Untukmu Para Pengunjung

I am speaking at the Digital Marketing and Media Summit this week on the Rules of Engagment. I have decided to do away with the ‘lecture to powerpoint’ style and try something new. I am going to work through offline examples of the Rules of Engagement.

Instead of just me speaking about the subject, I have invited an all star social media crew (Zac Martin, Peter Wagstaff and David Gillespie) to help present and work through examples with me and provide valuable banter of the Rules.

These are some of the thoughts that I have had around the presentation so far;

Rule 1
'Social Media is about behaviour not the technology'
I will have a massive board that will have a computer on the front of it. I will suggest this is what most marketers think social media is about the technology! I will then move the board and there will be someone behind the board. I will then bring it back to the Buying Decision Process Model and show how technology is actually effecting these steps to purchase!


Rule 2
'Add value to the conversation'
I will have a offline chatroom (Peter, David and Zac sitting around, I will ask the crowd to choose a topic for the chatroom and a brand, I will show the wrong way and right way to approach people online). Highlighting (Relevance, Full Disclosure, Listen, Dont Shout and most importantly adding value to the conversation)

Rule 3
Negative feedback is gold
I want to have a real version of Dell Hell, show that when you answer negative publicity it is actually the best place to start with social media, it shows that you are human. I was thinking of having a Connex complaints box and then have someone actually come out of the box and respond?!?! * I need to work on this one!

Rule 4
Long term not campaigns
With 5 minutes to go, mid way through a sentence I will just walk out, I will then play a video telling people that most companies now look at social media and having a campaign in social media when you should really be thinking about a long term investment.


There will also be a Beersphere afterwards so if you know a good pub near the Hilton on the Park please let me know.

Fernanda escreve de São Paulo e nos conta um pouco sobre sua terceira tatuagem, confira.

"Oi me chamo Fernanda, tenho 23 anos e esta é a minha terceira tattoo. Eu tinha vontade de fazer uma tattoo bem colorida, mas não sabia como, então mostrei as flores para meu tatuador e começamos o desenho com caneta mesmo nas costas e eu amei. Na mesma hora começamos os ricos, a primeira etapa durou 4 horas e a segunda 5 horas! As cores eu decidi na hora com a ajuda do tatuador. Agora com ela pronta percebi que vale a pena.

Pretendo fazer mais duas, mas não escolhi ainda. Galera, valeu pelo espaço. Até mais!

Meu tatuador é o Kyko Kyller, telefone 8366-9571, São Paulo - SP."

Fernanda Lopes

Our baby has still not arrived. I think he's too happy/comfy in there. It makes sense - who would want to come out to the dreary weather we've been having if they have a nice warm waterbed they're swimming around in? I continue to stay home and rest. Daytime t.v. has become a bit boring, so I'm trying to keep my mind active, but maybe I'm spending too much time thinking!

Last night I didn't sleep well. I had a dream about Zimbabwe. Usually when I dream about Zimbabwe, it's a situation where I have arrived back but not been allowed to bring anything with me. So either I'm stressed, wondering how I'm going to find food or money or else I'm just stressed because I don't have anything to give those I love. And then I always see people I love from a distance, but something keeps me from being able to talk to them. The dreams are kind of sad! I often feel helpless when I think about Zimbabwe. I worry when I don't hear from people, but then when I do hear from people, I also worry. And I feel helpless.

Yesterday I got a letter from one of my Zimbabwean mothers. She and her husband are pensioners that live on the compound where we used to live. They've both lost all of their children, and so they adopted us and really believe that we were sent to Zimbabwe to be their kids. The letter made me feel horrible. She wrote about how they had not heard from us on Mac's birthday and that he was disappointed about that (I did send a card, but I guess it never arrived). She wrote about her poor health and asked me to send medication. She said they're struggling for food. She said all of the money we left is finished and that we should send more or else they would die. I read this letter and just felt totally deflated, guilty, and most of all just HELPLESS! I just kept repeating, "I don't know what to do."

Zimbabwe was so real for us. The relationships were real. It really did feel like we were adopted into families; that we became son and daughter. It was a beautiful thing. But how does that continue now? When we were there, it was easy to be good kids. It was easy to bring food and money, to access medicine, to bring cake on birthdays. It was easy to visit with people, to listen and to share life. But now? From here? Zimbabwe is complicated. It's hard to transfer money. It's hard to know if parcels and letters will arrive. The phones are usually down. Even if it were easy to send money, how much should we send and how would we decide who to send it to? I've seen it from both sides now. I've lived with families who are counting on their "rich overseas relatives" for survival. And I've worked in Canada with refugees & immigrants on this side who don't feel very rich and struggle to make ends meet while still sending as much as possible "home."

We never meant to create dependence. We know what good development is. We know that it's better to teach people to fish than give people fish. We didn't want to make people dependent on us. But it's Zimbabwe. 80% unemployment, a trillion% inflation, shortages on all basic goods. How are people supposed to make and save money? Even those who are working full-time struggle for basics like school fees. We've been there. We've borne witness. So what's our responsibility?

It's heart-breaking to feel helpless. I know I can't be stressed now. I know that I have to rest and save up all my energy for giving birth and having a newborn. I just struggle to integrate the extreme experience of Zimbabwe into my Canadian life. I don't believe that God brought us all that way and showed us so many things and gave us so many people to love just to forget now. But I don't know how to re-member well or to bring the two different "lives" together. I don't want to be one of those people that gets so overwhelmed with "the weight of the world" that I don't do anything. But I also don't want to go crazy or feel guilty/stressed/sorrowful every time I think of our friends and family in Zimbabwe.

Well, maybe Dr. Phil will have some insight for me today...

I was just announced in the AdNews 40 Under Forty – ‘The rising stars in Australians Advertising, Media and Marketing.

This came as a complete surprise! I think it may have had something to do with my killer graphic design skills in my last post.

I think it was a fairly good result for bloggers, with Bannerblog’s Ash Ringrose aka ‘The hardest working man in the industry’ also copping a gurnsey!

Anyways, the criteria for the list was as follows.

-They must be in a position of leadership or on the rise within their organisation, or running their own show
-They must have the respect of their bosses, peers and competitors
-They should be rewriting marketing riles or interpreting them in a new way
-They must be in tune with community attitudes
-They have an opinion and aren’t scared to share it.

In no particular order here is the rest of the people on the list;

Sundeep Gohil (Planning Director, Partner at Droga5)
Darren Ryan (Assistant General manager Marketing, Canon)
Mark Holden (Managing Partner, PHD)
Amy Copely (Sales Director, News Magazines)
Michael Buckley (Media Director, Amnesia)
Dave Bowman (Creative Director, Saatchi & Saatchi)
Bob Mackintosh (Digital Creative Director, Host)
Chris Brown (Managing Director, DDB Sydney)
Dave Cain (Sponsorhip Manager, Virigin Mobile)
David Whittle (Managing Director, Mark)
Al Crawford (Planning Director, Clemenger)
Scott Nowell (Creative Director, Three Drunk Monkeys)
Justin Drape (Creative Director, Three Drunk Monkeys)
Darryn Wallace (Marketing Director beverages, Cadbury Schweppes)
Corrine Valleonga (Account Director, OMD)
Jeremy Nicholas (Startegic Planning Director, BMF)
Michael Johnstone (VP Advertising Sales, MTV)
Kirsty Shaw (General Manager, Stayz)
Rebekah Horne (Managing Director, Fox Interactive)
Neil Robinson (Group Sales Director, NewsNet)
Helen Farquhar (Marketing Director, McDonalds)
Paul Taylor (Partner, Day&Age)
Chris Brown (Marketing Manager, Mini)
Ben Couzens (Art Director, GP Y&R)
Jim Ingram (Copywriter, GP Y&R)
Kate Burleigh (National Marketing Manager, Intel)
Todd Sampson (CEO, Leo Burnett)
Tara Lordsmith (General Manager Retail Marketing, Simplot)
Anouk Darling (Manageing Director, Moon Group)
Damon Scarr (Sales Director, Yahoo7)
Bram Williams (Head of Startegy, Saatchi & Saatchi)
Kurt Burnette (Sales Director, Seven Network)
Kimberley Francis (Marketing Director, Microsoft)
Kate Martin (Communication Manager, Ikon Communications)
Scott Thompson (Corporate Advertising Manager, Toyota)
Lauren Fried (Founder, Pulse Marketing Group)
Dion Appel (CEO, Lifelounge)
Paul Meischke (Trading Director, Carat)
Asheley Ringrose (Director of Technology, SOAP)

A participante de número oitenta no quadro Minha Tattoo é Fascinada por cultura, já representou duas delas em sua pele e não pretende parar por aí.

"Meu nome é Fernanda, tenho 18 anos e fiz minha primeira tattoo ano passado, uma oriental no braço direito. Minha decisão por fazê-la é que sempre gostei da cultura oriental, meu pai também é budista e isso me inspirou ainda mais.

A segunda fiz a uns meses atrás, duas caveiras mexicanas no colo que representam a vida na cultura mexicana. Acho que deu para notar minha fascinação pelas culturas em geral.

Bom, pretendo continuar me tatuando por um longo tempo ainda. As tattoos foram feitas pelo tatuador Nego no estúdio Dragon Black em Foz do Iguaçu. Beijos."

Fernanda Torrentes

Ben Cooper has come out with a pearler

"When Photoshop came out your cousin’s mate could create your brand identity for a slab of beer over the weekend. Have graphic designers gone out of business?"

I had a stab at The Population logo before we launched. If anyone is interested, I still do a bit of freelance work on the side.