Public Relations Princess

Eleven People Who Made Me a Better PR Princess in 2009

There are years that change you and make you think about your direction in life. 2009 was one of those years for me. Along the way, there were dozens of people who offered help and encouragement, practical advice and even work. I've often pondered the fact that without the good fortune of being born my wonderful family, I might just be another foreclosure victim.

So first, I must thank my parents, Frank and Ellen Celsi. Mom and Dad, thanks for all the moral support. No one is better at listening to me.

My husband Jim is a saint. He asked me to marry him 48 hours after I got laid off from my job. We married on June 7, and haven't looked back. He even got me a Christmas card (inside joke...Jim does not buy cards for ANYONE!). Love that man.

My friend Drew McLellan came out onto the limb I was on, and led me back to solid ground. Minutes after announcing that I was starting my own business, Drew had an offer on the table for me to do some consulting with his company. I'll never forget how he helped me. Thanks, Drew.

Josh Fleming used to be my colleague at another company and we were immediately asked to work on several projects together. Through those experiences and many collaborations since we're both moved on to greener pastures, we've forged a great friendship. I have to say, Josh and his whole company rocks. Thanks for being my pal and for your great advice this last few months.

My sister Teresa has been so supportive of me as a person. Not only just the last 7 months, but for my whole adult life. She has listened to a lot of rambling and been there for me when I was down. Now we spend lots of quality time getting pedicures together. It's time I wouldn't trade for anything. Thanks, Thsister.

Todd Jones is not only a great client, but a great friend. He trusted me to work on market research and social media projects at DMACC and has continued to provide me with challenging opportunities. Thanks, Todd, for giving my fledgling company your business. You may be a conservative, but you're all right.

Deb Wiley is an accomplished writer and editor. When she lost her job at Meredith last year, she started a new gardening blog and contemplated what direction her career should go. After meeting me at a seminar at Drake, she reached out and we now get together once in a while to compare notes. I look forward to her expert advice in planting my flower beds next spring. I just love her spirit and her style.

Mike Sansone is a trusted friend and adviser. He helped set me on the path of social media consulting three years ago, and continues to freely share his insights. He is a good man and I know he and I will be friends forever. Mike is gaining recognition as a big thinker in social media and using social media in classroom instruction. UPDATE: I have found out some disturbing things about Mike and am sad to report that he is not the person I thought he was. So I take back everything I said.

Diana Deibler is who I want to be when I grow up. She is scary smart and strategic as all get out. Many business leaders in Des Moines count Diana as a business partner and trusted adviser. She has guided many companies through crisis and helped them shape their message through good times and bad. I want her on my side of the table. She is classy, gorgeous and brilliant. What a combo. Oh, and check out her "Seven Guiding Principles."

J Michael McKoy is a dreamer and a doer. When he got fired from his job at a local radio station, he wasted no time creating his own online radio empire. I admire his tenacity and willingness to try new things. A year ago he pooh-poohed the idea of using social media as a distracting fad, now he has adopted new technology into his daily life and his business. Mac, you're an inspiration to me. Thanks for believing in me and allowing me to do a show on Des Moines Local Live.

As you can see, I have a lot to be thankful for. I hope you are half as lucky. Happy New Year!

No, I Don't Want to be Facebook Friends With Butter, and Other Annoying Subjects

~Today on Public Relations Princess, join me as I talk about really annoying trends happening in social media. Some of my rants will include:

~ Why I don't want to be friends with butter

~ Why LinkedIn conversation threads piss me off,

      and last, but not least...

~ Stupid Facebook mistakes

The show is on from 4-5 on Des Moines Local Live. Listen in!

I'm Honored to be Ad Maverick's Commenter of the Year

Thanks, Ad Mavs, for all the props and great prizes. You guys make me feel very valued! I will keep commenting and reading in 2010.

The Celsi Family Wanda-Making Extravaganza

Every year, my family makes Wandas, an Italian cookie that is mostly associated with Italian weddings, but has also evolved as our traditional Christmas cookie as well. Last week, there was a great article in the New York times about European cookie traditions following immigrants and showing up during family celebrations. The wanda (the Italian spelling is quanti) is one of those cookies that you'll find at weddings when the bride is of Calabrian decent. Calabria is a southern Italian province. Unfortunately, the article did not mention wandas, so I am dedicating this entire post to this simple treat. Here is a video of my family making wandas earlier today. Enjoy!

Here's the recipe and instructions. My mom (who is not Italian) learned these from Grandma Celsi (who died in 1990) and from observing and participating in countless wanda-making occasions over the years.

Italian wandas (quantis): (Yield: dozens and dozens)

 

5 pounds of enriched flour

2 dozen LARGE eggs

1 stick of melted margarine

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 T. sugar

2 tsp. good quality vanilla

 

Put eggs in a large mixing bowl along with vanilla, salt, sugar and baking powder. Mix well with mixer. Add margarine and 3 cups of flour. Start mixing with a large spoon at this point. Add several cups of flour at the time until it get too stiff to do anything with a spoon. Once flour is all mixed in, place the dough on a large board to start the kneeding process. Knead the dough until all the ingredients are well kneaded in, using flour as needed to avoid your hands and the board from sticking.

Cut off a small piece of dough about the size of a medium apple and knead it with a small amount of flour for a minute of so. Roll the ball with the palm of your hand to flatten it out and do this process over and over until the ball is soft and can easily form into a ball. Roll each ball gently on to a lightly floured surface and then place the dough ball in a large floured bowl.  Use two bowls so that the balls of dough are on the bottom of the bowl and not in layers. Cover with a lid or plastic and refrigerate. (You can make the dough one day and then prepare wandas the next morning but you don't have to.)

To make strips that are fed into the pasta making machine, soften the dough ball with your hands and form a strip by using the table surface and your hands.  You want the strip to be about 4-5 inches long and about 2 inches wide.

Start out by patting the strip on a lightly floured surface and putting the strip into the wanda making machine on the widest notch and run the strip of dough through the machine. Turn the handle fast so the dough doesn't have a chance to stick. Grab on to the dough as it comes out of the machine so it doesn't krimp up the dough. Flour again if needed. Run the strip through 3 or 4 times and end with the narrowest notch or the notch second from the top. Lay the strip on a large floured board to cut into strips about a half or 3/4's of an inch across.
 

Take each long strip that you cut with a beveled pizza cutter and make the wanda design that you want.  The Celsi family strip is simple.  Take one end of the long strip and pinch it half way up.  At this point you have a loop and the rest of the long strip on the table.  Then take the other end and pinch it into the middle of the first loop that was made.

Set aside for frying in hot vegetable (canola or corn or safflower) oil. We use a large turkey roaster pan and pour about 3-4 inches of oil into the roaster. When the oil is hot enough, the wanda cookie will go immediately to the bottom and then pop back up fairly quickly to brown. When you feel they have a slightly browned look, turn them over with tongs and fry the other side. If you don't get them fully cooked, they will be too soggy when eaten.   If they are too brown, they will be harder to bite into. You want them to be flaky.  Experiment with the first few wandas to make sure the oil is hot, but not too hot. The wanda should sink to the bottom of the pan for two seconds and then pop right up with oil bubbling around it. If it does not start boiling right away, it means the oil is not hot enough. Start out with a temp of 350 and adjust depending on how many wandas go in at a time. After a dozen batches or so, you may have to add additional oil. Allow a full ten minutes for oil to come up to temp before adding more wandas.

Place the cookies onto a cookie sheet lined with paper towels and then onto a table where they can be frosted and packaged.

 

Frosting

 

2 pound bag of powered sugar

3/4 cup of warm coffee

2 tsp. of almond flavoring

Mix well with a mixer

Add 4 T. of melted butter and continue to mix well.

Add a few drops of red coloring until you like the color of pink you want for the cookies.

 

Using a funnel, pour frosting into a squeezable plastic bottle with tip on the end to frost the cookies.

Don't over do the frosting, as this can make the wandas soft. Use a back and forth motion to frost each wanda. (You can buy these bottles for ketchup and they work out well.)

We use a copy paper box lid to put the wandas in after frosting and only put one layer at a time until they are dry enough to add a second layer.  Put waxed paper between the layers.

Jill Haverkamp My Guest on Public Relations Princess

Jill Haverkamp is a one-woman marketing powerhouse. She's one of those coveted young people who ventured out of the state for college, sampled life in the big city of Chicago, and then came back to make a difference here in Des Moines. There are dozens of stories like hers, for sure, but hers is told from the other side of struggling to find success. Jill has already found it.

By the time she and I worked together at a local advertising agency, she already knew what she was doing. With years of experience in the music promotion business already behind her, she offered her considerable marketing expertise to the Des Moines Music Coalition, a group of dedicated volunteers. DMMC's mission is to promote the local live music scene in any way possible. They started small, promoting local bands and local venues, but soon set their sights on initiating an annual live music festival for Central Iowa.

Called 80/35, the festival is now in the planning stages for its third year. But DMMC is not resting on its laurels waiting for the big shows to roll into town, they are still promoting homegrown bands with events such as Little Big Fest, which happened last weekend.

Jill is also the full-time marketing manager for Ames-based Olde Main, a microbrewery and restaurant. Her worlds sometimes cross, but Jill manages to find enough time to do a phenomenal job at both places, using skill and creativity more than an unlimited budget. If you've ever worked with Jill, like I have, it doesn't take long to figure out that she's one of those people who just get things done. She stays behind the scenes, works the long hours and makes it happen.

Meet Jill today at 4:00 on Public Relations Princess on Des Moines Local Live. See you then!

Why I Trust Chris Brogan More Than Seth Godin

As a social media newbie a few years back, I decided to follow and make friends with a lot of different types in the Twitterverse and blogosphere. Some were just average people, some were students and I also choose to follow a few "superstars."

Among my superstars were Laura Fitton, David Meerman Scott, Wendy Piersall, Mike Sansone, Brett Trout, Gary Vaynerchuk, David Armano, Todd Defren, Drew McLellan, Christine Young, Brian Solis and Chris Brogan. My coach Mike Sansone also urged me to follow Seth Godin.

I also made a quick observation: Seth Godin's blog does not accept comments, nor does he interact on Twitter. My only way to contact him was via email. I asked him what his speaker's fee was, because I was thinking of inviting him to speak in Iowa for a professional development event.

The short email I received back was not rude, but it was a little terse. "Sorry, I don't speak outside of New York City." Translation: "there is no way in hell you could pay me enough to speak in Iowa." Instead of just sending me his rates, which I'm sure I would have figured out were too rich for my blood, he cut me off at the pass.

Seth's response also matches the temperature of interaction on his blog. The only way to share his messages are to Digg or tweet, share on Facebook or email. But no comment feature, no way to message him on Twitter. So basically, his legion of followers are one-way communicators on his behalf. Flattering, for sure. Godin allows other people interpret and comment on his ideas with no further interaction. Sure, most are positive comments, because he is brilliant. But, not exactly practicing what he preaches. In other words, "Word of Mouth," but just not his.

On the other side of the superstar equation is Chris Brogan. Along with the other folks mentioned in this post, he allows himself to walk among the masses in the social media space. He interacts with everyone and leaves the impression that he is one of us. He is, by definition, a "creator" on the Li-Bernoff scale of social media creatures. Sometimes, I don't know how he does it. I imagine it's exhausting.

I don't think it's possible to be a Trust Agent in this space without getting your hands dirty. Which is why I highly recommend that you follow Chris and the others mentioned in my post. They will answer your questions, respond to your comments, thank you for your help, and even go beyond the call of duty. Chris acknowledges that he cannot possibly sit and answer email all day, so put up this stunningly frank contact form on his Web site. Refreshing.

Using social media as just another way to push information one-way does not make sense to me. The difference is conversation. Two-way is here to stay.

Social Media in an Iowa Blizzard

I'm stoked to see that Iowa Lt. Governor Patty Judge has a new blog. That is awesome news!

Technically, it does not meet my definition of a blog, because it does not accept comments (moderated or otherwise). 

On this blizzardy day in Iowa, lots of peeps and tweeps will be spending the day surfing and commenting on their favorite social media sites. I'm convinced that Patty and her staff are losing out on a significant opportunity to communicate what Governor Culver and Lt. Gov. Judge are doing to keep Iowans safe.

Since Patty is in charge of Homeland Security and natural disasters, it would be wonderful to get a fresh post this morning as soon as the Iowa National Guard was activated. Patty herself, I'm absolutely sure, is in the war room at the Iowa National Guard headquarters as I write this, helping to coordinate emergency response. Will her Blogger blog be updated via mobile device? How cool would it be to get a picture of all those cute National Guard soldiers surrounding our diminutive Lt. Gov?

The part I love about her blog post is that she mentioned that she's not done with her Christmas shopping and her grandkids. This is how I know that Patty really had input into this post. She is a mom and a grandmom first. Very authentic voice.

Lt. Gov. Judge and I have known each other for a long time. Here's my advice for her blog, take it or leave it.

1. Allow moderated comments: This means you (or your staff) will get an email and allow comments to be approved before being posted to the blog. This will ensure that posts stay on topic and not abusive. With an election coming and right-wing nut jobs looking for opportunities to ding the current Gov. and Lt. Gov., this is certainly understandable.
2. Post on days when things are going on, not when you're taking a breather. People will start to check your blog to get the latest word on what you're up to. If you post as an afterthought, that's what the blog will become as well.
3. Link to more Web sites than just your own. In your last post, for example, it would have been cool to link to the IJobs Web site, and a local toy store like Creative Kidstuff.
4. Create some link-love. Patty's blog links to all the usual suspects, but there are tons of other Web properties and social media sites that could use a shout-out. How about the RIO site? There are probably dozens of others.
5. Invite a blogger to come with you sometime. Also, invite bloggers to press briefings and put them on your media advisory lists. The 2008 presidential candidates all had blogger lists and maintained great relationships with us during the caucus season.

I'm so glad the Lt. Governor is experimenting with social media. I'll be checking back often, and can't wait to be the first one to leave a comment.