Who is Worth Following #5

  The continuing scan for signs of intelligence and fun in the PR blogosphere 

#5 Loren Feldman

Loren Feldman, the ganza macher of 1938 Media, is a pupeteer, satirist, performer in search of an audience, anti-Web 2.0 fixture in Web 2.0 circles, videographer and other things. He’s not in PR (although he is a PR master) and he’s not a blogger but he is definitely worth following, if nothing more than for entertainment… although you do get valuable information from Loren. As much as he will rail against it, he is addicted to this social media thing, otherwise he wouldn’t have an audience.

In the old days, a couple of years ago, I would hang with Loren at the Friar’s Club or a Deli somewhere on the east side as he was trying to find his place in the new social media world order. I don’t know if he’s found it but he did find Michelle Oshen - they got married, settled down like a nice nebbisha Long Island couple with shiny cars and a small dog and together became an anti-Web 2.0 power couple.

Although Loren has been thankfully domesticated he thankfully has not mellowed. He still could be the last Jew in the Warsaw ghetto lobbing a hand grenade - leading the symbolic if largely futile assault against repression. In his first event, The Audience Conference, New York City, November 5 -6, 2009, Loren is finally commanding the big stage where he is the lead player. I can’t figure out what The Audience Conference is, other than a day of fun and catharsis with some well-connected Web 2.0 types, but it is not, as Loren insists, about Twittering, Facebooking, YouTubing, blogging and all that - except that’s what all The Audience Conference speakers and performers do (even the music people are probably heavily involved in web promotion). 

Why follow Loren? Because he makes all this serious stuff fun and proves that we are involved in a visual medium that requires performers to reach out to an audience.

THE AUDIENCE CONFERENCE: The speakers range from large traditional media organisations with Dan Farber of CBS, though the recording industry with Warner Bros. Music CTO Ethan Kaplan, advertising with Crayon’s Joe Jaffe, HR and internal audiences with Frank Roche of iFractal and new media players like Mike Arrington of TechCrunch and Jason Calacanis of Mahalo, not to mention Musicians like Adam & Mia and Writers like the inimitable Andrew Keen of “Cult of the Amateur” fame with more being added. 

Who is Worth Following is a continuing PRBlogNews series based on random scans of intelligence, original thinking and personality in the PR blogosphere: #1 tomforemski - leadoff batter | #2 occamsrazr - the Leonard Cohen of PR bloggers | #3  [chrisbrogan.com] - the merry prankster of social media | #4 Richard Edelman - the Philip Roth of PR | #5 Loren Feldman - incendiary pupeteer

Who is Worth Following #4

  The continuing scan for signs of intelligence and fun in the PR blogosphere 

#4 Richard Edelman

Breakfast with Richard Edelman means sharing a banana, half a glass of skim milk and a small bowl of cereal.  Soon, he’s got the scribblings of a blog post in his pocket and he’s running to catch the subway to chaperone a client, the CEO of a big company, on a media meeting. By far the biggest independent PR agency, Edelman Worldwide ($450 mil in billings), seems to grow perenially through boom times and recessions. All their clients are big but Richard is still the in-the-trenches PR guy, shlubbing off to another media meeting. 

At lunch Richard might let loose and drink a full glass of skim milk, before working out at the Harvard Club. Despite the academic pedigree he’s a perennial student, currently studying Hebrew and hopefully developing the patience necessary to tolerate Steve Rubel. He’s also become a student of Shakespeare, hosting a reading of the Bard (with the likes of Alec Baldwin) to benefit the Public Theatre at his summer home.

Edelman NY headquarters recently moved from its long-time Times Square location to a hot new ‘downtown’ PR/news room. Richard read a Hebrew blessing to bestow even greater prosperity on the firm. What hasn’t changed with a new location: he writes standing up at a podium and he cogitates - the rare, lone thinker in the middle of the global PR swirl.

Richard has been consistent in his blog 6AM, since launching it over four years ago. He has breakfast, lunch or drinks (what cocktail do they make with skim milk?) with some hotshot editor or producer or media exec that results in a blog post with the sort of valuable insight you can’t get in the industry Trades. Or else he gets personal and shares his vacation, if you call a famly trip to a concentration camp a vacation. He was a social media maniac in the old days, 3 - 4 years ago, but he’s mellowed into a quasi seeker-philosopher recently, the Philip Roth of PR (in fact, they live near each other) although he says he sometimes feels like Zelig, the Woody Allen character who shows up in unexpected places. Why follow Richard? Because he’s the leader. 

Richard has answered questions for PRBlogNews in the past - this time let’s see what happens when we ask publicly:

Questions for Richard:

• What would be a 140 character or less ‘on message’ Twitter from Moses’ spokesperson?
• If Iago worked for Edelman in NY, what group would you put him in?
• I had go-go dancers at my Bar Mitzvah in Brooklyn. Can you top that?
• If the name of the firm was not Edelman, what would it be?
• If you could click your heels twice and be anywhere, where would it be?

Blog: 6 A.M.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/richardwedelman
Facebook: Richard Edelman

Who is Worth Following is a continuing PRBlogNews series based on random scans of intelligence, original thinking and personality in the PR blogosphere: #1 tomforemski - leadoff batter | #2 occamsrazr - the Leonard Cohen of PR bloggers | #3  [chrisbrogan.com] - the merry prankster of social media | #4 Richard Edelman - the Philip Roth of PR

Who is Worth Following #3

 The continuing scan for signs of intelligence and fun in the PR blogosphere 

#3  [chrisbrogan.com]

What happened to Chris Brogan? The last time I saw Chris, April, 2007 (a millenia in social media time), at Podcamp in New York (see comment below) he was the merry prankster of social media. He floated around in a top hat spreading good cheer and encouragement. He seemed to emphasize the ’social’ aspect of all this; you could dismiss him as a post 9/11 wayward Deadhead about to crash on the next wave. It’s like he woke up one day and decided to become a Serious Man, as the Coen Brothers might put it.

Now Chris has a New York Times / Wall Street Journal best-selling book, more ’traffic’ than fills Yankee Stadium during the playoffs (including #1 on the AdWeek Power 150), seminars, engagements with top-tier brands, and most impressive to me, Chris has found a way to monetize this social media mumbo jumbo up the yin yang. His recently launched New Marketing Labs is a confederacy of social media geniuses probably charging fees that would make Richard Edelman jealous.

Chris is still goofy … but you can never doubt his passion and fresh optimism, and you can’t doubt his value as a seeker of social media truth. He doesn’t just report on trends, he obviously creates a few of his own.

Chris Brogan… on Mon, 9th Apr 2007 10:46 amHi Mark. First, thanks for participating in PodCampNYC. (Have you noticed we use “participant” instead of “attendee?”) Second, this was really great to read. Thanks for pointing it out to me. I really appreciate it.

Favorite quotes from your article: “This crowd vehemently rejects artifice and anonymity.”

“The public relations agency world lacks the innovative spirit, creative backbone, or long-term vision to capitalize on the incredible talent pool that attended PodCamp NYC.”

I think I’m in love. You’ve hit it right perfectly between the eyes.

You rock. Please keep spreading the word.

Blog: http://chrisbrogan.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/chrisbrogan
Business: http://newmarketinglabs.com/

Who is Worth Following is a continuing PRBlogNews series based on random scans of intelligence, original thinking and personality in the PR blogosphere: #1 tomforemski - batting cleanup | #2 occamsrazr - the Leonard Cohen of PR bloggers | #3  [chrisbrogan.com] - the merry prankster of social media | #4 coming

Who is Worth Following #2

The continuing scan for signs of intelligence and fun in the PR blogosphere 

#2 occamsrazr

If Ike Pigott was Jewish, lived in Canada and wrote songs he would be the Leonard Cohen of PR bloggers. But … Ike lives somewhere in the south and I’m not talking Canarsie. Ike has a real job somewhere down in Red State land of Alabama or Mississippi, or somewhere like that. I don’t even think they have a major league baseball team so I can’t brag about the Yankees kicking their ass.

Ike captures the existential angst that sometimes inflicts PR people capable of critical thought and a sense of celestial bearing - an admittedy rare sub-species. Ike is like Leonard Cohen because he almost makes sense and you believe there is something deeper there, if you only had time to think about it. Ike is perfect for Twitter; he is the inventor of haiku pr tweets. Why Ike follow lead. Why ask.

In case you ask anyway, here’s a sample. Ike’s recent comment on the marketing of Seth Godin’s new book:  “That’s like putting honey pots around a picnic area, then charging people for the right to use the tables with ant-repellent.” I thought about that sentence the whole A train express run between 125th st and 59th st and almost got it.

Blog: http://occamsrazr.com
Twitter: @ikepigott
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ikepigott

Who is Worth Following is a continuing PRBlogNews series based on random scans of intelligence, original thinking and personality in the PR blogosphere: #1 tomforemski | #2 occamsrazr | #3 coming

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Who is Worth Following #1

Twitter and Facebook run on the law of diminishing returns. The more you follow the less you can pay attention to. Friends shrink to acquaintances who become ingredients of the great trail of irrelevant content that whizzes by every day, all day. After a while a new thought or a clever link is a headache and a burden. Twitter twaddle insomnia? Dreaming in YouTube segments?  How do you break through the endless stream of digital space junk?

If you’re in PR, who is worth following? Here’s my list of PR Blogging All-Stars. I am free to change my mind any time, according to my mood.  This is as close as I’ll get to a “Blogroll.” What’s required to be “Worth Following”? Original thinking, personality, a broad range of interests. A bunch of Twitter sheep or Facebook friends of friends of friends is not required.

#1 tomforemski

Coming in at the top of the list is the guy who rocked our world with the iconic blog post: Die! Press Release! Die! Die! Die! If there was a PR blogger All-Star team Tom would be playing center field and batting clean-up. His call to arms to slay the press release has catalyzed many a social media warrior. Tom blogs prodigiously and Twitters consistently. His blog posts tend to be inside-the-valley tech nuggets from an astute observer and former FT journalist. He gets looser on Twitter with a stream of catchy 140 character or less infotainments (I like his lunchtime entertainment links). Tom is a pioneer and a survivor and he blogs because he has something to say and news to share. Yeah Tom. 

Twitter: @tomforemski
Blog: Silicon Valley Watcher
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tom.foremski