Dino Baskovic Can't Lose

You can read this blog post any time. Donate to Japan relief efforts now. 

South by Southwest was a strange distraction last week. Strange in that I didn't physicallly attend, yet it was very top of mind for me. Between last week's tragic events in the Pacific, and sending a first-timer from my staff to Austin, I couldn't think of much else.

I'll address Japan in a bit. First, let me introduce you to Sri (pronounced 'SREE'). She has been a proven part of the public relations department with me at Amway for many years, and is a trusted advisor to fellow PR peers across our global markets. Recently, she expressed an interest in joining our social media team. While Sri isn't a "techie" in the traditional sense (whatever that means), she is soaking up the social-media scene like a sponge. And talk about full immersion. Face it, SXSW may as well be BUD/S school for the Web 2.0 set.

Still, I was somewhat reluctant to send Sri to SXSW, fearing she may be overwhelmed by the intense atmosphere, aggressive networking and know-it-all attitudes. Sri is more than capable of mingling at huge, glitzy events like this, but I naively thought she might in over her head.

I can't tell you how glad how wrong I was. Sri had some helpful travel companions from headquarters and made some dazzling connections of her own. We prepped her on some nifty Twitter apps, a Flip and behold, she was off and broadcasting in no time. In fact, she joked how sore her thumbs became trying to keep up with presenters (BlackBerry thumb has long replaced Nintendo thumb, agreed?). But what blew me away was this observation Sri made on Facebook:

"Want to see REAL Diversity? Go to SXSW. People are not judged by their skin colors, geeky looks, the way they dress, language they speak, or 'the usual' factors. They are judged by what their contribute to the society however small. All of the talks about interactive world may not stick in my head, but I learn something that will outlast the digital and mobile technology."

Sri is an avid shutterbug, and was also able to capture that smack-to-the-back-of-your-head sentiment in the above photo. Between seminars and soirees, she even encountered this gentlemen (pictured below) along 6th Street: 

"A portrait of poverty and homelessness where the world's brightest gather. In the world of plenty, poverty still exists. I wished to honor the dignity of the man by not sharing. But a friend told me that I put a face in the issue of poverty. And if I didn't share, who would? What can we do? I do not have the answer to that."

Stunning. We have an incredible responsibility as communicators, crafting messages and engaging with people in ways that enlighten, inspire and challenge. Amidst the world's brightest, as Sri indicated, are the digital tapestries and tools with which to reshape civilization as we know it. I sent Sri to SXSW thinking she would come back having learned the fundamental skills necessary to master modern media. Instead, Sri sent me straight back to school. I, and so many of us that proclaim ourselves to be agents of change, have much to learn from persons such as Sri.

As for Japan, it was infuriating reading so many self-serving hashtags coming out of the conference (and Charlie Sheen, and anything else) while truly serious matters of humanity unfolded before the eyes of the world. I wondered whether SXSW would at all harness the collective mindshare that had descended upon the Lone Star State to aid in earthquake and tsunami relief efforts in some meaningful way. They did, sort of. And I'm sorry, but it's pathetic. Barely $23K of a $30K target goal raised, as of this blog post? Appalling. There were bar tabs bigger than that.

I have yet to attend SXSW, yet one day will. I hope to make the most of my experience, meet many of the great minds I read and follow, and apply what I learn to what I do both professionally and personally. But based on some of the pushback I've read as of late, I'll be sure to scour the schedule for the truly worthwhile venues, the ones featuring people like Sri. Otherwise, heck, I'll just go hang out with that guy on 6th Street.

Now stop reading and help Japan.

Cancer sucks, but Cleveland rocks.

Famed funny man from my old hood Drew Carey is raising awareness and dollars to fight cancer via social media.

The short of it: a guy named Drew Olanoff was diagnosed with cancer and decided to LIVESTRONG.  One thing led to another, he's auctioning off his Twitter handle @drew to the highest bidder, and Drew Carey will pony up a million bucks if an equal number of people follow him on Twitter.

I wonder how Twitter will hand off the followers between accounts, or whether other famous Drews (e.g. Barrymore, Dr. Drew Pinsky) will raise the ante.  Regardless, this is welcome news for cancer tweeps around the world.

Thank goodness for Follow Fridays.  Now go follow Drew Carey!

Cupertino can't get a break from Greenpeace ever since the controversial NGO won a Webby in 2007 for taking a bite out of Apple's environmental record.

Back in July, Greenpeace ranked Apple lower versus Samsung and Nokia (though higher than Nintendo and Microsoft) in its quarterly "Guide to Greener Electronics" for levels of certain toxic chemicals in MacBooks and other Apple products:

Apple's score remains at 4.7 [out of 10] points but it drops one position in this edition of the ranking to 11th place. All Apple products are now free of PVC and BFRs with the exception of PVC-free power cords which are in the process of being certified. But Apple fails to score top marks on this criterion because it uses unreasonably high threshold limits for BFRs and PVC in products that are allegedly PVC-/BFR-free. The company needs to be commended for running a bold advertising campaign highlighting the green credentials of its MacBooks. Apple still needs to commit to phasing out additional substances with timelines, improve its policy on chemicals and its reporting on chemicals management.

CNET News reported that Apple updated its "green" site on Thursday with new information on corporate recycling, greener packaging and even how Mac OS X works with the CPU to save energy between keystrokes.  How Greenpeace will respond is anybody's guess.  Though, one has to wonder: how much longer is Apple PR going to kowtow to these guys?

When light bulbs flicker
Corporate social responsibility, be it charitable works or going green, is no longer a novelty.  These days, CSR is expected.  The dividends are immeasureable in many respects but pay handsomely in others, as companies line up to paint themselves green, blue, pink and red (like Apple does).  Today's consumer wants to know that their purchases will find cures and build schools.  Eco-conscious consumers want carbon neutral, organic, renewable, sustainable.  Oh, and they are willing to pay for it.

But how much homage is Apple willing to pay Greenpeace?  Is Apple afraid of not living up to its promise of being a green company, one that is EPEAT certified six ways from Saturday?  Does Apple fear that it will alienate its core customers if the company doesn't concede to Greenpeace's every finding?  For that matter, is Apple allowing itself to be bullied or just afraid to press back?  And who died and made Greenpeace God?

Perhaps this is classic "no-win PR," a concept I'll address in a future post. Like any company, Apple vigorously defends its reputation and has the numbers to back it up:

• 18th out of the 25 "Most Reputable Companies in the United States" in the Reputation Institute's "2009 Global Reputation Pulse Study";
• second in Cision's "2009 Corporate Media Reputation Index" of U.S. companies; and
• 14th in Harris Interactive's most recent "Annual RQ" summary report.

Averaging the rankings of those three scorecards, essentially the Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch of a company's public image, can be fuzzy math at best, as there is no accepted industry standard.  Still as they say, Apple appears to rank well in the PR department.  Even adding these scores doesn't quite give an accurate depiction of Apple's (or any company's) environmental track record.  In this department, Greenpeace sets the standard, perhaps better than the EPA.  Though I must ask: who governs Greenpeace's market research?  Are their stats impeccable or just reasonably good?  And why did Greenpeace so brazenly take Apple to task like it did in the first place?  I smell an agenda...

Garderning or boxing gloves?
Apple continues to play this hand carefully, but I think it can do better.  Being in PR for 15 years is no lifetime, but I've counseled my share of  clients with targets painted on their backs.  You gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em -- and when diplomacy falls off the table, know when to fight. 

Kudos to Apple's new green site.  Well written and designed, it steers clear of the self-congratulatory tone set by most CSR sites and utters ne'er a peep about Greenpeace, as did Apple's old green site.  And if that has Greenpeace seeing "red," then too bad.  With all due respect to Greenpeace, try picking on real targets instead of easy ones for a change.