Monkey Business at Democracy

When I applied for a work experience placement at Democracy, I was expecting a fair amount of brew making, photocopying and answering the phones.
Whilst there was an element of all these things, the last words I expected to hear at 9 o’clock on my second day of the placement were, “Tom, do you want to go on the monkey shoot?”

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My first day at Democracy

Had I known at 2 pm that just 7 hours later into my first day I’d watch the team pick up an award for Best use of Digital PR at the CIPR North West awards for their great work for The Rock, Bury then I might have anticipated what was to come. I arrived at my second client meeting with 3 hours of experience and spent 45 minutes basking in the team’s glory. In their (our) review meeting with The Rock, they (we) were praised for the best digital PR campaign the client had seen. I felt like an unused sub picking up a Champions’ League Winners medal; a fraud.

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All the gear, no idea ….

The heart of this campaign has been to really get to know and understand what the people of Bury want from their new retail and leisure destination. Some love it, some have areas where they believe it can be improved – but every one of those 3,000 fans know that The Rock is listening to them and cares enough to want and keep their business.

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The Queen, Bruce and Facebook

According to the official Gov website: “The people honoured this year include a pathologist, a nursery nurse, the coach of the England women’s football team, a GP, and a number of youth workers and volunteers. Among the more unusual professions on this year’s list are a station announcer at Fenchurch Street Station and the organist at the Tower Ballroom, Blackpool.”

Bruce, who picked up a CBE in 2006, missed out again this year. On the GMTV interview he mused that the support that he’d received from 25,000 Facebook fans and the media, promoting his long years of service to the entertainment industry, may have influenced the final decision in the opposite direction.

If true, then this underlines how out of touch the decision makers are with the power of the ground swell of public opinion now harnessed by Facebook and other social platforms.

We’re not suggesting that knighthoods are given out based on the same voting system as the X-Factor, but a good leader (just as a good brand) uses all the methods available to listen to what’s important to their public, learns from them and makes decisions accordingly.

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The Greatness of Britain and the National Trust

Now not being much of a map reader, I loved this iphone app from the National Trust, that helps you to find a National Trust place near you, wherever you are in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. You can see it on the map, find out opening times, prices and facilities and access information. Just perfect to help a city girl navigate the unfamiliar terrain.

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Food for thought

Apparently Jamie Oliver’s school dinners are making children cleverer. Since the introduction of his nutritious meals, SATs results have dramatically improved. Perhaps there’s a scientific reason, or maybe kids are being spurned on by the ever more infrequent reward of chocolate for doing well.

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Twestival 2010

In 2009 Twitter was for those who wanted to share and embrace ideas, ask for help or off load their frustrations about the projects they were working on, it was real people sharing real things in a virtual world. Twestival brought these people together and virtual relationships were cemented in real life. Many of the PR and media types were only just beginning to take the social media space seriously and a few uninitiated PR and marketing types hovered around the edges like fish out of water. (classical example, one PR agency but forwards a gadget as an auction prize that wasn’t MAC compatable – eek(!))

A year on, and we’re in HulaBar – the place is bustling as virtual relationships are cemented into real life. But the question is . . . . where are the Twitter fans of old? The event was full of PR people who are now firmly planted in the Twitter culture. I was asked by an interviewer my twitter name, why i use Twitter and my favourite celeb to follow – after admitting celeb followings isn’t really my thing the girl seemed to be at a loss.

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Scruffs Workwear appears in The Sun again

We’ve secured another great result for our newest client Scruffs Workwear as revealed that more than half of all tradesman get jiggy on the job once every year.

Ladies – if you’re looking for some at home action, we suggest you avoid the Gardener, as the research indicated he’s the most likely to kiss and tell!

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Baby Lotto

s a PR professional operating in the baby market, I understand that organisations have a responsibility to market their products in the right way. As a woman I can understand the desperation couples feel when they want a child and simply can’t have one. As an auntie i understand the joy that a little girl or boy brings to a family. But as a human being, i can only ask the question . . . How do you tell a child that he/she was the prize in a lucky dip?

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Barbie and the Geek

I’m not quite sure how I feel about Computer Engineer Barbie. I know many women working in the industry through our links with Girl Geek Dinners and BarCamps, have attended events where talk about shoes and tech sit side by side, but most of them don’t wear pink or have hair quite so quaffed. So, as a member of the geek squad, do i fell patronised?

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