Bits & Pieces
Following
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Shared this photo on my work’s FB page today. Knowing that there is some controversy about royals in general, I braced myself for potential negative comments, but hoped there wouldn’t be any.
“Geez, Will - get a heart” — This lady’s comment - in response to an anti-royalist comment - won the Internet for me today!
But then, just around midnight, the last comment came in… take a look. Ugh. Do I delete, ignore, respond…?!?
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When Obama endorsed marriage equality…
… I peaced out for a bit to go donate to the President’s campaign.
You know, here. GO.
When I saw this, I went and made my first EVER contribution to a political campaign.
“Same-sex couples should be able to get married.” - President Barack Obama
Shall I say it again? Here. GO.
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In case you’re a graduate of one of the many colleges in North Carolina and were feeling embarrassed. (via Buzzfeed)
Well, now we know why Santorum doesn’t want you to go to college….
Well, that says a lot.
Yup, this says a lot.
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Twin Cities Daily Planet: A letter to the PR pros
I’m a “Communications Person slash PR Pro” but I’d like to think I’m actually a pretty nice and considerate one… so I found this pretty amusing. I also love getting the media’s perspective on what folks in my profession do, so thanks, Sheila, for this insight! :)
The one thing I DON’T get is why it’s such a crime to ask what a reporter’s deadline is.
Don’t get me wrong - as part of my job in communications, I’m also the editor of my organization’s newsletter, so I know all about “deadlines” and just how flexible they can/must be. (The deadline is ideally x in order for my work to be most efficient, but y is the “drop-dead” deadline for you to submit finalized details - or, gulp, a new even - before I go to print.)
However, from a PR standpoint, I’ve always thought—and, in fact, been taught by the PR pros that are more “pro” than me—that asking a reporter about his/her deadline is the POLITE thing to do. Knowing a reporter’s deadline helps me decide whether I need to drop everything I’m doing right now (and believe me, I have my plate full as it is) and whip together whatever it is they need in the next however much time it takes, or whether I have a day or two to do a better job of pulling together the information/photos/interview requested and thus producing a better end result.
Then again, in my position I am often responding to media inquiries that are not responses to pitches (in which case, of course I’d better be prepared to get a reporter what she or he needs right away!), but rather come out of the blue - not directly in response to a pitch. My organization is complex, not to mention nonprofit, so I have to always be ready to field quite a wide variety of media inquiries. Sometimes, it takes a bit of time to respond well, and it’s helpful to know exactly how much time my stretched-to-the-limits-self has to respond.
Yes, I am the gatekeeper, no, you can’t have direct access to my CEO whenever, yes I want to know “what your story is” or at least what your angle is so that I can prep my spokesperson, and yes, I sometimes “sit in” on interviews—but mostly because my CEO is a great communicator and because I want to monitor how what he actually says is being interpreted by the media.
In sum, a little bit of empathy on both sides never hurts, right?
Dear communications person,
Why do I have to deal with you? You clog up my inbox with press releases I don’t care about, and then when I want to write a story, you are the gatekeeper that controls the information that I need. You won’t be quoted, but in order to speak with the person that can…
(Source: tcdailyplanet.net)
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Phone Conversations with My Mother
Usually go something like this…
“Do you really still not own a TV?” No, Mom, I haven’t had a TV in like 12 years. Just because you haven’t asked me this same question in a whole two months doesn’t mean I might suddenly have changed my mind about living without a TV. (She then proceeds to tell me about each of her five working TVs… where they’re located in her house, how big they are, and where she got them from. Obviously, a great conversation topic to really bond with me over.)
“So, if I wanted to make something for Easter dinner that’s not ham [which I don’t eat] and not salmon [which I do eat, but she doesn’t], what should I make that you would eat? What DO you eat for main entrees?” Really, it’s pointless to try to explain what I DO eat because her concept of a meal is: meat + potato/starch side + vegetable. If she doesn’t want to make fish, then a vegetarian pasta or rice dish (Indian, Thai etc) or other Jenn-friendly meal is going to be way too much of a stretch.
“Do you ever go to the library? Are there libraries in Minneapolis besides the big one downtown?” Followed by a monologue about how she recently checked out a CD by Minneapolis band Tapes ‘n’ Tapes, listened to two tracks but doesn’t really “get” it, and “What kind of genre would you say they are anyways? Indie rock or whatever?” (Okay, I’ll give her some credit here. She knows I like “indie” music.)
“I really like going to the library because then I can check out CDs, burn a copy, and then they’re my own.” Mom, you do realize that’s illegal, don’t you? Not exactly something you want to brag about… “Well, so, if you don’t listen to CDs, you listen to music on… your iPod, then? So, like, do you have to pay for music that way?” Yes, Mom. Generally you do need to pay for music. What do you think you’re paying for when you buy a CD? The plastic it takes to manufacture it?
“So, when you go out, do you go to concerts or do you just go out to hear live bands?” I’m not entirely sure what she thinks the difference is.
“It’s really fun to get these weekly Facebook email updates. Then I can see what you’re up to. Like when you met that Swedish couple at the bar in Minneapolis and talked to them.” Mom, that was like three months ago!
This very conversation may or may not just have happened earlier this afternoon.
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Facebook Rant
So, I think it’s high time to get over the “I saw you post something about that on Facebook but I’m going to pretend I didn’t see it because I’m all self-conscious about the fact that you might think I’m stalking you if I mention it” issue that seems to afflict some - perhaps only the less savvy - Facebook users.
Seriously. If I posted about it, and I’m your friend on Facebook, I meant for you to see it. So don’t apologize for having already read it on Facebook if/when I bring it up. Don’t act ashamed to admit you learned something about me on Facebook. Don’t pretend you don’t know where I’m going on vacation when you actually do.
Today I had lunch with my Dad, who - for the record - is not on Facebook, but who might as well be because his wife is. He was like, “So what’s new?” and I told him that I’m going on vacation next week. He asked me where, and I told him Puerto Rico. “Oh, really?” he said. Conversation continued for a little while, and towards the end of talking about my upcoming vacation, my dad was like “Yeah, actually I think I did know you were going to Puerto Rico because Anne had seen something about it on Facebook.”
Really?
I mean, in that unspoken set of rules that make up Facebook etiquette, there are always lines you shouldn’t cross. If I don’t know you all that well and you’ve been stalking photos of me from like five years ago, you might just want to keep that to yourself or it could get awkward.
But seriously. Facebook has become a part of our daily lives, most of us are on it, and it’s here to stay. Why pretend otherwise? Facebook hasn’t become a substitute for quality, in-person conversation; in my opinion, it’s simply enhanced it.
