Blog it, own it!

So major lesson number one about blogging: unless you are driven to write by pure enthusiasm, inspiration or even anger; the only way to stay regular is to set yourself deadlines. Its 6 weeks now since I last posted and thats pretty poor. None of the three above criteria have hit and so without a weekly or fortnightly update objective, the blog went cold.

However, one other prime motivating factor exists - ownership. If you want to own something, then blog it. It once was the case that if you wanted to be sure of ownership - aside from taking out a trademark or patent - you would write it down and post it to yourself in a self-addressed, registered post envelope.

Well this is the Web 2.0 equivalent. I am going to 'post' it to myself:

The PR Plug Hole Effect.
This is the term I believe I have coined for the phenomenon in PR I have come to experience where certain issues just keen dragging you down the same pathway whichever angle you approach something from. Imagine the basin or bath as the entire landscape of topics a particular subject could cover. However, there is one topic you wish to avoid with the press - sadly the most compelling for the media usually.

For a time, whatever Bill Clinton tried to talk about, Monica Lewinsky was his plug hole. Wherever on the basin he tried to land his agenda it would automatically descend into the plug hole. Ultimately, unless you address and neutralise the 'plug hole' issue, your credibility will follow you down the plug hole as well.

In politics, sadly sex is often the downfall. Poor old Profumo resigned not only because he lied to the House Of Commons, but because surely everytime he spoke, all people could think about what Christine Keeler. Mr Spitzer is a modern day Profumo.

But at a more macro level, it can happen to countries. For China, Tibet will now operate as a plug hole for them as they approach the Olympics. Unless they find a way to mitigate the issue, it will cloud everything and potentially drag the whole multi-billion dollar event down the lug hole. America's entire foreign policy went down a plug hole over Iraq and will stay there until they lose the current administration.

You either plug the hole, or get sucked down it!

There...its blogged, I own it. The PR Plug Hole Effect tm!