The Rosemont Loving

Dwain Chambers doesn’t need lawyers, he needs PR. General public feeling towards his Olympic bid is negative, and this has obviously been influenced by a media that is generally negative towards his efforts. I’m not a fan, and I have no doubt in my mind he should be banned, but a suitable PR strategy would have helped repair some of the damage he did to his and his sport’s reputation.

Apparently people don’t like each other in reality tv shows…

Social networks are increasingly becoming key places where people can engage with brands. Myself, I constantly get updates (having opted in) from various brands that have created pages in Facebook; Bebo allows it and now MySpace users will be able to get the same. These sites are becoming the true web destinations, with more time spent on them than any other sites, and I have to say that the doubters have simply got it wrong. Facebook is due to launch its chat/IM system any day now, which will probably revolutionise the way friends interact through the site. It’s an evolution people, and we all need to part of it.

My first blog post for a while, I’m sorry for that. Apparently the conversation has left the blogosphere, so I guess I’m as big a culprit as any. The fact is that our digital lives are becoming more complex with more and more places to go to, so my blog is now only part of my new media mix, although it is still an important one. You can still catch me on Facebook, Twitter etc too.  

Easter is a time to spring clean one’s life, so after two burglaries and a mugging all within a year, I’ve decided to move out of the ghetto I live in. So if anyone hears of any suitable living situations let me know. Also, when looking at one’s life you obviously have to analyse your job situation - I can safely say I’m happy, making huge amounts of progress and our team is also hiring so I do question views that I read from time to time about the fact that my role will become redundant. I agree that all communicators should have a grasp of social media especially when money and times are tight and increasingly tighter, but the simple fact is that not many people do, both client side and within agency, so the role of a specialist is currently integral to companies and agencies (such as my current employment) that want to win out. There are similar views too regarding Facebook and its apparent demise, yet it is about to overtake MySpace as the number social network globally, so I simply don’t buy into such visions…well not yet, anyhow.  

My other conclusion is that roles and situations change, especially in the ever-changing media world. A few years ago I was doing media relations, now I’m on Twitter and FriendFeed, and in a few years time I’ll be doing something different, perhaps working for a less-costly Conservative Government. Ultimately we simply don’t know what the future holds, we just need to be aware of what might happen and put ourselves in a good enough position to adapt. So for now, Internet and social-media communications is a great and cost-effective way of getting your messages across so if you have any questions or needs please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

BT Vision is going to be available on Xbox 360, that’s good because I have one. My gamer tag is AFCjonny5, if anyone cares. Gladiators might be back on our screens too, if anyone cares.

Blogging has been light, sorry peeps. I’ve taken what’s left of my holiday to refresh my batteries and judging by the fact that I’ve slept for eleven hours for the last three nights I think it has been pretty clear that it was needed. The plan was for me to do my Christmas shopping ahead of the rush, so I’ve done it all online in a period of about half an hour. Even now, at the start of December, I couldn’t brave the cold or crowds…it is so much more pleasurable in a heated home with a cup of coco. I simply don’t understand why people still go to the shops when you can save so much online.

It is now December (I can’t believe it) so now is the time I’m going to start winding down the year and looking forward to the next. More to come later, however for now I feel we’ve had an overall positive 2007. I’ve felt that I’ve learnt and developed a lot as a human being and I think myself and others are becoming a lot more aware of the unjust things in this world, whether it is the environment, making sure our politicians are held accountable or it’s about people’s general behaviour to others. 2007, in that right, has been a positive year and as a result I reckon 2008 is going to be one of the most important years in modern times. Momentum needs to continue for the good to come out, and people need to think less and act more. I plan to get more involved, please join in.

Oh yes, and read Vint Cerf in today’s Media Guardian. It is a must read.

At Weber Shandwick it is all about advocacy. Check out our latest research on CEO Colin Byrne’s blog. Please get in touch if you’d like to know more, especially on how the digital space is related to advocacy.

So shocked was I by the BBC’s lack of support to the football community I decided to email the corporation to find out there reasons behind the fiasco. I’m impressed because they did email me pretty swiftly.

But I must say I’m still not convinced. I’m not going to paste the email onto my blog but the general excuse for the incorrect permalink structure was that they didn’t want to spoil MK Dons fans enjoyment of the site, and by changing the structure it would mean there would be broken or blank pages. The BBC would also have to undertake an awareness campaign on the site. I’m not convinced by this, as it was around five years ago that the team actually rebranded, plenty of time to sort don’t you think?!

Anyway I think MK Dons ‘fans’ have also probably had enough enjoyment already, considering they essentially nabbed an almost top-flight football team for free (these guys must be gutted). At the time of the rebrand there were no MK Dons fans (because the team didn’t exist) and relatively there were plenty of Wimbledon fans, who now support the true Dons. I don’t mean to be heavy handed on the BBC but I’m sure many football fans would agree with me. I think has been an error by the beeb, one which they could easily rectify.

I am and will forever be a Wimbledon FC fan. Ever since my dad took me to my first game, the crazy gang has been the team for me. A few years ago I went through a rather emotional experience, with my team being taken away from me by some guy with the most horrendous mullet you have ever seen. Football fans across the land united to reject this movement, but unfortunately it was done in vain and Wimbledon FC was no longer. The team was rebranded Milton Keynes Dons and has struggled to gain support or respect ever since. In protest, true Wimbledon FC fans created a new fan-run club, AFC Wimbledon, which recreates the passion of the likes of Vinnie Jones, Alan Cork and John Fashanu on a game by game basis. The club is making its way up the leagues and one day I’m sure we’ll see the club get its revenge time and time again against the Milton Keynes roundabouts.

Although it was a horrific travesty that is still very much close to my heart I would have thought that a media outlet such as the BBC would be impartial to the cause, or swing more towards my thinking.  However it has come to my light that the BBC still very much view MK Dons are the successor to Wimbledon FC. Football is about where the heart is, and it is in the borough of Merton. The BBC should update its permalink structure before it causes any more offense. It is a disgrace enough for me to stop paying my license fee.

New blog post series here. I’m going to outline new things I’m consuming, be it a book, a TV show, a website or plenty of a type of grub.

Book: Northern Lights by Philip Pullman - I can’t believe I’m only just reading this book. Harry Potter, you is well rubbish!

Film: Days of Glory - one of the best war films for a very long time. Don’t watch if you can’t do subtitles

Music: Call to Mind by Commix - liquid d&b at its finest

Personally I can’t believe how long it has been going on for and how much media exposure it has had. At the start of it all, although it is obviously a deeply saddening story, I unashamedly thought it was a column filler for when there wasn’t much news, but as the event has gone on it has become much more interesting and rightly deserves its position in the limelight. There is so much that can be discussed…does PR get in the way of a criminal investigation? are the parents guilty? are they right to use the money raised to make mortgage payments? are Portuguese police corrupt? All in all it has a making of a great movie, let’s just hope that the ending is a good one.

Now I’m a fan of both football and rugby, so this weekend is hopefully going to be another classic of British sport. I am however flabbergasted that even with a Rugby World Cup semi final tacking place, the football still gets the headline news when we are playing a relative minnow such as Estonia. The media doesn’t get it wrong all the time does it?!

I’m pissed off today. Having read Mike Butcher’s fascinating Techcrunch UK this morning I decided to register for the UK’s fastest growing social network site, Perfspot, to see what the fuss was about. It is the fastest growing site because it decided to send emails to all my gmail contacts without my permission. Shit name, shit site, next please.

I also saw that the Evening Standard has relaunched its online version. Frustration has set in because it doesn’t have RSS for the news and commentary content. In today’s media landscape this is simply unacceptable, a sackable offence.

The only thing to bring happiness back into my life is Halo 3, things of dreams do come true every once in a while!