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November 8th, 2010 by Clare English

'Speeps' Profiles – Rebecca Gregory

Today, Bex tells us a little more about her foray into the charity sector and why we should all indulge in a little hatha breathing in the morning.

Q. How did you get into public relations?

A. Like most people I kind of fell into it – I looked around for work experience in PR or marketing and got a two week placement at a friend of a friend’s new PR company, stayed for two years (in paid employment)…

Q. When do you move to four days per week and how will your role at Speed change?

A. Last week…! Nothing much will change apart from working on two less clients. I suspect Thursdays will be a little bit more stressful and I’ll be sad to miss out on the pod’s Spotify Friday fun

Q. You are going to do some volunteering. What are you planning?

A. Supporting local business by becoming an expert ‘Lady Wot Lunches’ in Ealing. But when I’m not doing that, I’ll be helping out at my local Macmillan office in Hammersmith in their fundraising team to support comms. First day is today so I’ll know more next week.

Q. Charities and NGOs operate some of the best single issue campaigns. Are there any that you particularly admire? Why?

A. Macmillan (I’m a fan, can you tell?) – their steady ongoing campaigning for free/cheaper hospital car parking with combined PR and lobbying at national and regional level has effected real change; which is always good to see

Q. Do you think that CSR is a genuine effort by companies to give something back to the community, or is it PR lipstick?

A. Well, to start off – don’t view it as PR lipstick! That kind of attitude will get you/the company no-where. Yes, I do believe a genuine effort can give something back to the community; it’s just getting the (white male middle aged) board to buy into it

Q. Is there a viable alternative to capitalism as an economic construct to support society?

A. Who’s saying we need an alternative? Show me an economic construct that truly works. But since you asked, there are two options: yoga, or a communist state led by Yogis. A little compulsory hatha breathing in the morning would work wonders for everyone’s PMA

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November 1st, 2010 by Clare English

'Speeps' Profiles – Helen Beavis

This week, we catch up with Speed’s own bit of posh, Helen Beavis,  and gets some more advice for the Speed Christmas Barcelona trip.

Q. It’s great to have you back from maternity leave. Are you enjoying it?

A. It’s marvellous.

Q. Where did you learn to dance like a stripper?

A. A Polish peasant lady. And don’t give it, you love it.

Q. It’s 1990. What advice would you give to your younger self?

A. Read

Q. You’re from Northern Ireland? How did you get here and what’s the Cornish accent about?

A. I swam. And I love Cornish ice cream. What can I say; it’s affected me

Q. Is PR a proper job for a grown-up?

A. Yes, so not quite sure what the hell I’m doing here.

Q. Tell you about worst Christmas party experience.

A. Isn’t one. All my parties been great.  However, [I once caught] someone else was with their pants down – and hands in places they shouldn’t have been. So beware Barceloners! And if anyone wants any dance lessons you know where to to find me.

August 5th, 2010 by Clare English

'Speeps' Profiles – Simon Matthews

This week, the winner of our ‘Wall of Shame’ competition (on the basis of the submission of this super snap), Simon Matthews, answers some suitably random questions about fetishes, football and the role of PR in today’s business climate.

Q – Tell us about your worst habit – throw in any fetishes.

A – I’m far too generous which has led to at least one of my friends owing me £600

Q – List the 3 most embarrassing things you’ve ever said/done – whilst sober.

A- Inadvertently accusing my step-step-grandfather (step-dad’s step-dad) of using inflatable sex dolls – in my defence I was young and didn’t really understand what I was talking about.

In ‘Nam I fell down an open manhole while walking across a field with my friends, after an interesting run in with some prostitutes who stole 100,000 Dong (about 5 of her majesty’s sterling pounds) – without any form of professional services being exchanged I hasten to add.

I once ate a habenero chilli in one mouthful because an attractive lady bet I couldn’t. I was successful in the attempt but my mouth was in such a state of pain and dribbling that I was rendered insensible.

Q – What’s your take on today’s business climate and the role & importance of PR?

A – It’s still a little rocky out there in places and PR is as important as ever – if not more so. A company with no PR will struggle for awareness in a competitive business environment, so they need us to put them right in front of their customers in a way that advertising and other marketing disciplines can’t.

Q – Are you a football fan? Why? Who do you support? Have they won anything?

A – Crystal Palace. Winning is for chumps.

Q – I hear match.com will soon have a new member – what qualities do you possess that one might…consider?

A – In the name of research, I have bravely volunteered to sign up to match.com. Apart from being generally great at everything, I’m a pretty good cook. All I can ask is that the ladies form an orderly queue.

Q – Name your top 3 Speeps and the reasons why you love them/don’t love them so much. We’re an honest bunch, don’t be afraid of the possibly hostile repercussions.

A – Very difficult to choose as I do like all of you lot, despite your best efforts – here’s an arbitrary selection:

Bex has to get a look in on this – she’s lovely and, as a bonus, hasn’t fired me.

John Brown – often looks quite dapper and is the source of many japes.

Nicole – lunch buddy extraordinaire.

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July 9th, 2010 by Clare English

'Speeps' Profiles – David Bell

This week, David Bell rides a huge beast and shares his views on media and PR.

Persuade us to visit your home town Leighton Buzzard in a sentence.

It’s the home of legendary 80s band Kajagoogoo. There’s also a free fight available for anyone that ‘wants some’!

You’re famed for your trademark wink. What’s that about?

That’s scary, I didn’t even realise I did it! Is it a camp wink or more manly? Please tell me it’s not too Anne Robinson?

How does Speed compare with other places that you’ve worked?

There’s a real passion and hunger to deliver results for clients. Many agencies pay lip service to it but here it’s genuine. If I was a client I’d hire Speed.

Where do you stand on media fragmentation and the rise of digital networks?

The traditional PR model was all about using the media and analysts as conduits for reaching our target audience. Whilst elements of this are still true there’s now a huge opportunity for engaging with our clients’ buying audiences directly. As a result the PR space is more exciting now than it ever has been and creativity is more important than ever. The speed at which stories break now is incredible and they’ll often be over social media before they can be qualified by traditional news outlets. This gives us in PR the opportunity to contribute to the debate on behalf of our clients but we have to be very quick to respond.

Have you got any advice for account execs starting our in their career?

Before you get into PR, gain as much work experience as possible, not only will this help you get a job in the first place, it will also mean you’re better equipped to hit the ground running when you do start. For those working on more technical clients, swot up as much as you possibly can on what it is they do, who their competitors are etc. You can’t pitch or provide counsel for them unless you understand this.

What’s been the biggest change in PR since you entered the industry?

The exponential rise in all things digital. When I first started out, I actually had clients say that “online coverage doesn’t count”, they wanted the print stuff to hold in their hands. That’s all changed in a very short space of time. I do occasionally shed a tear when I see the likes of IT Week disappear and Computing go bi-weekly. Within the next 10 years it’s highly likely that all B2B print media will be online.

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January 25th, 2010 by Speed Budapest (Matt)

Speed Quiz: And the winner is.. @ashswindells

Aisling Swindells (@ashswindells) has won Speed’s weekly quiz. She correctly identified that John and Edward Grimes were 17 when they shot to fame on The X Factor. Aisling wins a case of wine!

Follow @speedcomms and every Friday at midday we’ll tweet a question. To take part simply send an @ reply with your answer. The winner will be randomly chosen at the end of the day and will be announced on the Speed Blogs and on Twitter on the following Monday morning.

Click here to find out a bit more about our weekly competition.

January 14th, 2010 by Speed Budapest (Matt)

Tweets win prizes!

iStock_000007087537XSmallWe launched our first Christmas Quiz last month and the response was overwhelming! We literally cannot wait to play quiz-master again, so we’ve decided to bring our quiz back as a weekly feature.

Follow @speedcomms and every Friday at midday we’ll tweet a question. To take part simply send an @ reply with your answer. The winner will be randomly chosen at the end of the day and will be announced on the Speed Blogs and on Twitter on the following Monday morning.

We’ve got a whole host of prizes in the pipeline – from packets of Skittles to swanky nights out on the town.

We’ll be kicking our quiz off tomorrow, so keep an eye out for our question. And remember – you have to be in it to win it!

(Click here to take a look at the terms and conditions)