Living in a Twitter World

Фото: Orlando Magic

Joel Glass is the Vice President of Communications of the Orlando Magic of the NBA.

He is responsible for directing communication and media/public relations efforts related to the Magic. He arrived in Orlando in 1995 from the University of Florida sports information department, where he worked for more than nine years, winning 23 national publication and writing honors, as awarded by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Six years ago, as I was loading up the family minivan to take my son to his first-ever Little League baseball practice, I sensed something just wasn't quite right. "What's wrong?" I said to Max. No answer. "It will be ok," I said. "You will do fine. You can catch, throw and hit, just relax and have fun." A blank stare. "What's up my man? Really, you will do great." Nervously, he looked up. "Dad, will media be there?" "Not until you get real good," I quipped back. Perhaps only a boy who has lived his life with a media/public relations person as his father, who has had dinner disturbed by a media call too many times to count, could come up with that inquiry.

Flash forward. If Max asked me that question today as a 12-year-old, I actually would answer yes. As you know, technology has changed and we are living in a unique time. Armed with Web sites, blogs, Twitter accounts, instant messaging, Fa-cebook, camera phones, Flip cameras, everyone - and I mean everyone - has the ability to be, and is a reporter. Traditional rules pertaining to journalistic integrity have essentially been thrown out the window. Whether we like it or not, this is the world we are living in, and with great technology comes great responsibility. The numbers are startling. In 1984 there were about 1,000 devices to access the Internet. In 1992 there were one million. Today, one billion. It took radio 38 years to reach a market audience of 50 million. Television 13 years. The Internet, four years, and Facebook two years to reach that threshold. Barack Obama won 70 percent of the vote for those 25 and under during the last U.S. Presidential election. It's no surprise he had 112,000 people Twittering for him compared to his opponent John McCain, who had 4,600 Twitter followers. Obama's Youtube channel had 97 million followers to McCain's 25 million. Obama Facebook, two million. McCain, 600,000. The number of text messages sent and received daily exceeds the population of the planet. My question is this...How much is too much? Obviously connecting via social networks is potentially great for business, as long as it doesn't become counterproductive from both a time spent and messaging standpoint. You can't un-ring the bell once you post a message, and you should write each word like it matters, because it does.

Flash back. As a media/public relations practitioner my mission is relatively simple: Maximize the positive, minimize the negative, deal with crisis from a position of strength. Successfully accomplishing those basic goals will enhance the reputation of the organization and build brand equity. Remember, perception helps drive revenue. It will also strengthen key relationships with current and/or future customers, help manage the flow of information, and in our business show team direction, an important drive for stakeholders. We reach our goals by using controlled assets such as media broadcast partners, our Web site Orland-omagic.com, printed publications, photo/ news releases, and by taking advantage of ways to communicate directly with our patrons (e-mail, social networks, etc). We also reach our goals by using non-controlled assets such as the media. While we don't control what is broadcast or written by the media, the beauty of using these outlets to reach fans is that they provide a third-party endorsement. It's not us saying something about us, it's someone else saying something about us which adds credibility. We have also worked hard to embrace an array of blog-gers which cover us daily. In terms of the media we do not get overly carried away with negative or positive coverage. We know negative and positive is part of our life (yes, we like positive better), but the real question is, was the coverage fair or unfair. Something can be negative, yet fair. Fairness is where our focus is.

We have a media protocol at the Orlando Magic which involves funneling requests to the Communication Department. We then gather input, craft a response, gain internal approval and deliver our message/response. There are numerous challenges we face along the way. First, it's a world of cynics. I once asked a local columnist what his job was. His answer, "Watch the battle from the mountain tops, ride down and bayonet the wounded." Rudolph Giuliani, the former Mayor of New York, use to say he could walk into the middle of Times Square and start handing out $100 bills. A third of the people would say he was not handing out enough money. Another third would say he was handing out too much money and it should go elsewhere. Another third would say they didn't like the way he was handing out the money.

Second on the challenge list is the shrinking traditional media outlets. Less newspaper space, less broadcast time, less staff. The list of challenges goes on. Negative news has 15-20 times the impact of positive news, media/social networks are 24/7/365 (remember, everyone is a reporter). There are multiple messages, agendas and spokespeople. And, oh by the way, you will be defined by your weakest moment. With all that in the mix, what are the keys to shaping your image? Well, what you say, how you say it, and what you look like will influence and shape what people think. As we say at the Orlando Magic, when you work/play here, you represent yourself, your family, our organization, the team, the league. How you act, what you do is what people will think of all of us. We are painted with a broad brush. So, some discipline is in order. What's your message? What's the timing? What's the audience you are trying to reach? What's the method? (i.e. press release, segmented pitch as an exclusive, press conference, live interview, taped interview, trial balloon). Some keys for spokespeople are: 1) don't say everything you know or everything you are thinking; 2) Show respect for yourself, your team, your sponsors, competitors, fans and media; 3) Don't answer questions outside your jurisdiction (it's ok to say "I don't know", or "let me check on that"); 4) You can't predict the future, so don't make predictions; 5) "No comment" translates into "guilty as charged."; and 6) There is no such thing as "Off The Record." One model we use, actually developed by a media trainer named Roger Mills, is to look at your relationship with the media like a credit card. You build credit daily by being courteous, light-hearted, humble, a story teller and accessible. You spend your credit by being condescending, having an outburst, having one-word answers and not being accessible. Of note, we have our media trainer come to Orlando Magic games once a month to witness our players in action with the media. He then reviews specific interviews/media interactions soour media training is on-going and not a "check-it-off-the-list" approach. A member of our Communication Department staff is always with the team to assist with any media needs. Another good tool is the 'ABC' method:

• Acknowledge the emotion of any given question.
• Bridge to what you want to talk about.
• Clearly and concisely make your point.

We certainly are living in a Twitter world, so to speak. Twitter is the latest, but certainly not the last, instant communication social network vehicle. As you may know it asks one question, "What are you doing?" and you have 140 characters to answer. People like Twitter because it allows them to connect, have fun, share ideas and answer questions. It's a way to bypass traditional media, but there are dangers in being too specific.

It's really interesting to note that at one time the Orlando Magic (which recently crossed one million Twitter followers) and its All-Star center Dwight Howard (who is also over one million followers) use to need a television network, or major publication to reach one million people. Now, we, and he, can do it with a few clicks of a laptop or cell phone keys. It's important to know why you are using a social network. If not, danger could loom as you could become unfocused. In 140 characters you can help, heal, or be misunderstood. Instantly the world has access to your comments. The material is public record. Bottom line, if it's not for you than it's not for you. Keys if you do tweet are to respond to people who respond to you, promote other people's thoughts, tweet useful bits of information, be authentic and manage your tweet time. Communication involves discipline. We all can't be Charles Barkley and say whatever we want, whenever we want and it be as colorful and entertaining. At the end of the day, 20 percent of the people will hate you no matter what you say or do, and 20 percent will love you. The key to swaying perception is the middle 60 percent.