New technologies are always evolving and changing the way we communicate. According to research from IPG’s Universal McCann and AOL, “One out of every seven minutes of media consumption today takes place via mobile devices…That’s expected to grow by 60 percent over the next two years.” Many of our clients are looking into website redesigns in order to make them more mobile-friendly. It’s interesting to see this shift. No longer is just having a blog good enough. Now it must be mobilized. And in doing so, we are finding that content must be refreshed more frequently, so as not to get lost in the shuffle

MediaPost recently reported on a new survey by Princeton Survey Research International, which found that 90 percent of Internet users between 18 – 29 use video sharing sites, up from 72 percent one year ago. But that’s not all. Online adults ages 30 – 49 also showed big gains over the past year; 67 percent now use video-sharing sites, up from 57 percent in 2008. So we now work with our clients to produce more video content and add pictures and videos to press releases.

Additionally, how we get news and information is changing on a regular (dare I say, daily?) basis. As PR professionals, we focus on people who are influencers. Traditionally, this has been the media or industry analysts. While these folks remain influential, there is a new group of influencers. There are blogs that comment on or repackage the news, some of whom have larger followings than the original content (e.g. Gawker).  People  now regularly forward news to their friends and colleagues via social networks and Twitter.

PR is also an ever-evolving game. Not so long ago, press releases went out via fax. You read that right, fax. That little machine in the corner of the copy room that the interns look at in bewilderment. That was cutting edge. Then came e-mail. Now, as how people get their news is in a state of constant change, we are continually adapting to make sure that we are getting the word out to the right people in the way they want to receive it.  I guess it is not surprising that change has come to news, which after all, is the business of reporting on change.

At last week’s IT Expo in Miami, John Frederiksen, General Manager of Microsoft’s Response Point gave the keynote address.  Response Point is Microsoft’s small business phone system software also known as an IP PBX for small to medium-sized businesses.

Using one of the most over-used phrases since “is that your final answer?” Frederiksen noted that “in this economy” companies are particularly interested in saving time and money while increasing productivity and growing one’s business.  With these goals in mind, these businesses need to resolve issues such as prioritizing the myriad messages received in order to avoid communications overload and make sense of inputs.

To meet these challenges, they are turning to unified communications, which bring its own challenges related to device and network suitability, price/value and availability. There are many unified communications solutions available including a great one from our client, Objectworld. While any of the above could be fodder for a blog, I’d like to focus on communication that goes beyond features and functions.

In the telecom industry, we also hear the phrase, “SMBs are in whatever business they’re in—manufacturing, professional services, finance, etc.—and not in the business of running phone systems or communications.” They may not have an IT department and dedicated staff that can do moves, adds, changes and so forth.

True, but isn’t communications part of  every business? No company lives in a vacuum, but must communicate among employees and with customers and suppliers. What is the message your company is conveying? Are staff easily accessible to customers? How difficult is it to reach people on the phone? Do people answer their phones or do the majority of calls land in voice mail necessitating time lost to return phone calls? Is the problem the phone system, the employees or the corporate culture?

At the conference, I spoke on customer service and the importance of treating customers as though they are king and not an intrusion. If customers cannot reach your company, they’ll go elsewhere-plain and simple. If your company is not making a good impression, customers will go elsewhere. Communication extends beyond mobile phones, emails, IP PBX and unified services. It extends beyond press releases and contributed articles. Bottom line—never think that your company is not in the business of communication whether it’s the phone system, outbound marketing or call centers.

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.

Recently, someone posted the Twitter addresses of all of the BusinessWeek editorial staff. What makes this especially interesting was that the poster was not a hacker or a wayward PR person, it was John Byrne, Editor in Chief of BusinessWeek.  In his article, Byrne stated:

“Two months ago, in a post entitled Twittering Your Way Into Our Newsroom, I invited readers to follow me and partake in an experiment to bring the outside in and the inside out. Some 2,640 people are now following me. Thousands of others are following the more than 30 journalists at BusinessWeek who are now on Twitter.

So if you are on Twitter, I invite you into our newsroom via my Tweets.”

The article resulted in the BW editors and reporters on the list receiving a spike of followers on Twitter. Of course, some of the people who took Byrne up on his invitation were PR folks.  The reaction to the reporters to PR folks in the newsroom was decidedly mixed. Some sent tweets welcoming their new followers. On the other hand, Steven Baker, one of the reporters, responded with a blog post, Freak out: Twitter infested by PR.  Baker noted that reporters “thought they shared their Twitter streams with a small group of friends and colleagues—and suddenly dozens of strangers were jumping on: Flacks!”  Baker estimates that half of his 2500 followers are PR folk.

The result is not particularly surprising.  Social media is becoming an important part of every PR campaign. PR agencies need to master social media tools before we can advise our clients on how to use them.  Tom Foremski of Silicon Valley Watcher said it bluntly, “I’ve always said that PR firms cannot claim to know anything about new/social media if they aren’t using it themselves.” 

This is one of the key reason that we created Vantage Points, and I proudly note that 17  people at Vantage have written posts for our blog. It also is why everyone at Vantage is on Facebook (including the CEO), we have our own Facebook Group, and most of us are twittering. For those of you who haven’t used Twitter, its like Facebook on speed, without all the pretty pictures.

So as the media and PR agencies jump into social media, we are finding that it is changing the way we interact with each other.  Facebook and Twitter shine a light on each other beyond the byline and the press release. Sometimes, it means that we see the frustrations that we each face in doing our jobs. Other times, it is sharing parts of our lives that are outside work, such as sharing opinions and recommendations on music.  Moreover, to help briidge the gap, there is now a  Journchat on Twitter,  which is a weekly (Mon 7-10pm CST) conversation between journalists, bloggers and public relations folks.

I also understand  how Stephen Baker felt.  That initial realization of being out in the open can catch you unaware.  I remember the first time someone outside Vantage (an editor!)  joined our group on Facebook.  It felt like someone snuck into our clubhouse.  But we quickly realized that it is really cool thing, and now encourage it.

And now, as John Byrne did…I invite you to follow me and some of my Vantage colleagues on Twitter:

@Robadler

@JenniferKutz

@lydhow

@CatrionaHarris

@lmchen

@cynthialai

@MarieGoltara

@rachelmarshall

@Klister

@toryk

@bschweitzer

@lyndastarr

@ar_perry

A tip of the hat to Catriona Harris for helping make sure this is the last post for 2008; rather than the first of 2009. 

Often times we don’t realize how dependent we are of the Internet from day to day. Whether it’s checking local movie times, email, blogs or just researching something new, it’s an everyday convenience that we take for granted. Nicole Ferraro of Internet Evolution, dishes her recent “loss of Internet” experience, going to the extent of stating, “At this moment, there’s a certain chunk of my life lost somewhere out there in cyberspace, and I’m not all that sure that I mind.”

In PR, we often count on the Internet to track news, find contacts, do presentations, discover new trends, etc… But, as you work on your PR campaign, do you ever consider the dependency of other countries on the Internet. Is blogging as prominent in Europe? How advanced is the Internet in China? These are questions we are taking into consideration every day.

Peter Shankman’s interview with David Brain goes into some detail about the difference between PR in Europe compared to the U.S. As for China, Mashable’s Stan Schroeder writes, “China now has more Internet users than the USA, which is at 223.1 million with 71% online penetration.” He goes on to write, that although China is now the world leader when it comes to Internet users, the government has tight restriction over content and censorship.

These are all points to consider when extending your PR reach to an international audience. At Vantage, we have a strong understanding of reaching out to people across “the pond.” Not only do we have numerous international clients and media outlets whom we communicate with on a daily basis, but members of our team have also studied and worked in other countries, including Taiwan, France and Israel.

A common concern among telecom vendors is the issue of bandwidth. In the age of YouTube and BitTorrent, we have seen an increase in demand for high-bandwidth applications and services such as video, and this demand only seems to be getting bigger.

So what does this mean for those in the telecom business and for users on the receiving end? According to an article by Kevin Fitchard of Telephony, the Internet is going to…break.

At NXTcomm this year, IDC-Tellabs did a survey of the attendees and found that a majority “believe consumer demands and carriers are on a collision course.” Meaning the Internet is going to “break.”

What exactly does “break” mean?
Well, according to Lee Doyle, group vice president and general manager of IDC’s network infrastructure and security products division it’s open to interpretation.

“Broken could apply to the business model, or it could be taken more literally: a feeling that capacity and user experience will degrade as the costs of maintain the infrastructure of the Internet rise” said Doyle. “Regardless of the interpretation, though, there is a definite and strong concern in the industry that the way broadband is offered today cannot keep pace with the growing demand of subscribers.”

For now, operators are taking different approaches to address the need for more bandwidth and until there’s some sort of official regulation, everyone will continue to try to solve this problem with their own solutions.

By the way, did you know that video already takes up about 30% of all Internet traffic and that it is only going to grow and be an even bigger bandwidth hog?