Think of the last story you heard. How did it make you feel? Did you get a good laugh out of a friend’s retelling of an embarrassing moment? Did a tear well up in your eye after hearing of an acquaintance’s battle with cancer?

We hear stories every day. We tell stories every day. But how much thought do we put into those stories?

As a person whose career is based on communication, storytelling is part of what I do, day in and day out. Last week at the Health Care Social Media Summit hosted by Mayo and Ragan Communications, Justina Chen, a corporate speechwriter for Microsoft, encouraged me to take my storytelling to the next level.

Chen reminded us that stories are the way we transfer information from our short-term to long-term memory. My recollection of the information presented at the conference is a perfect example. I can’t recall the five key points of each speaker’s presentation off the top of my head. I can retell the story of two women who met in an online community and brought 80 women together to be part of a groundbreaking research study at Mayo Clinic. I can remember the story of Dozer the dog who joined a fundraising half-marathon and ended up raising more than $25,000. I can also recall the story of an elderly couple who put on a concert in the Mayo Clinic lobby and became a YouTube sensation.

Stories are more than information. They turn a message into a movement. Good stories move us emotionally and cause us to take action. Great stories have some of the same key elements – rise, defeat and redemption.

Justina asked us to take a step back and think about our organizations by asking a series of questions. What is your company’s superpower? What is your company’s kryptonite? Companies, made up of people, face challenges and overcome them. Our job as a communicators is to create a story arch and relay it to a target audience. But how do we pull powerful stories from what may seem like the routine, mundane activities of a company?

The answer? An interview, not a meeting, with the story keepers in an organization. Justina encouraged us to set up an hour to interview a person who can tell of the defeats, victories and progress of their team. The first 20 minutes should be spent getting to know the person by just chatting with them before getting down to business. Knowing the person telling the story will help you create a better story.

Justina told us to keep an open mind while listening to a storyteller in our organization. We need to listen to everything they are telling us, and not just focus on getting that one, perfect nugget. While sitting in their office, we need to keep our eyes open for objects that support the story, such as a napkin on which they sketched a breakthrough idea. Also, we should ask as many questions as we can to draw out details of the story the interviewee is relaying. We also learned we shouldn’t leave the room without getting the names of three other people to interview for more information.

Stories are powerful, but only if they are heard. Think of ways to craft compelling stories about the challenges and triumphs of your organization. As a result, your message will be heard, remembered and acted upon.

(Image of the storytelling process from Justina Chen’s, Microsoft corporate speechwriters, presentation at the Health Care Social Media Summit in Rochester, MN).

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Health Care Social Media Summit hosted by the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media and Ragan Communications. Speakers ranged from doctors to social media experts to patients, all parties who are leveraging social media to help people live healthier.

The conversation at the conference centered on how hospitals and doctors can use social media tools to connect with patients. HIPAA and AMA guidelines rightly protect patients’ personal information, but they also create obstacles for sharing helpful health information online. For instance, a majority of health care organizations represented at the conference still block social media sites for employees and/or patients. It seems a tad ironic that health systems that trust doctors with patients’ lives don’t trust them enough to responsibly use social media on the job.

Among all the “talk” about how to balance the need to preserve the uttermost respect for patient information and the desire of patients and doctors to connect online, stood Dr. Wendy Sue Swanson — a mom and a pediatrician who is sharing her insights on how to keep kids healthy. Dr. Swanson passionately and intelligently relayed how she believes social media is a powerful tool to save lives. That’s the ROI of health care social media she argued — the life of a boy whose mom’s Facebook friends help diagnose his potentially fatal condition or the mom who learned how to correctly put on a bike helmet from a blog.

Swanson practices pediatrics half-time and writes three blogs and produces one video blog each week for Seattle Mama Doc. The blog is filled with personal stories, videos about vaccinations, and practical information, like how to stop a nosebleed. The Seattle Children’s Hospital compensates Swanson for producing the blog content. Swanson argued that doctors should be compensated for the time and effort they put into connecting with patients online.

She encourages doctors to engage with patients online. She argues that patients still trust doctors and view them as people, which is a powerful position. She feels that as a doctor she needs to be confident enough to give the same advice in an exam room as she does to millions of people online. She also encourages doctors to do more than what HIPAA asks by always ask for permission before sharing details that could point to a patient’s story and never offering opinions anonymously online.

Overall, I was struck by Dr. Swanson desire to save lives. She knows moms like her are looking for reputable information on how to care for and protect their children. She also understands that her ability to relay health information through her expertise as a pediatrician and her personal experience as a mom can keep kids healthy.

Dr. Swanson is a powerful communicator, and I’m excited to see how other doctors follow in her footsteps and start to communicate with their patients.

If you haven’t been keeping up, a host of presidential hopefuls have been duking it out in debates and, more passively, through television advertisements. So, how does one position them self as capable of leading the free world? Let’s breakdown some of the current political ads and see what candidates are doing right and what they should be doing differently if they hope to be living on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Mitt Romney

Seeing as how Mitt Romney is considered a front-runner for the Republican nomination, let’s take a look at one of his campaign ads first:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz3XgYLqCjg&feature=player_embedded

The spot itself is hopeful: inspirational string instruments, swooping aerial shots of wheat fields and a speech sprinkled with the word “freedom.” The ad is surprisingly void of any slams on the current administration, which is commendable (though his website has a slew of videos that aren’t as non-confrontational).

My ADvice: Differentiate. Romney certainly looks the part, which is a really big problem. He looks like anybody who has ran for president in the last 75 years. If Mitt wants to win he is going to have to stand out from the pack. I’d prescribe a fun, memorable catchphrase. Something like “Mitt’s Legit” or “dotRom.”

Rick Perry

Perry shot on to the election scene with a substantial following and a significant, though somewhat controversial, record as Governor of Texas. However, the Perry buzz has fizzled a bit since officially announcing his run for the White House. Here’s a recent spot:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8EL5Atp_vF0

If this ad does anything well it’s the painting of the current administration as a failure that has produced disastrous (did you hear those wailing sirens?) consequences. The ad loses a bit of steam during the second half by resorting to the expected shots of the Statue of Liberty, flags and roaring fighter jets.

My ADvice: Lighten up. First, lighten up on the advertising production costs. The spot looks cool, but it probably cost more than what a lot of people have made in wages this year. And it doesn’t even let viewers know much about you. Secondly, have some fun Rick Perry. Your state may be infamous for its capital punishment record, but that doesn’t mean you can’t clown around a bit while you’re out campaigning!

Jon Huntsman

Governor Huntsman is further back in the polls but has a loyal following and a strong record as the leader of Utah. A longtime motocross racer, Huntsman is considered by many to be a Republican long shot. Below is one of his early ads:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biqIuX3uX0U

The best part about this ad is probably the scenery. Everything else is a bit…clunky? The disconnect starts with the narrator. His script tries to balance a vision, accomplishments and a jovial tone, but just comes off as silly (I can’t say I’ve ever heard the colloquialism “…not in it for the balloons.”). Strange copy paired with music you would hear floating out of a piano store in the mall doesn’t bode well for a would-be President…

My ADvice: Governor Huntsman needs to figure out who he is. What is the Huntsman brand? Is he Huntsman the diplomat? Huntsman the businessman? Or Huntsman the former member of high school band “Wizard?” It’s obvious he wants to appeal to a broad range of voters, but what isn’t obvious is who Huntsman wants to be.

The Presidential race is heating up, and as media consumers brace to be inundated with a brutal amount of political advertising, I have a final point for all candidates regarding their inevitable and invasive advertising: Be to the point. Be candid. And spend heavily on memorable catchphrases and well-designed buttons, because those are the things that really stick.

Before my internship at L&S, I never wore a watch.

My tendency has always been to run a little behind schedule or exactly on time—never early. Growing up, my family often threatened to leave me at home if I wasn’t ready to go. And now, the people in my life know that “I’ll be there in 10” actually means, “I’ll be there in 20.”

At L&S, all we do is run on time. Monday morning Boot Up, an agency-wide status meeting, begins at 8:15 a.m. At 8:14 a.m., Emily at the front desk announces that Boot Up is starting now in the lobby.

Let me tell you, now actually means right now at L&S. Ready or not.

After being at the agency for three months, I’ve truly learned that when it comes down to it, all we sell is time. Yes, ideas and designs, media placements, websites, press releases, marketing plans, video footage and lots of emails are packaged with it, but at the end of the day it’s the time we put into everything that makes L&S great.

It’s also the nowness, the ‘get-r-done’ mentality, that L&Sers live by that puts the agency on top. A lot of work gets done right now and pushed out the door every day, and “a lot” is an understatement. It’s way more than that.

The longer I work, the more I appreciate and admire efficiency. Managing time is a tough thing to learn, but it’s so important. It’s important to respect other people’s time, and when there’s only a total of eight hours in a work day I know how valuable every minute is. It all adds up.

In my time at L&S, I’ve been given time. The people around me have taken time out of their days to teach me more about public relations, marketing and advertising, and I am grateful. There is so much to learn and understand, and I know that with more time and in the years to come I will truly grow into a professional.

On my birthday in June, someone special gave me my watch. Believe it or not, it took me 22 years to actually wear one and now I can’t leave the house without it. At L&S, I’m continuing to learn how to quickly switch from project to project and how to work in a place that’s different from minute to minute, but that’s how time works. With time, things change. The best way to live and work is in the now, but with a vision for what’s to come and what’s next.

This is the final post from Mari in a series of reflections from the Lawrence & Schiller interns. Take a minute to read their past posts!

When I wake up in the morning I hear ads on the radio, I see billboards and ads online, all within the first few hours of my day. Consumers, like me, can hardly make it to work without being bombarded by advertisements, so how do marketers break through?

After listening to Robbin Phillips talk about her book “Brains on Fire,” which is about bypassing the advertising campaign and reaching your consumer through movements, I have a new outlook on what it takes to create a lasting impression. Phillips describes advertising campaigns as a project with a beginning and an end, it has a set budget, time frame and creative, while a movement is organic, it grows and lives within your audience, not your media buy.

This involves turning your campaign on its head, rather than placing the focus on your product you need to focus on the people. For example, on the very first page of her book it says, “It’s about people. When it comes to technology, what’s exciting and shiny today will be frickin’ dead tomorrow.” Throughout the book you will find reference to this new found focus on the consumer and how it has shaped their approach to different challenges in all types of industries.

If you build it, they will come.

I’m not talking about a baseball field in the middle of Iowa, I’m talking about a place where people can come together and share their thoughts, talk about their experiences and feel connected to your brand. Building a platform to facilitate organic growth and leveraging social media through the use of brand advocates and loyalists can take you beyond the media buy.

This topic is worthy of a thesis paper, however, the limits of time and space keep me from writing one now. So for the purpose of giving you a taste of online movements, check out these sites to see how innovative brands are going past the campaign:

Fiskateers.com

Wal-Martmoms.com  

And be sure to check out Midcontinent Communication’s effort to move past a campaign through online engagement Midcocomm.com/xisnext/buzz/!

July marks the midpoint. I’m halfway. If I was at the theater, it would be intermission. If I was in school, I’d be sweating through a mid-term exam. If I was tuned into Survivor or the Real Housewives, it’d be a commercial break. If I was on the court, I’d be huddled up with the team.

Midpoints, mid-terms, intermissions and halftimes are significant. It’s the crucial time between the beginning and the end. It’s the tension that holds everything together. It’s the time to plan for and anticipate what is to come—the finale.

Right now at Lawrence & Schiller, I’m experiencing my own midpoint. I’m halfway through my summer internship, and this blog is my little intermission. It’s my time to pause and think about what happened in Acts One through Three and what’s to come in Acts Four and Five.

Thus far, I’ve learned more than can be reasonably expected from the rising action of a play. I’ve learned how to function within a team, and how to generate ideas in real time through discussion and groupthink. I’ve worked hard to become familiarized with strategies, campaigns, clients and computer software. I’ve gotten to experience an L&S staff lunch and the ribbon cutting event that celebrated the brand new office space. I also attended a three-day business development training led by a consultant from NYC whose client roster includes the world’s best known brands and advertising leaders.

That’s a lot of cool stuff in a quick six weeks.

Looking back, I’m amazed. Someone once told me that I will learn more in my first year of work than I did in four years of college. I’m beginning to believe the truth within that insight. The learning curve is high in the working world, and it’s exciting (and a bit overwhelming) to think I’m just beginning my career.

In the second half of my internship, I hope to grow and gain even more. I’m looking forward to delving further into writing projects. I’m eager to see what direction my team goes on client events and 2012 initiatives. I’m excited to hear if a company hires L&S after a pitch I helped put together. Earlier this summer I also helped with a commercial shoot, and that will be fun to see completed when it hits the screen.

Now is the time to reenergize. It’s time to stand up, stretch my legs and maybe take a bathroom break just like I would midway through the big game, a concert or a play. It’ll be another great six weeks at L&S and I’m eager to see what is to come.

What did you #AskObama?

Did you ask him about economics and the job market? Did you ask him about clean energy? Did you ask him where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

If you didn’t tweet any of these questions, rest assured, someone else did. On Wednesday, July 6, Twitter was bombarded with thousands of #AskObama questions, and the President responded to them in real time on TV.

According to Mashable, more than 61,000 questions were asked and a total of 94,000 tweets were sent to President Obama’s first Twitter Town Hall. Twitter Co-founder and Executive Chairman Jack Dorsey moderated, and the event lasted only an hour.

Now that’s a lot of tweets and questions to get through in a short amount of time, but think for a minute. What’s Twitter’s core mission?

To get to the point in 140 characters or less.

Speaking of character numbers and trending topics, did Obama answer the questions effectively and quickly last Wednesday? This issue is being debated by columnists at The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. Two of the three sources are skeptical of his ability to be short-and-sweet, Twitter style, and the other believes the long-winded answers were unavoidable. Even at an event of this nature.

We all know politicians are good at expounding. They’re good at explaining in full and adding extra stuff, so maybe this is a time to once again remind ourselves of the beauty of brevity.

In a world that’s constantly on information overload, people can only handle so much. Remember that.

Being brief is not easy. It forces speakers and writers to focus on key points. It forces them to think about take-home value and the one thing people will remember in 15 minutes. Ragan’s PR Daily posted the 8 Steps to More Concise Writing, and they’re tips all politicians, public relations professionals, copywriters and the general public should live by in this world of excess information.

Maybe it’s time to start communicating on Twitter’s terms. What is it that you really want to say? What is your point? During the next town hall I may have to ask, “How would you put that in 140 characters, Mr. President? #AskObama”

Chances are you’ve clicked the “Like” button on Facebook a time or two.

You’ve “Liked” your friends’ statuses and photos. You’ve “Liked” articles about current issues and celebs. You’ve even “Liked” relationships when they become Facebook official.

On Tuesday, June 28, it’s time to “Like” something different. It’s time to click the “Like” button and help an organization change lives in South Dakota.

Feeding South Dakota, a hunger relief organization, is a finalist in a nationwide contest sponsored by Toyota. Toyota is giving away 100 Cars for Good. They’re giving 100 cars to 100 charities for 100 days. Each competing organization was asked to complete a video saying why they deserve to win. Facebook viewers will vote on who gets the wheels.

That’s your queue. Mark your calendars and go to www.facebook.com/toyota to “Like” the Feeding South Dakota video on Tuesday, June 28. The goal is to win the Toyota Highlander so Feeding South Dakota can deliver more meals to the hungry and ultimately get more MPGs, Meals Per Gallon, in the state.

Be an active part of this effort by voting and sharing the news with your friends. See you on Election Day!

It’s time to fess up. You are not just sleeping with your spouse. You also sleep with your smartphone.

According to a recent report released by the mobile service provider iPass, more than 60 percent of workers keep their mobile device in the bedroom at night, and more than 45 percent keep it within an arm’s reach. For this study, iPass surveyed more than 3,700 mobile employees from 1,000 companies across the United States, and the statistics are shocking. The stats prove that work never sleeps, and neither do those employed.

The infographic “Smartphone Pillow Talk” shows that 58 percent of workers wake up during the night to check their phone and of those respondents, 11 percent find themselves awake every night to monitor their e-mail inbox or check Facebook.

It’s clear that people today want to be connected, but what’s even clearer is that employees are willing to work during all hours of the day. No longer is home life and work life separated. The line is completely blurred.

In a 24/7 kind of world, no time is off time. News and work updates can be viewed instantly during any hour of the day, and that is the expectation. We want the all-access pass to information, and we’re willing to sacrifice good sleep for it.

Public Relations, like the mobile employee, never sleeps. PR is all about building beneficial relationships, earning trust and generating reputation, and these things don’t always happen between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. They are constantly happening. And since the advent of the smartphone, PR is becoming increasingly relevant and important.

If you don’t have PR strategies in place, think about what can happen. A customer can run into issues with a product late at night and then feel the need to tweet or Facebook it. PR professionals know that at any moment a business’ reputation can be tested, so having a planned response is ideal. PR is about strategizing, but also about reacting and conversing with real people in real time. And if companies are missing that in the mix, they’re missing key, ground-level interactions.

Remember when you’re up at night checking your iPhone or Blackberry, so are your clients and customers. Chances are they’re talking or thinking about brands and companies (maybe even yours), so keep a PR strategy or two on your nightstand for good measure.

Traditions. Lawrence & Schiller is full of them, and offering top-notch internships is only one.

After a few short weeks on the job, it’s clear to me that L&S is more than an office. It’s more than a business with clients and jobs. L&S is a place where people matter.

One of the traditions at L&S is greeting people by name.

Last week, Director of Public Relations Dave Haan and I were chatting about success. We were talking about how to be successful at L&S and how to make a lasting impression. He told me that when he began at L&S, John Pohlman, executive VP, gave him a rundown on the 101 ways to find success at L&S. Apparently, the 101 ways was only a one-page list of 35 items, but nonetheless one of the tips that stuck with Dave was, “greet people by name.”

Nearly 15 years later, Dave shared with me John’s piece of advice—the advice that has since become a tradition.

Greeting people by name says so much about a workplace. It proves that people care about who you are as an individual. It shows that your presence truly matters, and that whatever your specialty or skill set others know about you. They know about you even if they work on different teams or within different disciplines.

The etymology of the word agency is, an “active, effective and powerful establishment where business is done for another.”

L&S embodies this definition. It’s an establishment where great things get done for clients, but also for other employees. Things are constantly being done for one another, and L&S wouldn’t have it any other way.

As L&S celebrates its 35th anniversary, I’m excited to be a part of an agency—this agency. I’m excited to be a part of a place that serves people in creative, strategic and fun ways, and I’m eager to learn. My experience at L&S will teach me more about what goes into marketing, advertising and public relations, but more importantly my experience will teach me about people.

The Internet and social media have fundamentally changed the pace of business, compressing time and rewarding speed. News breaks over minutes, not days. Companies can develop or refine products and services instantly based on customer feedback or events in the marketplace.

As a result, public relations has changed forever. Traditional media outlets are no longer the inpenetrable gatekeepers. Citizen journalists (whether they think of themselves that way or not) are reporting more updates from more locations than professional journalists could ever hope to cover. And businesses have an unprecented freedom to share their stories directly with key audiences – customers and potential clients.

This shifting landscape provides business with an opportunity never before seen. It’s called Real-Time PR… the mindset of finding and engaging with emerging story lines before they become old news.

Real-time PR was the topic of April’s L&S Boot Camp Webinar. Lawrence & Schiller’s Dave Haan, Director of Public Relations, and Lindsey Philips, PR Coordinator, presented the three “D”s at the foundation of real-time PR:

• Detect conversations about your brand
• Deliver the right messages to the right audiences
• Decrease your response time

Is the grapevine your employees’ trusted source of information? Do those inside your walls feel like they are talking to the walls when they have questions, concerns and suggestions?

If you answered yes to either of these questions, it is time to formalize your internal communications. You are already practicing internal communication. You do it every day. The question is, are you doing it effectively?

To start taking control of the messages sent and received within your walls:

• Start at the top: Leadership needs to recognize that well-informed employees are more motivated and invested in their work.
• Align internal communication with your culture: “The best internal communications plans start with a set of corporate values that clearly state the company’s ethics, standards, and principles,” says Tonya Bacon, Director at Strategic Communications Group.
• Outline when, what and how to communicate: Map out the messages, audiences, communication channels and people accountable for crafting and distributing messages. Then compile the map into a usable document accessible to all.
• Execute the plan: All your hard work will fall flat if you don’t invest the time, effort and financial support necessary to put the plan into action.
• Build in accountability: Track whether messages are received, delivered and acted upon. Show how the communications activity ties into the overall goals of your organization.

Hear Mark Glissendorf, Senior Vice President of Operations and Multimedia at Lawrence & Schiller, give advice on drafting an internal communications plan.

We often focus on talking to customers, while forgetting to talk to the people who are the voice of our company. As Bacon reminds us, “Many progressive companies now view internal communications as equal in importance to external communications such as advertising, marketing, public relations, and investor relations. Indeed, external marketing can reach its full potential only when employees fully ‘buy in’ to a company’s vision, messages, goals, and values.”

Take the time to focus on your internal audience. The payoff will be evident.

In a lackluster economy where corporations have a reputation for being greedy, and job hunters have been put through the ringer, it is refreshing to see many companies take a new approach to giving back.

What exactly do I mean by that?

One trend that continues to grow in 2011 is how companies are investing their time and efforts into executing “Random Acts of Kindness.” These random acts can be anything from giving personalized gifts to people on the street to sending care packages to Twitter users having a bad day.

Why would a company do this? First, because it’s an awesome idea, and second, because there are many ways for this to reflect favorably on a company. Secret is a great example – they’ve created a Facebook page focused on bringing out the best in high school girls. That’s going above and beyond the traditional call of duty for a deodorant.

But don’t take my word for it – look at these other examples of how a simple random act of kindness can turn a consumer into a loyal, brand advocate!

This video is an example of how Heineken expressed its gratitude to their Facebook fans for getting them to one million “Likes”

One Million Heineken Hugs

This video is in Spanish but you’ll get the message – even if your high school Spanish is as rusty as mine!

Gifts In Flight

What’s more important? Winning awards or reaching business goals?

At Lawrence & Schiller we love holding the hardware, but our emphasis has always been delivering results for our clients. Which makes this award season such a treat. Clients are seeing positive results and earning accolades.

Telly Awards

It started with “Hey Sara”, winner of a Silver Telly award for Midcontinent Business Solutions. The spot is part of a series produced for Midcontinent’s Phone & Data Services and Television Advertising Sales. The campaign has been so effective and recognizable, Midcontinent has extended it into 2011.

Pollie Awards

Billed as the “Oscars of political advertising”, the Pollie Awards are presented by the American Association of Political Consultants. Big budget commercials for campaigns in large states compete along small budget efforts from rural areas. Going up against the best in the business, two different commercials created by Lawrence & Schiller for the 2010 election earned special recognition.

• Gold Pollie – Television Ad, More Than 60 Seconds, “Meet Dennis Daugaard” – Dennis Daugaard for Governor
• Silver Pollie – Statewide, Republican, Non-Gubernatorial Race, “Elevator Speech” – Dusty Johnson for P.U.C.
• Honorable Mention – Governor, “Meet Dennis Daugaard”

Of course, the best result came in November when both Dennis Daugaard and Dusty Johnson won by large margins. If you’d like to hear more about the Pollie Awards, listen to this interview with John Pohlman and Micah Aberson who had the honor of walking on stage in Washington, D.C. to pick up the awards.

Addy Awards

Each year, ad agencies around the country enter their best work in hopes of winning an ADDY® award – one of the industry’s most recognizable honors. This year, Lawrence & Schiller’s clients won a total of 35 different awards.

Best of Show – Electronic
Great Western Bank | National TV Campaign | “Best of Both TV Campaign”

Best of Class – Non-Traditional Marketing
South Dakota Tourism | Non-Traditional Advertising | “Mt. Rushmore Macy’s Day Parade Float”

Best of Class – Television
Great Western Bank | National TV Campaign | “Best of Both TV Campaign”

Best of Class – Public Service
South Dakota Office of Highway Safety | Public Service – TV | “Marked For Life TV”

Best of Class – Radio
Workplace Technology Center | Local Radio | “Sucky I.T.”

Gold Addy Awards

1. Great Western Bank | National TV Campaign | “Best of Both TV Campaign”
2. South Dakota Office of Highway Safety | Public Service – TV | “Texting TV”
3. South Dakota Office of Highway Safety | Public Service – TV | “Rollover TV”
4. South Dakota Office of Highway Safety | Public Service – TV | “Marked For Life TV”
5. South Dakota Office of Highway Safety | Public Service – Out-of-Home | “DUI/DOA Billboard”
6. South Dakota Office of Highway Safety | Public Service – Non-Traditional | “Helmet Tattoo Street Graphics”
7. South Dakota Office of Highway Safety | Public Service – Campaign | “Helmet Tattoo Street Graphics”
8. South Dakota Office of Highway Safety | Public Service – Non-Traditional | “Marked For Life Street Team”
9. South Dakota Office of Highway Safety | Public Service – Mixed Media Campaign | “Marked For Life”
10. South Dakota Office of Highway Safety | Elements of Advertising, Sound | “At The Scene Radio”
11. South Dakota Tourism | Non-Traditional Advertising | “Mt. Rushmore Macy’s Day Parade Float”
12. South Dakota Tourism | Consumer or Trade Publication | “Every picture tells a story”
13. South Dakota Tourism | Interactive Media: Online Campaigns | “Web banners/Website”
14. University of South Dakota | National TV Campaign | “USD – One Smart Move Campaign”
15. Workplace Technology Center | Local Radio | “Sucky I.T.”
16. Lawrence & Schiller | Self-Promotion Invitation | “Friday Evening HoHo”
17. Lawrence & Schiller | Self-Promotion Mixed Media Campaign | “Friday Evening HoHo”

Silver Addy Awards

1. Great Western Bank | National TV, Consumer Services | “Best of Both – Business TV”
2. Lowell Hanson | Interactive Media: Website, Consumer HTML, Products | “Flying A Ranch for Sale”
3. Sanford Health | Newspaper Campaign, Color | “Sanford Strip Ads”
4. Sanford Health | Local Radio | “When you’re ready for baby”
5. Sanford Health | Local TV: 60 seconds or Less | “When you’re ready for baby”
6. Sanford Health | Local TV: 60 seconds or Less | “This is what you do”
7. Sanford Health | National TV, Consumer Services | “Sanford Cancer Center – Never Fight Alone”
8. South Dakota Office of Highway Safety | Public Service – Poster | “Stomach Pump”
9. South Dakota Office of Highway Safety | Public Service – Campaign | “Someone Needs You Mom/Dad Billboards”
10. South Dakota Office of Highway Safety | Elements of Advertising, Cinematography | “Rollover TV”
11. South Dakota Tourism | Campaign: Consumer or Trade Publication | “Every picture tells a story”
12. South Dakota Tourism | Interactive Media: Website, Consumer HTML, Products | “TravelSD.com”
13. Vance Thompson Vision | Local Television, :30 or Less | “Masterpiece TV”

But best of all, are the stories reporting a drop in S.D. highway fatalities, and knowing the Office of Highway Safety’s campaign is playing a role. Or hearing how many people are noticing Great Western Bank’s Best of Both campaign. Or seeing all of the buzz generated after Mount Rushmore float appeared in the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Day Parade. Because in the end, results for our clients are what matter most.

Social media allows the people who make up an organization to connect with the people the business serves. You want your employees to talk about your company and build relationships through social media platforms, but you also want to be clear about what is acceptable online activity. Hearing from various speakers at the Ragan Conference on Social Media for Public Relations and Internal Communication in Las Vegas last month has convinced me of the importance of implementing social media policies in every organization.

What They Are

Social Media Guidelines outline the purpose of, how best to utilize and what to steer clear of while using social media. They clearly define how your organization wants social media to contribute to the overall mission of your business, while setting common sense expectations about how you want your employees to act online.

You might be thinking these guidelines will only add another page to your already thick employee handbook, but with the lines between personal and professional becoming increasingly blurry online, it will be in the interest of your organization’s bottom line to protect your reputation and employees.

Why You Need Them

Social media guidelines will help your organization avoid, or react more quickly to a variety of situations.

• An employee leaking confidential information in a tweet
• An employee admitting to illegal activity online
• Organization members making inappropriate comments about fellow employees

What They Should Say

A good social media policy needs to have three characteristics. It should be clear, concise and common sense. Social media guidelines should set expectations for employees and protect the company.

Do your best to keep the guidelines to one page. You want people to be able to remember and follow them. Also, avoid complicated, legal jargon. Set simple expectations that everyone from the CEO to the newest employee can follow.

Remind people they are responsible for what they say online. Although some employees may think of the Internet as “my space” they still represent your company. Their on-the-job professionalism should be reflected as they engage with others online. Conversations should be civil and respectful, no matter how heated an online debate becomes.

Ask people to identify themselves as an employee of your organization when they comment on industry-related items online. Also remind employees to be careful about sharing confidential information.

The size of your organization and the industry you operate in will shape the exact content of your guidelines. Take the time to research the social media policies of similar organizations as you begin the process. (See the resource section below).

At the end of the day, leave your organization room to breathe. Trust your employees to be responsible advocates for your organization. They are the face and voice of your company. If you are clear about how you expect them to act online and realize the positive impact they can have as brand advocates, your company will be well on its way to engaging customers online, because at the end of the day it’s all about relationships, on- and offline.

Who Has Them

• Social Media Governance
• Southwest Airlines
• Intel

This post is part of a series stemming from the knowledge gained at the Social Media for Public Relations and Internal Communications Conference in Las Vegas, NV.

Check out other conference-related posts:

Social Media Pioneers Gather in Las Vegas

The Red Cross Goes from #gettngslizzerd to #gettngdonations

L&S caught my eye last fall. I won’t say it was love at first sight, but it was close. It all began with a presentation Micah Aberson, VP of Account Services at L&S, gave to my marketing promotions class about their South Dakota Tourism account. Let’s just say, South Dakota Tourism was getting the real deal: L&S was creating incredibly attractive commercial spots for them. They were placing print ads for Visit South Dakota in O, The Oprah Magazine. They were having South Dakota Tourism sponsor events at Minnesota Viking football games. And on top of it all, L&S contacted Macy’s and signed a three-year contract for South Dakota to have a float in New York City’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Need I say more?

After that hour-long presentation, I was hooked. I was more than inspired by the campaigns, and was truly excited that L&S—a Sioux Falls based agency—was working on a statewide and national level. As a motivated senior ready to venture out into the world, I knew I wanted to be a part of something like L&S—something big. I wanted to be a part of an agency that made a true and lasting impact, and that reached out to people in more places than one.

As the semester came to a close, my marketing promotions professor notified our class about internship opportunities at L&S. I thought about it and was ready to apply. I was ready to suit up for the big game, as my dad would say, and play hard. That’s exactly what I did. I worked hard and played hard (I’m sure you’re familiar with that philosophy).

After turning in my portfolio and resume, attending the Meet-Greet-Repeat event, and then returning to L&S for a second-round interview, it became clear to me that people who work at L&S are talented, down-to-earth, and motivated. I saw passion in each one of them, which is exactly what I saw in Micah when he visited my class at Augustana College last fall.

Last week, I flipped when I was offered an internship at L&S. I was so excited and accepted. As a student of journalism and business who loves public relations and marketing, I couldn’t have asked for a better start to my career. I am motivated to get out there and make things happen in the world. I’m convinced that what I learn this summer at L&S will be an experience that changes me for the better. This internship will help me set foot on my career path, and it will provide me with opportunities for the future.

Mari Stensgaard will be combining the knowledge gained through her English and Journalism majors as the L&S Public Relations Intern. Mari is a Rapid City, SD native and will graduate from Augustana College this year.

When I lived in Nashville friends back in South Dakota always ask me, “I bet there are a lot of good singers there, huh?” The answer to that question is overrated. The problem with Nashville isn’t the lack of talent. Carrie Underwood look-a-likes and Keith Urban sound-a-likes are a dime-a-dozen. The problem is finding something unique and authentic; something valuable and relatable.

Whether you are trying to break into the country music world or working with a nationally-recognized retail company, the concept of branding is important. But, what is branding? My brother Taylor said it best on his marketing site, Strategic Blend:

Cutting through all the hype and BS, the word “brand,” really boils down to one thing: the expectation your fans/friends/consumers have about you. It’s that simple!  You don’t need to be a marketing professional to understand it.

He truly nailed it on the nose. It is important to keep your client true to who they are. They don’t have to be everything to everyone. But they need to stay relevant to the target audience. Those fans/friends/consumers want a brand to be authentic and relatable.

Why the bold and italics on the word authentic? Because in a society that is completely saturated with strategically produced marketing messages, consumers truly lust for something that is genuine. Dan Weiden, co-founder of Weiden + Kennedy, said it best in Fast Company that authenticity has “relatively little to do with technique, and everything to do with honesty.” Weiden goes on to say:

Authenticity comes from having a real passion for the thing. When we first started working with Nike, we didn’t bother with focus groups and planning. We were just a group of people who were absolutely turned on by sports and athletes, and what Phil Knight was creating, and we just wanted to turn other people on. We weren’t trying to manipulate anyone. We were trying to share something that we loved. It was that simple.

Can such authenticity live in the marketing world? Can we change strategic plans into real life passions? Can we show a client for what they really are? All signs point to substance over artificiality in the consumers’ eyes. Even Nashville understands that these days it takes more than a pretty face and a guitar to “show them the money.”

It takes a lot of time to hire a good intern.

Advertise the position, review resumes and work samples, arrange the first interviews, make call backs for a second round of interviews, pick the top candidate, extend an offer, set a start date and break the bad news to the other applicants.

Add it all up and you will spend a lot of hours that could just as easily be spent tackling other items on your to-do list. Even with our new “speed dating” accelerating the interview process, it’s enough to make you wonder, are interns worth the time and effort?

At Lawrence & Schiller, the short answer is “Yes!” Here are three reasons why:

1. Internships are one of the best ways to build your team. Clients often comment on the quality of the people on the L&S teams. A lot of the credit goes to our internship program. More than 20% of our current staff has been part of the L&S internship program at one time or another. From day one interns do real work… providing valuable assistance to the agency while earning practical real-world experience.
2. Intern programs are a way to give back to your community. We want to see the best and the brightest students have career opportunities close to home. We want to support the marketing, advertising, design, business and journalism programs offered by regional colleges and universities. We want to help kids learn how to interview face-to-face, especially at a time when so much communication is digital and distant.
3. Intern programs can turn applicants into brand evangelists. Students are forming opinions of the Lawrence & Schiller brand every time they interact with us (in person and online). If the program runs correctly, and students are treated with respect throughout the entire process, applicants and interns will tell their friends, family and classmates good things about L&S. The distance betweem today’s applicants and tomorrow’s clients can be very short.

The intern class of 2011 is incredibly strong. The finalists are very talented. And in the end, all of the time invested by the applicants and the agency will return value for years to come.

Are you making the most of your internship program? Tell us your story.

Come on, admit it.

You’ve done it before. It’s alright.  You’re in good company. We’ve all done it. Yes, that’s right we’ve all made a mistake, maybe even more than one.

Mistakes are inevitable in life and they are unavoidable in social media as well.

So why do we try to cover them up? We delete tweets when we attach the wrong hyperlink. We delete Facebook posts when we misspell a word, and act like nothing happened. But why? The mistake has already been made and the world has already seen it. Why do we try to hide it?

I will be the first to admit that I’ve messed up. I’ve misspelled words, uploaded the wrong photo and linked to the wrong page. I’ve also tried to fix them as soon as possible. Deleting the original post and reposting a correct version.

Social media is all about creating and building relationships online. Transparency, honesty and the ability to admit mistakes is foundational to deepening those relationships. Instead of covering up social media faux paus, why don’t we admit them?

A real life example of a social media “oops” occurred while I was attending the Social Media for Public Relations and Internal Communications hosted by Ragan Communications and Public Relations Society of America in Las Vegas last week. In the closing session, Jackie Mitchell of the American Red Cross shared a situation she and her team around the country dealt with on Twitter during the course of the conference.

Jackie explained to us that several staffers at the American Red Cross are responsible for managing the organization’s official Twitter account. Many of those staffers use HootSuite to manage their multiple social media accounts. Late on Tuesday, Feb. 15, a Red Cross staffer posted, “Ryan found two more 4 bottle packs of Dogfish Head’s Midas Touch beer…when we drink we do it right #gettngslizzerd” . The employee meant to tweet this through her personal account, but instead it was broadcast to the Red Cross’ 270,000 plus followers. Oops!

The communications staff at Red Cross was faced with the question of how to deal with the situation. They knew trying to bury the incident wasn’t the answer. Instead, they admitted their mistake, and tweeted, “We’ve deleted the rogue tweet but rest assured the Red Cross is sober and we’ve confiscated the keys.” Although the staff thought it was best to delete the original tweet, they publicly addressed the situation. They admitted their mistake, humorously I might add, and moved on.

Now you might think this is the end of the story, but it gets better. Social media is of course, social. So the VP of Marketing at Dogfish Head Beer spotted the rogue Red Cross tweet mentioning her company’s product. She laughed and reposted the tweet encouraging Dogfish’s followers to donate to the Red Cross. Their followers and other Twitter users passed on the message. Many stepped up and donated as well. Check out the buzz around #gettngslizzerd.

The Red Cross even set up a designated page in connection with Dogfish Head Craft Brewery encouraging people to donate a pint.

Hats off to the Red Cross for embracing a social media mistake, admitting it and continuing their mission of helping others. The story has been heralded as a social media PR success and has changed my attitude about attempting to fix mistakes on social media.

@lindsphlips: I am human. I make mistakes, just like @RedCross. #gettngslizzerd

Second in a series of blog posts stemming from the knowledge gained at the Social Media for Public Relations and Internal Communications Conference in Las Vegas, NV.

Last week I was in the city of glitz and glam, Las Vegas, attending a conference entitled, “Social Media for Public Relations and Internal Communication.”

The conference inspired me to work at telling more compelling stories, to think of brands as publishers of relevant content and to use social media to deal with crisis situations.

During conversations over lunch and listening to speakers, the truth of a speaker’s simile hit me. He commented that the social media landscape is like the Wild West. He’s right, in the grand scheme of things, tools from Twitter to Gowalla and from Foursquare to Facebook are all trail blazers. These platforms are opening and widening channels of communications.

As with the historic rush into the American west, the journey into using social media to connect with customers, employees and reporters allows even the smallest players to stake their claim. With a determination to explore, work hard and innovate, organizations can establish communication best practices.

It was encouraging to hear that organizations like NASA, Southwest Airlines, Intel and the Red Cross (@NASA, @SouthwestAir, @Intel and @RedCross) are still trying to figure things out and still make mistakes on social media platforms. Although uncharted territory can pose danger and risk, the benefit of a stronger connection with consumers is well worth the trip. The organizations above have found this to be very true. They have fostered excitement around their brands, defined guidelines for internal communication and have strong practices in place for dealing with crisis.

In the days and weeks ahead, my goal is to not let what happened in Vegas stay in Vegas. Keep your eye out for posts on how Southwest Airlines developed their social media guidelines, how Wells Fargo turned their brand into a publisher and how Intel braces itself for the inevitable crises.