On Monday I gave a presentation at the CIRP Social Media conference in Russell Square, London.

I talked about people, rather than brands who had made a creative impact online, mentioning Jed Hallam, Laura Tosney, Graeme Anthony, Brandon Kleinmann, Josh Halliday and the guys responsible for the ‘A Hug from Taylor Swift’ campaign.

Within the presentation I also spoke about recent ‘internet sensation’ Rebecca Black and how there is a difference between influence, exposure and popularity. Whilst many individuals want their 15 minutes of fame, I would suggest it’s perhaps a better strategy focusing on being trusted, credible and authentic. The people I focused on also demonstrated that it’s the little hings you can do at the start of your career which can go on to mark a whole period of your life.

Overall, I had a thoroughly enjoyable day and had the pleasure of meeting a couple of new people, some readers of SWT and attended presentations given by Tracy Playle, Euan Semple, Gary Gale, Bryan Tookey and Stuart Bruce. All fantastic speakers and real thought leaders in the expanding digital space.

Here is a copy of the presentation – if you have any questions, please do get in touch.

I’ve been asked to speak at the CIPR Social Media Conference on 11 April 2011 at Russell Square, London where I’ll be running a short workshop called ‘10 Creative Ways to Create Impact Online’.

I’ve got a couple ideas I’m playing around with for the session and without wishing to give too much away, I plan to talk about industry colleagues who have made a creative impact online, rather than brands.

I have some case studies I’m going to discuss, but this is where I need your help. I’d like to draw on the wisdom of the crowd to source good examples of people who have created an impact online. I’ve been deliberately vague as I’d be interested to hear a range of examples.

For those who are interested; I’ve chosen to focus on individuals as I think there are some great examples of industry colleagues who have used social media as one part of an integrated plan to promote their talent, build their reputation and ultimately, land jobs.

You can follow the event #ciprsm and click here to find out more information on the conference.

I’ve put together a presentation deck of 10 Social Media #Epic #Fails. It’s something I have been working on for a while and for the presentations I give, it often helps to include a few examples of people who have failed to grasp that social media is public, permanent and immediate – often with awful consequences. I have taken an employability focused approach and hope the deck highlights the fact that boundaries between private and public and personal and professional are being blurred.

Unfortunately, it was not too difficult to come up with this list. If truth be told, it could have been a top 100. Despite the large list, it still amazes me how few people are familiar with the privacy settings of their favourite social networks and the impact this will have upon their digital footprint and Personal SEO . I always urge caution and advise people not to say anything they would not like their grandparents to hear or alternatively, think along the lines that you don’t own your Facebook page, Mark Zuckerberg does.

In addition, I’ve decided to break with tradition and put this list into a presentation deck. I normally put together written lists, which generally prove popular in terms of views. However, we often tell our clients the importance of making content ‘social’ so it can be shared, commented upon and embedded elsewhere. So I thought I’d start following some of my own advice.

I’d be interested to hear your views on the deck and please do let me know of any other stories of people who have committed social media #epic #fails or indeed, great successes.

I gave a presentation this afternoon entitled An Introduction to Social Media at the annual Supporters Direct conference. The event held at the smart IET was  an opportunity for supporters up and down the country and beyond to come together and talk about sports club ownership. For those who are unaware of what SD does, essentially their aim is to bring about responsible, democratic representation for supporters at their clubs, often by buying a stake in them.

As a QPR fan, a club who like many, have sailed rather close to the wind in recent times, the concept of supporters owning part or all of  their club has always interested me and I was only too delighted to help out after SD Communications Manager, Kevin Rye got in contact via Twitter.

As I mentioned in the presentation I think social media can be used effectively for people to congregate, communicate and mobilise around a cause or campaign, such as sports club ownership. I hope the session provided a useful introduction to social media and that the case studies and tools featured helped demystify some of the platforms out there.

I was also lucky enough to attend Dr John Beech’s session which looked at the tell-tale signs of a club whose finances are not as healthy as they proclaim. It was an insightful, humourous session and for those with an interest in football club ownership, I recommend checking out his Football Management blog.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed presenting and I must say it was an afternoon well spent, meeting passionate, committed supporters all in one place. There were many inspiring people in attendance and it is always somewhat humbling to meet those who freely dedicate untold hours to a cause close their heart. With regard to SD, it is great to see a democratic, co-operative, self-help movement that wants to garner grassroots support for genuine change and supporter representation. I look forward to working with them again in the future.

You can find out more about this year’s conference from the #sdvision Twitter stream. Below is a copy of the presentation – if you attended the session I would delighted to hear your feedback or any questions you may have.

Thanks is also due to my Edelman colleague and Watford supporter Matt Churchill for the hours of hard work he put into the presentation.

I received a Google Alert the other day, alerting me to the fact that Sophia Fantis had written a blog mentioning my name, only to discover that she had in fact, produced a video based on the presentation I gave to London Met a couple of weeks ago, ‘WTF is Personal SEO’.

Sophia is currently an MSc Strategic PR and Communications Management student at Stirling University and I must say what a pleasant surprise (and honour) it is to hear that I’d ‘inspired’ Sophia. I think it’s a great video and is a lot more effective that a simple deck of slides.

You can find out more information about Sophia from her Tweets, blog or Linked In profile.

I gave a presentation yesterday to some Public Relations students at London Met University, having been kindly invited by their lecturer Gareth Thompson who got in touch after our paths crossed at the Euprera Spring Symposium.

The presentation details my thoughts on Personal SEO and how this is often a more accurate description of what people term ‘personal brand’. It contains quotes from senior PR colleagues and explains how blogging, putting real work online and networking can generate strong Personal SEO.

It’s always great to meet current PR students and see how other university’s ‘do’ PR education. I was impressed by this group of young people and look forward to seeing how they get on in the industry.

Here is a copy of the presentation – if you have any questions, please do get in touch.

In February of this year I won the Euprera Social Media award for the Best Practitioner/Researcher blog and was asked to give a presentation explaining my rationale for the blog and offer some reflections.

In recent weeks a couple of people have asked for a copy of the slides so here they are – if you have any questions do get on touch.

Last week (Wednesday 20 January 2010) I gave a presentation to a group of NHS Graduate Trainee Communicators as part of my role at the Centre for Public Relations Studies, Leeds Business School.

I presented alongside my colleagues Professor Anne Gregory and Paul Willis and highlighted practical issues in social media using a variety of case studies.

It was great to meet such an inquisitive group of people, from a variety of backgrounds and look forward to seeing how their careers progress.

Here is a copy of the presentation – if you have any questions, please do get in touch.