Comments on: The Community Press Release [An Experiment] http://thepr2.0universe.com/2007/03/24/the-community-press-release-an-experiment-2/ Mapping the PR 2.0 Universe Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:54:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 By: Melvin Yuan http://thepr2.0universe.com/2007/03/24/the-community-press-release-an-experiment-2/#comment-38 Melvin Yuan Sat, 31 Mar 2007 08:22:05 +0000 http://thepr2.0universe.com/2007/03/24/the-community-press-release-an-experiment-2/#comment-38 It's all about the execution... the idea was dreamt up late into the game; we had too many other priorities to attend to, and we didn't get a chance to get the whole Nexus team involved in it. As with most tactics, this should be worked into the overall event plan from the start. So, this experiment didn't work out well, but I'm more confident of the concept now. Waiting for a second chance to test it. It’s all about the execution… the idea was dreamt up late into the game; we had too many other priorities to attend to, and we didn’t get a chance to get the whole Nexus team involved in it.

As with most tactics, this should be worked into the overall event plan from the start.

So, this experiment didn’t work out well, but I’m more confident of the concept now. Waiting for a second chance to test it.

]]> By: Ivan Chew http://thepr2.0universe.com/2007/03/24/the-community-press-release-an-experiment-2/#comment-37 Ivan Chew Sat, 31 Mar 2007 07:56:35 +0000 http://thepr2.0universe.com/2007/03/24/the-community-press-release-an-experiment-2/#comment-37 >>> “there are quite a few steps the person has to take” >>> OK, that was me shooting my mouth off again! :) Well it's like this, from my point of view. I know there's something about us plugging the event. But somehow got the impression I had to write something to be posted at Nexus2007... I guess I based it on my assumptions and didn't do anything about it. I only learnt about this "community press release" from your blog post. I guess you need a different strategy for lazy people like me, LOL. One more thing though -- I guess my apathy towards Nexus2007 was bec. I didn't really know what it would be like. Didn't want to plug something that might turn out to be uh, crappy (thankfully it wasn't!) Now that I've attended it, I'm more inclined to give it a plug. >>>
“there are quite a few steps the person has to take”
>>>
OK, that was me shooting my mouth off again! :)
Well it’s like this, from my point of view. I know there’s something about us plugging the event. But somehow got the impression I had to write something to be posted at Nexus2007… I guess I based it on my assumptions and didn’t do anything about it. I only learnt about this “community press release” from your blog post. I guess you need a different strategy for lazy people like me, LOL.

One more thing though — I guess my apathy towards Nexus2007 was bec. I didn’t really know what it would be like. Didn’t want to plug something that might turn out to be uh, crappy (thankfully it wasn’t!) Now that I’ve attended it, I’m more inclined to give it a plug.

]]> By: melvinyuan http://thepr2.0universe.com/2007/03/24/the-community-press-release-an-experiment-2/#comment-32 melvinyuan Wed, 28 Mar 2007 15:29:27 +0000 http://thepr2.0universe.com/2007/03/24/the-community-press-release-an-experiment-2/#comment-32 Hi Ivan, Like all experiments, this has been a valuable learning experience; and it has given me a much better idea on how to engage “<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Conferences and the Invisible Crowd" href="http://thepr2.0universe.com/2007/03/14/conferences-and-the-invisible-crowd/" rel="nofollow">the invisible crowds</a>” in future. We initially hoped that there would be more than a hundred contributors from amongst the crowd at Nexus, but this didn't happen. Instead, there were just over ten contributors. Despite this, I find myself believing more in this experiment. There were some things that could have been done better (for lack of time and prior planning) had the idea occurred to me earlier than 24 hours before the actual event! And I think the community press release has more potential than what we're seeing now. Just look at the volume of "participant-generated" content at Nexus - the blog posts (such as your’s); the photos on Flickr and the podcasts… I'll post an update on this experiment soon, with some of the lessons learnt. And I hope to tinker around with this model (of a community-developed press release) a little more… To address your other queries: <ul> <li>"<em>there are quite a few steps the person has to take</em>" - I'm surprised at this because I thought it was quite a straight-forward process: access page, log in to edit, and save changes when you're done. Care to share what the difficulties were?</li> <li>"<em>just seems like a very elaborate “word of mouth” strategy</em>" - I'm not sure exactly how to respond to this, except that this strategy <em>was</em> based on the assumption that there <em>would</em> be "word of mouth activity". And what I intended to do, was aggregate them on "one landing page" to make it easier to find these sources of information. I’m sure that reporters, bloggers and other members of “the invisible crowd” would appreciate the authentic records and collective report of the event. [My friend, <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Wilson Tan" href="http://fairtrade.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow">Wilson Tan</a>, sums up the strategy much better than I could have, in <a rel="nofollow" title="Conferences and the Invisible Crowd" target="_blank" href="http://thepr2.0universe.com/2007/03/14/conferences-and-the-invisible-crowd/" rel="nofollow">his comment on my </a><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Conferences and the Invisible Crowd" href="http://thepr2.0universe.com/2007/03/14/conferences-and-the-invisible-crowd/" rel="nofollow">"Invisible Crowds" post</a>.]</li> <li>As for <em>the source and timing of this press release</em> – it’s really alright. This "community press release" serves as a post-event record of what happened. To inform the mass media ahead of time, and to invite them to the event, I sent a media advisory (that I wrote) before the Nexus.</li> </ul> Thanks again for your feedback. :) Hi Ivan,

Like all experiments, this has been a valuable learning experience; and it has given me a much better idea on how to engage “the invisible crowds” in future.

We initially hoped that there would be more than a hundred contributors from amongst the crowd at Nexus, but this didn’t happen. Instead, there were just over ten contributors.

Despite this, I find myself believing more in this experiment. There were some things that could have been done better (for lack of time and prior planning) had the idea occurred to me earlier than 24 hours before the actual event! And I think the community press release has more potential than what we’re seeing now. Just look at the volume of “participant-generated” content at Nexus - the blog posts (such as your’s); the photos on Flickr and the podcasts…

I’ll post an update on this experiment soon, with some of the lessons learnt. And I hope to tinker around with this model (of a community-developed press release) a little more…

To address your other queries:

  • “there are quite a few steps the person has to take” - I’m surprised at this because I thought it was quite a straight-forward process: access page, log in to edit, and save changes when you’re done. Care to share what the difficulties were?
  • “just seems like a very elaborate “word of mouth” strategy” - I’m not sure exactly how to respond to this, except that this strategy was based on the assumption that there would be “word of mouth activity”. And what I intended to do, was aggregate them on “one landing page” to make it easier to find these sources of information. I’m sure that reporters, bloggers and other members of “the invisible crowd” would appreciate the authentic records and collective report of the event. [My friend, Wilson Tan, sums up the strategy much better than I could have, in his comment on my “Invisible Crowds” post.]
  • As for the source and timing of this press release – it’s really alright. This “community press release” serves as a post-event record of what happened. To inform the mass media ahead of time, and to invite them to the event, I sent a media advisory (that I wrote) before the Nexus.

Thanks again for your feedback. :)

]]> By: Ivan Chew http://thepr2.0universe.com/2007/03/24/the-community-press-release-an-experiment-2/#comment-28 Ivan Chew Tue, 27 Mar 2007 05:53:57 +0000 http://thepr2.0universe.com/2007/03/24/the-community-press-release-an-experiment-2/#comment-28 Hi Melvin, how's the experiment going? From my perspective, there are quite a few steps the person has to take, so that's a kind of barrier in itself. Call me "old skool" but the idea of a Community Press Release just seems like a very elaborate "word of mouth" strategy that's already prevalent in the blogosphere. I understand a "press release" to besomething written for the press, before the event. As a potential participant, I won't know a lot about the event, and to the press, I'm not going to be as authorative as the main organiser. Just my 2-cents. :) Hi Melvin, how’s the experiment going? From my perspective, there are quite a few steps the person has to take, so that’s a kind of barrier in itself. Call me “old skool” but the idea of a Community Press Release just seems like a very elaborate “word of mouth” strategy that’s already prevalent in the blogosphere. I understand a “press release” to besomething written for the press, before the event. As a potential participant, I won’t know a lot about the event, and to the press, I’m not going to be as authorative as the main organiser. Just my 2-cents. :)

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