of the doubt to. Why?

• Because they have proven themselves reliable in the past.
• Because I trust them.
• Because I have a history with them.

As Eric Rice stated, "blood and kinship can be tighter than any sum."

And when they make mistakes, as they're bound to from time to time, as we all do, I will probably discuss this, but in a respectful, constructive and non-punitive way.

Enough said.

(Picture from ajusticenetwork)

STAND UP in Second Life and Help Set a Guinness World Record Show Against Poverty

Ok all you Second Life lovers, here's your chance to show what you're made of.

This Sunday and Monday, October 15-16, residents of SL (and people around the world in RL) will get the chance to help set the first Guinness World Record for the greatest number of individuals to stand up in support of the eight Millennium Development Goals of the United Nation's Millennium Campaign to help fight extreme poverty worldwide.

Aimee Weber of Aimee Weber Studios is the brains behind the SL effort and explains more here (you can also listen to a SecondCast interview with Aimee here):

"To be counted in this historic endeavor, all you have to do is locate a 'Stand Up' kiosk and obtain a free wrist band. There are nearly a hundred Kiosks around the grid already, including in the central plaza of Midnight City. On October 15-16, click on the wrist band to assume the 'stand up' pose and register yourself as a supporter of the Millennium Development Goals. Your participation will be recorded and included in the final count for the Guinness World Record. Our contribution will make a thunderous statement to policymakers everywhere."

It'll take just a few minutes of your time to make history. Wow.

Social Media Club Comes To Washington D.C. On Oct. 30th

The Social Media Club, whose tagline is "if you get it, share it", will launch its Washington D.C. chapter on October 30th. Yes, that's the day before Halloween.

The official get-together will be from 6-8 at Fleishman Hillard's office, with a blogger dinner afterwards (possibly at Buffalo Billiards).

Some of the people there will be Chris Heuer, Kristie Wells (I think), John Bell with some of Ogilvy PR's 360 Degree Digital Influence team, ... and hopefully you. You can pre-register for the free event here. 

See you there.

Update: Kristie can't make the 30th, but she'll be at the Boston SMC get-together. And Chris tells me a handful of people have already confirmed for D.C.

Sometimes Slow Is Better

Yesterday I was talking about the importance of social networking sites to connect or combine users' online and offline worlds. Users and consumers want the feeling that they're not just one of many... even when they are. 

And sometimes the way to foster that "you're special" feeling is by taking it slow, or what Evelyn Rodriguez calls slow marketing:

"Not that it's necessarily opposed to buzz marketing, but slow marketing is a focus on human, one-on-one connections sans stress... rather than a focus on the mass, aggregate, broadcast-blast level.

Slow marketing is intricately tied to slow conversations, naked conversations."

Sometimes slow is better (right?).

(Picture from Photo Monkey)

The Emphasis in Social Networks is on "Social"

                                                                                                                                            MarketingProf's Ann Handley points out that social networking sites aren't just skewing older (over 50% of MySpace users are now over 35, and let's not forget the hundreds of thousands of age 50+ members of Eons), but younger too.

Especially with children and teens, there's ongoing concern that an over-reliance on online interaction will make individuals socially inept. Except in select cases, and where additional underlying factors also play a role, I don't believe this is a prevalent problem.

However, there's no question that right now technology doesn't serve as a completely satisfying replacement for face-to-face interaction. And where people continue to feel a void, they'll choose to either supplement their online activities with live ones, or take a break entirely.

The continued success of social networking sites, therefore, will likely lie in their ability to combine the online and offline worlds.