Rebranding lessons from the Carson Daly show

.As a student, I'm usually awake at random hours of the night writing papers and what not. As a result I watch alot of late-night talk shows, my favorite being Conan of course! Generally, I would always switch channels whenever Last Call with Carson Daly came on. Not because I dislike Carson or anything, I actually grew up enjoying Carson on MTV. But honestly, Last Call just sucked. From Carson's lame attempts at stand-up comedy type jokes to the awkward half-way scripted interviews to the generic Men in Black suit, it was painful for me and I'm sure for him :-)

But a few weeks ago, Last Call debuted a brand new format of the show...and surprise, surprise it's actually quite decent. It features Carson on the road at concerts, back-stage at shows and interviewing his guests in a much cozier and personal setting. The editing makes the show seem edgy and Carson looks comfortable in jeans and tees most times. I actually find myself enjoying the show now.

Folks in the Twittosphere seem to agree with me too:

"Last Call with Carson Daly is now a respectable show. He ditched the typical late-night format. The show's new focus plays to his strengths"

"love the new carson daly format. worth a tivo. lots of debut performances and sit down chats. way less douchey"

"Carson Daly's new format is so much better for him. He was terrible as a formal talk show host."

"I don't watch Last Call w Carson Daly due to its douchiness but must admit the newformat aces."

All in all I probably came across one person that disagreed with this sentiment. It would be interesting to see if his ratings improve with the new format. But I think that this is a great example of how rebranding should work. I still don't know if this format is permanent but it really does play to his strengths as an interviewer and is how I think all organizations should approach a brand overhaul. A new look and feel does nothing if it doesn't play up the brand's strengths. In addition, why do companies try to be something they're not? They try to force their square brand into a round peg just to be edgy. I'm not saying companies shouldn't try new things in marketing their brands but sometimes a complete 180-turnaround fails miserably. So what works for Skittles may not work for a computer company. And by the same token, the image that worked for singer Beyonce may not have worked for singer Rihanna. So yes, I think Carson's new and improved looks is a good little lesson for companies that try to force their change down consumers' throats.
That's my little rant for today.

Balancing school, work and my Caribbean passion

It's 8:40 a.m. and I'm awake...it's a minor miracle. I'm still groggy but thought I should crank out a post as it's been a while since I've blogged. Why did I think that balancing 3 days of grad. school a week, working part-time four days a week and volunteering for several projects would be a good idea?
But anyhoo, life in the Big City is definitely moving at top speed. In about six weeks I'll be done with my first year of grad. school (Go me!) and hopefully I'll be interning somewhere. So while I'm looking forward to summer, I know that the work won't be over anytime soon. I'm reminded here of a post by author Seth Godin. In it he talks about sprinting, not in the literal sense of the word but as it relates to getting projects done. It struck a chord with me because sometimes we do need to sprint to get papers done, to get projects completed and when you're doing it, your fears really do fall away and your creativity and resourcefulness come into play. But I've come to realize that I've been doing a lot of sprinting lately and that can quickly lead to burnout. So as exciting as the Big City is right now, I know I have to pace myself if I intend to accomplish everything I'd like to. So that's that.
In other Island Girl news, I've been doing a lot of research lately on Caribbean events taking place in North America as I hope to get involved through volunteering and such. What I've discovered is an appalling lack of information on so many of the events and happenings that have been billed as big Caribbean hapenings. Granted I've been doing my research via the internet and not by phone, this is the way that most people research events these days! If there is a web presence, it is not as polished as it should be in order to attract sponsors and attendees. Without naming organizations, (and I know I've harped on this before) the Internet is the cheapest and easiest way to garner publicity, so use it to your advantage! That goes for every organization and that concludes my post for today. Hopefully I get around to posting more often even as the semester starts closing in around me :-)
Also, I'm thinking about moving the blog to Wordpress, so stay tuned.

The two-step flow in developing marketing strategies

As marketers and PR professionals, an understanding of how people acquire information from the media is necessary for developing successful strategies. One popular academic theory is the Two Step Flow Theory (Katz & Lazarsfeld). It basically posits that in general, people are more influenced by personal contacts rather than news sources when they have to make a decision. It's a two-step flow because opinion leaders first receive the information from the mass media and they in turn pass on the news content along with their own interpretations. This theory can explain why some media campaigns fail...they simply aren't targeting the right publics, the opinion leaders. Just something to keep in mind as strategies are developed.

Think about Twitter and alot of other social media. The early adopters are generally the ones who influence others to use. You didn't sign up for Facebook because you saw an ad..you did it because the influencers in your circle may have mentioned how and why they use it and then you subsequently adopted. Will this approach work for your product? Thinking about this may save alot of marketing dollars.

Caribbean brands: Leveraging the Internet

It is rapidly becoming clear that in order to obtain worldwide relevance as a brand, organizations and individuals need to leverage the Internet effectively. It's a simple statement but in relation to Caribbean businesses and products I think it needs to be articulated. Within the region itself where internet penetration is still relatively low, businesses typically use traditional modes of promotion like advertisements, event sponsorships and celebrity spokespersons. But if Caribbean companies seek to take their products further than the region, it is imperative that they leverage the Internet. West Indian expats are a large community in the U.S. and often go to the web to seek out information on their favorite foods, artistes, events and news. It is an audience that is often ignored by companies from the region but which has the potential to increase revenue for these companies.

A web presence is necessary if Caribbean companies intend to increase their market share and I'm often amazed at how many companies don't get this. This doesn't apply to companies only, events and artistes would also benefit tremendously from good online exposure. Having worked in the Caribbean, I know that it can be difficult to see the big picture when you're on the ground, but if our islands intend to remain competitive in this economy then we need to take advantage of the tools available. It's not as if the talent isn't there.

How are small locally-owned villas along our coasts supposed to compete with large world renowned hotels if they don't even have a website which caters to tourist intending to visit the region? The same can be said for many other Caribbean businesses. If Caribbean businesses intend to thrive, their marketing strategies need to be revamped to keep up with the changing way information is sourced. And of course this does not just apply to Caribbean businesses. In another post I'll take a look at ways in which individuals typically obtain information and examine which of these modes influence their decisions the most.

Combine what you love with what you're good at

Everyone with Caribbean heritage or Caribbean friends knows of the Caribbean Carnival festivals which take place around the world each year. In North America, perhaps the most popular ones are Caribana or Toronto carnival, Washington DC carnival, Miami carnival and New York's carnival. But almost every state holds a version of these street parades which mimic those that take place in the West Indies. As much of a Carnival baby that I am, I have only been to DC Carnival and Philadelphia Carnival and both have left me wanting so much more. Both festivals end waaay too early (6.p.m) but I guess that that probably can't be negotiated with the respective cities. In terms of overall organization, Washington DC's carnival is definitely the better event and as such it is better attended, which makes me sad as I live in Philadelphia. So one of the things I intend to do while I live here in the City of Brotherly love is to approach the Philadelphia carnival planning committee about ways in which my skill set can be useful to them.

I firmly believe that people enjoy life the most when they combine what they're good at with what they love. So if you're good at cooking but love writing then find some way to merge the two. If you love sports and are good at art then combine those two passions. For me, I love my Caribbean culture and am good at integrated marketing communication, so ideally I would love to work somewhere that I can do both. Life really is too short to not enjoy the things you love.

Tips for interns on how to pimp your online resume.

I've come to realize that academia is world unto itself. I have so little time to get to all my assigned weekly readings that I've developed a newfound respect for my professors who have to correct assignments, keep up with the latest research and do their own research! All that to say that academia is the reason I'm finally getting around to writing a post at 3 a.m.

Something else that's been taking up my time is updating my online resume at Visual CV. Visual CV is a website I learned of via one of my Twitter peeps. For a while I've been searching for an easy to use and easy on the eyes online portfolio and I think I may have found it. Visual CV allows users to upload basically anything they've ever worked on including video, podcasts, powerpoint presentations and more (Check out President Obama's visual CV in the pic). I've spent the last few days pulling together some of the writing samples and marketing pieces that I've worked on and uploading them to my visual cv. You can see it here: www.visualcv.com/khailaedward. It's still a work in progress. But as I've been doing this, it has become apparent that I may have missed many good opportunities to collect the things I worked on at my internships. So below are a few things I wish I had done at ALL my internships.

• Ask for a letter of recommendation. This is becoming increasingly important with social media sites like LinkedIn and now Visual CV. Now you can take excerpts from those letters and use them in your social media profiles. Also, if you need an excuse to reach out to someone who provided you with a recommendation but who you've been neglecting, you can send them a link to your online resume letting them know that you included quotes from their letter.
• Keep a journal of what you did. Ideally you should do this at the end of every day but if you can't, then at least every week. We do so much in one work week that at the end of an internship it's hard to identify everything worked on.
• Keep copies of any non-proprietary work. Please don't go taking documents from an internship that are clearly not for outside circulation, but once you've worked on it and it's fairly public or non-objectionable then try to obtain an electronic version of it. If in doubt, definitely ask your supervisor. If you can't get your hands on an electronic version before you leave, then get the hard copy, you can always scan it into your PC at a later date. For PR interns this is really important when you've pitched a story that's gotten press.
• An addendum to the last point. As a PR intern I got several great broadcast news hits for stories I'd pitched which I now wish I had as video to upload to my online resumes. At the end of an internship you should request a CD with any broadcast clips you may have gotten (most agencies have services which monitor these). If that fails, you can always TiVo! :-)

So what's worth including in your online portfolio you're asking? Well it goes without saying that it should be what you consider your best work. But if you're a student with little experience or a younger student, then you can get really creative. If you worked on an Excel spreadsheet for the first time, then use the file itself in your online portfolio OR you can take a screenshot and go into more detail about what you did with Excel in the comments sections many of these websites have. Although I prefer not to use self-photos in my online resumes, you can use photos creatively and conservatively if you feel the need to or if you really have little else. If you work an event for example, you can have someone take action shots of you performing a task which you can explain in the visual CV. But be conservative. These are just a few things I thought of while working on my visual CV, hopefully it helps some intern out there to stand out in the crowd. Are there any other things an intern can take away from the job which can be used in an online resume?

Face-to-face networking, not quite the bane of my existence.

As the name of my blog states, I'm an island girl, i.e. I hail from one of those gorgeous gems in the Caribbean sea: Trinidad & Tobago. For those who live in the Caribbean and who've visited the C'bbean before, you probably know that the differences between U.S. culture and C'bbean culture can be quite jarring at times. The work culture back home, for instance, makes for an interesting U.S./T&T contrast. I bring this up because as I've been using social media more and more for career networking purposes I realize that I've been avoiding face-to-face networking. In trying to reflect upon why this might be, I've concluded that part of it is cultural.

On my island of approximately 1.2 million people, the way we communicate is in many ways different than in the U.S. Finding a job back home for instance, while heavily reliant on traditional resume/cover letter applications has ALOT to do with who you know, where you went to school, where your parents are from, whether or not you and the potential employer's families know each other etc. All of these things, give you a foot in the door on a relatively small island.

So now that I'm semi-permanent fixture in the city of brotherly love, I do sometimes find it a little difficult to connect on more meaningful levels with people without those links I just mentioned. Social media for the most part can level the playing field because you get to read people's blogs, know what they're about etc. before connecting. But in face-to-face networking situations they dynamics are changed a bit. I am by no means a shy person but if you see me at one of these networking type function thingys you would definitely think so. The problem is I don't know how to begin! If someone else begins the conversation, then fine, I can go with that flow. But initiating contact with a totally random stranger at an event can be downright intimidating. Here are a few categories of the networkers I've encountered:

1. The social butterfly. This networker already knows everyone in the room and you wonder why they even bothered to come. But the social butterfly will also seek out people standing alone at events and have great success at including them in other conversations, further widening their circle. They come across as very genuine although widely popular and you sometimes experience mild envy of their networking skill. But because the social butterfly is so adept at flitting around, they know little of substance about everyone in their network which can be a downside.
2. The guy who loves his business cards. This type of networker came to the event specifically to give out his business card, or so it would seem. He doesn't discriminate, giving it to everybody he's engaged in coversation with. He enjoys telling people what he does but really doesn't grasp the idea of the reciprocal relationship.
3. The relationship people. These are the people you really want to meet. They know it's impossible to connect with everyone so while they may be gracious with everyone, they came in with a plan and they stick to the plan, doggedly continuing the convo with the person they came to meet. These types follow up reaaaally well and pursue the long-term mutually beneficial relationships. (I never meet these folks, but I'm just a lowly student after all LOL)
4. The wallpaper/drink stirrers. I would probably put myself in here sadly enough. These folks blend in with the crowd really well but they aren't networking. They stand around stirring their drinks waiting for someone to approach them and really are clueless about how to begin. These networkers can sometimes provide the most engaging conversations, but because they don't put themselves out there they miss out on meeting some great people.

In an effort to find some tips on networking for the inexperienced networker, I happened across a post entitled '13 Tips For Your First Networking Event' by David Spinks who I've started following on Twitter. I find the tips to be extremely helpful, especially the one about being creative.

Be creative. Think of something creative that will make you stand out and help break the ice, commencing conversation. The best example I saw was Arthur Bouie representing We Are Nom who carried around a basket of cookies to give out. They were a hit…and delicious.

-www.davidspinks.com

Next month I'll be attending a Careers 101 session put on by the PPRA, so I will most definitely try to utilize these tips and of course I'll be sure to blog about it!

Culture Jamming the Crackberry

Wowza! Have I been swamped these past few days...I haven't blogged in a while! But I must say that some good came out my time away from the blog, because I got a part-time job! Yup, I am now once again employed, well at least for a few hours a week. The position is a marketing position with a really small company - 3 people plus me to be exact. It's cool because I get to oversee large marketing projects from beginning to end.

But anyway, the other marketing guy who is also a new hire owns a Blackberry which is ALWAYS buzzing and which brings me to the reason for this post. I would say that I'm a pretty savvy technology user and probably a 'heavy' computer user. Let's just say that between writing papers, researching, blogging, Facebooking, watching-tv- shows- I missed -because -of- class, occasional graphic designing and an assortment of other random timewasting ventures I'm online ALOT. But for some reason I have not yet fallen prey to the Blackberry monomania (Google that word!) *sidenote*! HA...I'm watching Conan and he's talking to Jerry Seinfeld who's talking about why he doesn't have a Blackberry! What a coicidence...LOL. But I digress...I've been reading this book entitled Culture Jam by Kalle Lasn who is the founder of the Adbusters magazine. 'Culture Jamming' as I understand it from that most revered source Wikipedia *wink* is the individual rejection of all forms of herd mentality usually asociated with popular culture. So does my Blackberry rejection make me a Culture Jammer????? Probably not, I know.

I think the reason I don't have a Blackberry is because I'm afraid to be a slave to something else. Honestly, I feel like my email and I should be getting married soon, because we've been together for about ten years and we converse several times a day! Then there's Facebook, which I'm proud to say has been relegated to a much lower position in my hierarchy of internet time-wasting. I read blogs and news like it's my religion which is sad because I don't even read my Bible as much! And there are a whole host of random other internet things I somehow feel obligated to check in on at least once every day. It's not a prety picture. When did I become so tied to my technology? There was a time when I could sit and read for hours, whole nights depending on the book actually. But now I sit to read for leisure and within 30 minutes I kid you not, I'm distracted by an idea I have to post about, a revelation I have to research, a historical fact I need to Google. It's really crazy and sometimes scary.
As a non-Blackberry user I often wonder what's really happening on that little Blackberry screen of the users I cross paths with. Their emails must be more important than the ones I receive if they elicit a Pavlovian response everytime the darned thing buzzes right? And you know, I can concede that for business owners, managers and decision-makers who travel alot a Blackberry can be very useful, but do the rest of us normal folk really need it? It's one of the questions I ask myself whenever phone envy hits me. So I guess for the time being, or until I become the owner of a multi-national corporation I'm ok with being a Crackberry culture jammer.

The week of publicists

Haven't blogged as much as I'd have liked to this week. Between celebrities, octo-mom and government it's not like there wasn't alot going on. But this was a hectic school week for me. Journalism class, one of my favorites, was pretty interesting this week. We talked about news and it's story-telling or narrative qualities and whether or not this affects its proclaimed objectivity. Then there was Qualitative Research...REALLY interesting discussion this week about the execution of Daniel Pearl and his actual body as a rhetorical artifact being used by both Islamic militants and the U.S. in nationalist discourse. Also had to submit a rhetorical analysis to this class, I'll wait until I get my grade to post about it :) Then yesterday I had my class on Public Opinion & Attitude Change and somehow between all the classes I managed to submit my paper to NCA (National Communication Association) for their conference in November. School is very interesting this semester I must say. After that class I went to a bar to play a game of Quizzo...first time playing and I'll be playing again, cuz we won!

But I had to post a link to this blurb which appeared in the NY Post on Wednesday about celebrity publicists. Interesting that they talk about Rihanna's publicist lying to protect her clients when I just blogged about this same issue earlier this week. It would be good to talk to a celebrity publicist to find out what ethical guidelines, if any, they use in defending their clients' interests. Maybe I'll find a publicist somewhere that would be willing to give me a brief interview. So that's all for the post tonight as I'm off to bed now.

Strategic Silence and the Chris Brown/Rihanna fiasco

Well, the blogosphere is all abuzz about the Chris Brown and Rihanna debacle, so I guess I have no choice but to put my two cents in on the issue :)
Celebrity publicists have interesting jobs (no duh)...but seriously, they tend to have a little more freedom than do PR folk who represent companies. Where lying and covering up is dangerous for the PR agency, publicists can generally utilize under the belt techniques when protecting their clients. So it's interesting that when news first broke about Chris Brown and Rihanna not performing at the Grammy's, the story being told was that they had been involved in an 'accident'. Of course, keeping things hidden in celebrityland is almost near impossible when the paparazzi is involved and with stars as big as Rihanna and Chris Brown, the story was bound to get out eventually. And so we know what we know now: apparently an argument turned physical which led to a police report, which led to Chris Brown turning himself into the authorities on charges of allegedly roughing up the Bajan singer.

A story appearing on E! news yesterday before the real story broke had Rihanna's publicist Amanda Silverman saying very succintly that the singer 'is well. Thank you for your concern and support'. But today, with the story all over the airwaves, Rihanna's rep. had no comment. And neither did Brown's rep. This tactic of not saying anything is referred to as 'strategic silence' and Silverman's initial quote would probably fall under the umbrella of 'strategic ambiguity'. Strategic ambiguity, so labeled by Eisenberg (1984) I believe, is undeniably a very useful tactic for both organizations, celebrities and politicians, as it allows for multiple interpretations and preserves future options. Don't you love it, they aren't lying..but they aren't necessarily telling the truth. Quite a few studies have looked at the ethics of this practice with regard to organizations but I think it would be fasincating to look at how the public perceives this practice with regard to celebrities and their credibility. Does employing this maneuver affect how the public views these stars? In a case like the Chris Brown/Rihanna story, does Brown's silence help or hurt his image? The chewing gum manufacturer Wrigley, for whom Brown was a pitchman, has suspended all marketing campaigns tied to the singer while they wait to see the outcome of these 'domestic abuse' allegations. A smart move I think. But would Chris have fared better had his publicist issued a statement as soon as the news broke? Did the legal ramifications of making a statement during an ongoing investigation influence this decision?

Admittedly, Chris Brown being violent with a female isn't the same as Michael Phelps smoking marijuana but Phelps' sponsors have more or less stood by him, was his quick response/apology to the photo helpful in keeping his endorsers' backing? Yeah I know my parallel is a bit off, but I believe it does merit some thought. What is the benefit of strategic silence in this instance (Chris Brown)? How does it affect his credibility? The public seems to have already passed its judgement on Brown if the blogs and comments are anything to go by. As the story develops, we'll see how and when Chris Brown's publicists will address the issue...but I think it's safe to say that as more time passes without a statement from his camp, the image repair will undoubtedly become more difficult. Think Rod Blagojevich.

I survived a mock press conference! Still not ready for the real thing.

I know I was supposed to post about my Crisis Comm. class yesterday but after class I went to the Philadelphia Car Show with 'B'. Who knew looking at cars could take 4 hours. I fell in love with a Mercedes Benz though and I saw a $487,000 Rolls Royce...no seriously.LOL.
But the class was very cool yesterday. For the first part of class we formed mock agencies and came up with our own crisis plans for a fake beverage company. Then after lunch we had to develop a statement in response to a crisis and conduct a mock press conference. Well developing the statement was ok but the press conference was a different story altogether.
I really felt like I was in front of a firing squad. The rest of the class fired off questions at us about everything under the sun and our team had to remain calm and hold our own while defending the integrity of our client. Answering questions under pressure can be very intimidating especially in this 24 hour news cycle world we live in. And this mock conference was no different.
In a book by Timothy Coombs on planning, managing and responding to crisis he talks about how to handle tough questions. Difficult questions include long and complicated questions, multiple choice with unacceptable choice options, questions based on erroneous info and tricky questions and one long question with many parts. Coombs suggests some responses to these types of questions:

• For long, complicated questions, ask for them to be repeated and explained. In this way you get more time to formulate a response while the reporter clarifies.
• For multiple questions in one question, you can either select which part of the question you'd like to respond to and it should be the part of the question which fits best with providing your company's key message. Or you can number your responses to all parts of the question.
• For tricky questions, be tactful. It's no problem, to explain that the question is tough and requires a longer than usual answer.
• Don't be afraid to challenge and correct questions based on erroneous information. After all it's your job to make sure misinformation is not transmitted.
• For multiple choice questions with no right answer, explain that the answer choice are unfair and develop your own option.

I guess the key is really practicing before, at home in the mirror. Develop questions on your own and decide how you would best answer the questions while focusing on composure and body language. Being in front of journalists and answering questions impromptu, in a way that doesn't jeopardize the client is something that gets my adrenaline pumping (am I a nerd?lol) but it is undeniably something that requires practice.

Preparing for Crises before they happen

So this weekend I'm taking a one-credit course on Crisis Communication. Very appropriate at this time wouldn't you say. With everyone from the U.S. government right down to the peanut corporation going through some sort of 'crisis', knowing what to do at times like these is key to maintaining the reputation of your company and ultimately its bottom line.

I guess what it all comes down to is being prepared for anything. In class tonight we talked about 'strategic blindness', the idea that you can't see what you can't see. Interesting stuff. As we go through this undeniably rocky economic period there are a few ways we as PR people can help companies prepare themselves beforehand:

• Position papers: Most large corporations have these. They are basically multi-purpose documents that you have on file which state your company's stance on certain topics. They can be given to the media for clarification on issues and can be useful in a crisis as they're prepared statements which can help you to stay on message.
  
• Fact sheets and company history: These documents should always be on hand and updated regularly! You don't want to go scrambling around for accurate names and numbers when the media is digging around for information. In this way, you can somewhat control the firestorm.
• Stock photos and video: Again, you may not be able to control the news (especially in this the age of cell phone cameras) but at least you can provide the media with positive images of your company, instead of that picture of your truckdriver with his pants down below his butt parked outside the corner store on company time.
• Identify vulnerabilites.
• Look at the issues the competition has dealt with and prepare for those.
  

I must say that I find most large Trinidadian and indeed Caribbean companies to be at least cognizant of the importance of reputation...but I'm afraid the same cannot be said for Trinidadian government and politicians. I sometimes wish I could call in a 100 person crisis communication contingent specifically to deal with T&T politicians who in my humble opinion could ALL benefit from a good dose of image repair, because frankly their credibility is non-existent! But I'll take it one step at a time :) My crisis course continues tomorrow, we'll be doing mock press conferences on such, so I'll have another crisis post tomorrow. Bye!

Should I take an unpaid internship?

In the past few days I've had some opportunities present themselves to participate in interesting career related projects. However, none of these interesting projects happen to be paid *sigh*. As a college student without a job I'm sure you can all appreciate my desire for paying gigs...I mean what's a girl to do in an economy like this? In addition to not having a job at the moment, I'm slowly becoming swamped by papers and school projects which will soon occupy the better part of my life. So should I take on these unpaid projects?

I've already signed on to do the marketing for the Miss Caribbean U.S.A pageant here in Philadelphia. You can check out the website here: www.misscaribbean.info. It'll soon be undergoing a brand overhaul. The other project is an internship which will give me the chance to work on behalf of a non-profit company in New Jersey as they begin planning for their fundraising event in June. I'll be working in the capacity of PR point person on that one. And lastly, I'm trying to help a Caribbean internet radio show and artist management company with sponsorship and marketing. So many projects, so little time!

The bigger issue for me though is having no income come in while I put out all this time and energy doing something I admittedly love. What do you PR folk who stumble across this blog think? Should (poor, unemployed) college students take unpaid internships? Jane Smith, who blogs from across the pond in the U.K. thinks that unpaid work experience is wrong, as it's unhealthy for the long-term diversity of our country. But this article from Bankrate.com, outlines all the positives of an unpaid internship.

It's a hard call for me as I rent my own place and am responsible for all that comes with that but on the other hand...in this economy it's a chance to make contacts so that when I do get out of school it may be easier to get a full-time position.

Pro Bono work and Public Relations

From time to time I reflect on the career path that I've chosen for myself and wonder what good it will bring to humanity. Seriously. People choose to become doctors, nurses, psychologists, scientists, lawyers, judges, and all these careers help individuals in some way. Advertising and PR on the other hand can sometimes appear to be all about helping a company make a profit. Sometimes I see it that way too...
But it's not my fault that my talents lie in the ability to craft persuasive messages, in understanding pathos, logos and ethos and their effects, is it? I mean, not everyone can be a doctor!
As a soon to be college graduate, the simple solution would be to seek out companies that I view as standing for those things I believe in, those companies that in someway help people who need help. But of course this is easier said than done in an economy where beggars can't be choosers.
All PR agencies, in my humble opinion, should try to do pro bono work for small organizations on an ongoing basis. I know...there are only 8 hours in a working day (supposedly) and staff should focus on clients, but as a profession sometimes seen as the bad guys/the spin doctors...PR should do a little repuation mangement of its own sometimes.

Michael Phelps' Apologia

Now this story is interesting to me as someone academically invested in image repair and reputation management. Here's a little background on the developing story:

Swimmer Michael Phelps, who has won more gold medals than anyone in Olympic history, acknowledged Sunday he had engaged in "regrettable" behavior and shown "bad judgment" after a photo of him smoking what appears to be marijuana from a glass pipe was published in a British tabloid over the weekend.

His brief apology is below.

"I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment. I'm 23 years old, and despite the successes I have had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner that people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public -- it will not happen again."

All athletes are vulnerable to controversy, Zinedine Zidane (soccer head butter), Terrell Owens (horrible team player) and Michael Vick (dog fighting) are just some of the names we can look to. So we expect public apologies for various infractions from time to time. But sometimes these apologies backfire, mainly because the athletes or public figures reacted wrongly to the situation. Look at Richard Nixon and Watergate. Can someone say impeachment. And then at other times, the public is willing to accept an apology as appeared to be the case with Bill Clinton and the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Using Benoit's (1995) theory of image repair strategies, let's briefly look at Phelps' apology to try to determine its rhetorical effectiveness. Phelps did not attempt to either shift the blame, deny the authenticity of the photo, or claim defeasability (that the act occurred due to lack of info.)Although some would argue that he tried to use the issue of his youth and immaturity to shift blame. I would say that doing any of these things probably would've painted the athlete in a more negative light, as sources would undoubtedly have emerged from the woodwork once reporters started digging around.

I would say that the brevity of his apology was intended to try to reduce the offensiveness of the incident, in a kind of, 'I did it -I said I was sorry -now can it be over' kind of way. And it is notable that he did not attempt to attack the accusers, which he could have done given that the News of the World, where the photograph was first published, is known as a sensationalist tabloid. Phelps also engaged in a little bit of image bolstering by briefly mentioning his 'successes in the pool'. Finally in an act of mortification, Phelps admits to using bad judgement although he never directly states for what.(I'm sure in his mind though he means he used bad judgement in allowing himself to be photographed :)) He went on to promise his fans and the public that it would not happen again.

Now after that analysis, I think I would've done things slightly different if I was on Phelps' management team, in that I would've perhaps gone with a longer apology. As I stated before, the brevity of the apology makes it seem almost as if he's trying to do a quick fix. But in light of the fact that Phelps' was previously involved in another drug incident, a DUI where he was convicted and sentenced to probation back in 2004, I think a longer apology would work better. It would include an acknowledgement that he is a role model and has let down those who look up to him. All in all, I know that this mini-apology is not the last we'll hear from Phelps on this issue as his handlers figure out how to navigate the swell of public opinion which ranges from 'geez it's only marijuana' to 'any way you look at it, it's an illegal drug'.

It also remains to be seen whether or not all of his sponsors will stand with him. Two of them, Speedo and luxury watchmaker Omega have already shown their support with Omega referring to the incident as a 'non-issue' and a 'private matter'. Funny that a big company such as Omega would call this a non-issue. But what do you think? If I have any readers that is! :) Should Phelps take more corrective action?

I coined a term!

I think I've coined a term...well at least from a preliminary Google search it would seem that way :)
The term is 'static public relations'...ok it's not really a big deal but maybe it can help PR practitioners explain to difficult clients stuck on traditional media, that a broader strategy is necessary in the new web 2.0 world and that strategy would be 'dynamic public relations. The idea came about while reading a blog post over at www.lyricallava.blogspot.com, a blog maintained by Christal McIntosh, who is the founding president of the Barbados Public Relations Association. Her post was entitled Reputation 2.0 and it linked to an article on www.simply-communicate.com which discussed the error of companies attempting to manage their online reputation in a controlled manner via company websites (read static PR). Ok that's really all I wanted to say today. Maybe I should make a Wikipedia page for my new term :-D

Can a blog really replace a newspaper?

In doing some research for a class paper I came across an article on this website: www.paulgraham.com, entitled 'The Submarine'. Its premise is that PR is like a submarine lurking huge and quiet beneath the news. One particular point the author makes is that
readers subconsciously trust bloggers more than mainstream media sources because there is supposedly no agenda or motive behind that person's 'rant of the day'. Hmmmm. Interesting. Although I doubt its true.

But with all the talk about the disappearance of the physical newspaper, it does make one wonder whether readers want stories that have been strategically placed (i.e. by PR and publicity people) or strategically chosen (by newspaper editors) or if they prefer to just go to the web and find those stories that express viewpoints with which they agree (selective exposure theory). Are readers really that critical nowadays that they question the honesty and motive behind a newspaper article and so it sends them running to the internet for 'honest' writing?

If so, then PR folks should be focusing on touting the merits of online exposure to their clients and explaining to them that the traditional newspaper placement just won't cut it in this day and age. In fact, the Pew Research Center recently released information showing that the internet has surpassed all other media except television as an outlet for national and international news. *gasp* Betcha didn't see that one coming :-) But seriously, where does that leave PR? As I prepare to jump back into the workforce after school, I'm realizing that yes, PR is still about relationships but without a basic understanding of how to utilize social media tools, then you're useless to your client in this crazy world where nobody reads the paper anymore! Sorry I had to break it to you this way :)

Pondering a Rhetorical Criticism of Dancehall music...

So grad. school is back in session and of course all the three courses I'm taking this semester require term papers. But there are just so many things to write on! I've begun taking a serious interest in rhetorical analysis as a result of a very engaging Qualitative Communication class, so that's the direction I'm thinking of taking my academic career. I think it'll fit in nicely with my PR and organizational communication interests. But it's always so hard for me to select a topic to write on precisely because of all these interests. Lately I've been toying with the idea of doing a rhetorical analysis of dancehall music using a feminist approach.

Why dancehall you ask? Well firstly,although I am from the soca islands of T&T, dancehall is probably more pervasive on the twin isles than you would expect. While I believe that soca is increasingly becoming a cultural force to be reckoned with (and not just at Carnival time), dancehall music is arguably still among the most popular genres, if not the most popular genre in the nation. Secondly, B (my Jamaican boyf) has been exposing me to a lot more dancehall than I used to listen to in the past and frankly some of it is very disturbing, not even from the violence standpoint but just from the female degradation/vulgarity/coarseness standpoint. As a writer and lover of words, I enjoy lyrical wordplay probably more than alot of people but I really don't see the need for the slackness.
Thirdly, being an academic and a born and bred island girl, I deal with the struggle within me to want to wine, wuk up and get on bad when my caribbean music is playing even though I know that the musical content is reducing me to body parts for male pleasure.
And lastly, being immersed into the world of Jamaicaness over the last 4 odd years, it is impossible not to notice the differences between Jamaican men and women and those from other Caribbean islands. Does this aggression and sexual attitude stem from the music or has it produced the music??

And then you might ask me why can't I do this analysis of soca?...because at this point in my blog writings someone would probably be tempted to say that I'm a Jamaican basher :-) which I am SO not, why do you think my boyf is from that beautiful place. But my answer to the why not soca question would be that I feel closer to soca and as such, my criticism of the genre could potentially affect that, although some would argue that this is how one becomes an objective critic. Another reason is that I find dancehall music to be blatantly raw and crude (there are edited versions of the songs for radio consumption!) and lacking subtlety, whereas although soca can be construed as sexual, it makes generous use of innuendo and double entendre, so that even as a young child singing the songs, I wasn't even sure what I was singing about (which may not be a good thing either). But I guess I'm just trying to say, that soca is less objectionable to me as it generally doesn't promote 'daggering' and uses euphimisms to soften its reference to womens body parts. LOL.

So there's the argument. 'B' says I shouldn't waste my time studying dancehall music because even though he loves nothing better than his dancehall, he acknowledges that the people are 'ediats' for what they promote in the songs. This is where it comes down to what am I trying to contribute as a wannabe scholar. What would be the purpose of investing my time into this project be? It's a question only I can answer I know...but for me it all comes down to so many things to write on and not enought time!

Carnival and Jamaica...

Carnival and Jamaica...the two just don't go together in my mind.
Sometime last year, a Bajan friend and I were talking to a Jamaican acquaintance who was adamantly insisting that Jamaican carnival was bigger (not sure if she meant in size, maybe she meant most popular) than Barbados'. And that in terms of the largest Caribbean carnivals, Trinidad's was first and Jamaica's was second! The impression she was giving was that Jamaica's carnival was the real deal and Barbados' was not!

Now, even with my vague knowledge of Barbados' history I was aware that Jamaica's carnival was indeed an imported celebration much like St. Patrick's Day in the U.S. is imported from Ireland. But at the time of our mini-argument, I didn't know all the facts surrounding the origins of either carnival. And so I decided to do a little research!
According to an overview taken from the National Library of Trinidad & Tobago (www.nalis.gov.tt), T&T carnival originated in the late 1700's. At that time, white slave-owning elites (predominantly French) held balls and fancy fetes. The African and colored slaves were fobidden from partaking in the festivities but celebrated in their own way in their compounds. After Emancipation in 1838, the freed Africans took to the streets where they engaged in mocking of their former white owners by dressing up in costume and reenacting scenes from slavery.

Eventually, the festival began to included elements from the African culture like drumming and stick fighting until it evolved into what it is today. So from this account, Carnival in T&T is deeply rooted in colonial and African practices. It is anchored to the past.

Barbados' Crop Over is also tied to a tradition. The harvesting of the sugar cane crop was a time for celebration among the slave owners and the slaves and it was here that Crop Over originated. The traditional celebration was terminated in the 1940's but was revived in the 1970's by Barbados' tourism board, where it was shaped into what it is today: a celebration of history and culture.

Jamaica's Carnival, according to www.bacchanaljamaica.com, was brought to the island in the late 1989. Unlike the other two festivals mentioned before, it has no ties to any socio-historic occurence. In fact, the various articles I've found point to Jamaica's Carnival as being started by Byron Lee of soca band Byron Lee and the Dragonnaires who was impressed by the phenomenon of T&T's Carnival and subsequently decided to bring the festival to Jamaica.
From this very brief history lesson, we can see that both Barbados' and T&T Carnivals are the real deal...perhaps very commercialized today but borne out of a colonial past. Now I am not one to promote arguments with my fellow West Indians about whose music is better, etc etc. But this one argument did irk me a bit because I do sometimes get tired of the narrow-minded approach that many (not all mind you) Jamaicans take to Carnival and its culture. If you don't like it, then ok, fine! But don't go around bashing soca and carnival on one hand and then claiming your carnival to be the genuine article on the other!
As someone with a Jamaican significant other, the issue of differences between our two cultures was something we had to get over very early in our relationship. But I'm proud to say that now we both have an appreciation and respect for our countries' traditions and music. The things that makes the Caribbean great are these differences, so instead of trying to bring each other down, we should really be trying to uplift all the products of our great region. Ok..finished ranting now. :-)

So a while ago I found Twitter...

Not one to shy away from technology...I usually explore all the latest social networking tools, partly because of the field I'm in and partly because I just want to know what everybody's talking about. Well that curiosity led me to Twitter a while ago but honestly I really didn't put much effort into it. When I started writing this blog I again decided to take a look at Twitter and I must say I'm a bit impressed. So what is this Twitter, you're asking. Well it's really a very very simple concept. You sign up on www.twitter.com with a username and then you update your status. It doesn't need to be an update in the Facebook kind of ' (name) is so excited I just made macaroni pie' sense. It can be an update drawing attention to any link, any site, any issue that you want to talk about. At first I thought that that was all it was useful for, to help people maco (trini word for mind people's business). But there's a function on Twitter that allows you to search! For any word...any phrase. Ok..maybe I'm a getting a little excited, but as a student of PR I'm understanding how this could be useful for our Caribbean artistes and organizations in stimulating a dialogue and getting people interested. Of course, those are the basics of what Twitter can be used for, but with already complicated lives maybe you only need it to keep track of where your favorite artiste is going to be performing this Carnival *wink* I did a search for Machel Montano..arguably Trinidad & Tobago's most popular soca star. And it turned up two measly pages of searches. Ultimately, what I'm saying is that our Caribbean artistes need to stay connected with these communication technologies if we're to make a bigger mark on the world scene. A few days ago a guy I know posted a note on Facebook asking why Soca isn't doing well worldwide. As a PR student the question captured me, as in my own humble opinion I believe that the marketing for Soca isn't right, for many reasons. Using tools like Twitter can only help in getting people talking, getting music and issues out there. The tools are there, we just need to harness them.

The President is Black!

Today is an historic day for the United States and the world. Today Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States and the first African-American to hold the position. I didn't see the whole speech but the scene was definitely awe-inspiring. There were people as far as the eye could see. Having gone to school in DC and being familiar with the National Mall, it is still a little unbelievable that there could be that many people. I've been watching NBC coverage of the event all day. The way they've been covering this inauguration is nothing less than spectacular...it feels like every reporter is covering this story, from every possible angle and with such professionalism. You have to admire the American news machine sometimes. But I digress..the President is Black! I wish him luck.

Island Hoppin'

My February Vibe magazine came in the mail yesterday, with one of my favorite rappers, Kanye West gracing the cover. Vibe is one of the many entertainment magazines I enjoy reading because it features urban artists who are on the come up, in addition to highlighting fashion and pop culture trends. This month's cover stories include a report on the making of the Notorious movie (which I have yet to see) and Kanye's proclamation that he is rap! LOL..That one made me smile.

But another reason I read Vibe is for their occasional Caribbean mentions. And what do you know, in this month's issue they mention Trinidad & Tobago! Yup..T&T was selected as one of Vibe's February hotspots which won't empty your pockets. Of course, the mini-blurb is about Carnival, our biggest annual event which takes place this year on February 23-24. They shout out Cascade restaurant Battimamzelle (www.coblentzinn.com), infamous (think Akon) nightclub Zen (www.zen.tt) and Cara Suites (www.carahotels.com) in Claxton Bay as 'essentials' of a trip. Hmmmm.
While I am familiar with Zen and Battimamzelle, I hadn't heard of Cara Suites before and I wouldn't necessarily call it an 'essential' for T&T Carnival, as it's pretty far from the Port-of-Spain Carnival action that a tourist may want to experience. But that's a very good look for all three businesses. I wonder how Vibe chose those places.


In other Caribbean news, I know I'm kind of late on this...(blame it on the New Year and my boyf. B coming back after his vacay and the start of school) the 25th Annual Jamaican Sting was held on December 26th of 2008. Well, with a Jamaican boyfriend I can't escape the analysis of who really won the Mavado/Kartel clash, but from a publicity standpoint it's interesting to see how the two artistes are navigating the harsh public opinion. Kartel almost immediately released a diss response to Mavado's abandoning the stage at Sting following an interview the two did (separately) following their performances. While I'll reserve my judgement on an event that promotes violence and in which you can barely hear what the artistes are even saying :-) it is interesting to watch how the two artistes manage their image.

It's the start of a New Year!

It's the start of a New Year!

Haven't written anything here in while have I. Well that's because the full weight of grad school came crashing down on me between October and December. Was a tough few months but I made it out alive. Since the last entry I've done a few interesting things (well interesting to me)...first of which was attending the National Communication Association (NCA) conference in San Diego. Having never been to the West Coast it was something I'd been looking forward to and the trip didn't disappoint.

For those not in the know..the NCA is the 'oldest and largest national organization to promote communication scholarship and education' (www.natcom.org). Every year they host their convention where scholars from all over the U.S. and the world come to present the latest research in many areas of communication ranging from political communication, to PR to rhetorical communication. As a newbie I wasn't sure what to expect but was pleasantly surprised. First off, California is gorgeous!! Reminded me of being back home a bit. It was good to get away from the freezing east coast weather. Then there were the panels I attended. There were some really interesting presentations on reputation management and image repair which sparked ideas of things I'd like to do my thesis on. In fact I wrote a paper for a final on Apologia and extramarital affairs of politicians, something I hope to expand upon and submit to the NCA conference next year. As someone profesionally interested in PR and publicity, I find the reputation management line of research muy interesting.

Apart from the excitement of the conference, it's a new year! New Year means new beginnings and I have a few resolutions I'm working on, the everpresent 'lose weight' is still at the top of the list :) And then of course, classes begin anew next week. This semester I'll be taking, Journalism, Qualitative Research and Public Opinion and Attitude Change..all in all I'm looking forward to tackling this New Year head on.

Signing out for now.