Reproduced from a Media Bullseye article on March 30, 2009

Unless you have shut off your Twitter feed lately, you have probably heard of Robert Scoble’s somewhat incendiary comments regarding the public relations industry. In audio comments, Scoble painted the industry with an unflatteringly broad brush:

• “PR is dead. The way that PR is practiced is just..lame.”
• “Most of PR has ’sucked.’ If you think it’s not, just be a blogger for a little while. And watched the thousands of stupid-ass pitches flow through your screen.”
• “Anybody who pitches you on email is stupid. The chance that I am going to listen to anyone who pitches me email on frikkin’ email is one percent.”

Well, many of us who practice public relations for a living took some serious offense to this. I wrote a first blog post, (Shut Up, Mr. Scoble) and then when he took on Alice Marshall of Presto Vivace, I penned another (”Put a “Cewebrity” in His Place – But You Can’t Fix Stupid“). I was pretty angry, as were the aforementioned Alice Marshall as well as the highly respected Robert French of Auburn University. Both pointed out that Mr. Scoble’s preferred method of being pitched, over dinner, reeked of, as Professor French put it “Wine Me & Dine Me (or, I’ll whine about bad PR).”

But enough of my rancor. More reasoned, respected people like Jason Falls and David Wescott had some good points as well.

Jason commented on my blog:

“Robert is guilty of one thing – generalizing. Does he get a lot of bad pitches? Yep. So do I (probably not as many, I’m sure). Do a lot of PR folks suck these days? Yeah. Does the industry need a time out to revamp itself? Yes. But does someone like Scoble need to say, “PR SUCKS” as if all PR does? Hell no.”

Fair enough. David Wescott noted:

“I’m coming to realize there’s something worse than believing you’re a big deal by reading your press clippings – it’s believing you’re a big deal by looking at the number of followers you have on twitter. I’m not saying that’s where Scoble is, but comments like that don’t exactly convince me otherwise.”

A week into this, my thoughts have turned somewhat inward – meaning to those of us who do public relations and social media for a living and ask the “Scobelistic Question”: Do we suck?

Yes and no.

Aside from acting self-absorbed, Scoble whined about a mere sliver of public relations – pitching – and said that the whole industry is “lame.” And that comment is, well, lame. But more importantly, are there people who make bad pitches? Absolutely.

Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson, both of whom I consider “A-Listers” and produce their excellent “For Immediate Release” podcast (and who first brought this topic to my attention), stated that they both get lots of bad pitches via email.

Time for a little self-examination.

I no longer work for a public relations agency, but was in the business for about 15 years and began, as most young bucks do – by pitching people who did not necessarily want to be pitched. And got hung up on a lot. So the other night in my class at Georgetown, I asked my students what was preventing them from creating the “magical experiences” that Scoble seems to demand with his free meals. What I heard back was pretty instructive – and confirmed, from my small focus group, what I had long believed prevents people from innovating more:

• Billing pressure. When you work for an agency, your job is to bill as much as you can, and quite often, falling back on old ways is the best way to make your hours. Brutal, but I believe it to be true.
• Clients are in love with statistics. Many clients would rather hear “we pitched 2,000 bloggers,” (spam, of course), than “we did our research, waited and make 10 carefully crafted pitches to 10 leading bloggers.” 2,000 versus 10? Please.
• Clients or supervisors who don’t “get” social media are reluctant to green light innovation. The “young bucks” generation in public relations agencies have a hard time selling concepts that are new and people don’t yet understand.
• The pressure. The higher you go in agencies, the more pressure you have to bill hours, supervise people, develop businesses and further existing client relationships. “Creating magic” takes some serious time – and thinking.

Bottom line? I think that Scoble is self-absorbed, but has clearly earned his media spotlight. And the public relations industry does indeed churn out some really bad pitches. But we don’t suck.

Is it worth painting the entire industry as “dead” and “lame?” Not unless you have no idea what you are talking about.

Mark

Boy, has there been lots of commentary and discussion this week about Robert Scoble’s comments regarding the public relations profession.

I heard it on “For Immediate Release,” blogged about it, had my post included in one made by Alice Marshall at Presto Vivace and listened to the debate continue on “For Immediate Release.”  And that’s just what I was paying attention to.  Imagine if I had actually done something like a Technorati search.

Ron White is one of my favorite comedians and he got it right when he said “you can’t fix stupid.”  Read below to see how prophetic Ron’s words actually are.

When I saw that Alice’s blog had mentioned my little rant, I read her comments section – and the SCOBELIZER himself weighed in, as did Shel Holtz, the co-host of the excellent “”For Immediate Release” podcast.  Alice’s post was fairly measured, compared to my frothing at the mouth:

Wow, OK, Scoble says it is much more valuable to him to be offered a scrumptious dinner and convivial conversation with the pitch at the end. Congratulations to Brian Solis for building such a valuable relationship. Pardon me if I don’t follow his example.

Listening to Scoble’s rant gave me new respect for reporters like Joab Jackson, Chris Dorobek, Roger Hughlett, and so many others who put their readers first and don’t expect to be wined and dined.

Measured stuff.

Now read the comments section.

Scoble: It’s not about wining and dining. You totally missed the point. This morning I met a CEO at http://www.kyte.tv/scobleizer and recorded what he told me. That is FAR better than getting a clueless PR pitch via email. I think people like you need to come and be on our side of the fence once in a while. You’d be horrified to see what comes through.

Insult-o-meter ranking: moderate with two snarky comments

Open mouth, insert foot, chomp vigorously.  Keep digging, Robert.

Scoble: Whether or not I’m a journalist (I’m currently not) is not really the right point to make. I talk with TONS of journalists and I haven’t had one tell me they like what is coming through their email stream. In fact, one of the best tech journalists I know (he was key in getting the DOJ to look at Microsoft) is Dan Gillmor. You might read up on his PR suggestions: http://steverubel.typepad.com/micropersuasion/2004/07/dan_gillmor_to_.html — they sound an awful lot like mine. Oh, and everytime there’s a dinner there’s usually a lot of journalists in the room, so I think wining and dining works with even “real” journalists.

Insult-o-meter ranking: moderate, with condescension

Scoble: Alice: I read all my emails. Love that you think you have my readers best interests in mind. Not based on the PR emails I get. Yes, I get a few good ones. But they are so buried in the bad ones that it’s funny to watch PR people try to defend the industry. PR people really do need to live on the other side of the fence. By the way, it’s very hard for me to pick out a good product’s pitch from a bad one’s via email. I need to SEE it. I do video, which, luckily, keeps me honest that way.

Insult-o-meter ranking: moderate, with increasing condescension

And finally, the lid blows off:

Scoble: Sorry if I made it sound like you must wine and dine me. Yesterday’s interview proves otherwise. I wasn’t wined and dined for that. I didn’t receive anything. I was SHOWN a product live, though, and didn’t receive a stupid email pitch. I love how you are making it about something lame like wining and dining. TOTALLY the wrong point to focus on, but that figures. If that’s the kind of “journalism” you did, no wonder you aren’t a journalist anymore.

Ask around: almost ALL of the videos I did in my career didn’t happen because I got some stupid food. Geesh.

Insult-o-meter ranking: high, showing thin skin and insults

But wait!   There’s more!

Scoble: NONE of my videos ever were done for money and if you think some $20 dinner is gonna be worth selling my soul for, you aren’t worth the time of day.

Insult-o-meter ranking: very high, showing even thinner skin and enhanced insults

Scoble seems to be a legend in his own mind, which reminds me of Jason Falls’ post last summer, “Friday Frustrations,” in which he brought up a valid point:

Social Media Influencers Are Not Celebrities

A-list bloggers have an awfully bad habit of blowing smoke up each other’s asses. I’m probably guilty of it, too, though I don’t consider myself an A-lister, but for chrissakes people, you’re not celebrities so stop acting like them.

Jason also commented on my post last week so I have to confess to stealing the term “cewebrity” from him (can anyone get Elmer Fudd out of their heads when they say the word out loud?)

It’s a great read.  And guys, here’s the point. The more you give gas bags like this a platform to pontificate, the worse it’s going to get.  I completely cop to occasionally having written just to gin up a little controversy, but generally trying not to be pompous and insulting, while maintaining an astonishing level of cluelessness.

What a person to do?  When a fan base gets frustrated with a lousy team or lousy owner, they stop attending the games.  I am pretty convinced that the only way to stop having to listen to this garbage is to remove the microphone.  If you agree with any of the above:

1. Stop reading Scoble’s blog
2. Stop following him on Twitter and his other social media platforms.
3. Take away his soap boax.

I know I did – but a long time ago.

Mark

I love doing things I love.  Sounds simplistic, but I am coming to realize that the more things you do in life that bring you joy, the less time you have for stuff you hate.

So yesterday was gut-busting fun, sitting in for uber-media-magnate Chip Griffin on the Media Bullseye Roundtable. Details are here, but with Jenn Zingsheim and the bourbon-swilling, thought-provoking, risen-from-the-dead Jason Falls, the 41 minutes flew past.  It felt like the three of us were sitting at happy hour or doing a drive-time yuk-it-up radio show.

So thank you Chip, Jen and Jason.  Consider me your Joan Rivers Permanent Guest Host any time you want.

Mark

It’s usually towards the end of the year when I become somewhat reflective;  I always have.  What did the last year bring and what is likely to happen in the coming year?  And increasingly, my interactions, concerns and yes, partial happiness come from the world of social media. Social media is about making connections with people, and human being humans, we often take our interactions to the next level and get to meet face-to-face.

A few events in the last weeks have me think of how impactful connecting with people through social media has been in my life – and how it can only increase.

• Just today, I learned that my friend, Chip Griffin is going to have a heart procedure this Monday.  Chip did a post about it and is realistic about describing it as a fairly low-risk procedure/surgery, but like I told him, quoting Homer Simpson, any time that they “tinker with your ticker,” it is something serious.  Be well, my friend.
• Jason Falls, as well, did some hospital time over the Christmas holiday for a strep throat that went out of control like a Kennedy at an open bar.  Jason not only kept those of us following up to speed, but he admitted, Tweeting helped calm his nerves.  He even did a video from his hospital bed (below).  Get well, my friend and the next Maker’s Mark is on me.
• Shel Holtz recently had some surgery, not going into a lot of detail, but Neville Hobson reported that after 400+ episodes, he was flying solo, unwillingly, without Shel.  Shel is doing fine now, from what I understand.
• Over Thanksgiving, I watched and connected with my Indian friends who were lost — or leading — or drinking from the information fire hose that was the tragedy in Mumbai.  I have some pretty strong personal emotions regarding September 11 in the United States, and to me, this was India’s September 11th. People like Shonali Burke helped lead the Tweets and keep them sane while other smart people like Shilpika Das were asking the question we all were:  WHY?
• And so it’s not all bad stuff, I had drinks with three of my all-time favorite Georgetown students, and like a Proud Poppa, learned that one of them, Kristen Wesley, submitted a simple, elegant and “totally her” submission about what sort of superpowers she would have if she were a computer and — whammo bammo — ended up in “Wired” magazine.  No kidding.  I take zero credit for this, but teaching 20-some new students twice a year keeps me always on my toes, often feeling young at heart and more often than not, like in Kristen’s case, extremely proud and happy.

I would go on and on, but my point is that I have met some of the people above and I have not met others.  But I consider them all my friends.  So yes, I scoff at people who think that we who blog or Tweet or vlog all live in our mom’s basements and speak Vulcan fluently.

Sure, my main social circle consists of my family, but I am so, so fortunate to have a group of people whom I can reach out to when they might need a little cheer and I have certainly benefited from my online and offline group of friends through my own surgery this year.

So whether you are reading this through a tweet, my Facebook page or you have stumbled across my little corner of cyberspace, I am grateful for you all.  We support each other, joke with each other and laugh with each other.

We are a network.

Mark

And here’s Jason’s video”

As usual, Jason Falls is smarter and more eloquent than I, so imitation is best form of flattery.  So I am “appropriating” (we use that word in Washington for lots of things) his unbelievably good presentation on how to engage detractors online.

Jason makes about a bazillion good points (and I have exhauasted the topic in a different way that I call “Online Reputation Management“), but the best way that I can help you get smart is to get out of the way and say:

1. Read his blog post. Now.
2. View the accompanying SlideShare presentation below.