MAKING A DIFFERENCE....(-:

Food ‘Crisis’

radi6 — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:08:41 +0000

Crisis management is a topic that appears in virtually every course related to management and public relations Theories are devised,approaches are created and methods are generated in order to handle crisis in various situations .However there is one situation the world is currently facing where plans to handle crisis are hitting a dead end .On Monday May 12th the UNs special task will be meeting to manage and handle the most rudementary element and basic commodity of life to formulate a solution for this massive food crisis..Indeed in a world of growing complexities,where technology and media provide different and compliicated scenarios at every step,we are brought back to the one fundamental ‘crisis’ that every individual on this planet shares .

DOMINANCE OF NEW MEDIUM.

radi6 — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:05:10 +0000

Today,during our corporate and specialist lecture,there was an interesting observation i made . The usage of new media for social networking and the overdependace on electronic gadgets is something we do on a daily basis . Our tutor gave us an opportunity to take a mock exam in order to better prepare us for the final day ! The medium we used was the traditional pen and paper .

Indeed,it was endearing to note that a lot of us did struggle to put our thoughts down in the limited time due to the lack of practice and excess usage of electronic gadgests which is a part of our existence in todays fast paced world . We consistently talk about the growth of new media and access to unlimited information on the computer , it sure is a fact that the traditional pen and paper seem to be taking a back seat ! Even though the information is available on the various websites ,it discourages us to focus on print media.

Therefore,the rise of new media and deterioration of traditional media is a contridictory statement .We can choose to be traditional and make minimum use of the electronics which may leave us backward and behind in this steady race ,the consequence of which will diable us from being categorised as the ‘electronically savy’ lot of the society ! Is it an option or a compulsion is for us to decide .

PR AND THE ENVIRONMENT .

radi6 — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 22:47:31 +0000

The area of public relations on public environmental issues shows characterists of its own,highly differentiated for its concerns in different European countries .Firstly owing to the different impact that these issues have locally in every community and for the higher or lower influence of the environmentalists groups in the media system and politics.

On the whole media issues are seen as real’values’,identified and accepted by the public opinion all over Europe even though to a different extent and with a different impact because they represent the search of quality to every society in all European countries.Today all enterprises must consider the environmental issues in their communication processes owning to the impact that these issues have in each community ,involving public opinion ,prompting judgement and views.

The public relation function constantly analyses the public opinion views and judgements and for this reason is requested to define the evaluation criteria able to access the environmental impact of the company’s choices while establishing plans and decisions.Internal and external publics are bth identified carrying concerns of the environmanet issues which are expressed through different content and in different ways.As for internal publics ,employees,workersand their families show concerns mainly linked to environmental safeguard at their working places,to noise.manufacturing processes or harmful substances and so on .

In many countries the value of raw materials ‘recycling is very popular for its environmental meaning and for its economic advantages.

BUISNESS AND THE ENVIRONMENT 2008:COOL IS HOT FOR DATA STORAGE .

radi6 — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:06:30 +0000

The IT industry accounts for about 2 per cent of the global carbon emmissions -close to the same as the avation sector-and has an important role to play in the environment agenda.The main issue of the IT is the amount of electricity that the computers use .Data centres in particular have come into focus as heavy consumers of power .This will only grow worse as the amount of data we create increases.

Over and above any green agenda ,chief information officers want to keep their electricity bills down .Some of the solutions are basic ;almost half the energy used at the data centre is to keep it cool .Iceland and Pacific Northwest are becoming popular locations because of their low average temperatures.Other solutions are more technical .Server virtualisation ,which is a software which increases a computers efficiency by allowing several applications to run from a single machine ,has become a hot topic .VMWare ,a pioneer of the technology is now one of the worlds fastest growing companies with expected revenues of $1.3bn for 2007.

Traditionally a server is dedicated to one task,such as running a companys computer email system.However,virtualisation uses less than 20% of its power ,by allowing more functions to be loaded on the same machine ,usage increases to about 80% .One virttualised server can replace 10 old-style servers says Reza Malekzadek of VMWare.Power management is the next growing thing in the green IT -software designed to switch machines off or put them on standby when they are not being used.

IT companies are very keen to promote their green efforts.Any significant it services company will have a carbon footprint calculator to show its clients the energy savings they can make with software and machines .”Virtualisation is an important part of the strategy and will have a positive impact short to mid term ,but it isnt going to fundamentally fix the problem.For most of the companies it is about pure enery savings being spun as a green story”.IT companies need to start thinking about renewable energy sources.Companies also need to take strategic decisions on their IT architecture.Meanwhile at a level of quantum physics,a fundamental rethink of how computers work may provide some future solutions.

“We can pack more transistors into a singl chip and make it run faster,but that makes it hotter and we are getting into a point where we cqant get more computing power because it would melt the chip.Finding a different solution,possibly through photonics,a very high priority for the whole industry”,says Phil Kuekes,computer architect at HP Labs.However,he warns such a solution is atleast 10 years away ….

In the world of fast growing technology and the rapid use of social media ,it is very interesting to see that there is still some level of awareness among people to reserve energy and be considerate towards the environment ! It is uncertain and with the growing level of dependence of people on technology ,we can only hope that the slow and steady process of damaging the environment by the increasing level of carbon etc and issues like global warming are kept in mind by one and all to preserve what we have and focus on damage control…It is a matter of Ethics as well as people’s responsibility towards the environment as every individual is a part of it .

PR: The dark history os spin and its threat to genuine news .

radi6 — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:43:47 +0000

The PR industry has even taken over a part oF the media.An early example was the 1995 joint venture between ITN and BURSON-Marsteller ,one of the most controvercial PR firms in the world .PR firms have become quite buzy developing certain channels .One venture pioneered by Brunswick,the secretive PR firm whose former CEO Stephen Carter recently became Gordan Brown’s chief spin advisor,provised what its called ‘Londons premier buisness presentation centre;based in Lincoln’s Inn Fields in London .The Lincoln centre provides a webcasting servise for companies such as private finance initiative from Atkins and drinks giant Diageo,which are able to make their own uncritical video content that can be published online .

The PR industry is quite open and enthuastic about the reasons for webcasting .This kind of total messege control has emerged alongside the provision to news outlets of broadcast quality clips ,made uncritically and sometimes used by broadcasters without attribution.

In the US ,the integration of journalism and PR is further advanced ,and the recent trend has been labelled as journo-lobbying.Tech Central Station ,a washington -based project pioneered by the journalist James Glassman ,is a cross between a website and a magazine that acts as a lobbying company.The DCI Group,a prominent Washington Lobbying firm ,not only publishes the site,it shares most of the same staff and offices.

As Nicholas Confessore notes in washington monthly ;’The new game is to dominate the enitire intellectual environment in which officials make policy decisions ,which means funding everything from think tanks to phoney grassroots pressure groups’.

The wider projest of the PR industry is to do away with independant journalism while maintaining the appearance of independant media .The only solution in our view is to separate journalism from PR and ensure that lobbying firms must disclose their clients and how much they are paid for their work.

Is there a possibility to completely separate the two entities? As many other concepts ,PR and Journalism are interconnected or interdependant? Some people seem to have a very wrong notion of the Public Relations industry.It is typically what the word says establishing,maintaining and building relationships with the public and organisations .Controversies exist in every industry ,however,it is difficult to imagine a world without Public Relations specialists ….Public relations has always existed,under different names and canopies,it will continue to do so even with the growth of the new social media …

PUBLIC RELATIONS AND ADVERTISING .

radi6 — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 14:49:37 +0000

The veteran Californian public relations consultant and part time public relations lecturer Fred Hoar used memorably to describe advertising as ‘pay for play ‘ and Public relations ,’pray for play’ !.The point he was making is similar to Lord Bell’s : the advertiser controlls the messege by paying for it and thepublic relations practioner seeks to influence and pursuade by force of argument or creative thinking ,but cannot guarentee results .

As a means of informing and pursuading ,advertising offers more control over the process (although still much uncertainty over the outcome ) .Yet it is an expensive way of conveying messeges to mass audiences so it is in effect restricted to organisations wit large budgets.And crucially advertising lacks one thing that money cannot always buy : credibility .

I was rather intrigued by the phrases ‘pay for play ‘ and ‘pray for play’ !!! Well , there is a certain level of uncertainity in all aspects afterall.

CARNEGIE GREAT STUDENT RUN.

radi6 — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 10:32:40 +0000

The 3rd annual Carnegie Great Student run and the Carnegie Carnival day will be taking place on Saturday 10th May 2008.The 5 km run will take place on our splendid Hedingley campus ,which will be followed by 1.2km Carnegie mini marathon ,in which everyone is welcome to participate .The Carnegie Carnival day continues with Hedingley Carnegie stadium with entertainment preceding the Leeds Carnegie vs London Wasps Match .

The legendary Laurence Dallaglio will be a part of this great event and this might be the last opportunity for his fans to watch him in action ! It is a great way to encourage people to warm up for Janes Appeal ,run for all charity event in the Month of June ,and all to ‘run’ towards a good cause with a sporting spirit .(-:

BUISNESSES ARE NOT HERE TO BE ETHICAL !

radi6 — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:54:17 +0000

Danny Rogers leader on the credit crisis and the apportioning of blame ( PR WEEK ,28 MARCH ) was prescient .

There are too many people in PR bouncing around the edge of buisness who have seldom carried the responsibilities of large company senior management .The private enterprise system is the most efficient economics system.Much hot air is spoken about the need for higher level of ethics with management decision making .Anyone who pontifies on the edge of buisness saying executives should think all the time about doing good ,should join the church!

The role of a management is to run an organisation that makes money,the role of government is to run a successful and efficient organisation that ensures that the system is good for society.These two systems work,when they work parallely,dont muddle them ……….!!!!!!…….

Well,i read this article in the PR Week and was rather intriguied ! so much so for Ethics and Morals ??? It is amazing how the point of view of people varies .We spend hours talking about Ethics in Communication Management and some people think that there really are no ‘Ethics’ in running a buisness ??? Anyway,each to their own .The debate really is never ending

PROACTIVE MEDIA RELATIONS .

radi6 — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:30:09 +0000

When a company engages in proactive media relations,it not only responds to media enquiries but also seizes the initiative to convey its messages to the public .The role of proactive media relations is to gain maximum control over the media so that organizational objectives such as promoting its public issues agenda ,can be achieved .Proactive media relations requires a company to take an aggressive ,high profile approach in dealing with the media .

However,such a strategy conflicts with a corporations deeply held preference to maintain a low profile with the media and with the public.it does not hold ay news conferences or send out news releases ,instead it limits its activity to warily responding to telephone calls by journalists.

REACH FOR THE STARS,HAVE A MISSION…

radi6 — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 20:26:57 +0000

Hi All ,

An article from a very interesting book called Creativity in Public Relations by Andy Green .A short paragraph,a good read.

The creative organisation does not just value good ideas but puts them on a pedestal to admire,respect and serve as a stimulus for further creative effort.The departmnt of trade and industry in a recent study notes how a successful company are lead by visionary,enthusiastic champions of change .Likewise,the creative organisation embarks upon an exploration that is never finished,a journey that never ends.As success is a state of mind rather than a destination , so the sense of vision , shared through every layer of creative organisation,is one of constantly gettin ahead rather than of arriving .