Conversation Agent - Valeria Maltoni

Same Cafe', new Media

And perhaps less smoke: actually no smoke at all. Today I was in the city for several appointments and a couple of events. Since I do not belong to a club like the Union League, where I ended up having lunch and an evening event, I could not use that as the base. Instead, I walked to 17th and Market to see the nice people at ING Direct Cafe'. They are a savings bank, with a new checking account product, and a home away from home for many in the city. You go in, get a nice cup of reasonably-priced... Read more →

Why Good to Great is Hard Inside Organizations

"If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." [Charlie Parker] Because we are constantly comparing things to each other. Maybe it's not as simple as that, but take another look at my statement when I'm done with the story. It all began last week at a meeting of one of the associations I am a member of for public relations professionals. A long time friend was also in attendance and at the end we took a few minutes to catch up. As we were talking about professional growth and learning opportunities, two of my favorite topics,... Read more →

Is LinkedIn Working for you?

I'm curious to learn what your experience has been so far. There have been many posts by Guy and others about how to use this medium effectively. Here are some ways in which I have used LinkedIn: To connect with people I know and have done work with over time, especially those who have supported some of the side projects and volunteer activities I engage in -- I have also provided referrals and testimonials To learn more about people I have met at networking events -- sometimes there isn't so much time to tell it all and before a follow... Read more →

Media as Connectors of Ideas and People

What is main stream media to do with new media? Should they leverage social networks? Should they provide a platform and then just fade into the background? These are some of the questions journalists and editors of traditional publications have been posing themselves. Why is it important to know? Who benefits from learning the answers? With the emergence of new ways of sharing information, we have not only witnessed the proliferation of opinions and sources, but also the chaos of all these voices -- sometimes to the detriment of clarity. What information warrants our attention? Bruno Giussani at Lunch Over... Read more →

Are you a Small, Medium or Large?

I'm talking about business. In a previous post I wrote that one of the reasons why small consulting groups and teams will continue to have a competitive advantage over large conglomerates is you get to talk to and work with the principals: there are no second teams. Lewis Green at businesssolutionsplus pointed out in a comment to my statement: While I agree that small business has the capability and ability to be more responsive to their clients' and customers' needs, giving us what should be a competitive edge, I still see mid-sized and large businesses choosing mid-sized and large vendors... Read more →

How "No Effort" Affects Your Brand Promise

What do success, integrity and brands have in common? A promise made is a promise kept. This week I had to rent a car because my vehicle was getting repaired from an accident. It was a scrape and nobody got hurt but the cars involved, thank goodness. If you've been through that, you know that most insurance companies partner with Enterprise Rent-A-Car; mine does. This wasn't my first claim. The first one I put through was a few years ago during one of the hurricanes: a DOT (department of transportation) gate swung over my car as I was stopped at... Read more →

Anybody Home?

The old way used to be having a nice, glossy company brochure to give to people inquiring about your business. Then white papers came into vogue. Everyone is an expert at something and sharing that knowledge draws attention. If you put the white papers on your Web site so they could be downloaded, you could get a sense of how many people were interested in a topic. The first web sites were online brochures, designed and written like brochures, only you could turn the pages with a mouse. I've seen several software applications that will allow you to read a... Read more →

Passion and Remembrance both Spell Love

"E poi ci troveremo come le star a bere del whisky al Roxy bar o forse non c'incontreremo mai ognuno a rincorrere i suoi guai / ognuno col suo viaggio ognuno diverso e ognuno in fondo perso dentro i fatti suoi" [Vasco Rossi, Italian pop singer, 1983] And here's my very poor translation: "Maybe we'll meet, like the stars, and have a drink at the Roxy bar. Or maybe we shall never meet. Each of us chasing our troubles / each with our journey, each different. Each lost in our own stuff." This song means a lot to me and... Read more →

Message Mishaps and Words that Work

These are no mashups. Here we're talking about mishaps. When what you say does not achieve the desired results, nor it reaches your intended audience -- that's when your messages fall flat. In Words that Work, Frank Luntz talks about the importance of preventing message mistakes. Language is in constant flux, so the words you choose need to work in the context of your audience. The meaning of what you're saying today in a marketing message for example, may change tomorrow. That is because our frames of reference change. How your words are understood is highly dependent upon the experiences,... Read more →

Forward to the Age of Conversation

I entered the room uncertain of how I would feel. Looking at all those small bodies contorted by a silent brain injury, some of them form birth. I was afraid that they would read pity in my eyes, that my apprehension and embarrassment would show. It broke my heart to look at those children. They seemed so defenseless, without the noisy running around so characteristic of their age. Then I approached one of them, Marco. He trained his eyes on me with much effort, locked them onto mine, and smiled. Suddenly everything else faded: the uncertainty of my steps, the... Read more →