Rob Cottingham and Alexandra Samuel are early movers in the social media world. Their combined online presence leaves a big impact. Alex’s articles appear online for the Harvard Business Review and Oprah.com and Rob’s cartooning is a mainstay of several well read blogs. Most interesting to me is their commitment to the ideals of their chosen tools; they are “open-sourcing” some of their intellectual property from Social Signal. In other words; teaching people how to create a social media agency – no strings attached.

I interviewed Rob at Northern Voice about his company and how the social web can use a laugh every now and then. (I should note that in former lives we worked on the same NDP election team, he was the dashingly funny speech writer who swanned in with brilliant bon mots – I was the rumpled press flack in the corner with the cell phone smoking a pack-a-day. At least that’s how I remember it. And, yes I’ve since quit smoking.)

Interview with Rob Cottingham from Ian Capstick on Vimeo.

Last week I attended my second Northern Voice conference at the beautiful campus of the University of British Columbia. I’ll be blogging a lot in the next few days about the sessions I attended; the lessons learned and a few posts inspired by some truly reflective moments that had while visiting Vancouver.

In it’s sixth year this edition of the Northern Voice organizing crew expanded this years offerings to two full days of sessions, featuring nearly 500 participants and two great keynote speakers. The second day featured Chris Messina Google’s Open Web Advocate. While largely responsible for creating the “hash tag” convention on Twitter and well-known for his instrumental role in promoting co-working, I was very much interested in his thoughts on the “camp” movement of unconferences.  Here is what he had to say:

Interview with Chris Messina at Northern Voice from Ian Capstick on Vimeo.

• Election at-a-glance [BBC]

• Brown-must-go blogger plays high-profile role in manifesto launch [The Independent]

• No bloggers, but Tories also host a digitally aware manifesto launch [BBC: dot.Rory]

• UK Independence Party’s Farage promised the “edgiest campaign” in British history, delivers ejaculation jokes [the Guardian]

• Marketing experts say Tory leader hoped to benefit by association with “workaday” products [Times Online]

• PM and challenger tackle image problems by dispatching wives to campaign trail [AP]

• Clegg’s wife criticizes press: “Voters deserve more focus on the policies and less on the clothes” [politics.co.uk]

• Labour candidate sacked over Twitter rants [Times Online]

• Twitter, Youtube, and snail mail: targeting marginal constituents [the Guardian]

• Swapping drafts online: the team behind the Tory manifesto [Times Online]

• Keane pull a Muse, pissed at tories for using song [politics.co.uk]

This past weekend I spoke at the FairChance 2010 workshop for prospective municipal candidates in Ottawa.

Sandra Blaikie, formerly of A Channel News, is the instigator behind the initiative. Essentially, it’s a committee of engaged Ottawa business owners, philanthropists, and academics looking to provide educational opportunities to people considering running for council, but need more information.

My bias in the upcoming municipal election in Ottawa is towards change, collaboration, and conversation. As I wrote in my first Spacing Ottawa City Vote 2010 column, I think our civic leaders have kept us in a status quo rut that self perpetuates each time an ineffective incumbent is elected.

I promised at the session to answer any technical political questions the group had–and I’d like to expand that offer to my blog readers as well. Also on the panel were mayoral campaign manager David Small, former Liberal MP (and city councilor) Marlene Catteral, and Walter Robinson (my partner in radio each Wednesday AM on Live 88.5 FM); I’ll be asking for their input on some of the questions and seeking out other strategists and tacticians in Canadian politics to weigh in with their thoughts.

I’m looking for questions about:

• political communications
• campaign strategy as it relates to media
• media skills
• other “process” questions related to communications

Please send over your queries via the comment section below or by emailing me, ian [at] mediastyle.ca, and over the next few months I’ll take some time here and at Spacing Ottawa to answer your questions.

Here are a few interesting news stories I’ve seen this morning that deal with the  intersection of social networking and politics:

Tweet breaks Commons rarified rules?

House of Commons procedural wonks (Full disclosure: I’m one!) are amused and bemused by the Speaker being forced to rule on a possible violation via Twitter by a Conservative MP. Long standing practice (and precedent) is that you can not point out the absence of MPs in the House of Commons. The Bloc is arguing that’s exactly what Royal Galipeau did when he tweeted about the numbers of MPs in opposition seats.  As the Citizen reports:

I’m teaching a much-requested session at the Code Factory called Strategies & Tactics for Implementing Social Media - a lot of NGOs and unions ask me to teach them how to take online communications to the next level. The class is this Friday at 1pm.

This session is great for organizations with small communications offices where only one or two people need to be trained up. Already cost effective at $99.00 – MediaStyle.ca readers can take $10 off with discount code “MediaStyle”.

Not the class for you? Let me know in the comments if there is a low-cost group training experience you would like MediaStyle to offer.

So, about a year ago the New York Times pissed off an ugly little fish in New Zealand.

The venerable newspaper published an article on September 10th on A1 of the New York edition titled “From Deep Pacific, Ugly and Tasty, With a Catch”. It suggested that Hoki–also known as the main McFish meat at McDonald’s–was potentially being overfished. The New Zealand Seafood Industry Council, the industry association tasked with keeping exports of the fish alive and well, understandably chafed a little when the paper used their copyrighted image of the ugly creature to illustrate this screed.

This is where things got interesting. At the same time the New York Times was apologizing for the appropriation of the image, the association was hiring a defensive New York PR firm called CounterPoint to begin an online war against one of America’s largest newspapers. Hoki is a $151 million dollar part of the New Zealand fisheries industry, so it’s little wonder the New Zealand Seafood Industry Council found a firm that advertised itself as able to  “…help clients confront volatile media circumstances. We shield clients and counter attacks. We hold press accountable and challenge adversaries. With unique solutions and proven tactics, we safeguard clients through a hostile public affairs marketplace.”

In short, these folks at CounterPoint have no qualms about placing ads targeted at journalists, on sites journalists visit, and intended to inflict maximum pressure.

Campaign Elements

Elements to the campaign as reported in the widely cited interview with CounterPoint principal Jim McCarthy on the Nieman Journalism Lab:

1) Google Ads targeted at reporters, featuring their names and “misdeeds”

“When you include their name in the search, it draws attention to it and lets the reporter know that you mean business and you’re going to hold them responsible,” McCarthy told me over the phone.

2) Blog Ads:

“Targeting reporters where they hang out online is McCarthy’s grating specialty. He went after ABC News, on behalf of the Formaldehyde Council, with ads on Mediabistro’s TVNewser. ‘It was virtually a guarantee that they and all their competitors were going to see it,’ McCarthy told me with more than a little relish.”

3) Convert existing established landing pages with better content to rebut and include proactive messaging

“…the Times had linked to it in the third paragraph of the article (at right), and 78,000 people clicked though, according to Sarah Crysell, a spokeswoman for the council. Taking advantage of that incoming traffic, the group transformed its hoki page into a rebuttal of the Times story.” The ads also pointed to this same landing page.

4) Pressure

Remember that apology for using the picture of the Hoki without permission? CounterPoint used this as the main hook for their Google Ads and targeted MediaBistro presence: “NYT Apologizes for story – Fisherman hold NYT to account”.

5) Tactician with gumption to apply pressure

Channel V Media Blog spent some time with McCarthy and described him like this:

“… he has a little bit different approach from the rest of us. While most of us publicists are busy pandering to the press in our efforts to get coverage for our clients, Jim is all about taking reporters on and holding them accountable for what they write. Sort of a one man Media Accountability Office. Okay, so it’s not exactly like he does this out of the goodness of his heart-he gets hired by companies to monitor media and journalists for biases, inaccuracies or less-than-whole-truth reporting about them. (Thus the name, CounterPoint. Get it?)”

Who is using “Hoki-tactics”?

The Sharp Agency in Chicago talks about how they used similar “Hoki-style” ads in their political work. They aren’t the only ones.

“We’ve used similar tactics for a recent political campaign here in Illinois, working with a local political consulting group to blitz all of the keywords surrounding the candidates for a key state election on the day of a candidacy announcement. When you searched for the candidate’s opponent’s name on the announcement day, the first thing you saw was an ad for OUR candidate, with a message designed to counter-program. When you looked up the current office holder’s name, the first thing you saw was an ad for the new candidate for office, with a link to a site for donations with a nice video commercial. The campaign had the effect of blanketing the digital landscape during a crucial period in the media cycle.”

But is this SEO style AdWords war really going to work? Is this how applying political micro pressure works? I think this is one way, but it’s basic and crass. Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and targeted placement work to get attention–this is true. You can easily watch clicks turn to converts and converts to donors.

But the value is decreasing as a younger generation grows up. Gen Y are digital savvy realists with a finely tuned bull shit detector. Allowing for more nuanced ways of creating the kind of links online that Google loves makes long-term sense. As does fostering a community of supporters and advocates online before you need them–or before you resort to tactics like the ones our ugly little fish friend uses.

The real story of who is behind the Gordon Lightfoot is sort of like an unfinished jigsaw puzzle. Each media outlet has a little bit of the puzzle, but there is still a bit of a mystery.

First, Facebook played an unseen role in this drama. The social networking site has become the go-to place for public grief, so it’s no surprise that it helped set off the first alarm bells about the “death.”  The source of the first digital mention? Ronnie Hawkins‘ wife, Wanda.

From Sean Michaels’ article in the Guardian (emphasis mine):

This will have come as a relief to Ronnie Hawkins, the musician whose backing band became the Band. A friend of Lightfoot’s, he was quoted in the early Canwest story, confirming the news. Hawkins said he had received a call from his management in Minneapolis, who had in turn received a call from Lightfoot’s grandson, telling them the singer had died. “I don’t know Gordon’s grandson,” Hawkins later told the Globe and Mail. “I didn’t even know if Gordon has a grandson. I called my wife in Florida and told her, and I guess she faxed some of her friends and now, all of a sudden, it’s all over the world. It’s terrible. I can’t even get hold of Gordon. Holy smoke, it’s unbelievable.” … Hawkins suggested they trace the phone call to Minneapolis. “I think they can trace that phone call, maybe, and see who did that,” he said. “I’m glad it is a sick joke, but it’s bad.”

Several sources have now confirmed that the prank call to Hawkins’ management set the ball in motion, and this is when Wanda Hawkins took to the phone, fax machine, and Facebook.

This is where our Ottawa tweeter, @fleminksi, comes in. She knows a close friend of Wanda Hawkins. Our Ottawa tweeter’s friend shared her grief on Facebook. The Ottawa tweeter in turn expresses her grief on Twitter and concurrently (and unrelated) CanWest is on the phone with Ronnie Hawkins–who no doubt believes his wife–and expresses his grief to the newspaper.

Meanwhile, this confirmation triggers an “alert” to go out across the CanWest newswire and CanWest reporters across Canada start tweeting it.

David Akin has some reflective and characteristically classy words about all of this on his blog.

And as Media Memo’s Peter Kafka says: Twitter didn’t kill Gordon Lightfoot, Big Media did.

But say it is true. Twitter still didn’t force Canwest, the big Canadian media conglomerate, to publish a wire report that said the singer was dead. As best I can tell, it was that story, which was picked up by various Canwest newspaper sites, that convinced people that Lightfoot had croaked.

As Kafka says, this doesn’t suggest that CanWest is off the hook for not double or triple sourcing their facts. And, had an editor at CanWest News Service jumped onto the Twitter search, they too could have found–in well less than 30 minutes–that Lightfoot was alive.

Here is the point I think people should be very clear on: while the tweet from @fleminski came first, it certainly wasn’t what set off the nearly 3,000+ tweets in two hours. That is most certainly the fault of whoever pressed the “go” button on the CanWest wire alert.

All in all, only one person should be very happy about all of this: Gordon Lightfoot. His radio play hasn’t been this big in decades and he just successfully introduced himself to a generation of Canucks who thought he was already dead.

Update:  Some added information from a friend of the “Ottawa tweeter” at ThreeSeven.ca

However, it appears that the mainstream media jumped on it. Within half an hour of tweeting, Fleminski received a phone call from a reporter from CanWest (1. holy sleuth work, and 2. boundaries much, media?) asking for the source. She replied honestly: Ronnie Hawkins. The media then called Hawkins who confirmed the story. Believing they had a confirmed story, the media then ran with it.

In the next few days I’m going to feature some stories on the digital tactics that firms are using to apply specific bouts of pressure to specific media outlets. These high-stakes, no-holds-barred firms are successfully using ads on Google, Facebook, and blogs to correct the record and and to skewer opponents.

Today’s case study is based on an article in Politics Magazine titled, “How digital ads helped turn CNN’s Lou Dobbs problem into a PR nightmare.” It’s a story about an old tactic turned digital with the end result being Dobbs resignation from CNN, citing this campaign as a factor.

Campaign Elements

Two partners at the consulting firm Chong + Koster (which describes itself as a “digital consultancy that specializes in high-stakes communications and win-or-lose situations around the world”) wanted to neutralize an opponent on behalf of their clients–America’s Voice, along with Media Matters, Presente.org, and others.

“The coalition aimed to take the poster child of the xenophobia movement—Lou Dobbs—out of the debate before it began.”

Here is a brief picture of the digital tactics used to support their strategic objective:

1) Create the hook

“We would make an amazing ad to drive donations, yet too controversial for CNN to accept. If the campaign raising enough money to air the ad during ‘Latino in America’ wasn’t enough to generate press, then the placing, the inevitable rejection and subsequent runs on other networks would. All the while, MediaMatters and Presente.org would run their own petition to drop Lou Dobbs, thus building a narrative that appreciated the commitment of the coalition.”

2) Get their attention

“If CNN thought of this as a three-day story, it would have passed. We had to get their attention at the very beginning, so they would set up Google Alerts to monitor the story, and to ensure each little hit was noticed and made them nervous. This is where digital ads shine.”

3) Ruthless targeting, Facebook Ad buy, $1750

“The Facebook feature ‘workplace targeting’ was our primary weapon. We targeted all CNN/AOL-Time Warner employees with 500 points per day (the Facebook max). We ran dozens of different ads, testing message hooks from ‘Why did you let Lou Dobbs broadcast from a hate rally?’ to ‘Why is CNN profiting off racism?’ We even called out CNN’s on-air talent by name…”

4) Hard sell fundraising asks via Facebook ads, undisclosed

“The majority of the Facebook budget was spent running the ads to progressives and Latinos with a hard fundraising ask.”

5) Blog ad buy, $10,000

“Within 24 hours, we also launched banner ads that paired the best performing imagery, hook, and call-to-action from the Facebook ads on political blogs.”

6) Google Ads, undisclosed (Blue State Digital was the vendor)

“delivering about 500,000 ad impressions per day, but we were also raising money from our clicks”

7) Access traditional earned media via trade media and online press

“We also leaked the story of the digital buy to ClickZ—one of the most well-read digital advertising publications. We chose them because an editor named Kate Kaye is the foremost journalist covering political digital ads, and they are exceedingly well syndicated and search engine optimized (anything that they post triggers dozens of Google Alerts). This post led to a post by MediaBistro—the insider rag for journalists—and the story exploded from there.”

This firm used tougher-than-nails tactics to get their clients point across to big American media. It worked like a charm. But at what cost?

It’s pretty clear that this firm doesn’t care about burning bridges with the traditional media. They only care about getting their point across. Suffice it to say that if someone in official Ottawa tried a stunt like this, they would probably be on the defensive for some time.

Tomorrow: What if you are on the other end of online ad-war tactics like these? We have a couple of pointers.

A USB media kit is a fun, and sometimes cheap, way to connect.

A provincial-level, non-governmental organization recently asked me to weigh in on using media kits as a method of introducing an organization to the media. I couldn’t attend the session in person, but I thought it was an amazing topic and offered to contribute via the blog.

A couple of points to help set up the organization’s five questions:

• The program and the over fifty partner agencies feel they do not get the credit they deserve; they work in all communities across Ontario.
• It’s their organization’s goal to make a “strong push to do more community engaging events and involve new partnerships.”
• As with most NGO’s, they need this product to “double.” In addition to being a traditional media kit, they also need it to act as a way to introduce these vital agencies  and their work to interested businesses, citizens, and potential community partners.

Media Kit Questions What tools are available for making your media kit–efficiently and effectively?

• Great writing; short, simple, and to the point: Information is great. But, concise and relevant information is priceless. Too many media kits feature too many pages about programs/events and ephemera best left in annual reports and newsletters.
• Good design: invest in templates; don’t let your designers provide only un-editable files. Make good design a prerequisite to products leaving the organization. Has it been time for a new overall look for years? Get on it. In the mean time, simplify pages, strip out clip art, and embrace white space. Keep the fonts to two, maximum. You don’t need Photoshop and InDesign to make great looking products. You need common sense and an inspiration (head to the local magazine store and try replicating simple, modern layouts).
• Amazing photos: what do people see first? A great big photo. The best one you have. Draw in the audience. Don’t have great photos? Get some. Many photographers love working with NGOs and would be happy to help.
• Information journalists can use: I always giggle a little when I get big press packages with umpteen clippings from other papers. Select quotes should do it. Include relevant stats, a bullet point history (less than 150 words) and stories, anecdotes, and other information that can be used.

2) Can a media kit involve a simple cut and paste from your website? What tools should be included for media kits at events?

Journalists know how to visit your website. Don’t copy and paste.

Sections for a great event-based media kit:

Organizational bio (~200-300 words): have someone who works in your local coffee shop read it (Really!) and then ask them a few questions about your organization.

Event description: a short run down of the event narrative; what the journalist is going to see at the event and why; answer all the questions (who, what, when, where, why, and how).

Event scenario: a minute-by-minute breakdown of all things that will happen in the night.

Advance speeches: fork it over, it’s really nothing too secret–give journalists (and translators) copies of the speech in advance. They will like it, I swear.

Photo contact sheet: not required, but helpful. A one page colour print out of the 6 -10 photos available for download on your website. Photos of the prep and run-up to the event and of principal speakers/performers. Think, “photos that would look great on a blog or in the paper; unique shots no one else could have access to.”

3) What are some common mistakes in media kits and their delivery?

• Too little information, too much padding.
• Too much information, too little colour.
• Way too much information with no design/navigation elements.
• Old materials, dated logos and fonts.
• Inattention to detail. Not everything needs to be custom printed, but it should look like you cared about the way it was put together.
• Forcing the kit on unwilling journalists.

4) What are some unique ideas to stand out? USB data keys or sticks are still popular and can be custom printed with your logo for less than printed/custom dye cut folders. Opt for the largest size you can afford.

I’ve seen kits delivered in paint buckets, pizza boxes, with “kidnapping” style notes attached, stuffed with sparkles and streamers, and delivered by sining telegram. Funny thing: I can’t recall what any of those zany pitches was selling. Stay fun, clever, and charming. Kooky and zany get in the way.

I’ll point you to my thoughts on Social Media Releases as well. I think they can be used to great effect, provided you don’t pay too much and have a strategy to get them into the hands of journalists.

5) Can media accept gifts?

Yes and no. They will certainly snap up swag (t-shirts, bumper stickers, coffee mugs) directly related to the pitch or event, but real gifts (over $10-15)? That places journalists in an awkward situation. The same holds true for lunches, drinks, and dinners: if it’s work-related and the point is to get ink, it’s best to let the journalist pay for themselves.