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The Elephant is Not a Republican, Congress

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The elephant in the room is not a Republican. It’s the debt ceiling fiasco and our illustrious congress (that’s sarcasm should you not recognize it).

I read a rant piece in Social Media Insider by Catherine P. Taylor “C’mon People, Is #f*ckyouwashington The Best We Can Do?” She also references Jeff Jarvis and his #f___youwashington hashtag and blog post rant about our government.

Ms. @cpealet complained that social media is not doing enough to fight for what Americans want — a balanced budget and the cease and desist of the infighting across the aisles and party lines. (At least that’s what I want along with a few more things.)

Instead of commenting on the blog, I looked her up on Twitter and suggested the reason no one was addressing this in social media is because it’s the elephant in the room. I don’t know anyone who shares their political leanings, and if they do, they’re tweeting from another account.

Then another tweep piped up @Votetocracy who asked for my clarification and suggested that people would tweet their opinions about abortion and taxes, and I vehemently said, “No way! People must remain neutral; it’s critical because it’s heated discussion.”

I do feel helpless. I’m upset, and I’m angry that Congress is not working together to honor the debt we owe other nations. I’m worried my parents’ social security will not get paid, and I’m worried my portfolio will nose dive again.

But, you don’t see me or anyone else in my circles talking about this situation. My opinion about why we’re not is because everyone has an opinion, and it clouds conversation. It gets in the way of common ground, and it’s unsafe. People form judgments about others based on political leanings. Back in the early days in PR, we knew that if we represented government or politicians we’d be forever labeled in a narrow niche and so we all avoided it.

If I was squarely on a campaign or working for a political party or government body, then I’d for sure be representing the cause. But, when I’m a tax payer struggling through the seriousness that is our economy and there’s no end in sight, I point fingers at all politicians regardless of political label.

As an American, I’m sick of this charade. I’m sick of the waste and the spending, and I’m sick of the threat of terrorism. I’m sick of the crimes we sling on each other, and I’m sick about the lack of courtesy and respect.

What can I do to solve these things? I can be accountable to my own standards, morals and ethics. I can be a better person. I can right the wrongs I’ve made due to bad choices, and I can rise above the squabbling as best I can. I can turn off the news and not become entrenched with all the stealing in corporate America, and I can work harder to ensure my future is secure (although that’s a long shot because I don’t believe that for a heart beat).

I don’t know…why don’t we express more about this situation on our blogs and send them off to representatives? Should we all take one day to blog about this and complain and then bombard Congress with our blog posts and dismay over the fighting?

Helplessness. That’s the word of the week. It sucks.

 

Don’t Despair; I Am Here

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This is a pseudo guest post pseudo intended for Lori Gosselin’s blog, based on her post yesterday, “Despair, How to Carry On.” After I so boldly suggested I’d like to write a guest post based on her article yesterday; and I pseudo invited myself to do that in comments; and Lori politely informed me there were many other peeps who have been in her community longer (so get in line, Jayme);  would I like to post something around Christmas? (I politely responded, “What came over me…sorry…what was I thinking; no thank you.”)

Because the inspiration struck me and I couldn’t wait for Christmas; I need to get this out of my head and in to yours for all to feel.

There are people who acknowledge life’s pathway and the obstacles on the journey. In fact, behind every blogger, there’s a personal story. Did you know Danny Brown tried to kill himself? Did you know Gini Dietrich was raised as a Mormon and had her bicycle tire tapped by the front of a car while biking over the weekend? Did you know that Shonali Burke has strong family values and features her parents and grandparents frequently on her blog? And, Michelle Quillin is a youth minister who adores her husband and business partner, Scott?

These are the things we’re permitted to see, and the things that remain private are the most powerful stories of all. Lori’s story about despair and how we pick up the pieces each day to carry on struck a chord. I begged her in comments to find me anyone who hasn’t despaired in life – whether from illness, death of a loved one or friend, loss, or just plain depression.

When I was in the dregs of despair, it was a black time. There was no end in sight; I lived in fear for what would happen, and I let ignorance and negativity control my every waking moment. There were times when I’d break down, sobbing uncontrollably until, spent, I was able to pick myself back up and carry forth.

For anyone in despair, I offer you this:

Never attempt to look for the light at the end of the tunnel; just look forward to each passing hour and get through one day at a time minute by minute.

When you seek support from others not living your situation, understand there is only so much other people can manage. Know you need to focus outward on them; ask after their health and family, and you’ll feel so much better.

Count your blessings. There is ALWAYS someone in worse condition than yourself; trust me. Such individuals are not hard to find, you’re just not looking beneath the surface.

Ask for help from Above. You may pray to whomever or whichever Supreme Power who guides you; it matters not. What matters is that you’re giving it up, releasing it for another to manage.

Find your inner strength and work daily on making yourself powerful; rise above others’ anger, hostility, and return that with kindness, generosity, and a smile. It won’t work until you truly let go of your own negativity, and then the pieces will slowly fall into place.

Write, write, write. Release all the bitterness and agony onto paper. No one needs to read anything; it’s for your benefit and no one else. If you’re letting go or closing a door, then burn the papers in a camp fire and free your spirit.

As I write this, the tears spring and flow. You see? For all the intensity of personality you get 99 percent of the time, there is 1 percent called sorrow that pops in and out when life’s obstacles burden. For me, I remember those downtrodden days and how they shaped me into a Goddess Awakening. I was meant to be on that path, and for all its agony, I’ve been given more gifts.

I listen well, I love you, and you’re my friend. Do you need me? I am here.

Pushing the Sharp Edge of the PR Envelope

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I’m restless. There’s something brewing on the blogosphere and I can’t tap it. It’s a new energy driven by bloggers who are asking questions about the status quo; they’re pushing the envelope on common thought and traditional practice, and they’re encouraging people to improve, excel, respect, and change.

I can’t begin to capture it all here, but I need to cut loose with this observation and ask, “Is anyone following this train of thought in the least?”

We can count on Gini Dietrich at Spin Sucks, to consistently be leading edge and contribute to the tipping point on all things PR and marketing. Her blog has been a hot bed of debate about whether PR’s rubber is meeting the road, or whether marketing influence is driving the mother ship regardless of the influence of PR.

At Shakirah Dawud’s house, the comments are rich and she’s expecting me to write a blog post about my rant relating to PR and measurement. Numbers have always been PR’s nemesis; it’s how we used to be trained back in the day. Today, being more marketing savvy would do many a PR person good; add business sense to that equation, and voila, a star is born.

Shonali Burke has had a two-day running post (thank goodness the comments were not as high in count as Marcus The Sales Lion who fried my hard drive almost) about a bad PR pitch that disrespected her influence and social media reach.

And, Shonali has been implementing a #BlueKey campaign for global refugees igniting social media for her cause to earn 6,000 Blue Keys by June 20. The campaign is brilliant, the metrics are already impressive and amazing, and she’s got every channel burning up. (Major kudos to this woman for her absolutely should-be award-winning campaign still in its throes.)

I got a call today from a salesperson at a major corporation. She is familiar with my brand based on the work I do, although she was unsure what exactly I do. In the back of my mind, I’ve known that sales is the final frontier for PR, yet “marketing is in the way.” Heh. I’m not truly serious, it’s just that in my opinion, sales people are a brand and they represent a brand. They need to become representative of a brand and use public relations to build it, build community, build trust, and build reputation. PR is how that’s done, more often than not.

We spoke, and I spelled out a strategy that was heavy on LinkedIn and community building along with how we might incorporate nine touches with her new clients who don’t know she exists. Is that PR or marketing?

The lines have blurred so confusingly that I ought to write a message map about my offering. There’s lots I do; there’s more I don’t and that’s where you come in. Together we make a team; each of us is helping one another achieve some sort of goal — whether it’s building confidence, learning the ropes of social media, trying to find someone to visit on your next holiday, earning an invitation to Triberr, hiring someone to round out a team (I’ve hired three people off Twitter and sent business to another).

I wrote a post awhile back, We’re All Talking to Ourselves. It got many head nods and an ouch on the hand by major blogger. I’m raising this again because we who are in debate, casual conversation or heated discussion about the aforementioned have little luck raising the bar or changing the status quo until we get business on board to chime in. We’re spinning wheels, talking in circles, passing the head nod to the next one in line, and where’s the change? Those business owners who show dissent against PR rant and rave once and then disappear; no way can they enter the lion’s den and survive (heck, no one has skin that thick!).

Can you see why I’m restless, antsy, on edge, and trying to maintain balance as we all worry if we’re a Syrian Lesbian Blogger or Weiner? (Wanted to send a bit of link love to the best headline of the week.)

What say you? I’m all over the place; there’s a lot being fired up.

Multitasking — Yes or No?

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My head is clogged, my plate is full, and all I can do is think about Kaarina Dillabough. She’s the one who said that multitasking is no tasking; that means I’m not concentrating when I sit on a conference call muted and empty my in box, tweet, or find a blog post to read. She suggests that brain power should focus on one thing at a time. Multitasking schmultitasking.

There’s a law firm in San Francisco that agrees with this statement. GJEL Accident Attorneys* works its mojo to inform anyone about the dangers of distracted driving from texting, mobile devices, and the DVD player on the front console (that’s my Highlander).

I already nicely disagreed, well vehemently disagreed, with Kaarina; there’s absolutely no flippin’ way I’m able to do nothing on a dead conference call. Maybe I can clean my desk and contribute uh-huh every now and again; I’m listening, but doing nothing is a time waste.

That’s why I have to tweet a webinar when I’m on one; I can type in real time, so I capture 95 percent of what’s being said and I can paraphrase well, too, for a tweet. Is that stupid multitasking? Or, is that fruitful social media for clients who want to see their name in lights? Not sure.

Maybe we need to look at that personality thing; and, no, I didn’t say personality disorder. I know my friend Jenn Whinnem (whose birthday is today, mind you) will pipe in and call me a letter. And, my other friend Gin Blossom will say we’re the same person and that’s why we’re both type A PR (that’s agency public relations or you can read it the way you started to).

So, I’m gonna ask y’all – is multitasking bad in all circumstances? I will absolutely agree that I can’t define multitasking as checking the crackberry during a meal; that’s just plain rudeness, unless…OK, that’s just plain rudeness.

I think I’m on to something…we can blame multitasking on the digital age. I have no solution for that because as I sit here yakking about my inability to focus on one thing at a time, someone is launching a new app I need to check out and there’s a tweet in my box that just arrived, and I just heard the chimes of a text message roll in, and let’s not forget the lovely sweet sound of kidlet just waking up on the first day of summer.

Is multitasking bad all the time?

(*client)/Image by Crystalinks.com

About Condoms & Social Media, Heh

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credit: blogs.laweekly.com

It’s Saturday and finally hot. My mind takes silly twists and turns without the confines of intense focus of the customary work week (which has grown to encompass nights and weekends).

I’m sitting in the streaming sunshine with streaming thoughts (stay with me here) marveling at all the comments still active on three blogs I commented on and wrote yesterday (do people ever put up boundaries?). Scanning a headline in O’Dwyers “Congloms, PR service firms see big Q1 gains,” I did a double take — condoms? Really?

And then my mind immediately returned to a sassy comment I’d made the other day in conversation (what, me sassy?); whatever happened to the condom (the link is clean…from Wikipedia)?

There’s a high profile case that has me blown away (well only wind blown) — that of the Terminator having sired a love child 10 years ago with his housekeeper while married to his also-celebrity wife Maria Shriver with whom he sired three(?) children.

And, let’s not forget John Edwards whose high-profile wife was terminal with cancer while he sired a love child he tried to keep under wraps unsuccessfully with a vendor to his presidential campaign. I’m not the man in the heat of passion with some young tart wanting a piece of his DNA; however, wouldn’t one think if he was a man in such a position of power and celebrity as these two both were that a condom would be in order?

I don’t know, call me stupid.

So what do condoms have to do with social media? Uhmm, nothing…but let me stretch the confines of creativity to ensure I’m ready for Monday…(you know keeping my brain cells focused on intense work over a weekend).

Let me define this useful item, (rarely used by celebrity males at least two we’re aware of which keeps mass production in check), as a sheath or protective barrier (it’s also defined as such by Wikipedia, a link above). And, a protective barrier has many uses in social media…here are three for you:

  • **How do you protect your Facebook page from getting spammed with negative comments? Let’s ask Burson-Marstellar! Why, you just remove the unacceptable posts from unfriendlies and hope for the best (aka suffer the backlash).
  • **How do you protect your Twitter account from being seen by your boss? You keep it locked and only accept tweeps by approval, of course. For sure; that’s a marvelous way to grow a community and engage, isn’t it?
  • **How do you add more subscribers and commenters to your blog posts? You take off the protective barrier and hope that posts like this don’t offend anyone. And, if your “subscribe” widget isn’t working or you miss the deadline for the Feedburner distribution by 20 minutes, that really helps protect anyone from reading a really bad Saturday post that truly stretches it.

That is all.