1. Twitter didn’t steal the show this year in terms of content (thank goodness), but it just added a quiet layer. Who needs speaker feedback forms when you have #mesh08 hash tags

2. I would summarize Mesh 2006 as “What the hell is happening?” Mesh 2007 as “This can’t be really happening?” and Mesh 2008 as simply “happening”. The irrational exuberance is gone, most people are getting over the threat, and now finally getting down to making things work.

3. As a visitor to Toronto this time, I got a lot more time to chat (and drink) at the afterparties and had some good conversations, not going to drop names, you know who you are.

4. As a speaker, I had fun and was treated really well by Mesh and audience alike. Good questions on Dave Jones and my podcasting session.

5. As an attendee I was struck by the common threads that the main affects of the communication changes are forcing companies to make better products, collaborate more, speak more plainly (if not always openly), and marketers generally accept they are not soloists, but just another voice in the brand chorus

6. The effects of social media are being most keenly felt in the customer service realm, where so much outreach and listening are starting to take place. Serving customers, delivering product, support, product design, manufacture, finance, mergers, outsourcing, corporate policy and responsibility are all a part of and affected by brand and marketing.

Update: I was contacted by Craig from Spyfilms (the production company on the spot) looking for some credit, which I am happy to provide, since I think the production on the spot is excellent and because Spy is smart enough to have their ear to the ground and engage with me. Great work by director Jeff Labbe.

[tags] Blockbuster, DDB, Toronto, ads, Spy Films, Jeff Labbe[/tags]

So when Mike asked what I did, I explained I worked for Venture Communications, am a blogger and co-run the World Championships of Rock Paper Scissors, he did a bit of a double-take and gave me the familiar “huh” look that usually means someone wants to hear more. So I expanded, he asked me to email him, which I did and behold today we are Crunched. Although some of the comments are trying to figure out how RPS is relevant to Tech Startups… I see it as “Friday-style” content.

[tags] techcrunch, mike arrington, mesh07, Venture Communications, World RPS Society, RPS [/tags]

Once again, sorry for the rushed notes, but wanted to blog the content as much as possible without filtering. I may try to put some perspective on it later or might just leave it as is…

Note: Quotes may be paraphrased.

Definition of PR – “Telling a story well, but the story must be true. Not spin, not black arts – that is malpractice.”

Why is rep so bad? – “PR has gotten conflated with politics. What is acceptable in politics is not acceptable elsewhere.”

Is this the best of times or worst for PR? – Best, we are in a grey area, who’s turf is social media ad or PR. PR used to be tail on the dog – get us a story. Now we are at the table at start of idea or driving the idea. Communications used to talk to the consumer, now we speak to stakeholders across the spectrum. Advertising is effective, but narrow spectrum.

Creating Trust and Credibility – Edelman Trust Barometer “person like myself” is most trusted person – phenomenon in last couple of years. Reflects a lack of trust in traditional institutions. Dialogue of people is an entirely new axis on communications spectrum. Too much control – no credibility. too much credibility – no control.

Dove Campaign – Works on both axes – good traditional communications, social cause, and then exploiting in traditional media. Real issue, allowed to be in the conversation and let go.

Is Mainstream media coverage the goal? – Not in some cases, mentions a Pharma client where Edelman built a community of 100k for MS sufferers and caregivers.

In 24/7 discussion world how do you define success and how do you make money? – Ad equivalency is not adequete. The power of free media is so much more than paid media.

Who is doing it right and wrong – Walmart Issue was covered thoroughly in two blog posts on 6 AM blog (1 and 2 I think) we educated our staff on quality and transparency. We will miss the opportunity if we go back to spin and artifice.

Traditional media has ground rules. What are ground rules for non-professionals – PR people need to have a higher standard than before because we are sending information directly to the audience without a filter. Explaining sources of information.

Ghostblogging – it’s a little dicey. Persuade the client to do a brainstorm, but needs to be a real voice. I think ghostblogging is bad.

Is PR and advertising blurring – Definitely. both communications approaches are valid, but depends upon the type of product and is there news? If news – PR leads. If not – advertising leads.

How do you incorporate learnings – Centralize it in Me2 Revolution and then disseminate around the company

PR budgets going up – Total consumption of media is rising, but the mix is shifting. It is not the drop in investigative journalism causing it. Bloggers are taking up that role like  Mike Arrington. Different set of people doing it not that it is being done less.

PR is harder now.  Need to speak to more people and you cannot be a salesperson. Listening, learing and acknowledging. Move away from Willy Loman – call 100 journalists and tick them off the list.

Corporate Social Responsibility in the C-level they are not measured – Trust barometer has company going up. In China companies are very trusted. Business must take on the big issues and be transparent about its motive. Focus initially on employee communications (inside out). Shell Paradox of Transparency – we used to keep it to ourselves until we launched, now we make the case publically – make concessions if necessary and keep moving forward.

Walmart caused what changes in policies and implementation of Social Media – 2700 people in Edelman, knee jerk reaction would be to have a few people should be doing Social – I think everyone should be doing it. We need to have standardization. We now have a 24 hotline for Social Media. Oriented towards experimentation, not control.

What happens when you lose control of the conversation – Judgement issues. Chevy Tahoe benefitted from not locking down – need to have tolerance. Need to think ahead. Once you are in the soup, let it cool off.

Quality vs. Quantity dance – virtuous circle we must charge more, pay staff better and say we can do more to clients. The horizontal access is ours to participate in. We should be charging fees commensurate with the importance of the task. You need to have a baseline of credibility before you can advertise that credibility.

When would you not recommend social media – PETA is an unreconcilable NGO for someone like KFC. Need to say here is our process, we are listening. To leave it alone is to let the other side control the convesation.

The race to be first, what about when the story is wrong – When you find it, you must be an activist in getting it corrected, you cannot wait for the traditional news cycle. Challenge and be aggressive.

Share success on convincing c-level – modest success in getting CEOs to blog, some can’t write and are afraid. CEO of Pitney-Bowes blogging on healthcare issues. Not sure that most CEOs will change.

Anti-smoking – Edelman gives $500 to any employee who quits smoking.

Mid-level may the best place to start (Scoble) – Let the mid-levels talk.

The word spin, has no place in our company. Term originates in politics. It is the single thing that is most undermining in our business. I don’t want to be spinner.

Has the ad/pr blurring – increased flameups between companies. We are independant (not a networked agency), therefore no enforced boundaries.

Three things that people should do – 1. make your stories visual 2. Don’t be defeated by setbacks – if you are not falling you are not learning to ski 3. Don’t let clients tell you this is your box – channel and platform neutral.

[tags]mesh, Richard Edelman, Edelman, social media, transparency, Stuart MacDonald [/tags]

I really enjoyed the conference last year and I met a bunch of very interesting bloggers, podcasters, pr people, but almost no advertising people – will be interesting to see if my fellow ad folks are drinking the kool-aid yet.

I am not sure if I will be able to, but I will try to liveblog some session notes/photos if at all possible. I have a few impressions from Mesh2006 available here.

[tags]mesh, mesh07, mesh2007, toronto, MaRS, techcrunch, edelmen, craigslist, mike arrington, Richard Edelman, Jim Buckmaster[/tags]

Saturday, October 13th, 2007
The Roundhouse – Steam Whistle Brewery
255 Bremner Blvd
Toronto, Canada

Tickets should go on sale soon.

Think of it like a mosh pit meets slumber party. Some guys looked like they had been practicing for weeks and others were just looking for a good time. The similarities between this event and my personal passion the Rock Paper Scissors World Championships are considerable including, childhood games, formalizing the informal, word of mouth communications, and good old-fashioned fun. Obviously this was an event that I couldn’t miss.

The event was put on by newmindspace who are responsible for other pillow fights here and in New York along with easter egg hunts, bubble battles, capture the flag and other wonderful urban nonsense. If the event comes to your town, go. If it doesn’t organize your own. It was a blast.

[tags] toronto, urban, pillow fight Toronto, newmindspace, Worldrps, Rock Paper Scissors [/tags]

I went to my first Lick’s when I was a teenager and the experience made a huge impression on me. The place looked different from the other burger joints, (sort of like a cross between a 50s diner and a county fair), the burgers tasted great, and the people behind the counter sang songs and made a big fuss interacting with customers. It was a unique, personal and tasty experience – my friends and I used to go all the time before we discovered more troublesome pursuits. I hadn’t been back in a long time, but the memory and the brand experience has always been a positive one for me.

On my way to an event last week, I happened to pass by a Lick’s and feeling a tad nogalstic and peckish I stopped in for a burger, fries and a side of guk (a delicious mayonaise and who-knows-what mixture for dipping fries). I was actually quite excited about stepping inside to hear the burger flippers singing and was thinking that sometime I should bring my daughter in for the experience.

The food was largely as I remembered it, but the experience just wasn’t the same. There were no songs, the burger flippers didn’t seem to be having any fun like they used to and I didn’t get any of the anticipated fuss made over me that I remembered from when I was younger.

No question I am a little older now, alot more critical of things, and perhaps my memories of Lick’s weren’t all that accurate. However driving in the car, I actually felt like one of the few happy parts of my adolesence was taken from me and realized that I wasn’t really there for the burger at all, but really just wanted to hear them singing like I had remembered. I have no doubt that in today’s age, finding kids willing to act happy, sing while flipping burgers, while making minimum wage is no easy task.

For marketers, this story is intended to illustrate a few points:

1. The customer service department is now the messaging/media department – the experience I get from the people who serve me largely defines the tone of this blog post, my willingness to take my family and my general brand impression. So if you want positive word-of-mouth, consider diverting a chunk of your media spend into HR, CSR salaries, customer satisfaction incentives and other ways of keeping the front line as happy as possible.
2. When you make your bed, you have to lie in it – 20 years ago my future expecations of the brand were set when I heard joyful singing by burger flippers. So that is what I expected to hear when I went back much later. Similar situations happen when one expects 0% financing on a new car every winter or that my coffee loyalty card program won’t just collapse. Sure things change and programs get cancelled, but there can be big ramifications within the minds of individuals when policies change, products drop in quality and experiences atrophy.
3. A brand is all in your my head – The brand manager does not define the brand, the individual does. Try as marketers may to control and change perceptions it comes down to what one person thinks and those thoughts may be correct, off-base or completely lunatic fringe. The customer’s brand perception is always right – even when it is totally wrong.

To the folks at Lick’s I am happy to tell you that your product is as good as I remembered, but the experience didn’t live up to my memories. So while I walked in thinking that Lick’s would be a fun and happy place to take my daughter, I left realizing that what drew me in the door doesn’t live there anymore.

[tags]Lick’s, Homeburgers, Word of Mouth, Experience marketing[/tags]

This a notion that we feel as we live in the city, one we express to visitors and one that we hope many people living elsewhere believe about us. I have lived in Toronto for most of my life and never had a memorable incident that made me feel unsafe. Last night however, I had a situation last night that has shaken some of my comforts.

My wife and I were watching TV when we heard a crash, I investigated to find a man coming into my house. We let our dog out periodically during the evening, so usually leave the back door unlocked. I told him to “get the F#¢& out of my house”, and told my wife to call 911. He pushed past me and seemed to be trying to further investigate the house. My wife and daughter were in the house, I did not want a confrontation.

At some point the intruder seemed to realize that he was not where he expected to be and turned around. I got out of his way and opened the front door so he could get out. He never spoke a word.

He tried to climb over into a neighbors yard unsuccessfully and zigzagged across the street, while my wife and I spoke to the 911 operators. Eventually he kneeled down in the road with his head on the road and his hands behind his back as if being arrested by the police that were not even to arrive for another few minutes

Once the police did arrive (less that 5 minutes, not bad) he was arrested and taken into the cruiser, I gave a statement and told them the story. They later sent over a detective to take photographs of the muddy foot prints he left and look for fingerprints – it was hardly CSI, but the police were capable and thorough.

There is both a youth and a men’s shelter in the area, and while we have yet to hear the details from the police as to where this guy was from, I have little doubt the road will lead to one of the shelters. I have never had an issue with the shelters previously despite seeing people passed out cold not far from my house and a few other incidents. However, today I feel a bit less supportive of these organizations in my neighborhood (I do recognize the need, but my experience has made me less enthused). I suspect I will be accused of being NIMBY (Not in My Backyard) on this issue, but I won’t apologize to anyone for placing the safety of my family above the needs of a drunken bastard breaking into my home.

Now, I am not so myopic as to think that just because this happened to me that the everyone should feel unsafe in Toronto, but there is no question that it has deeply shaken my perceptions about my neighborhood. No one here was hurt, nothing was damaged or stolen, and the perp didn’t get away – all things considered it could been a hell of a lot worse and I am very thankful for how things turned out. However, since last night those hundreds of worse scenarios keep playing over and over in my mind – giving me little peace.

From now on my back door stays locked.

• Boyd Neil
• Lisa Walker
• Collin Douma
• Jonathan Dunn
• Julia Stein
• Sean Moffitt
• Elliot Silverstein

There was a great deal of discussion over the ethics and efficacy of the Sunsilk Bridezilla/Wig Out viral effort. It was universally panned on content and strategy however the majority felt that it was not necessarily unethical (with Collin Douma as a notable and vocal exception).

The second topic of discussion was the recent London Times article (hat tip for Maggie) of making “impersonating a consumer” an illegal act in 2008 in the UK. Several points were made about how this signifies the magnitude of the shift in influence toward the consumer. Prior to the social media revolution the notion of impersonating someone as powerless as an individual consumer would have been absurd (with the possible exception of lame false testimonials in ads).

Pretty sure that a good time was had by all.

[tags]throng, toronto, social media[/tags]