Entries Tagged as 'facebook'

THE DEATH OF IVY BEAN, THE OLDEST TWEETER IN TOWN

THE oldest person on Twitter, Ivy Bean, died this week at the age of 104.

The great-grandmother from Bradford had first hit the headlines when she got ‘bored’ with one social network – Facebook – and switched to Twitter.

She ‘tweeted’ about her love of fish and chips, her online friendship with celebrity Peter Andre and her fondness for TV’s ‘Deal, or No Deal’.

Ivy chalked up a mind-boggling 56,000 followers on Twitter, who kept in touch with her via regular updates of just 14o characters. [Read more →]

Is this the death of local newspapers?

LOCAL newspapers have become amongst the first victims of the global recession with major job losses, pay freezes and closures announced.

Some commmentators are already predicting that the future for local papers is bleak, almost terminal, as they are hit both by the economic downturn and the march of the internet.

Editorial quality is always one of the first things to be sacrificed it seems, as newspaper ‘bean counters’ cut jobs and titles to reduce costs and maintain profits for their shareholders.

Here in the North West, for example, 43 journalist jobs are going at Trinity Newspapers on Merseyside, publishers of the Liverpool Echo and Daily Post; the Guardian Media Group, publishers of the Manchester Evening News, has closed local paper offices all over Greater Manchester and the Newsquest-owned Bury Times is now being moved to Bolton! The same story is being repeated all over the country. [Read more →]

New businesses want more web marketing – Sound Communication survey

FLEDGLING businesses in Greater Manchester want more help to market themselves on the internet as the recession bites, according to a Sound Communication survey.

They want better technical support, more training and stronger creative input to help market their businesses more effectively on the web.

Although most are ‘reasonably’ or ‘very well equipped’ to use the internet, the biggest barrier they face is their lack of knowledge and the ‘techy’ jargon used by experts.

More than 100 start-up enterprises took part in the survey which was carried out by Sound Communication during a series of ‘Marketing on the Web’ workshops we provided for new small businesses.

[Read more →]

Obama leads the way in digital politics

HOW many people would watch a 37-minute speech by a politician?

Few of us would guess that five and a half-million people would have tuned in.

But that’s how many people have apparently so far watched Barack Obama’s ‘More Perfect Union’ speech on YouTube.

In its entirety.

The Democratic Presidential contender has other impressive on-line statistics: $235million dollars so far donated by 1.5 million individuals, 8.3 million people watching the ‘Obama Girl’ video on YouTube, record numbers of friends and supporters groups on Facebook.

All of which led to Obama being hailed as the clear leader in digital politics during a fascinating live debate on the impact of the internet on the American Presidential election, sponsored by the Financial Times, the US Embassy in London and YouGovStone.

[Read more →]

An ethically-based alternative to Facebook?

unltdworld_logo.jpg

A NEW online network for social entrepreneurs has just been launched – and was attracting considerable attention at the Voice 08 conference in Liverpool this week.

UnLtdWorld aims to provide a network to bring together social entrepreneurs from all over the globe.

They can share on-line conversations, interests and values – and make connections around specific projects or work.

UnLtdWorld is for people who are passionate about change and who want to make a difference.

It is the internet answer to those amongst us – Sound Communication included – who have often wondered why social enterprises don’t work together more collaboratively. The sum of the parts, etc….

Already UnLtdWorld has more than 1500 members – we have just joined – and is hopefully set to grow and become a worthy but never remotely dull alternative to Facebook and MySpace. 

And the Guardian appears to like it too!

Experienced, enterprising, ethical. Sound People.

MEET the Sound Communication team:

Matthew Finnegan - former Director of Communications for Liverpomatt2.JPGol between 1999-2006, Matt was part of the team which helped win the Capital of Culture title for the city. A respected journalist in the North West for 20 years – 15 at the Guardian & Manchester Evening News – he is a former Parliamentary candidate and member of Labour’s legendary Millbank team during the 1997 General Election campaign. As a PR specialist, he worked on the campaigns to deliver two key regeneration  projects for the North West - The Lowry in Salford and the Imperial War Museum-North, in Trafford.
Expertise: Media Relations, Public Affairs, Crisis Management, writing

miles1.jpgMiles Barter - Journalist, broadcaster and former newspaper and magazine editor. Miles worked in local and national radio for ten years hosting radio and TV shows. He has impressive experience as a sports commentator, broadcasting from Lords, Wembley and Twickenham and interviewing one of his all-time heroes, Muhammed Ali. Miles has also worked in communications for both private and public sectors, including local government, and was latterly a full-time trade union organiser.
Expertise: Media Relations, Internal Communications, Corporate Social Responsibility.

SusanSusan Press – Journalist and copywriter with over 20 years’ experience working for national and regional newspapers, including the Daily Express, Manchester Evening News, and Liverpool Daily Post. Previous clients have included the Government News Network, Manchester City Council, Manchester University and the Royal Exchange Theatre. Part-time lecturer in Media Studies and Journalism at the University of Huddersfield.
Expertise: Media Relations, Public Affairs, Corporate Social Responsibility.

chris.jpgChris Horkan – Web developer and journalist. He has been building web sites for 10 years, with clients including The North West Enquirer (a regional weekly), How-Do.co.uk (the North West’s media and PR web site) and TheDailyMash.co.uk (the satirical Scottish news site). He also built the Sound Communication web site. Chris is an experienced trainer, running regular workshops on blogging, social networks such as Facebook and MySpace, and other aspects of digital communications.
Expertise: Digital communications, journalism, music.

steve-goodwin.jpgSteve Morgan – acclaimed photographer who has worked in war zones such as Bosnia and Somalia. Steve has been capturing Greenpeace’s climate change campaigns in the Arctic and Antarctica since 1985 and also counts the World Wildlife Fund and Friends of the Earth among his high-profile clients. A former press photographer with the Independent, Steve specialises in reportage and corporate photography with a twist.
Expertise: Location portraiture, environmental campaigns, documentary work.

darren-alawi.jpgDarren Alawi - creative web, brand and graphic designer. Darren has spent more than 10 years designing brands, graphics and web sites, with major clients such as Royal London and Scottish Life. He is at the cutting edge of the digital revolution and is driven by a fascination for technology and a love of good design. Perhaps his greatest strength is his ability to step into the clients shoes and help them chart their way though the digital jungle.
Expertise: The world wide web, brands, graphics.

Craig Matthews – studied under world-famous photographer Robert Jacobs in New York, film-maker Craig has an MA in Multimedia Design & Production in which he has specialised for the last 10 years. Produces interactive CD/DVDs, 3D animation, interactive panoramic photography, time-lapse photography and video. His clients have included local authorities on Merseyside as well as the Chase Manhattan bank, the Environment Agency and the North West Development Agency.
Expertise: DVD and video, interactivity.