My slice of Raspberry Pi

Posted by on Apr 18, 2012 in Blog, My videos | 0 comments Eben Upton, founder of Raspberry Pi, is much in demand for videos and media interviews these days and I was lucky enough to catch up with him this week and record a video for Business Weekly, just moments after he had finished filming with BBC Look East. The frenzy continues seven weeks after its launch with everyone wanting a slice of the ‘pi’ as Eben and his talented team hope to...
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Have you tried dowsing?

Posted by on Dec 14, 2011 in Blog, My videos | 5 comments This was the first video I ever recorded and edited, it was very much a test video, and surprisingly it remains my most successful on YouTube, with almost 42,000 hits and 73 comments. Not bad for a trial run! I recorded a dowsing demonstration at one of my favourite country homes, Snowshill Manor in the Cotswolds, and viewers from around the world have shared their dowsing experiences, including...
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Why social media and PR matters

Posted by on Sep 28, 2011 in Blog, Social Media | 5 comments I have long shared Neville Hobson’s philosophy about social media and PR. In this video, he explains how nobody controls the message, that there is no one-way of using social media within an organisation as it depends very much on its culture, but that honesty, transparency and passion are essential to make it succeed. This is so very true. I accept that it can be a dramatic shift in...
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Abcodia’s serum biobank

Posted by on Sep 12, 2011 in Blog, My videos, PR client | 0 comments Here is my latest video showing Abcodia’s biobank, and explaining how its serum collection can for used in the research and development of molecular diagnostics. Abcodia’s CEO Dr Julie Barnes and Prof Ian Jacobs , non-executive director with Abcodia and the lead investigator for the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening from which the serum biobank was founded, explain the...
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My new iPad 2

Posted by on Apr 11, 2011 in Blog, Social Media | 8 comments It is quite by fluke that I am the delighted owner of an iPad 2. In fact, I have owned two in the last few days. I originally ordered one online as the Cambridge Apple store had sold out when I called in to buy one 48 hours after they were launched in the UK. I had refused to get sucked into the hype and queue hours for one when they were launched as I couldn’t believe they would sell out....
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Monitoring MPs – making politics social

Posted by on Mar 30, 2011 in Blog, Social Media | 0 comments If you want track the livestream social media activity of  MPs, then the new website YatterBox will be perfect for you. It has just been launched by York University graduates and their unique site tracks all MPs’ social media: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, blogs and Hansard. It is bound to be an valuable resource for many, from constituents and political geeks, to research students...
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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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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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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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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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You can have a SuperBlog too

Posted by on Jan 27, 2011 in Blog, Social Media | 13 comments I would like to thank Ian McKendrick for my new professional website, or SuperBlog, as he describes it. As it is still based on a WordPress theme – originally designed by my social media mentor Geoff Jones - it was quite a painless process for him to transfer the files over. It means that I still have my blog, but the main focus is on my professional skills. I know that Ian, a popular...
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How to Make a Blog Book Review

Posted by on Jan 11, 2011 in Blog, Social Media | 9 comments Blogging is still very much a buzz word for 2011. If you need any convincing, you can learn from those who have made a success of it in a new ebook, How To Make A Blog Book, by Murray Newlands which is now available for free download. This is how social marketeers like Murray work – they share their information for free, and readers can then forward the information and encourage others to...
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11 Social Media Trends for 2011

Posted by on Dec 29, 2010 in Blog, Social Media | 7 comments I agree with all the predicted trends forecast in this article about the 10 social media trends for 2011 which I share with readers here. However, I have added another to make it 11 trends to include the use of mobile barcodes derived from QR codes, which are used via mobile phone apps  to instantly access contact details and is being used by advertisers on TV. I think it is so slick, and award...
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Blogging and Iain Dale

Posted by on Dec 23, 2010 in Blog, Social Media | 2 comments I was stunned to learn recently that Iain Dale, who I regard as one of the best bloggers in the UK, is giving it up, but I can understand his reasons totally: The truth is, I no longer enjoy blogging and I think that this has been evident for a few months now to my readers. I hate the backbiting that goes along with it. I hate the character assassination that is permanently present. I no...
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Creating my personal mobile barcode

Posted by on Dec 16, 2010 in Blog, Social Media | 6 comments I’ve just created my personal mobile barcode. It is known as a QR code and this configuration of black and white squares holds my personal professional details – my identity, in effect – which can be scanned via an app on a smart phone and will direct you to my website . You can also create your own barcode too for free via this link. I learnt about it today from Alan McInroy of...
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Should web links be free?

Posted by on Dec 15, 2010 in Blog, PR, Social Media, updates | 2 comments I’ve been following the latest  saga regarding paying The Newspaper Licensing Agency for sharing web links. Francis Ingham, Chief Executive of the Public Relations Consultants Association, explains via a video interview why they are appealing to the Court of Appeal against a ruling which decided that media monitoring agencies should pay for using web links. Mr Ingham describes it as a...
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On the 1st Day of Cutmas ….

Posted by on Dec 9, 2010 in Blog, university, video | 10 comments I have just spent two days in London and, although I missed the rioutous student demo against tuition fees, I did stumble across some festive students yesterday outside Somerset House who were singing their protests with a parody on our favourite carols.  It’s very mild compared to some of the scenes from today, though I feel students have every right to feel angry as they face a future of...
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Abbeyfield’s mission – caring for the whole person

Posted by on Dec 1, 2010 in Blog, My videos | 2 comments This is a video I produced of Abbeyfield’s launch of its future housing strategy for elderly people, driving forward its mission to combat loneliness. Chief Executive Paul Allen explains that their goal is to care for the whole person – “their body and soul” – and the importance of community links, companionship and their valued volunteers. Other speakers include...
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Monitoring Social Media

Posted by on Nov 18, 2010 in Blog, Social Media | 5 comments I’m sorry to miss this unmissable event in London next Monday as it could provide the elusive answer for PR, marketing and social media professionals about how to measure ROI on the internet. Entitled Monitoring Social Media 2010, it includes some great speakers, and I will be sorry to miss one of my favourite bloggers, Neville Hobson, who is chairing a discussion on Monitoring...
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Oprah’s visit to Australia, paying bloggers and Trip Advisor’s angry hotelliers

Posted by on Sep 22, 2010 in Social Media | 2 comments Some people get all the best jobs. I would jump at the chance of visiting Australia for a fraction of the price which local authorities there are paying Oprah Winfrey – a reported $5 million dollars – to give its flagging tourist industry a much needed boost as visitor numbers have considerably declined following its hosting of the Olympics back in 2000. This is obviously why Stephen...
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Women’s addiction to social games

Posted by on Sep 21, 2010 in Social Media | 3 comments I learnt something new yesterday – that millions of women are huge fans of Facebook’s social games with FarmVille toping the list with 62 million followers. It includes forums where you can report bugs and show off your landscaping, with the most addicted followers getting up in the night to “feed” their animals or “water” their crops. I must admit this is a...
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Congratulations to East Anglia’s Business Hub

Posted by on Sep 19, 2010 in Social Media | 2 comments I would like to congratulate Mark Peters and Ian McKendrick, presenters of the popular weekly Sunday morning business radio show, for its network launch today throughout East Anglia. The Business Hub only started a few months ago covering Cambridge and Ely, but is now available to listeners throughout the region. Next year it is hoped it will be networked nationwide. There is obviously a huge...
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Blending iPhones and the Business Hub

Posted by on Sep 15, 2010 in Social Media | 3 comments I’ve become a big fan of the Business Hub, a unique weekly radio show broadcast for businesses in the Cambridge and Ely area which has amassed an impressive following of loyal listeners. From this weekend the show is being extended throughout East Anglia, and the dream of the  two brains behind it – social media strategist Ian McKendrick and veteran radio presenter Mark Peters,...
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The garden of Plas Brondanw

Posted by on Aug 30, 2010 in video | 4 comments I have never before visited a beautiful garden in the middle of a summer’s day and had it all to myself. That was what happened when I stumbled across Plas Brondanw, in North Wales, the beautiful garden created by architect Clough Williams-Ellis, famed for designing the quirky Portmeirion village, which attracts tens of thousands of tourists each year. It was only by chance I learned about...
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Have you climbed Snowdon?

Posted by on Aug 28, 2010 in Personal, video | 13 comments I have just returned from a few sunshine days in Wales and my trip included an ascent up Snowdon – the less strenuous way  with Snowdon Mountain Railway as we had my 83-year-old pa-on-law with us. I was impressed by the scores of determined walkers who trekked to the top, the fittest walking both ways, while others chose either to walk up or down, and take the railway for the other trip. I...
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