Like many of our training initiatives, the #speedvideo challenge was speedlearning – some instructions, some theory, and then put it into practice, with a prize for the winning team. The three-minute videos were then edited, formatted and finalised by our video partner Blueprint TV (thanks again guys for giving up your time to help with this).

The judges considered communication clarity, interest level for the target audience and strength of delivery of the message that video/SEO are now core components of expansive, true public relations, as opposed to a restrictive media relations-only approach.

Without further ado, the winning team was Cakie (sorry, Katie) Swan’s, which served up a recipe for perfectly-baked SEO in PR.

A close runner-up, by a mere point, was Lisa Corbridge’s team for a video about the fundamentals of video in PR.

Well done both teams, amazing what you can achieve under a tight deadline pressure with a camera, light, microphone and large bag of Sainsbury’s plain white flour.

Obviously, I haven’t always been old. But when you’re the oldest person in a team of almost 40 PR professionals, you certainly feel it. Speed is not unusual in this respect – all the agencies I have worked at (and there have been a few) have a similar age profile, with most people in their late 20s and early 30s. Quite what happens to PR folk in their 40s, I’m not sure, but there aren’t many of us around.

This is a worry. At a recent iMedia Agency Summit in Brighton, one of the keynote speakers was Professor Sarah Harper, director of the intriguingly-titled Institute of Ageing at the University of Oxford. In a wide-ranging presentation, Prof. Harper argued that the wider marketing community needs to rethink its attitude to the ‘silver’ market and shift the focus away from an obsession with all things ‘yoof’. The flurry of approving tweets from the largely 30-40 year old delegates at the summit were testimony to the fact that the professor had hit a raw nerve.

Simon Hill (almost 47)

How times change. Rainier grew to be an agency with a strong reputation in the technology sector (and a perennial iritant to some of its rivals).

Today we’re launching Speed, a new consultancy that will have Rainier as its technology team. Speed extends our reach into broader types of PR though, with corporate, business and consumer teams. And enables us to maintain our focus in each of these sectors while being part of a larger business with more clout and more ideas.

Speed is six months in the planning and hopes to make an impact at a time many PR firms are running for cover. I could wax lyrical on here about how we’ve instilled a modern approach, smarter methodologies and better measurement models. But that’d be blatant self-promotion.

My blog is now on this site. Expect your usual dose of frank and relentless insight.