Fresh Chat

On the weekend I was lamenting with a fellow dog lover about how our local park had been infested with nasty rangers lately (eyeing off our friendly hounds). Due to this our before-work morning ‘dog play-group’ was no more.

We had now all gone our separate ways and simply walked our hounds rather than getting together at a set location. This was a major change for us –a group of 10 that regularly swapped dog tips but also information on life. We reveled in one of our groups much wanted pregnancy, discussed bosses, criticised and praised local restaurants and of course politics often came into the discussion.

My fellow dog lover said “you know we all need community” and I thought about how the dog play group had provided that little extra ‘connection’ for us even though we were all different ages and at different stages in our lives.

The idea of connection also came up again this weekend while reading the recently published “The Connection Culture: A New Source of Competitive Advantage” by Michael Lee Stallard.

He discusses the importance of three areas Vision, Value and Voice and how they are important to allow us to connect.

The first, Vision exists when everyone within an organisation is motivated by the mission. It is also evident externally to an organisation. The “Think Different’ Apple Computer advertising campaign helped mobilize its devotees - often those in creative areas.

Value is simply when people are valued! Within an organisation Stallard mentions a CEO meeting with 95 per cent of new employees, or when a CEO of an automotive company in the US intentionally hires caring people and reinforces a nurturing culture.

The last one is Voice. Stallard says “The element of Voice exists when everyone in an organisation participates in an open, honest and safe environment where people share their opinions in order to understand one another and seek the best ideas”.

He mentions a simple formulae:

Vision+Value+Voice=Connection

So how can we translate this information to make it more meaningful within communications? Quite simply, when practicing online public relations often known as digital communications these three elements are critical.

Vision

Have a clear vision of your product or service that you are promoting. Equally have a clear understanding of the vision of the online forum or website that you about to engage with - do the two match? Is the vision in alignment?

You wouldn’t think about bringing along ‘meat lovers’ pizza to a vegetarian picnic so why enter a website or social networking group that is highly inappropriate?

Value

Take! Take! Take! . Often pr companies go into websites and forums and simply take from them, take ideas, push one way messages and simply don’t respect or value the participants of the forum.

Before you go into these environments think about what you can add/give to them.

Voice

This is probably one of the most critical and one that people still don’t get.

If you start a blog be prepared to be criticized.

In fact, relish the chance to find out why and how you or your services can be improved (just think how much you would need to pay for a real-world focus group).

If you start a user generated competition be prepared for it to go in all directions (think Chevy Tahoe) and embrace the diversity.

Listen to what your customers and employees are saying and allow them to have their voice.

As for the dog playgroup, we are currently reviewing alternative dog parks in the area. If that doesn’t happen that ranger might just find out what its like to ‘connect’ in a very personal way with some of our mutts!