SavvyFlack @ H&K!

I realize we may not have officially met, with me jumping into H&K’s Collective Conversations as if we’d known each other since grade school. I’ve taken for granted that you’d simply accept the thoughts shared on this blog even though I’ve neglected you a proper introduction. And, let’s face it, you’ve already met my mother, so shall we start again? Hi. I’m Julie. I’ve been PR-ing 15 years, give or take, at some of the world’s finest agencies, including Fleishman-Hillard, Manning Salvage & Lee and two tours of duty with H&K. Yep, I’m a “big agency” flack, notwithstanding the three years spent at a small 80-, then 50-, then 20-, then 8-person agency that has all but shut its doors in response to the devastating, and decimating, economic situation. I’ve worked with gobs of Fortune 500 brands and countless emerging brands. I remember Bacon’s books (we didn’t have the convenient online media databases that you kids have today), paper press kits snail mailed to media, and friends-and-family stock. I had a stamp that I’d dip in red ink to mark releases as “final” before routing them to the filing cabinet for safekeeping. I cut my teeth pitching Red Herring, Industry Standard, Family PC and Business 2.0. I recall when “bandwidth” (either you have it or you don’t) was the “gimme” in Buzzword Bingo.

So that was all just a ruse to (1) talk about myself and (2) set the stage, albeit in a long-winded way, to get to the point, which is this: so many things have changed in the world of PR in the past decade that I could write a book. But in today’s Web 2.0 world, who books when they can blog? And, since blogs should be snack-sized, I wanted to give you a small thought to chew on… have you noticed a change in our verb repertoire? Yep, verb repertoire. They’ve evolved to reflect the very 2.0 environment we flack in. I’m thinking specifically about the verbs tied to communications strategies. “Then,” flacks (and, by extension, the brands we represented) were very one-way, pushing our spin, hoping audiences would respond. In the 1990s, we announced, released, showed, drove, generated, increased, harnessed and leveraged. “Now,” brands are active participants, dialoguing directly and meaningfully with communities. Today flacks segment, socialize, engage, empower, engender, amplify, activate, innovate, listen, participate and contribute. And, because we are so used to speed (thank you, Google), we no longer “help drive sales,” we now “accelerate sales.” It just sounds so immediate… who could say no?

So, ready to create your own Buzzword Bingo cards for the next meeting? Go to http://www.misterharold.net/joker/bingo/index.htm

And, kids, please be kind, if you take a verb, leave a verb in the comments section.