Food for thought

I'm almost at the end of a very interesting 2 hour podcast - a CPRS roundtable discussion on blogging do's-and-don'ts - courtesy of Inside PR.

You can listen to it here.

Toward the end of the podcast, you'll find a series of great arguments that we can present to our clients, as we try to convince them to come around to the idea of investing in social media initiatives. 'How to build their business through authentic public relations.'

I'm hearing the same reassuring message that I heard at dinner last night. At least I choose to see it as reassuring, considering as always that to laugh is infinitely better than to cry. The message? That the people in the room -- those interested in social media in Canada -- are in a good position. Because our country is behind other places, like the U.S., as far as blogging goes, Canadian PR practitioners honing their social media craft today are actually ahead of the curve. And that's a good place to be. Because, as they say, when it happens, you're going to be ready. This takes for granted, of course, that social media lasts.

My gut feeling? I'm betting that it will. Betting a lot of my time and contemplative energy on it, anyway. MySpace and You Tube might metamorphose into something else, but the bottom line is that technology has provided mankind with an inexpensive and accessible means of communication. Mass communication is no longer the privilege of a handful of media moguls. As PR practitioners, it's time we learn how to engage in conversation. How to move beyond media relations to engage in true public relations.

Speaking of food, yesterday's Geek Dinner was very pleasant and I met a lot of very interesting branding, marketing, media and web strategy types. Not too many PR reps at my end of the table, although I did see Marc Snyder there. Thanks again to Mitch Joel for the invitation and to Shel Holtz for his attendance.