Monthly Archives: March 2010

Treat Celebrities as Equals

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Why Can’t They Play Nice Together?

Dawn C. Chmielewski and Amy Kaufman’s article “Is Nickelodeon going to give rival Disney the brush off at Kids’ Choice Awards? “in the Los Angeles Times on Saturday, March 27, reminded me about an ugly practice in our business — excluding celebrities from events or shows just because they belong to another company not currently owned by the “said” media conglomerate. For those of you who haven’t experienced this yet in your PR practice, this is a common reality in the world of entertainment PR.

Here’s how it works.  Let say, Ed O’Neill from ABC’s hit comedy “Modern Family” was pitched to be on NBC’s “The Today Show” – well, this pitch wouldn’t have happened, because “The Today Show” only wants NBC celebrities and plus, ABC has their own morning show “Good Morning America.”  The same holds true for late night celebrities.  Seldom, if ever, would you see a non-CBS celebrity on “Late Show with David Letterman” or an non-NBC’er on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”  And the pockets go much deeper – this also stretches into the programs of their cable sisters.  Even if Ed O’Neill was in a blockbuster movie by an independent studio, he would be seen as ABC’s goods and would guest non-Grata anywhere else.  It’s a fraternity if you will and the Networks run their own private country clubs. They take care of their own and believe me the system is well aware of it.

So if I was given the keys to the media kingdom, here’s the first change I would make – its revolutionary – but I’d open my companies doors and let everyone in – no matter what competing show they were on or rival network or for that matter parent owner.  If a person is in the media, they are allowed in – no questions asked.

Just imagine – MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow could be included in a “60 Minutes” piece.  Or “Dancing with the Stars” celebrities could appear on “Late Show With David Letterman” or Jay Leno could guest on “Late Night with Jimmy Kimmel.”  Or for that matter, Craig Ferguson could visit with the gals on “The View.”  Better yet, the stars that the kids love would be welcome on the red carpet at the “Kids Choice Awards!”

I really don’t understand this industry insecurity.  It’s dysfunctional and has to go.  The TV industry needs to embrace social media’s world-wide philosophy of sharing your knowledge with others — not holding on to your tools and hoarding your wares.  The open source system has been life-changing.  One cannot but appreciate Google and Wikipedia. They’ve brought so much into our lives.

Even Bart Simpson Gets It!

So if I was Media King for a day, that’s what I’d do. I’d remove all network celebrity restrictions and would not fear that I would lose tune-in by doing so. In fact, I think I’d gain audience share by practicing good will and trusting that I am producing a good product.  Life is about competition. That’s a certain.   But, why do companies have to remain in fear and paranoia of not providing their customers with the best content possible?

Wouldn’t the world truly be a better place?

I’d love to hear your thoughts about these restrictions. Also, tell me what celebrity would you like to see on a competing network show.

One can dream.

Cindy

Who Do You Portray Online?

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How Would You Describe Yourself?

Headlines are supposed to grab your attention…but, the cover of Parade on Sunday, March 21, captured my eye, but not exactly in the way this newspaper insert would have imagined.

The cover featured a story on Miley Cyrus, truly the new top teen celebrity, but it wasn’t the profile that got my attention, but its headline that made me chuckle. The editors of Parade gave it this title “I Know Who I Am Now.”

Which begged the question – do we ever really know who we are at any age?

For me, at age 10, I wanted be a cartoonist.  At 17, I wanted to be a sportscaster.  At 21, a TV news writer.  And now today, I am transitioning from a life in publicity to social media.

But I love this question and I’m posing it to you like I do with my clients — Do you know who you are?  And if so, is that brand projected online through all your syndicated products?  This is my favorite subject – my passion – personal branding. I enjoy working with people to help them define their uniqueness and authenticity and then have them project it through their online personae.

As we mature through our life our brand will change as our interests and passions do.  Therefore, our brands are always fluid and ebb and flow as we do.   I like to give my clients the same freedom to mirror themselves as they are currently are today.   Next year, your personal brand may change to support a new cause. Also it does take a time to find your brand.  It doesn’t come overnight.

Finding your brand is one of the best practices you will ever do and by knowing it – it will make you more profitable in business and assist in increasing your followers and community members.

I’ll be offering some advice to help you define “who you are” in later posts, but  until then, I want to you to be keep changing and taking on new challenges.  For that’s what life is about…it’s a wonderful journey with zig-zagging roads.

All My Best,
Cindy

Coke’s Reely Good Tagline

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Does it get better than this?

I haven’t been to the movies in months and decided to go last week to the matinee to see “Crazy Heart.” A well-acted movie depicting the true glamor for those entertainers doing the small-sized circuit.   Anyway…I ran across this perfect message from Coke.  We all know that Coke has branded itself as “the real thing” for some time…but, why didn’t they use this message years ago for the cinema. It’s perfect….”The Reel Thing.” It was like light bulbs went off in my head and I thought why didn’t I think of that as well years ago.

Absolutely brilliant. Kudos to the ad agency who thought it up. It’s just too bad that movie going is on the down swing and that this campaign wasn’t used during its heyday.

But I guess it’s better late than never.

Linchpin Emertius – Michael Frank Sulentich (1925-2010)

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Me and My Best Friend, Uncle Mike

How did you learn about friendship?

I learned it through someone who modeled it toward me every day of my life – Michael (Uncle Mike) Frank Sulentich. Although, he was not a blood relative – he was my relative, if you know what I mean.  He and his wife Winnie were from the same small Northern Minnesota town as my mom and dad and both families left that state and coincidentally landed in the same town in Southern California.  We were each other’s relatives, the closest of kin from that day forward. I can’t imagine what my life would have been like without growing up with the Sulentich’s.

Winnie and Mike have been a part of every thing that my family has gone through and vice versa.  We shared it all. Holidays. Vacations. Birthdays. Surgeries. Divorces. Births. And now sadly, deaths.

Today’s post, I never wanted to write.  I never wanted this day to come when my best friend Mike Sulentich was put to rest.  He is one of those people in your life who made your life better and loved you no matter what.  How do you ever replace them?

Uncle Mike had been my dad’s best friend up until my dad’s death eight years ago.  In fact, Uncle Mike came right over when I called him to say my dad’s breathing had changed and there he was at my dad’s bedside along with my sister and mom as my dad left this earth for heaven.

So, from that date until Tuesday, March 16 – I took up my dad’s place as best friends with Uncle Mike.  We had a solid friendship before that, but, now I had the top honors and what a honor it was.  He and I were buddies.  And I am so glad that he knew that I loved him.  I have no doubt of that.

Uncle Mike Could Fix Anything That Life Threw His Way

I shared everything about my life with him.  From an early age, he and I just clicked.  As a young girl, I’d often spend time with him in his garage where he would be tinkering on some gadget.  He’d be telling me about what he was inventing and how it would work and I’d tell him about school.  And he always was interested.  As I got older, the things I started to talk about were issues in my life.  Why I fought with my dad?  How come I would get anxiety?  How could I be better at volleyball?  I felt so safe with him telling him scary stuff in my life. He was the type of person that just by being in his presence you felt better.  After I unloaded some hard issue on him, I would leave feeling full of hope. He just always made me feel loved and that I mattered.  I knew that I mattered to him.

I do have a great deal of my mom and dad’s attributes, but I also have a lot of Uncle Mike in me too.  The majority of my skills with tools are from him.  Also, I learned a great deal of management from him as well.  But, more importantly, he taught me about friendship.  I can honestly say, that Uncle Mike in my 40 plus years never once said that he didn’t have time for me. He took everyone of my phone calls and listened to every question or statement I presented.

He was always there for me and my family – no questions ever asked.  “No” was not in his vocabulary when it came to me or anyone for that matter.  And if that wasn’t enough he had one of the best personalities out there-he was a real crack-up. He was just always bigger than life – I really wish you could have met him for if you did you would never forget him.  He was a character with so many wonderful gifts.

And he was loved by all who crossed his path.  He wasn’t perfect by any means.  But in my life he was.  I am so honored, well blessed, that God gave me this wonderful Uncle to teach me about life and friendship. He made everything seem so effortless in life as he laughed his way through it.  He always could find something funny even during dark times.  Laughter was his medicine.  I can just hear him laughing now…there in heaven as he fills my dad in on eight years of jokes that he missed.  The two best friends are together now on earth (their grave sites are near) and in heaven.

He always knew the right things to say to me.  We talked about everything, except one thing.  I regret that I never asked him how to handle life when he’s gone.  We never had that talk because I thought he would be around for some time to come.  This was a sudden death in our lives….but, God has other plans for Uncle Mike now. I bet he’s there in God’s garage, fixing the pearly gates or something else that important.  It just has to be because he was important to so many others in his life and town.

I saw him a couple days before he died and we had a long talk and as usual he was interested in what I had going on.  When we parted he always said these words and he did again that day “Be Good To Yourself.” And with that statement, I’d always smile and say in return “you too” – and then would add “I love you Uncle Mike.”

Those were his last words to me and they were perfect for I truly believe if we ever had that talk about what I was supposed to do when he was gone,  he’d simply say  “take care of yourself.”

I’ll do the best I can, but it will never be the same without Uncle Mike in my life.

Take care my dear friend.  Please know that I am grateful for everything you have done for me, from fixing my cars to my house to my heart.  Also, thank you for all the time you invested in me watching my volleyball games to curling matches.  I will love you forever.

Yours,

Cindy Bindy

This post is part of a series I have produced under the Linchpin title. The Linchpin philosophy is based on Seth Godin’s best-selling book, Linchpin. Linchpins are those people who make a difference in your life.  It is my hope that we all are Linchpins to others during our lifetime.

TOYOTA’S NEW PR ISSUE – TELLING THE TRUTH ABOUT THE RUNAWAY PRIUS

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To Tell The Truth?

To Tell The Truth?

Imagine you are the head of communications at Toyota and this assignment gets dropped into your lap.  What do you do with a situation where a person may have allegedly faked a runaway incident in order to receive a new car?

As a PR pro, do you “out” the person and tell the world that he did this as a stunt to get a free car?

Do you just give the person a “free” car and wipe this situation out of the books?

Does the principle “the customer is always right” apply in this situation?

Do you go to great lengths to expose any wrong-doing, when you have so many other civil lawsuits going against your company?

Would you be irresponsible for not telling the truth in this case, no matter the judgment on the driver?

Toyota is in a pickle. This is a case study no one could have ever dreamed up-but it may have allegedly happened to them, per last week’s runaway Prius incident in San Diego.

Here’s the latest on the story from the Wall Street Journal on Monday.

   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Toyota Motor Corp. (TM, 7203.TO) said there are “strong indications” that a dramatic incident on a California highway involving a Prius last week was inconsistent with the findings of the auto maker’s preliminary analysis.

The Japanese auto maker said its engineers completed an investigation of the 2008 Prius driven by James Sikes that was subject to an emergency call a week ago, when the driver reported the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed and couldn’t be stopped.

For its part, Toyota said the accelerator pedal in Sikes’ car was tested and found to be working normally. It said the front brakes showed “severe wear and damage from overheating,” with the rear and parking brakes in good condition.

The company also said its engineers believe that the assertion the vehicle couldn’t be stopped with the brakes is “fundamentally inconsistent with basic vehicle design.” An investigation is ongoing.

So the real question becomes, if James Sikes did fabricate the runaway stunt do you accuse him of it?  Is it best to tell the truth in this case.

What a Potential Mess

I believe that Toyota is actually handling this situation well.  Anyone who has been following this incident is aware of Sikes financial status. The guy is heavily in debt and his actions are not consistent with the other runway cars.  I like how Toyota has not come out and accused him of anything and how they are choosing their words carefully to explain the matter…they said that there are “strong indications” that the situation is inconsistent (with the real consistent problem the Japanese auto maker is having – parenthesis are my words and not Toyota’s).

For all the mistakes that Toyota has been making in cheapening the quality of their cars, this “fake runaway” incident is something that needs to be exposed so copy-cat incidents do not flare up.  Toyota is just as responsible handling this case as they are the others.

There have been no accusations made in the Sikes case and everything is alleged.  So allegedly speaking, my heart stops at the thought of others who might attempt a foolish stunt to get a free car.  If Toyota did not expose the potential truth in this situation, they could have a epidemic of sorts on their hands.

Desperation causes people to behave in ways that they never would have dreamed of.  Financial debt breaks the souls and hearts of men-so if one person gets a free car, I hope others don’t try and mimic a runaway car that really isn’t.  But, again nothing has been proven in this case and the Officer who pulled him over said he looked visibly shaken.  So who knows?

But some good did come out of this incident. We all learned through news reports what to do if we have a runaway situation on our hands.  To be truthfully honest here, I don’t think I would have thought of putting my car in neutral if it was me. But now I do know thanks to the news reports telling us how to handle the problem.  I own a 2007 Prius and I have loved my car, but for the first time after this incident I felt afraid driving my car for fear that this same situation would happen, my accelerator would get stuck.

This Toyota situation is like peeling an onion. There’s layers upon layers upon layers that keep getting discovered as to why there was a shift in their quality control.  There is so much that Toyota needs to own up to regarding those who have lost life and limb due to the construction of the car, and on top of all that, for Toyota to have to face alleged “fake” incidents is just as egregious and unnecessary.

If you are not sure how to turn off your car if it speeds out of control, here’s a great video showing you how from ABC NEWS.

As a PR pro, how would you handle such an situation. I’d love for you to share your thoughts.

Until then,

Be safe,

Cindy

Linchpin #2 – Dr. William Ankerberg

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An Inspiring Leader and Life Changer

Dr. William “Bill” Ankerberg has been my pastor for over five years and without a doubt his teaching and leadership at Whittier Area Community Church (WACC) has changed my life for the better in many ways.  I have attended many churches (all sizes) in my Christian journey, but, none have come close to impacting my life as WACC.

What makes this church body so different?

Without a doubt it is its leader – Pastor Bill.

Here’s why.  He makes each one of us who hear his words or those who know him better human beings.

“A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better.” - Jim Rohn

And here’s how he’s been able to do that.  He lives his life transparently from the pulpit, office and home.  He lives his life honestly and has a God-given ability to understand where people are at and just loves them no matter their spiritual level. When you are with him, you immediately feel accepted and not judged – which is a huge accomplishment coming from a Pastor of 4,000 attendees.  He’s like the perfect Dad.

He’s kind. He’s generous. He feels for those who are in need. He wants to make a difference and as such, he’s teaching us those things.  The mission statement for the church is really his mission statement – Follow God + Love People. He loves his God and is obedient while loving people.  And he especially loves providing for people.

I have to admit that I was a bit more shallow of a person before I came to WACC, but, through the church’s teaching I have become more generous, more helpful to others, less self-centered, more God loving, considerate, kind and even more innovative in my thinking.  I’ve also changed my priorities in life from not pursuing my own best interests – but, trusting God’s plan for my life.

And I can fully say I’ve made these changes, because Pastor Bill gave me great opportunities to learn how to through endeavors he has put forth from the pulpit.  Here’s a short description of some events that helped me grow.

*Serve Weekend - One weekend a year the church shuts its doors so we can go out into the community and provide services for others in need. The church pays for all the necessary tools and equipment and off we go helping in over 100 projects.  In my time there, I’ve fed the firemen, washed police cars, packed up supplies for soldiers and painted new lines on an elementary school playground.  This event has changed my life and made me more civic minded.

We fed local firemen for an entire weekend to say thanks.

*Homeless Shelter – Our church assists in helping the town’s cold-weather shelter by providing meals to 40-some homeless adult individuals.  I’ve had the pleasure to lend a hand serving them a warm meal and have met some wonderful people who are trying to turn their lives around.  This event has opened up my heart more to others.

*The Malawi Miracle – The Malawi Miracle is an event that I will be proud of my entire life.  Because of Pastor Bill’s heart to help those in need, he wanted to help build a pediatric hospital in Malawi at the African Bible College.  His daughter recently ministered there and when she asked her dad if we could build a much-needed hospital in that location, he thought we could. He originally thought it would only take $60,000 to build it to help the people in the poorest nation of the world.  So he decided that he would donate our Christmas offering to go toward building that 40 bed hospital. He implored all of us to give as much as we could sacrificially.  Previously, the most our church has ever raised during Christmas was $27K. So we needed a miracle. And then we heard that it would take over $106,000 to build the AIDS hospital.  We needed a mega-miracle.  But, the people responded. They gave up Christmas presents and vacations. They sold jewelry, lemonade and cookies.  They gave up physical therapy.  And what was the final number? The church members gave over $500,000. It’s a miracle I will never forget and a project I am proud to say I was a part of.  To see a video created by Bono and Willow Creek Church about this Miracle, click here.
I could go on and on about him.  But, there just isn’t enough time…but, here are few other top line points about him that makes him so inspiring.

*He loves current events and the media. He frequently goes to the movies and always starts out the sermon with something ripped out of the pages.  This trait makes him so relatable to others.

*He answers his email quickly and is someone who is extremely approachable.

*He loves to learn and learn from others.

*He gives up his pulpit from time to time to give experience to other pastors on his staff.

*His management style is team leadership. He doesn’t micro-manage and supports good ideas.

*He stands by his word and is a man of integrity in all he does.

*His sermons are honest – he never asks us to do something that he doesn’t have to do himself.  Just take a look at this recent sermon when he told us how difficult marriage is even when you’re a pastor.

I am a better person with Dr. Bill Ankerberg in my life.  If you are reading this and do not live near Whittier, you can still learn from this wonderful man by visiting WACC.net or by dropping him a email and telling him hello.  Any communication  with him will change your life.

Thank you Pastor Bill for your support and love!

Best,

Cindy

This post is a second in a series I have produced under the Linchpin title. The Linchpin philosophy is based on Seth Godin’s best-selling book, Linchpin. Linchpins are those people who make a difference in your life.  It is my hope that we all are Linchpins to others during our lifetime.

The Pacific – A War & Promotional Idea Too Big

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This post is a tribute to my father, U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Albert E. Ronzoni, who fought in “The Pacific” during World War II.  This is for you Dad!

My Dad Serving His Country in the Pacific

A NEW APPROACH TO SCREENINGS IN ASSOCIATION WITH

HBO’s 10-PART MINISERIES EVENT “THE PACIFIC”

The War in The Pacific has special meaning to me.  My father, Albert Ronzoni, was drafted out of high school by the U.S. Army to serve his country in World War II fighting the Japanese.  This intelligent, scholarly, 5’11″ kid from a small Northern Minnesota town was thrust through boot camp and shipped off to remote islands in the Pacific.  During his stint in the war, he fought battles in Saipan, Tinian, Espiritu Santo, Okinawa and the  Ryukyu Islands, before contracting malaria a month prior to his discharge.

He was a quiet mild man, who loved to garden and play hockey, football and curling.  He never fought nor shot a gun upon entering the Army.  He left a town where everyone knew each other’s names to fighting an enemy half a world away.  This experience affected him the rest of his life, and not in a good way.

The Time Has Come for this Story to be Told

Today, HBO is premiering the most expensive television event to date – the 10-part miniseries “The Pacific” – Steven Spielberg and Tom Hank’s WWII companion piece to HBO’s “Band of Brothers.”  I cannot begin to applaud HBO enough on greenlighting this important endeavor and forever documenting this historic period of war.  “Band of Brothers” was one of the most memorable series I have ever witnessed and now, with the debut of “The Pacific,” it will prove once again to be TV like we’ve never seen before.

I’ve known for several years that Spielberg and Hanks were embarking on this second theater of war, and was pleased for I wanted to learn more about what my Dad went through to make him who he was.  For you see, I have always felt my Dad was a shell of a man. I always thought I didn’t have my full Dad with me – it was just a sense I had and you sure couldn’t tell that from meeting him. After the war, he still was a quiet man who loved to garden, but he held himself back from accepting love, joy and happiness.  I think the war took that out of him, sadly way before I was ever born.

It is because of this belief I contacted HBO to present an idea I had about an innovative approach for affiliate screenings.  Here’s the idea I sent them on December 1, 2009.

“Thank you so very much for taking time today to discuss a community-led “The Pacific” screening and support group.  As mentioned, I have recently become aware that veterans suffer more than we know.  If not physically wounded from combat, they have been emotionally scarred from war. As a daughter of a WWII Staff Sergeant, I can attest to the fact that the war affected my dad and his ability to form trusting and loving relationships, partly due to his experiences I’m sure fighting in the first wave of offense in the Pacific.  Although, the screening that I am presenting is a bit revolutionary for affiliate relations-HBO will reap tremendous goodwill for their efforts and more importantly, HBO will be a part of healing soldiers.

I recently was informed by a crisis counselor that veterans receive effective healing in large groups.  As such, how great would it be if organizations opened their doors to invite the vets in from their community for weekly screenings of HBO’s “The Pacific.”  As with any support group like AA, these “The Pacific” screenings would be private – for vets – only.  It would be their safe place – their sanctuary if you will – to talk about their experiences with those who walked the same path. After each screening, the vets could break up into smaller groups and answer (3) questions.  And, if needed, counseling would be available to them and if at a church, then prayer is some requested that. But, it could be a place where they could talk and get their stories out.  My dad held his pain in his entire life – he never told his daughters what he saw.  He didn’t want us to know about what he faced at 18 years of age.  God bless him for that.

Continue reading “The Pacific – A War & Promotional Idea Too Big” »

Dyson Airblades

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Here’s one of those random posts that I do from time to time….but this week I was dining at the Westfield Century City Mall and I had to use the restroom. And when I went to dry my hands I got to use one of those fancy smancy Dyson Airblades hand blow dryers. I have only experienced them at this Mall and I really love these things. (Yes, I agree, I need to get out more!)

But with these dryers, you don’t waste any paper and they’re fun to use and well, I could leave my hands in there all day.  The air feels so good against your skin.

The only negative thing is that they say your hands are dry in 12 seconds.  That’s not entirely true. It’s closer to 30 seconds. But it does work and its something different than plain old paper. I wish more places had them, which leads me to think that these revolutionary things are expensive.

Here’s an ad with its inventor.

Do you have one by you? What do you think about them?

Yearning for more Airblade time. I can hardly wait till they have a home version.

Cindy

Customer Service is Now On twitter

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DirecTV made me a happy customer today

Do you have a twitter account?

If you don’t, this post today may change your mind, because the best device out there right now, hands down, for customer service is twitter. And to back up my words, here’s a real-life case study that happened to me this morning.

I was starting out the day by paying bills and when I opened my DirecTV notice I saw an increase. Yup, DirecTV had a cost of living increase on my bill. It went from $109 to $115.  I had been paying for the premier service and hence, I knew that I was paying for a higher priced package.  But, now that I am in transition, every penny counts so I knew it was time to change packages.

So I called the 800 phone number to DirecTV and got a nice enough, but non-understanding drone. She read and re-read me my options and didn’t hear a word I said. All she could offer me was a $10 discount for 12 months or $20 off for six – and then after that period of time it would jump back again to the $115 package.  Even though I have been a loyal customer since I became a home owner in 1999, it didn’t matter. DirecTV was not budging one inch even after I asked to speak to her supervisor, Shauna, a resolution specialist.  Shauna was an exact copy of the first one. Just read me my rights.

Now, I did tell the sales reps that I am a cable executive and know how this end of the business works. I also added that I was an industry blogger and that I know several executives at the company (which is the truth). I didn’t tell them this to leverage a better deal, but mostly to warn them that I would probably blog about this. They didn’t seem to care.  So the conversation ended with me telling them that I wanted to talk to someone else at DirecTV who would care that I have been a loyal customer. Shauna replied that there was no one else for me to talk to at DirecTV.  I said I’d call someone at its El Segundo Headquarters and bid her good day.

I was a bit furious so I got on twitter and starting asking if anyone else had similar problems.  And then after a clear moment of thought, I searched for DirecTV on twitter and realized that they had an account. So I sent them a tweet.

Here’s how it played out.

After my little twitter rants, about five minutes later I got a message from DirecTV on twitter.  Marvelous.

Continue reading “Customer Service is Now On twitter” »

Community Managers-New Title for PR Professionals?

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Are pros destined to become glorified community managers?

It's Takes A PR Pro to Manage a Thriving Community

That was the question that got my attention today. It came in through my email from PR Week’s Paul Armstrong.  You see every week he asks PR professionals a question that he would like us to comment on for his PR Fire Brigade Blog/twitter platform.  His questions are all topical and extremely relevant, but this one just hit home with me right now.  For my field is changing just like almost every one else’s.  In fact, I no longer refer to myself as a publicist, but a media strategist. I set strategy and go after placements, even if the new placements are building communities.  So my answer to his question is “YES.”

Paul’s tone of the question though irked me for it was a bit snarky due to his addition of the word “glorified.”  That I do take offense to.  I believe that as a PR pro, whether we are working with a journalist, blogger or managing a community – that it takes a special skill set and talent.  Sure, anyone can take a photo – but a true photographer knows how to manually adjust the aperture and is knowledgeable about lighting, among other skills.  The same goes for communication executives.  Anyone can add friends to their Facebook page, but do they know how to build their brand online and handle negativity?  PR pros do and more.

As a PR pro, I am enjoying implementing community management into my portfolio of services. To me it’s exciting.  Whereas, as traditional media continues to downsize (last Monday’s ABC News report), the numbers of others we can connect with to promote ideas, people, companies continues to explode.  The players may have changed, but the audience is ever growing.  It’s a harvest out there in Community Land.

So I will be proud if one day my title includes the term Community Manager. I have always enjoyed promoting content and with social media, I have so many choices to reach great amounts of people with varying messages.

Speaking of titles,  I attended the AMA’s virtual conference last week and there, I learned of a new corporate division called “COE.”  It stands for “Center of Excellence.”  The Center of Excellence, as I understood it, is the company’s watchdog group of social media. It’s there that policies are set and monitored as other divisions of the company utilize social media for their job functions.  Pretty cool huh. I like these new titles.  I wouldn’t mind having one someday that said, Cindy Ronzoni, Vice President, Center of Excellence, X Amazing Company.

Times are changing as our titles.  Since we’re speaking of titles…what’s one that you would like to have one day? Do tell.

Best,

Cindy