Baskerville: Font of the week

Baskerville, designed in 1754, is most known for its crisp edges, high contrast and generous proportions. The typeface was heavily influenced by the processes of the Birmingham-bred John Baskerville, a master type-founder and printer, who owed much of his career to his beginnings. As a servant in a clergyman’s house, it was his employer that discovered his penmanship talents and sent him to learn writing. Baskerville was illiterate but became very interested in calligraphy, and practised handwriting and inscription that was later echoed in strokes and embellishments in his printed typeface.

Know your coffee

I love infographics and typefaces

Given that this is the case I am going to do a regular review of the best typefaces and infographics on the web - so we start with just a brief periodic table of typefaces in... er... an info graphic. Enjoy! For the record my favourite typeface at the moment is Rockwell.

Twitter - the new graffiti

From my mate Andy: With the ability to freely express ourselves, almost instantaneously, through social media, does this new facility undermine one of the oldest forms of offline social media – graffiti?
Also, is social media the ultimate form of defining your urbanity – in all senses of the word? Can we measure this repercussion of the impact of social media – is there less graffiti around?
In my creativity and innovation teachings I do see graffiti and Twitter as both forms of creative expression. If you think about why do people write graffiti? I suspect it is motivated by:A need to express a response, an idea to a situation

• An outlet for rage, boredom or despondency
• Adding to or responding to other graffiti
• Marking out some territorial space for you or your allegiance
• Demonstrating your allegiance as well as your wit, humour or insight – your urbanity
• An expression, for some, of their artistic ability

I was inspired by the topic after coming across a piece of graffiti from ancient Pompeii, which read: Wall! I wonder that you haven’t fallen down in ruin, when you have to support all the boredom of your inscribers.
My experience of graffiti falls far short of the elegance, the urbanity, of the Pompeii piece. Perhaps, it was in higher education, the loos at the library in Swansea University – I had to make some use of the building’s facilities! – whose graffiti I most recall.
A Welsh nationalists call to hit the English with: Don’t flush the toilet -  England needs the water and an answer from someone presumably from Albion with the rejoinder: Don’t flush the toilet – Wales needs the sh*t raised a smile. (In hindsight it is not particularly funny, but demonstrates the power of context and immediacy in giving cultural value to something – which doesn’t bode well for the longetivity of much social media content.)
And perhaps my all-time favourite of a plea from another student in 1980 facing the prospect of leaving the safe world of university life: But I don’t want to be an Asst. Area manager for Sainsbury’s to which another wag added: But what else is a BscEcon good for! - which you need to have been at Swansea for, to appreciate the significance.
Of course, no review of my life – and the graffiti it has witnessed – would not be complete without acknowledging the universal words scratched on the metal casing of all Durex machines in men’s bogs across the land: This chewing gum tastes awful. And next to the kite mark with its guarantee of quality, the words: So, was the Titanic!
The question remains, is there less graffiti about – whether it is the toilet cubicles of university libraries, or in everyday life?
My anecdotal evidence is yes. And we have not just witnessed a decline in volume but also, graffiti is reflecting underlying dynamics in changing trends.
It is now in two camps: premium, whether in its ultimate form is a work of art by Banksy or your neighbourhood street artist, or has become more basic and commoditised, with either just cheap or common statements of just a football team name.
The word ‘urbanity’ does not just mean being charming or considerate, but also of being of an urban area. Is graffiti and now social media an ultimate expression of ‘urbanity’- of living a life in an urban context?
What’s your view? Is there less graffiti about? And what has been the impact of social media?

Blogging for Business: Top Ten Tips

We manage a number of blogs on behalf of many clients. Indeed, for some clients we manage all their social media communications from micro-sites, to blogs, to Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin.
Too often though many companies fail to understand the purpose of a blog and how it is different from their corporate website. Many company blogs are just bland reproductions of the existing website. There is often no personality on display just a grey suit which uses and officious tone announcing the play-by-play updates of company news that invites no interaction with the reader, which is probably the customer or supplier.
With this in mind we’ve been thinking about what makes a good corporate blog. So, inevitably, here are our top ten tips for successful corporate blogs.

Set Your Guidelines
When creating a blog you must be able to define the value that it’s bringing to the reader. Your need to clearly define the focused theme that your team will follow. Choose a blog name and theme that fits well with your company’s expertise, but don’t be afraid to branch out into a larger space. Your blog should provide pertinent information for consumers interested in your area of business.
Once you’ve chosen an area to cover, create a set of editorial guidelines that your bloggers can follow. At GREEN we produce a number of guidelines on social media for a wide range of clients which clearly states the objectives of the blogs and the do’s and don’ts. This stops any abuse and helps the company avoid any potential controversy.
For instance at LINPAC Packaging they blog about, well, packaging and plastics. And not just about what they are doing internally on a new product release but offering some though leadership on the debate raging around packaging. The theme is specific enough for readers to understand what they may find, but it is such a broad topic, that almost limitless posts are possible.

Choose a Blogging Team
Not everyone can write - at least not in a manner that draws in the reader. More crucially, not everyone wants to write and many positively avoid it. So choose individuals that are knowledgeable and comfortable writing about the areas you would like to cover. Some companies prefer to elect an editor or group of editors to have a final look at all blog posts, while other companies allow their bloggers to publish directly. We prefer the later - if the guidelines are clear you should trust the people your working with.

Dress Down
If your website is the suited and booted face of your company, then your blog is your Dress Down Friday look. A blog is a place to let down your corporate hair and get to know your customers. Think of it as a conversation between people, not between a brand and one person. In order to have a conversation, you need two people - a blogger and a reader.
Give your corporate bloggers the freedom to be themselves. Encourage them to have their own personalities and writing styles. This type of diversity is more representative of your company than any monotonous tone that you could manufacture on your own.

Avoid PR and Marketing
Might seem like strange advice coming from a company that specialises in public relations and marketing but the insight, knowledge and expertise that a blog can impart is far more useful than any PR pitch that you could post. Stay away from trying to selling and marketing - you can do that on your website or in deadwood media publications.

Take it on the chin
Many organizations run scared off social media in the belief that some people (and their will be some people) will just use it as an opportunity to say bad things about you. But they would probably be mean about your anyway with its through social media or in a pub conversation.
Accept that you will have detractors but make a point of welcoming criticism and using it as an opportunity for providing feedback and improvement.

Outline Your Comment Policy
Open up your blog for full feedback, you will get a variety of comments - postivie, complimentary, hateful, and spam. Be prepared for everything and create a comment policy that your team can follow. GREEN’s comment policy is set out below:
Commenting on Greenblog
It is our policy to review all comments before publishing them, partly to reduce the possibility of spam comments and partly to ensure comments are in line with our list of blogger ethics below:

• We will tell the truth. We will acknowledge and correct any mistakes promptly.
• We will not delete comments unless they are spam, off-topic, or defamatory.
• We will reply to comments when appropriate as promptly as possible.
• We will link to online references and original source materials directly.
• We will disagree with other opinions respectfully.

Get Social
Use share tools, such as Facebook, Twitter and Digg.  Share tools allow your users to pass along your content and that’s a great way of creating brand ambassadors. We use a simple addthis button to make sharing easier.
Also, integrate you blog into other social media platroms by creating profiles across social networks that your readers and customers are active on. Facebook and Twitter are a good start, and YouTube is a must for video-sharing. When you post on your blog, announce the new post on your social networks and ask for your readers’ opinions on the subject.

Promote Your Blog
Just as you would promote any other company initiative, get the word out about your blog.  Share the URL on your website, social networks, business cards, e-mails, and advertisements.
Without promotion, building an audience can be difficult. Get behind the quality work that your team is putting into the blog and promote away.

Monitor and Feedback
One way to get a pulse on your blog and its effects on the community is to monitor mentions and feedback. Set up Google Alerts for your brand, blog name and any keywords that might be relevant.
At GREEN we use a number of programmes to monitor what our clients are saying online and what is being said about them.

Track Everything
Make sure your web analytics tools are switched on. We generally integrate Google Analytics into any blog we are managing. This tells us how much traffic the blog is receiving, where it’s coming from, where the referral websites are and which posts are being read the most.
Armed with this data we can then tweak future posts to ensure that we are getting the tone and content right.
Are missing anything? Leave a comment and let us know...

Eddie Stobart and stealth branding

The death of Eddie Stobart highlighted one of the UK’s most idiosyncratic brands. A medium-sized haulage company essentially offering the same product as its competitors became a much-revered British institution. But how? And why?
So, why does its name and reputation shine brighter?
What lessons are there for your word of mouth, PR, marketing and brand communications from the story of Eddie Stobart?
1. Distinctive visibility. In an age of limited budgets the need for what I call ‘Self-vertising’ is paramount. What ways can you use your own channels, your own imprint on how you connect with the outside world?
Eddie Stobart ensured there was a consistent brand image for his vehicles. Yet, lots of other haulage companies have consistent brand livery.
Eddie however, was blessed with innate great branding. The very name Eddie Stobart is distinct, memorable, unusual, without being too far difficult to comprehend or label, or be categorized and discarded as ‘foreign’
It is not that people are xenophobic, but memorable names have to be instantly filed away in our minds. The ‘Eddie Stobart’ name had the right balance to ensure it would stick out, create what we call ‘dissonance’, without being too outlandish.
This quality is what I call ‘Distinctive Visibility’. I came across a psychological test where you were asked to count the number of people in a street scene. Curiously, your brain paradoxically does not count those workmen wearing high visibility clothing. In spite of their ‘visibility’ they failed to make a distinctive impression.
What ways can your brand be both visible and distinctive?

2. Likeability - one of the most potent factors in branding success and indeed, life itself is what I call the ‘Likeability Factor’; do people like you, particularly on first impression. What if Mr Stobart had called his firm ‘Edward Stobart’ would it have been so effective.
The inherent informality of ‘Eddie’ was reinforced by giving his trucks girls’ names, a variation on the tradition of naming steam engines. By naming them, it humanised the trucks. People saw them not as ugly vehicles but more like a character in a children’s story, a toy, a bit of fun.
While you cannot fake, long-term likeability, it is possible to cultivate and nurture likeable features and characteristics for your brand.

3. Connectivity - the root core of any successful communication is creating a bridge between you and your target audience. Everyone, especially small children, can relate to a truck with a girl’s name. You can then relate back from that shared experience to how you feel about the brand as a whole.
Connectivity was extended with developments such as the Eddie Spotters Club (with its 25,000 members). The club was created in response to consumer demand rather than as a result of a marketing master plan. Initial enquiries from would-be fans were initially just sent a duplicated list of names. Again, this offers compelling evidence of the sheer innate brand quality of the ‘Eddie Stobart’ name.

4. Vibrancy - it seems there are sufficient Eddie Stobart trucks to be seen on a regular basis, but not enough to make them a boring, ubiquitous sight. A healthy brand relationship needs to have a good level of inter-action: not too much, nor too little.

5. Short Step engagement - to be an Eddie Spotter all you had to do was see a truck on the road. It did not require elaborate procedures; it was an easy-to-do. A web site with a range of merchandise catered for the more dedicated aficionados.
Eddie Spotting became a way of enlivening an otherwise dull motorway journey. Te distraction is welcomed, you are not having to distract from a rival, competing interest. What quiet or dull moments could provide opportunities for your brand to engage with your fans?

6. Conversation value - spotting an Eddie Stobart truck gives you an opportunity to impress your fellow traveller by being the first to spot as well as the cue for a conversation about your shared ‘Eddie experiences’. What talking points do you offer your fans?

7. Brand mystery. Curiously, despite being one of the best known names in the country Eddie Stobart himself was uncharismatic, shy, and kept himself out of the public spotlight.

This ‘invisibility’ actually enhanced the ‘Eddie Stobart’ brand; if you knew more about him as a person there is the danger of then being able to pigeon-hole, categorize him, his class, regional accent – and, if you liked him or not.
Keeping Mr Stobart out of the equation let people create their own sum, their image of the persona they would like ‘Eddie Stobart’ to be; invariably, this will be a positive, likeable image.
In the same way that the formula for Coca Cola is allegedly a secret, what Brand Mystery do you tantalise your world with?
GREEN Communications can you help you maximise the impact of your brand. We can provide your business with the best brand story to support its success. Get in touch now for a free informal Brand audit.

Wakefield's first PechaKucha Night

We had a fantastic evening at the first ever PechaKucha Night in Wakefield on Thursday.
For those who have not experienced a PechaKucha - it is a simple presentation format where you show 20 images, each for 20 seconds. The images forward automatically and you talk along to the images.
The presentation format was devised by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham of Klein Dytham architecture. So, why this format ? Because architects talk too much! Give a microphone and some images to an architect - or most creative people for that matter - and they'll go on forever! Give powerpoint to anyone else and they have the same problem.
PechaKucha Nights are informal and fun gatherings where creative people get together and share their ideas, works, thoughts, holiday snaps - just about anything really, in the PechaKucha 20x20 format.
Most cities - not just Tokyo - have virtually no public spaces where people can show and share their work in relaxed way. If you have just graduated from college and finished your first project in the real world - where can you show it? It probably won't get into a magazine, you don't have enough photos for a gallery show or a lecture - but PechaKucha 20x20 is the perfect platform to show and share your work.
Wakefield’s first PechaKucha was held and hosted at The Art House and supported by GREEN Communications and The Hepworth Wakefield.
We had several great presentations from:
Jane Walton - on the definition of entrepreneurialism and social enterprise.
Brian Lewis - on creating a conversation through art. I spent a happy five minutes sat on the floor with Brian looking at his 'tarot cards' and creating a narrative on what I saw. Both Brian and I were a bit perplexed that a in a room full of creatives no one came over to find our what two middle aged men where doing sitting on the floor and talking about pictures!
Bob Clayden - great presentation on pin-hole cameras and a planned event next month on building your own pin-hole camera and creating works of art.
Paul Airy - this local artist did an excellent and thoughtful presentation on his forthcoming exhibition: One Word At A Time.
Victoria Lucas and Richard Wheater - two other Wakefield artists who work in light and glass did a great presentation on their latest project - Twelve Months of Neon Love which can be seen from the East Coast Mainline as you arrive at Wakefield Westgate station.
PechaKucha Night Wakefield was a great event - more updates later but be sure to attend as a presenter or as a member of the audience.

Journalism vs Churnalism

A new website launched today which seeks to name and shame journalists and publications caught recycling press releases.
Now we are no strangers to cut and paste journalism and I was probably guilty of in the past if I am honest when, as a journalist, I came a worthy piece of news wrapped up in an elegantly written press release.
In truth, at GREEN we are manned by many former journalists so most of our press releases are written in the manner would expect the journalist to write them for their particular publication.
Churnalism.com has been launched by the Media Standards Trust and takes up the baton from Guardian journalist Nick Davies - who popularised the term Churnalism, for journalism which is little more than re-writing press releases, in his 2008 book Flat Earth News.
The site invites people to paste press releases into it, Churnalism.com then compares the press release with news stories published online to reveal how much is apparently cut and pasted by the journalist.
Examples this morning include a press release from Asda stating that families are now £8 a week better off than a year ago, which was apparently 89 per cent cut and pasted into a story appearing on Mail Online.
Media Standards Trust Director Martin Moore said: "News organisations can now be much more transparent about the sources of their articles, but most of them still aren’t. Hiding the connection between PR and news is not in the interests of the public. Hopefully churnalism.com will nudge them to be more open about their use of PR material.
"Even with press releases that are clearly in the public interest - medical breakthroughs, government announcements, school closures, and perhaps even this website launch - it is still better that articles are transparent about their sources.
"Maybe churnalism.com will also encourage more original journalism. Exposing unoriginal churn may help slow the steep decline in the amount of original reporting that we’ve seen in the last few years."
That’s all very good but I suppose you have to pose the question if the story is good enough in a press release then right-minded journalists will use. If they have any doubts the first rule is always go back to the source and challenge the content
Full disclosure: This story was based on a press release from the Media Standards Trust and other coverage on various websites.

Howard Carter on DEET

Our friend Howard Carter at incognito offers some insight into the issues surrounding DEET insect repellent and how mosquitoes are becoming increasingly resistant to this toxin.

How social are you? Fancy a pint?

Social media has transformed the internet in the past five years but many companies still struggle to embrace it. I was recently invited by iGaming Business Magazine to write an article offering a simple strategy for managing your digital profile. Here it is:

Let’s imagine you’re in the pub having a conversation with your best mate about your local football team’s dismal standing in the league table.
Someone else in the bar, a stranger, is eavesdropping. He is a fellow fan and commiserates with you about the teams failings - so he joins in your conversation about the team’s bad management. The landlady behind the bar chips in her views. And the old bloke sat at his usual table holds forth about the team’s poor defence. Everyone enjoys a conversation.
Now let’s imagine you’re online on your Facebook account having the same conversation with a bunch of people who have become friends with you because you’re all interested in the same football team. You’ve never met them in real life but you have a shared interest that you wish to talk about - and there are thousands of you.
As a definition of social media - such as websites like Facebook, Linkedin, blogs, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Plaxo, FourSquare and the emerging mobile applications - the term ‘conversation’ neatly sums up what social media is. It is an ongoing digital dialogue which is having a huge impact on people’s personal lives but also on businesses too.
Now imagine the conversation around your brand - whether you are a game developer, operator, distributor or manufacturer - and consider what people are saying about your company. Are you listening? Are you engaged? Are you adding to the conversation? No? I thought not. Most businesses don’t bother and they are missing a huge marketing opportunity.
Some people love your company and brand and are talking about it in glowing terms but you are not talking to them. Others really don’t like you and are telling others why they hate you but you are not talking to them. Are you?
If you’re not in the conversation, you’re not engaged. If you’re not engaged you’re not in game and your brand can be trashed. Meanwhile, in failing to engage with social media your company’s ranking on the search engines will be significantly curtailed as social media is now one of the main influencers in search engine optimisation.
Let’s look at the statistics. If Facebook was a country it would be the third most populated ahead of the United States - only China and India are bigger.  More than 500 billion minutes are spent on Facebook every month and 25 million items of content - links, blogs, photos, videos, news - are posted there every month. One third of 18 to 34 years check their Facebook account after they wake up.
Twenty four hours of video content is uploaded on to YouTube every minute and two billion YouTube videos viewed every day - this is rising sequentially. Meanwhile, more than four billion images are hosted on Flickr. Elsewhere, 95 per cent of companies use Linkedin to identify and attract new staff and there are more than 27 million tweets per day on Twitter.
Are they talking about you? Possibly. Are your talking to them? Probably not.
Social media is not a revolution. It has evolved as people have adapted to the internet and moulded it into a media which suits their needs and desires but business has been slow to embrace the opportunities of social media. And curiously, the gaming sector - which should be the most digitally enabled - is failing miserably.
Major companies now recognise the importance of social media as a communications and marketing medium. Scores of business-to-consumer brands now how thousands and in some cases, millions of followers on their Facebook and Twitter sites and are happily talking with their customers, addressing criticism and accepting praise.
Any company considering this powerful new marketing tool must use it as part of the overall marketing strategy of the business. For instance, why bother with a blog or Twitter account if you do not have a link to them on your corporate website?
For any marketing manager in the games sector considering a social media footprint the most simple strategy is: Follow, Create and then Engage.
Follow: seek the online community which is talking about your company online. They might be customers, employees, suppliers and competitors. Understand what they are saying about your company - their likes and dislikes. There are simple  tools on the web to seek out your community - either using Google or more specialist social media search sites like addictomatic.com
Create: Establish a personality and tone of voice for your brand and create an social media profile which might include a blog, Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook page.
Engage: Join in the conversation through your blog and other social media websites. Follow people in your field, those who are talking about you and engage with them. You will quickly begin to establish a community who you will engage with.
Not everyone will be a fan. There will always be detractors but at least you are now part of the conversation and can address any issues as and when they arise.
As a marketing tool social media is the most potent tool in your possession and can significantly improve how you communicate with your customers - covering all areas from sales promotion to crisis management. Meanwhile, it will do wonders for your search engine optimisation significantly improving your company’s digital footprint.

It's Burn's Night Tonight!

Ian, left, with best mate Andy Grant

Six lessons from The King's Speech

The Oscar-tipped The King’s Speech is a great film but also highlights valuable lessons for communicators - with its story centred on the relationship between King George VI and his unorthodox speech therapist Lionel Logue and how together, they achieve extraordinary results.
Here are six lessons for communications consultants from The King’s Speech:
1 Work as a partnership of equals. The best results come from two sides, aligning themselves to their common interests to achieve their goal. At the very beginning of their relationship the consultant recognised that deference should not get in the way of addressing their common task, and insisted he should be called ‘Lionel’ rather than Mr Logue, and in turn, he should call the King by his affectionate pet name of ‘Bertie’. By working as equal partners it helps to create optimum synergies. If it were an equation it would read: 1+1= 3.
2 The consultant needs to insist the working relationship is on their professional terms. In addition to getting his client to use Christian names, the consultant was equally insistent that the training had to be done at his premises and on a daily, not weekly basis.
3 Be brave and be prepared to walk away. At the outset Logue took a high risk strategy of ‘take it or leave it’ in offering his services to the future King. He stood to lose this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Yet, he recognised how he might get over the first hurdle but ultimately would fail if he did not stand by his professional principles. How often do consultants fail to heed the early warning signs of potential problems with their clients and remain afraid to take the tough decision if necessary?
4 Look for causes rather than addressing the symptoms. Rather than address the evident manifestations of the King’s speech impediment Logue examined for deeper root causes to the King’s ailment. By doing this, in spite of initial client opposition, he could make a real difference. The client is not always right. Sometimes they may shy away from real causes of a problem.
5 Accept sometimes you have to say ‘sorry’ and on occasions you may need to make up. The film portrays the disagreements between the client and consultant and how they row and fall out. They could have easily stubbornly gone their separate ways. The recognition of the value each brought to the other overcome personal pride. Inevitably, in any dynamic client/consultant relationship there will be up’s and down’s. The best relationships are bigger than the disagreements which may sometimes upset them.
6 Be there for the critical times. When King George had to make his epic war-time speeches rallying the nation in its darkest hour, Logue was there at his side, ensuring in the most important times for his client he was at hand.
You too can enjoy the success of Lionel Logue. You may not have a King as a client, but they will hopefully respect you royally.

What really motivates us...

The Power of Time

Really good appraisal of where we are now with how we order our lives...

Ross is using his skills to find a job

s it’s often said that if you can sell yourself you can sell anything, so we were delighted to see our chum Ross Brown taking up the challenge by - using the tools of his trade to find a new job.
For 10 years, Ross has been self-employed, working with clients and agencies to provide them both with expertise in digital marketing. From initial strategy and planning through to production and delivery, Ross’s work encompasses all aspects of digital marketing - from web sites to email campaigns, search engine optimisation to audio & video production.
Now he’s utilising this expertise to promote himself, using both traditional and digital marketing techniques, to find a new job.
And he’s offering a reward of £250 to whoever can help him find his dream role.
"I’m missing working with a team on a regular basis and the buzz you get in an office environment, he says. "For me, it’s the role that’s important, not the title on the business card. I want a job where I can make a real impression, perhaps helping a business to grow whilst delivering high-quality work."
As a former journalist and PR manager, Ross is well-placed to take advantage of the boom in social media, planning and delivering campaigns using marketing channels such as Twitter, Facebook and blogs to allow a company to communicate directly with its customers.
But he’s using this expertise to his own advantage for the first time.
Commenting on his campaign, Ross says: "Since the millennium, I’ve worked with clients and agencies large & small, combining my expertise in marketing, technology and business to deliver cost-effective and high-quality digital solutions.
I’ve enjoyed the time I’ve spent in self-employment but the time is right for me both professionally and personally to return to full-time employment - and using the marketing tools I specialise in seems like the best way to find the perfect job."
He adds: "Most people in my line of work either deal with clients, or deal with programming and development. Because of my experience in self-employment, not only can I speak to clients in a language they understand - explaining the business benefits of a digital strategy - but I can also speak to the development team and ensure that the finished product is both technically-proficient and meets the client’s requirements.”
Ross is using his blog at www.rossbrown.co.uk to record the progress of what he’s calling "Operation Job", using his social media marketing skills to promote himself through his business and personal networks.

Five day Twixtmas work out

Over at GREEN we are celebrating Twixtmas. You can transform your personal happiness by doing a five-day work out during the Twixtmas break - the period between Christmas and New Year.
By following some easy-to-do ‘happiness workout’ tips you can make yourself happier, ready to step into 2011 with more optimism and energy.
The binge happiness five-day programme consists of completing what is called a ‘happy diary’ for each of the five days of Twixtmas, December 27-December 31, which focus on the happy, positives in your life.
Writing down positive thoughts and feelings has been proven to beat just talking about them. Scientists believe that writing encourages the creation of a structure and storyline which can help people make sense of what has happened in their past and also guide and direct them towards finding solutions. Just talking about problems can often be unstructured, disorganised, and even chaotic. As a result, it can add a sense of confusion to your emotional state.
Twixtmas campaigner and GREEN director Andy Green said: "Arm yourself with pen and paper and make some time during the Twixtmas break to give yourself a five-day happiness work-out. Expressing your appreciation and thinking about the positive aspects of your future, or even writing affectionate things, have been scientifically proven to work and make you feel better in yourself.”
The 5 day ‘binge happiness work-out’ consists of:
Day 1 Write down four things from the past week which have made you feel grateful. Then think about and write down how one of the best experiences in your life made you feel.
Day 2 Write about something good you have done for someone else.
Day 3 Write a short email or letter to someone who you like or care for. Why not tell them how good they are and why they are important to you?
Day 4 Make a list of your favourite places visited or places you would like to go. Think about why you liked them so much or what attracts you to want to go there.
Day 5 write about your future, where everything has gone as well as you have hoped. Also, think about the present and make a note of four things that went really well for you during the five days of Twixtmas.
"The five days of Twixtmas, between December 27 and December 31, are an ideal time to do your very own binge happiness work-out. Most people put things off or don’t get round to doing them because they say they don’t have time. There is no excuse for most of us over the Twixtmas break to enjoy some ‘binge happiness’," said Andy.
The Twixtmas campaign is a new idea to change what is seen as a dull, fallow holiday period into a massive opportunity to get people to do small acts of goodness to create significant social good for themselves and others.
Instead of binge shopping or binge drinking, the not-for-profit campaign is trying to encourage binge doing, thinking and ‘binge happiness’ to overcome the problem of ‘time poverty’ – where people perceive they do not have enough time to do things for themselves or others, or the planet.
The campaign was originally conceived by social enterprise the Flexible Thinking Forum.
The website www.twixtmas.com offers practical advice and inspiration to encourage everyone to make the most of this under-used opportunity. The site also provides a free facility for sending a Twixtmas e-greeting card, and you can also download a Twixtmas pledge form.
If just 0.1% of the UK population did five good things this would create 250,000 acts of goodness.

UK's Top Ten PR Blogs

According to Cision’s latest list of the UK’s top 10 public relations blogs my modest little blog here has made the top ten:

1. NevilleHobson.com
2. Drew B’s take on tech PR
3. Wadds’ PR and Media blog
4. A PR Guy’s Musings – Stuart Bruce
5. PR STUDIES
6. PR Media Blog
7. The Red Rocket
8. Mediations
9. SimonWakeman
10. iangreen.com

Not sure whether this blog merits the mention but it’s interesting to read their methodology and how Cision have chosen iangreen.com. They have also created a great resource of the top ten blogs on a wide range of topics from tech to fashion.
Like Stuart Bruce it’s interesting to note that I have engaged with all the other bloggers listed here either through social media and eventually face to face.
The other interesting point to note is that Cision still regards blogs as having a key purpose in the media mix. About eight moths ago there was a big discussion about whether blogs were past their sell by date with the rise of Facebook and Twitter.
However, some blogs have such a devoted audience that many PR companies are pitching product and stories to them as they appreciate the influence they have.
The other aspect of course now corporates are now seeing the sense of have a dedicated blog alongside their “traditional” website and news feed. This is all great but I suspect the real reason is that corporates and other have finally realised how potent social media is as a means of enhancing a website’s search engine optimisation.
And I need to hold my hadn up here because at GREEN Communications we are advocating this approach for that very reason – especially when some SEO specialists are charging the less-media savvy clients over £5,000 a month to manage their SEO.

How to start a mass movement

There is a brilliant presentation on how to start a mass movement in three minutes’ by Derek Sivers, an inspirational entrepreneur speaking at the TED conference
It features a crazy guy dancing by himself at a rock festival. Within three minutes his reality - and world - is transformed by a mass stampede of festival go-ers wanting to part of the new next must-do thing. Sivers brilliantly deconstructs and analyses the process:

• First you need to lone nut.
• The lone nut needs to a dance (or equivalent) that’s distinctive but easily copy-able.
• Crucially, you need a #2 fan who is willing by themselves to join the lone nut.
• With the support and encouragement of the lone nut, the #2 fan is nurtured into being able to do the dance.
• #3 nut joins in. This is also crucial; there is no longer a lone nut, but a discernable group emerging.
• Quickly, other early adopters join-in.
• Next thing you know there is now a panic as people rush to join, anxious not to be left out.

Well, we at GREEN know how it feels to be a lone nut. We have put our head above the parapet and urged others to join in the crusade for Twixtmas.
You cannot underestimate how good it feels when you get a positive response. It is even more gratifying when people start to take massive action.
David Taylor, the famous motivational writer and author of the Naked Leader did not just smile, and politely think Twixtmas was a nice idea. He could have become the example of a #2 fan as he then circulated the Twixtmas message to the entire readership of his newsletter.
Thank you David for your courage, and positive action.
Could you now pluck up the courage to be a#3 or #4 or #5 or #6-fan?
Can you take action beyond acknowledgement? Can you make the world different through doing something now for Twixtmas?

Hope for Bhopal

President Obama was elected on a mandate for HOPE.
He, quite rightly, held BP accountable for the recent oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and their liability is already estimated at $40billion.
The 1984 Bhopal disaster has NEVER been cleaned up. Toxic waste, from the factory that caused the disaster, has contaminated the drinking water of many tens of thousands of people. They are being poisoned TODAY.
An American company, Dow Chemical, are legally responsible for this contamination. President Obama has elected the CEO of Dow Chemical, Mr.Andrew Liveris, to his 'India-US CEO forum'. On Monday Obama will address the Indian Parliament and the people of Bhopal still HOPE for justice. Please circulate this image...

Happy Apple Day