Make sure you know what people are saying about you and your product. It's a new, unfamiliar world for marketing and PR people. Until fairly recently, marketing communications were tightly controlled, and mostly one-way. Where there was a need/desirefor two-way communication, it was done on terms set by marketing and PR - focus groups, market surveys, analyst briefings (etc.). The emergenceof the blog-o-sphere has changed all of that, in ways that are every bit as profound as the sea change wrought hundreds of years ago by Gutenberg's printing press.

He'll be talking about the need to keep track ofthe ongoing commentary that's taking place, outside of the control of PR professionals. It'sno longer enough to have aconsistent message;you now need to be aware of what's being saidabout you, your products, or your client'sproducts at all times. I'll give afew examplesof companies not paying attention fast enough,and how that's impacted their public image. I'll also explain how I, in my role as a product manager, track references to the products I work with.

You'll learn how I track ongoingcommentary about our product, and how you can dothe same thing to keep track of yours.