I appreciate your readership. And since it’s the season of giving, I’d like to give you a couple of public relations related gifts as well:

On December 30, I’ll be hosting a FREE teleseminar called “Three Steps for Free Publicity” at two different times, so you can pick the one most convenient to you. So check your schedule and see if you are available either at:

December 30  at Noon EDT, 9 AM PDT
December 30 at 8 PM EDT, 5 PM PDT

In ‘Three Steps for Free Publicity’, sponsored exclusively by ReadyTalk, you’ll learn the strategies I use every day for myself …read more

The majority of press conferences are held for politicians, musical artists, movie stars and business moguls. It’s a great way to get your client’s name out there and do it in the most professional, respectable way possible.

However, if done at the wrong time, a press conference can seriously damage a person’s image. Make sure that this is the media event you want for your client and that he/she is prepared, because it can either go extremely well or it can be disastrous.
Reporters will only come out for a reason. The reason for the press conference better have a good motive …read more

The public generally feels they have a right to know what’s going on. Press conferences allow the media and the public to get the scoop on what’s happening. They satisfy the public’s desire for the most up-to-date inside story on an individual’s life.
So, how do you know it’s the right time to hold a press conference?
You must make sure that you are holding your press conference for the right reasons. The media considers a conference with issues of little or no merit for someone that the public could care less about a colossal waste of time. And believe me, most …read more

Journalists and bloggers are often willing to put up with a fair amount of inconvenience in the pursuit of a story, but when the inconvenience is the news conference you’re holding, you know there’s a problem.
Here’s the unimpressed commentary by hosts of the Evil Avatar Radio show/podcast, after the early morning Nintendo press conference they attended at the E3 video game industry conference.
 
Scott:  (no one seems to use last names on Evil Avatar Radio) They got us up so early, we thought, Are they going to feed us? “Yeah, they’re going to have food for you, coffee … We’re going …read more

It’s not every industry that gives away what would ordinarily be the key proprietary assets: source codes, communication protocols, content.
In the spirit of barcamps and podcamps before it, Jeremiah Owyang is offering to hold an impromptu trade-show-cum-unconference that defies the rules of trade shows. Instead of the vendors’ products and services being at the centre of things, this event would bring vendors of content management systems together to explore opportunities for common standards, joint action, even mergers and acquisitions.
All in response to his blog post about the research report he’s writing about vendors in the content management/social networking field.
Yes, this …read more

There was a time when a public speaker could count on the attention of their audience.
Blackberries, wireless laptops, and other tools mean that you’re no longer in control of the environment you’re speaking in. Are you talking to a room full of conference-goers, or to all the readers of live bloggers and folks Twittering your comments to their colleagues?
You don’t know.
The implications for speechwriters and their clients?
Speechwriter Glynn Young says speakers need to be more conversational, engaging the audience in the talk. Speechwriters need to “think of people not as an audience, but … as a community, a community …read more

I work with someone who’s convinced that conferences are inefficient ways to learn useful skills and gain knowledge.
(Sounds like the same criticism Churchill made of democracy: It’s the worst system of government, except for all the other methods.)
Of course conferences aren’t efficient! You’re lucky if you find one mind-altering session at a conference, much less two days’ worth.
Since when is efficiency what you’re looking for when doing the professional development / networking / seeking enlightenment dance?
Shouldn’t the desired result be your improved professional effectiveness? Whether that takes place in a linear, efficient fashion, or by osmosis while hanging upside …read more

Anyone who thinks the world needs yet another social networking site must have rocks in their head.
Cue the music. I guess Robert French, a public relations instructor at Auburn University has rocks in his head, because he’s set up a new meeting place for his students, other students, instructors, and public relations professionals.
It’s PR Open Mike, and there are 150 members so far. No MyRagan.com, but that’s not the intent.
It’s not that I need yet another social network to belong to, with another UserID and password. But it’s good to seen something organized around students.
I’ll be signing up and …read more

Slightly bloodied, but unbowed, Sarah Lacy won’t let a Twitterstorm get her down.
The Business Week columnist spent an uncomfortable interview/heckling session at the South by Southwest Interactive conference, but isn’t overly apologetic about the interview. Comments during and after the session on Twitter got pretty nasty.  She says:
“But don’t blame Twitter. Social technologies are neither good nor evil, though they do make it easier for people to act on their base instincts. Sometimes short blogs, texts, and e-mails are negative and mean-spirited, and often they’re kind, supportive, and compassionate. (I got far more of the latter than the former …read more

Joe Williams knows how to tell a story. So much so that business people from all over North America pay thousands of dollars to sit with him in the desert outside Tucson, seeking that which cannot be defined.
The week-long corporate training sessions bump you up against Joe’s strategic thinking toolkit, his zen-like philosophical bent, and his love of the desert and its transformational nature.
Yes, the workshop could be held in training rooms in a downtown hotel. Maybe some of the lessons would take hold. But the desert and the group learning/sharing help you leave the ordinary world behind for …read more