Useful Tip: Two top execs review entries on Southwest's popular blog before they go live

A useful tidbit that came out of our well-attended session on Corporate & CEO blogging at BlogWorld Expo last week was this: one of two top execs at Southwest Airlines (in PR and communications) reviews each entry before it goes live on the popular Nuts About Southwest blog.

Inside the underbelly of corporate blogging

Southwest's Brian Lusk (Blog Boy) says they can get turnaround in a matter of hours if it's urgent. Otherwise, explained Paula Berg (Southwest's Blog Girl), they maintain an editorial calendar and try and have a bunch of posts lined up in advance - to give the execs more time for review. 

From my experience, this isn't an unusual system. Just goes to show there is plenty of protocol and process in the underbelly of corporate blogging.

Thanks to my fab panel for a really informative session. Thanks to Simon Chen, Nancy Arter, The Scratching Post and Fiat Lux for blogging it.

Who's in the photo?

First row left to right: Jenny Cisney of Kodak; Paula Berg of Southwest; Debbie Weil; John Earnhardt of Cisco. Back row: Pete Johnson of HP and Brian Lusk of Southwest.

Corporate blogging lessons from Google's blogging gaffe

Google's blogging gaffe happened over a week ago and there's still a flap about it in the blogosphere and in MSM (mainstream media).

A quick recap, Google employee Lauren Turner, a sales rep for Google ads, gave Michael Moore's new film, Sicko, a thumbs down in a sort-of-review on Google's new Health Advertising blog.

She then invited "health insurers, health providers, and pharmaceutical companies" (her words) - the targets of Moore's criticism of limited access to costly healthcare - to get their own version of the story across by placing ads on Google.

Oops, she crossed a line there.

Partisan politics are dicey on a corporate blog

It's not so much that this Google blogger said something politically incorrect: "Do No Evil" Google coming out against Michael Moore's film?? (That drove the blogosphere wild.) Nor that she blatantly promotes Google's advertising services. But that she crossed the line into partisan politics.

Think about it. Supposing she had come out with the opposing view, saying this was the greatest movie ever made, and suggesting that readers take out ads in praise of the film. Wouldn't that have the same feeling of "crossing a line" into a partisan statement, one that urges political action?

No one would deny that America's healthcare system is hugely flawed. Access to healthcare is one of the most highly charged issues in this country. But wading into a divisive and combustible issue on a corporate blog - and expressing a political point of view about it - strikes me as dicey.

Google's official corporate blog issued a retraction of sorts. I.e., it focuses on clarifying Google's political position on healthcare (Google "does share many of the concerns that Mr. Moore expresses about the cost and availability of health care in America"). It would have made more sense, IMHO, to parse exactly why Lauren Turner's original blog post was inappropriate.

3 (obvious) corporate blogging lessons

Here are three pointers for corporate blogging. They're not new, nor are they original. But they bear re-stating, in view of Google's blogging gaffe:

1. Be authentic

That means use an "authentic voice" and say what you're really thinking. Lauren Turner's Sicko post had the ring of a salesperson's spin. It sounded like she was using her "opinion" about Sicko as a way to promote Google's AdSense program. (Read Mike O'Sullivan's comment.)

2. Be transparent

If you're one of numerous authors on a corporate blog, be absolutely clear when you're expressing your own opinion vs. your company's.

3. Apologize if you make a mistake

Google got this one right. And even went further. As a Google spokesperson told the San Francisco Chronicle:

"We try to ensure that what is in them (Google's over 50 blogs) represents the company, but we also try to make them interesting and not too traditional and corporate," he said. "We hope to get even better at it over time, but we'll probably also make more mistakes."
- San Francisco Chronicle (July 5, 2007)

BONUS TIP: Steer clear of politics and religion unless there's a compelling strategic reason. For example, your company has decided to adopt a green (environmentally friendly) strategy on everything you do.

Useful Links

Google Faux Pas Retracted (TechCrunch, July 1, 2007)

Crossing the Corporate Line (San Francisco Chronicle, July 5, 2007)

Company Blogging 101 by Google spam engineer Matt Cutts

Google's Authentic Voice Problem (O'Reilly Radar)

Google official blog's M.O. (Three-year anniversary of Google's original corporate blog, June 15, 2007)

Take Melcrum's Social Media Survey

My friends over at Melcrum Publishing are running a Social Media Usage survey. Click here to take it (it's quick).

You get a nifty free download at the end: Melcrum's Quick Start Guide to Social Media for Internal Communicators (a 23-page PDF).

The survey is aimed at large corporations and asks about your use (or intended use) of blogs, wikis, podcasts, social bookmarking tools, RSS, Second Life, online video, etc.

Social Media for Internal Communicators in London - March 22, 2007

I'm speaking at Melcrum's social media conference in London in a couple of weeks. Topic: What's Your Story? Getting the Tone and Content of Blogs Right. Attendees will get a copy of my Content Strategy Workbook -- one of the things that will be included in... (drum roll)... The Corporate Blogging Toolkit.

I'm developing it now. It's an extension of The Corporate Blogging Book, designed to be a practical blueprint and manual to launch a corporate or CEO blog.

Consider this a below-the-radar announcement. More TK.

WOMMA gets practical with ethics: Dell signs up to say, "We get it and we're gonna do it"

WOMMA CEO Andy Sernovitz is up to more of his tricks (jeesh, does this guy know how to create buzz) but this time* I think he's got it spot on.

"Smart companies like Dell know that ethics isn't optional - it's the first priority in the consumer-generated environment," said Andy Sernovitz.
- from a Dell press release (Nov. 9, 2006)

Andy has gotten two top execs at Dell to publicly announce that the company - a relatively new player in the Fortune 500 corner of the blogosphere - is incorporating WOMMA's Ethics Adoption Toolkit into its blog policy. The principal ingredients of the Ethics Toolkit are:

- transparency of origin

- accuracy

- ethical conduct

- protection of confidential information

- enforcement and discipline

The ethics guidelines apply to internal (employee) and external (customer) communications via blogs and other social media tools. As well as to third party vendors (i.e. PR firms and agencies that big companies are hiring).

The latter is an interesting reminder that ultimately a company is responsible for the actions of its vendors (think Wal-Mart and Edelman).

Download Dell's Blog Policy (dated Nov. 9, 2006)

Is WOMMA the right group to sanction Edelman for violation of a social media ethics code?

* It's another question whether WOMMA is the right entity to call Edelman on the carpet (WOMMA has announced that Edelman's membership has been suspended for 90 days) for the PR firm's mishandling of the fake Wal-Marting Across America blog. My first response to this was, er, this is preposterous. Why should Edelman care what WOMMA thinks or does?

Here's one of the corrective actions in WOMMA's announcement: "Provide a briefing to the WOMMA Executive Committee to fully explain the details of the incident."

Let's get real here - how likely is it that Edelman will comply with this request??

BTW, I've just done a Google search and (unless I've missed it) I can't find Edelman's reaction to being suspended from membership in WOMMA.

My second reaction is... well someone needs to step up to the plate and insist on a code of ethics surrounding corporate use of blogs and social media. WOMMA is trying hard. Maybe it's the right group.

Useful Links

20 questions toward ethical word of mouth (Jackie Huba)

WOMMA's Ethics Program

SEC says Go, Blog, Go to big companies

SEC Chairman Christopher Cox has spoken. While he doesn't explicitly use the word "blog," he suggests in his comment on Sun Microsystems' CEO Jonathan Schwartz's blog that corporate Web sites, or blogs, are a very good thing.

SEC chief makes blogging history

Cox created blogging history by leaping into the blogosphere and posting his letter as a comment to Jonathan's blog. The pair have been involved in a rather esoteric back-and-forth about something called RegFD (regulation fair disclosure).

Specifically, Jonathan has requested that corporate Web sites (i.e. blogs) be considered a proper channel for publicly (and broadly) disclosing material business information. Cox has yet to say 'yes' per se but looks like he's leaning that way. Here's what he wrote on Jonathan's blog:

"Jonathan,

I mailed the response to your letter yesterday, but since you're talking about transparency and efficiency in communications, I thought you might appreciate my taking advantage of the Internet’s speed and potential for broad dissemination by posting here as well.

Best,

Chris Cox

---
November 2, 2006

Mr. Jonathan Schwartz
Chief Executive Officer
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Mailstop UMPK10-244
10 Network Circle
Menlo Park, CA 94025

Dear Mr. Schwartz:

Thank you for your September 25, 2006 letter. In your letter, you suggest that, in light of the evolution of the Internet, the Commission should state that certain types of corporate website postings, including electronic mail alerts, would satisfy the broad non-exclusionary dissemination conditions of Regulation FD.

...I believe strongly that the Internet is a powerful tool that can be used effectively by corporations and all market participants to provide information to the market and investors. The Internet can empower investors to obtain and evaluate information about companies, and its potential has not yet been fully exploited..."

- SEC Chairman Christopher Cox in a comment posted to Jonathan Schwartz's blog (Nov. 3, 2006)

Conjecture on why there's a debate about corporate blogs and RegFD

What's interesting about this little debate is that there's any debate at all. Of course corporate Web sites (and blogs - which are a kind of Web site) are a way to "broadly" disseminate information. If it's a public blog, an investor has instant access to the information whether he or she visits the site or gets the update via an RSS newsreader.

The current system is multi-step and seems rather indirect to me. Companies issue a press release, the business press pick it up, pull what they want from it and publish their story "reporting" on the company's earnings announcement.

Me thinks the real problem here is that if companies transmit their earnings releases via a blog post, that obviates the need for mainstream media to "announce" the news to investors.

Useful Links

Wall Street Journal's Law Blog (WSJnl blogger Peter Lattman is miffed - OK, tongue-in-cheek - because the SEC Chairman didn't leave a comment on his blog; yet another example of MSM wanting to be first on important stuff - dontcha think?)

SEC Chief Suggests Blogs For Disclosures (Washington Post, Nov. 7, 2006)

SEC chief posts to CEO blog (IR Magazine, Nov. 7, 2006)

"The concept of a company using its own web site to release important financial information is a controversial one. For one, hackers could post fake information to blogs. Others note that companies themselves could manipulate material after posting it. It also simply up-ends the established order. 'Can a company bypass the mainstream channels and be its own news service?' asks Debbie Weil, corporate and CEO blogging consultant. 'It seems scary and different.'"
- by Anna Snider in IR Magazine

Private letters turn into public conversations (Daniela Barbosa makes the point that the blog exchange between Schwartz and Cox demonstrates "the power of social media tools - enhancement of the creation, distribution and consumption of information.")

IBM's blogger-in-chief Christopher Barger on the 4 times he's had to "drop the hammer" on IBM bloggers

Here's an interesting nugget from SNCR's Inaugural Research Symposium in Boston today. It's a great look inside a Fortune 500 and how they're managing employee blogging.

Four reprimands to IBM bloggers in 18 months

IBM's Christopher Barger, known as Blogger-in-Chief, just told the audience he's only had to "drop the hammer" four times on IBM bloggers since Big Blue launched their blogging initiative 18 months ago.

Barger is on the New Media Communications Team at IBM, which is part of the Strategic Communications group (publishes the annual report, etc.). Formerly a speechwriter for IBM, he moved to his current position after his managers discovered an external personal blog he'd been writing for a year. Rather than disciplining him, they said "Hey, we gotta deal with this stuff and you're the guy to do it."

Three of the times he had to call IBM bloggers on the carpet were for internal blogs; once it was for an external blog posting by a developer.

One of the internal blogs was religiously-themed, Barger said, but "tasteful." However, publicly discussing religion is heavily discouraged by HR.

Another of the internal blogs was "slagging on [the blogger's] manager," Christopher said. The manager's name wasn't included but there were "very specific details."

The outside blog incident was an inadvertent posting by a developer. He posted something about a product he was working on that IBM was contractually forbidden from revealing. Christoper contacted the guy and he removed the post "within five minutes."

On the ROI of IBM's blogging initiative

Says Christopher:

1. Morale is up, as measured by HR, over the past 18 months.

2. Blogging is free; there's no cost.

3. Blogging adds to the "relationship selling" that IBM espouses. I.e. developing relationships with the community that IBM is part of - as well as selling to.

On why Mark Jen was fired from Google

"Off the record," Christoper says jokingly... "Are there any bloggers in the audience?" Mark's offending blog postings were frowned upon by Google's marketing and communications folks, Chris told us. They were unhappy with ceding control of the message.

In this case, it related to Mark's disclosure on his Google blog of - yet another - positive earnings report for the company.  Not exactly news BUT I have to take the side of the Marcomm team here. Generally, there should be agreement at a company as to who can say what... and when... about news such as product launches and financial results. Does that make sense? Anyway, that's what blogging guidelines are for.

Google doesn't have an official published blogging policy (unless I"ve missed it). But in IBM's Blogging Policy I think this particular issue (revealing information normally handled by another channel) is discouraged.

Useful Links

Blogging at Big Blue: an Interview (with Chrisopher Barger)

IBM's blogger in chief - The (UK) Times, May 26, 2006

Flogging, Wal-Marting and Edelman's non-response

Update: Richard Edelman responds here (90 96 comments) and then here. Steve Rubel here (over 50 comments).

I'm a huge fan of the folks at Edelman, particularly Steve Rubel and Phil Gomes and Guillaume du Gardier in Paris. So I have no idea what's up with Edelman's non-response to the outing of the Wal-Marting Across America blog as a paid-for publicity stunt.

Definition of flogging

Flogging refers to a new blog-ism: fake blogging - as coined used by MediaPost reporter Tom Siebert in his article: Pro-Wal-Mart Travel Blog Screeches to a Halt. Full disclosure: Tom interviewed me and quotes me in the article. He also quoted me in his follow-up article (see below).

[Correction: flog was coined by Matthew Oliphant.] 

I'm inclined to think that a lot of wires got crossed on this one.

About ten months ago Wal-Mart retained Edelman to work on blogger relations with them to counter the stream of negative press the company is getting. One of the things Edelman did was suggest that Wal-Mart create Working Families for Wal-Mart (WFFWM). Hard to believe that the Edelman team would then give Wal-Mart such bad advice, as in:

Here's how to behave in the corporate blogosphere: fake it

I.e. get WFFWM to pay a photographer (Jim) and a freelance writer (Laura) to pretend they just happen to be driving across America in an RV. Oh and they just happen to park each night in the RV-friendly Wal-Mart parking lots. Oh and they just happen to photograph and interview lots of happy Wal-Mart employees. Oh and then they post this happy chronicle to the Wal-Marting Across America blog.

(All the entries have now been removed except the final semi-explanatory one by Laura.)

Oops - that didn't work

Turns out "Jim" is Washington Post photographer James Thresher (who's now in deep sushi with Wash Post executive editor Len Downie). His girlfriend "Laura" is Laura St. Claire (whose brother happens to be an Edelman employee).

Steve Rubel, are you listening?

So far there's no comment on this corporate blogging snafu (don't know if I'd go so far as to call it a fiasco) on Richard Edelman's CEO blog, nor on Steve Rubel's Micro Persuasion.

Another way Edelman could have handled this

As I told the MediaPost's Tom Siebert:

"What would they lose to have said, 'we're sending two people around the country to talk to people at Wal-Mart,'" says corporate blogging consultant Debbie Weil, author of "The Corporate Blogging Book." "It could have even been funny--they could have made it self-deprecating, really loosened up and it would have been so much more effective as a PR strategy. Instead, they went with that whole Madison Avenue lie that everything is perfect, which people can't stand."

- MediaPost (Oct. 13, 2006)

Useful Links

Wal-Mart's Jim and Laura: The Real Story (Business Week - Oct. 8, 2006)

WashPost Photog's Wal-Mart Trip Violates Paper's Policy (Editor & Publisher - Oct. 11, 2006)

WaPo Photog To Repay Wal-Mart Group for Blog Expenses (MediaPost - Oct. 13, 2006)

Blogs, splogs & flogs: edelman and the wal-mart fiasco (bizhack - Oct. 12, 2006)

PR bloggers respond to Wal-Mart / Edelman controversy (from Wal-Mart Watch)

Defending and Defining the Blog Culture (Toby Bloomberg - Oct. 13, 2006)

Wal-Mart: On the Importance of Being Ernest (Kami Huyse - Oct. 13, 2006)

Edelman is wading - happily - into the new field of blogger relations with its Wal-Mart blogger campaign

There's a must-read article in today's NYTimes on the issue of blogger relations: Wal-Mart Enlists Bloggers in PR Campaign. The article talks about Edelman PR's efforts to feed tidbits to a group of bloggers to generate positive coverage for the corporation (which is being criticized by pro-union activists for paying low wages and not offering health benefits).

Lee Odden posted to Business Blog Consulting with an entry titled: Wal-Mart Blog PR Backfires. I don't think that's quite accurate. In fact, the blogger campaign seems to be working quite nicely. And I'm not sure there's anything wrong with it. I responded with this comment (my words are in italics):

The NYTimes brings up lots of issues to ponder:

[snip]

- Are some citizen journalists - aka bloggers - unaware of journalistic conventions like quoting, attributing sources, checking facts, etc.? Seems likely to me. (Although I don’t know enough about this particular case to make that judgment.) [Read Jeff Jarvis's helpful blog entry, in reponse to the Times story, with advice for bloggers. Read Dan Gillmor on Bloggers and Disclosure.]

- Should Edelman be engaging in this kind of blogger relations? Hmmm… why not. [Read Richard Edelman's blog entry commenting on the Times piece and explaining more about Edelman's blogger relations practice.] The bloggers who are being approached need to be super savvy about the information they’re being fed. In other words, they need to act more like mainstream journalists and ask lots more questions themselves.

Fascinating to read is the email exchange between Edelman account exec Marshall Manson (who clearly identifies himself as being with Edelman, including his phone number) and blogger Rob Port of SayAnythingBlog. You can download it as a PDF here. Pay close attention. You'll see that "flattery will get you everywhere" is a great technique.

Writes Edelman's Manson in the email exchange: "Just wanted you [Rob Port] to know that your post taking notice of "Why Wal-Mart Works" was noticed here and at the corporate headquarters in Bentonville." He then proceeds to invite Port to Wal-Mart's 2nd Annual Media Conference on April 18-19.

In fact, the back story to this NYTimes story is more interesting than the article. Read Bob Crazy Politico's Rantings Beller's account of his interview here and here with the Times - "a paper I basically loathe," he writes. 

Why you should play nice in the blogosphere

SixApart co-founder and president Mena Trott made some interesting comments about blogging and civility at LesBlogs this week in Paris (Dec. 5-6, 2005). Then, while she was still on stage, she and an audience member exchanged some contentious words. Stick to your guns, Mena. You're a good thinker and a good writer and I happen to agree with your perspective on civility.

Read the text of Mena's LesBlogs speech here on her blog.

Follow the blogging trail about the LesBlogs incident here on Technorati. Or watch the video of the incident. Unnerving if only as a reminder that nothing, absolutely nothing, is immune from being captured online.

But back to Mena's thoughts on blogging and civility. Her point, really, was that what you say on a blog is permanent and that you're accountable for creating that record.  Why stir up a controversy or create a negative record (which will show up in Google search results) when perhaps... it would be better not to. In other words, just because you can (publish anything instantly and effortlessly via a blog) doesn't mean you should.

As she puts it in her follow-up post:

I think accountability and responsibility is about holding off seemingly anonymous attacks, giving people the benefit of the doubt and understanding that what you say online not only affects others but is part of a permanent record -- a record that, right now, is scary to some watching from afar.

Lawsuits against bloggers are starting to pop up... you may want to add a "Comments Disclaimer" to your blog

You knew it was only a matter of time before lawyers got into the act, right? And I don't mean the many lawyers writing blawgs (as they're called). So far there is very little case law relating specifically to blogs and bloggers. That's changing. A case against a 19-year-old Harvard student who writes a Mac lovers blog called ThinkSecret is (last I heard) pending in California's Supreme Court. Apple contends he leaked proprietary information about the new iMac before the product was officially released.

More recently, blogger Aaron Wall was sued because of allegedly defamatory comments posted on his blog. (8/31/2005 Wall Street Journal: Blogger Faces Lawsuit Over Comments Posted By Readers.) Yes, you read that right. He's being sued because of comments other folks wrote and posted to his blog. The suit alleges that the comments reveal trade secrets about search engine optimization company Traffic-Power. I won't go into detail about the case. Instead I'll send you to...