Good thing these PR pofessionals are embracing technology and the social media arena.

Remember something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, similarly, if your audience congregates there, don’t condemn it (all pretty simple stuff isn’t it?)

JD

As a provider of meeting facilities, Hilton has played host to many significant meetings over the years. Recently we launched a new meetings promotion, “Meetings for free”. Anyone making an accommodation booking until 30th June for any date in 2009 will be eligible to receive a complimentary meetings package including meeting room facilities, refreshments and lunch.

To help publicise the offer we decided to orchestrate a ‘meeting of the minds’ that would discuss a newsworthy topic; the meeting was to also be held in an iconic location. The topic we chose was Twitter due to its recent explosion in popularity and increased reporting in the mainstream media. Originally, the meeting was to be held on Bondi Beach, as this would provide an iconic backdrop for photographs. Due to poor weather however, we decided to move the event into the hotel. Laptops don’t work very well in the rain!

It seems our meeting certainly provided the debate only a true face to face meeting could generate. Those who attended the meeting got the full story. No wires were crossed and everyone left satisfied. Many people left wishing the meeting had gone on longer. The meeting was completely open to the public and the tickets were free. You didn’t have to be a Twitter expert or novice to attend – everyone was welcome.

The event did what we intended it to do – it generated extensive coverage and water cooler talk. And the discussions that followed over the next 24 hours cemented the fact that the topic chosen was indeed topical and debate worthy.

At Hilton we do not claim to be experts in social media, but we are leaders in the area of meeting facilitation and were thrilled to help facilitate this meeting of the minds.

It is as simple as that! Independent research conducted on behalf of Hilton found that 77 percent of senior executives described offsite meetings as a necessity not a luxury, demonstrating that face to face meetings clearly matter.

The feedback from the attendees and panelists was positive, people at the event looked to be enjoying themselves and were free to leave at any time (the discussion must have been interesting because most stayed to the end). The majority of comments were about wishing the event had gone longer.

We hope this is the start of a series of ‘meeting of the minds’ where newsworthy topics will be discussed utilising the Hilton’s unrivalled meeting facilities.

Charlotte Seymour
Hilton Hotels

The Twitter ‘non-story’ to ‘story’ ratio gets even higher!!

“Whatever happened to free speech?” Er, nothing. And now other people are exercising their free speech to discuss your comments, Christina.

So now you’re not limited to 140 characters, why don’t you come out and explain exactly what your problem with this event was?

ps – Tim excepted as I’m a grovelling creep.

That’s one of the most childish, unself-aware comments I’ve ever seen. Stop whining that you’ll have to “censor” yourself. If it means not flinging insults at people, then maybe a little bit of self-editing isn’t such a bad idea.

Also, I was there, so I’m going to call you out on your comment that: “some people that were there have bagged it to me on the downlow and told me that it was a blatant stunt for…” There were no blatant plugs.

I don’t believe anyone who was there did tell you that. And I don’t think you even know how to finish that sentence. Kelpenhagen who was also there has written a piece putting it much better than me: http://kelpenhagen.wordpress.c.....l-sandpit/

Don’t you think you should consider you might have been wrong and stop questioning the agendas of everyone who supported this free event?

I feel grubby I’ve even ended up taking part in this conversation.

Pah.

Thanks for your comment. Prior to the event yours was among the most vigorous voices expressing scepticism. I’ve always enjoyed following your tweets and it seemed a little out of character, so I did wonder if someone had offended you, as it was clearly an issue you had strong feelings about. But it wasn’t worth writing about.

Then it was interesting to learn today that you’d previously worked at the organising PR agency. I wonder if those following your tweets knew that? But fair enough, you’re still entitled to your views. Not worth writing about.

You were wondering why you were “singled out”? You did it to yourself. It was your message accusing a former colleague of being condescending that made it worthy of comment. I’d argue there’s a difference between criticising an event, idea or execution, and being directly insulting. When someone – particularly a respected, experienced Twitter user – crosses that line, it is worthy of debate.

You put that message into the public domain. You work in PR. What would you advise a client to expect if they posted a personal message like that?

Cheers,

Tim – Mumbrella

Tim, I’m not sure why you have singled me out – obviously you have decided to turn this into a nasty war of words because I happen to have previously worked at Mark Comms and it might make for good reading for some. However you failed to mention any or all the other rants about #beachmeet prior to and post event. I could list them, but there are quite a few so people, just look through #beachmeet and you will see them all there in black and white. There is even a #beachfail hashtag now and I didn’t start that – didn’t even think to!

I was contemplating attending this event as I am a big supporter of social media and in particular Twitter, even if I had to endure being in the same room as ex-colleagues. However the lack of information regarding the event (prior), especially when I specifically tweeted the question and got no reply – plus all the other rants about it from other people (with and without the use of the #beachmeet hashtag) – I just wasn’t won over.

Michelle Bridges from The Biggest Loser commenting on Twitter impacting PR and media – she’s a personal trainer / fitness expert on yet another reality TV show. Why would people take these kinds of comments from her seriously as a member of the panel when her industry experience is so limited. Plus I couldn’t find her on Twitter and in your tweet listing panel members, it was just her name rather than a Twitter username like the others.

Kudo’s to Mark Comms for the outstanding media result – I’m still not sure how newsworthy this event was but they did a great job getting coverage out of it and I’m sure its clients are happy.

Here are my responses to some of the comments above:

fraser: I never said I knew what I was doing and I have never claimed to be an expert on social media – I am just a huge supporter of it and I like to participate in the conversation. That’s what Twitter is all about, right? I just would have liked to see some more established names in social media as part of the panel as well.

Kelly: I wasn’t there so I don’t know about ANY agenda pushing, though some people that were there have bagged it to me on the downlow and told me that it was a blatant stunt for…

And well the bitchiness, as I said above I think this has just been manipulated to make it look like a battle of the exes.

Jemma Enright: See my comments to Kelly above…and remember there is only so much you can say on Twitter, you are limited to 140 characters.

Sean: I have never referred to myself as a ‘publicist’, those that will say and do anything to get a story. Contrary to what some people who have read Tim’s article above might think, I am a PR / communications professional that has gained some respect over the years by peers and I am pretty sure there are few journalists out there who would also vouch for me. I have never ‘bitched’ to media about not covering any of my clients ‘stuff’ – in fact I am known to stand my ground with clients and refuse to do this when they tell me that I should.

Romy Spader: What can I say – thank you. I really feel this has become a personal attack on me, when in fact soooo many more people out there were bagging #beachmeet.

Elle: How am I a road hog? Twitter is there for anybody and everybody and I never claimed a stake in it.

LijaJ: That eloquently put phrase regarding #beachmeet were not words from my mouth, or fingers typing for that matter – I simply re-tweeted (RT) what had been tweeted by someone else, which another person had RT before me.

Kim: All I have done is state my opinion, just like everybody else does on Twitter and I believe, as mentioned above that this has been manipulated. We are all entitled to an opinion – whatever happened to free speech?

With all this ‘Mumbrella mumbo jumbo’ as someone so aptly put it to me, your propagand-ish article in an attempt to gain readers, makes me feel like I have to now censor myself.

I always wondered why PR’s got such a bad name, media tend to consider us a “bitchy bunch”. While this is not my experience, it is now evident via twitter and other social media.

As communicators it is imperative we are on twitter and other networks (in fact, if I don’t see enough tweets from my team and colleagues in a day I ask why!).

Dissing something NEVER EVER works. Negative comments are reflected back on those who sprouted them.

While Dash may have started this, giving it back to her doesn’t help either. We should spread the love and the learning. By escalating these comments we are giving people a reason to be rude and negative – to the point where this is all people will do to get noticed and the good will be drowned out.