In IT, a black box is a program that measures output against input in complex systems.
This Black Box is designed to help companies achieve a similar goal in PR. Black Box provides our candid input—based on several lifetimes of experience—for companies that want to measure and improve the performance of PR programs.
This just in: Major offshore tech firm opens its first U.S. office. They leased space, installed comms systems, put up a sign, hired staff and printed business cards. They did everything, in fact, except tell customers. Seems somebody flicked the mute button on PR. What a waste.
Seth Godin writes that authors shouldn’t plan on making money from their books unless they’ve already done so. Working for free is a key plank of “Freeconomics” marketing. But when this concept penetrates business at a more general level — as is happening — it’s poison to profits.
In tech PR, blogging for business — or any aspect of communications — there are certain things “one just doesn’t do.” Or so say those in the know. But what do they know, really? Personally, I’ve always leaned toward the things I’m not supposed to. Common sense can be a bore. I love iconoclasm.
Yesterday’s Telecom Hub meeting, a monthly conclave of Washington, DC-area communications industry folk, may have convened under the gray skies of a chilly Spring day, but most speakers seemed almost sunny about the sector’s future.
Every year, tech PR departments and their agencies begin the rite of reviewing editorial calendars for the coming months’ story opportunities. Is the ritual still worth the time in today’s fast-changing media environment?
Clearwire made waves this week with a bold dare to customers: “Go ahead, use more mobile data.” With rising complaints about slow networks, this is a brilliant way to attract bandwidth-hungry users. And it brings to mind another capacity issue: Are companies using their full PR bandwidth?
If you followed telecom industry news over the last month, you may have noticed a pair of signature events: In separate initiatives, Verizon and PAETEC expanded their presence in the energy sector. Over the long term their actions could have a strong impact on two naturally kindred markets — communications and energy.
My last exposure to math was the final question in a high school physics exam: “If a dog is sitting at the bottom of a six-foot window and sees a man fall past, how fast is the man plummeting?” My answer: “What’s the dog got to do with it?” Since that day I’ve nurtured a healthy distrust of math, which — fortunately for me — has no place in my chosen profession of PR.
Last week my phone went dead. I called Verizon. Ten minutes later a black-clad Verizon tech support SWAT team swooped in by helicopter, jumped out and rushed my Network Interface Device with screwdrivers drawn.
Yesterday a colleague called, all aglow that he’d placed a “major blog comment” on a national news article for one of his clients. “Major blog comment?” I mused. “Um. . .Isn’t that a contradiction in terms?”
