Tag Archives: clare callery

Jan 26 2010
1 Comment
Current Events, news, Technology

Can Music DNA really save the music industry?


In yesterday’s Guardian I read an article which follows the suit of many others in putting a lot of faith into the new Music DNA files.

The new file type was created by those who gave us the MP3 and basically revolutionised music as we know it and bringing us into the iPod dominated era we now live in. However it also gave rise to a surge in illegal music downloads, which is only going to become more of a problem as people become more tech-savvy.

The reason Music DNA is being touted as the big successor to the MP3 is that it gives user more than just an audio file. The technology incorporates artist images, video, lyrics and artwork, as well as blog and Twitter updates and tour information, everything a fan could want from their favourite artist and more.

But as impressive as all this sounds, I can’t really see it making huge amount of difference, at least not in the near future. Call me sceptical, but I don’t believe that putting an even more expensive download on the market is going to stop people getting their freebies when they are so easily available. P2P and torrent software is incredibly easy for any internet user to get their hands on and learn how to use. I think companies need to stop trying to find ways to deter users from downloading illegally and start giving them real reasons to download legally.

Takes iTunes for example. iTunes has already come under attack for charging UK and European customers more than their American counterparts, and last year increased prices even further to ‘test how much people were willing to pay for digital music’. Many users have over 1000 songs in their library, and expecting them to pay 99p or more for every song they have would make their libraries ridiculously expensive.

How about instead of offering people an even more expensive Music DNA file to download (which will also become a nightmare for those with small hard drives who don’t have to room for such large files) companies instead just reduce their overpriced MP3′s? I can’t help feeling this is another case of spending millions on a space pen when all you need is a pencil…*

(* which I know is an urban myth, but a pretty fun one…)

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Jan 15 2010
1 Comment
Current Events, Student Life, Technology

Back to the routine and New Years Resolutions…


Sorry I haven’t updated in so long!

We’ve just moved house (still in Harrogate, just 10 minutes further along the road!) so I’ve been surviving without the internet Bear Grylls style for the past month or so, which has been excruciating to be honest.

Now I finally have it back and have spent the past few days reading all my emails, Twitter updates and basically staying up to the early hours to make up for lost time. Since I’ve been away from the on-line world it seems RATM really did make number 1 (though it’ old news now) which I was pretty happy about but my mum (and most of her generation) were just confused about and the general consensus in our house was “it’s not music, it’s just noise!“.

After seeing how successfully social media used its power to secure the Christmas number 1, it will be interesting to see how it is used for the upcoming elections (hopefully in a less cringe-worthy way then the Cameron ‘time for change’ posters, which social media has already begun to parody here).

In other news I was trapped in my house for about 4 days due to the snow (check out the picture) and couldn’t get to my finance exam, so I have that to look forward to in the next few weeks.

All my other deadlines were met and I really enjoyed designing and writing a brand book for a fictional car company. I chose to a electric car company with an edge, aimed at young professionals and students lucky enough to have a bit of extra cash to splash. Yet again I’m glad I been using Photoshop for a good few years now because it was very useful and I even tried my hand at using Adobe Illustrator to come up with the logo. If I can upload it as a PDF I will add it to the portfolio section of my blog (which really needs a lot adding to it when I get chance!).

My new years resolution is to make the most of every opportunity I get. I have taken this advice on board so far and have started planning and writing a pitch for Wolfstar PR. I have also got involved with some event planning in London later on this year which will not only be a great portfolio opportunity but will also be fantastic experience and very exciting. I will also be helping out Adam Burns and his Ptarmigan Bell Pottinger team after one of the group members left due to spending the second semester elsewhere. Hopefully I will also be involved in Richard Bailey’s online publication Behind the Spin, for which I have written articles for in the past. So many exciting prospects so early on! Here’s to hoping the rest of the year follows suit.

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Dec 15 2009
2 Comments
Current Events, news, social media, twitter

Social Media vs. The X Factor


The battle for Christmas number one is always the most exciting time of the year in the UK charts, and 2009 will be no exception.

The prestigious spot was traditionally the place for a Christmas themed song, but in the last 4 years The X Factor winners have dominated the top position. The show is aired from August to December, finishing to coincide with the run up to the Christmas charts. The winners have already had their song viewed by the millions of viewers that tune into The X Factor, so have a big advantage in the record sales race.

This year however, Joe McElderry may have some stiff competition from an unlikely rival – Rage Against the Machine.

Their song, Killing in the Name, was first released in November 1992 and has a strong political message. The song is being promoted by a Facebook group who claim they are fed up of seeing Simon Cowell’s X factor winner becoming automatic number 1’s, whether the song deserves it or not. They haven’t had a huge budget or advertising campaign like Cowell to get their message into the media. Instead, they have relied entirely on social media, with great success…

From just a simple Facebook group, they have managed to get over 725,000 members and become a Trending Topic on Twitter. They are currently the second most downloaded track, just slightly behind Joe McElderry. The story was picked up by a range of different media and generated a huge amount of online coverage. There is even a ‘Hitler Finds  Out..’ parody (for anyone new to the Hitler videos, they are humerously edited viral clips taken from the film ‘The Downfall’ which proved hugely popular on YouTube). Tom Morello, the amazing guitarist from RATM has been tweeting his support for the campaign.

In addition to their campaign for RATM Christmas number 1, the group has also pledged to donate to the charity SHELTER and have raised over £30,000 so far.

The effort seems to have shown Cowell’s true colours, as he has repeatedly slammed the campaign, calling it ‘Scrooge-like’ and saying it is unfair to take away the chances of 18-year-old Joe getting the number one stop. Of course it would also be just as unfair on poor Cowell if he didn’t get his cut of the record sales lining his back pocket.

However the group has received a huge blow, due to bugs on Facebook stopping thousands gaining access to the page which appears to be putting too much stress of the Facebook servers. As the Facebook page has all the links to download the song, the download rate has slowed dramatically, falling right off the iTunes Top 100. There is likely to be another hit later on it the week when Joe’s single is available to buy in CD form in stores, which will probably be the preferred method for many of his older fans.

All there is to do now is sit back and see just how powerful the Social Media campaign can be. It worked for ungagging the Guardian, lets see if it can work for taking the Christmas No 1 back from The X Factor. I’ve bought my download from Play.com – 65p is a bargain for the chance to beat The X Factor and add a great song to my library!

Since I started writing this blog, I have my Twitter search for ‘RATM’ open, and there have been 345 tweets since then!

To track the live downloads of the songs, click here. Rage are currently Number 2 at the time of publishing.

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Dec 04 2009
2 Comments
news, Politics, social media, twitter

Cameron and the Chocolate Factory


After posting on my Twitter status as ‘Enjoy your chocolate this morning David Cameron, it’s on us’ I received a reply asking if I had set up a PR stunt. After reading this, that was exactly what I decided to do.

After contacting Adam Burns right away we began working on the stunt which was finalized today. You can read about it in the press release below.

Letter included in the chocolate.

Full website with images and probably the best ever use of Willy Wonka.

www.wix.com/Pawscomms/Cameron-and-the-Chocolate-Factory

Press Release

4th December 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LEEDS STUDENTS TACKLE “CAMERON AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY”

Two Leeds students have sent a parcel of chocolate to David Cameron in protest of the latest expenses scandal to hit the Tory party.  It was announced yesterday that Cameron had claimed for, amongst other things, a Mint Aero, a Galaxy and a Caramac on his Commons’ allowance for his staff.

Clare Callery, 20, and Adam Burns, 23, both second year students sent the chocolate parcel, which featured banners reading “This really takes the chocolate biscuit Dave!” and “David Cameron what a Wonka” to Mr. Cameron’s address at the House of Commons.  The parcel also contained a letter written by the two students detailing the case of many school leavers who could not afford to pursue their dream of studying at University because of a lack of finances.

Mr. Cameron, who is estimated to be worth about £3.5 million, had earlier this year berated members of the Conservative party for abusing the MPs expenses system, saying some of the claims were “unethical and wrong”.

None of the snacks claimed for break the MPs expenses rules as MPs are allowed to bill for “meals and subsistence for interns, volunteers or permanent employees working away from their main place of employment”.

Adam, a student at Leeds Met, said:

“I am sick of hearing about millionaire politicians abusing the system. If David Cameron was so intent on feeding his interns then why did he not foot the bill? And in my experience having to pay for your own lunch is part and parcel of being an intern. I have got friends who simply could not afford to go to university and it saddens me that a multi millionaire like Cameron is wasting valuable tax payer’s money.”

Clare adds, “It’s laughable that the MP expenses scandal continues, and this time the tax payers now have to fork out for David Cameron’s chocolate purchases. Enjoy these bitter-sweet chocolates Mr. Cameron, they’re on us. Again”

David Cameron earlier this year stated that the Conservatives will raise university fees to compete with universities abroad, such as in USA, for the best staff at the university. However with the pros of better funded universities also come the cons. University education in the USA is so expensive (some fees top £20,000 per annum) that further education really does become a luxury for those that come from wealthy enough backgrounds to afford it. This unfair rich-poor divide with regards to education is something the UK is already at risk of falling into, and we should do all we can to prevent it

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Dec 03 2009
2 Comments
Student Life, Technology

Back to Microsoft XP…


Yesterday evening, I finally bit the bullet and completely wiped my laptop…

Over the course of the 2 years I have owned my Dell Inspiron 6400 I have probably nearly thrown it out of the window once every 5 days. Which means that there was the potential for it to meet it’s maker 146 times over it’s short and annoying life.So I suppose it’s a small miracle that here i am happily typing this blog on it today.

The reason? Windows Vista. If given the choice I would forever banish Vista and all it’s hideous ‘User Account Control’ alerts for the good of mankind. Vista is to me is on par with my Samsung Tocco Lite. Pretty to look at, but other then that one of the most impractical and irritating to use products that I have had the good bad fortune in owning. I’m not alone on this. I’ve heard Vista been called every variation of ‘rubbish’ (even the impolite kind of ones, in fact mostly those kind of ones) going. Yet some people seem to love it. I think to love Windows Vista you either have to not have a huge interest in computers, or have a ‘$2,100 e-mail machine’ as said by the Corporate Vice President of Windows Product Management, which says it all really. If even the people at Microsoft know the product sucks, then ‘good luck to you’.

But enough Microsoft bashing. This is supposed to a blog of love. I honestly don’t blame Microsoft for my laptop running at the same speed as WAP did on my Nokia 3210. Well, not fully anyway. They shouldn’t have pushed retailers so hard to put Vista on all new computers. But then again, the retailers shouldn’t have been stupid enough to do just that. My laptop with it’s pitiful 0.99GB of RAM (don’t blame me, my dad bought it, parents huh?) is probably still wondering what it did in a former life to deserve trying to run Windows Vista. After reading around on the interwebs for a while, I saw that some people said Vista isn’t even worth running without 4GB of RAM. So why on earth did my laptop ever have Vista installed?!

Now that I have put Windows XP back on, all is well with my laptop again. I love XP. There are so few faults with the OS compared to Vista. I love how when I open a program, there’s no need to go through 5 prompts of hell to access it. And it looks bubbly. And blue. So basically my laptop now runs like a dream again now I’ve deleted everything from it and put good old XP back on. Hurray.

I will be blogging on all the new Microsoft free programs I have been installing recently since my trust in Bill Gates and all his merry workers has been temporarily restored (and by merry I mean creepy and totally forced – cookie for those who spot the shoplifter). For a funny Microsoft article, click here

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Dec 01 2009
4 Comments
Course Related, social media, Student Life, Wolfstar, Work Experience

Work Experience at Wolfstar PR


Last Thursday I started my work experience at Wolfstar, a small PR consultancy based in Leeds.

I was especially excited to start working at Wolfstar as the company specialises in social media (a personal interest of mine) and word of mouth marketing, which not only makes it different from any other PR company I’ve worked for, but also rather unique in the PR world too.

The company may still be young (it was set up in 2007) but has already won the CIPR Outstanding Small Consultancy Award 2009 and came highly commended in PRWeek’s Best New Consultancy 2009. All the team are very enthusiastic and made me feel at home right away (despite the fact that my lenses were causing my eyes to water for the entire shift!). They had me laughing all day which is probably the best way to combat nerves!

I spent my first day researching some stats and statistics on blogs. The aim was to find out which ones are the most influential and therefore most useful to the chosen client so they could be targeted to gain coverage. I used tools that I was already familiar with such as Google PageRank, as well as new sites that I was unfamiliar with such as Alexa. I found it very interesting to see which blogs had the higher rankings, viewers and incoming links as well as looking at those blogs that weren’t very successful and seeing if I could see the reason. It definitely gave me some ideas for my own blog!

I look forward to my next day of work experience at Wolfstar and hope I can become a valued member of the team for my time there!

Last Thursday I started my work experience at Wolfstar, a small PR consultancy based in Leeds.

I was especially excited to start working at Wolfstar as the company specialises in social media (a personal interest in mine) and word of mouth marketing, which not only makes it different from any other PR company I’ve worked for, but also rather unique in the PR world too.

The company may still be young (it was set up in 2007) but has already won the CIPR Outstanding Small Consultancy Award 2009 and came highly commended in PRWeek’s Best New Consultancy 2009. All the team are very enthusiastic and made me feel at home in the team right away (despite the fact that my lenses were causing my eyes to water for the entire day!). They had me laughing all day which is probably the best way to combat first day nerves!

I spent my first day researching some stats and statistics on blogs. The aim was to find out which ones are the most influential and therefore most useful to the chosen client so they could be targeted to gain coverage. I used tools that I was already familiar with such as Google PageRank, as well as new sites that I was unfamiliar with such as Alexa. I found it very interesting to see which blogs had the higher rankings, viewers and incoming links as well as looking at those blogs that weren’t very successful and seeing if I could see the reason. It definitely gave me some ideas for my own blog!

I look forward to my next day of work experience at Wolfstar and hope I can become a valued member of the team for my time there!

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Nov 21 2009
1 Comment
Current Events, news, social media, Technology

Google Chrome OS – The Desktop Overhaul


Now anyone that knows me well could tell you that I am a big computer geek.

I always have been, but this year I feel like I have been reading more and more into technology news and helping out friends who are having computer problems. So for some time, I have been trying to keep an eye on Google OS updates, as most things created by Google are usually pretty innovative and create a few headaches for competitors (cough..Microsoft…cough).

Now I don’t have anything against Microsoft. I’ve never been a Mac convert (although I’ve met many Mac preachers who are desperate to ‘right me of my ways’) and always been happy with my Windows desktop and beloved ‘Start’ bar (my biggest issue with the Mac, although I’m told by the preachers that they are unnecessary). But I’m sure there are some important people in the Microsoft camp getting very worried about all the talk of Google’s FREE OS. Yes free. Which is pretty amazing to say that Windows 7 Ultimate would set you back £230.

So I was pretty excited to see someone retweet this Mashable article today, which showed us some preview shots of how the Chrome OS is designed to look as well as a lot of talk about how the OS is basically designed to get us on the internet as fast as possible, as explained in the video below:

Now I do agree that people nowadays do spend most of their time online, and my browser is usually the first application I select when I boot my PC (which apparently in the future I will no longer need to do- will the POST ‘beep’ become a sound of the past like the modem dial-up did?). However, the idea of no Desktop is still pretty alien to me. I like having a desktop. I like changing my background to one that suits my mood, or my current favourite band, or what season were in (sad I know). I like that although the internet is the most important application on my computer, it isn’t the only one, and sits quietly alongside the Photoshop and Recycle Bin without being the centre of attention.

I have no doubt in my mind that Google will find a way to convert us. I’m sure in a few years time I’ll be sitting at my Chrome OS chuckling about my reliance on the Start bar and trying to remember what the point of a Disk Cleanup was. But for now I am both worried and excited about the huge change this could bring about in the way we use computers in years to come. I’m sure Microsoft is too. I just hope they find a way to keep up to Google’s speedy pace to ensure that there is still a competitive market in years to come.

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Nov 11 2009
9 Comments
Current Events, news, social media, twitter

Man hit by train at Cottingley


Today has been an interesting day, but not a very pleasant one.

What was supposed to be a day of celebration for three years with my boyfriend, turned sour on my train journey from Leeds to Huddersfield at five to six on the First Transpennine Express.

I was travelling on the train with my course mate Ellis after a late night digital PR lecture when the train ‘ran over’ something large. At the time my first thoughts were ‘have we hit someone?’ but this seemed unlikely and a worst case scenario. I decided it must have just been a large animal or something similar.

But the driver then pulled an emergency stop and being that the train was full anyway, people stumbled forward as the train ground to halt. We were then alerted by a rather shaky conductor that there has been an ‘incident’ and we would be delayed for a while. Passengers were already beginning to look around at each other, although no one wanted to believe that a person had actually been hit. However a few minutes later we were alerted that a man had been hit by the train and it had been a fatality, confirming our worst fears.

For the next hour and a half or so, we were stuck on the train while the police and paramedics arrived at the scene and began to clear the area behind the train. All the while we were constantly updated by members of First as to what the current situation was while we waited in the blue light flashing from the ambulance, before finally moving on at around 20:00.

I’m still a little bit in shock at what happened, and still remember the exact feeling when the train rode over the man’s body. It’s not clear whether it was accidental or a suicide, but I don’t recall feeling a ‘hit then a bump’, rather just a ‘bump’ which put the image of a man laying on the tracks in my mind. My thoughts go to his family and also to the conductor and driver of the train who were obviously very disturbed by the experience.

My friend and I only just managed to catch the train before it left the platform, had we been a few moments later we may have avoided this experience. It certainly is one that I won’t be forgetting for a while.

I’ve had a look around for news stories on the incident and have found nothing so far, but as usual Twitter is first on the scene and my own Tweets here.

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Nov 06 2009
1 Comment
Course Related, Guest Lecture, PR Industry, Work Experience

Ptarmigan Bell Pottinger Initiative


What a chaotic 2 weeks!

I’ve had two university presentations to contend with in the last two weeks, one for my Persuasive Communications module (which isn’t the ‘evil teachings of propaganda’ as the name would suggest) and another for my Persuasive Communications module. As all our marks go towards our final course grade this year, the heat is really on to get a first at every opportunity. Just when I thought this course couldn’t get any more competitive!

Aside from university work, Nathan Lane of Ptarmigan Bell Pottinger visited one of our lectures a few weeks ago with an exciting paid placement opportunity for a group of 5 lucky students. The task was to create a campaign to promote Nestlé’s new ‘Bluebell Cow’ products and their commitment to the environment by cutting down on the plastic content in their Easter egg range.

My group of 5 pitched to Ptarmigan on the Thursday before last and although it was extremely nerve-racking experience, I felt our entire group presented confidently and professionally. Unfortunately we did not win the final pitch, but the feedback we received from Nathan Lane was that we were very impressive and came up with good ideas, some that Nestle would have used for their real campaign.

Although I am disappointed we did not win, I feel I have gained great experience from the Ptarmigan initiative. It gave me the chance to really think ‘big’ and brainstorm for ideas that a huge multinational company like Nestle would use, as well as improving my presentation skills and speaking ability.

I don’t really feel like we lost, as there was so much to gain from having the courage to attempt such a daunting task and come out with such great feedback. I’m very thankful for Ptarmigan giving students such a fantastic opportunity!

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Oct 26 2009
5 Comments
Course Related, PR Industry, social media, Student Life, twitter, Uncategorized

Google: The most innovative company of our time?


So you may be wondering why have I chosen now to write a blog post about Google. The company is already well established so my post will not be particularly groundbreaking. But recently I have begun obsessing over Google, so much so that I’m currently reading ‘The Google Story’. So what has got my mind buzzing? Two words, Google Wave.

Now I have always been a huge Google fan right back from my first year at high school. At the tender age of 11 I was becoming increasingly frustrated trying to search using older search engines like the MSN search and AltaVista, until my IT teacher recommended trying Google. From then on, I was hooked.

I was already unusually keen on computers due to my dad working in the IT industry. Due to all dad’s being overly keen on passing their knowledge to their children, I already knew how to use most of Windows and Microsoft Office features, as well as how to set up my PC and point to most of the things inside a computer and tell you what they did. Hell, I think I even remember watching my Dad installing Windows 95. Retro.

I remember downloading MSN Messenger 1.0 and having no one to talk to except some randomers I’d spoken to on chat rooms (again how very retro, and kind of creepy). Of course most people have cast MSN aside now that Facebook has a chat service and the cooler web addicts have already moved on to Twitter anyway, but I’ve always kept my interest in IT and tried to stay ahead when it comes to web apps.

Which brings me back to Google. I love Google products. I have 3 Gmail accounts (and a Googlemail app on my phone), have GoogleSearch on my desktop, use GoogleDocs, GoogleEarth, GoogleBooks, GoogleScholar and GoogleCalender regularly, as well as being a certified YouTube addict. I have a blog on Blogger (though admittedly I prefer WordPress) and the only reason I don’t use is Chrome is… well… have you tried Firefox?!

So, understandably, I was very excited when I caught wind of the GoogleWave application and watched the hour or so long video demonstration of it. I was also amazed at how the audience reacts at Google seminars. The presenters were treated like rock stars. After every Google Wave feature they demonstrated, the audience clapped and cheered and even I found myself smiling along with the atmosphere at home.

Google Wave will totally revolutionize how I work at university. On the PR course, we are constantly assigned to groups to work on presentations and assignments – part of the push to improve our people skills and create skilled and confident presenters. However, this does raise the issue of ‘Group Meetings’ and finding a set date and time that five or so busy students can find to meet up with their group members and create the presentation.

Which is where I think Google Wave will come in. We could just drop the presentation into and all edit it live, adding our own research and ideas and create a more well thought out and better collaborated final result. And it doesn’t end there, we could even arrange the meetings easily by simply adding contacts into the conversation and organizing the time there and then. If we’re all free we could get to work straight away.

The impact for PR is even more exciting. Imagine planning events where instead of emailing the information to-and-fro until a final decision is agreed, the planning could be done live, with participants posting dates and times, adding pictures of the venues and adding other people at anytime to view the rest of the conversation and give their input. You could drop press releases in to a conversation with coworkers to get their input and editing live, rather then emailing and waiting for a response.

I think Google Wave has an exciting future ahead, and I hope that by the time i enter the world of PR full time, the industry is already making full sense of the application. From what I’ve read on Twitter , many of the PR practitioners I know are already trialing the program, so it seems that it will catch on.

I managed to get hold of a Beta account last week, and though I’m still waiting to get my invites to send out (I have no one to Wave at!) I love the way it looks and can’t wait to try it out.

So will the Google Wave live up to its expectations? Here’s to watching this space.

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