The Peter Bingle factor

Posted by on Feb 27, 2011 in Blog, PR | 3 comments I enjoyed reading Peter Bingle’s account of the steps he takes to win new public affairs clients, from visits to the opera and theatre to knowing the right restaurants and wines. It’s clearly his personal touch which has won him the contracts he bid for, but having fun too has been part of it. “I once won a huge piece of business because I spoke to the prospective...
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The missing – Gary Spencer (found!)

Posted by on Feb 23, 2011 in Blog, The missing | 29 comments I’ve just heard from Gary Spencer who is listed as a missing person on this Thai website. He posted a comment on one of my posts about missing people saying he urgently wanted to get in touch with his family on the Isle of Wight. This is what Gary, who has been working as an English teacher in Thailand and has been missing for more than 10 years, wrote: Hi, I am shown as missing on the...
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Why aren’t TechGuys using Twitter?

Posted by on Feb 22, 2011 in Blog, Social Media | 4 comments I’ve been reading Shel Israel’s book Twitterville about how businesses can thrive using Twitter as a successful communication tool and wondered why the TechGuys didn’t do this. They describe themselves on their website as the “friendly face of support for P.C. World and Curry’s“. Yet what evidence is there of this when they have so many dissatisfied customers...
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Len Gibbs’ countdown to Welsh referendum

Posted by on Feb 21, 2011 in Blog, Politics | 5 comments With only 10 days to the Welsh referendum which will decide on the Assembly’s law making powers, I asked maverick activist Len Gibbs how his “March 3 is Vote NO! Day” campaign was fairing, and this is his update: Winning is everything. And we are in to win! Ridiculous really, just a handful of ordinary people taking on 100% of the MPs and AMs and the might of the political...
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The latest ban for prisoners ….

Posted by on Feb 19, 2011 in Blog, News | 3 comments While the debate rages over whether prisoners should be allowed to vote, my blogging friend Winchester Whisperer has revealed the latest ban for inmates – the use of sanitising hand gel wash regularly used in hospitals and on crusie ships. She explains the reason why: “My prison visiting friend tells me it has been banned from her prison because the inmates were mixing it with rum...
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Thank you Bruce Oldfield!

Posted by on Feb 19, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 0 comments A thousand thanks to Bruce Oldfield, one of the UK’s leading fashion designers, for agreeing to write the foreword in a book for my client Francesca Polini who is campaigning for fairer adoption processes to benefit both children seeking new homes and loving families who want to provide them with stability and security. Francesca made headline news when the Daily Mail described how she was...
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How UK farmers will benefit from Robert Sturdy’s latest trade deal

Posted by on Feb 18, 2011 in Blog, PR client | 1 comment People often want to know what difference the EU makes to their lives. In this video, my MEP Robert Sturdy explains how a new trade agreement with South Korea which he steered through the parliament will benefit the UK farming industry: This story in Farmers Guardian describes how the deal will enable farmers in the UK to boost their exports to South Korea, and is expected to double trade over...
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What would women march for in the UK?

Posted by on Feb 18, 2011 in Blog, News | 6 comments When did thousands of women last hold protest marches in the UK? Is there any issue they feel passionate about which would spur them into this kind of protest? I ask this question following the outraged women of Italy who did just that recently throughout their country. They made their moral stand against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi by marching through 60 towns and cities.  Smaller...
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Celebrating five years of blogging

Posted by on Feb 16, 2011 in Blog, Social Media | 10 comments This month I celebrate five years of blogging. This is my 1,746th post covering news and politics, women’s issues and the environment, as well as my special causes, including missing people and hemophiliacs; my charity, Headway Cambridgeshire; my work with Press, PR and social media; and my special interests, walking with the Ramblers and Toastmasters. It all started when I met Cambridge...
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MP warned she could lose seat over forest sales

Posted by on Feb 13, 2011 in Blog, News | 11 comments An Englishman’s home might be his castle, but he also feels very defensive about his countryside – and forests – as recent outrage has shown following government plans to sell off some of its woodland. As a keen rambler whose walks often include forests, bluebell woods and sheltered glades, I add my voice to those who have expressed concern.  On the one hand ramblers are close...
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Len Gibbs registers with Electoral Commission for Welsh referendum

Posted by on Feb 12, 2011 in Blog, Politics | 10 comments This larger than life pink helium pig took to the streets of Wales today as the official mascot for the True Wales group which is opposed to the Welsh Assembly having extra legislative powers – a decision which will be voted on in a referendum on 3 March. I recently met their maverick spokesman Len Gibbs who told me: “The pig came out at Newport and was filmed for the Politics Show...
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Let’s end the Strasbourg travelling circus

Posted by on Feb 11, 2011 in Blog, PR client, Robert Sturdy MEP | 2 comments I’m delighted to hear my MEP Robert Sturdy speaking sound common sense and renewing calls to abolish the European Parliament sitting in Strasbourg following research which concluded that 70% of MEPs want to end their enforced visits there. Robert has vigorously campaigned for 17 years against the present system of travelling from Brussels to France at least a dozen times a year to vote on...
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The fuel duty stabiliser dilemma

Posted by on Feb 9, 2011 in Blog, News | 8 comments Like everyone else, I have had enough of rising fuel prices, especially as I live in a rural Cambridgeshire village. How to deal with it is a complex issue which the government is currently grasping with. On the one hand, a fuel duty stabiliser might seem an attractive option, but it is a short-term fix as it would work by cutting fuel duty at a time of rising pump prices – as well as...
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European Parliament needs security shake-up

Posted by on Feb 9, 2011 in Blog, PR client, Robert Sturdy MEP | 0 comments My MEP Robert Sturdy has called for the sacking of the security company at the European Parliament in Brussels following an armed robbery; its third major security breach in two years. That makes sense to me. If this had happened in Westminster, I am sure that would happen. Parliament.com reports that two men, one of them armed, held up the post office in parliament last Friday and reportedly...
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Judging our young civil engineers

Posted by on Feb 9, 2011 in Blog, Personal | 0 comments Congratulations to young civil engineers from Pick Everard in Bury St Edmunds office who last night won the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) East of England Communications Competition. For the second year I was invited to be one of the judges and we were unanimous in our decision. We were impressed with their presentation of an eco village designed to meet housing needs in a sustainable way...
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Win tickets for Social PR 2011

Posted by on Feb 8, 2011 in Blog, Social Media | 5 comments Are you one of my lucky readers? I have two free tickets to give to blog readers who would like to attend this terrific social media marketing conference entitled, “How to Survive and Thrive in a World of Real-Time Communications”. It is being held in London on Monday 28 February. Billed as Social PR 2011, the topics covered are vital for today’s PR comms and social media...
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My view on Sally Bercow

Posted by on Feb 6, 2011 in Blog | 8 comments Whether you regard Sally Bercow as a free spirited politician’s wife or a self-centered exhibitionist, I believe as a wife she should show her husband some common decency and respect for his high profile job as The Speaker, regardless of their differing political views;  it’s certainly not the kind of coalition which we feel comfortable with because of her behaviour. How would she...
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Snowdrops at Anglesey Abbey

Posted by on Feb 6, 2011 in Blog | 7 comments Anglesey Abbey’s beautifully designed Winter Walk was the first of its kind for the National Trust and the brainchild of its former head gardener Richard Ayres who had the vision to see its huge potential in attracting thousands of extra visitors throughout the year at a time when its gates were usually closed. I interviewed him about it on behalf of the National Trust for a feature in...
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Westminster Abbey’s special treasures

Posted by on Feb 4, 2011 in Blog, News | 10 comments I had a couple of hours to spare in Westminster this week and decided to visit the Abbey where Prince William and Kate Middleton will tie the knot this April. Whenever I pass by there are usually long queues outside of tourists from around the globe who are keen to see the many splendours of the final resting place of some of our famous monarchs and poets, including Elizabeth 1 and Chaucer....
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Social Media Week, London

Posted by on Feb 3, 2011 in Blog, Social Media | 4 comments I am often left speechless by the number of businesses who are not interested in using social media as part of their PR strategy. Last week I met a development officer who works with three lovely hotels in East Anglia and he was adamant that twitter and YouTube were a waste of time, even though their competitors were reaping the rewards for communicating this way. He is not alone, I often get...
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How safe is your street?

Posted by on Feb 2, 2011 in Blog, News | 5 comments Have you checked out your street yet for reported crime on the police website, www.police.uk? The police knocked on my door a few weeks ago and I immediately panicked and feared the worst! The community beat bobby reassured me that all was fine, and told me that a neighbour had had a Mercedes badge stolen from the front of his car and asked if I had seen anything suspicious. Phew! I hadn’t,...
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The Electoral Commission and Welsh political activists

Posted by on Feb 1, 2011 in Blog, Politics, PR client | 5 comments The Electoral Commission may want to consider revising its regulations following the refusal of political activists to register as a lead opposition party for the Welsh Assembly referendum on devolution on 3 March. Apparently, this is permitted within the present rules. Yesterday I met key campaigner Len Gibbs from the True Wales group responsible for this and which is fiercely opposed to the...
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