University of Sunderland Blog Conference - Result!
Posted Sunday, November 20, 2005 at 2:02am in Blogging, PR General, Technology |
Phew! What a pretty eventful weekend it’s been so far. It’s felt a bit surreal actually.
First-things-first, my blog has been down….again! My host was hacked and sabotaged resulting in all the blogs and websites hosted with him being wiped out. Apparently the hackers broke a 10 digit password to get in, and once they did, they deleted everything! Luckily I had a back-up of my blog files, and my ‘WordPress legend’ friend, Lee, helped me out yet again. **Side note** If you have a WordPress blog and need some help, Lee’s your man. He’s reasonably priced and sound as a pound. Anyway, it’s back up - still a few problems, but that aside, everything’s fine.
Right, onto the good part - the University of Sunderland blog conference. One word - “Fantastic!” Tremendous turnout, great presentations and incredible feedback. As Philip says: “If a successful conference means a full house, with everyone engaged and scribbling notes to the bitter end, this one worked.”
The blog conference was a first for me; in fact it was a day of firsts. I was interviewed on BBC Radio Newcastle with regard to blogging. My first ever radio interview, kindly nominated by Philip. Was I nervous? Yes I was. Marks out of 10? I’ll give myself a five.
I had a bit of a shaky start but once I got into the swing, I found my flow. Although, as every PR practitioner knows - you’ve got to get your key messages out. Sadly I let myself down on that one. Never-the-less, I got a lot out of it.
Anyway, back to the conference. Prior to the day, I, along with the Sunderland Uni CIPR student rep, was invited to the meal held for the guest speakers. It was a great opportunity to meet some of the PR bloggers I read so religiously. Also, any invitation for a free meal and I’m there!
Tom Murphy was probably five thousand feet above the Irish Sea at the point of taking this.
I also secured an interview with Neville Hobson for my journalism assignment. It’s amazing what some people will agree to after a few glasses of red wine. Eh Neville? 
The day of the conference ran smooth. People travelled up from London and across Europe. Now, getting Londoners to travel out of London is a feat on its own. So for them to travel way oop north for a one day conference, must say something for blogging? The interest and curiosity are there; it just needs the evangelism, which, in my opinion, is exactly what the conference did.
I won’t go into the ins and outs of each presentation, but I will say is that each tackled the different elements of blogging (and in Neville’s case, podcasting) that related to PR and communication.
Needless to say, there were one or two nervous comments from the audience about the fact that in blogging, you are letting your PR guard down. For example, allowing employees to blog about their company or organisation.
No doubt this will seem daunting to some PR practitioners, but for me personally, I think I’ve seen and heard about it so many times, it’s becoming normal.
As Philip says: Resovoir Blogs 
If you want to see the rest of the University of Sunderland Blog Conference photos, you can take a look at my Flickr pictures in the side bar.
Technorati tags:
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16 Comments
Neville Hobson
Sunday, November 20, 2005 at 5:24pm
The wine was a very good idea, Stephen. And it worked
I think we had a good conversation for your journliam assigment. Hope it helps!
Stephen
Sunday, November 20, 2005 at 5:26pm
Helped tremendously Neville. Thanks!
Piaras Kelly
Sunday, November 20, 2005 at 7:40pm
Great to hear all went well. Sorry I didn’t make it over.
Stephen
Sunday, November 20, 2005 at 7:42pm
There’ll be another time Piaris. I wouldn’t mind going to the next TechCamp.
Elizabeth Albrycht
Monday, November 21, 2005 at 1:58pm
It was great to meet you too Stephen. Keep up the good work!
Stephen
Monday, November 21, 2005 at 9:10pm
Thanks Elizabeth. Come back any time!
Stuart Bruce, PR Consultant
Tuesday, November 22, 2005 at 1:56pm
Interesting post Stephen. Keep up the good work.
Blake
Wednesday, November 23, 2005 at 1:20am
Stephen this is awesome. What an experience.
Stephen
Wednesday, November 23, 2005 at 10:32am
It certainly was Blake. As I said in the post, it was great to meet everybody in person.
Remember that conference we talked about in Australia?
PR Blogger
Wednesday, November 23, 2005 at 10:48am
[...] I’m happy to announce a new North East PR blog started after the great presentations at Friday’s Sunderland blog conference. [...]
The Digerati Peninsula » Blog Archive » Come In, Houston
Sunday, November 27, 2005 at 11:22pm
[...] Not that I haven’t been posting to my other sites (part of the reason for including the links to them on the home page with the latest post is to show that while I may not be posting here I’m busy keeping other sites running). The main reason for my tardiness is the fact that I’ve been giving my film blog a much needed makeover (I’ve been meaning to do it for ages). I’ve also put together a blog for someone else and have helped bring a friend of mine’s blog back from beyond. Not to mention Christmas shopping and the daily inconvience that is work. [...]
PR Blogger
Tuesday, December 20, 2005 at 8:52pm
[...] All the usual suspects are lined up to talk so it should prove to be another evangelistic event. Great news! If it’s anything like the last event, the attendees are in for a treat. [...]
PR Blogger by Stephen Davies » Blog Archive » Made the news once again
Saturday, March 4, 2006 at 2:21am
[...] Congrats to all presenters in what looks to have been yet another great social media evangelising event. Back by popular demand and following on from the success of the University of Sunderland’s Making the news: Blogging, RSS and the New PR, the Resevoir Blogs took stage at non other than Old Trafford. No, not the home of second richest football club in the world, Manchester United, but playing ground of Lancashire Cricket Club. [...]
prblogger.com » Blog Archive » The ghost of Internet future
Tuesday, February 12, 2008 at 3:47pm
[...] Before I start, this isn’t a prediction post. Let’s be honest, I’m not in any position to make any predictions so I’m using it merely a thought analysis. A way to perhaps provoke other people’s thoughts and comments as we try to define what is exactly is in store. A single comment I received from Neville Hobson when I interviewed him for a journalism article at the Sunderland blog conference got me thinking. I asked him what his thoughts were on the future of blogs and technology which he replied saying he believed there will be new ways of communication that we can’t quite see yet. Exciting, but what could they be? [...]
prblogger.com » Blog Archive » PR Week: PR and the media - a one day conference
Tuesday, February 12, 2008 at 3:53pm
[...] Now, after a quick Googling of these names, I can’t find any of them with a blog or podcast. Whether they track blogs and podcasting I don’t know, but I’m sure I’d rather have one of the speakers from last week’s blogging conference presenting. [...]
Two (and a bit) years on… | PRBLOGGER.COM - PR blog
Monday, May 26, 2008 at 10:36am
[...] University of Sunderland Blog Conference - Result! My first blog conference held at the University of Sunderland and organised by my ex lecturer Philip Young. This conference is still going strong and I popped into the most recent one held in London last week. [...]