Gizmodo Exclusive

Talk about control — Apple is hard as nails when it comes to controlling its message, its timing, and who comes to their parties, as in the case of not responding to Gizmodo’s request to attend WWDC.

After visiting an Apple store in Ft. Worth on the day the iPhone 4 announcement was made, I get the feeling Apple wished it could control AT&T a little more. The day before, I spent several hours at the AT&T store updating iPhone so I could keep the unlimited data plan before AT&T’s new plans went into effect and the old plans went away. I also committed to a fourth phone line so I could get an air card. But when I shared this with Daz and Micah at the cowtown Apple store, they were eager to know if my AT&T sales rep mentioned that the iPhone 4 would likely be announced in 24 hours, and she did not. Daz and Micah seemed eager to advise me on where not to purchase my Apple products. So, while I had their attention, I asked about tethering and unlimited data plans.

I like Apple and its products. My family and I own and use several of its products; iMac, iPhone, video iPod, iPod Shuffle, Mac Book, Mac Pro and Mac Book Pro. Looks like I will soon be tethering when I get my iPhone 4, thanks to Daz’s “messaging” to me.

A high school friend of mine has worked at Apple for 20+ years, and she rarely, and I mean rarely — well, now that I really think about it — she never talks about her job, her employer, her work. I learned recently her position in Apple Education is high level. No, no, she did not tell me. I learned from an Apple Education sales rep I met at an event. I am not surprised my friend holds a high position because she is no doubt, sharp. But I did feel special — you know, inside baseball stuff — when he shared that “chain of command” info with me. My friend is his bosses boss, or something like that. Several years ago, I asked my friend to recommend an Apple small biz sales rep for me to deal with for our PR business. She did, and we still deal with Lisa today. But come to think of it, just as my high school buddy, Lisa does not talk about anything except our technology needs. Nope, I take that back…once she found out the date of her wedding anniversary was close to mine, and she wished me “Happy Anniversary” in an email. How does Apple get its employees to buy-in to and live out its mystique-ish-ness? Is that part of employee training?

Wonder what my high school friend thinks of Gizmodo. Maybe while I had the attention of Micah and Daz I should have asked what they think of Gizmodo. If these three Apple employees actually answered that question, would their message be consistent?

Let’s take this past holiday season. First, we had hosted our Australian client Barry Harris in our home the month before for his first Thanksgiving. So my list already started with one check mark, and that entry even had stars (seven months later, he is still thanking us). For Screenmobile, Passport Health and Wiggins, we gave food from Neiman Marcus since each company has a “team” with which the gift was to be shared. But for other clients, I individualized.

Looking Good

While my husband and children spent two full days at the Great Wolf Lodge in mid December, I hit every one of my favorite shopping spots in Dallas. Not only shopping for my family, I also had four individual clients in mind. When I saw the neatest, manly-man magnifying glass at The Nest in Dallas’ Snider Plaza, Dick Rennick came to mind. Check. After hearing Jan Van Blarcum say she wears red shoes most of the time, I selected a Tory Burch scarf with red accents. Check. But the hardest gifts were yet to be bought. It was for the two men who work together at Abilene Christian University. I had never met either one of them, although we talked, Skyped, emailed, text’d nearly daily. One of the speaks publicly on a regular basis, so I headed to the Hermes shop in Highland Park Village where I selected a tie. Once on a phone interview from home, a bird sang in the background, and he told me had a fancy parrot, so I bought the tie with the bird motif,which made it seem a bit personal. I wrote a note on the Hermes card saying something along the lines of …”A tie is about the most boring gift ever, but I will make a point to get to know your tastes better over the next year and get you something better next year…” I went ahead and bought a second Hermes tie for his colleague, a solid color classic. My list was beginning to make me feel a sense of accomplishment. But once I got home and looked at the second tie, I thought to myself, “Boring.” So I called his assistant and asked what he liked. I mentioned concert tickets and I heard a spark in her voice. So I spent nearly all working day looking at concert tickets and prices before carefully selecting his seats and making the purchase. I sent them, and he was sincerely grateful. But after the April 10, 2010 concert date came and went, and he never mentioned it to me, I became curious if he went or forgot about it.

Bon Jovi in Concert

Ends up I asked him about it. He said something came up and he could not get out of town that weekend. So, not only did he not go, he did not give anyone else his tickets. What a waste. Two section 213, row A seats at the American Airlines Center for Bon Jovi.

But, the good news is my other clients told me they enjoyed or are still enjoying their gifts. My client who received the bird tie says he’s worn it on several occasions, and as promised, I have gotten to know his tastes this year, but it’s highly unlikely that he will receive concert tickets from me.

Johannes Gutenberg Inventor of the Printing Press

Upon the announcement by Steve Jobs that the iPad was on its way Dr. Bill Rankin, ACU’s director of educational innovation was quoted in the press as saying, “The true electronic book is going to be as transformational a moment for culture as the printed book when Gutenberg first introduced it.”

Regardless of the platform, the e-book is coming and to NBC‘s credit – they get it.

So it is more than a little frustrating to watch CNN’s Ali Velshi interviewing self-proclaimed “youthologist” Vanessa Van Petten about the pros and cons of texting in the classroom while seemingly missing the bigger picture. No doubt Ms. Van Petten raises excellent points and is helping parents, students and educators address valid concerns surrounding devices in the K-12 classroom, but come on.  It is not a question of dealing with technology, the “genie” has been out of the bottle for quite some time now. It is about embracing mobile-learning as a legitimate educational tool. It is about doing it right with best practices and implementing a deployment strategy with research behind it. K-12 training is just one element of the ACU mobile-learning initiative.

Maybe I am too close to the subject. Not only am I the PR practitioner charged with raising awareness of the 3-year-old mobile-learning initiative at ACU, I am also an alum. It just makes me wonder if 500+ years ago printing pioneer Johannes Gutenberg may have faced similar challenges.

First Printed Books

Or if anyone ever bothered to ask him the question – “So hey Jo, what’s the big deal with the printed book anyway?”

Perhaps Mark Twain put it best in his congratulatory letter upon the opening of the Gutenberg Museum.

“The world concedes without hesitation or dispute that Gutenberg’s invention is incomparably the mightiest event that has ever happened in profane history.”

Mark Twain – April 7, 1900

Working the Problem at Houston's Mission Control

When I worked at Audience Research & Development I was fortunate to be asked by Sandra Connell to join her and Sydney for lunch one day.  I hate to admit that I do not remember Sydney’s last name; she was the long-time assistant to Belo exec Marty Haag, both of whom have passed away.  At the time, I was the assistant to Willis Duff, one of AR&D’s founders, very green in this job but an eager beaver.

Finding Solutions

During lunch I asked Sydney what advice she had for me as an executive assistant.  Her advice was simple, “Only tell Willis about a problem if you have a solution.”  She told me that no matter how silly my solution sounded or how unlikely my solution would be used, I was showing him that I took the problem seriously enough to think it through.  I’ve used Sydney’s advice many, many times since that day.  And believe it or not, my solutions, which at the time I thought were weak — turned out to solve a few problems.

Hoffman & Redford as Woodward & Bernstein

What I love about journalists is their breadth of knowledge and their craving for new information on their topics of expertise.  After they’ve receive information and report on it, they move on to their next story — probably dealing with a new set of people.  After years of working this way, one has to wonder just how well a former journalist can make the transition to PR? Will a journalist-turned-PR-pro really enjoy dealing with the same set of people within the single organization they now represent? Will he or she look forward to taking an extended amount of time to get the same type of press release approved and countless conversations about the same topics? Will the concept of client service be something that is foreign to them?

My seven years at Audience Research & Development taught me a lot about client service, and to me, PR involves many similar attributes:

Tom Cruise is all about client service as "Jerry McGuire"

• juggling many different projects
• knowing when to shut-up or speak-up
• patience
• being a sponge and learning, learning, learning
• staying prepared
• going the extra mile
• being resourceful
• setting and achieving results and/or goals
• time management and planning

But at the end of the day, if the journalist-turned-PR-pro has not secured editorial coverage, you have to wonder….what benefit did their “Real News Experience” really bring?

The science behind stress-free productivity

I know, I know, it’s been way too long since I’ve posted anything here.  But I am hoping to change that.  I am reading, well actually listening, to a book on time management by David Allen.

What I have learned is when all these to-do’s float around in my head and on lists — such as needing to blog, edit the copy on my Web site, write a press release, look at the marketing budget — I am taking up physic RAM, I think he calls it, which handicaps me from being creative, productive and successful.  So, if something is on my brain saying, “Liz, you need to do this,” then I am going to do it, which frees up RAM in my head allowing the creative juices to flow.  Now if I could just find a book that tells me how to get others in my world to do the same…wouldn’t life be…

Topping the list was the hot topic of healthcare reform, followed by the loosening of credit by big banks to meet payroll and the availability of small business loans for start-ups to spur growth and employment.

This was my third IFA lobbying effort and I noticed a somewhat smaller crowd. We divided up into our respective State delegations and the association did their usual bang up job of educating us on the issues that we needed to focus on when we met with our legislators. Still we had more questions than answers.

The humorous and allows thought provoking columnist George Will laid out the absurd state of Washington these days and the change in the D.C. climate since he last spoke to the group two years ago. Will’s speech would have drawn more chuckles if it weren’t so sad. Select members from both sides of the aisle also gave their differing views, including a moderate Democrat that offered a glimmer of hope.

Well armed with facts, figures and a sense of strength in numbers we loaded onto busses for the short trip to Capitol Hill.

The Texas delegation waits outside Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's office

Then it hit me. I should have worn a more comfortable pair of shoes. In the practice of media relations I realize the importance of doing my homework. The IFA helped me with that but the legwork was up to me. In the vast walking environment that is the District of Columbia I knew my dogs would be barking. I am not built for burning arches and cramping toes. When the 5pm rush hit, I witnessed many female Washington veterans changing from heels to flip flops as I found myself crossing the east side of the Capitol complex in my stocking feet.

Matthew "the ? man" Lesko, somewhere between the Washington Post & K Street

While I enjoy Washington and listening to the buzz of issues all around me, I was beginning to regret my decision to stay an extra day to lobby for a specific client who would like an energy efficient home product included in the weatherization program. The next day was filled with more cab rides than I had budgeted for and still involved hoofing it between the Canon building, a legislative reception, a brief stop at the Washington Post and then on to K Street. I think my gimp might have given me away as a newbie.

All in all, the trip was a success on every front. I achieved what I had gone there to do and in the process learned a valuable lesson.

It could happen to you!

When in Washington homework is important but don’t discount the legwork involved. Be prepared, wear comfortable walking shoes and don’t let this happen to you.

Forget Cole Hahns, I recommend Eccos.

A good summer read

This summer I am reading Barbara Walter’s 600+ page memoir, Barbara Walters Audition and I like it. First, I’ve always admired her. Okay, when I was young I wanted to be Barbara Walters, and for a little while I felt like I was. In her book, Barbara reminds us that she paved the way for us females to work in news and make good money while doing it. I am only half way through, and find it sad she was worried about losing her job, even after signing a five year, five million dollar deal with ABC. Sure, it was extraordinary for a woman to be making that amount of money in this field. But her feelings of job insecurity went deeper than that. It went back to her childhood when her father had a few ups but more downs in his career as the producer of stage shows, Latin Quarter Night Club. His successes created lavish lifestyles, albeit temporary, for Barbara’s family; his failures caused the family to move many, many times sometimes, as I read it, into less than desirable situations. Her mom constantly worried about Mr. Walters’ ability to support their family, communicated her fears to Barbara, which in turn made Barbara a worrywart about many things.

A young trailblazing Barbara Walters

Worried about losing her job? Barbara Walters? Apparently very much so. She had more responsibility than the average woman during the 1960’s and 70’s. She was a single mother during some of this time, and she was supporting her mother, father and sister. Her sister, by the way, had a form of mental retardation, which created additional stress for Barbara and her mother.

Reading her describe the contract negotiations with NBC and the networks’ “lies”; her mistake of not releasing her own press release about her deal with ABC; her workload at ABC; facing ABC’s local station management about extending the evening news to an hour. Yikes. The media coverage about Barbara’s “Million Dollar Deal” was worldwide, and her news co-host, Harry Reasoner, what was up with that man? Then her send-off, rather lack of send-off, from NBC who could have thrown a party or given her a watch in her honor to celebrate her 13 years at NBC, from behind the scenes guest booker/question developer to co-hosting the “Today” show. She contrasts the send-off NBC gave her to Katie Couric’s, when Katie left “Today” to anchor the CBS Evening News. Whew. Depressing to say the least. Makes me curious why NBC treated her that way, which I hope to find out as I continue this interesting read.

On the company’s Web site, CE touts that they provide “real-life, hands-on” computer education for kids of all ages. This statement is successfully demonstrated through the fun and interactive way the company has employed its students to wish happy birthday to the franchise’s 25-year-old mascot, a computer turtle named CT.

Kids from locations in Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Australia and throughout the U.S., are learning computer animation skills and creating colorful electronic birthday greetings, which are then posted on the company’s Web site and on YouTube. It is fun for the kids who get to show off their work and what they have learned online.

The children’s imagination really shines through on these video posts, which have lots of color, music and recordings of the kid’s voices to pass along their best wishes to CT. As an adult you will find them to be very elementary and childish, which is kind of the point considering who created them. It helps if you can reach back to your childhood when viewing these videos to a time when you found all of the attributes listed above to be highly entertaining.

But how does this help CE with its online presence in the social networking world?

Volume. Lots and lots of volume. Content is continually being created in the process of teaching these young aspiring cartoon makers. The COMPUTER EXLPORER name is tagged all over these viral marketing video files, which are then propagated across the Web. It is a brilliant strategy that is working as search engines are now placing more and more emphasis on video and still images for page rankings. Not to mention the company has an endless stream of marketing materials for this purpose.

This approach makes you stop and ponder other ways that corporation’s can put their customer’s talents to use to promote the brand.

Oh by the way, happy birthday CT.

A Birthday Cake for CT