Which is why I got a huge kick out of this video from TechCrunch about PR professionals.

This video made me laugh, but it covers a lot of common mistakes that PR professionals make including:

1. Following-up too soon

PR Pro: Hi I’m just checking you got the email I sent.

Blogger: When did you send it?

PR Pro: Five minutes ago.

2. Sending news with an embargo

Blogger: No. What did it say?

PR Pro: I’d love to tell you, but you’ll have to agree to the embargo first.

Blogger: Ok whatever, I agree, now tell me more.

PR Pro: Can you email back first saying you agree to the embargo?

Blogger: Look, I honor the fucking embargo. Now tell me more.

3. Pitching bloggers who don’t care

PR Pro: A Silicon Valley based startup is going to announce a new revolutionary software as a service for social media companies targeting B2B. It will change the way social media marketing is done forever. Are you interested in a briefing with the company’s CEO.

Blogger: No, I don’t cover B2B.

PR Pro: But I thought you wrote about social media.

Blogger: I do, but not B2B.

4. Thinking your product is revolutionary when it’s not

PR Pro: But it is revolutionary.

Blogger: So are all the others.

So what can PR professionals do so they don’t look like the idiots in this video? Don’t be annoying, be timely, target the right editors/bloggers and don’t just say that your product is revolutionary, prove it.

So of course, I went to Wikipedia. And according to Wikipedia, Texas Independence Day is the celebration of the adoption of the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2, 1836. With this document, settlers in Mexican Texas officially broke from Mexico, creating the Republic of Texas.

Hooray! Freedom for Texans!

Thank you to all of the people who fought for the Independence of Texas and gave me:

Queso

Longhorn Football

And last, but not least…

Blue Bonnets (Oh how I love blue bonnets!)

Happy  Texas Independence Day to all!

To me, March just screams the start of spring and a time for renewal and new ideas. And I am not the only person who is looking for big ideas in March. I’ve written before about how The University of Texas has been innovative in sharing information with their community through the Tower Talk blog.

But the innovation isn’t stopping there, because I just received an email that UT is starting “The Ideas of Texas.” This is just like a Dell Idea Storm (or NI Idea Exchange) that allows users to submit and vote for ideas that would make The University of Texas a better place to learn. I don’t know if there are any other universities doing this right now, but I think it’s an amazing idea for gathering and implementing feedback. And I couldn’t have said it better than President Powers.  ”In these challenging times, when we must do more with fewer resources, sharing ideas is invaluable.”

So instead of being afraid of the Ides of March, I am making March my month of ideas. Let me know what you want me to write about, and I’ll do it. I am definitely not afraid of the ideas of March. Leave me a comment and let me know what you want to hear about.

(By the way, thanks for stopping in to read my blog. Do you like reading my posts and want to subscribe? Click here to subscribe via RSS and click here to subscribe via email. Thanks!)

1. I still love my bread and butter- I stayed in Austin for my job, and it’s a damn good thing because social media and public relations are still my bread and butter, and I’m as passionate about them as ever. If I’ve learned anything in the past seven months, it’s that you literally can not get up every day to do something you hate. And lucky for me, the industry that I suspected I would love seven months ago is the industry I love waking up to every day.

2. I still have work to do- Like I said above, I love what I do. But I still have a lot of work to do. The past seven months have really shown me that there is A LOT of stuff I don’t know and a lot of things I wish I were better at. My goal for the next seven months is to really, really work on my writing. Because it doesn’t do me any good to just be good at the few things I love to do, I also want to be good at the things that help me do my job better.

3. My queso tastes have changed- Seven months ago I would have told you that my favorite queso in Austin was at El Arroyo. But I was very, very wrong. Trudy’s has the best queso in Austin, and that is all I have to say about that.

So that’s what I’ve learned in seven months here in Austin, and I’m looking forward to an equally great next seven months.

Even though I’m clearly not leaving my job, I am glad that Facebook has decided to open an office here in my new home town of Austin. It will be great for the economy and it will be even better for innovation.

In Facebook’s honor, I figured it would be nice to remind you all of some of the more interesting posts I have written about Facebook:

1. Favorite Facebook Tips and Tricks

2. Facebook Tips and Tricks Part Two

3. Why Facebook Rules My Life

4. Five Steps to Branded Facebook Success

5. Should You Send Your Customers Straight to Facebook?

6. Happy Birthday Facebook

7. Facebook Is Still For Millennials

8. Do You Have a Facebook Inner Circle?

9. Facebook in the Israel/Gaza Saga?

10. Why You Shouldn’t Poke Me On Facebook

Hope you enjoy!

And, stop the presses, I am one:

Even though I clearly am a Millennial, the quiz doesn’t really ask the right questions to determine this. For example, having tattoos and piercings doesn’t make you a Millennial. Having contacted a government official in the past month also doesn’t make you a Millennial.

Anyway, take the quiz and let me know your score in the comments. Are you a Millennial?

Millward Brown just came out with a study on the most trust worthy companies in America.

The study found that the top 10 most trust worthy companies were as follows:

1. Amazon

2. FedEx

3. Downy

4. Huggies

5. Tide

6. Tylenol

7. Toyota (The study was clearly done pre-Toyota recalls)

8. WebMD

9. Pampers

10. UPS

They picked these companies based off millions of consumer interviews where they asked, “how trust worthy is this brand,” and “would you recommend this brand?”

I think there are a few characteristics that make these brands trust worthy:

1. An Exceptional Customer Experience- Customers love Amazon. They provide their users with great customer service and an easy to use site. People know that when they use Amazon they are going to get what the ordered, when they ordered it. Consumers trust an exceptional customer experience, and Amazon does a great job of providing one.

2. A History of Trust- The Tylenol recall is one of the most ancient PR success stories in the book. Tylenol recalled all of their medicine until it was safe for their consumers. But that was years ago, so why are they still one of the most trusted brands? Because they’ve already proved that they can be trusted! A history of trust goes a long way in keeping customer’s trust.

3. An Indispensable Product- Two diaper companies and two delivery companies made the list of the most trust worthy brands. People with babies need diapers and pretty much everyone needs a packaged delivered at some point, and when consumers need these things they need them immediately. And if you can provide these products/services to consumers consistently, they are going to trust you every time. Better yet, if you have an indispensable product, consumers are going to recommend you every time.

Your company can have all of the characteristics that make a company trust worthy. But is your company trust worthy?

May I present to you, the first wedding ever held in the Apple store:

Now I love my iPod, iPhone and MacBook, but seriously? A wedding inside of the Apple store? Am I being too judgemental, or is this as strange as I think it is? Next thing we know people will be changing their Facebook statuses at the altar. Oh wait, someone already did that.

And I’m pretty sure Some ECards said it right with this card…

But what really bothered me about the whole press conference is that Tiger would not accept any questions from the press. Why, you might ask, would he not allow any questions? And the honest truth is that people are afraid of people who ask questions

Tiger tried to cover up his fear by saying the following: “As I proceed, I understand people have questions.  I understand the press wants to ask me for the details and the times I was unfaithful.  I understand people want to know whether Elin and I will remain together.  Please know that as far as I’m concerned, every one of these questions and answers is a matter between Elin and me.”

That answer is fine, but it’s not really an answer. And even if that is your only answer, let people ask it. If you are afraid of what people are going to ask than you shouldn’t come out and do a press conference. If you can’t be honest with everyone, don’t bother saying anything. But when you decide to do something, don’t be afraid of people asking questions.

But I guess it’s not really too late to write my Valentine’s Day post (I assure you, I will actually never get around to the President’s day post). Especially because Facebook came out with some hilarious Valentine’s Day research that says people who are in a relationship or married are happier than everyone else.

I know what you are thinking, how did Facebook possibly come up with this?

The methodology:

1. Happiness= how many positive words a person uses in their status updates

2. They looked at status updates from English speakers for one week in January

3. They measured the number of positive words used in status updates for both people in and not in Facebook relationships

What Facebook found (you can see all of the research here):

- People who are in relationships/married seem happier

- People in open relationships are not happy, in fact they are less happy than people who are widowed or in a complicated relationship

- Men are less happy in open relationships than women

- People who don’t list their relationship status are 50 percent more negative than everyone else

Things I think Facebook forgot to explain:

- The activity rate of users- For example, are the people who don’t list their relationship statuses not active users of Facebook?

- What words are positive and what words are negative? Did a human scan status updates and measure their sentiment?

- What about people who are in “fake” marriages, such as girls who are friends? (Thanks Elissa for this one!)

- What about people who are in relationships but don’t have them listed on Facebook?

I’m not sure I totally agree with all of this research, but I think it could have the potential to be true. What do you think, are people in relationships happier?

Oh yea, and Happy Valentine’s Day!