Archive for October, 2007

As I’ve blogged about before, I am co-authoring the social media sections of a book on New Trends in International PR to be published internationally by UK publishers Kogan Page in early 2009. I am trying a social media experiment as part of the book - I am posting my research online on a wiki and inviting readers to add comments and share their knowledge with me. I hope that you or your contacts may be able to help with this project.

Many books on social media as well as books on public relations have tended to focus on the West, and in particular the US and UK markets. But globalisation and social media, as you know, are rapidly changing the landscape of communications. Influence is shifting from organisations to individuals and the voices of Asia, Africa and non-Western cultures are becoming increasingly significant on the world stage.

Our book aims to explore the landscape of new communications from a cross-cultural perspective with special focus on Asia as well as other non-Anglo-Saxon cultures.

Would you - or someone you know - be able to give me an cross cultural perspective around how social media is used in Asia, Africa or South America? For example:

# What businesses in those regions/ cultures blog or podcast? What about not-for-profit organisations, politicians, campaigners, activists, solo professionals - do they use social media to help their enterprise?

# What is the impact of social media and networks like Facebook on business, culture, politics, relationships etc in those cultures/ regions?

I would like to share a strong cross-cultural perspective in the book, so I hope very much that you can help.

You can find out more about the book and follow my research at http://new-trends-in-international-pr.pbwiki.com/.

For others who have already contributed to the project, please see http://new-trends-in-international-pr.pbwiki.com/Acknowledgements+to+Contributors

If you’re able to share our views with me, you can contact me via the book wiki at http://new-trends-in-international-pr.pbwiki.com/contact.php or via the Contact link at the top of this page.

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Photo: from sxu.hu (free)

This post first appeared yesterday on the EuroComm Blog, where I am the lead blogger.

Not so long ago, when you organised a conference - especially an international one - it was a matter of course that you’d have a conference website to act as a portal for conference information, queries, accommodation and registration. Having a presence like that on the web has become a given. You don’t even question it.

Having a conference blog is a relatively new idea that’s probably only really taken hold during the last year to 18 months, with US conferences leading the way. Silvia Cambie and I spoke about “the conference website and blog” in one breath from the start as we talked about all the things we had to do to organise the EuroComm conference in Barcelona. We were comfortable with the idea of having a blog because we’re both bloggers.

Getting comfortable with an idea. It’s a key factor, I think, in whether or not a concept or a tool actually gets used by the wider world beyond the first adaptors. We just have to think back to the early 1990s, just 10-15 years ago, when businesses were trying to assess whether it was worth investing in word processors and computers. I remember joining a law firm in that time when the secretaries were still using electric typewriters and were stressing out whenever I asked them to make a change to the text of a document - because it meant pretty much typing the whole thing out again. Now, word processing is a necessity - and legal documents have unfortunately ballooned to hundreds of pages in some cases….

Back then, Tim Berners-Lee had only just invented the World Wide Web and hyperlinks so it would be another few years before businesses would get comfortable with the idea that a business website was a good thing to have. In 1995, the law firm I was working for did not have a website yet. In 1998, it seemed a daring thing for me as an individual to acquire my own URL domain name and have a website for my novels - only the biggest names in writing had websites back then. Now you can pick one up for under £10 a year and parents are even buying domain names for their children in the way that they would reserve a place for their kids at the best schools the moment the little darlings are born.

While talking to many business people and communications professionals, I’ve had a sense that there is still a residual uncertainty and even resistance to engaging in social media for business purposes. But overall, I am also seeing more and more businesses and enterprises start to use interactive online tools, even if it a small step like signing up to Facebook. My sense is that before long, the idea of social media will become more comfortable in people’s minds and it will become ubiquitous to have at least a blog alongside business websites - if nothing else, used as a way to add updates of company news.

What do you think? Do you think blogs will never work for some businesses? Or do you think that blogs are “so fifteen minutes ago”? Please add a comment and share your views.

Photo: thanks to ~aidan from flickr.com under Creative Commons Licence

Following on from my post about the preparations for the EuroComm Conference in Barcelona last month, I’m pleased to report that we have just launched the website and blog for the Conference.

The IABC EuroComm Conference in Barcelona will take place on 4-5 Feb 2008. The website is at http://www.salle.url.edu/EuroComm/.

The blog will feature articles and posts on the theme of Innovation through Communication, which is the theme of the conference. We would very much like to engage in discussions and shares view around this theme even before the conference starts so we hope that you’ll come along to visit the blog at http://www.salle.url.edu/EuroComm/blog/.

Guest-bloggers include business communicators who will be speaking at the conference - they will be sharing their personal views on the blog in advance of the conference. There is also a core team of bloggers, including IABC members Marc Wright of simply-communicate.com, the online communications magazine, Kevin Keohane of SAS, the branding agency and Yang-May Ooi of ZenGuide, the social media consultancy as well as web usability expert, Giles Colborne of cxpartners, the usability professionals.

We are also inviting business and communications professionals to submit articles around the theme of the conference, Innovation through Communication. You do not have to be a member of IABC and you do not need to be going to the conference to submit an article. We’d just like to hear your views if you have a story or opinion piece that is relevant to our theme. You can find out more through our Article Submission Guidelines

The programme for EuroComm Conference is available at http://www.salle.url.edu/EuroComm/programme.html

Registration for the Conference is now open - find out how to register at http://www.salle.url.edu/EuroComm/registration.php

For information about discounted accommodation during the Conference, go to http://www.salle.url.edu/EuroComm/hotel.html

by Angie Macdonald

The hype around social media continues to grow as millions of people globally join social networks and online communities. The marketing value of these tools is enormous yet many businesses are still not sure what they are and how they can use them.

On Thursday evening I went along to a talk at the City Women’s Network entitled Social Media: Online Communities and Your Business to hear three experts explain how businesses can take advantage of all that social networks and online communities have to offer.

First up was Giles Colborne, Managing Director of cxpartners who explained what online communities are and how they work. There are many different types of communities on the web; communities of support like the American Cancer Society and Trip Adviser, communities of friendship like Facebook, communities of ideas such as Boxes and Arrows, where professionals exchange knowledge, and finally, communities of expression, as in sites like Flickr and Last.fm.

What makes communities different is the issue of control. Unlike the authoritarian approach of most corporate cultures, control in online communities lies in the hands of the people using them.

The best way to approach starting your own online community is to treat it like organising a party and to think of the kind of people you’d like to attract, from an attentive host to lively social hubs and of course, your loyal friends. It is the type of people who join and participate in your community that will make or break it.

Kristin Berg, Planning Director at Euro RSCG 4D spoke about why communities and social networks are important.

If you are a business, chances are your target audience are already spending their time online in social networking sites like Flickr and Facebook. Word spreads fast in these online communities and companies need to monitor what people are saying about them and try and influence what they can.

Also, consumers are starting to interact with brands online in a manner which involves interaction, involvement and co-creation. The result is that consumers show more loyalty to the brands they feel a part of.

The benefits for businesses wanting to make use of online communities are numerous, including market research, the PR value that comes from being seen as the first to do something and advertising in the form of pre-launch product buzz, as in Microsoft’s new ZuneScene rival to the iPhone.

Companies like Sheraton Hotels and Coca-Cola have created brand engagement and engaged consumers online by asking guests to send in video stories about their trip for the Sheraton website and contribute design ideas for a new Coke bottle. The possibilities are endless.

Yang-May Ooi, Partner at Social Media Consultancy ZenGuide told about The Housing Finance Corporation’s blog or online discussion space, THFC Space, which she was involved in setting up along with CEO Piers Williamson.

A blog seemed the perfect platform to replace the quarterly newsletter that was emailed out in PDF form and promote the image of THFC as a modern, forward-thinking financial organisation.

It was decided to target the key influencers in the Housing Finance sector and gear the content towards what the members are interested in. The “bloggers” on the site include the key influencers in the sector as well as THFC staff.

Ensuring the success of THFC Space involves an editorial management policy with a blog editor and the CEO as the Managing Editor, who plays an active role in driving the project forward.

Outcomes of this project have included membership growth, an increase in discussion and increased marketing awareness amongst all at THFC.

The talks were followed by a lively discussion which touched on the issue of security and how to decide which social network to use. All in all, I thought the speakers made the idea of social media and business less scary and more accessible. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening and really encouraging to hear such enthusiastic and positive comments around social media from the businesswomen in the audience.

The dark side

“The online world can lead to isolation and anti-social behaviour. It’s all very well having all these virtual friends on social networks but they can’t give you virtual hugs. You need real people for that.”

“Facebook and social networks are dangerous because you can lose your privacy. I would never want to put my details on Facebook.”

“I don’t read blogs. They’re not relevant for businesses, are they?”

“What’s social media? I don’t like computers. It’s all much too modern for me.”

These are a some comments that came up recently in a number of conversations I’ve had over the last year with some business people, intellectuals and professionals. It seems there are many people who have not yet had the time or readiness to be introduced to the remarkable opportunities for human communication that is available through social media tools. One of them even said to me, “It’s so refreshing to come across someone who is so positive about social media for a change.”

I felt like I was the odd one out at these particular gatherings. For awhile now, many of my closest friends and colleagues are happy social media campers like me and I’ve met numerous business people and professionals who are engaged and curious about the possibilities of online communications. So it has been a surprise from time to time to have been the lone voice of enthusiasm. It got me thinking. Why am I so positive about social media?

The bright side

There used to be an ad for BT, British Telecoms, the phone company with the tagline “Reach out and touch someone”. In my mind, social media offers exactly that experience. Perhaps I’m more sensitive to such opportunities, having lived apart from my family since I was 12. All the way across the vast globe, my parents and family were home in Malaysia while I grew up during my years at school and university here in England. The only communication used to be letters that arrived a week after they were written or through echoey, expensive phone calls once every few weeks. It could be lonely, counting the days till the next holiday when I’d be able to see my Mum, wondering what my family was doing just at that moment, imagining them having dinner together in Malaysia eight hours ahead while I was in a Maths lesson.

So, how amazing it is now to be able to email a message within seconds, type out an instant message - well - instantly, speak with my family online free or for a few pence and even see the other person face-to-face online as you do so. How fantastic to make new friends through blogging about shared interests even though you may be on different continents. How incredible to be able to follow each moment of another’s life through Twitter or Facebook status updates.

Existential crisis

And I don’t think it’s just me trying to recover from childhood loneliness. The reason so many millions have engaged so intensely online is because of the very human urge to connect with others and to express ourselves.

Yes, there are people who isolate themselves in their rooms all day playing on the internet. In India, universities have become increasingly concerned about increased suicide rates which they link to too much time spent on social networks. In Japan, a young girl blogged about killing her mother and her public journals were only investigated after the mother died - and it was found that she did indeed kill her mother. For me, the question is what kind of society drives young people into isolation because they feel they can’t talk to real live people right there next to them so that they feel that they can only engage online? How are those live people right there next to them not engaging with them, not hearing them, not understanding them?

Facebook

Using blogging and Facebook, I keep in touch with my family and friends in Malaysia and all over the world. I have made new and interesting friends whom I have met subsequently in real life and who continue now to be real as well as virtual friends. OK, I can’t get a virtual hug but I can get a verbal one through their written, audio or video messages - which must surely be better than the silence of being offline and disconnected from this global neighbourhood. In my real life, I still have my friends and family in the flesh who give me the real hugs and I reckon a lot of bloggers and social networkers enjoy that, too. It just means that my friendships and relationships are no longer all bound by having to physically being in the same place with those others.

Yes, you can lose your privacy on Facebook. But only if you choose to upload your personal data like your date of birth, your mother’s maiden name, your social security number etc. No-one is forcing you to do that. And, yes, employers are now checking Facebook profiles before they hire and an inappropriate photo of you can affect your chances of getting the job. With Facebook, the key is to use it judicously and to look at the privacy options you can set. It is prudent to think of it as a public space rather than a private one. There are advantages if you navigate your way through such a public space wisely - for example, you can ask for introductions from friends to other friends - which is particularly useful in a business context, replacing the old-fashioned letter of introduction.

Beware FUD

Crime, suicide, isolation, murder and loss of personal privacy are important issues and I am not dismissing concerns about them. It’s just worth stepping back for some perspective and context - and for the other side of the story to be offered up. There are millions of blogs and millions of people engaging in social networks and online games. In most cases - ie in millions of cases - these experiences are positive and the new technology is helping people connect with each other. Traditional media like newspapers and broadcast media thrive on FUD: Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt - no-one buys the paper to read that everything is fine and dandy. So newspapers etc will naturally pick out the doom and gloom stories. If you rely on the traditional media to tell you about social media, you’re only getting one side of the story.

Social media is here to stay and I think it’s a shame for those who choose not to engage out of FUD. They are losing out on ways to connect with friends, colleagues and family that can enrich their personal and business life. If you met your friends in a public place like a restaurant or on the street, you’d be sensible - you wouldn’t leave your handbag in an easily snatchable place, you wouldn’t give out your private details to a stranger walking by and so on. So it’s the same with social media - be sensible and you can get the best out of the time you spend online.

Photo: thanks to Ondra_L from flickr.com

Following up on my promise to list some great blogs for you to explore as a disprove the theory that “it’s all rubbish out there”, here are some intelligent blogs that make worthwhile reading:

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Marketing

http://marketing.corante.com/ - a hub for blogs on marketing by A-list marketing professionals.

http://bpr.typepad.com/a_view_from_abroad/ - An intelligent French view on marketing and social media: how much more French can you get than a blog post entitled Social networking causing personal existential crisis?

Business and Economics

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/ - by Stephen J Dubner and Steven D Levitt, the co-authors of the book Freakonomics and part of the New York Times suite of blogs, this blog continues the book’s exploration of “the hidden side of everything”. Well-written (as you’d expect), topical as well as personal.

http://accountancymatters.accountancyage.com/ - Accountancy blog from Damian Wild, Editor-in-Chief of Accountancy Age magazine. I don’t read this one avidly I have to confess but the occasional dip into it reveals a mix of accountancy and business related commentary, personal opinion and newsletter style notices about the magazine.

http://nakedlaw.typepad.com/naked_law/ - UK technology law laid bare by Cambridge lawyers. Informative and clear discussions on topical issues on their area of expertise, including posts on Facebook, Skype and copyright as well as more specialist tech topics.

http://www.businessethics.ca/blog/ - A blog about business ethics. Well-written and intelligent, with blog posts like “Evolutionary Psychology and Corporate Philanthropy” - so much to chew on.

Brain Candy

http://blogs.britannica.com/blog/main - the blog from the Encyclopaedia Britannica has the tagline “Where Ideas Matter”. Their mission statement is to be “a place for smart, lively conversations about a broad range of topics.” Their categories include Culture, Science, International Affairs, Movies and Humor. High quality discussion and writing.

http://anthropology.net/ - using blog technology to create “a cohesive online community of individuals interested in anthropology” with great tagline: “Beyond bones and stones”. Fascinating articles at expert level on anthropology including discussions of human genetics, neanderthals and using algorithms to trace human ancestry - all still readable and understandable by a lay person.

http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/ - the blog of the British Psychological Society brings news and commentary on latest research in that field, complementing their subscription only magazine.

Pic: thanks to Peter Gene on flickr.com

The IABC UK SpeedExperience session last Tuesday evening offered up five round table discussions to members and their guests, including Change Management, Brand Engagement and Social Media. Each discussion lasted 20 minutes and then everyone got a chance to swap groups and go to 2 other discussions of 20 minutes each.

I was invited to host the Social Media discussion, “To Blog or Not To Blog?” and we had three very meaty and engaging discussions. The visitors to my group brought up a range of key issues that I think is worth discussing more widely here as the issues are relevant to both businesses and communicators. So, in no particular order, here’s what came up:

# Many comments boiled down to: corporates and big business find the word “blog” very unnerving. It conjures up images of unsavoury types that “we shouldn’t be associated with” and it’s all self-indulgent personal outpourings of no interest to anyone but the author. I offered a counter view that blogging technology is just a tool that enables you to have an easily updatable online site that you can use as a communication tool. If calling it a blog doesn’t help, you can call it an online magazine, journal, resource, discussion space etc. For a more detailed discussion of this, see my post A Blog by Any Other Name

# “There aren’t any good blogs out there. What value can our organisation gain by having a blog?” . I agree that there’s a lot of rubbish out there - out of millions of blogs, it’s unlikely that all of them are great! Equally, it’s unlikely that ALL of them are rubbish. If your company has a blog, its value lies in what you make of it, how you use it, who you use it to engage with. There are leading thinkers, public figures and business people who blog. There are also those who are experts in their field but who may not be famous who blog to share knowledge and engage in discussion. I’ll be posting links to some great blogs in the next few days - and maybe you’ll be inspired!

# “There’s nothing worse than a blog that’s not been updated for ages - people who blog for their business need to commit the time and energy to maintaining its output.” I wholeheartedly agree. There are ways to manage that commitment - it’s better to write something once a week regulary than over-commit and give up after a few days. If you are going to update just once a week, then say so clearly on the blog and keep to that commitment eg “I will blog every Wednesday”

# “Who is going to read our CEO’s blog? What’s he going to say that’s going to be of interest?” My view is that a commitment to your blog is a commitment to your readers. If your readers are you customers, then it is a direct commitment from the CEO to your customers. If your are thinking of an intranet blog and your readers are the staff, then it is a direct commitment from the CEO to your staff. How valuable is that to the company? Start with identifying you want to engage with and the what will come. Put yourself in your readers shoes and ask yourself what do they want to hear about.

# “My CEO wants a blog but doesn’t have time and wants someone to write it for him. I don’t think ghostblogging works. And it’s not authentic.” I agree. If the CEO is not committed to real communication and merely delegates someone to write something for him/her in his/her name - as if this was just like speechwriting, it’s going to be a failure. However, I believe there is a model where you can facilitate a CEO whose strength may not be in words or storytelling to convey his opinions and vision effectively on a blog. It takes a lot more time and work than the speechwriting model and it’s important to be upfront about the facilitation involved. But it means that someone who may not have the gift of the gab but who has a worthwhile message to convey can participate in this medium.

# “We send out an email every couple of weeks to staff internally. The directors want a blog but we did a survey and the staff want the email and don’t want a blog.” If an email model works, there may be no need to change it. However, bear in mind that emails can get lost under “the crease” after a day or so. It’s also difficult to remember they are there and unread or find them again if you want to refer back to something. You could set up a blog fairly cheaply where the same email message is made into a blog post, with the RSS feed set to deliver email notifications to staff when the blog is updated every couple of weeks. The advantage is that all messages will then be one central, searchable, archivable place. Different departments could post to the same space with categories like “HR”, “Marketing”, “IT” etc, each using different feeds to send out the email to different recipients. This would also be a way to preserve the company’s memory/ knowledge.

Also, be aware that if you ask people if they want something they already have or something they don’t know much about, they will invariably choose the thing they know. If the directors are keen to have a blog, it may be an idea to trial it for a few months and then gauge the feedback. To ensure maximum return on the trial, you’d need to make sure you have a proper business case and project management structure in place - and get advice from someone who knows how to run a blog from a communications perspective, not your tech guy.

# “I’m starting out building my freelance business. Can a blog help me?” Most definitely. It can help you showcase your expertise and engage in discussions about the hot topics in your field without relying on begging the traditional media to publish your article or interview you. Traditional media is still important but having a direct way to communicate with your clients and potential clients has a lot of value. It’s also a great way to network globally and let’s face it, networking is a very important way to get new business and keep existing relationships going.

Getting proper social media advice

My final impression is that some companies and businesses seem to be interested and excited about engaging in social media but they are being advised by communicators who do not know enough to give them all the rounded advice they need - and communicators are keen to find out more about what’s out there. Some who are looking to engage online don’t read blogs and don’t blog themselves - you need to start reading blogs at the very least if you want to take your first steps in social media. If you’re not sure where to start, you can try my Beginner’s Guide.

Whether you are a business or a communicator advising a business considering engaging in social media, you need to know what the technology can do but you don’t necessarily need an IT/ tech expert. In fact, I would go so far as to say your online communications policy should not be led by your IT department. You need someone who understands communications and how to take advantage of social media online to best engage with your customers, staff or other stakeholders. Social media is not going to replace traditional communications but will complement it and is definitely here to stay - so you need a rounded communications team with both advisors who understand the real world media and those who specialise in online media.

Pic: thanks to estudioquimbaya from flickr.com

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Following the main conference at the London College of Communication (LCC) on Social Media and Photography , there was a good Q&A session. Many of the questions related to photography but it’s the ones relating to social media that I’ve been reflecting on since Saturday.

A professional photographer expressed distrust of social media and also an anxiety about the way free photographs uploaded online by amateurs is threatening people like him who earn much of their living from stock photography. Craig Smith is one of the lecturers at LCC and also a professional photographer. His response was that there will always be competition and that one way to deal with this particular threat is to engage with it and find a way to use it to your competitive advantage.

I agree with Craig and in fact, had a similar discussion with haute couture designer Roubi L’ Roubi about the issue of copying and competition.

One of my clients is photographer Steven Lee who has recently started a blog as a way to share his passion for photography and also to share the process of his recently published photography book. He gives tips on photography as well as writing about photo shoots he has done, focusing on particular challenges during the shoot or his impressions of the event or person he was covering. He also uploads his own photos to illustrate a particular technique or to give a taste of the photo shoot. Yes, there is a risk that his uploaded photos may be nicked and reproduced elsewhere. But the overall effect is to show his work and expertise to his clients and potential clients - as well as giving them a sense of what kind of person he is.

We like to do business with people that we can trust. In our home life, we try to find plumbers or gardeners through word of mouth - we ask our neighbours and friends. In business, we ask for references and recommendations when looking to employ staff or engage contractors.

As someone working in the creative industries, you can show potential clients that you are good at what you do, that you’re reliable, understand their needs, creative, have expert skills and knowleged through online media such as a blog, podcasts, videocasts or photo galleries. By giving away a few free goodies like free photos, you may gain even more in the long term.

Yes, the threat of free stuff by hordes of amateurs is a potential threat. But, interestingly, I asked Steven that same question and he said to me, “No, it hasn’t affected my business at all. In fact, I think it’s good for professional photographers. Yes, everyone can now take pictures and show them off easily but these people aren’t my competition. It just means people are interested in photography more. If you’re a good professional photographer, there’s still a lot of work.” ”

lccsm

I really enjoyed the conference at the London College of Communication on Saturday around the theme of Social Media and Photography. It was well-attended by students and also a number of lecturers and professional photographers.

Here is a quick summary of my impressions of each session:

Lucy Soutter - opened with how she was enticed into social media by Facebook because the platform feels truly social, allowing you to see friends’ pictures and get a daily sense of what everyone you know is up to. She then discussed social media in the context of Gutenberg, communications and Marshall Mcluhan.

Alan Sekers - showed how Microsoft was developing PhotoSynth to create 3D renditions of the real world, using tagged photographs from Flickr.com. By searching all photos tagged Notre Dame on Flickr, for example, the developers could piece together different views of the world-famous site from different angles in order to create a 3D version online. Apparently, the BBC did a similar trial project but sent out one photographer to take photos of a manor house but it was evident that this very controlled project lacked the dynamism and life of the more collaborative world-wide multi-user project.

Paul Tebbs - examined the Flickr site of Miss Aniela, which starts off as a typical “what I did in my holidays” style site and has evolved to more self-conscious, arty type self-portraits. This started a debate of whether having 2 million visitors makes her work “art” and why there was no critical response on her site - and I think by “critical” they were referencing “critical art theory” rather than “yo, your site sucks” type of criticism.

Yang-May Ooi - I asked: in an online world where content is freely available and freely distributed, what value could be gained by creative artists and those working in the creative industries? I think that beyond financial value, there are other values that you can gain online if you can engage creatively using social media - these other values, like kudos, fun and creativity, can add to whatever work / product you are creating offline by increasing your exposure to a very wide audience, in particular, if you can bring people together through a sense of community and peer-to-peer engagement.

Roger Hargreaves - showed a selection of photos from Flickr as a curated exhibition of Americana. Those amateur photos blown up onto a huge screen looked like pictures in an art gallery and showed moments into American private lives. They had a haunting and strange beauty that drew you into these lives, part documentary/ photo-journalism and part intimate portraits. This prompted a debate on whether these photos could be art if they were not self-consciously referencing previous artists/ photographers before them.

Craig Smith - talked about the incident of the whale that came up the Thames earlier this year which was splashed across the BBC news pages online. The BBC, on their website, called for people to submit their photos of the whale and the public duly complied and flocked to the Thames in droves to take photos of the whale. Their presence along the river then became news in itself and the BBC then featured news items and photos of the people taking photos of the whale. His thesis was that photography is a social media in itself by being a media that can call people to action.

These notes are from memory and no doubt filtered through my non-academic appreciation of the issues. If any of the speakers happen to be reading this and would like to draw out in more detail the central theme of their talks, I would love it if you added a comment - or emailed me your remarks. In particular, if I’ve not quite summarised accurately what you said, please do let me know!

All in all, I found the day very interesting and it certainly made me think about the way I view images online and offline. It was also a privilege to have the chance to hear academics - students and lecturers - engage with each other at that thoughtful and intellectual level that is increasingly rare outside of colleges and universities.

Some photos from the day are on my ZenGuide Flickr account, for those delegates/ speakers who’d like to download them for their own albums. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get very close to the stage so the pics are not great and we didn’t manage to take pics of all the speakers as some of them found the flash photography distracting.

lccsm

I’ve been invited to chair one of the discussion round tables at this event organised by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), UK later today.

Here is the blurb:

“Have you ever asked yourself:

# Is it really possible to manage change?

# Can our employees also be our brand ambassadors?

# To blog — or not to blog?

#Engagement — just the latest word for motivation/ commitment/loyalty?

#Can internal and external communication ever be aligned?

# Where can communication help in a crisis?

Come along to Speedexperience—Share the Knowledge to discuss these and other issues with experienced practitioners…

The date: Tuesday 9th October
The time: 5.45

The format: welcome drink, speed experience table discussions start 6.30 and end 7.45 with the opportunity to continue the discussions/informally and network over a glass of wine and nibbles.

The place: The Churchill Room (HMRC Parliament Street in Whitehall). From its historic balcony Sir Winston waved at the cheering crowds at the end of World War 2

The cost: £20

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How to book: http://iabcexperiencenetworking.eventbrite.com”

It may be a bit late to book online but if you are keen to come, contact Susan Walker via email: commevaluation[at]hotmail.com

Photo: thanks to wikipedia.org

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