tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12174157141201289882011-11-13T00:41:41.279ZSturgeon's Law: A critical eye on the worlds of media and PR from a hack turned flackA critical eye on the worlds of media and PR: gossip, scandal, analysis and comment from a hack turned flackWill Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.comBlogger591125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-77346451301552629002011-03-08T09:55:00.012Z2011-03-08T10:53:14.158Z2011-03-08T10:53:14.158ZSarcasm: Like Kryptonite to Twitter & customer serviceThis morning I shared my disgust / vented some frustration at the prices that hotels in Cheltenham are charging - and being allowed to charge by booking sites - during next week's Cheltenham Festival:Despite the confusing air of sarcasm it linked through to this screen grab, below, so you'd imagine the point I was making was still fairly clear (especially, as the "Sorry to go on..." suggests, it Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-7595920168706549132011-02-12T19:16:00.004Z2011-02-12T19:40:32.102Z2011-02-12T19:40:32.102ZMeanwhile... over at TheMediaBlog.co.ukYou may have noticed this blog hasn't been updated all that much in recent weeks and months.However, I am still blogging regularly over at TheMediaBlog.co.uk. Come and check it out, if you haven't already. It's far more interesting than anything I've ever written about here (apart from that time I overtook the Batmobile on the M1).Visit: TheMediaBlog.co.uk where you'll find content like this:Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-62957137894959873702010-10-05T23:20:00.058+01:002010-10-13T17:19:45.120+01:002010-10-13T17:19:45.120+01:00Tech PR Drinks... FULL HOUSEThe next Tech PR Drinks are now a FULL HOUSE.They are taking place at Bierschenke on Essex Street (just off the Strand here). If your name appears below you're already on the guest list and I'll see you there. Our sponsor on the evening is Daryl Willcox Publishing who are very kindly sticking some cash behind the bar to get the evening going. Get there early to make the most of it:A: Eb Adeyeri, Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-78136751204398078382010-10-03T11:31:00.011+01:002010-10-05T23:20:39.721+01:002010-10-05T23:20:39.721+01:00Tech PR Drinks... have you signed up?If you work in Tech PR but you haven't signed up for the Tech PR Drinks yet, get your name down quick because places are going fast. These evenings always promise to be a great laugh and a good opportunity to catch up with friends and colleagues. It's also being made possible through the generous support of our sponsor Daryl Willcox Publishing. Email me to get on the guest list. (Click on flyer Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-198177739551222772010-08-15T16:44:00.006+01:002010-08-15T17:00:27.329+01:002010-08-15T17:00:27.329+01:00Holy-motorway-madness Batman! Look who I overtook on the M1Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-88738255964551436252010-07-23T19:05:00.014+01:002010-07-27T12:48:43.737+01:002010-07-27T12:48:43.737+01:00Go West(field) young manLast Friday I worked on a fantastic event for new client Nintendo to mark the release of Dragon Quest IX on Nintendo DS. The event was at the Westfield shopping centre with dance act Diversity on stage (brilliant photo in The Metro here). We only had a week to turn this event around and make it happen, and I must thank the teams at Merlin Elite who manage Diversity, Mash Marketing who just make Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-27851527179661909942010-07-19T09:01:00.005+01:002010-07-19T09:35:02.456+01:002010-07-19T09:35:02.456+01:00Why people should be more worried about litter than terrorismThis press release from Keep Britain Tidy is drawing some criticism this morning:"People are just as concerned about the appearance of their street as they are about terrorism, according to a new report. Keep Britain Tidy conducted a survey into public perceptions of their local environment.The Word on Our Street” survey found the thing people are most worried about is the credit crunch followed Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-11838785784855645752010-06-24T20:31:00.002+01:002010-06-24T20:34:40.280+01:002010-06-24T20:34:40.280+01:00Will the loser now be later to win? The Times they are a-changin'Interweb number crunchers Hitwise have run some interesting analysis of the traffic to and from The Times websites now the pay-wall is in place (even if the 'pay' part is yet to be enforced).In some respects the Hitwise findings are fairly predictable. The first graph (right) shows that what has inevitably happened is the paper's daily market share has diminished considerably.Of course it has, Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-53954764263418359162010-05-21T13:12:00.005+01:002010-05-21T13:22:26.247+01:002010-05-21T13:22:26.247+01:00Ridiculously cool TV ad? Just do it...The World Cup signals many things: Four weeks of people sneaking off early from work, wall-to-wall football, nationwide football fever and the inevitable heartbreak of England being defeated on penalties in the quarter-final. It also means Nike spending the GDP of a small country on a TV ad (who can forget the classic 1998 ad which defined the genre). Here is said ad for 2010. Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-67601024700313739692010-05-18T08:59:00.005+01:002010-05-18T09:07:16.434+01:002010-05-18T09:07:16.434+01:00YouTube: The site that changed the world turns 5So YouTube is five years old. And what do we have to show for it? A video of a baby biting his brother's finger, watched by 190 million people and counting, making it the most popular video ever on the site. Yeah, thanks for that. But don't worry, it's not all rubbish. There's the sneezing panda of course, watched by more than 60 million people.However despite such popular nonsense, there is no Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-89616791760799109562010-05-04T09:11:00.010+01:002010-08-19T23:41:20.069+01:002010-08-19T23:41:20.069+01:00Educashun news: How not to write election leafletsIt's nice to see the educational needs of our children would be in safe hands with the Conservatives... unless kids wanted to know about tricky stuff like apostrophes of course...Related reading:Meet Labour's new election poster: Oh dear...Spoof political posters are so last week...Private Eye's success: It's the content, stupid...David Cameron: A breath of fresh airbrush?Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-17033738807247292482010-04-15T10:05:00.001+01:002010-08-19T23:43:53.230+01:002010-08-19T23:43:53.230+01:00Truly hyperlocal social mediaAnybody who thought Twitter invented words such as 'social media', 'community', 'engagement' etc. would do well to take note of this very 'old-school' poster, put up at my local train station. It's a reminder that all we're ever looking to do in effective communication is find the most relevant channel to deliver messages directly to the target audience*:* That or it's a clever publicity stunt. Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-68785499471648735612010-04-07T10:00:00.005+01:002010-04-07T11:50:45.692+01:002010-04-07T11:50:45.692+01:00Rubbish statistics and PR fluff: I've got the bit between my teeth...There is some rubbish being pushed through the papers today - the hangover of a long Bank Holiday weekend, I presume. But the weakest story I've seen doing the rounds - or certainly the one that got my back up the most on several levels - is undoubtedly this: PUNTERS who spend hours studying a horse's form before handing cash across the bookies' counter could be wasting their time... Housewives Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-9013996636842767682010-04-03T14:03:00.009+01:002010-04-04T11:23:05.907+01:002010-04-04T11:23:05.907+01:00Meet Labour's new election poster: Oh dear...I was pretty critical of the Conservative Party posters a few weeks back. So it's time to even up the scores a little, because Labour's latest political poster, unveiled this morning, is a crime against common sense and intelligent thought. It may make sense to a handful of advertising execs and brand advisors, and the young lad who designed it, but that is surely where the approval will end.In Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-2809834677538056722010-03-23T10:41:00.001Z2010-03-23T10:42:55.686Z2010-03-23T10:42:55.686ZA first look at Telegraph's Debate2010 The Telegraph has launched a dedicated website for readers to debate issues they believe should be at the heart of the forthcoming General Election: Debate2010.Think of it as crowdsourcing a manifesto; readers will submit concerns, ideas, issues and suggestions and other site visitors will be able to vote on which should be priorities for debate and discussion in the run up to the election. TheWill Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-12124787681626546712010-03-22T08:49:00.002Z2010-03-22T08:51:43.381Z2010-03-22T08:51:43.381ZMedia - old and new - must embrace 'social' symbiosis The PEW Project for Excellence in Journalism has released its latest piece of annual research into media trends. It's like porn for media number crunchers and I won't even try to sum up even two per cent of the findings, but among a lot of new light upon old trends is some insight into the symbiotic relationship between 'new' and 'old media' - or more accurately social media and newspapers (Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-84781333539588860832010-03-12T13:21:00.005Z2010-03-12T13:34:55.415Z2010-03-12T13:34:55.415ZVeitch on press releasesJust really enjoyed a blog post from Martin "nicest man in tech journalism" Veitch over at CIO.co.uk. I'll not detract too much from his readership figures (go on, read the whole thing here), but he makes a great point about the language of press releases that I've made myself on both sides of the PR/journalism divide:The odd thing about most technology press releases is that they are written in Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-13335445548642814262010-03-04T16:01:00.005Z2010-03-12T14:08:17.096Z2010-03-12T14:08:17.096ZPR science alert: Introducing the 'coverage curves'I've drawn a very rough graph a few times recently to explain why sometimes coverage just won't happen - or at least not without a lot of creativity - for some announcements. It follows, most recently, a discussion on the Tech PR LinkedIn Group about journalists getting a bit sniffy about news from companies who aren't Microsoft or Google.I've heard similar disdain for smaller companies who don'tWill Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-47374248572879143782010-03-04T09:37:00.005Z2010-03-04T10:03:52.871Z2010-03-04T10:03:52.871ZGood PR, Bad PR: 04/03/10Good PR: Hats off to whichever local councillor or business struck upon the genius idea of full size posters depicting glamourous storefronts along recession hit Whitley Bay high street. The ailing town has been brightened up with glossy '3D' posters which depict what potential there is on the high street. They're also a lot more attractive than whitewashed windows with fading 'Everything must goWill Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-24488823305663612962010-03-01T13:21:00.005Z2010-03-01T13:29:28.771Z2010-03-01T13:29:28.771ZTech PR drinks: A reminder for those registeredHopefully you are looking forward to the Tech PR drinks this Wednesday evening. It's shaping up to be a great night, with more attendees than ever before and a new, larger venue.Just to remind you, the venue is on Lisle Street, just to the north of Leicester Square (map & info here). It is the Slug & Lettuce and we'll be upstairs from around 6.30pm. We have sole use of the space but:Please note Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-273919578681687302010-02-19T13:36:00.009Z2010-02-19T14:59:42.871Z2010-02-19T14:59:42.871ZSpoof political posters are so last week...There are few social faux pas so obvious or so instantly belittling as missing the point at which something becomes no longer fashionable or when a joke or catchphrase is no longer funny. So it was with interest that I saw web sensation MyDavidCameron.com today announce it is calling time on the whole spoof poster thing.Whatever poster campaigns the Conservatives launch from this point on will beWill Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-75451905751347499662010-02-17T21:39:00.049Z2010-03-03T17:34:08.203Z2010-03-03T17:34:08.203ZTech PR drinks: If your name's not down...Registration for the next Tech PR drinks is now closed due to unprecedented demand. Below is the list of confirmed names which will be on the door and the venue will require us to remain within capacity, so please don't try to get in if your name's not down.A - DElliot Adams, Rebecca Adewale, Eb Adeyeri, Nathalie Agnew, James Balcazar, Claire Barber, Giles Barron, Fiona Bates, Chris Bell, Lucie Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-23150040301240758702010-02-16T19:46:00.003Z2010-02-16T19:51:42.991Z2010-02-16T19:51:42.991ZTech PR Drinks: Now FULLApologies if you have not yet registered your interest in attending the next Tech PR drinks but they are now full and the venue will require the numbers to be limited to those who have registered. If you have done so, I look forward to seeing you on the 3rd March.Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-12426604761654068202010-02-13T12:22:00.009Z2010-02-13T15:13:12.451Z2010-02-13T15:13:12.451ZPrivate Eye's success: It's the content, stupid...Well done Private Eye, the magazine has recorded its best circulation in 18 years, which is predictably being heralded as a triumph for print media.It's a sign of our times that many people's reaction has been to open a new discussion about the medium at the expense of more meaningful discussion. For me there is a much simpler, far more basic reason and the failure of many commenters to hit upon Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-14577722219223974262010-02-09T19:18:00.008Z2010-02-16T19:46:25.400Z2010-02-16T19:46:25.400ZTech PR drinks: NOW sponsored by Press IndexI would like to thank the lovely people at Press Index for kindly agreeing to sponsor the Tech PR Drinks on 3rd March @ The Slug & Lettuce, Lisle Street - a stone's throw from Leicester Square. This event is now full and registration is closed. (Map to the venue) Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0