Can't We All Just Get Along?

Richard Edelman writes that his public relations firm and Technorati are cooperating on a survey of bloggers to be emailed out at the end of next week. Their intent is to improve relations between bloggers and PR professionals, which have strained a bit lately. Findings will follow on the Edelman Web site on October 6.

Richard writes...

“We are going to ask bloggers how we can get the relationship right, how PR companies can help them rather than annoy them, how we can improve the conversation, how we can earn their trust.”

I have received an advance copy of the survey. It asks a lot of MediaMap/Bacons-esque questions like: “How often do you write about companies, their products or their employees?”; “Would you like product samples from companies in order to evaluate these products on your blog?”, “When looking for product information, which do you trust most?” (e.g. press releases, blogs, etc.) and more. The questions are akin to what the media directories poll journalists on all the time.

Richard, while there's nothing inherently wrong with this survey and Edelman's intent is noble, I really don't see what this effort will get us other than amalgamated data. In fact, it goes against the grain. The blogosphere is a dispersed medium of individuals. This effort aims to paint a picture of what the “average blogger” wants/needs when there really is no such thing. In this world, everyone is unique.

We don't need more data. What our profession needs is hard experience. We need to get more PR professionals to blog the way we do. That's the best way to learn. H&K has the right idea here, although I am not nuts about their barriers to entry. I would love to find a way all PR bloggers can partner to evangelize, train and immerse PR professionals in the world we live in every day. A survey isn't the answer. Next week's Global PR Blog Week is one such step. Let's work together to develop others.

Technorati Tags: Edelman, Technorati

Comments

[Rich Edelman]

Steve, I do think there is value in aggregating individual comments from 2500 bloggers. At present there is significant hostility toward PR folks among bloggers--suspicion of motive, distaste for method of contact (mass emails). We are at risk of being boycotted or bypassed if we do not raise our game. You are right of course that each blogger deserves personal treatment--we are just trying to give an aggregate view as in public opinion research. Thanks for commenting.

[Steve Rubel]

Richard, are you casting the net far and wide beyond the so-called A-Listers?

[Niall Cook]

Steve,

Thanks for highlighting our approach. The barriers to entry you're not nuts about aren't actually barriers at all, so you'll be fine.

All we're doing is making sure our people think about what's involved before they take the leap. It's pure self-selection - any of our employees can sign up, regardless of how they fare in the assessment.

Your readers can learn more about how we went about things by reading my article on the Global PR Blog Week 2.0 site.

[Jeremy Pepper]

Well, what about the two posts from Russell Beattie? Those hurt PR/blogger relations as much as Zawodny's post.

I, too, was contacted by Edelman, and got a lok at the survey as well. It's a good move forward, by a large, international agency that has the credentials and respect to pull off such a survey.

The survey is to help push forward PR/blogger relations, and what's wrong with that?

But, for your point that we need to get every PR person to blog, I will bring up the same point I did last time: where does that fit into billability? Unless there is passion, why would you want to force people to blog? For their education/edification? That just seems wrong.

Edelman is going about it the right way with the survey, by hiring Phil Gomes, by going out and working with its offices and hoping that people get it. They are a large firm that is pushing to make PR and blogging better and work together, and for that they should be applauded.