The opening days of 2010, saw the general election campaign beginning. In the red corner, an injured by the tabloid backlash along with self strangulation from party politics is Gordon Brown. Public opinion polls show a change in opinion towards Labour, the recession, War in Iraq along with infamous scandals such as cash to peerages have seem to tainted labour’s image as a part for change, and in the blue corner, sees the dubious, newly polished and air-brushed 2-d tableaux of David Cameron. Who, ironically along with the public appears to be utterly clueless as to how ‘change’ will be achieved without actually being aware of his policies. Perhaps we have another Gordon Brown on our hands, armed with smart rhetoric and pristine imagery, preoccupied in conniving the public to hand over valuable votes.
Indeed, “this is the year for change” (the slogan for the conservative campaign) as we have seen so far with the election campaign. David Cameron along with is fellow party members have been quick to utilise the new media. Both facebook & twitter have been utilised to get messages out, 3/1/10 saw the conservatives’ set-up their campaign with regular updates.
Barack Obama and the democrats, managed to successfully, utilise blogging, YouTube, facebook and other social networking sites. Gordon brown also issues a weekly podcasts from 10 Downing Street. However, the political blogger plays a most problematic role which can derail a political campaign. This provides even more scrutiny for bad political practices. One notable case is Boris Johnson who admitting to on camera, which it would in fact cost 100 million rather than 8 million to improve London bus services.
Michael McGregor, who runs the London Office of Blue State Digital the online consultancy firm which, provided the technology that powered the Obama campaign, remarks
“New media....isn’t a replacement for traditional campaigning; it allows you to do more traditional campaigning. One right, the new tools that online campaigning give means more and more people become closely involved in campaigns”
Sunday 24 January 2010
Wednesday 20 January 2010
Two weeks and still running.....
I find myself two weeks into my placement. I must say it is going better than I expected. Much of the tasks I have been given seem to relate to the work we have covered in class. The practical experience is important as I can see how things play out if the right measures aren’t put in place, such as management and planning.
Fuelled media is the name of the company where I have decided to do my placement. The company generally places focus on ‘new media’ and consists of a graphic deigns department, advertising & marketing and Public relations. The company believes by offering a wide variety of services it can hold on to clients in such turbulent and competitive times. The Public Relations department tends to work alongside with the marketing and advertising, as many clients are provided a joint package of pr and advertising campaign. It makes business easier if both pieces of work are carried in the same company as oppose to having the work spread across separate companies. Seema is the head of Public relation operations at Fuelled Media, she is also my mentor, she too did a masters in PR, with respect I feel I have benefitted from having a mentor such as her. It gives me something to aim for, that the master can help me achieve a good job in Public relations, and it is worth it after all.
Me and Seema having been working on an exciting a new project, the grand opening of a new bar called ‘Chilli Whites’ situated on Belvoir Street. I have had to brainstorm on innovative ideas in raise the profile for the grand unveiling, such as treasure hunts, mascot’s artwork/graffiti. I have also written press releases for regional magazines and newspapers such as the Leicester Mercury and 69 magazines. I have also been selected to conduct a presentation on, Leicester’s bar scene so far in 2010 and how I feel the most effective method would be for the grand opening. I have had to conduct research into competitors, and other events and themes in the city which my underline or threat the exposure the bar would receive.
Fuelled media is the name of the company where I have decided to do my placement. The company generally places focus on ‘new media’ and consists of a graphic deigns department, advertising & marketing and Public relations. The company believes by offering a wide variety of services it can hold on to clients in such turbulent and competitive times. The Public Relations department tends to work alongside with the marketing and advertising, as many clients are provided a joint package of pr and advertising campaign. It makes business easier if both pieces of work are carried in the same company as oppose to having the work spread across separate companies. Seema is the head of Public relation operations at Fuelled Media, she is also my mentor, she too did a masters in PR, with respect I feel I have benefitted from having a mentor such as her. It gives me something to aim for, that the master can help me achieve a good job in Public relations, and it is worth it after all.
Me and Seema having been working on an exciting a new project, the grand opening of a new bar called ‘Chilli Whites’ situated on Belvoir Street. I have had to brainstorm on innovative ideas in raise the profile for the grand unveiling, such as treasure hunts, mascot’s artwork/graffiti. I have also written press releases for regional magazines and newspapers such as the Leicester Mercury and 69 magazines. I have also been selected to conduct a presentation on, Leicester’s bar scene so far in 2010 and how I feel the most effective method would be for the grand opening. I have had to conduct research into competitors, and other events and themes in the city which my underline or threat the exposure the bar would receive.
The story so far......
Currently, it’s been three months since I began my MA in Public Relations, and, true to fashion, my opinions and views concerning the profession have changed.
I initially studied Public Relations at undergraduate level as a module on the final year of my undergraduate course. I found the subject difficult to grasp. I was required to use skills which initially were not of my repertoire- as I was accustomed to writing essays, and conducting research and reflecting on my findings in analytic fashion.
I decided to actively seek unpaid work experience, to aid my learning and develop certain skills, and so it was, I eventually succeeded in my quest to seek out work experience in pr. It was a small in house agency. As I continued my voluntary work, I began to discover I enjoyed pr, this naturally lead to the next step which was to embark on an MA in PR.
I am beginning to learn the nature of PR which is, not everything appears as it seems. Much like the times we live in, PR appears to be fluid and restless in nature. It appears to consist of many skills, critics would accuse PR practitioners as being, jack of all trades yet, master of none. I however, would disagree. The current climate, especially media, requires versatility along with flexibility. This is echoed in the skills all good PR practitioners are required to harbour; communication, writing, organisation, crisis management, management, image management and media relations.
In my journey to secure adequate work experience which also happens to be a compulsory component of my course. I leant to discover that, relocation is almost certainly immanent if I am to prosper in PR. Furthermore, travel costs to the capital, are seemingly problematic. After concluding my degree, unfortunately I find myself riddled with debt....ah the joys of student life. However, I am lucky enough to be able to draw on contacts which I established during my undergraduate years. The in-house agency is the answer to my problematic issue of work placement. I intend to save a substantial amount of income which would hopefully allow me to make inroads into the capital and secure some sort of placement; which would require me to travel once a week over an on-going period of time. I would wish to establish some sort of link with an agency as opposed to an in-house- as I feel agencies would provide me with a more detailed and elaborate portfolio of the work I would have undertaken during my work placements. This should aid me in securing employment. I would also like to wish my fellow course mates all the best on securing work placements.
I initially studied Public Relations at undergraduate level as a module on the final year of my undergraduate course. I found the subject difficult to grasp. I was required to use skills which initially were not of my repertoire- as I was accustomed to writing essays, and conducting research and reflecting on my findings in analytic fashion.
I decided to actively seek unpaid work experience, to aid my learning and develop certain skills, and so it was, I eventually succeeded in my quest to seek out work experience in pr. It was a small in house agency. As I continued my voluntary work, I began to discover I enjoyed pr, this naturally lead to the next step which was to embark on an MA in PR.
I am beginning to learn the nature of PR which is, not everything appears as it seems. Much like the times we live in, PR appears to be fluid and restless in nature. It appears to consist of many skills, critics would accuse PR practitioners as being, jack of all trades yet, master of none. I however, would disagree. The current climate, especially media, requires versatility along with flexibility. This is echoed in the skills all good PR practitioners are required to harbour; communication, writing, organisation, crisis management, management, image management and media relations.
In my journey to secure adequate work experience which also happens to be a compulsory component of my course. I leant to discover that, relocation is almost certainly immanent if I am to prosper in PR. Furthermore, travel costs to the capital, are seemingly problematic. After concluding my degree, unfortunately I find myself riddled with debt....ah the joys of student life. However, I am lucky enough to be able to draw on contacts which I established during my undergraduate years. The in-house agency is the answer to my problematic issue of work placement. I intend to save a substantial amount of income which would hopefully allow me to make inroads into the capital and secure some sort of placement; which would require me to travel once a week over an on-going period of time. I would wish to establish some sort of link with an agency as opposed to an in-house- as I feel agencies would provide me with a more detailed and elaborate portfolio of the work I would have undertaken during my work placements. This should aid me in securing employment. I would also like to wish my fellow course mates all the best on securing work placements.
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