A year of sparkle

It doesn’t seem possible but it’s a whole year since I set up We Are Sparkle with my business partner Nicola Little. That’s 12 months. That’s 52 weeks. A whole 365 days!

We were so excited about We Are Sparkle back in March 2013. And we still are.

We Are Sparkle is our communications company and is driven by our shared ethical outlook, a desire to connect, and a clear creative edge.

We genuinely care about what we do and above all, we are about connecting our clients with the right audiences and generating the results that they want.

We have very complementary yet different skills (Nicola talks, I write, we both think).

And that’s why we decided to set up We Are Sparkle. We want to work with like-minded business rather than just take on work for the sake of it. We want to be seen as being a bit different and as girls making a difference – we’re very ‘sparkly’ full of ideas and energy and really care about what we do.

Over the last year we’ve grown the business steadily and have been lucky enough to bring on board some really lovely and interesting clients.

During this time we have recognised that we work really well together and importantly for us have a shared set of values – we care and want to help decent businesses that we believe in do well by helping them to connect and communicate.

We only work with like-minded businesses that share our values.

It’s astonishing how quickly time passes when you’re having fun! Here’s to the next year of sparkles.

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?

Partnership working can be road to success

It’s no coincidence that I work for a partnership. I really believe that working this way, if done properly, can be a very powerful and effective way to deliver extensive and impressive results.

There are many different reasons that you might want to work in partnership and it’s always exciting and varied. Some partners can help you generate ideas or design activity, while others may share their skills and knowledge to ensure activity resonates with target audiences. More rarely, partners may be prepared to put resources into the activity.

Certainly at ClimateNE we work with a range of organisations and individuals on a whole host of projects; from national strategic and policy-led work to delivering projects with communities across North East England.

For example, a lot of my time is devoted to engaging with the business community in the North East. One of the ways that I do this is working with Nicola and her team at Daisy Green Media and Events.

Together we organise business events and provide the space where they can connect and form meaningful, like-minded working relationships. This is important to me as getting more businesses of all sizes to take advantage of the opportunities that tackling and responding to climate change presents is crucial.

Developing and delivering ideas like ConnectFriday and The Big Eco Show helps us, and our respective organisations, achieve our objectives.

But, like anything, managing partnerships can be tricky sometimes and need to be established and maintained carefully.

Here are a few tips:
• Be clear and honest from the outset on what you want and get your partners to do the same. As well as establishing the essential joint vision, be frank and share worries and any awkward realities so that expectations can be managed. Don’t agree to something that you know you can’t deliver or that makes you feel uncomfortable.
• Be flexible and responsive. Ideas evolve and relationships change. Something will go wrong somewhere! Review the partnership regularly and if something isn’t working, pipe up and sort it out.
• And finally, always let your true character shine through. I try and apply personal integrity and use my natural humour to initiate and sustain partnerships and networks; that way understanding stakeholders’ motivations and needs and aligning them around a common goal is so much easier – and often great fun!

What a load of greenwash!

As concerned and informed shoppers we want ‘green’ and ethical products. Countless studies have proven that shoppers seek to purchase from companies that do their best to reduce their impact on the environment, particularly when it comes to buying clothes, groceries and cars.

What a shame that some companies take advantage of the well-meaning consumer with over-hyped claims about their green credentials.

Also known as ‘greenwashing’, it’s a way for them to make you think that they care about the environment, when their true goal is probably just to increase profit margins.

I believe that ignorance is no excuse, so I have no qualms when I suggest that the culprits deliberately look for ways around laws and regulations and use sneaky advertising to make us think that what they are selling is better for us (and the environment) when in reality it’s probably just as bad, or even worse.

This was clear when I looked at purchasing a car a couple of years ago. With economic and environmental credentials both high on my wish-list, I quickly found myself inundated and completely overwhelmed with the wide assortment of wild claims being made.

Alongside images of cars travelling through verdant meadows, phrases from ‘high performance and low emissions’ to ‘more power and less pollution’ screamed out, striking me as outrageously misleading to say the least.

Upon further inspection, most of these outlandish claims weren’t backed up with any supporting evidence; they were it transpired big fat fibs cunningly crafted to dupe environmentally-caring consumers like me to part with considerable cash with a warm, virtuous glow.

Deeply disillusioned and deeply out-priced too, I shelved my new car plan and opted for the bus as my preferred mode of transport.

Unsurprisingly, some of the finest greenwash specimens in recent history are the proud work of the oil industry. British Petroleum, Shell, Exxon Mobil and others, have spent hundreds of millions of dollars branding themselves as eco-friendly.

In July 2000, British Petroleum launched a million dollar campaign to position itself as an environmentally-friendly organisation.

Its new slogan claimed the company was ‘Beyond Petroleum’ and the shield-style logo was changed to a new, cheerful green and yellow sunburst, obviously aiming to invoke a warm and fuzzy feeling about the earth and the company.

Similarly, I remember the eminently deceptive advert issued by Shell, which featured those pesky carbon dioxide molecules being caught with butterfly nets and chimneys spewing out flowers.

The advert made it so easy to be drawn into a false sense of security and believe that Shell had all but abandoned oil. Luckily the Advertising Standards Authority wasn’t so easily fooled and wisely upheld a complaint from Friends of the Earth.

But greenwash isn’t restricted to the motor and oil industries. It’s a lot closer to home as well.

An extraordinary number of beauty products have the word ‘natural’ plastered over their packaging alongside beautiful images depicting lush outdoor scenery. Don’t be fooled – this is gravely misleading.

As there are currently no regulations in the UK, this remains a legal grey area allowing companies to describe a product as natural, or even organic, when it perhaps only contains insignificant amounts of relevant ingredients.

Thankfully, companies peddling green spin are under scrutiny as never before. Campaign groups are enjoying increasing success at exposing greenwash while advertising regulators worldwide are cracking down on bogus environmental claims.

Of course we can’t expect companies to be purely benevolent. But they do need to be candid about their green claims. Nothing is quite as powerful as consumer pressure and demand; so as individuals we need to be on alert.

We need to be able to recognise greenwash for what it is, ask the right questions and ultimately make the right purchasing decisions.

A couple of good places to start are:

Seven sins of greenwash. Although written by a US-based firm it’s still valid and very easy to understand

The Greenwashing Index not only help consumers become savvy about evaluating environmental marketing claims of advertisers, but also hold businesses accountable to their environmental marketing claims