Thursday, June 25, 2009 Things not to say in meetings

Dear technology PR people,

Here are five things never to say in client meetings, in reverse order of career limiting severity:

5. "If this ever catches on..."

It will catch on. Your probably doing its PR, and if you're not sure whether it'll catch on, who the hell is?

4. "I'm amazed at the kinds of things people blog about."

Blogging has revolutionised publishing, creating a billion microniches. Deal with it and go read Goths In Hot Weather.

3. "What does [technology abbreviation] stand for?"

Obscure and unrelated abbreviation = fine. What your client claims to be the world's leading supplier of = could do better.

2. "I don't use RSS."

This is like having a TV with a million channels, but only watching one. With the sound down.

1. "I've never had tried an iPhone, but..."

The iPhone and its applications have changed the tech game completely. Drop what you're doing, get yourself down Carphone Warehouse and have a go on one, right now.

(By the way, I heard all of these phrases in the last week.)

Would anyone not know?

Not sure if you saw The Sun's story about fizzy drink brand Tango's new can? Apparently the production team accidentally missed a small detail during the design process.

Do we think this was 'coincidence', as Tango maker Britvic suggested? (Tango, of course, being the brand behind the 'slapping' ad that got banned, the 'fat kid' ad that got banned, the Sony Bravia spoof and the launch of it's range of fake tan, to name just a few?)

In case you can't spot the error, the article has a handy 'reveal all' button.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009 Sky News is on to Habitat...

30 minutes ago, Sky's Twitter correspondent Ruth Barnett asked the Twittersphere for people happy to be filmed talking about the @habitat hashtag fiasco (summary: Habitat boosts traffic to discounted garden chairs by adding random tags about things people are searching for most. Like Iran.).

22 minutes later she Tweeted that she had what she needed. Now that's fast - a fascinating demo of how Twitter can be used for focused and immediate newsgathering. It's also interesting to see who responded and how.

Here is my prediction on what's about to happen.

Twitter geek / PR person ends up on Sky News talking about stuff they don't really understand, but thought it might be cool to go on TV as it'll make them look like they understand business and Twitter and TV and stuff. Hilarity ensues.

Make sure you're watching Sky News today to see if I'm right.

(Yes, I'm just bitter I didn't spot her Tweet inside the golden 22 minutes. Mind you, I once did go on TV to talk about blogging. It all ended with my girlfriend saying that on TV I looked like a 'funny little man'. Probably for the best, then.)

Monday, June 15, 2009 Take the Tweetbike test

Last week, during London’s two-day tube strike, a chap decided to give people lifts on his motorbike for free. All they had to do was use Twitter to find him and see if their journey could be accommodated.

This and other similar internet-based stunts steeped in benevolence and web-driven trust seem to split people into three separate camps.

One. ‘What a brilliant idea! I’m really annoyed I didn’t think of it’.

If you are in this camp, you fully understand the internet and are probably a geek. You believe in a utopian, moneyless future where we have all been freed of our reliance on trade by food replicators and choose to run around in skin-tight jumpsuits. You believe in true love, appreciate art and are a keen musician. You have a few close friends. You have an iPhone, which you’ve crammed with apps and love slightly too much.

Two. ‘What’s the point? What’s in it for them?’

A cautious response, this person is absorbed in commerce and, as a result, is probably successful in business. If you gave this response, you almost definitely have a wide circle of friends who are well connected. In return, you use your considerable influence to help them out. The internet is something that you recognise as an amazing marketplace, as long as you can hire people that understand it. If you could work eBay, you’d be rich.

Three. ‘I’m not getting a lift with some nutter.’

Despite this answer sounding cautious, it’s not – it’s the bravest. Standing up against the overwhelming force of web-based kindness is a tough thing to do. If this is you (and you’ve never been kidnapped) you’re most likely to be the physical type, who shuns evenings wandering around Second Life to run around Battersea Park. You watch sport on TV or in the pub. You don’t have a computer. You’re probably very attractive.

I know which camp I’m in. Next time there’s a need for a London transport replacement, I’m joining the Tweetbike fleet.

Friday, June 12, 2009 Family Flickr photo filched

Love this story about a photo, taken by a nice American family for their Christmas cards and shared on the net, getting ripped off and used in a shop window in Prague.

As we share more and more of our personal lives on the web this kind of

thing is bound to happen more often. A quick Google image search for 'family' and you get a whole host of suitable shots. People crave visual stimulation and it's tempting to just use the ones you find online. And not everyone will ask first, like the producers of Iron Man did.

I tried to navigate the confusion of the Creative Commons framework for copyright and gave up. I'm assuming most people don't know about it, or don't understand it either.

That said, if I'm walking down Bratislava High Street and I see a photo of me in a shop window, I like to think I'd be chuffed.

Monday, June 01, 2009 More interview tips for graduates

I like Strive Notes but Sherrilynne's recent post containing tips for graduates on their PR job interview techniques seemed a little, well, odd.

Did someone's Mum really call up and vouch for their fledgling Associate Director? Do budding applicants really turn up for a job interview without having checked out the agency website first? Will a printed CV really seal the deal?

Fair play to Sherrilynne for adding her thoughts to the mix - grads deserve all the help they can get, and I'm sure the tips are from personal experience.

To complete the set and make a PR-friendly Top Ten, here are five tips of my own. Hope they're useful.

1. Overdress. And tuck an FT under your arm to finish off the outfit. (Don't forgot to read it, or at least have seen the news that morning.)
2. Namedrop. Know more about PR, the industry, the key bloggers, the top journos and the innovators than your interviewer.
3. Go social. Have a blog, active Twitter account or inspiring Flickr stream. But limit your Facebook profile and de-tag any pics of you puking, fighting or naked.
4. Be punctual. Lateness screams laziness, no matter the excuse. Getting there early and people watching may even give you an interview ice-breaker*.
5. Relax. PR is a people business. 'Being good with people' is, in fact, critical. Be yourself... Or at least a calm, friendly and relaxed version of yourself.

Good luck out there.

* Note: "That tall ginger bloke obviously fancies your receptionist" isn't a good ice breaker.

PR branches out

Seems like that the story I clipped from The Telegraph earlier today was 'news generation agency' 72 Point making the most of a biz dev guy's unfortunate sporting mishap.

Here he is in the story after colliding with a tree while Twittering:



Look! I found his Twitterstream...



Which led me to his page on the staff pages of 72 Point. Busted! (Note - likes running.)



Nadia Saint (@nadiasaint) takes up this important story over on the new-look LEWIS 360 blog.

What a Twit?

Amazing story from The Telegraph on the perils of Tweeting while jogging.

clipped from www.telegraph.co.uk Jogger injured after using Twitter as he ran Office worker Mr Coleman, 23, was 'tweeting' to his followers on his Blackberry while jogging to work when he cracked his head on a heavy low-hanging branch. The force of the impact sent the dazed runner crashing to the pavement and left him with a badly bruised black eye. "I guess you could say I feel a right Twit," he said