Honestly…|an honest take on the world of PR and other things by Cindy Ronzoni

I had to make a separate post for this thing of beauty. My friend Amy Kimes, an awesome designer just finished her vision board and I wanted to share it with all of you.  It’s amazing. She totally got the premise and I hope she is able to achieve all her goals, dreams and wishes for 2009.

Just take a look at this.

Amy Kimes Vision Board

Amy is a fellow blogger and an honest writer, be sure to check out her blog here: I Thought I Was Going to be a Cowgirl. To download her vision board, visit her Flickr page.

What would you like to see happen in your life in 2009? It’s a great question for everyone to ponder and the opportunities are endless. How cool is that!

I briefly mentioned in Monday’s post about creating a vision board for yourself to help you “dream” about some of things you would like to happen in your life in 09.  Why you may ask? Well, I have to say that I tried this out last year and I am quite astonished that 80 percent of the things on my board came true.

Here’s a picture of my first attempt at vision board. As you can see I left a lot of white space on it which reflected my skepticism. Yes, I put it together half-heartedly.  But, this year I’m not - I’m giving myself the freedom to dream big and dig down deep. I am going at it with gusto.

My Half-Hearted 2008 Vision Board

Last year my board centered around the kind of work that I wanted to do. I wanted to work from home, I wanted to do more with “words” and I wanted to get more into new media. I also wanted to travel and play more sports, but the real personal thing I included was a photo of a “couple kissing.” (I can’t believe I’m telling you all this!) It had been a while since this single gal had the pleasure of good smooch and I sort of put it on the board as a lark.  But, I’m happy to say that the “kiss” came true which utterly shocked me. So that’s why I’m saying go for it and take some risks with what you’re hoping for.

So now it’s time for you to make your board. Basically, a vision board is a regular poster board that you paste images on that reflect the things you would like to do or see happen in the new year. Most are made of images and words cut out from magazines, hand-drawn or printed off the Internet.  You can be as creative as you like - it’s a reflection of your inner soul.  What desires lie in there that want to come out?  Be as personal as you would like and feel free to keep it private too if that’s important to you.

Now these boards are not meant to be worshiped nor stared at every day.  I had mine pinned up behind my office door and pretty much forgot about it most of the time.  I think I glanced at it maybe five times this year and when I did I was always amazed that some of my goals came to fruition.

The board sort of serves as a road map for you to help you remember your passions when life gets you stuck and sends you into the world of busyness.

If you’re still sort of curious about how to get going…I’ve listed a few starter questions for you to ask yourself below.

So simply ask yourself these questions and once you get the answers from within go find an image or word to match that answer and glue it to your board. Again, feel free to write on this board, draw on it, use yarns, fabrics, photographs…do whatever you would like. No one is grading you here.

• Where would you like to vacation this year?
• What inspires you?
• What would you like to learn this year?
• If you want to change jobs this year, where would you like to work?
• What are some of your passions?
• What have you always wanted to do?
• Who inspires you?
• What “words” reflect who you are?
• Do you want to exercise more or change your diet?
• What goals do you have for work?
• What financial goals do you have?
• Do you want to volunteer and if so where?
• What colors depict you or designs?
• What kind of relationships would you like?
• Is there an item you’d like to buy yourself?
• Are there any fears that you would like to overcome?
• Any groups you want to join?
• Any events to attend this year?

The questions are endless and as unique as you. If you going to try this out, have fun with it.  But, more importantly, DO NOT put your hopes in this board. In life there are no guarantees and we have no control over anything other than our actions.  As my Pastor pointed out on Sunday, there’s no personal GPS device to tell us where to go next in life. The journey is where we grow…but in order to grow…we have to take risks and have to have an idea of where we want to go and what we want to learn. This exercise sort of helps you think about what classes you want to take and what you would like to experience.

As mentioned, I first learned about this by watching an episode of “Oprah” when she was talking about “The Secret.” They had an entire segment about visions boards.  One girl had previously pasted a photo of Oprah on her board and then six months later - she was on the show.

In summary, I don’t know what your dreams/goals are, but you do.  Take a few minutes before the new year and ponder these questions for if only half of them come true - how great would that be for you!

If you want to send me photos of your boards, feel free. I’d love to hear about your experience putting them together and see them.

As for me. I’m going to be a bit daring and add a wedding ring on the board. There’s no beau yet, but what can it hurt.

Dream big. We’ve got this short time on earth.

Here’s my new improved version. All finished.

My Brand New 2009 Vision Board!

Happy New Year and All My Best,

Cindy

If you have a specific question about PR, crisis communications or corporate communications - you can send it to at my email cindy@cindyronzoni.com. You can also follow me on twitter@cronzoni and friend me up on Facebook. Or comment below.

And this is where I stash it. I really put it behind a door.

2009
Vision boards
Vision
Turbo Tagger
Feed Shark

Do you have high hopes for 2009? Are you eagerly waiting for change? Do you expect things to get back to what we perceived to be normal (i.e. home prices high, gas prices low, a stable economy)?

So What Are You Expecting?

I recently posed that question to a few of my fellow Twitter followers and they had some nice hopes for the new year.

• One wanted economic sanity for starters
• Anther fiscal responsibility not just by our government, but every American.
• And how about this one - being real, eliminating spin and exceptional service to family, friends and clients. AMEN. Can you imagine what our jobs would be like we could just tell the truth -that will be a whole other post.

But I guess I’m writing about this today because I’m trying to be the good publicist here and keep everyone’s expectations in check, including my own.  For yes, I have several key components in my life that I sure hope get resolved in 2009. And I must say I’m expecting them too. But at the end of the day, I have no control over them.

How High Are Yours?

How about you? What are your expectations for the new year? Are you being realistic and are you doing your part to make them happen?

I’m asking myself these same questions. Do you have a strategy? A plan other than just thinking things will happen out of thin air because it’s a new year?  And my questions to you are meant both professionally and personally.

In my next post on Wednesday, I’m going to discuss making your 2009 Vision Board.  For those who know me I do have a strong belief in God…and yes, I did read “The Secret”…but I believe and often say that everyone needs direction. Without a map, you get lost.  So, I did learn about a vision board from “The Secret” and put one together last year. And I’m astonished how many of the things came true on it.

I don’t think of the vision board as the law of attraction…but more as a means to help me think about what I would like to see happen in the next year. It’s sort of my map of the things that I would like to experience. It helped me sort of see what things I should try and explore if the opportunity did come up.

So, I’ll tell you more about this on Wednesday…but now I have to go back to cutting up my magazines as I look toward what expectations I have for 2009. The wait is on…

So Start Cutting.

If you have a specific question about PR, crisis communications or corporate communications - you can send it to at my email cindy@cindyronzoni.com. You can also follow me on twitter@cronzoni and friend me up on Facebook. Or comment below.

I recently had a wonderful friendly visit with a respected journalist and blogger who gets pitched constantly. When I asked her about what turns her stomach dealing with us PR folks her response was very interesting.  She said it’s hard to tell them “no” that she just isn’t interested in the story.

It’s easy for her to say “no,” the hard part is that the publicist just won’t take “no” for an answer and that’s when she gets stressed. For she, just like the rest of us, wants to let us down nicely.  And let’s be frank here, we know that not all of our pitches are going to bought right on the spot no matter how good we are.

Ugh...Rejection is Never Fun

Anyway I thought more about that and yeah, I could see how that could be one of the problems of the job as a journalist. For us publicists we can be pushy at times and I know many are pressured by bosses or clients to get results - so you can get a bit forceful and uh demanding.

And then I read Seth Godin’s eye-opening blog “Two Ways To Deal With The No.” So stop what you’re doing right now and click over here and read this is you can. It’s well worth your time. (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/12/two-ways-to-dea.html).

This advice literally was life changing or attitude changing for me. Not exactly in the way I’m writing, but in other ways.  I’ve never harassed the press, that’s never been my style.

But, I must admit in the job interviewing process I have never thought about re-connecting with my interviewer after they have chosen someone else to thank them again for considering me in the first place and congratulate them on their choice.  Pretty classy. This is good character stuff for all.

Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we practiced this?

And if you haven’t subscribed to Seth Godin’s daily newsletter. I highly recommend you do. He’s a prolific writer, visionary and steps ahead of us marketers.

So be kinder to journalists and let them let you down easily. Most will give you a reason why - respect it. Learn from it and then congratulate them on the pieces they write that move or inform you.

Until next week.

If you have a specific question about PR, crisis communications or corporate communications - you can send it to at my email cindy@cindyronzoni.com.  You can also follow me on twitter@cronzoni and friend me up on Facebook. Or comment below.

If you are working Christmas, Thank You!

An interesting question was asked during Monday’s live streaming PR Twitter conversation #journchat - the question was when should someone stop pitching during the holidays? This is a very good question and the answer is multi-pronged. But the basic gist is that it all depends on what you are pitching and if the press you regularly pitch are still working.

If you are pitching hard news, your pitching window never closes. You pitch 365 days a year.

If you are pitching “fun” softer holiday themed event stories then you should be pitching now.  You’re going to be seeing tons of news stories about floats being built for the Rose Parade or meals being served at shelters. If you are a non-profit that does some holiday themed goodwill, then this is your time to shine. There’s no better time to be pitching away for coverage.

But, if you are pitching some new whiz-bang web company or tech gadget or anything that can wait…it needs to wait.  If you find yourself still at your desk, than this is your down time. It’s the time to brainstorm and build your strategy for the next year.  It’s also the time to purge your files, clean your office and delete old messages from your computer.

It’s the time to research new companies and trends and look at what your competitors are offering. This “dead zone” is a valuable time. It gets you ready to start the year again and allows you to settle in and relax a bit with the ability to think without non-stop interruptions. It’s a time to dream and think about revolutionary new approaches to your traditional methods.

But, it’s not the time for pitching, especially if your media is on holiday. Don’t clutter their inboxes with email messages if the pitch can certainly wait. Believe me it will do you more good by waiting then making them mad having to delete your excessive messages when they return to their offices Jan.5. They will have enough catching up to do.

And if you are going to CES or representing a company there, then you’ve got plenty to get ready for. The same goes for those planning NAPTE and the TCA. There’s plenty of prep work for January is a busy convention month.

So take this time and use it to think. Think about tomorrow and what you would like to change in your work environment to make your life easier.  Do those rainy day projects and take long lunches. But don’t email your press. We all will be falling back in our normal routines soon enough.  Take this moment to enjoy the moment.

If you have a specific question about PR, crisis communications or corporate communications - you can send it to at my email cindy@cindyronzoni.com.  You can also follow me on twitter@cronzoni and friend me up on Facebook. Or comment below.

Merry Christmas Everyone.

I think I may have committed my own PR blunder with my last post, proving once again that I’m not perfect.

Sometimes you just can’t say “no” to friends when you probably should and this thought made me think about the old adage that there’s no such thing as a bad press.

A Blunder If I Have Ever Seen One

My response to that. Hogwash!

But at the same time, I do understand that it helps to think that when you’re faced with a negative circumstance.

Now my blunder wasn’t so bad…but I should have thought it through a bit more. I’ve had a couple of friends who were so excited about that darn candy cane which they swear contains the appearance of Jesus Christ (see previous blog) that I was caught up in the swell. In hindsight, I should have just sent the image to the news stations and called it a day. But, no. I put in on my Facebook page and featured it on both my blogs.

Actually, I did it as an experiment. I wanted to gauge the marketing arms of my communication tools. But, now I’m wondering if people think that I cater to the absurd in my promotions. Let me reassure you that I don’t. But as any publicist will tell you, we sometimes can’t choose what we are told to promote. This time, though, I had a choice to say “no,” but I didn’t for I really like these friends and it was the weekend…so I went with it.

My blunder was minor, but most negative press isn’t. Take for instance bad movie or TV reviews. I’ve heard this answer millions of times…maybe not millions, but at least hundreds of times…“Hey, at least they are writing about us!” when faced with a bad review.

Yes, they are writing about you, but for how long? If your company keeps amassing negative review after negative review….that’s not a good thing. They will stop writing about your work eventually and you’ll start seeing words like…”here’s another piece of trash from X company.” This doesn’t help you in the long run. If you are aligned with investors, partners or financial institutions, then kiss your support good bye.

You only get a couple bad strings before the bottom falls out. So make sure you are getting the press you desire to combat when the bad comes.

Good Is Always Good

As with life in good versus bad outcomes -you always want the good. Good wins out versus bad. Good pitches are always better than bad.

So be good this year. I need to remember that as well.

Good Day.

What Do You See? Is it Jesus? Santa?

Has Jesus come back just in time to celebrate His birthday? I don’t mean to be glib here, but folks in my area swear that they see Jesus’ face in the middle of this ordinary candy cane. Do you? Some even say it looks like Santa or a snowman.

Most say it resembles Jesus Christ. No kidding.

This reminds me of the famous “Seinfeld” episode where Mr. Pitt stares for days at the Magic Eye poster. Elaine and Kramer see the sailboat, but Mr. Pitt helplessly doesn’t.

Anyway, there is definitely an image inside this tiny holiday candy cane.  The image was discovered by a junior at Whittier Christian High School who accidentally cracked her treat in two. When she peered down at the cane, she saw this design and she couldn’t believe her eyes.  Could this sweet image be Jesus Christ? You’re going to have to decide that for yourself. I’m just the messenger here.

I mean people have had religious sightings in all sorts of products like potato chips, brain scans, ice cream vats. Just click here to see more - religious sightings. Why not a candy cane? Here are some better views for you.

The Proper View - Vertical

On it's side

So next time you bite into that delicious piece of hard candy…take a look inside. You’ll never know what you might find and if you find something interesting…be sure to let me know!

Happy Holidays.

From time to time I will post some of my current work. Here’s what I am releasing today. Be sure to try out the game - it’s fun and I have to warn you - it can become addicting. TV Week’s Daisy Whitney broke the story for us today. You can read it here: TV Week.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WANT TO THROW SHOES AT PRESIDENT BUSH TOO? NOW YOU CAN PLAYING THE NEW ONLINE GAME “NINJA BUSH” AT WWW.TABLOIDGAMES.COM

(Los Angeles, CA) - Thursday, December 18, 2008 – Ever felt like you wanted to throw your shoes at President Bush too just like the Iraqi journalist did last Sunday. Now you can with the new online game “Ninja Bush.” Are you mad at him over the current economy? The way his administration is handling the environment? Unemployment? Healthcare?

Now you too can try and hit him in the face with Splashworks.com Inc.’s newest creation, “Ninja Bush,” inspired by digital games media expert John P. Roberts.

“The way President Bush dodged those thrown shoes from Muntathar al Zaidi, the Baghdadiya Television journalist, was amazing,” said Roberts. I guess all those years as a Major League Baseball owner prepared him for this incident.  We thought that his quick reflexes would make a fun online game and we hope players enjoy ‘Ninja Bush.’”

But, it’s not easy hitting our 43rd president for he’s cool, calm and ‘ninja-like’ under the pressure and while you’re aiming for him, he’s aiming for you. He’s trying to take you out by throwing baseballs your way.

If you are able to hit a constantly moving animated Bush, you receive points as Bush suffers bumps and bruises. If Bush is successful at hitting you with three baseballs, then the game is over.  Players can earn extra points by intercepting bundles of money, photos of Saddam Hussein or nuclear weapons that fall out of Bush’s pockets as he dodges your thrown shoes.

Creating satirical games is the cornerstone of Roberts’ vast online production background.  In addition to “Ninja Bush,” Roberts’ game credits include “Palinisms,” the game where you can ask Sarah Palin anything; “The Prison Life: Paris” which received over 1.5 million plays in record time and the celebrity street-fight “Rosie vs. Trump.”  The games mentioned above were all produced in association with Splashworks and those games and others like them can be played at www.tabloidgames.com. “Ninja Bush” and the other tabloid games can be easily shared through all the major social media sites and/or embedded.

To schedule and interview with John P. Roberts or receive additional content and assets, please contact Cindy Ronzoni at Cindy@cindyronzoni.com.

You can find me on Facebook or follow me on twitter @cronzoni.

A REAL-LIFE PR BLUNDER - I couldn’t believe what I recently heard from a working press member. This reporter was recently invited to an event where a certain national company was showing off its new content.  This reporter then proceeded to talk to some of the people who were involved in producing the content and as such, got some great interesting news that he wanted to blog about the next day. When the reporter called the “said” company to verify one of the facts - the PR person flipped out and insisted that he couldn’t write on anything he heard for it wasn’t public knowledge yet.

The question I have for you is - who’s to blame here.  Is it the reporter’s fault for hearing this news and wanting to report on it? Or is it the “said” company’s fault for the information being leaked? Who didn’t do their job and who did their job?

Do You Know Whom the Press Are Talking to?

The answer. The reporter did everything correctly. It’s the company’s PR department who didn’t do their job.

I get so sick to my stomach when I hear such stories.  I DESPISE it when I hear that PR professionals who are faced with news that they didn’t want out turn the tables on the reporters and make them feel that they are the ones in the wrong.

This reporter was told over and over that he couldn’t print that stuff. He received numerous threats from the company like he would be blacklisted from further company information.  All this because he was at an event that they invited him. And why was he invited in the first place? So that the event would get covered by him.

If a company wants to control their messaging, they can. It’s very easy…but it takes work and you need to be thorough.  I love press events and know how to make sure that this type of information isn’t leaked accidentally. All it takes is one small step.  Advance communication.

All that needs to happen is one conference call or an email to all those who are invited to your event that are attached to your event’s promotion.  This case it was a producer. This producer apparently never got the call or the email.  He should have been instructed by the PR person what they wanted said about the project or not. It’s called a “briefing.”

A great example of controlling the message was how the Obama election campaign was run.  Everyone involved in the campaign that was a spokesperson had the same message. They were on the same page and I bet that they had briefings during the day.  They also made sure that there were few leaks. His PR advisers ran a tight ship.  It was run correctly, by people who understood their job and the press.

So what happened in the case I just presented? The reporter ran with the news and good for him.  He should have. He did nothing wrong.

So PR professionals - add advance briefings to all your press conferences and events. If not, you will find yourself switching gears from receiving kudos to handling a crisis which you caused.

So save yourself a headache and add this step into your strategic plans.

Consider yourself briefed.

If you have a specific question about PR, crisis communications or corporate communications - you can send it to at my email cindy@cindyronzoni.com.  You can also follow me on twitter@cronzoni and friend me up on Facebook. Or comment below.

I rarely use Yahoo! these days. How about you?

The company has a great brand, but absolutely NO personality.

You may be asking yourself why I’m including this in a PR focused blog, well, I believe that with a new campaign and a little finessing this company could be a site that more people would find useful. For if I was asked to promote this company, I’d be hard pressed to think of consumer story angles to pitch.  I mean to get Yahoo in People Magazine for instance - they have no spokesperson nor branded talent.  They get tech stories…but where’s the stories about how useful their product is to their users?

My reason for writing about Yahoo! at this particular time is that I was showing off Hollywood for an out of town guest this weekend and I was astonished that Yahoo! was spending tons of money marketing their logo in the city. At Hollywood & Highland (the mall next to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre) there was the Yahoo! logo projected on the side of one of the buildings. Then on Sunset Blvd. I saw one of their Yahoo! marquee boards as exemplified by this lighted billboard below from San Francisco. I thought why in the heck are they spending that kind of money on the service when it’s in flux and when competitors are eating them for lunch.

Yahoo! Billboards Around the Country

Some ways that I could see addressing this PR challenge would be putting into place the following strategy -Make Yahoo’s personality become the personality of its users.

How? Here’s some quick examples of personalization opportunities:

Yahoo! Hot Jobs – Provide a social network that provides users with resources on what to do after they lost their job; vodcasts with headhunters; positive re-affirming materials when rejection and depression hit. Be the first place the unemployed go to when they get a pink slip and a half a million got them last month. Provide them help and give them tools to get them back on their feet. Give them a reason to go to Hot Jobs daily.

Yahoo! Groups – Provide ways to bring it alive – Make it easy for groups to host videos of their events.  I am on curling teams…let’s post some of the games. Wouldn’t you have loved to see the video from our finals tonight?

Yahoo! Food – If I’m traveling in Boston, I would like to ask my friends at my Yahoo! Food network where the best place to eat is.

Yahoo! Sports – Broadcast junior high and high school games – why not have these kids engaging with Yahoo! early in their lives. Become indispensable to them.

Yahoo! Movies – Steven Spielberg is setting up his own social network called “Rising” about ghosts and sci-fi. Yahoo! can do the same with other large name producers.

Every area can be personalized…the opportunities are endless.  The company should give consumers reasons to go to Yahoo – make them have to – make it a mandatory destination. Enrich and give back to the consumer. Listen. Expand. Make Yahoo! A part of our social life.

If I had to write a promo campaign for them, I’d use some of these taglines.

∗    Yahoo connects me
∗    Yahoo brings me love (through an email)
∗    Gets me where I am going (maps)
∗    Brings my sports to me (sports)
∗    Helps me get a job
∗    Pays my bills
∗    Keeps me informed (news)
∗    Brings me my favorite music
∗    Saves me money (yellow pages)
∗    Helps me find people
∗    Is part of my life
∗    I couldn’t live without it.
∗    It’s been my friend for over 12 years.
∗    Who are you on Yahoo?

At the end of the day, I guess I’d like someone to explain to me what Yahoo! stands for. What is it? It has tremendous value, but the company is missing so many opportunities.

These are just a few of my thoughts. I’d love to hear yours. If you have a specific question about PR, crisis communications or corporate communications - you can send it to at my email cindy@cindyronzoni.com.  You can also follow me on twitter@cronzoni and friend me up on Facebook. Or comment below.

(Photo credit: The photos used in my blog were from Flickr users. I purposely used Flickr images due to the fact that it’s a Yahoo! company.)