m-musings

Enrich Your Pitch...today's m-perspective

 

PR Pros!  Cindy and Laura have found a helpful blog to help you cultivate your outreach.

m-perspective: Social Media Through the MSI Filter

Take a walk on the MSI-side and meet a few of our team members who are using Social Media every day at the agency.

Checked out m-perspective teases on 12Seconds.tv?

m-perspective: Social media at MSI (m strategies inc) on 12seconds.tv

Everyday, know the topic before anyone else, by logging on to 12Seconds.tv or following us on Twitter @mstrategiesinc.

On Substance & Social Depth, Pt II

The World Through Dr. B's Filter

So we engaged Dr. Babbili, A&M CC provost and VP, in a little pop culture word association to see how his filter works.  Here's what he had to say in a few words (and a few seconds) about icons, topics and brands that keep us all talking.

Dr. Babbili’s Word Association

AIG –catastrophe

Dubai- Emerald in the sea

Bobby Jindal- new America

Green- imperative

Dora The Explorer- daring; adventurist

Facebook- pushes the boundaries of privacy and expression

Karl Rove--idealogue

Sasha & Malia Obama- hope of the future

Anderson Cooper- fresh face of journalism

ipod- fascinating

What do these topics stir up in you?  We'd like to see what your filter produces.  Leave a comment about the topic that gets you talking most.

m-perspective: Cultural Sensitivity's a Must in Media

Laura and Cindy take a deep dive into the need for cultural sensitivity in media.

Social Media Can Manage Your Inbox

Very little is written about how Social Media platforms can jumpstart your staff's productivity, knowledge sharing and collaboration.  And today, I will also write very little, because I don't want to give away ALL of our secrets.  One of our formulas for efficiency and minimizing the millions of e-mails we get on a daily basis is integrating wiki technology, Netvibes and Yammer into our daily mix.  By doing so, we have done a few things:

• Limit internal e-mails to mostly cc's to external parties, eliminating internal e-mails nearly completely

• Limiting the world-wide-search for frequently visited websites that are core to our business and clients'

• Securing our information from the prying eyes of hacks (who said a Twitter DM was really that private?)

• Boost collaboration with immediate interaction and knowledge sharing with teams and even with clients who opt in to our services.

Finally, it allows us to do such a deep dive into social media, we become even better counselors for our clients.

If you are interested in how Social Media can make your company run smoother and more efficiently, or want to know what the heck a wiki is anyway, or simply if you'd just like to know how MSI's infrastructure is built on the stuff, call us!  214-741-2100.

LMS

m-perspective: Laura's SXSW experience

Laura gives Cindy her a rundown on SXSW from her perspective.  Buzz was that it wasn't the best for PR practitioners, and while the music was good, the down economy took its toll on some bands.

 

On Substance & Social Depth: A Conversation with a Sage

On Friday, we were graced by the presence of one of academia's media heavyweights, Dr. Anantha Babbili, provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Texas A&M Corpus Christi.  Actually, I know him as Dr. B.  He was my thesis chairman at Texas Christian University back in 1995.  Dr. B visited the agency for the first time. In fact, the last time I saw him was at his wedding shortly after I had secured my master of science in Media Studies.  Needless to say, I was just as excited to see him as he was to see me and my staff.  Upon my knowing that he'd be dropping in, I made him promise that he'd do something that even he hadn't done in sometime...deliver an interactive mini-lecture/discussion with my staff on the changing landscape of media.

What he shared with us was incredibly insightful, yet incredibly succinct.  In a world of rapidly evolving world of media, the basics stay the same. 

"Substance and social depth is key to the work that you do, and it is something that is a fundamental core value that will never change," Babbili said. 

In fact, he commented on the fact that one of the most common criticisms of social media is that it lacks depth.  The key, he said, is to give it depth.  How?

• Understand and keep in check your personal "filter."  It's how each of us see the world, through our very own social schemas--the experiences we've had, shape our world view. Step outside of it and view the world from someone else's vantage point.  To do that, you need to embrace and understand diversity of cultures.
• Know other cultures and understand them.  What is your Cultural IQ? The Internet has made the world's stage incredibly smaller.  A Twitter-er broke the Mumbai bombing/hostage story before even CNN.  But how many of of us non-Indians know much more about the Indian culture beyond a great curry, Slumdog Millionaire and brief images of Bollywood?  Having a Cultural IQ, meaning more than a cursory understanding of a culture, more than one or two cultures, will ultimately help in the quest to make our work more meaningful on a global scale, even as the Internet draws us closer.
• Read.  Has social media made us better readers, or non-critical thinkers?  We live in a world of quick soundbites, headline glances and, well, 140 characters.  Going beyond the soundbite, the headline and actually reading the link in the Tweet is key.  What you read will no doubt show up in your work and your contributions.
• Have a critical understanding of current events. So yes, you can babble about bailouts and stimulus packages, and you are aware that Obama won the election.  Jay Walking on The Tonight Show wouldn't have a punchline if everyday people knew more than they do about current events. What's worse, some PR professionals only dig a deep as the information their clients provide for them for their strategies and communications. Not just knowing the headlines but understanding the implications for your client's business and therefore your brand's or your agency's is the only way to evolve with the changing landscape.  How many of us could predict the death of the newspaper before CNN told us a few months ago.  We as PR professionals should have seen it coming.

In my next post, Part II of Substance and Social Depth,  Dr. B gives us a glimpse of his Cultural IQ and personal filter as he comments on the pop cultural icons and lightening rods that impact our perspective on today's issues and trends--from AIG to Dora the Explorer.

L. Michelle Smith is the chief executive of m strategies inc. and received her MS in Media Studies from the now Schieffer School of Journalism @TCU.

MSI Spices Up Promotion with some HOT Grandmas

Everyone...we just had the most hilariously successful promotion with the loveliest ladies on the planet, The Dallas Tap Dazzlers.  We recruited them to be the brand's Spicy Grandmas for a Spicy Popcorn Shrimp sampling campaign hitting D/FW area radio and TV stations (6-8 surprise placements is definitelly a success--no pitching!).  They were no doubt a HIT.  But before they hit the street, we had to make sure that their steps were good to go.  Event Coordinator/Media Specialist Justine Tippens dusted off her tap skills and gave it a whirl in our lobby.  Look at her go!  Now that's what an event planner is suppose to do--throw herself into the promotion all the way!   Congratulations to Justine and Amanda and Cindy for executing a successful promotion!  And yes, we post our good times to Youtube!

m-perspective: Inside a Tweetup

Laura interviews Cindy as she lets us in on the Twitter-culture gathering called a Tweetup.