As we near the end of the year the temptation is always to look backwards at the last 12 months, so it was nice to be asked to look forward and write something on the trends in PR for 2014.
When it comes to making predictions I’m basically in the Paul Gascoigne school of thought – “I don’t make predictions and I never will” – but the CIPR asked for my views and I gave it my best shot. Continue reading
War. What is it good for ? Absolutely nothing, right? WRONG. Not if the ancient text I’ve just finished reading is anything to go by.
But what can we in PR learn from the seminal and oft-quoted military text from ancient china the Art of War by Sun Tzu? Continue reading
A guest post this week from Kathryn GoodFellow (@forshesajolly) who not only has one of the best twitter handles ever, but does some great work around the arts in South East Northumberland.
The sight of a giant Bedlington Terrier chasing a fire breathing dragon greeted over 800 visitors to Woodhorn Museum last Sunday night. Yep, you read that right.
But, as weird as it sounds, that huge Bedlington Terrier has been a key part of a project supporting more people to create and take part in the arts. Continue reading
This blog first appeared on www.comms2point0.com
It’s not often that I’m nervously tuned into ITV right before Coronation Street, furtively waiting for a middle aged TV star and former hit-maker to wax lyrical about my patch.
I say not often, when of course I mean never. In fact, last Monday is probably the first time I ever pressed the ‘3’ button on my TV.
But working in local government comms has taken me to some strange places in recent years. Continue reading
“Everyone has a plan ’til they get punched in the mouth.” ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson
Strategy, vision, mission, master-plan, principles, approach – all words that modern organisations bombard us with every day.
On websites, in the media, on corporate material and in meetings, the one thing a business or organisation has to have is a strategy right?
But what exactly does this mean and how can we translate this into a useful process for communications? Continue reading
“Are you one of the famous Wighams of Coanwood?”…….is not a question I’ve been asked before, or indeed thought about in much detail until this month.
Although I make my living being peppered with difficult questions this one did catch me slightly off guard.
I was very much ‘off duty’ (although still in Northumberland) at the visitor centre for Hadrian’s Wall on a family trip to one of the UK’s most unique world heritage sites.
A guest post from our new comms intern Jenn & her perspective on our latest social media campaign (@msjennjennPR)
For those of you who see‘#’ and are looking at the text abbreviation of Northumberland, please don’t judge me and think I’m one of these young ones who can’t spell and write everything like I tweet it!
It’s actually the brand of a great campaign I am currently involved in, Northumberland Fun. Continue reading
I’ve just finished reading a book that was written in the 1980s and like big hair or grindingly depressing economic news much of the advice contained in its yellowing pages seems to be back in vogue.
Roger Ailes wrote You are the message in 1989 and although it’s primarily about speaking in front of an audience, there’s a wealth of communications & PR advice that’s still relevant today.
In fact, Ailes himself defines an ‘audience’ as anyone more than yourself. It could be two colleagues in a meeting or a million people watching on TV.
This week I’ve turned the blog over to Hanif Laylabi (@hanifleylabi) our comms intern who leaves us at the end of the month. A year ago – inspired by the new CIPR intern guidelines – I decided to take the plunge and hire a university graduate for the first time.
I wrote about the start of the scheme here and everyone on it has been brilliant. The standard of graduates in the marcomms space in the North East is truly first class. Over to you Hanif.
Back in spring 2012, I was completing the taught part of my MA in Public Relations at the University of Sunderland and was looking forward to a long summer of dissertation writing.
One of my tutors had begun to email the class job and work experience opportunities, but I was set on finishing my dissertation first before I took on the job of finding work. Continue reading
In Stanley Kubrick’s classic 1987 film Full Metal Jacket the irascible old drill sergeant looks down the long line of new recruits and barks:
“From now on you will speak only when spoken to, and the first and last words out of your filthy sewers will be ‘Sir’. Do you maggots understand that? You will not laugh, you will not cry, you will learn by the numbers and I will teach you.”
Yes, Gunnery Sergeant Hartman was happy to give out some pretty clear instructions and he certainly knew exactly what he wanted from his new starters.
Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) it’s rarely so clear cut for most of us when we’re looking to break into the sector or find that new role in PR.
I asked some of the communications people who’ve influenced me the most what key skills and attributes you need to stand out from the crowd and get hired.
a day without OJ - A comms, digital & PR blog by Ross Wigham 