Power to the online people

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Lance Armstrong's reputation will survive

Even though the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has decided to strip Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France wins after he decided to stop fighting charges that he used performance-enhancing drugs, Armstrong's reputation still is intact.

Why? There are several factors. First, Armstrong always has maintained his innocence. He points to the hundreds of drug tests that he passed as proof.

Second, everyone loves an underdog. In 1996, Armstrong was diagnosed with advanced testicular cancer. Three years later, he inspired people around the world by winning the Tour de France.

Finally, his Livestrong foundation has raised hundreds of millions of dollars to fight cancer. His fundraising efforts have transformed his image from only a cyclist to a humanitarian as well.

Nike, Anheuser-Busch InBev and Oakley all have said that they will continue to sponsor Armstrong. In the court of public opinion, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency loses.

The Flinch by Julien Smith: a book review

"The Flinch" by Julien Smith is a book that pushes the edges. Smith offers it as a free e-book on Amazon, because he feels that the book can change people's lives so much that there shouldn't be a purchase price.

What's the flinch, you ask? According to Smith, "The flinch is why the lazy actor never gets discovered -- because she never really sweats to make it happen. It's why the monolithic company gets wiped out by a lean startup -- because the big company culture avoids the hard questions. It's the reason you make the wrong decision, even though you may know what the right one is."

We flinch to avoid pain. While the flinch can save our lives, Smith contends that facing the flinch can sometimes be the best way to get what we want.

To get readers to face the flinch, Smith has some unique homework:  take a cold shower, drop a mug, speak to a total stranger. Sounds easy -- until you put it into practice. Then it actually can be hard to face the flinch. By starting out with these exercises, we are able to start to retrain our brain to take on the challenges in our lives.

Smith's book is approximately 131 pages, but has the potential to change your life. So, what are you waiting for? Download it now and change your life for free.

Making the most of Alphabet Bash

This Thursday night is one of the best networking opportunities in Minneapolis/St. Paul for marketing, communications and creative professionals:  Alphabet Bash. Considering that more than 600 advertising, communications, direct marketing, marketing, design and public relations professionals are expected to attend, how does one make the most of the evening?

Here are some ideas:

1. Know what you want to do. If you just want to mingle, that's cool -- there will be plenty of opportunities for that. However, if you want to talk about a more specific topic such as skills for new PR professionals, check out the table talks ahead of time and decide which one(s) you want to attend.
2. Explore the entire venue. The table talks typically have been held upstairs at Epic Event Center. If you go upstairs, check out the patio to mingle more and get a breath of fresh air.
3. Get to know the partners. You're going to meet many people from several organizations with acronyms (hence the name Alphabet Bash). It helps to know at least a little bit about the organizations beforehand.
4. Pace yourself for the after-party. Even though Alphabet Bash wraps up at 10 p.m., that doesn't mean that the networking has to end. Several smaller groups typically have gone to bars after Alphabet Bash. It's a great opportunity to connect on a smaller scale.

As you're gearing up for Alphabet Bash, check out the Alphabet Bash content on social media. Good luck on possibly winning one of the door prizes at Thursday's event!

PRSA Midwest District shines in Chicago

For two days in July, more than 150 public relations professionals and educators from nine states gathered in the Windy City for the 2012 Midwest District Conference.

Hope Bertram of Digital Megaphone, Dan Skinner of ConAgra Foods and Caleb Gardner of Edelman Digital discuss blogger relations at the 2012 PRSA Midwest District Conference.

The conference, which was held at the Water Tower Campus of Loyola University, started out with a talk by Al Golin, founder of GolinHarris. Golin shared stories from his career, including the key to long-term relationships (keeping them current and not taking them for granted), the three Cs that he looks for in job candidates (current, creative and curious), and ethics (“In the good old days, ethics wasn’t different – people just didn’t get caught.”)

Next, attendees learned from two crisis communications experts:  Jack Yeo of MSLGROUP Americas and John R. Brooks, APR, of North Park University. They focused on eight laws of crisis communications:

1. Protecting reputation is not about the crisis, but rather how you handle it;
2. Be aware of the world around you;
3. There is no excuse for not planning;
4. A swift response is required;
5. Understand the impact of today’s digital democracy;
6. Always operate with transparency;
7. Never stand alone; and
8. Never forget to rebuild.

Yeo and Brooks offered numerous case studies along the way, and encouraged attendees to be among the 54 percent of companies that are prepared for a crisis.

Several breakout sessions throughout the day provided attendees with plenty of choices. Topics for the breakouts ranged from community engagement to personal brands to mentoring, measurement and more.

The afternoon closed out with a talk on transparency from Andy Shaw, president and CEO of Better Government Association, and a media panel with three journalists from Chicago. The media panel included strong opinions from Robert Feder of Time Out Chicago, who said, “Because of social media, we don’t need you, and you don’t need us.”

On the second day, Mary Henige of General Motors started out the morning with an overview of her company’s approach to social media. Breakout sessions followed on a variety of topics including:  mobile communications, social media, ethics and transparency, employee engagement, media relations, and blogger relations.

The second day closed with a power-packed panel featuring representatives from Google, Twitter, and Facebook discussing what’s new at their networks.

The conference was preceded by a Midwest District Leadership QuickStart. QuickStart attendees were treated to an intimate session with Cheryl Procter-Rogers, APR, Fellow PRSA, who shared her insights on leadership and innovation.

PRSA Midwest District Conference attendees raved about the conference and shared their excitement for what the 2013 conference will have in store.

Lee Odden Optimize book review

With "Optimize: How to Attract and Engage More Customers by Integrating SEO, Social Media, and Content Marketing," Lee Odden of TopRank Online Marketing has delivered an important text that covers the breadth of search engine optimization and social media with a dose of public relations.

Odden divides his book into three phases that take readers on a journey of optimization success:  planning, implementation, and scale.

Near the end of "Optimize," Odden provides probably the most concise summary of his book:  "Your journey through this book has taken you from creating a road map and strategy at 30,000 feet to diving deeply into a sea of specific tactics, ranging from persona development to keyword optimization to social networking."

That's precisely why this book is so darn useful. Wondering where to start in the SEO process? Odden answers. Curious about appropriate keyword placement on a web page? Odden goes into great detail. Interested in measuring success? This is your book.

Odden covers just the right number of topics and provides real-world examples and statistics to demonstrate how to succeed in marketing online.

He ties together optimization, social media, and content marketing to provide the reader the complete package in one book. Highly recommended.

P.S. For those in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Odden will be having a book launch event on July 25.

Cyberbullying: how bullies have moved from the playground to the web

Source: Accredited Online Colleges