Here are a few snippets:

On 9 January, Netflix, the popular US TV and film streaming service launched in the UK, giving our client ANT Software, a digital TV specialist, the opportunity to air its opinion on the connected TV market.  Result: Five pieces of national newspaper coverage in January: Telegraph: Netflix launches in Britain, How Netflix and Lovefilm are reshaping movie rentals, Connected TVs will be the norm in 2015 and Blockbuster exclusive rentals target Lovefilm and Netflix.

On 18 January, we pitched a story about the opening of Associated Press’ new news bureau in North Korea – the first international news bureau of any agency in North Korea. The story was centred on the recent death of Kim Jong II, explaining how Associated Press writers and photojournalists can work in North Korea on a regular basis, documenting the people, places and politics Korea across all media platforms at a critical time in the country’s history. Executive editor, Kathleen Carroll appeared live on BBC Radio 4’s The Media Show, while other coverage was spread across the news hour slot on BBC World Service, Daily Mail, The Independent The Guardian and the BBC.

On 22 January, Phil Packer, founder of the British Inspiration Trust appeared on Sky News Sunrise. Phil talked about his 2012-mile walk this year and his vision to build a ‘centre of excellence’ for young people facing adversity. Sky News is broadcast to an average 1.5 million people.

On 23 January, Tesco Beauty’s Skin Wisdom Day was featured in a fashion and beauty article in the Daily Express designed to help Brits beat the January blues.

On 25 January, The European Commission outlined planned changes to EU data protection rules that included a ‘right to be forgotten’ clause. Jonathan Gale, CEO of NewVoiceMedia, talked about why Facebook and cloud computing companies are better positioned to adopt the legislation – BBC World News

On 27 January, John Micklethwait, editor-in-chief of The Economist, was interviewed on CNN’s World Business Today programme. John spoke live on the issues discussed at Davos, and where the world’s economy now stands compared to at the previous World Economic Forum. CNN airs to 200 million-plus homes in 200 countries.

I’ve never run a session yet that hasn’t celebrated both the art and science of newsjacking, and the insight behind strong creation of a client’s own headlines. Well done to the team.

Last night at a Speed sales event we heard Alistair Campbell (@campbellclaret), Will Whitehorn (@willthewisp)and Stephen Waddington (@wadds) talk about the end of spin and the need for a more authentic style of communication in the future.

The main take away from Campbell was routed in why strategic communications is the only type of communications that counts. Having cited the infamous bad handling of the BP Oil disaster as a total failure of strategic communications, Campbell went onto explain why Bill Clinton was the best strategic communicator he has ever met.

Recalling a telephone call between Bill Clinton and Tony Blair on the decommissioning of soviet weapons on the same day the Starr Report revealed the Monica Lewinsky affair, Campbell was impressed by Clinton’s focus on the task at hand.

Years and a Campbell and Clinton interview later, how Clinton weathered the Lewinsky scandal was revealed:

“Bill’s objective was survival. He defined his strategy to focus on things that only he could make a difference to. And his tactics – to make sure the American public knew what he was doing. It seems simple. But, your strategy is the cornerstone of survival in a crisis,” said Campbell.

Speed clients Darcy Willson-Rymer (@KingofCardz), CEO for Clinton Cards and Russell Buckley (@russellbuckley), CMO at Eagle Eye, joined the speakers for a panel Q&A, hosted by Steve Earl.

Here are a few other snippets from the evening:

• Don’t forget that you need to communicate with the public, not the media. It is your relationship with the public that matters.

• The 24 hour news cycle will get worse. The mobile will do to the PC what the PC did to mainframe. And, this will press the fast-forward button on news cycles.
• Your reputation belongs to customers, employees and the public. The job of the CEO is to understand what is going on and participating in online communities is just an extension of that. Sometimes you start the conversation, sometimes you are involved and sometimes you shut up.

• For communication directors who are restricted by the fact their operational business hasn’t adapted to the ‘always on’ nature of today’s media, acknowledge problems quickly and explain that the resolution will take time.

• And, if you want to take the micky out of David Cameron, take a look at www.mydavidcameron.com.

In a world where you will never have complete control over your brand’s reputation, don’t just focus on what everyone else is saying about you, focus on what you can change – your organisation.

You have control over your own PR strategy and it is this strategy that can save you in a crisis.

So, for companies looking get acquired in 2011, what do they need to think about when developing their communications strategy?

1) Know your assets Will your company’s acquisition provide a cash cow, support growth, enable innovation or open the door to a new market?  Divide and conquer. Identify your best assets and talk about them in front of the right people.

2) Price it right. Attracting a better price is down to reputation and belief. Will your ‘unique asset’ change an industry or offer another company a significant competitive advantage? Demonstrate that your company will help shape the future or can deliver accelerated growth.

3) Courting the right people? Times have changed and the acquirers of yesteryear may not be the same as today. Which markets are your acquirers operating in and what are they interested in? Adapt your message quickly, but with substance.

4) Adjusting to the competition: the lines between sectors are blurring.  Has your product innovation put you up against a new type of competitor? Or, have other companies scooped up your old rivals?  Companies might find themselves competing for a different share of voice, in a market that behaves differently to what they are used to. Make what you say is relevant.

5) Build trust:  People buy from people they trust.  And, trust in the deal is more critical in today’s economic climate. The profile and personality of the management team is everything.  Does the acquiring company believe that the execs have the right market nous? That they have understood their customers’ enough to develop a technology or service that will make a real difference.  Show intellect by offering insight into market innovation and acquisitions.

6) Timing is everything: PwC believes that the first half of 2011 is prime buying time. Why should your company get bought now?  Have you educated potential acquirers on the dynamics of your business, growth strategy and why a technology shift needs to take place today?

7) Get social: M&As can be hostile, cultures may clash, employees become unsettled, customers twitchy and partners unnerved.  So, it is inevitable that conversations will spill over into social media platforms. Organisations that already understand the dynamics of the online communities and have a voice will be best placed to quell rumours and allay fears during M&As.

Don’t forget sales:  Whilst the management team may be focused on getting the company noticed for its best assets, the sales strategy must not be overlooked.  What sales campaigns are underway and how can they be supported? Put your products on your customers’ door steps and show them that other companies trust you.

At the core, it is about getting people to buy you because they’ve heard they should and managing reputation and risk in the process.  Of course, if you are in financial technology, the ‘Cloud’, mobile data or security, you are in with a better chance of getting acquired this year.

After identifying and monitoring the influencers, we use a variety of free social tools, such as Twittertim.es, to pull out the popular stories. Today, TopGear’s blog post on the BBC’s battle to protect the Stig’s identity topped our community paper, receiving the most re-tweets in the mobile social media community. This attention was mirrored in the media, driving traffic to all the major news sites.

However, content doesn’t always cross over from the traditional media to the social media world. With both the traditional and social media communities growing and evolving, we’re committed to getting to know how they tick.

Next week, we’re publishing some insight into the mobile content space, tweet @becdaniel if you’re interested.

While Nokia and Qualcomm were generating a good buzz in the online communities, it was Peggy Anne Salz’s blog post that attracted the most attention. Providing a sneak preview of the key points of Alisa Bowen’s speech, no doubt the community outside of the #Open Mobile Summit were attracted to the insight.

With use of the open mobile summit hashtag peaking at 9am, we followed the conversations of more than 200 influncers from mobile operators, app developers, vendors, journalists to bloggers.

There was certainly no shortage of online discussions about next week’s arrival of the iPad. From digital design agency Fjord discussing the iPad’s target market…

chetansharma: RT @peggyanne: RT @DanWinterbottom: Fjord: Expect two spikes of adoption for iPad; 15 year olds and 45 year olds

…..to a Nokia blogger posing questions about its revolutionary position….

JayMontano: #openmobile ipad – game changer or niche thing?

However, despite the chatter around the #Open Mobile Summit, it was the Meffys’ finalist list that took the top slot for online conversation.

Thanks to TweetMeme, The Twitter Tim.es and Trendistic for the extra data.

The general buzz around #Infosec and #Infosec 2010 kicked off on Monday 26^th April, with conversations peaking around 10am and 2pm on the first and second days of the show. With conversation beginning to dwindle on Thursday morning, it was Symantec’s acquisition of PGP and GuardianEdge mid-day on Thursday that caused the chatter to peak.

The #Infosec hashtag peaked at 26 tweets an hour and we reviewed roughly 752 tweets mentioning Infosec during the course of the show.  I’m not a mathematician, but that is around seven per cent of the 12,000 registered information security professionals using the show hash tags. Whilst, this may seem low, hash tag tracking is just one tool for monitoring conversation. Vendors were actively being discussed, old colleagues were arranging to meet and when Symantec made its announcement, the news quickly spread.

So, who was talking about what?

On Twitter…

Symantec to acquire PGP and GuardianEdge

Seizing of Gizmodo editor Jason Chen’s computers

Who needs exploits when you have social engineering

PDF malware using net attack technique

In the media…

Symantec acquires PGP and GuardianEdge (169)

Data breach notification law coming, says watchdog (54)

PwC report shows bleak security landscape (22)

And, the analyst take..

Gartner, Bob Walder: Infosec 2010 London “the only surprise being that HP didn’t try to trump Symantec’s acquisition announcements by grabbing McAfee!”

Bloor, Nigel Stanley: Time to hug a PGP employee? “Very rarely do I ever get to witness the effects of a corporate takeover first hand but the acquisition of PGP by Symantec”

Bloor, Bob Tarzey: The big yellow monster strikes again “the latest news makes Symantec even more of a force to be reckoned with”

Here’s a snap shot of the top tweeted stories on the day:

Police Seize Jason Chen’s Computers – iPhone 4 leak – Gizmodo
Apple pursues the recovery of its ‘lost’ iPhone.

Verizon dubs sec researchers ‘narcissistic vulnerability pimps’ – The Register
Security researchers who expose flaws come under attack

Although there are two hashtags in use in conversations (#infosec and #infosec2010), Trendistic has shown a steady uptake of conversation since Sunday.

The peaks in conversation, which are unlikely to be a surprise, are taking place at 10am and 1pm, with the use of the #infoSec2010 hashtag showing an hourly posting of 18 tweets.

Not every vendor is sticking closely to the concept of a community and some – which we won’t name – are pimping corporate content, others are actively enticing conversation.

Here’s a snap shot of attendees that are engaging with each other:

GeorgeVHulme: Anyone have any good data on the status of the TSA airport biometric credential program? @securitytwits #infosec

kidko92 RT @ChetWisniewski: Happy 25th to Sophos at InfoSec Europe, and Sophos Security Chet Chat episode 7 is posted http://bit.ly/dtKnhQ

While only a fraction of the 12,000 information security professionals that were expected at the show are engaged on Twitter there’s no doubt that it has added an additional dimension to the show.

Edward Brice, is Senior Vice President of Marketing for Lumension. Here Ed talks with Fred Von Graf of New Media with Fred.

Key takeaways from the interview:

• Social Media isn’t about generating sales; it is about advocacy and engagement.  It is about customer generated content, them sharing the experiences they are having with your product
• Twitter is not a channel for pushing; its for listening. We will likely see this type of technology integrating into CRM systems
• ROI? We didn’t get wrapped up in ROI, the objectives are so different. If we get leads and drive sales, it is icing on the cake, it is not why we got involved in social media. Twitter, is not a scalable medium
• If you are not thinking about YouTube and B2B you are missing a trick
• You need to be thinking about how many customers that you have helped via Twitter. Look at the big picture. Make a distinction between metrics and KPI
• Social media is long term

The fact is.. embargoes aren’t dead, TechCrunch just wants an exclusive and won’t honour embargoes offered to the wider masses. This is fair enough. Most PRs will have been told at some point, that their story will only be covered if that journalist can have it as an exclusive. PRs should therefore consider this during planning meetings when deciding on the best method for maximising a story.

Who will win the embargo tug of war has yet to be determined. Will more publications and bloggers follow TechCrunch. Or, can we collectively keep embargoes on the agenda? Robert Scoble’s post PR people: 10 ways to screw up @techcrunch’s embargo policy makes for interesting reading.

I do agree with Arrington’s sentiment that if we want embargoes to count, we need to punish those that break them. The question is, which PRs are brave enough to do this?

So, how will the internet cope? If reports that it collapsed as the news of Michael Jackson’s death broke are to believed, then it is unlikely. Whilst, TechCrunch summed up the web troubles, Interoute rightly points out, that it was not an Internet fail, but more a website capacity fail.

Although the service will be shown on five main US television networks, Internet uses are set to be logging on to check out the live streaming and latest reports. Facebook has teamed up with CNN, MySpace with AEG Live and various new sites, including The Guardian are ready to start live blogging from 4.00PM.

So, will the Internet fail? I doubt it, but you may see the odd whale.