It has been a long, long time since we’ve had a president or other national leader with the rhetorical skills of Barack Obama. It is going to be a treat to listen to him talk and use the power of communications to push his agenda.

So Obama tops my 2009 Comms Wish List. Here are my five wishes for 2009:

1. That Obama’s powerful rhetoric and use of language begins to spur a rise across the nation in literacy, and in the business world, that more comms professionals are inspired to raise the quality of their language and communications skills in their business communications
2. That the economic downturn is less severe and less widespread than feared, because often, comms and marketing are among the first cutbacks
3. A corollary to the above: that there are lots of examples of top managers deciding to maintain or even increase their comms and marketing budgets this year because they realize, correctly, that now is the time to boost communications spending, not cut it
4. That I start to see more PR practitioners embrace, really embrace the power of social media and new online technologies to spread their message, instead of just putting out an old-fashioned press release and then praying for traditional media pick up.
5. Here’s my curveball: that I see lots of goofy and inane PR and marketing stunts that defy logic and provide juicy fodder for bloggers like me!

Had coffee today with Elke Heiss, VP of Sterling Communications and head of their SF office. I know Elke from doing a media training program for one of her clients, ShoreTel Inc., last year.

First of all, Elke recommended that I stop calling my training programs “media training” and instead re-position them as “spokesperson training,” because spokespeople need broader training than just speaking to the press. Doh! Done. Not just because Elke said so, but because positioning of services like these ought to be about the client, not about the medium or the context.

Elke was full of interesting insights about PR, media and communications. Here’s a sampling:

• On the need for PR: Too many companies think they can go it alone, that in the Internet age, they don’t need PR counselors because they believe that can communicate directly with bloggers and other influencers. Elke believes (and I totally agree) that companies need PR counsel even more now than ever, because social media is just another new media that will supplement, not supplant, existing media. Think radio — it didn’t go away because TV was invented, did it?
• On networking: we’re social creatures and need to be in physical contact with each other — we can’t live by computer interactions alone. That’s why her calendar is full of networking events such as the Dealmaker’s Forum Momentum conference (which her firm is sponsoring), MediaBistro events and Bay area tech conferences.
• On Second Life: over-hyped. Who has time? And more to the point, how can companies make money on it? If they can’t, she believes, it will fade away.

Had these links on my desktop for several weeks. Click if interested:

• New York Times: Can Blogs Become a Big Source of Jobs?
• New Yorker: Profile of Walt Mossberg
• Second Life TV: A Second Life Video on Faith and Spirituality from UC Berkeley School of Journalism

There was a great deal of interest in Second Life at the Bulldog conference last week — those who got it (mainly presenters) talking to rapt audiences of those of us who don’t yet get it (virtually everyone else, me included).

I totally get that it’s a super-hot trend. I even get why companies and other are flocking there. What I don’t get is an urge to get involved. And that probably has to do with my age (sigh) and the apparent (from the outside) learning curve necessary to get something out of Second Life.

But I’ll be following it very closely, as much as a new social media trend as a straight media relations trend (I’ve heard of interviews being conducted in Second Life, but it will be some time, if ever, before this venue replaces other forms of communication with journalists).

So here are some links about Second Life, or rather, the broader category of “immersive worlds.”

‘Daily Dog: Cisco’s New PR Recipe: Includes other topics but also covers Cisco’s use of Second Life

Eric Kintz of HP: Top 10 Reasons Why I Still Need to be Convinced about Second Life

Morgan McLintic, Lewis PR: Get a Second Life

PS — Don’t assume that the “immersive worlds” trend will stop with Second Life. Remember, in 1999 everyone thought search was totally covered, and then along came Google. Immersive worlds are probably here to stay, but I expect other players to challenge Second Life’s current dominance.