Planet Micooh @ the meeting point of life & work

MediaConnect IT Journalism Awards to recognise Social Media in '08?

Congratulations to all the nominees and winners at last night's MediaConnect IT Journalism Awards, held in Sydney.  Now in its 5th installment, more than 350 PR, Marketing, Tech and Media folk attended the gala dinner and quite a few of those kicked on 'til late.

Given that many of last night's winners actively create social media content for personal sites and given that many ANZ media sites are now also featuring such content, I'm wondering if the 2008 awards will feature blog, podcast and vidcast categories.  Over to you Phil.

* UPDATE: Angus Kidman has a full list of winners here.

Climbing the participation ladder

Forrester’s new Social Technographics report has some great detail regarding social media particpation.

Forrester has grouped users into 6 broad categories -- and if you're reading this post, it means that you have climbed at least one rung on the "participation ladder".

As Forrester suggests: Brands, Web sites, and any other company pursuing social technologies should analyze their customers' Social Technographics first, and then create a social strategy based on that profile.

Check out more at The Groundswell.

Entrepreneurial activity in Silicon Valley

Over at Amanda Gome’s new Smart Company site, futurist Colin Benjamin’s latest column links to a great report on entrepreneurial activity in Silicon Valley.

It makes great reading for small businesses and start ups.

solar powered torches?

Joel Cere has a post claiming some retailers are getting more traffic from social networks than from search marketing campaigns. 

Ad Week has details of a new report by Forrester which opines that advertisers are slowly bt surely embracing new media and social networks.

Next Fifteen's Tim Dyson has a great post on Technology PR versus Energy (or green) PR.  His experience is similar to that for tech companies in Australia which must participate in the 'green' conservation or risk alienating media and customers.  For example, last Friday's The Sydney Morning Herald published every page of its broadsheet and liftouts with a green hue and many stories on energy.  (But, did they use recycled paper???)

Tonight at 7:30pm all Australians will recognise Earth Hour and homes and businesses have been asked to turn OFF all lights, power points etc.  But I haven't been able to find a solar-recharging torch anywhere.  A marketing opportunity maybe?

Blogs are influencing B2B buyers

KnowledgeStorm has posted the results of a study into the emerging role of new media on B2B purchases.  Tech marketers should take note of some of the compelling statistics in the report:

* 80% of business and IT professionals worldwide read blogs
* 53% of respondents said blogs impacted work-related purchasing
* 53% of respondents read blogs weekly for business information

The message Hollywood needs to send out is 'Smoking Is Cool!'

"I have a bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names."... so starts Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) in the brilliant film Thank You for Smoking. I watched the film (with thanks to the PRIA NSW for a freebie ticket) last night and can't rate it highly enough.  It is must see TV for PR and media types.

Neither 'Big Tobacco' or the anti-smoking lobby are portrayed in a positive light in this film.  Both are seen as highly manipulative when it comes to the public interest.

Interestingly, tonight's episode of South Park focused on the fight between 'Big Tobacco' and 'Smoke Stoppers'.  The anti-smoking lobby came off worst...

Go see the film and make up your own mind.

And remember some famous words from BR -- "We don't sell Tic Tacs, we sell cigarettes. And they're cool, available, and *addictive*. The job is almost done for us."

Anti-astroturfing

Paull Young and others are championing the anti-astroturfing campaign.  Check it out and sign up.

How to stop hiccups when speaking to a journalist

Sophos spokesperson supremo Graham Cluley has added great advice to the new Johnson King PR blog...

Where all those promo items go to die

Valley Schwag

New podcast for South East Asia PRs

Mediaconnect Asia has launched a podcast for PR / marketing pros. The topic for the first podcast is how PRs are coping with the shrinking IT media space in the South East Asian region. Some of the outcomes from the discussion included:

1) Lifestyle titles are incorporating tech content within their pages in a bid to snatch ad revenue from companies like Nokia.

2) PR programs are bypassing media channels using viral, podcast and survey methods to reach new audiences.

3) Media relations in Singapore is very event-driven, when compared with ANZ.

4) Typical media attendance at press briefings (Singapore) is Enterprise (approx. 4-5) and Consumer (20+). Technology news media covering the enterprise space has shrunk considerably.

5) Advertisers are ‘looked after’ by editors and "should always" receive preferential editorrial treatment.

6) Print will survive for at least the next five years, but will likely specialise to secure more ad revenue.

Interestingly, neither broadcast nor social media were discussed in the podcast. While there is nothing particularly earth shaking here – given many of the areas discussed reflect what is happening in ANZ, US and UK PR industries – it is a worthwhile listen for PRs interested to know more about how the English-speaking SE Asian media operates.  I'm looking forward to the next podcasts.