I have been following several big stories this week, including the tragic Trayvon Martin case and the Jet Blue pilot who had to be subdued by passengers (two of the biggest stories). Both traditional media coverage and social media play a big role in what the public is learning in both these cases.

That got me thinking about context and how it impacts what we take in. I have been as interested in comments on news pieces and the social media discussions as I have been in the traditional media coverage itself. The comments and discussions provide insight and context and that is important. Our world has become more complicated – we have access to many opinions and perspectives. That’s important. It can help us to put information into context and to understand what the actions and reactions mean relevant to social norms and expectations. This gives us a broader scope of understanding, I believe.

However, because so many people have the ability and opportunity to participate in discussions, it’s also important to put the comments and opinions into context. In another completely random – and yet surprisingly related – moment, I was on Amazon.com looking for a book. I was reading reviews and there was one review that was really negative. It stood out from the other good to great reviews. So I checked out the person’s other reviews. She hated everything she read. That allowed me to put the review into context, and in this case, discount her opinion because, for me, she lost credibility. It’s important to keep the comments and discussions in context as well. Don’t take them at face value; make sure you understand the context of the information and of the person making the statements. It might change what you think about a specific topic, subject or issue.

This blog post isn’t about Obama; it is about the fact that you need to be vigilant when dealing with the media – especially when there is a camera, microphone or audio recorder involved. Obama is a smart guy, he deals with the media on a daily basis… it was a lapse in judgment. And it happens to the best of us.

Of course there are things you wouldn’t necessarily want to say publicly. It doesn’t mean you are hiding anything. It’s just a fact of business, of politics, of life. It’s important to remember that whatever you say or write – in an email, in a text, in a memo, on Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIn, leave on a voicemail or say to a colleague in the line at Starbucks – can be shared. And depending who you are, what organization you work with and what you are saying – it may well be shared.

Be careful what you say out loud. Be careful what you say on social media. Be careful what you write in emails. Never discuss confidential topics if there is a microphone, camera or tape recorder in the room. They might be on – and hot.

It reminded me of an old episode of WKRP in Cincinnati in the late 70s/early 80s, where they did a Thanksgiving promotion by dropping turkeys out of a helicopter… only problem – turkeys can’t fly.

When it comes to these types of guerilla promotions or any kind of publicity stunt, you need to think it through from all angles. You need to be critical and tough on the idea and think about the worst thing that could happen and the worst reaction someone could have. In this day and age, it’s likely someone will have that reaction and share it via social media.

I think the days of the “shock value” publicity stunts are gone. From our experience, if you are going to do something that will get the attention of the media, the public or your stakeholders, a smarter approach is to do something with great visual appeal that contributes to the world in some fashion. Even if it is just to make people smile. (Like a flash mob, although that’s been done a lot.)

For example, early on at AHA we had the opportunity to work with the producers of an excellent documentary series called Healing with Animals. (We blogged about Wallace a bit in a post last month.) One of the animals in the series was a llama named Wallace. Well, Wallace loves people and he is quite good at working with elderly people who have dementia. We wanted to promote the series (that showcased how animals help humans to heal emotionally and physically) so we got Wallace a spot on The Vicki Gabereau Show (now off the air) and we took him into downtown Vancouver for the studio appearance. We leveraged his appearance by having him stand on the corner of Robson and Burrard to sign “hoof prints” (a llama version of an autograph).

When we came up with this idea – we did our research. We confirmed that Wallace would not be put into high stress by this event. The owners of Wallace explained to us that he often went out into public places that had large groups of people and that Wallace enjoyed it. The last thing we wanted to see happen was for Wallace to get stressed out. Not only did we not want that for him, but it could also make him react aggressively and that might hurt someone.

The event was a huge success – his TV appearance was fabulous and lots of people got to meet Wallace on the street. And he was really happy to be there. But – we thought through what could go wrong in the planning stage, and because we did that, it worked out as planned.

Take the time to think publicity stunts through. It’s worth the extra time it takes in planning.

I have an entire rant about how valuable journalists are to a free and just society and how I believe communicators and journalists actually work in partnership (we don’t always have to agree or even like each other, but we do have work together). The actions of this communicator go against everything I believe you should do in media relations. But that’s not what I am going to talk about today. Today, inspired by this video, I want to go back to some common courtesies of communication. The basics.

I am often amazed (and appalled) at the lack of courtesy and common decency that I see in the world. Seemingly small things like please and thank you. Holding a door so that the person behind you doesn’t get it slammed on them. Responding to an email or phone call in a timely fashion. Showing up on time to meetings and appointments… the list goes on.

In the business world, there are a few things that I think are important when it comes to the basic tenets of good communication. Some of these are basic manners like those your mother taught you, some are plain old common sense, and others are about doing the right thing even when it’s inconvenient.

Be Respectful

View the people around you as colleagues or equals – not underlings.

I have had the opportunity to work with some of the best of the best in journalism and as a communicator. The people who have accomplished the most (and I have to say are the happiest) are the ones who build strong relationships with those around them – not just with those in more senior positions who can help.

In this video, it looks like the communications person thinks the media are not her equals – her lack of respect for them is obvious. If she had seen them as colleagues* and had been respectful of their perspective in this situation, this could have turned out quite differently.

*Don’t get me wrong here; I realize that some relationships with journalists won’t be easy. When we pitch media on behalf of clients, we view the information through the lens of a journalist. We poke holes in the news value, we criticize and critique the information we want to share, and we know it has to meet a certain standard before a journalist is going to be interested in what we have to say. I believe that our society needs journalists. They make my job tougher, but they make me a better communicator. And I believe that when communicators do their job well, some journalists see us a resource – and as a colleague.

Be Truthful

I realize that in the business world, sometimes this can feel challenging. Being truthful doesn’t mean you have to tell all – there are parts of your workday that are confidential and need to be kept that way. If you can’t talk about something, explain that you can’t talk about it at this point because of XYZ. If you made a mistake, come clean. Explain what happened, why it happened and how it will never happen again. I would also hope you would show some concern, compassion and care about what happened. Everyone makes mistakes. It’s when you try to lie your way out of them, or don’t seem to care about the people affected, that it becomes a problem.

Be Considerate

There are little things you do all day long that send out a much bigger message than you realize.

Respond to Emails

When you get an email from a colleague, a client, your agency or even your family – what do you do? Ignore it? Put it aside to answer later? Delete it? Unless you are trying to discourage Cousin Edith from sending you another funny cat video, respond to your emails within 24 hours. Even if that response is just – “I received this and I will get back to you by Friday.” Don’t leave people wondering if you got the email or if you are ignoring them.

Pick Up the Phone

Don’t just email – pick up the phone and talk to people. Emailing, texting and other online communications are great. Don’t forget to call them or, even better, go and see them in person. Nothing replaces in-person contact.

Respect Other People’s Deadlines and Timelines

You aren’t the only person in the world who is under deadline pressure. If you promise something to someone and you can’t meet the deadline, let them know.

Be On Time

Don’t keep people waiting. That sends a message that you think their time isn’t as valuable as yours. Show up on time.

Be Present

If you are meeting with someone, don’t keep checking your smartphone for emails or texts – unless you have an issue or crisis happening. If that’s the case, apologize and explain you have an issue or crisis.

Say please and thank you.
It seems simple, but acknowledging the efforts of others in such a simple way is a big thing.

And Don’t…

Please, please – don’t chew gum like the person in the video. I don’t need to see the gum in your mouth while you are talking.

I would love to hear your ideas of what “little things” make a big impact.

So for any of you reading this that recognize yourself in the paragraph above—STOP CALLING! (I doubt this will do any good. It’s clear after about seven seconds of a conversation that they not only don’t read the blog, but aren’t clear about what we do here at AHA.)

I answered the phone the other day (everyone at AHA answers the phone, it’s how we roll) and on the other end was someone trying to sell me a listing for AHA in some online database that targets lawyers. We don’t get business from lists; it just doesn’t work that way for us. We build relationships, we showcase our expertise, and we are fortunate to receive referrals from colleagues, clients and even journalists. However, I happened to be in between tasks and had just poured a tea for myself, so I had a minute to “fully experience” this call.

She had a pitch, but it didn’t feel authentic. She kept telling me that she had a “free listing”—but the more I probed, the more I realized that there was some trickery to her approach. She sounded deceitful, which was a red flag, and she wouldn’t answer any of my questions with a direct answer.

Below is an excerpt of our conversation:
AHA: “So, this listing is absolutely free and there won’t be any costs at any point down the line?”
Telemarketer: “Let me tell you a bit about the listing, which would put you in front of thousands of lawyers…”
AHA: “So, to go back to my question: Is there any cost at any time for this listing?”
Telemarketer: “This (mumble, mumble) has no cost; it is a basic listing…”
AHA: “I am sorry I didn’t hear the first part of what you said. Is there any kind of a cost attached to this listing, now or at a later date?”
Telemarketer: “This listing is free during the evaluation phase of 30 days…”
AHA: “So there is a cost.”
Telemarketer: “No, it’s free during the evaluation phrase. Your name will be in front of thousands of lawyers who really need PR.”
AHA: “First off, there is a cost. Secondly, how do you know that these lawyers need PR?”
Telemarketer: “Let me ask you something. Are you or are you not the decision maker there?”

That’s when I realized that I was engaging her and wasting my time (and hers) and politely ended the conversation with: “Yes, I am the decision maker and my decision is to demand that you remove me from your calling list. Thank you.” And I hung up.

It felt like she was trying to con me. I got off the phone and I kind of wanted to take a shower. That interaction felt gross; it was deceitful, predatory and without ethics. Once I let go of my frustration and indignation over this ridiculous call, I realized that there were lessons to be learned from it.

Below are the three lessons a bad telemarketer taught me about communications.

Be Truthful

If there is an issue, a challenge or a cost involved, be upfront about it. Don’t misrepresent and don’t fib; if you do, you are going to be found out. People aren’t stupid, they can tell when someone is trying to pull something over on them and there are a lot of people out there that will check the facts you give them and bust you if you are wrong.

We pitch media and bloggers and reach out on social media networking sites all the time. It is our job to position stories and to highlight benefits, but it is done in an authentic way.

Be Respectful

When the telemarketer asked me: “Are you or are you not the decision maker there?” it was appalling to me. There are a lot of people who are influencers that may not be the final decision maker. Keep in mind that you don’t know the power or influence that a person may wield. Respect everyone.

I realize that time is money and that many sales books say to ask if that person has the authority to make the decision to buy, but it’s more complex than that. If you don’t acknowledge and respect the people on the team, you won’t get anywhere near the decision maker.

Be Authentic

I know that the telemarketer was just doing her job and she had a pre-written script that she was meant to follow. But from a communications perspective, it screams of being inauthentic. I am not saying that you shouldn’t have key points if you are calling media to pitch them or are being interviewed—references and resources are a good thing. But if you are focused on delivering a script like the telemarketer, you don’t really hear the objections or the opportunities; you are too busy trying to stay on script.

Do you have any communications lessons you have learned from bad telemarketers?

The people on my Facebook page represent a range of relationships to me. Some are close friends, other acquaintances, others are former colleagues and some I have only met either briefly in person or not at all. It’s a bit like a neighbourhood coffee shop where there are a lot of different people hanging out.

With the recent changes on Facebook I have seen this happening more recently, but it really hit home the other night when a friend happened to comment on her friend’s photo. I am not connected at all to the person who uploaded the photo, but I could not only see the photo (which was of a party where people were clearly tipsy), but I could see all of the comments below the photo. The person that uploaded the image likely has no idea how many “strangers” could see that image or the conversations that followed. I don’t know what this person does for a living (although I do now know where she lives and what bar she goes to, thanks to the comments), but what if that was a VP in your office or a board member? (Please don’t think that VPs or board members are too responsible to do such things—they’re human.)

Organizations are using social media networks to check out potential employees, research competitors, and check on current employees. And they aren’t the only ones using social media networks to find things out. There is no buffer zone anymore; it’s important to remember that.

I believe that most of what is shared on social media networks is done in the spirit of good fun, but how it is perceived or used can hurt your professional and personal reputation and it could reflect on your brand reputation as well.

Step 1: Clearly identify your stakeholder groups.

This blog post isn’t about what to do should your organization be faced with an issue or a crisis. It is about what you can do today, proactively, even if there isn’t the slightest evidence that there might be a challenge in your future. (A word of warning: A small mistake by someone in your organization could get a lot of interest online and turn into a huge crisis. Don’t think a crisis would never happen to you. It can. And at some point, it likely will.)

Back to today’s post…

We are often asked to develop issues and crisis communications plans for clients. One of the components that we include focuses on what the organization is doing now, at this moment, when there isn’t a challenge looming on the horizon. We find that there are a lot of organizations that aren’t proactively building relationships with their stakeholder groups. Not only is that dangerous, but it’s bad business. (Marketing and sales information doesn’t count as relationship building material, just for the record. And from what I have seen on some Twitter and Facebook pages, there are organizations out there that don’t realize that.)

Using Groupon or promoting a product or service through advertising, direct marketing or other channels is fine, but if that is the only connection you have with your stakeholder group, then you aren’t building relationships—you are setting up transactions. Transactions don’t necessarily create loyalty, encourage your customers or clients to tell others about your organization, and they won’t come to your defence if you are facing an issue or crisis.

We have clients in diverse industry sectors. At first glance, some seem to have more sizzle than others; their stories are easy to identify. For others, it takes a bit of digging to see what would be of interest. However, in all the years that I have been a story chaser, both as a journalist for Maclean’s and as a communicator, I have not yet found one industry or organization that didn’t have a compelling story to tell to their stakeholder group. And that’s the thing to remember—the whole world doesn’t have to be engaged, just your stakeholder group.

The first step to proactively building relationships with your stakeholders is to clearly identify each of your stakeholder groups. Who are they? What is the relationship to your organization and to each other? What do they want to know about your organization? (Not what you want to tell them, but what do they want to know?) How do they want to learn about you? (Facebook, Twitter, your website, a blog, etc.) What traditional media do they read, watch or listen to? Spend some time really getting to know who your stakeholders are. You might be surprised at what you learn.

For our clients, we spend time understanding their stakeholders. Depending on the project, we often create stakeholder character profiles complete with visuals, personalities, likes and dislikes. It’s a creative exercise that gets us thinking about how we need to share information.

Stay tuned for my next blog post on how to identify your organization’s interesting and compelling story.

It seems pretty straightforward to me what to pitch to us. Which makes us shake our heads in wonder when we get pitches from random PR agencies and independent PR practitioners that have nothing to do with what we write about here. It looks to me like some people just grab any email they can find and send out a news release or pitch, whether it is relevant or not. We suspect they might then go to their clients and say, “We developed a database of 10,000 journalists and bloggers and have reached out to them.” What the client isn’t hearing is that if they are sending useless (and sometimes annoying) information to journalists and bloggers. It’s not good for the organization’s reputation or the agency’s.

We remember who these people are, who the organization is and while I may not have much power or influence in these type of things, I can tell you when we get together with colleagues and friends who are in this field, who are journalists, who are bloggers – the discussion turns to this and we talk about them. And not in a good way.

When someone comes on board as AHA Crew, we ask them how they build their media and blogger lists. What their criteria is, how they define who are the right journalists/bloggers to approach, and how they would approach each media outlet, journalist or blogger. It’s about being strategic, targeted and taking the time to do it right.

So, if you are one of the people pitching us on story ideas that are so off topic that it makes us laugh out loud – please stop. (I doubt this will work because I am sure none of these people take the time to read this blog.)

If you are one of the communicators that care, check out the media outlet, the beat or column, the pieces that the journalist you are pitching focuses on. Read the blogs and subscribe to them. Media/blogger relations is an important component of what we do; take it seriously. Give the journalists and bloggers the respect they deserve. You will get better results.

It seems that a local politician used the images of two children in campaign brochures without getting permission from their parents. As a communicator, when I see issues like this, I wonder how it happened. In this day and age, taking photos of children without the written consent of their parent(s) or legal guardian(s) isn’t a smart move. Using those photos without written consent is a big deal.

It is important to get written consent when you take images – photos or video. And to clearly spell out in the consent form where the images will be used. Depending on what they will be used for, we also often outline how long the images will be used. If you are using real people (as opposed to paid models), they have the right to know how the image will be used – is it for your organization’s website, promotional print materials, will it be shared with media? Clearly define what the images will be used for, get the person’s signature on the consent/release form and live up to this agreement. Don’t use the images for anything other than what the person has agreed to.

According to the news report, the father of the children used in the brochure is unhappy not just because the photos were used, but because the politician appeared dismissive when she called to apologize. Now, I wasn’t on that call, so I have no idea what happened. However, the best piece of advice that I can give here is that if something happens and you use an image without written permission, take the concerns of the person seriously. Acknowledge the issue and their feelings about it. Explain how you will make it right and what you will do to ensure that it never happens again. This is respect in action, and it is at the foundation of reputation management.

Do you have an image release form that you use for photo and video shoots? Have you ever had to deal with an issue like this? I’d love to hear from you.