Dan Fletcher wrote in a recent column in TIME Magazine that he has taken on a few freelance assignments for Demand Media.  He earned $15 for writing tips on hard-disc data recovery – and that was twice what he got for his article on the sacredness of the giraffe!  What does this all mean?

Demand Media has created an algorithm which is too complicated to explain – and too detailed to doubt – that discovers what people want to read.   The discovery leads to key words and then articles which are posted on Demand’s sites.  The sites include ehow.com and livestrong.com – and these get millions of hits

Is this really true?  Are behavioral patterns found from on line research really telling us what we want to read? At least that’s what Demand says. As PR consultants, we share Dan’s fascination – and skepticism.  Key word here: Conundrum.  Demand Media thinks so and people are listening.   But maybe Demand Media is simply creating its own PR buzz – and telling us THAT’s what we want to read.

What do you think? Click on the article below to read it in full.

Rod Smith, Howard and Julie Talenfeld, and Alex Sink welcome guests

Leaders from across South Florida’s business, political and social spectrum turned out strong recently to support Democratic gubernatorial nominees Alex Sink and Rod Smith and the Florida Democratic Party.

The candidates welcomed nearly 150 supporters at the Plantation home of Julie and Howard Talenfeld. The event was one of the largest party fundraisers to date.

The event was fueled by strong word-of-mouth and a grassroots social media effort on Facebook. Among those in attendance were Broward State attorney Mike Satz, Parkland Mayor Michael Udine, Coral Springs Mayor Scott Brook, Weston Mayor Eric Hersh, former Department of Children and Families Secretary and Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth, Nova Southeastern University School of Health Sciences Chancellor Fred Lippman, State Senator Nan Rich, State Representative Ari Porth, Broward Democratic Party Chair Mitch Ceasar, and former Florida Senator Skip Campbell.

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Boardroom Communications’ COO Don Silver longtime Boardroom client Field of Flowers CEO Donn Flipse were featured

in a recent Reuters article about ghost blogging.

Silver commented on the increase in demand for ghost blogging.

“You’ve got to find new platforms to convey your news and messaging,” said Silver, whose South Florida-based public relations firm develops and manages blogs for clients ranging from insurance companies to law and accounting firms to retailers.

Donn Flipse, owner of Field of Flowers, a chain of South Florida floral super stores with locations in Boca Raton, Davie and Kendall, relies on Boardroom to supplement internal posts released under authorship of its fictional nom de plume, Dr. Phil O. Dendron. The character writes about special events taking place at the stores and alerts customers whenever company executives appear in local news.
Silver attributed the rising interest in blogging in part to a decline in opportunities for traditional media coverage and the need to take advantage of the power of social media and search engine marketing.

Why ghost bloggers? Busy executives do not have the time to manage and write frequent blog posts and promote them on social media. Many Florida PR agencies have filled the vacuum and taken over their client’s blogs. How often do you hear, “Where do you find the time to do all of that blogging and social media posts?” Guess who is really doing it?

The article also described a ghost blogger’s job as including a mix of strategic and editorial tasks including: keeping abreast of hot-button issues, developing editorial calendars, penning original posts, as well as enlisting raw copy from a company’s insiders and transforming it into readable text.

visit Reuters.com for full story

Boardroom Communications President Julie Talenfeld was recently interviewed for the “ICON” feature of Lifestyle publications. Click below to read the entire story.