The document discusses the evolution of press releases and media relations from traditional press releases to social media releases (SMRs). It outlines how social media and changes in the news industry have led to new approaches for distributing news and engaging with audiences. Specifically, it describes the development of the SMR format which aims to democratize access, ensure accuracy and context, build community, and make content findable through social elements like tags and multimedia. It also discusses best practices for creating an online newsroom to facilitate ongoing conversations.

1. September 2007 Social Media Relations Todd And(rlik) Are you ready for the social media release and social media news room?

2. Past – where we started Present – where we are now Future – how you’re going to get there Flow First, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page.

3. Same Page Any online technology or practice that people use to share (content, opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives and media). Examples of social media applications: What is social media?

4. A few more examples

5. Same Page YouTube = 10 percent of all internet traffic (source: Ellacoya Networks) YouTube & Wikipedia among top brands (source: brandchannel.com) Five of the top 10 websites are social (source: Alexa) Over 100 million blogs exist (source: Technorati) 120,000 new blogs launched every day (source: Technorati) 1.5 million posts per day (17 per second) (source: Technorati) Blog readership? Why should I care about social media?

6. Same Page People are using all types of social networks to self-publish, share, connect, reconnect and establish an array of communities. This is happening in both professionally and personally. If myspace were a country—it would be the 8th largest country in the world . source: David Armano Strength in numbers

7. Same Page What is the social media release? Embedded video (URL used for SlideShare): http:// youtube.com/watch?v =cD_mYKc20OY

8. Where we started Past

9. Born in 1877, Ivy Lee is recognized for creating the first press release and considered to be the father of modern PR. He was retained by the Rockefeller family to provide PR counsel for Standard Oil. His biggest competitor was Edward Bernays, also considered one of the fathers of PR. Ivy Lee

10. On the morning of October 8, 1906, a Pennsylvania Railroad crash killed 50 people. That afternoon, Ivy Lee wrote the first press release and counseled his client to arrange for a special train to take reporters to the scene. It begat the... First Press Release

11. Impressed by the innovative approach, The New York Times printed the first press release verbatim on Oct. 30, 1906 as a "Statement from the Road." Both newspapers and public officials praised the Pennsylvania Railroad for its openness and honesty. First Clip

12. Six months later, coal operators hired Ivy Lee to represent them during a strike. So he mailed out the second press release. It was a… Second Press Release

13. “ This is an ad disguised as a story!” “ This is meant to manipulate the news!” Journalists got angry and expressed hostility. (Was this the beginning of the feudal relationship between media and PR?) In response, Ivy Lee wrote… Dismal Failure

15. 100 Years of Media Relations Source: Cymfony AUDIENCE Influence 1.0

16. CHICAGO (September 23, 2007) – My company, a leader in this industry, today announced some big news. “ It’s amazing,” said CEO of my company. “ I agree,” said client. “ They’re right,” said third-party endorser. Blah, blah, blah, prices, details, specs. Boilerplate. ### 100 Years of Press Releases

17. Present Where we are

18. After 100 years, technology enabled new means of communication. Significant broadband penetration helped foster widespread growth of social media and made news an extremely volatile industry. This isn’t your mom’s news industry anymore… \\ 1.17 billion internet users worldwide (source: Internet World Stats 06/30/07) \\ 69% of Americans use the internet (source: World Internet Usage 06/30/07) \\ Swift changes being seen in newspaper readership habits \\ Major circulation and ad revenue declines \\ Newspapers testing new tactics (comments, popularity ranking, narrower pages) \\ Five of the top 10 visited websites are social (source: Alexa)

19. As news distribution and consumption trends evolve, so will the 100-year-old press release. These four are helping that r/evolution. It began with… The Evolution

20. On February 27, 2006, Tom Foremski, a former FT reporter who now blogs about business and culture in Silicon Valley, wrote an article titled Die! Press release! Die! Die! Die! He called press releases useless, delete on receipt documents with too much spin, pat-on-the-back phrases and meaningless quotes. He proposed a change, which lead to… The Public Outcry

21. On May 23, 2006, Todd Defren, principal at Boston-based SHIFT Communications, responded with a template for the social media press release (SMR). The new SMR featured RSS, sharing options, tags, bulleted news, multimedia elements, lots of links, etc. With the SMR, Todd is lobbying for the industry to democratize access , ensure accuracy , embrace context , build community and be findable . The template was widely embraced and supported… The Response

22. Since then, Chris Heuer, Brian Solis and many others have helped lead an effort to propose a standard for the construction and distribution of social media press releases. Chris founded the Social Media Club, which “shares best practices, establishes ethics and standards, and promotes media literacy around the emerging area of social media.” But, really, why should we care? The Support

23. The Reasons \\ Bloggers and podcasters are legitimate PR targets – many exceed the reach of mainstream media \\ They have cheap technology tools to create, mix and mash-up their own multimedia news stories \\ Bloggers and traditional journalists prefer deconstructed content rather than being forced to sift through lengthy releases and playing “What’s the news here?” \\ Old media journalists are now fully adapted to using internet for research so you need to be online and search engine optimized \\ Bottom line: The way we influence has changed

24. New Media Relations AUDIENCE Influence 2.0 Source: Cymfony

25. Social media release = better coverage? PR Elements (well-written press release, quotes or interviews, images, audio, video, third-party sources, other relevant articles, etc.) Media Coverage (Hits) The Added Value

26. A Closer Look The social media release template

28. Democratize Access Ensure Accuracy Ensure Accuracy Ensure Accuracy

29. Embrace Context Embrace Context Embrace Context

30. Build Community Build Community Build Community Build Community

31. Power to the People Case study

32. Power to the People    Case study

33. Power to the People   Case study

34. Power to the People Case study

35. Power to the People Case study

36. Power to the People Case study

37. Building your social media release and news room Future

38. Building Your SMR Menu of tools Web-based Video capturing Video editing

39. Many newswire services offer social media releases or social media elements that can be added to your typical press release distribution: \\ RSS subscriptions \\ Technorati tags \\ Del.icio.us bookmarking \\ Digg it \\ Multimedia add-ons \\ Comments However, the best place for conversations to take place is on your corporate site. Building Your SMR Adding the elements

40. The Corporate Newsroom

41. The Corporate Newsroom

42. The Corporate Newsroom Alternative - use a blog engine

43. The Corporate Newsroom RSS Subscriptions Categories (Tags) Sharing and Bookmarking Suggested Reading (Context) Video Links And Embeds (YouTube) Archives By Month Built-in Search

44. Final Thoughts \\ The SMR doesn’t replace the traditional release \\ The SMR fosters your relationship with bloggers \\ The SMR template is just that – a template \\ Consider a hybrid traditional-SMR release \\ The tools surrounding it make it social \\ Let the conversation happen at corporate site \\ Consider a blog engine newsroom \\ You still need news and interesting information

45. September 2007 Social Media Relations Todd And(rlik) For more information, visit toddand.com/smr toddand.com [email_address]