Apparently, I’m supposed to cringe at the word “flack” as used to describe PR professionals like me. But, um, instead I kinda named my website after the term. Sorry!

From the PR News blog:

Technically, most dictionaries will refer to flack as a press agent/spokesperson. But we all know it’s not the preferred name for a spokesperson, for a communicator, for a PR executive. Yet it’s used all the time.  Whether behind your back or to your face…

…it’s a sad story — or a sad state of affairs — any time bona fide PR professionals (and I am assuming the PR dept at AIG is legit) are referred to as “flacks.”

Okay, true. It’s not my preferred name, but the use of the term flack is not the least bit offensive to me. Furthermore, I’ve had many a journalist and PR pro ask me what the word means, as they have never before heard it used to describe a communicator or spokesperson.

Now, I do agree with the blogger on several points. The NY Post was being less than professional and showing complete bias by recently referring to a spokesperson as a “flak.” I would roll my eyes if I was quoted that way, especially if it was spelled incorrectly like that.

But the bottom line is this:

The NY Post’s printed flack attack only speaks to the complete lack of trust the reporter has in that spokesperson. This is not something that can be prevented by one good response to a question. A solid media/flack relationship develops over time and boils down to how much respect you’ve earned (and keep) as a PR professional.

It’s that deteriorated media relationship, not word choice, that is so troublesome.

It’s no fun calling to tell four local TV stations your client’s event finished early so “don’t bother coming out after Noon” only to hear three of those stations had “already assigned a reporter and camera crew to come out at 1 p.m.”

(sigh)

On the bright side, they did thank me for calling and not “just letting us show up to an empty room.”

I’m still sad though.

So me and the hubbster are going to Bar Camp Nashville tomorrow. I’m looking forward to attending WordPress 101, PR 2.0, New Media for Change and, of course, Make Google Your Bitch.

Bar Camp is free. There will be a plethora of Nashville Geeks, beer and Apple products. I’m excited to meet in person folks that I’ve only Twittered with up until now. This is also why I’m excited about our trip to Austin’s South by Southwest Interactive in March.

Are you attending Bar Camp? If you need more info, here’s the boilerplate:

BarCamp Nashville is an open-source gathering of technology enthusiasts who come together for one weekend to share what they know and learn what they don???t. It is an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from attendees. Anyone with something to contribute or with the desire to learn is welcome and invited to join.

A friend of mine (swear it wasn’t me) was in a meeting pitching a few communications tactics to a group of technology folk. Bless ‘em.

Among her suggestions of targeted events, story ideas and a strong web presence came her idea to reach out to tech-savvy audiences and media via social networking tools like Twitter and Facebook.

The latter idea fell flat when the man at the head of the table declared:

Twitter is useless. No one cares ‘what you are doing.’ It is has no impact on business.

(sigh)

I was shocked that someone so very smart and tech-ish could just write off a communications channel like that. I kind of feel sorry for him.

I’ll admit that I’ve dealt with clients who have never heard of Twitter and getting them to my comfort level with it and other social networking vehicles is quite tough. But I’ve yet to hear anyone who already knows about Twitter just flat out call it “useless.”

“Not appropriate for our target audience,” sure. But “useless”?

You, techy-sir, are smarter than that and you are paying this gal to tell your story in the most strategic, results-generating way possible. Why do you torment her?

The very essence of public relations is to focus on a message and communicate that message to the intended audience via whatever communication channel that public uses/views as valid. I’ll tell a client’s story with smoke signals if that’s what I’ve got to do.

So, if even a handful of your audience is on Twitter then it cannot be called useless.

It’s not that I’m in love with Twitter (wait, actually, I sort of am), it’s that I’m not comfortable with blanket generalizations made by smart people. Where would we be if we used these new media tools only for the exact question they were created to answer?

Twitter is a HUGE communication and research vehicle for me. I use it to poll opinion, start debates among my politically passionate friends and even glean column ideas and research for clients.

But that’s just me. Is Twitter a useful business tool for you?

From the fine folks at Despair, Inc.:

From Wikipedia — the definition of PR:

Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing the flow of information between an organization and its publics. Public relations – often referred to as PR – gains an organization or individual exposure to their audiences using topics of public interest and news items that do not require direct payment. Because public relations places exposure in credible third-party outlets, it offers a third-party legitimacy that advertising does not have.

Do you agree? Is this a good summary?

It continues:

The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) claimed in 1988: “Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other.” According to the PRSA, the essential functions of public relations include research, planning, communications dialogue and evaluation.

And FYI, if the word “publics” makes you go “whaa?” It’s okay. I hate that word, too.

They say it’s poor form to call and thank a reporter for a good/accurate story, and for the most part I agree.

So while I won’t be calling and saying “hey, thanks” to the folks who crafted thoughtful and well-written stories about the Southern Festival of Books, I will say here how grateful I am for reporters, editors and bloggers who so obviously “get” what a festival of this nature means to the City of Nashville. Not all of them do, of course.

I’ve attended the Southern Festival of Books most of my life and it’s an honor to do their PR, but no amount of pitching can make a reporter say something like,  “I attended this event and it made me proud of Nashville.”

I’m not grateful that the print media covered the event, that’s what people pay me to ensure. I’m grateful for the sincerity of the coverage.

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Sidebar: I will thank a reporter for making the trek out to cover an event because they don’t have to; but they should “have to” file well-written and accurate stories, ya know?