Simply-Blogging

Simply moved...

I have moved to  here - I'm sharing a home with the rest of the Simply crew ... come on over and take a look!

Liam

Will content become king?

Just came across this interesting blog The Content Economy which got me thinking.

If web 2.0 technologies are seen as low cost there will always be a perceived high return on investment - after all if it cost you next to nothing to build then any value you get from it has to represent a splendid return... doesn't it?

Which could well mean that if you're not careful you get caught in the content trap.  These new media need content - there has to be a reason for coming back regularly.  Normally IC's would do it though producing lots of stuff themselves or by spending ages getting users or other stakeholders to contribute.

But what happens if feeding the beast becomes the sole or dominant concern of the IC function?  Is that a good place to be?

Liam

More good stuff from Casey

Loved this posting...

http://caseyleaver.wordpress.com/2009/01/19/cabinet-office-employee-engagement-kit/

Liam

At the worst of times communicate for the best of times

Liam had a bylined article published last week on Changeboard.com - an online HR site.

The article looks at the role of HR when communicating in difficult times. Read it here and let us know what you think.

Daniel

Interesting event in London

Lee Smith, extreme blogger and chair of the CIPR's Internal Comms Group has been bragging to me about the event he's lined up this month on leadership and communications.  I'm a bit disappointed that it's on 22 January when I won't be in town as I would have loved to have heard:

• Richard Dennison (BT's social media guru)
• Jonathan Scott of Royal and Sun Alliance 
• Henri Forde of City and Guilds. 

I'll see if I can get Dan to go and do us a write-up????

Liam
  

simplygoodadvice 2009

Coming back to work after the Christmas break is always a funny time. Usually (at least at my last job), it’s a gradual return with clients not really getting going until the second or third week of January.

This couldn’t be further from this with a start-up. After the long break it’s a relief to get straight back into the swing of things at the simplygoodadvice office here in Soho with so much exciting things to do. The weeks leading into the break were frantic with lots to get moving on, but with a long Christmas break on the horizon it was frustrating knowing that a lot of things were going to be put into mothballs for a couple of weeks. 

However, the simplygoodadvice office is back and moving full steam ahead. We’re only half way through the week and already there have been lots of interesting meetings, articles for simply-communicate written, lights for the office bought, as well as a couple of bylined articles for some HR publications. All very exciting.

For those of you interested, Liam seems to have got the hang of his Mac now; he’s only asked me for technical support once so far this week. His frustrations have however been transferred to eBay where he is selling a treasured bike that took him halfway across France. He’s not got any firm bids but masses of inane questions from fellow bike obsessives. Funnily enough, my girlfriend works for a well-known cycling magazine, so I was able to appease him with a copy of the Christmas edition a couple of days before it hit the newsstands as a Christmas gift.

Daniel

simply-blogging's 2008 quiz answers

As promised here are the answers to the simply-blogging 2008 quiz. How did you do? Thanks to everyone that took part.

Daniel

Travel

1. Which company’s spokesman put the chaos of a €5.6bn opening down to “staff familiarization” and “luggage performance issues”? It was British Airways and the Heathrow Terminal 5 opening.
2.  How did Facebook get some Virgins into trouble for speaking their minds? Virgin Atlantic fired 13 staff for derogatory comments they made about customers on a Facebook page. Read more here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7703129.stm
3. Who said: "As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where– where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border"? Who else could it be but Sarah Palin. Watch it here: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xuBuZUJwNb0

Politics 

1. Which world leader celebrated their birthday by releasing a martial arts DVD? Russia's President Putin did. Watch some of it here: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=C7yjCaCQPO8
2. How did Jesse Jackson say he wanted to make Barack Obama’s eyes water and how did Obama actually make Jackson’s eyes water?  Jesse Jackson was caught out on Fox News saying this when he thought he was off mic: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=TQl_6buUggM and he was seen crying in the crowd during Barack Obama's victory speech. 
3. What was the name of the now-famous Ohio resident who received more than his fifteen minutes of fame during the third U.S. Presidential Debate in October ’08? Joe the Plumber.
4. Who communicated a bit too much ‘pure poison’ at a Greek tavern this summer? Peter Mandelson
5. Who said: "Rarely is the question asked – is our children learning?" President George Bush.
6. Which question did George Bush duck at his final Iraq press conference?  Two shoes.

Sports

1. Who coined the phrase: “Ping pong is coming home” in August this year and why? Boris Johnson - apparently the British invented it: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ping-pong-is-coming-home-boris-takes-hold-of-the-baton-907788.html
2. Which French soccer player found himself ill-L’Equip(ed) to lead his team mates and why? Arsenal and France defender William Gallas was stripped of club captaincy for his negative comments about fellow Arsenal players.
3. How did the US media turn the tables in Beijing? The US media ran medal tables during the Beijing Olympics that counted how many medals had been won by countries regardless of colour, which conveniently put the US ahead of China (rather than if they had counted colour).
4. Who’s getting back in the saddle after retiring in order to raise cancer awareness? Lance Armstrong who is set to race in the Tour de France again in 2009.
5. Which sporting chairman said, in the press: "If it had been about Bernie Ecclestone, it would not have been a "sick Nazi orgy"? Max Mosley the chairman of the FIA received some unwanted attention from British tabloids about his private life.

Culture/Arts

1. Which divorce lawyer described in the Daily Mail as: "…careful to put as much presentation into her appearance and manner as she does to her cases," ended up with a notoriously unplanned ‘wet look’? Fiona Shackleton, Paul McCartney's lawyer, who received a jug of water over her head from Heather Mills at the conclusion of McCartney/Mills divorce case.
2. Entertainment Blog – allieiswired.com reported that a major headline artist gave `’an odd rendition of the Oasis classic “Wonderwall”. Who sang it where and why? The US rapper Jay-Z sang it at popular UK festival Glastonbury. Ge opened his set by singing one of the most famous songs of Noel Gallagher's band Oasis - a strong critic of a hip hop act headlining the festival.
3. Who went from frantic media circus to top selling CD ‘Circus’ in 2008? Britney Spears
4. What’s the link between a singing secret agent, Sweden and a taverna? The link is the hugely popular film Mama Mia, which stars Pierce Brosnan, is based around the songs of Abba and is set in Greece.

Economics

1. Which leader’s mid sentence pause transformed him from bankers back-up to saviour of the world? British Prime Minister Gordon Brown who made an unfortunate slip in Prime Minster's Questions: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/3701712/Gordon-Brown-mocked-over-save-the-world-slip-up-in-Commons.html
2. Who said at a rally in Jacksonville, US: “The fundamentals of our economy are sound”, on the day that Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy? Republican Presidential nominee John McCain.
3. What faux pas embarrassed World Bank leader Paul Wolfowitz on a trip to Turkey this year? He was pictured with holes in his socks.
4. On October 6^, 2008 a Times Online reader, Andrew Shackleton, posted a comment “this is just the tip of the iceberg…” which particular financial iceberg was Mr Shackleton referring to? The demise of Icesave - the UK internet arm of Icelandic Bank Landsbanki - which collapsed in October.

Communications

1. Whose sexual bragging upset the people who weren't listening? Russell Brand along with his guest Jonathan Ross on his Radio 2 show. The BBC received thousands of complaints two weeks after the broadcast of the show after the publication of the transcript by UK newspaper the Daily Mail.
2. Who bigged up Pope Benedict in the following way: "Thank you, your Holiness. Awesome speech!"? President George Bush (again).
3. Who took over as chair of the International Association of Business Communicators in 2008? Barbara Gibson.
4. What percentage of communicators in Britain expect to move jobs over the next 12 months according to a survey conducted by Communicators in Business? 36%.
5.  Who won the CIPR's excellence award for internal communications in 2008? First Capital Connect.
6. What percentage of people in an October YouGov poll said that they were first alerted to change by secret meetings and hushed conversations by their managers? 56%
7.  In February this year, what percentage of senior agency PR officers believed there would be no recession in 2008, according to PR Week? 65%
8. Who was accused of being out of touch after calling people at 6am who had written letters to him? Gordon Brown (again).
9. According to the UK edition of PR Week, in what month did the alarm bells start ringing for the PR industry? In July when listed UK marcoms groups started to see their share prices slide.
10. David Ferrabee brought out his highly anticipated second book, what was it called? A Duty of Care.
11. In what city did communicators gather for the 2008 IABC conference? New York.
12. Who said in 2008: "The credit crunch is an enormous opportunity for internal communicators. When the senior guys do not know what to say, they call for internal communications. It's the only time you get them knocking on your door"? Pachi Lanzas, Head of Group Internal Communications at the Spanish Bank, Santander.
13. What company’s internal video podcasting platform made headlines at Simply’s Employee Communication Summit in June 2008 and what is it called? Microsoft, Academy Mobile.
14. Name two companies whose 2007 film festivals won raves in the field of employee communications in ’08? Deloitte and eBay.
15. Which longtime Employee Communications expert was quoted as saying, “My concern is with the “social” aspect of social media. It becomes a distraction to people and a potential obstacle to productivity”? Roger D'Aprix.
16. What was the name of the ship that hosted the 2008 Marketing Forum? The Aurora.
17. What U.S. production company stirred up a load of controversy when it released Wal-Mart’s corporate video archive to the public? Flagler Productions.
18. Which senior company blogger tarnished his reputation with "a crock of shit"? GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz who called global warming a "total crock of shit".

Accents and what they say about you....

Funnily enough this story caught my eye on Friday - apparently lots of Brits change their accents in order to get ahead in their careers.  It was strange to see it after the subject came up on Thursday with a Dutch contact - we were in Eindhoven in the south of Holland and she told me that she actually cam from the North of the country - over 20 years ago.

However, her accent was still noticeable and meant that southerners had her marked out as a frank-speaking Northerner.  And I didn't think Holland was big enough to have regional variations.

Then a colleague from the Isle of Man - barely more than a rock in the Irish sea that is home to about 80,000 people mentioned that there are differences between people from the north of the island and the south.  And she said that the town Manx accent was different from the rural one.

I was beginning to think that accents were disappearing - in the world of global media and widespread travel I wonder if they'll all merge into one...

Liam

Always worth visiting

As part of my big post-christmas email clear-out I came over a bunch of mails from the guys who publish a daily summary of communications news.  I can strongly recommend it as a useful summary - they take feeds from a bunch of places and consistently spot things that you'd have to spend hours trawling the web for...

Liam

Boys or girls - who make better internal communicators?

It's worth taking a look at this blog from time to time....

Liam