Yeah I went to a talk on social media and the blogged about it...

Tonight I was fortunate enough to attend the Third Tuesday Toronto talk. Tonight’s topic was ‘How the Globe and Mail is using social media to connect with its readers’ with the very clever Mathew Ingram, Communities Manager for The Globe and Mail.

There is a great write-up of the event here and the Q & As brought up some really interesting topics with one of the most relevant to my current situation being how to bring across the value of social media to key stakeholders and decision makers in the company.

I think Mathew gave a good answer. New media like twitter sound ridiculous and inconsequential to people who are used to important things, well, sounding important and not, as he earlier said, as if they were words formed by a five-year-old. He also suggested getting a new convert who might have an influence on your boss to show them how useful a tool it is. Both really great points.

I would also go further and suggest that another great way to get your execs on board with social media is asking them what they want achieve from their PR as a whole and then show them where social media can help them get there (if it can, As Mathew said and I agree, it might not be appropriate or have value in all cases.) As a PR specialist you want to be the problem-solver and audience-finder not the grief-giver. If your company wants to reach more dads or board-game enthusiasts and you know that you can find and engage those people online then show them how you will. Maybe they want to cut DVD dub and mail-out costs and a dedicated you tube page or video streaming from a corp. site would save a few quid. If possible use case studies from competitor companies or even anecdotes that show that the audience is out there and can be reached. As Mathew suggested, if these anecdotes can come from your bosses peers, all the better.

Think carefully about what forms social media will be a good fit.I think the worse thing is to trying to force an executive team to get on board with a vague, broad idea of social media without knowing what their goals are PR-wise. You could be forcing a message across a medium that doesn’t necessarily suit and cause more grief than you ever would have wished for.

At the same time as PR strategists should be showing what social media can do for their company and clients, directors and other decision makers need to have their expectations managed and be aware that a social network strategy is not a cheap or necessarily always easy answer to PR woes. I think managing expectations is one of the most important parts of the PR job wherever you work and it needs to be remembered that communications across social media is still communications with all of the responsibility, expertise and attention required with more traditional outlets.

In many ways social media requires you to be even more on your game as online publication can be almost instantaneous and coverage and attention regularly comes from individuals and outlets you may have never heard of before. If you are currently not getting the coverage or attention you want across traditional media because your communications team lacks an eye for detail or isn’t great at building relationships then their success across social media isn’t likely to be much better.

Also make sure you have a strong skeleton in place such as the ability and time to respond to twitter replies, to update your blog (I know, I know) or a robust and updated corporate site so if your audience wants to find out more they can. I really don’t see social media as an end unto itself for companies and maybe I’m wrong but I think examples like skittles.com go to show how empty companies appear if they are just relying on social media to do the work for them. With skittles there are a lot of social media limbs in play but no meat, no strong skeleton. Let go of your brand sure but make sure there is a place where users, consumers, fans and even haters know what you believe your company is.

People will always talk about what they like and don’t like about you and your company online and it is great that with social media, communities (which were always there) can be grown and a conversation can be had with your customers. However, don’t expect much of a conversation if the only sense they have of who you are is from their peers online.

A lot got me thinking at the talk and reading the Q & As there are a lot more things I want to explore. Mathew seems to strongly believe that people want to connect with other people and personalities rather than companies across twitter and I agree but it does throw up a whole mess of issues around who I am as me, Kate or plentyspace and who I am as a representative of the company I work for. I feel confident I am the same person but I am also well aware that the language I use on twitter, on this blog, in comments on other people’s blogs and in the pub isn’t the same as the language I use on press releases or in professional emails. Hmmm will think more upon this.

Thanks for causing me to think Mathew Ingram and Joseph Thornley. Here I was planning on an evening of cheese on toast and watching ‘Made of Honour’ on TMN.

Really though – it was a great evening.

Bale Rant Real?

The internets have been a-buzz with The Rant - Christian Bale verbally ripping a new one into a DP (or cinematographer?) that has walked behind him just a few too many times.

An interesting article on Mashable yesterday suggested that this might be a deliberately placed viral to drum-up excitement for the upcoming terminator movie (which we’re all pretty excited about anyway non?). The argument is fairly sound, Bale is a superb actor so could pull it off and the use of viral “real” videos being used to hype a product has been used before so it isn’t too great of a leap to imagine that this could be a deliberately placed/released advert.

There are some interesting points raised in the comments about whether this a real rant or not and if it is, has it been deliberately released now? Is Hollywood stupid, evil or both etc etc. I’m pretty on the fence about it. On one hand I hope it is real because I would hate to think that Bale is such a twat that he has jeopardized his reputation on a publicity stunt (both his reputation for being a professional on set and being a real guy, not willing to play any media game, new media or not). On the other hand if it is a fake that means that at least he isn’t a verbal abuse kind of twat (which his London arrest would seem to contest anyway).

I suppose being skeptical on the validity of this is to be expected given the spate of pass-around videos that have been shown to be false like the hair freak-out and the office rage one. I don’t likes ‘em. I think that whatever they are ultimately pushing it is totally lost or brings about bad feelings about that product. I believe that out of those people who receive or watch a viral most people remember the video content and of those only a few will remember the product and out of those almost all will feel let down or slightly hoodwinked and miffed. (see diagram).

In this instance I think Bale has lost some respect either way. Those people that have made those remixes/ O’Reilly edits however have certainly gained some.

What do you think? Real/not/does it matter?

Also – is it just me or does Christian Bale have a weird thing going on with his jaw? I only really noticed it post Machinist but it doesn’t seem to align easily after he says some bits of dialogue – anyone?

New Year New Nothing?

Actually loads of stuff.
There will be updates but in the meantime you can read this wot I wrote about Fable II.

Games being played at the moment are pretty much The Sims thanks to the Apartment Life expansion an understanding boyfriend gave me for Christmas. There is also Left 4 Dead to be finished off.

In hot Sims news: I made a Tommy Wiseau Sim and a Lisa and a recreation of The Room apartment. If that sentence meant nothing to you need to do some googling and hopefully some Amazon purchasing.

Heidi and Spencer Possibly Clever?

Pictures “surfaced” today of pantomime baddies Heidi and Spencer wearing pro-McCain t-shirts. The candid shots show the couple y’know just chilling on a cliff top, drinking some brews and reading. Oh yeah, they have a rifle as well.

Cue torrents of comments calling the desperate duo stupid, retarded, media-hungry pig-dogs, etc, etc.

But I’d like to add another word.

Clever.

I think ‘Spidey’ are far more calculated production than many imagine. On The Hills Pumpkin-head Spencer regulary comes off as a comic-book style baddie with his constant manipulation of his melted-face lover and general passive aggression towards family members and former friends. Heidi on the other hand, well since the LA makeover and meeting lord creepy-smile bum-fluff, she has disintegrated to a mopey lame pony with too much lip gloss.

What I’m getting at is that although they may appear to have only one collective brain cell that brain cell is at least smart enough to recognize that their longevity and fortune depends on the drama they create and the particular brand of dislike they have shilled to an audience eager for uncomplicated villains. Their methods may not be sophisticated and the strings on these puppets are certainly obvious but I have to admit I admire them (sorta) for milking it so thoroughly.

They know we love to hate them and they court that hate. They eat because we loathe them, well it certainly isn’t off Heidi’s "music" "career".

And this brings me back to the pictures. I think these images possibly are a nice little wink from the happy couple to Obama. They know we dislike them, we certainly don’t want to be like them so we won’t vote like them. Looks like they might be pro Obama supporters too. Maybe. If it is a supportive gesture maybe it has backfired. Possibly this is all just got too meta.

I can’t believe I spent so long thinking/typing about two people I dislike so much.

I’m off for a long shower.

A plentyspace mix tape

This is the mixtape I made - blog soundtrack perhaps? Well not quite as there is no British music circa 1996 or Lightning's Girl by Nancy Sinatra.

Thanks Jess

The Final Debate

I watched half of debate and posted on Twitter loads. In case you weren’t following my tweets this is what I said with extra explanation (almost like a DVD extra). Tweets are listed in order of posting with the oldest at the top.

Enjoy!

Joe Plummer is the Toronto born drummer of Modest Mouse.

• See I’m clever. I took the ‘Joe The Plumber’ talk and waited till my boyfriend googled it and told me this little fact. Unfortunately it isn’t quite right (see below).

America - please take the plan. No one should go bankrupt because they're ill

• America’s health care system really scares me. I try not to be friendly with Americans because I’m frightened if I get too close to any of them and they get sick it will be just too heartbreaking watching them suffer with a costly and unfair system. Seriously though, health care in The States is ridiculous for a country that claims to be a world leader.

Sorry Joe Plummer is a percussionist with Modest Mouse

• I did my own research and it turns out he is the percussionist not the drummer. McCain and Obama’s mate is into glockenspiels and bongos.

maybe McCain meant this Joe http://joeplummer.com/

• Check him out. Go on. I’ll wait.

the only plumber I care about is Mario

• This one was a bit silly.

Obama voted on mandatory abortions FOR EVERYONE

• McCain was suggesting that Obama just lurvved voting on abortions and voted for them whenever possible.

Empty orphanages for all

• McCain went on to discuss that with less abortions there will be more unwanted babies and therefore more adoptions (yeah, I couldn’t make the maths work on this either).

It isn't pro-abortion it's pro choice

• McCain kept saying “pro-abortion” when I think pro-choice is a lot more accurate. I don’t think anyone relishes making a decision to abort a pregnancy and using a term like ‘pro-abortion’ is pretty incendiary and unfair.

Public service for university tuition was my idea in '99 (when I had to take out the loans)

• OK, this totally was an idea I had and when I heard Obama set it out I jumped up on the couch, crazy Cruise style, in excitement. I can’t believe I hadn’t heard him discuss this before. When tuition fees were introduced in the UK (just before I took to Glasgow for my degree) I thought about alternate ways people could pay for higher learning and discovered the Germans take part in public service. If there was some way I could have volunteered in community programs before Uni or part time while I attended, in order to cut fees I totally would have.

McCain is addicted to brain age on the DS

• Obama said “put down the videogames” and I thought McCain mad on gaming was a funny thing to suggest. Anyway Obama, you placed ads in Burnout Paradise so maybe you shouldn't throw stones?

Did he just say America needed a Nude Erection?

• No McCain didn’t say that. He said “new direction” but nude erection is suggested through neuro-linguistic programming. Trust me.

yeah make sure you shake his hand this time

• McCain could not wait to touch Obama with BOTH hands. Clearly he or his media advisors learnt from the lack of tactility of the town hall debate. Wives were a bit aloof at this one though.

Happy Election Day

Now go out and vote.

Do it.

Go now.

Go.