Staying on trend with social media

I’ve been in two minds whether to post on social media as it’s covered enormously elsewhere, on more established authoritative blogs.

But it’s a subject close to my heart, personally and professionally, and after speaking to friends and colleagues I know I’m not the only one who can sometimes find it tricky to stay abreast with the ever-changing social media landscape.

All too frequently I find myself faced with yet another social media offering just as I’d thought (hoped) I’d cracked it.

Last year alone saw the stratospheric rise of Instagram and Pinterest in social media. It’s fair to say that both have been wonderfully successful and have reaffirmed that a picture is worth a thousand words.

Meanwhile existing familiar social media sites continue to tweak and introduce new features, which inevitably enrage, excite and confuse users.

Facebook especially is constantly adding often baffling and unannounced new features while, so far anyway, Twitter remains steady and continues to grow at an extraordinary pace.

It’s the nature of social media – it’s dynamic and fast paced. Indeed, a true reflection of the PR industry.

My common concern when considering a new social media site is centred on longevity and whether it will last the distance and become a staple in the communications armoury. I remember Yahoo! Buzz for instance. Scrapped in just three years; a great example of a social media fail.

So how do you decide which, if any, new social media sites to use?

I guess you need to take an informed decision. Keep your ear to the ground and follow social media experts and leaders but more importantly, I think, make some time and play with it to really get to grips with how it can help you reach key audiences in an effective targeted way.

The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is my recommended first stop for further help. It offers a range of quality training, from formal qualifications to workshops and briefing events and not all just for members either. Visit the website and while you’re there check out the informative ‘In Conversation Blog’ too.

Thrilled to be a Climate Week Award finalist!

Today I found out that the ConnectFriday Twitter Hour that I run in partnership with Nicola has been shortlisted as a finalist in this year’s Climate Week Awards in the Best Community Initiative!

I’m absolutely thrilled and can’t wait until Monday 4 March to find out who the winner will be.

ConnectFriday is not just potentially award-winning, but I believe provides a genuinely useful service for businesses working in the climate resilient and low-carbon economy. And of course, it’s great fun!

Based on the success of ‘real-life’ networking events held in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and in response to what businesses said they wanted, we launched the ConnectFriday Twitter Hour in October 2012.

It takes place every Friday at 10am and has proved to be a phenomenal success. It trends nearly every week and has extended networking opportunities for ‘green’ businesses from a regional to a national and international level.

The networking hour on Twitter was set up to provide a way for ‘green’ businesses to meet, in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, access and share information, and establish genuine relationships.

There are a growing number of green firms in the UK coming up with clever products and services to address both the impacts of climate change and to reduce emissions. Getting more businesses, of all sizes, to take advantage of the commercial opportunities associated with climate change (both in terms of adapting to the impacts and mitigating the effects) and help grow their business is critical for future economic growth.

By being an accessible networking platform and facilitating meaningful introductions, ConnectFriday helps followers actively network, make authentic links and identifying strategic ways to collaborate and strengthen their shared sense of purpose.

Our approach is based on taking the time to genuinely consult, listen and respond to the needs of business. We continue to work hard consulting and taking the time to listen to business needs, seeking to adjust the format in response to the continuous feedback.

I believe this is why ConnectFriday networking, both offline and online, has worked so well!

My first guest post

I’ve written my first guest blog post this week.

When fairandfunky, a community interest company with the mission statement: empowering people to take little steps to change the world asked me to guest blog for them on what steps I’m taking to change the world and also who inspires me, I didn’t think twice about accepting this challenge! You can check out the entry on their blog here.

Thank you to Helen Robinson for the opportunity.

But I couldn’t resist posting it here too.

So here it is…

Changing the world sounds like a grand ambition. But I do believe that if everyone takes action where they can, then together we can make a genuine difference.

I am a huge believer in playing up to existing strengths and finding ways to work in partnership with others that have complementary skills and, critically, share the same values.

Working this way, if done properly, can be a very powerful and effective way to deliver extensive and impressive results, and may even inspire others along the way.

While I strive to make differences in my personal life, I believe one of the ways that I’m helping to change the world is by working with the growing number of green and like-minded businesses in the UK.

As we live in the real world, we can’t ignore the real and pressing need for future economic growth. So getting more businesses to take advantage of the commercial opportunities associated with climate change and help grow their business is critical. And there are plenty of businesses out there coming up with clever products and services to address both the impacts of climate change and also to reduce emissions that are contributing to the changing climate.

This is what I’m passionate about supporting.

Working with Nicola Alexander of Daisy Green Media and Events, we run large scale celebratory events for green firms, aptly called The Big Eco Show. (The next one’s on 18 April in Newcastle!). We also host regular networking sessions for green businesses in North East England that are informal and friendly without agendas, pitches, or presentations.

Through conversation, we discovered that the majority of these businesses are active on the social media platform Twitter, and were keen to continue and extend the networking beyond meetings located in North East England.

So, we decided to host a ‘ConnectFriday’ networking hour each Friday morning. This has opened up the opportunity to continue networking in between the physical ‘real-life’ meetings, increase the reach for green businesses to make contact and join forces on a national basis and beyond, and have a great way to share the information and advice relevant to business.

Our approach is based on taking the time to genuinely consult, listen and respond to the needs of business. After we established that there was a real desire to network online we took the time to establish that a ConnectFriday networking hour on a weekly basis each Friday at 10am would be timely and relevant.

The ‘ConnectFriday hour’ has proved exceptionally popular. The Twitter account currently has over 1,500 followers and it regularly trends, ranking as one of the most popular conversations taking place during that time on Twitter.

We continue to work hard consulting and taking the time to listen to business needs, seeking to adjust the format in response to the continuous feedback. I think this is why ConnectFriday networking, both offline and online, has worked so well.

Encouraging chat, sharing advice and information, and using our insight on who should be connecting to who helps smooth the path for them to go on to forge authentic links, identify strategic ways to collaborate and strengthen their shared sense of purpose – and, more importantly, help to change the world for the better.

Each and every one of them is inspiring. While I’m not particularly a fan of famous people (apart from Gandhi of course) and I wouldn’t want to name one single person for fear of embarrassing them (although it’s pretty hard not to be inspired by Nicola, who’s drive and like-minded passion is a constant inspiration to me) I can comfortably say that I take inspiration from every single business out there that I am fortunate enough to cross paths with.

They are all working so hard to make a living in such demanding economic times, while adopting a genuinely ethical and fair way of doing business, and addressing the genuine needs to cope with and reduce the impacts of our changing climate.

Connecting them to each other; well that’s just one small step to changing the world.

Connecting & making authentic business links

Chatting informally with like-minded people is probably one of the most effective ways that you can share information, and build authentic build relationships to collaborate and do genuine business together.

There are a growing number of green firms in the UK coming up with clever products and services to address both the impacts of climate change and to reduce emissions. And connecting them is something that I and Nicola Alexander love to do.

Together, we’ve hosted regular breakfast networking sessions in North East England which are informal and friendly without agendas, pitches, or presentations. Through conversation, we discovered that the majority of these businesses are active on the social media platform Twitter, and were keen to continue and extend the networking beyond meetings based in North East England.

So, we decided to host a ‘ConnectFriday’ networking hour each Friday morning.

This has opened up the opportunity to continue networking in between the physical ‘real-life’ meetings, increase the reach for green businesses to make contact and join forces on a national basis and beyond, and have a great way to share the information and advice relevant to business.

Our approach is based taking the time to genuinely consult, listen and respond to the needs of business. After we established that there was a real desire to network online we took the time to establish that a ConnectFriday networking hour on a weekly basis each Friday morning from 10am to 11am would be timely and relevant. The ‘ConnectFriday hour’ has proved exceptionally popular.

The Twitter account currently has over 1,500 followers and the networking hour regularly trends, ranking as one of the most popular conversations taking place during that time on Twitter.

We continue to work hard consulting and taking the time to listen to business needs, seeking to adjust the format in response to the continuous feedback.

We believe this is why ConnectFriday networking, both offline and online, has worked so well! By being an accessible networking platform and facilitating meaningful introductions, ConnectFriday allows businesses to actively network, make authentic links, and identify strategic ways to collaborate and strengthen their shared sense of purpose.

Why don’t you join in?

Wake up and smell the coffee!

The thought of not sipping a cup of decent coffee each morning fills me with horror. I look forward to its steaming, scented aroma and its rich yet bitter taste. It actually motivates me, on dark, wintry mornings, to get out of bed.

As a self-confessed coffee snob, I relish a decent cup. No instant for me thank you very much. Or worse still chicory, a coffee substitute which was the hot drink of choice back in the 1970s according to my mum. Shudder.

But this morning luxury, nay necessity, may be no more within a mere 70 years.

You see, new evidence has found that climate change alone may cause Arabica coffee to become extinct in the wild in just 70 years.

The Arabica species is the most popular coffee bean, and makes up 70 per cent of the world’s coffee market.

I can’t even begin to cover the devastating effect this will have on the farmers in this blog post, which is unashamedly focussed on my selfish supping habit. Suffice to say that the livelihood of the millions who produce it will be put at risk. And one thing’s for sure, it will become very, very expensive.

And sadly, cocoa beans are in just as much peril as their coffee bean counterparts.

Climate change is real and its happening – the evidence is out there. But what isn’t clear is how to engage with a sometimes sceptical or cynical public to convince them to do their bit.

When something as big as climate change is now threatening tangible and much-loved everyday things like coffee and chocolate, it does make me wonder if this could be a game-changer in terms of winning the hearts and minds of the masses and becoming a way to motivate people to start taking action and making a real difference –  locally and globally.

I do hope so. I for one don’t want to go back to the days of chicory.

Picture credited: http://pinterest.com/pin/75083518757818689/