MOD tackled by the power of the internet

February 29th, 2008

Until the Drudge Report broke the news yesterday afternoon, nobody knew that Prince Harry had been in Afghanistan for the past two months because of an agreed media blackout.

Or did they.

Author and former SAS soldier Andy McNab said he believed the Taliban would have been aware of Harry’s presence in Afghanistan even before the revelation. During an interview on Radio 4′s PM, he said he’d been offered amateur video footage of the Prince in Afghanistan as early as January.

Now, if the MOD knew, the media knew and the Taliban knew; then the only people left in the dark were us. The ordinary people.

The ethical argument over whether the Drudge Report should have broken the story or held the media blackout is something for their conscience.

But what it does demonstrate is that, however hard you try and keep something quiet, the actions of one of the “ordinary folk” when amplified by the power of the internet can change the media agenda and upset the official chain of command – all at the click of a mouse.

Welcome to the world of citizen media.

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TV Update

February 27th, 2008

The continuing saga of my TV-less world continues (new readers start here) as the nice man from DHL has just delivered my Elgato Hybrid, turning my 20″ iMac into, well, a tele.

Set-up took all of three minutes – gotta love Macs – and I’m now watching BBC News 24 from my Virgin Media box on my “new” flat screen TV (with built-in computer).

(The set-up is this: VM box, Wii, PS2, turntable and DVD player all go into an amp/receiver. Sound goes to the 6 speakers, video signal now goes to the iMac).

So – two vital questions: is the picture good? Oh, yes. Not as sharp as my old CRT perhaps but better than many LCDs I’ve seen. And – possibly more importantly – is everything in sync? So far, so good. There appears to be no timing issues with the tele, the PS2 works (on a quick test) and I now have the advantage of being able to watch all my media (online, offline, disc and download) through one device.

Ok, I’ve admitted it before, I am a geek but, ignoring that for a second, what’s not to like about this arrangement? Was it hard to set-up? No. Is it easy to use? Most definitely. Can I seamlessly switch between BBC News 24, YouTube and a video podcast I just downloaded? Yes – and so can my five year-old daughter.

The lines between delivery mechanisms are already starting to blur – look at the BBC’s iPlayer as one example – and the tipping point for this stuff to move from geeks to “Joe Public” isn’t too far.

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Earthquake!

February 27th, 2008

Five minutes ago my entire house just shook.

I could feel the tremor coming for a few seconds, then it hit. Working at the kitchen table I heard the dishes rattle, and then the entire house. Considering my ‘gaff’ was built in 1850, I think I’m probably safe.

So, after checking with the g/f (another night owl) via text – I went straight to the BBC News web site to find out what’s going on.

Nothing.

So I fired up MSN Messenger – friends across the UK were connected. And all we did was exchange geographical details – Harrogate, York, Nottingham, Bradford and Leeds were all quickly added to the “disaster zone”.

As I’m writing this I can hear a mixture of strong winds, burglar alarms (in case people were trying to pick up the house perhaps?) and chatter from the neighbours congregating (and checking out the scaffolding on the house opposite!) – and my instant messenger client is lighting-up like a Christmas tree.

And the BBC web site? A note on the ticker – “Reports of tremor felt in West Midlands. More details soon.”

No need to bother, I’ve found out all I need use my own network of citizen journalists.

Right, where did I put the whiskey?

Update: It’s five minutes since I wrote this. Four or five friends have connected to Facebook and updated their status message to something Earthquake-related. BBC News 24 has hardly mentioned it yet. I’m having online conversations with people across the country, exchanging stories and locations.

Update 2: The BBC’s caught up now. Epicentre was Hull, 4.6 on the Richter scale. Crikey.

Update 3: 4.7 according to the US Geological Survey.

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Can PR boost your Google rankings?

February 25th, 2008

Search engine optomisation, or ‘getting your website to rank highly on the major search engines’, is considered by many to be a dark art.

Mainly because there is no definitive solution to getting it right. The algorithms applied by search engines change daily and the best advice any digital chap can offer is that your presence on the first page of Google is an ongoing labour of love – so when you build a site, you need to keep tinkering with it to keep up your rank.

After the initial build of the site, there are lots of ways to boost your rating. Deep linking between yourself and other high traffic sites can really push you up there but this often gives nothing beneficial to your public and still costs you.

So can public relations square the circle? Great links + great content?

We believe that it can and it should.

Blog posts and press releases can be optomised in a way that the computer can understand, using meaningful keywords with the right frequency so that the search engines and news sites can find you.

More than that, these words pull your public towards you, rather than pushing your messages onto them. Delivering a public receptive to what you want to tell them.

Every stage of this can be tracked, monitored and evaluated. Demonstrating how ‘fluffy’ PR can become 100 per cent accountable.

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The plot of Star Wars according to a three year old girl

February 24th, 2008

The first in an occasional series of things found whilst surfing t’interweb.

If you stumble across anything you’d like to share – let us know

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Niche mass media

February 24th, 2008

Saturday’s Guardian magazine carried an article about Internet TV “celebrities”; the people behind such vodcasts as Diggnation, Rocketboom and Ze Frank (ZF’s “The Show” has actually ended but the entire archive is available online – watch it now… I’ll wait).

Without exception all three are well-written, well-produced and feature people with real talent that comes across on-screen.

But are they the exceptions?

It’s true there’s a lot of cack out there – any 14 year old with a web cam and a broadband connection apparently fancies themselves an undiscovered comedy legend in waiting or, even worse, a junior Fearne Cotton – but there are also an awful lot of gems outwith those highlighted by The Grauniad, especially for people with “non-mainstream” interests.

And these people are an advertiser’s dream come true. Why? Let’s use little old me as an example…
As a I drive round during the week, I tend to listen to my iPod rather than the radio. The podcasts that fill my commute include Radio 4′s comedy, MacBreak Weekly, Ask a Ninja, High School Musical (for my daughter you understand, but the songs are so damn catchy… anyway…) and Fighting Talk.

So, ignoring the tweeenage Disney-backed shenanigans for a moment, what do my choices of podcast say about me? I like comedy, Macs, ninjas and football. It’s a small leap but imagine if that was the perfect demographic for a product you were trying to advertise. What mainstream media could reach that audience?

A podcast may only have an audience of, say, 100,000 people – but these are 100,000 people who have sought out that podcast, religiously download that podcast and hang on every word of that podcast. How else would they find out about the latest developments in their tabletop war game?

And – most importantly for advertisers – these are 100,000 people who are active consumers of the product relevant to the podcast’s content.

You could be sure that this wouldn’t be the wasted half of your advertising budget.

ps I’ll blog later about maximising these opportunities. Cause the old methods don’t work!

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This is peace…

February 21st, 2008

It’s a little after 8.30pm as I sit down to write this.

The working day is technically done, my daughter is fast asleep in bed (I hope!) and I’m contemplating something chilled and Belgian with dinner (ok, tea… you can take the lad out of Bradford…).

As I write this at the kitchen table, other than the tip-tap of my fingers on the keyboard, the only sound I can hear is the gentle hum of the tumble dryer .

There’s no television on (I still haven’t got it fixed), I’m not in the mood for music and, well, other than me and sleeping beauty there’s nobody else in the house to make any noise.

We live in a world where almost anything is a click away – web sites, mobile phones, instant messaging. There are currently eight ‘friends’ that I can see logged into instant messaging (MSN, Yahoo!, ICQ, AIM). Another five on Skype. And 900 numbers in my mobile phone’s address book – and the majority would answer if I rang (well, I’d like to think so anyway!).

Almost every conversation, piece of information, video or song I could ever want or need could be mine within a click or two.

I know full well there will be 30 new emails for me in the morning (admittedly most will be offering to enhance certain appendages through surgical or pharmaceutical means) and that there will be more news and rumour to read next time I fire up the laptop.

This is communication in the 21st century and sometimes, just sometimes, it’s good to get away from it all.

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Google Yourself

February 18th, 2008

I had an interesting catch up with Imran Ali, a real digital brainbox, with brands like Orange UK on his CV and a host of start-ups under his belt.

Our discussion focused on how an individual can manage their personal online reputation as the boundaries between work, friends and family come crashing down – and everyone wants to be your friend.

This new territory is catching out employees, as companies check online profiles to get a greater understanding of future and current members of their team.

But ‘saving’ your reputation by opting-out can do even more damage as companies need marketers who demonstrate their understanding of how to engage with their online community. Plus it’s a great way to raise your personal profile.
So, what’s the new social media etiquette? Do we need rules or can we trust our own common sense? The world of social media is evolving so quickly that there are no hard and fast rules.

Here’s a few practical tips to stop you getting your fingers burned:

  1. Find out where your reputation is today. Type your name into the major search engines and see what comes up. Make these ‘vanity’ searches a regular part of your working life.
  2. Make a decision – are Facebook/MySpace/Bebo just for friends? If so then keep your profile private and encourage clients to befriend you on LinkedIn, explaining that you don’t use Facebook often.
  3. If you’re using Facebook as a business tool, keep the content relevant. Remove your wall and hide whichever quiz you’ve just signed-up for. Remember it’s not just your content but that of your friends you need to manage whenever they tag you in a picture.
  4. Alternatively, create a second Facebook profile, open to business associates that demonstrates your professional image – and keep it up to date.
  5. Create and maintain your LinkedIn profile, think of it as a poster that adds depth to your CV and demonstrates the kind of connections you have.
  6. If your online profile is lacking, start to follow some blogs relevant to your industry – and make interesting contributions.
  7. If you have the time to commit, create your own blog. Consult with your friends and colleagues on style and content, blog at least a couple of times a week, encourage others to contribute and respond to any comments.
  8. And finally never let anyone film you doing something that you don’t want to share with your mum, your boss or your future partner.

Good luck!

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TFI Friday and the wire-free world

February 15th, 2008

Is it just me – or did this week have 12 days in it?

Start of the week is a bit hazy – combination of industrial strength Lemsip and numerous new business proposals. The middle of the week had a couple of 32 hour days (or so it seemed at the time). And the past few days; well, they definitely had a Groundhog Day feeling about them.

So, now it’s Friday, with a couple of days rest to look forward to.

I wish.

The five day working week is history, as are 9-5 “opening hours”. In the marketing business, you’re working when your clients want you working. It goes with the territory. It’s understood. When you’re working in online PR, where deadlines roll for 24 hours and your public is every person with an Internet connection and an opinion, then it’s doubly so (at the very least).

But – thankfully – I enjoy what I do. And the beauty of living in an inter-connected world, with easy access to WiFi around the house, means that I can write this – my last blog post of the working week – sat at the kitchen table, using my trusty MacBook and nary a wire in site.

It’s a blog post now, but could just as easily be development of a social media newsroom, posting to a newsgroup, mixing a podcast or one of the 101 different online services we offer.

But, for now at least, work’s over. So, with the sound of a cork exiting a bottle of red echoing in the background, it just remains for me to shamelessly plug our new Facebook ‘fan page‘ – and invite you to join.

It’s not a replacement for the web site and blog, more a support to them. We look forward to welcoming you

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Quick thought.

February 15th, 2008

So, about two weeks ago my TV stopped working. It switched on, well the button moved, but then there was just a clicking noise deep inside its bowels somewhere.

Deep inside? Yes, I still have an old-fashioned CRT TV. 32 inches of widescreen pleasure with a picture sharper than any LCD or plasma screen I’ve ever seen.

Yes it’s a big so ‘n’ so but such is the layout of my house that it fits nicely into one of the alcoves next to the chimney breast. Anyway, I digress.

So, the tele packed up and, being a busy chap, I needed something to use in its place whilst it got fixed – or condemned. Step forward my trusty 20″ iMac .

What’s not to like? 20″ crystal clear widescreen, the audio goes straight into my surround sound amplifier, it plays DVDs through the built in drive, it plays any video file I throw at it through software, it controls my enormous iTunes library, I can connect to Internet TV stations…. etc. The only downside is there’s no way of playing my PS2 or Wii (for the kids you understand) and my Virgin TV subscription is a waste.

Well, I thought it was anyway. Then I did some digging – and found the Elgato Hybrid. The USB connector connects to the iMac, the video from the PS2, Wii, Virgin set-top box etc. connect via composite (the yellow cable in the picture), turning the iMac into a very fancy flatscreen TV. It costs £70.

I know I’m a geek, I embrace my geek status but this could be a perfect example of what I always say about technology: that I don’t love it for its own sake but for what can be done with it. What’s not to like about a TV screen that plays anything and everything you throw at it – and for £70 that could be what I have.

Mmmm…. I wonder.

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