As you probably already know, last week was the first week of the new show “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.”While I don’t watch many late night shows myself, his is truly one that I have come to enjoy. He brings geeky to a whole new level. Not only is he on Twiter, but he recently attended this year’s CES show.

On Monday night, Jimmy brought on Engadget’s Joshua Topolsky to talk about the new Palm Pre. Not very familar with the other two guests, I quickly jumped to the end of the show to catch this hilarious, but awesome interview. Acting like good ol’ buddies, Jimmy and Josh discussed the new Palm Pre and how it competes with the iPhone.

What really gets me is the fact that so many of my friends don’t know about Twitter or Engadget for that matter! A fellow geek, Jimmy is pushing all of the blogs, articles, social media, etc. that we deal with on an everyday basis into the view of others. Not only that, but he COMMUNICATES to the rest of the world. Commenting on other tech blogs, getting interview questions from Twitter, regularly updating his show’s blog - these are all actions that I find really impressive.

Want to satisfy your inner-geekiness too? Catch Late Night with Jimmy Fallon each weeknight at 12:35E/11:35c (or DVR it!). If not for the geek factor, then at least for the Like it for $10 and other fun segments! Follow @jimmyfallon and @joshuatopolsky for some additional entertainment.

This year, I used the power of social networks to expand my Mobile World Congress experience. In past years, I took a tunnel vision type approach to the show with my experience the sum of previously scheduled meetings and press briefings at the show.  With social networks, you get the sense of being part of a larger experience.

Following other Mobile World Congress attendees on Twitter gives the effect of flipping across multiple channels where you tune in and out of different people’s show experience. Before the show everyone is preparing for and traveling to the show. The effect is like the opening number of a Broadway show, where everyone sets up their roles in the show – like Putting it Together from Sunday in the Park with George. It is hard not to get caught up in the anticipation and the sense that you are part of something bigger.

Each day before I arrived at the show, I checked in on Facebook and Twitter to see what my Tweeps were up to at the show. It ranged from reporters who were providing real-time reports from a seemingly endless run of handset and OS press conferences to hung over people that missed their first meetings of the day. If it was happening people were tweeting it and it created a fascinating kaleidoscope.

Readers of Vantage Points know that I was part of arranging the first Mobile World Congress Tweet Up (an in-person meeting of people on Twitter and other social networks). The Tweet Up was an opportunity to share opinions about the show and the future of mobile. It also generated over 300 hits to Vantage Points. Between the Tweet Up and posts on Facebook and Twitter, I now am part of the global mobile community, although I never had met most of the people before the show.

As we move from Mobile World Congress to CTIA, I intend to build on expanding this social approach to trade shows. Look for a Tweet Up in Las Vegas, and more interaction with the global mobile social community.

The news from Mobile World Congress 2009 had a lack of  breakthrough technology announcements. Rather, the show’s focus was on upgrades, and execution (read, sales). The biggest  news was around application stores to compete with Apple’s App Store. In fact, so many companies announced application stores, that it appeared that GSMA had included in an application store press release in its Exhibitor package.  Even Billing/OSS vendor Amdocs got in on the action. Of course, announcing a store is easy. Filling it with applications that people regularly download is another story, probably one for Mobile World Congress 2010.

On the networking side, the news centered around LTE, a technology that will be used to migrate mobile carrier networks to 4G.  Verizon Wireless named Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson as its primary vendors for its initial LTE network.  LTE is an acronym for Long Term Evolution. True to the name, its deployment is not imminent. This was underlined by key supporter, Vodafone, which announced at the show that it moved back its anticipated deployment date until 2012.

As for the show itself, attendance dropped under 50,000, which was significantly down from recent years. Still, other Telecom trade shows would be ecstatic if they attracted 47,000 official attendees. Lower attendance also meant less people hanging around stands with nothing to do but looking at their Blackberries. The no shows also meant that the number of people better matched the size of the show floor and city. Gone were the 30 minute bathroom lines and most people were able to find rooms in town.

Rather than showcasing the latest and greatest, people came to Barcelona to do business. According to GSMA, 50% of the attendees was C-level.  Accordingly, people that I spoke to unanimously felt that the quality of meetings were very high.

Still, next year will be the real test of the success of this year’s Mobile World Congress. Most companies locked in their 2009 participation in 2008 before the current financial crisis. Strong renewals will mean that the quality over quantity approach is a sustainable business model.

I promised lots of reporting from the show. Accordingly, I have two other Mobile World Congress posts coming up. One will be about social media at Mobile World Congress. The other will be about the difference in mobile phone ownership between the United States and the rest of the world.

But what I found most interesting is that my peers hadn’t prepared me for this revolution. Not just Twitter, but the whole notion of social networking for professional use.  Isn’t my generation supposed to be innovators – the people that change the way society functions?

I’ve been on Facebook for almost five years now and before I started at Vantage I hadn’t once considered using it to gain a professional advantage. I thought of it as something “all the kids” were doing and eventually I would have to grow up, get a job and let my Facebook identity become one my many fond college memories. Turns out, I need to grow up and join more social networking sites!

Much to my confusion, I get the vibe that updating my Facebook status as frequently as I do is not that as well-received by my peers as it is by my employer. It feels like my generation is rebelling the revolution. I can’t help but wonder if we are afraid of being able to connect and talk with people – we started texting to get off the phone, after all. Or maybe we’re so used to being able to hide behind carefully controlled Facebook and MySpace profiles it’s hard to come to terms with the fact that maintaining these profiles can unveil more about yourself than the real world can. Our masks have become transparent.

In the end, I’m relieved that I have discovered the many social networking sites that connect me with a world that’s out of my physical reach.  I’m enthusiastic about the relationships I am building with the professionals in my industry and hope that I can encourage my peers to come around and feel the same way.  

Social networking is a whole new way to see the world and a whole new way to get to know yourself. It’s a challenge to remain interested/interesting and to keep up at all times, but with all challenges come rewards and this one is too big to pass up.

Attention all folks attending Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. There will be a Tweet Up on Wednesday,  February 18, at 5pm. The location will be at 7 Sins, Muntaner 7, 08011. Barcelona, Spain (http://www.7sinsbar.com/). Register for the Tweetup at Upcoming (please click the “I’m Going” tab).

We will post updates here on Vantage Points and on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Check for hash tag #mwc09.  For more information about parties and events at Mobile World Congress, check out the  awesome lists from:

Mobileslate: http://www.mobileslate.com/blog/2009-mobile-world-congress-party-list/

Mobilesociety: http://3gsmevents.wetpaint.com/page/Parties+and+Events

m-Trends: http://tinyurl.com/ct2otk.

Look forward to meeting you there.

Update: Tweet Up location: 7 Sins, Muntaner 7, 08011 on Wednesday Feb. 18 at 5 pm. Please check out http://blog.pr-vantage.com/?p=1036 for more Tweet Up details.

Attention all folks attending Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. There will be a Tweetup on Wednesday,  February 18, at 5pm. The location is still being determined, but it will be in the vicinity of the GoMo News Blender, which is at Belchica: Carrer de Villarroel, 60, 08011, Barcelona.

We will post updates here on Vantage Points and on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Check for hash tag #mwc09

Please feel free to post in the comments section if you are interested in attending. Look forward to meeting you there.

Update: Tweet Up at Mobile World Congresson Wednesday Feb. 18 at 5 pm. Location: 7 Sins, Muntaner 7, 08011. Please check out http://blog.pr-vantage.com/?p=1036 for more Tweet Up details.

Surprisingly, less than a month before Mobile World Congress 2009, no one had set up a hash tag on Twitter for the major wireless industry trade show. A “hash tag” uses the symbol – # – followed by a name to allow people to search and find information on Twitter. With a hash tag, people attending the show could connect with other people at the show. Also, people not attending the show could follow in real-time what was happening at the show.

So into the breach jumped the Vantage Communications team. With the help of Tory Klaubo, we checked out who recently had posted Tweets on Mobile World Congress. We then got a discussion going and came up with #mwc09. Then we tweeted the name out to the community, and it was retweeted and retweeted. Our imediate goal is to connect more people attending the show via Twitter. Eventually, the plan is for me to be Live-Tweeting during the show.

Although social networking will be a hot topic for MWC 09, it is surprising that the organizer, GSMA, is not actively using Twitter, Facebook, etc. to enhance the experience of people attending the show. There have been sporadic posts on social media about trying to make a connection. Yet, there seems to be a large void in connecting these people. With travel budgets under siege, trade show organizers need to go the extra mile. Using social media to make connection seems like an easy and inexpensive way to add value.

Until this comes to pass, Vantage is stepping up. Join us by spreading the word about the show via Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. To keep up with my Mobile World Congress experiences, follow me on Twitter: @robadler. If you want to meet at the show, e-mail info [at] pr-vantage.com, leave your contact information in the comments or send me a message on Twitter.  But social networking will only be successful if  we all are responsible and take action. Look forward to connecting with you.

When news of yesterday’s US Airways crash broke…how did you hear about it? Was it a “Breaking News” email from a news conglomerate? Was it a text message from a friend in NYC? Or was it on Twitter?  Eric Zeman from InformationWeek noticed that many people were, in fact, getting this breaking news from Twitter.  

Almost immediately, he posted the article – “Twitter Spreads News of U.S. Airways Crash In An Instant.”  In the article, he says, “Today was yet another indicator that Twitter is the way we’re going to consume breaking news in the future. I learned about the US Airways Hudson River plane crash before it was on CNN.com, NYTimes.com and FOXnews.com.”

I did a quick search for “US Airways” on Twitter Search, and the search tool couldn’t even keep up with the results. As you will see in this screen shot, I think I saw the press release from the U.S. Airways website before it even hit the wire.

So what does this mean for media and public relations as we know it?  In 2009, I expect we will see more and more breaking news via Twitter, as “citizen journalists” are Tweeting things the moment they happen.  That means that we need to account for  the immediacy and interactivity of Twitter and social media as part of how we communicate. That does not mean that mainstream media does not have a role; more people saw the incredible pictures shared on Twitter via print and TV (they were linking there) than on Twitter.  But it does mean that the first pictures we see are not going to be from when the news cameras arrive at the scene.

Of course, breaking news is not the main reason to follow Twitter. I know my colleagues and I are on Twitter through the day, joining the conversation, Tweeting our clients announcements and sharing links we find interesting relating to anything and everything. I’m following what is going with Tweeps from DC that I find interesting, editors at BusinessWeek, and even mom bloggers. Everyone brings something to the conversation. And with Twitter, you get to create your own personal newsfeed.

So hop on the Twitter bandwagon. It may be your best source for breaking news in 2009. And you might even participate in some news yourself.

Channel surfing last night, I came across Meow Mix Think Like a Cat Game Show which purported to be the first game show in which “catestants” (I did not make that one up) and their owners compete as a team for $1 million. Given the off the charts possibilities for massive unintentional comedy, I had to watch. Let’s just say they exceeded my most optimistic expectations in the first 10 minutes.

If you don’t believe me, here are some of the initial reviews. According to the New York Times, it was “not only one of the most embarrassing half-hours in the history of television, it is also a significant step toward the collapse of civilized society.” Game show blogger Carrie Grovsenor went with “GSN’s ‘Think Like a Cat Game Show’ Should be Put Down”

So why am I blogging about a bad TV show on Vantage Points? As the name of the show implies, this the real purpose of this traffic-accident of programming was a marketing promotion. So how did it do on those terms? Like everything else associated with this show: very badly.

The first “competition” was a race where the catestants had to travel a distance of six feet to where their owner was standing. The bait was an open can of the sponsor’s food. The results: two cats reluctantly walked to the food. Five did not make a move. One walked toward the food, and then walked away.

In the press release for the show a Del Monte executive was quoted as saying, “Meow Mix has always understood what makes cats happy.” Unfortunately for Meow Mix, 3/4 of the catestants obviously begged to differ. As a former cat owner, my initial thought was that was why they do not do live commercials with cats. Then I realized that this show was taped.

One of the most important goals of marketing is to communicate credibility for the company, product and brand. This promotion was an epic fail on those terms. Perhaps, if the show were done as self-satire, it might have worked. But instead, the producers and sponsors are probably doomed to sending an endless number of take down notices on YouTube.

Of course, there also is a PR issue. The name of the show in the headline of the press release was “Meow Mix(R) Think Like a Cat Game Show(TM).” To the press, putting the name of the sponsor in the name screams promotion and not programming. This is a message that the New York Times received loud and clear, “the overarching problem with “Think Like a Cat,” of course, is the merging of infomercial and entertainment that it represents.”

The trademark references in the headline also do not help. Yes, protecting IP is important. But there are many ways to do so effectively in a press release without making it look like marketing material or a legal document.

Those interested still can catch Millionaire Cat in repeats on GSN. If not, it is only a matter of time before it makes it way to YouTube. According to Promo Magazine, this show could morph into a series. That is great news for comedy lovers. For marketers, more fodder for the litter box.

I was thinking about how words change over time and how words are added to our lexicon. The problem with using new words or jargon is that they exclude understanding by people not in that particular field, region or perhaps demographic. We need to quell the temptation to use such words in press releases and presentations.

Not to insult “hockey moms”—one of the newest words in our vocabulary, for which I should be shunned for using, but ask yourself if your average hockey mom/Joe on the street would understand the term. These new words often lose meaning fast and becoming jokingly trite. (Remember those words we looked for in playing Word Bingo during meetings—those are the ones you should avoid). Some new words of which to be aware that I found on WordSpy.

transliteracy n. The ability to read and write using multiple media, including traditional print media, electronic devices, and online tools.

DWT abbr. Driving while texting; driving a car while reading or sending text messages; and

freemium adj. Relating to a business model that offers basic services free, but charges a premium for advanced or special features.

I am not totally against the use of jargon. Every industry needs its own language to describe terms and create a sense of community. My issue is with writing that contains so much jargon, idioms and gobbledygook that it is incomprehensible.

I add to my list of jargon acronyms—is ATM a banking device or a transport technology? Is a PO a purchase order or probation officer? We also need to avoid using words that have become so broad that they’re meaningless, namely “flexible,” “scalable,” “groundbreaking,” and “cutting-edge” and instead share what makes the element of this flexible, scalable product groundbreaking.

In other words, we need to choose our words carefully to convey what we want to say so that our message will be understood.