PR Squared: Start Small to Think Big?

IStock_000005697028XSmall Today Phil Gomes of Edelman blogged about the misguided priorities of the attendees at last week’s NewComm Forum. Phil suggested that the attendees were too focused on the tools, at the expense of time spent pondering Big Picture issues like Net Neutrality and the globalization of the Web.

He’s right, as usual, but in the Comments of his post I tried to leaven the frustration with some additional perspective.

I think that for many of the NewComm attendees, “Social Media” is, by itself, a Big Picture issue. Although to the PRESENTERS at the Forum, Social Media is still exciting – but somewhat “old hat” – to the ATTENDEES it’s still all too scary, new, and just plain weird.

Thus I think that Maggie Fox and I were able to hold court to a full house in our heated debate on the Social Media Release (SMR) because it represents a tactical, tactile way for newbies to “get started” on the Social Media trail.

“Think about it: the SMR may be tactical (it is!), but it also forces marketers to think about new constituents, new ways to reach those constituents, and thus, forces a change in thinking all the way to the strategy level.

“(The SMR represents) a bottom-up approach (to getting started)... which, kinda-sorta, is what Social Media is all about?”

Not sure that I know the answer to Phil’s justifiable complaint, but this idea of “starting small” in order to “think big” may be part of it?

(NewComm Forum was great, by the way – as Phil also attested in his post. In addition to having an all-too-rare chance to say hello to folks like Shel Israel, Shel Holtz, KD Paine, Mike Manuel, Geoff Livingston, Kami Huyse, Brian Solis and David Parmet – and his adorable daughter – I also got to meet some awesome folks for the first time, like Chris Brogan, NewMediaJim of NBC, Richard Binhammer of Dell, Rohit Bhargava of Ogilvy, even the Queen of Spain! etc., etc. That’s not intended as linkbait, by the way, but rather to encourage you to check out some awesome people. High quality all around.)

Comments

Meeting you was certainly a highlight, and I'm happy for our conversations on and off camera. Thanks for your participation, and I look forward to hanging out with you more in the near future.

Posted by: Chris Brogan... | April 28, 2008 01:46 PM

Todd,

Great to meet you at SNCR. As mentioned, it was great to get all of the "big social media thinkers" in one room. Lots of great content, but not enough time to fit it all in. Those choices are what makes for a great conference.

Posted by: Warren Sukernek | April 28, 2008 02:35 PM

It seems to me that attendees can prefer whatever it is they prefer and we who advise SNCR should listen to our customers. I may prefer to talk about global issues but that doesn't matter if people prefer not to listen.

Posted by: shel israel | April 28, 2008 04:02 PM

Hi Todd

thought it was great to meet you too...enjoyed your chat with Maggie about social media release as well as our discussions generally. Always great to take the online offline and make it more real.

Posted by: RichardatDELL | April 28, 2008 05:12 PM

> I think that for many of the NewComm
> attendees, “Social Media” is, by
> itself, a Big Picture issue. Although
> to the PRESENTERS at the Forum, Social
> Media is still exciting – but somewhat
> “old hat” – to the ATTENDEES it’s still
> all too scary, new, and just plain weird.

As an educator, I'd like to think I know a bit more than most how to bring folks from point-A to point-B.

My issue isn't so much about experts-vs-newbies. It's about the shocking disparity attendance-wise between those presentations -- given their relative importance -- in a group of 250 people.

Posted by: Phil Gomes | April 29, 2008 08:42 AM

Heya Phil - I've thought some more about this issue. You know I don't disagree with you so take this for what it's worth...

The primary audience at NewComm was marketers. My guess is that many marketers see issues like Net Neutrality as something that will be figured-out by Engineers and CEOs and Politicians.

In broad terms, within corporations, Marketing *follows* on the heels of engineering and bizdev and legal.

So, yes, issues like Net Neutrality and the Globalized Web ARE WAY MORE IMPT than how-to format a news release. But my guess is that the folks at NewComm feel that they will have little impact on such issues; they'll simply have to REACT to those issues once resolved by Engineers, CEOs and Politicians.

Posted by: Todd Defren | April 29, 2008 09:28 AM

Hey Todd - I really enjoyed our discussion as well, and as I have pointed out elsewhere, I think the fact that we were able to agree to disagree on many points demonstrates the growing maturity of the work around the SMPRs. Nothing more boring than a bunch of social media types in violent agreement ;-)

And Phil's right - Net Neutrality is more important than social media press releases. Why is it that most attendees disagreed, voting with their feet? I think it has to do with the way in which this story is communicated and the fact that the audience at NewComm was likely looking for tangible, relevant and executable ideas they could bring back to their boss, demonstrating the value of the two grand she spent to send them there.

Just my $.02 - great to meet you F2F!

Posted by: maggiefox | April 29, 2008 10:59 AM