Looking back through Northern Lights’ blogs I see I started the year talking about how to work with journalists. It’s a theme I have come back to because throughout the last 12 months I have met so many people who are afraid of media interviews. Even senior people who are accomplished public speakers are wary … Taking the fear out of media interviews
In an age of 24 hour news and social media, everything you do is under scrutiny and corporate reputation is more precarious than ever. A top corporate headhunter recently told PR Week’s editor Danny Rogers that corporate affairs directors have gained more influence than marketing directors over the past few years. Rogers puts this down … Reputation, reputation, reputation: The 3 key ingredients for crisis management in the social media age
Last week, the CIPR’s Yorkshire and Lincolnshire group held a workshop for public sector communicators on handling Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. We ran the event in response to growing concern about the increasing volume of requests received by local authorities, universities, FE colleges and others – and the lack of coherent approach to handling … Handling FOI requests – an opportunity not a threat to public sector comms teams
This blog also appeared on The Huffington Post. Last week a handful of men experienced, at first hand, what it is like to be outnumbered at senior levels. The Women’s Business Forum attracted more than 420 high powered delegates from the UK and America. Of these just 13% were men. According to the Davies Report, … Is football holding women back from the UK’s boards?
I recently ran a short workshop on managing your online reputation for the Yorkshire & Lincolnshire group of the Chartered Institute of PR. We had a mixture of in house PR practitioners and consultants working with clients across a number of sectors. What they all had in common was the recognition that social media is … Social media is changing crisis communications – are you prepared?
When we talk to clients about social media they usually dismiss Facebook as not being appropriate for their business. But if you are working with or targeting young professionals then you should certainly be considering Facebook as part of your marketing and communications mix. And many companies now recognise that Facebook is a good platform … Five good reasons why Facebook is good for business
“If you have two people who think alike, one is unnecessary” What a great quote! Linda Emery, Talent and Diversity Director at BP referred to this when I met her recently, following up on Bob Dudley’s invitation at the CBI Conference. In October I wrote a blog on the conference, “Bob Dudley, new group chief … Is BP on the right track to change its diversity and culture?
The Guardian reported this week that some of the world’s least democratic countries are turning to British PR firms for a reputation makeover. The London office of PR firm Racepoint has been hired by Rwandan president Paul Kagame to spearhead a public relations drive in a bid to rid itself of the legacy of its … What do celebrity Kate Moss and African republic Rwanda have in common?
The BBC has this morning reported, “The Foreign Office has apologised for a ‘foolish’ document which suggested the Pope’s visit to the UK could be marked by the launch of ‘Benedict’ condoms.” It turns out this was the result of a brainstorm in the Foreign Office as to what the ideal papal visit would look … The Foreign Office blunder – who allowed a culture of joke emails?
