Godin on two ways to deal with "no"

Since opening our doors in April 2001, the team at GroundFloor Media has faced our share of rejections with both existing clients as well as potential clients. "No" is never an easy word to stomach, but sometimes our best lessons have come from how we have handled the rejection. As new business will be harder to come by in 2009, and existing clients are faced with tightening their belts, we will hear this word more often than not. Ramonna read Godin's new post on two ways to deal with "no" and sent it on to me.I thought it was worth passing on as we head into the new year.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/12/two-ways-to-dea.html

You could contact the organization that turned you down and explain that they had made a terrible mistake, the wrong choice and a grave error. You could criticize the vendor they actually selected, bring You could even question the judgment of the prospect and try to teach them to make better decisions in the future. And, while you're at it, challenge the fairness of the decision-making committee itself, and explain how a more fair process would have favored you at the same time it would have helped the organization that turned you down.

Or

You could be more gracious than if you'd won the work. You could send a thank you note for the time invested, you could sing the praises of the vendor chosen in your stead and you could congratulate the buyer, "based on the criteria you set out, it's clear that you made exactly the right choice for your organization right now." That doesn't mean the criteria were right, it just means that you're not attacking the person for being an impulsive lunatic. You could even outline what you learned from the process and what you'll be changing in the future. And you can make it clear that you're in it for more than just a sale, and you'll be around if they ever need you.

Couple questions:

1. Which one will make you more likely to be invited back, or to be the backup if the first choice fails?

and

2. Which one will increase your word of mouth at the same time it improves your organization's feeling about itself?

It's a no-brainer, I think. So how come the first is so common?

Thanks, Mr. Godin. You always seem to have it right.

Running with the Elvi (or is it Elvises?)

For many world travelers, it is a lifelong aspiration to see the thrill of Pamplona, Spain’s annual Running of the Bulls. However, for the team at GroundFloor Media, that thrill took the form of participating in the “Running of the Elvises,” or more commonly referred to as the Las Vegas Half Marathon this December.

Months earlier in August of 2008, our company’s president and vice president, Laura Love and Ramonna Tooley, invited our team to consider taking on the challenge of the “LV 1/2.” Some of us called it more of a dare, rather than an invitation, on their part. But given that we’re a goal-driven group of people several of us threw caution to the wind, said “count us in,” and figured we’d somehow sort out the consequences later.

On the theory that the team that runs/jogs/walks together stays together, our rag-tag group of 30- and 40-somethings embarked on our rather improvisational training efforts over the late summer and early fall. Despite sprained ankles, shin splints and varied levels of fitness, our rag-tag team of Olympic wanna-bes set off to Vegas the first weekend of December to accomplish our mission: cross the finish line in ample time to catch our flights back home.

Fueled by a team pasta dinner the night before, our race-morning arrived bright and early on December 7th. Against the backdrop of the famed Vegas Strip, pre-dawn fireworks, 11,000 other runners and at least five dozen runners dressed as Elvis Presley, the starting gun went off at 6:05 a.m. – and we were on our way.

Cutting through the masses of running humanity, we each found our own comfortable pace and tackled the course. And, as you might imagine, the city of Las Vegas offered an anything-but-dull collection of scenery to keep runners and walkers visually distracted mile by mile. The first half of our journey spanned the length of the Strip from the “family friendly” luxury casinos and hotels to older historic Freemont Street area, while the course’s back half was speckled with flop houses, bail bonds offices, taxi depots and adult-only dance clubs. And, from beginning to end, we had the companionship of runners dressed up as showgirls, “professional” showgirls dressed up as pedestrians, high-school marching bands, Japanese taiko drummers, the LVPD and, naturally, a very broad array of running Elvises. At mile six, the course had a run-through wedding chapel for those so inclined to say “I do” in between sips of Gatorade – complete with Elvis as your best man and a showgirl as your bridesmaid. But, we’re happy to confirm that no members of GroundFloor Media even slightly slowed down their pace at this part of the race.

The exhilaration of reaching the finish line to the cheers and shouts of hundreds of spectators was a thrill for each of us that just might possibly rival that of seeing Pamplona’s Bulls. Goodness knows some of us were about as graceful as a bull by the time reach reached the course’s end!

~Amy Claire

Adopt a Family or a Child for the Holidays

As you may know, I sit on the board of a very special place -- Tennyson Center for Children (www.childabuse.org)-- and GroundFloor Media has been very involved with this wonderful organization for years. The Home was founded in 1904 as an orphanage, and today we treat abused, neglected, and at-risk children ages 5-18. We serve 600+ children and 1500+ family members each year.

I know many of you look for ways to support those who are less fortunate during the holiday season. If you would like to adopt a family or some of the kids who live in the cottages, Tennyson Center supports those that are in desperate need of holiday gifts for their children. Families are asked to create wish lists containing items ranging from gifts for their children to essentials such as food certificates, toiletries and linens. Donors then deliver those items to the TCC campus after which therapists and case workers distribute the items to the families they work with so closely. They have 70 families left to adopt this holiday season. The gift requests range from $150-$400 per family, with an average of $225 per family for all of their holiday gifts.

If you or your company is interested in adopting a family, either let me know ASAP or call Tricia Muniz at 720-855-3358 or tricia.muniz@tennysoncenter.org.

I hope you will consider making this a Holiday to remember for a family in need.

The Downtown Denver Partnership Leadership Program Rocks and "Walks"...

The Downtown Denver Partnership Leadership Program (DDPLP) is an amazing program filled with an incredibly talented group of leaders. This year's class project was called Putting Our Best Foot Forward and our own Carissa McCabe was part of this cool effort. I have posted a link below to YouTube that shows the video that was produced by the members of her class to support the live presentation they gave a few weeks ago.

For those of you who don't know very much about this program, the idea is to immerse the class in the Denver Area Plan (Denver’s 20-year plan for improving our downtown). The group (all had to apply and were selected to attend the DDPLP) had to dig into research to determine how they could make Denver more pedestrian friendly.

Carissa taught the rest of us GroundFloor Media pedestrian novices that Denver is ranked No. 4 in the country for walkability.

GroundFloor Media wasn't the only firm represented in this class. There were more than 70 other downtown leaders from companies including Molson/Coors, Corona Research, Vectra Bank, the Colorado Rockies, the Office of Economic Development, The Kenney Group and many, many others.

Enjoy the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjfFV5Z30Vg

"Message Me" CVC

GroundFloor Media was asked to host a message training session at the Colorado Voices for Coverage conference today. So although the weather was less than ideal and I left the office with enough gas to make it 6 miles (trip distance 14.8 miles), I managed to get us to the Qwest Learning Center unscathed. My faithful sidekick Amy Moynihan and I fought the IT battle and won just in time to talk about how the group could engage healthcare reform stakeholders who are not currently active in the reform process. This conference was an opportunity to bring together sectors of the community that typically do not interface and provide education in both organizing and the policy process.

Our good friend from Tennyson Center or Children and Every Child Matters, Becky Updike, asked us to host this session. Basically, The Colorado Consumer Health Initiative was one of twelve state based advocacy groups selected by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Community Catalyst to participate in the Consumer Voices for Coverage grant initiative, which supports state health care coverage efforts by fostering strong and robust advocacy infrastructures. Its a bit of a maze to try and figure out who is on first, but Community Catalyst is a national health advocacy organization dedicated to quality affordable care. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing the nation; all RWJF philanthropy efforts are devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans.

The Colorado Consumer Health Initiative is leading the statewide collaboration and will be supported by a leadership team of organizations including: the Business Forum on Health, the Colorado Council of Churches, and the Colorado Progressive Coalition. The Colorado Voices for Coverage project seeks to organize health reform at the state level to remove barriers that block consumers from adequate health care. The project will increase the understanding, commitment, and capacity of a broad group of stakeholders to bring underrepresented perspectives into health care policy discussions, to connect diverse constituencies, and to build sustainable state-wide advocacy network required to implement meaningful health reform.

Whew... I need a message map just to track the players involved in this worthwhile initiative.

It Takes a Team to Blog

Many of GroundFloor Media's clients either have a blog or are ready to dip their toes in the blogging waters. We consistently explain to clients that maintaining a blog is similar to maintaining an editorial calendar for a newspaper or your internal newsletter. It takes a team of people to keep a blog relevant, interesting and up-to-date. Seth Godin's blog post, "Death of a personal blog?" makes some great points along those same lines. I hope you enjoy it... http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

Happy Thanksgiving!
~Ramonna

Too Small to Fail?

Once again, Seth Godin's post strikes a cord. If you are a small business owner or an entrepreneur, it's worth a quick read. In summary, Godin says the secret of 'small is the new big' thinking is that you won't fail and you can't fail and you don't need to worry about a bailout. Not because you're small in headcount or assets, but because you act small. If you act small and think big, you are too small to fail. You won't need a bailout because your business makes sense each and every day. You won't need a bailout because your flat organization (no matter how large it is) knows about problems long before they're too big to deal with. And that's just big thinking.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/10/too-small-to-fa.html

We're #2!!

This morning, for the third consecutive year, GroundFloor Media, was recognized by the Denver Business Journal as one of the Best Places to Work in Denver in the small company category. In 2007 GroundFloor Media was recognized as the No. 1 place to work in Denver, and now in 2008 we were recognized as No. 2. Despite the turmoil in the marketplace, there is a lot to be thankful for these days. A team that sticks together during these tough times will most certainly come out ahead. Ramonna and I are thankful for the GroundFloor Media team members that make this truly a great place to work!

http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2008/11/24/focus24.html


GroundFloor continues to distinguish itself as a leader
No. 2 small-size company
Denver Business Journal - by Ryan Peacock Special to the Business Journal

Stephen Swofford | Business Journal
At GroundFloor Media, the No. 2 small-size company on the Best Places to Work list, employees participate in the Get Grounded program, which outlines a goal of committing 20 percent of services to nonprofit organizations and pro bono accounts.

This is the third consecutive year Laura Love — who founded public relations firm GroundFloor Media in 2001 — has seen her company being named a “Best Place to Work.”
“It’s so important for us because it’s an employee-driven award, and our people are our biggest assets,” Love said. “We grew very carefully. Most everyone on our team came to us as a referral from somebody else on our team.”

GroundFloor Media is comprised of senior-level talent that’s enabled the firm to achieve substantial success with a client roster that includes CH2M Hill, Qdoba, and the City and County of Denver.

“I think the hardest thing to find in any economy is top talent, and especially when you’re a company like ours who only hires senior-level people,” Love said. “I think we attract the best in the industry because of the work culture and flexibility we offer.”

Balance between personal and professional lives, along with community involvement, are core principles for Love and her employees. They’ve been strong partners with Tennyson Center for Children, providing public relations support. And the firm’s own Get Grounded program has a goal of committing 20 percent of services to nonprofit organizations and pro bono accounts.

There is yoga in the office every Wednesday, and some employees are training together to run a half-marathon in Las Vegas in December.

“For the size of the company that we are, we’re really proud to offer the type of competitive health care benefits that we do,” said Ramonna Tooley, vice president and managing partner.

Employees are encouraged to pursue professional-development opportunities that appeal to them.

An example of this occurred when a few employees were interested in social networking, and Love gave them full support to develop the firm’s capabilities in this area.

“From an employee standpoint, they have taken the program and built it from the ground up, and now it’s a major part of the services we can offer to clients,” she said.

Turnover continues to remain low, hovering at around 6 percent.

“When you look at it, we have broken every rule and done it in a way that works,” Tooley said. “We tend to err on the side of our employees despite what our business advisers tell us sometimes.”

Top PR Moments of the 2008 Election

Now that election fever has finally started to subside, the team at GroundFloor Media thought we’d throw our hat in the commentary ring and list the top public relations moments of the 2008 election, along with the lessons we can learn from each of them. Some are examples of PR greatness and others probably made you cringe, but they’re all worth reliving. Enjoy!

Note: To be fair, these are not listed in any particular ranking order.

Obama’s ill-chosen remarks about bitter working class voters who "cling to guns or religion"
PR Lesson Learned: Test your key messages before saying them in public.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-04-12-obama-comments_N.htm


Sarah Palin’s interview with Katie Couric
PR Lesson Learned: Don’t skip the media prep session.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbg6hF0nShQ


Joe Biden’s prediction that “Obama will be tested by a crisis during his first six months of administration”
PR Lesson Learned: You’re never really off the record.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpiNfuG8YY8


McCain Spokesperson Michael GoldFarb on CNN refusing to name Obama’s so-called anti-semitic associates after repeatedly saying “We all know who we’re talking about”
PR Lesson Learned: Make sure your spokesperson should really be a spokesperson.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JdjZEfxk2w


Obama’s campaign manager David Plouffe publicly choosing his family over the election
PR Lesson Learned: If you hire people with the right priorities, you’ll rarely have to worry about cleaning up after them.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/02/obama-campaign-manager-would-choose-baby-over-obama/


Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live
PR Lesson Learned: Being able to laugh at yourself goes a long way with people.
www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/update-palin-rap/773781/


During the final debate, McCain saying to Obama “I am not George Bush. If you wanted to run against George Bush, you should have run four years ago.”
PR Lesson Learned: A good sound bite can silence even the greatest of spokespeople.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KmJlQcbIDI


Sarah Palin getting booed by Pittsburgh residents after congratulating them on the Phillies’ World Series victory
PR Lesson Learned: Know your audience.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nRR4PmyVKQ


Obama leveraging social media to rally and unite his supporters
PR Lesson Learned: Don’t underestimate the power of social media to help further your cause.

http://adage.com/campaigntrail/post?article_id=126336


Joe Biden bearing his emotions about raising his two young sons after the death of his wife and daughter
PR Lesson Learned: The more you can humanize a story, the better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbrFFHUlSlQ


Any other PR moments that deserve to be immortalized on our blog? Just let us know!

Award-winning Campaigns

I have to take a minute to brag… We were recently awarded the 2008 Grand Gold Leaf Award and 2008 Nonprofit Project of the Year Award from the Colorado Healthcare Communicators for work conducted on behalf of our clients, The Children’s Hospital and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, respectively. I was on the Colorado Healthcare Communicators board for five years and never even saw a Grand Gold Leaf. As one of our clients put it, “The strength and quality of our partnership was on full display at the ceremony with the wonderful acknowledgement by our peer professionals.”

Not only did GroundFloor Media and The Children’s Hospital receive the Grand Gold Leaf Award for the campaign, “The Children’s Hospital Makes 111 Miracles Happen,” but this campaign also received a Gold Leaf Award in the media relations category. This campaign consisted of an aggressive, proactive local and regional media relations strategy during The Children’s Hospital’s move to its new state-of-the-art facility at I-225 and Colfax in September 2007.

For the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Division, we received the Nonprofit Project of the Year Award and a Gold Leaf Award in the new media category for the What If? Colorado social media campaign, which was comprised of both traditional and non-traditional public relations components, including a reality competition.

I’m extremely proud of our team members at GroundFloor Media and have to commend them publicly for continually generating fresh, strategic ideas to help our clients meet their marketing and business objectives!

Film For The Troops

In honor of our armed forces, individuals and companies continue to create programs that give thanks to the men and women who have served – and continue to serve - our country. Today is Veterans Day and it marks the date of an event that ended 90 years ago today: World War I. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, a defeated Germany ended four years of the bloodiest war in human history. As we continue to engage in present day combat, the service men and women may have different faces, but their commitment to our country does not waiver.



The members of our armed forces don’t enjoy the same luxuries we do and often we take even the smallest luxury from granted. There is a program called Films For The Troops that is collecting new and used DVDs for Colorado troops in action as well as wounded American soldiers. Films For The Troops, a program of the Colorado Film & Video Association (CFVA) and the Denver Film Society, and sponsored by Bellco Credit Union, collects DVDs annually and this year hopes to collect 1,000 DVDs to send out right after Thanksgiving to arrive to the Troops in time for the holidays.

If you have new or used DVDs (rated G through R) that could use a new home, please consider donating through Tuesday, Nov. 25. Here are some more details on locations:

Bellco Credit Union will accept DVD donations at all 15 of its Denver metro branches which are located in Aurora, Centennial, Denver, Englewood, Glendale, Lakewood, Littleton, Northglenn, Parker, Westminster and Wheat Ridge. A full list of branch locations, including hours of operation and contact information, can be found at www.bellco.org.


Five American Legion Posts will also collect DVDs. These locations include:
Post 1 - 5400 E. Yale, Denver, CO 80222
Post 178 - 1655 Simms St, Lakewood, CO 80215
Post 32 - 315 S. Bowen, Longmont, CO 80501
Post 22 - 11081 Irma Dr, Northglenn, CO 80223
Post 1992 - 16070 E. Dartmouth Ave., #6, Aurora, CO 80013

A semi-permanent bin has been placed in the box office of the Starz FilmCenter, which is located at 900 Auraria Parkway (9th St. & Auraria Parkway) in Denver, and DVD collection bins onsite at the Festival which runs Nov. 13 - 23.



GroundFloor Media also has a bin at our office: 1923 Market Street in Denver. We welcome you to stop by with a donation if you find yourself in our neck of the woods!



Thanks for your support.

Poop Happens

The write up in last week’s Denver Business Journal says it all. I’ve never been so proud while laughing so hard, so I have to share…

AND NOW, FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: Speaking of disgusting things, how ‘bout that “Animal Grossology” exhibit in Parker at The Wildlife Experience, way south of Denver, where South Peoria Street meets Lincoln Avenue — and the farther away, the better.

“I have a nephew who is 12, and he thought it was AWESOME!” says Amy Moynihan of GroundFloor Media, which landed this prestigious account. Animal Grossology features a number of interactive and hands-on exhibits, “and you can dissect owl pellets [in animated form], and there’s a big cow that demonstrates how their digestive systems work. There’s lots of game stations, so you can make slime and fake poop.”

School and children’s groups have toured the exhibit, and there are educators and volunteers present to help. More fun facts to be gleaned: A dung beetle can roll dung 50 times its weight, which rivals any politician. Also, cows are the gassiest animals on Earth, which also defies belief as we’re assaulted by political commercials this fall.

When the Gold Pick Awards come around next fall, someone oughta nominate GroundFloor Media for:

• Headline of the Year: “Animal Grossology Exhibit Lands at the Wildlife Experience Featuring Pooper Scoopers, Blood Suckers, Vomit Munchers, Slime Makers and More!”

• Company President Quote of the Year: “Snail slime and the dung beetle, otherwise known as ‘nature’s pooper scooper,’ definitely qualify as unique story angles!” says Laura Love in a GroundFloor Media news release.

The exhibit runs through April 26, with hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. It’s closed Mondays, and we’re guessing that’s when someone places a giant fumigation tent over the building and has at it. Info: www.thewildlifeexperience.org or 720-488-3300, if tiny bugs haven’t burrowed their way into your cellphone.

Fuse Me

In this insane world of PR, we’re constantly juggling multiple conversations with colleagues, reporters, clients and even our clients’ customers. In this age of instant connectivity, that usually means an inordinate amount of e-mails, Facebook wall posts and tweets. Maintaining these online conversations can be challenging, even overwhelming at times. I’ve tried adhering to the principles of Inbox Zero or GTD, but truth be told, the only time I clear out my inboxes is when I’m on a transatlantic flight. And usually, I just want to sleep or watch a few really bad movies with subtitles.

Enter Fuser.com. Fuser.com is an online tool that lets you to check your e-mail and social networking accounts (Facebook, Myspace and Twitter) in one secure place, so you don’t have to log into tons of different Web sites each day. Once you’ve registered your accounts you’ll get your messages delivered to one online inbox that you can access from any Internet connection. You can reply, send, forward – basically do all the things you’re used to doing already – from within Fuser.com. It’s free and you don’t have to download or install a program to use it, so you can access it easily from work or home.

Now, for the disclaimer… we began working with Fuser last year when they unveiled the initial version of Fuser.com. As one of the first companies to offer Internet users a way to avoid “inbox overload” while also helping them increase their connectivity, it was easy to understand why people instantly starting using it. Earlier this month, Fuser unveiled a new version of Fuser.com that is 40% faster, offers a completely new user interface and a slew of more message management features. Once again, the response has been great and we’re excited to be part of the Fuser.com fan club.

Fuser also has a cool viral marketing campaign going on that includes a microsite with some pretty hilarious videos and emails. You can see it at http://www.nevermissamessage.com/ (as in, “with Fuser.com, you’ll never miss an important message again). Here’s an example of what may happen to you if you miss a message:

Religion, Politics and Burritos

Two topics we’ve all been taught to avoid in business meetings and casual conversations are religion and politics. But when GroundFloor Media looked for a way for Qdoba Mexican Grill to enter the world of social media, we decided to enter a conversation already taking place, rather than trying to create a new one. And what better topic to enter than one about the upcoming election?

That’s how TasteBudPolitics.com was born, and nearly 100,000 unique visits later, it seems to be a great strategy. Qdoba’s campaign is a nonpartisan look at 1) how Mexican foods describe people’s personalities – or Q-dentities – and 2) which candidates and issues are important to those people who take the personality quiz.

Personally, I find it fascinating how closely the national Taste Bud Politics results have tracked with national voter polls. And I find it extremely interesting that the only Q-dentity that supports John McCain more than Barack Obama on the national front is the “chips & salsa” group and that, based on analysis conducted by Dr. Alan Hirsch, director of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation, Mc Cain is a chips & salsa personality. There are a couple of great articles about consumer product marketing campaigns that are playing on the election; if you’re interested see Joy Davis’ article in the Rocky Mountain News (http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/oct/25/companies-rev-up-ballot-games/) and Mike Beirne’s article in Adweek (http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/esearch/e3i6d1955ff988810b8dcab2f3399bcf90e).

No matter your Q-dentity or your political party, I urge you to get out and vote! In Colorado, you can vote early in a variety of locations through Friday. To find your early voting polling place, contact your County Election Officials (http://www.elections.colorado.gov/DDefault.aspx?tid=147).

Child Abuse is Not to be Ignored

A cause that is very near and dear to my heart is hosting its annual fundraiser event tomorrow evening. Like many people that get involved on a board level of a non profit, it is often easy to lose sight of the real issues at hand. Instead, we get caught up in the development plans and the lack of available grant money, HR issues, event logistics, and other areas that while absolutely necessary for the viability of an organization, are often a far cry from the real social issue at hand.

The Tennyson Center for Children (www.childabuse.org) is an unbelievable organization. It is Colorado’s leading residential and day treatment facilities, serving the most abused and neglected children ages 5 to 14. Why is this so important?

You may not know that Colorado has the ninth highest rate of children living in poverty and Colorado experienced the nation’s fastest rate of growth among impoverished children from 2000 to 2006, according to a recent study. Clearly, children in our state are not getting a fair shake – and the results can be downright devastating. Since 2001, the number of child abuse reports has risen by more than 60 percent in our state – yet the number of child caseworkers has only increased by 8 percent. Almost half of the child abuse reports made in Colorado in 2007 did not have the proper follow-up because our system is by all accounts over-burdened. Colorado continues to investigate 13 child deaths statewide that were reported cases of child abuse that “fell through the cracks.”

This haunts me. As a parent, I can only try in some way to understand the devastation these children must feel. What we do at Tennyson Center is to attempt to save these children from this dark place. We provide them -- most often for the first time -- unconditional love. We give them back their hopes and dreams. We try and become the stepping-stones to a life where again they can trust and love adults.

Board reports matter very little in the grand scheme of things. Don’t they?

How many boxes do you have?

Seth Godin is truly genius. And it’s not just because he says I don’t have to be perfect to succeed. The man just gets it. His recent post “Do you have 16 boxes?” http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/10/do-you-have-16.html puts it all in perspective. We can all sit around and focus on the failing economy and how the next 18 months are going to smell of the new-age-greater-depression or we can look at what’s happening around us and realize that good still exists – in our companies and in our personal lives. If you have built a strong foundation for your business, this economy simply cannot bring it to a screeching halt. Godin mentions that when something is going wrong, when the economy is out of sync, we panic. We obsess about just one of the sixteen boxes and ignore the others. We talk ourselves into hysteria about how, "none of our customers have any money," or, “in this bleak economy, we'll never make a sale." Instead of building up the other 15 boxes, we sit in the corner, worrying about that one box that's completely out of whack.

So let’s all focus on the 15 boxes that really, really work in our businesses and cut the conversation about things that are quite simply beyond our immediate control. Boxes are so much nicer that way.

Cause-related marketing still works, even if this economy doesn’t

With the Dow closing down 400 points today, its good to know that some things are still working. The 2008 Cone Cause Evolution Study, just released by Cone and Duke University http://www.bizjournals.com/bizwomen/index.php/2008/10/17/cause-related-marketing-still-works-study-shows/#more-462 showed that, once again, consumers feel that if everything is equal, they would switch from one brand to another if the other brand is associated with a good cause. The study also shows consumers spent nearly twice as much time looking at cause-related ads compared to generic ads and that the cause, the nonprofit organization associated with it, and the product itself are all important factors in the purchase decision.


So for those working to maintain their company’s cause-related marketing programs, the study shows that the causes Americans care most about include:

Education 80%
Economic development (job creation, income generation) 80%
Health and disease 79%
Access to clean water 79%
Environment 77%
Disaster relief 77%
Hunger 77%

GroundFloor Media clients including Qdoba Mexican Grill, Morton’s The Steakhouse, and Bellco Credit Union, are shining examples of how, when times get tough, they still embrace programs that support causes that matter to their employees, customers and key stakeholders. Now that is something to smile about as the closing bell rings.

Acting Smart by Acting Small

I just have a few minutes this morning, but I’d like to point people to Seth Godin’s recent blog post about acting small -- because it just makes so much sense, especially during these challenging economic times. As he explains it, “A small acting bank would never have invested in tens of thousands of loans that they hadn't looked at. And a small acting startup wouldn't hire dozens of people before they had a business model...” Check out the entire post at http://sethgodin.typepad.com/. It’s worth a few minutes of your time today!

~Ramonna

A Fan of Roadless Forests

Growing up in Oklahoma, I didn't really appreciate a good forest. Well, probably because the only forest was the one that my dad created when he forgot to trim the shrubs in our backyard. However, since moving to Colorado nearly a decade ago, I have grown to appreciate the roadless forests. They safeguard our watersheds, protect wildlife habitat, and allow us to hunt (even though I am not a personal fan), fish, camp, and hike. As you may have heard, the current administration is moving forward with an 11th hour attempt to open Colorado’s roadless forests to drilling, mining, logging and road building. We have until Oct. 24 to make comments.

Please take a minute and email U.S. Forest Chief Gail Kimbell and ask her to stop the roll back of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule and support the strong protections it guarantees for Colorado’s roadless forests.

http://www.environmentcolorado.org/action/preservation/protect-our-forests?id4=ES

It takes less than a minute and is well worth every second!

Tough Times Call for Strategic Measures

It’s hard to turn around today without hearing news about the economy, and companies large and small are taking precautions to ensure they weather the storm. We’re no different – tightening our belts a bit more than usual and examining each expense to make sure it’s necessary right now.

When it comes to communication strategy, we practice what we preach at GroundFloor Media. We know we must stay the course and focus on our own communication and marketing initiatives as we continue to hit rough waters. Like companies much larger than us, as business owners we all share the knowledge that cutting all efforts to communicate, both internally and externally, will certainly backfire. The messages may change in challenging times, but the communication channels need to remain open so that customers, shareholders and employees can remain confident in our companies.

Those of us who have survived challenging economic downturns in the past know that the first thing many companies cut is public relations and advertising budgets. While this somehow seems to make sense to some individuals initially, it is not a wise long-term strategy. Of course, it can’t always be “business as usual” during an economic downturn; however, strategic communication agencies can help clients make smart decisions and tweak programs so that companies are using cost-effective measures to reach out to their key audiences. For instance, this may be the right time to institute that blog strategy you’ve been considering for so long. Many social media tactics, like blogs, provide cost-effective ways to engage directly with your key audiences and provide your company with instant feedback from consumers, shareholders and/or employees. It may also be time to open up the internal communication channels so employees know their fears are being addressed and that management is available and open to questions and feedback.

Sure, now is a good time to reevaluate your overall communication strategy and shift priorities and dollars toward programs that are more targeted and cost-effective, but as with all decisions these days, it is not time to panic. Following are some links to insightful articles about communicating during tough economic times for entrepreneurs and agencies alike:
http://www.prweekus.com/Challenging-economy-demands-firms-to-focus-on-their-strengths/article/119549/
http://www.briansolis.com/2008/10/in-down-economy-tomorrows-leaders-are.html
http://www.pr-squared.com/2008/10/cut_the_pr_agency_are_you_sure.html

~Ramonna

Gotta Get Chipped

Get on the cat-wagon and take advantage of 150,000 free microchips for cats in metro Denver.



My colleague, Amy, will be the first to admit that her two dogs are microchipped, and her old cat (that she had for 16 years before he passed away) was not. She thought since her cat often never left the couch that he wouldn’t need to be found. But in reality, fewer than 10 percent of cats that are brought to shelters are ever reunited with their owners. The rate of reuniting dogs with their owners is two to five times higher than with cats.


So cat owners in metro Denver now don’t have any excuses. Time to get your cat chipped! Yesterday, the Denver Area Veterinary Medical Society (DAVMS), Dumb Friends League and participating members of the Metro Denver Shelter Alliance launched the CHIP YOUR CAT™ year-long program to provide 150,000 free microchips and lifetime registration for cats residing in the six county Denver metro area (Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson counties). The launch event was held at the Dumb Friend’s League Quebec Shelter and more than 28 cats showed up for free chips. The microchip procedure is simple, routine and virtually painless, and it doesn't require any anesthesia. The microchip is the size of a grain of rice and is injected just under the loose skin between the shoulder blades. The kitties at the event were braver than I was. The first time I saw a cat chipped I was waiting for the claws to come out. It was rather uneventful. The procedure is similar to a routine vaccination.

Want more information?

1. Go to www.ChipYourCat.com to find the nearest participating veterinary or shelter clinic near you
2. Print out a microchip coupon(s)
3. Make an appointment and take your cat in for a complimentary wellness exam and microchip
4. Maintain your cat’s microchip registration online by checking and updating your contact information on the appropriate Web site (You will get information upon registration)
5. Update your contact information on a regular basis

PICTURE CAPTION: Officer Kent Ferris of the Jefferson County Sherrif’s Office with Mr. Hudson the cat at CHIP YOUR CAT launch event at the Dumb Friends League. Mr. Hudson had been adopted by the Ferris Family eight years ago and lives with two German Sheppard’s.

The Seven-Year Itch.

The seven-year itch. Is it the same with a business as it is in a marriage? I honestly can’t speak to the scratching that allegedly occurs when one crosses the seven-year mark with a spouse, but I can tell you that having crossed that mark with GroundFloor Media, I am not sure how one would have had time to even stop and scratch.

For those of us in the PR world, it’s amazing to look back and see how our industry has evolved so quickly. Back in 2001…
• People heard “Facebook” and thought, “what a great new name for the yellow pages”
• VNRs were all the rage
• Local newspaper reporters had specific beats
• $25 gift limits for reporters were laughable
• PR agencies barely looked at a start up unless they were willing to fork over at least $20k per month
• Farm reporters and kindergarten teachers were being hired to run major accounts at technology-focused PR firms – because there were no other warm bodies to hire
• Press conferences were still in vogue.
• Tracking a crisis happened on the evening news; not on Twitter
• An opt-in SMS campaign sounded like a public health program for teens
• IM was cool and the word “blog” sounded like a bad bug bite
• The SEC didn’t dream of recognizing Corporate Blogs as public disclosure
• Newspapers wouldn’t have discussed integrating their online and print news operations
• Many of us still had dial-up Internet access
• Faxing press releases was still commonplace
• Telecommuting was frowned upon

Now, traditional advertising dollars are being siphoned over to implement strategic, creative, viral PR programs; clients are (rightfully) demanding a strong ROI on their PR spend; and as practitioners, we are constantly challenging ourselves to stay ahead of a curve that keeps bending by the minute.

My guess -- anyone who has time to even think about stopping to scratch that itch won’t need to worry about what’s next.

Chicken Little

It’s true. The more things change, the more they stay the same. It was just about this time, seven years ago, when our little world was inundated with visions of Chicken Little and his falling sky. Literally. The technology boom – turned bust – had swept through the nation as friends and colleagues in the tech world were scrambling to determine how to navigate the maze of the unemployment process while trying to find a new job that would pay half of what they had grown accustomed to; housing prices were softening (although no one told the folks in Boulder), and you couldn’t pick up the paper or flip on CNN without reading about the latest dot bomb crisis du jour. Then came September 11. I am fairly confident everyone remembers exactly where they were when the second plane crashed and New York erupted into mass chaos.



I can’t forget it. I had just decided to launch this consulting business called GroundFloor Media, hadn’t even taken the time to buy a real desk and was getting ready to launch a nationwide program for breast cancer survivors. Then it all stopped.



While today’s headlines “U.S. Bends the Rule of Free Markets” and “Leaders Meet to Plan a Rescue” fill the pages of USA Today, I realize it’s not too different than the stories that filled our morning papers back in the spring of 2001. Sure, the content is different. We didn’t talk about irresponsibility and greed and the government bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; we focused on irresponsibility and greed with young entrepreneurs and the venture capital community.



As a country and as a community, we bounced back. When you start a business in the middle of one of the greatest tragedies to hit American soil, with unemployment rates peaking and not a good news story in sight, you begin to see that the more things change, the more they truly stay the same. Sit tight. Stay awake. This too shall pass.

Top 100 PR, Marketing, Advertising and Social Media Blogs

Get ready to start bookmarking... Our friends at Spotlight Ideas just posted a list of the top 100 blogs related to PR, marketing, social media and advertising. While the GFM Glog did not make the cut (don't worry, I'm not bitter), there are a number of great blogs listed that I highly recommend you add to your own blogroll or at least, to your IE favorites. All the biggies are included (i.e., Seth Godin, AdRants), but there are a couple of less notorious ones that I would also recommend, including Customers Rock!, Make the Logo Bigger and the Diva Marketing Blog.

You can check out the entire list here.

Enjoy!

Social Networks Get Down to Business

There has been a lot of discussion recently about whether B2B companies are really utilizing social media to grow their businesses. Given the fact that social media is about, well, socializing, it's a valid question. According to a new report released by eMarketer, the answer is a resounding yes. According to the report:

As the number of business users of social networks continues to increase, advertising expenditures will rise, too. In the US this year, advertisers will spend $40 million to reach a business audience on online social networks, and that is just the beginning. According to eMarketer projections, that ad spending will reach $210 million in 2012.

"As compelling as the ad growth is, marketers will spend far more over the next few years to create and manage their own social networks for business customers, partners, suppliers and vendors," says Debra Aho Williamson, senior analyst at eMarketer and author of the new report, B2B Marketing on Social Networks: Engaging the Business Audience. "These business networks will serve a range of purposes, from improving customer communication and collaboration to aiding product development."

A clear sign of the revolution in business thinking and behavior is the popularity of LinkedIn—the most widely known professional social network—where the audience has more than doubled in the past year, and the rise of additional business-oriented networks, including a raft of networks aimed at verticals.

Personally, I've witnessed numerous companies successfully leverage social media to help them build their customer base and reach new audiences - especially with blogs and creating their own social networking groups. It will be interesting to watch this trend continue.

Communicating in Beijing

And now a special post from our own Ramonna Tooley who is attending the Olympics in Bejing...

You probably won’t be surprised when I tell you that the little Spanish I know does me absolutely no good in China. That said, I keep resorting to it when trying to communicate because it’s the only foreign language I know. Here in Beijing, however, there is nothing about the language that is familiar to English or Spanish – or anything else I can conjure up for that matter. Regardless, everyone here tries very hard to communicate beyond the “hello” and “thank you” that I’ve learned in Mandarin. The volunteers at the venues are very good at saying, “Nice to meet you” and “Please turn around” (as they wand you in security) and “This way, please.”

My favorite recent example of communication is the sweet cab driver who pulled out a book that listed several countries and pointed to United States of America, to which I nodded enthusiastically. He then did the breaststroke in the air to ask if I’d gone to see swimming at the Olympic venue. I had really gone to see gymnastics, but I didn’t know how to motion that in the air in the cab, so, I said that I had seen swimming.

Upon exiting the cab, I provided my new friend with a USA Basketball Olympic pin, which he seemed to really appreciate. He waved the whole way as I walked through security to go into the hotel. One more good thing on the first sunny day I’ve spent in China and the day I saw the Americans win gold and silver medals at the women’s gymnastics all-around competition!

PS – When I went to Blogger to post this, the Web site was in Mandarin and wouldn’t let me log in. That’s why I asked Ashley to post this for me. So much for communication!

Get Connected: Three Speakers - Three Great Points of View

Last week GroundFloor Media hosted the latest in its Get Connected series, this time focused on the emerging world of social media. The three guest speakers included Tara Anderson from Lijit (http://www.lijit.com/), Tiffany Childs from Yelp (http://www.yelp.com/), and James Clark from Room 214 (http://www.room214.com/).

Tara, Tiffany and James provided insight and answered questions about social media outlets such as Twitter, Facebook and other technologies that are quickly staking their importance as communications outlets for public relations professionals. The insight shared at the meeting was insightful and had it not been for a necessary stopping point, I think we might still be chatting about best practices, tips and tricks for keeping up with these exciting new outlets! Briefly, here are the top tips given by each of the panelists as parting words for the event attendees:

• Tara suggested that anyone dabbling in social media, particularly those representing a company, don't act robotic. Be yourself!


• Tiffany had two great tips. Since people are talking about you, you might as well listen. And, she suggested that in the case of a negative review or posting or article, you step back, calm down and think your response through before you send it. In the world of social media, a hasty, heated response is likely to be cut and pasted faster than you can say "Whoops!"
  
• James suggested updating your contact book and starting to connect with your friends, family and colleagues through social media. The more you participate in social media on a personal level, the more savvy you'll become and soon it will become a natural part of your business practice.

The New Look of Facebook: Love it or hate it?

I've gotten a lot of questions in recent weeks about Facebook's new user design. (If you haven't seen it yet, just log into your usual account through this URL.) To be honest, I'm still processing how I feel about it. I applaud Facebook for keeping things simple and clean and not being wooed by splashy bubbles or cheesy graphics. This was (and still is) one of my biggest reasons for switching from MySpace to Facebook in the first place. I also like that my profile is now spread across multiple tabs instead of one ridiculously long page that requires about 30 minutes to scroll through. At the same time, I'm a creature of habit and I've really gotten comfortable with the old/current user interface. I know it's cliche, but I have to wonder... why fix it if it ain't that broke?

I'd love to hear what you guys think about the new design. Love it? Hate it? Still deciding like me?

And if you find yourself stumbling around the new design, Laurence John just did a blog post on www.makeuseof.com called "Finding your way around the new Facebook. He has a pretty strong opinion about the design, but also highlights the points you won't want to miss.

Take the Trek

One of the fabulous things about working at GroundFloor Media is that we are committed to working with great clients who have great stories to tell. And that’s not just lip service. That’s why it’s been so wonderful to work with the Denver Story Trek – the epitome of having great stories to tell!

If you haven’t checked it out yet, visit www.denverstorytrek.org to choose your trek through some of the best kept secrets in Denver. The landmark “hubs” of the Trek include the Molly Brown House Museum, Four Mile Historic Park, Black American West Museum, Byers-Evans House Museum and Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art. And while all of these establishments are well worth the visit, there are so many things to see along the way as well – like the Stoiberhof Mansion, which reveals a second Denver connection to the Titanic through mysterious passenger Hugh Rood, who lived in this mansion just blocks away from the Unsinkable Margaret “Molly” Brown.

The coolest thing about the Denver Story Trek, in my opinion, is the Trek Connect feature. By dialing in on your mobile phone, you can listen to stories along the Trek and record your own memories. There are nearly 40 recorded stories to choose from (and the list is growing), all with a unique perspective on Denver’s rich heritage. Go ahead, call in to share your story and become part of history!

TYKES ON TRIKES (and other wheels, too!)

One of our favorite non-profit partners, The Tennyson Center for Children (www.childabuse.org), is launching a huge initiative around the presidential election. If you have kids, get them involved by writing their first letter to the new president. "Dear Mr. New President" is a new Children's Letter Writing Contest that allows kid to have their voices heard in this most important election season. This contest is open to all children 18 years or younger and the top three entries will be given their awards and invited to read their letters aloud on the steps of the Colorado State Capital on Saturday, August 16 during the "Tykes on Trikes" parade at Denver's Civic Center Park. All entries will be forwarded to the presidential campaigns of both candidates. To submit a letter or to find out more, click here: Dear Mr. New President contest

So what is TYKES ON TRIKES (and other wheels, too!)? Hundreds of kids and families will celebrate kids at Denver's Civic Center Park on Saturday, August 16 at 9:00 a.m. With Denver being the center the American political arena and national media attention in late August, Colorado children’s groups are standing together in unity for the welfare and future of the children of our state with a powerful message to candidates running for public office. Denver’s Mayor John Hickenlooper and First Lady Helen Thorpe, along with other dignitaries will lead Children on decorated tricycles, bikes, scooters, wheelchairs and wagons from Denver’s City & County Building, down Bannock Street and 14th Avenue to the west steps on the lawn of the Colorado State Capitol. Once gathered on the lawn of the Capitol, leading elected officials will speak to the importance of this campaign, followed by a series of fun events for young and old alike.

This is a non-partisan, 501(c)3 public education event so come out and join and don't forget your Big Wheels!

- Laura

YELP! (No I didn't just cut myself, I've joined a new online community!)

Several months ago I attended a PR conference for GroundFloor Media client Morton's The Steakhouse. One of the sessions focused on social media, and one of the speakers was Andrea from Yelp.com, an online community where people can review almost anything in their local community (think restaurants, salons, shops - even banks and museums). I have to admit that when the session kicked off I had never even heard of Yelp.com and I was still just dipping my toe into the social media pool. But - after hearing Andrea speak I was intrigued and earlier this month I set up my own Yelp account.

After only a few weeks in the Yelp community I am Yelping every chance I get! To date I've Yelped about restaurants, my dog's veterinarian, local shops that I adore and even landmarks in New York City including Ellis Island and The Top of the Rock! And, beyond what I can share with others, what I'm learning from the Yelp community is tremendous. I've already established some new Yelp friends, determined that I live smack dab between the two best restaurants in Denver for fried chicken (hello, larger pant size), and I'm starting to dive a little deeper into the social media pool which is fantastically refreshing!

See here for a link to my personal Yelp reviews. Whether you decide to become a Yelper or simply want to lurk around on Yelp to find the best fried chicken in your neighborhood, I suggest that you give Yelp a try. Enjoy!

Recent reviews by Carissa M.

What's this?

Small Businesses and Social Networks

When people find out that we have a social media practice at GroundFloor Media, their first question almost always concerns social networking. Should I be using social networks to market my business? If so, which ones? And once I'm on a social network, how do I use it to attract new customers?

All good questions and a recent Forbes.com article offers some good advice for small business owners who are pondering taking the social networking plunge.

Be sure to check out the slide show on how to build your social network too.

Creative Campaigns That Actually Work

I think its safe to say that the majority of GFMers are suckers for super creative, out-of-the-box, thank-god-I'm-not-one-of-the-models marketing and PR campaigns. We love reading about them, we love brainstorming for them, we love executing them and we love pushing our clients out of their comfort zones. Of course, we do have one big caveat... the campaigns have to actually work. Unleashing street teams in clown costumes might sound creative (This is just an example. We never did a campaign involving clowns. Ever.), but it doesn't mean squat if it doesn't meet your overall program objectives.

Through the years, I've had the opportunity to witness and participate in many such campaigns. (You can read about one of my personal favorites during the launch of Coors Light's Cold Activated Bottle here.) Yesterday I stumbled across another one by Chik-Fil-A. If you missed it on your calendar, last Friday was Cow Appreciation Day at Chik-Fil-A restaurants across the country. The one-day promotion, an extension of its popular "Eat Mor Chikin" campaign, promised free meals to anyone who showed up a Chik-Fil-A restaurant wearing a cow costume. Apparently, the results were great and allowed Chik-Fil-A to capture many great snapshots of their customers in full moo regalia. MediaPost has a great write-up on the campaign here.

What about you? Do you have any favorite creative campaigns that actually delivered results? I'd love to hear about them!

Owen's Wish Comes True (in a galaxy not so far away...)

Thank you very much to everyone who has been sending get-well wishes to my son Owen over the past several months. We are very excited that his latest scans look great with no new cancer since the end of chemo. As many of you know, Owen was diagnosed with a malignant form of kidney cancer that had metastasized and spread to a couple of other spots in his body…but the surgery, radiation and chemotherapy have been effective and he is doing very well. Yaay, Owen! I truly appreciate how much support Lisa and I have gotten from so many people during this – from family, friends, current colleagues, former colleagues and friends of GroundFloor.

Our Make-a-Wish trip to Disneyworld for Star Wars weekend was fantastic and Owen had so much fun. He and Sela got to meet Darth Vader and Princess Leia and Anakin and so many other Star Wars characters. Owen even got to go on the Star Wars ride with the entire Star Wars Cantina Band!

Thank you to everyone at Make-a-Wish and Disney who put so much time and effort into making this an unforgettable experience for Owen. The chapter here in Portland (OR) has done so much for our family and for other families we have met at the children’s hospitals here…and I have heard wonderful stories about the wishes that the Denver chapter has granted as well.

For your viewing enjoyment, here are some photos of Owen’s Wish trip and of him playing with some of the goodies he got during his adventure. He’s pretty darn cute, huh?

--Rich (Miller)

Therapy Garden Healing the “Lost”

This past Saturday I visited a therapy garden with Cheryl Preheim of KUSA (NBC) at an organization called Lost and Found (www.lostandfoundinc.org). We were met at the front door by Loren Lichti, a counselor/therapist and an avid gardener. Lost and Found’s Transitional Living Program (TLP) emancipation program is based in Arvada and gives residential treatment support to emancipating youth who’ve typically come from the “system” (foster care, social services and/or youth corrections). The therapy garden was made possible by a $3,000 grant from the Colorado Garden Show.

Loren has worked with the young men in the TLP program to develop a therapy garden that includes natural space for one-on-one and group sessions. The garden has been carefully designed to incorporate flowers, vegetable and fruit bearing plants, bird houses/feeders/baths and seating areas. It is a vast improvement from the formerly weed-infested area. Loren told us it has been a slow process getting the guys outside to work with him in the garden. “Initially, the guys just watched, but after a few days, they decided to get their hands dirty and now they work in the garden 2-3 hours per day.” We spoke with several of the youth that morning which all have a tough story from serious addictions to broken families to mental health problems. One youth walked me through the garden and showed me various peppers and onions in his plot. He didn’t want to be on camera but mentioned he once thought gardening was for women but had changed his mind. “Now that my garden is growing, I kind of like coming out here. It is peaceful and I can think.”

Therapeutically speaking, remarkable things have happened in the attitudes and hearts of these young men. Loren shared a story about a young man who asked him how long the garden paths they created would exist as he wanted to know if, when he had a wife and kids, he could bring them back to show them the path he built. It was decided that all the garden paths would be named after the youth who built the path. Each path has a sign with the youth’s name, even the ones who have left. “It is kind of cool that when I leave a piece of me will be remembered here in the garden,” a youth told me.

It was an eye-opening experience to speak with these youth. I went home and hugged my kids. I also thanked my parents.

To learn more, check out the segment and interview with Cheryl Preheim here.

~Amy M.

Customer Service at its Finest

I love Seth Godin's blog, and his recent post about customer service is definitely worth sharing.

Enjoy...

When you least expect it.

I sent in a t-shirt order to Customlink a few weeks ago. Three days later, I got a note from someone named Lori that said, "Hi Seth,I noticed that you have designed shirts that appear to be for a charity event. If that’s the case, CustomInk would love to make a small donation to your team or to the charity itself on your behalf. Please let me know if your order is for one of these events. If you would like us to pitch in and support your cause, please include information about your charity event, a link if you have one or the organization’s name if there is no link to a team web page."

That's it. No policy, no standard operating procedure, no promise in advance. Just plain generosity.
It turns out that Customink does this as a matter of course, regardless of whether the customer has a blog or not. They don't do it as an inducement, they just do it.

Formula: The value of a perk is inversely related to the expectation of that perk.

Have a great Independence Day!

~Ramonna

HARO Happy Hour

Last weekend I had the pleasure of meeting the illustrious Peter Shankman in person. He was kind enough to host a public relations gathering Saturday night while he was in Denver. I’m happy to report that Peter is as witty as his e-mails suggest, and he is a genuinely nice person. The Denver-ites had a lovely time playing pool and sipping cocktails at the Wynkoop Brewing Company. If you’re on Facebook, you can check out the photos at http://tinyurl.com/6ekdlz. While you’re there, you can become a fan of HARO (Help a Reporter Out), too! All of the PR folks I know rave about the leads they get from this free service from Peter.
~Ramonna

One Last Post About Online Viral Video...

Yes, I've written about online viral video twice in the past three weeks, but I can't help it. Blame it on Gatorade and NewTeeVee, not me. I've already admitted hundreds of posts ago that I was addicted to social media and yes, viral video is a big part of that addiction. So here is one last fix that I'd like to share with you and then I promise to switch to a new drug of choice (Twitter perhaps?).

Our friends at NPR's Talk of the Nation just did a great show focused on online viral video. Called Behind the Viral Video: What's Fake, What's Real, host Neal Conan and his guests explore how videos like the Gatorade one are able to become to popular. Take a listen here. It's about 30 minutes long, but it's worth it.

Okay, now I'm off to viral video rehab.

Gatorade Gets it Right

A couple weeks ago I did a post entitled "Viral Video Done Right". In that post, I talked about NewTeeVee blogger Liz Shannon Miller and her thoughts about what makes a successful viral video campaign. With Liz's thoughts in mind, I'd like to share another example of a viral video that I believe deserves some serious kudos.

If you haven't seen it yet, take a peek below:



Though you wouldn't necessarily know it just by watching it once, this video was done by Gatorade. (If you watch it again you'll see the Gatorade bottle by her feet.) Supposedly the original version included some text referring to Gatorade, but subsequent versions have lost the ad copy and it's now running like wildfire across the Internet.

Great job, Gatorade. Proof again that in order to be viral, keep your focus on entertainment, not necessarily marketing.

Digital media and marketing... the love affair continues

According to a recent survey by PRWeek and MS&L Marketing, the use of digital and social media in marketing campaigns is on the rise. Now, unless you've been living under a rock for the last five years (or doing PR for a really old-school type company), this information shouldn't surprise you in the least. In fact, it's kind of like me telling you that kids' desire for pizza is on the rise. However, if you dig a little deeper into the results (which PRWeek does here along with some great case studies), you might find yourself raising an eyebrow or at least feeling vindicated. For example:

Of the survey respondents, 75.4% expect spending for digital/online initiatives to increase, compared to 42.5% for direct marketing spend, 36.5% for PR budgets, and 32.5% for ad budgets.

Check out the ad and PR numbers. Interesting, no? Mark Hass, CEO of MS&L, attributes the percentages to the kind of interaction or conversation that marketers are having nowadays with their customers. [Note: I'm paraphrasing here.] Imagine advertising being a monologue and traditional PR being a dialogue. More and more marketers are realizing that digital media enables them to engage in a multi-logue with their target audience. Totally makes sense to me.

Here's another interesting tidbit from the survey:

When asked which disciplines would be most likely to be cut if forced to do so because of economic conditions, digital was the least likely with only 11.1% of respondents noting that they'd cut budgets for those initiatives. Advertising was the most likely to be cut (58.3%), followed by point-of-sale marketing (55.6%), direct marketing (41.3%), and PR (35.3%).

PRWeek attributes these figures to the flexibility digital media offers marketers - especially in a shaky economic environment. Gone are the days of a six-month media buy that requires up-front payment. Digital media enables marketers to make changes on the fly and gather specific metrics.

The bottomline? The love affair between digital media and marketing still seems pretty steamy.

Check out the full article and download a copy of the report here.

Forget the "lucky duck" - he's one lucky dog!

One of the great benefits of working at GroundFloor Media is that dogs are a welcome part of the office environment. It's not unusual to see Maddie Love, Simba Tooley or Maxwell Wills running around our office space - so today when I felt a little guilty about leaving my dog, Otis, home for the next week while I'm off on vacation, it took only a second to realize that I'd simply bring him to work so we could spend the whole day together.

Little did I know that today is Take Your Dog to Work Day! Not only have Otis and I spent the day together, but he's already been the star of a photo shoot, eaten two cookies, received multiple belly rubs, chased a gingerbread girl toy, and had about three naps. Although there isn't much time at GroundFloor Media for chasing balls or squirrels, Otis is currently napping under my desk while I type away - just one more reason that GroundFloor Media qualifies as the best place to work in Denver!

Getting Grounded through AirLife

One of my favorite things about working at GroundFloor Media – besides the awesome people with whom I get to hang out every day – is our Get Grounded program. Through this program, I was recently able to support a charity near to my heart, Friends of AirLife. Each year, Friends of AirLife hosts the Annual AirLife Memorial Run/Walk and EMS Celebration in honor of the everyday heroes in EMS and those EMS providers who have lost their lives.

The race was created in memory of Pete Albplanalp, Beth Barber, Leslie Feldmann and Julie Olmstead, who died on Dec. 14, 1997, in an AirLife helicopter crash and related car accident. Since its inception, the race has evolved to include honoring the fallen heroes of air medical, EMS, fire and police, as well as the beloved Friends of AirLife founder and good friend of mine, Jim Ulrich, who lost his battle with leukemia in Dec. 2006.

Being able to take time to support this event each year as a committee volunteer is extremely important to me, as is the support I receive from GroundFloor Media in order to do so. Here’s how the Get Grounded program works in a nutshell… GroundFloor Media team members are able to volunteer for qualifying nonprofit organizations during normal business hours. And – if our volunteerism takes place after hours, GroundFloor Media donates funds to the nonprofit on behalf of our efforts at the end of each year. Not a bad way to support the charity of your choice!

Beyond the Get Grounded program, my friends at GroundFloor Media turn out to support the event and the Friends of AirLife, which truly means more than they ever know!

~Ramonna

Looking For Love?

If you've followed my blog posts, you know that I'm typically GroundFloor Media's resident foodie. But, if you've read my real story you'll know that another of my real passions is the health and well-being of animals. That's why it's my pleasure to break away from food for just a minute to remind you all that June is Adopt-a-Cat month. If you're looking for love in the form of a faithful, feisty, friendly or fearless companion like Salty Reilly (pictured here), a cat might just be the right fit for you! In Denver, you can visit the Dumb Friends League (www.ddfl.org) or any number of other area shelters to learn more about the many cats who are at just waiting to find the right family to call their own. GroundFloor Media is working with the Dumb Friends League and a handful of other feline-focused partners to launch an exciting cat-related campaign that we look forward to revealing later this summer. In the meantime, let us know if you add a feline family member to your home this month!

Tomatoes Create Headlines

As PR practitioners, we are always reminding our clients about the need for a crisis communications plan. No matter the industry – healthcare, technology, restaurant or education – you can never predict when a crisis will hit, or what the crisis will be. On June 4, in a move to ensure the health and safety of its customers, GroundFloor Media client Qdoba Mexican Grill pulled raw tomatoes from its menu in response to a reported salmonella outbreak among certain varieties of tomatoes.

Kudos to Qdoba for jumping on this issue before it became a media headliner! Together with the client, GroundFloor Media had time to help craft messaging and developed signage surrounding the preventative measure – and sure enough, the phones started ringing. Thanks to a fantastic partnership with our client and a willingness to drop everything and walk in lock-step, not only have we navigated a sea of nationwide media inquiries, the combined GroundFloor Media/Qdoba team actually maintained a sense of humor and, dare I say, is comfortably prepared to tackle the next crisis that comes our way.

If you’re contemplating adding a crisis communications plan to your “PR toolbox”, keep in mind these basic principles:

1. Develop your key message(s) and stick to them
2. Respond to the media as quickly as possible, but take time to gather the facts before answering
3. Follow through on commitments to answer additional questions the media may have
4. Utilize your corporate Web site to disseminate information to key audiences

Viral Video Done Right

I'm a big fan of the blog NewTeeVee.com. If you haven't visited it before, it offers a great perspective on the online video industry - part video critic, part industry reporter and almost always entertaining and newsworthy. Whenever a GroundFloor Media client mentions that they're interested in producing an online viral video, I always point them to NewTeeVee for a good dose of online video realism.

Last week, NewTeeVee blogger Liz Shannon Miller posted a great example of "Viral Marketing Done Right". The video shows an impromtu musical number at an airport and only briefly mentions the actual advertiser (lastminute.com).

"What makes it so effective?" asks Liz. In her own words..."Three things:

1. It doesn’t lie. While the video does not state up front what product it’s advertising, it doesn’t claim to be “found footage,” or an amateur recording, or anything other than what it is. In fact, it makes a big deal of mentioning up front that the production was put together by a large team of professionals. At the end, the lastminute.com text pops up, clear as anything. It isn’t exactly straightforward, but there’s no attempt at deception.
2. It’s really fun to watch. The performers are talented, the songwriting is tolerable and the hidden cameras do a great job of catching the surprised looks of those watching. I was more entertained by these three minutes than I was by the entirety of Chris Columbus’s Rent.
3. It’s relevant to the product being advertised. By capturing the looks on people’s faces as they’re ambushed by live performance, the ad is a poignant reminder of the joy of the theater. Lastminute.com is a ticket-selling service, and the swift URL drop at the end of the video connects the message to the product."