Make Yourself Weird - Only Get to Know Folks Like You

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Matt Damon was interviewed by the Associated Press recently and made some comments about the upcoming Presidential election here in the US that made some headlines.

Now I am a fan of Damon’s work. If you ever get a chance to hear him talk about what he put himself through to get ready for his break through role in Courage Under Fire it’s hard to deny the guy is seriously committed to excellence in his profession. And there is no doubt Damon is one of the most bankable actors around.

I like watching his movies.

Fear of the Unknown

In the interview Damon expresses concern about Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin because he “doesn’t know anything about her.” And it kind of freaks him out.

Were that really the case (the lack of knowledge, not the freaking out) I suppose I could see where he’s coming from. But with the intense media scrutiny that Palin (and her whole family) has been under these last couple of weeks it seems a little strange for him to say he doesn’t know anything about her.

I suspect he really means something more along the lines of “I don’t know anyone like her or who values the things she does.”

Take a look for yourself. Read more

Hillary Clinton’s Approach to Social Media Killed Her Campaign

Hillary Clinton campaigned for president using a traditional approach to media. I call it the Push & Spin Approach. At this point that outdated approach to media, along with the rest of her campaign, seems to have failed miserably.

Push & Spin

The traditional approach to media is all about control. Build relationships with the key media influencers so that they are willing to listen to your side of things when you “push” your message out to the public through them.

The goal is to get news about you (and your organization, business, etc.) presented to the public in a favorable light or positive spin. Hopefully once the message starts going in your favor it will keep moving in that direction just like a spinning object holds a straighter trajectory than one that isn’t spinning.

Wikipedia has this to say about PR Spin:

In public relations, spin is a usually pejorative term signifying a heavily biased portrayal in one’s own favor of an event or situation. While traditional public relations may also rely on creative presentation of the facts, “spin” often, though not always, implies disingenuous, deceptive and/or highly manipulative tactics. Politicians are often accused of spin by their political opponents.

The Clintons have long been masters of this traditional push & spin approach to media. Read more