White Night Melbourne

As someone who suffers from a bit of wanderlust White Night reminded me why no matter where I go, why I go there or how long I stay Melbourne is always worth coming back to.

I had no idea what to expect going to White Night. A friend and I did what is typical of she and I and researched it, grabbed a guide book and circled a bunch of stuff in an attempt to basically see it all! Its what I do though: If I'm doing something I tend to want to do it right, properly whatever you want to call it.

There was so much to see it was almost overwhelming, but everywhere you turned there was something else. Walking into a crime scene, a concert, a water/light show, a concert and for when it all got too much a complete and utter chill out involving a harp in the State Library.The light shows on the buildings of Flinders Street have left me never able to quite look at them the same way again.

As time went by and I was wondering around (and surprisingly managing to find people I knew in the crowd of thousands and thousands of people) and I couldn't help but start thinking about the marketing and publicity for something like White Night. Organic growth for any social media fan bases would be guaranteed from the first tweet. The whole atmosphere was infectious. There is already thousands and thousands of people ready for next year purely from what they saw on social media alone. Bloggers, print journos, news reporters, radio hosts, photographers and videographers alike were all over the streets of Melbourne with the news threads still coming through 24 hours later. From a publicity perspective making sure the right people reported on Ted Baillieu raving about success of the event was obviously a strategic necessity in terms of sponsors, funding and post event reporting for the organisers however that aside I think the digital realm can do more for White night than any other reporter or platform.

Speaking of the infectious atmosphere the feeling I got while wandering the CBD that I thought I knew so well was hard to describe. Walking around in constant excitement and amazement is not something you often find. It even fought off the tireds in the wee hours of the morning! What this experience did teach me that no matter what path I am currently taking working with events like this has to be apart of my future. Re-creating the atmosphere that can inspire so man, put smiles on their faces and create or re-ignite their passion or love of something (such as a band, a city or make them think "who creates these visuals, how can I do that?") is what I want to be apart of. Its infectious and therefore motivating. Who wouldn't want to go to work for that?

Yes Guys, I got a Big Girls Job!

This post isn't going to focus all that much on the role I just got. I start Monday but to be honest I'm not entirely sure what the exact role is... What I want to focus on is how I came to get this role so in the future I know what my strengths are, what draws potential employers to make that initial contact and what I learnt during the process.

1) My online profile.
Its unique, moves away from boring black and white PDF's or pieces of paper and shows some personality. It can also allow for much more in depth and information to be given about myself and my professional skills and experiences. The whole notion of impress quickly is still key in the cover letter but I write in it early on to check out the online profile to try and direct people in the more memorable direction.

2) Dress not for the job you have, or are going for, but the one you want.
I had two interviews for this job and both were on days that were over 35 degrees. Its not easy to dress professionally in that weather! Not knowing exactly what direction you want to head in doesn't necessarily matter, I think you just have to dress as though you are the peer of the people interviewing you.  You will look sharp, intelligent and ready for the role.

3) Having to give a presentation as a second interview will kill your nerves!
Going into any interview you are nervous. As someone who hasn't done a lot of public speaking and doesn't particularly like it this is not a way to work into an interview oozing confidence! The key is obvious and simple, research and be prepared. Make it interesting, throw in a few facts and for me the cheat method of shove in some slides and pictures that are slightly different to what you are saying so they get a little distracted.

Antisocial Social Media Gen

It's interesting with a generation that has the ability to better communicate and socialise than any before is apparently unsocial according to this recent Age article.

It is fair to say that its common to see mobiles sitting on tables in restaurants and people on dance floor awkwardly swaying while the text, Instagram or check their news feed. It seems as though the more likes on something makes you social, but at the end of the day if there is no legitimate reason to be on your phone (EG friend needs to find you, need to check event details or something HILARIOUS has to be Instagrammed) it is antisocial behaviour.

Back in the day phone calls were where it was at. Now I rarely organise anything with a call rather a series of texts or even Facebook messages. I have no doubt that a simple phone call is 1000 times easier and more efficient, and yet it is still not the done thing.

American networking specialists have released a report studying the technology habits of Generation Y globally.Surveying 3600 Gen Yer's worldwide (including 200 Australians) found some very interesting statistics. The report found Gen y'ers rely in internet devices, such as smartphones, to "drive every facet of their lives".

• 88% of Australian participants had a morning routine that involved using their smartphone before leaving the house.
• 1/3 would continue to check their smartphones at least every hour.
• Some checked their phone and social media devices as on this schedule even if it meant during meal times or when they were with their friends and family.
• Many admitted they would feel anxious if they were separated from their phone, even admitting it felt like a part of them were missing.

 I'll admit I am guilty of some of these behaviours. A strong part of my morning routine is to read the newspaper online while I eat my breakfast. If nothing strikes my interest then I will flick to social media. It may not strike my interest either but it requires less brain power.

The article proves some pretty obvious home truths about Gen Y. The old phrase "you look better on Myspace" may not actually be so ridiculous even though Myspace isn't such a big deal anymore. The almost addiciton suffered that older generations can't understand is also a concern. I'll admit a certain part of me falls into this category. I have a wavering attention span and some experiences of my phone having been stolen or being left behind that mean I like to know where it is at all times.

There are reasons to embrace the smartphone culture: Global communications, staying connected to friends in far off lands (actual friends that you have met...), GPS/maps can be a saviour, internet banking for those of us bad at budgeting and of course social media. This old chestnut is actually something that can keep our generation in work so it pays to remember its becoming increasingly less frivolous as it begins to sign the paychecks.

All round interesting article, well worth the read for some obvious realisations we all probably need to here.

Microsoft and the 90's Nostalgia

Microsoft recently came up with this ad to reignite support for Internet Explorer.

Pulling on the heart strings of 90's kids it seems like an attempt to take them back to their PC childhoods as many are now becoming apart of the Apple/Firefox generation. I have entered both of these areas! Many years ago, while I was still on PC my brother (AKA my computer technician) told me if i used explorer and ended up with virus after virus he wouldn't help me out with my problems anymore.

As someone who lived her best, responsibility free, innocent years during the 90's, and someone who still has her Spice Girls t-shirt this ad certainly did the job. Even if I have a Macbook Pro and won't be heading back to Internet Explorer the ad certainly restored my faith. If  I was still a PC user this would have been advertising at its greatest work!

Nostalgia is a strong way of evoking emotion, it's certainly something that makes for strong effective advertising and marketing.

The other part of this I liked is the idea that fixing something and improving on it doesn't have to mean completely changing it. The classic example here being the Facebook transition to timeline. Making something unrecogniseable doesn't make it great, it makes it new. Change is a scary concept.

HMV 'Mass Execution': Be Kind to your Social Media Managers

I encountered an article on The Age website this morning that I think may come as a lesson to many.

The basic rundown is that British music retail chain HMV has lost much of their business to downloaded music and filed for bankruptcy in early January. As a result large numbers of jobs have been lost.

This particular incident saw 60 employees lose their jobs in what the anonymous hijacker described on Twitter as a "Mass Execution". The Twitter account was taken over and began with an introductory tweet claiming to be live from HMV's HR department.

The people who had taken over the account (which reaches out to over 60,000 followers) claimed to never normally behave like this, they simply wanted the loyal fans of the brand to understand what was happening. 

Further details can be read in the article, what I would like to discuss is how social media can be abused by employees. Its common for consumers to use it as a complaints department, however employees rarely "hijack" accounts like this. I understand redundancy is a horrible thing for anyone, however with a company in bankruptcy that has had to lay off over 190 staff in recent weeks should it really come as such a surprise?

The issue is password management. Naturally the social media team needs to have access to the accounts, and consequently passwords, however the wording of the tweets suggests that multiple people were using the account. There is of course a fine line in showing obvious distrust of employees by not allowing them access to the passwords creating a very grey and fragile area. Solutions are always easier said than done. With social media now playing such a huge role in marketing strong employee/management relations have become more important than ever when the image of the entire brand is on the line.

My thoughts on possible solutions:

• Have a strategic employee management plan that professionally explains security concerns without sounding as though no employees are trusted.
• Only give passwords to senior team members and specifically state who and how many (a very limited number) within the employee management plan.
• If deciding to allow access to passwords to the majority of relevant employees have regular password changes in place.
• Have a quick moving damage control plan in place so all accounts can be blocked quickly and smoothly should an incident occur.
• Treat employees with respect and always keep them informed of trying circumstances such as potential redundancy.