To Bee or not to Bee; That is the question (Mark Harvey from High Road Communications initiated)

Pierre M. Omidyar, founder/chairman of eBay website said, “We have technology, finally, that for the first time in human history allows people to really maintain rich connections with much larger numbers of people.” Omidyar must have foreseen the new technological invention, BeeTagging. What is a BeeTagg? Picture a stamp that looks like a network of honeycomb designs. To the naked eye this image, like any code, seems foreign—alien even. However by using a mobile device a brave new world is discovered.

BeeTagging or mobile tagging is based on tags/labels, similar to barcodes, which can be read by the built-in cameras found on most mobile phones.

Please take a second to answer these questions;

• Do you own a cellphone?

• Does it allow you access to the internet? (remembering that nothing in life is free)

• Does it have a camera?

“The concept of Mobile Tagging fulfills all these conditions perfectly: The mobile phone is in fact the universal client. There are even more mobile phones than personal computers or TV sets. In many countries the penetration of mobile phones is more than 100% and mobile phones allow the access to the world wide web almost everywhere, anytime. Using mobile tags embedded into objects in the real world, it is possible to build a reference between these objects and the situational context of the customer as well as to all information belonging to them and to any activities that are possible.”

Imagine also that with the Environmental Sustainability Committee estimating that in 2008 over 222 million tons of waste will occur, it is clear to see how BeeTagging is the future.

“Desire, decision, action and satisfaction are synchronized to a single positive process. The immediacy of this process gives a high emotional quality to the user:“

• the individual desires of the user are important
• the user is receiving all the attention
• the user is the preferred client
• the user is an important person

“The user is given more control and therefore more self assurance. They are given the advantage of knowing they are getting special and individual information, allowing them to not miss an opportunity and is always “in” and up to date.”

The website says it all. As I have pointed out! BeeTagg gives a business the ability to create tunnel vision; a useful tool in the age where everyone is bombarded with a million different messages. However, the age old debate arises surrounding control. You would give the audience the choice to check out the tagg or to continue with business as usual.

After reading blog postings from Justin Creally of High Road Communications and Joel Postman of Socialized regarding Tom Foremski and only accepting PR pitches via FaceBook, I began to speculate a couple of reasons why this might be.

1. Foremski can see the merit of the individual contacting him:
He can look at your profile details, pictures, friends (or lack thereof) and then make his own judgements judgments on whether or not the person is of caliber.

2. Foremski can see if the person is up-to-date:
To prove this point, I use my dear Grandmother as an example. Meet Helen, a 75 year old grandmother living in Ancaster, Ontario. A retiree and avid gardener, EVEN SHE HAS EMAIL NOW! However, she does not have FaceBook. (yet…)

3. Foremski is addicted to FB and would like to mix business with pleasure;
“Crack” book, as I have come to know it, offers an individual to voyeuristically peek into lives of their friends. Maybe Foremski is in a poke war with someone and refuses to give up. He needs to go on regularly to ensure his victory, doesn’t he?

Ultimately, here is what I like about the FaceBook hype (and think we all need to embrace this a bit more) is that we allow for this. By nature, we thrive on interaction, and for a while there, many were saying that the internet is very impersonal and making us distant and alien to one another. Well, now I argue that the web is extremely personal and can open more doors then windows.

Once again, I ask; Is it only a matter of time before my grandmother is pitching to Tom Foremski?

To all my fellow classmates regarding the age old question, “What in the hell do I blog about?!?!”

Refer to this link.

If you think about it, who WOULDN’T want to hear what you have to say.  It is all relative.  The world is full of strange and unusual things.

Returning to Work just got Easier

SaskPower’s Return to Work program is in place to help employees who have suffered illness or injury to return successfully to safe and productive work. The key to a successful return to work is communication.

“That’s where we come in,” says Kathy Potts, coordinator, Return to Work. “We’re here to help employees through a process that can be quite confusing, depending on the case.”

A successful return to work after injury or illness requires early and constant communication between many parities;

• The injured or ill employee
• The employee’s supervisor
• The employee’s physician
• Worker’s Compensation Board (WCB) (in the case of a work–related injury)

The Return to Work program is there to facilitate this communication from the start, providing support through every step of the process–from regular sick leave to extended sick leave (Plan B), as well as WCB and Disability Income Plan (DIP) claims.

Another primary role of the Return to Work program is to fulfill SaskPower’s duty to accommodate, ensuring that every effort is made to support employees who are unable to return to their positions due to illness or disability.
Employee Testimonials on The Return to Work program

“Despite everything that had happened to me, I knew that I still had something to give. Kathy really kept my best interests in mind. She helped me find a position that I love coming in to every day.”

“It was a pretty big blow when my doctor told me my old job was no longer an option for me. It helped a great deal that the company was willing o work with me to find a position that makes use of my training and experience–one that’s meaningful both to me and to the company.”

Remember: the Return to work program is there to help.

More information found at http://www.wordpress.returntowork.com

I had a good friend who always lived life as if she might die tomorrow. She always would say, “Miranda, Paranoia will Destroy ya if you are not careful.”

I thought this would be a good little tag line to lead with my first official blog posting. This blog is constructed for school purposes and will discuss my take on “public relation-esque” subject matter.

One of my professors, Gary Schlee, couldn’t stress enough that, “a good rule of thumb with blogs is only post what you would want your mother or potential employer to see.”   Yike–I thought.

So posting a link to 2 girls—ok I get it, I get it. I guess this is more of a disclaimer to readers, if any, of my blog. My humour is harmless and usually sneaks in unconsciously. I guess blogging about PR instead of something more personal will be a challenge to my alter ego/humour side I call, “Helvetica”. (yes the font and my cat’s name)

For what it is worth, I just read my first line and realized it seems as though my friend died due to her hardcore life style. Negative, she is alive, has three or four kids and is living in Orillia. There’s irony for you!

—-Miranda—-