The ever pungent Michael O’Connor Clarke (that’s a comment on his tart style, not his personal aroma — I can tell you from personal experience that Michael smells lightly of frankincense and library paste) suggests rules that “corporate PR people might want to tell their in-house bloggers.” Nicely done.

I’d take issue with #3 which argues that readers will assume that you speak for your company, especially if you’re the CEO. While readers will certainly assume some association, I think that by writing carefully and inserting the appropriate metadata, readers can be reminded that there is a delightful gap between blog and company, even when you’re the CEO. “The company c’est moi” never was a helpful rule and blogs give us a way to wedge open the distinction.

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I’ve been re-reading Chris Locke’s Gonzo Marketing and I’ve been struck again by what a damn good book it is. Chris writes so well, and so entertainingly, that it’s easy to forget how profound his ideas are. Gonzo is a visionary work, which is not a word applied to many (any?) marketing books. And it’s got more ideas in its little finger than most marketing writers have in a lifetime.

So why didn’t Gonzo knock Who Moved My Stinky Stinky Cheese off the best-seller list? It didn’t help that Gonzo was published a couple of weeks after 9/11. (Oh, thank you, terrorists!) And, frankly, I don’t think the title helped: It sounds like it’s about how you can pull off wacky marketing stunts when in fact it dismantles marketing’s basic assumptions and points it in a new direction: micromarkets, voice, engagement.

There’s plenty I disagree with, and, sure, a voice as strong as Chris’ doesn’t appeal equally to all, but so what? At least there’s lots to disagree about and at least it has a voice. Go buy a copy for a friend in marketing…

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Assume a particular business plays by “the rules.” It operates legally and doesn’t engage in business practices that would make it uncomfortable if exposed. But it is a ruthless competitor.

Is ruthlessness itself immoral?

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The ISO organization — the global purveyor of standards — has issued a new standard:

A new ISO standard offers a solution for organizations on those occasions when the customer is dissatisfied with a product or service — guidelines for handling complaints in a manner that gives optimal results for both the organization and unhappy customer…

…The standard gives complete guidance — including principles, issues for consideration and structural aspects — for the management of the overall complaints-handling process, with numerous checklists, sample forms and practical examples.

Next on ISO’s agenda is Standard 10003: How to smile like you mean it.

Thanks to Mike O’Dell for the link.

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Halley reflects on David Batstone‘s piece over at Worthwhile on never taking vacations. Of course, I’m writing this from my vacation…

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I just got an offer to subscribe to a new CMP magazine, Managing Offshore, “the essential resource for global sourcing managers.” For $495/year you can receive coverage of topics such as:

The best places to locate services – captive or outsourced

Timely & insightful research about strategy, tactics and service providers
Key performance metrics that belong in every SLA
Hottest BPO models & governance tactics
New providers & services to watch in app dev, call centers, and BPO operations

Act now! Operators in Mumbai are standing by!

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Frankly, I never felt comfortable with being held accountable, and not just because I am a cowardly slacker….

…More at Worthwhile Mag

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The Global PR Blog Week site says it’s:

an online event that will engage PR, marketing and business bloggers from around the globe in a discussion about blogging and communications. The event is scheduled for July 12 – 16, 2004.

Here’s the program. Jay Rosen and Dan Gillmor are both being interviewed as part of it.

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Robert Weisman in the Boston Globe today cites a study by In-Stat/MDR that estimates the number of telecommuters employed by businesses in the US. What is the right number? (No, the article doesn’t say how the study defines telecommuting.)

To see the answer, drag-select the seemingly-blank space between the x’s:

X Twelve million and two hundred thousand X

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David Batstone at Worthwhile (where I also blog) expresses skepticism that is not only appropriate but inevitable when it comes to corporations issuing reports about how well they’re upholding their self-defined social responsibilities. Some of the reports may be honest but they suffer from Electronic Ballot syndrome: By their nature, they engender disbelief.

I’d be more impressed if corporations enabled an independent, third-party group to investigate them and issue reports. Is there any such group that gets full cooperation and support from the corporations it researches?

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