Pouring water on the Flame

The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics have become a joke. Despite the attempts of China and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to minimize the impact of the protests following the torch relay—or point to parallels with the 1980 and 1984 boycotts—the reality is that there has never been this much opposition to a particular country hosting the Olympic Games as there is with China.

So is it fair or not? Is it true, like China keeps asserting, that the Olympics is purely a sporting event and that politics should be kept out of it; or do the protesters have it right? Should China be subjected to widespread criticism and protest because of their horrid human rights record?

Personally, I believe the latter argument.

The fact is that ever since the 1989 Tianamen Square massacre, China has been on the losing end of a major public relations crisis. And for the most part, they have never cared. That’s because they have never needed to. With countries like Canada and the U.S. bending over backward just to keep the Asian giant a favored trading partner, China has held all the aces against its North American counterparts—despite the rhetoric we seem to constantly hear from Canadian and U.S. officials about having a “positive dialogue on human rights” with Chinese officials.

And that’s the problem. It’s been complete rhetoric from the start. The reality is that politics has always been a part of the Olympics. How else did Beijing—one of the world’s most polluted cities—win the coveted sporting event? There were other cities who wanted the Games and had never hosted them before. Those cities were also willing to build the needed infrastructure to win the Olympics; and like China, believed that hosting the Games would have a positive impact on form them and their residents.

It was only by playing the political card and promising the IOC that hosting the Olympics would be “a catalyst for social change” that China beat out its competitors. And we are beginning to see what a boldly successful lie that was.

Because now, as IOC president Jacques Rogge, politely encourages Chinese leaders to “fulfill their moral pledges”, he is being equally as kindly told to “mind his own business.” Ouch! Guess that must smart!

So, it’s pretty fair to say that the IOC has only itself to blame. Their carefully calculated decision to award China the Olympic Games (over more worthy recipients) and potentially spur some sort of social revolution has been ground into the dust; along with the support and goodwill the Games normally enjoy.

And though one should feel bad that the athletes who have trained for years to attend these Games must now compete under the glare from human rights protesters; similarly China should learn a strong lesson from this; that invariably they are not immune to world criticism and despite the carefully crafted message they force feed their populace, this 2008 Beijing Olympics will never represent what the real Olympic Games and spirit is truly about.

Of course, if none of that makes any difference to them, then perhaps this should–what are their future chances of scoring another world sporting event? Well, if the dramatically shortened and disastrous torch relay; the possible call to boycott the Games by world leaders, athletes and coaches; and the scorn and criticism from millions of people around the world is any indication; no international sporting body—in its right mind—will likely ever choose China as the host for another event.

So, enjoy the 2008 Summer Olympics while you can, China. I think you’ve done a marvelous job in taking one of the world’s most prestigious sporting events and making it into the biggest joke ever.

But then again it doesn’t seem like anyone is laughing.

(Photo courtesy of The National Post)

The politics of blogging…

It’s internship time for us students here in Centennial College’s Corporate Communications & Public Relations program. Most of my colleagues have managed to secure a placement with an organization, agency, or not-for-profit, and the few remaining students who haven’t are in the process of tying up loose ends.

For myself, I have the privilege of working with the Town of Newmarket’s communications department. In fact, I have already begun writing up some materials for them, even though I technically don’t start my internship until March 25. (Even that’s early. Internships are supposed to start March 31, but I am a bit of a PR keener! )

Anyways, I’m pretty excited to be working with the Town of Newmarket. It’s a growing community with about 80,000 residents, close proximity to Toronto, and a reputation as an environmentally progressive municipality. So, I am sure there is going to be plenty for me to do as I wet my feet working in public relations.

In fact, one aspect I have already started to consider is the introduction of social media as part of Newmarket’s communications policy. It was one of the issues that I talked about in my interview. At that time, the communications team was interested in getting involved in social media, but a little concerned over the two-way aspect of online communications (having audiences be able to respond back on blogs and social networking sites.)

But I think social media is an excellent tool for local governments to use to get closer to their constituents. Blogs give municipalities a way to communicate policies, programs and initiatives to residents and get information and public response back in a timely manner. Furthermore, blogs are the great equalizer, giving residents who normally feel disenfranchised an opportunity to make their voices heard.

In fact, some minority political parties in other countries are already making use of social media. Greensblog is a blog created by the Australian Green Senators. It gives them an opportunity to discuss government issues in a forum where their voices are not quashed by government and opposition parties who outnumber them in parliamentary debates.

Closer to home, even Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama is making his views, and the view from his campaign trail, known through blogging. Rival Hillary Clinton also seems to have a blog in her name, though its credibility seems suspect.

But the fact that blogging is now a form of public relations for these candidates—or at least Obama—and for governments at large, is a huge indication that social media is a much more important element nowadays in public communication and interaction.

It’s a lesson it seems Canadian governments still need to learn. A recent post on Simon Dickson’s blog, I’m Simon Dickson, talks about the UK Foreign Office making a major jump into Web 2.0 with the launch of not one, but SIX blogs spanning all levels of the organization.

Over here, however, the only blog I found after several minutes of searching was by Canada’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner. Well at least someone gets the idea of Web 2.0. But it’s a definite fact that social media should be taken more seriously by governments in Canada as a way to communicate with their audiences.

In fact, two Australian researchers, Barry Saunders and Jason Wilson, recently wrote in their online article, Consulting Bloggers as Citizens, about the importance of blogging for local governments.

“Blogging and other forms of participatory social media (such as wikis) are well suited to consultative policy development. They allow comments and feedback, and thus open up discussion to a range of voices. This in turn allows political debate to move beyond left-right political point-scoring to a more complex, nuanced, interactive process.”

Furthermore, governments, especially municipal ones who have a closer representative relationship with their constituents, can actually use blogs and social media to get accurate feedback and information when developing policies which affect their constituents.

“Blogging is about arguments and discussion – a robust conversation about healthcare reform might be informative, and would certainly gauge the depth of community feeling around the issue. Such an unfettered discussion might help defuse the electorate’s most common complaint about major party politics: “they just aren’t listening.”

Social media is now a tool governments can use to show they are not only listening to their constituents; but that they’re also involved in the discussion. And until governments here decide to get involved, they just don’t hear what we’re saying.

 

Getting a FOOT in the door of social media…

I have a pretty smart, soon-to-be, brother-in-law. He’s a chiropodist who is willingly using the social media space to inform his patients, discuss his passion and market his business.

A recent graduate from The Michener Institute for Applied Sciences, he just started up his own clinic, set up a new web page and has now joined the blogosphere.

With all the flack we communicators get nowadays about making sure we know how to use and recommend social media to our clients, it’s refreshing to find someone, in a non-communications field, who is already aware of its presence and power to promote.

His blog is called FOOT-NOTES, a clever little play on words, where he writes about his experiences at work dealing with patients, new trends in healthcare, and up-to-date information for those interested in foot care. He’s already got his first post up and it’s a good one; so check it out if you’re interested.

On the Inside track…

It’s nice to be noticed. As one of the students in Centennial College’s Corporate Communications and Public Relations program, it seems our group is constantly in the spotlight nowadays, thanks to our instructor Gary Schlee’s push to get us into the world of social media.

For those of you following the latest on Inside PR, the online podcast which talks about trends in the world of public relations, you’ll know that hosts, David Jones and Terry Fallis, recently commemorated their 100^th show with a live taping at Centennial’s Centre for Creative Communications.

We students had a chance to voice our questions live on the show and get answers from two professionals who have worked in the business long enough to identify new trends and understand the ways to use them.

However, I think the event was especially useful to our new first semester students who are just beginning to learn about the value of social media and its impact on the world of public relations.

That said, though, I would love to hear from any of them about what they thought of the show and the growth of social media. Perhaps they might have some valuable insight which we all could learn from. Any of you guys have a comment?

(The picture provided was taken from Inside PR (www.insidepr.ca) and shot by Gary Schlee)

Invasion of the POD people

I got my first IPOD as an engagement gift from my wife back in 2005. It was one of those sporty little 4GB Nanos which could hold up to 1000 songs.

Since getting it, I have maybe used it only about 30 to 40 times. To some that might seem like a lot, but when you think about how often people listen to music on a daily basis, you can see it isn’t that much time.

It’s not that I don’t like the device; I do. Its sleek, it comes in a nice case, and it holds all my favorite songs.

But aside from using it when I head to the gym, I don’t really need to have it around all the time. I have a CD player and radio in my car, I don’t listen to music when I am working or studying (like I need anything else to distract me) and I can’t figure out what else I would want to do with it—barring the times my desire to play solitaire on a really teeny tiny screen kicks up.

But it now seems I have finally found another purpose for my sparingly used engagement present. As part of my Online PR class at Centennial College, I, along with some of my colleagues, are about to create our first podcast.

Now for those of you who don’t know, Centennial’s Corporate Communications and Public Relations program has been getting a lot of press lately, thanks in large part to the cyber savvy of our instructor, Gary Schlee.

A number of PR powerhouses like Joseph Thornley, Martin Waxman, David Jones, Terry Fallis and other movers and shakers in the industry have been watching, waiting and commenting on how the class of 2008 is one of the first to break into the social media realm of PR.

Thanks to this unwavering attention, we students are getting our first run at the social media space in the glaring spotlights of industry watchers and other schools; all eagerly waiting to see if this particular mouse maze will lead to success.

And for the most part, it has. Most of my fellow students are waxing poetic about their PR experiences on blogs, some have started to Twitter, and others are sharing online discussion boards with social media bigwigs like Joel Postman.

Furthermore, by getting our feet wet with projects like podcasting, graphic design and writing for the web, we are also learning the skills that will make us employable for a long time into the future.

So keep tuned into my blog, and those of my colleagues because you’re about to see the CC&PR class of 2008 hit the online airwaves with our own podcasts. And if you’re interested, my friends and I will be interviewing David Jones of Inside PR fame. So, a hearty thanks to him for his help with our project, and keep watching my blog and my friends, Rick Weiss, Alana DaSilva, and Sarah Fimiani, to find out what David has to say!

Call me Joe … just Joe

I never know what to call people. Do I address them by their first name, or more formally by their last name? It’s a problem that often frustrates me, leaves me tongue-tied at the most inopportune times, or makes me wonder why that person hasn’t told me their preference.

See, I grew up in a traditional East Indian household. My parents drilled into mine and my sister’s heads that we don’t call adults by their first names. If they were close family friends, I had to call them aunty or uncle; if not close, it was Mr. or Mrs. But under no circumstances was it ever Tom, Dick or Harry! (My parents didn’t like those guys anyways.)

Even now, I revert to Mr. or Mrs. for anyone who I don’t know too well (I try not to call people I don’t know Uncle or Aunty…) and either wait for them to give me an alternative, or leave it if they don’t.

See, to me it’s not a big deal. I don’t expect people who are just meeting me, those who have worked for me, or those who are a little younger than me, to call me Mr. Chawla. It makes me feel old. So I ask them to call me Joe. But every once in a while, I find this philosophy backfires on me.

Take the case of my recent visit to my wife’s fourth grade classroom. She stood up in front of her class and introduced me as Joe. A couple of her students immediately responded with a “What’s up Joe?”

Now, like I said, I’m not much of a stickler for formality, especially when it comes to colleagues or people of the same, or roughly similar, age. But having an eight or nine year old kid refer to you by your first name seems to smack of impertinence. I almost expected to start channeling my father and give the little fellow a lecture on manners.

Instead, I said hi, and sat there wondering if I should have corrected my wife and insisted she tell her class to call me Mr. Chawla. Oh well … too late.

But that brings up another point which has been plaguing me. What is the proper decorum to take, when your chosen career path is public relations?

Don’t get me wrong, I know on a job interview, its Mr. So-and-so or Mrs. Whatchamacallit, but outside of that, what’s the word on formality? If the purpose of our business is to engage and interact with our audience on a personable level, do we really achieve that by making them call us Mr. or Mrs.?

Take for example the recent visit to our classroom by Martin Waxman, president of Palette Public Relations. Our assignment had been to present him with a resume and cover letter for a fictional job posting. He came in, after marking them, to give us feedback.

After his presentation, I went up to speak with him. I introduced myself, and called him Mr. Waxman. Without any hesitation, he corrected me, just by simply saying “Martin.” Now I’m not trying to ingratiate myself or kiss ass; but at the same time, I have to admit that my level of respect for him went up a notch. Here’s why.

I’m a student. Plain and simple. That doesn’t mean I’m not as important or don’t have feelings, but when the president of a public relations agency doesn’t distinguish himself by insisting on a formal designation, that makes me think this guy might be one cool cat to work for.

Anyways, that’s my question for all you bigwigs, and not so bigwigs, out there. What’s the word on formality?

What do you prefer? Am I making a big deal out of some non-existent rules of etiquette, or is it better to go formal and wait for the person to offer up some options? And when is it the best time to use it? Should I just assume that everyone wants a formal title? (Trust me, I have common sense, but every once in a while … ) Anyways, let me know…

Oh, and for those of you thinking I might be trying to apply for a job at Palette … don’t worry, Martin gave me a B+. I’m pretty sure he would probably hire the guy or gal with the A+ resume and cover letter.

And for the record, its Joe … just Joe; unless you’re under the age of 15.

Twittering the night away

I have a friend on Facebook who likes to change his status updates on a regular basis. Every couple of days or so, he has a new one up there; some funny, some confusing. I think he changes them regularly because it gives him a kick to do so.

But this blog isn’t about my friend. It’s about our growing fascination with every new fad on the internet. And as communicators, it seems we are the ones following each new trend, hook, line and sinker.

Now don’t get me wrong. I think social media has a big future in PR. It’s instantaneous, it’s open and it works. But I also think that it’s one tool among many and right now it’s hard to discern what—out of the myriad tools available to us—is valuable and what is not.

Take for example the buzz currently on about Twitter. As I recently learned in my Online PR class, Twitter is the new version of instant messaging and it’s fast becoming popular with a number of communicators. One such person is Thornley Fallis CEO, Joseph Thornley, on whose blog I recently commented.

In my comment, I questioned the value of some of these internet services which seem to be snapped up by so many PR reps. Thornley is a Twitter fan. So is my instructor, Gary Schlee. And so is David Jones, vice president of digital communications at Hill & Knowlton.

So what makes programs like Twitter so useful to public relations people? I see the value of blogging. I see the value of podcasting. But I find it hard to understand how an instant messaging service, that limits communication to a couple hundred words, can have a solid impact on how we interact with our publics.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not criticizing anyone for using Twitter, nor am I slamming this new service. All I’m trying to do is get a sense of how programs like Twitter help PR reps out. As Mr. Thornley himself wrote in his latest blog,

“I do not hire entry level people without looking at their blog, following their twitter stream and checking their Facebook presence. I want a sense of who they are over time, not just when they are in my office. I want to know what they think on the issues they care about and how they express themselves. I want to see whether and how they connect with others. And I can find out all those things from their social media presence.”

And to be honest, that makes me nervous. As I responded to his post, I love my blog. I think it helps me focus my interest in PR. And I like learning about and using social media. But because I don’t seem eager to get my feet wet with Twitter, does that make me unemployable? Will every person to whom I apply for a job, immediately pass me by because I don’t Twitter?

What should I do? Should I get on Twitter just to impress future employers? Even that option seems to have its pitfalls, as some PR professionals are questioning whether us newbies to PR are simply smiling and nodding our way into social media just to make an impression with potential employers.

So that is my question. What value do programs like Twitter offer PR professionals and why do we need to learn them to effectively communicate our message? Can anyone help me out?

You’ve Got Mail … NOT!

You’d think with us being communicators we’d have mastered the art of the quick response; or understand the importance of getting back to people who email us. But it still amazes me at the number of professional PR people out there who make unprofessional impressions by not responding back to the people who send them a message.

Take for example, my recent experience trying to find a client project for my Client Project class. As part of this course, I had to do some PR work (free of charge I might add) for the next 10 weeks with a local organization, not-for-profit, or agency. So I emailed a bunch of organizations (about 10 – 12) asking for help and outlined in detail what were the requirements of the class, what I needed to do, and what the role of the organization would be. Imagine my surprise then, when out of the 10-12 organizations I contacted only five of them responded.

Now I know what you’re thinking … what did I do wrong? What was the catch? Did I write a poor email? Did I come off as a spammer? Perhaps I was just a victim of the cynical belief that a free offer of help was too good to be true. After all, why would anyone not jump at the chance to have some free PR work done for them? Well, I hate to break it to you, but there was no catch! In fact, the only thing required of the company was that they simply grade me on the work I did for them and provide that evaluation to my instructors.

But, no matter what the reasons were behind my lack of responses, it seems incredible to me that anyone in the PR industry would not comprehend the value of responding to people who contact them, even if to just say no. As my instructor Christine Smith told us in our PR Writing class, emailing someone back, even if it’s just a quick response to say you got the original email, shows respect. And in this industry, the respect we show others translates into the respect we receive in turn for ourselves and our organizations. So that said, let me say a great thanks to those individuals who did show me some respect by getting back to me, and increased my respect for them tenfold by doing so.

1.) Marnie L. Hill, Senior Executive Communications Consultant, IBM Canada Ltd.

2.) Tanya Wymer, Corporate Communications Manager, Novo Nordisk Canada Inc.

3.) Barbara Onrot, General Manager, The Group Tix Company Inc.

4.) Cynthia Shipley, Manager, Marketing, Toronto Zoo

And, the communicator who I am working with for my client project:

5.) Tammy McQueen, Manager of Communications, Citizens’ Environment Watch

So, maybe I am being a little naïve, but I think in this industry, where gaining positive public perception is 75 – 80 per cent of our battle; what impression do you think it gives your audience when you don’t bother to respond to their questions? These communicators above proved how a little consideration went a long way to getting a lot of respect. It’s that kind of thought that makes me think these individuals are the kind of people that I would want to know, and the kind of bosses I would want to work for … and not just for a client project.

My (Not-So) Secret Identity

Up until about a year ago, my only claim to internet fame was an obscure little reference about me taking pictures at a university debate competition. This mention itself was so innocuous it was buried amongst countless pages dedicated to Indian Bollywood actress Juhi Chawla, or late American astronomer Kalpana Chawla. But now, after only one semester of my public relations program, I have suddenly graduated to the top of Google’s search engine. Most of this 15 minutes of digital fame, however, is thanks to Talk is Cheap, the social media unconference I helped organize with my instructor, Gary Schlee, and 15 other fellow students.

But with this newfound web celebrity, I’m beginning to find myself a bit obsessed with strengthening my net identity and seeing my name up there in lights! … well the light of my computer screen anyways… Take my friend, and fellow blogger, Rayanne Langdon for example. Thanks to a pretty knowledgeable sense of how to use the power of the Internet, and her great blog, Wide-eyed and Jaded, she has managed to achieve a fairly broad online reputation. In fact, the number of references that come up from a search of her name (Google juice notwithstanding) has managed to turn me green with envy. (Actually, I probably even added another hit to her moniker with this post!)

Anyways, so as I start to develop some sort of reputation out here in cyberspace, I’m also wondering what that rep is going to be, especially as I’m beginning to realize just how little power I have over what’s done with my name on the World Wide Web! As Gary Schlee’s so fond of reminding us, there is no way to manage our net identities and what is, or eventually will be,out there can either help or hurt us. So how do I control something that’s out of my control?

The sad realization is that I can’t contain the myriad posts, references and other links that appear with my name in the title. But, as a future PR professional, I can try and make sure that what I put up on my own is stuff that continues to paint a positive picture of me; and that means taking a long hard look at what’s on my social media networks. For example, my Facebook site; when you go to it, it seems pretty normal, even a little bit tame. There are pictures of me growing up, hanging out with friends, going out with my wife, etc. But could any of those images, taken out of context, prove to be an embarrassment? Most definitely, thinking of the one or two that I recently took down! In fact, a number of blogs have even started talking about the one of the unintended side effects of Facebook; that of extricating employees from their employers.

So as we begin to embark on our future careers in the world of public relations and try to make a name for ourselves out there, how do we ensure that the name we make in here won’t get us canned? Anyone got any advice?

Presentation Skills 101

Welcome to my first blog! This is my first time ever writing on the internet, so I hope I don’t botch this up; if I do, I hope those of you out there will be relatively kind! So I guess you’re wondering what it is I have to write about. Well, quite honestly, so am I! I started this blog as part of a class project for my Online PR course with Gary Schlee and my hope is that once I am done the course, I won’t be done the blog.

Anyways, so what does an up-and-coming PR student write about? Well looking at some of the great blogs already created by some of my colleagues (and friends) like Rayanne Langdon, Rick Weiss, Megan Ramsay and Miranda McCurlie, I am actually a little worried about whether my random thoughts will be as engaging as theirs! But even if my musings aren’t as prolific, hopefully they will be mildly interesting, and at the very least quite possibly entertaining!

Now for those of you who don’t know me, my name is Joe Chawla and I am on the tail end of completing my post-grad in Corporate Communications and Public Relations at Centennial College. My background (like so many PR professionals) is in journalism, where I was a TV reporter for about 5 years before I realized the lousy hours and over-inflated egos were not for me. I moved here to Toronto with my wife, who was originally from here, and now we are the in midst of having our first child.

So, if you want to know what I am going to write about, besides talking about PR, you’re probably going to hear plenty about life as a new father and living in a city that’s FIVE TIMES LARGER than my hometown of Edmonton, Alberta (which means plenty of posts dedicated to complaining about the lousy drivers here in TO!)

But for the most part, I am going to try and fill this blog with posts about my experiences entering the field of public relations in 2008, and my thoughts on PR in general. So if you like what I write and want to throw in a comment or two, feel free! And if you don’t like what I write, let me know … though I make no guarantees I’ll post what you write.