Want Your Words to Stand Out Amidst the Clutter? Provide Value

By Robyn Brown

I read once that there is more information in the Sunday issue of The New York Times than one person in 1850 would learn in a lifetime.

There’s a similar story online. In 2009, 90 trillion emails were sent over the Internet. Of the 234 million web sites that make up the Internet – 47 million were added last year. Twitter is now handling 600 tweets per second. Thirty billion photos are uploaded to Facebook every year. New content is being pushed to the average person at an alarmingly fast rate.

Communications professionals need to consider how to make their words rise above a mountain of information. How do we capture attention and keep it? How do we compete with… well, everything else?

There are millions of words out there. The best way to get yours read is to write things that people will value. Your content – tweets, blogs, article, news, videos – should help your audience. It should be thought-provoking and relevant. If it helps people improve knowledge, skills or their ability to complete a task, it has value.

Alex Bragg, founder of A Bajillion Hits, takes it a step further in a recent Fast Company interview: “You have to have killer content. You can’t just put any kind of garbage out there and expect the Internet to engage with it.”

Also, our attention spans are getting shorter. So, get to your point faster. Cut down on the number of words in your news release. Add bullets. I guarantee writing news in 140-character tweets is good practice.

Feeling the pressure

We recently worked with Microsoft’s Worldwide Oil & Gas team to share findings from its information and computing trends study. One survey finding in particular caught my attention. Over 44% of respondents said the information explosion in the upstream oil and gas industry has had a negative effect on their job performance.

Respondents complained about:

• Difficult and time-consuming search of diverse systems to find information (44 percent)
• Data appearing in unstructured forms not easily captured or archived (44 percent)
• Too much redundant and/or unnecessary data available (35 percent)

I don’t think this trend is limited to just one industry. Most of us are overburdened with information.

Commit to rise above the clutter and respect your readers’ time limitations. As Information Age professionals, communicators should strive for content with value, brevity and relevance.

Teaming Up: How Strategic Alliances Are Changing the Face of Oil IT

By Robyn Brown

Organizations that participate in strategic alliances can find real value when combining their skills and strengths with those of others. When the alliance is mutually beneficial, each company comes to the table with its piece of the puzzle.

By working together on a common goal, alliance members share knowledge and build consensus that lead to impact at a level greater than just one organization’s efforts. In particular, groups that work collaboratively can gain more resources and recognition when facing competition for limited resources. They can also speed the pace of development of new products and services.

Most collaboration requires leadership – a puzzle solver to bring the puzzle pieces together in the right way. I want to point out one such collaboration that our client Microsoft in Oil & Gas is leading along with 23 of its oil and gas industry partners.  It is called the Microsoft Upstream Reference Architecture Initiative.

The initiative is working to build ongoing industry consensus for a common IT architecture approach in the oil and gas upstream sector.  The group believes that close industry alignment – among IT providers, software vendors, systems integrators and even operators – is required to promote and define the architecture. This will ultimately make digital oilfield technology ubiquitous across upstream organizations and simpler for oil and gas operators to connect with third-party solutions.

Additionally, this community of oil and gas organizations will gather its individual learnings and input to define best practices for upstream IT integration and share this broadly within the industry.

The Microsoft account team at Brooks & Associates supported Microsoft and its partners at the 2010 European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers (EAGE) annual conference in Barcelona last month. We set up briefings with several industry trade journalists to discuss the value of the industry initiative and the need for IT integration.

Check out some immediate coverage from our meetings:

• E&P, Exploration Blog: “New Collaboration Aimed at E&P IT Issues”
• Digital Energy Journal: “Microsoft Launches Upstream Reference Architecture Initiative”

Honoring a Winning Season

Brooks & Associates recognized for PR & writing campaigns

By Robyn Brown

From oil and gas to sports boosterism, Brooks & Associates had a winning season for industry awards recently.  Kudos to the Brooks/Microsoft team and our long-time associate Judy Levene for bringing home the trophies.

Taking oil and gas social

If you’ve followed our blog* and our work, you’re aware of our PR campaign with client Microsoft to kick-start and accelerate the conversation about social media in the oil and gas industry.

After working continuously on the project over the past year and a half doing research, calling on reporters and drumming up article after article, we realized we had a worthwhile beginning-to-end PR story to share. Earlier this year, we entered the AMA Houston Crystal Awards along with the Microsoft Oil & Gas industry team and Accenture and were recognized last month as a finalist in the Public Relations Campaign – Single Market category. Our entry – ‘Social Media Goes Mainstream in Oil & Gas’ – received a ‘Certificate of Excellence’ and was displayed at a Houston awards dinner alongside other finalists and the category winner including Parker: Hayden Advertising + Design, Texas Children’s Hospital & Meece Media, and Weatherford International Ltd.

Personally, it was a joy to be a part of the marketing and PR team behind this project alongside my colleagues at Brooks & Associates, Microsoft and Accenture. Within the two year time span of the campaign, we saw an 83% jump in awareness and uptake of social media in oil and gas from our original benchmark survey in 2009 to the following media blitz and second survey one year later. In our minds – and the minds of the judges — we definitely helped get the conversation humming!

Here’s a quick recap of the campaign:

Challenge. An increasingly complex industry must rely on collaboration more than ever, but is not taking advantage of available collaboration technologies.

Objective. Make the case for enterprise social media use in Oil & Gas for more effective collaboration, knowledge sharing and heightened productivity.

Strategy/Tactics. Document industry need for collaboration and perception of social media, sharing findings with business and trade media at Microsoft Global Energy Forum in 2009 and 2010. Use customer and end user examples whenever possible.

Message. People. The real energy in oil and gas. Social media is the next generation of collaboration where the focus is on people rather than solely information.

Results. Second industry survey sees 83% jump in those recognizing business value of social media. Coverage throughout 2009 and 2010 includes:  Houston Chronicle, Dow Jones Newswires, Oil & Gas Journal (editorial), E&P, Offshore Magazine, Digital Energy Journal and Next Generation Oil & Gas.

The punchy writer

And since I’ve already started bragging about our team’s work, I might as well keep going. In late 2009, Judy Levene, a B&A associate and punchy writer, took home a Clarion Award at the Association for Women in Communications (AWC) national conference in Seattle. (I’ve already apologized to Judy for not mentioning this sooner, but her great work should not go unnoticed… albeit delayed).

Judy and her project team were recognized in the “Best New Web site; Annual Budget Over $10,000″category. “It was definitely a collective effort and award,” she mentions.

“I just recognized that the project was worthy of entering in the award competition and crafted the award entry with plenty of enthusiastic support and assistance from MPD Ventures Company and our client, Texas Tech Athletics,” she adds.

Judy was tapped by MPD Ventures Company to write and edit a new standalone Web site for the booster club supporting Texas Tech University’s athletics program. The site needed to reintroduce the Red Raider Club to a mass audience, enhance fund raising, and clearly explain a complex system of giving options, levels and benefits. As the copywriter, she clarified and communicated a compelling case for giving while crafting and updating copy that would resonate with multiple constituencies. The results post-launch showed their efforts were successful: Huge jumps in site traffic; 200%-plus increases in the numbers of unique donors and donations, and in the total dollar value of donations.

Judy is a past president and board member of AWC’s Dallas chapter, so it was natural to enter the Clarion competition. The AWC national organization also celebrated its Centennial last year, which made winning the Clarion even more special, according to Judy.

The Red Raider Club entry was also recognized with a 2009 Quill Award by the Dallas chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).

*Please see ‘Microsoft Takes on Energy at CERAWeek 2010’, ‘Steve Ballmer: Cloud No. 1 in Oil & Gas’,  ‘Social Media for the Workplace Masses’, ‘The Workplace Gets Social.’

Microsoft Takes on Energy at CERAWeek 2010

By Robyn Brown

CERAWeek 2010, March 8 – 12, recently wrapped a successful event in Houston, and Microsoft’s Oil & Gas and Utilities Groups once again participated in a significant way. Why was Microsoft at this primarily energy-focused event? CERAWeek provides a unique opportunity for Microsoft to join in the global energy conversation and share the role IT can have in meeting the challenges faced by oil & gas and utilities organizations. Here’s a brief recap of Microsoft’s involvement:

Speakers

• Rob Bernard, Microsoft chief environmental strategist, participated in a panel presentation about energy sustainability.
• Larry Cochrane, Microsoft technology strategist/architect, Worldwide Power & Utilities Industries, participated in a panel presentation on technology related to smart grid initiatives, along with Microsoft partner, Alstom.

News Announcements

• Wednesday at CERAWeek, Microsoft announced the regional findings for the Microsoft and Accenture “Oil & Gas Collaboration Survey 2010”. The research highlights the state of collaboration among oil and gas professionals worldwide and the adoption rate of collaboration technologies such as social media.
• Thursday, Microsoft announced the results of a smart grid technology survey with responses from almost 200 professionals within electric, gas and water utilities and related companies around the world. The survey highlights a range of challenges — from financial and regulatory to technology and return-on-investment — for utilities already unsure of the right path to building the ”smart grid.”

Catch ongoing updates of Microsoft news after CERAWeek online via Twitter (#MSOilGas, #MSUtilities) or from the Microsoft Oil & Gas and Utilities blogs.

From a PR perspective, CERAWeek was an opportunity to launch an integrated outreach into both industries showcasing Microsoft capabilities and thought leadership. Our PR efforts leveraged a full array of tactics including primary research, media interviews, social media, speaking opportunities and videotaped interviews with Microsoft subject matter experts, which ran on kiosks during the conference and will be archived on the CERAWeek web site for a full year to come.

 It’s the best of all worlds when a client’s best leaders shine at the industries’ top forum. Mission  accomplished!

Steve Ballmer: Cloud No. 1 in Oil & Gas

By Robyn Brown

From the executive level, Microsoft is taking center stage in the oil and gas industry. This month’s issues of E&P and Oil & Gas Investor feature executive Q&A articles about Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and his vision for information technology in the industry. The articles are based on an interview with Steve and Hart Energy editors Leslie Haines and Judy Maksoud at Microsoft’s Global Energy Forum in January, where Steve also gave a special presentation to an audience of 700 attendees.

With placement in two well-regarded industry trade publications, these features go a long way in confirming Microsoft’s relevance to Oil & Gas. Noted in the E&P article, Steve spoke  about:

• Cloud computing is No. 1, especially in an industry like oil and gas where there’s so much data involved and collaboration across company boundaries.
• New visualization and user interface technology that will change how professionals work. Example: Landmark Graphics’ use of Xbox in its geologic modeling software.
• The line between social networking and collaboration will start to evaporate – just check out the results of Microsoft and Accenture’s “Oil & Gas Collaboration Survey 2010” for proof.

Steve Ballmer at Microsoft’s Global Energy Forum in Houston.

Social Media for the Workplace Masses

A new Microsoft and Accenture survey says O&G interest in social media up; journalists join the conversation.

By Robyn Brown

Last July, I wrote a blog entry about organizations that are successfully bridging popular consumer collaboration technology into the work environment. Sabre Holdings, for example, connects its 9,000 global employees through an internal social network called SabreTown. Applications like these provide a personal connection for teams located miles apart geographically, but must still work together as if they are one cubicle away.

Here’s the update: In addition to being a strict communication tool, other industries such as oil and gas are finding real-world business value in social media, especially when used in oilfield operations. According to a Microsoft and Accenture survey announced recently at Microsoft’s Global Energy Forum 2010, social media provides the flexibility to work anytime and anywhere and aids in project completions. Of the 275 oil and gas professionals surveyed, 68 percent said that social media improves their work performance – impressive coming primarily from people who work daily in oil and gas industry work groups and project teams where collaboration occurs the most.

 In fact, nearly 75 percent of respondents see value in using social media at work – an 83 percent increase over 2009. Surprising? Pipeline & Gas Journal (@PipelineandGas) seemed to think so, based on a recent tweet. The publication is actually one of many oil and gas trade publications that have made the jump to social media with presence on Twitter and blogs. Other avid Twitter users include Oil & Gas Journal (@OGJOnline), sister publication Oil & Gas Financial Journal (@OGFJ), World Oil (@WorldOil) and industry social network Energy People Connect (@EnergyPeople). In a Jan. 22 OilOnline article, U.S. editor Jennifer Pallanich drilled into the evolving nature of collaboration within the oil and gas industry and the increasing prevalence of social media to get work done. OilOnline posted a link to the article on Twitter the same day.

Whether it’s petroleum engineers collaborating on a project via the Web or journalists connecting with their readers on Twitter, social media continues to provide new and innovative avenues for communication. I am astounded daily by the people I locate and the information I find from social media both for personal use and for my clients.

After all, it’s all about expanding your reach to new audiences (perhaps, a future blog entry?).

Why not follow me on Twitter? @RobynBird

The Workplace Gets Social

By Robyn Brown

Web 2.0 is a common phrase tossed around to describe much of the social media applications we’re so obsessed with today. Consumer applications like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flicker are intended to distract, entertain and connect us with our peers. In most cases, these tools are regarded as a ‘no, no’ at the workplace. “Quick, don’t let the boss catch you updating your Facebook status!” can probably be heard across many cubicles right now.

By its very definition though, these social computing tools enable us to be, well… social! They successfully create two-way conversations between one-to-many or even many-to-many audiences, expanding the reach of more limited communication tools like e-mail or phone calls. Organizations are starting to take a second-look at these Web 2.0 applications that when used within the enterprise can actually heighten worker productivity, connect people to new knowledge holders and help employees quickly find solutions to red flag items or questions.

Here’s a picture of how these tools might be used internally:

• Project team members collaboratively editing documents in wikis or workspaces
• Creating an internal social network that gives employees the chance to create their own profile page. Employees from across the company, even those located in widespread geographies can find needed support by searching for past experience, new insight or current projects – all logged on profile pages.
• Employees close to retirement logging knowledge into podcasts or blogs that are made available to others.

There are numerous other uses for social computing applications within the enterprise, and it is positive to see that executives are empowering their staffs one step further for effective communication and productivity.

Many of our clients at Brooks & Associates are incorporating similar functions within their own walls or making these tools available to their customers.

• Earlier this year Microsoft and Accenture announced the results of an oil and gas industry collaboration survey that looked at the usefulness of social media to increase productivity and transfer knowledge.
• Also, catch Microsoft oil & gas thought leaders Craig Hodges and Chris Van Dyke in this month’s issue of E&P magazine: Facebook for the Enterprise.
• Sabre uses an internal social network called SabreTown and offers a similar solution commercially called Cubeless.

Brooks Takes on Microsoft Chemicals Group

By Robyn Brown

I’m excited to share that we’re expanding our services to Microsoft – one of our most valued and long-term client relationships. As last Wednesday’s announcement details, Brooks & Associates now provides strategic public relations services for Microsoft’s U.S.-based chemicals industry group. This is in addition to our current work with the company’s domestic oil and gas and utilities industry verticals.

As Brian Willson, U.S. chemical industry solutions director for Microsoft states:

“The chemical industry is one of the most dynamic industries in the manufacturing sector; it is also one of the most competitive and complex. Microsoft’s chemical industry group is a fast-growing vertical industry within the company.”

Using Microsoft’s familiar, easy-to-use and widely supported platform, chemical companies can be more responsive to market conditions in their quest for profitable growth.

Microsoft Featured in ChemicalWeek Blog

Most recently, our team worked with Brian to raise visibility, showcase industry thought leadership and support sales for Microsoft’s chemical industry customer service offerings.  In this contributed blog entry in “ChemIdeas,” a blog managed by industry trade publication ChemicalWeek, Brian explains the Microsoft point of view on technology used to heighten the productivity of chemical company sales teams. More than a CRM function, this technology combines commonly used communication tools with proactively delivered CRM information to create a personal productivity environment.

 The blog entry was published in concert with a ChemicalWeek webcast on the same topic. This is a great example of how coordinated media relations and marketing efforts can combine to create even broader awareness.

 We look forward to continuing to provide value to the Microsoft Chemicals vertical going forward!