It’s extremely rare when we write about BlinnPR or our blog The BlinnPR Report on these pages. In fact, I believe this might be the very first time.

Well I’m happy to announce that The BlinnPR Report is the 405th most influential Media and Marketing Blog in the world according to Ad Age magazine.

Granted, there are 404 more influential blogs but hey at least someone appreciates our biting wit and candor. And unlike those other blogs from PR firms whose only entries are about themselves, almost all of what we say is not about us. How can you beat that?

So drinks all around and three cheers to the 405th most influential Media and Marketing Blog in the world.

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While playing 18 holes of golf at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx over the weekend, I read online that it took Monster.com about five days to disclose a data breach where the personal information of a whole mess of grumpy job seekers, hoping that posting their resumes on Monster would result in a life of happiness and prosperity, got stolen.

I can’t answer the question about whether five days was too little or too much, but I can give you an idea about what you need to know before you disclose to customers, the media and in most cases your bank and credit card companies. You need to know what happened, what and how much was stolen, who was affected, and what you are going to do to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Maybe not with 100% certainty what happened or who the perpetrator(s) were, but enough to know generally what broke, so that you can assure customers you will fix it.

This ultimately comes down to a trust game, and I’d advise anyone to have more information (even if it takes a few days extra), then less. Saying “we’re screwed, we just don’t know how big the pole is” doesn’t engender confidence in your customer base. If you can’t get that information after a certain amount of time, then you need to disclose anyway - but understand you’re going to be pummeled ala TJX.

That’s why I harp time and time again about crisis communications. It’s going to happen to you, it’s just not clear when.

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Credit for this entry goes to Henry Blodget at the Silicon Alley Insider…

Five days after Ukrainian hackers busted into a “rogue server” and stole contact info for 1.3 million Monster users, Monster told the users. But it did so in one of the most inscrutable press releases ever written.

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Talking heads unite.

Caroline McCarthy of CNet News fame is working on a story about virtual worlds (Second Life, in particular) in anticipation of the Second Life Community Conference this weekend.

The angle is about what’s next for something like Second Life, now that analyses have shown that its much-hyped marketing potential has largely turned out to be fruitless. Will it last better as a subcultural phenomenon? Did it try and break into the mass market before it was technologically ready?

You can contact Caroline at caroline.mccarthy (at) cnet.com. Her deadline is tomorrow.

I don’t know who is handling PR for Second Life but whoever it is he/she might want to review that three ring binder containing Second Life’s crisis communications plan.

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PR Newswire is seeking a leading business expert (company executive or academic) in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle to sit on a panel. This person will address the need to improve communications in China in order to improve trade and understanding.

This expert may also focus on the Chinese economy and what it means to Western companies. The discussion will focus on media distribution, market overview, cultural expectations and differences, etc.

Contact David Korvah, David.Korvah (at) prnewswire.com. David’s deadline is August 29, 2007.

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For a story for CIOUpdate.com, Galen Gruman is seeking to talk with CIOs who are exploring or using business process management (BPM) and service-oriented architecture (SOA) approaches in tandem to ensure that business processes are the core of any SOA effort or combined SOA-BPM effort.

Please contact him if you are exploring, are doing or have done this. No vendors. Only customer interviews for this story.

Contact Galen at ggruman (at) zangogroup.com. His deadline is August 24, 2007.

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Our friends over at Forrester Research are looking for nominations for the Groundswell awards — to be given to the most innovative and effective uses of Groundswell technologies like blogs, wikis, social networks, and communities by organizations.

Here is the URL is you’re interested in pursuing this further…

http://blogs.forrester.com/charleneli/2007/07/soliciting-entr.html

The deadline is September 1, 2007.

Good Luck…

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Ziff Davis Media is looking for speakers for an e-seminar, “Blades and Storage — Thin Provisioning for Efficiency,” Thursday, Aug. 23, at 11:45 a.m. EDT.

This live, interactive event is a high-profile opportunity for a senior executive. The event is completely virtual, so no travel is required — just a browser and a telephone. The event will last for 45 minutes.

Here is a description courtesy of Ziff Davis. As the number of servers in the data center increases in a blade or virtualized environment, the challenge of allocating the right amount of storage to each application increases exponentially. IT is often left with a lot of “dark” storage for few devices and wasted space and money. This keynote session will address the challenges of provisioning in a “JIT” fashion, and examine how the intersection of virtualization and storage is impacting your storage management decisions.

Contact Dana Silverstein, Ziff Davis media at Dana_Silverstein (at) ziffdavis.com

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The daily TV show “The Lab With Leo Laporte” continues to feature a quick two-minute showcase of brand new gadgets: GPS units, MP3 players, Skype accessories, games, toys, phones, etc. And wacky is *good*. He is looking for all the coolest new gear to show off, and all gadgets featured in the show will also appear on the show’s Web site. This is for a September taping of “The Lab With Leo Laporte,” which is available in over 2 million households in Canada (on G4TechTV) and Australia (on the How To Channel), with segments available on Google Video to the United States and the rest of the world. The show carries on the legacy of the popular “Call For Help,” but with a newer look and a quicker pace.

Vendors submitting products must be willing to cover all shipping and customs charges both to and from their studios. The show does not feature services or software in this segment.

Contact Sean Carruthers at sean (at) labwithleo.com.

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News flash…Fleishman-Hillard establishes animal care practice to grab piece of $41B market. Growth fueled in part by new services such as pet travel, lodging.

How come we only read about PR agencies establishing new “practices”? I think O’Dwyers, PRWeek and the Holmes Report should start asking agencies to announce when they close down these idiotic “practices” because they didn’t generate a ROI.

I bet you can get really creative with the closure announcements too.

BTW, how long do you think it’s going to be before FH shuts this practice down or mergers it with another practice? One month, two maybe a year.

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