I always enjoy reading Jenn Leggio’s Social Business column at ZDNet and am thoroughly enjoying 100 Brains. Today she interviews Microsoft Security Guru Katie Moussouris, focusing on some social media security specifics that I found particularly interesting.

Before writing about what I found specifically intriguing, I want to digress slightly to headlines of the past couple days related to Facebook’s third-party app privacy flaws (or I guess you would call flaws “features” if you were on the third-party app side ). The headlines made it sound as if there was some profound revelation in that Facebook was — can you imagine — not protecting users’ privacy, gasp! When the headlines broke, the first thing I posted on my Facebook was that I could hardly believe by now that anyone using Facebook does not understand that virtually anything and everything they post is, in a word, accessible. Anyone who hasn’t figured out that Mark Zuckerberg is providing a place to “share” and not “hide” information really doesn’t get the whole point of the site.

Back to the Leggio column with Moussouris. The QA I found intriguing (because it backs my opinion) is this:

Q. There’s a lot written about security and social media and education. Do you think it is reaching the right people?

A. I think that it doesn’t matter who it reaches, as there will always be people who will flock to social media sites regardless of whether or not their info is secure.  I personally assume and accept the elevated security risk in using social media. There was a time I tried to resist using graphical web browsers (I used lynx), due to my inherent paranoia, but the draw of The Onion online with hilarious photos drew me in and I began using another browser.  Similarly, the convenience features, and lure of all your friends in social media will draw even some of the most paranoid security people to join in. I think the right education for everyone about current social media and security is to set the expectation that it bears security risk, and that’s that. Use at your own risk!

Facebook, and any online social community, “bears security risk, and that’s that.”

One final thought:

There are instances where security risks on Facebook and the like aren’t inherent in the purpose of the technology, which, again, is to share and not hide information. These instances include social engineers and other attackers who blatantly attempt to suck users in with malicious links and nefarious offers. Does Facebook have an obligation to keep the criminals out and its users protected? I don’t want to get into this philosophical argument but I will opine that we — users — are placing a rather unrealistic expectation on Zuckerberg if we thing that he alone can solve the problem of Internet crime and security.

I’m a social mediaphile. I have a passion for all things social media and the technologies that enable them. I was particularly intrigued when a client of mine pointed out the Kansas City firm SocialVolt to me. SocialVolt is a social media management platform that claims to provide management and monitoring of social media discussions across multiple social technologies in a single dashboard-type of location. OK, no big differentiation from what other similar types of tools do. There was one particular capability SocialVolt provided that I found intriguing though — its compliance functionality.

I didn’t have a chance to speak with anyone at SocialVolt, but their website reads:

Using STUDIO’s first in class compliance feature set, organizations can now determine compliance rules, utilize sustainable discussion databases as well as backup and archive all conversations. Organizations can now scale social media across an entire enterprise without having to worry about jeopardizing their brand name!

If it actually works, its impressive to say the least to think that a regulated organization can cut loose on social media without worrying about compliance related issues. What’s even more intriguing is that SocialVolt doesn’t just stop at claiming to enable compliance, it specifies specific regulations it works with:

Whether it’s FINRA, FDIC, OCC, HIPAA or your own internal compliance officers, STUDIO gives you the tools you need to supply detailed research on any social media activity originated in STUDIO and even activity originated outside STUDIO.

Considering the speed at which companies such as Kaiser are utilizing new media services to market health care products and services, HIPAA coverage I think is an especially smart decision they made.

Definitely an intriguing technology that is worth watching, especially as social technologies become more and more embraced by mainstream internal and external marketing organizations now realizing that it is a powerful communications channel that delivers results.

One thing I would like to see out of SocialVolt is a customer use case posted on the website or even some commentary on a blog or two about how regulated companies are using the technology. For now, I rate them as a definite company to watch.

PLEASANTON, CA  – June 29, 2010 -  Trainer Communications, a full-service public relations, integrated marketing and social media agency servicing the enterprise and consumer technology sectors, today announced that the San Francisco Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA-SF) has honored the agency with the Northern California Silver Anvil Award for “Best Integrated Consumer Product or Service Campaign.”

Trainer’s winning Zazzle campaign, comprised of strategic top-tier business publication and holiday gift guide placements, and national consumer broadcast segments, resulted in billions of impressions worldwide. The Silver Anvil awards emcee Tom Vacar, an award-winning journalist for Channel 2 Fox News, made note that Trainer had earned the distinction of being the only company in the past 25 years to receive a perfect score by the judges. Trainer CEO Susan Thomas, along with several Trainer team members, attended the gala event held in San Francisco, Calif. on the evening of June 17, 2010.

Trainer, a previous Silver Anvil award winner, was selected based on PRSA’s comprehensive evaluation system that stringently assesses overall campaign objectives, strategy, tactics, execution and results. The core elements of the Zazzle campaign included:

* Expert-driven strategies on news releases and key media targets
* Tactical use of state-of-the-art PR management tools
* Award-winning Metrics Matter™ best practice methodologies

“More than just our PR agency, Trainer Communications is a strategic partner whom we collaborate with on a regular basis to help build our business. Trainer consistently executes creative campaigns, delivers stellar results based on its Metrics Matter approach, and almost always exceeds expectations. We offer our congratulations on Trainer’s perfect-score award win and look forward to teaming with Trainer on additional award-winning work in the years to come,” said Michael Karns, marketing director for Zazzle.

In addition to this PRSA Silver Anvil, Trainer is being honored this week at a gala event hosted by the Bulldog Awards in New York City for “Agency of the Year.” Trainer will also receive the 2010 Bulldog Award for “Best Campaign Under $100,000,” saluting Trainer’s PR innovation for its highly successful “Data Robotics Goes Pro” campaign. These three awards add to a growing list of national acclaim for Trainer which, among other accolades, has also won the 2008 Bulldog Award for “PR Innovation of the Year” for its Metrics Matter methodology, the 2009 Sabre Award for “Best Agency to Work For,” and the 2009 MarCom Gold Award for “Excellence in Publicity Campaign.”

“While these awards validate our PR and marketing prowess, what’s really important is the value our campaigns create for our clients to help drive their business. We are honored to represent clients like Zazzle that encourage us to perform at elite levels all of the time,” said Susan Thomas, CEO, Trainer Communications. “While we strive for perfection in all that we do, we are truly humbled to receive the first-ever perfect score in the 25-year history of this prestigious award.”

About Trainer Communications
Trainer Communications is the premier provider of integrated marketing and high-tech public relations services. Specializing in technology, the agency offers deep domain expertise across data infrastructure, information security, optical and wireless communications, enterprise software, networking, and consumer industries. Trainer represents emerging and high-growth technology companies that lack the market recognition and visibility needed to meet business objectives and is the only agency that guarantees quantifiable results with its Metrics Matter™ methodology. Established in 1995, Trainer has represented more than 200 companies, including one-third that resulted in a positive liquidity event. Notable successes include Brocade, Cloudscape, CrossWorlds, Data Domain, G-Log, Itronix, Oblix, Sygate, Trigo, Versata, and WhereNet. Based in Silicon Valley with nationwide coverage, the agency has received numerous awards, including the 2010 Bulldog Award for Best Small Agency of the Year and Best PR Campaign Under $100K, the 2009 and 2008 MarCom Gold Award for Best Publicity Campaign, the 2009 Iron Sabre Award for Best Agency to Work For, two 2009 National Videographer Awards, the 2008 Bulldog Award for PR Innovation of the Year, and the 2008 Iron Sabre Certificate of Excellence for Product of the Year. For more information, visit www.trainercomm.com.

Follow Trainer Communications

Twitter: http://twitter.com/TrainerComms

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TrainerCommunications

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/companies/trainer-communications_2

Tisa Penny (left), Shannon Magill and Susan Thomas with the PR News and MarCom Gold awards, earned for outstanding communications, PR and marketing efforts in support of the Mt. Diablo Region YMCA fund raising efforts.

There’s nothing like an award to rally the troops, build morale and validate the value of your organization’s services. At my day job, Trainer Communications, we value awards our clients win as well as those we earn. They not only instill a sense of organizational pride, they also validate fine work done and best efforts put forth.

Recently, the Association of Marketing and Communications Professionals, PR News and the Videographer Awards recognized Trainer for its outstanding work in communications, public relations, marketing and video.

For its pro bono work done on behalf of the Mt. Diablo Region YMCA’s new facilities fund raising efforts, the Association awarded Trainer its International MarCom Gold award and PR News awarded it an honorable mention. For its outstanding work in video production, the Videographer Awards presented Trainer with the prestigious “Clapboard” for corporate video and Web 2.0 news video production for its work done for former client G-Log and current client Bear Valley Resort. The MarCom and PR News awards were earned by the outstanding trio of Trainer founder and CEO Susan Thomas, Account Coordinator Shannon Magill and Account Coordinator Tisa Penny. The Clapboards were earned by the Trainer video duo of VP Ross Perich and myself.

G Log Corporate Video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Bear Valley Resort Web 2.0 News Video

Click here to view the embedded video.

Posted by Joe Franscella

Media designed to be made available quickly and easily over the Internet to anyone with a Web browser and Internet connection is typically referred to as “Social Media.” Commonly used social media types include videos, blogs, photos, PodCasts and remarks made on social media publishing communities, blog reply fields and platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and WordPress.

Well-known and heavily-patronized social media publishing sites and platforms and modern Internet search engine functionality has made it possible for individuals and businesses to interact on topics of mutual interest through social media at breakneck speeds and on a massive scale.

Social media interactions are so popular and easy that businesses recognize that with it, they can enhance brand recognition, win new customers and manage existing customer relationships. Well-known technology suppliers such as EMC are taking the power of social media so seriously that they are actively recruiting manager-level employees to fill full-time positions in the practice.

It seems as if new ways to penetrate customer bases via social media interactions spring up daily. Change takes place at such a rapid pace that many newcomers end up throwing in the towel before they even get started. Statements such as, “We haven’t yet seen the value of social media,” are often defense mechanisms that really mean, “I haven’t got a clue.”

To compensate for a lack of understanding on how to best utilize social media for customer interactions, organizations are increasingly relying upon their marketing, communications and PR agencies to integrate social media communications elements into their marketing strategies. Unfortunately, many agencies are as clueless as their clients.

CMOs, marketing VPs and directors that need to rely upon an agency to establish social media interactions can quickly cull through the morass of service providers and determine which actually provide “expertise” by checking them against a set of “expert” criteria.

Once you have identified an agency that can provide expert strategic leadership within traditional marketing arenas, you can then judge its ability to provide expert social media execution by evaluating  it against these seven-criteria:

1. Agency employees participate in social community interactions through the use of various social media formats
2. Agency employees have established, regularly used accounts on popular social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube
3. Agency employees have established, regularly updated blogs
4. Agency employees have been recognized as active social media participants by recognized social media icons
5. The agency utilizes social media as a way to market its service offerings
6. The agency has secured tangible metrics as a result of its social media activities on behalf of clients or itself
7. The agency can demonstrate thorough knowledge and understanding how to raise search engine rankings through the use of keywords, meta tags and other SEO techniques

There really is no room for a missing check box when it comes to your evaluation. Just like college students must demonstrate that they have fulfilled all the requirements of a degree prior to having a diploma granted, an agency must also fill all requirements prior to earning “expert” status.

The last thing any good general wants to do is go to war with untrained soldiers. Could you imagine devising a clever strategy and then deploying soldiers on the battlefield who don’t know the difference between a muzzle and a breach? The results would be disastrous. Imagine you are a CMO, marketing VP or director and you decide to execute on a social media strategy with untrained soldiers, how well do you think it would go?

Before you choose an agency or consultant to to lead your company into the social media battlefield, make sure its soldiers are well trained in the art of interacting through the medium. How do you know if your firm’s soldiers are prepared? For starters, find out if they are engaged on a regular basis.

As a marketing and PR practitioner, I make it my responsibility to be involved beyond what my employer and clients expect. I blog, I Facebook, I Twitter, I YouTube, I Digg etc…etc…I am so passionate about the practice that I am proud to say David Pogue of the New York Times included me in his book:

In my next blog post, I am going to present a checklist of criteria CMOs, VPs and directors can use to determine the social media expertise level of an agency. Talk soon.

Posted by Joe Franscella

I’m not big on press releases or announcements that start off by stating “… is pleased to announce …” But, I gotta say that in this particular case I really am pleased to announce (on Security Heavy) Trainer TV, my firm’s video contribution to the IT, marketing and public relations spaces.

Trainer TV is Trainer VP Ross Perich’s long-developing idea in action. Ross has brought his experience and talent as a former TV reporter and AP award winner to the regular show that not only showcases what’s happening in IT, marketing and communications, but also Trainer’s prowess at producing video. I am proud to say that I am Ross’ right hand man in the endeavor, have the opportunity to do much of the shooting and editing and I get to apply my skill at chroma keying and inserting digital backgrounds (unlike agencies that outsource this level of technical production, Trainer does it all in-house).

The first two segments we’ve released feature insight from security executives  interviewed during the Executive Women’s Forum (EWF) party held during RSA Conference 2009. The one above is about what keeps security executives up at night and the one below is about threats execs are on the look out for. Both  include comments from the heads of security at enterprises including McCormick Spices and Braclays Bank. We have more IT security segments coming out over the next coupld of months.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I was as intrigued by Claire Caine Miller’s New York Times piece, Spinning the Web: P.R. in Silicon Valley, as Michael Arrington and Todd Defren were. Like anyone who read it, I agreed with some of it and I disagreed with some of it. I also agreed and disagreed with various ideas that it spawned within the blogosphere.

The first idea I disagree with came from Arrington. The TechCrunch guru wrote that PR, basically, is  “smile and dial and pray…” The media relations portion of tech PR, good tech PR, is about a lot more than just smile, dial and pray though. Strategic practitioners know that you’re not going to get any influential or valuable coverage by just sticking a junior level person in a cubicle with a phone, Cision account and Bible. In order to get into publications that matter, you need to understand the technology your pitching, understand the motivation and beat of the journalist and deliver a compelling angle that will appeal to his editors and readers. Maybe I read Arrington wrong, but to me the word “pray” implied that media relations relies more on hope than on skill – it doesn’t, it’s all about expertise. If it were about hope, there would be plenty more tech companies getting written about on TechCrunch (“Please God, let Arrington pick up when I call and then agree to cover my client,”  I don’t think that’s a winning pitch). I do agree, however, that there is a lot of dial involved. Eighty percent of my best media relations work results from phone calls, but those phone calls only pay because I know who I am calling, why I am calling and how to present something useful.

I agree strongly with Defren’s “good PR #7″

Good PR doesn’t need to know Larry Ellison or Kevin Rose or anyone in particular in the media, either.  Even though such relationships can come in handy, good PR almost always “gets ink” because a good story has been well-told to the right people.

In 1999, I worked at a hot San Francisco PR firm called Phase II Strategies, ran by the husband and wife team of  Bill and Chris Boehlke. We had a pitch-man on staff, John (I can’t remember his last name), he was always landing hits on AP that would invariably get syndicated across all the major dailies. At the company’s annual party, he made an impact statement, he said he’d never placed a story based of a personal relationship or because he took a journalist out for drink – he secured ink because he delivered compelling news to the right journalist at the right time.

Before closing with Arthur C.  Page’s Seven Principals of Good PR, I will end with one final thought. Good PR is about more than just media relations, it’s about managing the relationships with the various audiences responsible for your clients’ success. As an agency, even if all you are contracted to do is execute on media strategy, you should always keep in mind that you are doing more than just scoring ink, you are helping to manage relationships on behalf or your client through a very public avenue.

Page’s Principals:

• Tell the truth. Let the public know what’s happening and provide an accurate picture of the company’s character, ideals and practices.
• Prove it with action. Public perception of an organization is determined 90 percent by what it does and 10 percent by what it says.
• Listen to the customer. To serve the company well, understand what the public wants and needs. Keep top decision makers and other employees informed about public reaction to company products, policies and practices.
• Manage for tomorrow. Anticipate public reaction and eliminate practices that create difficulties. Generate goodwill.
• Conduct public relations as if the whole company depends on it. Corporate relations is a management function. No corporate strategy should be implemented without considering its impact on the public. The public relations professional is a policymaker capable of handling a wide range of corporate communications activities.
• Realize a company’s true character is expressed by its people. The strongest opinions — good or bad — about a company are shaped by the words and deeds of its employees. As a result, every employee — active or retired — is involved with public relations. It is the responsibility of corporate communications to support each employee’s capability and desire to be an honest, knowledgeable ambassador to customers, friends, shareowners and public officials.
• Remain calm, patient and good-humored. Lay the groundwork for public relations miracles with consistent and reasoned attention to information and contacts. This may be difficult with today’s contentious 24-hour news cycles and endless number of watchdog organizations. But when a crisis arises, remember, cool heads communicate best.

Whenever I am tasked with video responsibilities at my firm, I always make a beeline to YouTube to do dearches and gather inspiration. Today I was searching for some comedy fodder related to technology reporting and I came across this old David Pogue video. Listen to the lyrics closely, it really is well done and demonstrates the power of communicating through the YouTube platform. With over 400,000 visits, it is also a clear demonstration of how powerful this medium is for tech related search.

Posted by Joe Franscella

A while back, I tweeted:

The more someone claims to be a social media expert the less of one they become.

The message’s implication was clear: so many people are claiming to be “social media experts” that deciding whom to engage to help you position your company and products on social media platforms is becoming increasingly difficult. The task can become so confusing that many people simply want to bury their heads in the sand and hope that the use of social media in business is just a passing fad.

One of the problems adding to the confusion is how “social media experts” are differentiating themselves. Often it’s done through blogs that espouse lists on the “Top 10 Do’s and Don’ts of Twitter.” Unfortunately, publishing such a list doesn’t make someone an expert. Too often those lists fail when Twitter founder @Jack and other participants with cult-level follower numbers continually defy them.

With that said, there are two questions for this discussion that I want you to consider. 1.) Is it important for IT security vendors to engage the market through social media platforms?  2.) If yes, how should vendors approach and manage activities on these new platforms?

To question 1, the answer is a resounding YES! But, I want to qualify the answer with why it is so important.  The age-old marketing practices of branding, messaging and positioning are among the most powerful reasons why vendors should. Branding, messaging and positioning are the cornerstones of any business (remember what Geoffrey Moore wrote in Crossing the Chasm: …the best technology doesn’t always win). There are millions of buyers, analysts and pundits gathering information via social media platforms and if you’re not monitoring and managing what’s being said about your company, then chances are someone else is.

Click on this link: http://search.twitter.com/, type in the name of your company, product or category and see what’s being discussed on this five million-user community. Any surprises? Is your company even represented, if so how? Is your company’s category waiting to be claimed or are competitors already dominating it? Remember, Twitter is only five million strong, just think of how many people might be discussing your company on Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media platforms.

Bottom line — regardless of venue, if you’re not thinking about this platform to extend the branding, messaging and positioning  of your company then someone else is. Do you need to participate? I think so.

With a YES to participation established, let’s move on to the next question: How should vendors approach and manage activities on these new venues?

Again, there are a lot of blog entries and strategy dos and don’ts being published and proselytized. However, the way for you a vendor to approach these venues is in the same way that it would approach any other communications channel: It only makes sense if your company is:

• Confident about what it is and the persona it portrays
• Clear about its products’ unique features and benefits provided
• Aware of which category it fits within
• Clear on how to communicate its value

So, how does a company get to the point of being ready? This type of preparedness within the IT security market develops only through the age-old marketing practices of branding, messaging and positioning, and only under the direction of a seasoned expert.

After your company knows what it is, what it offers and where it resides, then it is time to integrate the exciting world of social media into your overall marketing strategy, which should include both digital and traditional communications. Your company wouldn’t go after the New York Time’s twomillion subscribers without a strategy in place — don’t go after the millions using social media platforms without one either.

By now, you might be saying, “That’s all well said, Joe, but how do we choose a qualified marketing expert to help us put a strategy together?” Do your homework. Engage a firm that has a history of providing successful marketing programs for clients and review those successes against what your vision of success is.

If after all of this, you’re still not convinced that your company needs to engage a marketing strategist to be successful at social media, the only thing I can leave you with is a quote from world renowned oil well firefighter Red Adair:

If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.