social media

10 things about social media in the NHS

imageIn a week that saw most people coming to terms with the trauma of Bake Off, it was very much a case of baking as I headed into the 32 degree furnace of a supposedly Autumnal London for the latest NHS Providers get together.

This was the first of a new style of network meeting that aimed to focus on a single, strategic issue with the speakers looking at it from various different angels. Continue reading →

25 tips from the cream of North East PR

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What started out as a germ of an idea with a couple of my contacts on Twitter has grown into a broad series of posts about the North East PR and communications scene.

What came out of a few light hearted and sometimes tongue-in-cheek questions was a really positive picture of a region that’s getting its mojo back after some extremely tough years.

If you’re looking for some hints and tips from some of the best comms and PR people you’ve come to the right place.

I was also so impressed (but not surprised) at the willingness of PR professionals in these parts to share their ideas so readily so that others can learn from them. Make no mistake – I’ve learned loads from looking at these posts and would say they make some essential reading for anyone looking to break into the profession.

I’d like to say a massive thank you to everyone who contributed.

Last year a newspaper that should probably know better caused outrage with a  pretty shabbily informed article comparing the North East to the run down US city of Detroit. It implied a sense of hopelessness and self pity, well if you work in comms take a look at some of these and see if it changes your mind……

Continue reading →

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

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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 →

The tinker, tailor, soldier, spy of social media

George Smiley in the film version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
George Smiley in the film version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

There’s a bit somewhere in the middle of the George Smiley spy trilogy where the characters reach a point where they know their place in the world is facing huge change, an era of cold war and Empire is coming to an end, and while their methods seem increasingly outdated they carry on regardless for want of anything else to do.

As bizarre as this may sound these amazingly atmospheric set of novels provided a nice parallel for two social media events that I went along to last month. Continue reading →

Leaving local government: my 7 PR highlights

True grit
True grit

Firstly, sorry about the title. It’s hardly Leaving Las Vegas I know but it’s the only thing I can think of.

As most of you will know I’ve now started a new role in the NHS, leaving behind the grit bins, potholes, landfill tax and all the other local authority issues that I’ve wrestled with over the past seven years. Continue reading →

TV Times

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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 →

Northumberland fun: a social summer

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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 →

You are the message

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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 →