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Poor poor pitiful press release…

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A few more thoughts on the press release format put forward by the folks at SHIFT (I spelled it right for you this time Todd.)

Some bloggers got their knickers in a twist about the proposed format, dumping on the SHIFT guys for a stupid idea and labelling the PR bloggers who gave them props for trying something new pretty much as idiots. That’s not just missing the point, that’s missing all the points.

I don’t think anyone saw this as THE new format. It was a good effort to incorporate new media tools into a  press release format. Good for them for giving it a try. Even better if  their clients and prospective clients go for it.

At least, that was my opinion and why I gave them a well done (with but’s)..

The job of the press release is to answer the basic questions: who what where when why and usually how. Quickly. There is no way that is ever going to be elegant. As my readers know, I don’t have a problem with the current form of the press release, or this one either, because the press release is not the important thing. It’s just a tool.

It is the story and the conversation that are important. We need to tell good newsworthy stories, in the right way to the right people at the right time. Sometimes the right person for a story is a journalist, sometimes it is a blogger and sometimes it is a newswire for basic compliance with reporting requirements. Sometimes, oftentimes, all three. And never forget, we always have to share that same news with our customers. So, four audiences for our news, each of which will want it delivered in a slightly different way. If tagging and del.icio.us or flickr or whatever other social media tool you choose can help you pull the material together to satisfy each of those groups quickly and efficiently, go for it.

But the tools aren’t the answer. They are most definitely NOT the secret sauce. The hard work, the real work, is in making good products (or services), developing good stories around and about them, figuring out who is interested in hearing from you and then talking with them in the appropriate fashion. High tech products, tech savvy journalists and bloggers, many of the elements in the SHIFT release will appeal. Local dog sitting business that wants exposure in the town paper, serious overkill.

Match the tools and language you use to the people you are talking to. They’ll appreciate it.

And don’t forget to have real news. Major new product that will set your corner of the world on fire. Yes. Version 3.15 of your product. Um Not so much.

For a journalist’s perspective, check out this post on Hacking Cough. Other comment today, Neville Hobson. Still no word from Tom Foremski.

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Good bye Web 2.0….

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Coming soon: Synopses of the final Syndidate sessions, PR and Doc Searls, as well as some thoughts on the conference itself. Plus a conversation I had with Oberkirch, Manuel, Richman and special guest Josh Hallet just before the PR session.

Today our feature is Web 2.0.

 The net is abuzz with a huge flap over the use of the phrase Web 2.0, stemming from the Web 2.0 conference being put on by IT@Cork, and CMP/O’Reilly  asserting trademark protection over the term, apparently when applied to conferences.  I dunno, seems like a silly move by CMP and O’Reilly.  I do understand the issue of trademark protection, but the whole thing seems a bit muddled and unnecessary. Ah well, leave it to the lawyers.

I’m just hoping that the end result is that we dump the phrase Web 2.0 altogether and find a nice "open-source" term, with a bit more meaning and a lot less hype.  🙂  Shel Israel suggests "social media." Yup, that works pretty good. At least it’s somewhat descriptive.

Others commenting: Brian Oberkirch, with a vote for dumping the term. TDavid, who (like me) has never much liked it. And more commenters on techmeme.

Good bye Web 2.0?? Let’s hope!

Update: Two good posts on Hacking Cough summarize the details pretty clearly.

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The beleaguered press release has a new form,maybe…

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Today Todd Defren and the Shift team announced their social media press release format. Using of course their new format 🙂 I’ll add my well-done to the chorus with some but’s:

– I still wish we weren ‘t so focused on the press release… in whatever form … and instead worried more about news value.Worthless announcements will still be worthless, even in a new format. The root problem isn’t the format of the press release, however odd. It is the use of the press release for stupid stuff (edited — the first version of this post used stronger language).

– The press release is just a document. The real work is in the conversation with reporters. Call it the pitch, call it whatever you want. Our job is to tell interesting stories that other people want to repeat, whether in a newspaper or  a blog.

–  I am still concerned that this need/drive for a new announcement format is driven by the tech sector. There are boatloads of folks in other sectors (media and clients alike) who just are not as net savvy… yet. We need to remember them, and continue to talk to them in whatever language makes sense.

It’s all about stories. Tell good ones.

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Technorati-Edelman joint project: It’s a good thing!

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Information may want to be free, but most often it isn’t. There is a cost to just about everything. In this exciting new media world, we tend to forget this. In particular we tend to forget that many (most?) of  the companies providing the goods and services that power the new world are for-profit endeavors.

Such as Technorati, which experienced a little PR blogger backlash today after the details of its joint project with Edelman were revealed. Folks were concerned about Technorati having such close ties with a PR agency. What would that mean for all the rest? Will the blogosphere be damaged somehow by this deal? To which I say, respectfully: Come on, folks.

It’s a business deal. I highly doubt whether anyone is in anyone’s pocket, now or ever. Each participant had a good business reason for doing the deal, both benefit, and lucky for the blogosphere, so do we.

Let’s start with the Edelman. This is one of a series of smart business moves by Richard Edelman. He is establishing his agency as the premier PR agency for social media. Doesn’t really matter yet whether they’ve delivered anything yet or that there was a flap over Wal-Mart or even whether there is a real competitive advantage in the short 6-8 month period that they’ll have an exclusive over the new localized stuff. The perception is that the agency has made a commitment to blogging and is willing to do what it takes. And it’s not just lip service or having a blog or recruiting well-known bloggers. With this deal, they’ve made an actual investment in the blogosphere. And that is one smart PR move.

Whatever competitive advantage this exclusive period gives them depends on their execution. And quite frankly I don’t think it really matters. Six-eight months is nothing. The real competitive advantage is owning the position of  "the" social media PR agency. Big company clients who want to look into "this stuff" will know where to go. Eventually, the agency will have to deliver on the perception, but from his speech at Syndicate last week, sounds to me like Richard Edelman is ready for the challenge. Is that hard for PR agencies to swallow? Probably. Bad for the blogosphere? No, because it seems we will get the localized Technorati far faster in this scenario.

Now to Technorati. I may be over-simplifying, but it just seems like a smart business move. After all, Technorati is a for-profit business, not a public service. Good for them that they’ve made the service so central to our blogging experience — at least if we speak English or Japanese. But… Technorati has a business problem — it needs to deliver  localized versions of its service FAST or risk losing first-mover advantage. However the deal materialized and whatever the terms, having a customer to fund the development makes everything a lot easier for Dave Sifry and team.

From what I’ve read, it also sounds to me like Edelman’s interest is in the monitoring of global blog conversation. I may be naive, but I didn’t get the sense that Edelman was involved IN the development, simply funding it and reaping the initial benefits. I wouldn’t call that a Technorati sell-out. I call it a business deal.

Technorati may be the most well known RSS search engine but it is by no means the only one. If some of the nefarious deeds speculated upon elsewhere did happen, it wouldn’t take long for the crime to be discovered.

I’m sure both companies weighed the potential blogstorm of their announcement, and determined that the benefits outweighed the negatives. The good news for us is that no matter how much Edelman and Technorati benefit (and no question, they will), in the end, we all benefit, because we will have these localized Technorati services next year. And that is indeed a very good thing.

Disclosures: None. I have absolutely no inside information. This is just my opinion.

Update: Andy Lark has a good post, updated with some additional info from Steve Rubel. 

Update 2: Stowe Boyd makes some good points.

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