G&H announces strategic partnership with McClung

Goff & Howard and McClung Communications & Public Relations are forming a strategic partnership to work together on public affairs and public relations projects in Minnesota and across the country.

The partnership brings together the experienced team at Goff & Howard, a full-service public affairs and public relations firm founded in 1994 with a staff of 13, with McClung Communications & Public Relations, started this June by former gubernatorial spokesman and deputy chief of staff to Governor Tim Pawlenty, Brian McClung.

This partnership will strengthen Goff & Howard’s position as a leading public affairs and public relations firm in the Upper Midwest. Our alliance with Brian brings another experienced, highly regarded, and well-connected person to our already fantastic team.

Goff & Howard and McClung Communications & Public Relations will remain separate entities that will work together with clients on a project-by-project basis.

I’ve known Brian personally and professionally for more than 13 years. Others at Goff & Howard have also known him for many years. Our history with Brian makes it even more exciting that we have the opportunity to partner with him on future projects.

The end of e-mail as we know it? Facebook says yes, the GH Spin is not so sure.

In 1972, Ray Tomlinson transformed the way we communicate when he invented e-mail. Tomlinson used the “@” symbol to send information from one computer to another, and communication has never been the same. Now, 38 years later, 26-year-old Mark Zuckerberg wants to change e-mail as we know it.

The Facebook founder announced yesterday yet another new feature for his ever-expanding social media empire – a comprehensive message system that would consolidate e-mail, texts, and instant messaging in one social inbox. In less than a month, each of Facebook’s 500 million users will receive an e-mail address (@facebook.com).

You will then be able to choose how you prefer to receive messages – text, e-mail, or Facebook account – and messages will automatically be forwarded to you in your preferred format.

Zuckerberg says that Facebook’s messaging system is not e-mail. In fact, he said in a news conference that he doesn’t think e-mail is going to be a modern messaging system, partly because it is too formal. For many, he’s right. Younger people are forgoing e-mail in favor of more casual instant messaging and texts.

There is also an important business reason behind this. The messaging system creates more chances to reach the more-than half of a billion Facebook users via ads. Some are positioning this new service as Facebook’s way to better compete with Gmail and other e-mail services.

Despite the rise of informal texts, tweets, and Facebook wall posts, The GH Spin believes there will always – and should always – be a time and place for formal communications, namely in the workplace. While your in-laws might not care if you send them a quick message via Facebook, a potential client, employer, or colleague might not be impressed with your knowledge of Internet abbreviations.

Additionally, domain names associated with e-mail addresses subliminally inform recipients about the sender. Will an e-mail from an @facebook.com account have the same clout as one from more acceptable e-mail domains, like Gmail or a company domain?

As with all technology developments, we will have to wait to see whether or not the Facebook messaging system is successful. Google recently tried to take on Twitter with Google Buzz. But the buzz faded quickly, and Google is ending the service.

Nevertheless, this new development shows how Facebook is evolving to serve the needs of those who want quick, informal communications. How we communicate and the options available continue to evolve, especially as the social network strives to be an even bigger part of our lives.

Count on The GH Spin to keep you up to date.

Learning from Austin

Once a year for the past nine years, InterCity Leadership, a group of business, government and civic leaders from the Twin Cities, have visited other cities to learn how they deal with critical issues such as transportation, economic development, and education. Much like touring other homes to find ideas to make yours better, the trip has become an incredibly valuable way for our community to see how others have managed challenges and created opportunities.

This year Goff & Howard’s Mike Zipko was a part of an InterCity Leadership group that visited Austin, Texas, which has been heralded as the next Silicon Valley complete with an eclectic mix of arts, culture, and live music. At a time when the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro area needs to find ways to keep existing companies and to attract new businesses, the group learned how Austin leaders have successfully done just that.

Through strong and consistent messaging, Austin has become known as the “live music capital of the world.” This buzz, along with the city’s collaborative relationship with the University of Texas, has helped attract large corporations and create thousands of jobs. According to city officials, Austin doubles in size every 20 years.

While there is much that can be learned from Austin’s success in growing its economy, there is still much to appreciate about our metro area, including the number of corporate headquarters located here, a strong system of colleges and universities, and a transportation system that continues to improve. Through trips like these, we are strengthening our regional economic development vision by incorporating some strategies from other cities and finding better ways to leverage the things that already make our region strong.

Members of the 2010 InterCity Leadership group visit the Mueller redevelopment project in Austin. In this project, the public and private sector are working together to redevelop a former airport into a 711-acre, master-planned, mixed-use development that will be home to approximately 10,000 people, 10,000 permanent employees, 10,000 construction jobs, more than 4,900 homes, and approximately 140 acres of public open space. The project could be an example for the Twin Cities to look at as decisions are made about redeveloping the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant site in Arden Hills and the Ford Plant site in Saint Paul.

Midway Chamber names new president

The Midway Chamber of Commerce today announced that Kari Canfield will be its new president effective September 27. Kari most recently served as the director of marketing and communications for Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest. Kari replaces Lori Fritts, who was president of the chamber for almost eight years.

Goff & Howard is an active member and strong supporter of the Midway Chamber, a group of hundreds of volunteers, representing more than 550 businesses and nonprofits in the Midway area of Saint Paul. The chamber actively supports the business community, influences economic development policies and projects, advocates for public and private investment in the Midway area, and more.

Mike Zipko is a board member and was a member of the search committee that interviewed candidates and nominated Kari for the position.

Congratulations to Kari and the Midway Chamber.

LinkedIn evolves into an online chamber of commerce

LinkedIn, a business-oriented social networking website, has recently made some changes that have led to somewhat of a resurgence. What once was another place to store contact information is transforming into an extremely active networking opportunity.

LinkedIn became popular with the business community when it first started in 2003. But as Facebook began attracting older users, the business community started making connections on Facebook instead of LinkedIn.

As a result LinkedIn stalled for a while until it developed several useful networking applications to make it more relevant for business professionals. Users now are able to facilitate discussions, connect with companies and business groups, recommend colleagues and clients, and much more. Now LinkedIn boasts a networking community of more than 75 million members.

However, like all social networking sites, LinkedIn will only be as useful as you make it.

Not-so-good vibrations

The Star Tribune recently published an article about how parents who are constantly connected to technology are alienating their children. While the actions of the parents described in this article are deplorable, the article caught my attention because the author’s lessons are applicable in a business setting as well.

I’ve been in meetings where people check their smartphone every time it buzzes with a new tweet. Not only is this addiction to social media a distraction to everyone in the meeting, it makes it harder to concentrate and deliver high-quality work.

While we need to always be reachable by clients, we also need to understand the difference between an urgent message and a not-so-urgent Facebook update, especially during a meeting.

Acronyms need a SWAT

Consider the acronym SWAT. It could, of course, mean Special Weapons And Tactics, or, it could be one version of the marketing assessment, Strengths Weakness Advantages and Threats. But it could also mean Sisters With a Throttle to a motorcycle enthusiast or Sick Wild and Twisted to a hip-hop music lover. Talk about confusing.

Not only are acronyms annoying, as though the speaker doesn’t want you to be part of his little club of people who know what the heck he’s talking about. But they make it impossible to get your point across because no one can follow you.

Recently I went to a day-long training session with several different state and federal agencies. The twist was that acronyms were forbidden ALL DAY LONG. It quickly became a great sport watching staff members from the DNR, DOH, OPS, DPS, and many more try to describe who they are and what they do without using acronyms.

We here at The GH Spin would like to extend that edict to meetings everywhere. Ambitious? Perhaps. Necessary? For sure.

Plunging into the office pool

Employers beware: a month-long office party started yesterday. Live video feeds of the first March Madness games began on work computers across the country yesterday. The tournament, which is infamous for annual bracket challenges, is also known as one of the biggest ways companies lose productivity. It is estimated that March Madness could cost employers as much as $1.8 billion in unproductive wages during the first week of the tournament alone.

Despite the loss in productivity, March Madness is a time for watercooler trash-talking and lunchtime bonding over the underdog’s game-winning buzzer shot – things that boost camaraderie and morale among employees.