What Role Do PR Firms Have on Wikipedia?

So. . .  the latest PR brouhaha is that a PR firm created, edited and changed pages on Wikipedia. 

I don’t know all the details, but the article at this point has a lot of finger pointing and innuendo. Beyond the article some are even saying that a PR firm should not create or edit Wikipedia pages for a client.

I have to say, “What is wrong with a PR firm creating a page for a client or correcting errors in a page about a client?”

I briefly looked at the editorial policy for Wikipedia, and it states, "Anyone can create or edit a page…" It doesn’t say, “except for PR and marketing firms on behalf of a client.”   So I have to believe that when they say “anyone,” they mean ANYONE.

The fact that anyone can create or edit pages is one of Wikipedia’s greatest strengths and, at the same time, greatest weaknesses.

Unfortunately, there are people out there, not all of them working for PR firms, who deliberately remove anything negative, place overly positive comments and editorialize like crazy, not to mention just plain lie on Wikipedia pages that they have designated themselves as the gatekeeper for all information on the subject.

If one of the main duties of a PR firm is to protect their client’s reputation and provide correct information about them, isn’t it also their responsibility to ensure any information concerning that client is up-to-date and accurate on a website like Wikipedia?  

What do you think?

Ken

Getting Ready for the Holidays? Let’s Talk.

It’s December and the holiday season is officially upon us. Can you smell the cookies baking in the oven and the pine scent filling the cool air?

I love the holidays because of the nostalgic feeling that comes over me. I do a little baking, decorate the house and cook up a feast because Filipino culture dictates that I must have a mountain of food enough to feed an army. All jokes aside, this is the only time throughout the year when I have my mother and my brothers under one roof to catch up. It’s when I notice how my children have gotten taller standing next to their uncles or the new wisps of gray hair peeking from my mother’s forehead.

We often laugh and reminisce about the past but recently, I realized that we need to start thinking about the future. It’s my reminder to have a conversation about expectations.

I started the conversation with my mom a couple years ago and it won’t be the last. My mother has been dealing with a heart condition and while she is fully functional and healthy otherwise, I am suddenly faced with having to understand how to deal with unexpected added expenses, role expectations for me and my brothers and what options are available. I don’t get all the answers in one sitting but I understand it’s a process and that I need to start early. It can be overwhelming at times. Fortunately, the state of California has put together a new website, www.RUReadyCa.org to walk you through the steps of planning for long-term care. In fact, here is a list of question to help guide you with your conversation.

Seizing this moment can be uncomfortable but important. So why don’t you join me and bring out the platter of cookies and talk to your loved ones.

~Muriel

@murielbmiller

Happy Thanksgiving

Like many of you, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Everyone always gets along, which wasn't necessarily true with other longer holidays when I was growing up. There's always plenty of fabulous food, great friends, spirited conversation and no pressure to buy gifts.

As a former newspaper food editor, Thanksgiving always presented a challenge. It's the one day of the year when people who never cook face their fears and go into the kitchen. They would call with questions about every little thing. Some people called all day long. But the calls I hated to answer came on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  Here's a typical exchange:

"I forgot to put the leftover turkey away. Can I still serve it?"

"How long was it out of refrigeration?" The answer was usually the same.

"Well...all night," generally came the sheepish reply.

"No. It's dangerous to serve perishable food that has been out of refrigeration for more than four hours."

"Well, then can I serve it to my dog?"

Each year food editors dig deep to come up with interesting new recipe and menu ideas. The problem is that no one really wants to make anything different. Thanksgiving is a traditional holiday. My favorite cover story was the time I interviewed a wide range of people, mostly chefs and sports celebrities, and pretended I was inviting them to a pot luck. "What is the must serve Thanksgiving recipe for your family?" The answers were deliciously different. Fanny Farmer Cookbook author Marion Cunningham enthusiastically said, "Watermelon pickles!" Al Attles, former coach of the Golden State Warriors, replied, "Macaroni and Cheese and I always make it myself!"

For our family, the recipe is Carrot Ring. I don't remember ever sitting down to a Thanksgiving dinner without enjoying Carrot Ring, a cross between a carrot pudding and a not-too-sweet carrot cake. This year I'm going to bake two of them.

What is the essential dish for your holiday table? 

Best wishes to you and your family for a happy, healthy holiday season.

~ Paula

California Childhood Obesity Rate Falls, but Some Counties Struggling

Click here to download this infographic

A new study released today offers hope that the state may finally be getting a handle on its 30-year battle with childhood obesity, but also showcases a patchwork of progress that leaves the majority of counties in the state still registering increases in obesity rates among California’s school-age children.

According to the study, A Patchwork of Progress: Changesin Overweight and Obesity Among California 5th, 7th and 9th Graders, 2005-2010, prepared by our client, the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, the percentage of overweight and obese children in the state dropped 1.1 percent from 2005 to 2010. However, 38 percent of children are still affected – a rate nearly three times higher than it was 30 years ago when the obesity epidemic began. Improvements are not being seen statewide, with 31 of California’s 58 counties experiencing an increase in childhood overweight over the five-year period from 2005 to 2010. Want to know how your county measures up?  

The progress being made statewide is encouraging, but there is still work to be done. Implementing policy and system changes to make schools, communities and worksites healthier places for everyone is the right way to go in reversing the childhood obesity trend.

You can access information on this new at http://www.publichealthadvocacy.org/research_patchworkprogress.html.

Don't Take My Candy

In the spirit of Halloween, Jimmy Kimmel asked parents to play a trick on their kids by telling them that they ate all their candy. As you can imagine, this did not go over very well. In all the hilarity of the video, it is a bit disconcerting to realize that most of us are still that little kid crying about our candy.

Our gut reaction when people tell us no is to kick and scream and complain (Tea Party, Oakland's Occupy Wall Street). There's nothing wrong with a good protest or a good yell every now and then, but notice the kids at the end who approach their parents with humility and reason.  Those are the kids I'd want to talk to. Those are the kids who deserve their candy.

The PR world is a tricky game of navigating around those who shout and cry, those who use reason and others lost in the middle. Unfortunately, the loudest (or wealthiest) one seems to win out more often than not. While I'd much rather give the candy to those kids who can shrug it off, I'd probably throw it all at the one screaming just to get it to go away. 

This started as a small rant, but now I'm finding I could probably write another 20 pages on the parallels of this video to the modern psyche of America. Instead, just enjoy this video of children crying. It really is funny.

-Matt

How to Boost Emplolyee Morale

Want to boost the morale of your employees? Ask them to don their scariest, most fun Halloween outfits and see what happens. For Halloween, BMC staff came to work decked out for the holiday. We had a cowgirl, Little Red Riding Hood, Count Dracula, a pirate, a Mad Men ad man, a very quirky rabbit and one of our co-workers came as “comfortable.” Admittedly, some of the costumes were a little distracting during the Monday morning staff meeting, but the great boon to the office is that we were all able to let our hair down and have some laughs together.

Planning fun things as a group brightens the atmosphere around the office and makes working together even more enjoyable. So, if you see that your employees have that hang-dog look, think of something fun to do, like dressing up for Halloween. I think you’ll be very happy with the results you get.

Sharron

Truly a San Franicsco Treat

Each year, we here at BMC take a day off from the flood of emails, ringing of phones and tapping of keyboards to spend some quality time together. Very Kumbayah I know, but all of us look forward to the adventure each Play Day brings. This year, after some intense whining from me when ziplining was initially suggested (I have an out-of-control fear of heights), it was decided that we would spend our Play Day exploring San Francisco. The catch was that everyone had to pick a location to visit (and keep it secret until the actual day), and we had to use public transportation to get around.

This is how our day unfolded . . .

1. Amtrak from Martinez to Jack London Square

2. Alameda/Oakland Ferry to the Ferry Building in San Francisco

 

3. Tour of Acme Bread Company

4. Streetcar to Pier 45 to visit the Musee Mecanique

5. Walk to the Buena Vista for an Irish coffee

6. Hike to the San Francisco Art Institute to view the Diego Rivera mural and one of the best views of the city I’ve ever seen

7. Hike to the Russian Hill neighborhood for lunch and some ridiculously tasty frozenyogurt

 

8. Walk to Fort Mason to see the community garden and the haunted Haskell House

9. Muni bus ride through Chinatown

10. Walk to Union Bank in the Financial District to check out the Museum of Moneyof the American West. Note: There's no picture for this stop because we were yelled at by security guards at the bank at least three times for trying to take pictures.

11. Happy Hour at the Omni Hotel before heading home via BART

 

 

Some of you may have noticed the wheelchair in some of the pictures. Navigating public transportation, busy sidewalks and insane hills while pushing a wheelchair gave us all a new perspective on getting around the City. Many people were very accommodating (thanks to the streetcar operator and the lady on BART who kept Paula from rolling away), while other situations were incredibly frustrating (the ladder left in the middle of a narrow walkway, and broken and raised sidewalks). I will never again take my legs for granted!

This was definitely one of my favorite Play Days. Why did I like it so much? It was so enjoyable to spend a gorgeous day being introduced to new places in one of my favorite cities and to do so for little to no cost. It was a great reminder that being a tourist in your own backyard can be just as fun as being a tourist abroad – and no jet lag!

 ~ Nicole