Over the past few years I have been a vocal and vigorous supporter of the Social Media Release (SMR) for one simple reason – it represented a new and promising opportunity to renew the dialog around improving the foundation for the communication of news, information, and events that left most immune to its overdue potential. It wasn’t a new tool to package the useless and hollow marketing “speak” that is prevalent in so many releases today. It was and is…
Anheuser-Busch Debuts AB-Extras.com; Fuses PR with Social Media to Humanize Stories and Ads
Disclosure: I am collaborating with Anheuser-Busch on the creation and release of AB-Extras.com Today Anheuser-Busch announced AB-Extras.com – a social media destination for Bud fans 21 years of age and older to reveal the human element and stories behind the ads that will premier during the Big Game. AB-Extras.com is a unique social platform for the internal PR team at Anheuser-Busch to also work more effectively with traditional and digital press and bloggers using the tools and services that they…
SEC To Recognize Corporate Blogs as Public Disclosure, What This Means for Wires and Press Releases
Note: This post originally ran on TechCrunch, “SEC To Recognize Corporate Blogs as Public Disclosure. Can We Now Kill the Press Release?” Here’s the director’s cut, “SEC To Recognize Corporate Blogs as Public Disclosure, What This Means for Wires and Press Releases” For several years, Sun CEO, Jonathan Schwartz has lobbied the SEC to allow disclosure of financial information through corporate blogs. In a landmark announcement, it seems that Mr. Schwartz may indeed get his wish, and with it, a…
The Evolution of Press Releases
Thank you to Erick Schonfeld and Michael Arrington for giving me the opportunity share my vision, and experience, on the evolution of the press release on TechCrunch. There’s certainly no shortage of opinions on where we are and where we need to be in order to improve the working relationships between PR and bloggers, journalists, and analysts and the brands we ultimately represent – including our own. There are just better ways to share information, and hopefully, this post helps…
IABC, SNCR Take Lead in Standardization of Social Media Release
Today, along with Shel Holtz, Chris Heuer, Todd Defren, Shannon Whitley, and the Society of New Communications Research (SNCR), we are officially announcing that the IABC will take a leadership role in the Social Media Release Workgroup. Through cooperation with IABC and SNCR, the Workgroup receives an incredible boost in resources and visibility to help define real world standards and provide usable and helpful resources for PR professionals to understand the intentions and role of SMRs and how to create…
Learn, Discuss, Debate The Social Media Press Release Live on March 4, 2008
There is certainly no shortage of discussions related to the Social Media Release. It’s like that old saying. For every one person who speaks up, you can bet that it represents a greater collective of sentiment within the public. So, for every post or article on the Social Media Release, you can bet that there are countless PR veterans, emerging professionals, and students are who are intrigued, confused, supportive, or against the notion of a new platform for sharing, distributing,…
Discussing the Social Media Release
I recently had the opportunity to discuss the Social Media Release with Shel Holtz for IABC‘s official podcast, Cafe2Go. As Shel asks, “Why are we talking about the Social Media Release on Cafe2Go?” The short answer is that the IABC is assuming a role in the development of SMR standards. An official announcement is slated for mid-week next week that will go into more detail. I also was invited by Valerie Combs and Sandra Ponce De Leon of BuzzLogic to…
Social Media Releases In Action
I recently ran “The Definitive Guide to Social Media Releases,” which has received some great feedback. Thank you everyone! Even though it’s a blog post, it doesn’t mean that its shelf life is merely limited to the brief period of time in between new posts. I’d like it to live on and evolve over time as we learn more about SMRs. And, you’re a big part of that evolution. I was planning on letting that post sit up there for…
The Definitive Guide to Social Media Releases
The Social Media Release is back in the spotlight once again and its sparking conversations, inspiring experiments, and raising confusion along the way. This time, intent and distribution take center stage. Good friends Todd Defren and Christopher Lynn took the time to research how wire services are positioning their products for Social Media. Todd posted the results here. Great work guys! Basically, when you call your local representative, you’re presented with the following capabilities. Now, whether these stats are accurate,…
The Evolution of Social Media Releases
The conversation about Social Media Releases (SMRs) as well as the tools to create them continue – albeit slowly. Each time someone introduces something new, we place a new stake in the ground and reignite an important conversation. Maggie Fox released a new Social Media service called Digital Snippits(tm). Congratulations Maggie, it’s a very polished and useful solution that will help your clients expand their options when running proactive communications campaigns. And, I’m being genuine when I say that Maggie…
