A couple of days ago I was particularly bugged by bad communication and tweeted this:
My Tweet
Of course it should read “written and spoken english” instead of just “written and english”. Was totally in my mind, but somehow didn’t get translated to the keyboard. The result?
So the lesson here is really, be careful what you tweet, but if you do make a boo boo, try to see the humour in it! It happens!
I suppose this isn’t news, but Starhub (one of the three telcos here in Singapore) has brought its presence to the social media scene in the form of a Twitter account, @StarHubCares.
During the first few weeks, there were a few issues like @StarHubCares replying other Twitter users, asking them to direct message (dm) @StarHubCares directly, but because @StarHubCares wasn’t following them on Twitter in the first place, there was no way for a dm to get through.
Thankfully, with some help from the community, this was quickly sorted out and @StarHubCares quickly followed these people (myself included) back, and got down to replying their issues.
Here are a few questions that I do have about the initiative:
1) Should it be more transparent that the person behind @StarHubCares is not actually someone from Starhub, but their agency? Some online feel yes, I’m slightly on the fence.
2) Is Twitter the best (or even a right) channel for them to be on?
3) @StarHubCares seems to do a good job of listening in and replying to questions/problems, but are there actual accounts from them or from the general public about cases being closed, problems being solved?
4) Do regular Starhub employees know about this service, so that maybe when they close a sale at a retail outlet, they can tell customers about this service in addition to the customer helpline?
What do you think? When should a company be on Twitter? Does it fit Starhub? Should they be doing more with it? Less?
It’s not often I get annoyed to the point of blogging, but this takes the cake. I’m going to post a few emails I got in the span of one day, and you can draw your own conclusions. I’ve chosen not to reveal the name of the PR person (though i will say his/her job title is senior account executive), the event or any such details this time round.
First mail, 12:45pm (click to view larger image):
Bad PR First Email
By the way, the event is tomorrow at 10:30am. So I’m given 22 hours notice.
So I can’t make it because I have a major presentation tomorrow, here’s my reply:
My Reply
The next email I get is at 4:12pm, asking me to invite friends/bloggers on their behalf:
Bad PR Second Email
Okay. I’m in class so I don’t reply instantly. Nice to see that they would like to get the message out to “as many people as possible” but they do that at 4pm the day before.
Third mail, 6:18pm, asking if I would like to write about their event even without attending it:
Bad PR Third Email
That’s the kicker. I don’t have a relationship with this person, I’ve never been contacted by this agency before, what makes them think this is an appropriate way to approach me?
One thing for everyone entering the social media scene to keep in mind: not all bloggers are going to be like me and choose not to disclose the identity. There are many others who will plaster your name, agency, client’s name and event and get it all the bad press you need before the event even gets off the ground.
It’s been three weeks but the next episode of The GennY Podcast is finally here! Full disclosure: This was actually our first recording, but we felt that the episode we released first was better suited to be our first, introductory podcast. Coincidentally, some topics actually touch on what was said at Social Media Breakfast | Singapore 6, but in slightly more detail.
Once again, this episode was brought to you by the same people behind episode 1 (Krisandro, myself, Dorothy, Yin and Yinqi), but we hope to shake that up for subsequent episodes.
GennY Episode 2 Team
The show notes:
00:00 - Daryl starts us off - introductions all round
00:55 - Yin starts us off on the topic: How can we get traditional companies to start slowly on the social media path?
01:35 - Social media allows you to know what your consumer wants, what trends they’re picking up, and hence customise your communications/marketing
03:02 - Why don’t companies go where their audience is?
05:42 - Is there a perceived credibility problem with social media?
06:48 - How well received would brands be on Plurk?
07:50 - Maybe if they talked about things other than just selling, they might be better received.
08:31 - No messages from unknown faces please!
11:46 - Should employees reach out from their own identity, or create one aligned with a company?
13:02 - “Dear All” = Fail
15:03 - How about Facebook Groups?
15:39 - Facebook Groups more as personality “labels” rather than a communication channel
16:40 - Maybe Facebook Groups would work if the creators made an effort to communicate to the group
16:47 - But this can be overdone too
18:20 - Is this an intrinsic problem because Facebook Groups have no RSS?
If you’ve been following me on Twitter or Plurk, you may have gathered hints about a podcast coming your way.
Well, it’s here! It’s called Genny (pronounced Jenny - you have Krisandro to thank for the name) and the deal behind the podcast is that we decided to just get a handful of people from Generation Y in Singapore, and just really talk about what’s going on. Sometimes it’ll be about social media, sometimes it won’t be.
First, let me introduce the people in this podcast:
GennY Episode 1 Team
Krisandro, myself, Dorothy, Yin and Yinqi make up the people behind this episode, but it’s a revolving team and the voices will change from time to time, depending on who’s available to record the show. (Big thanks to Ingrid for putting together the graphic!)
As our first episode goes, this is pretty raw because we just sat in a room and talked into a laptop (Anyone wants to sponsor us proper podcast equipment?), but I hope you enjoy it anyway. It can only get better.
The show notes:
00:00 - Krisandro starts us off - introductions all round
00:53 - The topic: How is Gen Y different in the work force?
01:28 - Will Gen Y mindset change during the recession?
02:26 - Gen Y has no qualms with changing jobs, even in a recession
03:39 - Perhaps Gen Y feels there isn’t enough recognition at work
05:08 - Did the media influence Gen Y’s outlook on life?
07:56 - How is Gen Y different outside the workspace in peer-to-peer interactions?
09:57 - How does online interaction affect offline interaction?
10:51 - Krisandro claims he’s 19
11:01 - Are there different norms that apply online and offline?
11:58 - Maybe it’s easier for us to verify if people are weirdos online
15:10 - Blooper!
Please check out the podcast here and give us your feedback! If you’d like us to cover a certain topic, just drop a message in the comments. Thanks for your support!
As a listener of the podcast For Immediate Release (co-hosted by Shel Holtz, one of the authors of the book), I decided to check out Tactical Transparency and it’s the first book I finished in 2009, and it was a fairly quick and good read.
One thing that is clear about this book, is that it’s not for people who are already “in the know” in the social media scene, but instead for people who are curious about social media and might be thinking about “taking the plunge”. One of the reasons why the book was a quick read was because most of the material was familiar to me.
Although the book is titled “tactical” transparency and indeed many of the chapters focus on a tactical perspective instead of a strategic perspective, there is a fair amount of the book that is dedicated to embracing transparency as a culture. Depending on what you’re looking for (specific steps vs broad perspectives), the book may or may not work out for you.
The one thing I’d like to see from future books dealing with social media, is perhaps a wider range of case studies. We’ve all heard about Dell Hell, the Target story, the Comcast guy who fell asleep on the couch. I’m hoping to see new examples in future books.
I think for anyone thinking about checking out the social media scene, Tactical Transparency will be a good introduction and summary and I’d definitely recommend it. For depth and experience however, no book can replace actually experiencing it yourself, and hopefully books like Tactical Transparency help provide a road map for your journey.
A week and a half ago, I had the privilege of being invited to the National Museum of Singapore for the launch of the brand new Sony Vaio P, Sony’s venture into the realm of ultra mobile computing. This blog post is more about the social media/communications standpoint of the event, rather than the actual product itself because I had to leave early and didn’t actually get to “play” with the product.
The Unveiling
First up, I have a video of Mr. Kazutoyo Araki (Senior Manager, Area Marketing Group, Global VAIO Direct Department Business Planning and Strategy Division, VAIO Business Group), telling us a little about the history of Sony’s innovation from the Walkman, and unveiling the actual product. Now I was expecting someone to walk on stage and flash it or a curtain to be swept aside to show the product, but how he did it was way better. Don’t blink or you’ll miss it:
The Message Tech 65 has their interpretation of the Vaio P from a pure technology point of view, but I look at the communication of the message. Whether it was Mr. Araki or Ms. Janice Yang from the VAIO Product Marketing Department of Sony Singapore, the key message was clear: It’s a premium, portable device, for the road warrior who needs regular access throughout the day (or on trips), but won’t necessarily use it for extended periods of time.
Word Of Mouth
One thing I think Sony did excellently (at least for the bloggers) was to provide us with a pamphlet the exact same length and width (but obviously not depth) as the Vaio P. While I was working on this blog post, I had that pamphlet with me and invariably, many of my friends asked to have a look and were oohing and ahhing over the size. Excellent way to reach the tertiary crowd.
Sony Vaio P
The pamphlet also allowed me to take a “real” representation of how small the Vaio P is with the picture to the right. Barely the length of three business cards. All this is proof that you don’t need expensive, crazy collaterals to make an impact, just the right one.
All in all, as an unabashed Sony fan, I have to say I think the Vaio P has chosen the right time to enter the market because everyone wants to be mobile without carrying around a 2kg laptop, and with their clear messaging to the public, they just might have a silent winner on their hands.
To close off this blog post, I leave you with the models strutting their stuff, as well as the Sony Vaio P at the product launch:
[Disclosure: A family member works at Hill & Knowlton, the PR firm behind this event, and as such, I have opted not to comment on their role in the event.]
Almost two weeks since my last blog post, that’s the longest I’ve gone without blogging this whole year. What happened is my laptop is down and while I have posts that I drafted on the flight home, I hadn’t had time to upload them into the cloud yet, and hence they’re on hold indefinitely until my laptop is back. On the bright side, there’s always new content to be published!
2008 was really an amazing year for me. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say this year has been the most life-changing by far. Discovering social media properly and becoming a serious blogger has given me as much, if not more, education that my university life has thus far.
Social Media Breakfast | Singapore has been and continues to be a revelation of sorts. It’s still very much in its infancy stage but I have no doubt it is going to grow (maybe at a slower rate) in 2009.
My experience in Canada was similarly eye-opening. It was nice to be away from home for a few months and really live “alone”. I think I learned a lot about independence there.
2009 is going to be an even more interesting year for me. Graduation is looming and joining the workforce is going to happen one way or the other. I have a pretty clear idea of what I might wanna do, but it’s still a little early to say.
As for where this blog is heading in 2009, that’s coming up tomorrow, so stay tuned.
I do however want to turn attention to two important questions that I saw in a couple of comments about the whole thing:
1) Would Chris Brogan have blogged about Kmart if he wasn’t paid? (personally, I don’t think so)
2) Did getting paid affect objectivity in any way?
I think these are the big questions that we’ve been debating over back home as well. So far I think our sponsored blog posts in Singapore are working out well, but maybe it’s because by and large we haven’t had the need for separation between out personal and professional lives.
I’ve struggled with this issue for awhile before finally starting up my personal blog (which by the way, averages better traffic than this blog) and I think if ever companies were to approach me to talk about their product that didn’t fall in the technology or social media field, it’d definitely go there.
Important takeaway from this issue? Risks and consequences don’t just extend to companies dabbling in social media and blogger outreach, but bloggers as well. It’s definitely making me think twice over ever accepting any offer outside my respective niches.
Do you see a problem with this? Does Chris Brogan the consumer blogger have less clout than Chris Brogan the social media blogger?
