Can We Do That?!
By: Amy Crosby
For this class I chose to read Can We Do That?! by Peter Shankman. This book talks about some of the crazy business stunts PR professionals have pulled in order to get their clients some publicity. Shankman is CEO of The Geek Factory, Inc. located in New York City. In the beginning of the book, he starts out with the PR basics and gradually eases up from that point. From Chapter 3 on, Shankman engulfs the reader with numerous accounts of PR stunts than some think prove to be unethical, but Shankman shows us that these stunts are the mere result of PR professionals coming up with a great idea and actually following through with it.
My favorite section of the book is about the WebDive 2000. This was a time when the PR industry was booming and new clients were coming in and new employees were being added to the payroll. The Greek Factory decided to take a new approach to how they looked at clients. They ultimately decided to treat themselves, the employees, like clients. They decided to promote themselves as the agency that loves what they do. Skydiving became the theme around WebDive 2000 and they decided to take all of the employees skydiving. In late May, they posted a message saying, "Want to jump out of a plane? The Geek Factory is thinking of organizing a giant Skydiving Day for Silicon Valley area people. Interested? E-mail us." Within three hours they had filled up 100 spots and had a wait list almost as long. Of course the media stories were spectacular. BusinessWeek did a full-page story online. PR Week magazine gave them the headline "When Thee Geeks Say Jump, Bring Your Business Card," and the first line said, "Want to find out what your clients and media contacts are really made of? Jump out of a plane with them."
In the end, the WebDive was a successful event for so many different reasons. They got spectacular coverage and a host of new clients. The company also got a great story they can all tell forever. Reporters learned that they were truly creative and made friendships that have lasted.
Shankman on "putting ourselves into ruts."
"We settle into routine because it's comfortable. We take the expressway the same way to work each day because it's easy. We go to the burger place on the corner instead of the health food store because it's a block closer. We are trained to take the easy way out. And that's fine for some things.
The problem, however, is when we do the same thing in all facets of our lives. Because we then become complacent. Complacency, as said many, many times, can lead to failure."
From this, among many of Shankman's other brilliant stories we see the following:
-Ideas come when you least expect them to: Be ready, not only to write down the idea, but ready to act on it immediately.
- Treat yourself as the client. Do it the same way you would if you were a client. After all, you're "paying" for your time in other ways; don't waste it.
- Be creative, and don't be afraid to fail.
