I often ask about adoption of certain technologies in my workshops. It’s nice to know which tools are being used; I can often tailor my advice to make the session more relevant.

Of all the online tools I ask about, the uptake is always largest for Google Alerts. People love their Google Alerts. In fact, I think they may love them a little too much.

Here are the three big Google Alert myths I encounter:

1. It’s “real time” search
2. So good it can replace media monitoring software
3. Never misses anything

Don’t get me wrong. I use Alerts. They are useful. Helpful even.  But it’s important to note the system is unrefined, often missing data and is only one part of a comprehensive listening program you should be undertaking. If Google Alerts are your primary online listening tool; you are missing information.

This is reality of Google Alerts:

1. Real time search was only just included in Google main page results; on average “alerts” for breaking news items show up 10 – 45 minutes earlier on Twitter or monitoring packages/systems
2. Media monitoring systems require people to run them; which is why managers often try to find “automated” solutions. Monitoring packages (CNW, MediaMiser, Bowden’s) bring in data and content from non-public, non-Internet sources; paid at a premium – Google Alerts simply can’t match that.
3. Google Alerts misses countless items; the better your search query the better the results. The more generic the inquiry; the more generic the results. A better solution is to use the RSS function on Alerts and include it as part of your RSS reader. Also remember that “Alerts” can be set for: Web, Video, News, Blogs and Groups

What are the other Google Alert myths? Have any great tips on leveraging the Alert system for best use? Please take a moment and comment below.

Photo credit

“New York City is covered with illegal billboards and advertisements. One random day, civilians decided to take back the public space by covering over 120 illegal billboards with original works of art.”

(h/t Jennifer Hollett on Twitter & Grounded TV)

Animikii’s marquee product, YikeSite (a neat content management system) was celebrating its’ second anniversary.

Creator and owner (and best friend to yours truly) Jeff Ward called wondering what he should do to set his light dinner party apart from other tech events in Victoria where YikeSite is based.

He already had a great location lined up. A fun au courant menu planned – artisanal cheeses and charcuterie for about 15 – 20 select guests.

After talking about time constraints, objectives and budget we settled on four super-low cost-high-impact elements to brighten up the party:

1. Jeff is a busy guy – with his business, a three year-old and a newborn – he needed a simple and creative centerpiece that are fast to make: paper lanterns fit the bill. Try using a logo sticker or print directly onto the paper and wrap around a glass mason jar or small hurricane lantern; light with an LED or tea-light
2. Simple touches make people smile: at a light dinner party like the YikeSite birthday bash, most folks will reach for cutlery – simple strips of paper act as napkin rings and serve as another opportunity to highlight the logo.
3. Let Mother Nature be your inspiration; instead of cut flowers or elaborate centerpieces – opt for a flowering house plant in the brand colours. Jeff used a bright red gerber plant bought at a local Victoria bodega.
4. Consistency and restraint are key: from the invites to the table top keep the colour palette the same, don’t over brand the whole table and go overboard – one or two elements is all you need.

Algonquin College Students Association is taking a different approach to sending a message to the college administration. Instead of yet another petition or email campaign the elected Algonquin student reps are taking their message to administrators to YouTube.

I’m going to guess the executive at the college was inspired by a project out of Kansas State University; as part of a class project “A Vision of Students Today”, Professor Michael Wesch created a video in collaboration with 200 students explaining to their professors what the average KSU student is doing online.

At Algonquin the video was made more personal; with student revealing their personal wishes for their school and the stresses they face as students. I’m impressed with the tactics being employed by the students to get their message heard.

The Algonquin Students’ Association video:

And the inspiration:

This morning I’m quoted in the National Post about Twitter and the role it played in the PR nightmare caused by a Rhode Island Tim Hortons‘ managers now-cancelled support for an anti-equal marriage political event.

My comments were related to how the situation played out in the “social media sphere.” Readers and friends have posted and sent thought provoking comments, tweets and emails – some of them directed at me (good and bad), some at the situation – I thought I’d take a closer look at this issue with a less “social media” focused lens.  (If you are unfamiliar with the story, I’ve got a “digital run down” at the end of this post).

Corporate communications is more complex than what is going on minute-to-minute on Twitter. In this case the executives of Tim Hortons had a minefield of internal and external stakeholders and pressures to contend with. Here are some others:

Internal Strategy

Advertising is high dollar, high risk and easily derailed by negative earned media. Tim Hortons deliberate and thus far well-received steps into the US market could have been hurt by a hasty cobbled together denial. Particularly considering the issues at hand. As one commentator put it to the Globe and Mail:

“Major error by the regional manager, here,” said Alan Middleton, a marketing professor at York University’s Schulich business school. “This is an operational slippage by Tim Hortons. Sex, religion and politics are things you try as a corporation not to engage in. This is particularly thorny because it deals with all three.”

Political considerations

This bring me to the political issues of marriage, homophobia and queer rights in the United States. The same-sex marriage issue is still an ongoing and emotional debate in the US, especially around the six states of New England where the battle is ongoing. Rhode Island is the only state in the region without same-sex unions.

I can understand the communicators in Tim’s HQ in Oakville would have needed time to understand the local politics of Rhode Island, as to protect the interests of 35 other outlets.

Another major barrier preventing the “insta-communications” I’ve advocated is the legal department. Contracts, letters of intention or verbal agreements backtracked on could result in lawsuits. America, where this all went down, is particularly litigious. I’m nearly certain a lawyer was involved at some point in all of this.

Operations, Investor and Franchisee Relations

Complex rules and organizational structure govern supply systems, marketing, advertising and finances of a multi-national chain. This means in addition to the factors outlines above – corporate communicators need to liaise with other department heads, directors and others to be consulted on investor relations, market implications and all-the-while higher ups need to be briefed and calmed.

All of these considerations taken into account, I believe even by traditional media relations standards this team was slow off the mark and social media relations wasn’t a priority. Speed, in my mind, is still this issue.

Work when media works; work at their speed

Cable news, talk radio and news sites work 24/7 in Canada; when this story broke Sunday night someone at Tim Hortons should have known about it (at the very latest by 8 AM Monday). This is a major red-flag story. The media cycle starts and refreshed at around 10:00 AM eastern. Reporters, producers and editors have been thinking and digging all morning in anticipation of their pitch meeting – these meetings are nearly always finished by 11:00 AM. In this case I know the press, bloggers (and no-doubt irate customers) were already leaving messages by 9:00 AM at their HQ. The media were only called back post-statement release at 1:15 PM.

While having a statement out by 1:15pm EST was faster than many other corporations could have mustered. And, it’s faster than Tim Hortons has dealt with past PR hot potatoes (see: employee fired over the TimBit-to-baby fiasco).

It’s not as fast people can work in politics or as fast as companies engaged in social media – with more open communications policies – would have reacted. Companies engaged in social media collaboration could have acted faster and killed the viral nature of the story.

One solution, do you have others?

How can you create a nimble communications team in a large organization? Look to other nimble teams in bureaucratic environments. Police SWAT teams seem like an apt example. Create a communications SWAT team?

Special Weapons And Tactics: have a group of individuals from various departments ready to act on a moments notice; like a police SWAT team empower these people to make on the spot calls; intervene when necessary and have the right tools to do so.

Planning and training these rapid responders is key. Noted public relations thought-leader Brian Solis reminds us it’s not the interns at the company that should be tweeting and using Facebook; it’s an important tool for senior communicators.

If a group of senior managers and vice presidents are using and collaborating with the tools of social media; I believe if they were using the tools like other VPs, CEOs and senior managers in other corportations – #TimHortonsFail would not have happened.

So, was the Tim Hortons communications slow off the mark? Or does speed really matter? I want to hear your thoughts. Leave me a comment.

Thanks: Some very directly and others indirectly provoked and informed this post: Joe Boughner, Joe Thornley, Jaimie Woo, Ryan Taylor and my partner Shawn Dearn. Thanks to all of you for keeping me real.

Digital run down of news relating to Tim Hortons

• CBC: Tim Hortons backs out of anti-gay marriage event
• Canadian Press: Online outcry forces Tim Hortons to pull out of U.S. event against gay marriage
• Globe and Mail: Tims axes plan to sponsor anti-gay marriage event
• CanWest: Tim Hortons pulls support for rally against same-sex marriage in U.S.
• The Advocate: NOM: Tim Hortons Pullout Is “Sorrowful”
• NOW: Hortons hears the crowd
• National Post: Tim Hortons too slow for Twitter in U.S. anti-gay rally sponsorship pullout
• Xtra: Tim Hortons under fire for link to anti-gay fundraiser

Photo Credit

Before I had even poured my morning coffee, major gay blogs were posting news of a sponsorship of a controversial festival hosted by the notorious “pro-marriage” organization National Organization for Marriage by a Rhode Island Tim Hortons.

My own small tweets on the subject were replicated and reproduced at a rate I’ve never seen. A quick look at the search function on Twitter for “Tim Hortons” reveals that instead of talking up the new blueberry blossom doughnut or their morning double-double – people are pissed off about a Rhode Island franchisee.

Some have argued social media moves to quickly to pass judgment without fact. This is true to an extent. And, it is exactly why corporate, union and NGO communicators need to be part of the conversation.

The failure today is Tim Hortons’ absence from the conversation.

Tim’s is a massive brand in Canada. Battling perhaps only Canadian Tire for the top spot in Canuck’s minds when asked to name a uniquely Canadian brand. Can they afford to be missing in action? What could they have done to prevent this from growing?

A good example of fast action and open communications recently came from the CBC communications office. Lobby group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting sent a press release accusing executives of wanting to move The National to 11pm and replace it with US TV.

This was prime fodder for a #CBCFAIL “hashtag” on Twitter and a viral word-of-mouth reaction. That is, until the CBC moved all gears into motion and stopped the rumour dead. Here – from my vantage point – were the most critical steps the CBC took and Tim Horton’s failed to take:

1. Regular monitoring of social media
2. Freedom for their staff to correct the virtual record
3. Good use of corporate executives and spokespeople to deny the release – online, in person and on the phone
4. Fast, effective and efficient staff who responded to bloggers, citizens who tweet and media

I think the clock is ticking for Tim Hortons – every minute their Twitter account lays silent this #TimHortonsFAIL campaign will grow.

Update: 1:14 pm EST; Tim Hortons issues public statement

Photo credit (H/T Wayne for the headline)

Her sense of style is so well-curated that designers behind the sexy label, Greta Constantine, named a dress for her. She makes wearing knee-high, hand-painted Doc Marten boots look easy.  As the voice and eye behind Toronto’s number one fashion blog, her signature look is being featured along side of some of the fashion worlds best-known in Holt Renfrew’s tribute windows to fashion blogs.

Created in 2005 as a way to keep online fashion finds in order, I Want, I Got is now a must-read  for people who love clothing.

Meet Anita Clarke; proud geek by day and emerging fashion icon by night.  MediaStyle caught up with her beside the I Want, I Got window on busy Bloor street in Toronto.

MediaStyle.ca interview with Anita Clarke of I want, I got from Ian Capstick on Vimeo.

Above are shots courtesy of Anya Spethman of the window in Vancouver and Mike Geiger of the display at the Ottawa Holt Renfrew.  Just two of the 12 stores featuring the I Want, I Got blog.

Over at the newly redesigned and relaunched THIS magazine website, I am interviewed about my “aggressive” support for the proposed name change, hopefully, to be debated at the Halifax Convention mid-August.

Here is what I said:

“To be blunt, we’re not new anymore,” he says, adding that he’s aware of support for the resolutions [one from Victoria and another from Windsor] from one end of the country to the other.

Also, I disagree ever-so-slightly with Halifax-area MP Peter Stoffer on the “cosmetic nature” of the change.  I contend we are ready as a political movement to take a look at the fundamental ways the New Democratic Party operates.  In the weeks leading up to the Halifax convention I’ll be posting about ways I see the party evolving the relationship with labour, how we re-earn the worker’s vote in Canada, engage in honest and open dialogue with Canadians, and how I think the New Democrats can help re-engage and motivate the 41% of Canadians not voting.

On rebranding

But first, a few more points in my argument in favour of rebranding:

1) We are not “new” anymore; our party has run provinces and re-balanced budgets.  New Democratic voters number in the millions; we are not a flavour of the month.  Social democrats have been an elected force since 1910 in Canada and recently adding an Atlantic Premier; New Democrats are decidedly not new.

2) If the New Democratic Party can successfully claim Tommy Douglasʼ 13 balanced budgets as a CCF Premier in Saskatchewan, we have nothing to fear about losing claim or affiliation with our more successful provincial cousins.  At least no more to fear than we usually do (see the regular attacks issued by Bob Rae, Dosanjh, former Saskatchewan finance minister Janice MacKinnon, or James Laxer).

3) The New Democrats are the big tent party unlike the Liberal party (Iggy leads an assortment of centre-right politicians with a handful of misguided “Trudeau-opian” progressives, and a whole-lot of faux progressiveness).  Democrats in Canada are centrist and leftist socialists, social democrats, unionists, workers, fiscally conservative or liberal.  Democrats believe fundamentally in democracy and the will of people, we believe government doesnʼt exist only to be made smaller or worse exist to only “earn” votes in the next election.  Democrats can work with people in all political parties and forge compromise and build solutions.  Democrats can lead Governments.

4) And fourth, perhaps a more superficial point on style.  A new name means we can lose the orange.  I know, it was lovable in the 1970ʼs; even retro-chic as the Layton team re-energized it with a lime and now muted green accent, but itʼs time to find another colour.  Chartreuse, perhaps?  No?  Itʼs just about as easy to work with as orange.

Who is leading whom?

I was glad the reporter also included my rebuttal to former NDP provincial secretary, Gerald Caplan, who recently wrote in the Globe and Mail, “the only faux-excitement will be an elite-led attempt to change the name.”

My response to the reporter:

“Quite frankly, I think the leadership of the party is not entirely impressed with this,” [the proposed name change] he says, because the change will be costly.  It will also spark discussions among provincial parties, some of which have had considerable success with the current name.

Iʼve since spoken to a few former colleagues who confirm anxiety around this issue at what Caplan would call the “elite” level of the party.  Just like the former NDP premiers who want a shot at 24 Sussex, Caplan has become an apologist for the very arguments and establishment thinking he once fought so vigorously to change.  Change is still possible.  I firmly believe this and so do New Democrats.  Iʼm not sure why Gerry has given up.  Change wonʼt come to spite the apologists, or even in spite of them.  Change will happen without them.  You know, just like the New Democratic Party has been operating for the past decade or so.

I have a comment section.  I look forward to hearing from any other New Democrats who want to share their opinions on the name change.

Full disclosure:  The author of the THIS Magazine article, Nick Taylor-Vasey, worked briefly as an intern to MP Nathan Cullen while I was Press Secretary to the New Democrats on Parliament Hill.  In addition, I casually advise Nick on the promotion of his hyper-local radio/web project, On the Block.  MP Brian Masse and I exchanged emails on this issue and I expressed my support for his riding association’s role in the proposals coming forward.  As always, I thought you should know.

Photo Credit

There is no ventilation in his kitchen, the grill freezes food instead of charring it, and you never quite know what temperature the bite is going to be when it hits your mouth.

This is New Canadian Cuisine at Atelier Restaurant. Chef Marc Lepine is one of the vanguard chef/owners of the “New Canadian” food movement; forcefully rejecting the oft-applied label of “molecular gastronomy.” Chef Marc and his crew at Atelier focus on providing diner’s a unique food experience.

In this video we talk about the name of the restaurant, the “anti-marketing” plan Chef Marc follows, and how mainstream media drives reservations.

Five lessons in communication from the chefs

Here are five key lessons I learned from my visit to Atelier:

1. Word-of-mouth is key to communication success
2. “The Experience” matters a lot; from start to finish, every choice must be intentional
3. At the same time, it is important not to take yourself too seriously
4. Mainstream media relations and social media outreach must work in tandem
5. Bottom line in food:  good reviews put “butts in seats”

Additional interviews with with the Chefs

A few technical issues, while at the restaurant, forced me to use AudioBoo.com to record a few on-the-spot podcasts; the audio quality is passable but not great.  These clips were posted live to my Twitter account on the day we recorded the interview.

AudioBoo.FM Clip One: I open up the interview by introducing my co-interviewer, Matt Kayahara.  The owner, Chef Marc Lepine, explains why they don’t have a sign outside their restaurant and what this brings to the “experience” of New Canadian cuisine.  Chef Sarah Allen talks about how they define their food.  Hint:  it’s not “molecular.”

AudioBoo.FM Clip Two: Here we pick up the conversation about why the Atelier menu is presented at the end of the meal and how Chef Marc crafted the experience of eating at his establishment.  Marc talks about the balance he strikes with presenting with and without familiar context; co-interviewer Matt asks Chef Sarah Allen about a special “soft shell oyster” dish she created (pictured below).

Many thanks to Matt Kayahara who helped me interview the team at Atelier; many of his amazing photos from dinner are also featured in the video.

Kady O’Malley and I have worked together for a very long time.  As the former press secretary to the New Democrats I spent a lot of time making sure Kady and the other members of Canada’s National Press Gallery were up to speed on all things New Democrat.  I stopped by the Hill yesterday to interview her about being the only live blogger on Parliament Hill (as she explains, CanWest reporter David Akin can semi-live blog but is tied to his laptop without benefit of WiFi).  I also caught up with another Hill blogger; Dale Smith of Xtra.ca Canada’s publication for gays & lesbians.  Here are the interviews: