Software executives who can expound on the convergence of content and software are invited to apply to speak at SIIA NetGain: the Convergence of Content & Software, May 18-20, in San Francisco.

The deadline for speaker nominations is Friday, February 29, so I encourage you to act now.

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Read a news item that Ellen DeGeneres ousted Oprah Winfrey as favorite TV personality. Who were the respondents, dog owners?

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If on a regular basis a blogger only provides their readers with links as a blog post, is he/she lazy and really blogging?

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In its most important decision on securities litigation in more than a decade, the Supreme Court ruled that investors who have been defrauded by a company could not sue third parties, such as IR firms, banks and suppliers, unless they had relied directly on the parties’ advice when making their investment. The court said that such lawsuits allowed “plaintiffs with weak claims to extort settlements from innocent companies.”

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Back in October, when PRWeek drooled over Burson Marsteller for instituting a new PR campaign for Countrywide Financial to help them out of the financial trouble they were in, we asked whether the campaign was a waste of time and money.

Well, turns out we were right. Our prediction (10/13/07) that Bank of America would take over Countrywide Financial was spot on. Granted we were slightly off on the date, we said it would happen within the year.

Now what I want to know is this: How could PRWeek have run such a glowing story without taking the economy into account? Your head would have had to be buried deeply in the sand to not comprehend what effect the economy was having on the mortgage industry and homeowners.

Instead of acting as a cheerleader, I would expect the reporter and his or her editor to take a step back during the reporting process and ask themselves a simple question. What happens if? Surely any battle worthy reporter/editor would have raised this question. Or am I being too naïve?

Either way, I’m not surprised we made the right call. Effective PR practitioners can always tie their client’s stories into local, national and world events no matter what industry the client represents. But I also can’t help but feel sorry for PRWeek. After all, it’s a lot harder for a publication to ask tough questions of interviewees when they’re leading the cheers and the interviewee is one of your largest advertisers.

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When confronted with a brand new calendar, everyone’s natural inclination is to ponder what the next year will bring. This has resulted in the festive tradition of making predictions about what changes will occur over the next 12 months in whatever field you have some expertise.

Lest I be accused of being a Grinch if I don’t participate in the mass prognostications that the season demands, here are my predications for the public relations industry in 2008.

1. The buzzwords of the year—the ones the industry will overuse and be heartily sick of 364 days from now will be: engage, educate and entertain. These three words are becoming the essential descriptors to use when touting mobile marketing, widgets and other Web 2.0 applications, and all three will be bludgeoned to death by sheer repetition by 2009.

2. The PR industry will continue to abuse and overuse the words “viral,” “enable” and “solution.”

3. Somewhere in the world, right this minute, someone is making the daring prediction that Social Media and Web 2.0 are going to change PR forever. That said, the purported wonders of Web 3.0 will begin to creep into client pitches in 2008.

4. Throughout 2008 and into the foreseeable future, press releases will continue to be written in the same format, since we all know that the PR Gods will strike you dead if “XXX company, a leading provider of XXX,” does not appear in the first two sentences of the release.

5. Agencies will continue to send out self-promoting press releases that no one wants to read in 2008, regurgitating the same reasons why their newest client hired them. BTW, has anyone ever seen an agency send out a press release saying why they have been fired by a client? Isn’t that newsworthy? Inquiring minds want to know!

6. In 2008 you won’t read a single release quoting a company spokesperson as saying that they hired this particular PR agency because “our VC firm told us to” or “my CEO told me I had to.”

7. People will continue to go on the record as being very excited about working with other people/partners/companies, all of whom are the leading providers of whatever it is they provide.

8. PR industry seminars in 2008 will not look much different then those that took place in 2007.

9. PR people will spend much of 2008 quietly worried about an impending recession that will slow their business, while simultaneously loudly complaining about being “crazy busy.”

10. Clients will continue to judge agencies by the number of clips they generated instead of against the original submitted proposal that outlined objectives, goals, team and deliverables.

11. At least one reporter in America is lying in wait, happily finalizing his or her plans to insult the PR industry again.

12. Reporters covering the PR industry will finally report about the ongoing civil suit against the fastest growing PR agency in America.

13. The number of PR Bloggers will shrink in 2008 because PR people really don’t want to read blogs about PR. Right?

Have a great 2008.

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entry deadline: Friday, January 18, 2008, 6pm PST

fees: The entry fee for each ad or campaign is $255.00/category.
Special Note: No incomplete or unpaid entries will be accepted.

qualifying period: February 2007 - January 2008

How to Submit:
• Entrants can submit the same creative to multiple categories using a single form if the categories fall within the same group. A new form must be completed for each unique piece of creative.
• All submissions must be made online and include detailed descriptions, 800 character max (including spaces).
• Supporting materials should be submitted as electronic files hosted on your web site. Please be sure to include the URL where the creative can be found. This URL must remain active for no less than 18 months – if selected as a finalist, the entry will be archived on the ad:tech awards website for a full year.

notification: Finalists will be notified mid-March 2008. Finalists will receive an invitation and a request to RSVP with the representative who will attend the awards ceremony.

Please note: ad:tech reserves the right to publish submitted materials on the night of the ceremony. Any concerns regarding publicizing creative materials should be directed to Caroline Giovando Lindley at caroline@ad-tech.com or at 415.464.8527.

Entry Form Prep Tips: Please answer 3 questions about each entry you are submitting. Please provide as much detail as possible (without exceeding the 800 character limit).

It is important to include as much results-oriented information as possible, in order for judges to fairly consider your entry. No results you provide will be made public.

Note: Please provide any log in/password information that may be necessary for judges to access your entry.

Interactive Ads:
1. Please describe the item you are submitting and tell us about your creative strategy, including audience, purpose and projected outcome.
2. Please describe how this element contributed to the overall campaign.
3. Please describe the results of this ad and how it enhanced the campaign. You may express results in percentages, but be sure to define the metrics used.

Note: Only ONE ad/piece of creative can be submitted per entry. If more than one element of a campaign appears on the URL you have submitted, only the first will be reviewed and scored.

Interactive Campaigns:
1. Please describe the campaign you are submitting, including your creative strategy (e.g., target audience, purpose and projected outcome).
2. Please describe the business objectives of this campaign.
3. Describe the results of this campaign to date and how they met your business objectives. You may express results in percentages and be sure to describe the metrics used.

Note: You may submit up to three creative elements of a campaign in these categories for the judges to review and consider.

Optimization/Search Strategy:
1. Please describe the objective of this campaign.
2. Please describe the strategies and creative technologies used in this campaign.
3. Please describe the success of this campaign as it relates to the objectives. Be sure to define the metrics used.

Note: You must post a case study online and submit the URL for the judges’ review.

Web Sites:
1. Please describe the objectives of the web site.
2. Please describe the strategy behind the web site design (creative and navigation).
3. Please describe the results the site has achieved. You may express results as percentages but be sure to clearly define the metrics used.

Note: Please submit the live URL of the web site you wish to enter.

Refund/Cancellation policy:
Cancellations must be submitted in writing no later than January 18, 2008. Send to:

Caroline Giovando Lindley
ad:tech expositions LLC
1100 Larkspur Landing Circle
Suite 255 Larkspur
CA 94939 USA

Please note: Cancellations are subject to a $150.00 processing fee. No refund will be issued if a cancellation notice has not been received/confirmed on or before January 18, 2008.

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BusinessWeek editor Stephen Adler’s memo to staff yesterday regarding an extensive editorial reorganization at the magazine:

Colleagues:

For the past three years, we’ve been moving progressively toward integrating our print and digital operations – by increasing reporters’ contributions to Businessweek.com, combining our overseas bureaus and copy-desk teams, and seating together everyone within a given coverage area. Today we complete this vital transformation by creating a single editorial organization for BusinessWeek. The new structure will enable us to collaborate more effectively, take greater advantage of everyone’s abilities, learn new skills, and serve our readers and Web users better.

Under this new structure, one chief editor will supervise all work in print and online in a particular coverage area. Each chief will report jointly to Executive Editors John Byrne and Ellen Pollock, both of whom will continue to report to me. Here’s the lineup:

News Chief: Brian Bremner
Finance/Personal Finance Chief: Frank Comes
Small Business Chief: Jim Ellis
Tech Chief: Peter Elstrom
Science Chief: Neil Gross
Corporations/Workplace Chief: Mary Kuntz
Innovation Chief: Bruce Nussbaum
Global and Policy Chief: Chris Power

The chief editors will get in touch with everyone who will work within their groups later today or tomorrow. We’ll phase in the new structure between now and Jan. 1. Let’s plan on a staff meeting for early January to discuss all this further.

In other new assignments springing from this reorganization, Dan Beucke will become BusinessWeek.com News Director, reporting to Brian Bremner; and Suzanne Woolley will become Senior Editor for Personal Finance, reporting to Frank Comes.

While we’ll all be working together editorially regardless of delivery platform, we’ll continue to sweat the production details that enable us to create both a topflight magazine and a first-rate Web site. Recognizing the special skills required to excel in these two very different media, I am appointing Ciro Scotti as managing editor of the magazine and Martin Keohan as managing editor of the Web site to ensure that we preserve the highest possible quality as we produce each product – and that we meet our various deadlines.

Ciro joined BusinessWeek in 1978, after reporting stints at daily newspapers. Since 2005, he has been an assistant managing editor, deftly overseeing production of the magazine, writing the very best cover headlines, and casting a sharp editorial eye over all our copy. Previously, he was a senior editor, responsible for the copy desk and for government and sports-business coverage. Ciro will continue to report to Ellen Pollock.

Since 2003, Martin has served as director of editorial operations for BusinessWeek.com, skillfully ensuring collaboration and efficiency among the news and channel editors, copy desk, art department, production, and technology. Prior to his role with BusinessWeek.com, Martin served as editorial director for BusinessWeek Events, where he created the BW50 Forum and the CEO Summit Series. Martin will continue to report to John Byrne.

Unfortunately, in connection with the reorganization, a small number of our editorial colleagues will be leaving BusinessWeek. It’s exceedingly difficult to part with valued co-workers, and decisions to eliminate positions aren’t made lightly. I want to thank those who are leaving for all their good work and wish them well in new endeavors.

Despite the challenges of the past few years, our journalism has been extraordinarily strong, and both readers and online users clearly have taken notice.

– Our total magazine readership was up 3% in the last MRI tally, to over 4.9 million, more than at any time since 1998;

– Newsstand sales were up 25% in the latest report, while most of our competitors were down or flat;

– We achieved a new online usage record in November with 64.7 million page views.

As our new organization takes shape over the next couple of weeks, I’m confident that it will build on these achievements and create exciting opportunities for the BusinessWeek team. Congratulations to all on their new assignments.

###

(Notice the memo doesn’t mention that advertisers are cutting back on spending money in BW. It’s one of the reasons why the magazine has to make these cuts.)

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Read this off a press release this AM. Stickam.com is the First LIVE Social Networking Website to Implement OpenSocial.

Like to thank the agency and client for letting us know that Stickam is alive, there are others who strongly feel otherwise, and that social networking sites like Linkedin, Facebook or MySpace are dead.

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What would you do?….you make the choice. Don’t look for a punch line, there isn’t one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended.

After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: “When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?”

The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued. “I believe that when a child like Shay, who is mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.”

Then he told the following story:

Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, “Do you think they’ll let me play?” Shay’s father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.

Shay’s father approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, “We’re losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we’ll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.”

Shay struggled over to the team’s bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. His Father watched with a small tear in his eye and warmth in his heart. The boys saw the father’s joy at his son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay’s team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay’s team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.

At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to w in the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn’t even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay’s life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.

The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.

Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman’s head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyon e from the stands and both teams started yelling, “Shay, run to first! Run to first!” Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, “Run to second, run to second!” Catching his breath, Shay awkwa rdly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball … the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher’s intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman’s head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.

All were screaming, “Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay”

Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning hi m in the direction of third base, and shouted, “Run to third! Shay, run to third!”

As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, “Shay, run home! Run home!” Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team.

“That day”, said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, “the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world”.

Shay didn’t make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making his father so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

AND NOW A LITTLE FOOTNOTE TO THIS STORY: We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending messages about life choices, people hesitate. The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools and workplaces.

If you’re thinking about telling others about this message, chances are that you’re probably sorting out the people in your address book who aren’t the “appropriate” ones to receive this type of message.

Well, the person who wrote this believes that we all can make a difference. We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the “natural order of things.” So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice: Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?

A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it’s least fortunate amongst them.

You now have two choices:
1. Do nothing
2. Pass along this message to others

May your day, be a Shay Day.

(This was shared with me and I’m sharing it with you.)

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