Wide-eyed and Jaded

Tags are called labels on Blogger, right? I was just reading my friend David’s blog (it’s private, so no need to link) and became really happy at the sight of his labels.

In school, at PodCamps, etc., we’re taught tags and labels are a great way to have more people find your blog, website or what have you. Don’t call me on this, but I think David’s labels are more of a personal filing system. If he talks about his girlfriend Andrea, the post is added to his blog’s Andrea category. The majority of his labels are names of his friends. I just think it’s really sweet to see such a personal touch brought back to this space for me.

I love his blog, BTW. He writes his daily accounts living in Ottawa. Before he started this one, he wrote everyday in a blog about Toronto life. I think writing so simplistically every day helps him as a writer. And, it reminds me how important it is to have other things to do online than socialize with the same people who do the same things as you.

If you don’t already, I strongly suggest you find some blogs to read about every personal interest you have. I’m probably repeating myself, but it helps re-humanize this space.

One of the first things I was taught in my Online PR course was the importance of building, protecting and managing my personal brand. Keep up blog posts (I promise I’m working on this!), leave comments on other blogs, get involved in various online spaces, be careful of what you have on your Facebook profile, etc.

I found it pretty easy to produce some top notch Google juice of my own. It isn’t difficult when you have a name like Rayanne Langdon. Even before joining Seesmic, signing up to Twitter or starting a discussion about ethics on Inside PR, googling “Rayanne Langdon” turned up dozens of pages—most of which directly related to me. A LiveJournal account here, a profile on the CBC Radio 3 website there… I’ve existed online for a very long time. One of the first searches I did resulted in my re-discovery of an ICQ Foo Fighters fan group I made when I was 14. I called it Forever Foo. I’m a moron. Hah.

I was never scared of any of the information out there about me. I’ve never worried about what I did or said in the past that may rear its questionable head again. I’ve done and I still do some weird and ridiculous things on the Internet (more posts are a-brewin’), and I am not ashamed or embarrassed. I’m the girl who had Wayne Gretzky as an imaginary friend when I was a child, remember?

The intricacies of my online activities make me who I am. I love and am so proud of everything one can learn about me by doing a simple Google search. My heart goes out to those with names a little more common than mine.

So, when I see influencers teaching young people to constantly remain professional in all their online endeavours, I feel sad for them. I recognize the necessity to smarten up about the public photos posted on one’s Facebook profile, but I think introducing someone to online public relations by giving warnings about what can and will be used against them deters young people from wanting to get involved in such a space.

Yes, being social media savvy might help a student land a great job in the near future, but don’t lie—there are still plenty of communications jobs for those refusing to blog or tweet. Many people still need to be convinced that this a great place to be! Please don’t use scare tactics. And yes, I believe scare tactics are exactly what is being used.

We are all people. We all make mistakes and we all want to have fun. We can be responsible and human at the same time.

At 9 a.m. tomorrow, I join the rest of Centennial College’s School of Communications, Media and Design in celebrating the completion of my post-graduate certificate in Corporate Communications and Public Relations. Are you proud of me?

I graduated from Carleton University only a year ago (that’s when the photo was taken), so I’m not losing my mind with enthusiasm right now. But, I was the best student I’ve been since high school this year, and I’m beyond proud of all my accomplishments.

I’m so grateful to Centennial and my instructors there this year, including Christine Smith and Gary Schlee. The program taught me more than I could have imagined in such a short amount of time. Gary made the school attractive to me from my first admissions interview when he confirmed that the Centre for Creative Communications is, in fact, where the original Degrassi High was filmed. Through organizing an incredible social media unconference and introducing an Online PR course to the curriculum, Gary demonstrated what our 500 student campus is capable of. I am truly proud to have another alma mater in Centennial.

Best of luck to Christine as she takes over Gary’s role as Program Co-ordinator. And congratulations to Jessie-May Rowntree on her continuation at the Centre as a part-time instructor while she extends her communications experience elsewhere in the industry.

For those of you who don’t know, I finished my internship at Veritas Communications and com.motion. I’ve been asked to stay as a Junior Coordinator of social media throughout the summer and of course I accepted.

All you other recent grads or those about to, what are your plans? How do you feel now that another journey is over?

Have you guys heard about Lauren Bernat yet? I saw this tweet from Jason Calacanis this afternoon and decided to dig a little deeper:

Meet the latest internet celebrity Lauren Bernat: http://mahalo.com/Lauren_Be… (famous for playing Wii Fit in panties in YouTube video).

Really, that’s all you need to know, but it’s an… interesting video to watch nonetheless:

An advertising guy taped his advertising girlfriend hula hooping on Wii Fit, put it on YouTube and titled it Why every guy should buy their girlfriend Wii Fit. Yikes, Gutierrez could have come up with a more grammatically correct sentence, but I digress.

There are speculations that, because the couple work in advertising, the video is a marketing tactic from Nintendo. But, both the couple and Nintendo have gone on record saying the gaming company had nothing to do with the new YouTube phenomenon. Fair enough—though I think it would have been a clever idea.

The whole thing is kind of ridiculous and blown way out of proportion just like every other weirdo YouTube star. But, the nearly 2.5 million views and 2,300+ comments just go to show the power of consumer as spokesperson.

I was 11 years old when the Spice Girls first introduced their version of girl power to pop music fans worldwide, and I ate it up. My bedroom walls were also adorned with pictures of the (I then considered) dreamy Backstreet Boys. I was never into ‘N Sync, but I still love Hanson—sorry.

Within two years, three bands/musicians began to change my life—or at least the way I heard and appreciated music. My big brother (unintentionally) introduced me to Beck, Foo Fighters and Weezer. The former two have been up to so much, I find it difficult to keep up, but I will always respect them for leading me to better music. Weezer, however, remains one of my top two favourite bands of all time (the other is the Smiths).

Unlike most hardcore =w= fans, I still believe if it’s too loud, turn it down. Yes, Blue and Pinkerton are AMAZING and UNBEATABLE albums, but that’s just it; Green, Maladroit and Make Believe are good records, but the band started it’s career too perfectly to ever live up to the standards it set in 1994. I recognize this. That’s why I’ll stand by Rivers Cuomo, Brian Bell, Pat Wilson, Scott Shriner and even ex-bassist Matt Sharp (but probably not unstable Mikey Welsh) ’til the end.

June 3 marked the release of Weezer’s sixth album, The Red Album. I’m ashamed to say that all I’ve heard from it so far is the single, Pork and Beans.

Many of you have probably seen the video continually growing more popular on YouTube. It features many Internet fads and celebrities (either the real thing or a parody), including:

• the Numa Numa guy
• Britney’s BFF Chris Crocker;
• Drama Prairie Dog (loved by Eden’s son);
• Daft Hands;
• Daft Bodies; and
• Chocolate Rain Man himself, Tay Zonday.

Say what you will about the band trying too hard or stealing ideas from the Barenaked Ladies (can someone link me to the video Pork and Beans is being compared to?), but the bottom line is: Weezer is listening.

Dr. Pepper is not the only man capitalizing on Mr. I move away from the mic to breathe in. Watch this video of Zonday covering Weezer… with Weezer:

Okay so, I’m having way too much trouble embedding this video without completely effing the layout, so here it is until I figure this out. My apologies.

Photo from Stereogum.

I went to the Canadian Public Relations Society’s (CPRS) 360 Degrees: All Things Connected event on Wednesday evening (May 14th) with my good friend Maricel. Actually, Maricel made this night happen for me. She told me about the event, encouraged me to go, purchased the tickets and signed us both up for sessions based on what she thought I would like. Talk about a great friend (and the sessions she chose were superb)!

I have a lot to say about things that were said and things I learned on Wednesday, but I’m going to stick to one subject for this post: the crisis communications round table with Marie Rochon, who works for the City of Mississauga.

Rochon presented many great cases she has helped handle, including SARS and the CBC strike. Her main points and pieces of advice bear repeating:

1. When you work in media relations, you get pulled into crisis communications
2. Communication plans, at best, guide you; no crisis is the same
3. Key messages evolve and they can go out the window at any time
4. An industry can change as a result of a crisis
5. Avoid using spokespeople during a crisis; a company’s CEO should be at the forefront. If your CEO doesn’t handle media well, get the next best person, but media train the brotha or sista

The session was quite insightful, but some issues were raised that I want to challenge. Rochon said she has good working relationships with reporters, but she doesn’t deal with them in personal situations. Unlike some of her friends and colleagues, she doesn’t take journalists out to dinner. She explained that people she knows have gotten into trouble by saying something in confidentiality (that was later leaked) to a member of the media. Nothing is off the record, Rochon warns.

It’s not the latter suggestion I have a problem with—it’s everything else. Journalists and public relations professionals have mutually beneficial relationships. At least that’s what I’m told, that’s what I’ve seen in my brief experience working in the field and that’s a goal I’m working towards. I can’t imagine not attempting to get to know media personalities on a level other than through pitches, looking for coverage and asking and answering questions. That can’t be enjoyable in the least.

I originally decided to go into PR because I wanted to help non-profit organizations reach out to their publics. After a year of incredible personal growth and learning, my path took a bit of a different turn, but my raison d’etre remains the same. I just really like people. A lot. I want to be there for reporters to answer any questions they have about the product or service I am introducing them to. I want them to feel the passion I have for what I do. I want them to like me as a person, not as another PR flack.

I realize nothing is off the record. But, I also realize it’s up to me to maintain both my personal brand and my clients’ reputations at all times. I don’t go home and forget about what I do at the office all day. I even dream about it—just ask my colleague Brenna!

How can we expect to have any type of relationship with others who work in the media if we decide to deal with them strictly on a professional basis? Who would even want this? Why can’t we be friends?

So, if you’re reading this and you’re a journalist or blogger, let’s do lunch (or something)! I just like making friends.

I have so much to update re: my internship at Veritas, but for now I want to invite anyone stumbling upon my humble e-abode to an event I’ve helped prepare for.

Join the Veritas Marketing PR team, GTA radio hosts and more tomorrow, May 15, 2008 at 11 a.m. at Dundas Square.

I promise you a fun, unique and zany time with a lot of hilarious and energetic people. You might even walk away with some pretty cool giveaways hand picked by yours truly! The team has been working so hard on this event. I’m so proud of the time, passion and creativity everyone has put into this. I can’t wait to see the results of many long days in action!

So please, if you’re in the area tomorrow between (around) 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., please drop by, say hi and bask in the best kind of madness.

The blurred lines between authenticity/transparency and good ol’ fun with our good friend social media is a pretty hot topic in the Toronto PR realm right now. After listening to the latest episode of Inside PR, I realized I have a few thoughts to sort out about the issue.

Local screenwriter Jill Golick presented Story2Oh! at CaseCamp Toronto 7 a couple weeks ago. In very basic and not at all sufficient language, her idea to bring her work online lead to the creation of a group of fictional characters that live and interact online with each other and with real people. Golick’s characters had Facebook profiles, Twitter accounts, posted videos on YouTube, etc. I was amazed by the presentation and intricacy of the entire phenomenon. And, I couldn’t wait to get home and look these people up on the many social networks they are part of.

But, when I got around to doing a Facebook search (the next day, oops!), I discovered Ali Barrett et al. no longer live on the site. Someone at Facebook learned of Terms of Service compromise and removed the four from Canada’s favourite social network.

Okay, that’s fair–Golick broke the rules (unlike my brother’s friend) and paid the consequences. She knows this, and she has been nothing but professional and diplomatic about the situation that blew up in the blogosphere the following few days. I wish the same could be said for the other writers who have her back.

My good friend Eden asked a question about transparency after Golick’s presentation. She said one of the characters requested to be her Facebook friend and she found no obvious explanation of her falseness on her profile. Golick apologized for the confusion and said she made sure to point that fact out every place her characters live. My favourite part of the question from “the woman with dark hair” was when she pointed out that many people toy with their 160 character bios on Twitter. People write all kinds of cutesy things. Saying “I’m a fictional character” shouldn’t always be taken at face value in that space.

Eden was attacked after the Facebook profiles were deleted. She was accused as reporting Golick’s imaginary friends to Facebook–which never happened. In order to straighten out the situation and explain her stance on transparency, Eden wrote this post on One Degree. I was disgusted with a lot of the feedback she received, particularly this gem from Bill Cunningham:

…

But what’s really heinous is the idea that people who attended a conference in “new” media were so closed-minded and somehow offended (though I really don’t see how they could be. You would think they would want to learn how it was done) that they decided to “tell on” Jill and her storytelling team instead of simply ending the “friendship.”

Those folks will never think to the future. Those folks will never be able to innovate, adapt or overcome. Those folks hold the rest of us back. They are a sign of the “grim meathook future” (look it up) that awaits us if we keep doing things the same old way we always have instead of getting down to the business of learning and growing up.

…

Here’s what I had to say:

And to Bill re: new media people being closed minded–I completely disagree. These people use social media every day for both personal and professional reasons. They are paid based on their transparency; their ability to interact with people online while fully disclosing who they are, who they work for and why they’re in a specific space. These people are making sure the blurred line of authenticity isn’t completely crossed forever.

I don’t disagree with everything you said, but most of the people who attended CaseCamp aren’t in the business of interactive screenwriting.

That still doesn’t say much to the topic I introduced this post with, but I felt it was important to tell this person that there were two very different groups of people with different backgrounds approaching the situation.

As to having fun with flogs (does it really have to be a negative word every time?), see my post about the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall on glossblog. I say let them have fun!

On IPR 110, Terry Fallis said he has no problem with these promotional blogs as long as there is some up front, honest information about who is really writing the blog and what is really going on. You know… I don’t even think I’d go that far. Peter Bretter’s blog didn’t do that.

There is, of course, a huge difference between RVing around America, sleeping in Wal-Mart parking lots and blogging about the experience all the while hiding the fact that you’re a journalist hired by the firm handling the company’s PR and blogging from the perspective of a character in a movie or an Aussie party boy.

In the case of the latter, I think these blogs challenge the reader to figure things out and put pieces together. Let’s make our audiences as smart as we want them to be. It is possible.

Photo by Jill Golick

My brother’s friend was kicked off Facebook last week for asking a question. Really folks, that’s all there is to it.

Last time I counted, there was about 300 million protest/activist/hippie/angry what-have-you groups on the site (yes, I exaggerate, people). I’m torn on how I feel about these groups. I mean, I think it’s great that passionate, arguably intelligent people can get together virtually to discuss topics near and dear to their hearts and work to do what they can to make the world a better place (for lack of a less cliche phrase). But—as I was recently discussing with Matthew Ingram and Canadian Beauty—not unlike “real life,” these spaces will never be free from some drunken fool, with nothing useful to say, shootin’ his mouth off.

I don’t even feel it’s worth looking into, but I’m sure there are more than a few anti-Atlantic seal hunt groups on Facebook. As if I didn’t already have countless problems with the people who rag on about how sad and unethical this tradition and way of life is, I’ve got something else to be angry about.

The moderator of one particular group deleted every comment that didn’t align with everything she believed. Most of the removed comments weren’t rude, mean or accusative; they simply provided an alternative point of view. Isn’t this what generates good, interesting conversation? A lot of oppositional viewpoints on this topic come from Atlantic Canadians who probably have pretty first-hand knowledge of the subject—just like my brother’s friend.

So, he sent a message to the moderator asking, “Why do you delete every comment you don’t agree with?” What did she say in response? Nothing. She reported him to Facebook as being verbally abuse. Excuse me, but WTF? And what did good ol’ Zuckerberg’s team think of that? Well, apparently they didn’t take it lightly, and kicked the guy off the site. No message, no warning, no explanation—nothing.

If you can’t tell, I’m disgusted. What is the standard, method or process of deciding who to remove from Facebook? Surely there has to be proof of some rule being broken. All I can come up with is the fact that is was a harmless, little girl being approached by an older guy about a situation she was clearly uncomfortable with. Well sweetheart, maybe you shouldn’t start controversial groups if you aren’t prepared for some feedback.

Finally, this guy doesn’t use his real name on Facebook. He uses some ridiculous alter ego that no one can ever remember. The folk at FB probably recognize this and assume he could be up to no good. That’s kind of fair, but please give some explanation next time. KTHNXBYE.

Howdy folks,

I have a couple posts up my sleeve, but to tide you over until I re-gain some post-work energy, take a look at my first post on Veritas’ gloss blog: YOU LOOK GREAT IN THAT CAMPAIGN SARAH MARSHALL.

gloss is Canada’s first marketing communications division devoted to women under 30. The blog creates discussion about topics that cater to this demographic and those interested in marketing to it.

Thanks to my classmate Rhonda Bowen for sparking my interest in the Sarah Marshall campaign.