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September 20th, 2009 by Wadds

“Has-been” politicos lead way on Twitter

photo-11The UK political parties have a long way to go to incorporate social media into their communication planning according to Alastair Campbell.

“Myself and John Prescott are two of the most followed people on Twitter in UK politics. Yet we’re both bloody has-beens,” said Campbell.

Campbell (@campbellclaret) has 9,200 followers whereas Prescott (@JohnPrescott) has 6,700.

Campbell uses Twitter to promote his blog and said that it is an incredibly effective means of connecting with people. He claimed that politicians are trapped in old media and are yet to fully capitialise on the potential of social media.

“When I was working with Tony in the mid-90s if we led the BBC News and had a splash in The Sun and The Times we used to say that we’d dominated the agenda. It’s no longer true. It helps of course but there are lots of other channels to get your head round,” said Campbell.

“The parties haven’t cracked [social media] yet,” he said.

Campbell addressed an invited group of communication professionals at a dinner at The Capital Restaurant in London hosted by Durrants on Thursday evening. He is best known for his role as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s spokesman, press secretary and director of communications and strategy.

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July 23rd, 2009 by Wadds

Geordie geocoin project update: 17 journeys, 7,000 miles

Back in January and February I despatched three trackable geocoins from a geocache near Newcastle’s football ground.

The so-called Geordie geocaching project is an attempt to explore the science of social networks following the journey of each coin to its destination (and then back)

Geocaching is a web 2.0 sport where GPS equipped geocachers search for geocaches and share their experiences online.

A geocoin is a special coin that has a unique tracking number so that its progress from geocache-to-geocache can be tracked online through logs on the Geocaching.com web site.

I tasked each of the coins with reaching Newcastle’s namesake on each of three different continents: Africa, Australia and US. To date the three coins have travelled more than 7,000 miles moved by 17 different geocachers.

Geordie Jetsetter Oz has travelled more than 850 miles down the east coat of the UK and across France and currently resides in Ostschweiz, Switzerland.

Geordie Jetsetter South Africa has travelled more than 600 mile but is still in the UK. It initially headed north to the Scottish highlands and has since travelled more than 600 miles making a journey south to Portsmouth.

Geordie Jetsetter US has travelled an incredible 5,550 miles. It’s the only coin that has reached its target continent and is currently travelling down the south coast of California.

After so many interactions it’s incredible that the coins are still in play and haven’t been lost.

It’s terrific that other members of the Geocaching.com community have been sufficiently motivated to participate in the project and share their stories and images online.

Each move brings a new interaction and another story to the project.

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May 19th, 2009 by Wadds

Do online business models promote social exclusion?

The Citizens Advice Bureau Logo.
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As a weekly traveller on the East Coast mainline I’ve benefited from buying tickets online in advance over the last 12 months.

The best value fares are always available on the web rather than at a ticket office, often at a discount.

But a report published this morning on the UK rail industry by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee says that this situation promotes social exclusion and is unacceptable.

It’s a tricky issue. Moving a business model online so that it become self-service removes costs which can be passed on to the customer. But those without online access or the motivation to go online miss out.

This scenario is repeated in many other areas of life as front line services move online from banks and traditional Post Office services, through to local authoraties and utilities.

The Public Accounts Committee stops short of recommending a solution. Expect the issue to be picked up by a special interest group such as the Citizens Advice Bureau.

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May 18th, 2009 by Wadds

UK SMEs pragmatic but optimistic on green shoots, says EIU report

The Economist
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A report published today by the Economist Intelligence Unit (disclaimer: The Economist is a Speed client) finds UK SMEs upbeat about their ability to rebound when the economy improves.

65% expect their company’s market share to have increased by the time the recession ends, and 73% expect revenues to have increased.

This optimism is somewhat surprising-and perhaps overly inflated-given respondents’ sobering views on the short term: only 37% of respondents expect their companies to do better this year than last.

This is in line with Economist Intelligence Unit forecasts, which predict a contraction of global GDP in 2009 of 1.8%, and only a modest expansion of 1.9% in 2010.

The report ‘Understanding growth priorities at small and medium-sized businesses’ quizzed more than 300 executives and is sponsored by Verio.

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May 9th, 2009 by Wadds

Saving for a rainy day: FTSE Confidence Project shows 10% profit in four months

I started the £1k FTSE 100 Confidence Project in January as a personal show of confidence in the UK equity market. I was fed up with the doom and gloom and was convinced that the equity market had priced in bad news. I invested £1,000 in a FTSE 100 ISA tracker from the Halifax and commited to reporting its performance on my blog.

The market fell further to a low of 3,800 but has since climbed to 4,400 (FTSE 100 close 4,462 – 8 May). My £1,000 investment has grown to almost £1,105. Ten per cent growth is a cracking return in less than four months. I’m going to pull out the profit and save it for a rainy day. It could be a false dawn after all.

We’re seeing all the signs of a long, snakey and W-shaped recession. Bad news continues to arrive daily. UK manufacturing was hit further yesterday with news that Corus is likely to close its Teesside steelmaking plant with the loss of 2,000 jobs.

The recession was driven by a collapse in the credit markets. But there can be no doubt that the economy is recalibrating. A key report from the US Treasury this week showed that the US banking sector was slowly getting back on its feet and the Bank of England’s quantitative easing strategy appears to be having the desired impact in the UK.

Chancellor Alistair Darling’s strategy of increasing public spending to bolster the economy is a blunt instrument but its working. He’s unlikely to get any thanks of course because at some point spending will have to be cut back dramatically or taxes increased.

Increased public spending has to be funded through debt because we didn’t build up reserves during the years of growth. Prime Minister Gordon Brown wasn’t as prudent as he likes to claim. We didn’t put anything away for a rainy day.

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April 29th, 2009 by Wadds

Pay politicians properly

politiciansThe MP’s expenses debate is a perennial issue. Instead of debating claims for pay-per-view porn, bath plugs or Brown’s proposed attendance allowance let’s hear the case for paying politicians a salary commensurate with their executive role so that ridiculous expenses claims can be eliminated.

Backbench MPs earn £60,000 a year which is less than a communications director or a director in the PR industry according to PR Week’s 2008 salary survey. But, it’s still a damn sight more than the average salary of £25,000 in the UK. Which I guess is why no politician of any party will ever tackle the issue.

You wonder what kind of educated person chooses to be a politician when it pays – financially and in terms of work life balance – to pursue a more conventional career. Should we be surprised that we end up with so many apparently dysfunctional individuals as politicians?

Paying politicians properly rather than a dubious cocktail of salary and expenses might even attract some new talent and raise standards. But, in politics, like most other areas of life, it seems that you get what you pay for.

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