Our stories start the same.

Kelly moved to New York at the age of 22 from a small town outside of Syracuse, without a specific purpose, simply because she knew the city was calling her.  She arrived without knowing a soul and with very few possessions, except for the beleaguered blessing from her father (which wasn’t easy to come by).

I moved to New York at the age of 22 from Halifax, Nova Scotia, without a specific purpose and without knowing a soul, because I too believed that this was the city where my dreams would come true. My parents were also very supportive, but with the cautionary “Alyson, New York is a lovely place to visit, but its really not a place to live.”

Soon–from our East Village apartments, we both discovered PR and that much of what we had been doing our whole lives–our skills and our passions–were perfectly suited for the business.

Fortunately, our similarities diverge here, and I was able to skip the decade of drug addiction, failed marriages and homelessness–although it does sound par for the course from what you hear about the East Village in the late 80s /early 90s.

Without judgment though, it was such a vicarious experience to read about Kelly’s trials and tribulations which have clearly led her to become the grounded, extremely successful, loving mother, and villain we absolutely love to hate on shows like MTV’s “The Hills,” “The City,” and Bravo’s “Kell on Earth.”

Her book is a true motivator for any female entrepreneur or business owner, outing that ‘little voice inside your head’ also known as ’self doubt,’ by identifying your ‘true voice,’ and when and where it’s time to listen to it.  She confirms that there are ups and downs in business, constant fear and excitement in career, and that it’s possible to be a woman and truly ‘have it all.’  I love that she admits she had no idea what she was doing at first–practice makes perfect.

Her attitude in business and in life is authentic.  Though our styles are completely different, I strive to follow her lead of authenticity and honesty, and I’m going to keep a “What would Kelly do?” approach in my back pocket the next time ‘times get tough.’

The book, which released in March 2010, is now on The New York Times Bestseller’s list, and with good reason.

Some favorite quotes from the book (via Styleit.com):

An explanation of the book’s purpose:

“…[T]his isn’t a book about how to be a smart businesswoman, because I’m not a smart businesswoman. Frankly, I’m not even that smart. What I am is fearless and intuitive. I’m attuned to the sound of my inner voice, and I’ve been following it blindly for most of my life, without any clear goals.”

On the name of her company:

“I named my company People’s Revolution not because I’m a Communist – a popular misconception – but because I happen to believe the world will change only when we change ourselves. And that starts with finding ourselves. And that starts with listening to ourselves…”

On the importance of hard work:

“It was becoming obvious that I needed more than witty small talk and the right look to survive in this town. [Y]ou can fake your way to the table, but ultimately you have to learn how to eat. Clothes do not make the woman (even if they do make her look good).”

On her work ethic:

“These days, I continue to call members of the media myself rather than outsourcing the work to my staffers, because you can never be too good for the things that first made you successful. I will always remember that at twenty-three years old, as an untrained and unknown publicity newbie from Syracuse, I tried my best to get the whole country talking about my message with no staff, no office, no assistant, no Blackberry, and no know-how, just with conviction, truth, and balls. And it worked.”

[Alyson Campbell for It's All Very PR]

I’m currently catching up on Season 2 of “The City,” which I admittedly watch for the genius and inspiration that is PR guru, Kelly Cutrone.  What I’m loving this season though, is the added PR insight as Whitney launches her new collection, and Olivia and Erin duke it out over at the PR department of Elle Magazine.

In real life, I have to believe that Olivia would be canned for her behavior and lack of PR sensibility by now.  She never follows direction, has zero attention to detail, sends her clients on national TV segments unprepared, always thinks she is above the tasks at hand, and when confronted about the terrible job she’s doing, consistently uses the defense “I’m not having this conversation with you right now.“  Then, they give her the job of interviewing up & coming fashion designers in the industry, and she consistently starts and stops with one original question, “what was the inspiration behind your collection?” followed-up with an interruption to talk about herself.

PR101 = be a good listener, work hard, pay your dues, do the grunt work, do your homework, validate other peoples thoughts, ideas and opinions, and be respectful.

So the purpose of this post is a giant thumbs up to Miss Erin Kaplan, who remains poised and respectable despite Olivia’s reckless imitation of appropriate workplace behavior.

To learn more about Erin, check out this Q&A interview submitted by an Elle reader (via Elle.com):

On the show, you are always very confident and to-the-point, but has there ever been a time when you were at a loss for words?

That’s so nice to hear, especially since I feel quite the opposite when filming! Hindsight is always 20/20 and the majority of the time I wish I could go back and change what I said or at least phrase it a bit differently. You can never be too sure of what you’re walking into so it’s impossible to prepare. I just try to handle each situation the way I would if the cameras weren’t there.

We’ve seen Whitney’s love life crash and burn multiple times and it seems like Roxy might find a romantic interest this season. Will we see that side of Erin on the show?

Probably not….It seems like such a contradiction because I’m on a reality show, but I really try to keep my private life private. Dating can be awkward in general but it would be that much more awkward to know that my boss, coworkers, work contacts and parents were going to be watching the date!

Are you satisfied with how The City has portrayed you? If not, what would you like people to know that would help them get a more balanced and accurate idea of who Erin Kaplan is?

I’m always so serious (and ridiculously dramatic) on the show! I have an incredible job at ELLE and a great time doing it but you rarely get to see me actually working. I think they’ll show a bit more of what my job entails this season though. My relationship with Joe is also so much less formal off-camera. It’s not so serious and we spend a lot of our time laughing.

Can you elaborate on one of your most memorable moments with ELLE?

I definitely don’t think I can pick just one! I’ve been lucky enough to work on so many incredible projects…Ugly Betty is the first thing that comes to mind though. I was such a huge fan of the show to begin with, so to have the magazine be integrated into a storyline was surreal. I also love working with Robbie and the editors so anything involving them is always pretty memorable.

I read in an article that you are the youngest PR Director in the magazine’s history! Do you feel any added pressures to prove yourself because of your age?

Not so much pressure, more motivation. I think that at the end of the day it’s results, not age, that really matters.

Last night, we celebrated its opening with a media event hosted at the brand new space.  Party-goers were offered an open bar and a sampling of their hottest menu items including hot wings, calamari, mozzarella sticks, burgers and the signature ‘Exchange’ salad.

Usually though, patrons are asked to take a gamble, with prices of food and drink that fluctuate based on demand, on Exchange’s own in-house ‘stock market’.   Prices are broadcast on a giant ticker screen that runs the 35-foot length of the bar, posting which items are running below (-) or above (+) market price.  If everyone is drinking Guinness, the price of Guinness is going to go up—but consequently, all of Guinness’ competitors (like Killian’s) will go down.  The opening bell rings at 8pm after Happy Hour prices come to a close, and if you play your cards right, you may just end up at the bar during an impromptu ‘Market Crash!!!!’—where drinks temporarily drop to $2 for all beers, $3 for all well drinks, and $4 for top shelf, after which point, the market resets itself.  Customers can also have fun by posting personal messages to the ticker screen, like: ‘happy birthday’ or ‘hey you at the end of the bar, can I buy you a drink!?’

The bar’s unique concept is the brainchild of friends and co-owners Damon Bae (a former stock trader turned real estate mogul) and Levent Cakar (an economist with 11 years+ in the restaurant industry).  Of the concept, Cakar says: “When you think about it, it’s a really smart way to run a restaurant.  If an item isn’t selling, it becomes really cheap and then we’re able to move the product.  It also keeps the hot ticket items from selling out and draws attention to cheaper products.  It’s all about supply and demand—and it’s an organic way to manage our inventory.” The lounge-like space features both a bar and full dinner menu, with special lunch & brunch menus expected to be introduced at a later date.

Exchange Bar & Grill is located at 256 Third Avenue between 20^th & 21^st Street (www.exchangebarandgrill.com).

*Exchange Bar & Grill

*Co-Owners Damon Bae & Levent Cakar

*AMp3’s Dan Jones front row center with John, Ron & Lauren

*Private Chef Jess Hulett with Brenda Dargan of Martha Stewart

*TVHost Emily Loftiss

*The super cute Frani Lieberman, Media Post’s Kelly Samardak and Alyssa Galella

*Exchange staffers Lilly, Mike & Katie

*Market Crash!!!!!!

[Alyson Campbell for It's All Very PR]

The morning of Day 1 was quickly overshadowed by news that famed British designer Alexander McQueen had committed suicide.  In this day in age, word spreads quickly–I first heard the moment I pulled up Twitter that morning.  Apparently, news broke during the BCBG show, wherein long-standing Vogue Editrix, Anna Wintour, first heard the news and went running out mid-show.  Other friends and colleagues were also horrified by the news, including Naomi Campbell who was seen soon after and described as “visibly distraught.”

As with the bad news, any news during Fashion Week is able to be funneled and shared quickly, thanks to the evolution of the fashion bloggerati.  No longer do we have to wait to read about it in the pages of WWD or The New York Times, instead, fashion followers are blogging the news, Facebooking the pictures, and Twittering the trends in bite-sized pieces.

Publishing the story first has become increasingly important.  It lends itself to getting referenced and quoted in other media outlets and it helps your blog or publication in getting ranked higher on Google.   It is even more important though, to the subjects of the matter.   One blogger’s opinion has the power to impact how the show will be received overall and dangerously lends itself to other bloggers and traditional reporters following suit.  I guess it’s a media phenomenon which some might refer to as lazy journalism.

Sponsors are catching on to new media as well.  The main area of the tents now boasts a giant leader board, sponsored by American Express.  It posts a Twitter feed in real time, by the minute, featuring Fashion related tweets from anyone that uses the #FW hashtag.  People insides the shows are twittering the stand out trends as on lookers watch from outside.

The tents are also now fully equipped for the blogger lifestyle, with a media lounge that promotes wireless internet and battery-charging outlets.

Finally, this season’s New York Fashion Week is also memorable, because it is going to be the very last season in the Bryant Park Tents.  In September, the semi-annual show moves itself to Lincoln Center.

[IMAGES: Fashion Designer and Washington Style Reporter, Ms. Bob Bland of Brooklyn Royalty, sports an outfit tailored to the morning's heartbreaking McQueen news]

[Alyson Campbell for It's All Very PR]

The event was fittingly held in the old Tower Records space on 4th & Bway, which felt so desolate and sad, after being stripped of its musical inventory.  Brightening things up though, was a non-profit organization entitled “No Longer Empty” which brings temporary cultural exhibits to unused real estate throughout the city.  As such, the walls displayed a slew of musical tributes, ranging from a flock of birds made out of old vinyl records to a wall plastered with all of the magazine covers that famed wanna-be rapper, Vanilla Ice, graced back in the early 90s.

Before the panel got started, SoundCTRL announced a new contest called FlashFWD.  Here, they are looking for the top music startups that are reshaping the current music biz model as we know it.  (Be a doll, and nominate my client BLAZETRAK for this honor here).  Winner gets to attend the infamous SXSW conference, the largest music & tech conference of the year.

The panel incuded:
James Andrews – Moderator (@keyinfluencer)
Marisa Bangash – Uncensored Interview (@mbangash)
Andrew Katz – Pepsi – Music Marketing Division (@phillykatz)
?uestLove – Drummer for The Roots / current drummer on The Jimmy Fallon Show (@QuestLove)

The debate explored the not-necessarily-foreseeable new model that the music industry is going to need to adopt, as music sales continue to decline, and the consumer continues to have innovative ways to access music online for free.  For the most part, the panel agreed that the question comes down to the financier.  Who is going to finance the artist development, the studio time, the production, and ultimately, the publicity of the musical acts?  How are we going to have superstars like Michael Jackson and Beyonce without sales and thus funding?

This lead into a discussion over the notion of partnering Brands with Bands, and if the advertising companies, or the huge corporate sponsors (Hi there, Pepsi!), would be the new creatives in the business.  Brands as curators?  And whether or not marketing will impede upon the musical integrity of an act.   Andrew Katz, representative of Pepsi, quickly chimed in that this is something that Brands will have to earn.  It’s a process of building up that kind of credibility and respect, something he says Pepsi is already in the process of doing.

Other suggestions for new revenue models ranged from music superstars being paid to tweet, having digital music listening charge like a utility bill would, and even one mention that Blazetrak is solving the problem!

My favorite moment of the night was when Questlove was talking about hip-hop not having any credible acts with major $$$ budgets backing them before 1992.  At which point his eye conveniently caught the Vanilla Ice exhibit, and he cracked up, thinking about how it was manufactured rap acts just like this, who helped to bring hip-hop into the mainstream.   Questlove’s insight, passion, and humor added a thoroughly enjoyable touch to the evening’s discussion (read: huge crush).

What do you think is the next sustainable model for the music business?

**All photos courtesy of Random Night Out’s Nick McGlynn

*The Panel (from left to right): James Andrews, Marisa, Andrew Katz, Questlove

*The audience, during Q&A (I was sitting directly in front of the guy asking the question, how am I not visible?)

*Nate Casey, co-founder of Blazetrak.com, chatting with Questlove

*The lovely Emily Gannett with Social Diva, Peg Samuel.

*The SoundCTRL board members w/ the Panelists

[Alyson Campbell for It's All Very PR]

The discussion will be moderated by social media maven, James Andrews (Co-Founder, BeEverywhere.tv & TheKeyInfluencer.com), and the panel will feature: ?uestLove (National recording artists & infamous drummer of The Roots and The Jimmy Fallon Show), Andrew Katz (Senior Marketing Manager, PepsiCo), and Marisa Bangash (Co-Founder of Uncensored Interview).

In partnership with PepsiCo Music, dotMusic & No Longer Empty, the panel will explore the trading and bartering of social media currencies amongst artists, corporations and labels and touch upon who is successful in this trade to boost popularity, creating new revenue streams and promote “global goodness.”

Where?
No Longer Empty – Never Can Say Goodbye Exhibition (also known as the former Tower Records building)
692 Broadway @ 4th Street
New York, N Y 10003
NoLongerEmpty.org

When?
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
Panel from 6:00pm – 8:30pm
Reception from 8:30pm – 10:00pm

SoundCTRL is a network of digital media professionals who are focused on advancing the music industry through the power of the social web.  Social Media Week is a week long, international conference, designed as  series of localized events, which city partners are responsible for organizing.  The aim of each event is to advance the use and understanding of social media in the corporate, public, and non-profit sectors (more info: SocialMediaWeek.org)

To RSVP to this event as Press/Media or VIPs, contact me.

[Alyson Campbell for It's All Very PR]

Today’s news surrounds Adam Lambert.  In only his first year in the spotlight since competing on American Idol, “Glambert” as his fans affectionately call him, managed to raise eyebrows after his “racy” performance on Sunday night’s American Music Awards.

Adding fuel to the fire though is ABC’s decision to pull Lambert’s upcoming performance from “Good Morning America,” citing that “given his controversial [AMA] performance, we were concerned about airing a similar concert so early in the morning.”** Really?  The time of day actually impacts your opinion on whether his open-sexuality is or is not ok?  Me thinks that statement could have been more politically correct so as to avoid any ambiguity or the accusations that have inevitably ensued.

Loyal are his fans, they have swooned to Twitter (with the help of supporter and fan Perez Hilton), creating the hashtag #ShameOnYouABC.  In no time, the hot topic made it into the top ten trends of the day, and shows no sign of slowing.

CBS, the real publicity hero in this story, saw ABC in a terrible communications crisis and swooped in to capture the affection of disgruntled fans by booking Adam Lambert to come perform on “The Early Show” tomorrow morning.  Apparently, they’re willing to have him perform on national television during the light of day!  A great and strategic ‘good will’ effort on their part.  And I’m sure tomorrow morning’s ratings will agree.

**Official quote from the ABC spokesperson was re-quoted via this New York Times article.

[Alyson Campbell for It's All Very PR]

The book surrounds his relatively quick and calculated rise to personal branding fame and the opportunity that is newly available to everyone in today’s restructured digital society.  In the book, Gary states that he lives by three simple rules:

Love your family.
Work Superhard.
Live your passion.

With this, he says, you will find ultimate happiness and success.

The main theme of the book is identifying and pursuing your true passion, with a focus on the current (free) social media tools available to all of us.  Although these channels may change as rapidly as they’ve been created, the strategy for success remains the same, “If you spend most of your life time working, then it better be for something you love,” warns Gary.

Gary was an entrepreneur from the very beginning, creating a “personal brand” on everything he did, from his franchised lemonade stands to his baseball card trading empire. Soon, he was working at his parents liquor store in Clark, New Jersey which he later grew into a $60 million business.  The book explains why we should all be able to do the same (if we’re truly crushing it, that is).

Gary, with his life-long obsession to one day buy the New York Jets, has used his god-given DNA to pursue what comes naturally to him, and what doesn’t even feel like work.  The book points out that we all have different DNA, and it’s important to embrace what we’re instinctively good at and recognize what we’re not.  Authenticity in business is key.

Gary, like me, shares the motto “refuse to settle” and was prompted to do this book out of the disbelief that there are still people out there who haven’t figured out that you don’t have to settle, ever.

We all love something, we’re all overly knowledgeable about something, and we are all the ‘go to’ person for something amongst our family and friends. As far as Gary is concerned, the more niche your passion the better, in one example showing how even a fisherman particularly interested in the best bait for the best catch is a walking money machine if monetized correctly.

Advertising dollars are going where the eye-balls are, and the eye-balls are moving from print to screens, so if there was ever a time to create a loyal audience online and offer that inventory up to an ad-buying company within your niche–it’s now.

In today’s world, the gate keepers have lost their power and to succeed, you just need to clarify where your DNA and passion intersect–and be willing to hustle.

WATCH the below video of AMP3 PR client, Justine Suh of The Green Scout Report, interviewing Gary Vaynerchuk about the new book (and disregard my shaky camera work!).

For anyone out there looking to motivate their personal and career goals, I strongly recommend this read. I personally plan on gifting it to several people in my life who are in the process of reinventing themselves or are considering new entrepreneurial ventures this year.

From Roberto Gonazalez, my friend and NYC real estate guru who conceived, wrote and directed the viral video “The NYC Realty Guide” to my big sister who is a pharmacist by day but a passionate family travel blogger by night, the niches that social citizens could be capitalizing on are endless, and @Garyvee is not afraid to say it, “Quit your job, quit your job today.”

Gary (next to my hero Oprah) is in the running to be my mentor of the decade.

Get out there, and start crushing it today!

And for the wine lovers out there, don’t forget to tune into WineLibrary.TV for Gary’s ongoing video series on all things wine.

[Alyson Campbell for It's All Very PR]

Here is Joe’s article, which you can also read directly, here.

How To: Plant An Item in Page Six

Tonight’s panel featured three keynote speakers:  Chris Cunningham (Founder and CEO of appssavvy), Steve Rubel (SVP, Director of Insights for Edelman Digital) and Pete Cashmore (CEO and Founder of Mashable), who all presented their niche as it relates to “Social Media Marketing.”

Panelist #1–Chris Cunningham on “Introduction to the future of Social Media Applications”:

In Chris’ words, Facebook is genius.  But the thing about Facebook is that users are not on Facebook just for it’s primary purpose, they’re also looking for new and other ways to engage.  Users are also looking for applications that matter in their day to day lives.  Among the most successful apps are: Circle of Moms, Dogbook (facebook for dogs), and Texas Hold’em.  There are all kinds of large verticals built around gaming, pets, family, and travel.

Appssavvy is the company that is helping developers of these apps to make money and there is a major opportunity for marketers in this space.  Appssavvy helps brands to discover, navigate, and execute their marketing plans.  They are focused on the sale: finding great partners and executing the right fit.   Appssavvy ironically doesn’t actually build any apps, they just find the best inventory and they sell it.

Circle of Moms works on Facebook because it’s relevant, because they are talking about the ‘Mom’ lifestyle.  Huggies created a rewards campaign that was advertised within Circle of Moms, and it works because it was directly relevant.  Today, brands HAVE to give you something and must enhance your daily routine, or there is no point in being there.

Oakley is another great example.  They came to appsavvy and asked them to build them a custom app.  Appssavvy’s respsonse was simple: they didn’t need one, “snowreport already existed.”  As such, Oakley could take advantage of a pre-existing target audience, and provide desirable content.  Oakley pulled up and provided value to the users of this app, and this in return, directly enhanced their brand.

According to Chris, here are the keys for online advertising as it relates to social media:

• Provide value
• Contextual relevance
• Engagement metrics
• Building a relationship
• Creating KeyPI’s (Key Performance Indicators)
• Treating online advertising like real life
• Conversation
• Partnering not building
• Pull verses push

Chris finished off with a really great quote that brands should read loud and clear, “Don’t believe social media is experimental, it is very real, and its happening right now.”

Panelist #2–Steve Rubel  on “5 Trends to Watch in Social Media”:

Steve started out with a couple of interesting stats:

• 111: is the number of domains the average American visits per month
• 2554: is the number of web pages the average American visits per month
• Thus indicating, that the choices people have to make are infinite

Steve’s Trend 1: Satisfaction Guarenteed
PR and Customer Service are becoming one.  Consumers now use social media to demand they get their problems solved.  Customer Service as a result, is now a PR issue.   There is an entire generation coming up that will never dial a 1-800 number in their lifetime, they will just tweet their displeasure and anticipate a reply.

What are the brand implications of this?  Brands must:

• Audit the entire online experience.
• Build relationships with digital embassies
• Be prepared to engage and act quickly (a lot happens over the weekend)
• Be ubiquitous (the more engaged you are, the better)

Example: Starbucks came up with the ‘mystarbucksidea’ campaign  -  it is completely social, you can suggest ideas and others can vote your idea up or down.  This is a great example of crowd sourcing. Starbucks has since created a Twitter platform for this: @mystarbucksidea  and a Facebook group: mystarbucksidea.  They are directly putting the needs and wants of their customer base into action.

Trend 2: Media Reforestation
The media is contracting: print is cutting back, the New York Times is being forced to put ads on the front page, and it is all going digital.  Rubel dares to predict that in 5 years, all things you can touch and feel will be exinct or in far reach.  He believes (and I agree) that digital is the way of the upcoming generation.

What are the brand implications of this?  Brands must:

• Take a broad view of the media ecosystem
• Become a curator of content in niches (to avoid creating your own content everyday)
• Re-think how media is measured and valued
• Change the economics of PR

Example: Talk370z.com.  Here they have blog posts, youtube videos,  and twitter feeds, all in one place about this particular car.  If you don’t become a digital curator in your space, somebody else will.

Trend 3: Less is the New More
Overload takes it’s toll.  Due to the plethora of information available to us, consumers have begun to use selective ignorance and friends as quality filters, to make decisions.

Brand implications:

• Provide utility (The Tylenol PM app:  you put in how much you sleep and it tracks your mood)
• Sow seeds with peers, grow plants with pros
• Shape the search shelf (make sure you’re visible online)

Trend 4: Corporate All-Stars
As employees flock to social media to build their brands, some companies recognize that these individuals can become corporate all-stars.  Employees know now that if they ever apply for a new job, they will be googled.  So, if you get fired, all you really have today is your online brand.

Brand Implications:

• Connect customers and all-stars
• Give all-stars independence yet focus them
• Equip and support active listening (Real people behind real brands are making an impact online)

Trend 5: The power of pull
So much of marketing is about push, and pushing ideas down the consumers throat.  But now, its equally important that marketers create digital content that people will pull based on their interests.

Brand Implications:

• Create resources that enhance the conversation
• Adopt rather than invent
• Write for searches, not for readers  (Consumers are googling problems, not unknown solutions, keep this in mind for your headlines)
• When people are searching online, if they can find you, then that’s the power of pull

Key Takeaways:

• Publicly engage consistently and regularly
• Create or aggregate meaningful content
• Be simple and utilitarian
• Be fast, fun, and flexible
• Think relationships

When asked how twitter and social media have changed PR companies, Rubel’s answers were very poignant.  The online sphere has made the media cycle faster, which means there are more avenues to tell stories, and to tell them directly.  It also means that we really shouldn’t be distinguishing between media and social media, and that PR in many ways has more credence over marketing in today’s marketplace.

Panelist #3–Pete Cashmore “Closing Presentation & Panel”:

As the creator of Mashable, Pete Cashmore opted to run a panel verses a “talk,” where he surveyed a couple of key tastemakers in the social media sphere on what he deems to be ‘hot topics’ of the moment.

On the panel were: Scott Harrison (Founder, Charity:Water), Steve Rubel (also known as Panelist #2!), Stephanie Agresta (Organizer of TechSet / AKA Internet Geek Girl) and Toby Daniels (Organizer of Twestival NYC + Organizer of Social Media Week).

According to Pete, Charity:Water is a prime example of a Charitable function that has done amazingly well using online tools.  And they suspect this is because their equation is so simple: There are X amount of people without access to clean water, there is a solution to this, all we need is X amount of $, and we can show/prove results.  YouTube, Facebook and Twitter all allow Charity:Water to show their results and progress in motion.  They were able to raise 1.6 million in only 7-8 weeks via social media.  According to Toby, “Social media collapses time, messages travel more quickly, things can go viral and reach millions with a click.”

The panel discussed two recent public disasters for two major brands.  When Amazon experienced a snafu, their immediate reaction was to issue a press release —- no one read it. (Read: Old way of thinking.)   Dominos Pizza had a snafu where an incriminating video surfaced on YouTube which resulted in over 1 million views.   They responded to the fiasco with a video response on YouTube, and it got 600,000 views itself.  It helped to solve the mess.   The idea here is to react within the same channel, but more importantly, to be active and engaged in all channels, before you ever encounter a crisis in the first place.   It’s important for brands to be set up for a crisis so that you have a fighting chance in the event of a fire. Think of it as your modern day fire drill, folks.

When Cashmore asked the panel if they could wrap up the argument of who is king, New York or San Francisco in the Social Media sphere?  Scott replied, “New York more than doubled San Fran in money raised for Twestival, so I think its obvious.”

The New York-based audience liked that answer

*Pete Cashmore discusses the Pay-Per-Post dilemma and disclosure etiquette with the panel

*Pete Cashmore discusses charity campaigns as they relate to brands and social media, with the panel

[Alyson Campbell for It's All Very PR]