BrandToBeDetermined

Association of Women in Communications Tulsa

  AWC Tulsa 
  Originally uploaded by eschipul

Enjoyed a fun social media presentation yesterday in Tulsa Oklahoma with the Association of Women in Communications.

Great hospitality in Oklahoma as always with a very fun and informed audience.

From the AWC Tulsa site:

The Tulsa Professional Chapter has a longstanding and strong presence in the community. The chapter is 150+ members strong, representing a variety of communications disciplines in Tulsa and surrounding areas.

Slideshares from the presentation follow.

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breaking the taboo on women smoking

  greta 
  Originally uploaded by eschipul

I love this photo from Dr. Sketchy's in Houston. And I realize this is a talented model playing a role. Yet it reminded me of a famous story from the history of public relations that few are aware of. Bernays was truly a double edged sword.

From the BBC article on Edward Bernays.

Bernays was one of the main architects of the modern techniques of mass-consumer persuasion, using every trick in the book, from celebrity endorsement and outrageous PR stunts, to eroticising the motorcar.

His most notorious coup was breaking the taboo on women smoking by persuading them that cigarettes were a symbol of independence and freedom. But Bernays was convinced that this was more than just a way of selling consumer goods. It was a new political idea of how to control the masses. By satisfying the inner irrational desires that his uncle had identified, people could be made happy and thus docile.

For more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays

What Social Media Means for B2B Marketers

From my talk yesterday at the Business Marketing Association in Houston, here is the slide deck.

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Social Media for B2B Marketers Synopsis from the BMA site:

The buzz about "Social Media" in the marketing community is deafening, but what does the rapidly emerging trend mean for B2B marketers? Can YouTube, Facebook and Wikipedia really help you forge closer ties to business customers?

That's the subject Ed Schipul, CEO of Schipul - The Web Marketing Company, will tackle during our February 21st luncheon. Ed himself has a business-to-business blog, (www.brandtobedetermined.com) and is a leader of Houston 's vibrant Social Media subculture. His talk will examine examples of B2B marketing through Social Media -- including what his own experiences as a CEO blogger have taught him. The discussion will showcase best practices as well as examples that failed to have the intended result.
Please join us for an interesting and entertaining look inside this important issue.

Sir Ken Robinson on Creativity and Education

  Sir Ken Robinson 
  Originally uploaded by eschipul

I had the privilege of seeing Sir Ken Robinson talk at the UP Experience recently in Houston. I had never heard of him. Quickly it became apparent he was quite funny, and I don't think it was just the British accent. No, he has impeccable timing. But more importantly he highlights a few challenges we are facing in education.

One point he makes is that the kids entering school today are going to be retiring in 2065. And that NONE of us have any idea what the world will be like in 2065! So the education we are providing is intended to prepare people for a world that none of us have a clue what it will be like.

Another frame he makes is that education is a hierarchy and at the top are college professors. Yet professors are not what most of us would consider the height of human achievement. (yes this applies even if you have tenure.)

There is an option for us to return to educating humans for creativity. And from the video below Ken defines creativity as  "the process of having original ideas that have value".

If you have 20 minutes and are interested in creativity and education, please watch this talk by Ken at Ted.

Speaking Engagements for this Week

Three different speaking engagements this week. All in Houston for a change!

1. TSPRA (Monday)Web 2.0 Trends for Public Relations Professionals on Mon 18-Feb-08 11:00 AM
2. BMA (Thursday luncheon) What Social Media Means for B2B Marketers on Thu 21-Feb-08 11:30 AM
3. Sullivan Group (OTC Marketing seminar) OTC Marketing Seminar on Thu 21-Feb-08 2:00 PM

Also note that tomorrow night, Tuesday, is Refresh Houston with Stephen P. Andersen. The Force Behind Star Wars: Turning Design Ideas into Reality on Tue 19-Feb-08 6:30 PM

Leadership Notes from Justice Article on Belichick

I enjoy the study of leadership. And success. Winning is great. So some of the quotes from this Justice article titled Belichick has an eye for success, quite literally, caught my eye. Here are a few of them. All bold emphasis added by me.

"You can talk about managing the salary cap, and you can talk about finding players, bringing in new players," Patriots vice president/personnel Scott Pioli said. "But one of the most difficult things that's not often talked about is just managing success."

Managing success means managing egos and the heart. It means seeing Bruschi for what he can contribute next season instead of what he contributed last season.

.....

Coaches sell players on three things: money, fame and success. They preach that if they do the right things, the team will be successful and fame and fortune will follow.

....

He (Belichick) seems to value intelligence above everything else in his hires. His offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels, is 31 years old.

....

Confidence in team

His message to Tom Brady and to the rest of his players that afternoon was, "I believe in you."

Belichick wants players who are smart and motivated and want to be pushed.

"If we win, he wants to put it behind us and get ready to play the next game," Brady said. "If we lose, he's on us until Wednesday."

The company is over 10 years old at this point. We had a great year in 2007 thanks to our clients. Yet every day is a challenge. I need all the help I can get. If you are into leadership, I recommend reading Justice's article even though we know the Patriot's didn't get that perfect season after all.

Commotion - something to think about

Stephen's presentation from GotSocialMedia has me thinking about the concept of "commotion" quite a bit. I found myself running with his concepts and extending it into "Markets are Commotions". But that is a different blog post.

For now, here is PoetPainter's presentation on slideshare from GotSocialMedia. See slide 24 in particular.

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