RSS in action - from a PRP (Public Relations Practitioner)
Some of you may wonder how RSS realistic application onto the daily live of a PRP, here is a comment from one and how it is used.
My comment on this would be....not everyone would have a Blackberry but if you're in a big ORG or ORG whom likes techno stuff, you'll likely to get one. I've seen one myself, like a PDA really. It's very popular. My friend has one and he said it's useful but INVASIVE! It provides email feature, global roaming, Internet access. It's a SMART phone 2 in 1, hey value for money. On the evil side.....it's a 247 thing so EXPECT to be woken up by your incoming emails by midnight.
So who say TECH doesn't change the way things are? Now we're all PLUGGED in the TECH world as a PRP, it's part of your life. Not only you have to do the SCANNING of the media via the TRADITIONAL method, now a fraction of your time would be dedicated for the NEW TECH. Although I must say time spending on the Internet eg your company/client/personal website probably would take up even more time of your office and personal life. And what happened in a crisis? You'll be on it 247, monitoring, responding, etc.
My view on this whole TECH world is that it's happening, it's a reality and it will continue to grow at a scary rate almost unable to capture. So it's about time management now, to dedicate a part of your life, to accept the reality but also be in control, now what you're doing. Afterall, you have to be a trend spotter anyway and working in the media industry, it's almost part of your work. The Internet now also provides a different social flatform, despite its negative points, which is benefitcial to some extend.
So smile....and keep on smiling and happy blogging.
from http://theblogconsultancy.typepad.com/techpr/
March 09, 2007
How I read my feeds
Steve Rubel asked - how do I read my feeds? It seems I'm not the only RSS addict in PR.
'Course, RSS isn't new, but most RSS geeks are geeks, not PRs. But as I work in a PR consultancy I need to track what's being said about the brands, people and issues that my clients are involved in. As a blogger I need to track conversations about my chosen topic. And as a consumer I track stuff that I might find interesting.
I use Bloglines to track my feeds - about 400-odd of them. Bloglines is my fave over the likes of Google Reader for two reasons.
1. Its desk/laptop interface has always been top notch for my needs - such as speed, organising, subscribing and presentation (Google Reader has a lot of buzz but I'm afraid it's not for me just yet - really basic things like you can't change the width of the sidebar really wind me up)
2. It integrates with my BlackBerry perfectly. As I spend about a third of every working day on the move this is really important to me I have 30 folders in my Bloglines, which I organise like this:
1-2 - must reads: These are required-reading blogs (at number one) then my must-follow conversations and mentions based on custom-built RSS feeds (at number two). This folder contains any crisis work I'm also involved in
3-11 - client and industry feeds: These are split sector-by-sector for the clients I work on and contain mentions of their names, competitors, products and people. the folder also includes my industry feeds, podcasts, Twitters, aggregators/memetrakers and buzz-topics
11-12 - personal feeds: These I dip in and out of as they include hobbies or tracking the low-profile personal sites I run and incoming traffic
My habits - I'll tend to check feeds on my BlackBerry on my way into the office, then they'll be on in the background through the working day on my MacBook. I'll check them on my way home again on the BlackBerry. Evenings and weekends I'll dip in and out but not too much.
In response to Josh Bernhoff who asks whether people work better when they have time to switch off from feeds, I would answer yes. Same as email. Sometimes you need to focus and switch off from things, not that I often get that luxury working in a service industry.
The reason I organise my feeds the way I do is so that I can dip in for a very short time and still get the important stuff done. But I have the choice to immerse myself in information and still get most of what I need brought to me instead of havig to search an infinite number of mags, papers, sites or stations to get it. That's the importance of RSS to a PR person, in my humble opinion. Not that I ignore print or broadcast media - they're in the office too so I can keep it retro. I know some people are saying TV is full of yesterday's news, and that dead-tree media is dead, but they still wield enormous power as media, so can't be ignored.
How about you?
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