PR folks now have their own nest in the Twitterverse. On Jan. 9 at roughly 2:00 p.m. ET, Twitter is introducing a new chat room specifically focusing on the PR field and pop culture.
#BareItAll will be a freewheeling vehicle to chatter about all things PR. We shudder to think what will be revealed on #BareItAllNights, which launches at 10 p.m.
Jeff Barrett, CEO of @StatusCreative, who has 70,000-plus followers on Twitter, created the new Twitter hashtags.
This being Twitter, the new hashtags will probably get a fair share of dross, which is fine. But for the more business-minded PR professionals, the chats should serve as a robust vehicle to discuss the most pressing issues facing PR execs at both the corporate and agency levels.
Here are a few PR areas to chime in on and see what sort of intelligence bubbles up to the surface:
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Groundhog Day for PR measurement: In one form or another it seems as if PR measurement has been around since dirt was invented. The issue has a Groundhog-Day quality to it. Use #BareItAll to get a sense of what’s truly working in PR measurement (in terms of providing legitimate returns) and what is just another example of insanity: redoubling your efforts after having forgotten your aim.
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Breaking Down the Silos: By now all of the folks involved in marketing communications (PR, marketing, advertising, social media gurus) should be sitting around the campfire, singing Kumbaya. But the promise of integrated communications is still a few dozen miles away from delivering, with the disciplines involved subject to different budgets and different compensation.
Look to #BareItAll to chat about (and learn from) how PR folks can have an impact on breaking down the silos so the people involved in marcomm are legitimate partners rather than people who meet once or twice a month and insist their communications is integrated. -
Appealing to the C-suite: #BareItAll, at least on paper (sorry), should be a welcome opportunity for PR pros to learn more about how to enhance their visibility with the C-suite. Sure, the CFO wants his or her PR execs to stop having such a torturous relationship with numbers. |
But just how do PR execs, who are versed in the arts, go about embracing the science? This is yet another opportunity for seasoned PR pros, who do have a seat at the table (and the confidence of the C-suite), to share their wealth and thought leadership with people who are coming up in the business and are in it for the long haul.
Follow Matthew Schwartz: @mpsjourno1