Poised for the Future

Roberts took the floor sans Chernin at the beginning to showcase his On-Demand wares. He announced that Comcast will now offer a bazillion of choices with his On-Demand service called Xfinity. They are enlarging their film archives immensely and he showed us how you can navigate and drill down to find what the consumer wants.  You can search by actor’s name, genre, film festival and even donate to a cause by choosing a certain piece of content.

I also was excited to see that he mentioned that he is working with the ipad to showcase content. It was nice to hear him recognize that it’s a relevant content distribution point.

He understands good management is not micro-management

Chernin threw out a heavy piece of artillery at the start. He asked what his disappointments have been. Roberts thought he was a bit slow on the dime in the content area.  He wished he had made investments 20 years ago in cable companies like Turner or Discovery.

Roberts thinks that cable has been under-valued in its contributions to the industry.  In addition for being known for sending a monthly bill, cable has made advancements in content. Who wouldn’t agree to that some of TV’s most memorable shows have come from cable companies.

It was a great that Roberts pointed out that one of its shining examples at his company is Frank Eliason, who heads up ComcastCares.  Frank is a rock star in social media and all those involved in the field, know that he is a trend setter who cares for his customers. It was great to hear Roberts’ recognize his contributions.

I have been around Mr. Roberts before at conferences, but I forgot how much I like him and his demeanor.  I like how relaxed he is as a media mogul.  He could be the neighbor next door. He’s not rushed, pretentious nor reek of the Hollywood power stench – even though he is a leader in entertainment.  Maybe it’s because he runs a family company and his dad is still an ever presence.  But, what I could gather from his comments, simply  is:

-He understands that his success comes in taking care of customers.  He is striving to make new devices easier to use for consumers which I say is brilliant. We’ ve got enough to figure out on own and any help that others give us is welcome.  Smart thinking.

-He also is not going to micro-manage NBC Universal. He’s not going to shove their ways down the new company’s throat.  He knows that each channel has its own distinct brand he’ll leave it at that.

-He knows the company has to transform and will and so he has to be constantly changing and he’s open to it.  A company that creates is what he is excited about.

-NBC News is going to be the cornerstone to the company. He is excited about acquiring it and needs to protect it. NBC News he said will help define Comcast.

Chernin did a nice job moderating the conversation. As a former top executive at News Corp., Chernin knew first-hand some of the struggles Roberts and gang will encounter and tried his best to tip his hat to a few – like angering politicians or consumers with a subject of newscast.

It was the perfect way to kick off the convention – and I’m so glad that Roberts agreed. For is there anything bigger than this acquistion at the moment in cable?

On to the next event.

Cindy

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

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