Before tomorrows debate I wanted to see how my opinions have changed since last doing this a couple of weeks ago. The questions have changed to build in the party manifestos so the results should be more accurate.
I am pleased to see that the Lib Dems are out in front for my vote. Each time I hear a snippet in the news I like what I am hearing and Nick Clegg does come with the least amount of baggage. However he is still a politician and the question is how much of what they are saying will get done if he got in?
My ideal for running the country would be to get rid of them all and put a coalition of Dawn French, Des Lynham and Terry Wogan in power!They would definitely have the trust and backing of the nation and remove some of the stiffness from politics.Plus they would all be experienced enough to know not to slag someone off until the mic is turned off! Brown's 'Bigot' comment is by far the most entertaining part of the election!
I have been using Firefox for years now but many people at work, friends and family still use Internet Explorer. I wanted to post this blog here to spread the word about the Opentochoice campaign to get people thinking about their web browser. I originally posted it on www.fwddigital.com
Some of you may have seen this logo or seen the ‘Open to Choice’ screen already, but for those of you who haven’t or who are not sure what it means we think it’s time you were made aware that you have the right to choose your web browser.
There are better browsers out there that Internet Explorer but so many people either don’t know what other options are out there or why they should change. Hopefully this will go some way towards answering those questions. For more information have a look at http://opentochoice.org or follow them on Twitter: http://twitter.com/opentochoice
“Our lives are full of choices. Where to eat? What to read? Who to spend time with? The choices we make determine the quality of our life, and how we see the world. So many of these choices we take quite seriously, weighing the consequences, thinking about the implications, and choosing carefully and thoughtfully.
So it’s strange, then, that the majority of people in the world haven’t ever considered the Web browser on their computer or mobile phone — that so many people every day use the browser that comes by default. It’s an important choice because the Web browser has become one of the most critical and trusted relationships of our modern lives – with nearly perfect knowledge of everything we do. It is the lens through which we look at the virtual world, and the medium by which we connect, learn, share, and collaborate. The browser you choose is responsible for providing you with the necessary tools to manage your online life, and to protect your privacy and security.
And so we’re pleased to support the European Commission and Microsoft in also recognizing how important choice is. In accordance with a landmark settlement, if you’re using a Windows PC in Europe and you’re still using the default Web browser, in the coming weeks and months you’ll see a Browser Choice screen appear. That screen will provide you the opportunity to make an active choice in the source of the software that acts on your behalf to broker your online experiences, and meet your own unique needs and interests.
As an international non-profit organization, Mozilla has always believed that the freedom to make smart choices should be central to making the Web, and the world, a better place. This shows through with Mozilla Firefox, a free, open-source Web browser that more than 350 million people around the world have chosen to use every day. Values of choice and self-determination are built into everything that we do, including Firefox.
We believe that the Browser Choice screen is an important milestone towards helping more people take control of their online lives — and we hope for the conversation to become broader and deeper. We’ve set up opentochoice.org as one place for you to discuss what this choice means to you — and we hope that you’ll add your own voice to this conversation and those to come. Whether or not you decide to keep your current Web browser, we encourage you to learn more about your browser and the impacts it has on the way you see the world, and to make your own choice. Mitchell Baker, Mozilla Chair & John Lilly, Mozilla CEO”
Follow any of these links to find out more about the options those browsers give you:
I found this website: www.whoshouldivotefor.com and got some surprising results. It asks you a series of questions based on the environment, economy etc and provides you with the party that best meets your answers. I expected the answers be Conservative but as you can see the results were very different.
Living in Balham means we are part of the Battersea constituency. At the moment it is a marginally held Labour seat and it is now a major focus for the Tories. I want to vote for a party that has a chance of getting in but obviously my beliefs are very much aligned with the Greens. I have less than a month to decide. Time to get reading!
Going back to work on a Monday morning after a week off is always pretty hard. The tube journey from Balham to Bank has already made the holiday seem like it never happened. All of the fresh air, feedom and calmness I felt in the North Wales countryside was replaced in an instant with heat, armpits and delays. The only plus point being that FWD Digital and FWD Marketing are now nearly settled in our new offices at 145 Leadenhall Street now and this is my first day here which is quite exciting.
Brave or stupid?
If you remember the weather over the Easter weekend was not the best. Scotland and Northern areas were even seeing snow storms! Therefore we were aprehensive of a holiday in Wales, let alone the camping holiday we had gone for! Telling people about the holiday we had decided on either had them wishing us luck or asking if we were crazy! (Please note this was not our desired holiday destination, we were somewhat restricted by budget.) After the 6 hour drive we arrived at our campsite in the pouring rain. We were staying at a campsite in Beddgellert which is in Snowdonia national park. Unfortunately due to the rain you couldn't seen Snowdon on the drive up.
The tent was great though, fully equipped kitchen, comfy bed and lots of blankets which it turned out we really needed as the evening got colder and colder as night set in. Eventually after putting on our beer, wine and whisky layers along with 4 jumpers and 3 pairs of socks we went to sleep. As we woke up the sound of rain drops had stopped and as we unzipped the tent and stepped out we found a spot of sunshine had appeared. This miraculously stayed for the whole week allowing us to get great views of Snowdon, go on long walks, have picnics and even sit on a beach at the beautiful Porthdinllaen on the north coast. (This picture was taken on my iPhone and edited using the Adobe Photoshop iPhone app while sat on the beach)
It ended up being a great holiday and one that I would recommend to anyone especially if you like driving. Some of the roads up there are fantastic with mountain views, slate stone walls, fast flowing rivers and waterfalls. Including the journey there and back we drove over 700 miles which provided the opportunity to listen to a lot of music. This is where the Wild Beasts come in. You may have been thinking we had found the Welsh dragon or a ferocious sheep, but what I was referring to in the title are the 4 piece band from Kendal in the Lake District. Their 2nd album 'Two Dancers' was my favourite album to drive to. It set the mood perfectly. The long drives gave me time to think about the best and worst driving albums I have on the iPod and I though I would share them for anyone with a long drive or driving holiday coming up.
St. Vincent - Actor (A great album but too eratic for driving)
Bear in Heaven - Beast Rest Forth Mouth (I really enjoyed this when I first heard it but there are some really grating tracks that are off key and tempo...not suited to driving)
Diane Cluck - Oh Vanille (Another good album but too all over the place for driving)
I am always looking for new music so would be keen to hear any other recommendations. Oh and go to Wales! It's up there with Scotland, the Lake District and the South Island of New Zealand for hiking and driving holidays.
If only that had been true last night in the Arsenal v Barcelona Champions League game maybe we would have come away with a strong advantage and a fully fit squad. As it was they gave Arsenal a footballing lesson for three quarters of the game. Their speed, creativity and vision must surely make them the best team in the world.
Had it not been for Almunia the tie could have all been over after 10 minutes but as it stands the second leg is set up perfectly. Barcelona will be missing their two first choice centre back and Arsenal will be missing Fabregas, Arshavin and Gallas, all who may yet not play for Arsenal again this season. That will leave the game open and chances are likely to be created at both ends all match which is great for football fans but it's going to be stressful for us Gooners!
Marvellous Music of the week
I have come across some great music this week. Some brand new and some that I can't believe I didn't already know. My music tastes vary greatly and always have done but I am going through a Folk and Indie phase at the moment. My site of choice for news, videos and new music for this is Pitchfork.com and I really suggest you have a look. They have a Twitter account too if you use it.
My tips from this latest binge are:
Broken Bells - James Mercer (from the Shins) & Danger Mouse's collaboration
The XX - I have been meaning to get their album for months and finally got round to it
Dead Man's Bones - Ryan Gosling's weird and wonderful ghostly musical-esq band
Temper Trap - They've been around for ages but I had to mention them because I got tickets to see them at Somerset house in the summer so have been listening to them a lot this week
There have been many more highlights including St.Vincent, Beach House and Scott Matthews but I will have to talk about them more another time.
I have been using this blog to simply repost what I write on http://fwddigital.com. However I have decided that now that blog has grown to have a decent amount of followers, and regularly gets reposted on Twitter, FriendFeed and Linkedin, that I can afford to be more individual on here.
So....what to expect? I'm going to be posting more regularly and about a wider range of topics, including the latest Arsenal results (grr Birmingham!), film reviews and music I find through my random searches.
I'm sure some digital aspects will creep in but this is going to be more about me and less about work. I need to be able to shut off at the end of the day and let my other interests come through.
So for my digital marketing thoughts and finding check out http://fwddigital.com but for everything else, keep an eye out here.
P.S Sorry for the horrid picture...I typed in keep an eye out in Google image search and this came up...I couldn't resist!
This summary of last weeks press around Digital marketing shows how it is having an enhanced effect on B2B brands and corporate marketing.It was originally posted on http://fwddigital.com
Week Commencing – 18th January 2010
General Digital Marketing News
Online spend leads ad sector recovery, says IPA Bellwether (nma.co.uk)
The quarterly survey of more than 300 leading companies found 20% spending more on digital in the three months to the end of December 2009. But overall spend fell for the ninth consecutive quarter. (18/01/2010)
Consumers are expected to spend $29.5bn (£18bn) on more than 21m downloads of mobile apps globally by the end of 2013, according to research by analysts Gartner. (19/01/2010)
YouTube to begin broadcasting sport live (nma.co.uk)
YouTube is to start broadcasting live sport matches for the first time after agreeing a deal to show Indian Premier League cricket. (19/01/2010)
Labour creates first iPhone app to rally support (BrandRepublic.com)
The Labour Party is set to launch its first ever iPhone app to help canvassers rally support in the run-up to the general election. (21/01/2010)
Twitter readies advertising platform as COO says no IP0 in 2010 (BrandRepublic.com)
Dick Costolo, chief operating officer at Twitter, said the service is ready to begin testing a new advertising platform shortly as he ruled out a stock market launch this year. (21/01/2010)
The financial services sector has yet to grasp the benefits of social media, according to the findings of a recent conference, Social Media in Financial Services. (18/01/2010)
Paradigm to launch jargon-free website for Bee (FTadviser.com)
Paradigm Partners, IFA support services business launched in 2007 by Paul Hogarth, is to launch www.jargonfreepensions.co.uk later this week to coincide with Steve Bee’s arrival as managing pensions partner. (18/01/2010)
Customers more likely to shop around for motor cover (PostOnline.co.uk)
International actuarial and business consultancy EMB has found that there has been a marked increase in the number of people who will seek an alternative quote if their motor renewal premium increases by a smaller amount. (20/01/2010)
LinkedFA offers adviser social networking (FTadviser.com)
A social networking site enabling IFAs to connect with investors, clients and peers is set to launch by the end of the month. (21/01/2010)
The Wikipedia definintion of a blog: (a contraction of the term “web log“) is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.
I am sure you have noticed that not only are blogs achieving higher search rankings and traffic, but they are receiving greater press coverage.
The latest stats around blogging show this is just because Google have brought in ‘real-time’ search. There are more bloggers, more blogs and more people reading them.
- 77% of active Internet users read blogs
- 900,000 blog posts on average are posted every 24 hours
- 59% of bloggers have been blogging for more than 2 years
- Blogs are being written in 81 languages
These stats are all well and good but they do not demonstrate the growing influence they are having on nearly every aspect of society. For this you just need to look at the headlines:
Blogging has historically been an underground form of communication with individuals talking about their opinions on world events, products and brands. Now politicians, athletes, celebrities and journalists all publish blogs to boost their profile, reach a wider audience, talk for informally directly to the public, while gaging public opinion.
The Wikipedia definintion of a corporate weblog: is a blog that is published and used by an organization to reach its organizational goals. The advantage of blogs is that posts and comments are easy to reach and follow due to centralized hosting and generally structured conversation threads.
Corporate blogs are being used by brands within all industries for both internal and external communication. The corporate blog has many benefits. It can generate leads, enhance brand awareness and build the relationship with the consumer through improved understanding of the brand’s personality. This works on both a B2B and B2C level and can be a great place for brands to enter into the world of social media.
Happy new year! Here’s to a prosperous 2010. Now is the perfect time to start planning for the coming 12 months but we understand that the world of social media and SEO can be a daunting place.
Our recommendation to move past this hurdle is that you choose a specific area of your business to focus on and use the sites that will best suit that activity. It is only by setting strategic goals that you are able to calculate the ROI and success on any online activity. One case study that we feel best demonstrates this is IBM who have set up a page of their site, Twitter account and Facebook group that purely focus on their B2B events. IBM’s event page on their website is very easy to navigate and hosts a calendar of global events, as well as podcasts and webinars that can be played through the site or downloaded. It has been well optimised to appear high up in search results on its own merit but also links through to their Twitter account, RSS feeds and other sections of their website.
By focusing a Twitter account purely on events they are able to keep their Tweets very focused and on message providing information and insights before, during and after an event. They link to live streams during an event, their Flickr account of photos after an event and keep conversations going around the topic of the event. The success of this activity can be seen by the 2,254 followers (as of 4th Jan, 2010) and the 86 lists that the account has been added to.
IBM can calculate the success of this activity by looking at the traffic it drives to the live feeds and the web page, as well as seeing if attendee numbers rise. IBM have made a success of online communications on many levels, but this structured approach can be repeated by organisations of any size, and if well thought out and implemented correctly, could lead to new business, increased brand awareness and an enhanced reputation within the professional and digital space.
For further information or to discuss how online communications are relevant to your business please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Week Commencing – 18th January 2010
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