Brent,

You are right on the money. Just when I feel as if I’ve kept pace, I find that I am actually behind. It is a fascinating, fun and challenging new world!

David

Lizz,

Appreciate your comment. You are right that I have opened a can of worms but at the core is the crumbling viability of the PR agency holding company concept that focuses solely on ever-increasing revenue steams at the expense of quality and service.

David

You’ve certainly opened a can of worms, and while I do agree with you, I hate to paint all PR firms with the same brush. It has been my experience that while most would like to think that by opening a Twitter account and/or “getting on Facebook” they “into social media”, by and large they truly don’t get.

Please allow me to introduce myself @LizzHarmon, as we are actively involved in social media with and for our clients, we engage in it, and we counsel them to do the same. I am an advocate for social media for building a brand and for learning from consumers. I’m anti-ghost tweeting for clients and totally against broadcast tweeting.

I’d be happy to talk to you more. In the meantime, I thank you for this post. Perhaps it will encourage the real PR firms to stand up or shut up when it comes to Web 2.0, so clients can learn the right way to do things and realize success right out of the gate.

Best, Lizz

I’d agree with you in that the smaller agencies and individuals are offering more creativity and awareness of emerging media than larger corporations.

Perhaps this is down to red tape – I’m a user of both corporate and boutique agency and I can say it’s a lot less stressful with my boutique PR agency. I’m not waiting for multi-department approval; I’m not hanging on until the CEO of the corporate agency has finished his golf game with the million dollar account holder; and I’m not tied into crazy monthly retainers with no guarantee of results.

My boutique agency works on value-based pricing and is bang on the money with their social media involvement and awareness. Actually, I’d add the owner of the agency to your list: Danny Brown, @dannybrown on Twitter.

I’ve used his company for just under 12 months now and corporate agencies for several years – once our retainer with he corporate finishes, I think I know where our future money will be going.

Thanks for raising this topic – it’s obviously struck a nerve, looking at some of the comments.

S.

You on Twitter? Is Senay?

David,

Perhaps Dave Senay was blogging when you departed FH but he had only started in 2007 and appears not to be active now. In fact, a FH corporate blog – one of those inward-looking, chest-thumping PR blogs – has not be updated since last August.

David