Pitch Engine Alpha available

Have just received my alpha invite for Pitch Engine. Not quite sure to what extent it offers a full-service media relations platform, but suspect that it is limited to providing social media release layout without moving towards actual distribution. So basically, you'd point media to this social media press release tool rather than to those offered by, say, Marketwire or CNW.

I'm looking forward to giving it a whirl.

In my quest for better understanding, I used the Google link feature and suspect I've struck gold, but for another reason entirely. Deirdre Breakenridge's blog was launched in August of last year and so far holds only about a dozen posts. Deirdre is the author of a few books on PR and social media. While her activity level is low (although picking up), the quality of her content isn't. I'd encourage you to check her out. You'll find her in my ever-growing blogroll to the right of the screen.

What the F**K is social media : Marta Kagan knows

The next time your client asks you why he should care about social media, pull up Marta Kagan's presentation on Slideshare. Kagan drives the message ... or several messages ... home in a compelling way. Clear and to the point. In other words, no f**cking around.

Thanks to Marie-Hélène Haeck, who shared this on Facebook (so I could share it with you ... and so on ... and so on).

74 of Fortune 500 companies starting to play ball

Good news. Once the big boys start tossing the ball around, the others start to pay attention and will want to play too:

74 of Fortune 500 Use Blogs to Communicate With Customers
Fifteen percent of Fortune 500 companies are blogging, according to a recent study from WOMMA member company Burson-Marsteller. Technology companies were the heaviest bloggers, with the top four industries with blogs listed as: Computers, Office Equipment; Network and Other Communications Equipment; Semiconductors and Other Electrical Components; and Internet Services and Retailing. The study included only external blogs, and indicated a reported 270% increase since Fortune 500 blog tracking began in December 2005. A full 32% of the Fortune 50 have blogs, while the number shrinks to only 2% of the Fortune 451 to 500.

Source : womma

PlanetEye

Je prépare le lancement d'un nouveau projet personnel en baladodiffusion. Contrairement au premier, qui était une série d'entrevues avec des anciens camarades du secondaire, ce projet promet d'intéresser un public plus large. J'en parlerai en plus grand détail sous peu.

Tout ça pour dire que j'ai l'intention d'utiliser non seulement Flickr, mais également PlanetEye, pour 'illustrer' mes propos et assurer un peu de rayonnement.

Toujours à l'étape beta, PlanetEye est une plateforme permettant aux mordus de voyage de partager leurs photos et expériences. Les photos sont belles, les informations intéressantes.

Facebook change de 'look'

J'ai eu droit à un avant-goût de la nouvelle interface Facebook aujourd'hui.

Premières impressions?

- Look blogue, 2 colonnes
- La pub prend sa place - beaucoup plus en évidence
- Possibilité de commenter le statut Facebook des utilisateurs
- La navigation est un peu plus longue - on ne retrouve plus tout (ou presque) sur une seule page

Ma modification préférée? L'ajout d'un engin de recherche à la section Messages. On se retrouve beaucoup plus facilement maintenant, avec la possibilité de recherche par nom de correspondant et par mot clé. Un gros irritant maintant chose passée.

C'est certain que toute refonte nécessite une période d'adaptation, mais dans l'ensemble, on s'y habituera.

WOM survey

Sean Moffit of the Buzz Canuck blog and Agent Wildfire is conducting a survey on Word of Mouth marketing. I'd encourage you to take a few minutes to complete it.

Survey available here.

How did I find out about this survey? Sean sent a message to members of his 1% Army Facebook group 15 minutes ago. He posted a blog entry about it. I imagine he's probably promoted it through Twitter as well.

We'll see how many bloggers respond to his request to promote his survey. It'll be a nice informal benchmark to measure exactly what you can accomplish when you speak to your niche.

Facebook app marketing done right

Am breaking into my holiday break with a quick link to a happy discovery : a Facebook app that actually understands the importance of proper marketing.

Too many Facebook application developers expect you to add their app just because your friends are doing it. They're relying 100% on the power of influencers.

For those of us who think for ourselves, it's nice to see a Facebook app that actually gives us a taste of what we're in for, before we sign our lives (ie. privacy) away.

Check out MouseHunt. Succinct summary, discussion board, teaser video. Finally. Someone who knows how to speak to me.

Bravo, HitGrab. Now excuse me. I'm off to hunt for mice.

FriendFeed for podcasters

I'm finding FriendFeed pretty useful. Now I learn that it can become even more so. FriendFeed is apparently testing embedded players on the platform.

Interesting blog post on the practicalities of following your podcast feeds through FriendFeed by Mark Hopkins here. Looks promising, but Hopkins concludes (and I agree) that FriendFeed will need to tweak this tool a little before it can be considered as useful as similar tools on other platforms.

Much more exciting for now, from my point of view, is FriendFeed's search capability. I've already used this feature to very interesting result. Loving it.

Isabelle Juppé et les québécoises digitales

J'ai eu le grand plaisir de passer lundi soir en excellente compagnie : Isabelle Juppé et une dizaine de blogueuses québécoises, dont je faisais partie, se sont réunies -- en compagnie de quelques hommes, dont certains auteurs du Pourquoi blogueur dans un contexte d'affaires -- pour partager quelques impressions concernant l'époque numérique que nous vivons actuellement.

J'en ai profité pour me procurer une copie du livre d'Isabelle Juppé, La femme digitale. Un bouquin qui se lit très bien; j'ai parcouru plus d'une centaine de pages ce soir, le temps d'un aller-retour Rosemont /Guy.

Intéressant de voir à quel point son passage au Québec a marqué Mme Juppé et inspiré la rédaction de son livre. Je m'abstiendrai de commenter pour le moment, préférant prendre le temps de réfléchir un peu à ses propos.

Pour l'instant, je peux affirmer que l'historienne de formation que je suis a beaucoup apprécié le parallèle tracé entre l'invention de Johannes Gutenberg et la révolution numérique. J'ai également apprécié le clin d'oeil fait durant la soirée (et peut-être dans le livre - ça reste à voir) au rôle de la femme dans, d'un côté, l'organisation des salons d'autrefois et, de l'autre, la formation de communautés numériques modernes.

J'ai toujours dit que 3e mardi Third Tuesday Montréal représente pour moi la manifestation moderne des salons littéraires du XVIIe. C'est officiel, alors; je dois effectivement être une 'femme digitale'.

À suivre.