Vote for Miss Essex

Vote Imogen Leaver for Miss Essex 2009

Vote for Imogen at http://www.missessex.org/vote_profile.php?id=10437&vote=yes

Filed under: Campaigning, Family

Normal People

Writing about BBC investigation uncovers racial discrimination amongst lettings and employment agencies

I am absolutely aghast at this.  And really, I don’t have much else to say.

Next, our researcher passed himself as a potential employer looking for a temporary receptionist, who he insisted, had to be white.

What follows are the agency staff’s answers to our request:

Agency: “That’s fine. You are not allowed to say it but, no, we certainly hear what you say. That’s not a problem.”

Agency: “It’s difficult with the accent over the phone isn’t it? I understand that, yeah, shouldn’t really say that but taken on board.”

Agency: “We’ll ignore it and pretend you didn’t say it but listen to what you said, if you see what I mean.”

Agency: “OK. You are not supposed to tell me that but I will forget you did (laughter) but bear it in mind.”

Researcher: “Just send through white.”

Agency: “Yep. Normal people.”

Normal people?  WTF?

Of 30 temping agencies contacted across the West of England, 25 agreed to a request for a receptionist job to be offered only to white workers.

Filed under: Campaigning, News, Press, TV

Internal Marketing Myth

Frustration Board Game

I am raising the profile of something that was buried in a comment on another post because it’s topical again…  at least for me…

And also because I am looking to be challenged.  Come on, stretch my thinking…

Chris May asked:

Anyway, I was curious about this:

“Since arriving at my current institution I’ve noticed a queue of people coming to me for internal ‘marketing’ advice. They of course mean, and need, nothing of the sort – but it takes a while to persuade them of that.”

Do they all mean (and need) the same kind of thing? If so, what is it? And what causes them to come (mistakenly) to you looking for it?

I replied:

Of course not everybody means exactly the same thing, but the pattern is broadly that:

individuals or teams who provide a service to the rest of, or other members of, the organisation, want help in getting more take-up of their service individuals or teams with a bad reputation want to be thought better of within the institution

They are not mistaken in coming to talk to me – because a lot of the time I can help them achieve their objectives through advising them on how to communicate in a targetted and effective way.

But they are mistaken in thinking that having an internal logo or creating 10,000 posters to spread all over campus is going to be the solution to their problems.

When people arrive requesting support with “marketing” I know two things: firstly, they haven’t thought through precisely what they want to achieve, and secondly, they have not thought about who to target their communications at or what the best way to reach these people is.

And I’m not pretending that the processes that I go through with them are clever, but they do make them stop and think, and what we come up with is more likely to achieve their ends than a mass broadcast or advert-style communication.

Rather, they usually make them stop an think….

But there will always be some people who think that the way to get people to attend their idiosyncratic training course for researchers in particle physics is to send all-staff emails out every week for four weeks with their seminar logo attached!

Bearing in mind the strength of my feelings on the topic I am rather proud of the restraint shown in today’s carefully crafted email:

Sorry, I don’t know of anyone of specialises in the marketing of INSERT INTERNAL FUNCTION – I’m not really aware of it as a discipline, but, as my background is in internal communications in various organisations, I have worked with internally facing functions such as HR and IT.  In my experience such functions often have a hard time getting their messages across to internal audiences – but it is vitally important to work through what you want to achieve and then work out the best way to do it.  Otherwise it can be wasted money and effort (not to mention the air-traffic control point that I mentioned last time we emailed about this).

Can I suggest that we take a step back and get together to work through what you want to achieve?

In fact, it might be an idea to run a couple of hours of workshop – perhaps with all of HRD?  I have a number of tools that we could work through including this: http://www.smartchart.org/

What do you think?

SmartChart, by the way, is a work of genius – and thanks to Laura Dewis for pointing it out.

Filed under: Branding, Campaigning, Internal Communications, The Drawer

Womble Victory

Warwick Wombles at the Finish

Woohoo – 24hrs 33mins 37secs. The 138th fastest team out of the 288 that finished!

Wombles rock at Trailwalker.

Getting up at 5:30 on Saturday, starting off at 7 and going right through til 7:33 on Sunday morning.  100k in a fraction over 24 hours.

So far we have raised just under £3K for Oxfam and the Gurkha Welfare Trust.

For every blister, for every extra minute of extreme fatigue, for every mini picnic egg and every jelly baby, for every argument avoided and every melt-down averted - help us make it all worth it by sponsoring us at http://www.justgiving.com/warwickwombles

Filed under: Campaigning, Charity, Earlsdon, Friends, Trailwalkers , Add new tag

Give me your money

 

Writing about http://www.justgiving.com/warwickwombles and http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=20425750303

Ok, so I’m not doing the walking – but I am an essential member of the Support Crew.  In fact, I think I’m Support Crew Leader – it’s early days give me a break!

How hard can it be I hear you ask, well after Saturday’s gurkha-led briefing I am terrified about letting our walkers down.  Because they are the ones walking 100km non stop day and night.

It’s the equivalent of two marathons and a climb up Ben Nevis we were told on Saturday….  and for those of you who know Justine, Claudie, Brian and Simon P they need your sponsorship.  Hell, even if you don’t know them they need your sponsorship!

The route follows the South Downs Way, starting in Petersfield and finishing in Brighton – it’s a challenging journey that will change lives – including yours.

Trailwalker is organised by Oxfam and the Queens Gurkha Signals Regiment. It’s a chance to make new friends, to get out, get fit and to raise money for Oxfam and the Gurkha Welfare Trust.

Four people, one goal, 100 kilometres, 30 hours.

 Still don’t believe me?  Watch the video.

Filed under: Advertising, Campaigning, Charity, Cooking, Cookout, Exercise, Food, Friends, Trailwalkers

What do I love most this week?

I’m sure that the answer should be Himself.  But actually, right at this moment Ocado is closer to my heart!

They are delivering the ingredients for our ‘romantic’ Valentine’s meal very early tomorrow morning before work, despite my only having ordered them this morning.  Truely, for the girl without wheels, they are a saviour!  (Now I just need to work out where to get a card from….)

Not that the meal is a secret, nor will it be very spectacular as it will mostly be cheating, but I just didn’t want to create an unecessary stress around it by trying to fit in a supermarket trip.

• Kir Royal
• Duck Pate with Chutney on Toasted Brioche
• Steak au Poivre with Chunky Chips
• Apple & Almond Tart with Suaternes Custard

Olive assures me that through various underhand shortcuts I should be able to achieve it all within an hour.  I hoping that I can do that and still arrive on the other side looking like a fragrant and serene beauty and not like a harassed, sweaty, snappy and vaguely panicky mess.

So, fortunately, I’m at a conference in Coventry tomorrow which is due to finish at 15:30 thus leaving me plenty of time to turn myself and the house into an oasis of calm.

On the matter of Steak & a Blow Job Day I make no comment.

Filed under: Campaigning, Cleaning, Conferences, Cooking, Food, Himself, Shopping

In “The Thick of It”

Writing about http://caseyleaver.wordpress.com/2007/11/27/red-arrows-daily-mirror-successful-public-affairs/

and http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7175513.stm

Well, when is an Early Day Motion not an Early Day Motion?

Today David Willets, the Shadow Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities & Skills, will put a motion opposing the withdrawal of funding for “equivalent or lower qualification students” to the House of Commons.

We are wondering whether this has led to the suspension of the EDM…  probably something to do with political rules and procedure?

I am really quite surprised about how effective the University leadership, press and public affairs folks have been at keeping this potentially parochial issue so high profile – a big congratulations to them!

I’m wondering whether we can watch live on BBC Parliament?

Filed under: Campaigning, Higher Education, Media, News, PR, Politics

Red Arrows & Daily Mirror = Successful Public Affairs

I am taking a more than usually keen interest in Early Day Motions and Number 10 petitions these days.

In fact, last week, for the first time in my life, I wrote to my MP.  And of course that entailed finding out the bugger’s name!

(To his credit, he signed the EDM as requested and sent me a nice letter by return of post. But that hasn’t stopped me feeling like an Alan Bennett character.)

Anyway, in so doing I have stumbled across public lobbying gold dust – all you need is to find something that combines the Red Arrows and the Daily Mirror. 

Step aside all you nameless faceless backroom lobbying gurus – I have the answer…  A Red Arrows fly past trailing a Daily Mirror-sponsored banner…

Filed under: Campaigning, Higher Education, PR, Politics, Work

I’m Lynne Franks, What am I Doing Here?

I’d like to make it clear from the start that this is a completely uninformed view as I have seen none of the current series of I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here.

But I was utterly astonished when I heard that Lynne Franks was going to be taking part.

“I’m going to stab her in the middle of the night and take hers,” Janice growled. “You don’t think I’m kidding, I’ll eat her t**s. I’ll fry up those big old boobs.”

Janice Dickinson (who apparently used to be a model) on Lynne Franks last night.

But then I googled “Lynne Franks” this morning, and it became clear that this is part of a sustained profile raising campaign.  Rarely is she mentioned the the media without her key message – her SEED venture.

So, as long as she can keep her cool in the jungle, not so daft after all….

Filed under: Campaigning, Internet, Media, PR, TV

Looking at it By and Large

I caught part of a rerun of Yes Minister last night….

Hacker: When you give your evidence to the Think Tank, are you going to support my view that the civil service is overmanned and feather-bedded, or not? Yes or no? Straight answer.

Sir Humphrey: Well Minister, if you ask me for a straight answer, then I shall say that, as far as we can see, looking at it by and large, taking one thing with another in terms of the average of departments, then in the final analysis it is probably true to say, that at the end of the day, in general terms, you would probably find that, not to put too fine a point on it, there probably wasn’t very much in it one way or the other… As far as one can see, at this stage.

…and was reminded of trying to read scads of explanation about the Comprehensive Spending Review and the HEFCE Consultation on, and Modelling of, the impact of the Equivalent or Lower Qualification Decision.

And worse still trying to explain the situation to others!

An example from the HEFCE Explanatory Notes:

3. These explanatory notes are essential to gain a proper understanding of the modelling that we have provided, and to avoid misinterpretations or erroneous conclusions. In order to avoid these notes becoming overly complex, they have been written on the assumption that readers have some understanding of our teaching funding methods. For those that are less familiar with these methods, the following publications, available on our web-site, are recommended:

Quite so.

And as for the new Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, I’m going into a corner to mutter darkly about them.

A lovely meaty issue to welcome me to my new institution….

Filed under: Administration, Campaigning, Higher Education, Politics, TV