Motion Sickness from “Spinning the Web: P.R. in Silicon Valley”

Brew Hammerling

Plus Ça Change, Plus c’est la Même Chose

I’m in tears over “Spinning the Web: P.R. in Silicon Valley.”  I first heard about it through the folks at Version 2.0 Communications, then read a follow-up on PR2.0, Brian Solis’ blog.

This morning I checked the date on the article again to make sure I was here, in the present moment, and not somehow transported back to July 1999.

To summarize: the article is about shifts in the world of public relations, and the leadership being exhibited by Brew Hammerling.

Disclosure: I don’t know Brew Hammerling, I’ve never met Brew Hammerling, but based on the article I’m sure we were at the same industry event on a few occasions, and I think she’s got a great nickname.

Here is an excerpt which reveals how Brew earned this position of leadership:

Ms. Hammerling, while popping green apple Jolly Ranchers into her mouth, suggests a press tour that includes briefing bloggers at influential geek sites like TechCrunch, All Things Digital and GigaOM.

But Roger McNamee, a prominent tech investor who is backing Wordnik, is also in the room, and a look of exasperation passes across his face at the mere mention of the sites.

“Why shouldn’t we avoid them? They’re cynical,” he says, also noting his concern that Wordnik would probably appeal more to wordsmiths than followers of tech blogs. “That’s where I would be most uncomfortable. They don’t know the difference between ‘they’re’ and ‘there.’ ”

Without missing a beat, Ms. Hammerling changes course, instantly agreeing with Mr. McNamee’s take. “I love you for that,” she intones. “I’ll leave the tech blogs out. Let them come to me.”

Instead, she decides that she will “whisper in the ears” of Silicon Valley’s Who’s Who — the entrepreneurs behind tech’s hottest start-ups, including Jay Adelson, the chief executive of Digg; Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter; and Jason Calacanis, the founder of Mahalo.

OK: let me get this right.  Brew is rolling out her launch strategy — and to sound au courant, she must of course include outreach to the new media influencers.

Unfortunately for Brew, the client’s CEO has her board chairman in the room to hear the agency pitch.  A nightmare for the marketing team under the best of conditions, but in this case it’s Roger McNamee: to the manor born, Ivy Leaguer, Grateful Dead cover-band leader, chum of all the technology industry’s big names.  No problem for Brew: she knows Roger,  and Larry Ellison and Bono, too, because, according to the article, she dated one of the band members from REM.  Aha!

However busy the social calendar, Brew did not miss the class which advises: “When the chairman challenges your strategy, immediately embrace his point of view.  Make his idea your idea.”  She goes one better, proclaiming her love for the genius.  Can she get any further up McNamee’s nether portal?

The article in question is about Brew’s launch of wordnik.  Wordnik’s results page for the word “integrity” includes the following: “Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.”  To have integrity, you have to have principles.  You have to adhere to them.  If you believe in your ideas and your plans, Brew, you stand up to the chairman and you tell him what you think.  Especially when a New York Times correspondent is in the room recording the conversation.

This whole article brought me back to a time — the late 1990s — when the tether broke.  We were so high on our own fumes we thought it was sustainable that business without customers, revenue, or written plans could enjoy valuations in the hundreds of millions of dollars at their hastily executed IPOs.  In those days, you could get away with making ridiculously ambitious statements.  Indeed, the more outrageous the claim, the greater the reward from industry pundits, and, subsequently, the market.

The fun didn’t end, though, before McNamee’s (and many others’) pockets were even more richly lined than they were at birth.  I won’t ever forget how Roger spoke at my Internet Startup’s launch party at the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco — saying that the industry had changed forever, and there was no end in sight to how the internet and tech firms would continue to create these enormous pools of wealth.  Roger has been correct about many things, but on this occasion, March 16, 2000, he couldn’t have been more wrong.

The startup was called Bowstreet.  After gathering up nearly $150 million in venture capital, the firm soared, then crashed — unable to make the IPO window as the bubble famously burst.  What was left of the firm was sold to IBM for 10 cents on the dollar in 2005.

Dear readers, I find what’s going on in the media world today fascinating.  But occasionally it is also humorous, as I see us condemning ourselves to repeat the history from which we are supposed to learn.

Or am I naive and idealistic to think that in our professional pursuits we should have principles, integrity, and boundaries?

Oh, that’s right — we’re talking about P.R.

I would love to read your comments on this topic.

Tagged as: Advertising and Marketing, Brew Hammerling, briansolis, Digg, GigaOM, Jason Calacanis, Jay Adelson, Mahalo.com, Public relations, Roger McNamee, Silicon Valley, Twitter, Version 2.0 Communications