February 2007

Normally, I consider myself to be a somewhat early adopter in all things pop culture.
If Entertainment Weekly tells me that Pan’s Labyrinth is the must-see movie of the week, I’ll track down the theater to find it. If Rolling Stone picks the next big artist, I’ll give their song a listen to see if I want to buy the album. Even if I can’t stand watching the television juggernaut that is Grey’s Anatomy, I’ll at least keep up with the plot lines so I can have actual conversations with my coworkers. Otherwise, I’d be staring at my feet for about 3 hours every Friday morning.

With all this in mind, it’s very surprising even to me that I only just now signed up for my MySpace page. I’m already addicted. Every night, I check my friend requests more frequently than newly bald fading pop stars check in and out of rehab. What surprises me most is how old friends from years ago have jumped back into my life with the simple ease of the click of a button. I suddenly feel all the richer realizing how many relationships I’ve established over the years.

One of the core values of PlattForm is relationships: with the employees of PlattForm, our clients, our vendors and our affiliates. It’s a vital component of our daily lives at PlattForm to cultivate these relationships to better reach our collective goals. (In fact, the word “relationships” is etched on the window of our main conference room.) When we hit our goals together, that relationship becomes almost like a family. To paraphrase a line from the British version of The Office, we spend over 40 hours a week working with people who are thrust into our lives generally without any say on our part. When you’re lucky enough to have developed a relationship that connects, you’ve achieved something that can be rare.

I know I have that rare feeling when I come to work every day, seeing my coworkers, speaking with vendors on the phone every day, and striving to fulfill the needs of clients we’ve been working with so long we might as well invite them to Sunday dinner. So I challenge you to examine the relationships in your life. Are you one of the lucky ones?

Also, I challenge you to find me and add me as a friend on MySpace. You know I’ll be checking my friend requests obsessively tonight.

I’m sure most of you are familiar with the Do Not Call Registry, but have you heard of the ‘Do Not Mail’ Bill that several states are attempting to pass through legislation? I’m guessing most of you aren’t up-to-speed with that one, but all of us direct mailers are keeping a close eye on the outcome. Why? Because if these pass, I’ll be out of a job – maybe.

As of right now, 10 states have filled out these bills to put through legislation: Connecticut, Colorado, Hawaii, New York, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Texas and Washington. This registry would work in the same manner as the Do Not Call Registry. Every mailing that goes out will need to be scrubbed against this registry. The exceptions are non-profits and politicians (they get away with everything).

Let’s be honest here, the reason the Do Not Call Registry was established was because people were tired of getting sales calls during dinner and American Idol. Direct mail doesn’t have that same intrusive nature that telemarketing phone calls have. If you don’t like a piece of mail that arrives in your mailbox, it doesn’t interrupt your dinner or your television schedule. All you have to do is throw it out (I prefer to recycle, but whatever).

So other than me keeping my job, why else is this registry a bad idea? To start with, how do you think a lot of new businesses establish a customer base? Or how do established businesses retain their existing client base? Direct mail is a way of life and it has been since 1872 when Aaron Montgomery Ward mailed his first catalog*. In addition, the affect on the post office could be detrimental.

If I haven’t been completely obvious, my opinion is not a favorable one for this new registry. The reasons and explanations go much deeper than what I explained above, but it’s still early in the game and I’m just touching the tip of the iceberg. Stay tuned for more on this, and in the meantime, you can write your local congressman to express your displeasure in this bill. Okay, hold off on this until you hear more from me.

*this information courtesy of The Rocky Mountain News

Yours truly just got back from a fitness shoot in sunny Las Vegas … and lemme tell ya … on a scale from 1-10, the shoot was a 36.

Nothing makes me happier than when a shoot comes together at the last minute! And that so infrequently happens – especially when you’re traveling with six (or more) people. You do the math. In this scenario, there are six people who have six opinions, six ideas and six different ways of doing things. On this trip, however, I’m proud to say the six of us acted as one cohesive unit and came back with amazing work. Yes, we were firing on all cylinders. Yes, we were congenial and polite to each other for seven days. And, no, no one got arrested while we were in Vegas (that I know of).

I hazard to say, my dear readers, that teamwork while on the road does indeed move mountains.

On most out-of-town shoots, I’m usually the one who is in charge. I’m the man. The man with the plan. (Okay, if truth be told, I’m only important because I hold the company credit card.) Being in charge is quite nice … until somebody misses a flight or equipment shows up damaged. It’s the price I pay for taking PlattForm’s Traveling Road Show out to the masses.

Now look around your office … would you willingly travel with your coworkers? For weeks at a time? Yes, you never really know someone until you’ve traveled with them. And before you leave, you’d best make a pact that what happens on the road STAYS on the road. (Note: I haven’t told you any tales of Vegas … alas, their “what happens in Vegas” slogan is really quite handy.)

But I love to travel and I love interacting with clients because that’s what I do best. Uh, the interacting part. The waking up at 4am part leaves a lot to be desired.

So, next time you see me traipse into your school … remind me to tell you the story about the crewmember who caught himself on fire during a client dinner. I figure if I’m actually on the road, I’m allowed to tell my Road Warrior stories. Just don’t let it get back to the office or we’re ALL going down!

“Spin” is the word most commonly associated with the profession of public relations. “Spin” as when primarily negative news is framed in a positive light (typically when any sort of positive outlook is far from warranted).

The terminology is derived from the old saying “put a spin on it,” which typically follows a much more meaningful statement, such as “tell all the employees they are fired … but be sure to put a good spin on it.”

Obviously, it seems unreasonable to take a positive angle on such predominantly negative news. Yet, it happens time and again. While everyone knows “no news is good news,” it’s often more difficult for businesses to see that sometimes bad news is bad news. Companies can further undermine a negative situation by feigning conviviality or attempting to find a silver lining in a PR disaster where the best cloud is charcoal.

In the news this week, John Travolta’s JetBlue Airways was forced to cancel more than 100 flights after a Valentine’s Day snow storm in New York crippled its fleet. The airline has been struggling to dig out ever since. Facing the lights of television cameras, David G. Neeleman, the company’s founder and chief executive, finally said this week he was “humiliated and mortified” by the breakdown.

Humiliated and mortified. Those are ugly words for a CEO to speak. Ugly, but honest. And, they come at the end of long week of apologies for JetBlue.

After offering excuses to the media and, worst of all, customers, for the better part of a week, Neeleman publicly blamed the company’s poor response on several factors besides the weather: poor communications, an overwhelmed reservations system, and many of JetBlue’s 11,000 employees who were stranded across the country.

The company’s response could have come sooner. But it did finally come. And, it was straightforward. Neeleman couldn’t hide from the thousands of passengers awaiting flights. But how much worse could the situation have become had he focused solely on the few flights the airline was able to fulfill and the people JetBlue was able to help home?

At PlattForm, our Public Relations department is a “no spin” zone. The messages communicated on behalf of our clients are timely, direct and honest. In our experience, it’s abundantly clear that whether you’re running a major airline, a small private business or even a career college, the same golden rule applies. Honesty is the best policy. And if it’s not, then it’s time to start selling cars.

I think the Day Crew and the Night Crew should have a battle to the death … No, seriously, I think it could be fun. Now, granted I work both day and night, so naturally I’m disqualified, because really I love both sides …

But everyone else, well I just think we all know this has been a long time coming, people. And here are 10 reasons why:

1. Day side gets candy every Tuesday that they get to pick themselves. Night side is given candy that someone else picked for them. While this is considerate of day side, what if night side doesn’t like banana-flavored Laffy Taffy?

2. Night side gets the whole building to itself, thus they can roller skate and have slumber parties and do cartwheels down the hallway; pretty much whatever they want. Day side is clearly jealous.

3. Day side gets the pleasure of the occasional Happy Birthday song over the intercom. Night side hums to themselves through tears of loneliness.

4. Night side locks the building. Day side opens the building.

5. Day side gets to dress up for clients. Night side dresses for no one.

6. Day side knows how to answer the phone. Night side does not, because no one calls them.

7. Night side wakes up to an internal clock. Day side wakes up to an alarm clock.

8. Day side has about 250 friends to talk to. Night side has about 8.5.

9. Day side goes to happy hour. Night side goes to last call.

10. Day side gets Raving Fans. Night side gets …Raving Fans …

Okay, so maybe it’s not exactly Pirates vs. Ninjas (and we all know who wins that). And maybe both day side and night side equally rock and love each other. And maybe I made up everything on this list, but wouldn’t it just be cool to watch the battle go down?