Talk Internal Communication

www. flick r .com Go to iabcireland's photostream As President of IABC Ireland I was delighted with the success of our recent event on best practices in social media, employee engagement and measurement held in April 2013. Thanks to the IABC event co-ordinators (Keith Hoare, Maxime Sattonnay, Marykate Collins and Catherine Lowe). Author of a leading book on employee engagement and measurement Susan Walker was joined by the digital communication strategy manager for the Council of the European Union Aurelie Valtat. Check out the photos which will give you a flavour of the event.

What happens when two leading communication experts invite you to an event designed for PR pros, corporate communicators, social media strategists and employee engagement execs? YOU PROFIT! The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Ireland and event partner Diageo have invited two leaders in the communications industry to teach an event in Dublin emphasizing best practices in social media, employee engagement and measurement.  Author of a leading book on employee engagement and measurement Susan Walker is joine d by  the digital communication strategy Manager of the Council of the European Union to present at this seminar. Event Details Date:  Friday 5 th  April, 2013 Time:  6pm-8pm  (Refreshments served 5.15 - 5.45pm) Venue: The Master Brewer Suite, “The Guinness Storehouse”, St. James’s Gate Booking:   http://iabcireland. eventbrite.ie .  If you are a manager wo...

On average, however, usage is fast outpacing effectiveness. While the use of social media has expanded over the last 12 months for all, highly effective communicators are more than twice as likely as the least-effective group of companies to have expanded their use of social media. This online article highlights results from Watson Wyatt on the use of social media in organisational communication.

There is no doubt the riots in the UK will be a very interesting case study from a pr perspective. Interest in London had increased due to the royal wedding and the upcoming Olympics and it will be interesting to see the reputational damage the riots may have. Given that the riots appear to now be under control PR may be able to sell it as “a moment of madness”. Interestingly, social media sites have come under fire as the PM suggested that Facebook, Twitter and Research in Motion (RIM), the maker of BlackBerry, should take more responsibility for content posted on their networks. This will be another interesting angle to watch.

For PR practitioners who are sometimes told our stories aren't newsworthy enough its amazing that Barack Obama's tweeting makes news across the world ! Just in case you haven't heard the story is that President Barack Obama recently referred to himself as “the first president to live tweet.”  His tweet read : “in order to reduce the deficit, what costs would you cut and what investments would you keep?”. Obama's live tweeting is only the latest example of the President’s interest in social media. In May, the president named Twitter CEO Dick Costolo to his National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee.

Flip  Camera, my trusted toy has seen its last days. I'm upset but I'm sure there will be other products to take its place.  In 2009 Cisco bought Flip. Last week it announced that it plans to discontinue the range. With Cisco experiencing the same financial challenges as many companies it has decided to focus on its core offerings. It believes it has been spreading its offerings too widely. Flip looses out in this decision - even though the product is still making a profit.  Cisco announced this week it will no longer make  Flip  cameras and is pulling back on its consumer product strategy. It is believed that the Kodak will pick up most of the Flip market but   iPhone or Android are also sure to provide an equally good service very shortly. I'm still sad though:(

In the era of social media every comment is on the record. Some spokespersons are learning this the hard way.  In Canada Alberta’s hospitals ran out of beds. The public was upset about the long emergency room wait times and the press came looking for answers. Dr. Stephen Duckett, CEO of the Alberta government agency with responsibility for the health of more than 3.5 million Canadians, was targeted by the press to answer their questions. Unfortunately, he was not in the mood to answer any questions and was in fact more interested in eating his cookie. Instead of expressing his full commitment to improving the situation he gave this interview. This interview got him fired! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DxeCK5Ne_Q&playnext=1&list=PL0FDD15D77ADFC1E2  

Do you feel you need some help listening to everything that is being said in the social media space about your company or clients? Do you feel a little at sea? This article might be exactly what you are looking for it details many the major monitoring companies, the services they provide and how much they cost. I very good read if you are thinking of moving into this space. http://www.socialmedia.biz/2011/01/12/top-20-social-media-monitoring-vendors-for-business/

Recently, Ted Williams demonstrated the power of social media when a Youtube video of him, a homeless man with a golden voice went viral, generating over 12 million hits in its first days. The job offers came flying in and it looked as if the fairytale was coming true. However, reports that he has been arrested after an altercation with his daughter suggests that this fairytale may not have a happy ending. You can see the video on  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaGLDKBE8Ho

The Nestle media storm is a good example of how companies no longer own their own brand. The reality is the customers now own the brand along with the marketers. When customers on facebook posted negative comments about Nestle using Palm oil in many of its products the brand reacted in the old fashioned manner as if they still controlled their brand and it backfired spectacularly. The messages for those of us advising management about embarking into the realm of social media are simple. The train has already left the station when it comes to social media. Even if your organisation or client is not participating in social media their customers are and they will find ways to express their satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Not having a presence on social media will not stop the revolution or the rants about an organisation. Customers have never liked being treated poorly, treated as fools, or being short-changed. But...

Having just finished a webinar with the Public Relations Institute of Ireland on how to effectively use video in PR I was interested to find out that George W Bush had also recently embraced the idea. The results however were not what we had spoken about during our webinar. The Bush video produced to promote his upcoming memoirs is painfully dull. It is three minutes long and I would challenge you to get through half of it. If you'd like to take up the challenge you can do so by clicking on this link .

Do you want to know how to use apps to promote your business on Facebook? This site Social Media Examiner has a great article on apps you can download to really enhance your Facebook.

This artice I wrote for Health Manager examines the implications of social media for the health service. The implications are equally relevant to all types of organisations. Ensuring you and your employees are living your brand is more important than ever. Building two-way communication with your employees is essential. You can read the article here.

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff gave twitter a real morbid twist when he tweeted about Utah inmate Ronnie Lee Gardner’s execution by firing squad. Shurtleff actually posted not one, not two, but three tweets. Do you want to read them? Click on the link below. Number One A solemn day. Barring a stay by Sup Ct, & with my final nod, Utah will use most extreme power & execute a killer. Mourn his victims. Justice Number Two: I just gave the go ahead to Corrections Director to proceed with Gardner’s execution. May God grant him the mercy he denied his victims. And finally, number three: We will be streaming live my press conference as soon as I’m told Gardner is dead. Watch it at www.attorneygeneral.Utah.gov/live.html I think we can conclude that Shurtleff is certainly a master of self-promotion (his tweets got coverage around the globe) but is this right?

Last week on 2nd June 2010 a series of shootings took place in Cumbria. Lucky for many the police used their twitter account to alert people to the danger. Their first message was "Urgent public message - Shots fired in Whitehaven". Traditional methods of communication would have been more time consuming and would have been slower to reach a large audience. The police therefore decided to use twitter, a channel that can be used by anyone at anytime. Their Twitter account is available on http://twitter.com/cumbriapolice . This crisis demonstrates the importance and benefits of being social media savvy in a crisis. Organisations would be well advised to develop their social media accounts and to incorporate their use in their crisis plans and crisis management planning.

Warning: these may make you laugh! 1. Too many passwords. We thought we already had enough passwords to remember with online banking. 2. Being ‘Facebooked’ by old college flames under the guise of ‘networking’ or ‘business’. 3. Self esteem and morale plummet as we realise we only have a handful of followers on twitter. 4. Everybody seems to be talking about how great LinkedIn is for networking. The only people we know on LinkedIn are our colleagues. 5. Our social workload is fast becoming another 40-hour-per-week occupation. However, it’s not paid.