Steve Radick

Steve Radick

Booz Allen Hamilton
I’m a Lead Associate with Booz Allen Hamilton. I founded and currently lead our Digital Strategy & Social Media practice, and blog about social media, Government 2.0, Enterprise 2.0, and Social Business at "Social Media Strategy" located at www.steveradick.com.
  • The Future of Branding is About Making Friends, Not Ads
    0 comments 534 reads
    Posted on 2012-05-12


    Make friends, not ads.™

    That's the message that greeted me when I first opened the Cramer-Krasselt homepage and again when I walked into the lobby for my first interview five months ago. Seemed especially fitting for me as I've railed against traditional advertising ("look at me!! come buy my stuff!! Now! Now! Now!") and traditional PR ("we're the world's leading provider of innovative solutions…") for what seems like forever. Five months after that first interview and six weeks after my first day, I realize that this is much more than a tagline – it's the future of branding. 

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  • PR Pros and Wikipedia: Can They Ever Get Along?
    0 comments 402 reads
    Posted on 2012-05-01
    Photo courtesy of Flickr user bitjungle

    Photo courtesy of Flickr user bitjungle

    All Wikipedia articles and other encyclopedic content must be written from a neutral point of view. This means that editors should avoid stating opinions as facts, avoid stating seriously contested assertions as facts, avoid presenting uncontested assertions as mere opinion, use non-judgmental language, and accurately indicate the relative prominence of opposing views.

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  • Public Relations Isn’t the Cherry on Top
    0 comments 274 reads
    Posted on 2012-04-24
    Photo courtesy of Flickr user SeRVe Photography

    Photo courtesy of Flickr user
    SeRVe Photography

    "Let's bring PR in so they'll get us some media coverage for the new launch!"

    "Let's make sure we have PR look this over to make us sound better."

    "Can you have PR develop a plan to make sure the public thinks we're awesome?"

    "Our customers keep complaining about our product – can we get PR in here to help drown that out with good stuff instead?" 

    "No one is following our Twitter/Facebook/YouTube/Pinterest/LinkedIn/Foursquare account – can PR go get us more fans/followers/likes/subscribers/friends?"...

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  • Stop Trying to Take the Easy Way Out
    0 comments 825 reads
    Posted on 2012-04-08

    I attended the PRSA Digital Impact Conference last week, and like many PR events, it had a mix of really great presentations but I also noticed the continuation of a disturbing trend throughout our profession – laziness. Laziness disguised as "social media best practices" and cool new tools. 

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  • Identify the Right People to Manage Your Social Media Initiatives
    0 comments 536 reads
    Posted on 2012-04-03

    A version of this post originally appeared on this blog last year. I'm re-posting it with a few minor modifications because I just gave a presentation based on this content at PRSA's Digital Impact Conference. The full presentation is embedded below and available here.

    ...

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  • Establishing a Vision and Then Getting Your Team to Buy Into It
    0 comments 606 reads
    Posted on 2012-03-24

    As I wrap up my first week in Chicago, I've fully realized the advantage of working with the same people for years – they knew exactly how I thought about PR, social media, communications, and branding. They knew what I looked for in their work, what questions I would ask, what points I wanted them to make. Over the years, they had heard me say the same things so many times that they had all bought into the same approach to our work. This wasn't because it was mandated  or because I beat it into them (I don't have, what you might call an intimidating presence), but because we were worked together to form these axioms and bought into them collectively. 

    ...
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  • Are You a Corporate Rebel?
    0 comments 418 reads
    Posted on 2012-03-07

    One of my new favorite sites is www.rebelsatwork.com/. Started by Lois Kelly and retired deputy director of intelligence for the CIA, Carmen Medina, the site is meant to give corporate rebels a platform to share their stories and ideas and help more corporations and big organizations succeed because of (not in spite of) their rebels. 

    What's a corporate rebel you ask? According to the Rebels at Work site - 

    You hear about innovators in start-ups all the time. Rebelliousness and restlessness are accepted qualities of entrepreneurs. But what about people on the inside of big organizations? How do they blaze new trails and find ways to change business as usual. What are their characteristics? What makes them tick? How do you find them? Could they be an untapped resource for creating more...

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  • How Average Players Use Twitter and a Human Voice to Become Social Media Superstars
    0 comments 528 reads
    Posted on 2012-02-22

    Have you heard of Brandon McCarthy, Paul Bissonette, Pat McAfee, and Antonio Brown? If you're like most people, you probably haven't. We're not exactly talking about Kobe Bryant or Derek Jeter here. Why would you know anything about a middle of the road starting pitcher, a left-winger with 5 career goals, a punter, and a wide receiver who has been a starter for exactly one season? If you happen to run an organization or handle public relations for an organization though, you should get to know them because there's plenty you can learn about communications, public relations, and branding from them.

    Take a look at their Twitter feeds – they talk about partying, drinking, farts, pranks, and the women they go out with. They make fun of their teammates, curse, and share...

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  • Do You Have a Social Media Superman Complex?
    0 comments 648 reads
    Posted on 2012-02-08

    I've become the designated "social media guy" for a massive organization (25,000+ people). For a while, the responsibilities of this role consisted primarily of explaining what the Twitters were and why people cared about what you ate for lunch. As social media has grown in popularity, so too has the internal and external demand for people who know what they're talking about (the demand is so great that even people who have no clue what they're talking about are in demand). My time has since become monopolized by my colleagues asking me to join meetings, review work products, pitch clients, and "pick my brain." Once the words "social media" were uttered, the call went out – let's get Steve in here right away!! 

    I liked it. I was in high demand, and I became well-known throughout my huge company as THE social media guy. It was fun and led to awards, promotions...

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  • What Kind of Online Community Do You Have Behind Your Firewall?
    0 comments 617 reads
    Posted on 2012-01-23

    As CIOs and Chief Knowledge Officers bring tools that have been used on the Internet – blogs, wikis, microblogs, profiles – behind the firewall, they tend to expect the same results. "We'll have our own Wikipedia!" Or Facebook…or Twitter – you name it. Unfortunately, as many have already discovered and many more will continue to discover, successful communities are dependent on many variables, from the accessibility, speed, and reliability of the technology to your community managers. Despite the newsletter articles, blog posts, press releases, and conference presentations, many "communities" are nothing more than a new version of the same old Intranet, only with shinier tools.

    So, if you're deploying social tools internally, what kind of community is your...

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