Daniel Secareanu has tagged me with a wonderful meme that definitely suits a Sunday evening. A random artist is created using random creativity, and here’s what band I’d be in and the name of our very first album!

Do you want to play? Here’s how to decide on your band name, your album name and the artwork to be used on the cover. If you like it too much, well, you can actually use it and start writing songs

1. Go to Wikipedia. Use the “random” search option or click here. The name of the first article you find will be your band’s name.
2. Next, go to “Random quotations” or click this link. The last three-four words of the last quote on the page will be your album’s name.
3. Then, go to Flicker and access the photos posted in the last seven days, or click here. The third photo displayed, no matter what it is, will be your album’s cover. As my friend Loredana noticed, you should also check if there’s any copyright or creative commons for that photo and make sure you can a. use it and b. modify it. You should keep going from one photo to the next till you reach you can use. In my case, it took checking out the entire first page, reloading and then checking a few more. Original photo here.
4. Lastly, use your preferred photo editing software or online tool to put everything together.

If you read this and you’re inspired to see what your first album would look and sound like, consider yourself tagged!

Popularity: 13% [?]

A few days ago, I was talking to my friend and fellow blogger Alex about additional ways to promote a blog post he was planning to publish soon. I made a suggestion and a day later we discussed the effect. One of my reactions was: “I have pretty great ideas”. And he said: “Of course, that’s why you’re in PR!”.

And this got me thinking. We now have all the right tools, all the information, there’s hardly anything left to invent or discover. Is the PR success ensured by having great ideas of how to mix everything we can work with to get the best results? Is it already impossible to come with something completely original and has originality been pushed to how we apply what’s been done before?

Knowing the right people and connecting the dots, knowing which is the best media outlet for each story, blending everything new and old in a strategic PR plan, these seem to be the new tricks PR people should be mastering. If there is something called “Black Hat PR”, you know, spammers and the like, this dark world has nothing new to show either.

Then I started thinking of my very own experiences in PR. I’ve been directly involved in the PR and Marketing actions of Axigen for over 2 years now, less at first, more in the past year and a half. I’ve experimented with all available PR paths, some big highways already, others off road challenges for most. I’ve gotten better and better at choosing my own route, doing it creatively and with originality. But I surely haven’t built any new road from scratch.

I can now tell with good accuracy what works with what and share effective ideas with others. I do have great ideas. But when I say idea, I no longer associate the sparkling light bulb with something altogether new, I associate it with making the right connection or with finishing a complicated puzzle.

And if PR people are not shaking the ground with unseen and unheard of techniques, is it a problem? Not really, not at all. We offer the world something new with each clever piece of writing, with each great strategy we put together, with each unforgettable event, with each time we’re being honest and genuine and do the right thing, every time we take the risk of walking on less popular paths. Creativity and innovation are not only in what you’re doing, they’re also in how you’re doing it. Don’t you think?

Popularity: 10% [?]