19/01/2009

Throw your shoes at Bush! And everyone else!

Before Christmas Fubra bought SockandAwe.com from entrepreneur and PopJam founder Alex Tew on eBay.

I haven’t managed to find the time to write about everything that has happened as a result of Fubra taking over the site, so here’s a quick list of links:

Seven days of SockandAwe

Fubra buys SockandAwe.com

Global press coverage – including Reuters, Channel 4 News and Kevin Spacey telling Piers Morgan about the site…!

SockandAwe.com ‘Christmas Message’ (more than 31,000 views)

Competition to throw Bush out office and win $1000

So yes, it’s been a bit busy!

I’ve finally got round to blogging about it because Fubra’s talented developer Steve has just shown me two really cool things:

Shoe counter widget

Anyone can now add this widget to their website using Steve’s instructions – you can also add it to iGoogle as it’s a Google Gadget. I love it! We’ve been working on a similar thing for OurProperty.co.uk, but I just think it’s a great way to drive traffic to our sites. More like this in the future hopefully.

FOUR new SockandAwe.com levels

Steve has also been working hard on new levels for SockandAwe.com, which are due to launch this Wednesday. I’ve just previewed them, and I can honestly say that even though I helped to plan the new levels and knew what was coming, my mouth dropped open with shock-amusement. You’ll see what I mean. Sneak preview below… and levels for Robert Mugabe, Nicolas Sarkozy and Dick Cheney coming Wednesday…

SockandAwe Level 2 - Gordon Brown

SockandAwe Level 2 - Gordon Brown

20/11/2008

Strictly Not News

I’ve been meaning to use this blog more to comment more on media/PR news and to document my comments on news stories elsewhere, but life somehow gets in the way. Here is my latest comment on an article about the number of complaints to the BBC over John Sergeant leaving Strictly Come Dancing on MediaGuardian:

It’s understandable that the public, egged on by programme makers looking to boost viewing figures at that crucial two-thirds-of-the-way-through hurdle, fall for these kind of stunts. But the press? There was a whole package dedicated to this on Channel 4 News last night. What happened to a news agenda?

The public need to learn that outside of voting competitions and ‘have your say’ that actually, they can’t expect to influence aspects of the lives of those on TV. If John Sergent wanted to leave it’s his choice – why should viewers have the ability to bring him back?

The press need to learn not to fall for PR scams and stop giving reality TV contestants space on the agenda of serious news outlets.

I would have been much more interested to read about the way the media have blown this story all out of proportion and possible reasons (audience figures of the news outlets themselves, infotainment culture, payoff to leave) that paper thin publicity stunt fodder ended up as news at all.

The article is here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/nov/20/strictly-come-dancing-john-sergeant

I’m still in utter disbelief that this kind of shite makes the news!

13/05/2008

Uninformed TeleVision

I’ve just got back from a trip to Belfast to take part in a discussion/debate programme for UTV, the Irish version on ITV for PetrolPrices.com… only to discover from the footage that it was virtually pointless:

Late & Live, UTV, 12/05/08

Ok, so I’ve been quoted as Brendan, not quoted at all, quoted as an ‘industry analyst’ but ‘consumer advisor’ is a new one. Not mentioning PetrolPrices obviously makes the trip a complete waste of my time work-wise, but it was fun to go! The other guests on the show, Late & Live (not a porn show, no), were really interesting to chat to, and it was good experience doing another studio interview… but the best part was the amaaaaaaaaaaazing meal I had. And it was nice to hear my surname pronounced properly for a change.

On the plus side, I came home to see an article I’ve been working on with the Sun published:

The Sun, 13/05/08

Again, another example of newspapers not writing their own content – I wrote those tips. At least I can say my work as been published in the Sun now! Now it’s out I’ll email it out as a press release and put it up as a blog to get the most out of one piece. Or perhaps a new page on the site since it’s not time sensitive or topical info. It’s the type of thing which will make good radio discussion I think.

30/04/2008

Forget top slicing, I can save the BBC money

So, my BBC South East Today interview in London yesterday was, predictably, outside in the wind and rain, though not as bad as my first interview. luckily you’ll never see it because it wasn’t recorded :)

But, the point of the story is that the journalist who interviewed me should be sacked. In an attempt to avoid not knowing the answer to a question like on GMTV last week, I asked what the questions might cover. Her response, and I quote, “oh I don’t really know. To be honest, I didn’t write the questions and I haven’t even looked at them. I don’t know anything about the story, I’ve just come down to ask the questions.”

Great help. Not only was it annoying because it meant that I had to think on my feet when she asked something I didn’t know, but mainly it winds me up that the BBC employ such useless people when there are so many people who would kill to have her job.

Before I started at Fubra, Brendan told me that journalists are inherently lazy and all need to be shot. Or something to that effect. And I stood up for them, arguing that the majority properly research and balance stories, and that he was being unfair. Having been on the receiving end of calls from journos asking how many litres are in a gallon (what, Google too difficult?), asking for info I already sent them but they couldn’t be bothered to read, and generally not appreciating the jobs they’ve got, I have to say I tend to agree with him.