Remain Relevant in Changing Times

We're watching history in the making: Va Tech tragedy changes how stories are covered

If you're still talking about "new media," please stop. There's no such thing any more. It's just media now. Citizen journalists and consumer generated content have never been more relevant than what we have seen in the past two days. The horrible tragedy at Virginia Tech tested the incredible potential - and limits - of the technology that is forever changing the way we communicate with one another, whether across the hall or around the world.

As you know by now, the most compelling video of the police on campus trying to find the gunman came from a camera phone owned by a student (who, btw, was paid by CNN for exclusive footage). So far, it has generated over 2 million views. Hundreds of people have sent what CNN calls i-reports, providing a citizen's eye view of the events as they unfold. Suddenly, the number of "reporters" covering the story has completely changed the way we are able see and absorb the story. We don't have to wait for over-produced, high-priced media personalities to reserve satellite time and set up temporary sets to tell us what they think is going on.

Meanwhile, students learned from other students who was injured, killed and missing by reading Facebook, blogs, MySpace, Wikipedia, and of course through IM's and text messages. Today, there are hundreds of Facebook pages and forums dedicated to mourning the students. In fact, one has drawn more than 28,000 members who share memories, photos, poems and questions. Global online communities are  coming together in a matter of hours. The mainstream media can't keep up. Nor, by the way, can the technology. This horrible event will serve as a blueprint for communications companies to develop even more robust interactive programming.

Over the next several weeks we can expect to see tremendous online coverage of this story as an official investigation gets underway. Every hour new information is revealed as people share their experiences and insight.  We're watching history in the making. News will never be covered the same way again.

Consider this, too: this week marked another new milestone: a majority of teens (55%) now have online profiles.  Watch that continue to grow quickly, especially with the corresponding growth in online coverage of major news.

So, let's drop talk of new media. It's so 12 hours ago.

USA Today, America's McPaper, embraces Web 2.0

One of my favorite newspapers, USA Today, has relaunched its web site and it's a real beauty. The paper that built its reputation on giving people colored pie charts and an abbreviated version of the news has decided to take a deep dive and actually involve its readers, whom they're asking to participate online and use the paper as a resource.

The first thing I noticed was all the white space on the screen, a far cry from the original wide screen layout with lots of color and bold fonts. Now, the online paper is elongated and fits on the screen in a much narrower format (which advertisers tend to love). Then, I saw how the cover photo changes as you mouse over the thumbprint photos in the margins. That means instead of selecting a cover story and playing it up, the cover story changes based on your own interest. Can you say relevant?

The site uses a public comment tool, social network capabilities and gives people the ability to upload photos and participate in blogs; in other words, all the things that make Web 2.0 the must-have format for newspapers now.

But what I like best about USAT's efforts is that they're not turning the paper over to consumers to be "citizen journalists." Instead, the paper's "real" journalists can use the consumer tools as a listening device, but the reporting will still come from those trained in the craft. Thank goodness. I've always hated the expression "citizen journalist" because it implies expertise that in most cases does not exist. (Full disclosure: this could be an ego thing with me. I have a degree in journalism and worked as a reporter for several years. I'd hate to think I wasn't special somehow.)

Watch for other newspapers, even midsize local fishwrappers, to grab on to Web 2.0 too. Today's newspapers will thrive only if they go beyond giving consumers what they need and include what they want (which, apparently, is the ability to be a part of the process).

I predict USAT will be successful because it has always had a breezy, consumer-oriented writing style that makes it appeal to the average reader, who will be quicker to share the site with "like kind." And when that happens, advertisers will start to throw their support behind it and before you know it, USAT becomes a "gotta see" portal.

Check it out.

Viewing relevance from a hospital bed

Relevance, I've learned, looks pretty different from a hospital bed. I'm lying in one now in room 619 at Kennestone Hospital in Marietta, GA, where I've spent the past four days being tested up the wazoo. I came in through the emergency room on Sunday, which is my preferred method (you get serviced faster that way and who doesn't like a little drama?).

A number of issues had me here, the most serious being the rapid increase of my creatine, which measures kidney function. My transplanted kidney was starting to poop out on me.

I certainly couldn't afford a lose a second transplant. I've run out of sisters. Lucky for me, Dr. Robert Jansen from Georgia Kidney Associates, has been on the case. First the good news... I'll be fine.

Meanwhile, I've noticed some interesting changes since my last extended visit here five years ago. The lovely hospital gown I was offered first thing wasn't the solid institutional blue of years past. Instead, it has "Hospital Property" stamped all over it. Is this to ensure I don't get it confused with my personal identical gown brought from home? Or is it a reminder of who's really the boss here? For the record, I never thought it was me. I've always assumed it was the insurance company.

For instance, yesterday I was taken to a mysterious cavernous part of the building for a colonoscopy and endoscopy (and from the way I felt later, apparently another oscopy they failed to mention). The doctor asked me if I wanted to be put to sleep for the procedure. I told him anyone who was getting ready to put a tube up my butt better have drugs or some very strong chardonnay. Then I probed (before he did), "Why would you ask?" He said, "Because it will cost your insurance company more if I do it that way. Some people prefer to just put up with the temporary discomfort."

Not this somebody. I didn't care what the insurance company thought about any of this. But it was a real "ah ha" moment for me. Insurance companies, for better or worse, are becoming more and more relevant to our everyday lives, requiring decisions that previously didn't even merit consideration.

Another thing that has struck me is how technology drives so much of the healthcare system now. Everything here beeps, rings or hums. Every person, from the surgeons to the cleaning crew, have cell phones attached as closely as vital organs and they ring constantly (the phones, not the organs). Information flies around wirelessly and yet, as far as I can tell, most of these systems don't talk to one another very well. I still had to answer the same questions 10 times. Maybe they're really just trying to determine my memory skills.

There are several channels on the internal TV system showing educational shows about various medical procedures. That's fine, but what would be even better - and more relevant - would be if I could go to the web site and just download these episodes into my iPod.  Few things are more comforting than having an articulate doctor right there in the palm of your hand gently explain something (on demand, no less).

And while they're at it, a few links to blogs and web sites about specific procedures would be good too. Right now, WellStar (Kennestone's parent) has some great information on its web site that's strictly text based, but they need to take things up a notch.

Hey, we impatient patients are sitting here with laptops picking up the wifi connection. Why not send us to pre-selected links? It might keep us busy enough to lay off the "call nurse" button for a while.

Girl Scouts go digital: Computer cookies get a whole new meaning

One of the great ironies of my life is that I got fat eating Thin Mints. I cannot resist them. I've been known to drive all over Cobb County, GA in March searching for uniformed Girl Scouts standing behind folding card tables hawking the most wicked of all treats.

But that is so last year. Now the Girl Scouts have gone digital. That's right - they're promoting their annual fundraising cookies in all the places we visit every day: YouTube, Grouper, Friendster, MySpace and more. No more driving around looking for cookies. Look for them in blogs (like this one!) and heaven only knows where else. There will be no escaping the Girl Scouts now. If you have a zip code, they can tell you the closest place to buy their cookies.

Well, let me say, "Thanks a lot, girls." I have always justified buying cookies my hips didn't need because I have a hard and fast policy to always purchase anything a child is selling for a good cause. When I started at Edelman, I even considered it an employee benefit that I could order cookies right here at the office, thanks to one little Allie Tucker, a beautiful child with the darkest, brownest, most soulful eyes I've ever seen. Although she's a talented little sales leader, the truth is all she has to do is look at me and I'll hand over a blank check.

She reminded me this year that I could order several boxes of cookies and freeze the ones I don't eat right away. I'm not sure what planet Allie is from, but in my world there's no such thing as leftover Girl Scout cookies.... or extra boxes. I ordered more than usual this year so I could participate in an Edelman plan to send some to the troops in Iraq. In case I lose that altruistic feeling when those beautiful Thin Mints, Samoas and TagAlongs arrive, I've bookmarked my favorite places where I can send others a link where they can begin their own lifelong habit that's as powerful as any drug being peddled on the street. Somehow, it feels almost dirty, but I'm sure I'll get over it.

The Girl Scouts are celebrating their 90th year of sales in 2007. More than just a fundraiser, this annual rite aims to teach girls the ins and outs of being an entrepreneur. I can't think of a better lesson they could learn than the importance of how to remain relevant in changing times. 

I congratulate them - and their partner, Ripple Effects, for this brilliant strategy. With the money I'll save in gas, I can buy more boxes of Thin Mints!

Your outrage is really working!

Just moments ago, CNN announced that the interview between Judith Regan and O.J. Simpson has been canceled. Moreoever, O.J.'s book won't be published either.

"I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project," said Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. chairman. "We are sorry for any pain that his has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson."

I can't tell you how delighted I am to hear that this show and book won't see the light of day. It tells us that we consumers have power. Outrage still works. We all need to keep that in mind. One of the great things about viral campaigns and blogs is that those of us who don't have bully pulpits in the traditional sense still get to affect change by giving voice to our convictions and opinions in a forum that doesn't rely on editors and producers to determine what makes the cut. I want to encourage you to turn to the blogosphere, e-mail and other online tools to garner support for what you believe in.

Thanks for all your notes of encouragement and your willingness to join me in my personal protest. We matter. And hopefully Fox won't forget that (at least until next November sweeps time)!

Plane and simple: Apple scores again with iPods in the air

Anyone looking to learn a lesson in how to remain relevant needn't go any further than this week's announcement by Apple that it struck a deal to have iPod jacks installed on planes at six different airlines.

According to the Wall Street Journal on November 15, Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM, and United have agreed to offer passengers a way to connect their iPods to their seats so they can use them in flight or at least charge them while soaring thousands of feet in the air. What's more, video iPod owners will be able to view their videos on the screens embedded into the back of the seats. I guess this is Apple's way of saying "Take THAT!" to Microsoft's new Zune, which also launched this week.

What an ingenious plan to find yet another way to make the iPod relevant to people who love it most: those who travel. I just can't wait to experience this new arrangement when it becomes available in mid-2007. Do you suppose customizing my seat even further will make me forget - or at least forgive - the fact that I'm usually cramped into a space intended for someone or something the size of an average house cat?

Apple's quest to constantly find new ways to make the iPod a part of our lives is working. When I bought my new Lexus last spring, it was the iPod jack I looked for first, not whether it had a CD changer. I'm hooked. I've even come to expect hotels to provide a clock/radio combination that accommodates my iPod. Next, I'll want a waterproof iPod system in my shower. And why not? I can buy shoes and athletic clothes with built-in  pockets for  an iPod. Mind you, I wouldn't do that because it might give someone the impression that  I actually would do something that requires athletic apparel. (I wouldn't dare: all I exercise is caution).

We could all learn from Apple's example. They're not only making the iPod ubiquitous, they're positioning it as a way for other companies to remain relevant. This time next year you may find yourself rocking out in 21D, completely unaware that  you haven't been fed, your luggage is lost and drink prices have gone up. And then the next time you book your airline ticket, you'll  first check to see if the plane has iPod jacks.

Nobody knows more about relevance than Ty Pennington

I confess I've had a crush on Ty Pennington since I first saw him goofing around on the set of Trading Spaces several years ago. He has that irresistible appeal of little boy mischievousness combined with grown-up charm.  I had a chance to meet him in person last year at a movie premiere and was pleased to discover that is he is as genuinely nice and authentic in person as he is on TV. (The movie, Ocee Nash, was his first acting role. He's a much better TV personality than an actor, but since I'm neither, who am I to judge?)

So, it's a real pleasure to see him be so successful with this ABC show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Ty's a talented, smart guy.  But the tuth is, the show works because of the team's ability to make everything about their project relevant. The families who are selected to receive a new custom homestead would probably be just as happy to receive any house, but what they are presented is a beautiful, custom home that reflects their personalities, hobbies, dreams and  memories. It makes for riveting television, but more importantly, it makes for happy families that are often overwhelmed by the experience of being an Extreme Makeover family.

The way Ty and team are able to make each room relevant is by asking a lot of questions, paying attention to the smallest details and then going to great lengths to incorporate the family's  input into everything from the design to the smallest accessories. Beyond creating a fascinating TV show, they have also made it matter beyond the Sunday night episode we see. People who participate in the "it takes a village" approach also contribute to the show's blog about their experiences so viewers can learn more about what goes on behind the scenes.

Imagine if we could delight our customers the way Ty's team delights theirs. We probably can, if we're willing to truly understand the power of doing what it takes to ensure we remain relevant to those who do business with us. All it takes is the willingness to ask questions, absorb the input and act on it. I'd love to hear more about how you've remained relevant. What's your secret?

Relevant doesn't necessarily mean new

It's tempting to think that relevant equals "new" when talking to teenagers. Not so, as I learned from my youngest daughter this weekend.

On Saturday, my husband and I went with  Sydney to visit Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, GA. This was the 12th college campus Sydney, a high school senior, has visited. (Full disclosure: Edelman has represented GCSU in the past, though they currently are not a client).

It was a very well organized event, drawing about 1,000 potential students and their parents to the campus, where we got a tour of the entire place, including the dorms, which were just awesome. Organizers did a great job of showcasing things about the school that they believed would be relevant to the students in attendance.

Professors' lectures are downloadable on iPods. Check.

The entire campus is wireless. Check

The dorms are co-ed and the rooms are new and well designed. Check.

The classes are small. Check.

There are tons of ways to get involved on campus. Check.

I knew all of these things were important to Sydney, so when we left the event after several hours, I figured she had what she needed to make a decision. That's when I got surprised.

Coming home, I asked her what she liked about the school. She named all the things listed above. Then I asked the magic question, "Was there anything you didn't like or wished you had heard more about?" Her answer was enlightening: "I wish they had talked about traditions."

As I probed further I learned that when Sydney visited UGA, GA Tech, UNC Chapel Hill, Duke, Furman and Elon, they all talked about long-held traditions that every incoming Freshman should know. She said it made her feel like it was a special place where everyone had at least one thing in common: knowledge of a tradition that had spanned generations.

What an interesting observation! It had never crossed my mind that traditions would even make her radar screen, never mind be important.The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized how cool I thought it was that Freshmen weren't supposed to walk under the famed Arch on the oldest part of UGA's campus.

She intends to apply to GCSU, among others, but also plans to seek out the answer to her question, "What traditions do you have?"

I couldn't help but wonder how many businesses get so caught up in "what's new" and "what's cool" that we fail to remind customers and potential customers of our history and traditions that played a role in making us as successful as we are now.

What does your business do to honor tradition while moving forward?

Has the Internet given customers too much power?

On Friday night, ABC's 20/20 attempted to find an answer to the question, "Do consumers have too much control?" The segment featured the head of The Consumerist, a popular blog site where unhappy consumers can blog about negative experiences they've had with various companies.

To tell you the truth, the show seemed almost stale to me. It featured the YouTube video we've all seen a hundred times about the sleeping Comcast repairman, then went on to show the recording of the guy who tried for 20 minutes to get his AOL account disconnected. Ironically, the show proved the very point it was exploring; that is, the Internet is lightening fast - so much so, by the time we see something on the "real" news, we've already heard about it elsewhere.

Consumers do have more control than ever before, thanks to the proliferation of blogs in particular. Bloggers love to link to one another (it drives up their Google Juice, which sounds more like a movie title than a legitimate marketing strategy). And here's the rub: bloggers aren't bound by the same ethical standards as journalists. We can call them Citizen Journalists or Influencers or any other clever name we can come up with, but it doesn't change the fact that they don't have to corroborate a thing before they publish it. Moreover, as the show noted, sometimes even after a company has righted a wrong that has been outted by a blogger, Google's memory is a long one and keyword searches can often mislead the searcher to old information, further making a situation worse.

So, what's a company to do? Well, first off, smart companies monitor cyberspace to find out what people are saying about it. The blogosphere is much like having a gigantic, anonymous focus group where you can learn what people really think about your company. It's the best listening device/spy available since the invention of the little sister. Edelman's study of bloggers showed that most care about accuracy and would be willing to correct mistakes that are called to their attention. A majority also said they were interested in hearing directly from companies. And yet, I routinely hear company officials dismiss bloggers as not important targets of the company's communications efforts.

It's a mistake to think that bloggers are just bored nerds with nothing better to do than post their every thought. Most have legitimate complaints that deserve addressing. Companies that engage them, rather than fear or loathe them, will come out ahead. Bloggers won't go away. If anything, their voices will become louder.

There are some great tools in place now that let companies monitor the blogosphere ( with Technorati being the best, in my opinion) and make intelligent decisions on how and if to respond. I strongly encourage you to check them out and start thinking about how your company can engage bloggers to neutralize problems or, better yet, create brand enthusiasts.