TV v Internet: how to get the vote out

Kicking Television
Image by dhammza via Flickr

This is a cross post from our new blog sherrilynnestarkie.com. Please reset your RSS to the new site.

The leaders of the UK’s three main political parties have all agreed to participate in television debates in the lead up to the May election. Most pundits agree these TV events will dominate the campaign and will likely mean candidates spend less time on the hustings.

Not to worry, the Internet will pick up the slack in helping candidates communicate directly with voters across Britain. It will be a interesting blend of super-controlled mainstream media and what some see as chaotic social media. But which will be more effective getting out the vote?

The prime ministerial candidates have agreed to a complex set of guideline for the TV debate comprised of more than 70 rules which forbid, among many other things, heckling and applause from the audience. Contrast this to the uncontrolled blogosphere and you get two very different aspects of political debate.

It was a subject discussed earlier this week by a City University panel of digital and politics experts.

The use of  email and social networks in mobilising activists will be key to getting out the vote according to panelist Matthew McGregor, director at Blue State Digital, the agency that handled the Internet campaign for Barack Obama’s successful presidential bid. In his view, the TV debates will serve as a catalyst for online discussion and viewers will be voicing their responses in realtime…long before any opinion polls can be undertaken.

Google’s head of corporate communications in the UK, DJ Collins took part.  He said, “Online video and camera phones create the moments that create massive drama. And they catch politicians at their most unguarded.”  He said this is taking control away from party strategists, and he predicted that in the upcoming election, there will be candidates that will fall afoul of this.

Professor Ivor Gabor, Professor of Political Campaigning and Reporting, City University London, pointed out that campaigns tend to evolve more slowly than we think; there are few sea changing events. He explained that during the last election we saw the ‘air war’ and ‘ground war’ where the parties tried to by pass the media with a lot of direct mail and phone bank campaigning.  Social media makes fighting the ground war much easier, he said. But social media also makes it easier for the mainstream media to see what’s going on. So the air war and ground war have effectively merged.

BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson didn’t mince his words.  He said that. at its worst, the conversation about new media is self important, narcissistic tosh. “Some of the stuff I see on Twitter is far from being new. It’s like a return to some of those small print magazines that were dashed around coffee houses a hundred years ago.” However he did concede that Sarah Brown, Gordon Brown’s wife, is now one of the most influential people in politics thanks to her 1m+ Twitter followers.

Rishi Saha, a former Conservative candidate and now Head of New Media for the party was also on hand.  He likened the Obama presidential campaign to a start-up company. “It had no activists, no base, no money, nothing. They had to create something from scratch. And the Internet is the best way to scale something very quickly,” he explained. The UK parties are very different. They have two-hundred years of history, hundreds of thousands of members and firm foundations. “It’s like asking Thomas Cook to be a bit more like lastminute.com,” he said.

Another former parliamentary candidate and political blogger, Rupa Huq said that she gets the feeling that all this online mobilisation is better suited to single issues than it is to political parties. She referred to Harold Wilson’s view that a week is a long time in politics.  She said that in an age of status updates, blogfeeds and tweets, a week is really an eternity now.

So what was the overall consensus? A show of hand showed that three quarters of the people in the audience believe the TV debates will prove to be more important to the outcome of the election than any social media engagement.

Unfortunately, the people at City University don’t quite get the ’social’ bit of the piece and have not made the video of the event available on YouTube.  However you can visit their own website to view it by clicking here.

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IoM Twestival Global 2010

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On Thursday 25 March, people in hundreds of cities around the world will come together for Twestival Global 2010, a fundraising campaign for child poverty charity Concern Worldwide, and the Isle of Man is joining in.

Twestival (or Twitter Festival) uses social media to bring people together offline to rally around the important cause of education by hosting local events to have fun and create awareness. All of the local events are organised 100% by volunteers and 100% of all ticket sales and donations go direct to Concern Worldwide’s education projects.

IoM Twestival will take place at Jaks Bar & Steak House, a popular music venue in Douglas. The main event is going to be a performance and karaoke singalong with band Red. The evening will include a silent auction, raffle and other fun, fundraising activities.  Further details will be released as plans are finalised.

The first Twestival Global was held last year in 202 cities to support the charity Water.  More than 1,000 volunteers and 10,000 donors raised US $250k+, which resulted in more than 55 wells in Uganda, Ethiopia and India having a direct impact for over 17,000 people. It was a remarkable achievement by volunteers working under short timescales and utilising social media tools like Twitter to make it happen efficiently.

This year, the focus is on education and the 72 million children in the world who don’t have the opportunity to go to school. Concern Worldwide was selected by the Twestival global team and local organisers because of its comprehensive and well-respected approach to education.

One hundred per cent of Twestival funds will go to project costs. This includes material purchases (curriculum, desks, pencils) as well as project activities such as construction of schools; rehabilitation of classrooms; teacher/management training; PTAs; HIV/AIDS school clubs; water and sanitation in schools; health education in schools; education advocacy; vocational/life-skills training for youth, farmers and women; and curriculum development for secondary school/university. Money will not be used for things like administration, overhead, reporting oversight, etc.

Twestival Local will take place in September 2010 and will benefit an Isle of Man charity yet to be decided.

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Foursquare video

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I’ve been trying out Foursquare recently.  It’s a social network that taps into location-based services.  It’s early days for Foursquare, but I think the idea has legs.  It works much like the other social nets; you find friends and connect with them online to share information and socialise.  But what’s cool is that you ‘checkin’ when you visit a shop, restaurant or other location and add your views on the experience.  And there’s a game component too.  Foursquare, or a network like it (Google Buzz?), will open up a myriad of marketing and sales opportunities for anyone targeting consumers once the community of users reaches critical mass.  Here’s a fun video that explains how it works.

Thanks to GIGAOM for the heads up on the video.

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Large companies are into social media

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Three out of four Fortune Global 100 companies are using social media in some way, according to a study  published by Burson-Marsteller, the global PR firm.

Twitter has proven the most popular with 65% of the Fortune Global 100 have a profile. Unsurprisingly, Facebook and YouTube are the second and third most used with 54% and 50% of top companies involved in those networks.  A third of companies have corporate blogs.

Only one in five international companies are involved in all four social platforms. Companies based in Asia are more likely to publish blogs.

The study also found that Fortune Global 100 companies were active in social media. The study found that  82% tweet each week and 59% post content to their Facebook fan page each week.  Sixty-eight per cent post a video on YouTube each month and 36% update corporate blogs at least once a month.

There is also evidence that stakeholders are listening and engaging. In the study corporate Twitter accounts averaged 1,489 followers, while each Facebook fan page averaged 40,884 fans.

Some companies are interactive and not solely using social media to broadcast corporate messages. Companies using Twitter were following an average of 731 people each, and 38% of companies were responding to people’s tweets.  Thirty-two per cent have also “re-tweeted” or reposted user comments each week.

Other key findings include:

  • On average, the Fortune Global 100 companies have 4.2 Twitter accounts, 2.1 Facebook fan pages, 1.6 YouTube channels and 4.2 corporate blogs.
  • Companies with active accounts have 27 tweets per week, 3.6 Facebook posts per week 10 new YouTube videos per month and 7 blog posts per month.
  • Corporate YouTube channels have an average of 452 subscribers each and over 38,000 views per channel.
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Isle of Man Twitter’s most influential

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Twitter isn’t a popularity contest.  A tweep might have a ton of followers, but this is not necessarily a measure of his influence. How an individual behaves and interacts within the community is a better indicator of how influential he might be.

To illustrate this point, here’s two lists.  The one of the left is list of tweeps with the most followers and is based on Twitter Grader scores. The one on the right uses TweetLevel’s Twitter influence score.

Twitter Popularity (Grader)
Twitter Influence (TweetLevel)
@robertcurrey (100%) @sherrilynne (54.9)
@sherrilynne (99.5%) @purplecatcorner (52.9)
@beckiicruel (99.1%) @moogc (51.7)
@OwenC (98.1%) @alansuspect (50.4)
@manxiefi (97.8%) @OwenC (49.8)
@lottieb (96.8%) @lalalambrit (49.7)
@anglawrence (95.9%) @robertcurrey (48.7)
@lalalambrit (95.1%) @beckiicruel (43.5)
@steveburdett (94%) @programx (42.6)
@purplecatcorner (94%) @anglawrence (40.5)
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Banker’s reputation in ruins

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When is comes to apportioning blame for the current economic recession, it seems that bankers are getting the lion’s share, according to a PR Week survey carried out by research company OnePoll.

In fact, 72% of survey respondants  blame irresponsible corporations and individuals for the recession and it’s investment banks that people blame first, closely followed by high street banks.

Two in five people say they no longer trust banks.  They want greater regulation of banks and disapprove of  the bonuses awarded to those within the profession.  Eighty-eight per cent of respondents say bankers don’t deserve bonuses and nearly half would like to see bonuses both capped and regulated. And as for the argument that that UK bankers will find work abroad if they can’t earn bonuses here, 60% of respondents don’t agree.

It’s not shocking that bankers get the blame; but its a bit surprising that they get almost all the blame with so little landed with politicians and policy-makers.  But then maybe politicians have had a lot more practice at managing their own reputations.

In the Isle of Man the finance industry represents a huge part of our GDP, so we all have a stake in helping  rebuild the reputation of  banking. But first bankers must help themselves by taking a proactive stance and leading the debate on industry issues.  Making their voices heard is the first step on the road to recovery.

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Twitter: influence vs popularity

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It’s been a bad week for the American airline Southwest. Movie director Kevin Smith, also known as Silent Bob, was allegedly kicked off a flight because he’s too fat to fly.  He vented his spleen on Twitter and the next thing your know, the airline was in the middle of a major PR crisis as the story was retweeted among Smith’s followers, and then made it onto the agenda of most American mainstream media companies.

Kevin Smith is a bit of an extreme case, but this kind of incident happens every day to all kinds of brands and organisations, especially those who are consumer facing. Anyone left to queue for too long or served luke warm soup can immediately publish his displeasure for all to see.

But how can you tell if a flamer has any influence on Twitter?  Looking at the number of people following that profile will give you an indication of popularity, but it’s not a good indicator of influence. For example, a disgruntled tweep may only have 50 followers, but if these individuals are MPs the actual influence could be much greater.

Luckily there are a few free tools online which help determine Twitter influence.  A smart one is TweetLevel, launched a few months ago by Edelman PR, which helps in understanding how ‘important’ someone is, and therefore how much effort and time should be invested in any one individual who is tweeting negatively.

TweetLevel compiles Twitter data from more than 30 sources and feeds the data through an algorithm to rank an individual according to four weightings:

  • popularity (number of followers)
  • influence (level of interest in what’s tweeted)
  • engagement (level of activity and participation)
  • trust (belief and faith in what’s tweeted)

With more than 1.6 million followers, Kevin Smith is popular, this is true.  But perhaps more interesting is his high trust score of 88.5. So when he complains about a brand, people are actually listening to what he says. Instant PR disaster for Southwest!

TweetLevel reveals some interesting facts about the Isle of Man Twitter community. @Pokerstars , the profile of a global industry leading brand, has a large number of followers at almost 8K, but TweetLevel reveals its influence to be only average with a score of 50.7.  But Manx school girl @BeckiiCruel has a similar influence score, 43.8, although her follower numbers are significantly lower at about 1,500.  Perhaps even more interesting is the profile for astrologer @RobertCurry who boasts almost 68k followers, but whose influence score is only 50.

So which of these three tweeps is more ‘important’?  According to TweetLevel, they are all just about equal

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Google gets social buzz

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If you’re already using Facebook, Twitter and email you might wonder why you’d ever want or need to get involved in Google Buzz.  The new social service, launched last week, seems to mimic many of the functions and features already available on other sites.  And there have been quite a few concerns about personal privacy voiced online and in the media.

These are all pertinent facts.  But remember the thing that makes social networks useful and fun is the community.  Having a lot of great features and functions helps facilitate social interaction, but it’s socialising with people that makes these platforms important.  So although there are huge numbers using Facebook and Twitter, it would be folly to ignore Google Buzz because it’s linked to Gmail which boasts 100 million users worldwide.

While we’ve not seen a grand exodus from our favourite social networks quite yet, I certainly wouldn’t rule it out.  The folks at Google do have a rather impressive track record for success so far.

So while you are deciding if you’ll dip your own toes into the Buzz waters, check out this video to see how it works:

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Lunchtime social media seminar in the Isle of Man

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The Isle of Man’s International Business School has asked to me to speak at a lunchtime CPD seminar on 19 February 2010.   I will cover the basics…

  • What is social media – an overview of platforms
  • How is it used – marketing, communications, innovation and HR
  • What are the benefits – to an organisation? to an individual?
  • How to get started – simple steps

It’s only £15 including lunch.  It starts at 12.30 and everyone will be away by 13.45.   For more information or to book click here.

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Workshop: Getting to grips with Social Media

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Mark your calendar!  I’m running a ‘Getting to grips with social media’ workshop on 30 March 2010.  Last November’s event proved very popular. It was sold right out and I’ve had several enquiries about running another one.  Here’s the deal:

Getting to Grips with Social Media

Learn:

  • how the social Internet is changing how humans and organisations communicate and interact.
  • about the various social networks, tools and platforms
  • about blogging and the democratisation of information
  • policies and best practices in social media
  • strategies and tips to get your organisation involved

Workshops  include case studies on  local, UK and international organisations.

Understand:

  • where social media fits into your organisation
  • what social networks can (and can’t) achieve
  • the risks and benefits of the social Internet
  • the art of online conversation

Leave with a good grounding in how the social Internet works, the tools of the trade, and some ideas on how to get started.

The workshop will be held  9.00 to 13.00, 30 March 2010 in Douglas, Isle of Man. The venue is to be confirmed.  The cost is £75 per person and includes coffee, tea and nibbles.  Becasue the workshops are interactive, space is limited so book early to  avoid disappointment.  Email workshops(at)sherrilynnestarkie.com or Twitter @sherrilynne.

Here’s a video from the Q&A at November’s workshop:

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Social media goes mainstream

This is a cross post from our new blog sherrilynnestarkie.com.  Please reset your RSS because Strive Notes will be shut down at the end of February 2010.

If 2009 was the year of Twitter, then let 2010 be the year that social media comes of age and takes its rightful place at the centre of business process and communications management.

It’s not enough to slap up a Facebook fanpage and push out website content via Twitter.  To gain the true, significant benefit of social media requires thoughtful consideration and a smart strategy driven from the very top of the organisation.

Social media integration is a complex, evolutionary process. It takes a change of culture and mindset, and these are things that cannot be done overnight. A company needs to understand where and how Web 2.0 technologies are impacting the organisation. It needs to understand the risks and benefits, where and when to engage and how this engagement should be evaluated.

This takes time. I  use a ten-step framework for social media integration to assist organisations through the transition. It’s a flexible approach that can be implemented swiftly or with a more measured approach. There is no one right way on the path to online social integration; each individual and organisation takes a unique course.

This is usually guided by a focus on stakeholder engagement. Striving to build relationships with these groups and individuals is the ultimate goal, and all strategy and tactical programme elements dovetail under this ambition.  In past times, it might have taken a distinct communications strategy to reach each group.  Social media means that companies must successfully navigate a complex ecosystem of online communities in which individuals expect transparency and are all empowered to participate equally.

Finding the right mix
The social media aspect is important. But the key to success is the ‘integration’. New technologies must fit with existing software applications, established websites and microsites as well as with traditional communications media such as newsletters, team briefings, mainstream advertising and PR.  Finding the right mix to enhance what’s already in use and to amplify those benefits is fundamental.

Social media integration is not simple. It’s a complex process which actually started about ten years ago when the business world went online, but is now at the tipping point. Still it’s a new world for most people. That makes, organisational internalisation of the social internet a particularly lofty ambition, but it is crucial. Now is the time to throw away the idea that messages are to be controlled from the top down and from within.

Already, there is no longer any control over company messages in the real world. As a company’s information moves from person to person, each forms a unique connection to the organisation based on his own reaction, perspective and beliefs. This is the birth of a relationship, hopefully a positive one.

For traditional organisations making the change in thinking takes a significant attitude adjustment. It takes requires the recognition that everyone is equal, as people from across the organisation, every department and division, begin to socialise amongst themselves as well as with customers, shareholders and other outside communities.

This is powerful stuff; but in truth for most organisations, this scenario is already ‘current reality’ to some degree. Keeping heads in the sand will benefit no one.

It’s been said that every great journey begins with a single step and, so it is with the social internet. This ten step process facilitates, supports and eases the way to full integration and into the future.

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Doing good online made easy

This is a cross post from our new blog sherrilynnestarkie.com. Please reset your RSS because we won’t be update Strive Notes for much longer.

If you have a social conscious and want to take control of the kind of web advertisements you see, help is at hand.  The DoGooder, is a new browser plug-in that lets people replace push website ads with ones that they actually appreciate seeing and find useful.

The plug-in is free, takes 10 seconds to install, and creates revenues for good causes: the company behind the plug-in gives 50% of its profits to green initiatives, charities, and nonprofits. The range of causes to benefit include everything from environmental campaigns to child poverty to disease eradication.  Donations do not go back to brand advertisers.

The concept is not all that new. There are a number of online ventures focused on raising cash for third-sector organisations through social networks and similar platforms. But the DoGooder has its own slant on getting cash and raising awareness of social causes.

The fundamental premise is that people would rather help people than faceless corporations. It seems to be working: the plug-in has  already had almost 6,000 downloads since the launch late last year.

In Internet advertising, a company or brand will have its adverts served to a range of websites in the hopes that people will click through to their own homepage.  Impressions in the millions typically generate hundreds of clicks; the low return is attributable to the lack of relevance and personalisation of web adverts.

With the DoGooder, people indicate their preference for information about charities and good causes and because they actually want to see this information, there is a significant improvement in click through conversion rates. So instead of seeing a banner ad for the latest installment of Celebrity Big Brother, a DoGooder user will get information about an environmental campaign, or something similar.  In addition, people who use the plug-in can play a role in deciding who gets the cash raised by clicking on ‘Suggest a Cause’.

Here’s the bottomline: it’s easy, almost effortless to download DoGooder. It doesn’t have to cost you anything and you’ll still be raising cash and helping good causes. The plug-in helps eliminate a lot of the white noise on the web.  Seemingly the proposition is win/win.

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Top Tips to improve search rankings

Image representing Google as depicted in Crunc...
Image via CrunchBase

This is a cross post from our new blog sherrilynnestarkie.com. Please reset your RSS because before long, Strive Notes will be shut down.

Search engines exist to help users find the web content they seek.  These top tips leverage search technology to help get your site to the top of Google page one.

1. Keep adding new and different content. Every time you update your website the search engines are automatically alerted and send a ’spider’ along to have a look.  That’s why blogs works so well. Having a blog component on a website and updating it often will definitely enhance search engine rankings.  Updating a blog three times a week is a good starting point; but three times a day is even better!

2. Go with a CMS (Content Management System) website.  These days, you don’t have to be fluent in HTML coding to update a website. CMS systems are easy to use and are versatile web platforms.  In fact, if you can write an email you can write and update a blog. It’s that easy.  And every time you publish a blog post or someone leaves a comment, adds a little juice to your search ranking. There are several CMS platforms available, but I like  Wordpress and Graffiti because they very easy to use and are open source.

3. If a web page isn’t getting traffic, delete it. You might as well remove information that is out of date or is not generating much interest. The value of the links to your site is diluted if there are large number of pages. You need content that invites links to boost search performance and cutting out the ineffective stuff will keep your site editorially relevant and make it of more use overall.

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Social media club Isle of Man: CI Mark Payne

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Sherrilynne Starkie, Chris Gledhill, CI Mark Payne

Sherrilynne Starkie, Chris Gledhill, CI Mark Payne

Thanks to the more than 50 people who came out last week to Super Third Thursday, this year’s first meeting of the Isle of Man Social media club.  Our speaker was CI Mark Payne of the West Midlands Police who is the driving force behind the use of social media in Britain’s police services.

“My top tip in terms of organisations engaging in social media is that it’s much better to ask forgiveness that to seek permission,” said CI Payne. “Social media are very intuitive and you’ve got to let go some of the control. Let your people talk. Trust them. And let people talk back to them.”

The West Midlands Police service is established on several social networks including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. In addition, CI Payne is a regular blogger.

The idea behind this is very simple.  CI Payne explained, “Police are often criticised for being difficult to get hold of, or not listening to what local people are saying. We try all kinds of ways to communicate with the public, meetings, newsletters, traditional media, talking to people we meet and anything else we can think of. There is clearly a huge amount of conversation taking place online and, where people are talking about policing or crime issues, we want to be part of the conversation.”

Super Third Thursday was sponsored by PDMS (disclosure) and the West Midlands police are a client of the web development company. Managing Director Chris Gledhill said, “Super Third Thursday was really fantastic. It showed the West Midlands police can engage with the public in a totally different way. ”

Here CI Payne fields questions from the crowd:



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Build an iPhone or Android app in 5 mins

This is a cross post from our new site at sherrilynnestarkie.com. Please reset your RSS now because we’ll be shutting down Strive Notes before long.

One of the most exciting social innovations to come along for a while is iSites, a just-launched service that lets you create a self-branded iPhone or Android application in a couple of minutes for about £15.

With iSites,  a website’s RSS feed and data are quickly transformed into a full-fledged smartphone app.  The process is very straightforward so just about anybody can do it.

For companies, a good place to start would be with a blog or other RSS feed.  Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, Posterous, Tumblr and other social feeds can also be converted for the iSites app.

A company iSite app can be designed to reflect the brand; the header image, colors and menu are all customisable. Once everything is set to go,  the application is published to iPhone and Android app stores with the click of a button. Added value features include the capacity to monetise the iSites application.

Meet the people behind the service:

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CI Mark Payne: media and the police

This is a cross post from our new site sherrilynnestarkie.com. Please reset your RSS because before long we’re shutting Strive Notes down.

Yesterday Chief Inspector Mark Payne of the West Midlands Police spoke to the Isle of Man Social Media Club . Following the Third Thursday meeting, he and I had a fascinating conversation about how social media is changing the police’s relationship with the media.  What follows is a blog post on the subject that Mark published a few days ago and he’s kindly allowed me to republish it here.

I tweeted about an interesting article in the Guardian last week. The thrust of the argument is that police forces are pumping out PR based press releases, which papers print unedited due to lack of resources. Police are therefore writing their own headlines, and not telling the public about crime. Using my newly acquired media monitoring skills, I noticed that this link had created a huge amount of interest, so I thought it might be useful to give people a personal insight into the relationship between the police and the media.

Firstly, it is right to state that society in general would be a worse place without journalists, both local and national. The role they perform in holding public authorities to account is crucial to a democracy, and as we have seen with the recent MP’s expenses debate, they can foster change on a grand scale. I would not want to live in a world where the media is supressed or controlled. Although nobody likes to be caught out or embarrassed by the media, it beats the alternative where public bodies do what they want without fear of exposure.

Although I now run the press office for West Midlands Police, I have spent most of my career as a Detective. I have investigated murders, rapes, serious violence, taken guns off the street and dismantled drug rings. I am therefore well placed to offer a rounded view on the police relationship to the media.

I have first hand experience of working with the media at the coal face  with varied results. For example, I used a newspaper appeal to trace a crucial witness to a murder, and I have also found the media to be really accommodating when there are important messages that we need to get out to the public. I have also found myself on numerous occasions having fairly heated disagreements with journalists when they want to publish stories that would have a detrimental impact on live investigations.

I have always struggled with the concept of a journalist insisting they want to publish a story, when the police are telling them that doing so would make it more difficult to either arrest or convict the offender. My instincts as a police officer are all about getting the bad guy locked up, whereas journalistic instincts tend to be to get the story out before another media outlet. This is often the cause of friction between police and media.

In the time that I have been in the press office (approaching 18 months) there has been a marked change in the media world. There are many fewer journalists, and less local papers. Although the media are still an important part of our communications plans, we now place greater emphasis than before on local communications, delivered by way of officers contacts in the community, newsletters, local meetings and with web based communications. This is not because we are trying to provide less information to the public, just a recognition of the changing landscape.

One of the assertions in the Guardian article is that police do not tell people about crime. I would argue that there is more information available than ever before. If you click on this link http://bit.ly/54BEsF and type in your postcode, all of the information about crime in your neighbourhood is available at the touch of a button. Even in the halcyon days to which the reporter refers, there was never this amount of information available, so it is a little unfair to suggest we are hiding crimes. What I think the article means is that we are not giving it to journalists in the way they would like to receive it.

In my current role, I have daily conversations with a wide range of journalists. They are generally easy to get along with, and we have good relationships with most local papers. There are clearly competing demands and occasional fall outs over stories, but on the whole the relationship is positive. Often queries from journalists will make us look again at an issue and ask whether we have actually done the right thing. Where we haven’t I encourage officers to say so, and put it right. This seems to me to be a quite healthy relationship, and one that I encourage.

It is not our role to fill the newspapers with stories. We will issue a press release if there is a policing purpose behind it, for example, we want public help to identify an offender, or want to warn the public about a specific crime type which they can guard against.  We will also issue press releases where there is good news to report, so that the public get a balanced view, and are not left afraid to go out at night.

The relationship between police and the media will continue to evolve. I remain optimistic that the traditions of policing and journalism can continue to co-exist for the good of everybody, and I will continue to look forward my local paper every week.

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Isle of Man JCC property outlook

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Last night’s  Isle of Man JCC’s Property Outlook event was sold out. No wonder! Black Grace Cowley’s Nic Cooper and Tim Groves teamed up to deliver a comprehensive, state-of-the-market-presentation. It wasn’t the rosiest of pictures; but it wasn’t all bad news either. Thanks to Barclay’s Wealth whose sponsorship made the event possible.

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Coke’s viral Happiness Machine

This is a cross post from our new blog at sherrilynnestarkie.com.  Please reset your RSS to the new site, because we’ll be shutting Strive Notes down before long.



Students get more than they bargain for when a Happiness Machine replaces the soda vending machine.  This YouTube video from Coke has been viewed  +373k times in four days and gets 6,800 mentions on Google Blogs.  It’s a simple concept and it’s working well.

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Social computing spreads across the enterprise

Image representing Cisco as depicted in CrunchBase
Image via CrunchBase
This article is cross posted from my new site.  Please readjust your RSS reader now because I’ll be shutting down Strive Notes before long and I don’t want you to get left behind.

Social networking tools are spreading into core areas of enterprise, including the marketing and communications, human relations, and customer service departments, according to a new study from Cisco. Within marketing and communications, these tools have already become an integral part of organisations’ initiatives, as marketers have understood and acted on the shift from “broadcast” to “conversational” communications or rich interactions.

The Cisco study assessed how organisations use consumer social networking tools to collaborate externally and it revealed the need for stronger governance and IT involvement. The research is based on extensive interviews with 105 participants representing 97 organisations in 20 countries around the globe and was conducted between April and September 2009.

Of the organisations interviewed, 75% identified social networks as the consumer-based social media tools they primarily use, while roughly 50 percent of the group also identified extensive use of microblogging.

“The study findings indicate that the business world is at the early stages of adopting these tools and in the process of identifying key challenges, such as the need for increased governance and IT involvement, which may impact the integration and adoption of these new platforms and technologies,” commented Evgeny Kaganer, Ph.D., lead researcher and assistant professor, IESE Business School.

It’s clear that businesses are slowly waking up to the collaborative benefits of social computing across the enterprise. Apart from the marketing and PR benefits, the use of social media increases the whole organisation’s agility, thanks to the speed and ease of interaction among team members, customers and partners.

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Video: joint venture with PDMS

This video is cross posted from my new site.  Please reset your RSS now because I’ll be shutting Strive Notes down before long and I don’t want you to get left behind.

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Moving blog; adjust your RSS

I started blogging at Strive Notes four years ago in early 2006 but the time has come to make a change.  Business has changed.  Life has changed. 

I thank everyone who has been reading commenting and contributing and invite you all to join me at my new site:  sherrilynnestarkie.com.

I’ll be cross posting here for next few weeks, but before long that will stop so I ask everyone to point their feed reader to my new blog so that no one gets left behind. 

Thanks Strive Notes.  You’ve been a good friend.  I’ll always remember you fondly.

Joint venture with PDMS

Sherrilynne Starkie, Chris GledhillPDMS, the software development firm specialising in web development services, has forged an alliance with Sherrilynne Starkie, managing partner of Strive Public Relations, to help organisations to build, manage and engage with online communities through social computing.

As part of PDMS’ Digital Design service, the new venture provides a unique combination of deep software engineering expertise along with a thorough understanding of organisational and marketing communications.

“The social network revolution brings many challenges, but it presents even more opportunity through innovation. The winners of the next ten years will be those organisations that really get to grips with it,” said PDMS Managing Director Chris Gledhill.

“Sherrilynne is an internationally-recognisedsocial media expert who has an in-depth knowledge of how people are using Internet technologies to form and participate in online communities. Together we’ll innovate we can develop and implement the social software solutions to meet the needs of today’s organisations.”

PDMS Digitial Design social media services include:
·     strategic engagement campaigns
·     online community building and management
·     Digital PR, SE0
·     corporate blogs, social websites
·     social applications development
·     web content development
·     training and coaching
·     online conversation monitoring & response

Sherrilynne Starkie said, “The alliance with PDMS is the perfect marriage of PR and Web know-how. Social media is changing how humans communicate the world over.  Organisations are struggling to keep pace and those that put web services at the centre of their communications and business strategies are set for success.”

Social media across the organisation:

Sales: Online communities are discussing companies, brands and products and this chatter can impact sales. Insight can inform sales and product strategy. Online promotions reduce cost of sales. Encouraging consumers to share views on social networks drives ecommerce site traffic

Marketing: Brand amplification, core message dissemination, loyalty and awareness are just some of the marketing activities that social media impacts.

Insight:
Consumer research, done well, can be costly. Social media provides constant feedback and both quantitative and qualitative data at a fraction of the cost of traditional research methods.

Innovation: Social networks devoted to idea generation among customers, team members, shareholders, or any distinct community can promote innovation, improve quality, streamline production and generally improve the overall development of an organisation.

Government 2.0:
Public sector bodies are becoming more open. That means they are using social computing to increase collaboration and transparency to transform the way governments relate to citizens and operate.

New social site: MyBrandz

Image representing MyBrandz as depicted in Cru...
Image via CrunchBase

A new social networking site, MyBrandz, was launched today in Beta.  The idea is to bring all brand fans together to discuss, share and update each other aboutthe brands they love.

MyBrandz places the brand at the heart of its web service – the MyBrandz Matrix – a dynamic compass mapping the brand world and sorting brands by popularity and affinity. By viewing the Matrix, members can find out which brands are hottest and log on to new trends. The matrix is based on exclusive Brand Rank, which is a proprietary algorithm.

People are  invited to share and interact with the MyBrandz community and other social platforms. Individuals can build their reputation, become a community leader and influence how people and brands creatively interact.

I signed up to have a look and I confess I don’t really get it.  But then again, I didn’t understand how relevant Twitter could be when I first signed up there in 2007. It seems to me though, that brands are looking for a way to interact with online communities, so this platform could become important.  As ever, the key will be  recruiting users.

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Corporate social media use grows

Corporate social media use grew 14% in 2009, according to The Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

Their latest study compares adoption of social media over three years (2007, 2008 and 2009) by the Inc. 500.

Highlights of the report:

  • Social networking continues to lead the way. The technology that continues to be the most familiar to the Inc. 500 is social networking with 75% of respondents in 2009 claiming to be “very familiar with it” (compared to 57% in 2008).
  • Twitter has achieved amazing “share of mind” with 62% of executives reported being familiar with the new microblogging and social networking platform.
  • The adoption curves for different social media technologies are not all the same. While social networking and blogging have enjoyed growth in actual adoption, the use of message boards, online video, wikis and podcasting has leveled off or declined. The addition of Twitter (considered by respondents to be both a microblogging site and a social networking site) in the latest study shows that an amazing 52% of the Inc. 500 companies are already using this tool for their business.
  • Social media matters and is here to stay. Forty-three per cent of the 2009 Inc. 500 reported social media was “very important” to their business/marketing strategy.
  • Ninety-one per cent of the Inc. 500 is using at least one social media tool in 2009 (up from 77% in 2008).
  • The Inc. 500 companies are also seeking to protect themselves legally, with 36% having implemented a formal policy concerning blogging by their employees.

The research demonstrates that, at least among fast-growing corporations, new media and social media are being rapidly adopted, but attention is turning to the platforms that have the widest adoption.

December 14th: PR top 5 (Tiger Woods)

Tiger Woods
Image via Wikipedia

It’s a story that seems to roll on and on and I’ve been hesitant to chip in with my two pennies’ worth because so much as already been said by so many.  But here’s a summary:  for perhaps the first time in his life, it sucks to be Tiger Woods.

He’s been caught stepping out on his wife.  It seems he’s been doing it quite a lot.  From the outside, it seems his marriage is under serious threat.  It’s a mess.

But it’s not like Tiger has been dismembering teenagers in his basement.  He’s been a selfish, thoughtless cad yes, but that’s hardly unique. He’ll come back from this setback fairly easily and probably a lot sooner than predicted.

So instead of waxing lyrical about what a PR disaster this is for Tiger and his sponsors, I  thought it might be fun to devote this week’s Top 5 to Tiger in the PR blogosphere.  So here we go.

1.  In his post, here’s what newsrooms can learn from the Tiger Woods story, digital journalist  Robert Niles dissects how the story broke about the golfer’s mishap with a tree took over the news agenda throughout the Thanksgiving holiday period.  After admonishing reporters for not checking basic facts as the story of Tiger’s car accident broke, Robert goes on to encourage journalists to report the news in full.  Those reporters who covered the accident without reference to a National Enquirer’s earlier story alleging Tiger’s infidelity failed give readers the necessary context to fully understand the story.

Robert says, ” I understand that newsrooms such as the Times’ don’t want to engage in tawdry reports about celebrities’ private lives. But once they ran with the story that Woods was in serious condition, they were obligated to report that story fully. And that requires acknowledging the Enquirer report and the circumstances that led to so much speculation about a fight between the couple.”

2.  A good discussion played out on Heather Yaxley’s post, Tiger Woods and the PR Machine.  It’s interesting to see how the tone of the comments shift over time as daily revelations about Tiger’s private life continue to be exposed.   Should he comment publicly or stay quiet?

Heather says, “The media (and the public) see celebrity lives as soap opera and that’s what this really is. Why should he play the role of breaking down on Oprah and begging for fans’ forgiveness and all that other nonsense?”

3. Trevor Cook takes a different tact in his post Tiger Woods and the Marketing Problem.   He says, ” Given how desperately we want to believe in a human god, it didn’t take much peddling from Team Tiger for us to accept Woods as a modern deity.”

And concludes: ” So much of modern marketing is based around the creation of impossible, unattainable dreams. We are drawn to the images of perfection, just as powerfully we feel compelled to destroy them. It’s a fascinating dilemma.”

4. UK celebrity publicist and author Mark Borkowski blogged about how the Tiger Woods PR disaster could scare brands off sports stars for good.

He says, “Let’s get one thing straight: Tiger’s situation is no ordinary brand collapse. This is the high watermark for individual brand disintegration.”

5. Ed Lee, in Let the Spin Begin reflects on Tiger’s announcement that he’s stepping out of public life indefinitely.  He says, “What a great move from Team Woods to allow those sponsors who wanted to cut ties, to step down gracefully.”

The toughest thing about putting this list together has been to keep it to just five items.  Google Blogs lists almost 30 million mentions of Tiger.  But I enjoyed reading these five.

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Dell demonstrates social media ROI

Dell Logo
Image via Wikipedia

Dell has been at the forefront of social media since the company first got flamed byTech blogger Jeff Jarvis a few years ago.  Having learned its lessons the hard way, the now company puts social media at the centre of its whole marketing strategy.

Having already established a pretty solid track record in online engagment, it’s no surprise the Dell understands how best to measure the return on social media investment: by looking at the bottomline.

This week the company announced that it has earned more than $6.5m in sales of PCs software and accessories as a direct result of Twitter.  A million and a half people follow the more than 100 employees that ‘tweet’ daily.

The company first got into Twitter in 2007 and sees the microblogging site as an effective way to interact with customers.  With Twitter, Dell reaches users in 12 countries, including the U.S., Brazil, Mexico, China and Japan.

Of course Twitter is just one part of a complex social media strategy that includes other networks such as Facebook, MySpace and YouTube.  In addition the company publishes a wide array of blogs and uses a wikisite, IdeaStorm,  to drive innovation.

Dell remains a case study in social media excellence.

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Fundraiser for Mayoress’ Charity Appeal

Fourteen staff and friends of  Strive PR  recently visited Tracey Bell’s Super clinic to raise £180 for the Mayoress’ Charity Appeal.   We toured the newly opened, state-of-the-art facility and enjoyed an evening of luxury including free treatments and demonstrations (and a glass or two or of bubbly).  Tracey Bell donated 20% of all sales made on the night to the Mayoress Charity Appeal.

It was  a fun, girlie night out and we  got to enjoy this fantastic, new Island facility.  At the same time we were able to support the Mayoress’ Charity Appeal and two important Island charities, the Hyperbaric Chamber and Arthritis Support.

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Social media and selling snake oil

Bannack Days 2008-snake oil
Image by virtualreality via Flickr

I read BusinessWeek’s article ‘Beware Social media Snake Oil’ with interest because it’s a subject I’ve been thinking a lot about recently.

Over the past couple of week’s I’ve run into a few people claiming to be social media consultants who, after a few minutes discussion,  reveal themselves  as having not really understood many of the fundamentals of the social web.

The article’s author Stephen Baker says, “The problem, according to a growing chorus of critics, is that many would-be guides are leading clients astray. Consultants often use buzz as their dominant currency, and success is defined more often by numbers of Twitter followers, blog mentions, or YouTube (GOOG) hits than by traditional measures, such as return on investment. This approach could sour companies on social media and the rich opportunities it represents.”

I couldn’t agree more.  It’s not too hard to set up a Facebook Fanpage or a YouTube channel.  You can be  aggressive in acquiring a large number of contacts, followers and friends.  But the truth is that counting eyeballs, hits or unique visitors doesn’t really mean that much if the actual humans behind the numbers aren’t buying, voting or behaving they way you’re trying to encourage.

So how can you avoid the snakeoil and ensure you’re getting the expertise you need?  You can start by asking a few tough questions of your social media guru.  Here’s a few suggestions to get you started.

1.  Ask about hands on experience. Do you have your own blog?  How long have you been blogging? When did you join Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter? What other social media platforms do you personally use and why?  What measurable results have you achieved in your own personal social media activity? Can I see examples?

Hopefully your consultant will have five or more years hands on experience with multiple platforms.  They’ll be able to explain how and why they use each channel and show you concrete results with plenty of  business-related examples.

2.  Ask about potential strategies and tactics. Which channels should I use? Which ones should I avoid? Why? Should social media replace my current marketing and communications activity? Will social media turn my business around? How do you measure success?

Your consultant should be able to give you some thoughtful answers that relate to helping you achieve your objectives.  You’ll want to hear about a focused strategy, not about millions of eyeballs or promises of rankings.  You’ll want to hear about social media as complementary to traditional marketing and communications channels, not as replacements.  You’ll want to hear about added value, engagement and collaboration, not a panacea or a magic bullet.

3. Ask about costs and other resource requirements. How do you structure your fees? Who within  my organisation  will be involved? Are there any other costs involved? What return on investment can I expect?

A popular misconception about social media is that it’s free.  Another is that it’s easy to be successful.  So if your consultant foresees a low price and talks a lot about automation and bots, run a mile.  If you hear the words ‘oursource’ or ‘turnkey’ think very hard before getting involved.  Social web success not only takes a long-term commitment,  it requires a change of mindset.  This is not something you can hand over to someone else to do on your behalf.  You and your team members will be involved daily.  Content development will involve people with a range of talents and expertise.  It will take time and money, outside of the consultant’s fees.  When you consider the time, skill and talent necessary for success, you’ll see that social media is not a just a  cheap alternative to advertising. But, done well it will deliver quality results in helping you  achieve your objectives.

In his BusinessWeek article, Stephen Baker advises, “Think back to the dot-com boom a decade ago. Soaring valuations were based initially on promise and hype. In early 2000, when investors started focusing on scarce profits, the market collapsed. But many companies drew the wrong conclusions. Believing the fall of a hyped market was a sign of the failed promise of the Internet, they drew back on Internet investments. This happened just as the technology was on the verge of living up to much of its promise, dominating global communications, transforming entire industries—and spawning social media.

“The best way to avoid a similar backlash today is for social media’s practitioners, including thousands of consultants, to shift the focus from promises to results. It may be the only way to convert the skeptics—and flush out the snake oil.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

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Why you need a Facebook Fanpage

Facebook, Inc.

Image via Wikipedia

So you’ve set up your Facebook Fanpage and are running adverts to help attract fans.   Soon you’ll have a whole community queuing up to buy your products and services.   Setting up a Fanpage couldn’t be easier, and becoming a fan is almost effortless…one simple click of a mouse and voila!…instant fan.   The sales will be rolling in, right?

Erm…not really! You see attracting a fan to your page is like nodding to a stranger across a crowded room. You have acknowledged the existence of each other, but there is no real relationship, yet.  This is just the beginning.

Just as with any successful relationship you will need to build a friendship with your fans and gain their trust over time.  You do this by bringing value from the very first communication and to this you need to understand who your fans are, why they have become your fan and what kind of information and content is relevant to them.

Remember that Facebook is a social network, so be social.  Broadcasting one commercial message after another is a big turn off.

So if you are in the business of selling shoes, don’t post pictures of shoes and price lists. That’s what your website is for.  Instead, give your staff a couple of Flip cameras and have them shoot video of the team having fun a work. Or ask your fans to share their own photos of themselves dressed to nines and out and about.

If you’re already doing a lot of PR and marketing, your Facebook Fanpage could serve as a central repository for everything you do.    So any media coverage you achieve can be posted, newsletter content, blog stories all go on the Fanpage. Then your fans have a veritable one-stop-shop for your brand.  And you add value to every marketing penny spent.

Another great way to interact with fans is to ask them for feedback.  So if you run a coffee shop, ask your fans how they feel about the queues, which coffee blends they prefer and why, or they could suggest new recipes or potential charitable alliances.  This crowd sourcing approach means being open to criticism and being willling to make changes and implement suggestions.  But it will inspire fierce loyalty among your customers.

My point is this…your Facebook Fanpage will be as unique as you are.  There are no set ’strategies for success’.  Think about who you want to attract to your page then think about how you’ll turn that nodding acquaintence into a strong relationship.

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Super Third Thursday for social media club

The Isle of Man Social Media Club meets the third Thursday of each month and everyone is welcome. smc

On 21 January 2010, we are kicking off the New Year with Super Third Thursday with guest speaker Chief Inspector Mark Payne of the 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 is also one of the most progressive in relation to social media use including its aptly named ‘plodcast’ which provides an insight into the work of the force and the varied employment opportunities for police and support staff.

Launched in 2006, the regular and free audio downloads attract more than 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.

CI Payne will discuss the social media campaign, the challenges and successes his team has faced and will be happy to answer questions from the floor.

Social Media Club brings together journalists, publishers, communications professionals, artists, amateur media creators, citizen journalists, teachers, students, tool makers, and other interested collaboraters.

Essentially the people who create and consume media who have an interest in seeing the ‘media industry’ evolve for everyone’s benefit. We are more than just USERS, we are the reason the tools exist – we are the people who communicate our thoughts and ideas near and far. Join us and let’s shape the future together!

PDMS, the Island’s largest software developer has kindly offered to sponsor this event, so it’s free to attend. But it’s bound to be popular so book early to avoid disappointment.

Super Third Thursday will be held at 12.30 at The Claremont Hotel in Douglas.  A finger buffet will be served.

There is no fee to attend but prior booking is advised.  Email smc(at)strivepr.com to reserve your place.

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