Hissssssssssssssssssssssss. Are you paying attention to body language?

Courtney Liebenrood Ellett

From top: Friday Cat and Sid

Meet Sid (also known as Work Cat) and Friday Cat (who likes to show his cute little face mostly on Fridays, thus his namesake).

These two furry guys are our adoptive kitty cats at Obsidian. In an effort to make them more comfortable being around people, our colleagues have been taking shifts to work on our laptops on our office back patio when the cats are around.

A team member and I were meeting out there recently, and Sid came out first. He nervously paced and made attempts to come near us, where the food was sitting. And he finally did eat. A few minutes later, we heard a deep meow that didn’t come from Sid.

Enter Friday Cat. He was perched on the ledge above and made his way down to us. Friday Cat is friendlier and kept meowing deeply to say hello as he approached us. We encouraged him to take part in the food as Sid did. As Friday Cat came closer to us, Sid starting hissing wildly from the corner of the patio, where he was ducking behind a plant.

Translation: Don’t come any closer, man, or you’re going to find a heap of trouble.

We tried to avert a bitter clash by continuing to coax Friday Cat toward us instead of Sid. Well, Friday Cat wasn’t paying attention to body language and what Sid was “saying.” He just waltzed right over to Sid behind that plant. A quick confrontation passed, and it was done.

The signs were all there. Sid was hiding himself to feel more comfortable. He then hissed to verbalize his warning. And finally, he pounced on Friday Cat. But it should never have gone so far. If Friday Cat would have paid attention the signs, trouble would have been averted and he wouldn’t have felt the sting of Sid’s paws.

This lesson can be easily applied to our role in PR and even in our daily lives. There are a million tiny clues in human interaction that help us better understand mood, relationships, expectations, what people care about, what they don’t care about, what they need, etc. Mostly importantly, these clues help us know how to respond appropriately. If we don’t pay attention to positioning, body language, tone and the actual message, communication breaks down. And a cat fight might be the result.

Happy 7th Anniversary, Obsidian Public Relations!

Katie Pemberton

Today marks a milestone for Obsidian Public Relations—our seventh anniversary! 2012 was a whirlwind year for our firm, with an expansion into another market, new clients and our first full year in our new office in South Main. Let’s recap:

We moved into our digs at 493 S. Main in late 2011, and by this time last year, we were all settled in and loving the South Main life! For a cup of coffee or a bite of lunch, we just walk right next door to Bluff City Coffee or down the street and across the trolley tracks to Arcade. We can just about see the National Civil Rights Museum from our front window. We’re walking distance to great spots like Frank’s Deli, South of Beale, Muse and Hoot + Louise. We love it here, and we’d love you to come visit us sometime! 

We also kicked off serving our very first pro-bono clients from our PR 180° Project initiative—On Our Own for the first half of the year and Memphis Roller Derby in the second half. Our account reps had an amazing time getting to know these organizations and helping them meet their communications needs.

Early in 2012, we announced plans to expand the Obsidian PR name into another market—Dallas, Texas! Our managing director, Crissy Lintner, left the Bluff City and headed west with her family to put down roots in Dallas. She spent 2012 building our Dallas presence, networking and gaining clients, like the Humane Society of North Texas, TopMD Skin Care, Coquerel Family Wine Estates and Cockerell Dermatopathology. She was joined in the summer by another of our Memphis folks, Kerri Guyton, whose family moved to Tyler. Kerri expanded the Obsidian reach outside of Dallas into Smith County, where she completed some great communications projects for various clients, like the Renovation Conference and Holt Creative.

Here in Memphis, we landed some terrific new clients, as well. They included The Cupboard, Kroger’s Delta Division, Calvary Episcopal Church, Advanced Dermatology and Next Day Access.

Another big event from the past year was the completion and announcement of our 2012 social media survey. As in 2011, we partnered with Research Dynamics Inc. to conduct a quantitative survey on Mid-Southerners’ use of social media platforms. The findings showed a 15 percent increase in social media usage among Shelby County residents from last year.

We continued our tradition of monthly professional development initiatives, with each account rep organizing a different month’s training, including topics such as AP style, analysis of local television programming changes and the overhaul of our local media list. But don’t worry—we balanced all that and our client workloads with some fun team outings, like when we took a cooking class at the Church Health Center, chowed down at a Court Square Food Truck Rodeo and got our local shopping on at MemShop. We even let our four-legged friends get in on the fun when we invited our pets to the office for Take Your Dog to Work Day benefiting the Humane Society of Memphis & Shelby County in June!

Before we knew it, it was time again to open up nominations and voting for our 2013 PR 180° Project competition in Memphis. With more than 6,200 Facebook votes for 25 different local nonprofit organizations, The Blues Foundation and the Fire Museum of Memphis emerged as our winners, and they will each receive six months of pro-bono PR services in 2013.

All of us at Obsidian PR are thankful for a wonderful 2012 and look forward to many more years of meeting our clients’ communications needs and enjoying everything that Memphis and Dallas has to offer!

Take time to quiet the mind

Courtney Liebenrood Ellett

After years in the consistently stressful discipline of PR, I’ve learned that downtime helps maintain sanity, pure and simple. That’s certainly not a profound or new thought, but one that’s especially important to me in my life.

I’m sure the same could be said for other professions or other life scenarios. But taking time to unwind does more than maintain sanity. In a career that demands fresh ideas every single day, I’m convinced that taking time to quiet the mind brings out the best in our mental capabilities.

Have you ever had trouble remembering something – like a name? And it’s right there on the tip of your tongue. You could almost reach out and touch it. But the more you think about the answer, the more it eludes you and hides into the deep crevices of your memory. And then it happens; when you’re doing something else and not thinking about the name at all, it comes to you.

This reminds me of one of my favorite episodes of The Big Bang Theory – The Einstein Approximation. Sheldon is hitting a mental roadblock on a physics problem he’s working on. Inspired by the fact that Einstein did a great deal of his best thinking during his stint as a patent office clerk, Sheldon seeks to find a menial job to get his brain in gear.

During a volunteer (and self-described mundane) shift at The Cheesecake Factory as a busboy and waiter, Sheldon says, “Just a moment ago, I had a minor epiphany regarding polymer degradation phenomenon while scraping congealed nachos off a plate.” 

Sure, Sheldon uncluttered his mind by working in a restaurant. I quiet my mind other ways. I walk on the greenbelt in my neighborhood. I get a much-needed massage every now and then. I have a cup of coffee before anyone else in my family gets out of bed. Every single time I do something like this, clarity follows. Sometimes, it’s an epiphany. Sometimes, it’s just the whisper of a good idea. 

What do you do to quiet your mind? 

You talkin' to me?

Courtney Liebenrood Ellett

Tim Westergren, the founder of Pandora, emailed me the other day. Yep, that’s right. And today, just 30 minutes ago, I got a message from him on my cell phone.

The above statements are absolutely true, but they might not mean exactly what you think they mean. No, Tim and I aren’t friends, and Pandora isn’t one of our clients. But I am a loyal Pandora listener. And that is why Tim contacted me.

Tim sent me (and most likely the other 52 million Pandora listeners) an email about an important piece of legislation that has just been introduced in Congress that could end long-standing discrimination against Internet radio. He asked me to contact my senator to urge him to support the Internet Radio Fairness Act. And guess what? Tim then provided Sen. Bob Corker’s contact info right there within the email. Sure, that info is easy to find, but to me, it was more than a convenience factor. I now KNEW that Tim was talkin’ to me. 

So, did I email Sen. Corker right away yesterday? I did not, but I did pay a lot of attention to the email and put it on my to-do list. Besides, and I hate to admit it, I’ve never contacted a politician before in my life – about anything! Then came the message on my phone. I was on my daily walk (listening to Pandora, of course), and between songs, Tim took the opportunity to follow up with me. It took maybe 10 or 15 seconds to reinforce the message of the email, and my next song started playing.

I came home from my walk, got on my laptop and emailed Sen. Corker right away. Within minutes, I received a “Thank you for contacting my office” email in response.

So yeah, Tim from Pandora was talkin’ to me. And better yet, I was listening.

The Naughty List

Courtney Liebenrood Ellett

Please read this sentence aloud: “You know, the restaurant we ate at on Friday was super luxurious, and the staff was wonderful. However, the dining area was outdated, and the tables were sort of tiny. We had a good meal though.”

Now – and don’t cheat by glancing back up – tell me, which words do you recall most easily? If you’re like a majority of the general public, you just mumbled “outdated” and “tiny” to yourself.

Studies show that negative words, experiences and ideas crowd out positive ones in our minds. When we hear a negative word, it is what we remember the most. Check out this recent New York Times article that addresses why this is just human nature. 

Why should we care? It is important for PR professionals and business leaders to understand this phenomenon as it can have serious, and possibly damaging, effects on client relationships.

Imagine that you’ve just received word from a hotel representative that your room is not available. Ask yourself which explanation makes you feel better, knowing that you’re really hearing the exact same message: Sorry, lady, we gave your room away.

Option 1 (wrong): I’m sorry, ma’am. The suite you reserved already has another guest in it. We accidentally double-booked it in our reservation system, and the other person checked in first. Sorry for the mistake; I’m not sure how it happened. Would you be OK with a smaller room?

Option 2 (right): Ms. Ellett, we’re so sorry, but it seems the suite you booked isn’t available as we promised. We’re working diligently to get everything straightened out so you can thoroughly enjoy your stay here at our hotel. Please have a seat in our lounge, relax and enjoy a beverage on the house while we get this taken care of. We’ll get back to you within five minutes and get you all settled in.”

The point is this: Even when the news isn’t all Pollyanna in nature, it can be handled in a way that makes your audience feel better about the situation. The way we say something can make all the difference in the world.

Here are some tips to remember:

• Don’t say negative words.
• Never repeat negative words – even if it is your intent to deny them.
• Think about all of the positive words you want associated with your company. Ensure any front-line colleagues know these words.
• Think about all of the negative words you DO NOT want associated with your company. Again, ensure client-facing staff members know to avoid these words.
• And remember, jargon – words your audiences don’t use on a regular basis – is considered a part of the negative word club. If you must use jargon, immediately explain what you mean.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to avoid the naughty list, give us a shout.

Getting to know...

Our fearless leader and founder of Obsidian Public Relations: Courtney Liebenrood Ellett. Most people only know her as a powerhouse of PR knowledge, but this mother of two has other interests up her sleeve.

Jake and Savannah

Birthday: 5/10/75
Hometown: Collierville, Tenn.
College: The University of Memphis

All-time favorite restaurant:
Have lots of favorites. For Italian, I love Villa Castrioti.

Favorite thing to do in Memphis
Sunday drives and the zoo
 
What is your favorite cause?
Children’s grief camp

Favorite Facebook page and Twitter account: 
I enjoy following @SteveMartinToGo.

How old were you when you got your first cell-phone?
Maybe 16. Can’t remember exactly!
 
Favorite book:
This year’s favorite is “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.”

Favorite pastime:
Love to fish; love to read (but not at the same time!) 

First car:
Mitsubishi Eclipse

If you could go back in time and live during a different era, which would you choose? Early 1900s

What was your first paying job?  
Video store clerk

If your life had a soundtrack what song would you pick for it?
The Shepherd Moons album by Enya

What TV show are you embarrassed about watching?
Tough one. Don’t watch TV very often. I used to watch Taxicab Confessions on HBO. Very embarrassed about that.

What was the first concert you went to see?
It was either New Kids on the Block or Debbie Gibson (both on Mud Island Amphitheater).

If you were an Olympic athlete, in what sport would you compete?
Swimming

What is the most disgusting thing you have ever eaten?
Raw chicken salad. The restaurant forgot to cook the chicken. I’ll save them embarrassment by not naming the offending restaurant.

If you could have a drink with someone from history, who would it be?
Abraham Lincoln

If you could live in any other country for two years, where would you go?
New Zealand