activevents

Fresh season…Fresh trainings…Fresh ideas!

This must be one of the busier weeks for CIPR’s popular Freshly Squeezed breakfast briefings series - we ran three sessions, namely ‘Celebrity brands’ (London), ‘Impressive press releases’ (Scotland) and ‘Loosen tight deadlines’ (London) all in one week!

With 24 sessions organised in London and 8 in Scotland this year, there is no doubt that the Freshly Squeezed programme is gaining popularity (and not just in London and Scotland). We are currently exploring the feasibility of organising this programme in other regions after we have received some indication of interests from our members. So before you know it, you may see a Freshly Squeezed session come to your region very soon.

The idea of having this series of breakfast briefing is to allow time-conscious PR practitioners to take an hour out in the morning to catch up on topical issues or for some, to take stock of what they are doing and should do. I chanced upon this interesting website,  http://if.psfk.com/if/if_by_discipline/public_relations/ that shares creative PR campaign examples and tips. This is particularly useful for those in the PR or communications industry, as they have to constantly come up with new angles, stories and campaigns that are newsworthy.

Summer is almost here and I am sure this is the best chance for you to get out of the office for some fresh air and training (and fresh ideas of course!). Who knows, you might benefit from the networking opportunity with delegates from various PR sectors and clinch a potential deal from there. Check out and book the up-coming sessions on reputation management, audience segmentation and green issues at www.cipr.co.uk/fresh

Why not also Inject a ‘boost’ of creative juice to your brain at the half-day highly practical ‘Creativity work-out’ Masterclass on 16 June. www.cipr.co.uk/masterclass 

If you still find it difficult to find time to get out of office, you can trust our resourceful Training Development team at the CIPR to tailor a training programme that will bring the fresh ideas you need, right to your doorstep. Email JankaS@cipr.co.uk to find out more.

For further information on training and development, please visit www.cipr.co.uk/training

Choo-Li Tan, Training Development Officer

Media debate sparks heated discussion

Last Monday we held our Fresh Thinking: Media conference here, which invited delegates to freshen up and find out more about the latest technologies and what’s what in the world of media.  Up-to-date info on blogging, podcasting, wikis, RSS and other media tools were explained throughout the day to keep ahead in the office!

Topics included How to set up your own blog from blogging expert Simon Collister of Green Communications, Practical podcasting with some great examples from Jude Habib on the effectiveness of sound communication.  Rob Brown spoke on Outside the traditional box, which the delegates found ‘extremely informative’ and enjoyed his examples and overview.

The highlight of the conference was the exciting panel discussion on Combining all media tools and techniques for that winning campaign.  Three very different points of view were put forward, which made for a great debate. 

Alex Brown, Communications Manager from Fast Track, kicked off by explaining his support for traditional media.  He spoke of how good old fashioned media like the press, still represents the truth better and has a loyalty and trust that new media does not and cannot have.

Next saw Katy Howell, Immediate Future’s Managing Director, put an impressive argument forward for ‘New Media’ or social media as she prefers to call it.  As she pointed out, whether you like it or not, this burgeoning area cannot be ignored as it is now everywhere. Positives for PR practitioners include the convenience and accessibility of online media, plus the many options available to monitor results / public trends.

Finally Howard Kosky, Managing Director at markettiers4DC put his point across for TV, Radio & Online, using his first hand experience.  He stresed that these mediums give us choice on which media we want to consume and when, for example how our choice of radio station reflects what type of person we are/our tastes.

Then the debate was opened up to the floor, with some interesting results.  Delegates put the panel team under the spotlight and quizzed them on issues such as, the necessity for blogging and its effectiveness.  Is the traditional press a generational thing that will die out?  Is Google genius or merely a popular brand which can actually be easily manipulated for searches?  All these questions and more invited much discussion and got everyone involved, and got the brains ticking!

If you would like to join us in the next heated debate and share your views, then come along to the second Fresh Thinking: Media conference on Monday 1 October. For more details visit: www.cipr.co.uk/mediaconference (there is a discount when you book on the Fresh Thinking: PR conference at the same time). 

CIPR’s first Media conference will not be the last!

The first ever Media conference took place yesterday with a room full of eager delegates and expert speakers in their fields the day proved to be a roaring success. The conference was a great mix of interaction, group work, traditional media and new media.

Expert speakers shared their expertise

Justin Hayward and Sam Stokes from MS&L began the conference with ‘Selling-in you stories’ playing a game of network bingo. Justin, Head of Technology & Telecommunications, went on to discuss the rapid changes in media and recognising ways to remain relevant as more consumers turned to the web as an information resource. This interactive session discussed successful and unsuccessful sell-ins and the importance of researching publications before getting them published. Account Manager Sam, followed with an MS&L case study.

Annie Noble from Noble Ink used her extensive experience to give a clear understanding of exactly what journalists/publications want from PR professionals. The outcome of her quiz shockingly revealed that journalists consider 40% of press releases to be badly written. Caroline Saunders from Inferno Communications, described by one delegate as ‘a fresh of breath air’, discussed new ways to target journalists and reviewed the success of how one of her campaigns helped the client develop a reputation as specialists in the industry.

Our afternoon began with our highly popular new media topics. Delegates soaked up information from the extremely knowledgeable Ian McNairn, Program Director of Web Technology & Innovation at IBM. He introduced new ways to present and share information using new technologies, blogs, podcasts, wikis, RSS and VideoCasts. This ‘eye opening’ session provided a lesson into the many possibilities for PR professional to adopt new media and business practices. Jude Habib followed with a case study laden with audio clips and her expert knowledge of using podcasting as a low-cost and accessible method of presenting information. She showed how sound could prove more powerful than words with planning being key to strong content and context.

A lively panel discussion on new media and how it’s impacting PR’ ended the conference. With Guy Ruddle from The Daily Telegraph, Katy Howell from Immediate Future and Paul Brannan from BBC News Website all agreeing that the internet had changed the way people consumed and search for news. They reflected on current changes to the industry concluding that “audiences have now become the creators, as well as the consumers of news content.”

As a result of the interest generated in the afternoon's discussions and debate around "new" media and its use, the CIPR will be holding a dedicated New Media conference early in 2007, repeated later in the year.

What the delegates thought 

“It was useful to hear experience of other delegates. Good mix of PR & journalist perspectives from speakers”

“The panel discussion was thought provoking”

“The morning session was a great reminder on content. A wealth of knowledge about new media and loads of follow up information and websites”

For more information about the "Read all about it" Media conference you can visit www.cipr.co.uk/mediaconference.  Other CIPR events and information are listed on www.cipr.co.uk also.