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CBC's Blog Became Its Dark Site

Inside the CBC suddenly became one of the only sources of information Monday about why the cbc.ca site was unavailable for many hours.

The problem was caused by a server malfunction.  It took several hours to get a back-up server online.
So, for a few hours, the company's blog was there to inform people that the main site was offline due to technical problems.

Get out your business continuity plans, everyone, and test them.

In a post earlier this year, Tom Murphy wrote that a dark site is the best approach in the event of a crisis.  The company website is one of the first places people go when a company is in trouble. He warned against rushing to include blogs in the crisis communications mix.

Case in point - I'm sure the CBC PR folks would have preferred a bland statement on the blog that vaguely referred to technical difficulties on the cbc.ca server.  Instead, the blog posting went into detail about the cause of the problem, which led some blog visitors to suggest there's not enough redundancy built into the news service's IT infrastructure.

Well, the blog was created to talk openly about what goes on at CBC, without management oversight.  It served the added purpose of alerting some people why they couldn't get their fix of online news that day. 

Job well done, I'd say, no matter what the PR folks might say.

Tags:  pr, socialmedia, crisis, darksite, communications,businesscontinuity

Refresher: Goals, Objectives Defined

In the ongoing circular conversation about communications, Joseph Thornley records Shel Holtz's comment to the Inside PR podcast about a presentation made by Wilma Matthews, of Arizone State University..

As described by Shel, Wilma Matthews summed up the difference between goals and objectives, strategies and tactics:

   
• Set a goal: the business outcome. What you want your communications to achieve.
   
• Establish strategies: The broad approaches you are going to take in order to achieve the goal.
   
• Define objectives for each strategy. Objectives are the measurable tasks that will be undertaken in order to realize the strategies.
   
• Develop tactics - the tools that will be used in order to achieve the objectives.

And to make the concepts even more understandable, she used the Alllies during World War II as an example:

   
• Goal: Win the war.
   
• Strategy: Surround Germany to choke off the resources that fueled its military force.
   
• Objective: Invade France. This is measurable. You’ll know if you’ve succeeded and to what degree.
   
• Tactics: What will you use to do this? e.g. ships, planes, soldiers, etc.

If you think this primer on terms is wasted effort, you've never been in a meeting where defining the terms takes more time and effort than formulating the plan.

Thanks Joseph.  Thanks Shel. Thanks Wilma!

Tags: strategy, planning, communications, business

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Do Not Enter - Reputation at Risk

I reached a turning point shortly after I started reading blogs. After leaving a few comments online, I Googled myself and realized just how public my life would be if I kept on participating in The Writeable Web.

Staying invisible to Google and other search tools is hard, and getting harder. Some of the articles I wrote for my college paper in 1981 are now online. I'm waiting to see some of my more embarrassing articles bubble to the surface as my past catches up with me.

Thankfully, the poetry I wrote in high school has never been posted online. I plan to keep it that way.

While many online tools can be fun to play around with, Susan Crawford looked at the many ways privacy is threatened. And John Wagner and Stephen Silvers warned students to keep their online presence from jeopardizing job opportunities.

These are valid concerns, but if everyone worried that something written in second year university might cost them a job later, nobody would write anything worth reading.

Yes, avoid flamingly stupid public acts, if there's a way to do them privately or anonymously (good luck on staying anonymous). But employees of the future, please don't establish a standard of employability that screens out people who have done some stupid things in their past.

Is a life devoid of potentially embarrassing events worth living? Maybe, but it sounds awfully dull. Hopefully smart companies will look to hire both those with spotless records, and those who are spectacular in their screw-ups.

Employers: if you Google job candidates and find examples of errors in judgment or just plain errors, remember that you have something to gain from hiring people who are willing to take risks. Avoid the bozos who don't have a clue of the impact of their actions, but don't avoid those who show  smarts.

I've already made the decision that any future employer is going to have to be okay with my online reputation, or I won't get hired. I can live with that.

See also Recruiting the Millenial Student Using Social Software, by Una Walsh, and Online Party Crashers (New York Times).

Tags: reputation, blogging, bloggers, online, careers

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Business Needs Drive the Use of Communication Tools (a Leap of Faith Helps, Too)

I read a lot about the use of technology for corporate purposes, and I have to agree with some of the blogophobes. I'd like to see less blind faith, and more discussion of some of the ways social media can help organizations achieve their goals.

I still think the new media advocates have the right idea. We just need to apply the same rigour to the adoption of new technology tools that we would apply to any other important business function.

I was a strong advocate for an intranet/extranet at the trade association I was with about seven years ago. We made a good case for the benefits, and worked out ways the communications within our association, between us and our members, and among our members could be improved through the use of technology. We even involved Shel Holtz, Craig Jolley, Pete Shinbach and Tudor Williams in an examination of the business needs, a consultation process with users, and training on writing for the web.

The financial industry was changing quickly, and we needed loans officers, branch managers and frontline staff to be able to tap into information and feedback loops faster and more actively than we had ever done before.

We made some questionable decisions and some good decisions. But despite the visioning process, the business case, the project charter, the detailed project plan and the input of the steering committee, the creation of a new online communications channel required a huge leap of faith.

What seemed a big risk at the time was in fact just a choice of whether we allowed ourselves to be limited to existing tools and technologies, or embrace new ones. And if so, which new ones. The use of technology wasn't the issue. We were already using faxes, snail mail, e-mail and all the other traditional methods of information exchange. The addition of another channel for communication was inevitable. The issue was one of timing and business priorities.

Will some of the "new" tools become commonly adopted by firms looking for ways to keep a running report on frequently asked questions, coming events notices, project updates, and a wide range of communications both within and without their organization.  I don't doubt it for a second.

When does it make the most sense to adopt some of these tools?  Only when it makes sense. Should you wait until there is absolutely no risk? Not unless your organization doesn't need what social media have to offer.

Shel Holtz has covered this issue from several angles:

Why Are Intranets Stagnant?  More on intranets. Social media in the Enterprise Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV.

Tags: intranets, internal communications, business, communications, web2.0

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A Movement of Nobodies Is Born

I guess it was the dismissiveness of David Murray's insult that pissed me off. The way he called communications consultant Allan Jenkins "a nobody in the communications business" in the closed milieu of his trade magazine editorial added to my ire.

If he'd just called Allan a rude, insensitive curmudgeon I wouldn't have had an issue with it. But the insult wasn't based on Allan's actions, but rather on his perceived lowly position in the Ragan Communications universe.

My media relations advice to the executives I've coached has always included something about remembering that when you act arrogant and nasty to the media, the impression given to the media's audience is that you are being arrogant and nasty to them.

The vehicle through which their message is transmitted (print or electronic media, online or in person) becomes transparent to the audience. And so it was when Murray took aim at his target.  His words got recorded in a bunch of blogs. Murray's irritation with the PR blogger from Copenhagen was barely noticed, but the arrogance of his statement came through as an insult to all the other Nobodies out there -- people who don't necessarily get invited to speak at Ragan conferences, people who spend their lives making a living, sometimes doing exceptional work. People who sometimes get recognition, but too often don't. People like you and me.

I'm sure Murray only wanted to insult one person, not a whole class of people, but I felt insulted nonetheless.

Meh. That was Wednesday morning at 2 a.m. when I was pounding away on a keyboard, searing my anger into my blog post. Today I'm back to my live-and-let-live approach. Being controversial is part of the trade magazine editor's bag of tricks, if they want to keep readers renewing their subscriptions. This controversy will probably be good for business in the Ragan stable of publications and seminars.

In the meantime, me and the other Nobodies who took notice of this issue have been having some fun with the Nobody thing. There's a blog for Nobodies now. And an online store where you can buy logoed items for the International Association of Nobodies. A podcast, paper hats and a number of other creative ideas are in the works.

And in the midst of all that fun there will be a discussion of what it is to be a Nobody, and why that isn't such a bad thing.

I suspect that to Murray (who's been attacked by bloggers in the past), this grouping together will just seem like a pack of rude loudmouths shouting more jargon about the power of social media.

He wants proof that social media can have business applications? What more proof does he need? The very forces that have unearthed his editorial, put it up for display, dissected it, rebutted it, posited alternatives, given examples, pointed to sources of information, and engaged people from several continents in a healthy debate about the issue are available to the average corporation.

There is a world of unengaged or semi-engaged workers out there who don't see the connection between their ambitions and the goals of their employers. A corporation would do well to have exactly this kind of lively debate (without the personal insults) happening within their workforce. So a few corporate sacred cows get bruised in the discussion. So what? The tools we "social media evangelists" are  using to connect with other people about the issues we care about are also available for organizations to use for the same purpose.

You want proof, David?  Open your eyes, and see the value of the discussion you're now involved in. Get over your annoyance with a few bloggers' rude manners or overzealous advocacy, and take a look at a potential tool for discussion, engagement and information sharing. And none of us Nobodies are going to charge you a nickel for the information and opinon we offer you.

Previous posts:
International Association of Nobodies Newsletter, Vol.1, No.1
Join the Nobody Club
I'm a Nobody in the Communications Business

Tags: ragan, communications, blogs, social media, etiquette, netiquette, engagement, employees

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Morale Boosters Don't always Cost Big Bucks

I saw this parking pass on a vehicle in the local mall parking lot. 

Additional cost to make a boring employee parking pass into a positive statement about working at Ipsco: $0.00.

(The "tubular" comment refers to the steel company's main business -- making steel pipes.)

Tags: Ipsco, signage, employees, design, morale, engagement

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Don't Be Heavy-Handed with No-Photo Policy

  The Photo McDonalds Didn't Want You To See 
  Originally uploaded by WillPate.

Piaras Kelly and John Wagner warn that camera phones have expanded the likelihood your organization will be photographed or videoed by someone. So be prepared.

My take: Companies can try to ban the use of cameras and video cameras on their property, but they should provide some direction or training about how to enforce the rules.

I've seem many examples of employees getting aggressive and unpleasant when someone innocently (or otherwise) pulls out a camera to take a picture of something or somone.  It takes a lot of tact to enforce this kind of rule without offending the public or your customers. And when you've invited the public to an event like a fashion show or a product demonstration, you should relax the rules.

The other option is to encourage customers and others to document your organization's activities, and maybe provide free publicity. But as Wagner notes, that approach could be risky if your employees and your workplaces aren't up to the task of being documented.

See the group photo pool in Flickr, You Can't Take Pictures Here!

Previous Post:

Unauthorized Photo of a Sound Event

Start with Civil - You Can Always Shout Later

At the LesBlogs conference in Paris this week, Six Apart exec and long-time blogger Mena Trott spoke on civility, a topic I've raised several times. Then she flipped out on an audience member who was typing uncomplimentary comments about her presentation into the backchannel message board that was being simultaneously posted on the screen.

Mistake number one was to get huffy in front of her audience, which detracted from her presentation. Mistake number two was to get mad at someone who was providing feedback in the manner requested by the conference, of which she was a major sponsor.

She and the backchannel critic Ben Metcalfe settled their differences after the talk, and all is resolved. Except there are several dozen blog postings about the incident, online video, and hundreds of comments to those postings.

Scott Baradell of Media Orchard says Trott needs media training, and should have started with an apology. I can't disagree.

Looking back on the incident, Trott has this takeaway:

"We both came to a good question that could, in theory, sum up my entire speech:

"Is it possible to have the sort of productive face-to-face connection or conversation that Ben M. and I had offline in an online world? And what can we, as bloggers, do to facilitate that?"

Metcalfe's takeaway seemed to be that he dealt with the incident better than Trott did, and he behaved honestly and honourably. His stance can't hurt his blog readership, as he goes through his second highly-publicized scrap with a high-profile blogger in the past few months.

I'll always be an advocate for being civil, because I think it shows respect for the person you're dealing with. Of course, civility doesn't always work. It's not even appropriate in some circumstances. But it's a good starting point.

Tags: Ben Metcalfe; Mena Trott

The Telus Blog - Why Isn't the Company Running It?

There's a new consumer grievance web site up about Telus, the company created from the telcos in B.C. and Alberta several years ago.

The new site is a blog called TELUS - the present is hostile. As a blogger comments on Darren Barefoot's site:

"I don't think Telus is too internet savvy. I made a few Telus-critical posts a few months ago, and I'm still the number one search result for 'Telus blog' even though I haven't written about them for a while now.

"You'd think Telus might have their own blog, trying to get out their side of the story. Oh well, the more they suffer the better, as far as I'm concerned."

In addition to the regular Telus-bashing ("Internet access is too slow," "customer service is crappy," etc.), the company has been struggling through a long strike by its workers, just recently settled. I can understand why they didn't feel like experimenting with new communications vehicles in the middle of a strike. But I also wonder whether it would have helped with customer relations.

Barefoot also points to IHateTelus.org,, a site that also documents customer horror stories. The site uses Telus' logo, and spoofs Telus' use of small animals and lizards in its marketing.

Telus has a choice. It can go after its detractors and try to force them to stop using its logo, or it can launch its own blog to tell its story. Or it can do nothing, and yield the ground to disgruntled customers.

A corporate blog would likely attract negative attention from the same crew of detractors, but it would also give the company a chance to speak directly with its customers. Assuming it wants to.

Consumer Guide to Bypassing Phone Tree Hell

Now here's something I'd like to see for Canadian companies. Steve Rubel and Shel Holtz mentioned a web site that gives people tips on how to opt out of an IVR phone system and talk to a real person.

A lot of people have gotten into the habit of dialing 0 when they want to bypass the automated phone system. To combat this impulse, more and more companies are creating complicated opt-out methods.

Enter Paul English, whose IVR Cheat Sheet is a brilliant move of customer activism in the face of annoying technology.

If companies didn't go to such lengths to make it difficult to contact a human being, there would be no need for the Cheat Sheet.