MarCom Professional

I was reading JP on the supposed death of blogging.

Now there is a bit of sadness from the early-adopters like Adriana and Hugh that the intimacy of the early years has bone. And the hugely hyped when they change their habits.

But surely, when a medium goes mainstream it's bound to change. There are so many tools available now that just weren't here in 2006 when I started writing.

I just moved my rowing blog onto a WP platform and a new URL, Scullfast . Gonna have to work hard to redirect the RSS juice, I know that. But I also know that Google finds mentions by and about me within about 40 minutes of them going live online. More...

I've been tagged in a meme by Tom Malcolm, who was in turn tagged by Stephen Waddington to continue a meme that he was tagged on to by Ged Carroll on what inspires him to keep up his blog posts.

(See all that tagging by the people on the meme who already have a working relationship with each other? That's today's top tip on "How to start a meme").

One of the promises Barack Obama made in the US was to release his weekly address to the nation via Youtube.

This signaled how serious he was about transparent and open government, and flagged the incoming US government recognition of the power of Youtube's large and growing audience - which publishes almost 10,000 hours of content per day (per Michael Welsch's Anthropological Introduction to Youtube).

Obama's first weekly address is now available online and demonstrates how polished his staff have become in the use of Youtube.

 

I hope we'll see a similar use in Australia of the KevinPM website, even going further to have the Prime Minister respond in a public questiontime to video questions posed by citizens - just as John Howard used his weekly radio talkback - but accessible to a broader audience. More...

What follows is the unedited version of my latest post for TechCrunch, "Is Obama Ready To Be a Two-Way President."


Source: Barack Obama's flickr stream

Where there’s victory, there’s also opportunity…

America voted while the entire world watched and listened. Whether you supported Obama or McCain, we equally shared the hope for positive change and a new beginning towards a brighter future. This Presidential election was the first in 50 years, in which there was no incumbent President or Vice President from either party competing for the Presidential nomination. More...

Ged tagged me with a meme asking what sources of inspiration I used for blog postings. Here’s the answers.

Meeting people – meeting people in PR and tech, but also other industries because working in PR in London it is so easy to become introspective and out of touch with what’s happening elsewhere

Out and about – walking, ideally with my missus and children, or friends, in the countryside around our house in Northumberland. After a week in London, there is no surer way to completely clear your mind and I’ve yet to find a sheep that gives a shit about the credit crunch

Reading – media and non fiction. More...

Further evidence that consumer confidence is taking a beating emerged this week and made me think more about what this will mean for marketers operating in a depressed commercial environment.

My previous post alluded to the need to adjust marketing and PR strategies to take into account the fact that none of us are going to feel particularly flush in the next 12 months, and how this might impact on the habits of the great British public. I had dinner with some friends earlier this week and realised that talk of us spending more time at home (and less time spending money on the high street) isn't just theory - it's happening now!

Two out of three have spent the last two weekends at home, one has installed Sky Broadband so that she can download music and movies and, she says, order takeaway. More...

Jason Calacanis is was a top line blogger. An A-Lister.

And he announced his retirement from blogging because the pressure was too great. Specifically he cites:

• it lacks the intimacy that drew me to it
• Pressure - keeping the blog big and impersonal
• Vitriol - online trolls and 'haters'

But if this marks the end of the 'revolution' stage of blogging, ti certainly marks the move to the mainstream and the middle of the bell-curve. How companies get messages out to market has broadened and widened and Jason no longer feels 'special' and I, for one, am glad of it. The ease and ubiquity of blogging software, methods means that including it in business development strategy should be normal and deserves to be widespread. More...

There has been a lot of Twitter chatter over the last couple of days about Stephen Davies’ list of PR and journalist Twitter users. Names are being added to both lists by the hour and anyone named on either list is enjoying a rush of new followers.

Lists are great for creating order. To this end Stephen has created a useful directory of PR people and journalists that use Twitter.

But does it tell us any more than that? What level of influence do PR people using Twitter have? Is Twitter being used to change opinions? After all, influencing opinions is our raison d’être.

I had a quick exchange with Stephen yesterday about this – via direct messages on Twitter as it happens. More...