Should PR come in one voice, or a thousand?

Chris Anderson’s Long Tail weblog wonders if the new dynamics of communications and consumer conversation require a new focus for traditional public relations strategies. As standard press releases and generic corporate pronouncements get less and less attention, he suggests that the best response might be to stop speaking in a single voice…instead enabling the many voices within your organization to speak for themselves. Says he:

I wonder whether the solution to this is to evolve the role of PR from external relations to internal relations, from communications to coaching employees on how to effectively do the outreach themselves.

As an example, he mentions Microsoft’s 3,000 bloggers who speak with specific expertise about emerging products and challenges. For consumers with a high level of expertise and a true passion for the field (software and gaming, in this case), these 3000 individual bloggers offer a palette of opportunities for leading-edge updates, inside scoops, and an on-going narrative in a personal voice.

I’m sure there are cultural organizations that have enabled their staff to speak directly to their community about their area of expertise — programmers at presenting organizations, curators at museums, artistic directors, community engagement professionals, education staff, and so on. If you know of a few, post the link as a comment to this entry. They needn’t be ”official” weblogs of the organization, but they should be encouraged and supported by the mother ship.