A leader in the PR and social media world, Peter Shankman suggests that brevity is among his four “rules” for communications practitioners in effective social media engagement. If today’s average attention span is 2.7 seconds, then long gone are the days where journalists are reading much beyond your headline!

Surely strong writing helps to crack this nut. The trick is to balance brevity with clarity, as shorter may not always be better. Another challenge is to be brief without compromising captivation. It’s tough when you want to paint a full picture while filtering words that may give your pitch that “oomph” to sell in your idea.

It really boils down to basics for all communicators, not just PR practitioners. Strong writing is clear, concise, and balanced with compelling punches. Condense your idea(s) into a short but sweet message.

Well it was a valiant attempt to practice what I’m “preaching” here. My post was not quite as brief as I had intended, but hey—I’m not on Twitter now, am I?

Anyone have Twitter-esque thoughts on the importance of being brief in communications?

I watched my neighbors across the way: Cobblestone School was trying to entice kids over by handing out little pipe-cleaner animals; a breast cancer survivor group was handing out calendars. I wouldn’t call any of this terribly engaging. How about the Finger Lakes Burn Unit (no disrespect, but really?). I put this question out there, because I believe that event marketing is really important. People at events usually have money, they’re in a location for a period of time, therefore somewhat captive, and it’s a great time for face-to-face communication, which is rare. Thoughts?

The PRisms acknowledge the highest standards of performance in public relations. This year’s theme—“Who Says PR Is Easy?”—speaks to the process of making our clients look good while we make it look easy.

Categories are included for web and print materials, direct mail, brochures, and press kits, among others. Both corporate and not-for-profit sectors are recognized in each category. For the very first time, the PRSA Rochester Chapter extended the awards to include social media categories. (With full disclosure on shameless self-promotion, Martino Flynn was honored for its innovative work in two of these non-traditional categories, including “blog” and “blogger relations”). This year’s Best of Show for the Corporate category went to Text 100 for their B2B campaign, “Xerox Takes the Headache Out of Office Printing.”

Individual PR professionals from the area are also recognized, like the CEO of The Year. The Rising Star award is rewarded to someone who demonstrates exceptional competence, skill, and leadership, and has no more than seven years of experience. The Sharleen M. Bruse award goes to a PRSA member with more than 10 years of experience who epitomizes the integrity and professionalism of a public relations practitioner. This recipient is also very involved in community service and routinely help advance the career development of other chapter members.

So congrats to all the 2009 PRism winners. As well, a BIG thanks to everyone in the profession for their contributions that are fostering growth in the field and taking us to new heights.

Also, Kodak CMO and Twitterer extraordinaire, Jeff Hayzlett will demystify the benefits of tweeting and Joan Rivers celebrity apprenticeship with Donald Trump (still trying to figure out how that is going to work).

This is one of the Ad Council’s largest fundraising events of the year, helping them raise funds in support of their work and the community. Show your support by marking your calendars and reserving your seat or table today!

Keynote Speaker:
Jeffrey Hayzlett, Chief Marketing Officer, Eastman Kodak Company
twitter.com/jeffreyhayzlett

When:
Date: Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Time: Noon

Where:
Hyatt Regency Rochester
125 East Main Street
Rochester, NY 14604
(585) 546-1234

Be on the look out for announcements regarding contests to win prizes via Twitter and Facebook (to be held both prior and during the luncheon!)

Join us to show your support for the Ad Council and its work in the community, and to help us say thanks to some of the people who have made it all possible.

2009 Lantern Award Honorees
Matt Jones, Wegmans Food Markets
John Myers, John Myers Photography

2009 W.B. Potter Founder’s Award Honorees
Water Education Collaborative
SIGMA Marketing Group

2009 Chairman’s Awards
B. Thomas Golisano Foundation
VanDamme Associates

2009 Beacon Award
Catalyst Direct

2009 Legacy Award
Jeff Gutenberg

Registration:

For more info or to reserve a seat, click today.

Twitter is a phenomenon in its own right. With a 1,382% annual growth rate, it’s hard to disagree. There’s even talk about Google acquiring the micro-blogging site (which would warrant its own blog post if and when that happens).

Though I regret to admit I’ve been slacking on my own tweets, it seems I personally have been surrounded by all-things Twitter over the past two months. Our agency supported the Rochester Twestival—the first event of its kind that united 200+ local communities worldwide on the same day, using Twitter to raise money and awareness for a good cause. While watching NCAA basketball, commentators were glogging via Twitter to capture the action as it unfolded. Oh, and RAF requested to follow me too!

Now, what about Facebook and its robust 200% growth rate? Is it really taking over our lives? I was surprised to learn that Facebook’s fastest growing demographic is women 55 and over—up 175% since September 2008. Also, for the first time, I saw a commercial that included VitaminWater’s Facebook page—instead of the company’s website.

These are all solid examples of how both Twitter and Facebook have already transformed the way people communicate in general, as well as how businesses have adapted to reach their customers in new ways. It will be interesting to see how these two evolve, and what results from the competition between them. Will the companies continue to one-up each other? Will they remain private entities, or eventually be acquired? Ultimately, is their growth sustainable?

It seems there are several misconceptions about what public relations entails, so I thought it made sense to lead with a discussion about the value of our work.

True, public relations often goes unnoticed, but if we’re doing our job correctly, the work of a PR professional should go unnoticed. We are Jacks-of-all-trades, working behind-the-scenes to bring our clients’ news to the attention of their key audiences.

As a matter of fact, the Martino Flynn PR team recently did just that for RAF. In advance of the ADDY Awards tomorrow, we crafted a press release and secured an item in the D&C about the event.

While generating publicity (aka “media relations”) is one facet of public relations, our arsenal of tools allows us to do many things…whether it’s organizing trade shows, ghostwriting byline articles, or even establishing a crisis contingency plan.

Ultimately, PR can be a credible, cost-effective complement to the communications mix—helping a company to foster relationships with its constituents, and position how it is perceived now and in the future.