Word Up

Today's news tells us that Chambers have released their 11th edition dictionary which includes words such as credit crunch and carbon footprint. How delightful. More nothing phrases, created by companies to capture media attention, are beginning to be recognised as worthy of being passed on to generations to come.


I had to restrain myself yesterday from commenting about Dell's creation of the Digital Nomad, something Richard Millington seems to think is wonderful. I appreciate what he is saying in terms of their creation of an online community, but why not call it what it is, the remote workers forum? Oh right, because that isn't as catchy and the media won't write about that....


I refer you back to my very first post on this blog.


Yes, it is good to have catchy phrases which grab the headlines, but they don't actually mean anything. There are often arguments about how bad text speak or "txt spk" (I think) is becoming, imagine if they put LOL in the dictionary (if they have and I missed that then OMG WWYT!!! - translation on request). In my opinion allowing nothing marketing phrases to actually permeate our dictionary is just as bad.


Plain English Campaign - I salute you!

Bad Apple

An interesting move by Apple this week has seen them launch the MobileMe blog. This is effectively a way for Apple to update users of issues and fixes to the Mobile ME "cloud computing" offering that launched two weeks ago and has gone, by all accounts, from bad to worse.

Blogs are increasingly being recognised as a great form of communication between a company and its customers, but this has largely been with a view to spinning out positive stories. It'll be interesting to see if Apple's move is strong enough to counter the negativity in the general media.

The future is Tweet for PR in the Blogosphere

My colleague returned from her morning jaunt to KMP’s Future of PR Technology Seminar Twittering about blogs and all things Web 2.0. Sounds like I missed a treat. I’m looking forward to getting the full low down from her.

There were keynotes from
- Bill Daring of KMP on PR 2.0 and the social media release
- Paul Fabretti of KMP on corporate blogging
- Stuart Bruce of Wolfstar on the growth of social media with the realms of PR

It sounds like they spoke the truth - the way we consume media is changing and as a part of that, the way we create, disseminate and digest news is as well. Like it or not, as a PR, I'm going to have to change too!

It sounds like the key message really was use it or lose it. PR agencies, especially in the tech sector, can no longer afford to be blasé about the role of social media in PR. It must be seen as an integral part of the programme. Those who aren’t willing to take the plunge are likely to suffer the consequences, especially in this belt-tightening economic climate.

Ye have been warned!