Monica Nguyen Blog #5

Cohn & Wolfe

I was looking forward to seeing Cohn & Wolfe because they present themselves as a PR agency and I was excited to see it in comparison to Rogers & Cowan, an Entertainment PR agency I briefly interned for in Los Angeles.

Cohn & Wolfe definitely has a more relaxed atmosphere than what I’ve seen before in the past. I like the company culture and that they have a wide range of clients from healthcare to consumer products. I was surprised that the Optic White event during Fashion Week implemented more of a branding side than traditional Public Relations because they did not really discuss relationships with the media and writing press releases, pitches etc.

Aesthetically, McCann definitely has Cohn & Wolfe beat. Their office did not seem as fancy and artistic like McCann’s did. Cohn & Wolfe did not seem to have a big common area for internal gatherings like at McCann’s.

Cohn & Wolfe definitely has a more easy-going aura about them compared to some of the other agencies we visited. Their employees and speakers all dressed casual and when they were presenting to us, many of them would just chime in with their own experiences and opinions so it was very conversational.

As for our internship, I do not think Cohn & Wolfe was effective at “pitching” at us to want to work for them, especially being a PR agency where they should know who their audience is. They spoke to us as if we were “juniors of seniors,” which kind of showed that they did not even know who we were and could have given the same speech to any other group. It seemed very on-script and I did not get a genuine vibe from them.  Also their summer internship program was structured as an introduction to PR for people that have no experience in the industry.

I really enjoy our trips to these companies and I think I am learning a lot but as I’ve mentioned in my previous posts, I do not want to work at an agency. I am really looking forward to our other stops like Jet Blue and Harpers.

The Target is You: IBM Smarter Planet Update

On October 18^th, IBM Smarter Planet announced that the MD Anderson Cancer Center will use IBM Watson to help battle cancer.  Dr. Courtney DiNardo talked about how she had a patient that developed a potentially life-threatening complication that can sometimes occur during leukemia treatment. It is called tumor lysis syndrome and if not treated proactively, it can cause kidney failure, a heart attack or death. A computing system that uses IBM Waton’s technology alerted her of the situation so she took action immediately and the patient is now doing ok.

This technology definitely can save lives. Here is an example of how cognitive computing technology has the potential to help improve medical care and the entire healthcare system.

The IBM Watson system gathers information and presents it to the physician in summary form but then allows you to see the evidence upon which it bases its recommendations. It can also match individual patients who have not responded to conventional treatment in clinical trials that might be appropriate for them. As physicians interact with Watson, it gets better at its job as it learns. Doctors can type feedback to the system when it doesn’t draw on all of the evidence they need when doing a diagnosis.

This was fascinating for me and I’ve been keeping up to date with IBM Watson after I competed in a competition in Los Angeles. I think there is so much potential for this technology to be implemented into our society and help make us a “smarter” planet.

IBM Smarter Planet has been effective on their social media outlets and I found out about this IBM Watson story from their facebook. They also posted it on their Twitter. See both below:

Every week, I love writing these posts about IBM Smarter Planet because there are so many stories I can sift through on their social media outlets. The hardest part of these posts is deciding which one to talk about! There are many other fascinating stories that publicize IBM Smarter Planet’s initiative.

Current Event

A Kickstarter project that could make cycling in the city a breeze:

As city planners and green-energy experts endeavor to find new ways to make our commutes more environmentally friendly, the popularity of bicycle-sharing has exploded in some of the world’s biggest cities. I’m sure we’ve all seen the citi bikes around NYC. Now a new device promises to make riding around the city even more convenient by adding a smart wheel to your bicycle.

The FlyKly Smart Wheel is a circular device that provides an electric-powered pedal assist after you attach it to the back wheel of your bicycle. Once you start pedaling, the motor in the FlyKly starts up, and begins making the ride easier by delivering a boost, depending on your speed. Check out this video to see it in action: 



To operate the FlyKly, you simply set a top speed on the device’s app, which is compatible with iOS and Android devices, as well as the Pebble smart watch. The app and device combination also acts as a GPS tracker for your bike in the event it gets stolen.

The reason I wanted to choose this is because Kickstarter has revolutionized campaigning and start-ups no longer have to hire PR practitioners to raise money and to get the word out there about their product. I am interested in this evolution. FlyKly launched a Kickstarter campaign, and is already nearly halfway to its $100,000 goal. Early adopters can snag the device for $550, and should expect it to arrive some time in May 2014. 

When I was at USC, I worked with a small on-campus PR firm and we did pro-bono consulting for a client called ZBoard which was started-up by USC Alumni. A ZBoard is an electric skateboard that functions like a segway. They said kickstarter was where they got most of their funding so I can see how FlyKly is going through that similar path. I thought the Segway might be the game-changing vehicle that would transform the way cities are built. But it turns out that just a small tweak to an existing invention may be all the transportation innovation we need.