Today, as part of Vanguard’s “InSites for the Future” series, we’re looking at the future of multicultural communication. Vanguard’s multicultural services leader, Leah Holmes-Bonilla, predicts that cultural relevancy will become even more critical in a fast-paced world, while Kirana Bammarito sees that multicultural approaches will expand from a PR specialty service to an essential [...]]]>

Today, as part of Vanguard’s “InSites for the Future” series, we’re looking at the future of multicultural communication. Vanguard’s multicultural services leader, Leah Holmes-Bonilla, predicts that cultural relevancy will become even more critical in a fast-paced world, while Kirana Bammarito sees that multicultural approaches will expand from a PR specialty service to an essential ingredient in all aspects of communication.

Keeping Pace with Culturally Relevant Communications

“Everyone here has the sense that right now is one of those moments when we are influencing the future.” – Steve Jobs

Social media has facilitated unprecedented social change – from the Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street and beyond. The lightning speed and mobility with which social change can happen will only accelerate in 2012.  But with great speed will come great responsibility to ensure communications are culturally relevant and personal. Effective communication happens between people who trust each other, so social change will happen most successfully in spheres that are responsible, competent and real. Beyond providing accurate information, communicators will find it critical to be culturally responsive in order to remain a credible resource. A piece of advice for communicators in 2012: Never be afraid to listen to and learn from your audience. If you don’t, they will tell you and many others in their social network, exactly what they think. And you may not like the results.

– By Leah Holmes-Bonilla

Multicultural Communications Will No Longer Be a Specialty – It Will Be Expected

Source: Staff reports. The Washington Post.

More and more public relations agencies are listing multicultural communications as one of their specialties, but eventually this will be a standard service not a niche one. In 2012, I predict that communications agencies will be expected to incorporate multicultural needs into all their services, much like clients have come to expect social media expertise. Demographics are shifting, and communicators must adapt to the change. The U.S. is quickly approaching complete majority-minority status, meaning that non-Hispanic Whites will no longer comprise the majority of the population. Washington, D.C., along with seven other major cities, achieved this status in 2000. Beyond racial, ethnic and linguistic cultural competence, savvy communicators will apply a broad definition of culture to include LGBTQI, youth, seniors and any other audience segment that requires tailored attention. Successful public relations in 2012 means understanding that one size no longer fits all.

– By Kirana Bammarito

In Sunday’s New York Times, the third richest person in the world penned an op ed asking President Obama and Congress to raise his taxes. Since then, Warren Buffett’s op ed is appearing everywhere. Political commentators are discussing the viability of his recommendation to tax the wealthiest in the U.S., media outlets are writing stories [...]]]>

In Sunday’s New York Times, the third richest person in the world penned an op ed asking President Obama and Congress to raise his taxes. Since then, Warren Buffett’s op ed is appearing everywhere. Political commentators are discussing the viability of his recommendation to tax the wealthiest in the U.S., media outlets are writing stories examining his perspective and, arguably most important, everyday people are using social media to share Buffett’s recommendation that the nation “Stop Coddling the Super-Rich.” Links to Buffett’s op ed are appearing over and over again in my Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn news streams.

Photo courtesy of MedillDC on Flickr

What makes this op ed so special? It offers the elusive op ed trifecta: timeliness, an element of surprise and byline credibility.

1. Buffett’s topic is timely and relevant. Many valid opinions exist about how best to address society’s ills, but only the most timely can make it into the news cycle. Buffett’s op ed comes on the heels of the debt ceiling debate and the tensions between balancing the budget and raising taxes.
2. Buffett’s position is surprising and intriguing. What really catches readers’ attention, though, is his unlikely opinion about taxes. Buffett expresses an eager willingness to pay higher taxes to generate more government revenue, which is likely not an opinion shared by many of his fellow billionaires. Buffett, whose individual wealth could cover a significant portion of the United States’ debt, gives permission to U.S. policymakers in his op ed to tax wealthy Americans like himself at the same rate as the working public.
3. Buffett is perceived as a credible expert. Attaching Warren Buffett’s byline to this op ed makes people want to read it and later discuss his surprising opinion with others. People know Buffett understands economics and the current financial crisis better than many, so when he goes on the record with recommendations about what the government should do to generate revenue, people will listen.

Sharing op eds and news articles now is so easy with social media, offering new opportunities to get a position out to a larger audience, as Mr. Buffett discovered. I suppose the rest of us taxpayers are so pleased by his willingness to share the tax burden, we’re sending his message to our friends and followers on social media. Buffett’s message spread via social media because his ideas validated what some Americans think about increasing taxes on the rich. Whether his plan is a good idea or not, Buffett’s op ed struck a common nerve; when your op ed is able to articulate a sentiment shared by many, you expand the number of people reading and recommending your op ed to their family, friends and colleagues with the click of a button. While people tend to also share op eds or articles they disagree with on their social media profiles, favorable positions tend to put an organization in the best light and generate positive responses from the social media community.

The increased integration of social media is raising the stakes for op ed success: Whereas the op ed trifecta used to be necessary for just getting your op ed placed, it is now essential for ensuring sharing via social media.

Late last week, a headline from our local “Patch” news service caught my attention – Police: Group of Teens Cause $1,500 in Damage at General’s Ridge Golf Course. I opened the story expecting to find names and ages attached to the accusation, but there were none. In fact, other than a description that the [...]]]>

Late last week, a headline from our local “Patch” news service caught my attention – Police: Group of Teens Cause $1,500 in Damage at General’s Ridge Golf Course. I opened the story expecting to find names and ages attached to the accusation, but there were none. In fact, other than a description that the individuals were shirtless and had a dog with them, there were no other details that had been confirmed. The perpetrators haven’t yet been identified or caught. So how do we know they are teenagers? They could be 20 years old – or 40. For that matter, how do we even know the dog was a German Shepherd? Yet these details were reported as fact. Is there any danger in assigning an age label to crime suspects when they haven’t yet been caught, let alone accused? Would it have been just as acceptable to report their race or religion?

It’s been quite a few years since I matriculated from Penn State with a journalism degree, but I still remember the endless days of sitting in class picking apart real headlines and leads for any sign of bias. Not only did we look at our own work, we examined the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. Sometimes it seemed impossible to find ethics issues in products from such venerated media outlets, but we dug until we did. Now I don’t have to look far at all for instances of ethical breaches and bias, and I often feel very alone in my need to pay attention to such details. Does the rest of the world just accept this new era of “anything goes” reporting?

A recent after-work viewing of Page One: Inside The New York Times cemented the nagging feeling that it’s not  just newspapers that are disappearing, it’s the care and commitment to accurate, factual reporting that they represent. From All the President’s Men to The Paper, our culture has tried to emphasize the importance of getting it right, even at the expense of getting it second. Now those films, and that sentiment, seem naive and nostalgic. I mean, we’re all reporters, right? I can post whatever I want on Facebook or Twitter, and it can be seen around the world in a matter of minutes. Of course, if we could count on each other for accurate, first-person accounts, it would mean that Natalie Portman, George Clooney and even William Hung are all dead – because Twitter said so.

This month, the practice of journalism was further rocked by allegations that NewsCorps-owned outlets invaded the voicemail accounts of several British citizens, including a young murder victim and relatives of fallen soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is plenty of outrage around the situation, but will it finally wake up the public enough to demand a return to the ethics and standards that were once a hallmark of reporting?

The irony is not lost on me that I am writing this piece as a public relations professional rather than a currently working journalist. Like so many of my wide-eyed fellow journalism graduates, my picture of traveling the world to uncover scandal and save lives was far from the reality of fast-food wages and hours spent rewriting stories on a local fight over back lit awnings. However, I’ve never set aside those basic journalism ethics in my PR work. As a communicator for social change, I often have an opportunity to pass along critical information that can help reporters investigate their own stories. I know it’s in my and my clients’ best interests for those journalists to be fair, accurate and unbiased – even if the results are not as flattering as I would like. I know that once the line is breached – whether or not it’s on behalf of my cause – it’s hard to cross back to the other side.

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When communicators organize and stage a press conference for their organizations, the stakes are pretty high. We hold press conferences to support a variety of objectives — such as to address recent challenges or issues or to launch new programs — however, rarely do we have to think about how our press conference will [...]]]>

When communicators organize and stage a press conference for their organizations, the stakes are pretty high. We hold press conferences to support a variety of objectives — such as to address recent challenges or issues or to launch new programs — however, rarely do we have to think about how our press conference will negatively impact the U.S. economy. Well, that’s what the public affairs staff at the U.S. Federal Reserve is thinking about today as they plan their first public press conference to be held this week to discuss the new policy statement of the Federal Open Market Committee.

Photo courtesy of MedillDC on Flickr

What is said during the press conference by Chairman Ben Bernanke, whether in his opening statement or in responses to reporters’ questions, could sink the stock market in minutes — a hit that would further hurt the already floundering economy. A lot of pressure? You bet. Great advance thinking and planning by the Federal Reserve will help manage this press conference and its impact on the market.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal today, the Federal Reserve communications team has already taken steps to manage the message from Wednesday’s press conference. Many of their precautions demonstrate procedures that we should consider when planning our own press conferences as well.

1. Conduct research on similar events before planning your event. Since this was a first for the Federal Reserve, their team wisely spoke with other banks and global financial institutions with press conference experience to identify lessons learned from these events in the banking industry. Understanding and applying these tips and tricks prior to planning this press conference will help the Federal Reserve limit the pitfalls and challenges they might have faced without such important research. Learning from others’ successes and failures should always be the first step for communicators when planning press conferences, or any type of event.
2. Keep event agenda focused on communications goals. To keep on message and force the attending media to cover those key messages, construct the press conference agenda with the event’s communications goals as a guide. The Federal Reserve is planning for brief remarks by the chairman followed by a time-restrained question-and-answer session to keep reporters focused on their key messages and limit tangents that might have occurred if Bernanke delivered longer remarks.
3. Set rules for who attends and how people participate. While there is much  interest from financial industry people in this press conference, the Federal Reserve decided to limit press conference attendees only to invited media. To attend, the Federal Reserve has stipulated that reporters must work for a media organization recognized by Congress and that each outlet may only send one reporter. By laying the ground rules early about who can attend, event organizers are creating a controlled environment, establishing expectations for how the event is going to be run and establishing their guidelines for how media should be covering the event.
4. Prepare the event spokesperson for everything. In the past when speaking with a room full of reporters, Chairman Bernanke answered questions received on notecards. At this press conference, the Federal Reserve is going a more traditional route calling on reporters with raised hands to ask questions. In either scenario, preparing the spokesperson by discussing potential questions and familiarizing them with good answers is key to help Bernanke feel (and look) comfortable during the press conference. Also, this preparation is the best way for the Federal Reserve to control the message and limit negative fallout impacting the New York Stock Exchange before the closing bell.

While communicators, like those working for the Federal Reserve, may not have control over what reporters ask, there are preventive steps we can take in the research and planning phases for press conferences to create an environment that offers the greatest potential for desired outcomes for an organization’s communications goals and messages.

Photo courtesy of Zoetnet on Flickr

Newspapers are dying out. Traditional media is becoming extinct. Everything is being digitized. As one who originally went to college to pursue a journalism career, I changed career paths shortly after graduating because the buzz about the dwindling newspaper industry scared me right out of my mind. [...]]]>

Photo courtesy of Zoetnet on Flickr

Newspapers are dying out. Traditional media is becoming extinct. Everything is being digitized. As one who originally went to college to pursue a journalism career, I changed career paths shortly after graduating because the buzz about the dwindling newspaper industry scared me right out of my mind. However, a recent survey from the Pew Internet & American Life Project is proving that many, including my own, assumptions were slightly off track.

Newspapers lead the Internet in readership, albeit by a small margin. Twenty-seven percent of U.S. adults say they get most of their news from print newspapers, followed by 24 percent saying they get most of their news from the Internet. Of course, television still dominates with 67 percent of people saying they get their news coverage from TV. (This report was based on a daily tracking phone poll of Internet use. It was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International from November 3-24, 2010, among a sample of 2,257 adults, age 18 and older).

While TV taking first place was no surprise, it was a bit shocking that newspapers were ahead of the Internet in 2010.  The Internet has expanded ten-fold since the days of infamous AOL dial-up. So, why are Americans sticking to their newspapers?

Perhaps because of the trusted traditional media editorial function. The Internet empowers professional journalists, bloggers and interest groups to instantly provide a wealth of content to a global audience. However, it’s hard to find anything on the Internet that provides the sustained, systematic coverage that a traditional newsroom provides.  Based on this simple fact, no matter how advanced technology and the Internet becomes, I believe traditional newspapers will always be a part of the American way of life … at least for the foreseeable future. The nation’s 1,400 dailies may face stiff competition from digital journalism, but they are far from extinct.

Photo by nanpalmero on Flickr

This past month, Governor Rick Perry (R-TX) made a critical mistake on Twitter. Out of the blue, he blocked several local reporters from reading his tweets. Members of the Texas media, including Tom Benning from the Dallas Morning News, received the blocked notice when they attempted to view the [...]]]>

Photo by nanpalmero on Flickr

This past month, Governor Rick Perry (R-TX) made a critical mistake on Twitter. Out of the blue, he blocked several local reporters from reading his tweets. Members of the Texas media, including Tom Benning from the Dallas Morning News, received the blocked notice when they attempted to view the Governor’s Twitter feed. When asked about the message, Perry’s press office admitted to reporters that the governor is solely in control of his own Twitter feed, confirming  that he personally blocked these reporters from his feed. As a result, Perry is the brunt of jokes and more news stories than his press office can handle.

While any social media platform user can block specific people from seeing content or information through privacy settings, it’s not the best approach. Unless your personal safety or security is in jeopardy, your social media profiles carry unstated “open door” policies. When you “open the door” and create a profile, you need to keep the door open and be transparent with your followers regardless of who they are. Pulling back, placing limitations or blocking access, especially when you are a pubic figure, fuels the media and the public to assume information is being hidden from them.

If you feel you need to build a wall around your social media presence, think twice about creating profiles in online communities. Public figures like Perry should think three times. The public expects access to public figures, thus they shouldn’t pick and choose who accesses their profiles. By doing so, their actions could undermine their credibility and lose the public’s trust.

Whether it was his intention or not, Governor Perry just placed a spotlight on his tweets. Now reporters, opponents and constituents will be paying more attention to what Perry says online. This incident gives further credence to why Twitter hired former Capitol Hill staffer Adam Sharp to represent Twitter in Washington, DC and help policymakers understand and use the platform.

Social media is not for everyone. It’s just one of the new tools we can use to communicate with others. If you, or your organization do not feel comfortable with its openness, avoid participating. It is better to find other ways to communicate with key audiences than publicly closing your social media doors, which could build suspicion and distrust among your followers.

In the public relations world, we’ve always known that being responsive to hot stories is a great way to get your issue, organization or idea out there. While the old rules still apply, the game changed a little in 2010. Responsiveness still reigns supreme, but with a twist. The faster we respond with bold, sensational commentary, the more [...]]]>

In the public relations world, we’ve always known that being responsive to hot stories is a great way to get your issue, organization or idea out there. While the old rules still apply, the game changed a little in 2010. Responsiveness still reigns supreme, but with a twist. The faster we respond with bold, sensational commentary, the more likely we are to make it into prime time.

With political discord reaching new heights from coast-to-coast in this election year, the media proved that the old rules regarding responsiveness are important. Stories evolved quickly to incorporate new elements and points of views. But these days, it seems cable news and online channels are giving the most attention to those who can yell the loudest. Whether an opinion is sane, sound, or evidence-based seems to be of little interest. Death panels come to mind. If a pundit or a pundit-in-waiting rants about something remotely relevant, they get the top spot on evening broadcasts and homepage treatment on conservative and liberal blogs alike.

It sounds like a scary world out there in the media. I won’t lie, I’m often afraid – terrified, actually - of what constitutes news today. But I think we can learn something from these ravenous ranters in punditville.

Many nonprofits think long and hard – and then think some more – about what they want to say, how they want to say it, and where it’s safe to say it. In the mean time, it’s already being said by those ravenous ranters, and likely in a way that isn’t very flattering to the issues that matter so much to all of us working hard to change public discourse.

For the sake of our credibility, we want to be sure that we only craft messages based in fact and driven by sound advice, rather than emotion. But let’s resolve in 2011 to be more prepared to respond quickly, with bold, relevant ideas that can compete with some of the death-panel-proponent types on the six o’clock news. Let’s make social issues a prominent part of the real-time, 24/7 news cycle.

Year of the Rooster by eugevon, on Flickr

While I know 2010 was the Year of the Tiger according to the Chinese calendar, it felt more like the Year of the Rooster. Those born in the Chinese zodiac’s Year of the Rooster tend to be quick thinkers who are practical and resourceful. During this [...]]]>

Year of the Rooster by eugevon, on Flickr

While I know 2010 was the Year of the Tiger according to the Chinese calendar, it felt more like the Year of the Rooster. Those born in the Chinese zodiac’s Year of the Rooster tend to be quick thinkers who are practical and resourceful. During this very busy news year, resourcefulness was a key element to successful campaigns. Being able to identify and utilize appropriate sources for information, news, statistics, policy updates, and other resources helped campaigns achieve their communications goals for the year.

Breaking news stories this year, such as the BP oil spill and midterm election results,  impacted ongoing campaigns as well as created new outreach opportunities for new or existing campaigns. What’s more, many of these stories took on new dynamics in real-time, and had additional nuances or complexities depending on the medium in which information was delivered.  Relying on just one or two sources for news is limiting.

2010 reinforced that diversifying information resources is key. We should monitor traditional and online news sources, social media channels and pop culture trends to find the next big news angle or outreach opportunity. While tracking many resources may seem to reap more work than rewards, it’s the only way we can keep our outreach efforts whether to the media, policymakers and/or the general public, current, relevant, and effective. To aid your resourcefulness in 2011, use these free online tools to help you keep up with the news and political cycles.  They will help you become more proactive and strategically reactive in future campaigns.

Although we are entering the Year of the Rabbit, let’s keep the resourcefulness of the rooster ever present in all the communication work that we do. Forgive me for referencing another saying, but how can we make lemonade in 2011 if we aren’t able to find the lemons?

When you turn back your clocks because of the end of daylight saving time, remember to also switch your time zone abbreviations in your materials too.

During daylight saving time, time zone abbreviations replace the “S” for standard with the “D” for daylight saving time. For example, PST becomes PDT and CST becomes CDT.

When you turn back your clocks because of the end of daylight saving time, remember to also switch your time zone abbreviations in your materials too.

During daylight saving time, time zone abbreviations replace the “S” for standard with the “D” for daylight saving time. For example, PST becomes PDT and CST becomes CDT.

Grandad's Watch by wwarby, on Flickr

But when time falls back and daylight saving time ends, AP Style dictates that the “D” disappears and is replaced by the “S”. So now, references to the Eastern time zone in press releases, invitations, announcements and/or websites should list it as EST instead of EDT.

But if you’re communicating with audiences in Arizona and Hawaii, use the standard time zone abbreviation. Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii and the territories of Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa are the only places in the U.S. that do not observe daylight saving time. Federal law does not require any area to observe daylight saving time and these locales have opted out of an extra hour of sunlight. For more information about who observes daylight saving time domestically and internationally, check out this Infoplease article.

In keeping with our “switching”  theme, don’t forget  to use daylight saving time ending as a reminder to change the batteries for your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors in your home. Like the switching of the time zone abbreviations, replacing batteries in these lifesaving devices should be an annual occurrence.

I’m an avid Twitter user. While I use Twitter for news monitoring and information gathering, I also use it as an engagement tool — sending messages directly targeting Tweeters or adding hashtags, a word or phrase prefixed with a hash sign and without spaces, occurring within a tweet.

It’s surprising how many organizations and spokespeople on [...]]]>

I’m an avid Twitter user. While I use Twitter for news monitoring and information gathering, I also use it as an engagement tool — sending messages directly targeting Tweeters or adding hashtags, a word or phrase prefixed with a hash sign and without spaces, occurring within a tweet.

It’s surprising how many organizations and spokespeople on Twitter miss the opportunity to target their messages and boost visibility by not including relevant hashtags in their tweets. Each hashtag on Twitter automatically becomes a link to all posts that have recently used that hashtag. Via hashtags, Tweeters can isolate tweets regarding a specific topic or discussion area.

Twitter hashtags by Search Engine People Blog, on Flickr

According to TweeSpeed, more than 80,000 tweets are sent per minute. That’s a lot of content to wade through. Searching by hashtag helps Twitter users zero in on the right tweets and cut Twitter noise and distractions. Often, communities and ongoing conversations are built around hashtags and understanding and engaging with these communities can help Twitter campaigns.

Ready to start adding hashtags to your tweets? Here are some tips to keep in mind when harnessing the power of Twitter hashtags.

1. Check hashtags before you use them. Search Twitter using your desired hashtags and follow the existing conversation. Is it the right audience and appropriate for your organization or campaign? Think of it as audience research; listen to how people are using the hashtag before jumping into the fray.
2. Search your message for hashtag opportunities. Sometimes you don’t have to add words in order to create a hashtag. Just use the words in your message strategically. Hashtags can appear at the end or within the message you’re sending. When you only have 140 characters, you need to make every character count.
3. Be selective and join the right conversations. Don’t go overboard and add lots of hashtags to your message. Evaluate the conversations and then pick the best ones to include in your Twitter message.
4. Highlight Twitter users in your message. Identifying Twitter user names in a message is like a hashtag that targets people instead of topics or subjects. People track conversations in Twitter by users’ names as well.
5. Spelling counts. Be responsive, but double-check what you send out before you click the “tweet” button. A spelling mistake in a hashtag puts your message in a different conversation.
6. Experiment with different hashtags for different results. After you identify some potential hashtags for your campaign, cycle the hashtags through varying messages and track results, such as click-thrus and retweets. Variation and monitoring results can help you focus in on the best hashtags to meet your campaign goals.
7. Check out your followers and other organizations’ favorite hashtags. See what hashtags Twitter users with similar messages  are using in their tweets. Perhaps another user or organizations created a conversation already that you can also benefit from joining.

If you’re looking for good hashtags to start communicating for #socialgood on #Twitter, check out this great flyer featuring 40 hashtags for #socialgood or read this great post by @Socialbrite regarding how #nonprofits can facilitate a #conversation using hashtags. You see, finding and creating #hashtags in your messages can be very #easy. You just start by adding the hash sign.