Please whilst in Europe....

..drop the American lingo. The use of "fireside chat" at a tech conference just sounds ridiculous, although perhaps it's meant to be ironic as the Le Web conference 08 was apparently akin to sitting in an icebox.

Gah, can you tell I'm envious of those going, anyone with a spare ticket feel free to throw it my way!

Thank goodness for blogs

I read an interesting article about Silvio Berlusconi in Time magazine this weekend "How Silvio Berlusconi Uses Women on TV" Leaving aside the feminist outrage at the content of Italian TV these days, what struck me was the fact that Silvio controls 90% of the Italian television market. So in a European democratic nation, the Prime Minister controls the majority of the TV news coverage (the article states that 80% of Italians get their news from television). Scary stuff eh?!

Thank goodness for blogs & the internet in general to help even out the transmission of news that isn't dictated by the government.

Putting it out there

Increasingly I'm being asked to write articles & opinion pieces for online publication & a piece that was published this weekend raises a dilemma! I wrote a controversial piece on a dressage training technique (read it here http://www.horsehero.com/editorial/?feat=35093) which is being actively discussed on horse forums world wide.

The dilemma is whether to wade in & engage with the detractors, especially when they are directing bile) or to sit on my hands & stay away from the keyboard?! I still haven't made up my mind on this.

p.s. I don't just write on horse topics, I also enjoy covering motorsports & business in general but with a particular emphasis on web 2.0 & social media so feel free to hire me! Contact details on the website --------------------------->

The Dark Side of Social Gaming

I've never been a big PC game player & so social media gaming hasn't posed much of an interest either but I can't avoid games like Farmville & Mafia Wars as a result of friends playing them & the games spamming my facebook feed as a result. So apart from time wasting fun & spamming my feeds, what's wrong with social media gaming? Nothing if you are a successful developer as there are vast sums of money to be made. But there is a darker side of social gaming & some seriously unethical behavior.

Michael Arrington of Techcrunch explains it far better than I could so if you want to find out more head on over & read his article here http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/31/scamville-the-social-gaming-ecosystem-of-hell/

Even the Vatican is using social media

If anyone still doubts the relevance of social media then perhaps they should take notice of this article where Pope Benedict discusses how the Vatican is embracing social media to bring the gospel to the masses.

Pope Benedict said "The content of the Gospel message remains unchanged but the church must learn how to transmit that message to new generations and must do so by taking advantage of the new technology and new attitudes toward communications."

A neat analogy for most of us in business, the message we are trying to convey to customers hasn't changed but we do need to change how we communicate it.

A significant step in UK politics

(Note: It's only fair to disclose before you read this post that I am a paid up member of the Conservative party)

Yesterday saw the public launch of http://www.myconservatives.com/

According to the site itself: MyConservatives is a new online network that gives you the tools to campaign for the candidates you support, and issues that you care about.

Here are some of the things you can do:

* Take part in campaign activities and social action
* Donate directly to individual campaigns
* Ring voters from the comfort of your home
* Set up fundraising events with online ticketing

And you can learn more about the site by watching the video on the right.

In essence, the conservative party has built a campaign machine based on that of Barack Obama, which was so influential in him winning the election. Allowing people to engage, fund raise & campaign at a local level is a very smart move. The how to you tube videos are a nice feature too. The site is still in BETA & there a few niggles to iron out but it will be very interesting to watch it grow & I hope many of you will get involved too!

For one night only....

I'm giving a talk for the South Glos Branch of the Federation of Small Businesses tomorrow night, 26th August, (non-members are welcome to attend as well). It's at the Aztec Hotel, just off the M4/M5 interchange in Bristol, networking at 7pm, talk starts at 7.30pm & promises a gallop through social media marketing & how it can help your business. (flyer with more info here)

Hope to see you there.
Christina