Here comes a roundup of upcoming social media and digital content events taking place in the region in September.

Want to add your event to the list?

Contact us at least one month before your event and we’ll publicise it! Call it a media partnership in the making…

__________________________

September 7, 2010, Manchester, UK: Social Media Cafe Manchester is the city’s popular informal meet up for anyone interested in social media. Come along, share ideas and learn. Free to attend. Sign up.

Event Summary: Social Media Cafe Manchester
Venue: Comedy Store Manchester, Deansgate Locks, Whitworth Street West, Manchester, Lancashire M1 5LH
Time: 6pm to 9pm
Free to attend.  Sign up.

……………………………….

September 14, 2010, Manchester, UK: The Social Media Starter Course, the UK’s longest running ’social media for beginners’ course is an insight-filled half day workshop designed to equip you with the skills and knowledge to grow and market a business using social media. Learn which social media tools are best for connecting your business with potential customers, tips and techniques to get started and in-depth case studies of businesses doing it right. Early Bird: £120+VAT, Standard: £150+VAT. Register.

This is a Level 1 course and is best suited for ‘complete beginners to social media’.

Event Summary: Social Media Starter Course
Venue: One Central Park, Northampton Road, M40 5BP Map
Time: 9:30am-12:30pm
Early Bird: £120+VAT, Standard: £150+VAT. Register

……………………………….

September 14, 2010, Manchester, UK: Manchester Social Media Surgery events are informal business networking events based around a panel made up of social media practitioners and agencies discussing and dissecting social media project issues presented by the attending crowd. The theme for September’s Surgery, featuring an all-star panel of social media practitioners is ‘Combining Twitter with Blogging‘. Free to attend. Sign up.

Event Summary: Innospace, Manchester Metropolitan University’s business incubator
Venue: 2nd Floor Minshull House, Chorlton Street, Manchester, M1 3FY
Time: 5:30-7:30pm
Free to attend. Sign up.

……………………………….

September 15, 2010, Manchester, UK: The Learning Social Media By Doing Course was developed after attendees to the Social Media Starter Course demanded a more hands on, practical workshop in which to develop skills and experience in using social media to grow their businesses and connect with new customers. Topics covered include social media monitoring tools and how to use them, using a blog to improve natural (read: unpaid) search engine rankings and growing a professional network using LinkedIn and Twitter. Early Bird: £120+VAT, Standard: £150+VAT. Register.

This is a Level 2 course and is best suited for ‘people already familiar with social media’.

Event Summary: The Learning Social Media By Doing Course
Venue: One Central Park, Northampton Road, M40 5BP Map
Time: 9:30am-12:30pm
Early Bird: £120+VAT, Standard: £150+VAT. Register.

……………………………….

September 15, 2010, Manchester, UK: From the Social Media Cafe Manchester Event Page: The Inspiring Engagement Festival is a one-day event that explores the contribution of arts practice to the business of digital inclusion.  More details here.

Event Summary: The Inspiring Digital Engagement Festival
Location: Sheffield
Time: 9am-7pm
Sign up via the Social Media Cafe website.

……………………………….

September 16, 2010, Manchester, UK: The Introduction to Social Media for Media Professionals course is a tailored social media starter course for media and marketing professionals. Designed specifically for professionals and freelancers in the digital, TV, radio and games industries, it focuses on developing multi-platform content development skills. Learn how to develop a content strategy for connecting new customers with your media business or brand using social media including LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Early Bird: £120+VAT, £150 + VAT. Register.

This is a Level 1 course and is best suited for ‘complete beginners to social media’.

Event Summary: Introduction to Social Media for Media Professionals
Venue: One Central Park, Northampton Road, M40 5BP Map.
Time: 9:30am-12:30pm
Early Bird: £120+VAT, £150 + VAT. Register.

……………………………….

September 21, 2010, Manchester, UK: The Social Media Monitoring Training Course is designed specifically for people who, now familiar with using social media, need to manage the time they spend on the various platforms effectively.
The course has been developed in response to requests for a hands-on training session on how to use free online tools to measure the success of a social media campaign and listen and respond to comments on Twitter, blogs and the wider web. Early Bird: £120+VAT, £150 + VAT. Register.

This is a Level 3 course and is best suited for ‘people who are fairly experienced in using social media to market themselves.  Typical attendees already have a company blog‘.

Event Summary: Social Media Monitoring Training Course
Venue: One Central Park, Northampton Road, M40 5BP Map.
Time: 9:30am-12:30pm
Early Bird: £120+VAT, £150 + VAT. Register.

……………………………….

September 22, 2010, Manchester, UK: From the Social Media Cafe Manchester Event Page: “Connecting 2.0 Communities is a pilot event to give anyone in the not-for-profit sector an opportunity to meet the digital communities in Manchester – many of whom are happy to provide free advice and support, and would like to work more with community groups”.  More details here. Sign up.

Event Summary: Connecting 2.0 Communities
Venue: MadLab, 36-40 Edge Street Manchester, M4 1HN
Time: 2pm to 6:30pm

Free to attend. Sign up.

__________________________

Real Fresh TV’s Monthly Social Media Events Guide is brought to you from the team behind some of the UK’s leading continuing professional development training courses on social media marketing. Spot any errors? Contact us, we’re @realfreshtv on Twitter.

Puzzled about which social media monitoring tool is best for measuring your social media return on investment?

Want to know how to use free social media tools like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to grow and market your business?

We can help! Get in touch. Find out which of our industry-leading courses are on next month.

Want to partner with us? It’s easy…

Image Credit: Dock Icons by Mathieu White

Related posts:

1. Real Fresh TV’s Monthly Social Media Events Guide – August
2. Real Fresh TV’s Monthly Social Media Events Guide – June
3. Real Fresh TV’s Monthly Social Media Events Guide

Isy Suttie, Channel 4 Peep Show star and future Formula 1 driver Jon Lancaster get behind 7 Wonders in 7 Days

Our social media fundraising project 7 Wonders in 7 Days continues to gain momentum with comedienne Isy Suttie who plays Dobby on Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show and future Formula 1 driver Jon Lancaster participating in a second social network powered Q&A for the project tomorrow.

The celebs are involved in a Twitter Q&A delivered in association with YoungMinds, one of the charities Real Fresh TV founder Chi-chi Ekweozor is aiming to raise £777,000 for through a globe criss-crossing trip to see the new 7 wonders of the world in 7 days in October.

YoungMinds ambassador and Renault Series racing driver Jon Lancaster will be joining Chi-chi and her social media team on Twitter between 2pm and 3pm tomorrow to answer people’s questions about life in the fast lane.  Isy Suttie will be connecting over email, sharing her enthusiasm for the charity.

YoungMinds is the UK’s only charity dedicated to improving the mental health of young people.

With Chi-chi’s help all day tomorrow, they are asking people to name 7 things that make life easier and 7 things that make life difficult. To join in, tweet your response between 10am and 5pm, including the Twitter hashtag #7w7d.

Jon Lancaster, YoungMinds ambassador and Renault Series racing driver who is tipped to be one of the UK’s new Formula 1 racing drivers said:

“As an ambassador for YoungMinds I am aware that there is much more that can be done for the young people that have mental health problems.  Chi-chi’s fundraising project to visit the seven new wonders of the world is an ambitious and inspiring project which will help raise vital funds for this important charity.”

The Twitter Q&A follows the successful Facebook Q&A for Diabetes UK, a UK first. Diabetes UK is another charity being supported through the 7 Wonders in 7 Days project.  Read more about the Facebook Q&A for Diabetes UK.

Both social media events have been organised to raise awareness of the competition to join Chi-chi on the trip in October.

She is looking for seven lucky people to join her on a never-been-done-before trip to see the new seven wonders of the world in 7 days.

The new seven wonders of the world are the Taj Mahal in India, Great Wall of China, the Colosseum in Rome, Italy, Chichen Itza in Mexico, Christ the Redeemer in Brazil, Machu Picchu in Peru and Petra in Jordan.

She is asking applicants to create a 60 second YouTube video about what you’d give as a dream donation to one of the seven charities and why.   For an example, here’s a recent video entry.

Each lucky Travel Companion wins a three day holiday to one of the new seven wonders of the world.

Find out more about the project and the Twitter Q&A.

To hear more from Jon Lancaster (@Lancaster4F1 on Twitter) and Isy Suttie (@IsySuttie on Twitter), join @7wondersin7days on Twitter tomorrow from 10am to 5pm.

Image Credit: The Electric, Birmingham ; f1prospects.com

Related posts:

1. Real Fresh TV hosts the UK’s first Facebook Q&A tomorrow, Join Us!
2. Using Twitter to Raise Money for Charity AKA Social Media For Social Good – #smc_mcr
3. Landmine Charity MAG Kicks Off Ambitious Poetry Prize Using Social Media

I recently received a message on LinkedIn that reminded me that social media is, well, “social”.

With so many jumping on the ‘social media consultant’ bandwagon, I was reminded that people talk and that reputations eventually sort out the wheat from the chaff.

Here’s the message from the likeable Felicity Stewart of Communicate magazine:

“I hope you don’t mind me contacting you on LinkedIn, after asking for help finding speakers for our Social Media in a Corporate Context conference on a couple of LinkedIn groups – your name has come up several times.

I am writing from Communicate magazine and we hold the conference annually in London.  This year’s event was so successful we have decided to hold it again on 19 October in Manchester.

We have a rough programme online at the moment, but we are hoping to add some sessions, including one called Social media on a mobile platform.  We would be absolutely delighted if you were able to speak on this panel.  It would be alongside {name witheld} from {organisation name witheld}.”

So… I said yes, clearly…!  The Social Media in a Corporate Context conference in Manchester takes place on 19 October at the Palace Hotel, apparently.

Every month or so, a colleague friend of mine who runs a PR agency forwards me a training course invitation from a social media ‘agency’ that offers training courses by a ‘trainer’ who has less than 60 followers on Twitter and has never written a blog post, to my recollection.

I always point this out to my friend and add “they’ll be found out!”

Felicity’s email reassured me that they will.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for more social media consultants and trainers.

This sector is still considered new and scary by so many that we need all hands on deck to educate businesses, non-profits, charities and more about what this unprecedented shift to an always-on, digitally connected world means for their organisations.

However, there’s a difference between those who know what they’re talking about because they practice it and those who know which blogs to follow.

I’m not naming names!

What do you think? Does this strike a nerve?  I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Image credit: davidChief on Flickr

Related posts:

1. Is That A Degree Qualified Social Media Consultant?
2. Real Fresh TV’s Monthly Social Media Events Guide – June
3. Practical Marketing Training: The Learning Social Media By Doing Course

As part of our social media powered charity fundraising project, 7 Wonders in 7 Days, we’re hosting the UK’s first charity-focused Facebook Q&A tomorrow in association with Diabetes UK, the largest organisation in the UK working for people with diabetes.

We’re looking for travel enthusiasts who suffer from the condition and we’re asking one simple question:

How Far Can You Travel With Diabetes?

Have you got an interesting travel story to tell?  Do you have diabetes?

Join us at the 7 Wonders in 7 Days page on Facebook tomorrow August 18th from 10am to 5pm.

The Facebook Q&A in association with Diabetes UK is raising awareness of the 7 Wonders in 7 Days project through which Real Fresh TV founder Chi-chi Ekweozor aims to raise £777,000 for seven charities including Diabetes UK through a never-been-done-before trip to visit the new seven wonders of the world in seven days.

Chi-chi is now looking for seven lucky people to join her on the adventure in October.

She is fundraising for Diabetes UK because her aunt and uncle have both lost their sight as a result of having diabetes.

The new seven wonders of the world are the Taj Mahal in India, Great Wall of China, the Colosseum in Rome, Italy, Chichen Itza in Mexico, Christ the Redeemer in Brazil, Machu Picchu in Peru and Petra in Jordan.

She is asking applicants to create a 60 second YouTube video about what you’d give as a dream donation to one of the seven charities and why.

Each lucky Travel Companion wins a three day holiday to one of the new seven wonders of the world.

Find out more about the project and Facebook Q&A on the 7 Wonders in 7 Days blog.

If you know anyone who loves travel and has diabetes, please invite them to join us tomorrow on Facebook from 10am.

Image credit: Facebook on HubSpot

Related posts:

1. Isy Suttie from Channel 4’s Peep Show and future Formula 1 Star Jon Lancaster join our Twitter Q&A for Charity
2. Fundraising using Social Media: Mashable’s Summer of Social Good Case Study
3. Skillset North Launch and a Quick Update on 7 Wonders in 7 Days

Each company in the FTSE 100 index was reviewed on its usage of such social media tools as RSS feeds*, blogs, online video, podcasts and social media platforms like Flickr and Facebook on its main website and on occasion, on websites of well-known subsidiary companies.

*RSS feeds are a simple way of delivering fresh versions of a website’s content to online readers automatically.

According to the Guardian.co.uk Business Glossary:

“The FTSE 100 index comprises the 100 most highly capitalised blue chip companies on the London Stock Exchange, representing approximately 81% of the UK market.”

Here’s how the the semiconductor intellectual property (IP) supplier, ARM (ARM.L) stacked up.

………………

Online Video/Webcasts: Yes
Usage of Social Media platforms: Yes
(Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, del.icio.us, Twitter, Digg etc)

According to Yahoo! Finance:

“The know-how of ARM Holdings (Advanced RICS Machine, founded in Great Britain) in the field of microprocessors is unquestionable. RISC stands for Reduced Instruction Set Computing. It means reducing the instructions carried out by a microprocessor. It’s procedure is used by some of the biggest names in the electronics sector, such as Intel, Lucent, and Texas Instruments. These manufacturers use the technology of ARM Holding for telephone cells, peripheral computers and decoders, to give just a few examples. The group also offers a wide range of services related to applications and software development, and is involved in consultancy and technical support.”

My pre-evaluation expectation of how the company will fare:

Due to the nature of the business, I’m not expecting a large usage of Social Media.

Commentary:

From my initial expectation I was presently surprised to come across the ARM Social Media Tab. Hidden away under the newsroom, I had nearly given up looking, but they have clearly embraced Social Media with open arms.

In their own words:-

Social media not only makes connecting with your friends & family easy, now there are more ways than ever to keep up to date with ARM & the ARM Community. Find out everything you want, and more, about “The Architecture of the Digital World” from Twitters, social networks, blogs and videos about everything ARM.

Under ARM’s Social Media section you will find four tabs which include Twitter, Blogs, videos, LinkedIn and Facebook. They have an impressive number of different Twitter accounts to choose from, each offering specific information depending on your interests. Their YouTube channel delivers high quality Videos of ARM product demos, events and has an impressive following. They have a variety of Blogs, again offering you tailored information to your interests.

Recommendations:

• More visible Social Media Links :- Although I am really impressed with ARM holdings usage of Social Media, it did take me some time to navigate to these links on the website. Making the link to the Social Media tab more visible would ensure their website visitors were aware of ARM’s Social Media presence.

………………

What do you think?
Are you a customer, employee, shareholder or stakeholder of ARM? I would love to hear your thoughts on this review. What would you like to see ARM doing more of in terms of social media? More online video? A CEO blog, perhaps?

Share your thoughts in the comments!

Need any help?
Do you work for ARM and want some insight into some of the ideas published here?

Or perhaps you look after marketing for ARM and would like a quick chat about putting some of those recommendations into practice. Contact us.

Related posts:

1. Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – Aggreko
2. Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – African Barrick Gold
3. Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – Bunzl

I’m sharing this after getting asked for practical examples of what companies have achieved after attending our social media marketing training courses.

Here’s what a company we recently trained achieved in half a day at the Learning Social Media By Doing Course, our Level 2 course social media training course.

The Learning Social Media By Doing Course is a hands-on, practical skills development social media training course, developed at the request of attendees of our Level 1 course, the Social Media Starter Course.  Attendees follow this online course agenda, first created in May 2009.

The Learning Social Media By Doing Course is a carefully structured 3 hour interactive training session in which attendees gain practical skills in using social media to market a product or service by collaborating with other attendees to blog, tweet and interact with a web panel via Twitter.

The company in question, Precious Health Ltd, came in with a very basic Twitter account that was poorly named and no experience of using a company blog to improve search engine ranking on Google.

They did have a good grasp of the importance of using social media to grow their business and showed a real willingness to learn how to use the free social tools available to their advantage.

During the Learning Social Media By Doing Course, we conducted a Twitter re-brand for the company and helped them change their Twitter handle from @PHealthorgUK to the more memorable @Precious_Health:

During the course of the morning, Precious Health received detailed advice on how to implement a structured social media strategy that would enable the corporate wellbeing provider to achieve short, medium and long term business goals.

In addition, we demonstrated how Precious Health could use LinkedIn strategically to build more prospects as this was a key requirement for the company.

Specifically, we provided step-by-step instructions for combining LinkedIn with Twitter, Facebook and a company blog to create online case studies that promote the great work delivered to Precious Health clients.

The benefits of this strategic social media activity are two-fold.

Followed regularly, it ensures Precious Health generates a stream of in-bound service requests via social media and boosts their organic search ranking on Google and other search engines for desired key words.

Before lunch, Precious Heath’s director had written the company’s first blog post on the company’s new corporate blog, created that morning.

Organisations that have attended the Learning Social Media By Doing course within the last month include Manchester City Council’s Manchester Markets, Rochdale Town Centre Management, Live4Shoes, Breaking Cycles Theatre and Ethos Solution.

For dates and details of all our social media training courses, see the Social Media Marketing Training Calendar.

If you’d like to attend the next course, register to attend the September Learning Social Media By Doing Course.

Social media aficionados may want to check out the Level 3 Social Media Monitoring Training Course, similarly practical and hands on.  It’s designed specifically for social media enthusiasts that want to claw back their time!

Still unsure of how social media marketing can help grow your business?  If you’re based near Manchester, you may want to come along to our free monthly Social Media Surgery events for a gentle introduction to some of the topics outlined above.

What do you think?

Is there anything we should have covered at the Learning Social Media By Doing course?    I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Related posts:

1. Real Fresh TV’s Monthly Social Media Events Guide – September
2. Real Fresh TV’s Monthly Social Media Events Guide – August
3. Real Fresh TV’s Monthly Social Media Events Guide – June

I have recently finished a research Masters in Computer Science and my interests include, Science, Technologies and new methods of Communication.

I am currently working at Real Fresh TV on an internship, researching the use of Social Media within FTSE 100 companies. Each week I will deliver a review and share my findings and suggestions.

I’m fascinated with how social networking sites have become part of our daily culture and excited with ability to link up and communicate to a vast array of people all over the world, instantly.

Though its impact is pervasive: from liking someone’s comment on Facebook, getting new business contacts on LinkedIn and condensing a major philosophical thought into 140 characters on Twitter, social media is still new. Companies are only beginning to understand the commercial importance for an interactive social presence.

By reviewing individual companies each week, I am hoping to understand the new business trends within Social Media by learning who’s doing it well to those who haven’t yet caught on.

From this I plan to learn how to deliver an effective social media campaign and become a presence on the internet, becoming a go to guy for information and a valuable resource.

What do you think? Any thoughts on what type of information I should be including within my reviews? or, are there other aspects you want me to cover?

Related posts:

1. Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – Aggreko
2. Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – African Barrick Gold
3. Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – Aviva

Well, here comes a roundup of upcoming social media and digital content events taking place in the region in August.

Want to add your event to the list?

Contact us at least one month before your event and we’ll publicise it! Call it a media partnership in the making…

__________________________

August 3, 2010, Manchester, UK: Social Media Cafe Manchester is the city’s popular informal meet up for anyone interested in social media. Come along, share ideas and learn. Free to attend.  Sign up.

Event Summary: Social Media Cafe Manchester
Venue: MadLab, 36-40 Edge Street Manchester, M4 1HN
Time: 6pm to 9pm
Free to attend. Sign up.

……………………………….

August 10, 2010, Manchester, UK: The Social Media Starter Course, the UK’s longest running ’social media for beginners’ course is an insight-filled half day workshop designed to equip you with the skills and knowledge to grow and market a business using social media. Learn which social media tools are best for connecting your business with potential customers, tips and techniques to get started and in-depth case studies of businesses doing it right. Early Bird: £120+VAT, Standard: £150+VAT. Register.

Event Summary: Social Media Starter Course
Venue: One Central Park, Northampton Road, M40 5BP Map
Time: 9:30am-12:30pm
Early Bird: £120+VAT, Standard: £150+VAT. Register

……………………………….

August 11, 2010, Manchester, UK: The Learning Social Media By Doing Course was developed after attendees to the Social Media Starter Course demanded a more hands on, practical workshop in which to develop skills and experience in using social media to grow their businesses and connect with new customers. Topics covered include social media monitoring tools and how to use them, using a blog to improve natural (read: unpaid) search engine rankings and growing a professional network using LinkedIn and Twitter. Early Bird: £120+VAT, Standard: £150+VAT. Register.

Event Summary: The Learning Social Media By Doing Course
Venue: One Central Park, Northampton Road, M40 5BP Map
Time: 9:30am-12:30pm
Early Bird: £120+VAT, Standard: £150+VAT. Register.

……………………………….

August 12, 2010, Manchester, UK: The Introduction to Social Media for Media Professionals course is a tailored social media starter course for media and marketing professionals. Designed specifically for professionals and freelancers in the digital, TV, radio and games industries, it focuses on developing multi-platform content development skills. Learn how to develop a content strategy for connecting new customers with your media business or brand using social media including LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Early Bird: £120+VAT, £150 + VAT. Register.

Event Summary: Introduction to Social Media for Media Professionals
Venue: One Central Park, Northampton Road, M40 5BP Map.
Time: 9:30am-12:30pm
Early Bird: £120+VAT, £150 + VAT. Register.

……………………………….

August 18, 2010, Manchester, UK: From the Manchester WordPress User Group blog: “Everyone is welcome. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned WordPress user, or even if you are just thinking of using WordPress, please come along and meet a friendly bunch of people who are willing to help with problems you may have, or just to chat about WordPress”. Free to attend. Sign up via the Google Group.

Event Summary: Manchester WordPress User Group June Meetup
Venue: Madlab, 36-40 Edge Street, Manchester, M4 1HN
Time: 7-9pm
Free to attend. Sign up via the Google Group.

……………………………….

August 24, 2010, Manchester, UK: The Social Media Monitoring Training Course is designed specifically for people who, now familiar with using social media, need to manage the time they spend on the various platforms effectively.
The course has been developed in response to requests for a hands-on training session on how to use free online tools to measure the success of a social media campaign and listen and respond to comments on Twitter, blogs and the wider web. Early Bird: £120+VAT, £150 + VAT. Register.

Event Summary: Social Media Monitoring Training Course
Venue: One Central Park, Northampton Road, M40 5BP Map.
Time: 9:30am-12:30pm
Early Bird: £120+VAT, £150 + VAT. Register.

……………………………….

September 14, 2010, Manchester, UK: Manchester Social Media Surgery events are informal business networking events based around a panel made up of social media practitioners and agencies discussing and dissecting social media project issues presented by the attending crowd. The theme for September’s Surgery, featuring an all-star panel of social media practitioners is ‘Business benefits of blogging’. Free to attend. Sign up.

Event Summary: Manchester Social Media Surgery
Venue: Innospace, 2nd Floor, Minshull House, Chorlton Street, Manchester, M1 3FY
Time: 5:30-7:30pm
Free to attend. Sign up.

__________________________

Real Fresh TV’s Monthly Social Media Events Guide is brought to you from the team behind some of the UK’s leading continuing professional development training courses on social media marketing. Spot any errors? Contact us, we’re @realfreshtv on Twitter.

Puzzled about which social media monitoring tool is best for measuring your social media return on investment?

Want to know how to use free social media tools like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to grow and market your business?

We can help! Get in touch. Find out which of our industry-leading courses are on next month.

Want to partner with us? It’s easy…

Image Credit: Dock Icons by Mathieu White

Related posts:

1. Real Fresh TV’s Monthly Social Media Events Guide – September
2. Real Fresh TV’s Monthly Social Media Events Guide – June
3. Real Fresh TV’s Monthly Social Media Events Guide

Contact Manchester is the first UK theatre to successfully combine activity on Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and their own social network to deliver an international theatre exchange festival.

Real Fresh TV provided website design and development and social media strategy, training and implementation support on Contacting the World, Contact Manchester’s pioneering international theatre exchange project for young people.

After its success as part of Liverpool’s City of Culture in 2008, Contacting the World returned home to Manchester in 2010.  Read our review of the February launch.

The biennial festival brings together young performers in traditional theatre, dance, spoken word and hip hop all aged 16-25.

The participants, representing 15 different theatre companies from 11 countries around the world are twinned together in the spirit of cultural exchange to create brand new performances inspired by each other during the six month project.

Two great examples of the exciting new work created through Contacting the World are A Neon Fairytale by The Outhouse Collective from London and Arok Dedes, devised and performed by CuciOtak from Pasuran, Indonesia.  Read on for a review of both plays.

This year’s country twins are:

• Manchester, UK and Mumbai, India
• London, UK and Pasuruan, Indonesia
• Basel, Switzerland and Madison, USA
• Liverpool, UK and Tehran, Iran
• Amsterdam, The Netherlands and Johannesburg, South Africa
• Kingston, Jamaica and Copenhagen, Denmark

The twinned companies have participated in one physical exchange visit in which performers swap country for a number of days whilst working together to create a theatre production.

The majority of the project has been developed through online collaboration on the Contacting the World online community where participants use social media tools like YouTube, Twitter and Flickr to communicate and develop ground breaking performances.

The week-long Contacting the World 2010 festival is currently underway at Contact Theatre, Manchester and runs till Monday 26 July.

Here’s a short preview video of the festival:

Alongside evening double-bill performances by the ‘country twins’, there will be workshops, matinees from past companies, street performance and discussions.  Some performances are being livestreamed.

Get up to the minute details of performances by following Contacting the World on Twitter (@ContactTheWorld).  The Twitter hashtag for the project is #ctw2010.

Find out more about the participants by visiting the online community

Related posts:

1. Social Media meets Youth Theatre at Contact Manchester’s Contacting the World 2010
2. Shouldn’t Social Media Training Be Included With Web Design Services?
3. Real Fresh TV’s Monthly Social Media Events Guide – September

Each company in the FTSE 100 index was reviewed on its usage of such social media tools as RSS feeds*, blogs, online video, podcasts and social media platforms like Flickr and Facebook on its main website and on occasion, on websites of well-known subsidiary companies.

*RSS feeds are a simple way of delivering fresh versions of a website’s content to online readers automatically.

According to the Guardian.co.uk Business Glossary:
“The FTSE 100 index comprises the 100 most highly capitalised blue chip companies on the London Stock Exchange, representing approximately 81% of the UK market.”

Here’s how Generator Rental Company Aggreko (AGK.L) stacked up.

………………

Online Video/Webcasts: Yes
Usage of Social Media platforms: No
(Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, del.icio.us, Twitter, Digg etc)

According to Yahoo! Finance:

Aggreko plc is a British firm operating in a very specific sector, renting electricity generators, temperature and moisture control equipment, chillers, heating systems and compressed air. Its a global leader due to its capacity for reaction and ability to answer every customer without delay. With over 133 locations offering 24/7 services in more than 100 countries, its interventions span many different events including Olympic Games, film sets and natural disasters.”

My pre-evaluation expectation of how the company will fare:
Aggreko deals within a niche rental sector. Therefore, I’m expecting a website targeted at their main consumer, with a lot technical information in regards to the equipment they offer.

Commentary:
Aggreko plc opens up a simple and easy to navigate site with predominately black text with orange (the same used in there logo) to highlight certain areas.

Instantly your eye is caught by a Video with the caption “Take a tour with CNN reporting from the 2010 World Cup in south Africa”. The clip is a CNN report, discussing how South Africa has planned for the energy requirements whilst hosting the 2010 World Cup. This includes the provision for backup generators, due to the concern of a power cut during a match. During the report, CNN pans across a large site of Aggreko generators with there logo clearly visible.

From this, I instantly understood the business Aggreko was in and what they do! It just goes to show how a video with the right content can easily deliver key information about a company on its site.

The Investors tab takes you to a clearly laid out site. It has a live share price and links to reports and results in pdf (including some availability in HTML format). You can access an interactive analysis in the form of a java applet allowing you to view accounts in bar graphs from 1998 to 2009.  An email alert service is available but no RSS feed.

There is a tab labelled Media Center, but only contains images. In their own words-

“Our Media Centre contains images from corporate archives that are available in high-resolution electronic format for immediate download. They depict various aspects of the company’s operations and history around the world that help tell the Aggreko story.”

Recommendations:

• RSS feeds - there is a number of informative press releases that show the markets, new clients and contracts. Investors would be interested in these stories.  Adding a RSS and share tag to these releases would really get the information out on to the web and to investors.
• WebCast of annual meetings - this is an easy way to deliver information to the investor along with a chance to see who is running the company.

………………

What do you think?
Are you a customer, employee, shareholder or stakeholder of Aggrecko? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this review. What would you like to see Aggrecko doing more of in terms of social media? More online video? A CEO blog, perhaps?

Share your thoughts in the comments!

Need any help?
Do you work for Aggrecko and want some insight into some of the ideas published here?

Or perhaps you look after marketing for Aggrecko and would like a quick chat about putting some of those recommendations into practice. Contact us.

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3. Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – AMEC