VJs Power Blog

Writer / Director Jason Reitman has found a playful way to deal with the onslaught of questions asked during his current press tour for his new movie Up in the Air with George Clooney.

He’s made a pie chart.

The colors of slices indicate how many of the reporters questions have been about the film, vs. Clooney vs. the U.S. economy vs. his Dad, legendary director / producer Ivan Reitman.

I remember seeing Jason at the screening of Thank You for Smoking where he talked about how he had gone off to medical school on the East Coast, thinking that’s what he ’should’ do—but he was miserable.  His Dad told him to do whatever he loved—which happened to be the film industry—and the rest is history.

Jason Reitman brought us Juno.  And Thank You For Smoking.  And now, Up in the Air.

Don’t worry Dad.  That East Coast education still paid off.  Where else would you learn to do a pie chart?

I’m back on the air anchoring the morning news at KABC 790 TalkRadio in Los Angeles this week, and as I was listening to the talk show host Peter Tilden interview a company spokesman today it struck me how easily information flows when you’re ready to play the game.

Communication is that special ability to both listen and speak; answer and ask.  And when you handle it at the pace, language level, and entertainment quality the fast-paced broadcast world demands, it can be a pleasure to listen to and participate in.

When the host glanced at the clock and told the phone-in guest he had “just a minute left” to wrap it up, and he tossed him another question, the guest answered it within the time constraint and on target.  That seldom comes naturally to people.  But when you train that media muscle, you can perform like a champ.

I often peruse company websites to get a feel for their vision, focus, clientele and values, and sometimes what I find is startling.

I recently hit upon a PR agency website, specializing in technology and start-ups.  The owner described herself on the bio page as ‘direct’ with a no-nonsense approach.

Then I clicked on her blog.

She cussed like a sailor.  In every posting, there were four-lettered words, lashing out at someone or something.  This, on a professional company blog.

What she may have interpreted as ‘direct’ came off as ANGRY.  And no one I would ever want to do business with.

Whether you’re on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Plaxo or especially on the blog that’s linked on your company website, your face and company are on public view–the same as if you were live on TV.  Would you talk that way on TV?  Not for more than 3 seconds.  They’d yank you.  For there’s not much of a reason to add to the negative state of the world.

I got a call this week from the online private equity forum peHUB asking me to respond to an interview that LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner had given to the U.K.’s Sunday Telegraph in which he refused to answer personal questions.

The result of his actions?  The article began this way:  “For a man who runs a $1bn (£616m) social networking site, Jeff Weiner isn’t terribly sociable. He has just refused to tell me where he goes on holiday or even what type of car he drives.”

As I told the interviewer Connie Loizos, “CEOs have to wear lots of hats — you have to be an expert in business management, handling shareholders, marketing — but some forget that they’re also the public face of their company and that people want a personal connection to them.”

As for Weiner’s attempt to control the interview with this comment:  “Come on,” he exclaims when I push a final personal question. “LinkedIn, LinkedIn, LinkedIn. It’s about the company, not me.”

YOU’RE WRONG.  When you take over that job, you are the face of the company.  With the right media training, there are ways for you to get your points across as well as satisfy the reporter’s needs.  The readers expect it.  Your company and its clients expect it.

Guy Kawasaki is such a slouch. A successful entrepreneur, venture capitalist, author, speaker, and consultant, I’ve found him typing away online at all hours of the day and night. A few weeks back I reviewed his latest website, the “online magazine rack” at alltop.com where he’s attempting to help us organize the gazillion info sites we all love to visit.

This week on his blog, Guy has a great personal story about what he learned in dealing with a prickly PR issue involving the Wall Street Journal and coverage (or lack thereof) of Alltop. It’s a great example of how the new media morphifications of old media ain’t followin’ the rules. Which, in this case, was a good thing.

I’ll let Guy tell the rest.