42ND ANNUAL THOTH AWARDS RECEPTION AND GALA ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23

Reserve you ticket today for the 42nd Annual Thoth Awards Reception and Gala on September 23rd. The winners of this year's 42nd Annual Thoth Awards will be unveiled at the historic Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. from 6 - 9 p.m.

Special guests Chris Hansen, "Dateline NBC" correspondent, NBC News and Greta Kreuz, veteran reporter and Maryland bureau chief for ABC/WJLA-TV, will be onhand to help present these distinguished awards, which recognize outstanding PR achievements.

The evening will kick off with drinks and appetizers, a charity raffle and networking event. This looks to be a great night to meet the movers and shakers of the Washington D.C.'s PR community.

Ticket prices are $85 for PRSA, DC Ad Club and WWPR Members. Non-members prices are $105, and students/retirees are $55. Tables can be reserved for ($1,000 - 1,200). Register at http://bit.ly/als9zN

For ticket information; call Sherri Core at the chapter office at (703) 681-8733, or for general information contact Jennifer Balios at (703) 815-8079 or jen@fifthelementcom.com, or Susan Matthews Apgood at (301) 664-6448 or sapgood@newsgeneratin.com.

Hope you enjoy the Thoth Awards this September 23rd!

Ex-spec-tations...

One of our members posted an interesting question to our LinkedIn group recently. His company was asked to provide spec work on an RFP for some web design work. He wanted feedback from others in the industry as to whether this was "standard operating procedure" or not.

My resounding answer: NO!

Truth is, I'm wary anytime someone asks for spec work. You want to know what I can do? I'm happy to share examples of media coverage or past PR campaigns I've run. If I was a web designer, I'd be happy to provide examples of sites we've designed or re-designed. But I'm not going to give away my ideas for free. If I do, you can take them and pay someone else to execute. My value isn't just in my execution, but also in the ideas I generate. Why would I give away that sort of intellectual property for free?

Am I wrong in finding this to be a ludicrous request? And do many solo practitioners find themselves being asked for this?

Kudos to Clever Tchotchkes... this year, from Fixation Marketing

Let's face it. Any of us who serve clients -- or attend trade shows -- find ourselves facing a huge dilemma on a regular basis: What do I use as as an end-of-year gift, a customer appreciation present, or a trade show giveaway? There are the obvious answers, ones I admit I've used in the past -- the branded pen, the branded memory stick... I remember when branded stress balls were all the rage.

One company I worked for gave away canvas bags at trade shows -- and people loved them! You saw people walking around the rest of the trade show floor stuffing other companies' giveaways inside, which meant great advertising for us, the "little guys" compared to many other vendors. And people would search out our booth every year, asking if we had the bags because they liked them and used them so much.

All that said, this year at the holidays, I received what I think is one of the best end-of-year (beginning of the year?) gifts yet: greeting cards.

Fixation Marketing in Bethesda, Maryland, created a box of greeting cards for unusual holidays -- Groundhog Day, Arbor Day, Daylight Savings, Flag Day... They're cleverly designed. They have cute sayings inside. And I'll definitely use them... and remember Fixation for sending them. (I've included the front of the card for Tax Day -- yes, Tax Day -- to the left. Inside it says, "Set Your Money Free.")

So kudos to Fixation for getting creative and providing me with a giveaway that is: unique, useful, and will earn them attention not just with me, but also with those to whom I send the cards.

So now I want to hear from you. What is the best (or worst) tchotchke that you've received or given away, and why did you like it (or not like it) so much?

The Value of Professional Organizations

So maybe I'm biased as I write this -- seeing as I am the CCG President and all -- but the truth is, I love this group! The Capital Communicators Group is valuable to me. For one, I love that there are no annual dues. If I attend a lunch, I pay. If I don't attend a lunch, no money goes out of my pocket. (Granted, now that I'm President I attend most lunches, but that's not the point.) Also, I get a lot out of my membership and out of the monthly lunches, both from the perspective of the actual presentations and from the more "informal" networking that goes on before, during, and after the formal program.

But it's gotten me thinking...

For many, the start of the new year is the time when we start thinking about whether we're gong to renew our various memberships. We evaluate the cost of the membership and what we get out of belonging to the group.

So what is the value of the various professional organizations we can join? What is the true "value" of PRSA? Is it worth its annual dues? And what about IABC or WWPR? Or other professional PR/communications groups?.

That's where you all come in! I'm hoping to get some conversation rolling here about the professional groups to which we belong and what "value" we get out of these groups. What groups do you find worth the cost of membership and in which groups have you decided to let your membership go?

Let us know!

The Twitter-LinkedIn Connection

I've seen a lot of tweets today about how you can now feed your Twitter updates into your LinkedIn profile. (Here's the Reuters piece on it.) And a lot of people sound excited about this new development.

I'm not.

I also don't like that you can link your Twitter and your Facebook account. (Is it blasphemy to say that?)

Here's the thing... Yes, I often post very similar updates to one, two, or even all three sites. But I also often post Twitter updates that, to me, aren't "Facebook worthy." And I post Facebook updates that never make it onto Twitter. Ditto, LinkedIn.

For me, the three outlets -- and their uses -- are distinct, though sometimes overlapping. That said, in many cases, I'm friends with someone on Facebook, connected to that same person on LinkedIn and follow his/her tweets on Twitter. And especially in the Facebook-Twitter connection, having the same updates to both locations can be overwhelming.

I think one reason I feel this way is because Twitter seems like a much more "now" phenomenon. I may tweet updates from an event I'm attending. Or post random updates about what I'm doing or something I just read. In contrast, I look to Facebook status updates to promote events, post random thoughts, etc. I think of Facebook status updates as being a little less frequent because it's not as easy to stay up-to-date on new posts. (New tweets pop up in the bottom right corner of my screen. I can read them, click on them, ignore them, etc., while continuing with what I'm doing.) So when people link their Twitter and Facebook status updates, I often find that my "status updates" on Facebook become overrun with one person's updates at the expense of everyone else. And it's frustrating.

What say you? (Oh, and by the way, if you want to follow me on Twitter, it's @rferrier. As to Facebook and LinkedIn, I have to have some noticeable connection to you to connect on LinkedIn. And Facebook, well, that's for people I really know.)

-- Robin

Nurturing My Professional Network... or the Top 5 Things I Learned During a Month of Networking

So I did it... 30 days during which I was supposed to focus more intently on helping others within my professional network. It was a long road... partly because sometimes I got so busy in my day-to-day that I didn't feel like I was really focusing on this challenge as I should, or, at least, as I promised myself I would. That said, in response to one of my followers who sent me an email message, I thought I'd post some of the networking lessons I've learned both from this challenge and from my own networking experiences. They may not all be new ideas, but those I repeat, I repeat for a reason. (Kind of like the idea that cliches exist because they are, at least in part, true.)

1. Play on your strengths. I'm a communications / media relations / marketing person. I am on a lot of list servs and hear about a lot of media queries. So it's not surprising that the place where I did much of my "nurturing" was in forwarding on media opportunities to others. The point: There's no reason your networking activities need to be outside of your comfort zone.
2. Approach every networking situation from a "What can I do for you?" perspective. You aren't an effective networker if you're always looking for how a relationship will benefit you or to find someone who can do something for you. Your first priority should be how you can help others with their goals. Then, when you do need something from your network, they'll be ready and willing to help you out.
3. Don't approach networking with tunnel vision. Every person you meet may not have an immediate and obvious connection to what you do. But you never know how your job, your goals, your responsibilities, and your needs will change over time. So keep an open mind.
   
4. Always network. This was really the purpose of the challenge. You may not have a need for your network today, but if you aren't nurturing it now, when you don't need it, then it won't be there for you when you do need it.
5. Follow up is everything. After you meet someone, find a reason to follow up and reconnect with her. Send a link to an article or blog post you think he might find interesting. Ask if she wants to get coffee to talk about an issue or project in which you both are invested. Invite him to an event you think he might enjoy. Relationships are all about ongoing communications.
   

As I started writing this post, I thought about some other networking tips -- not necessarily related to this challenge -- that I want to share. I'll post those later this week.