Black and White and Read All Over

Boozing, Smoking and Drugs. British Kids Really Are The World’s Worst (Best?)

Posted by scottdouglas on December 18, 2009

Wow. Why have I only just discovered The Guardian’s DataBlog?

Now I’m rueing all the magic stuff I’ve missed.

This table shows what we all suspected anyway – that British kids really are world leaders in boozing, smoking and cannabis use.

If you haven’t already done so, do yourself a favour and check out:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog

Posted via web from scottdouglas

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Great Comment Norbert!

Posted by scottdouglas on November 18, 2009

Great Comment Norbert

Web Seal of Approval

A splendid moment of light relief this morning, with just the tiniest touch of schadenfreude.

Listening to the latest podcast from Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson I couldn’t help but chuckle when Shel responded to a listener’s contribution with an enthusiastic, “Great comment, Norbert”.

Nothing funny in that – except that the listener in question was actually Daniel P. Bingham, a communicator out of Manhattan.

Let me state here and now – Shel Holtz is a legend and his podcast with Neville (For Immediate Release, known as FIR) is a work of genius and a must-listen for anyone working in media. There is absolutely no slight intended on Shel or Daniel.

Anybody can get a name wrong – and I frequently do .

In this case it was entirely excusable since FIR has been inundated with listener comments and contributions to celebrate its landmark 500th episode (check Twitter #fir500).

Add to that the fact that someone called Norbert is among the regular commentators on the show and Shel’s slip is even easier to understand. In fact, it was so trivial it should have slipped by totally unnoticed.

However, Norbert is just one of those names.

In certain parts of the world it is probably as ordinary as Dave or Jim (or Scott). But here in Scotland I’ve never come across anyone called Norbert, unless they were either the speccy bullying victim/villainous henchman in a Harry Potter book.

So, with my schoolboy-grade sense of humour it was transformed from an easily-made slip of the tongue into a memorable moment in my day.

And hey, sometimes all this social media stuff seems like an awful lot of serious graft and hard work, so I’ll take the occasional chuckle where I can get it.

I remember in the 1990s when Loaded magazine burst onto the scene in the UK  and its irreverent catchprhase, Good work fella (GWF) became a byword for anything the magazine and its staff liked a lot.

Well, from this day forward I plan to use Great Comment Norbert! for anything online which gets my stamp of approval. And if anybody asks why, I can refer them back to those post to explain why.

So on top of the many hours of pleasure I’ve had from listeing to Shel’s podcasts with Neville I now owe him thanks for this wee gem.

Good work fella – or should I say, Great Comment Norbert!

 

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Listen Up! This Podcasting Malarkey is Harder Than it Sounds.

Posted by scottdouglas on November 18, 2009

Quiet News Day podcast logo

QND Podcast

I’ve recently made a foray into podcasting, along with Shaun Milne, who may also be familiar to blog readers through his Milne Media musings. The pair of us do everything we can to keep on top of social media.

However, bear in mind that Shaun’s real work is running Deadline Press & Picture Agency, a busy multi-media agency turning out top quality news , photography and video. Meanwhile I find plenty to occupy my time running Scottish PR agency, Holyrood Partnership.

There’s loads of innovative and exciting stuff out there on t’interweb, much of it reported by genuinely well-informed social media experts.

However, there’s also a lot of hot air- recycled and regurgitated by so-called “new media experts” whose raison d’etre seems to be to get themselves on the lucrative talking circuit.

What strikes me most is that they don’t seem to hold down anything I’d recognise as a job. So Shaun and I thought people in the Scottish media – whether in journalism or public relations – might have the same problems we do: wondering how to manage busy jobs, family and social lives and still find time for keeping up with the latest developments online, where change is the only constant.

From that small acorn grew the Quiet News Day podcast. Not quite an oak tree, but the first green shoots of … well, something we hope. Anyway, I’ve just finished the edit on QND #3 and it will be uploaded and live on November 18 for anyone who cares to check it out.

At this point, I should say that it runs to more than 50 minutes – and that each episode has been longer than the previous. The only defence I can offer is that each episode also features less of me and Shuan – and more from guests, including regular contributor, Craig McGill.

This week’s guest chat is with Stewart Argo, media manager at the City of Edinburgh Council. Our thanks to him for joining us at the Cask and Barrel in Broughton Street Edinburgh durigng a busy lunch break. I hope the 18 minute edit does justice to our wide-ranging and enjoyable chat.

I also hope it will reassure the hundreds of other people in publice service or in-house PR teams who are also nervously wondering what exactly they should be doing about this new social networking thingummy. Stewart certainly shares our experience that it is a hard graft getting to grips with all these new forms of communication – while still doing all the traditional media relations and other gubbins we take for granted.

Dunno about you, but in the past two years I’ve had to learn video editing on several software formats, the intricacies of numerous blogging platforms, various content management systems while also getting to grips with some fairly advanced SEO techniques. And that’s before I even get to Facebook, Twitter et al.

Crikey – until all that landed, I was still trying to master basic Photoshop and how to work the remote control for the DVD player – or trying to remember to use that mystical tool that is spellcheck for Word documents.

The point is this: now I’m also having to learn about audio recording levels, digital editing, balance levels, sound compression, music licensing rights and converting files from format-to-format. And it’s much (much!) harder than I thought.

So if you do tune in and listen to the latest episode of QND (its on iTunes or more easily found at http://web.me.com/quietnewsday/Quiet_News_Day/Podcast/Podcast.html),then cut us some slack if it sounds a bit rough and ready.

We appreciate it’s not quite as slick as it might be – but that aside, we’d love to hear your feedback, your suggestions for future topics and ideas for polls, interviewees or any other constructive criticism. Then switch on the Bachman-Turner Overdrive and get ready for something rock-a-tock-a-tabulous, mate.

You can get us on Twitter @quietnewsday or by email through quietnewsday@me.com

Posted in HOLYROOD PR NEWS, MEDIA NEWS, PR News | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

So You Want To Impress The Bossman With Your Social Media Skills? Here’s How

Posted by scottdouglas on November 1, 2009

Loving this presentation on measuring the Return on Investment (ROI) of social media activities.

Funny as hell and very informative.

But life didn’t half just get a lot harder for the dedicated PR.

Posted in DOES PR WORK?, MEDIA NEWS, PR News | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

Warring Social Media Pair Need to Have A REAL Conversation

Posted by scottdouglas on October 31, 2009

Digital disagreement

Iain Hepburn and Gordon White

I’m troubled by a rather unfortunate spat between two of Glasgow’s leading advocates of social media.

In the red corner sits the Daily Record’s digital editor, Iain Hepburn, a man who is not only at the forefront of changes in the Scottish news industry, but also a voracious consumer and analyst of all things digital.

In the blue corner is Gordon White, the man behind Podcast Matters, which encourages business to embrace social media – most recently through his freshly launched New Media Breakfasts, which are proving a huge hit.

I’m fortunate enough to have a passing acquaintance with both – though couldn’t claim to really know either. So, I don’t feel half as uncomfortable as I might at tossing in my tuppenceworth.

Differences of opinions emerged between the pair after Gordon’s first New Media Breakfast in Glasgow. The rift deepened after the second event a few days ago.

As you might expect, it’s a disagreement that’s been played out through a subsequent flurry of audioboos, blogs and tweets .

All very fittingly ‘new media’, but definitely not very  ‘social’.

It strikes me there are two people here heading in the same direction – but arguing feverishly over whether they should find the destination  using one man’s expensive sat nav, or the other man’s equally expensive iPhone with GPS app.

Perhaps I can suggest an old school solution – the equivalent of handing over a humble, dog-eared copy of the A-Z?

Having followed the debate so far I can’t really see much to disagree about. All the eloquent points and counterpoints are delivered well across multiple platforms.

Yet I gather these two haven’t actually so much as exchanged half a dozen words, despite being in the same room together at least twice.

As proponents of social media are so keen to remind us, Web 2.0 in in all its multicoloured glory is all about conversation. So sit down and have one, gentlemen.

 In my own, albeit limited experience, Scotland doesn’t have nearly enough people pushing the boundaries of Web 2.0 in the media or in business. So we could do without those who are falling out over … well, nothing really.

When I suggest you have that conversation in “real time”, I mean put away your iPhones, leave the Flips in their cases and don’t bother booting up the supersleek laptops.

Just enjoy a good, old-fashioned blether across a pint or a mug of coffee. Hopefully for the rest of us, you’ll  find there isn’t that much to disagree about after all.

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Is This The Best PR Goodie Bag in Scotland This Year?

Posted by scottdouglas on October 26, 2009

PR goodie bag

PR goodie bag

I could get used to this ligging thing.

Not only did the nice people at Missoni treat me to as much free food and drink as I could possibly manage  – they also gave me this very generous goodie bag.

It was all part of the official launch party which took place for the chic new Edinburgh venue last week (or October 22, 2009, for those who like precise dates).

Thanks due to the hardworking team at Stripe Communications for arranging the invite.

Since I may be having to pull together something similar at some point, t’would be good to hear from PRs and journos alike on their favourite, free PR  goodie bag experiences.

To see the contents of the goodie bag (I made a video – sad, I know) see the full post at our Holyrood Partnership blog, HP Sauce.

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Five Minutes to Change the World – Because Shift Happens!

Posted by scottdouglas on October 17, 2009

From the nice people at Shift Happens / Did You Know. Recommended viewing, particularly if you are in the media:

Posted in MEDIA NEWS | Tagged: , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Plug In To The Power Of The Humble Billboard. No Cable Required.

Posted by scottdouglas on October 15, 2009

Powermat. Wirleless charging

Powermat. Wirleless charging

Terribly old-fashioned, I know. But this morning my eye was caught by the quaintest of media throwbacks. A billboard.

Not a digital display. Not a clever spinny-thing with three different, rotating ads.

Just a basic billboard pasted up by the side of the road, hopefully  by a guy with a ladder, a bucket and a big brush.

Lose The Cords It urged in three foot high letters – accompanied by a pic of rather fetching young woman with lots of power cables wrapped round her napper.

Taking a mental note of the product on show (Powermat, should you be interested), as soon as I got into the office, I checked it out on Google.

Yes, my life would benefit from this hi-tech work of genius (maybe they’ll send me one to review?). All I needed was was a nice, stolid, unfashionable, unglamorous and rigidly rooted billboard to tell me so.

Read this full post at the HP Sauce blog of Holyrood Partnership, public relations in Scotland

Posted in DOES PR WORK?, HOLYROOD PR NEWS, MEDIA NEWS, PR News | Leave a Comment »

Don’t call them Muppets – they’re living legends!

Posted by scottdouglas on September 2, 2009

LEGEND: Kermit

LEGEND: Kermit

PR in Scotland is a pretty small fishpond.

Scottish PR agencies large and small depend on the patronage of the great and good in the business and cultural community.

So it wouldn’t ever do to offend anybody really important.

Deep breath.  I’ll just have to hope that giants of Edinburgh life, Charlie Miller and Richard Demarco, have a sense of humour.

When they were photographed together at the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce AGM, only one thought sprung to mind…

Read the rest of this post and see the pictures at the Holrood Partnership blog, HP Sauce

Posted in MEDIA NEWS | 1 Comment »