The top xmas bits you like

Days off Work comes out top of the Xmas poll , second was Only Fools and Horses and the Big Christmas film and only fourth was family get togethers ! I hope you all have a great time and that 2010 is a great year ahead.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Well if your jumpers are patterned, socks and ties abound and your the nominated driver - it must be Christmas Day - Happy Christmas , I hope you get your Xbox or Scalextric !

Companies start to teach staff social marketing - must read!

Make certain you put the link in at the bottom , this is a must read set of information - blogger sadly is not allowing the link to be dynamic though !!!
Tony
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If you need further evidence that social media is here to stay in the corporate world, look no further than Telstra, the Australian telecom giant.

The 40,000+ person company makes social media training mandatory for its employees and formalized a policy of “3Rs” – responsibility, respect and representation. Taking things a step further, today the company is trying something about as transparent as it gets – publishing their entire social media training guide online, so that anyone can check it out, learn and critique.

We got a chance to take a look at the guide, which takes the form of a comic book but also includes narration from a speaker (in a cool Australian accent too). It starts with the very basics – like “what is Facebook (Facebook)?” – but eventually moves into much more complex issues like “what if my [personal] blog post is critical of Telstra?” To-date, the company says that 12,000 of its employees have completed the course. Here’s a quick introduction:

Speaking of the decision to publish it on the Web, Telstra says that “while this communications environment has risks for corporate entities and individuals alike, we believe that with the right training and policy support the potential benefits far outweigh the risks … We have decided to open up this course to the scrutiny and feedback of the ‘outside world’ as it may assist other organisations and help raise the level of awareness about social media with staff.”

Clearly, it’s a bold move by Telstra that will leave them open to plenty of criticism, but ultimately we think it’s a smart one that should foster a lot of conversation in the space. The tool itself is also very well put together and highly interactive – give it a whirl and let us know what stands out to you in the comments.

for more info check out
http://mashable.com/2009/12/16/telstra-social-media/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8&feature=related

Whilst wandering round Costco a thought occurred.....

You could actually wander round on most weekends and certainly most holiday periods and just eat the trial food being offered by the show hosts - I started off hungry and ended up with a piece of cake, a bit of fruit, two lots of cheese, some honey dried tomatoes, a small glass of white wine and some crisps - I did feel guilty-but it was Christmas !

Blair is back again for number 3 !

One of the many great things (OK, currently one of the few great things, if not the only great thing) about this loveable industry of ours, is that there are some really nice people. I touched on this in my last e-pistle, but having given it some thought, I realised that it really is true. Cathie et al are a daily part of our lives and have been for many years. This is one of the reasons why we introduced the infamous Riley Pub Orienteering Challenge in 2002. Coming, as one does, from a meeja background, I was well aware of the difficulties of selling to the advertising agencies. In fact, in my day (just after the end of rationing – if you work on a website ask your grandparents what rationing was, or alternatively if you’ve been married for over 10 years you’ll have a pretty good idea anyway), where was I, oh yes, in my day, on a well-known Evening paper circulating in and around Aberdeen, we had the agencies sussed. Oh yes.

Basically, and I’m sure this will stir some happy memories, amongst other things, we used the well known advertising sales tool. Or, to put it another way, (and I’m sorry, I know this is a tad sexist, but it was a long time ago and honestly I’ve grown up since then), we got a rather attractive sales rep to wear the shortest skirt we could find and then sat back and watched the centimetres add up. Mind you, it took us ages to get him to wear it.

The other problem with selling to advertising agencies, which I’m sure that all those of you who are currently emailing round the rest of your company so you can be first in Tony’s media league table will appreciate, is that the sods don’t always return your calls. Sometimes we’ll take them, but don’t be deceived, this is just a ploy to ensure that we get invited to lunch, or better a trip on Concorde (which I was stupid enough to turn down!!). However, the really good sales reps, or indeed sales managers, are not dissuaded. After all, they like a free lunch too. Eventually, a relationship would be struck up, a bit like a marriage, where, to use that well-known phrase, there would be little communication, more than a few arguments and no sex.

Despite this, in those far-distant days, we all prospered. But knowing that this was despite rather than because of us, and in recognition of the problems we agencies cause the media, we at Riley put on the aforementioned pub orienteering. This required lots of drink, naturally, as well as lots of idiocy and posing for pictures which I doubt even Playboy would print. We have continued to organise this, albeit this year in an austerity form, because I do think that just occasionally an agency has to give something back, given the crap which you have to put up with from us from time to time. We, and I trust you, know it’s all part of the Great Game, and equally we know that in time the game will be over.

Fame at last from the ALL MEDIA Scotland site - 12th

Continuing an editorial strand started last week, marketing consultant, Mark Gorman, shares his top 20 blogs, websites, iPhone Apps, software tools, etc.

Gorman, whose consultancy is called Think Hard, is a former managing director of the now defunct 1576 Advertising, which he co-founded in 1994 before leaving six years ago. He is also a former chief executive of IAS SMARTS. Earlier this year, he was, among other things, taken on as a consultant at STV.

The first My Top 20 was from Edinburgh-based producer and director of advertising campaigns, Tim Maguire, with former Scottish Television reporter, Bob Cuddihy, providing the second. A third appeared the other day, from Atholl Duncan, head of news and current affairs at BBC Scotland.

1. BBC.co.uk - website - "Much as the BBC's power irritates me, I can't but admire the impact this site has had on the digital landscape and with such marvellous content. I listen, online, to the Hibees on BBC Radio Scotland, on a regular basis, and my music choice is led by 6 Music which, unbelievably, might be a victim of the BBC's success. Please, no."

2. Spotify - web application - "What can I say about Spotify that hasn't already been said? Wondrous. I heart Spotify."

3. IMDB - website - "If you are a movie geek, nothing in the universe comes close to this spectacular website which bring a world of opinion and stats to your fingertips. This is a truly indispensable information source and with 485,000 people voting Shawshank Redemption the greatest movie of all time, with an average score of 9.1, you get the feeling that opinion is robust and credible. You only have to read the many highly articulate reviews to realise this is indeed the case."

4. Facebook - web application - "Love it. Used to hate it."

5. Twitter - web application - "Hate it. Never used to love it."

6. The Lyceum Theatre Company - website - "Shows what can be done in marketing terms by being creative and imaginative."

7. stv.tv - website - "After years in the doldrums, digitally, the new team at stv has really got to grips with its site and is seeing four-fold growth. Watch out for stv local next year."

8. Digital Agency - blog - "Mike Coulter was a visionary for many years with not many listeners (present company excepted); it seems his time is coming rapidly, though."

9. if - online bank - "I've banked with if since it started. It works seamlessly. Shame it's being gradually shut it down. Too successful?"

10. Metcheck - website - "Okay, I admit it. I am a movie geek. I am a music geek. But my darkest secret is that I am a weather geek. This is where to satisfy your weather cravings. Kicks the BBC's arse."

11. Thinkbox - website - "The source of much great content about the B2B side of TV."

12. Momentumspk - website - "Tony Harding is proving his doubters wrong by carving out a successful and interesting niche in the media world that has got the industry voting on his regular polls."

St Johnstone 125th year aniversary Alastair was there at the begining.......

2009 has been the club’s 125th anniversary and the year draws to a close with the launch of this DVD which brings to life the story of St Johnstone FC.

Based on and updated from the 1997 book Bristling with Possibilities by Alastair Blair and Brian Doyle and covering the club from its formation and through its formative years right through to the present day, this 90 minute programme features still images, video footage and some match action together with interviews with members of the Willie Ormond team, record goal scorer John Brogan, record appearance maker Alan Main, Chairman geoff Brown and current manager Derek McInnes plus narration from Stuart Cosgrove.

This all-regions DVD is a ‘must’ for Saints fans worldwide and is on sale NOW from the stadium during office hours, from the club shop on first team match days and from Campus Sports in Perth's High Street

EMail copywriting

The quality of email content is one of the core factors in determining whether an email marketing campaign succeeds or fails. But successful email copywriting is an art — rather than a science — making it different from most other forms of business writing. To start out on the right path, consider these 5 tips for effective email copywriting:

1. Focus on the subject line. The subject line may be the shortest piece of content to write, but it’s one your campaign’s most critical elements. The challenge is to create excitement for a special offer, provide enough information to be clear about purpose and convey a brand’s essence – all in 50 characters or less.

When writing your subject lines:

* Create a sense of urgency. Include timely information to encourage subscribers to open the email.
* Include the most important information first. It’s essential that subject lines don’t exceed the character limits of email servers. But prioritizing the vital information first will ensure that, in case the subject line does run over, the primary message will be conveyed.
* Look to others for inspiration. Read newspaper and magazine headlines for ideas. Consider the email campaigns that you receive. Which ones were you intrigued enough to open and what can you deduce from those subject lines?
* Go with what works. Look to your own past successful email campaigns and replicate the subject lines that produced the highest open rates. Also, test out different subject lines within the same campaign to discover what generates the best response.

2. Include a mix of promotional copy with informational copy. Even if the goal of a campaign is to promote a new product, announce company news or introduce a special offer, complement that information with non-corporate information. For example:

* Supplement a new product announcement with a thought leader interview from a supporting industry.
* If a seasonal offer is being promoted, include tips or a checklist pertaining to that particular season.

3. Involve your readers. Consider the success of blogs, forums and social networks. Those interactive channels are effective because users feel involved and engaged. Build off that premise with email copywriting by keeping subscribers engaged and making them a part of the content. Consider including:

* Reader polls
* Reader case studies
* Q&As with customers
* User-generated content

4. Make the call to action crystal clear. With too many calls to action, email marketers run the risk of confusing or overwhelming subscribers. When customers are presented too many options, they may be less likely to purchase. Instead, focus your calls to action and limit the effort it takes to act. Consider these quick tips:

* Rely on size and placement position to emphasize the call to action.
* Write call to action copy that tells subscribers exactly what they can expect.
* Use copy that reinforces to subscribers that taking action will be quick and easy.

5. Put yourself in your subscribers’ shoes. When it all boils down, an email campaign will only be successful if it addresses subscribers’ needs. Email marketers should look at their campaigns from subscribers’ perspectives. What’s important to them? In a ClickZ blog post on email copywriting, Pat Friesen talks about the importance of understanding an audience:

* Visualize subscribers, whether they are mothers of young children or a corporate executive.
* Picture where subscribers are reading the email copy, whether it’s on a computer at work, on a laptop at home or on-the-go from a mobile device.
* Imagine the distractions subscribers face when reading email copy.

Beyond simply visualizing subscribers, study their open and click-through patterns, and consider their demographic information. If you’re still unsure of what subscribers want, use a reader survey to ask them.

Article Source : - http://www.toprankblog.com/

Return on Investment, return on Engagement or what?

I had a prospect call to arrange a briefing meeting today. A nice guy he was too. A medium sized businessman wanting a website and a digital marketing campaign.

During the conversation, he asked me what kind of return-on-investment he could expect for his money. Dancing around my handbag, I tried to tell him that I couldn’t possibly speculate without knowing the obvious stuff about his product, his market, his competitors and such like crucial information.

Yet, he persisted and still wanted me to give him a ‘topline view from my experience’ of what he could expect.

Only courtesy and good old Scottish greed for his account stopped me from telling him straight that if he wanted a guaranteed way of turning a small x into a big Y, he should maybe go and raise King Midas from the dead.

If only I had that x to Y formula, I’d be rich. I certainly wouldn’t give it to clients for the sums of money they pay me now. I’d keep it to myself or charge them a fortune.

Any sensible marketer knows that it doesn’t work like that but I wish someone would tell that to non-experienced marketers and particularly procurement departments.

Of course I know that it’s us that should be telling the inexperienced how it works, because we are meant to be the experts. The trouble is we all talk about ROI but how many agencies really have a proper handle on it?

Yes, we can measure Direct Mail or EMail responses, clickthroughs and the like. We can even track user journeys from obscure social networks to the point of the closure of a sale. We’ve long been experts at pre and post awareness and attitudinal research – for what that’s worth. But do many agencies really deal in the business of specific financial return on the client money that goes through our hands?


This is a great blog piece by Rob Morrice on ROE,really good take - Robs regular blog can be found at The Drum

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Nowadays, we’re even talking about Return on Engagement (ROE). I love that term. Can anyone explain it to me?

My favourite current ad guru Tim Williams summed it up for me perfectly in a recent article in Advertising Age. He sagely wrote; ‘Agencies – and many advertisers – still have the wrong-headed view that effectiveness is too difficult to measure. Too many red-herring arguments get in the way of agencies getting more serious about analytics: Of course there is no silver bullet for perfectly calculating ROI. Of course agencies can’t be held responsible, fully responsible for sales. But this shouldn’t stop agencies from helping clients identify and test the key drivers of brand success. Marketers with leaner budgets want and need to reduce uncertainty, and that’s exactly the help analytics provide.’

Wise words indeed and, in my view, the most obvious approach to the subject of ROI. But is it a philosophy shared across the industry?

Spider develop Aberdeen University Online booking service

An online accommodation booking system for students at the University of Aberdeen has been developed by Spider Online.

The Glasgow digital agency has developed the online system to handle the booking process at the University and provide all of the University’s stake holders with an efficient and customer focused experience while also looking to free up the accommodation staff to allow them to deal with oversight and strategic issues.

Spider Online was appointed by Aberdeen University to build a new e-commerce store to promote and sell all Campus Service products in March.

The agency is now looking to develop similar projects for other educational institutions.

How Targeted is SEO? Spider Online talk

The first key step in selling products and services online is to research the market. Then you can turn to the development of your SEO strategy.

SEO relies on a searcher inputting the right keyword or phrase before finding the page you have to offer. It’s pull marketing, not push marketing.

Pull marketing is a term that has come into being in the last few years and simply means that the marketer ‘pulls’ his audience to him by sticking something out there – let’s say a carrot – and leading the audience back to him. How does SEO do this?

For starters, you will only reach the right market if you know what the market is searching for. Are they looking for running shoes or tennis shoes? To some people, there may not be a difference, but to a marketer there is a huge difference. One type of person looks for running shoes and another type of person searches for tennis shoes. If you are prone to calling them running shoes in your day-to-day life then that is likely what you will call them when querying the search engine.

The good marketer knows to target the phrase that your searcher is going to use. Targeting ‘running shoes’ will help you find one segment of your market; targeting ‘tennis shoes’ will help you find another segment. But it’s the searcher who is finding you, not the other way around. With SEO you simply put the offer out there and the searcher jumps on it. It’s a lot like casting a fly onto the water and catching a fish. The type of fish you catch depends largely on the body of water, weather conditions, and the fly you use. SEO is targeted marketing of a different kind.

Seve and Ryan - top class stuff

Manchester United star Ryan Giggs was crowned 2009 BBC Sports Personality of the Year in Sunday's award ceremony.

The 36-year-old winger has been in top form this year, winning a record 11th Premier League winners' medal and playing in the Champions League final.

Formula 1 champion Jenson Button was second and world heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis secured third spot.

The clearly shocked Welsh footballer said: "To see the people that have won it and to be up here is unbelievable."

Giggs is the first footballer to win the prestigious trophy since England midfielder David Beckham picked up the award in 2001. Michael Owen (1998), Paul Gascoigne (1990) and Bobby Moore (1966) are other football winners.

The Welshman added: "I am playing for the greatest manager that has ever lived and I'm playing for the greatest club."

One of the most emotional moments at the Sheffield Arena was Spanish golf legend Seve Ballesteros being honoured with the Lifetime Achievement award.

The 52-year-old, still recuperating from a brain tumour that required four life-threatening operations, received a standing ovation before receiving the award at his home from a tearful compatriot and golfer José María Olazábal.

Got a funny Christmas Observation?

Some whimsical Christmas observations from 60 Watt. Add yours at the address below
http://www.60w.co.uk/Christmas/


Christmas at my house is always at least six or seven times more pleasant than anywhere else. We start drinking early. And while everyone else is seeing only one Santa Claus, we'll be seeing six or seven. W.C. Fields
Merry Christmas.

Santa is very jolly because he knows where all the bad girls live.
Dennis Miller
Merry Christmas.

Just before Christmas, an honest politician, a principled banker and Santa Claus were riding in the lift of one of London's finest hotels. Just before the doors opened, they all noticed a £50 note lying on the floor. Which one picked it up? Santa, of course. The other two don't exist.
Merry Christmas.

Christmas begins about the first of December with an office party and ends when you finally realize what you spent, around April fifteenth of the next year.
P.J. O'Rourke
Merry Christmas.

And the winner is..........

Best sales team in Scotland goes to Nick and his team at Total Jobs, always helpful and knowledgeable a really worthy winner with 37% of the vote, a good second were the STV sales team closely followed by Real Radio. Well done all who gained votes and took part in a good bit of social marketing.

Link Building – An important thing to know from Spider Online

Everyone is talking about the importance of Link building. This is certainly a key strategy to help to increase the profile of your website through the search engines. In addition, if done properly, it will generate additional valuable traffic to your site (over and above what you are receiving through the search engines).

Many internet companies offer to carry this out on your behalf. You need to be very careful that they are doing this with integrity. Especially, if they are going down the paid for route. Here is what Google has to say on the subject: “Google and most other search engines use links to determine reputation. A site’s ranking in Google search results is partly based on analysis of those sites that link to it. Link-based analysis is an extremely useful way of measuring a site’s value, and has greatly improved the quality of web search. Both the quantity and, more importantly, the quality of links count towards this rating.

However, some SEOs and webmasters engage in the practice of buying and selling links that pass PageRank, disregarding the quality of the links, the sources, and the long-term impact it will have on their sites. Buying or selling links that pass PageRank is in violation of Google’s webmaster guidelines and can negatively impact a site’s ranking in search results.

Not all paid links violate our guidelines. Buying and selling links is a normal part of the economy of the web when done for advertising purposes, and not for manipulation of search results. Links purchased for advertising should be designated as such. This can be done in several ways, such as:

Adding a rel=”nofollow” attribute to the tag

Redirecting the links to an intermediate page that is blocked from search engines with a robots.txt file

Google works hard to ensure that it fully discounts links intended to manipulate search engine results, such excessive link exchanges and purchased links that pass PageRank. If you see a site that is buying or selling links that pass PageRank, let us know. We’ll use your information to improve our algorithmic detection of such links.”

The fact is, link building is link building. You can do it the organic way or buy your links and the effect, from a SEO stand point, is the same. With one proviso – it is done the right way. Buying text links is fraught with its dangers.

If you’re going to buy text links then there is one very important thing to keep in mind. It’s more important than everything else. And I don’t mean the fact that Google frowns upon it. The one thing that you must keep in mind if you are going down this road is to be discreet. Getting caught could be costly, and more costly than the price of your links.

TCMO and the Power of NLP…..

December 7, 2009

The pace of life and business is increasing. In the race for market share, most companies have to be highly flexible and adaptable in order to succeed. The workforce must therefore be highly flexible and adaptable too. People need to be able to learn new skills efficiently, manage change enthusiastically and constantly seek out new sources of competitive advantage.

The Career Management Organisation (TCMO) has recognised the real power and essential business requirement of effective NLP profiling, and as such, have introduced a new service.

NLP is an alternative and refreshing way, using tried and tested methodologies, to offer training principally, but not restricted to areas such as communication, conflict, motivation, challenges, improving Sales, and time management.

TCMO’s new NLP profiling service is now being used as part of their career management & transition programmes for both individuals and business using outplacement services and have chosen to partner with ‘NLP Highland’ to provide this profiling.

‘NLP Highland’ offers tailored training solutions to match customer requirements and address the sometimes complex people issues. Noticeable benefits are applicable immediately to work place situations, improving productivity and workplace morale, preventing absenteeism and ensuring retention.

NLP can be applied to work-out effective communication strategies for different individuals and groups. Using NLP models and questioning systems, TCMO’s NLP profiling can discover how others construct their world and how best to structure communications (of whatever kind) to achieve the desired goal. NLP provides skills, tools and techniques to add to your “Manager’s Toolbox” and enables you to become the “Ultimate Manager”.

For more information about how these services could benefit you or your business call Rob Moore at TCMO on 0800 0093141 or visit http://http://www.tcmo.co.uk

Chris From Team Rubber talks Rubbertopia

Pain can be a beautiful thing. And in my case quite an inspiring thing too. For the last 5 days I've been stuck in hospital with severe back pains - which have meant I've been totally bed bound, and completely dependent on the nurses at Kings College Hospital London (who have - by the way - been really great!)

Anyway, lying in bed - in pain - inspired me yesterday morning: could I be of any use to hospital lying here? The hospital staff are being great - but could I add anything - could I help improve how the hospital is run?

And the answer is of course YES. As a patient I - and the hundreds of other patients - are in the best place to help the hospital improve, as we're the ones at the coal-face, experiencing the end products that the hospital delivers - whether that's a quick fix in A&E, or a longer stay in one of the wards. The only issue is how you collate and make sense of this collective experience. And the answer to that is the internet - create a crowd-sourcing website with a focus on collating "ideas of how to improve the hospital" and let patients share ideas, and self-organise the value of those ideas via rating and commenting systems. Given I'm the co-founder of an e-democracy company - Delib - that specialises in citizen empowerment - this was the easy bit!
So lying in my hospital bed - I asked a couple of my colleagues in Bristol to quickly put together a patient crowd-sourcing site using our one of our apps - and 2 hours later we launched "Help us Improve Kings".

Check the site crowd-sourcing site here (and add ideas if you have any!)

With the prototype site up and live, I'm now in the process of getting patients to take part and share their experiences and ideas - a bit of a tricky feat given I can't walk, but they're coming in slowly as I lynch people walking past my room! I'm also in the process of talking to the Patient Involvement team @ Kings - as obviously to make this work, we really need them on board to actually turn the ideas generated into concrete actions.

So there you go - an example of bottom-up patient power - empowered by the wonders of broadband and a wonderful set of e-democracy apps. Social media empowerment at its finest!

And most importantly this is a lesson to all those brands / businesses / government departments out there who are trying to work out how to make their business work better - the answer: empower your customers and employees and they will in turn help power your business!

12 things I learned about xmas , whilst shopping

It is interesting what you learn when you shop at Christmas
1) If there is a credit crunch where has everybody got all their money from?
2) How bad are some of the shops, why would you ever enter most of them?
3) Does Gap sell mens clothes? if so can they put a few of them in the window
4) Why do mobile phone shops not sell ear phones for your phone?
5) That it is sad to see border books going bust
6) WH Smith is just rubbish now
7) Is it wrong to go into toyshops just to look at the Scalextric?
8) That the best shop on Leith Walk is Borlands -Darts and Television- Magic
9) Shoe shopping is not as easy as it used to be, what happened to Dolcis?
10) That if you need a pee, Ladbrokes is still the best spot
11) That the happy couples out shopping - should be in the pub not shopping together
12) That a Greggs sausage roll is just the best food in the world when your cold, hungry - in fact at anytime of the year

This post is sponsored by GREGGS SAUSAGE ROLLs
Greggs Plc probably know more than most about sausage rolls - they sell them through 1,200 outlets to 5 million customers per week. In 2002 they sold £120 million worth. Its not all good news - the typical Greggs sausage roll contains a whooping 240 calories but they are working on a new low fat recipe which should have 20% less calories.

Blair returns with his second blog

Mr Blair is back with his second blog, another good tongue in cheek piece - if you see him before xmas make sure he isnt at the edge of a building !
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Well, at least one person has read the first of these cutting-edge e-pistles (thanks Steve), although it seems that other than TMP the rest of the rec ad agencies (and even those who claim not to be but still, mysteriously, bid for rec ad tenders) are all computer illiterates. Either that or they are still desperately rifling through their waste-bins for the odd copper! Give up chaps – come to the dark side and read my blog. It may be bollocks, but I’m willing to bet that it’s probably more entertaining than looking for money.

Targets, remember them? Our friends in the media (those who are still in gainful employment) have been struggling to hit them for some time now. Fortunately, one of the best things about working in this strange industry that employs us all is that we do have some great friends in the media (and equally fortunately there are virtually no ****ers).

There are lot of great media people. There’s Cathie and Moyra and Margaret and Jim and Alison and, oh, I could go on and on. When you’ve been around as long as I have you’ve seen lots and lots and lots of media people (and you have to bear in mind that I started round about the same time as they invented the aeroplane - just a few years after Alan Kelly celebrated his first ten years in the biz). These people are much more than business associates. Over the years we’ve become friends, and, I trust, will still be friends once the dust settles on this peculiar sector of advertising that we’ve come to know and love.

To that end, I’d encourage everyone to get along to the Castrated Parrot, or Black Monkey(17th December Glasgow - very limited numbers contact Tony- if your names not down you wont get in stuff ! The Editor) , or whatever the name of that pub is that Tony’s got booked for us all to go along and get seriously pished as a newt. And if you want an incentive to be there, there’s the fact that, sadly, I cannot attend. I have to be in Londinium for the Riley annual media bash. They give me a microphone and tell me not to make too many politically incorrect jokes. I usually have to have the mike surgically removed, by which time the politically sensitive (basically anyone who doesn’t regard the Daily Telegraph as seriously left-wing), have all legged it.

Anyway, if you do get along to the end-of-year festivities in the Ferret, or whatever it’s called, have one for me – and send the bill to Tony. As he was sensible enough to get out several years before the solids hit the air conditioning he’s the only one making any money these days.

Industry leads change their names to crisps?

Chris Hunt, a plumber, starts the day with packet of pickled onion Monster Munch, has a roast beef Monster Munch sandwich for lunch and a Flamin' Hot flavour bag for dinner.

He is so obsessed with the corn snack that he has even devised recipes to include Monster Munch in rice and pasta dishes.

THe 26-year-old finally changed his name after being dared to by friends.

Mr Munch - or Monster to his pals - said: ''I just can't get enough of them. I love all the flavours, but admit roast beef is a particular favourite.

''I used to just eat three bags of roast beef a day, but I decided I needed a bit of variety in my life, so now I vary the flavours between breakfast, lunch and dinner.''

It does beg the Question if we had a change of name policy for our industry what would some people do? - here are a few suggestions !

Alastair Blair could become Mr Salt N Shake. Giles Brooksbank could become Mr Disco,
Stuart Bell could become Mr Ready Salted Asda 2003 and Sean Japp Mr Sensation (his suggestion!!!)


suggestions on a postcard please .......

11th December - Networking event with Digital Pie !

With Christmas fast approaching, the Digital Pie and The West Lothian Coffee Morning (in conjunction with the Business Gateway, e-Business West Lothian, Women in Business, The West Lothian Chamber of Commerce, The Centre and O’Brien’s) are teaming up to invite you to the Christmas business networking event of the year!
If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Friday 11th December @ the Winter Garden in The Centre in Livingston
Starting at 8am

Join us at 8am for this Christmas Business Networking event! No fees, relaxed environment and great networking - all you need to do is turn up!

Make sure you bring plenty of business cards as not only will there be great networking there will also be a business card prize draw with some great prizes supplied by the many organisations supporting this event.

Keep an eye on The Digital Pie for discussions to find out about or donate prizes for the business card draw leading up to this bumper Christmas networking event www.thedigitalpie.co.uk

contact Claire Hammond for more details

t: 01506 201174

Story come up with Great Christmas Charity idea

This Christmas instead of sending cards to our clients, suppliers and peers our brief was to do something useful. The result is our Christmas 'ihave' campaign which is now live at:

www.ihave.org.uk


What's it all about?

This year has been tough for a lot of businesses but it's been really tough for charities, and next year will be worse because budgets were set from diminished funds this year. So we've come up with an idea to help. We asked around 25 mostly local charities what resources they could really do with next year. And the plan is to use our network of clients, suppliers, peers, friends, distant cousins and casual acquaintances to try to find the items. Crucially, it's not about asking people to give money - but give something they have and don't want any more. So that's why we're calling it a handraising campaign.


What can you do to help?

- Hands up if you have any of the items yourself!

- Email the site to friends...give them a persuasive nudge towards wishes you think they could help with

- Follow the campaign on Twitter via @StoryUK


Between us we must know someone with an industrial deep fat fryer, a bunch of old bras and a penchant for doing pro bono websites?!


Happy wish-hunting,

JP starts to charge for regional content - interesting stuff !

SOURCE : NEW MEDIA AGE

Regional publisher Johnston Press is to charge for content across six of its sites from Monday as rival publisher Trinity Mirror admits it would not rule out a pay wall.

Pay walls are to be introduced across six Johnston Press titles, including the Whitby Gazette, the Northumberland Gazette and the Worksop Guardian, Johnston Press has confirmed.

Users will be charged £5 for a three-month subscription to access content beyond the home page across the sites.

The model is a small-scale trial designed to gather lessons about paid-for content, according to a Johnston Press spokeswoman, who added the sites had been chosen as the publisher “felt they were typical of its weekly titles”.

HoldtheFrontPage.co.uk has reported an internal memo circulated by senior managers in one Johnston Press division which read, “Customers are used to paying for content in-paper and we are simply transferring this thinking online.”

Chris Bunyon, digital director at rival publisher Trinity Mirror Regionals, said introducing a pay wall was not part of the publisher’s immediate strategy but added, “It’s not something we would wholeheartedly rule out. It depends on the proposition you take to market and the value it brings to customers.”

“Now is a time when a lot of publishers are experimenting and over the years we’ll see some failures and successes. We wouldn’t rule it out,” he added.

In the past few months publishers have announced moves to introduce pay walls. Earlier this month Emap, publisher of business-to-business magazines such as Retail Week, Architects’ Journal and New Civil Engineer, said it will make all its online content paid-for only (nma 2 November 2009).

The Financial Times, which already has a hybrid charging model, plans to introduce a pay-per-article model (nma 7 August 2009). News Corp chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch has made several announcements about his plans to introduce pay walls across titles including The Sun and Times Online.

Talk about your business/views on the blog

As the latest poll kicks in, social marketing again !!! If you any of you out there want to comment / sell / deliver a message feel free to drop me a line - tony@momentumspk.co.uk and will edit and run and send you a link when it is up!
coming up will be bits from, STV, Mr Blair (Alastair not Tony) and HR Network