Not dead, just different: Big media in a social media world.

IMG_0937

In a week when Newcastle Brown Ale admitted it was changing the recipe to please some Americans who don’t like the colour, it seems fitting that I was at the site where there famous ‘dog’ was once brewed.

The brewery has now been bulldozed after the familiar corporate merger/ acquisition/ sale process that seems to do for everything these days and a new science city building called ‘the core’ stands on the spot where millions of bottles of booze once rolled off the production line. Continue reading

NE Comms conversation #6 “Drive, diplomacy and discretion”

Caroline Latta has been something of a doyen of health sector communications in the North East for a while now.

She’s currently working as Senior communications and engagement manager at the NHS North of England Commissioning Support and she’s been kind enough to share her thoughts with this blog.

Continue reading

North East comms conversation: #1 “Garlic bread”

dancingbear76-logo

In the first of a self-deluded series of so-called ‘state of the nation’ voxpops I’ve been catching up with PR people from across the North East to find out what makes the region’s comms people tick.

All joking aside our region is widely regarded as one of the best when it comes to media and PR and I hope this brief insight gives us a chance to showcase some of the emerging themes in an exciting area of work.

To get us started with a huge bang I spoke to the hard-tweeting, Jaws loving artist formerly-known as Bryn Littleton. The journalist, turned flack has worked for local authorities, One North East and is now at NECC as well as being the current recipient of the CIPR NE Ken Robinson Award.

To miss-quote cartoon secret agent Archer somebody better call Kenny Logins because we’re about to enter the danger zone……

Continue reading

You are the message

20130729-064506 PM.jpg

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.

Continue reading