On Dan Lyons, Apple, and lying

I've been following the recent kerfuffle in the pr blogs about Dan Lyon's experience with Apple PR. Check out Jeremy Pepper's thorough post on the subject.

snip...

But, the reality is with the shrinking and spreading of media - the traditional is getting smaller, while the new is growing bigger (and, well, more niche and like vertical media, but no one wants to admit that about blogs) - the lies are becoming too obvious, and getting caught too easily. It's the job of public relations to relay information, or truthfully sometimes to keep information private. But if you're getting calls from a reporter on such information ... it's already leaked and out there. And, well, damage control does not mean lie and obfuscate, but rather deflect or respond.

Busted on Twitter

A Ketchum VP just got busted complaining via twitter about a client's city while in town for a meeting. Protip: Even if your twitter stream is private, you shouldn't expect what you post to remain private.

Why we do media training

In case anyone was wondering...this is why PR people encourage media training.

LOL! I love Jill Biden! And I love that in the excitement of being in the presence of the great Oprah Winfrey the poor dear got flustered enough to let this bit of previously unsubstantiated information get out. No matter what the press release says about the incident, you know what Jill spilled was the way it went down ;)

Tag, you're it!

Serves me right for being a slack blogger. I got tagged multiple times for 7 things. Since Deb tagged me first, I confirmed with her that Wladimir's subsequent tagging and now Jane's tagging too doesn't mean I'm on the hook for 21 things. Deb said 7 would be good. So here we go...

Ground rules:
1. Link to your original tagger(s) and list these rules in your post.
2. Share seven facts about yourself in the post.
3. Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged.

7 things you may (or may not) know about me:
1. I left high school at 16 and didn't graduate yet I have a high school diploma due to a loophole in the way that my county handled their matriculation lists.

2. I am absurdly particular about my mouse setup. I will only use the mouse with my left-hand and the mouse itself must be left-oriented and a trackball, preferably by Kensington. I am so committed to this orientation that I bring along a trackball mouse while traveling just so I don't have to use the touchpad or a non-trackball mouse. I am *not* left handed.


3. I am obsessed with all music despite the noticeable toll it's taking on my hearing. If I'm at my desk working, there's a good chance I've got headphones on. If I'm surfing the web, there's a good chance I'm pouring over music blogs looking for my next favorite band. From age 16-20, I saw the band Phish in concert more than 50 times.


4. While in college, I knew I wanted to do high tech pr but the field didn't exist at the time. I interned at Edelman PR, the largest independent PR firm in the world. They sent me to staff INET '99, an Internet conference in San Jose. I stayed at the Fairmont and they flew me out first class. It was the first time I'd ever flown first class. It was the first time I'd ever stayed at a fancy hotel - there was a tv in the bathroom! I staffed a press conference for Vint Cerf. I met Meg Whitman and Esther Dyson. I was 18. Life was good.

5. I juggle. I'm actually pretty good.


6. I used to teach Sunday school to 4th and 5th graders.

7. At 17, I became a vegetarian as a reaction to a lifetime of fast food. I started eating meat again at some point after college, but I haven't walked into a McDonald's in over a decade.


Seven people:
Candace - because she's always up to something
Nicole - because she doesn't blog but this might help get her started
Tara - because she has a great sense of humor
Damon - because he shares my music obsession
Dave Donohue - because he understands my complex relationship with Phish
Asher - because I love his writing but he rarely blogs unless he's thousands of miles from home
Francisco - because he's one of my very favorite people

Yelp lawsuit

This morning, the SF Chronicle has an article about a local Yelp reviewer getting sued by a business over his Yelp post. As an avid Yelp fan, this has me very concerned. The EFF is considering getting involved to help out the Yelper with his legal defense. From the EFF lawyer:

"When people try to pull down unflattering material, it has the absolute opposite effect" of what they intend, he said. "It's very difficult to silence speakers on the Internet - it's a culture of people who don't like those kinds of attempts."

Amen to that.