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  • Stuart Witts 2:39 pm on November 28, 2011 Permalink | Reply
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    The ROI of Thieving Scum! 

    A couple of weeks ago, a full Marie Curie Cancer Care collection box was taken from The Village Café in Stanstead Abbotts High Street, leaving owner Jill Lovegrove distraught.

    Thankfully these sort of events that erode your faith in humanity are not commonplace, despite what the media might tell you, and are simply a sad reminder that not everyone has a working moral compass.

    This could well have been all that was ever heard about this particular incident, a few short paragraphs in a local newspaper. But one local resident decided that something needed to be done, and so began #stolencharitybox.

    Steve Berry (@unloveablesteve) turned to the people that he knew just wouldn’t stand for this sort of thing and encouraged them to chuck in whatever they could afford to replace the £200 that had been stolen.

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    • Serena 9:31 am on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      What a great story! One of a growing number of examples of how social media can be used to do good things. Wonder if we should pick a hashtag and curate a list of stories like this?

    • Ben Matthews ツ (@benrmatthews) 10:09 am on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Great story!

      Is this a social media case study with over 50% increase in donations than achieved offline?

  • Stuart Witts 9:54 pm on November 21, 2011 Permalink | Reply
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    Out of memory! 

    Whilst I was walking through the park in the fog over the weekend I got to thinking… What if this phenomenon wasn’t simply a collection of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth’s surface, but a symptom of memory issues in the matrix leading to the need for a reduction in the render distance?

     

  • Stuart Witts 8:15 am on September 6, 2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Book, , , Review,   

    REVIEW: ‘Twitter for Good’ by @ClaireD 

    I’m a huge believer in Twitter’s ability to be a force for good in this world, but I have not previously been impressed by some of the means in which this mantra has been publicised. As I have spoke about before – Can hope be delivered in 140 characters? – I still remain unconvinced by the official voice of Twitter, @Hope140, and was not expecting much from Claire’s book.

    I was lucky enough to receive an early digital copy of ‘Twitter for Good’ and upon first reading was seriously unimpressed. I once again felt that here was some celebrity charlatan who was making money by simply telling people what time it was. Everything within the book seemed to me to be stating the blindingly obvious or telling you how something should be done and then suggesting that it doesn’t always have to be that way. This was everything that I disliked about the social media industry.

    Part of my unwritten agreement upon receipt of the digital copy of the book was to post a review and I was struggling with my positivity. I didn’t want to be someone who writes snide, negative reviews to hopefully score points off the author yet I didn’t want to welch on the deal.

    I decided to re-read the book, just to be sure.

    It was during this second reading that I realised where the problem truly lay… it was within me. I was judging this book by the usefulness it had for me, but I have been doing this social stuff for a long time. I’m certainly not going to suggest that I am an expert or ‘guru’ and I know that I have always suffered from this delusion that everyone I meet knows exactly the same things that I do.

    For me, the book was everything that swirls around inside my head, but what Claire has expertly done is to put these random thoughts and feelings into print. She has structured what was previously unstructured and provided those who are just starting out on their Twitter journey with a massive head start.

    I’m still not 100% in agreement with everything that is suggested in the book, no surprise there, but would definitely feel confident suggesting it to a colleague or friend who is looking for help on how to start making Twitter work for them.

    To end this rambling review I’d like to give you what I consider to be THE best advice for how to use Twitter. It comes from a book that was written 75 years ago and to my mind remains the archetypal instruction manual on Twitter and social networking:

    1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
    2. Smile.
    3. Remember that a man’s name is to him the sweetest and most important sound in the English language.
    4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
    5. Talk in terms of the other man’s interest.
    6. Make people feel important, and do it sincerely.

    Thank you Dale Carnegie :)

     

  • Stuart Witts 8:30 pm on July 4, 2011 Permalink | Reply
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    Dear Google, I’m sorry. 

    Google Circles

    It’s fair to say that I haven’t been entirely enamored with Google in the past. At one point I likened them to the relentless consumers of civilisations from Star Trek, The BORG, with their desire to reduce everything to an algorithm. But after just a few days with Google+ it’s time to put the record straight.

    G+ seem to come out of nowhere and establish itself as the place to be, certainly the majority of my network turned up within days. From the overly complicated and bloated WAVE, to the messy and noisy BUZZ, Google have clearly been slapped round the face and reminded of what made them great… Simplicity.

    That’s not to say that G+ is basic, far from it. But the experience of using it feels intuitive, like something designed by Apple, and without thought you feel free to post quick Twitter like updates, pictures and links to cool shit à la Tumblr or monster Blog like rants. With Picasa and YouTube, Google now OWN the web.

    For me Facebook began to wither and die when the brands and marketers turned up. Games and apps muddied the social experience, and a visit to Facebook quickly became more about dodging the sell than catching up with friends. I know that this special breed of scum will turn up in G+ soon, but luckily Google don’t need the money so it can (hopefully) be on there terms. A few adwords here and there don’t bother me in the slightest and when brand pages do turn up, I sincerely hope they look like this.

    When I first played with G+ I thought that Twitter was safe and Facebook was history, but now I’m not sure anyone is safe. Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr have all been mashed together to produce one true social network, and with the layer of make-up provided by themes removed it has literally become all about the content shared. Kudos must go to Twitter for creating this real-time, short conversational mentality and to the king of social networks, Facebook, for bringing us all together in the first place. But playtime’s over kids, it’s time to let the grown-ups take control.

    And so I finish by saying please accept my apology Google, I’m sorry I doubted you and this one’s for you…



     

  • Stuart Witts 9:43 pm on June 14, 2011 Permalink | Reply
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    Day 2 in the Big #NFPSM House 

    Third Sector Projection - Day 2

    Firstly I’d like to say thank you to everyone (some of whom I met today) who retweeted, liked and commented on yesterdays post. I’d also like to extend a special hello to Shirley Ayres, CEO of Aspire Knowledge and Conference Organiser, who caught me before I left today to exchange a few words*

    So, day 2. Another sweaty trip to Waterloo, although I’m pretty sure I only lost a pint this time, and pleasant walk along the South Bank. No navigation issues today, but I was disappointed to have missed the bacon butties due to my inability to catch the early train.

    I made my way to the tea and coffee room for some pre-conference fuel and was immediately pounced upon by the lovely Tamasine from the National Trust, who, unfortunately for her, was to become my sounding board throughout the entire day. We discussed yesterday’s sessions and our thoughts on social media generally as we made our way to today’s Welcome Address.

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    • Richard Hudson 6:10 am on June 15, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I think your review really does highlight a problem all events like this face. Where do they pitch it because everyone wants something different? For instance, I really enjoyed the first three speakers yesterday and gained a lot from them. At events like this there are so many different levels of people with different digital experiences.

      One very simple thing that could be considered is to grade the complexity of the talks so people know what to expect – newbie to expert. As one of the speakers in the afternoon session on day one, that could have helped us decide at what level to pitch it, because when you’re standing at the front you really have no idea whether what you’re saying is useful or useless.

      But I do have to say that the people behind the conference did everything they could to make the talks interesting and relevant. When we were asked to speak (Meningitis Trust) we were told that they wanted refreshing new speakers and they actually put on a training day for everyone to get comfortable with the venue and speaking – which I think is fantastic. This was very useful for us as it was the first time we were sharing our story and learnings. So you’re wrong and right!

  • Stuart Witts 9:56 pm on June 13, 2011 Permalink | Reply
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    #NFPSM Day 1 

    Third Sector Projection

    Today I found myself taking the sweat express to London Waterloo for day 1 of the Third Sector Digital Communications & Social Media Convention 2011.

    After a pleasant walk down the South Bank to Blackfriar’s Bridge and a little bit of chaotic navigation I found my way to the Mermaid Conference Centre for the start of this two day exploration of the dark arts of social networking for the non-profit.

    First impressions were good, I very quickly bumped into Rob Dyson from Whizzkids and we discussed how the event seemed very professional and grown-up. Today’s chair was veteran journalist and broadcaster Jon Snow, whose opening remarks were most entertaining. He ran the mornings proceedings at a swift pace and kept the discussions moving, albeit with a hint of cynicism, but as a HUGE fan of Twitter he gets my forgiveness.

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    • Stuart Witts 10:07 pm on June 13, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Credit to Rob Dyson for the pic :)

      • Damien 7:43 am on June 14, 2011 Permalink | Reply

        Another day, another conference.

        It’s all the same conference man.

      • Rachel Beer 10:05 am on June 14, 2011 Permalink | Reply

        Thanks for a refreshingly honest post, raising some important points about conferences in general – at least in my experience in this sector. Because, over the years, I’ve sat through far too many presentations that were broadbrush, theoretical, scant on useful detail and insight, I try to make sure I don’t do the same! Here’s the presentation I did yesterday, with Shormeh from Centrepoint, where we aimed to share as much of the thinking behind the decisions as possible in the time we had (yes, we crammed and ended up not having enough time for questions, but I hope most people left with at least one new insight or idea):

        http://rachelbeer.posterous.com/developing-a-cross-channel-fundraising-campai

    • Steve Bridger 6:46 am on June 14, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Great write up, Stuart, and thank you as always for the kind comments :)

    • Polly Gowers 9:34 am on June 14, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Fantastic write up of yesterday’s proceedings – great to get a view on sessions that I missed.
      I wanted to address some of the concerns you raised about Give as you Live after listening to my talk.
      We’re very up front about the amount that Give as you Live takes from every purchase. Everyclick takes a flexible percentage of the overall funds received from retailers. The more Give as you Live funds that each charity is able to raise, the higher a percentage we offer them, capping at 90%. Importantly the amount shown on The App or the web page is the amount received by the charity. There’s more info about this here: http://www.giveasyoulive.com/how_it_works.html

      Your trust question is interesting, we have lots of causes and shoppers signing up with us every week. In fact, any trust issues are being dispelled by supporters themselves, as often the first time that charities hear about us is when they get a cheque through in the post from us after a supporter has raised money on their behalf. As far as we know, our model is unique and as such we are raising some much needed extra money for charities without any extra effort on their behalf and without changing our users shopping habits and importantly without having to part with additional cash.
      I’ve be happy to chat this through in more detail with you, so please feel free to send me an email.

  • Stuart Witts 9:25 pm on April 11, 2011 Permalink | Reply
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    We are Google. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile. 

    So Larry has decided that the future of Google is most definitely in social, however I fear once again that the technically obsessed corporation that is Google have completely missed the point by promoting an engineer to SVP of Social.

    This relentless desire to attack ‘problems’ and solve them with absolute logistical precision may have been ideal in the search game, but this is social media where SERENDIPITY RULES! Google are not alone though, as many others seek to eliminate the so called ‘noise’ of social.

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  • Stuart Witts 2:28 pm on April 3, 2011 Permalink | Reply
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    Sucker Punched below the belt! 



    I don’t usually write film reviews as I’m a huge believer in “see it and make up your own mind”, but after watching Zack Snyder’s latest visual feast on the ear-shattering, eye-filling 26 metre wide screen at London’s IMAX I felt compelled to put finger to keyboard.

    After watching the trailers for Sucker Punch I was, as I’m sure most of you were, pant-wettingly excited about seeing it. Gun-toting, lingerie wearing hotties shooting Dragons from the back of a WW2 Bomber? Steampunk Nazi’s? Giant Samurai Warriors with gatling guns? This was the guy that brought us the amazing 300 and the previously considered unfilmable Watchmen, what could possibly go wrong?

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  • Stuart Witts 1:11 pm on February 11, 2011 Permalink | Reply
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    Won’t somebody think of the supporters? 

    Facebook becomes SPECTRE

    So Facebook will soon be rolling out their new layout for Pages as well and on the face of it, everything looks good.

    Design is much cleaner and feels more intuitive, the top row of photographs definitely give it a more visual appeal and, finally, as a Page admin you can travel forth and engage amongst the profiles of others and comment as the voice of the brand. Although as Spiderman mused, “With great power comes great responsibility”.

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    • Serena 1:49 pm on February 11, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Oh no, hadn’t realised it would affect how the wall is organised. Totally agree that’s rubbish. A quick fix would be if FB could allow admins to set options to most recent instead of the ‘top news’ format.

      Did you notice that when you view FB as the organisation, it shows recommended pages based on what your page’s fans like? potentially interesting for corporate partnerships?

      • ross mcculloch 7:48 pm on February 13, 2011 Permalink | Reply

        Good point Serena, hopefully FB will roll out more admin options in the near future.

    • Joanne Jacobs 5:59 pm on February 11, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      It’s the Quora effect. And we all know what that does for useful posts (ie: nothing; popularity often emphasises emotional value rather than practical value).

      Of course, the charity itself will still ‘see’ the love coming in through their notifications of new comments, and comments posted will still appear on the walls of friends-of-Likers. But I acknowledge and understand your concerns. To some extent, this puts the onus back on the Account holder to effectively ‘retweet’ posts to their walls to ‘force’ visibility of new content on a regular basis.

      I’m not sure I’d call this a flaw. To me, it’s a logical specialisation of the platform, and a means of differentiation in the content sharing, social media marketplace. The thing about Facebook is that it *is* an emotional space. Communication is highly personalised and predominantly emotive (it’s why I find it a bit twee to be honest, and I focus most of my content attention into other channels). Facebook is where your networks ‘live’, where you can contact them and find enough information about them just to ensure they’re okay. Charities that live on Facebook will need to treat the space accordingly.

      Frankly, Facebook makes a much better Quora than Quora ever will be. And Facebook’s new page design just shows that’s the path they’re taking. My advice to charities that want to ensure they keep communicating new content with their audiences is that they consider alternative channels for new news (ie: twitter) and start archiving feeds to their own sites.

  • Stuart Witts 9:32 pm on January 17, 2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , Quora,   

    Quora, what is it good for? 

    Now that the hyperbole has calmed down and most of us have finally turned off our new follower email updates, I’d like to take stock of what happened during those days of madness.

    First, let’s look at some of the gushing praise that came out of the UK press for this new social darling. There was “Quora will be bigger than Twitter” from The Telegraph which, quite frankly, bordered on idol worship and “Quora: the hottest question-and-answer website you’ve probably never heard of” from The Guardian which at least seemed a little more balanced.

    I can’t blame the papers, with the ever increasing number of citizen journalists who can provide the news faster and with less bias, any story has to be jumped on quick to ensure that they are seen to be relevant. Both however were keen to point out that it was the strong preponderance of Silicon Valley’s finest among its users that has led to Quora’s sudden success.

    It was this fact that, I felt, led to the second thing I’d like to talk about… the backlash!
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