I know I am one of the many digital sheep (pardon the pun} who has re-posted this video but I don’t care. It is so great and has really captured people’s imagination. It is a superb example of creativity and brands taking a chance. Long may it continue.
Whilst other media outlets are dying out (local newspapers and trade magazines) It is great to see new ones emerging. I think the most exciting one to emerge is Wired, which is finding a new lease of life on these shores. WELCOME BACK WIRED UK – WE MISSED YOU.
Conde Nast has gone live with a soft-launched Wired.co.uksite, ahead of next week’s UK magazine relaunch – 12 years after the title first left these shores. The publisher will ready a big online marketing campaign across sites including its own GQ and Vogue
I have been away from this blog for a while but with good reason. I have been on holiday and had the trip of a lifetime.
I made it....
I finally made one of my dreams come true – to visit the west coast of America and drive down it. This month I got to do that and it was a amazing. Although we were only there 10 days, I got to spend time in San Fransisco, Carmel, the Big Sur, Cayucos, Santa Barbara and, finally, LA.
Highlights fo such a trip included:
Putting my feet in the Pacific Ocean (it was cold!)
Seeing the awesomeness of the Big Sur (including Pfeiffer Beach)
Experiencing a US parade (courtsey of St Paddy’s Day)
Seeing G-Love and Special Sauce at the Warfield in SF
One of the things about working in PR means that you get to learn and experience lots of different things. So farm in my career I have been lucky enough to work across different types of technologies and it has allowed me to see what an impact online, technical manufacturing and traditional technology can have on the greater good. Whether that be how the manufacture of injections needles can prevent the spread of hepatitis or HIV and how online projects has the potential impact a child’s education in Africa or South America.
I have been lucky to work on these awareness campaigns. Just looking at my own personal experience and the great effort that has gone behind Twestival just goes to show that the skills one has can help as much as money in a collection tin (although that is still important too!)
Finally – there are plans to have one charger that works for every phone.
In the 12 years of having a mobile phone I have collected a array of different phone chargers. And whilst Samsung, Nokia and Sony Erricson phones have gone to the big charger in the sky I have been left with completely useless chargers that work with no other phone. In fact by having out them all in a bowl, it has become a bit of a table arrangement – mobile art possibly (?!).
So yay to this news coming from the Mobile World Congress and congratulations to the mobile manufacturers for finally getting their arse in gear.
When it comes to home cinema set-ups, I am slowly discovering there is a whole world of projectors out there.
In the five years I lived by myself I had the same old, big TV and never thought anything of it. As a girl, I never thought about how small it was, how not clear it was or even how there was a faint yellow/green in the bottom left corner.
And then the BF moved in and it all changed. suddenly there was talks of projectors, rearranging the living room and so on…
Now, having discussed this with many different girls and boys, I have come to a conclusion…. boys are ALL about the projector.
Girls I spoke to about this agreed with my point of “What’s the point?”. I don’t need a big screen to watch anything, I don’t like sitting in a darkened room so that I can get a better picture and most of all I don’t like rearranging my living room to work around this piece of equipment.
My point about the projectors was confirmed whilst watching Dignnation. Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht were sitting with Jimmy Fallon and spoke for a good five/six minutes on good projectors and the size of their TVs. SERIOUSLY!!!
Maybe I am missing the point of these things (or just the projector gene) but either way when I came home to see that the lovely BF had rearranged our living room for perfect viewing angle of a projector lets just say I couldn’t see the bigger picture.
According to the weather report, today London has seen the worst weather in a decade. What this has meant for me personally is that I have been housebound, trying desperately to work from web email and without my trusted ringbound notebook.
As I have gone through today, something has sprung to mind – what would I have done without my new media tools.
About eight years ago, when London experienced really bad weather and was in a similar position physically – I felt very stranded and my ability to connect with colleagues and friends was some what different and difficult. At that time, I had no web access to email (making work hard to do), there was no Twitter to see who was stuck out in the bad weather and in need of help, Facebook was a molecule in the brain on an adolescent so I could pass the time during lunchtime, there was no Flickr to see what other people were experiencing (such as the Moo snowball fight), etc.
It is amazing how far we have come and what a difference new media tools have made to my snow day. I have not felt isolated and locked in my flat ( although I have been). I have been able to chat to everyone I would usually and have effectively been able to share my snowday with my friends whilst almost managing a full day of work too.
As I sit with the snow settling down for another night, I am happy that I have so much access to my personal community even when I can’t get to meet up with any of them face-to-face today. All I can say is thank goodness for collborative technologies and long may it continue.
In the few days since my last post, something has been playing on my mind… the future of my Twitter use.
This week in the UK we have seen Twitter get shout outs in mainstream press – both newspapers and television. It certainly has reached the tipping point of mass adoption and it is interesting to see how many people are suddenly asking what it is about and then signing up for it.
I started using Twitter in June 2007 and, although it took a few tweets to get to used to, I loved the possibility it offered – meeting new and interesting people, laying down my thoughts to a select few, learning new areas or topics, etc. Despite my job as a technology PR, I joined Twitter for personal reasons and it was nice that I felt at first that I was not judged for hoping on a bandwagon. I had a genuine interest.
A year and half later and my how things have changed and I feel that my use of Twitter has changed, even the people I ’speak’ with has changed. There are still those interesting twitterers that i follow and want to speak with but it is harder to see them through the noise of mass adoption (and the growth in people I am following and those followers). At the same time, I am open and honest about being a PR but also feel that I am judged for being so.
And for this reason I am beginning to think that my relationship with Twitter may be twindling and it may be time to move on and find something of a next generation. Or simply do I do a cull – do I cut the people I am following so that I can control it a bit more. Surely it is better to listen carefully to the conversation of a few than the mumblings of many.
I want to learn about new social sites because I have a genuine passion for it. I am lucky that my job allows me to experiment with these sites – whether it be launching them or just playing around and learning about it.
I am not sure how I will progress but I have a feeling things are going to move quickl. ~It will be interesting to look back in thress months to see what has happened.
I came across this really interesting website called TheSelby.com which ” features photographs, paintings and videos by Todd Selby of interesting people and their creative space”. I really like it because it gives me an insight into where people get their creativity from and it really is fascinating. I highly recommend taking a look around when you have a moment.
Also, I came across the first posting of the London Twestival, which is happening on 12 Feb. Definitely sign-up and come along – http://london.twestival.com/
And finally…Reading this weekend’s Observer magazine I came across an article about Racism in Britain. The ten stories are really thought-provoking and worth a read if you have some time.
When it comes to home cinema set-ups, I am slowly discovering there is a whole world of projectors out there.
