The conversation on Google Sidewiki is heating up. Today we circulated some information at work that helps people understand its significance. The following snippet is edited for public consumption.

There has been a fair bit of discussion online over the last month about Google Sidewiki. This technology allows anyone with the current version of the Google Toolbar to leave comments on any Web site. Think of it as graffiti. Some people will try to beautify a site and make it better with their inputs. Others will try to defame the existing content. It could create a potentially polarized view from the communities of allies and adversaries that visit a Web site.

So what does this mean for communication professionals? As the guardians of reputations online and offline, we need to ensure that those policing the brand and concerned with reputation are aware of these types of developments. Sidewiki brings the conversation home. No longer do we need to just monitor the conversation in  social media venues. We need to monitor the conversation on our own site’s Sidewiki.

There are a number of things we can do to take control. This list is inspired by five steps (hover over links for quick summary - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) proposed by Tom Barnes earlier today on Twitter.

1. Download the Google Toolbar with Sidewiki and check out your clients’ Web site(s). Is there any conversation there that they should be aware of?
2. Learn about this new technology and its potential impact on online reputation management.
3. Encourage the Web team to take ownership of your domain(s) and set up those responsible for reputation management as the Page owner.
4. Once ownership is secured, insert a Page owner’s welcome message to set the tone and reinforce any terms, site usage standards or policies related to how conversation and interaction fits into the Web site. (see Ed Lee’s post linked below for some great recommendations)
5. Update your reputation management plan to account for online threats and opportunities represented by evolving technology platforms and social media.If you don’t have a plan, develop one!
6. Put the plan into action.

Here’s a good primer video from Google called Introducing Google Sidewiki.

Here are some other posts you may want to check out:

• Jeremiah Owyang’s overview
• Neville Hobson’s overview
• Ed Lee’s overview
• PRNewser’s overview (including comments from @dbradfield)

I hope you find this helpful.

Alan Cross (@alancross) shared a great article today (090909) that he described as, “The day the music industry died.” There’s an incredible statement in Anil Dash’s post that is applicable to most of marketing today.

“The reality is that the people who can get excitement going about music these days aren’t in the record industry at all, but rather all around it.”

No need to add anything else to this. Well, maybe a picture of The Beatles.

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).