Public Relations Princess

SWAT: A New Twist on Systems Thinking

Timothy Johnson is an accomplished project management and systems thinking professional and professor. He has the ability, using the tools in his tool belt, to help companies analyze the pieces and parts of their organizations and to determine, using systems thinking principles, how to facilitate change.

His new book comes out today. SWAT is a book that showcases Timothy's knowledge of how companies set priorities and bring about change. The book takes you through the basics of systems and then shows you how to break down the system into its components, interpret and manipulate the components and ultimately change the system for the better.

Timothy's use of the SWAT analogy (Systems Working All Together) is actually part of Timothy's effort to incorporate real character's from his local SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team into the book and his passion for photography is included, as well.

So, why would a PR Princess care anything about a systems thinking book?

First and foremost, Tim is a friend and informal mentor. When I was a new adjunct professor at Drake, Tim took me under his wing and imparted all kinds of wisdom that I would not have known going in. He saved me a lot of time and demystified a lot of questions that I had.

Secondly, every PR professional needs to have a good understanding of the way a business works. For corporate communicators in large, complex organizations, it is critical that you realize there are sometimes dozens of systems and personalities influencing every decision.

I encourage anyone who interacts with medium or large corporation, or complex government agencies, to read this book. Communicators need to learn how to be at the table when big decisions are being made. One way to gain the respect and trust of the executives in your organization is to speak their language and realize that complex decisions sometime muddle the message coming out to employees and stakeholders. Encourage leaders in your organization to put the complexity aside after a decision has been made. The final decisions need to be communicated clearly and without management speak.

Timothy's book is on Amazon. I encourage you to read it. It's the best $14.95 you'll spend on a business book all year. Congratulations, Tim, on the release of your third book!

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.

i_Blog Conference at the Hotel Pattee in Perry, Iowa

This weekend, I was invited to kick off the first i_Blog conference at the beautiful Hotel Pattee with a talk on the subject of using Twitter to draw attention to a blog.

Pretty standard stuff for a social media consultant like me. I was a last minute sub so I didn't get to do my usual pre-conference polling of attendees to see what their learning needs were. Didn't get to see a list of what companies or walks of life they came from.

Now, I'm so glad I didn't. I remembered the best thing about social media is listening and learning from those around you. Listening to questions and comments from the audience guided me to the next thing I needed to say. So thanks, i_Blog conference attendees, for allowing me to be a small part of your day. I enjoyed meeting each of you. And congratulations to Jody Halsted of "Have Kids Will Travel" for putting on the conference and being such a gracious host.

The photograph here is of a book about the Hotel Pattee in Perry that was given to each of us by hotel general manager Todd Bordenaro. The rich photographs and text draw you into the history of the place and make you want to live there! It is without a doubt one of the coolest places in Iowa and a great place to hold a quiet and productive corporate retreat, a board retreat for a non-profit or business, hold a fundraiser or a special event. Call Todd Bordenaro at the Hotel and make an appointment for a tour of this wonderful gem in the heart of Iowa.

Amazon Needs Common Sense Crisis Management, Not Reactionary Panic

George Orwell is playing with us.

Amazon customers who purchased the e-book "1984" realized this past weekend that the book had been remotely deleted from their devices.

In another completely boneheaded move, Amazon, after realizing it did not have the rights to sell the book to its Kindle crowd, deleted the book without informing customers the reason for the deletion. Customers received the same generic email from Amazon as if they had initiated the refund themselves.

Now let's get the story straight. A third-party vendor was the one selling the book "Nineteen Eighty-Four" on Amazon. So, follow me now, shouldn't Amazon have worked on a resolution with the third-party vendor instead of inconveniencing and pissing off its customers? That would make sense, but no, in another reactionary move, Amazon redacted the book with no explanation.

Can you tell that Amazon has no crisis communications plan? To me, it's as obvious as a goiter. It's the communication team's job to think of these crisis situations ahead of time and devise a plan to deal with and communicate out to customers the course of action being taken.

The lack of a cohesive crisis communications plan is seriously effecting Amazon's ability to be taken seriously in the brave new world of digital media. Now, a class-action lawsuit is brewing. And Amazon is wimping out on its own flawed strategy, no doubt posed by some fresh-faced attorney in Amazon's legal department. Note to Amazon: Your communicators must be available at all times to deal with these crises. If you go to the Hamptons for the weekend, someone must be left in charge. Twitter does not take the weekend off.