Mamma mia, smear we go again… Hark back to your earliest days as a PR exec and I’m sure there’ll be some mid-level manager harping on at you to make sure you proof the press pack before it goes to the media. Looks like this most elementary facet of common sense slipped those highly-trained hawks at the White House when they issued briefing documents to journalists accompanying President Bush on Air Force One with some pretty damning comments about Italian premier, Silvio Berlusconi.
  Permalink | 0 comments | Stephen Waddington @ 4:07 PM

  Friends and family James Warren posted on Friday that social media is as much about being social as it is about media and is best summed up by the two words "be nice". James is spot on. Inspired by his generosity of spirit thanks to folk that have linked to my blog in the last week or so: Loewy founder Charlie Hoult, fellow ComputerWeekly.com IT Blog Awards 08 shortlist nominee Paul Fabretti (yes I’ve voted for you), telco exec and author of London Calling Andrew Grill, fellow Three Peaker and Lewis PR’s Will Sturgeon, and northern photo-blogger and family friend Charlie Bell. Thanks all.   Permalink | 3 comments | Stephen Waddington @ 7:36 AM

  Podcast production The PR industry chuckled when Weber Shandwick made it into the pages of PR Week a couple of years ago with news of its bespoke podcast studio when the simplicity of the format means that a microphone and laptop PC are all that it required.

But the quality of podcast production distinguishes good from lousy. Noise levels, hisses, pops, coughs, splutters and pauses are not acceptable.

There’s an awful lot can be done to clean up an interview in an editing application such as Audicity but it’s time consuming and there’s some background glitches that just can’t be removed. It’s far easier to follow best practice for radio interviews and get it right first time.

I know. I re-recorded the reverses for an interview three times this week to eliminate electrical interference from a mobile phone and an orchestra of audio interference including pencil tapping, chair shuffling and page turning.

Weber Shandwick’s studio aside, the entry costs for podcasting are minimal. But the skill required to edit down and produce a professional podcast is anything but.

Neville Hobson is the first and last word in podcasting for the PR and marketing industries and a prolific podcaster himself. The search box on his site is the first place I go whenever I’m looking for advice.   Permalink | 0 comments | Stephen Waddington @ 7:15 AM

  TED’s top ten talks I’ve long been a fan of TED, the annual conference that brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers to explore “ideas worth spreading”. I would love to attend the conference at some point in the future. But in the meantime all presentations are recorded and uploaded on the web as TEDtalks so its possible to participate without attending.

TED has just published its all time top ten TEDtalks in celebration of more than 50 million downloads. They feature speakers who were little-known before their talk was released.

Here’s the listing.

1. Jill Bolte Taylor's stroke of insight
2. Jeff Han's touchscreen foreshadows the iPhone and more
3. David Gallo shows underwater astonishments
4. Blaise Aguera y Arcas demos Photosynth
5. Arthur Benjamin does "mathemagic"
6. Sir Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity
7. Hans Rosling shows the best stats you've ever seen
8. Tony Robbins asks why we do what we do
9. Al Gore on averting a climate crisis
10. Johnny Lee demos Wii Remote hacks

The most popular talk, viewed 2.5 million times and counting, features neuroscientist Jill Bolte Taylor, who observed her own stroke while it was happening and spoke powerfully about the function of the brain.

Be inspired.

  Permalink | 2 comments | Stephen Waddington @ 2:54 PM

  Solving the in-car power problem Every single car in the UK suffers from a fundamental design flaw that is a hangover from the 1950s irrespective of specification or age: the cigarette lighter. These days it is unlikely to be used to spark-up in transit and is more likely to be used as a means of tapping into a vehicle’s power supply.

As a means of delivering power to consumer appliances it is potentially lethal. The coil in a cigarette lighter needs a steady 15 to 20A at 12V for up to 30 seconds to get hot enough to ignite a cigarette. That’s a lot of power: up to 240W in fact. You’d better be sure that anything you plug into the socket has its own supply fuse.

There’s a second issue: the design and form of a cigarette lighter plug and socket isn’t fit for purpose. The chunky plug vibrates in the socket and if the plug isn’t spring loaded inevitably comes lose. There’s typical only one socket which means despite the relatively high power output it’s only possible to power one device at a time.

The Waddington household has a growing line-up of gadgets fighting to make use of the power supplied by the in-car cigarette light.

• 12V/240V Inverter (for camping trips)
• Digital camera charger
• Headrest DVD player
• iPod charger
• Mobile phone charger
• Nintendo DS
• Sat Nav
• Torch

Stuart Bruce wrote about this issue back in January 2007.

I may have found a solution. Maplin is selling an adapter that plugs into a cigarette socket and converts it into two regular 12V cigarette sockets and – perhaps more usefully – two USB sockets powered at the standard 5V. Any device that can be recharged via a USB socket can be powered up in-car without the need for adapters.

It’s not a complete solution but a series of USB sockets on a car dashboard would be damn site more useful for charging digital appliances than the now 50-year old cigarette socket.   Permalink | 0 comments | Stephen Waddington @ 2:49 PM

  Award nomination Wadds' Tech PR Blog has been shortlisted in the Company blog category of the ComputerWeekly.com IT Blog Awards 08. You can vote for us here. Er, that's it.   Permalink | 1 comments | Stephen Waddington @ 2:55 PM

  Twitter personalities We’ve been using Twitter at Rainier PR for some time now and lately you’ve probably seen a few more of our crew dipping their toes into the micro-blogging bath tub. Over lunch today we stuck together an anthropological guide to personality types on Twitter.

Which one are you, and what others have you spotted?

Twitter Googlers
Characteristics: Uses Twitter like a brainstorm. If they need any information go first to Twitter. Sees the collective mindset of Twitter as a fountain of knowledge. I'ts not what it's about.
Typical quote: What’s Nick Booth’s email address? Anyone?

Overly-eager boss
Characteristics: Generally US-based, with a sexual preference for social media news releases, this species is all about the new wave.
Typical quote: We’re redefining the industry guys. Hang on for the ride.

Social media Massif!
Characteristics: The small crew of PRs that have inhabited the social media space for the last few years. Generally young and pretty and couldn’t scare away a cat.
Typical quote: Hey guys who’s going to the ChitChat social media dinner tonight?

Random Scarborough
Characteristics: Usually northern, occasional poster who has delved in to the world of social media but is still to be convinced.
Typical quote: I’m having m'tea sat in front of t'telly. On train to London

Lewd Bloke
Characteristics: middle aged, usually bald. Because he’s in a senior position, he gets away with lewd behaviour on the basis that its ‘cheeky’ and ‘down to earth’. Typically three incidents a day that could result in a court case.
Typical quote: Scratching my arse. @sexy_sair how are your buns?

Excited and want to get involved
Characteristics: Young and fresh. Heard about this social media malarkey at university and visits all events. Usually handsome.
Typical quote: Morning everyone!!! How are you all today!!! Hello to @tim @coca_cola_twitter_test @jesus @slut_angel @jangles @everyone!!!!!!!!!! Sorry if I missed you off but hello!!!!!!!!! / wow. welcome @porn_spam. 12 more followers and I’ll hit 100. Very excited.

Blog promoter
Characteristics: rarely engages in conversation, just Tweets whenever he has a new blog post. Has a beard.
Typical quote: Social media news releases death knell for traditional PR: http://www.tinyurl.com/qwrllae.

I’m too good for Twitter
Characteristics: Random, preferably Latin quotes as updates - the more obscure the better. Has far right views. Hates PROs but works in PR.
Typical quote: Accipere quam facere praestat injuriam. I hate these smelly people on the train – I hope they get run over next time they visit the job centre. A wounded deer leaps highest.

Who the f*ck cares
Characteristics: random musings of a bored digital person who covers every aspect of his life. Probably based in Brighton. Likely to be obsessive and single but attractive.
Typical quote: Just saw a pebble, I wonder if it was happy.   Permalink | 16 comments | Stephen Waddington @ 12:58 PM

  Why a gender salary gap doesn’t exist within PR agencies Richard Bailey posted recently on pay equality within the PR industry following Harriet Harman’s proposals on pay equality last week. Richard cites data from a PRCA survey from 2005 which reckons that there is chasm between the pay between the sexes in the PR industry.

Research for the Chartered Institute of Public Relations in 2005 suggested a stubborn pay gap remained. The average salary for all men working in PR was recorded as £57,165. The figure was £39,507 for women (these figures are on page 50 of the report). What can explain this gap?

This is nonsense and is as valid as claiming that there’s a differential between the salary of PR executives and board directors. Different roles within agencies attract different salaries as Richard recognises.

Averages can be misleading, since men are disproportionately well-represented at the most senior levels. So the gap may not mean that men are earning more for doing the same work as women.

A more useful comparison would be to compare male versus female salaries in like-for-like roles. And on this basis I don’t believe that there would be any differences. The market agency-side for people is far too competitive and the presence of recruiters ensures salary parity.

  Permalink | 1 comments | Stephen Waddington @ 2:08 PM

  PR Week leaves Fleet Street trailing Congratulations PR Week. Not just from the crew at Rainier PR for the recent redesign, but from the media section of The Observer no less. Apparently our weekly rag is the envy of Fleet Street for its political scoops.

There’s a long held mantra that business sectors get the trade media they deserve. Maybe things are looking up for the PR industry.   Permalink | 0 comments | Stephen Waddington @ 2:05 PM

  Red tape rant: pay equality Commodity prices are at an all time high, debt finance is all but impossible to raise, inflation is at four per cent or higher and all but the bravest pundit reckons that we’re on the precipice of a recession.

What is the Government’s response? Harriet Harman is proposing a stack of legislation to ensure men and women receive equal pay. Bloody brilliant: more red tape, exactly what UK business needs.

When will this Government start to address some of the fundamental issues facing business rather than wrapping it up in even more red tape?   Permalink | 0 comments | Stephen Waddington @ 2:02 PM

  It's alien to me...
  Permalink | 2 comments | Stephen Waddington @ 1:05 PM