Social Media Week is upon us here in New York. Our team is excited to play a role in this first ever event and get out to do some real networking.

So much of our social media consulting at Fleishman-Hillard is devoted to helping organizations understand and adapt to the conversation that surrounds. Some of the common questions we get include:

• How are we being talked about online?
• How much influence does social media have?
• How do we integrate social content into our marketing and communication programs?
• Can we take control of the situation?
• How do we know of we’re having an impact?

These types of questions inspired the topic of our “sold out” roundtable session being hosted at Fleishman-Hillard this evening, “When Social Media Becomes Unsociable“. More often than not, the phone rings for us when you know what hits the fan. As companies adapt to and accept the influence of unfiltered customer opinions syndicated via social media, they must decide how to engage. Even what appear to be the best plans can backfire in an uncontrolled environment like the blogosphere. Things can appear to be unsociable.

So what can your organization do? Well, be sure to check it at our event at http://justin.tv/FleishmanHillard at 4:30 p.m. this afternoon. You can also follow our tweets by tracking #SMWNY.

I plan on asking our panel some of the following questions:

• Have we entered the era of unsociable media?
• What is the role of social media in modern marketing?
• What does it take to be successful in social media?
• Where is social media going?
• What do you do when the conversation turns sour?

If you have any additional questions, shoot me an email, leave them in the comments section on this post or reply to me on Twitter (@dbradfield).

“Should our CEO be blogging?”

I can’t tell you how often I hear this question these days. Last week it came up in a meeting with the CMO of a global hotel chain. I have summarized the criteria down to four simple elements and if the answer is yes to each, then there is a chance your CEO should consider blogging.

1. Personality

Is your CEO personable? Is he or she eloquent? Does he or she inspire and mobilize great ideas? If your CEO has a personality that translates well and is open to being a collaborative communicator, then a blog may be a great vehicle.

2. Point of View

Does your CEO have a solid vision? Are opinions part of his or her discourse? Does he or she challenge ideas or concepts that may be sub par? If so, you have a real opportunity to leverage his or her personality and point of view to offer a unique and engaging perspective.

3. Substance

It’s one thing to say something. It’s another to prove it. Does your leader have access to the research, the customer insight and competitive analysis that supports his or her perspective, point of view and personality? Aligning the facts with the opinions gives people something to consider as they read the blog.

4. Time

I can’t tell you how many blogs I’ve seen come and go. I even think my blog is on life support because I have such limited time to keep it alive. But I hope that insight like this is enough to offer some value to those of you that still pay attention to what I say. A CEO’s time is at a huge premium. Does a blog really make sense to your business? Will your shareholders, business partners or customers really find value in it? If so, then it may be worth the time, but it’s a commitment.

My Point of View

I also think there is an important consideration in answering whether or not your CEO should blog. A blog levels the playing field. It makes your most senior professional incredibly transparent and approachable. Do you want this type of egalitarian access? Or do you want to retain an authoritative position for your CEO? I have suggested in the past that having your CEO comment on a thought leadership blog and acting as a guest contributor may give him or her the mystique and leverage desired of the top executive.

Once again I had the pleasure of sitting on one of Peter Himler’s legendary panels. Today I joined Peter, Adam Christensen (manager of social media communications at IBM), Stacy DeBroff (CEO of MomsCentral) and Max Kalehoff (VP marketing at Clickable) for The Changed PR Landscape: What Works, What Doesn’t.

It’s amazing how insufficient 60 minutes seems when you’re discussing the most significant evolution the public relations industry has ever seen. There is so much to talk about. Topics during the session ranged from:

• companies managing their viral and Google footprints, 
• how much time an organization should devote to managing social media initiatives, 
• leveraging employees as online ambassadors and corporate representatives, 
• using social media to collaborate, inspire and motivate action, and
• the role of search in communications.

We really only scratched the surface. The first half was an opportunity for each speaker to talk about what they do and comment on where PR is headed. The second half opened lines to listeners to ask some really great questions.