RSC Partners, Inc.

A lawsuit filed yesterday in Alameda County (CA) Superior Court reveals that certain special interests are using the Internet to take electoral deception to new heights (or depths– depending on which side you’re on!).

Proposition 87, which appears on the ballot this fall, would impose a surtax on oil production in California. Predictably, the oil companies hate Prop 87; the activist community (led by the measure’s champion, Steve Bing) loves it. In the words of Michael Buffer, “Leeeet’s get ready to rumble!”

The “yes” on 87 guys preempted the “no” on 87 folks by buying up a slew of domain names that the “no’s” would love to own (e.g.: “noon87.com“). There is nothing unethical about squatting on domain names to keep them away from your opponent, but the “yes-men” went over the line when they set up bogus Web sites at these URL’s designed to whisk voters looking for anti-87 sites, directly into pro-87 Web-sites.

The oil companies sued, citing an obscure California law called the California Political Cyberfraud Abatement Act. They must have had a pretty strong case because the ink on the complaint wasn’t even dry before the “yes-men” offered to settle, giving the oil companies control of the domain names and/or directing viewers to the official “no” on 87 Web site, nooiltax.com.

The moral of this story is that, while the New Media is often viewed as the “Wild West,” there are journalistic standards and best practices that must be observed in the cyber world. This is what gives online content its credibility and influence.

The mistake the pro-87 backers made was to manipulate the truth when they could just as easily have gotten as much or more traction by simply being honest with the online media.

There are millions of bloggers activley reporting on the Internet every day. More than a few of them would happily report on the work that the “no” on 87 campaign is doing, and they would do so in a way that respescts ethical standards.

All the campaign had to do was reach out to the blogosphere and tell its story. Instead, the campaign tried to pull a fast one and its reputation has suffered as a result.

“Yes on Prop 87″ Group Sued Over Cyber No-No [Los Angeles Times]

This week’s Business Week profiles General Motors’ battle with the New York Times over some unpleasant accusations made about GM by Times columnist Tom Friedman. The dust-up is the clearest case study yet about the power of blogs to rebut negative media coverage.

When Friedman called GM a “crack dealer” and stated that the company was “dangerous to America’s future,” GM took offense and submitted a strongly worded letter to the editor. The Times refused to print it due to what the paper felt was uncivilized language (GM executive Brian Akre had the audacity to call the Friedman column “rubbish.”)

GM pulled the letter and instead posted its rebuttal on its corporate blog. That’s when all hell broke loose.

Akre not only posted his letter, but he included email correspondence with the Times that made the paper look foolish, arrogant, and out of touch.

The post was picked up by other media including Automotive News and autoblog.com (two important publications for GM) and now Business Week. Friedman responded with another column on June 14, so GM hit the Times again with another blog post.

The moral of this story is that the monpoly on published news once enjoyed by media heavyweights is over. Companies long accustomed to taking a beating at the hands of the print and broadcast media need suffer in silence no longer. Through the power of the blogoshpere, they now have a voice and a seat at the media table. This is a golden opportunity and it’s there for the taking.

Lots of Mileage Out of “Rubbish” [Business Week]

A Quick Fix For The Gas Addicts [New York Times]

GM Turns to Web Power [Automotive News]

GM Takes Friedman From New York Times To Task [Autoblog.com]

Today it became official at the Board of Directors meeting of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association.  RSC Partners will be coming on board to help VICA’s new President, Brendan Huffman, with the transition–providing Public Affairs and Government Relations services.

While in many ways, I (Scott) will be doing my old job on a consulting basis–helping manage the organization’s numerous committees and working with their volunteer leaders to identify issues and develop positions–we’re also bringing some new ideas to the table.

One way we hope to add to the organization’s advocacy efforts is by creating a new issues tracking system–an idea put forward by the new VICA Chairman Bob Scott.  By using an online user interface for an issues database, we hope to be able to identify issues that are relevant to San Fernando Valley Businesses, put ideas in the pipeline for the development of positions for the organization and then follow up on what’s being done.  This will all be in one place on the internet and will be searchable by those who have access. 

If it sounds like a weblog to you, well, that’s because the software to do this will be remarkably the same–we’re just being creative in how that software is put to use to facilitate a discussion among VICA’s volunteer and professional leadership.

Eitaro Itoyama is a blogger. He also happens to be a billionaire who owns a 4% stake in Japan Airlines. This proved to be a lethal combination for senior JAL management, especially for soon-to-be-former JAL President Toshiuki Shinmachi.

Last month, Itoyama launched a series of scathing attacks against JAL management for its failiure to reverse hundreds of millions of dollars in annual losses, and he specifcally called for Shinmachi’s ouster.

The media picked up the scent and the story spread like wildfire. As a result, Shinmachi will relinquish his duties as President in June and assume the largely ceremonial position of Chairman.

Writing in Forbes, Tim Kelly notes:

“His succesor, Haruka Nishimatsu, who will take over in June if shareholders approve, better beware, because the blogger is on a roll. In a posting, Itoyama referred to the new president as “Nishimatsu Who?” and called on him to reinstate dividend payments.”

Skeptics will argue that given Itoyama’s 4% stake in Japan’s largest airline, he probably could have achieved his objective by simply calling a press conference. But as Forbes’s Mr. Harris points out, Carl Ichan called more than his fair share of press conferences in his recent bid to shake up Time Warner and got nowhere.

Blogs are a powerful new tool in shareholder activism because they give a constant, unfiltered voice to dissident shareholders who wish to critique, complain and to advance an alternative agenda. Corporate executives ignore them a their peril.

Memo to Icahn: Try a Blog [Forbes]

Yes, it’s true. As Kevin Roderick writes on his blog, L.A. Observed–perhaps the most influential media website in Southern California–Ryan and I are Republicans, and we’re working for a Democrat (gasp!).

Although some people might find the very thought to be offensive, to us it is really quite simple–what makes a blog a good blog is the same regardless of whether you’re Republican or Democrat, or writing about entertainment, sports, politics or your cat.

Barry Gordon has his weblog, Barry Talk, to go along with his radio show on a Southern California Air America outlet. He wanted to know if and how he could leverage the power of the Internet to grow his audience both for the radio show and the weblog.

The idea isn’t so far in left field. In fact, it’s because of his embrace of bloggers that Hugh Hewitt became a household name among bloggers.

So, among the many things we’re doing for Barry is helping him make Barry Talk a better blog–from content to presentation to being “linky” and becoming “sticky.” The basic theory is that in blogging Link = Traffic = Happy.

The same rules apply whatever letter you have after your name, and at RSC Partners, we’re working with our clients and successful bloggers to make a formula that works.

Now brand managers and marketing executives are jumping on the New Media bandwagon.  According to the Washington Post:

For companies like ConAgra, the individual opinions blasted out in cyberspace are becoming an increasingly powerful force. Together, they form the fabric of online word of mouth that can determine the hottest new product, make or break a TV show, or set off a customer revolt. Eager to tap into the buzz, a growing number of companies are turning to sophisticated new technologies that track what’s said on Internet social networks, blogs, message boards, product review sites, “listservs” — wherever people congregate publicly online.

For years, companies have spent ridiculous amounts of money on opinion research like polls and focus groups.  Now, everything they need to spot a consumer trend, gain feedback on a product, or evaluate market opportunities is just a few clicks away.

At RSC Partners, we encourage our clients to embrace this “reactive” component of the New Media as a complement to their efforts to promote, publicize and advocate through blogs and other online media.  

One of the first things we did after opening the doors was to design a comprehensive online monitoring program that can track what is being said in the blogosphere about our clients and their issues and products.  (Just as importantly, we can also track what people are saying about their competitors and their products.)

The Post article notes that all of the blog chatter before and during the Olympics could have– and should have–tipped off NBC to its impending ratings disaster in time for the network to make key changes to its programming:

Even NBC’s weak Olympics ratings were partly foreshadowed by chatter in the blogosphere. A sweep of postings shows that conversations about the Olympics peaked around the time of the opening ceremonies then fell off precipitously to just above the low hum weeks before the Games began, according to an analysis prepared for The Washington Post by BuzzMetrics. The survey, which measured the quantity — not the tone of the statements — also found that bloggers posted their thoughts about the hugely popular Fox TV show “American Idol” with just about as much frequency as they did about the Olympics.  Sifting through the economic carnage after the Winter Olympics, this is no doubt a painful and expensive lesson for executives at NBC, but it is one they won’t soon forget.

Blog Buzz Helps Companies Catch Trends In The Making [Washington Post]

We have done a lot of work on legislative, regulatory and community issues, but perhaps the best example of the power of the blogosphere in a public affairs campaign involves a California company that hired us when it saw its primary rival try to poach a large number of its customers with a controversial new development.

Company managers needed a way to give a voice to local community opposition to the project. Working with a local resident who was passionately opposed to the project, we helped her create a Weblog that chronicled her activism in the community.

The activist, “Pat,” blogged about her experiences attending City Council meetings and speaking to her neighbors. Whenever she wrote a letter to an elected official, she’d post it online with a promise to post the elected official’s response (or to remind her readers when the electeds didn’t respond).

Pat also created an online peition and posted news stories and letters to the editor. Pretty soon, City Councilmen and County Supervisors starting turning up some interesting results when they Googled themselves– they found Pat’s site, and knew they had to respond.

One public official took note of Pat’s blog traffic and sprang into action, threatening a lawsuit to block the proposed development. Shortly thereafter, the proposal was withdrawn and we had a very happy client.

The moral of this story: In any public affairs campaign, blogs can be the most cost-efficient, effective way to organize and amplify grassroots causes into an effective voice for political action.