SxSW, I'm Back

After taking a year off from my annual SxSW trek, I decided to give the festival another shot. This year, I brought Nina, my trusty producer along with me, and we hit the road! This was my sixth SxSW and Nina's first.

In my typical Sx-fashion, I'll be sprinkling in some posts about my favorite sessions over the next few months. Until then, I want to share a few of the themes I picked up on this year. This is one of my favorite parts of SxSW, and I feel like you really have to be there going to sessions to have this experience. Some themes are obvious (like VR/AR having its very own track in the programming), other themes are more of reoccurring ideas that resonated with me personally.

Theme 1: Disruptions that will impact the future of information literacy
There was no one session that addressed this, but I was surprised how many different sessions left me thinking about the future of libraries and role in information literacy education. Here are a few of my take aways.

• We don't have an information overload, we have a noise overload. We aren't just teaching people how to find the best information anymore. In a post-truth world, we need to teach people how to filter out the trash. We can't even begin to talk about the "best" information, until we get people to care about accuracy.  
• Which is difficult because Gen Z doesn't care about source. They care about validation. I hear faculty and librarians lament the fact that "kids these days" can't tell the difference between ads and real content. That's not the problem. They can tell the difference, they just don't care. 
• The under-rated fear of AI is over trust. As virtual assistants and other AIs become more ubiquitous and we grow more dependent on them how does this impact the way we teach information literacy? GPS comes with a warning to not drive your car into a lake if it tells you to. What could a trusted AI get you to do?

Theme 2: The now and future of media consumption
I think this will always be a key theme for me at SxSW. But the things I learn surprise me every year.

• Video is still king... for now. 
• We're all about VR/AR, but the future is still unclear. Platforms are still developing. Access is still a big issue. The laws are fuzzy and just  starting to look at the space. There is a dark side and the ethics of the space are also still evolving. 
• Audio. Who knew? I feel like several years ago many were looking down on audio as a bit quaint. Thanks to AI, audio is back in a big way and it poised to become a major part of our future media offerings. While we have a big leap in knowledge and equipment needed to really enter the VR/AR/AI world, we are ready to create high-quality and engaging audio now. Thinking creatively about audio could help us bridge the gap between where we are and AI and VR. 

Watch for upcoming posts on these related sessions:

• Seven Nonobvious Trends
• Mo Reality, Mo Problems? AR/VR and the Law
• Brave New World: The Future of Theater and Tech
• Elmo's World: Updating a Classic Property for a New Generation

Theme 3: Biohacking
This theme really surprised me. The schedule had several sessions specifically about biohacking. While I didn't attend those, biohacking still crept into the sessions I attended, and it was really interesting. Daniel Pink's session on timing was quite possibly my favorite of the week. More on that later.

Watch for upcoming posts on these related sessions:

• Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing
• Active Meditation to Shift Your S*** and Increase Your EQ

Theme 4: Gen Z
I've been very interested in Gen Z research ever since I attended a really bad session about the new youth generation last summer. I've had a difficult time finding much solid research on the topic, so at SxSW I attended every session I could on Z. There are a bunch of people who are positioning themselves as experts, but they are just making stuff up. One of the absolute worst SxSW sessions I have ever seen was on Gen Z (and it was actually an encore session). Fortunately, there are people doing real research. They will readily admit that it is evolving because Z is still so young, but trends are emerging.

Watch for an upcoming post on the related session: How Gen Z will Change the Workplace

Theme 5: Innovation is the buzzword
It might seem obvious to list innovation as a SxSW theme, but this year seemed to tackle the subject with more intention than previous years. Nina and I are offering our co-workers a share session on our SxSW experience, and we opted to focus solely on the innovation sessions. There is so much to say on these, it will need to wait for future posts.

Watch for upcoming posts on these related sessions:

• Culture Shock: How Company Policy Hinders Innovation
• Innovating the Future with Culture Track
• How NASA and LEGO Embrace Open Innovation
• Three Innovation Superpowers
• Leading for a Culture of Innovation and Creativity

Rise of the Social Employee with Sarah Pedersen

Presenter: Sarah Pedersen, Director of Customer Success for the Americas, Hearsay Social

I was interested in this talk because for years I've been hoping to tap into the ambassador potential of my organization's employees. I honestly think there are a lot of employees who are passionate about our organization, would love to be ambassadors in any way they can, but they don't quite make the connection in the social media space. 

Social listening is great and certainly gives us useful information, but how to do I get my coworkers to understand the power and influence they have and encourage them (and teach them how) to leverage that on our behalf?

Here are a few of my key take-aways from Pedersen's talk:

In your company you have:

• Brand Advocates-they are out there talking about you already
• Social Listeners-how do we let them share their knowledge internally
• Detractors-how you listen/deal with these employees is important
• Opt-Outs- we can't force people to have social media, that's ok, they do other important jobs.

This idea really clicked with me. I can totally see this at play in our organization. I think I had internalized this to a point, but how can we take this frame and make it a more formalized part of both our internal and external communications?

Pedersen also talked about the History of Social Media using the premise that social actually began with the launch of the postage service. Long before the technology, we had a longing to connect with others and this is the root of all social media. 

See all my SxSW recaps on the tag SxSW.

SxSW 2015: the sessions that got away

SxSW is always crammed pack with so much great stuff, I have a hard time deciding what to attend. Sometimes, the crowds decide for me. I was locked out of more than one session at the last festival.

I'm looking forward to sharing some the take-aways from the sessions I did attend, but for perspective on the scope of SxSW, here a list of the session I wanted to see, but didn't get to...

• Simple Ways to Massively Increase Your Content #content123
• Neuroplasticity and Tech: Why Brands Have to Change #neurobrand
• New Media Ethics: Journalism in the Age of GIFs #newethics
• The Art and Science of Shareability #shareable
• Do You Know the ROI of WOM? Do You Want To? #ROIofWOM
• The Emperor’s New Wearables #SXstyle
• How to Rock SXSW in 4 Hours #sxsw #timferriss
  
  
• NASA New Initiatives in Imagery for Public Use
• Content Marketing vs Don Draper: The End Of Ads #MPost
• Visual Storytelling: The Power of Design + Data #TDSXSW
• UX and The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle #Heisenberg
• Behind the Social at PBS' Largest Content Provider #WGBHSocial
• How SciFi Drives Marketing In the Exponential Age #sxsw #innovate
• Brand and Deliver: Creating Custom Branded Content #sxsw #branded
• Beyond BFFs: Using Texting to Promote Empathy #T2C
• Picturing Your Big Ideas
  
  
• The Quantified Us
• How the Google App Finds Answers Before You Search
• Digital Disruption: Do or Die
• Paid Editing of Wikipedia: Getting Past "Gotcha"
• Storytelling For Dummies: Create a Lasting Brand
• The Road to Character
  
  
• Art and Experience: A Future for Creativity
• Are You in a Social Media Experiment?
• Mobile Beyond Marketing: The Era of UnAdvertising
• Personalization for the People
• Harvard Business Review On: How to Hire Superstars
• I Made 180 Websites in 180 Days
• Wearable Drones: High-Flying Fashion
• This Is Your Brain On Visual Data
• Identity In the Future Of Embeddables and Wearables
• Think Outside the Font: How Typefaces Influence
• How CNN and The New York Times Moderate Comments
• Facebook, Twitter and The Future of Free Speech
• Image Creation and Sharing: Practice vs Policy
• The Medium Is the Deliverable
• Princess Reema’s Mission to Empower Saudi Women
  
  
• Are Brands Sabotaging Their Own Content?
• Managing a Shit Storm and Restoring Your Brand
• Beyond Marketing: How Curation Will Work for You

My First Uber

SxSW is all about new things and serendipity. Interesting conversations with complete strangers yield surprising new connections and discoveries. On the last day, I "discovered" Uber.

Of course, I'd heard of Uber, but I'd never had a reason or even the opportunity to try it. A random chat with the guys waiting for the shuttle found its way to the topic of Uber. Our fellow shuttler was a big fan and said he'd found himself regularly skipping the shuttle wait and just getting an Uber ride.

He was singing the praises of Uber, demoing the app, touting all its great features, and then suggested, "Hey, let's just take it. It's on me." What did we have to lose?

The app showed five Uber drivers near us. Our self-appointed Uber ambassador clicked a button and our ride was on the way. We saw the driver's name and car description along with an ETA. Three minutes later (no lie!) our ride was there.

The car was spotless and our driver seemed way safer than any cabbie I've ridden with. The final tab was $13.50. We hopped out, then rated the driver and paid through the app. No tipping and no card or cash needed. Bonus: similar cab rides were running folks $30.

My initial understanding of Uber basically being AirBnB for rides was spot on, and my first impression was very favorable. I'll definitely be downloading the app and looking for good opportunities to try it again, but only when I have my husband or another trusted rider in tow.  

Tweet Like a Roman with Tom Standage

Presenter: Tom Standage, Digital Editor, The Economist
Hashtag: #RomanTweet

This was one of the SxSW "Future 15" sessions, which I love as a presentation format. Normal sessions are one hour, but Future 15s pack four sessions into an hour session. It forces speakers to get to the best information quickly. If a session turns out to be less than stellar, you only have to wait for 15 minutes. If the session are great (and usually they are) you get four times the sessions in one sitting.

"Tweet Like a Roman" wasn't as professionally educational as some, but it was super fun and very interesting. Standage spent his 15 minutes explaining how early communication was actually social media. For example, Romans depended on social distribution of media. They used abbreviations to keep messages short. They used tablet-like devices to record messages. They also used social connections to get ahead.

Standage gave a TEDx talk very similar to his SxSW presentation. You can watch him pack an hour's worth of information into 16 minutes below. 

Compelling Image in the Age of Social Media: a Workshop

The number of workshops offered at this year's SxSW was greatly expanded. These hands-on sessions tended to span two or more time slots. It's hard enough to choose sessions, so to give up multiple time slots, a workshop needs to be pretty darn special. I was glad I gave up two and half hours of my first afternoon for Marty Coleman's photo mini-class.

The name of the session was a bit misleading. We talked very little about social media. It was actually a basic photography class using only smartphones.

The phone you carry around everyday has a better camera on it than any digital camera we had access to 10 years ago, but for some reason, many people don't trust their phone cameras. I don't know if early cell cameras tainted their view, or if they just haven't mastered holding the tiny panel still while tapping the screen.

In my office, we're already using our smartphones to capture a lot of the images we share on the Library's accounts. The intern team is particularly good at this. They'll see something interesting while they are walking into work, snap a photo with their phone and then upload when they get into the office. This workshop helped me realize that with a little instruction and a little motivation, all our employees could be contributing great images for our accounts.

If you've ever taken a basic photography class most of the lighting and composition techniques you learned will apply to smartphone images. Get good front lighting, look for interesting angles, and play attention to your composition.

We did a handful of quick photo exercises, but my favorite was looking for compelling images of empty spaces. If you've ever tried to put together a quote on photo, you'll appreciate this one. These popular social media postings work best when the majority of the picture provides a neutral canvas for your words.

Hashtags: #sxsw #compelling

Austin Kleon Keynote

The keynotes at SxSW tend to be big picture, fairly basic and more on the inspirational versus informational side. This was true of Austin Kleon's opening keynote. For me one of the best things to come from this talk was discovering Austin's site AustinKleon.com.

Kleon talked about the process of creativity and the importance of sharing not just the finished product but also the work that got us there. He claims that opening up and sharing your process brings you closer to an audience, adds value to your work, and makes you better at what you do.

He had a great insight for sharing behavior online. He said, when you share other people's work treat it with the same amount of respect you would treat your own work. I really like this concept, and it seems like a nice frame to promote ethical behavior online.

Hashtags: #showURwork

Data, Storytelling and Breaking Through the Noise, SxSW 2013 recap

With information overload, how does your brand break through the noise? How do you earn trust in a fragmented 24/7 media world? Storytelling can reset legacy brands, launch unknown brands and reach consumers in ways that go beyond the noise. Unfortunately, most brands will suck at storytelling because they won't do what good storytelling requires. Stories have conflict and villains, winners and losers. They have personality and flaws, great highs and severe lows. And today, stories are supported and in some cases driven by data. Whether your brand is B2C or B2B, data can help shape the story you want to tell.

In this session, the panel explored how data driven stories can have significant impact for connecting with the audiences you want to reach.

This was one of my favorite sessions at the 2013 SxSW. You can read more about it at Storify.

Hashtags: #BrandStory

Examples

• Coca-Cola is using the site to turn visitors in super fans and ambassadors. The Coke rep claimed that "Journey" tells stories. It's not a shill for Coke. They run no advertising, not even Coke ads.  
• Target produces behind the scenes video, Bull's Eye View, to feed the "infolust." The Target rep stressed that you need support from the top because it is a commitment to continue producing and providing access. You don't want to lose audience and hurt the brand. 

Take Aways & Library Applications:

• Panelist introduced the idea of an "Expression Index." For example, EI= [Views x 1] + [Facebook Likes x 4] + [Comments x Y] + etc. Can we examine our expression index? What are we already doing in this vein? What else could we do?
• Use data to decide which stories to tell. Ask "will people share this?" That is your filter.
  At the Library, we have conversations about share-ability in our content development. We have some data we base this conversations on. How often do we need to be collecting?
• A visit is not a visit. What do they do there? How many stories do they view? How long are they on site? How much do they share?

Productivity, Scaling Yourself: SxSW 2013

If more is more, how do we keep up? Sooner or later something has to give. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, email, texts, news, and on and on. Some days it seems a bit too much. When we need a vacation just for an excuse to "unplug" maybe there is a better way.

Scott Hanselman explored the essence of what it means to be truly productive and how to scale your life online.

Hashtags: #scaleyou

Here are my take aways from the session. Each one is simultaneously so easy and so hard.

• Don't be an "AskHole," someone who always ask for advice, but doesn't take it. 
• Triage the inbox of your life. What's beyond help? Cut it loose. 
• What are 3 things you can get done today, week, year, which will make you feel awesome. 
• Set an appointment to set these goals and review these goals 
• Being busy is a form of laziness. Being "busy" doesn't mean you are getting things done. 
• Challenge-Don't check email first thing. Do work first thing 
• It's not your time that is important, it's your attention.

Suggested Readings: http://www.hanselman.com/blog/

10 Tips from Kim Jong-Il About Interactive Docs: SxSW 2013

I was attending everything I could on video this year because the Library had recently launched our video initiative. I had never heard of an interactive documentary, but this one blew me away when I learn about it. 

"The Defector" documents the struggle of those fleeing North Korea. The film is accompanied by an online video game (for lack of a better term) where you are the defector, and you have to make choices to get you and your family across the border. It's a very scary build your own adventure.

For educators who like to bring documentaries into the classroom, this adds a whole new component to to engage audiences (i.e. students) with the content. 

Hashtags: @thedefectormov

Take Aways:

• Interactive Documentaries add an online interactive component to reinforce the message of the documentary. 
• Tip #1-Great ideology creates great times: Docs are niche market. Interactive docs broaden that market. 
• Tip #2 Look at things: What have other people done? 
• Tip #3-Make Movies by Any Means Possible 
• Tip #4-A man who dreads trials and difficulties cannot become a revolutionary 
• Tip #5-Before you launch, test it: Have your project viewed by fresh eyes. Use feedback to adjust what you are doing. Build in the beta time. 
• Tip #6-Use propaganda: Talk about it early and often. 

Library Applications:

• With our new video offerings, are there short doc opportunities? Can we think about any of our content in this way? 
• Are there any interactive documentaries that would be good resources for instruction? What can we do to make those available? 

Suggested Readings:

• http://blog.thedefectormovie.com/ 
• thefwa.com 
• fastcocreate.com 
• doclab.org 

Suggested Tools: interactive.thedefectormovie.com

The Smile Epidemic: SxSW 2013

This was definitely the happiest session at SxSW. The Smile Epidemic session discussed their science-based social sharing tool that increases levels of happiness in individuals and organizations. At first I thought it was going to be a sales pitch. While they do conduct organizational training, the session focused on the research and free services. So, I guess it was actually a really really well-done sales pitch.

The concept: 1. Find something in your day that made you smile. 2. Use the app to take a photo 3. Write down what makes you smile on the digital sticky note 4. Post to the site and share on social media. Although the activity is simple, the impact has a deeper impact; executives claim improved morale, more productivity; students admit they feel more socially supported, and individuals report that they are simply, happier.

Hashtags: #sxswsmiles

Take Aways:

• We aren't happy when we get rid of problems, we are happy when we do what we are good at. 
• Lasado line-6:1 positive to neg organizational interactions gets the most done; 13:1 positive to neg interaction is not productive. 
• Use the negative interactions sparingly and effectively on things that impact organizational success. 
• Psychological Capital: Hope, Self-efficacy, social/emotion intelligence, signature strengths (hire for strengths your org needs), resiliency (bounce back from disappointment), optimism 

Library Applications:

• Happy employees has fewer sick days, are more productive (+31%) and creative, and stay with the organization longer. 
• We have wellness initiatives, how do these incorporate psychological well being? 
• Add reporting to team meeting: what made you happy, what did you learn. Reporting trains our brain to collect this info. 

Suggested Readings: The Smile Epidemic blog

SxSW 2013 Belated Recap

I am already making plans for SxSw 2014, and it occurs to me I haven't posted any session recaps from this year's festival. In an effort to secure support to attend again, my co-worker and I prepared a report for our Dean about the sessions we attended, what we learned and how it applied to the Library. The final report was 66 pages long. That's a lot of blog posts.

To introduce the upcoming recaps, I thought I'd post a few videos to demonstrate why I keep going back to SxSW, even though it's insanely expensive, overcrowded, and a bit full of its self.

1. Live keynote from amazing speakers you didn't even know you wanted to hear. 

In 2013, I heard Elon Musk (among others). Haven't heard of him? Me either. Evidently, he is the guy Tony Stark (Ironman) is based on. I heard the real life Ironman. Wahh?

2. Demos of the Next Big Thing

What will everyone be talking about in social media/technology this year? Whatever it is, they are probably planning to demo it at SxSw.

3. Ideas, Ideas, Ideas

SxSW is information overload. Between sessions, demos, trade show, events, and chats with random strangers I always come back with so inspiration for things to read, do and especially to think about.

4. Of Course, the Sessions

That's coming up next. 

Dance Dares! A Finals Week Gift

Finals week on a college campus can be a stressful time for everyone. So each semester, we try to come up with something fun we can offer the students. Something that says, "Here, take a quick break and laugh at us being stupid. And, maybe if you feel like it, take a moment to be stupid with us."

This fall we decided to use our new video initiative and give the gift of dance dares. I think the funniest part is the fact that many of the employees who are getting dance dared are talking about this project as it happens to them.

This is what I do for a living. While shooting, a student from another department stopped me and asked, "Um, what's your job here?" It's awesome that's what it is.

View on Youtube

Effective SM Presence in Higher Ed

3:30 pm, Friday, March 9, 2012
#highedsoc

SxSW has several styles of presentations. This session was the first "Core Conversation" I attended. A core conversation is just what it sounds like. The moderators pick a topic, give some set up and lead a discussion with whomever shows up.

This session was a little short on set up and the questions were a bit basic for a really exciting discussion. The one question I thought had real potential, no one tackled. I was really cool to get in the same room with so many higher ed folks, though. I actually sat down and had some great talks with several of them afterward.

Questions posed:

• What are the unique challenges of creating an integrated social media presence in a higher education institution?
  The biggest challenge (in my opinion) for OSU seemed echoed by others there. Higher Ed is set up to work in silos. It's very departmentalized and it's easy to get tunnel vision.
  
• How do you get senior leadership as well as members of your department on board?
  I've had no problem getting my leadership on board. Maybe I'm lucky in that way. I think it helps that OSU puts such a focus on creativity and innovation. If I want to try a new way of doing things, it's pretty easy to get approval as long as I can justify why I want to try it. Being at a university, "It's an experiment and I want to learn X..." is often a valid justification.
  
• How do you get colleges and divisions and departments working together?
  It's funny, but those who answered this question (and it's true for OSU, too) said the best SM collaboration happens off line. Getting people in a room and talking out strategy, tactics and timelines is the best way to get it together.
  
• What are the best social media tactics to reach prospective students?
  No one touched this, and I think it is unanswerable on the scale we were discussing. I think the answer is, "It depends." It depends on who your prospective students are, where they are, how old they are (are they prospective at age 10? 15? 17?), and when it is (next year's answer will be different than last year's answer. It's a moving target.)
  
• What are the innovative things universities are doing with social media?
  This is where things could have gotten really interesting, but no one touched this question. In a way I feel like I'm too close to the issue to answer it. What I'm doing myself never seems all that innovative until someone points out I'm doing something no one else is doing yet. What do you think? What have you seen that innovative in higher ed social media?
  

A Brand Fights Back through Social Media

Part 2: Example

2 pm, Friday, March 09, 2012
#authenticbrands

The focus of Branding without Bullshit was how to social media proof your brand. How do you maintain your brand reputation and identity when anyone can launch a social media attack on you. Well, sometimes the tables turn and brands fight back using those same social media tools.

When the Alamo Drafthouse kicked out a movie theater texter, the outraged patron called to rip into them. Instead of apologizing or explaining or getting defensive, the Drafthouse took her voicemail rant and turned it into a PSA that runs prior to their screenings. The video went viral and garnered significant traditional media attention, as well.

This video is uncensored and NSFW. You've been warned.

What do you think of this move? Brave? Stupid? Awesome? All of the above?

Branding without Bullshit: Building Social Media Proof Brands

Part 1: Take Aways

SxSW: 2 pm, Friday, March 9, 2012
#authenticbrands

From the start I was skeptical. The moderator opened by claiming “Austin is the home of authentic.” I actually laughed out loud. Austin is certainly the home of bullshit, but it is without a doubt the most un-authentic place I’ve ever visited.

Then she proceeded to open the panel with the question: how do you define authentic? Not surprisingly the answers were pretty straightforward. I have a dictionary thanks.

Moderator aside, the session was actually really great. We heard from four panelists who represented Yeti Coolers, the Alamo Drafthouse, Shiner and more. The panelists discussed the brands they represented and how they work to both listen and respond to social feedback while remaining true to their brands and the brands’ stories.

Panelist Bobby Johns, made the excellent point: “Don’t talk about how cool you are. Just be cool. Once you talk about it, you’re not cool anymore.” (Take note, Austin.) That’s not to say of course, that you don’t want other people talking about how cool you are. That’s awesome, but leave that work to your fans.

But what about when they aren’t fans? Johns also advised, “Weed out the bullshit that comes at you through social media. Don’t pander to the customer if it is not true to your brand.” The group talked about acknowledging negative comments and off-brand suggestions, but knowing your brand and resisting a public push to be something you’re not. That’s one way brands lose their authenticity.

The session focused on maintaining your authenticity. It can be easy to lose it, especially in today’s social media world. The panel ended on this question: “Can you bring it back once a brand has lost authenticity?” What brands do you think are “unauthentic” and have you ever seen a brand come back from it?

A Newbie at SxSW

My first South by Southwest Interactive conference is quickly coming to a close. Right now, you’re probably really jealous or you’re scratching your head asking, “What’s South by Southwest.”

I easily have a month’s worth of blog posts on all the awesome sessions I’ve attended, but I thought I kick off the SxSW content with my reflections as a SxSW newbie.

• The sessions I thought would be most relevant to work often weren’t. The sessions I thought would just be fun almost all turned out to be incredibly relevant to work. The sessions I thought would be both were. Fun learning is the best learning, and I got lots of it here.
• I expected SxSW to be full of pompous self-promoting posers selling their G+ (social media gadgety that no one cares about). Maybe it was the sessions I picked, but jerky jerks were few and far between. I almost exclusively met really awesome, genuine, friendly people who were just as excited to be here to learn as I was.
• Launches are awesome, and I feel so lucky to have stumbled into one. More on that later.
• SxSW is like a mini nation that takes over downtown Austin. I feel like I should have brought my passport. I expected a bit of local resentment, but Austin seems happy and welcoming. As it should be, SxSW pours $6M+ into the Austin economy.

Lessons Learned

• Evidently, we call it “South By.” Once here, you are officially too cool to finish the names of things.
• Don’t bother chasing the free food and drinks; it’s not worth it. When it happens, it’s a nice surprise. Maybe the seasoned participants are better at working this into the schedule than I was, but I just wanted to take it all in, not wait in a two-block line for a taco.
• Everything you know about other conferences goes double: plan, but go with flow; take time to meet people; and wear comfy shoes. Who are these crazies in stilettos? They are more woman than me evidently, and being Austin, they probably weren’t all women.

So which category did you fall into, jealous or “South by wha…?”

My Mixed Reaction to UK PR Stunt

If the blog decides to hate this embed, you can view it via YouTube

I love a good PR stunt, a fact I occasionally document here on the blog. It's difficult to plan a good one, one that goes far enough to get attention and not be lame, but not so far that you damage your reputation by being unprofessional. To make matters more complicated, everyone draws that line in a different place.

That brings me to the mixed reaction I have over the PR stunt above. I read about this in PR Daily. Basically, PR pro, Charlotte Horsfall, posted a video to the company's YouTube channel begging a reporter to feature her client MyVoucherCodes Mobile App. The media didn't seem impressed, tweeting things such as "Clearly only one way I can respond to @charlotteyeti's plea. Video camera is out..." and "@KieranAlger Whatever you do don't feature @CharlotteYeti's client."

My initial reaction: Posting a video plea seems really unprofessional, and if you aren't getting coverage, the better tactic seems to be to ask yourself why. Then I watched the video, and maybe I was wrong about it. She is obviously poking fun at herself, it's not a serious grovel. And I'm left wondering if the fuss over her actions will actually land her client considerable coverage (I certainly opted to give them plenty of linky-love in my description).

Some are applauding the stunt, the first comment on the YouTube video suggests this is award-worthy. Still, was it worth it? When this little stunt blows over, she is going to be left trying to pitch to same the reporters who were slamming her actions on twitter. I think the real test of success lies in whether she burnt any bridges with the media she depends on to get her job done.

What do you think, thumbs up, thumbs down? Charlotte, if you're reading, I'd love to hear your personal take on it.

My Next Tweet

One of my favorite bloggers, The Bloggess, had a hilarious post about this service called That can be my next tweet. Of course the Bloggess's next tweets were super funny, and actually sounded remarkably like things she would tweet. Mine? Well...

8:30 photo shoot on society? On my ap wish list now? OKState Comm is here. (at least it's school spirited)

Just updated United Way thermometer, $55.4K raised and very soggy softball. Go Systems Dept. (Makes no sense, but does strangely do sound like something I would tweet)

Boone Pickens Appreciation Day in disguise as greatest event I've ever seen. (I swear I did not make that up.)

Carrot/stick motivators work in less than 43 min. Totally a sell out! Debating my RSS feed. (Obviously, My Next Tweet expects me to be live tweeting somewhere)

OMG there's an attempt to stay up to buy a great time! John just calling it the gnome! (Ok, that just sound too personal to tweet)

April Fool's

April Fool's Day snook up on me, as does every notable event that occurs on the first of the month. I have to admit, once I realized it was April Fool's Day, I was kind of hoping to see a prank, even if I had to be the target.

Our office is fairly casual, at least as far as administrative offices go. A practical joke here and there, especially on April Fool's, isn't unheard of. I've seen offices filled with Styrofoam peanuts and office supplies gift wrapped. But today was pretty uneventful.

Then Linked in came through for me.
Aw, thanks guys. I feel loved now.

Did you see any good April Fool's gags? If so, were they at work and what do you think is an appropriate at work gag? Is there such a thing?