Month: January 2009

will twitter kill our obsession with celebrity?

Posted on by Becky Green (was McMichael)

I had a thought last night…….will Twitter will be the tool that breaks the last decade’s obsession with celebrity gossip?

Like so many obsessions, that of following celebrities’ every supposed move in the press, visiting gossip sites and pouring over papped photos is often fuelled by a desire to feel part of that world.

So if today I can follow @celebrity and hear where they are going tonight/what they are wearing to the Oscars/who is the next guest on their show from the horse’s mouth, why do I need to scour the Internet for rumours?  And surely Twitter provides the ultimate fan experience? True two-way conversation…..can that ever live up to expectations?

Moving on a  step will the smart celebs post pics themselves using services like Twitpic, thus rendering the papped shots in the next morning’s paper or celebrity website out of date and with less narrative?

Wouldn’t a Twitpic of Sarah Harding hammered outside a club posted on Cheryl Cole’s Twitter account spread far and wide and kill the need for papped shots showing the same? {this is an example – as far as I know they don’t have Twitter accounts…yet}

We’ve been due a backlash on the celebrity obsession trend for a while now, will this be it?

celeb-tweet-cartoon

grim reading for tech PRs

Posted on by Becky Green (was McMichael)

Anyone in technology PR who isn’t recalibrating their business and tightening their belts should take a look at the latest list collated by CNET on tech redundancies.  CNET has also put together a link to track its coverage of layoffs and financial news within the sector here and suggests a Twitter search to get a live picture of the situation.  It ain’t pretty.

cnet

As clients and prospects increasingly look to cut costs it is imperative they see value, creativity, impeccable quality, huge results and genuine business benefit from the campaigns we run.

So the old “plan for the worst, hope for the best” saying has rarely been truer than today.

twestival 2009 – a case study in the making

Posted on by Becky Green (was McMichael)

twestival-logo1

If anyone needs an example of what Twitter or other forms of social media can do for their organisation? Ask Charity: water on February 13th after one hell of a party has taken place. worldwide

On 12 February 2009 100+ cities around the world will be hosting Twestivals which bring together Twitter communities for an evening of fun and to raise money and awareness for charity: water.

The Twestival is organized 100% by volunteers in cities around the world and 100% of the money raised from these events will go directly to support charity: water projects.

In September 2008, a group of Twitterers based in London UK decided to organise an event where the local Twitter community could socialize offline; meet the faces behind the avatars, enjoy some entertainment, have a few drinks and tie this in with a food drive and fundraising effort for a local homeless charity.

The bulk of the event was organized in under two weeks, via Twitter and utilized the talents and financial support of the local Twittersphere to make this happen.

Around the world similar stories started appearing of local Twitter communities coming together and taking action for a great cause. Twestival was born out of the idea that if cities were able to collaborate on an international scale, but working from a local level, it could have a spectacular impact.

By rallying together globally, under short timescales, for a single aim on the same day, the Twestival hopes to bring awareness to this global crisis.

charity: water is a non profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations by funding sustainable clean water solutions in areas of greatest need.

Right now 1.1 billion people on the planet don’t have access to safe, clean drinking water. That’s one in six of us.

Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of all sickness and disease, and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Many communities in developing nations often have a plentiful supply of clean drinking water just below the ground, but no way to get to it.

The organisers behind this project are volunteers and have shown us all what can happen when you think big and put in a lot of hard work.  I’ll be attending the Manchester Twestival -hopefully see you there.

I’m sorry I haven’t a clue

Posted on by Becky Green (was McMichael)

471223_i_see___A quick look through my feeds and it seems like everyone turns into Nostradamus this time of year… Rather than cobble together a post on what I think the business world will hold for us in ’09 (as I have no idea to be honest) I thought I’d jot down my business (PR) resolutions instead.

We know it is going to be a tough year and this is how I plan on dealing with it.

1. Work flexibly — Be as productive as possible, limit commuting/travel to absolute necessity and get through the most work I can during working hours

2. Reduce evening working — Often just because I haven;t been as productive during the day as I could be but it leaves me feeling peed off if I work late all the time

3. Service, service and service — Clients HAVE to come first in our business but I intend to ask for a lot more input into how we are doing, where we could improve and continue to make sure our service is impeccable this year

4. Ramp up new business — Keep networking both on and off line, look at new services we can offer and continue to be competitively priced in 2009

5. Don’t look for the answer to “How’s business?” in spreadsheets — Continue as I always do to get out there and speak to clients, participate in campaigns, direct programmes and be a partner for clients.  the numbers only tell you so much….times like these mean you need to keep your head up and get out there

6. Keep hiring — New business was great for us at the end of last year so we are in a good place.  In the past, I have seen agencies try to squeeze FAR too much work out of people when the economy is bad, it is essential to keep hiring within your means, be fair to employees, reward loyalty and make sure people aren’t ground into the floor or you’ll lose all your good people the minute the economy picks up

7. Keep listening and learning — Whilst it might be tempting to offer the safe old campaigns and ideas in PR this year, that is not where the results will come from in many cases or where the budgets will be….need to keep improving, trying new stuff and measuring it as we go because nobody’s an expert unless they keep learning

8. Keep collaborating and helping out — Last year really was the year of community for me and I want to keep that spirit up this year

Cross posted at http://www.ruderfinn.co.uk/blogs