I’m at the airport. Boarding passes are in hand. Security checkpoint is done. Boston Stoker (yes!) coffee purchased and I’m sitting at the coffee shop finishing up some correspondence for this conference.

My presentation is "done," but as I sit here I keep thinking of different directions I could go with this. There is so much about social media that I simply can’t cover a lot of ground in 45 minutes.

This will be an exciting presentation, though. Information Officers are just now becoming aware of the various opportunities available to them in the social/new media realm. Some are engaging tremendously. Others are just now exploring. Some don’t even know what’s happening.

I was listening to some of the commentary on a recent episode of For Immediate Release (the Hobson and Holtz Report, Podcast #372: August 18, 2008) while driving to the airport. There was discussion about recent views on whether or not PR is needed for new tech startups. One argument states that it is NOT necessary, as the social media realm will cover this need. Hmm… more fodder for the presentation. IMO, PR will always be needed in some facet or another; social media is just one avenue for presenting that which may need to be presented. Traditional media avenues will need to be approached, as well. By "someone."

Would be interested in @DougH ‘s view on this particular thread of conversation from FIR and the blogosphere.