This month, the California office has decided to collect items for the Irvine Animal Care Center! They provide a safe, clean, caring, and enriching environment that meets the high standards of our community and provides the community a resource of trained and knowledgeable staff and volunteers. They also place all adoptable animals into permanent loving responsible pet homes and reunites owner-identified animals with their owners. We really appreciate all that they do, and to show that we care, we will be collecting miscellaneous animal care items and delivering them June 26, 2009. Let’s help our furry little friends!

Check them out yourself for more information: http://www.cityofirvine.org/depts/cs/animalcare/default.asp

The Sport is loaded with clothes!

ASG California has decided to show support in the community every month and help a local organization in Orange County. Last month, the California office collected and donated clothes to a great organization called the Orange County Rescue Mission. The Orange County Rescue Mission provides assistance in the areas of guidance, counseling, education, job training, shelter, food, clothing, health care and independent living communities. We collected over 20 large bags of clothing and delivered them on Monday, June 1. Overall a great team effort!

Also, we are participating in a continuous effort to collect non-perishable items as our local food banks in Orange County are empty. So please, if you have any canned food items, instant pastas, instant rice, breakfast bars, etc. please bring them in and we’ll make sure they are sent to one of our chosen food banks.

I found this device and thought it was a really great idea for monitoring gas consumption. Its a responsible solution to driving efficiently. This device helps lower your carbon footprint and the Kiwi shows you how much money on gas you saved compared to the last trip you saved with Kiwi installed. Over time, you can keep track of hundreds of dollars saved throughout the year. Check it out!

http://www.plxkiwi.com/product/how_video.html

I heard about this new website on the news the other night, and thought that maybe we could apply this to some of the things we can do for our clients.

“Amazon launched Windowshop.com on Friday, which will alleviate all these issues. The new site is an interactive experience for shoppers who can quickly scroll through product images, listen to sample MP3 songs, preview movies, and hear descriptions of books. Windowshop.com showcases bestsellers and new releases in Books, Music, Video and Video Games. The items that are on the main page will be updated every Tuesday with the latest products. This website will revolutionize the way people shop for anything. “

 www.windowshop.com

Going to the site was fun and interesting because it’s interactive, and so easy to use. I get all kinds of product information within just a couple of seconds. This would be a great way to build a number of different types of sites and a fun way to showcase our services. Maybe we could even apply this to our emails, e-vites, surveys, reviews, etc. for our clients? So many possibilities!

Interesting thoughts on becoming social media strategists, or realizing that we already are.
http://www.prsa.org/supportfiles/news/viewNews.cfm?pNewsID=842347874

Great initiative by Hyundai Motor America popped up in the news this week.

The Hyundai Assurance Program offers financing forgiveness. If you purchase a Hyundai and lose your job within one year, you can give it back along with your loan obligation. There are parameters to the program of course, but seems to be a nice safety net for buyers.

This is a great way to boost consumer support for a company that is taking a wobbly economy into consideration and hopefully boosts sales in the process.

This links to a story that Peter Valdes-Dapena wrote on CNNMoney.com:

In my normal holiday frenzy to finish all shopping, baking and cheer-spreading in a 48-hour period, I negelected my duties to provide you with another great list of reading.  So here you go and I’ll try for a second list by week’s end as well!

1. 15 Blogs You may have Missed by Amber Naslund at Altitude Branding
2. Is the Future of Advertising Public Relations? by Jason Falls at Social Media Explorer
3. Simple Social Media Truths by Matt McDonald at A New Marketing
4. #*&%^! I was just in a plane crash! by Casey DeLorme at Social Media Gestalt
5. Why Writing Plans Can be Smart by Beth Harte at Marketing Profs Daily Fix
6. State of the Twittersphere by Mike Volpe at Hubspot
7. The Art of Listening 2009:  It’s not just for Customers Anymore by Shannon Paul at Very Official Blog
8. How to Really Get Social Media Working for You by SuzeMuse at SuzeMuze.com
9. 10,000 Hours by Seth Godin at Seth Godin’s Blog
10. 2009 Cult Classic Movie Guide to Social Media Strategy by Kat French at Social Media Explorer

 Bonus:  Did a Beverly Hills Surgeon really use fat from liposuctions to power his Ford Excursion?  Most disturbing auto-related blog post to date:  Fat Fueled Ford is Biodiesel Biohazard by Keith Barry at Wired Blog.

Our amazing creative director, Shingo, couldn’t let the year end without treating us to a video extravaganza from 2008.  It’s been a tough year in many respects, but with hard work and a true love for what we do, we made it through – and had a SERIOUSLY good time! 

Check it out…

Cannonballing into the social media pool made a pretty big splash for me.  Recently I’ve been introduced as a “Social Media Expert”, “Digital PR Expert” or “Engagement Expert.”  Each time, my palms begin sweating any my hands shake a little. 

Me?  An expert?  Ha! 

I’m no Chris Brogan or Guy Kawasaki.  I would digress to giddy school girl antics in the presence of Jason Falls, Danny Brown or Amber Naslund – unable to utter a complete sentence outside of, “Oh my god!  I’m, uh, like, totally your biggest fan!”  Yeah,  NOT impressive. 

So, what DO I know?  Perhaps the three most important things.  How to build a successful relationship, how to understand and use media and how to learn. 

I ‘m a relationship expert.

With more than 10 years working in agency PR, I’ve got a wealth of experience in building relationships with both media and clients.  I take the time to get to know people and companies because I enjoy it.  I thrive to find ways to help people succeed, whether it be by writing a great article that their readers enjoy or figuring out a strategy that can help them sell more products.  I think of myself as a connector – I connect people and great ideas.

Relationship building isn’t something that happens overnight and it’s not for everyone.  For success, you have to really, genuinely care and want to do the best for other.  Otherwise people will see through it or you will burn out.  I think this takes a certain type of personality and I’ve got a knack for it. 

I’m a media expert.

My PR background has also required a deep understanding of the media.  I understand different forms of media – digital, broadcast, radio, print and how you need to interact with each.  Beyond just what time of day to call the reporter, I understand how to help them create a story that their particular audience will want to hear.  I know the tools they’ll need to tell the message – video, messages, photos, interviews – and I know how to get them efficiently and make them effective. 

I’m a learning expert.

Now, learning and how you learn is the other piece of the puzzle.  If you’re going to be an early adopter (as I think most of us in social media would still be considered) you have to CRAVE information.  You have to search it out.  You have to spend sleepless nights reading hundreds of blogs and thousands of tweets to draw in the information.  Then you have to jump in the deep end and ENGAGE.  Ask questions, dig deeper, explore the great ideas you read about further. 

When I become passionate about something I’m all in.  I read everything I can find on the subject – incessantly.  I stop sleeping, I talk about it non-stop and I find all of the people that can help me learn more faster and I hound them.  People either love this or hate this about me, but I learn a lot and I learn it fast. 

Relationship Expert + Media Expert + Learning Expert = Social Media Expert (sort of)

So, what I’ve deduced is that the sum of “relationship expert,” “media expert” and ”learning expert” may indeed qualitfy me for the junior ranks of social media expert. 

If social media was a ski slope, I’d consider myself just about ready for my first black diamond – sweaty palms and all.

Where are you at in becoming a social media expert?

Given the late delivery with Volume 2, I hope to earn your forgiveness with an early post this week.  What do you say?  BFFs again?

There’s some great stuff from this week but I mixed it up a little with a few posts slightly outside of the social media world but still “digitally relevant”.   Clearly as you move into the digital domain, web design and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) are key so check out #3 and #10, respectively, for some great examples and guidelines. 

1. 10 Advertising Words to Avoid in 2009by Gunelius at MSNBC.com (works for PR too – print this and put it next to your computer!)
2. How to Sell Twitter to a Client (or Even Your Own Boss) by Danny Brown at Social Media PR
3. Top 100 Web Designs in 2009 by Fresh01 at Radiiate
4. How Increasingly Intangible Media will bring Tangible Benefitsby Steve Rubel at Micro Persuasion
5. Go to War Against Wasted Marketing Spending by Casey Jones at Ad Age CMO Strategy Blog
6. Yes, Virginia, There Really is an Audience for Podcasts by Kat French at Social Media Explorer
7. Twitter & PR by Aarti Shah at PRWeek.com (Great resource – @micropr)
8. The Passive-Aggressive Guide to Social Media by Scott Hepburn at Media Emerging
9. 9 Ways to Make Twitter More Useful for Youby Rohit Bhargava at Influential Marketing Blog  (I aslo recommend his previous post – 5 Stages of Twitter Acceptance)
10. Beginner’s Guide to SEO:  Quikie Dos and Don’ts by Stoney DeGeyter at Search Engine Guide

The Weekly “Must Read” List helps maximize your precious reading time by recommending 10 of the “must-read” social media and other “digitally relevant” blog posts, articles and videos on the web each week.  Are these the only 10 articles worth reading?  OF COURSE NOT!  Hundreds of people write great posts every day, so please, if you’ve got some to share, post your recommendations and we’ll check those out too.