The social network

I went to see The Social Network last night, the cinema was packed full of young people, it is not that often that I see film where pretty much every seat in the theatre is taken, I suppose this is indicative of just how big an impact Facebook has made on our lives.  Most book lovers always claim that the book is better than the film but I am not sure that stands this time.  This is  story where who you know and what you know take equal measure in their contribution to success.  Genius can exist in small pockets and never penetrate our culture until someone with connections and an understanding of what the next big thing looks like comes along.  I am continually amazed by how the ‘geeks’ of this world can fluently speak the language of the web and how it flows out of them like it is their purpose in life to code.  I am now reading “The Facebook effect’ a slightly different take on the story in the first half and the second part is more about Facebooks effect on our world.  Go see the film if you haven’t done yet…

Race Online

Race Online is the government initiative lead by Martha Lane Fox to get the UK online by 2012.  Did you know that 9m have never used the web and 4 mil of those are excluded because of their economic and social situation. 3.1 m no longer regularly see a friend or neighbour, they live isolate life.  Race Online is helping these people get connected back into society and the world through the power of technology.  There are now over 4000 UK Online centres that you can walk into and get online.

The BBC have the ambition to get enable the UK to see every Olympic sport in 2o12 via the web.  Without the Race Online work 1 in 5 would never get this opportunity. Race Online are being supported by numerous partners including Microsoft, BBC and Google.  The BBC have launched their 1st Click campaign (http://www.bbc.co.uk/connect/campaigns/first_click.shtml) and Google are giving away a book on how to get online and demystify the web with every Big Issue sold next week.

The internet changes peoples lives, it connects them to the world, improves their education, saves families money and so much more.

Find out more:  http://raceonline2012.org/

Never wear flip flops or make the tea

This might seem like a strange post for my blog but hopefully by the end you will see why it is relevant.  Have you ever met DAWN? If you work in Digital media in the UK then she might just be your most influential new friend….

D.A.W.N (Digital Advertising Womens Network) launched officially tonight after 9 months of planning over coffee and croisants with our first event.  The theme of the event focused on the importance of building networks around you to succeed in your career and in life in general.  We had four wonderful speakers; Sonian  Sudhakar (head of online at Virgin), Pippa Glucklich (MD of Arena Media), Leigh Smyth (MD Race Online) and Nickie Smith (Marketing Director Microsoft) who all shared their experiences and ideas for how to go further as a women in Media.  The turn out was brilliant and the vibe on the night was positive, I think DAWN is here to stay.  After hearing people speak honestly and openly about their experiences there is no way you can come away feeling anything but inspired.  Here are some of my favourite advice gems from the night

• Don’t be afraid of technology. if you don’t understand it find someone who does and be their friend
• Women should be more confident in their ability, men tend to blag far more!
• Never be afraid to ask a question
• Build a network around you, it will help you take risks and be there to catch you
• Think of yourself as a brand and invest that in that brand as often as possible: network, learn, reflect and turn up
• Word has it that men spend 70% of their time thinking about their next career move and 30% thinking about the job in hand, for women it is more 100% the job they have now… we can learn something from that
• Women embrace your impostor syndrome… you are supposed to be there and you do deserve your job.  As the book says, feel the fear and do it anyway
• Get a mentor or mentors –  have people to turn to for advice, especially someone outside of your immediate company for an objective POV
• Never wear flip flops (even though some are really nice) just think about the message you give by how you look and don’t take this too literally!
• Don’t make the tea, or certainly not every time, resist that inner female urge
• Give something back, help other women around you achieve their goals, you will learn something for yourself from every one of these experiences
• Set your ambitions high and work on something that motivates you
• Ask people around you how they perceive you, ask for feedback, use the mirrors to see yourself through others eyes
• The right attitude will get you places faster, be positive  and enthusiastic about what you are going to embark on
• Some days you might drown but others will be plain sailing, embrace both
• Be dedicated, trustworthy and reliable
• Balance home and work life and recognise the people around you who help make it possible to have it all
• Stretch yourself, explore new avenues, take a risk.. it might just become your greatest attribute
• Always try to see your world through different lenses, it is probably bigger, better and brighter than you think, if not change something
• Know what your talent is and understand your worth so you can help others see your value

DAWN will be many things but most importantly it will create a connection between like minded people in the digital media industry, this connection can be felt in the real world at events but can also be experienced everyday through technology.  DAWN is active now on Facebook and Linked In, how influential can she be….?  and men before you get upset about being excluded, DAWN is open to men as well under the banner of DAN, so watch this space.

A match made for owned heaven

Heston and Delia, maybe an unlikely combination on first glance but I am emjoying Waitrose’ current comms strategy that has put a content partnership at its heart.  This campaign has been executed with consistency across multiple channels and it is encouraging me as customer to spend more time thinking about waitrose.  Delia and Heston can be experienced in store, in their weekly newspaper, on the website, on youtube and on my iphone.  What a brilliant example of making your ‘owned’ assets work for you, i think is more they could be doing to drive earned media from this activity to make it even more powerful.  Focusing on ‘owned’ i like the fact that however I choose to access this content the story is simple to follow and it provides me with something useful whether I see it first in store, or read about it in their newspaper or discover it on my iphone. The new iphone app allows me to view the recipes and add to my shopping list (not to buy via iphone but to use in store) if i want to watch the chefs in action I can go to their new Youtube channel.  I also read that waitrose are launching a cooking school later this year.  In my mind Waitrose are now a premium brand but now also really demonstrate their value by offering me more products and services that I would have expected from a supermarket and just in case I still feel that I should be more careful with my grocery money then the new ATL campaign is making me feel better that on over 1000 products they are same price as Tesco.  Another example of a brand who gets the new ecosystem and how each layer of content can contribute to how I feel about them… just need to be a bit more in the earned space….

Yeo Valley, paid, owned and earned

If like me you love the X-factor then you will have probably witnessed the new feature length Yeo Valley TV ad.  I am not quite sure how I feel about the ad itself but it got my attention and stopped me leaving the room.  At the end of the ad it said search for Yeo Valley and I did… The google results served up an interesting combination of ‘owned’ and earned.  Top of the list was a blog post from Hippy Shopper talking about the new ad, then came live twitter comments and below that the natural link to the Yeo Valley website.  Twitscoop showed Yeo trending alongside Cheryl, X-factor and the contestants so people were definitely talking about the ad.  Mixed views over whether or not people loved the ad and whether it was original but that aside I think this was a smart move for a brand this to get cut through by using a combination of POE. Now, what they do next is critical, they have got some consumer attention so will they reveal the next part of the story of ‘down on the farm’ or have they spent all the money on one ad in one spot….

Google voice recognition

“Nearest cinema” I said to my phone. Google responded with did you mean cinamark Texas USA? Er no. I saw a great demo for google voice and text search when it all worked brilliantly but in my experience it needs some tweaking….

HTC vs iPhone

I might have mentioned that I am an Apple fan before…… but this weekend I opened my mind to the idea that there might be an alternative. This weekend it came in the shape of an HTC android phone….

Round 1: battery life. So you think your iPhone battery is bad? It is a duracell bunny compared to the HTC

Round 2: usability. Nearly on par to the iPhone. Not bad, not as natural to me as iPhone but good enough. Within 10 mins I was quizzing around the screens and apps.

Round 3: apps. Android has not quite got the big brand selection that iPhone offers. This is only a matter of time though. Unsurprisingly there are some good google android apps! The android store also needs some work.

Round 4: home screens, android has a nice social feed on the home screen for latest Facebook and Twitter update.

Round 5: connectivity. Not as fast as iPhone 4. Tethering option very handy when no wifi was available for my iPad! iPhone needs to catch up.

Round 6: media. Android just cannot compete with iPhone when it comes to syncing music and photos. This for me is a deal breaker.

Overall : 5:1 to iPhone.

Android is better than I thought but for me is still not as a good an experience as the all round look, style, usage, syncing and connective power of the iPhone. But, it is not that far behind, so Apple the gap is closing, what will be your next move? ….