My buddy Adam recently decided to dedicate his blogroll to the bloggers of the future, an experiment which aims to give future PR/Digital pros extra visibility. On the back of this, he published an interview  with up and coming PR PRO Mikinzie Stuart, to give her some well-deserved exposure.

It’s now my turn to introduce you to my rising digital star, the lovely Claire Tayler. I had the opportunity to meet Claire last year, where she worked as my intern for a few months. Graduating in May this year, Claire already has and impressive CV, having worked in both advertising and PR.

Without further ado, here are Claire’s interview questions.

Q 1. You have established an impressive suite of online destinations / places to connect as you prepare for a life in Social Media / Digital Advertising / PR – for those who aren’t aware, what are some of the things you are doing and what is the rationale behind your strategy?

To work in digital media it seems obvious that you need to understand it.

The idea of ‘making contacts’ makes me cringe a bit – it’s always sounded a bit slimy.  I moved to a Media Studies degree from a Multimedia Technology course and it felt like a step down because it’s a new and untraditional subject.  I love the topic, but I’ve never been convinced of the real-life skills it provides (perhaps true of most degrees) and years of in-school talks have drilled it into my head that interning is a necessity, specifically for arts students.  Also how can you choose a career if you haven’t tried it?  To start with I interned to find out “what I wanted to be when I was older” -  I didn’t intentionally set out to gain contacts (although I’d call them lovely people rather than contacts) but it’s happened along the way which has been great.

In terms of social media I’ve always been a bit of a blogger and not joining simple sites like LinkedIn seemed a bit like shooting yourself in the foot, but in all honesty there wasn’t a massive rationale or strategy to ‘getting into media’, they’re just things I liked.

Before my first internship at Glue I’d been on Twitter quite unproductively for about four months and during the internship working in an ad agency gave perspective to it – it’s only after seeing it used properly and knowing great people on it that it’s become useful.  Over Summer I went to some Tweetups (Ale 2.0, Twestival, and Cozy Tweetup), which were fun, and again more for the experience than making contacts, which happened anyway.

There’s still a massive stigmatism around Twitter at Universities – an astounding number of final year media students say they “don’t see the point” or “don’t understand it” which I think is gobsmacking.  When I was first trying it out my friends didn’t use it which made it pretty limiting and more ego-based (you literally are talking to nobody) but it’s really useful and fun now I know the right people and I find instant dismissal of it really odd.

Some of the things I’m doing at the moment… I’ve just started interning with One Bird Records, I blog for a digital agency called (untitled), I write for Bitchbuzz.com and in December I started writing Bored of Brighton too, a Brighton version of @TiredofLondon.  Essentially in the last year my tweeting, blogging, YouTubing, and Flickring’s all gone up astronomically.  I was doing most of this already but being in industry’s just developed them or made them more appealing.  Something I would consider changing is a sandwich year instead of juggling university and work.

Q 2. Has it worked, i.e. met the objectives you set out?

I basically wrote a lot of eager letters, gushing about what I liked about digital media and what I wanted to do or learn about.  Being quite specific about what I wanted out of it, sounding human, and making a bad joke about tea in my covering letter seemed to win people over.  Glue took me on when I had a really limited amount of experience which was lovely of them (a product of an eager letter), and having a well-known name on a CV no doubt helped after that.  Importantly look for opportunities and ask even if they’re not advertised.  I’m currently working for a start-up which didn’t promote for intern, but could do with one anyway (me!).  I’ve phoned and emailed numerous companies regardless of whether they were asking, added agencies on Twitter and sent them a speedy message, and through this landed work at (untitled) and Cake this way.  It never hurts to ask.  Someone once told me never hit up a company more than three times.

Placements, and having ‘a good digital name’ have both helped propel me into other placements, and it’s landed me a bit of freelance work on the side.  It’s all been really useful.

Q3. What things have you learnt about Social Media / Digital Engagement that you weren’t aware of when you started down this path?

Before last year I’d never written to bloggers promoting a brand.  That was definitely a new experience, and it was definitely harder to do before I started getting pitched at myself which has no doubt helped.  I learnt how to use social media on behalf of a brand, which sounds simple but when it’s your one of your first jobs and it’s a high cost account the sudden responsibility is strange.  My own project, writing Bored of Brighton has actually been incredibly useful because I’ve had to do this for myself and start from scratch building up a fan base.  In the same vein, I’ve heard working for a start-up is one of the most useful things you can do because everything you do matters an incredible amount compared to large companies with interns on rotation every few weeks.

My favourite part was someone walking me around at Glue explaining how everyone fits into the team and how they all work with each other.  It sounds pretty simple, but it really helped my understanding of ad agencies.

Q4. You’ve now got a huge toolkit of skills that some of the most seasoned PR pros don’t know how to use yet. What’s your favourite tool for promotion? Your blog/Twitter/LinkedIn?

I find it baffling when traditional PR companies turning digital don’t understand Twitter or Bloggers.  I don’t intentionally go out to self-promote (beyond posting a couple of blog links up), more to enjoy using things.

For fun I’m a massive fan of Twitter because of the ease of saying Hi, and it acts as a Google Reader feeding me fads and news (my own Google Reader is too chock-a-block to touch with a stick).

I love blogging because it’s a bit of a scrap book of my life and things I like, and in terms of self-promotion shows that I’m aware of ads and events.  That said, I try hard to avoid writing solely writing about ads because whilst there’s nothing wrong with it, it feels a tad generic.  I try and write about myself more, and make sure I’m going to new exhibitions, seeing new things, learning things, etc.  There’s a bit of a trend that I haven’t given in to yet to use Posterous for ads to show that you’re down with what’s new, and keeping a personal blog for insightful longer entries.  Having said that, Andy Kinsella writes a good one at http://www.andykinsella.com

Flavors.me (http://flavors.me/getdancey) is a great way to keep everything together too, if you need a way to showcase every you’ve got in a quick link.

Q5. Finally, if you were a brand, which one would you like to be and why?

I’d be fickle and say Google.  There’s a lot of negative press around Google occasionally as YouTube videos circulate pointing out that they’re taking over the internet, the world, and even the physical cables that connect the two, but brand wise I’ve never really faulted them as a brand. They provide good services,  I haven’t loss respect over the Google Buzz privacy-failing launch, and a large part of this answer stems from the brilliant BBH work which incorporated mercury, knitting, catapults, things on sticks, and lots of handmade bits and bobs.  Whilst quite a faceless brand (compared to say, Microsoft) they haven’t elevated themselves too high.

The lovely Claire is currently looking for an internship in digital planning / PR in London. Witty, ambitious with an excellent  understanding social media, you should probably hire her before your competition does.

I was invited to Diageo’s Jose Cuervo Tequila open audition at Cargo last week, to celebrate the launch of their latest Tequila Face initiative. To get into the Mexican mood, we were each transformed into various fictional characters (hence the pics). I played Juanita Sanchez, a Tequila and Coke loving Mexican DJ

The one and only Señor José Cuervo has enlisted the help of Casting Director Vince Frank to find the nation’s perfect Tequila Face, the face you pull when doing Tequila shots… I have no doubt us Brits are pretty good at this!

Auditioning is dead easy… next time you’re on a night out, take a snap of yourself and text your Tequila Face to 64666.

The nation’s best Tequila Face will be flown to Mexico on a VIP trip with 3 of their mates to live it up… Tequila style.

The Tequila Face brief is out in the open here, and you can also follow Casting Director Vince Frank on Twitter and Facebook… he can be a tad obnoxious at times… you’ve been warned!

Tequila facts:

José Cuervo is brand of tequila produced by Tequila Cuervo La Rojeña, S.A. de C.V. The José Cuervo Especial brand is the highest selling tequila brand in the world. In 1758, José Antonio de Cuervo received a land grant from the King of Spain in the Mexican state of Jalisco. He built a small factory on this land. His descendant, José María Guadalupe Cuervo, used the land to build a distillery for tequila production in 1795. The distillery was later named Fabrica La Rojeña. The tequila was exported to the United States for the first time in 1873. In 1900, José Cuervo Labastida decided to brand the tequila as José Cuervo. The company is now owned and run by heirs of the Cuervo family, the Beckmann family. For more information on José Cuervo visit: cuervo.com

I am yet to meet a blogger who doesn’t like receiving comments and feedback on their articles… But occasionally, the feedback you receive is not what you had in mind.

As your blog grows, it becomes more exposed to negative comments…. But these comments are in fact good for your blog.

You can be wrong

Yes, really. Everyone can be wrong, even so called Social Media Gurus / Experts / Strategists.

Negative comments are just a way of adding value to your article and taking the conversation to a new level…

When I wrote the PR agencies buying bloggers article, dozens of blog posts were published on the topic within hours… Some bloggers agreed with me, others didn’t. These posts challenged my own thinking… which is a very good thing!

Negative comments can stimulate debates

Challenging someone’s blog post is fine… as long as you provide them with constructive criticism.

If someone leaves a negative comment on your post, another reader might respond, and a new debate will start… which is good for your blog.

Debates are good thing; they encourage RSS subscriptions, comments and sometimes backlinks.

Negative comments on your blog shows that you respect your readers and their thoughts

Some bloggers delete negative comments… and they should be ashamed of themselves! Sure, negative comments aren’t always nice, but not censoring them shows that you respect your readers’ point of view.

If you are going to leave a negative comment on someone’s blog, you should be transparent and let the blogger know who you are.

An anonymous commenter left an aggressive comment on a friend’s blog a little while back. My blogging pal decided to publish the comment unedited, and even responded to the anonymous commenter.

I believe my friend handled the situation adequately… and the anonymous commenter never came back!

Negative comments are… content!

And content is SEO! SEO can generate traffic to your blog.

So don’t be offended by negative comments… make the most of them!

La blogosphère a parlé, nous avons écouté, et après mûre réflexion finalement décidé de ne pas participer à Paris 2.0, un évènement qui avait pourtant l’air prometteur.

Je suis sûre que vous avez tous vu les nombreux articles à ce sujet publiés dans la blogosphère française…

En ce qui nous concerne, ce n’est que partie remise, et nous espérons pouvoir vous rencontrer très bientôt.

90:10 France co-organisera le prochain Paris 2.0 du 8 au 12 mars prochains à l’Espace Kiron.

Alors c’est quoi Paris 2.0?

Paris 2.0 c’est plus de 120 intervenants de tout secteur du web social et du 2.0, média, marketing, communication, innovation, design, enterprise, qui partageront avec vous leurs expériences et réflexions en cours des médias sociaux, ainsi que de l’innovation sociale .

Mon collègue Patrick Attallah, DG de 90:10 France, animera le Mercredi 10 Mars en deuxième partie de journée, deux tables rondes :

Table Ronde de 14h00 : Commerce Social

Les réseaux sociaux sont-ils l’avenir du e-commerce?

Comment les boutiques en ligne exploitent, communiquent et échangent sur les réseaux sociaux pour trouver de nouveaux acheteurs et relais d’opinion ?

Table Ronde de 16h00 : Influence Sociale

Le “public” est dorénavant au centre des relations publiques. Puisque dans les réseaux sociaux il faut communiquer “avec” et non plus “vers’”…quels changements ca implique dans la communication interne, les relations publiques et la communication d’influence en général ?

Pour réserver vos billets ou plus d’information sur cet évènement, veuillez consulter le site officiel Paris 2.0. A 10 euros la journée (non, ce n’est pas une faute de frappe !), ca ne vaut pas le coup de s’en priver!

Au plaisir de vous rencontrer ! Laissez-moi un petit comm’ si vous avez l’intention d’y aller et venez nous faire un petit coucou ;)

Does anyone know anything about this? It’s going viral…

We’ve been busy here at 90:10 working on the launch of the new Honda CR-Z Hybrid through Social Media, and our plan is to create a crowdsourced European Road Movie, featuring Internet users from the four corners of Europe! Pretty cool, huh?

We’re currently at the first stage of the campaign, where Internet users can submit their dream journey onto the Live Every Litre site. A committee will then choose 4-5 lucky winners in each country who’ll embark on the road trip of a lifetime driving the Honda CR-Z across Europe… the icing on the cake? The whole experience will be filmed  by award winning Cameraman, Editor and Producer, Claudio Von Planta.

We also have a team of fantastic bloggers on board documenting the whole experience in each European market.

Fancy taking the CR-Z for a drive? Head over to the Live Every Litre website,  and tell us as creatively as possible what your dream road trip would be.

Disclaimer: Live Every Litre is a campaign I am currently working on, and the views expressed here are mine and do not necessarily represent those of Honda Motors Europe, the other agencies involved in this campaign, or those of my employer 90:10 Group.

It has recently come to my attention that some PRs have no manners whatsoever… Let me explain.

Scenario 1:

The buying off bloggers agency recently emailed me offering €30 to pen a few kind words about a (boring) website. Due to work commitments, I forgot to send them a polite no thank you. Two weeks later, they sent me another email now offering €80 (woo hoo) to write about the same boring website. I sent them a courteous email explaining that I was against PR agencies paying bloggers.

And then nothing.

As an international PR agency they should have a) enquired about this blog post (because quite frankly, as an international PR person, it is YOUR job to know how things work around Europe) and b) taken a minute of their precious time to respond to my email.

Scenario 2:

Now this seems to be a frequent problem in the Digital PR world… You’ve sent me an email, and I’ve written a blog post about X, Y or Z. When I write about something I always email the PR with my link.

And then nothing… a little thank you would have been nice, don’t you think?

There are two words in blogger relations, the latter being the most important one of the two.

Rant over

With last week’s rollout of Google Buzz, Google has fired its first serious salvo at Facebook in the battle for the social networking crown… But is Google Buzz really all it’s cracked up to be?

So where does Google Buzz fit in the Social Media world?

From what I’ve seen, Google Buzz seems to fit in between blogging and Twitter. Mashable currently use it to ask 140+ characters questions to its readers, thus taking the conversation to another level, a real-time forum perhaps.

The main issue I have with Google Buzz at the mo, is content overload.

Will Google Buzz going kill Facebook?

Unlikely… Most of non-geeky friends are still on Hotmail and MSN Messenger (yuck, yuck), and are blissfully unaware of Google Buzz. Most of my Facebook friends are non-geeks, and I only share the occasional (non-social media) link on my Facebook profile. Google Buzz is therefore unlikely to impact on my, or my friends’ link sharing behaviour.

You’ll also notice that I added a ‘Share on Google Buzz’ plugin on this blog next to my TweetMeme plugin.* I do not have a Share on Facebook button installed on my blog. I made the assumption that my blog readers wouldn’t share my content on Facebook but Twitter or Google Buzz instead…

* Note to developers – would it be possible to add a re-buzz counter so that we can track how many people are re-buzzing our content? A TweetMeme type community would be awesome!

Privacy issues?

If people have not made their email addresses private on their Google profiles, then technically anyone can get in touch with them. I find this a little worrying to be entirely honest with you… Not all email users will know how to edit their Google profiles, and again I am pretty sure that a large chunk of Google Mail users are not even aware that they have a Google Profile!

Implications for brands and Digital PR?

Brands  should really worry about Google Buzz; in a crisis, negative comments could spread like wildfire. If Google were to add a ‘See the buzz’ feature on their search engine homepage, Internet users would be able to view real-time results about a product or brand; we all know by now how much we trust strangers! I’d really like to see Google introduce a search content by location/language feature; it shouldn’t be too difficult, should it?

What are you opinions of Google Buzz so far? Where does Google Buzz fit in your Social Media consumption?

Last year, I had the opportunity to work on the relaunch the McDonald’s Piccadilly Circus sign through Social Media using Facebook, Flickr, Delicious, YouTube, whilst also engaging with a few London-based bloggers.

By standing on the pavement at Piccadilly Circus, you can have a unique and quirky picture taken right under the sign.

McDonald’s have just added some new executions bang on time for Valentine’s Day including a ‘I love you balloon’, ‘Be my Valentine’ and  12 red roses.

Why not pop down there at the WE to check them out? The ‘I’m loving’ it’ catch phrase fits quite well with the whole Valentine’s theme… Saying that  you might end up getting dumped if you take your GF out for a meal at McDonald’s on V-Day *

Picture via

* Any other day is OK though