Is 21 the perfect age?

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Hi my name’s Beth Jones and I’ve just started a work placement at Wolfstar.  Although I have almost finished studying for a Broadcast Journalism degree at the University of Leeds,  I have decided that PR is the way forward and what better place to start learning than at Wolfstar.

Finishing uni is just starting to sink in and it’s a horrible thought, despite this I have come to the conclusion that 21 is the perfect age, or at least with my limited experience I think it is. After my holiday in Atlanta this Easter visiting my folks I realised that I must appreciate every minute of being 21. I could see the nostalgia engulfing my dad as he rattled off stories from the good old days. The one which stuck in my head, and probably the one he was most passionate about, was his drunken antics on his 21^st birthday while posted by the RAF in the Borneo jungle.

Clearly I have already had the brilliant experience of visiting Atlanta this year. Apart from the lovely weather and friendly people, there is so much else that makes it such a great city. Firstly there was the scintillating dinner at the renowned Sundial restaurant, then there is the endless number of shops in Lennox Square but my favourite activity, which any visitor to Atlanta must do is visit the Turner Field  for a Braves game. I was a baseball virgin before this trip but having watched my first game, I’m hooked! Even if you don’t want to get immersed in the game itself there is so else much to do, the best part had to be watching the crowd on the big screen, laughing and waving desperately once they realised they had been caught by the camera. Ahhh good memories!

Not only does being 21 and a student allow the freedom to travel, it grants you the luxury of time. So my next venture is likely to be a festival. As an avid fan of Global Gathering (having been three years on the trot) I think it’s time to spread my wings. However this poses a problem, as I look to fellow friends hoping for some guidance in what to do, I end up torn between Barcelona’s Sonar festival  and Benicassim near Valencia. Hmmm who knows? Any advice? Either way it’s going to be an experience not to be missed!

If your looking for something a bit different, check out the Guardian’s guide to ‘20 British festival’s you’ll never have heard of’.

All I know is I won’t stay 21 forever and as my final summer of ‘no work and all play’ draws nearer I am on a mission to make it the best yet before I embark on my journey into the depths of the world of PR.

Beth races for life

Hello all you lovely kind people out there.

On May 18^th I will be donning my running gear and will be helping to raise some much needed funds for Cancer Research UK by taking part in Race for Life and I really need everyone’s help in the form of sponsorship.

I am running in the memory of a close friend who passed away aged only 19, my friend Jo, who’s Dad recently lost his life to lung cancer and for everyone else who lives have been touched or affected by this horrible illness. I will be puffing my way around the course at Temple Newsham, Leeds and have been running to and from work (on occasions) in preparation (and I need a lot of it!)

Please dig deep and contribute what you can to help me reach my target, as cancer affects so many people across the UK. So please get sponsoring, even if it means one less drink in the pub on Friday night. Just visit http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/bethkay to donate.

Events like Race for Life are an important way in which Cancer Research UK is able to fund its life-saving work into preventing, diagnosing and treating cancer. By sponsoring me now you could help more people survive cancer.
Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure.

Thanks!!!

Oh and I will post the embarrassing pictures after the event.

Don’t trust the Sat Nav, it may leave you feeling blue

How often do you rely on your trusty Sat Nav to get you to your desired location? Even when we don’t know the post code we can punch in the name of a place and (insert the name of yours here, mine is called Oliver) will take you to where you want be. The same is true of taxi drivers. You expect to be able to jump in a cab tell them the name of your destination and off you go. And when the two come together, you are surely in safe hands…

Apparently not.

When Earl Spencer’s daughter ordered a taxi to take her to Stamford Bridge to watch Chelsea’s showdown with Arsenal from their home in Northampton, she expected to whizz the 85 miles to London to be there in time for kick off. Unfortunately for her, she ended up 229 miles away from the blues game in the little village of Stamford Bridge near York.

The blunder came when the taxi driver, not knowing the exact route to Stamford Bridge, typed it into his Sat Nav (like we all do), checked with the controller that this was in fact the right address and set off on his journey… to the wrong bridge.

Yes it may have been the controllers fault but what I find baffling is how Earl Spencer’s daughter failed to notice that she was heading north instead of south for the 147 mile journey!

Blogging without due care and attention

Last week Stuart and I had a chuckle over an article in the Yorkshire Evening Post about how the conservative party have been warned about blogging whilst under the influence of alcohol. Apparently TORY candidates at local elections in Leeds have been warned not to post internet blogs when they are drunk. If they do find themselves writing while under the influence, they have been advised to save a draft and then wait until the morning before deciding whether to send it. I’ve always been told that a little drink can help get the creative juices flowing but I think the principle here is the same as text messaging whilst a little merry. We are all guilty of thinking that posting that blog or message was a good idea when the alcohol strips down our inhibitions and gives us the confidence to tell the world what we really believe but when the morning comes and the memory of the night before comes flooding back its all too late.

I think the whole thing was trying to be a bit tongue in cheek, but bloggers out there everywhere should heed this warning before they switch on their laptops after cracking open that second bottle of wine. In the mean time, I want to see where these drunken Tory blogs lie, as they sound like some interesting reading.

CIPR Yorkshire & Lincolnshire launch Facebook Group

In my new role as social media coordinator for CIPR Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, I have advised that initially it creates an open Facebook group to share more information with its members and non-members.

To be honest, it’s not the most exciting item of social media/group to look at just yet (we only have 12 members as I write) as we still need some good official CIPR content to be added but it’s a start and it’s an organic thing, which means we can all begin to post items and provide updates to each other.

The group is open to anyone interested in PR in the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire regions, they don’t need to be members of the CIPR, just interested in communications.

The group will enable the CIPR to share knowledge, news, events, media coverage, blog posts and interesting videos.

It also has a notice board so its members can use it as a forum and ask questions of other members.

I am hoping this will mean that more younger non-members get to hear about the many events the CIPR is organising across the region this year.

Other interesting CIPR and PR Facebook groups include:

1. Wolfstar’s
2. Leeds Met PR Graduates
3. Young PRpros
4. Green Communications
5. PR Networking Group London

Cross posted: Norton’s Notes

Google announced as world’s number one brand

Yesterday Google was announced by ‘Superbrands‘, as the UK’s number one  business brand beating off giants such as the BBC. This has made me appreciate just how big this company really is. I myself use the search engine ‘Yahoo’, simply because that was the first engine my Dad introduced me to years ago. Interestingly, all my friends find it bizarre that I don’t use Google, as if the organisation owns a monopoly over searching on the internet. But of course they don’t and there are probably thousands of other search engines on the net, so why has Google gone on to rule the net, winning the crown for the brand with the best reputation?

Speaking of Yahoo, the business recently rejected a bid made by Microsoft for a ‘friendly takeover’. According to The Lang Report, Yahoo has just announced 1000 job cuts, its largest ever amount since the dot-com crash. Perhaps this due to the effects of Google’s growth in this sector. I believe in forthcoming years, the fate of companies such as Yahoo will be unsure, as Google continues to reign.

My university tutor suggested that the popularity of Google could be thanks to the idea of WOMM (word of mouth marketing). This is an interesting thought and I think he is right, especially when you think of the phrase ‘Google-it’.  It has become synonymous with internet searching and it is very common to hear people in work, the press and even teachers at school using the phrase to their pupils. I am told it actually makes an appearance in the dictionary now too!

Online audience to be included in ABC figures

I have just read an interesting post from Roy Gleenslade reporting that online unique users and circulation figures will now be added together in a new report format for the first time - this is a big step forward.

He reports: "It will reveal that all-important measure known as "the reach" achieved by publications by detailing both month-on-month and year-on-year figures for on-line and newsprint.

"The new "multi-platform monthly report" will also break out figures by geographical region; the UK, Republic of Ireland and other countries.

"The initiative follows requests from advertisers, agencies and media owners because it will undoubtedly introduce greater transparency. It’s long overdue, but I know that ABC has been working as hard as possible to bring it about. Some media companies dragged their heels, I’m afraid."

I think this is interesting and it prompted a debate here at Wolfstar as to whether subscribers to the RSS feed, will or should be included too rather than just unique users and visits. A website can have a low number of visits one month but still have a huge number of subscribers who are all reading every post or article.

It is well documented that national and local newspaper circulation figures have been affected by the emergence of new media. On a local level here in Leeds, several of the Yorkshire Post’s business team have moved to a new venture called www.thebusinessdesk.com which is doing really well. Check out Seb’s post on it for more details.

Richard Bailey is attending/hosting an event tonight entitled "Print is Dead". However, I wonder if all these figures were added together in a detailed report if the title of the event would be altered to "Print is moving".

Cross posted: Norton’s Notes

Social media campaigns - convincing the technophobes…

It appears that the business community is starting to understand that social media has to be part of an effective public relations programme in 2008.

Consumers across the globe are now actively using the popular social networking sites such as Myspace, Bebo, Facebook and Youtube to contact their friends and share content in the form of interesting music and amusing videos. However,  these same people, often become confused as to how social media can then be implemented in a professional/business campaign.

I recently held a meeting with a client who was very interested in what Wolfstar do, and they were equally interested in the analysis we could provide but most importantly they were interested in how we could save them money.

As we continue to show people the power of social media, we find ourselves more and more explaining that the technology is pretty much irrelevant now as we (the social media specialists) deal with that and the truth is editorial content is actually the key.

However, although most of our clients have been enthused by this advice, I have also noticed some apprehension as a small number of business people still see social media as an emerging market - similar to that of the dot.com boom in the 90s, which I was unlucky enough to be a part of. At that time I worked in an international public relations agency in London and we watched aghast as our team increased by 50% in two years as the senior directors gladly took the extra funds being invested to publicise the latest website to be launched, all of which were promising to have more than 10 million customers each. At the time we even asked ourselves who is actually going to log onto these web pages but this was all lead by technology and in the end it failed to deliver because we the consumers weren’t interested in the various sites content or we just couldn’t find them.

Social media is very different as this is a fundamental shift in society. It’s true that technology has aided this shift but this is all about how people are now interacting.

We used to read a newspaper or more recently log on a website to get the latest news and information we required. Now we are sharing content between each other whether its amusing videos or useful tips on how to start a new business - people don’t have to type a URL in to find you anymore - if you use social media correctly and effectively, customers and opportunities will come to you and they will want to work with you because your content is what they were actually looking for.

I think it’s right for many people to assume that this is still an emerging market but with more than 70 Million blogs and 120,000 being created every day it’s certainly pretty well established too. In fact, on Monday blogs actually celebrated their 10th birthday. People have been blogging for a decade about everything from serious business topics through to what they cooked for dinner last night.

As public relations practitioners it’s now time for us to help show the technophobes in business that this isn’t about new technologies anymore this is entirely about good quality content and using it correctly.

The crazy world of Facebook

When I first created my Facebook account three months ago I wasn’t that impressed. For the last year I had always been a devoted fan of Myspace and Facebook seemed a bit too complicated for me with all this talk of networks and groups. However, after three months as a student in the city of Leeds, I honestly don’t know where I’d be without Facebook.

I have built up a great ‘community’ of friends on my account, most of which are residents at the halls where I live. Everyone regularly updates their status (a sentence user’s change to describe their mood or what they are doing for example), so I always know what everyone is up to. Also, as I am part of the Leeds network, I get sent invitations from promotions companies advertising special events and club nights, so I never miss out! And of course there is also the function to send private and non private messages to my friends, just in case their mobile phone is switched off!

I think Facebook is a fantastic way of meeting new people; not only foreign strangers who you will never meet in the flesh but real people who live in your area or study your course. For example, before I even started uni I had already found two of my flat mates through Facebook and as one of them was especially interested in heavy metal music, I had time to prepare myself…

I really think everyone of all ages and interests can benefit from using social networking sites, especially Facebook. Whether you’re a granny wanting to join the ‘Knitting Club’ or a rock music fan interested in joining the ‘Marilyn Manson Club’, there’s something for you.

Here are just several bizarre groups I found whilst searching through the site:

The Elastic Band Ball Trust (for those who love elastic band balls)

I hate life! (for those who believe the glass is half empty..)

I Love Mullets (for those of you who are fans of 80’s hair styles)

The ‘lovely’ Rosalind O’Rourke joins the Wolfstar Pack

Hi! My name is Rosalind O’Rourke and it’s my first day of work experience here at Wolfstar. I am currently a third year student at Leeds Metropolitan University studying public relations.

Originally, I come from a tiny little village in Ireland called Derryvale (the sort of place where everybody knows everybody and everybody’s business) and I was dying to escape to somewhere more interesting, so I decided to do my studies in England.

I’d heard about the city of Leeds from family and friends who had visited and loved it. So I thought it would be a good place for me to go and I have never looked back since. I love everything about it, the city lifestyle, the student life and the shopping of course!

Unlike most of my friends I am not doing a placement year. I chose not to do one because I had a lot going on during my second year at home and found myself spending most of my free time travelling back and forth. Because of this I didn’t think it would be fair on either party, as I wouldn’t have been able to put as much effort as I should into a full-time role. I don’t regret this decision at all - I chose to concentrate on my work instead and came through second year with marks that I was really pleased with. And I’m certainly not wasting my year out, I’m fitting in as much work experience as possible and building up my portfolio, so I can go my into my final year with one as good as my course mates.

I spend a lot of my spare time doing typical student stuff, drinking, shopping, and generally spending money that’s not mine! I also work in the Arc in Headingley to help fund this lifestyle. I have been there for over a year now and really enjoy it, everybody that works there is such good friends and most of us are students so the social side of it is great!

Before coming to university I didn’t know a lot about public relations, I originally wanted to be an actress but my careers advisor introduced me to it and told me I had the perfect personality for the job, and I have to say he was right.

I instantly loved the world of public relations and I knew I had a natural enthusiasm for it. Wolfstar is now introducing me to social media and WOM marketing, which I am already developing a massive interest in. I really like their attitudes and views on public relations and engaging with the consumer - so I am hoping I will learn a lot from the team during my time here.

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