June 2005 Archives

Inbox 9
Sent folder 1,367
Trash 423 (147 unread)

I started this morning with 89 in the inbox and received dozens of emails throughout the day, so 9 is not too bad, really. My printer screwed up, so 4 emails are just waiting to be printed.

Alas, this is what I get for being out of the office for a week!

(I'll take care of the trash folder now, so there's consolation.)

I have a new blog, thanks to the blog guru (Josh Hallett at Hyku).

Now I have to transfer my posts from Blogger but that can wait. Right now, I want to play around with the new Movable Type publishing platform and learn how to use it.

test2q

I'm polishing off my presentation for this Thursday's FPRA luncheon.

Special events have always been my favorite part of work in the public relations field, so talking to the Florida Public Relations Association's Orlando members on Thursday will be a lot of fun. Plus, it's a great organization full of very talented people and I always learn something new when I am around them.

My talk on Thursday is about taking events to the next level, but before you can do that, there are a few basics to keep in mind. When you decide to host an event, there are three decisions you need to make right away:

1. Date
2. Location
3. Theme

The first two are interchangeable depending on the goals of your organization. Your CEO may insist that the annual company meeting be held at a specific location, so you will have to be flexible with your date; however, if your event is date-specific, such as Fathers' Day, then flexibility on the location is more significant.

Your theme is critical because it is the foundation on which you build your event. Everything, from your marketing and program to decorations and entertainment will tie in with your theme. If you will be doing a full scale promotional effort with printed (or even electronic) materials, you will need an event logo that appropriately reflects the theme.

Speaking of marketing, please remember: there is no such thing as a "first annual" event. By definition, an annual event occurs every year. An event being held for the first time is an inaugural event. I see too many groups and organizations promoting their first endeavor as their "first annual..." and it makes me cringe.

There are too many unknowns in hosting an event for the first time. Sure, you can turn almost any event into an annual happening with the right planning and preparation, but there are no guarantees. Your event may flop, the goals of your organization may change, or your boss may decide to spend the time and money elsewhere next year. People who attend your first-run event are now expecting an event next year so you and your organization end up looking foolish.

(Sidebar: Never, ever pitch an event to a sponsor as a "first annual." I have been in charge of sponsorships on both sides, soliciting sponsors and providing sponsorships, and will discuss that issue in a separate post.)

Once you have nailed down your date, signed the contract for your location and determined your theme, the rest is easy (for the most part).

That's it. I just spent the last hour working on a great article about core messages but while switching from preview to compose mode, the entire post disappeared for no reason and I can't get it back. I've tried.

That's twice in less than 24 hours that going the free route has cost me (see my post about Yahoo Groups June 16). You get what you pay for.

Yes, I should have created the article in Word, but when I started, my intention was only to do a short post on the importance of keeping your self-introduction at a networking event short. Once I started typing, the post grew to include tips and examples, so I decided to expand it into an article. And now I have to start over.

I will finish the article in Word, copy and paste it here, then move over to TypePad (which my blog guru, Josh Hallett suggested over a week ago) and start transferring my blog to a more user-friendly service (or idiot-proof service, I should say).

My 30 Days to Radio Success partner, Wayne Kelly, is an award-winning Top 40 radio host. We're practically at opposite ends of the northern hemisphere (he's in Canada, I'm in Florida), yet through the wonders of technology, we're able to work together every day as if we're in the same office.

And now, I can even listen to his morning show on KBS radio weekdays, 6:00 - 9:00 a.m. (9:00 a.m. - Noon here on the east coast). I finally figured out that technology this morning! It'll freak Wayne out when I start saying things like "hey, when you mentioned x on the show this morning, blah blah blah."

To listen to Wayne on your computer, you'll need winamp. (download the free, full or bundle version; the bundle comes with 50 free mp3s).

Tom Antion is a master of internet marketing. He's built a multi-million dollar business by using one page web sites and (in his own words), can't do the techie stuff himself, so he hires high schoolers to set it all up.

I just pre-ordered Tom's new book, The Ultimate Guide to Electronic Marketing for Small Business, which should be shipped any day. It's less than $20 and he's offering a bunch of bonuses if you pre-purchase.

(Photos of Wendy Kurtz and Tom Antion at MEGA Book Marketing University)

Doggone it, I just realized you cannot edit your posts in Yahoo groups once they have been posted, even if you are the moderator and set up the group.

Wayne Kelly and I just wrapped Week Two of the June session of our four-week course, 30 Days to Radio Success. After posting this week's homework assignment in Yahoo groups, I realized the format of the message was different than last week's posting. Sure, it's a trivial thing but I like consistency. After a bit of time searching the help section, I found that even though I set up the group and am the moderator, I can NOT edit my post. That's too bad.

Ah, well, you get what you pay for and we wanted something quick and easy for our students to use while we get our training site set up.

Inbox: 7
Wendy: 235

That's 235 emails filed, forwarded or flagged for deletion. I'm getting there!

(We'll have to talk about the sent folder next week.)

My email inbox is out of control. This morning, it held over 200 emails, so I dusted off my article on managing email to refresh my memory with 10 quick tips. I created this tip list a few years ago to help a client's staff of nearly 500 get their arms around their email deluge.

If it takes until 2:00 a.m. tomorrow, I will get my inbox cleaned out. A quick check of the "sent" folder shows 1,157 emails waiting to be filed or forsaken. I guess I know what I'm doing this weekend!

Finally! A quick google of "html code for the trademark symbol" turned up html code my blog headline needed desperately.

Tip: don't put the space between the & and # characters. I only did it here so it would show up as the code rather than the actual symbol.

Technorati Profile

I was invited to attend the Florida Public Relations Association's Orlando Presidents' Council Bosses Breakfast this morning. As a past president of the Capital (Tallahassee) chapter and a former board member for the Orlando chapter, I guess I've reached that point in my career where I am now considered a "senior" member of the profession.

Age has never really bothered me and, as one of my friends pointed out, I was recently nominated for the Orlando Business Journal's 40 Under 40 (I am stressing the "Under" here) so being known as a "senior" level professional doesn't mean I'm ready to break out the cane just yet!

Our speaker was Josh Hallet, whom I found to be extremely informative. I'll share more from his talk (he's a blog expert) a bit later when I have more time to post. For now, visit his site - I've added a link to it in my "Great Blogs" section.

Tom Cruise and Wendy Kurtz 

Well, let me just say that Tom Cruise is even more impressive the second time around! I ran into him again as I was going to the concierge desk to drop off a "thank you" gift for Waldo, the absolute BEST concierge ever!!

I couldn't resist posting this second photo, shot by a member of our group, as I enjoyed another moment with the mega star. When he went outside, he was a bit mobbed by fans, but he was extremely gracious, signing autographs and posing for pictures before climbing aboard his motorcycle and roaring off in true Top Gun fashion!

The mission trip is complete and we are heading toward LAX for our flight home. It's been extremely productive and my stepdaughters loved every minute of it. Congrats to Beverly Marshall-Luney, who organized and led this entire trip. She did an outstanding job!

Wendy Kurtz, Tom Cruise, Megan and Amanda Kurtz 

Technorati is a real-time search engine that tracks what's going on in the blogosphere. Thanks to Josh Hallett for introducing me to this cool tool..