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UK PR people on Twitter

Stephen — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 11:22:50 +0000

Following on from last week’s UK journalists on Twitter (jeeple?) post, I thought it would be good to do something similar with UK based PR people (preeple?). Listed below you’ll see tweeters from some familiar PR agencies and in-house PR departments. I haven’t included people who haven’t updated their profile in a month or longer as it’s likely that they’ve given up on it.

By no means is this a comprehensive list and I hope you can give me a heads up in the comments section if I’ve missed anybody out. The ‘Other’ section is for PR people who seem to be the sole Twitter representative for the company they work for. If this isn’t the case and there are two or more I’ll put them in their own category. So get following! And while you’re here, why don’t you:

Add Me To Twitter

Update: Michael Litman has created a league table based on tweeter numbers.

Update 2: My mate Stephen Waddington (@wadds) has created a list of the top 50 influential PReeple according to Twitter Grader.

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FINAL UPDATE - The list on this blog post will no longer be updated. Comments are now turned off. Do not fret though - there is a dedicated wiki to add your Twitter profile which is being maintained by Michael Litman. Fine it here: http://ukmediatweeple.pbwiki.com/
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Axicom

Nick Dillon - http://twitter.com/nickjdillon
Matthew Cross - http://twitter.com/crossy
Jeff Prior - http://twitter.com/jeff_prior
Sarah Porter - http://twitter.com/sarahp1986
Andy Riley - http://twitter.com/Rileston76
Adrian Harrington - http://twitter.com/healthpro
Asim Quereshi - http://twitter.com/AsimQureshi
Sarah Rhodes - http://twitter.com/SarahRhodes
Helen Ellis - http://twitter.com/HelenEllis
Max Taton-Brown - http://twitter.com/Maxicom
Helen Ridgeway - http://twitter.com/superhel

Berkeley

Paul Stallard - http://twitter.com/Paul_Stallard
Jo Jamieson - http://twitter.com/jojamieson
Lyndon Johnson - http://twitter.com/lyndonJJ
Stephanie Marshall - http://twitter.com/smginger
Lynda Thari - http://twitter.com/LyndaTahri
Sara Lewis - http://twitter.com/saralewis

Cow

Dirk Singer - http://twitter.com/dirkthecow
Russell Williams - http://twitter.com/russwilliams_uk
Gloria Trapezaris - http://twitter.com/LaundryCat
Mark Perkins - http://twitter.com/normanmonkey
Tallulah Bell - http://twitter.com/TallulahBell
Bridey-Rae Lipscombe - http://twitter.com/brideyrae
Ella Bella - http://twitter.com/ellabella83
Ami O - http://twitter.com/Ami_o

Diffusion

Daljit Bhurji - http://twitter.com/Daljit_Bhurji
Tom Malcom - http://twitter.com/tommalcolm
Ivan Ristic - http://twitter.com/ivanr

Edelman

Fishburn Hedges

Alex Pearmain - http://twitter.com/AlexPearmain
Chris Reed - http://twitter.com/Chris_Reed
Farimah - http://twitter.com/Farimah

Hill & Knowlton

Dan Leach - http://twitter.com/danleach
Niall Cook - http://twitter.com/niallcook
Gaylene Ravenscroft - http://twitter.com/ravenscroft
Dominic Pannell - http://twitter.com/dompannell
Alex Lefley - http://twitter.com/alexlefley

Hotwire

ITV

Ben Ayers - http://twitter.com/benayers
Gary Andrews - http://twitter.com/garyandrews
James Hilder - http://twitter.com/jameshilder
Jon Cartright - http://twitter.com/joncart

Kaizo

Alex Myers - http://twitter.com/alexmyers
Neil Hallmark - http://twitter.com/neilhallmark
Emma Potter - http://twitter.com/emmapotter

Lewis

Jon Silk - http://twitter.com/prgeek
Eb Adeyeri - http://twitter.com/eba
Will Sturgeon - http://twitter.com/willsturgeon
Alex Clough - http://twitter.com/Alex_Clough
Michael Hay - http://www.twitter.com/mikeyjhay
Olly Chub - http://twitter.com/chubbykid
Catherine Sevigny - http://twitter.com/csevigny
Jay Li - http://twitter.com/jayli
Suzy Feguson - http://twitter.com/suzyferg

Liberate Media

Wendy McAuliffe - http://twitter.com/wendymcauliffe
Lloyd Gofton - http://twitter.com/Liberatelloyd
Andy Merchant - http://twitter.com/andymerch
Tim Greenhalgh - http://twitter.com/timsgreenhalgh

Mantra

Gerel Orgil - http://twitter.com/Gerel
Nicky Savage - http://twitter.com/nicky_savage
AJ Griffith - http://twitter.com/AJGriffiths
Abbie Waller - http://twitter.com/AbbieWaller

Metia

Steve Ellis - http://twitter.com/steveellis
Geoff Bilbrough - http://twitter.com/geoff_bilbrough

Microsoft

Matthew Gain - http://twitter.com/matthewgain
James Tutt - http://twitter.com/jamestutt
Nick James Morris - http://twitter.com/nickjamesmorris
Steve Lamb - http://twitter.com/actionlamb

Nelson Bostock

Lindsey Marsh - http://twitter.com/lindseymarsh
Lee Nugent - http://twitter.com/LeeNugent
Dave Ross-Tomlin - http://twitter.com/dvjrt

O2

Emma Hart - http://twitter.com/EmmaHart
JP - http://twitter.com/hellojp
Nick Wilkins - http://twitter.com/NickWilkins

Octopus

James Warnette - http://twitter.com/jwarnette
Becky Kiely - http://twitter.com/Kiely7

Porter Novelli

Kerry G - http://twitter.com/KerryMG
Tim Hoang - http://twitter.com/timhoang
Mat Morrison - http://twitter.com/mediaczar
Nick Scargill - http://twitter.com/nickscargill
Chris Nee - http://twitter.com/twofootedtackle

Punch Communications

Katharine Parker - http://twitter.com/kathparker1
Pete Goold - http://twitter.com/petegoold

Racepoint Group

CJ Tarbett - http://twitter.com/CJTarbett
Philip Sheldrake - http://twitter.com/Sheldrake

Rainier

Stephen Waddington - http://www.twitter.com/wadds
Bryony Beynon - http://twitter.com/bryonyb
Matthew Watson - http://twitter.com/mpwatson
Steve Earl - http://twitter.com/mynameisearl
Stu - http://twitter.com/stucustardpr
Chris McCrudden - http://twitter.com/cmccrudden
Claire Williamson - http://twitter.com/clarecustardpr
Geraldine Grewal - http://twitter.com/GerryGrewal
Katie Swan - http://twitter.com/klswan
Rupert Walker - http://twitter.com/rupinjapan
Sus Wyeth - http://twitter.com/SusW

Rocket PR

Alex Pullin - http://twitter.com/alexandrapullin
Mital Joshi - http://twitter.com/mital_joshi

Ruder Finn

Nick Leonard - http://twitter.com/nickleonard
Becky McMichael - http://twitter.com/bmcmichael
Hannah Smith - http://www.twitter.com/hannahlou
Annabel Kerr - http://www.twitter.com/annabelkerr23
Kristen Thomas - http://twitter.com/kristenthomas
Kate Gordon - http://www.twitter.com/kateygo
Hugh McKinney - http://twitter.com/hughmckinney
Nick Osbourne - http://twitter.com/Nick_Osborne
Paul Allen - http://twitter.com/paulieA

Shiny Red

Jaz Cummins - http://twitter.com/JazCummins
Lewis Webb - http://twitter.com/lewiswebb
Laura Johnson - http://twitter.com/Laurajohnson

Six Degrees

Vikki Chowney - http://twitter.com/vikkichowney
Jen Janson - http://twitter.com/jenjanson
Andrea Willige - http://twitter.com/awillige
Kathryn Cotsworth - http://twitter.com/katycots
Jen Anderson - http://twitter.com/jenandersson

Spark Communications

Alex Crawshaw - http://twitter.com/alex_crawshaw
Christian Sharp - http://twitter.com/Krsjn
Satyen Dayal - http://twitter.com/Satdayal

Splendid Communications

Rax Lakhani - http://twitter.com/raxlakhani
Michael Litman - http://twitter.com/litmanlive

Staniforth

Rob Brown - http://twitter.com/robbrown
Jon Clements - http://twitter.com/JonClements

Text100

Vicky Hayden - http://twitter.com/vickyhayden
Jordan Stone - http://twitter.com/jordanstone
Eleanor Giles - http://twitter.com/EleanorGi
Nick Giles - http://twitter.com/nickgtext
Sammy Lehane - http://twitter.com/SammyLehane

University of Warwick

Elleanor Lovell - http://twitter.com/ellielovell
Jess Elvidge - http://twitter.com/lovelychaos

Waggener Edstrom

Ged Carroll - http://twitter.com/r_c
Alexandra Annable - http://twitter.com/alexannable
Emma Ap - http://twitter.com/EmmaAp
Dave Ingle - http://twitter.com/djingle

Weber Shandwick

Colin Byrne - http://twitter.com/capbyrne/
James Warren - http://twitter.com/jamesdotwarren/
Johnny Rosemont - http://www.twitter.com/rosemontjd
Simon Collister - http://www.twitter.com/simoncollister

Wildfire PR

Danny Whatmough - http://twitter.com/DannyWhatmough
Gabi Warren - http://twitter.com/GabiWarren
Claire Barb - http://twitter.com/clairebarb
Kate Solomon - http://twitter.com/katiesol
Louise Andrews - http://twitter.com/Loullabelle

Wolfstar

Stuart Bruce - http://twitter.com/stuartbruce
Chris Norton - http://twitter.com/chris_norton
Jed Hallam - http://twitter.com/jedhallam
Sam Oakley - http://twitter.com/samoakley
Natalie Smith - http://twitter.com/natsmith88
Paul Crouch - http://twitter.com/paulcrouch
Amy Johnston - http://twitter.com/amyrjohnston/

Freelance

Gill Edwards - http://twitter.com/gill_edwards
Darika Ahrens - http://twitter.com/darika
Katie Moffet - http://twitter.com/katierocket
Chris Lee - http://twitter.com/CMRLee
David Phillips - http://twitter.com/dphillips4363
Richard Millington - http://twitter.com/RichMillington
Bill Hunt - http://twitter.com/bill_hunt
Alisha Benson - http://twitter.com/alishabenson

Other

Brendan Cooper - http://twitter.com/BrendanCooper/ (Fleishman Hillard)
Andrew B Smith - http://twitter.com/andismit (escherman)
Jonathan Hopkins - http://twitter.com/jopkins (Shed)
Phil Szomszor - http://twitter.com/theredrocket (Citigate Dewe Rogerson)
Melanie Seasons - http://www.twitter.com/mseasons (Online Fire)
LauraLynne - http://twitter.com/LauraLynne (Trimedia)
Kerry Bridge - http://twitter.com/KerryatDell (Dell)
Neil MacLean - http://twitter.com/neilmac (smallmedialarge)
Roger Warner - http://twitter.com/rogerwarner (Content & Motion)
Paul Johnson - http://twitter.com/PBJohnson (Loop PR)
Neville Hobson - http://twitter.com/jangles (Bond-i)
Amy Gooch - http://twitter.com/amygooch (The Hoffman Agency)
Jon White - http://twitter.com/jon_white (Webcredible)
Hayley Rob - http://twitter.com/hayleyrob (Shout Communications)
Emily Farrell McDaid - http://twitter.com/emily_hatchpr (Hatch PR)
Robin Wilson - http://twitter.com/robin1966 (McCann Erikson)
Sam Grace - http://twitter.com/samgrace (Marlin PR)
Julio Rumo - http://twitter.com/twofourseven (Two Four Seven PR)
Simon Wakeman - http://twitter.com/simonwakeman (Medway Council)
Justin Kerr-Stevens - http://twitter.com/jkerrstevens (Central Government)
Dwynwen Williams - https://twitter.com/dwynwen (ATOM PR)
Dan Howarth - http://twitter.com/danhowarth (University of Newcastle)
Armand David - http://twitter.com/division6 (Brands2Life)
Katy Howell - http://twitter.com/katyhowell (Immediate Future)
Justin Hayward - http://twitter.com/justinhayward (Telnic Limited)
Mark Borkowski - http://twitter.com/MarkBorkowski (Borkowski PR)
Craig McGill - http://twitter.com/craigmcgill (DADA)
Amy Ronge - http://twitter.com/amyronge - Skywrite Communications
Neil Robertson - http://twitter.com/neil_robertson (IF-Communications)
Michelle Goodall - http://twitter.com/greenwellys (e-consultancy)
Mark Crosby - http://twitter.com/markcrosby (Blue Cherry)
Dan Bowsher - http://www.twitter.com/dan_bowsher (Vodafone)
Alastair Keeble - http://twitter.com/alastairkeeble (Golin Harris)
Zoe Porteus - http://twitter.com/MrsPBoutique (Boutique Communications)
Michael Cooper - http://twitter.com/michaelcooper (Connectpoint)
Sherrilynne Starkie - http://www.twitter.com/sherrilynne (Strive PR)
Mark Kember - http://twitter.com/MarkyK (Goode)
Steve Walker - http://twitter.com/spwalker (Oracle)
David Child - http://twitter.com/davidatquestpr (Quest PR)
Tom Glover - http://twitter.com/Gloverboy (FT)
Ben Roome - http://twitter.com/benroome (Nokia Siemens Networks)
Chris Applegate - http://www.twitter.com/qwghlm (Outside Line)
Hamish Thompson - http://twitter.com/suburbman (Twelve Thirty Eight)
Stephanie Bonnet - http://twitter.com/monaco77 (Burson Marsteller)

UK journalists on Twitter

Stephen — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:09:37 +0000

When I speak with regular PR folk about Twitter I often have a hard time convincing them of the benefits. It usually goes something like this, “Well you can talk to other people … and and … you follow them and, erm, sometimes other people add links to interesting things … and you can talk to someone directly using the @ icon.”

This conversation usually follows with me saying something along the lines of, “No, don’t leave. Wait, I haven’t explained myself properly. Wait! Honestly, it’s really good. I’m really sorry.”

Twitter isn’t something that immediately strikes you as anything good and explaining the benefits of it to someone who has never heard of it - particularly a pressed for time PR person - can be quite difficult.

Worry not my friends for there is a way around it. Show them something on Twitter that is related to them and their work and watch their eyebrows raise. What’s that you say? Well in my experience I often show them a ‘tweeting journalist’ (that’s a journalist who uses Twitter by the way) and immediately they begin asking questions.

(Note: I hope I don’t get in trouble for this like in I did here. Happy to remove anyone that doesn’t want to be on here.)

Add Me To Twitter

Freelance

E-consultancy

Chris Lake - http://twitter.com/lakey
Linus Gregoriadis - http://twitter.com/linusgreg
Graham Charlton - http://twitter.com/gcharlton

BBC

Tom van Aardt - http://twitter.com/tomVS
Richard Sambrook - http://twitter.com/sambrook
Tania Teixeira - http://twitter.com/taniateix
Jon Fildes - http://twitter.com/jonfildes
Declan Curry - http://twitter.com/declancurry
Daren - http://twitter.com/darenBBC
Dave Lee - http://twitter.com/davelee
Rory Cellan-Jones - http://twitter.com/ruskin147
Darren Waters - http://twitter.com/djwaters1

The Guardian

Neil McIntosh - http://twitter.com/nmcintosh
Charles Arthur - http://twitter.com/charlesarthur
Dave Hill - http://twitter.com/DaveHill
Stephen Brook - http://twitter.com/SDBrook
Cath Elliott - http://twitter.com/CathElliott
Bobbie Johnson - http://twitter.com/bobbiejohnson
Kevin Anderson - http://twitter.com/kevglobal
Jemima Kiss - http://twitter.com/jemimakiss
Kate Bevan - http://twitter.com/katebevan
James Anthony - http://twitter.com/jimboeth

Financial Times

Tim Bradshaw - http://twitter.com/tim
Chris Nuttall - http://twitter.com/ftchris
Peter Whitehead - http://twitter.com/peterwhitehead
Richard Waters - http://twitter.com/richardwaters
Kevin Allison - http://twitter.com/kevinallisonft
Kate Mackenzie - http://twitter.com/kmac
Stacy Marie Ishmael - http://twitter.com/s_m_i
Gideon Rachman - http://twitter.com/gideonrachman

The Telegraph

Marcus Warren - http://twitter.com/MarcusWa
Ian Douglas - http://twitter.com/IanDouglas
Shane Richmond - http://twitter.com/shanerichmond
Justin Williams - http://twitter.com/justin_williams
Catherine Gee - http://twitter.com/catherinegee

MSN UK

Peter Bale http://twitter.com/PeterBale
Katie King http://twitter.com/ktking
Jane Douglas http://twitter.com/msntechjane
Nik Taylor http://twitter.com/msntechnik
Monica Stylli http://twitter.com/msnstylemonica
Laura Snook http://twitter.com/LauraJSnook
Matt Ball - http://twitter.com/thisismattball

Birmingham Post

Joanna Geary - http://twitter.com/BhamPostJoanna
Marc Reeves - http://twitter.com/marcreeves
Richard Padgett - http://twitter.com/richardpadgett
Mike Hughes - http://twitter.com/mikehughes
Tom Scotney - http://twitter.com/TomScotney
Joanna Geary - http://twitter.com/joannageary

Manchester Evening News

Sarah Hartley - http://twitter.com/foodiesarah
Christina McDermott - http://twitter.com/MissCay

Journalism.co.uk

J Townend - http://twitter.com/JTownend
Laura Oliver - http://twitter.com/LauraOliver

Other

Azeem Ahmad - http://twitter.com/Azeem_A (Environmental News Online)
Paul Cockerton - http://twitter.com/paulcockerton (Lancashire Telegraph)
Jo Wadsworth - http://twitter.com/jowadsworth (Croydon Advertiser)
Chris Henwood - http://twitter.com/thisismattball - (Birmingham Mail)
Sam Shepherd - http://twitter.com/SamShepherd (Bournemouth Daily Echo)
Andy Walker - http://twitter.com/andywalker82 (Birmingham Sunday Mercury)
Alan Burkitt-Grey - http://twitter.com/alanburkittgray (Global Telecoms Business)
Jono Russell - http://twitter.com/Jono (SPIN World Cricket Monthly)
Mark Ogier - http://twitter.com/MarkOgier (Guernsey Press)
Charlie Elise - http://twitter.com/charlie_elise (The HR Director)
Katherine Hannaford - http://twitter.com/clashcityrocker (T3)
Kirsty W - http://twitter.com/zimjourno (unknown)
Claudia B - http://twitter.com/claudineb (unknown)
Andrew Lim - http://twitter.com/andylim (CNET UK)
Rachel Wilson - http://twitter.com/rachaelwilson (Environmental News Online)
Martin Stabe - http://twitter.com/martinstabe (Retail Week)
Chris Green - http://twitter.com/chrisgreen (IT PRO)
Patrick Smith - http://twitter.com/psmith (paidcontent)
Alison Gow - http://twitter.com/alisongow (Liverpool Daily Post)
George Hopkin - http://twitter.com/GeorgeHopkin (Johnston Press Plc)
Steve O’Hear - http://twitter.com/sohear (ZDNet)
Julie Martin - http://twitter.com/jules_27 (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)

Twitter keeps it local

Stephen — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:54:36 +0000

My original title for this post was ‘Twitter hinders globalisation’ but then I realised it was a bit too sensationalist for this blog.

Once upon a time, when blogs were all the rage and Twitter was a nothing but a twinkle in Biz Stone’s eye, people would speak of the global collective of the blogging medium. It didn’t really matter what time in the day you published a blog post because, unlike Twitter, the immediacy of ‘the conversation’ wasn’t that important.

Timely, yes. Immediate, no.

You could publish a blog post at 8 o’clock in the evening and through the night someone somewhere on a different timezone than yourself might leave a comment as you were sleeping. You get up the next day, check your email and there sitting in your inbox would be a couple of comments for you to read and comment back on.

On some occasions you might email the commenter to thank them for taking the time to respond and perhaps let them know that you like their blog and had since subscribed. And over time a relationship would have formed via comments, links, emails and Skype IMs/calls, and in some instances you might be lucky to meet up with this person if you both happened to be in the same country as each other. Real relationships were made.

Twitter has changed this. It now seems, to me at least, that your Twitter username is considered more important than your blog’s URL because (the Twitteratti think) blogs are too slow and too formal. I agree that Twitter’s immediacy can be a good thing in terms of real-time communication. However, immediacy comes at a price - and that price is the hindrance of timezones.

I guess what I’m trying to say is your general day to day experience of using Twitter probably entails communicating with people from your own country. Which isn’t a bad thing of course but, although slower, blogging is more of a global conversation as opposed to a localised one like Twitter. I think the relationships made through blogging are more personal too. I mean, really, you’re *following* 1,000 people? Are you really?

I think as I write this I’ve just convinced myself that Twitter is actually quite crap and if I want to have a real-time conversation with purpose and meaning I’ll pick up the bloody phone … just kidding but unlike this past year I think I’m going to spend more time writing this blog than on Twitter from now on.

Don’t Panic Guide to social media - Manchester

Stephen — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 02:50:45 +0000

VENUE: THE BRIDGEWATER HALL, MANCHESTER
DATE / TIME: FRIDAY 5 DEC 2008, 9AM TO 4PM
TICKETS: £195 + VAT, £175 + VAT EARLY BOOKING / CHARITY RATE
____________________________________________________

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

The internet has revolutionised the way we seek and share information and has acted as a catalyst for wide ranging social interaction and potential communication opportunities with individuals, niche audiences and mass markets.

In a few short years weÊ¼ve seen the rise of social networking, hugely popular user generated sites and bloggers with the influence to make or break brands and reputations.

The DonÊ¼t Panic Guide To Social Media is aimed at senior communicators and will examine the rapid growth of online PR and the social media tools that are driving the revolution.

Delegates will hear the latest insight into how and why social media is an essential part of the communications mix alongside a range of case studies showing how to successfully integrate social media into your communication strategies.

The conference takes place at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester and features an unmissable line up of speakers. Refreshments, lunch and access to presentations are included in the ticket price.

____________________________________________________

SPEAKERS

TOM MURPHY, HEAD OF PUBLIC RELATIONS & CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, MICROSOFT IRELAND
Tom has spent the past 15 years providing public relations counsel to technology companies across Europe and North America. He has worked in both agency and in-house roles with a range of companies such as BEA Systems, Corel, Gateway, Intel, IONA Technologies, Marrakech, Microsoft, StorageTek and Visio.

He has blogged on the challenges facing Public Relations and marketing professionals since 2002 with PR Opinions and more recently MurphyÊ¼s Law. He has been interviewed on the changing dynamics of communication by a range of media outlets including CNN, The New York Times, and PR Week amongst many others. Tom blogs at tpemurphy.com/blog

STEPHEN DAVIES, MD, 3W PR
News travels fast on the World Wide Web and as citizen journalists, bloggers and the mainstream media increasingly use multimedia content some might say the traditional press or news release is dead.

This presentation will provide an insight into the rise of the Social Media News Release, a modern alternative that enables the sharing of information, links and even content such as Flickr galleries and YouTube videos, and how they can be used to reach audiences and create dialogues with consumers, influencers and traditional news outlets.

Stephen is one of the UK’s leading PR bloggers and has worked for Edelman, Frank PR and webitpr before launching his own online communications consultancy 3W PR in 2008. Stephen blogs at prblogger.com

STUART BRUCE, MD, WOLFSTAR
Stuart is a founder and managing director of Wolfstar, a specialist public relations, social media and word of mouth marketing and communications consultancy. He is listed in PR Week’s PowerBook of the UK’s most influential public relations practitioners who describe him as a “comms wunderkind trying to make his mark on the consultancy side. Seriously web savvy, his CV reads like a top ten of all things tech”.

Stuart has run UK and global social media campaigns and provided strategic counsel to clients as varied as Sony Ericcson, Philips, energywatch, Ministry of Defence and Health Secretary Alan Johnson. He is also one of the UK’s most influential PR bloggers and his presentation will provide case studies of major brands who have successfully used blogger out reach programmes as part of their wider communications strategies. Stuart blogs at www.stuartbruce.biz

GRAHAM GOODKIND, CHAIRMAN, FRANK PR
Graham was previously MD of “Absolutely Fabulous” PR consultancy Lynne Franks PR, he then founded Another.com, one of the UK”s leading internet brands, before returning to PR and setting up Frank. Frank are one of the giants of the UK PR scene and Graham”s presentation will look at creativity, buzz and word of mouth and how they successfully generate these elements online. Frank also look after a retired greyhound called Flying Frank, the only dog with a blog. www.frankpr.it

MARSHALL MANSON, DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL STRATEGY, EDELMAN UK
Marshall Manson is Director of Digital Strategy for Edelman in London, and a leader in the field of online strategy, communications and reputation management. Previously, he was Vice-President of Online Advocacy for Edelman in Washington, DC.

His presentation will focus on how technology is driving changes in the way audiences get and share information and the implications of that shift and where it may lead us in the future. He will also examine how businesses are using social media in the US, UK and elsewhere and the success or otherwise of their strategies. Marshall blogs at ontapblog.com and edelmandigital.com

MEG PICKARD, HEAD OF COMMUNITIES AND USER EXPERIENCE, GUARDIAN UNLIMITED
Meg describes herself as a creative geek and has worked in New Media for about ten years including consultation roles with small startups, global brands and charities. She currently works at Guardian Unlimited where she is responsible for developing and managing existing and new social web strategy and experiences. Before this she was Consumer Experience lead for Social Media at AOL Europe.

Her presentation will examine the importance of social media strategy for organisations and their audiences. Meg blogs at meish.org

MARK PAYNE, HEAD OF PRESS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS, WEST MIDLANDS POLICE
Chief Inspector Mark Payne is responsible for the smooth running of one of the busiest police press and public relations departments in the UK. West Midlands Police are also one of the most progressive in relation to social media use including their aptly named “plodcast” which provides an insight into the work of the force and and the varied employment opportunities for police and support staff. Launched in 2006, the regular and free audio downloads attract over 20,000 listeners.

More recently the force has begun uploading crime prevention advice and behind the scenes videos to YouTube and launched a Facebook site offering news and appeals, videos and crime alerts as part of a wider strategy to reach young people.

SIMON WAKEMAN, HEAD OF MARKETING & PR, MEDWAY COUNCIL
Simon is a qualified marketing and public relations professional with a passion for new technology and its impact on the way we communicate. He will be exploring the extent of social media usage in local government with examples of those authorities who have used social media channels to reach their audiences. He will also consider the reasons why some authorities may still be reticent to create truly open dialogues with those they serve. Simon blogs at simonwakeman.com/blog

MARK ROGERS, CEO, MARKET SENTINEL
Mark is co-founder of online monitoring and response specialist Market Sentinel which monitors consumer generated content in blogs, message boards and consumer sites and provides reputation measurement on behalf of its clients. Since its foundation in 2004 the company has acquired a number of UK and international blue chip customers including Yahoo! Europe, British Gas, the BBC Trust, Hyundai, Avis, GSK, Bacardi, Cadbury and Experian.

Previously Mark was co-founding commissioning editor of BBC Online and cofounder of Amazon.com Anywhere and has worked for a number of high technology start-ups in the US and Europe. Publications include: ‘Search is Brand’, ‘Measuring the influence of bloggers’ and ‘Responding to crisis using social media’. His presentation will examine how organisations can successfully evaluate the value and influence of online coverage. Mark blogs at marketsentinel.com/blog

____________________________________________________

BOOKING

Ticket prices are £195 + VAT or £175 + VAT for bookings before 14 Nov & charities. For event booking or further information please contact Nicky or Andrew at DonÊ¼t Panic on 01706 828855 or alternatively places can be securely booked online at - www.dontpanicprojects.com/booking.htm

Banking and Finance is dead. Long live Digital

Stephen — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 18:21:18 +0000

As reported in the Guardian and FT (via Wadds) the minister for communications, technology and broadcast, Stephen Carter, is planning to prepare a report called Digital Britain which, according to the FT, will help reboot the UK’s battered economy from the credit crunch.

Backed by business secretary, Peter Mandelson, the Digital Britain report will address how to fund public-service broadcasting, super fast broadband and at its core an ambition to accelerate the rate of growth, and cement the UK’s position as a world leader in the knowledge and learning economy.

I’m sure funding won’t be a problem. A couple of billion here, a couple of billion there.

Now that the City has pretty much had its day is this the dawning of a new kind of era in Britain? According to the Telegraph, Mandelson’s plan is to introduce a new economic framework that relies less on the financial services industry and can take advantage of globalisation and the doubling in size of the future global economy.

In my opinion Britain is one of the best countries to be placed as a digital hub of innovation. Here’s why:

Size - The UK is a small but densely populated island. Building new technical infrastructure to harness innovation would be less of an issue compared with much larger countries. Super fast broadband would be relatively cheap to implement. (Relative to the money that we the taxpayer have had to pull out to bail out the greedy bankers)

Wealth - Although only a small island (which always punches above its weight, mind you) the UK is still one of the richest countries with the fifth biggest economy in the world (according to the Economist).

People - The UK’s economy is already service based with circa 70% of GDP generated by the service sector. Making the transition (if there is one to make) should be relatively smooth.

Western - This sounds terrible but being a Western country and due to our education the UK is *supposedly* one of the most intelligent - although you wouldn’t think it talking to some of the people I once knew.

Multicultural - No other country in the world welcomes other nationalities like the UK. No other capital city has as much ethnic and religious diversity as London. As the world becomes even smaller (as we know it is) this diversification will only stand the UK in good stead of being the innovation and technical powerhouse of the world.

Okay okay, hype and patriotism aside, I still think I make good case. Ten years from now we’ll look back at what went on in the financial markets with contempt, disgust and embarrassment.

And if we don’t then, well, we have learnt nothing.

“Only graduates from a top university need apply”

Stephen — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 23:56:01 +0000

Question: What century are we living in? Oh yeah, the 21st one. My goodness … we might be living in the 21st century but as the title of this blog post suggests some PR agencies still have a dinosaur approach when it comes to recruiting graduates.

Personally I’d like to think that the British career system is based on meritocracy where one is judged by his or her actions and not by a piece of paper with a particular emblem printed on it. To suggest that graduates from a middle-of-the-road university or, God forbid, a lower ranking one are not good enough to work in top-flight PR then you seriously need to stop drinking that Cognac at the Old Boys Club.

If there’s ever a case of elitism in PR in this century this is it. And it’s the biggest pile of excrement I’ve ever heard in my life. It needs to stop.

Riddle me this: Who would you rather have applying to your agency? A graduate from a top university who “heard PR was good” so wants to give it a try. Or a graduate from a lower ranking university who had given up their free time to gain real experience while in study; studied the industry inside and out so they are certain that it is the career path they want to take and, perhaps most importantly, has something that no university can teach: drive and ambition?

It’s a no brainer.

I could be wrong but I don’t see this going on in the States or indeed Canada. Come to think of it, anywhere else in the world. But it’s typical of Ye Olde England with old fashioned values and old fashioned people to boot.

But, hey, I could be wrong. Maybe there is a logical explanation why graduates from a top university are naturally better at PR.

Oh btw. My name is Stephen Davies and I used to blog here some time ago.

CIPR social media guidelines - consultation 2008

Stephen — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:09:11 +0000

Back in 2007 the CIPR released its social media guidelines to its members and the wider PR community following a consultation request in late 2006. As some of us know, the rate of change in the online world is rapid and we’re still in the midst of defining ‘best practice’ with a lot of online tools, tactics and communication methods. What was deemed appropriate in early 2007 may not be now. With this in mind, it’s important that regulatory bodies like the CIPR continually update their documents of guidance.

From the CIPR consultation page: “Social media is an evolving - and frequently contentious - area of PR practice, the profile of which continues to grow. The CIPR issued guidance to our Members and the wider PR community on how social media should be handled in February 2007.

“A paper reviewing the CIPR social media guidelines was issued for comment to members of the Professional Practices Committee in September. The Professional Practices Committee has agreed that the following paper should now go out to Members and the wider PR community, inviting views. It looks at social media tools such as blogs, wikis and podcasts, and changes in legislation that affect social media”

The consultation asks two questions:

Do you believe this document covers the issues highlighted in sufficient depth?
Do you believe there are other important issues which should be addressed (and if so, what are they)?

But states:

“Equally, general views would be welcome.”

The deadline for the responses is November 1st so in around one month’s time. The new guidelines will be issued later this year. I’m submitting my thoughts, let me know if you are too.

CIPR Northern Conference 08

Stephen — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 19:04:09 +0000

On Friday I delivered two workshops at the CIPR Northern Conference; this year held at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester - last year it was held in Newcastle. The underlying theme of this year’s conference was ‘reputation’ and my workshop focused on reputation from an online point-of-view and was titled, Coming Out From the Shadows & Managing Reputation Online.

It was another great event by the CIPR. I met quite a few new people and managed to catch up with the regulars too. The Labour Party Conference was taking place the following day so the Manchester Police were out in force just down the road, including snipers on every roof of the surrounding buildings.

Here’s my presentation which I’ve also added it to the new Presentations section on the 3W PR website.

CIPR Northern Conference - Sept 08

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: cipr public)

Is online PR losing its real definition?

Stephen — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 19:13:40 +0000

One thing that’s become apparent in the advent of online communications is the amalgamation of the various communication professions. Is SEO a stand-alone discipline or should it belong to PR? Does blogger outreach really belong to PR when there are one or two online marketing agencies doing a mighty fine job of it already?

Should there actually be such phrases as Online PR, Online Marketing, SEO etc? Or should they all just come under one name which encapsulates each discipline together? I remember having a telephone conversation with Ged not too long ago about this very same topic.

There’s actually no right or wrong answer (for the moment) but one thing I have noticed in the last few months is that some online marketing agencies (including one or two of the big ones) are offering “Online PR” as a service.

As a PR person you might think you have cause to worry. Dig a bit deeper though and what you’ll find is that these agencies offer a small segment of online PR which usually involves generating backlinks and increasing traffic. Yes, both backlinks and traffic do have a PR element to them, but both are generally byproducts of a much larger strategic initiative.

And, besides, backlinks and traffic are more of a marketer’s concern given their objectives usually involve large numbers and eyeballs, and less about changing attitudes and enhancing reputation.

Then it occurred to me. PR doesn’t face losing the online PR battle against marketers as I initially thought (read the comment by me from last year on Drew B’s blog to prove it) but what it does face though is losing the battle among marketers of what the definition of real online PR actually is.

And it certainly ain’t just about backlinks and traffic that’s for sure.

Tomorrow’s fish & chip paper?

Stephen — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:28:19 +0000

Okay, Google is beginning to scare me now. The Official Google Blog has just announced that they’re beginning a new initiative working with newspaper publishers to digitise millions of news articles. From the blog, “For more than 200 years, matters of local and national significance have been conveyed in newsprint — from revolutions and politics to fashion to local weather or high school football scores.

“Around the globe, we estimate that there are billions of news pages containing every story ever written. And it’s our goal to help readers find all of them, from the smallest local weekly paper up to the largest national daily.”

Of course, Google being Google, these articles will be easily searchable using the media company’s (Google is no longer *just* a search engine) technology. The blog post also says you can browse the articles as they were actually printed in the publication. Here’s an example.

From a research point of view this is very significant. Imagine being able to search every news article ever printed from the last 200 years directly from your Web. Here’s another question to the PR people out there. Will you count a news release generated article included in Google’s database as another piece of coverage?

I was going to link to Todd Andrlik to alert him to the news as I know he’s a collector of old newspapers. Glad I checked first though as he’s already spotted it.