UK government wakes up to Twitter

The Twits in the UK government have woken up to Twittering and produced a 20 page guide for government bureaucrats who want to use Twitter.
It seems that officialdom believes that Twitter can give the government a more "human" face.
Good luck with that. It will take more than Twitter to make people vote Labour at the next general election. Cynicism aside, Twitter is a powerful communications tool and if an organisation as staid as Whitehall can see its potential, then social media really has established itself at the heart of communications strategy for any organisation.
You can read all about it here.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/twitter/5919847/Government-launches-20-page-guide-about-using-Twitter-for-civil-servants.html

Timberland rocks!

A great article on going green, by jeff Swartz, CEO of Timberland. He highlights how the company is using Green Rubber in its products.
http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/jeff-swartz/greener-good/consumer-demand-and-building-brand

The power of social media

I just wanted to share this article with you all. Its a great case study of how social media is changing the world.
Just ask the Chinese...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/bearing-witness-20-you-ca_b_231096.html

Monitoring your reputation

What is the starting point in ensuring you have a good online reputation?
In my opinion it is the understanding that you don't control your reputation any longer. It is not about advertising, it is about what people say about you! And social media means that a bad word about your company or its services goes an awfully long way.
For a travel company it might be a bad review on TripAdvisor. For a bank it might be a bitchy post on a financial services website.
Once you appreciate that countless conversations about you and your company are taking place on online, then the first thing to do is to set up a system to keep track of what is being said and where. Only then can you start to engage in the dialogue. Once you know what is going on, then an action place can be started that will enable you to engage with your stakeholders online.
There are tools available that will assist you in tracking these conversations, but engagement takes real expertise and a real understanding of how to talk to stakeholders using social media.
In Malaysia, where I currently hang out, so few companies actually understand this.
A new company, which I won't name for now, is about to launch in KL that will provide bespoke consultancy to companies and individuals who want to use social media to enhance their brands and services.
More on this later...

Social media and recruiting

Green Rubber and its parent company Petra Group are fairly new to the world of social media. That said, we have a video on YouTube which gives an introduction to the technology, as well as a rapidly growing Facebook group and a LinkedIn group. The boss, Datuk Vinod, has his own popular Facebook Group and I have this little blog as well.
But already we are seeing our interaction with stakeholders via social media platforms starting to pay dividends. Web traffic is up and we are also getting resumes sent to us from people whose first point of contact with the company has been on Facebook.
The lession is simple: Conversations about you and your company are taking place whether you are part of the dialogue or not. So it is important to engage with stakeholders across web 2.0 platforms.
In my opinion, social media will become the dominant media when it comes to communicating with stakeholder groups, particularly customers. More on this subject later...

best viral video I have seen all year

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/video/2009/jun/19/strongbow-viral-video-ad-bankers

Green Rubber

As I mentioned before, my day job is for a technology conglomerate in KL called Petra Group. One of its businesses is called Green Rubber. It has a fantastic technology to recycle waste tyres. There are 7 billion sitting in landfill around the world and the company's patented technology enables waste tyre rubber to be recycled and turned into new applications.
You can find out all about the company at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8WdBzSrz3Y