It was Tuesday, November 24 and the breaking news was that Abe Pollin, Washington Wizards owner and local philanthropist died at the age of 85.  Washington D.C. lost an iconic figure and by all accounts an incredibly caring and generous man, leaving a deep chasm in the city he loved.  As I listened to countless personal tributes from people who had the pleasure of making Mr. Pollin’s acquaintance, I couldn’t help but be moved by the heartfelt stories of his life.

Mr. Pollin gave Washington, D.C. the gift of both an NBA and NHL franchise.  More importantly he singlehandedly revitalized an entire neighborhood of downtown Washington, D.C. when he built the Verizon Center with over $220 million of his own money.  He was adored by the people who worked for him and went out his way to help those in need.  Mr. Pollin spent much of his life donating time and money to causes that support those who are less fortunate.

I find a great deal of  irony in the timing of his death and I am left wondering if this type of generosity and good will is an endangered personal attribute in our overly materialistic and commercialized society.  I am also reminded that Christmas was once so special to me.  It meant so many things – family, peace to all, promise, good will, hope, love, and generosity.  It would seem that like many Americans I had forgotten. 

And so I contend that it is very fitting that Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol has been readapted into a motion picture, staring Jim Carey and released this holiday season.  We all know the story well.  Dickens’s classic tale is an indictment of nineteenth century industrial capitalism and greed.  Ebenezer Scrooge, the coldhearted and miserly money lending banker embodies many of the very attributes that caused the current mortgage and housing crisis and subsequent economic meltdown.  Two centuries later, the lesson remains timeless.

This year it is difficult to ignore the fact that the country is in economic turmoil.  Unemployment rates are high and for too many Americans keeping food in the cupboards is difficult.  This makes it hard to celebrate when Christmas has become an overly commercialized and materialistic holiday

A government report released this week cites that 49 million Americans do not have dependable access to adequate food this holiday season.  Food banks are seeing unprecedented demand with a 50% increase in requests for assistance in 2009.  The lines are growing and now contain more formerly middleclass Americans that until recently didn’t know what a food bank was. 

America’s food banks are in need of a bailout in the form of volunteers and donations this holiday season.  Few of us have the resources of Mr. Pollin, but time is a valuable gift that many of us can give if we make the effort. 

My family is blessed, so in the true spirit of Christmas, I asked my children to make an amendment to their material Christmas lists.  I challenged them to identify and perform one act of kindness and generosity this holiday season.  This can be a small donation of food, money or time, but hopefully it will serve as a life lesson that they personify and eventually pass on to their children.

We can all make a difference with very little time or effort.  The gift of giving to someone less fortunate should inspire us.  The fictional story of Ebenezer Scrooge or the real life generosity of Abe Pollin can serve as a Polaris to navigating through life in a manner that makes the world a better place to live. Make time this holiday season for something that benefits those in need and you may find reward in rediscovering the true meaning of Christmas.

“Putting the Public Back in Public Relations: How Media is Reinventing the Aging Business of PR”

 Brian Solis and Deirdre Breckenridge have written a “how to manual” for today’s public relations practitioners. This book is a must read for public relations professionals that wish to survive in the Web 2.0 environment.  Solis and Breakenridge use their own experience in the PR industry coupled with their knowledge and understanding of the new age of communication to lay out their suggested framework and recipe for PR success in today’s digital market.

Groundswell set the stage regarding the current state of play, Here Comes Everybody explained the social and human behaviors in this new age of communication, and The Long Tail explored the emergence of niche consumption.  Putting the Public Back in Public Relations is a “nuts and bolts” user manual for PR 2.0 sucess.

 
The landscape has changed

 Part 1: The True Value of New PR

Along with identifying what is wrong with current PR practices, Solis and Breakenridge challenge the status quo and explain the difference between PR 2.0 and Public Relations.  They discuss the emergence of blogs and compare new journalism to traditional journalism.  Like Chris Anderson, they contend that bloggers are just one example of mass democratization and publication.  In the final chapter of this first section, they discuss the importance of personal relationships in PR.  This is important, because regardless of technological advances, personal relationships remain the most critical ingredient.

Part 2: Facilitating Conversations: New Tools and Techniques

Solis and Breakenridge introduce the reader to a myriad of new tools and techniques that exist in Web 2.0.  More importantly, they introduce innovative tactics to successful operations.  Some of these tactics include: blogger relationships, social media releases, video news releases, and corporate blogging.

Part 3: Participating in Social Media

Solis and Breakenridge explain that engagement with social media is essential, but will involve new and innovative approaches.  In other words, just because you’re using social media, doesn’t mean you can employ tired and outdated tactics.  These new tactics must not be confused with standard marketing and PR tactics of the past.  Solis and Breakenridge provide advice and examples of how to integrate a successful social media plan into any PR strategy.

Part 4: P.R. 2.0: A Promising Future

Here they explore community managers and customer service 2.0, socialization of communication, breaking news and metrics for PR 2.0.    Again, they discuss the new challenges with respect to new influences vs. traditional journalism.  Specifically, they explore how bloggers are involved with breaking news stories and the role of social media and the news process.

Part 5: Convergence

Finally, Solis and Breakenridge explain how the practices of PR 1.0 and PR 2.o can converge into today’s new environment and allow PR professional to succeed in this changed landscape.   As the other readings focused on Web 2.0 from a macro level, I found this reading to be a micro view for the individual PR practitioner.  This book relates to changes that each individual professional must proactively take to steer their respective company towards PR success.

The Coast Guard PR Professional

A rare benefit that the Coast Guard has related to PR is that generally public affairs officers complete graduate work in communication before they are assigned to executing any PR responsibilities.  As such, many of the officers stepping into PR roles are well-informed with respect to PR 2.0 through recent advanced education.  In fact, their overall inexperience doesn’t come with any of the PR 1.0 “baggage” and thus there really isn’t a status quo to change or overcome.  I believe the Coast Guard is well suited to succeed with PR 2.0.

I bought my copy of Chris Anderson’s, “The Long Tail” on Amazon.com. If you notice at the bottom of the page displaying Anderson’s book, “The Long Tail” you will also find recommendations for “Groundswell” and “Here Comes Everybody.”  Amazon.com has revolutionized the book industry and is a prime example of a long tail company.

Amazon is just one example of the long tail and their inventory goes far beyond the recommendations mentioned. In fact, Amazon’s inventory dwarfs that of any ordinary bricks and motor book store. According to Anderson’s theory, infinite shelf space is key in applying long tail principles to business.  This is just one example of the long tail in action and proof that Anderson is on to something with his notion that the traditional 80/20 power distribution law is a thing of the past. As Anderson puts it, our culture is a massive popularity contest and the world is built around blockbusters.  He explains that the blockbuster culture is starting to fade to a culture driven by smaller niches vice large-scale hits.

Online recommendations are changing the way people shop and without shelf space constraints, there are no limitations to what is available for consumption.  Amazon.com’s recommendations for books associated with “The Long Tail” were incredibly insightful as Li and Bernoff set the stage in “Groundswell,” laying out the foundation or basic enabler for Anderson’s theory. Likewise, Shirky explores the human element of the equation as he explains the new dynamics of group interaction and behavior in today’s world. Each book serves as a layer of knowledge that is necessary to truly understand how Web 2.0 is changing our culture and how the long tail works.

Anderson touches on some common themes from the two previous readings as he explains the three forces of the long tail: (1) democratize production, (2) democratize distribution, and (3) connect supply and demand. The very exercise of reading his book and writing this blog employed all three forces. Using my home desktop computer to blog, purchasing the book on eBay, and checking the subsequent recommendations, and eventually posting my blog entry are all examples of democratizing as Anderson explains.

Once you understand the long tail theory you quickly realize that long tail businesses are everywhere. Amazon, iTunes and Netflix are just a few examples that Anderson explains in detail. As he puts it, we live in a “seamless digital marketplace” where content can move from the very bottom of unviewed material to the top, with changes in public interest.  The legacy logistics of the bricks and mortar model don’t need to catch-up because the inventory already exists in a virtual endless fashion.

With all of these forces of democratization the keys to the market are in the hands of the consumer. This leads to an overwhelming amount of data on the Web. In Anderson’s words, “You Tube is full of crap!” One of my favorite case studies in the book explores some of this (data) crap in explaining how an online video loaded to You Tube was a catalyst to rejuvenating dwindling Saturday Night Live ratings.

Anderson explains how a December 2005 Lonely Island crew “white-boy” rap video spoofing on the Chronicles of Narnia become an online sensation and made the once popular show relevant again with a young generation of viewers.

This content managed to resonate with a new audience – a younger one that grew up online. Anderson contends that the days of everyone watching the same show and recounting the previous night’s episode over the water cooler are gone. The internet has democratized distribution and changed the architecture of participation putting the consumer in control.

Anderson does a remarkable job explaining his theory which makes this book an incredible read. To summarize at the risk of oversimplifying, Anderson drives home the point that niches add up. These narrowly targeted goods may seem like a relatively small portion of the market, but the sum can be significant, particularly on the scale of iTunes or Amazon sales.

For the Coast Guard the long tail may serve as a way to strengthen the workforce. With limited funds for requirement and a need to grow a diverse workforce with talented recruits, the long tail may serve as a way to reach niche markets. For example, the Coast Guard could target professional Hispanic engineers at a specific university through the use of social media. Recruiting commands could also use online videos to reach specific audiences. While, the organization must be careful so that their content is not viewed as spam, there remains an incredible opportunity to capitalize on this new distribution law to sell less of more.  The Coast Guard is small and in many ways offers niche services to our nation.  As such, the Coast Guard must be a long tail organization.

Clay Shirky

             While “Groundswell” was eye-opening and set the foundation for what is changing, “Here Comes Everybody” explores why and how things are changing.  One of the most significant changes in recent years is that technology has allowed for creators to publish before filtering.  For example, mass media used to be controlled by organizations that had the talent, knowledge and technology to produce and release a product.  Today, anyone can create online content and publish it without any filtering or editing.  This is just the beginning of mass amaturization of media.  Virtually anyone can publish anything, anytime – this is revolutionary.

            Shirky challenges why companies exist anymore given the increasing ability for people to organize on their own.  He uses Wikipedia as an example of successful user generated content.  Conventional wisdom would suggest that an unmanaged online encyclopedia that is made-up of user generated content would fail.  This is completely wrong.  Today Wikipedia is larger than Encyclopedia Britannica and contains similarly trustworthy information.  Wikipedia is working without organization because of spontaneous division of labor.  Users add content and edit existing content.  While mistakes may exist, they are generally corrected faster than new material is added, making the site remarkably accurate and dependable. 

          Today we share information differently.  When I was growing-up my father owned a restaurant in New York State.  He would post newspaper articles of interest with magnets on a large stainless steel refrigerator.   The restaurant staff of 20 -30 people would look at them and sometimes even post comments.  This practice is completely unheard of today.  If my dad were still running that restaurant, he would certainly send those articles via email to a “bang-list” of employees.  Those employees wouldn’t be limited to commenting with sticky notes on the fridge.  They could forward those articles to as many people as they wish and the same of the recipients.  This has increased readership of any given article astronomically.  Shirky points out the case of a 1990’s Catholic Church sex scandal that went relatively undetected.  When the Boston Globe covered another similar case in 2002, the information spread much quicker and broader, and the Catholic Church could no longer ignore the issue.

            The internet allows people to connect with anyone at anytime.  Shirky points out that while traditional civic group participation is decreasing, people are congregating online.  Interestingly, the traditional groups that come to mind are not necessarily a fair representation of those online.  For example, witches, vampires and pagans are at the top of list for online organizations.  He points out that this is likely the case because these groups lack formal organizations as they are outside of social norms and acceptability.  Shirky also points out that while there are plenty of benefits from these technological advances that enhance society, there are equally counterproductive applications in the form of organized crime and terrorism.

            Thousands of people around the world assisting in finding a stolen cell phone, a user generated encyclopedia, masses of people pressuring the Catholic Church to act, and groups of people that rest outside of social norms congregating online are all examples of how technology is changing the world.  Clay Shirky’s views and theories are fascinating.  Group action is certainly changing and will have a profound impact on the future.

A brief overview of the Coast Guard’s core missions.

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