Exploring the Art & Science of Marketing
Archive for December, 2006
PR firms pay Diggers? $50 for telling me why you think it’s wrong
Dec 12th
My guess is that many of you have already seen this Digg post where Jason Calacanis claims that top diggers are being paid by a PR firm. I’m putting $50 on the table for the first person who can give me a good reason why they feel this is so wrong. As a PR guy, I want to hear people’s thoughts. This is $50 we’re talking about here, so it better be good. I’m the final judge.
Now for the fun . . .
Digg says “Reported by diggers as possibly inaccurate,” which is, well, completely outside any stance of credibility since Digg users can’t have their system being questioned.
Seth Godin pointed out last week how easy it is to game Digg.
I said Digg had some serious weaknesses.
Josh Steimle pointed out how easy it is to game Digg.
And now, Calacanis is pointing out fishy behavior by Digg posters and offering to pay people to rat out those gaming the system for pay.
Here are my thoughts
Digg is fine. The system is fine. The problem is that Digg believes that it’s a social media site, and has never been a social media site. Social media is a lie because it suggests the idea that the platform creates equality and it does the complete opposite. The minute control is given to the people, self-interest comes into play and “equality” disappears. When the Digg team (or anyone for that matter) actually believes that Digg creates some sort of equal platform for people to offer their opinions on news they are sorely mistaken. The goal of equality will fail everytime because despite what people say, nobody wants to be equal.
At the end of the day, I think anybody familiar with promotion would go “duh, of course PR firms are paying people to post to Digg.” $50 to the first person to give me a good reason why they feel it is wrong.
Joe Cannon named Deseret News editor-in-chief
Dec 8th
I still don’t believe that I am reading this, but Joe Cannon has been named the new editor-in-chief of the Deseret News.
Joe Cannon named editor at Deseret Morning News
The following via the KSL is, well, complete BS in terms of credibility because it comes from the mouth of the chairman of the Utah Republican Party.
“What our readers can expect is fair honest truthful reporting. This is not going to be any more or less Republican or Democrat than it has been in the past.” Joe Cannon, chair of the Utah Republican Party. Somebody please hire a PR firm for the Deseret News because they are going to need it.
James Kim: Respect and fairness
Dec 8th
I thought I would take a minute to express my condolences to the family of James Kim, who passed away recently trying to save his family, which was stranded in the Oregon wilderness.
James Kim died of hypothermia, autopsy reveals
I met James when he was at TechTV before he went to work for CNET as a senior editor, and I had a number of one-on-one meetings with him during the past few years. As a PR person, I thought I would address my experience in working with him on a professional level. James was always very fair, balanced and detail oriented in his work. He was one of my favorite technology journalists to work with because you knew that he would always seek for the truth on all sides of an issue, and he always treated me with respect. He was smart, curious and loved his work. James was a joy to work with.
Again, my condolences to his family. James will be missed.
The Weakness of Digg
Dec 7th
Seth Godin explains something about Digg that I have been feeling for some time, but he does it better than I could have. Digg has a big weakness that undermines its credibility.
links for 2006-12-06
Dec 6th
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The peer-to-peer company will use the funding primarily for technology development as it launches distribution services for other Web sites.
My day in an Aston Martin
Dec 4th
On Saturday I had the opportunity to drive an Aston Martin Vanquish from Salt Lake County to Cache Valley. That’s a good two-hour drive in a $235,000 sports car often seen in the hands of none other than James Bond himself.
How did I get to do this you ask? I was working. Let me explain.
We are working with Utah State University and Sub-for-Santa to help raise the level of Sub-for-Santa donations this holiday season, and we wanted to do something that would draw in crowds and get them to donate more. So, we parked an Aston Martin Vanquish, a Porsche 911 Turbo and a Maserati Gransport in front of the Sam’s Club on Saturday and handed out a candy cane and a raffle ticket to anyone who donated. At the end of the day, we drew a name for each car and took the person for a ride. I don’t know yet how much money they raised for needy families during the holidays, but it was a lot, and they also got a bunch of toys and food for their Stuff-a-Bus program.
Sub-for-Santa is an incredible program administered by United Way, and I encourage all of you to particiapte as much as possible during this time of year. If you need names of people to contact about how you can help, they’re listed below.
United Way of Cache Valley
435-753-0317
290 North 400 East
P.O. Box 3281
Logan, UT 84321
Serving residents of Cache County
United Way of Northern Utah
801-399-5584
fax 801-399-5599
2955 Harrsion Boulevard, Suite 201
Ogden, UT 84403
www.uwnu.org
Serving residents of Box Elder, Morgan, Oneida and Weber Counties
United Way of Salt Lake
801-736-7701
175 South West Temple, Suite 30
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
www.uw.org
Serving residents of Davis, Salt Lake, Summit and Tooele Counties
United Way of Utah County
801-374-2588
148 North 100 West
P. O. Box 135
Provo, UT 84603
www.unitedwayuc.org
Serving residents of Utah County
United Way of Southeastern Utah
435-637-8911
45 S. Carbon Ave.
Price, UT 84051
Serving residents of Carbon, Emery and Grand Counties
Milford Area United Way
(435) 387-2677
806 W. 900 South
Milford, UT 84751
Serving residents of Beaver County
United Way of Iron County
435-586-9024
P.O. Box 3303
Cedar City, UT 84720
Serving residents of Iron County
United Way Dixie
435-674-5939
1070 W 1600 S, Building B
P.O. Box 895
St. George, Utah 84770
www.dixieunitedway.org
Serving residents of Washington County
PR/Marketing Job Roundup
Dec 4th
- The Promontory Ranch Club is looking for a marketing director
- IHC needs a communications manager for its SelectHealth
- 1-800 Contacts needs a marketing manager
- Richter7 needs a media planner/buyer
- Sinclair is looking for a marketing manager over fleets and truck stops
- Cyprus Credit Union is looking for someone to do marketing/emarketing
- Salt Lake Community College needs a marketing coordinator to help promote career and technical education programs
- DeltaValve has an opening for someone in marketing communications.
Questions about any of these jobs? Do you have a job you want posted? Email me at russell dot page at gmail dot com.
Cool Boss of the Year.
Dec 1st
Chris Knudsen, I hope you weren’t going to do this, but I thought I would do a companion piece to your “Jerk Boss of the Year” contest. I really want to recognize the top management here in the state. Email your entries to “russell page at gmail dot com”
I’m going to use similar rules.
* This is completely anonymous. No real names will be used. If the winner approves, we’ll list the boss’ name.
* This can be a story you’ve heard, nothing fake.
* The Cool Boss must be located in Utah.
* I will post Cool Boss stories throughout the month of December.
* A two-judge panel will decide the winner – however please feel free to sway the judges with your opinion on which story should win by posting in the comments
* The winning Boss will anonymously receive a $50 gift certificate to a restaurant of the winning submitter’s choosing and will be told that they are being recognized as the “Cool Boss of the Year.”
* The Cool Boss story must be as recent as the last 12 or so months.
Again, Email your entries to “russell page at gmail dot com”
Chris, if I’m stepping on you’re toes here, please let me know.
