Monthly Archives: April 2007

04.03.07
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Connected Marketing podcast

At the end of March, Kevin and I had an interesting chat with Justin Kirby of Connected Marketing for a series of podcasts he’s running (unfortunately our bit doesn’t have its own link UPDATE: which now has its own link on the new Connected Marketing blog). We chatted on Skype for a good hour, a fun conversation which Justin summarised thus:

We discuss many aspects of business blogging, including: how it is used to created a two-way dialogue with your audience; how businesses can gain insight from consumer conversations; how participation requires resource and commitment; the cultural changes required to incorporate blogging successfully into your business; and how corporate blogging in the Europe and the UK compares to that in the US.

Justin has split the discussion up in to three short episodes of about 15 minutes which you can manually download in M4A or MP3 format.

Episode 1

(3.5MB)

(4.99MB)

Episode 2

(3.52MB)

(5.02MB)

Episode 3

(3.77MB)

(5.44MB)

04.03.07
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Supporting the Open Rights Group

I don’t normally write about the work of the Open Rights Group here because it seems a little off topic, but we have a really important fundraising event coming up on 11 April in London that I’d like to give a wee bit of bloggy love to. This is cross-posted from Chocolate and Vodka.

It’s just over a week til the Open Rights Group‘s Support ORG (and Party!) event, at which there will be public domain DJs, free culture goodie bags and the chance to win some really cool schwag. Our special guest speaker is the wonderful Danny O’Brien, who is always fantastic value for money and well worth coming along to see. So, if that sounds like fun, come along – it’s free! Well… it’s sort of free – we just ask that you bring someone who might like to become a new ORG supporter.

If you can’t make it, then you can still support ORG by buying a raffle ticket for just £2.50 (link to PayPal is at the bottom of that page). Prizes up for grabs include:

Many thanks to everyone who has donated! Buy your tickets on the night, or online via PayPal. At £2.50 each, they’re a snip!

Oh… and also, please blog about this as widely as you can. ORG has a busy year ahead and we really need to spread the word – your blog post is as valuable a way of showing support for the work that ORG does as buying a raffle ticket or becoming a supporter.

04.02.07
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Adopt the mantra “Change or Die”

I’d really missed Tim Porter the last year. He had all but stopped blogging at First Draft as book work took precedent. But, it’s good to see him not only blogging again but also releasing his book. From the first look over on PressThink, Tim and Michele McLellan have produced the kind of clarion call for change that I had come to enjoy from Tim’s posts on First Draft. I really like in the post that they focused both on management and staff.

Management needs to focus on how to foster change, they said.

Many newspapers editors found themselves in the ranks of management somewhat by chance. They were good at their previous job – reporting, say, or copy editing – and got tapped for a promotion. They adapted to the duties – and adopted the values – of their new jobs, becoming decisive, directive and demanding, good for driving a fast-paced environment like a newsroom, but less useful in leading organizational change.

I’m one of those accidental managers, even though I don’t really see myself as managing anything. Although I’m an editor, of sorts, I don’t really see my managerial role as pushing people to do something. I’ve never seen that strategy work. I’d much rather blaze trails and lead by doing. That’s what I’ve been good at during my career. I really see my job not as a blogs editor but as a digital journalism evangelist. Participation and engagement just happen to be part of the mix of digital journalism. Passion can be infectious. Success is inspirational, and if managers take risks, it gives their staff permission to innovate.

Tim and Michele also have some great bullet points for staff as well. They talk about the newsroom of the past, and contrast that with the journalist of the future who will:

  • Take initiative and responsibility at all levels.
  • Enjoy brainstorming and trying new things.
  • Learn even from failed experiments.
  • Adopt “Change or Die” as a mantra.

There is a lot of hand wringing about the future of newspapers and journalism, but here we have yet another blueprint for how to not only survive but thrive in the future. Add Tim to your RSS feeds. He won’t disappoint. He’s definitely one of my heroes.