10/11

Leave it to the Scots.  They have done just that with Seonaid (pronounced "Shona"), a 28-year-old avatar,  born in Bellshill, who reads news at the Scottish government's website, (http://www.scotland.gov.uk/pages/default.aspx).  Seonaid has a resume you can check at her page.  She's single with a long-term partner and has a cat named Napoleon.  Her builders claim that Seonaid is the  first Veeper to star on a government website, and they say site visits have risen more than 60 percent since her appearance.

Seonaid moves in synchronization with the words that she is reading and she has, according to her creators,  natural face and body movement, emotional response and personality
traits. Wouldn't you think that someone in the U.S. government would have done the same thing by now? 

Hats off to the Scots for showing how personality can project otherwise dry information to reach a broad audience.  It's easy to see how a Veeper could be used on almost any Corporate Web site.  A Veeper could deliver corporate news on the Intranet.  A Veeper could explain complex company information on the corporate Web site.  A Veeper could teach how to use medications or how to check for symptoms on health sites. 

Avatars originally showed in chat rooms and gaming.  They are moving into the business world slowly.  The Scots have shown us how to do it well, so maybe they will be used more quickly. 
 

10/10

Streisand opened herself  to mockery and Drudge let her have it.  First, he published a letter that Streisand sent to a Congressman in which she misspelled the Congressman's name.  Then he twitted her for using a "quote" from Shakespeare during her Democratic fundraising concert that was, in fact, an Internet hoax.  Finally, he pointed out that her foundation had invested in the stock of Halliburton company while Vice President Dick Cheney was CEO there. 

Streisand in each case defended herself, but the damage was done.  The Democrats for whom Streisand has raised millions ignored her mistakes and preferred to concentrate on the positive.

The affair was amusing because it is another instance of using celebrities to send messages and suffering the consequences.  Do celebrities know more than us about politics?  Of course not.  They just have better name recognition. 

PR practitioners have exploited name recognition since the beginning of promotion.  It's a spurious appeal to authority.  It relies on people accepting the false assumption that someone well known must know more than you.  The interesting part of this false psychology is that it works -- over and over and over.  We use it for media tours, events and other occasions.  We have celebrities pitch anything we get them to say for money.  There is no reason, for example, that golfer Tiger Woods is an expert on cars or watches but he pushes both. 

Using celebrities is something we do in PR, but we should be careful about how we use them.  Too often we stretch a celebrity's name beyond credibility.  The Hollywood stars who pitch for the Democratic party are out of their depths, (but they get listeners, so the Democrats know something I don't.)

Still, a celebrity who has the most credibility is one who exemplifies the message being sent.  Tiger Woods is powerful pushing golf clubs.  Norm Abrams of TV program This Old House is perfect for woodworking tools.  Abrams pushing golf clubs and Woods pushing table saws doesn't have a ring of truth.

Maybe Streisand, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins will go back to Hollywood now and forget about campaigning.  I'll bet they don't.
 

 10/09

Bush has a problem in that if he acts unilaterally, he will thrust himself and the U.S. into a "guardian of the world" role that this country cannot sustain.  The U.S. can carry much of the burden for policing the earth, but it is too expensive to do it all.  Moreover, for the U.S. to act on its own prerogative without support from other countries is to be a bully. 

Bush has also taken on a difficult task of persuasion.  He wants to change assumptions about warfare.  Most individuals in this country believe that we don't attack another country unless the other country attacks us first.  At heart, we are a peaceful.  Bush is trying to tell us that in the modern world, we are fools if we do not attack extremely hostile countries first before they try to destroy us.  He has a point, which is why I am partially accepting his view.  On the other hand, I don't believe Iraq is that dangerous to us yet.  The administration hasn't shown compelling proof.

The lesson for me is that changing any group's mind and direction is difficult.  I give president Bush credit for focusing on the topic and hammering like a salesman until he gets what he wants.  On the other hand, I've never liked salesmen much because they are too pushy. 

I don't know where I'll end up on this issue, but I'm not as furious as I was two weeks ago.  I suppose the Bush administration would call that progress.
 

10/08

I said I had read that Hollywood TV shows were going to digital video because it saves $30,000 to $40,000 per show.  The professor said I was wrong because he had just talked to a Hollywood cinematographer who said there are problems with digital video.  Moreover, a $30,000 to $40,000 savings in a million dollar production budget was too small to consider.  This conversation took place last Thursday evening.

I was surprised then to read in Monday's Los Angeles Times that 30 percent of the prime-time shows are being shot in digital video this year -- over the objections of cinematographers.  Discovery Channel switched 50 crews from film to video.  The reason?  Cost.  Even a skinny two percent savings is enough to drive change, which says a lot about Hollywood economics.

The purpose of telling this story is not to say that I was right.  It is to illustrate how digital sweeps everything before it, including the original form of movie making. 

As PR practitioners, we need to be sensitive to changes that can help us work better, faster and cheaper.  We should be careful to drive down overhead every chance we get.  Especially now when the industry is in a slump, get rid of wasteful ways of operating and adopt processes that serve clients better and less expensively -- even if it is only a two percent gain.  
 

 10/07

I had assumed that educators were behind in teaching students about the Web.  Frankly, some are, but most are pursuing the topic and some are creating new ways to teach that, I think, are better than today's pedagogy.  My clients are not ready for some things I saw, but Shel Holtz, an online consultant and guru,  gave examples of what PR agencies are doing that are innovative and effective.  Shel's keynote speech, by the way, set the right tone for the day. 

Never having been to Muncie and knowing nothing about Ball State, I was surprised how fresh and appealing the campus looked.  The Journalism School, where PR courses are taught, is new and equipped with the latest of just about everything.  The center of the campus is dominated by a recently completed five- or six-story campanile with full bell set that will make tradition for generations to come.  The students were polite and helpful and went out of their way for us.  The conference organization, all completed by a graduate assistant, was impeccable.  The conference participants were all serious about their work and willing to argue when they disagreed. 

I left for Indianapolis on Saturday morning with ideas buzzing about my brain -- a sign that I had learned a lot.  I also left with a sense of humility.  I knew little by comparison to many of the conference participants, which was good.  My ego needs pinpricking regularly.