One of the cool things about running the Water - Use It Wisely conservation campaign are all of the great notes and videos we receive from concerned Earthlings.  In fact, just last week someone sent us a video about the water conservation merits of taking a bath with a friend (A bit creepy to show here).

Today, we received this incredibly thoughtful letter from a fourth grader in Chesterfield, MI, and I just had to share it with you.

Dear Water Use It Wisely,

Water is getting wasted more and more each day. I want to help out and teach people how to conserve water. Please continue reading because your organization is very influential. I had an idea if you could send some workers from your organization to schools all around the world, and they could inform the students about water usage.

Did you know that every minute, 1,000,000,000 (0ne billion) tons of water falls to the earth from rainfall? We are lucky for rainfall water. It helps fill up our lakes. There is about 326,000,000,000,000,000,000 (326 quintillion) gallons of water on Earth. Yes, this is tons, but it is getting wasted. I want to keep this number BIG.

Everyone needs water - so why waste it? I think it is very irresponsible to let the water run when you are not home. The core democratic value, Common Good, supports my issue. This means that we can all work together as a community, country or even continent!

Water conservation is very important. We can use water with respect by making good choices. Take a shower instead of a bath, use an automatic dishwasher instead of hand washing. You can buy Earth-friendly window cleaner spray, so that the bacteria doesn’t get in our drinking water and make it dirty. If your washer isn’t full then don’t start it. With water being wasted every day, by the time we get to the 3000’s we are going to have to survive on milk and juice!!! Won’t that be boring?!?!? That means we have to give our dogs a bowl of juice instead of water with their food. I mean, c’mon, we’re talking real life here!!

Water wasting needs to come to a stop and without delay. Water Use It Wisely, PLEASE inform people about their water usage! It is a big role in my life. It would be really awesome if you take part in spreading the news about this! Thanks tons!!

An impatient fourth grader waiting for a reply,

Mya

We should all be so passionate and eloquent about our good green Earth.

(This post originally appeared yesterday on Park’s “A Brighter Shade of Green Marketing” Blog)

 Manny Ramirez got busted for steroids last week and I should have been a lot happier about it. My two favorite teams are the Angels and DBacks, each benefiting differently from Manny’s stupidity. But instead of relishing in the moment, I was annoyed because that long-haired moron and his decision to ignore the hard work of his peers reminds me of what’s going on in the Word of Mouth and Social Media space right now. 

This week alone I’ve either seen or received four separate announcements about new social media companies. I’m all for entrepreneurship, and at first glance it seems like this uptick in recognition is a good thing, until you look at the fact that most of these new “businesses” are full of people looking to capitalize on the latest “fad.” 

The real crime in what Manny Ramirez did is that he spit in the face of all of the hard work his peers put in to get where they are.  Same goes for these “social media practices.” Anyone can buy a domain and call themselves an expert, but what about those people out there dedicated to the practice of actually applying strategy to social media? And what of those people who understand it doesn’t begin and end with social media? That, instead, social media is simply one tactic in the complicated and inarguably effective Word of Mouth Marketing space. What about them?

What’s happening is, when you call yourself an expert and recommend a Facebook and Twitter page to an eager client, you’re doing a disservice to yourself, your client, and the industry. You might get a few followers and you might even generate some conversation, but eventually that conversation will stop and the results will prove that you took a shortcut.  Happens every time. Worse, the folks out there truly dedicated to doing it the right way are now competing with the “short cutters” and everyone’s work is suffering. Why come up with a comprehensive Word of Mouth plan when you can just slap up a Facebook page? 

We’re in an era of noise. Say enough crap as loudly as possible and eventually some of it will get through. Months ago I argued this point about Twitter. My point at that time was that the useful medium had turned into a marketing wasteland with “experts” all racing to post the latest links hoping to elevate their personal or organizational stature. While my position has hardly changed, I now have an even greater concern. The same practice of hasty thinking and disregard for peers that continues to haunt Twitter and led to “Man-Ram’s” downfall is quickly flowing into the Word of Mouth space. 

This might sound like sour grapes to some, and I’m sorry that you feel that way. In the face of today’s social media barrage, I think it’s more important than ever to fight for the integrity of Word of Mouth Marketing. But instead of calling people out or speculating about their intentions, I’ll do my best to practice Word of Mouth the best I can, never calling myself an expert and waiting for those around me to break down or fail the test.

Hey, there. I’m Ryan La Rosa, the new Convergent Media Public Relations Specialist at Park&Co, and I hate PR.

Wait, I know what you’re thinking. But yeah, I hate PR. Maybe not as deeply as I hate a certain East Coast baseball team that “proudly” — arrogantly — refer to themselves as “The Nation,” but it’s still pretty deep.

What bothers me the most about PR is its practitioners’ inherent fallback on old practices and a lack of creativity. Somewhere along the line we lost sight of the title. Public Relations means that we try to find the most effective means of reaching the public. If that’s the case, then why do we as an industry continue to rely on outdated practices that in our gut we know aren’t working? Simply put, it’s easy.

The ultimate crime is that the majority of our clients don’t know the true nature and capabilities of PR. They walk in the door asking for press releases and major headlines, and instead of educating them as to why that’s not the only or even the most effective means, we just nod our heads like mindless drones. As a PR professional I’m guilty of it, and I think if we took some time to do a little soul searching we’d all admit we’ve done the same.

That’s not to say there isn’t some amazing work being done out there. I’m also not saying media relations aren’t important. They’re very important. But media relations are simply cogs in the overall PR wheel. Newspaper readership is dwindling, the Internet has become an advertising landfill, and consumers have lost trust in “editorial” messaging. For all of these reasons, consumers are relying on each other for information, now more than ever. As audiences around us get smarter, they filter out expensive “strategic marketing messages.” It’s PR’s job to start making the messages more organic.

Let’s start conversations! Isn’t it obvious? A newspaper article about your new restaurant won’t likely be seen by a majority of your audience, and if they do see it, the endorsement doesn’t carry nearly the same weight as it might have in the past. Now, what if a trusted friend came up to you and suggested you try the same restaurant. Maybe they blogged about it, texted you about it, or better yet, forwarded you the article that ran in the paper. Now you’re talking! Literally, you’re talking. That’s a trusted source. That’s a sincere endorsement. That’s public relations.

Well that’s all well and good, but you’re probably asking yourself “How we do it?” That’s where the “convergent media” part of my title comes in. It means that I’m going to do my best to connect clients with their audiences directly. I’ll use tactics like word-of-mouth marketing, viral marketing, and social networking, in conjunction with tried and true methods. The bottom line is it’s time to stop being safe. It is my pledge to start doing justice to the title of our beloved practice — public relations. Who’s with me?

So, unless you’ve been sleeping in a cave, you’ve noticed that the internet is ablaze with social networking. All the kids are doing it, and even grown-ups have found a way to use sites like Facebook, Flickr, and others for targeted advertising. The opportunity that social networking websites provide for targeting specific customers is astounding. Those who use these sites freely surrender sensitive information that enables companies to identify their specific tastes for everything from shoes to clothing to music. Marketers and advertisers can tailor their messages specifically to the person that’s actually viewing the ad. They must make their messages subtle, though, as the users of many of these sites have noticed that they’ve become a SPAM advertising dumping ground. The more subdued and friendly the ad is, the better the response will be. Should the ad not even seem like an ad, even better.

The trend of social networking is beginning to reach into the mobile realm as well. Mobile phone manufacturers are featuring social networking sites like Facebook in their ads with hopes of landing that site’s users. The word-of-mouth aspect of social networking websites also plays a vital role in using the base of customers for advertising and other promotions. When these users share their likes and dislikes of a product, brand, TV show, or concert, those with whom they share are in turn sharing with others. The effect is like a virus, hence the term “viral marketing.” Social networking sites make viral marketing a reality. As these opinions are passed on, customer bases strengthen and quality products and brands attract more customers.

As a medium, the internet is still in its infancy. With the rapid growth of how we communicate, there are only going to be more ways to expand our reach through this relatively new technology. What better way to use a worldwide network of computers than to network?

At Park&Co, we’ve gotten into the fun ourselves. Check out our accounts at Facebook and Flickr, and subscribe to our Twitter feed to see what we’ve been up to.