There are two questions that come up in my line of social media pr: 1) What do we do if someone says something negative about us online and 2) how do we measure it?

Marketers are terrified of these two questions and with good reason; something negative said under the cloak of online anonymity has the potentional to spread faster than an electrical fire through a a block of matchbox houses and real, agreed upon reach measurement are the things that successful programs and future marketing budgets are based on. Brands within public corporations have to make their numbers - they have stockholders to report to. They don't have the luxury of operating in silo's or aborbing risk with surplus cash somewhere else - that's a CEO decision. And a mighty one to make.

As marketers, we are at point where we must sink or swim. We know that many of our target consumers and brand loyalists are living online - we have data to prove that. We see mobile handset sales, so we know they own mobile social media - but how are they using it? What are their competancy levels? Where is it going?

There are many X factors. And there will be for some time to come. This is the new frontier, and like the wild west, there are some already there at the forefront, staking claim and quietly getting rich, not telling anyone else for fear of letting the secret slip and losing marketshare. What the established know and some of us in the realm know, is that there's room for more - it's up to us to get to the frontier and drive our stakes in the ground.

No, there isn't a roadmap yet. There will be missteps.

Measurement is not accurate. New forms of measurement are evolving. Much like a product can be negatively reviewed in mainstream media (MSM) and other outlets may pick up that story, the same may happen in consumer generated media (CGM) - the smartest, savviest of marketers will accept counsel on how to manage and in some cases leverage those outcomes. Life will go on.

More than anything, social media is a living, breathing medium. Constantly evolving, more rapidly than broadcast or print ever did, and that's part of what what makes it so exciting to me. The constant challenge to keep up and evolve with it.

A presocratic once said, "You can never step in the same river twice." That man was true to his words, I can only imagine his thoughts on social media. He'd have to say them twice as fast, just keep up with it.

Also, in response to the latest frivolous myspace lawsuit that's been generating media attention, maybe I should sue Murdoch?

I want financial retribution for the minutes/hours of my precious life I've lost to time wasting bulletins and event notices that my so-called "friends" post with complete and non-stop abandon.

I'm considering creating a myspacepolice.com domain and setting up templates for various myspace "tickets." It's time to take some action against MySpace spamatics.

Hey Murdoch, on second thought, forget the lawsuit. Make me an offer for MySpacepolice.com. I'll sell it to you for a bargain price of $5MM;)

I am wowed by the students of NY's Adhouse Advertising School who submitted several of the most impressive ads I've seen in years.

These students truly hit a sweet spot of arty, edgy and attacking NYC's equity. As someone who has lived in NYC for 11 years (yikes!), it really made me think about what this town used to be and *gulp* what it certainly has lost in its' gentrification over the years.

Well done, students! And hats off to Philly for not censoring some of the more racy submissions.

Crispin, Porter + Bogusky: look sharp and staff up, here's the future of creative!

Today is a great day, because my friend, who is also my personal PR project, got a nice mention in Rolling Stone, thanks to fellow fan Ben Folds who gave him a shout out onstage and to Rolling Stone. Very Cool. Love Ben Folds.

His name is Corn Mo and if you don't know it yet, remember it, because like Dave Holmes said on TRL a few years ago, Corn Mo is "The Future of Rock." Word.

You never know where Corn Mo is going to show up. A few years ago, he popped up onstage and fully robed at a number of gigs with The Polyphonic Spree during their tour with Bowie.

Corn Mo rocks an accordian like you may not have known an accordian can rock. In a word, he's supadope.

Here's a booking I helped him with a couple of years ago, watch him bring the house down on Jimmy Kimmel.

And if you are a They Might Be Giants fan, check this.

Someday, Corn Mo will rule the world. Until then, you'll have to check here for upcoming dates and arrange to see this legend-in-the-making in the flesh.

Don't be afraid to yell out "Freebird," he's got a mean rendition to play.

Awesome. His money can't buy his way into Bungalow 8, but it just might buy him Dan Rather. (NY Times subscription required)

In other news, hats off to Bill Gates. You may not like his evil empire, his dominance of the PC industry or his software that arguably issues more patches than innovations, but the man is valiantly making an effort to truly aid the world which is more than many other moguls out in the world.

No names mentioned;)

Here's a live opportunity for corporation/CEO to leverage what may initially appear to be a critically detrimental-to-the-Brand online experience.

The question remains, will Zucker see this as the opportunity it is or remain passive and therefore allow this to snowball into something bigger?

The clock is ticking.

I switched from PC to laptop a couple of months ago and I just can't get the knack of this set up. The keys are too far away. With a PC, I type like the wind!

Some other complaints: It is an effing pain in the arse to load my CD collection onto this thing. Holy Hannah! It's taking me months! And I don't want to load my new iPod until I have my whole collection on here, so I don't have to cherry pick tracks as I go. Who has the time for this? I mean, I realize that I have a large number of CD's, but I ain't close to the collection this dude rocks. And his floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall collection is vinyl. Whaddya do with that?!?

I have perspective to add to the discussion that myspace is jumping the shark. Do I think MySpace is played? Yeah. But I'm not Kansas City. I'm not even Culver City.

The early adopters out there, may not think the MySpace client is good enough and they may seek out open source or other options they can run independently on their machines to interact with friends and contacts. Those people are not the masses, they are EARLY ADAPTERS, ahead of the curve, and the curve, is a bit longer than some may think.

MySpace will not be the leading P2P forever. I agree with that. But for now, its' 84 million user database excites those masses that congregate on it. And if MySpace continues with unique content deals and special promotions that connect with the target users - like secret shows with actual COOL bands - then most of those 84 million will continue to live there.

A few years down the road, as the options become easier to use and more accessible, mass market will start to build their own P2P networks with mix and match components they can download for free. Before that, though, there will be new P2P options that steal myspace's marketshare by being the web 2.0 or (dare I say it - *gulp* - 3.0!!!?) version of them. It's the nature of the beast.

I give myspace 6 months for sure, 1 year strong, with tapering off of use at the end of the 12 month period. Anyone willing to take the over or under on that?

I'm here! Sidetracked with a big event this week and this Ben Roethlisberger news...terrible tragedy. I'm an Eagles fan (Go Birds!) but being from Allentown, PA, I have to own up to some Steelers blood too. Very little, but it's there nonetheless.

Wears a helmet for a living and doesn't put one on to move 55mph+ in the open air?

Hindsight sure is 20/20.

Positive thoughts and prayers going out Ben and his family.

The landscape for PR is rapidly changing; some say it's the golden age of PR. More experienced professionals recall the bubble burst of 2000/2001 and proceed with caution. Often, my colleagues and clients ask me for my opinion on today's changing landscape and so I share it with you.

It smells like 1999, it looks like 1999, it feels like 1999, so is it 1999 and will the bubble be bursting around the corner much like it did then? My answer is no. Will there be some fall out? Sure. There will be a few iwon's out there and there will also be google's. No, there's no formula to know which is which. If you're a techie like me, you have experience and a decade or so of CES exhibitions under your belt to act as an organic barometer; to the rest of you, good luck. We're mostly on even ground.

The difference today for online and mobile components are the same differentials that spelled success in the broadcast industry back in the day - widely available cable. In this case, widely available broadband and wireless. Making cellular handsets now ubiquitous and high speed internet connections available in far reaching regions for a reasonable audience bring with it large audiences.

If we bring it, they will come.

In the 1990's when web 1.0 components and services launched, the audience was limited and inconsistent. Even the niche who had home PC's or work PC's with good connections, couldn't be relyed upon to be a consistent audience. They would turn off the computer and go to traditional media as a resource. That's no longer the case. Factor in the lack of credibility traditional media has provided in the last few years (arguably, because overwhelmed reporters were using an old model and unfairly competing against the new, real time online model), and it's easy to see why many individuals turn to the 24/7, secure "live" web for news, searches and purchases.

Today, masses have access to the technology. Prices make it accessible to many economic levels. Second generations and mobile units make it convenient AND affordable. Consumers are here, unlike 1999, when it was still too hard to connect and the playing field had too few players.

So yes, gas prices and oil are causing consumers pain. The deficeit is skyrocketing and whispers of new inflation rates whirl around us. All of this accounted for, I still think emerging media will grow and prosper, and more than ever PR is a critical approach via emerging media to connect directly with consumers and engage in a dialogue. People are going to want to connect with other people and be entertained when stuck in their houses because they won't fill their tanks for car trips.

And they're going to stick with the Brands who dust off the corporate speak and show that they are part of this lifestyle, whatever that may be, and not an irrelevant old guard.

You know, Wikipedia is great. You know that, right? I don't need to tell anyone who's found this site about wiki's and how valuable of an information source they are.

That said, you may not know how flippin' brilliant wikiHow is. Well let me tell you. WIKIHOW IS GENIUS.

I'm comfortable enough in my Gen X status to admit that, yes, I *am* interested in reading how-to instructions to Run Up A Wall and Flip. In fact, I may or may not, during my old cheerleading days, have done so myself as a schoolyard parlor trick. I'm too decrepit now to re-enact those glory days, so I'm loving that wikiHow is here to take me back.

Or, I may need to brush up on my Moonwalk. And if that's the case, I appreciate the warning that wikiHow provides with this how-to entry:
Warning: May cause humiliation when not done properly. Because that's a fair and important consideration to breaking out an unpolished moonwalk that you learned online. That's helpful.

wikiHow is a very cool collaborative project. A word to the wise, to any of you marketers out there who are wiki-obsessed and see this as a prime marketing tool to reach those Gen X, Gen Y's and Millennials, note #3 in the site's "About" section.

3. Limit egregious self-advertising

wikiHow exists to help people, not for product promotion. While we encourage useful articles about how to shop and buy things, writers should refrain from creating articles to purely promote one specific business without providing useful insights to our readers. While you are welcome to post an external hyperlink, the wikiHow community reserves the right to delete hyperlinks or entire articles that over step the bounds on self-advertising.

For details read the wikiHow policy summary.

So in other words, it would be okay if, hypothetically speaking, the guy in the pix for the Run Up A Wall and Flip entry was wearing Vans but it's not okay to write an entry on how to enter Vans' next skateboarding documentary.

Now that's a sure shot boogie that'll rock your soul. Jam on it.

And from the French Open, Rafael Nadal is blogging. This doesn't have much to do with PR, beyond the fact that it's good publicity for tennis and The French Open. I just had to link it because it may be one of the most poorly written blogs I have ever read and yet, I continue to go back to it. Like a train wreck that I can't stop staring at it. It's horrendous.

I'm going to give Nadal the benefit of the doubt and believe that perhaps he does indeed have some sort of mental capacity and personality and that it's just not translating into English, which in fairness, isn't his native language.

I don't know what PR agency is handling this, but I must commend them - it's a brilliant idea. I can't wait to see the media coverage that's generated with the person brings the O'Doul's and their mom.

Because you know someone will.

Kudos to Crumpler's brand champion who stood behind the fun-loving Aussie equity and embraced a risky idea because it resonates with their target. I'd love to see more Brands taking risks like this.