Breaking news? The UK smashes it
To all the Apple lovers on this side of the pond: ever feel like you’re missing out on the action? When the iPhone 4 was finally announced yesterday, did you wish for a seat in the San Fran conference?
To be honest, with so much fantastic coverage from UK media, we don’t see that you’d need to be anywhere other than Blighty, tucked up with your laptop and a cup of Darjeeling (or something). The number of British tech sites bringing news as-it-happened meant that Steve Jobs had barely finished his sentence before the facts were winging their way to us.
Have a look at the fantastic coverage we picked up. Wired gave a thorough run down of features, with T3 hot on their heels with a live blog. Tech Digest noted that the news might ‘herald the end for Old Man iPhone 3G’, while a video round up from Pocket Lint showed us exactly what had got the fanboys going:
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-06/7/apple-iphone-4-announced-at-wwdc
http://www.t3.com/news/jobs-unveils-apple-iphone-4-at-wwdc?=46013
http://www.techdigest.tv/2010/06/iphone_4_releas.html
http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/33547/best-iphone-4g-videos-internet
Stuff focused on the design, noting that this is the ‘world’s thinnest smartphone’, and Electric Pig provided a feast for the eyes with their image gallery. FiveFWD was keeping an eye on prices and tariffs, while the Crave blog reminded us what Team Jobs *didn’t* deliver this time around:
http://stuff.tv/News/iPhone-4-worlds-thinnest-smartphone-launched/14615/
http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2010/06/07/iphone-4-all-the-official-photos/
http://fwd.five.tv/gadget-show/gadget-news
http://crave.cnet.co.uk/
But, now that Apple has truly taken tech to the mainstream, it wasn’t just the technology press with their finger on the pulse. The Telegraph, Daily Mail, Sun, Independent and Mirror were all quick to update their readers:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/7809487/Apples-Steve-Jobs-launches-iPhone-4.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1284731/Apple-unveils-new-iPhone-4.html
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3003542/Apple-unveil-new-iPhone-4.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/steve-jobs-unveils-apples-new-iphone-4-1993995.html
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology/2010/06/07/iphone-4-apple-unveils-new-hanset-with-video-calling-115875-22317651/
The Register may not have attended the event, but theirs was a detailed post about the features of the iPhone 4. Know Your Mobile were hard to please, describing the much-hyped gadget as ‘still rubbish’, while TechRadar commented that the device ‘certainly looks the part’.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/06/07/iphone_4/
http://www.knowyourmobile.com/features/502551/why_the_iphone_4_is_still_rubbish.html
http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/in-pictures-apple-iphone-4-694758
That ought to cover it, don’t you think?
So, who needs a place at the press conference? We heard the wi fi was a bit dodgy, anyway…
Orbitsound's new products sound good to UK media
The sun was shining on British audio technology brand Orbitsound yesterday when their brand new range of home entertainment products – including the T12v2 sound bar and T4 Radiopod – was launched. At a glittering event in the Mayfair Hotel’s penthouse suite, they proved to journalists and industry leaders that these products could change the way we listen to music at home or on the move.
The response was fantastic. Macworld and Electric Pig kicked off the press coverage, with Gizmodo following shortly afterwards – their reviewer had tested Orbitsound’s unique spatial stereo technology on some Fleetwood Mac tracks (we love it) and found that ‘it sounded just as good in the various points of the room I tried, with great bass levels’:
http://gizmodo.com/5554280/orbitsounds-t12-soundbar-uses-new-spatial-stereo-tech-for-better-dispersion
Writing for the Guardian online, Richard Wray commented that the new range is ‘likely to have audiophiles drooling’:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/jun/03/ipod-dock-digital-audio
And the Reuters crew took time out to interview Orbitsound founder Ted Fletcher, as well as taking a look at the whole range. You can see from their report that it wasn’t just journalists who were taken with the T3 portable speaker – the product was hitting all the right notes for testers on the street, too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUf-xMxZXRQ
Finally, music from 6 Day Riot and Talvin Singh marked the close of a long (but very successful) day. Take a look at Orbitsound’s Twitter (@believeyourears) for more media coverage, along with some great twitpics from the night itself. Or for more information about Orbitsound’s new products, visit www.orbitsound.com
Prepare for the iPad launch (with a little help from Griffin)
At 8am this Friday, a throng of press and gadget lovers will descend on Apple’s Regent Street store in time for the arrival of 2010’s hottest product: the iPad. It’s set to be bonkers. And if you’re not already excited enough, Griffin Technology will be there to make the morning even sweeter.
A pop-up press office just off Regent Street will be on hand to supply press not only with piles of fantastic iPad accessories, but also with coffee, wi-fi and some scrumptious muffins. After all, we reckon UK journos are going to need a bit of extra energy for the big day. Stop by and have breakfast with us, and collect your goody bag before heading into the fray.
We’ll be there from 7:30am, and you can either drop in or reserve a spot. For full details, email griffin@beamagency.com or call the Griffin team on t: 020 7833 9595 or m: 07949379974
Beam teams up with Gocycle
We like gadgets that look cool. Gadgets that look cool and are eco-friendly are even better. But, gadgets that look cool, are eco-friendly and can improve both your health and your bank balance? Well. We absolutely love them.
And that’s why we’re so proud to be working with the talented team at Gocycle. A true piece of good old-fashioned British innovation, Gocycle is a lightweight - and extremely stylish - electric bike designed for busy urbanites like us. The cycle combines all the lifestyle and financial benefits of a normal bike with the added boost of battery power – so, while you can get all the exercise you like on your ride to work, Gocycle will take care of the pedal power when you’re running out of steam. On top of that, there are no greasy chains or flat tyres to contend with, and it’s even available tax-free via the Gocycle to work scheme.
It’s ideal for those who want to ditch the car (and the associated traffic jams, and the congestion charges, and the parking problems). And, with every new cyclist saving the nation £382 every year in health, pollution and congestion costs, it won’t be just the extra exercise making you feel virtuous.
You can find full details on the GoCycle website: http://www.gocycle.com/ And stay tuned to the Beamblog for updates from this innovative and inspiring company.
Farewell, 2009... and tally-ho, 2010
2009 has been a media maelstrom. Twitter went mainstream. Gordon Brown bombed on YouTube. Myspace didn’t die, and David Cameron took a few direct hits on mumsnet. The Evening Standard went free, while thelondonpaper and London Lite disappeared altogether. Rupert Murdoch scrapped with Google (well, quite a few people scrapped with Google, about everything from Street View to their Digital Books project) and the future of free news online looked doubtful.
And still some PR agencies maintained a divide between ‘old’ and ‘new’ media.
If ever there was a year that confirmed the inexorable link between social media and the news agenda, this was it (come on – Simon Cowell missed out on his Christmas number one thanks to a Facebook campaign). And although we’ve said it before, we’ll say it again, with more confidence than ever - we at Beam believe that the mix of ‘traditional’ PR and social media savvy is the best way for PR agencies to promote their clients’ products and services.
Well, it’s worked for us, anyway - our approach has attracted some fantastic clients this year, all of whom have been a joy to work with. In 2009 we launched the first ever Lego Education Centre in the UK, and introduced the weird and wonderful IWOOT Experiences to the world. We added new members to the Beam team, we helped motorists to be a little bit greener with Vexia’s Econav, and we worked with UK Trade & Investment to highlight the talent within the British technology industry.
So, thanks for the memories, 2009. It’s been fun. But we think that next year could be even better. We hope you all have a very merry Christmas – and we’ll see you in 2010.
Nostalgia tech
For tech fans across the UK, this midwinter will be bleaker than ever. A cloud will be cast over the Christmas dinner. How can we be merry, they will all ask, when the New Year brings with it the demise of TV information service Teletext?
Today, the residents of Jersey will bid farewell to one of Britain’s remaining analogue dinosaurs, and the rest of us will follow suit in January. No more package holidays through the telly, no more garish 888 subtitles, no more Peter Kay gags (booked it, packed it... you know the rest). You’ll have to use the internet or something for all that.
Let’s be honest, most of us can’t remember the last time we used Teletext (I think, for me, it was looking up some listings for the cinema in Bury. Must have been about 1994). But we’ll be sad to see it go. This TV giant has been around since the seventies, and as such it has been a part of our childhood. OK, a small part. But it was definitely there, and for some reason, it makes us weirdly nostalgic.
These days, technology moves so fast that it’s hard to get attached. Just as you’ve worked out how to access email on your latest mobile phone, your inbox is filled with adverts for the new and updated version. You buy an HDTV only to realise that now you need a 3D one. You fall in love with your iPhone, and then they tell you that the new one has a digital compass (STOP THE PRESS). But Teletext is older than a good many tech fans out there, and is a retro champ that felt like it would be around forever.
In years to come, will we find ourselves reminiscing about the Playstation 3 in the same way as we lovingly recall the Commodore 64 (‘Aah, and it used to take a good ten seconds for the games to load...’)? Will we get as nostalgic about the LG Chocolate as we do about the ‘brick’ we had at high school? Or, in this fast-paced industry, will they appear as nothing more than dots on a fast changing tech horizon?
So, should auld acquaintance be forgot, we raise a glass to an analogue legend. And we look forward to seeing which heroes of the digital age have as much longevity.
We’ll like this? Not a lot, actually
There are great PR stunts. There are poor PR stunts. And then there are PR stunts that leave you feeling as if your dad has just announced live on TV that he has a fetish for skinny dipping.
See the latest from often-slightly-grumpy magician Paul Daniels. Not for the first time, he is getting his kit off in a David Beckham style for Closer magazine:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/6815213/Paul-Daniels-poses-in-underwear-as-tribute-to-David-Beckham.html
In the 1947 film The Hucksters, Sidney Greenstreet’s ad agency despot spits on a table in front of his executives in order to sum up his business philosophy – it might be a shocking thing, but they ‘will always remember it’. For Greenstreet, it doesn’t have to be good, it doesn’t have to be clever – it just has to make an impact.
We sort of feel the same way about this. It might not have been for the right reasons but, Paul, you certainly did get our attention...
Technophile, or tech obsessive?
Obviously, we at Beam love our gadgets as much as the next technophile. But we were pretty disappointed to read this morning that some people are so attached to their mobile phones that they won’t put them down even when they’re behind the wheel. According to the Transport Research Laboratory, ‘more drivers are using hand-held mobile phones than before tougher penalties were introduced two years ago’.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8407142.stm
It seems that drivers are undeterred by the threat of fines or points on their licenses, with women aged 17-29 the most likely to use a mobile phone while driving. The same people who tut at drink-drivers are risking lives to have conversations that are about as essential as a bikini in the South Pole. Why is it so important for us to keep hanging on the phone?
Could it be that in this hyper-connected world we are perhaps - dare we say it - more selfish than ever? We have contacts and content at the touch of a button, but it seems a slice of reality has been the cost. Take a look at Jasper Rees’s summary of the last decade, which comments that developments such as podcasts and iPlayer allow consumers to access content ‘on their own terms, not to a timetable imposed from on high’. At the same time, ‘the viral phenomenon of the internet validated everyone’s opinion via social networking and chatrooms,’ and ‘YouTube ensured that anyone could be the leading character in their own room’.
Gadget and tech developments aren’t supposed to make us ego-centric human beings even more insular than we already are. They’re supposed to open our minds, not close them to the world around us; they’re meant to enrich our relationships, not obscure them completely.
So, to all mobile-using motorists: think about it. Isn’t it better to chat in person when you get home, rather than talk on the phone and lower your chances of getting there safely?
It’s not just the kids who need advice
As a new TV series discusses how the rise of ‘stranger danger’ changed the way children played in the streets (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8399749.stm), a new ‘safety code’ for the internet launched today aims to protect youngsters from online threats. A code of conduct designed to ensure that sites such as Facebook and Myspace limit young users’ exposure to bad language, inappropriate advertising and antisocial behaviour, this national strategy urges children and their parents to Zip It, Block It and Flag It.
http://tinyurl.com/yjatfwo
Doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as easily as ‘stop, look, listen...’, but the advice is sound: don’t share personal information with strangers, block communications from people or companies you don’t know, and report any suspicious behaviour, individuals or sites.
For parents, protecting their children from online dangers is extremely tricky, largely because it’s an environment that many mums and dads simply don’t understand. They tell the kids which trees not to climb because they’ve had a few knee scabs in their time; they tell the teens to go easy on the Blue Wickeds because they’ve had one or two stinking hangovers themselves (believe it or not). But many of them aren’t involved in Web 2.0 in a way that allows them to really understand the online experience, with its benefits, banalities and threats.
Of course, it’s great to see more and more advice being given to parents – for instance, keep the family computer in a communal area, set security PINs and controls where possible. But it’s not enough to give them a ‘to-do’ list and ask them to tick the boxes. It might not be the most stimulating way to spend their time, but spending a few hours on Facebook and Bebo, getting to know how social networks operate – even just finding out what content is available at a click on iPlayer and other catch-up services – will be more enlightening and empowering to parents than catchphrases and checklists.
It’s about understanding the landscape. Until parents do that, how can they expect to advise their children how to navigate it? Not only should they Zip It, Block It and Flag It, but perhaps they should learn to live it too.
The true cost of Twitter?
According to a recent survey of almost 1,500 office workers, Twitter is costing Britain’s economy nearly £1.4 billion in lost productivity.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8325865.stm
Research from IT consultancy Morse shows that 57% of employees use social networks for personal use when in the office, spending an average of 40 minutes a week posting personal tweets. It might not sound like much, but over the course of a year, this adds up to a whole week out of the year.
Sounds dramatic, yes? But let’s not get carried away. Long has the debate raged over whether the banning of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter at work is actually a good idea – after all, it’s not just within the media industry that employees are using their personal accounts to make and maintain work contacts. Here at Beam we’ve worked with several journalists who are far more responsive to Twitter than such quaint modes of communication such as the telephone...
And, after all, if your personal Twitter account identifies you as a representative of your brand, you have a great opportunity to have your message heard across the digital world. Get it right, and the results can be fantastic.
(Of course, 40 minutes a week equates to just 8 minutes a day on average. Probably about as much time as you might spend making those cups of tea, stretching your legs in your afternoon break, or even flicking through the papers at lunch. Sounds less dramatic now, don’t you think?)
The problem is not employees using social networks at work – the problem is employees using them in a way that reflects badly on their brands. Even if you’re using personal Facebook and Twitter accounts, the very mention of who you work for establishes you as a representative of your company, and those drunken or indiscreet tweets don’t just reflect badly on you. Perhaps the most interesting point from the Morse survey was that over three quarters of employers haven’t yet provided their staff with guidelines on how to use social networks. Maybe if they understood the value that an appreciation of the evolving digital world can bring, the benefits to businesses would far outweigh the supposed cost.
And so to bed – the launch of iwantoneofthoseexperiences.com
PR is about communication. Whether through press releases, case studies, fantastic photography or face-to-face contact, our job is to help our clients communicate their brand message in a way that is effective, engaging and exceptional. It’s about understanding perfectly our clients’ offerings, and helping their target audiences to understand it too.
Which is why the Beam team found themselves yesterday driving around the streets of London in a motorised bed. Yes, really.
Allow us to explain.
Iwantoneofthoseexperiences.com is a brand spanking new website offering incredible experiences from ghost-hunting to ice-climbing. We decided that the best way to show potential customers how much fun the experiences can be was to take to the streets, and let them see for themselves. Armed with (or, rather, tightly strapped into) two of the amazing Wacky Racers – the mobile office, and the motorised bed – the Beam team whizzed around Islington to the whoops and cheers from shocked spectators. They waved, they papped us on their cameraphones and, best of all, *everyone* smiled.
The whole outrageous business certainly helped us to understand why the Wacky Racers from iwantoneofthoseexperiences.com is so truly brilliant. And, seeing our gleeful faces and hearing our cackles as we disappeared down the street, we’re pretty sure that the public got the message too.
Have a look at our Facebook snaps, here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/album.php?aid=118647&id=533037822&ref=mf
Three hits in one day for Which?
The award for most over-achieving PR department today goes to consumer watchdog Which?, who have managed to get three different news stories in the national press this morning.
Firstly, they revealed that as little as 6% of the money spent on charity Christmas cards actually goes to good causes – those covering the news included the BBC, the (suitably outraged) Daily Mail and the regional Metro:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8319302.stm
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1222036/Charity-Christmas-cards-just-6-good-causes.html
Next, the Telegraph reported on page 2 that Apple’s new Shuffle came last in a Which? test of mp3 players:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/6395787/Apples-iPod-shuffle-worst-mp3-player.html
And that’s not all – page 11 of the same newspaper announces (courtesy of another Which? report) that ‘more than half of broadband users had problems with their internet connection in the last 12 months’).
We’ve got to hand it to the comms team at Which?. Here at Beam (as in many agencies) our daily routine begins with a bout of media monitoring, and while we’ll regularly see the same PR-led story covered across a range of media it’s rare to see completely different stories appearing from the same source, on the same day.
Of course, we can’t be sure how the information was issued – but it’s interesting to note which angles were favoured by which titles. The Telegraph, known amongst other things for its high-quality tech coverage, went for the mp3 player and broadband stories; the Mail favoured the immediate and attention-grabbing headline provided by the Christmas card report.
Also interesting that all of this information seems to have been issued at the same time – would it have made more sense to stagger the releases, to maintain a steady flow of coverage in the all-important run-up to Christmas? The danger is, of course, that consumer editors soon become saturated with details from one company, and turn elsewhere for comment and research data.
But, saying that, it’s a great job from the team – and we wonder which other PR can beat three hits, for one client, in one day?
T3’s Gadget Awards are coming
Tomorrow night it’s curtain-up on the third annual T3 Gadget Awards and, with almost 140,000 votes cast, it’s set to be quite a night. With TV and radio favourite Johnny Vaughan at the helm, much-coveted prizes from Tech Brand of the Year to the prestigious Gadget of the Year will be presented at a central London ceremony filled with representatives from some of the biggest tech brands around the world.
T3’s Gadget Awards are renowned throughout the industry for their emphasis on reader votes, but judges alongside the editorial team also include tech experts from The Telegraph, MSN and Tech Radar. And with 2009 being such a storming year for tech, there are sure to be some surprises in store when the winners are announced.
Watch the judges furiously deliberating, here:
http://www.t3.com/news/video-t3-awards-2009-judgment-day?=41151
Check out http://awards.t3.com/ tomorrow night for live updates from the ceremony, interviews with the winners and much more.
Social media – it’s a team effort
We’ve been meaning to highlight a recent PR Week article from editor Danny Rogers. In it, he argues that companies mustn’t ‘make the same mistakes with this new, youthful incarnation of public relations, as they did with traditional media relations’. And we’ve got to say, we couldn’t agree more.
http://www.prweek.com/uk/news/opinion/942148/Danny-Rogers-Firms-need-measure-digital/
Only this week I took a phone call from a company providing a social media monitoring service.
Them: ‘Hello. I just wondered who looks after your digital and social media services?’
Me: ‘Erm... all of us?’
At Beam, we don’t believe in ‘social media experts’. Because social media is, simply, part of the PR package. It’s not something that can be separated out from the account teams, and left to the attention of some web wizard who is going to sit on Twitter all day – it’s an integral part of every new PR campaign and account team, and agencies / brands who believe that they can separate print, online and social media are missing the point.
Each member of the Beam team uses Twitter and Facebook, not just for our clients but for ourselves. We post twitpics about what we’ve been up to, and share our photos with friends and family via sites such as Flickr. Lots of us are handy with a Flip, and we spend as much time on YouTube as we do watching the TV and reading the newspaper in a morning. And your customers? Many of them do just the same.
And that’s why social media is so important. It’s here to stay – and any agency that fails to recognise that it’s part of the everyday PR process is in danger of making those old mistakes all over again.
The changing face of PR and journalism in a digital world
Some interesting news from PR Week today – according to the Oriella PR Network European Digital Journalism Survey 2009, a result of the digital revolution is that ‘journalists increasingly rely on PR’. The research suggests that, under pressure to produce more content than ever thanks to the requirements of the digital world, journalists are turning to PR content to fill the gaps.
http://www.prweek.com/uk/news/938606/Oriella-PR-Network-survey-finds-journalists-increasingly-rely-PR/
In April last year, I attended a rather lively debate which pitted Lord Bell, chairman of Chime Communications, against journalist Nick Davies (amongst others) – the motion was: ‘The growth of PR is threatening the integrity of the press’. Davies argued that, thanks to the changing fortunes of the newspaper industry, journalists were under pressure to produce more copy than ever before yet had less time to do it. There was not enough time for investigative and in-depth journalism, and – without sufficient time for fact-checking - the press were forced to rely on information issued by press offices, simply in order to meet their deadlines.
In the end, the motion was overturned (it seemed the general feeling was that, while journalists might be forced to rely on PRs and their content, the fortunes of the newspaper industry were not the fault of PR). But, to myself and my friends who attended - not PRs, in case you’re wondering - there was a strong sense of resentment from some of the journalists present that this was the order of things.
And this is what makes the Oriella research so interesting – because according to PR Week, ‘the poll also found that many of the journalists surveyed said the impact of digital had changed journalism for the better’.
Perhaps, although the press are dealing with more PR content than ever, the digital revolution has given us all a broader perspective with which to view it. When Twitter can give you a snapshot of a mood, and citizen journalists are offering their own perspective on world events, there is no point in PR ‘spin’ – because the digital world will see right through it. There’s no sense in PRs overselling a product to a journalist, when a host of online forums will tell a different story.
There is undoubtedly much change still to come for both the newspaper and the PR industries. And the developing digital world could just make things better for everyone.
Beam presents... Beam Presents
Beam Presents will take place on 9 September 2009 and is the agency's first multiple brand showcase event. It is an opportunity for a selection of fantastic brands to put their products and services in front of a whole host of key media. Journalists from glossy mags to national newspapers, top blogs to TV shows, will all be in attendance to check out some of the latest, greatest gadgets and news from the techsphere.
Taking place at the stunning One Marylebone Place in central London, Beam Presents will feature gifts and gizmos from the UK’s leading gadget etailer, the world’s first eco-friendly sat nav system, an ereader and ebook brand with a great story to tell... and much, much more.
If you’re a journalist, blogger or TV researcher and would like to come along, please contact Andy Stafford or Louise Thompson at beampresents@beamagency.com or t: 020 7833 9595. See you there?
IWOOT nominated in Stuff Awards 2009!
Yet more great news for the Beam team this week – iwantoneofthose.com is a nominee in the Stuff Awards 2009, taking a prestigious place in the Retailer of the Year category!
We’re thrilled that they’ve been recognised by this top tech title alongside other big brands including Argos, The Carphone Warehouse and John Lewis. But we’d be even more thrilled if IWOOT could have your support! This is a reader-voted award so, if you’re a fan of iwantoneofthose, we really need you to visit the site and cast your vote:
http://awards.stuff.tv/reader-award/retailer-of-the-year
It only takes a click (or two), and voting closes in just 18 days.
In the meantime, huge congratulations to the hard-working iwantoneofthose.com team on their well-deserved nomination.
Beam appointed by Interead
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Fantastic news from Beam HQ – the Beam team has been appointed by Interead, the British company behind the COOL-ER ereader and its companion ebookstore CoolerBOOKS.com. We’re proud to announce that Beam will take care of UK PR for the company, which is currently a hit around the globe.
So, of you want to find out more about Interead then just give the team a call, or come along to Beam Presents on 9 September to hear the latest news from the company...
One thing’s for sure – we’re all extremely excited about getting to work on such a brilliant brand. So stay tuned, and see how the story unfolds...
The Twittergate Saga
Like many other technophiles out there, we’re currently transfixed by all the fuss of Twittergate...
If you haven’t already heard about the hoo-ha, BBC’s Dot.Life blog will get you up to speed about how a cracker by the name of Hacker Croll broke into a Twitter employee’s email account, found more than 300 highly sensitive documents and handed them over to top tech site TechCrunch.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/
As you can see, the decision by TechCrunch to publish the documents hasn’t been met with universal approval, and has been considered by many to be an unethical way of making the news. TechCrunch reports that Hacker Croll claims, far from wanting to profit from his actions, wanted to ‘show how easy it is for a malicious person to gain access to sensitive information without too much knowledge’.
(To be honest, it reminded us a little bit of a story in the news a few weeks ago about Sussex police officers creeping into people’s homes in order to highlight how easy it is for burglars to enter through unlocked doors and windows. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1198843/Homeowners-shocked-PCSOs-enter-open-windows-easy-thieves.html Yes, you’ve made your point, but you’re probably not going to make any friends doing it.)
Of course, it’s different and arguably OK when the information is in the public interest (see the expenses scandal that gripped the nation for what seemed like a lifetime). But the information acquired by Hacker Croll included financial projections, meeting notes and even suggestions of the company’s plans for a reality show(?). Is this what you’d call ‘in the public interest’?
In ‘The Anatomy of the Twitter Attack’, Nic Cubrilovic sometimes seems to suggest so, offering a moral for this story:
‘...reset those passwords and don’t use the same passwords for different services. Don’t use password recovery questions that can easily be answered with a simple web search... And just in general be paranoid about data security. You may be happy you were.’
But is this justification for actually publishing the documents? The process of acquiring the documents may well highlight some serious security issues, which tech lovers need to know about – but, having proved that it can be done, was it really necessary to blow Twitter’s cover on things like its TV pitch? Should we applaud the hack, and question the reveal? Could this have been an idea that was created initially in the public interest, but which ended up crossing the line?
We’d love to hear what you think. Email us at kate@beamagency.com or twitter us at @beamagency, and we’ll post any of your thoughts.
Online media still a mystery?
If you’re a PR reading this, and have managed to navigate to this website all by yourself, congratulations: because PR bible*, PR Week today reports that ‘PR agencies are still struggling to get to grips with online media’. It seems that only 40% of the top 100 PR agencies surveyed by Bigmouthmedia offer a variety of digital services:
http://www.prweek.com/uk/news/919932/Bigmouthmedia-finds-PR-agencies-continue-struggle-digital-offering/
There are some pretty interesting statistics in here, one being that while ‘the number of agencies publishing blogs has doubled... 78 per cent of those agencies do not produce their own’. (We can assure you that this blog is brought to you direct from the Beam team here in Exmouth market. Typos and all).
Now, we’re not professing to know it all when it comes to online media (and anyone who does is telling porkies – let’s face it, the landscape develops so quickly that there’s something new to learn every single day). But we have for a long time been working hard to understand the differences between online and offline PR.
It must be because we work in the tech sphere that we almost take for granted the fact that this is the direction the industry has taken; but it’s surprising to think that there are agencies out there who haven’t yet felt the need to embrace the digital world. Yes, it can be tough (and a bit scary) trying to navigate this new territory... but can any of us really afford not to? Frankly, the consequences could be scarier.
Whether you work in the tech sphere or not, the digital world is becoming a bigger part of our everyday lives than ever, and your clients need to be properly represented there. The journalists who speak to you on the phone are the same people who are reading your blogs, following your Twitter and checking out your YouTube channel – surely they need to receive the same service, whether their next article will appear online or in print?
*hmmm
The Eternal Moonwalk
With his death turning out to be as bizarre and provocative as his extraordinary life, Michael Jackson has dominated the global press once more with the staggering footage of his memorial service (Jermaine Jackson singing Smile = heart-rending. Coffin on the stage = a bit uncomfortable, to be honest). Whether you think he should be celebrated, castigated or just left alone, there’s no denying that this was a man whose musical achievements and untimely death have sent shockwaves around the whole world.
Amidst the inevitable furore that comes with the passing of a musical icon, we were curious to see Studio Brussel’s tribute to the King of Pop – the Eternal Moonwalk. A website piecing together video footage of moonwalks from around the world, this digital memorial remembers MJ through his signature move, in a virtual moonwalk that never ends:
http://www.eternalmoonwalk.com/
Like Jacko’s life, there are high and lows. Search for Vincent Gaillard and Alex McGhee and you’ll find some pretty good moves. Look for the Indeval team (apparently from Mexico City) however, and you’ll find a line of people at work wheeling backwards in their office chairs (more of a ‘moonwheel’, but quite fun anyway). Other participants include a Gene Simmons doll, a pint of beer and a budgerigar.
Once again, in extraordinary times, people from all backgrounds come together in the digital world. Some of these moonwalkers are clearly dedicated MJ fans; others are simply enjoying his memory and having fun. But all have found the place online to pay their (digital) respects.
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On the verge of a Digital Britain
This afternoon, Lord Carter will deliver his long-awaited Digital Britain white paper, outlining his vision for the nation’s digital revolution. Writing in today’s Financial Times, he explained:
‘Just as Britain’s canals and railways formed the symbolic infrastructure of the industrial revolution so the country can exploit the internet revolution using fibre optics and cable in fixed and next generation mobile technology.’
Sounds dramatic, hey. But, joking aside, this report really is a pretty big deal. According to today’s Independent, 22 million Brits depend on the digital and communications industry - which is worth a staggering £52bn a year - for their everyday work.
As well as the modernisation of the UK’s digital infrastructure, one of the most talked-about parts of Lord Carter’s report will be the universal availability of broadband. He wants broadband to be provided to every home, but critics have suggested that not everyone wants it. Only last week research from Ofcom revealed that ‘some 43% of adults who currently do not have internet access would remain disconnected even if they were given a free PC and broadband connection’ (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8091398.stm). With 17 million Brits, or 30% of the population, offline, you’d think that this might put a dampener on Lord Carter’s upcoming announcement.
But a look at today’s headlines – and top social networking sites – hints at the impact a digital revolution could have. As Iran orders an election recount, not long after foreign broadcasters accused the country of blocking TV, radio and mobile sources (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jun/15/iran-jamming-technology-tv-radio-internet), the web is buzzing with news. Take a look at this article from ABC today, which reveals the crucial part that the web is playing in the dissemination of news throughout the international community:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=7845377&page=1
And this is why the development of a Lord Carter’s Digital Britain will be so critical - the sharing of news and information is what will shape the understanding of our future and our history. At the same time, a healthy, competitive communications environment is key, which is why his suggestion of a public service broadcaster to rival the BBC is so significant.
So, while not everyone will be getting excited about the report, it would be foolish not to recognise the impact a truly Digital Britain could have. It’s going to be a big day for Lord Carter – and for the rest of us, too.
Getting a lift from the web
Slightly shaky-looking cyclists weaving in and out of the bus lane, besuited and bemused businessmen who don’t know the way to work above ground... Yes, there’s a tube strike on, and you’ll probably have noticed some of these sights throughout the capital on your way to work this morning (if you made it into work, that is).
It’s a little too late to be giving advice now, but anyone who had a bit of a ‘mare this morning might have found solace (or just a lift to the office) in the social networking sphere yesterday. According to the Times this morning ‘websites were awash with offers of goodwill, shared motorbikes and free travel advice as bloggers united to try and beat the Tube strike’. As well as recommending sites such as walkit.com, bloggers, tweeters and the like arranged car shares and cycle groups to tackle the travel chaos.
Our favourite is the motorcyclist who offered lifts to Twitter users on his journey between Croydon and Central London. He was even providing gloves for his passengers.
We read time and time again that social networking will basically be the death of human interaction. According to the future-phobic, sensationalist press we’re all holed up in our bedrooms, only ever seeing our friends on Facebook; we’re twittering every five seconds about how today’s tuna sandwich wasn’t just as nice as yesterday’s cheese and pickle, oblivious to the fact that nobody else cares; we only meet new people via snarky replies to blog posts. The web is a soulless cavern where usually-nice people say horrible things to one another that they wouldn’t dare to say face to face.
OK, people do say some pretty pointless things on Twitter. But when the Tube strike gave us a great opportunity to spread a little happiness, didn’t the digital community seize it with both hands? For Londoners, sites like Twitter proved their worth in one day.
So, we’d like to applaud the digital community for what they did last night. As well as giving some of us a lift to work, you managed to lift our spirits too.
Beam is recruiting
London based PR agency Beam, seeks bright, creative PR person for Account Executive role and other tech adventures . . .
We need someone who is hard working, enthusiastic and super organised to support Beam’s range of exciting tech, gadget and toy accounts. As well as monitoring the media you’ll be responsible for various products loans programmes, pitching products to press and liaising with journalists to make sure that kit gets sent out and reviewed as planned. And, believe us, you’ll need to be good at multi-tasking - we’ve got a*a lot* of products to take care of… You’ll need a year’s experience in PR, and a real passion for the media and gadgets (that’s from luxury speakers to lightsabre umbrellas).
Beam is still a small team, so you’ll learn quickly and will be a big part of brainstorms and client events. This role is a great way for anyone starting out in the industry to learn their craft and build up their media contacts, whilst working on a range of genuinely innovative and interesting accounts.
If you think you could be a part of the Beam team, email your CV to jane@beamagency.com
Ivy Bean: putting 103 years into 140 characters
We’ve already raved about Geriatric1927... but he’s a spring chicken compared to our new favourite Silver Surfer.
According to today’s Sun, Ivy Bean has become the UK’s oldest known Twitter user after getting bored with her Facebook profile (on which she had accumulated 4,800 friends). At 103, she is also trying to get her friends in Hillside Manor care home to sign up and start tweeting too, proving that age is no barrier when it comes to tech. Here she is, pictured, with the Geek Squad representative who helped her with her Twitter account.
It makes me think of my dad, who still can’t send a coherent text message – he was a latecomer to the mobile market and found his first phone tricky to use, and the technology advanced so quickly that he just never caught up. But social networking is different, and rather than bombarding us with new features, sites are distilling the things we want into ever simpler functions.
For example, Facebook allowed us to share pictures, music, messages and a whole load of sometimes-nonsensical apps. Now, Twitter just boils your life down to a bite-sized 140 characters. Flickr takes care of your photos with no other fuss. What could be simpler than that? You don’t even need to be a member of the digital generation to work it out.
So, we ought not to be shocked that Ivy is becoming a Twitter whizz. We are, however, a bit surprised that she appears to have a soft spot for American Idol contestant Adam Lambert...
This is the news
At a time when circulations on national newspapers - excluding the Daily Star – are down, kerfuffle within the industry is definitely up. Not for the first time, the press itself is the big news.
First of all, the Telegraph was last week accused of chequebook journalism following its purchase of sensitive information regarding MPs’ expenses. One of the most shocking and high-profile exclusives in recent memory, the paper supposedly paid £150,000 for the details of what has become a media sensation.
At the same time, the Evening Standard has this weekend come under fire from its former editor for its controversial ‘Sorry’ campaign, in which the new team apologises for the newspaper’s previously gloomy aspect and for losing touch with its readers. The campaign has, unsurprisingly, been attacked for undermining the past good work of the editorial team.
All this at a time when Rupert Murdoch is prophesising that the days of free online newspaper content are over. So, how has the industry come to court controversy in this way? And, in trying to stand out in a crowd, are newspapers losing their sense of self?
Murdoch has raised the issues (and pitfalls) of free-conomics in the midst of this identity crisis, and it’s interesting to make comparisons between the newspaper and music industries at this time. With artists finding it increasingly necessary to give away songs and even albums for free, the question of how musicians can make money has become a hotly-debated one. How will artists be able to fund the creation of new material if their work brings publicity but no profit? (Many established musicians have seen costs offset by a rising attendance at live shows, but this is not necessarily the case for all artists.)
And so it is with the newspaper industry. How can journalists be expected to produce the high quality content – investigative reporting, hard-hitting exposés and analyses – when they are asked to produce a higher word count than ever for a lower cost? And, in a bid to make a quick impact, will charges of chequebook journalism and controversial campaigns become still more common?
The problem is not a new one by any means, but it’s one that needs an answer soon. And, just like music, we ignore the value of the free press at our peril.
Leyio Launches in the UK
Leyio, digital pioneers from across the Channel, are finally sharing their brand new product with the people of the UK. On 23 April their Personal Sharing Device was unveiled at a press event in London’s Soho, where journalists were encouraged to swap digital images, music, movies and even Facebook details using the new Leyio device.
You see, the pocket-sized Leyio is all about sharing digital information, whether you’re at your computer or not. For example, you might use Myspace at home to share your favourite new bands with your friends and Facebook to share information with your work colleagues. You might use LinkedIn to swap business cards and important documents with your clients. But, Leyio allows you to do this even when you’re not at your desk – so, exchange information when you’re in a business meeting, out having coffee with friends or tripping the light fantastic in your local bar. You party animal, you.
For details about the product, have a look at the website: www.leyio.com. You can also check out the Leyio blog at www.leyio.com/uk, where you can hear Leyio’s thoughts on the digital world (which includes everything from USB fingers and digital frogs to the YouTube Symphony Orchestra).
Jane Leah named UKJTPR Technology Woman of the Year!
Drum roll please... Jane Leah, Managing Director of Beam Agency, has been named Technology Woman of the Year by Facebook’s UK Technology Journalists and PRs! Yes, in the Pressies 2009 awards – all voted for by journos, PRs and other industry figures – she beat tough competition from leading British journalists to take the title.
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://tinyurl.com%2Fd9vpxu
Pretty good, don’t you think? It’s especially satisfying given that the voting was conducted by Jane’s peers, the people who have worked with her and seen how Beam has grown and evolved over the years. So, a huge thank you from Jane to everyone who voted.
Griffin brings Nashville noise to streets of Soho
Tennessee teacakes, harmonicas, Jack Daniels and – most importantly – a whole heap of Griffin goodies... All this (and more) when the leading iPod and iPhone accessory manufacturer held a showcase in Soho last week. With new kit flown over from Nashville, along with members of the Griffin team, the event at 68 Dean Street gave more than 100 journalists a look at some brand new products as well as an overview of the company’s colourful history.
There was pizza, there was beer, and there really was a fantastic crowd. But, thanks to Griffin, there was also great music, which is what the company is all about. It was great to see so many press – and a big thank you to all who came along. And if you didn’t make it, well, I’m afraid you missed a good one. But see you next time?
Don’t let a good story get in the way of... a good story
There’s been something of a social media scuffle of late, this time focusing on the document-sharing site Scribd. The site, which is rather like YouTube for the written word, encourages users to upload and share documents with other readers – from books to short stories, academic papers to presentations, 50,000 new writings and documents are uploaded every day.
The Times reports that authors (including J K Rowling) are currently fighting piracy that unfortunately comes as standard with a service such as this: http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article5998918.ece In the interest of balance, Scribd have responded to the allegations on their own blog: http://blog.scribd.com/2009/03/30/what-ever-happened-to-fact-checking/
It’s a shame that Scribd is being used in ways that bring the service into disrepute. As the company explains in its response to the negative press, ‘Scribd is a document sharing site where people come to publish their grandmother’s 80-year-old pierogi recipe, to find Barack Obama’s latest economic plan, to read The New York Times’ official Madoff filing, to receive feedback on their new screenplay, and to reach a community of over 55 million readers’. It’s not a book-sharing site (although working with publishers is a part of the offering) but is in fact a great resource that unfortunately, like many other web-based services, can be misused at times.
Maybe it’s time that the publishing industry – like the music industry – started to work with this new concept of online sharing, rather than fighting against it. Because, while writers should of course be properly rewarded for their work, we can’t afford to attack such informative and educational resources as Scribd in a bluster of media hype. Obviously, regulations must be put in place to protect authors, but isn’t it an incredible thing that knowledge can be shared so easily? That young people can search for anything from great literary works to the latest political proposals, all at the click of a button?
Wossy Wants One of Those
Rubbing shoulders with the stars? All part of a day’s work for the IWOOT team. We were super chuffed last week when the all-dancing Mech RC showed off its moves on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross. Two of the amazing robots threw some shapes on the hugely popular show (appearing, as you can see, in the guises of Jonathan himself and David Brent)
The coverage followed a busy few days for the IWOOTers, who had that week embarked on a two-day publishing house tour to show off the latest and greatest gadgets from the site. With a suitcase bursting with everything from digital photo albums to lightsabre umbrellas, the team visited several editorial teams to let them know what’s set to be big this summer. Never even knew you needed a garden tightrope? Or an aeroplane cake tin? Or a light-up Space Invaders T-shirt? Well, now you do.
Check out iwantoneofthose.com for the latest additions to the site.
Just a thought (shower)
These days, it’s bad enough trying to stay abreast of the news with terms like ‘quantitative easing’ and ‘fiscal policy’ floating about… So it certainly doesn’t help when local councils insist on using jargon which seems designed to make simple things sound more complicated. Income streams? Oh, you mean money. Service users? Ah. People, then.
That’s the view from the Local Government Association, which has compiled a list of ‘council-speak’ which they say should be banned - otherwise, ordinary folk have little chance of understanding what the devil councillors are talking about.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1162654/Mind-language-A-plain-mans-guide-worst-council-gobbledegook.html
It’s not the first time pleas for less jargon have been heard - in June last year, the BBC published a list of the most hated management-speak phrases (if you’ve ever instigated an ‘idea shower’ about your next ‘holistic, cradle-to-grave approach’, ‘going forward’, then you should stop reading now).
But the jargon keeps coming. It’s a problem that occurs when the ones in charge think more about the process than the people involved in them. Why depersonalise your constituents with a term such as ‘service users’? Why take the edge off a ‘top-down’ approach, when it simply means that you’re not listening to people?
It’s not just in local authorities - it happens in the tech game too, and no doubt in countless other sectors. How many times have you heard a new product described as an ‘integrated and innovative solution’? Or a ‘cutting-edge device set to revolutionise the industry’? How many press releases have you read, which all sound exactly the same? And did you even care to ‘cut through the noise’ and work out what this miraculous new product or service was even about?
Especially in these tough times, a company needs a focused, targeted PR programme that recognises its individuality, not smothers it in cliches. Agencies and their teams, who will dedicate the time and resources to understand every part of your business, are the answer - because when the credit crunch bites, being smart and creative, and not standardised by senseless and soulless process, will make all the difference.
Making sharing fair for artists – music on Myspace falls silent (for now)
It’s a debate that has been raging for a long time now, but over recent days there has been a clash between web behemoth Google and the Performing Rights Society. The two have failed to reach an agreement about how the royalties for musicians can be collected on YouTube, and Google has blocked UK users from viewing music videos on the hugely popular movie sharing site. Music lovers across the country are of course hoping that a deal will be made, and the content made available again.
Andrew Keen writes an interesting piece on the subject:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/online/andrew-keen-google-calls-the-tune-after-the-day-the-music-died-on-youtube-1645642.html
He quotes Lord Carter, Minister of Communications, who explains that the digital world is changing how content is disseminated and paid for in the digital world.
Of course, the breaking down of digital boundaries is in many ways a great thing, and the fact that we can exchange and share information more freely than ever does make our lives much easier. But it’s important that, especially when it comes to something as valuable an art as music, that creators are rewarded for their work. Otherwise, what incentive have they to make the content we love to hear? It’s no good having all the technology, and no great content to share.
How do you think the problem can be resolved? What can we do to make sure that artists don’t lose out in the digital arena? These days it's more important than ever that sharing is fair for everyone, whether we're creating or enjoying digital content.
Play nicely, now
Hello! So lovely to see you, how’ve you been?
May I say how charming you’re looking today?
What? Of course I’m feeling alright. It’s just that, according to New York writer David Denby, the online community can be pretty unpleasant, and I’m trying to redress the balance.
You see, Denby is the author of a new book about the art of Snark. Snarking (think ‘snide remark’) is the practice of making sarcastic insults and jibes online which are commonly (but not exclusively) directed at celebrities. And it’s something he thinks is spreading through the media and is in danger of taking over the way we communicate with each other.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7941215.stm
It’s not just about being mean, though. Denby believes that a merciless web culture, as promoted by hugely popular gossip sites such as Perez Hilton, TMZ and Gawker, (amongst countless others) is ‘lazy’ and ‘parasitic’ – it’s not just cruel, it’s cheap, and usually not even very amusing. The idea is that anyone can post a bad picture of a celebrity and scrawl something insulting about it. But wit doesn’t come quite so easily (take as an offline example, the Ross / Brand fiasco – personally, I thought they should be ashamed of themselves, not because it’s wrong to make jokes about old men but because the joke just wasn’t funny).
It’s an interesting concept, and one that all web users can relate to – who hasn’t surfed through celeb sites when it’s all a bit quiet in the office, looking for a bit of light relief? While, as Denby reveals, snarking is by no means exclusive to the web (and was around before its creation), the internet has created a super-charged snark culture – insults travel further and faster than ever before, and can be exchanged (but usually can’t be retracted) at the click of a mouse.
But this is the nature of the net, and it’s a wider issue than snark. Just as the internet makes snark more prolific, its inclusivity makes it prone to other digital junk. For instance, the web has made it possible for, theoretically, anyone with a computer to become a blogger – but it doesn’t mean that they have any talent for it. Anyone can set up their own website or video channel – but it won’t necessarily be any good.
But that’s what happens with infinite possibilities. And what can we do about it? Well, nothing – as they say, it’s a free country, and to regulate against activities such as snark would be to compromise our freedom of speech. But perhaps, if you’ve got nothing nice to say, better to say nothing at all...
Making your tweets heard
So, tech fans out there might have noticed a great deal of press this week about a social networking site called Twitter. You might have heard of it.
Anyone who thought that the Facebook status updates were the most boring part of the famed social networking site seem to have been proved well and truly wrong, since a phenomenon has been created on the back of this small but perfectly formed idea. While many struggled to understand how useful the service could ever be, Twitter has defied its critics and has been used by pop stars and politicians; it has even had its place in hard-hitting news stories such as the Mumbai crisis and the ultimately tragic search for the UK snowboarder lost in the Alps.
Naturally, a service like this – teeming with users ready to absorb information (so long as it comes in bursts of 140 characters or less) – has caught the attention of PR and marketing departments worldwide. This is not necessarily a bad thing, and there are plenty of services out there who keep their customers happily up to date with new products and services via Twitter. But perhaps it’s time for PRs and their clients to review how they qualify their Twitter ‘success’.
For instance, companies set up Twitter accounts, and start furiously following other users at random – they are immediately pleased when they see their number of followers grow. But it’s not enough to count your followers and conclude that your message is getting through. Just like we used to add Facebook friends from the nursery school days that we had no intention of ever properly contacting (come on, you know it), other Twitterers can end up following their own followers merely out of courtesy; they can add you, and pay no attention whatsoever to the tweets you proffer day in day out.
And why spend time targeting these people in the first place? The saying still rings true, even in the digital age – it’s about quality, not quantity. A select group of followers with a keen interest in your product or service is of much greater value than hundreds of followers who won’t listen to you over the digital rabble.
PR and marketing professionals should start thinking about the results their endeavours are really generating. Sites such as http://tr.im/login/ can help you see the effects your tweets are actually having – and it seems a shame not to use such tools and finish the job, when there’s so much opportunity out there.
It’s perfectly possible to engage with consumers in a meaningful way via Twitter. And these points can make all the difference to a Twitter account created by PRs or marketing teams. But perhaps the message won’t get through until we can say it in 140 characters or less...
Testing the digital boundaries
The unfortunately named Christine and Aaron Boring, who recently accused Google of privacy violation, negligence, trespassing and unjust enrichment, have been told that their lawsuit has been dismissed. The couple were angry that their home appeared on the search engine’s Street View feature – apparently, the images showed the house, a pool area and garage, all of which were signposted as private – but have failed to collect the £17,700 in damages they were hoping for.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7898407.stm
In other news, the row about Facebook’s terms of service and their control over users’ details and content has escalated... With the Consumerist arguing that ‘anything you upload to Facebook can be used by Facebook in any way they deem fit, forever, no matter what you do later’, tens of thousands of users expressed dismay at what they saw as an invasion of privacy (led by the equally unfortunately named People Against the New Terms of Service – or, erm, PANTS).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7898164.stm
The web enables us to spread our digital wings like never before – but it seems that the more freedom we have, and the further we go, the greater our fear of flying. We spend more time than ever in digital worlds where we offer up staggering amounts of information about our personal lives, from photos and movies to blogs and messages, but are becoming more and more fiercely protective of our virtual belongings.
It might seem that the idea of the ‘digital world’ is a very old one now, even for the mainstream. But the fact is, in this ever evolving environment, we’re all still feeling our way, even after all this time. The idea of privacy in the nebulous digital world is still hard to grasp – our lack of physical boundaries makes it harder to know how far to go.
These days, all the pieces of our lives can be put online – in fact, we’re building our own digital lives every day, with the photos, movies, blogs and messages we upload. But we’re beginning to realise that all of these pieces, spread across the ether, don’t necessarily add up to a whole. Taken out of context, our online actions and belongings sometimes don’t do us justice, and we’re reluctant to set them free.
Maybe, until the creases are ironed out at least, there’s no substitute for face to face contact. Which is interesting, given the news that social networking can supposedly damage your health... (so they say: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7898510.stm) It’s only when our fears are allayed that we’ll be able to seize these opportunities and realise the potential of the digital world.
It’s that time of year again
Here’s a lesson to anyone who thinks that Valentine’s Day gestures are ‘a good idea’:
http://failblog.org/?s=proposal
Call us cynics... But frankly, Valentine’s Day just isn’t what it used to be. The vast majority of people fall into at least one of the following categories:
1. Single people, who would rather have a root canal than spend the day watching friends celebrate the fact that they can no longer have a night on the tiles without checking with ‘my other half’.
2. Buyers of overpriced Valentine’s Day gifts, who had to remortgage their house in order to get some dog-eared roses and a bottle of pink cava delivered by breakfast.
3. Recipients of aforementioned tat. You shouldn’t have. Seriously, you shouldn’t have.
It used be an innocent time, when single people would excitedly for the postman to arrive, hoping desperately that he’d be bearing a message from their secret crush... now it’s all about couples lavishing each other with cheap chocolates and crap poetry. Ugh.
Thankfully, an anti-Valentine voice is finally being heard. Leading matchmaking website mysinglefriend.com has taken a stand – by kidnapping the cuddly teddy bear, the saccharin face of Valentine’s Day...
www.thebeargetsit.com
Log on to the campaign website, and put your name to a petition that states: until Valentine’s Day is returned to its rightful owners – single people – the bear stays behind bars. You can also have a look at the Cemetery of Schmaltz, dedicated to all the horrible Valentine paraphernalia that will put you off passion forever...
The Beam Team: All shook up after the king of birthday bashes
Mercy. It was a big night for the team on Friday, when Beam celebrated its fifth birthday with a party on the market. We decided to celebrate in the church hall – and, while we didn’t have any jelly and ice cream, we did have Elvis (the King of Kings?) as our master of ceremonies.
With the fancy dress box replenished and all glasses charged, our man (Suspiciously Elvis, check him out http://www.suspiciouslyelvis.co.uk/) took to the stage. It took about two minutes for the first stage invasion to take place, when Elvis was joined by two Vegas feather girls (or ladies from the Future Publishing team, we can’t be sure) who might just stolen the limelight with their unexpectedly saucy dancing. Special mentions go to Dan from Shiny Media, who got up to do a worryingly good duet on Blue Suede Shoes with our host, along with Sean from ERT, who stunned the crowd with his unique rendition of Hound Dog (and his massive wig. Seriously, it was enormous).
A high point was perhaps Suspicious Minds, during which there seemed to be more people on stage than in the audience. And, for all the techies out there with happy memories of CES, the Viva Las Vegas encore went down something of a storm. There was pizza, there was a dance-off, there were amazing goody bags thanks to Griffin, T3, IWOOT and Jelly Pong Pong... cripes, if it’s this good being five, we can’t wait to be six.
To see some snaps of the evening, have a look at our Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7755764143
Also, huge thanks to Beta Graphic, the lovely design agency who created our invitations and posters (have a look at their fantastic work here: http://www.betagraphic.co.uk/). And, of course, thanks to everyone who came along on Friday to help us celebrate. See you next year.
The hi-fi that gives you a migraine by the way it looks, rather than the way it sounds
So, we still can’t go five minutes without someone talking about the recession. Even the recent Golden Globes gave a nod to the current financial climate (supposedly) with leading ladies trading their usual bling for a more understated look on the red carpet.
And CES was no exception. Before the show began, we wondered: Will there be the same buzz this year? Will the focus be on affordability, rather than frivolous tech? Will manufacturers be going for simplicity rather than out-and-out glamour?
Well, not so at LASONiC, a company whose dictionary doesn’t seem to contain the word ‘understatement’. This was one of a range of colourful iPod docks, characterised by bold colours and, erm, plastic gems and stuff. We kind of love it. This kit flies in the face of misery. It points at the doldrums, and laughs heartily. It doesn’t match *anything* else in your bedroom, but you know what? It doesn’t care.
To be fair, it was only about £100. And given that it’s about the size of a coffee table, that probably represents good value for money.
More stuff for tech heads
Here’s one thing that CES couldn’t get enough of: crazy-looking headphones.
In years gone by, we had the ubiquitous white iPod headphones. Then, when we realised that we didn’t want to be just one of the herd, and the fashion- or sound-conscious amongst us broke out the trendy and high-end kit (SkullCandy, et al).
But it seems that there’s a trend for affordable and quirky headphones. We saw them *everywhere* at the show. From cute (earphones in the shape of pandas and monkeys) to dark (skulls, dragons) to plain weird (angel wings), these were the kind of thing that fashion-conscious teenagers would love to get their hands on. In fact, they’d probably get a couple of pairs, so they could update their mp3 player according to their ‘look’.
There’s definitely a sense that some of these are crossing the boundary between tech and jewellery – arguably, this tech trend is very female-focused. (While we hate to generalise, many of the designs on offer seemed to be more appealing to girls.) And although we’re not sure whether we’ll be donning a pair of monkey-shaped headphones anytime soon, it’s nice to see gadgets for girls that aren’t just bits of kit ‘in pink’.
CES meets Spinal Tap
If ever there was a man to dispel the myth that tech journos are geeks, it's Mike Perlman.
He's the associate editor of Infosync World, a great site where you'll find a whole host of tech news and reviews. According to the site, he's partial to digital photography and outlandish costumes (see exhibit A, above). And he's the only guy we've met so far that looks completely at home wandering around the collosseums, pirate ships and volcanoes of Las Vegas.
We spotted him at Pepcom, the Digital Experience show, where his very presence brightened our busy day. We're very grateful to Mike for modestly posing for this snap (and several other, which we sadly can't fit on to the blog. He's certainly not shy).
Have a look at Mike's CES coverage here: www.infosyncworld.com
Anybots, anywhere. Anyway...
More robot news from CES. This quite sinister looking character caught our eye on the first day of the show, and was causing something of a commotion - a film crew, several photographers and the generally curious were clamouring to see this human-sized robot wheeling around the floor.
It's called the QA, and is described as a 'telepresence robot' from Anybots. The idea is that it allows you to be in two places at once - with still and video cameras, audio, a colour display and full navigation functionality, the QA 'allows you to see and be seen, talk and listen, to collaborate in ways and places never before possible'.
Really, it's pitched at the business market. So, an employer might be able to wander around the factory floor, even when he's out of the country. Your boss might appear in your office to take part in a presentation, even though she's working from home. But has Anybots fallen foul of the all-to-common tendency to create something brand new, rather than something useful?
Perhaps the question is more significant given the current financial climate. Is a company going to spend what we presume to be a great deal of money on this robot, when we're already extremely well-connected to the world thanks to our laptops and mobiles? Sure, the QA frees you from your desk and the computer screen... but in many environments where the QA would be handy, there'll most likely be a computer nearby anyway.
It's eye-catching, and it's different. But is it anything more than a novelty? It surely won't be long before mobile phones can offer everything that the QA promises (except for the physical presence, which is arguably more cumbersome than necessary in our digital world). It's a shame, because imagination is a great thing - but its even better when it can actually change the real world for the better.
Cuddly companions - the future of robotics?
Recently, I was talking to the inventor of a very popular commercial robot about the future of the industry. He bemoaned the fact that there is currently no 'killer app' that has made robots an indispensable part of every household. Sure, there are robot lawnmowers - but if you want to get rid of those weeds, you're going to have to do that yourself. There's a robotic martini table that can carry drinks around your party - but first, you're going to have to mix those cocktails yourself.
He suggested that the future might lie in robot companionship. Above, found at CES, is a good example of what he's talking about. PARO is a therapeutic robot, which reacts to touch, light and temperature, and is designed to improve the psychological condition of the infirm and elderly.
I hear you cynics rolling in the aisles. How is a cuddly seal (especially one sucking a baby's dummy) really going to improve someone's state of mind? Surely our gadget obsession has gone too far - we can't really gain comfort from something that can't understand us, can't really interact with us in a meaningful way.
But, aren't there already people out there who think that *real life* pets are a ridiculous idea? How many times do you hear someone arguing with an animal lover that 'it's only a dog'? or asking how they get so attached? But more households than ever are home to dogs, cats, rabbits and all sorts, whose therapeutic and mood-lifting effects we cannot question.
Therapy with real animals can be tricky - animals can scratch, patients can have allergies... and as for pets, owners will already know that the house training process is a pretty grim one. Perhaps in years to come, we'll be feeding Fido with a charger, rather than a tin of Chappie.
The Hand Sofa
CES. Home to the greatest technology innovations of the year.
And this.
It's the Hand Sofa. It's one of those arm rests that makes it more comfortable when you're using a computer mouse, but we're pretty sure you're not concentrating on the ergonomic design as you rest your hand on this lady's gigantic butt cheeks. Girls, to be fair, there was one for you too - an orange guy with big pecs.
For some proper tech news, we suggest you take a look at some of these:
www.t3.com
www.pocket-lint.co.uk
www.telegraph.co.uk
www.stuff.tv
http://news.sky.com/skynews/technology
http://tech.msn.com
www.techdigest.tv
www.shinyshiny.tv
www.theregister.co.uk
www.electricpig.co.uk
Mind Games at CES
The Consumer Electronics Show is now in full swing, and we've been pacing the halls to see what gadgets, brands and trends are likely to be big for 2009. It's no mean feat - after five hours of walking, we'd barely scratched the surface of what is a truly phenomenal convention.
It was at the very end of the opening day that we spotted this unusual - and mind-blowing - game from Mattel. Mind Flex is at first glance something akin to the classic game Screwball Scramble, featuring a tiny ball that must be navigated around an assault course. The difference? Yep, with Mind Flex, you move the ball purely with the *power of thought*.
Sounds crazy? Well, the technology isn't actually all that new. It's electroencephalography (or EEG, which is the measurement of the brain's electrical activity), which has been used for years in research such as sleep studies. In Mind Flex, you don a headset fitted with electrodes - the more electrical impulses created by your brain (or simple, the harder you concentrate) the more power is provided to a small fan beneath the ball. You think harder, the fan goes faster, and the ball rises - giving the illusion that you're levitating it with your mind power.
The Beam Team were in turns confused, sceptical and desperate to give it a try. New recruit Jeff was annoyingly good, donning the headset and giving a faultless performance around the course. Impressed? We were. Not only with Mind Flex, but with the fact that Jeff's brain wasn't completely broken after a whole day at the convention centre.
Keep an eye out for this one - it'll keep the kids captivated (and quiet) when it hits the UK.
Toto, I don't think we're in Exmouth Market anymore
It took nine and a half hours (along with a beef stroganoff, choc ice, chicken wrap and cheese roll) on a very toasty plane, but the eagle has finally landed. The Beam Team is now settled in the Mirage Hotel on Las Vegas Boulevard, getting ready for the Consumer Electronics Show.
CES is the largest tech show of its kind, and the convention centre will be filled to bursting with gadgets that may or may not be the big thing in 2009. Technology companies from around the globe will tomorrow begin clamouring to make the news about their latest product heard, and the world's media will be desperate to be the first to break the big stories. In between working hours, Vegas will offer medieval-themed bars (complete with real-life jousting displays) and steaks the size of your suitcase.
Walking down the strip, it's easy to wonder why the world's largest and arguably most significant technology convention happens in a place that, let's face it, borders on the ridiculous (the Excalibur hotel is surrounded by its own rollercoaster, for Pete's sake). But, the fact is, Las Vegas is the perfect place for the show - because here, just like the great technology innovators, people dream big.
Let me give you an example: in our humble hotel, along with a casino, several restaurants / bars and a pool area which features 'European style' sunbathing, there is a *dolphin research centre*. Yes, after your breakfast of pancakes and apple crumble, you can go and have a look at the baby dolphins. Some bright spark had an idea, and even though it was crazy they went ahead and did it anyway.
You see, Vegas doesn't say 'hmmm, maybe we could do that.' It says, 'of course we can!' And that's what makes it perfect for CES. Both aim to excite, amaze and inspire, and strive year on year to be bigger and better than before.
So, CES, here we come. Have a nice day, now.
Beam's Christmas message 2008
As 2008 draws to a close, it’s time to reflect upon another year here at Beam HQ. It doesn’t seem five minutes since we were celebrating our fourth birthday back in January – and here we are, approaching the big five (we’re not sure we’re ready for another Beam party just yet, to be honest – replacing the entire contents of the fancy dress box is going to take some time, for a start).
We couldn’t possibly sum up all that’s happened in tech and PR this year in one blog post. So, as we welcome in the New Year, we decided just to celebrate our favourite bits of the last 12 months with the Beam Awards 2008. So, the winners are…
Outstanding journalist award
It’s a great journalist who immerses himself completely in a news story. So, hats off to the British journalist who captured the elated atmosphere of the American people in the wake of Obama’s victory by getting absolutely hammered – and on YouTube.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article5105475.ece
Admitting to plagiarism was a nice touch, too. And resigning. In front of the *entire world*.
‘On the front page? Again?’ award
If there was ever a story that had people up in arms about why we shouldn’t be up in arms about it, it was the Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross fiasco. A veritable explosion of PR crises and opportunities… Georgina Baillie introduced the Satanic Sluts to a generation of Daily Mail readers, and Friday Night at the Apollo put Ross’s shelved show to shame (by actually containing comedy). And Manuel wasn’t as funny as he was on Fawlty Towers.
The ‘media rage on a global scale’ award
Well done to the Chinese government, who dealt a blow to aesthetically-challenged children across the world by pretending it was the pretty one who sang at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7556058.stm
Amazing PR stunt award
Here at Beam, we’re pretty risk averse. We don’t even leave the toaster plugged in overnight, just in case a power surge causes it to explode and burn the building down (you laugh, but we’re actually serious. Get in touch for full details of the Plugwatch process). So, imagine what we made of Honda’s incredible parachute stunt:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/organgrinder/2008/may/30/hondaslivetvadaprstunto
It was ballsy. And it was brilliant.
And one just for us… Beam’s surprise hit of 2008
Forget the iPhone 3G. Did you *see* how excited the press got about the Maggie Thatcher nutcrackers? For a gadget that actually makes you feel a bit sick if you think about it too much, this got so much attention it was a bit wrong. The Independent, The Daily Express, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail and the Metro featured it – but to be honest we were more excited to see it appear on crapgadgets.com.
So... so long, 2008. Merry Christmas to you all, and we’ll see you in 2009.
The Beam Team
WhoTube?
Once again, YouTube makes headlines in a row over their popular content. This time the video sharing site has come unstuck in its negotiations with Warner Music Group, and content from the music label has now begun to disappear from our screens. So, if you’re looking for some Madonna, Led Zeppelin, Estelle, Metallica or James Blunt (sorry… we know you’re not looking for James Blunt), you’re going to have to look somewhere else pretty soon.
We got to wondering… when was it that this type of content became arguably the most popular on YouTube? The site that gave a platform for amateur movie makers and their low-budget creations is now the place where you log on to watch Alex sobbing through Hallelujah on the X factor (and then look up Jeff Buckley to remind yourself what it’s meant to sound like). Of course, there’ll always be the amateur heroes on YouTube – from our favourite geriatric 1927 to the now-legendary numa numa man – but weren’t these the kind of people who were meant to rule this social networking forum, instead of the big cheeses at the big four?
Don’t get us wrong – we love nothing more than being able to watch our favourite music videos (especially the embarrassing ones) at a click. But was this what it was meant to be about in the beginning? In today’s Times, YouTube is even described as ‘the replacement to MTV’. It seems that, in the age of the iPlayer, we regularly log on to the professional content, be it music videos or news (even if it’s a little more low-brow: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-AcQCWZAsPM), rather than the homemade stuff that was going to change the net. Have we come full circle?
Well, we guess times have changed, and are still changing. We were consoling ourselves with the fact that we can still guffaw our way through performances by ‘the manualist’ (classic: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=kwxvOKuLUQ0) until we realised that they’ll probably have him for copyright soon as well.
As long as they don’t take away our shrimp on a treadmill... http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=cMO8Pyi3UpY
T3 makes headlines with list of top ten tech gaffes
Q) What do televisions, X-rays, rocket mail and iPods have in common?
A) They were all referenced in what might just be T3’s most talked-about feature of 2008. This month, the team compiled a list of the worst tech predictions ever – with hilarious contributions from big cheeses Bill Gates and S’ralan Sugar - and it seems the feature really captured the public imagination.
Have a look at the full article here:
http://www.t3.com/feature/techs-worst-predictions
First to get involved was the Telegraph, who ran the story on page three (yes, that’s right, page *three*) as well as on the website. The Daily Mail online also picked up the top ten, and before we knew it the feature was all over the web. Oh, and in the London Lite as well, bringing joy to bored commuters across the capital. Not bad, hey?
But that wasn’t the end of it – the following day, The Independent ran a double page spread on T3’s list (with a credit to the magazine), and Simon Hoggart wrote about the story in his Saturday Guardian column. And as if we weren’t excited enough by now, we realised how big the feature had become when it was referenced on topical comedy show Have I Got News for You.
Well done to the T3 team, for a fantastic article – and commiserations to those whose predictions made it into the top ten…
Wanted - a ray of light for the Beam team
If you’re ready to make the next step in your PR career, this is your chance to start the New Year with a bang.
Beam is looking for a senior account executive with two or more years PR experience and a real passion for gadgets and new media. We want a true technophile to become a part our small (but perfectly formed) team, and put their knowledge, enthusiasm and creativity to use across a variety of fantastic clients - from robots to websites, e-tailers to cutting edge home entertainment kit, we want you to establish and manage great campaigns that deliver real results.
Know your Twitter from your Technorati? Your Chrome from your Android? Think a HTC Touch Diamond is a girl’s best friend? Then you could be the one for us.
Send your CV to jane@beamagency.com. And perhaps we’ll see you in 2009.
Dr Pepper, so misunderstood?
So, you’ve probably heard that DR Pepper has got into something of a scuffle with Guns N Roses frontman Axl Rose…
Back in March, the drinks company declared that they would give a free can of Dr Pepper to *everyone in the US* if GnR finally released their long-awaited album, Chinese Democracy, before the end of 2008. It probably didn’t seem much of a gamble at the time – after all, fans had been waiting a good fourteen years already, so the chances of Dr Pepper needing to make good on their promise seemed pretty slim.
So, the PR team must have been a little bit nervous when they found out that the old rockers were actually going to pull it out of the bag at the end of November. While the response to the long-awaited album was pretty much a ‘meh’ from music lovers, there was apoplexy from Dr Pepper fans who, due to hitches with the website, were unable to download a voucher with which to claim their freebie. Unfortunately, it seems that biting off more than they could chew has landed Dr Pepper with a lawsuit, and a roasting from rock icon Rose.
It’s a harsh and high profile lesson to learn – but promising the earth and failing to deliver is so often the trait that gives PR a bad name. Agencies frequently pitch for business with big ideas which, while a creative and essential part of the process, they are in truth ill-equipped to deliver. The creative stuff enthusiastically brainstormed at the beginning of a shiny new business proposal is often a piece of cake compared to the emails, phone calls, and hours of general admin that go into making it happen, and there’s no point dazzling your client with a concept if you’re going to disappoint them in reality.
The bottom line is, it’s no good having big ideas if you haven’t got the basics right. What’s the point of a great pitch if your address book is out of date, your press tools aren’t proof-read and your key messages are wishy-washy? Of course you need to be creative – just make sure your ideas aren’t just a case of style over substance.
Web shoppers: What credit crunch?
BBC journalist Rory Cellan-Jones recently discussed the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium, which show that online shopping is showing signs of growth while the high street suffers the symptoms of credit crunch. As he points out, the number of people who buy via the internet is still small in comparison with those who like to get out and about to the shops - but there’s no denying that the web is becoming an increasingly popular destination whether we’re purchasing our weekly groceries or grabbing that gorgeous party frock.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2008/11/will_the_web_kill_the_high_str.html
We Beamers can definitely remember a time when online shopping was, in a way, somewhat eyed with suspicion – people were uncomfortable sending their credit card details off into the ether of the web, you were never sure if those shoes would look as good in real life as they did on screen (or if you’d actually be able to fit your feet into them)… But these days, who hasn’t bought the latest bestseller straight from Amazon (aaah, delivered straight to your door – luxury) or booked tickets for their favourite band over the net?
Yes, the ever expanding generation of digital natives is growing savvier by the day – they know which sites are shifty and which they can trust – but it’s a whole host of other innovations that are making online shopping ever more popular. Ever since ebay let its users rate and reveal the reliability of its sellers, shopping sites have been taking steps to make their customers more comfortable with the experience. Many retailers entice shoppers online with web discounts that aren’t available in stores, sites such as ASOS and iwantoneofthose offer videos to give a full view of the product, and many – realising that the Christmas shopper is not necessarily an efficient and organised animal – will deliver in time for Christmas even if you’re ordering a little later in December than you intended.
And it’s Christmas when online shopping really comes into its own. When you’ve got enough on your plate writing cards, putting the decorations up, getting the food in (and making a fool of yourself at various office Christmas parties), isn’t it much more appealing to log on, get everything done, and log off and enjoy the Christmas carol service? Sure beats traipsing round in all weathers, facing queue after queue and fighting rival shoppers for the last Terry’s chocolate orange. So, while online shopping might not yet be the norm, perhaps the future is closer than we think? It certainly seemed so on Thursday, when we announced the launch of virtual shopping mall Mallplace.
www.mallplace.com
With online and high street stores sitting side by side, and discount voucher codes from across the web collated in one place, it doesn’t get much easier than this. Pour yourself a nice cup of tea, and browse around more than 1,000 stores - featuring anything from fashion to mobile phones, mp3s and flights to Australia – before ordering whatever you need at the click of a button. As well as meaning you don’t have to dip in and out of Google to get to whatever you’re looking for, it’s a great place to find some inspiration, as well as a whole host of stores you didn’t even know existed.
And as we approach the Christmas shopping season, who can say fairer than that? Maybe the big shop this year won’t be so stressful after all.
Beam tunes in to geriatric1927
As you may have noticed in the national press, the latest star of YouTube isn’t a hot young popstrel, or an opinionated political vlogger. It’s actually an 81-year old from Leicester who goes by the name of geriatric 1927, and who has posted more than 150 videos of assorted grumbles, rants and musings on the popular video sharing site.
Geriatric1927, or Peter, recently caught the attention of the media with a video response to Gordon Ramsay’s cookalong that notched up almost as many YouTube views as the TV chef’s own movie. The spoof video shows Peter explaining how to make a microwave chicken casserole, pausing only to rub his sniffly nose and wipe his hands on his apron, and take hearty glugs from a glass of white wine.
Peter is an entertaining guy and, judging by the comments on his videos, he has achieved his goal of making new friends through the site. A widower who lives alone, the opportunity to reach out and find an enthusiastic audience seems to have been a source of fascination for him, and anyone who doubts the power of the social networking phenomenon should take a look at one of Peter’s latest offerings. Entitled Blues in the Night, the man known across the world as geriatric 1927 sends an unexpectedly moving message to his fans, perhaps revealing a vulnerability that many of us wouldn’t dare to show in ‘real life’:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=pm6iJvHPVxA
We hate to admit it, but this video had us a bit choked up. And the comments that have poured in after its posting really are a testament to the power of Web 2.0 to reshape and enrich our social lives. We’re looking forward to the next instalment from geriatric1927, and hope he’s got space for a couple more online friends.
Going offline... in a good way
If, like me, you often use the now legendary failblog to brighten up an otherwise grey lunch hour, you may have noticed that the team behind our favourite collection of errors is planning an event at which readers can meet the faces behind the fails. Readers of the blog are invited to join the party, which takes place in Seattle on 13 November, where they can mingle with other fans and also possibly grab some free beer. Epic win.
It’s interesting to note that fans of the phenomenally popular lolcat blog I Can Has Cheezburger also gathered recently (presumably to chat in lolspeak and be worryingly cute) at London’s O2; in addition this month, Twitter users took part in the first ever Harvest Twestival, at which they were able to meet the peeps behind the tweets.
So, what’s with the trend of great web services going offline? Whereas we once enjoyed the anonymity of forums and the strangely disconnected camaraderie that comes with being a blog regular, we’re becoming more and more curious to know who the people we’re communicating with really are.
The thing is, once upon a time, the chat disappeared once the computer was switched off. Now, we’re logging on to Facebook on our iPhones in the coffee shop, checking up on the office via our Blackberries in the pub… we realise that tech is no longer something that we try and fit into our lives, but is something that enables us to live our lives in the way we choose. And now that new ways of communication are inextricably linked to our lifestyle, we’re embracing its methods with a new openness and enthusiasm.
We’re not promising that, should you ever meet the people you chat to online in an offline environment, you’ll have anything in common with them – but, given that you probably know them better than your next door neighbour, it’s worth giving them a chance…
At least it’s not more news about the recession
You may or may not have noticed, but there’s been a bit of a kerfuffle at the BBC over the past few days. Just a couple of presenters who have got themselves into a spot of bother after going a bit off-piste in an answerphone message to Manuel from Fawlty Towers. Not that we want to add any more column inches to a story that we’re hearing far more than enough about already, but there’s an important issue that we at Beam feel it necessary to address.
We’re not talking about the question of whether Brand and Ross are in trouble because of the joke itself or the media hype surrounding it; and we’re not talking about the BBC’s corporate responsibility to ensure that their phenomenally-paid representatives don’t earn their well-buttered crusts by abusing old men. Here’s the real tragedy: the Freaky Body Illusions kit from Marvin’s Magic was due to appear on the Jonathan Ross show this Friday, which is currently off-air until this whole thing blows over. Gutted.
What a great PR opportunity for Halloween, dashed. Nice one, fellas. FYI, Mark Thompson, any formal apologies can be issued to maz@beamagency.com. Thanks.
RealScoop... Really?
An update from TechCrunch at the weekend alerted me to an interesting startup called RealScoop, a site which uses voice analysis technology in order to reveal whether celebrities and politicians are lying or telling the truth. Taking videos of various subjects including Sarah Palin and Joe Biden, this ‘Believability Meter’ swings between a ‘believable’ point (green), and the more worrying ‘highly questionable’ section (red, of course).
http://realscoop.com/
The TechCrunch team remains (rightly, most probably) unconvinced by the offering, noting that ‘a person can go from believable to questionable by uttering a few simple phrases like “uh”’. Of course, there’s no way to prove it either way, and it’s interesting that this concept revolves around the suggestion that technology can replace our own instinct in interpreting the subtlest of human behaviours.
It’s another step on from the motorist who drives into a lake because ‘the sat nav told me to’: technology has made our lives so easy that, as soon as we switch our kit on, we switch our brains off. But the most successful tech experience comes when we really engage with gadgets, in a two-way discourse – look at Google’s G1, whose Android technology will allow users to build and develop their own software by responding to the technology instead of just appreciating what it can do by itself. It’s a dialogue with our technology that makes it such a great thing, and the people who blindly follow the letters and the numbers on screen are the ones who will have the least satisfying experience.
At the end of the day, artificial intelligence isn’t quite there yet – which is why we need to inject some of our own. So, while RealScoop is a great idea, it’s worth asking whether it would stand up to its own Believability Meter.
Read the full TechCrunch article here: http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/28/realscoop-tells-you-when-politicians-and-celebrities-are-lying/
IWOOT launches Art of Giving season
Last week, iwantoneofthose launched their Art of Giving campaign with an exhibition of their brand new Christmas range at the Blink Gallery in Soho. More than 100 press attended the event to peruse gadgets from ‘piano gloves’, which allow you to play any surface like a keyboard, to Margaret Thatcher nutcrackers (ouch), all under the watchful eye of a huge ice-sculpture i-Sobot. The Art of Giving season celebrates the gifts that will really put a smile on someone’s face, whether they cost £50 or less than a fiver – worth thinking about as the Christmas season draws in.
The star of the show was arguably the Mech-RC, a dancing robot (with smoother moves than anyone we’ve ever seen at a Beam bash) which drew film crews as well as admiring glances throughout the day. Small but perfectly formed, this sophisticated kit is one of the most luxurious gifts on the IWOOT site – but remember that, this Art of Giving Season, you can make someone’s day with something less hi-tech but just as fun.
Iwantoneofthose perfects the Art of Giving
Damien Hirst might have made headlines today, making mind-boggling sales in the face of the credit crunch, but he’s not the only one who’ll be rocking the art world this week. Tomorrow, iwantoneofthose will be taking over the Blink Gallery in Soho to launch their Art of Giving Season – campaigning for more thoughtful gift giving in the months leading up to Christmas, they’ll be kicking off with a press showcase of their latest and greatest gifts and gadgets.
IWOOT want you to remember that when it comes to giving, it’s not about spending lots of money – it’s about spending lots of time thinking about what the recipient would really appreciate. With gifts from £5 to £500 all on display, journalists from nationals, online, broadcast and specialist media are all invited to take a look and take inspiration from the exhibition. Even if we say so ourselves, we think it’s something of a masterstroke…
Any press looking to get on the guest list need only contact leonie@beamagency.com, and they’ll receive their invitation to a night of gadgets, games, and a few glasses of free wine. Sounds more reasonable than shelling out £9.2m for a cow in formaldehyde, no?
You say goodbye, I say hello
The Beam team is putting on a brave face this week. Sadly, Helen Wood - our resident fancy dress aficionado - is leaving us this Thursday in pursuit of higher education. Unafraid to don a Selk sleeping bag, dodgy wig or even an inflatable horse costume in the name of media relations, Helen has charmed the press with her hard work and cheery demeanour (and her karaoke version of Blur’s Parklife), and we wish her all the best for the future. There will be a minute’s silence at American Apparel to mark her departure.
But all is not lost – while there’s nobody out there quite like our Helen, we’re sure that Tim, the newest member of the Beam team, will help to fill the void with his own inimitable style. A Soho scenester with a passion for scooters (as long as it’s a Lambretta), we’re thrilled to welcome him to our place in Exmouth market.
Sharing and sharing alike?
You will by now have heard about the British woman who, after putting a copy of Dream Pinball 3D on a file-sharing network, now owes more than £16,000 to creators Topware Interactive. The woman is one of thousands of people suspected of sharing the game, and is being made an example in a crackdown on online piracy.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7568642.stm
This news comes as five major companies in the computer industry announce that they will begin to demand payment from the thousands of internet users illegally sharing games online. The news made the front page of The Times newspaper, which also included a piece by computer analyst Rob Fahey about what to do if you’re one of those hit with the £300 charge.
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/gadgets_and_gaming/article4569180.ece
It’s interesting that this crackdown comes at a time when, in contrast, the music industry is just about coming to terms with the fact that internet users are simply not going to stop downloading tracks for free – legally or otherwise. Only this month a report from MCPS-PRS Alliance and Big Champagne concluded that illegal downloading is simply part of the 21st century lifestyle, with a co-author of the research quoted as saying ‘It’s time to stop swimming against the tide of what people want’ (http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/aug/04/illegal.downloading.is.here.to.stay).
Of course, this attitude from the music industry comes after several years of wrangling about how best to tackle the threat of online piracy. It was a whole eight years ago that Metallica took Napster to court over illegal downloads (and lost a heap of fans in the process). But, if the games industry goes the same way as the music industry, does this mean than it won’t be too long before companies have to accept file sharing as inevitable, and an ordinary part of life online?
If we choose, we can already access an enormous amount of entertainment from YouTube, the iPlayer, 4 on Demand… all for free. Radiopaq allows you to listen to worldwide radio and podcasts… all for free. Sites like we7.com offer you the latest hits… all for free. Is this exercise from the gaming industry really going to make internet users change their ways when it comes to gaming, or – like the music industry - should they be looking at ways of holding onto these fans by conceding that file sharing is a necessary evil?
New from Radiopaq – internet radio from computer screen to comfy chair
Last week, internet radio pioneer Radiopaq announced that there’s yet another string to their audio bow… As well as providing thousands of internet radio stations and podcasts from around the world at www.radiopaq.com, they have also created their own internet radio which works in conjunction with the website. Featuring the same user interface, anything you do on the website can be saved on the new Rp5 – and vice versa.
Go to www.radiopaq.com, and listen to everything from blues to big band, chart to classical, drama to documentaries…
IWOOT loves this Stuff
A Stuff award? We definitely want one of those. The tech mag has announced its shortlist of gadgets and brands that deserve a bit of recognition in the industry – and we’re thrilled to see that iwantoneofthose has made the final 9 in the ‘Best Retailer’ category.
This is of course fantastic news. But… we plan on going all the way. While supplying fantastic gadgets and gizmos to loyal customers across the land, what other company would bring you the cheeky April Fool spoofs such as the RoboGirlfriend (complete with ‘mute’ setting) and the Dynamo Keyboard (which was powered only by the movement of your fingers)? We’re gunning for the top spot – and we’d love your help.
If you feel the same way about iwantoneofthose as we do, cast your vote here: http://awards.stuff.tv/gadgets.cfm?cat_id=4
And keep your fingers crossed for us!
Oops
Any PR knows how depressing it is when someone decides to mouth off on the internet about some gaffe a company has managed to make - even if it's not your client, it still makes you cringe (and if it is your client, then you might start to get a little hot under the collar). And, as the saying goes, 'let he without typo cast the first blog'. But when we spotted this one, we just. Couldn't. Resist.
This picture shows what came through the Beam letterbox last week: invitations to Jane, Claire and Jenny to the Green Business Awards. It's enough of a shame really that there's quite so much paper gone to waste - but even worse when you know that Claire is (sadly) no longer working at Beam, and Jenny headed off to Australia in, erm, October 2006.
Don't worry - they went in the recycling bin.
That's more like it... PR Win evens things up a little
As regular readers of the Beam blog will know, we had a bit of a rant about PR Fail recently. Its creator, Jonathan Hopkins, was kind enough to get in touch with us and explain a bit about how and why it was set up. He also let us know about something that should appease us disgruntled PR types:
'In the interests of balance - there's http://prwin.tumblr.com now too!
I'm also going to look into ways of enabling people to comment - maybe using Friendfeed as someone has suggested.'
Which is fantastic news, and we look forward to seeing lots of interesting and engaging PR work on there. We guess the only thing now is that the pressure's really on to make an appearance...
PR Fail - part 2
Recently, we posted a story on the Beam blog about PR Fail, a blog where journalists can vent their frustrations about the PR industry, and – since we aren’t set up to receive comments on our blog just yet - we promised to post any opinions that press and PR alike sent to us. So, thank you to Jonathan Hopkins, creator of PR Fail, who took the time to respond to us with this message:
'Thanks for the mention of PR Fail on the Beam blog. Thought I'd get in touch just to clarify one thing though - it wasn't set up by journalists, it was set up by me, someone with a background in technology PR and still involved very closely in the world of online PR with my new venture Shed. I set it up as a 'see what happens thing', with the genuine honest aim of making people face up to the reality of the perception of PR on the web. The following couple of posts will hopefully give you a bit more background on it - http://middledigit.net/2008/07/22/facing-the-reality-of-pr-perception-on-the-web-revisited/ + http://middledigit.net/2008/05/29/facing-the-reality-of-pr-perception-on-the-web/
PS - you're right, not having comments is a really bad thing and I reckon not having them means that the Beam blog isn't in fact technically a blog. Now that's a PR Fail!'
So apologies to Jonathan for the error and many thanks for your email. Of course, this all makes perfect sense. We don’t deny that there are PR agencies out there who have little understanding of PR on the web, and we realise that ill-thought through tactics – such as impersonal emails to bloggers you know very little about – are not going to improve the perception of the PR world.
Satisfactory results in situations such as this often come from healthy debate. But, we at Beam just think that it’s very difficult to create a healthy debate in an arena that is arguably completely one-sided. PR Fail allows the press to expose the failings of the PR industry, PRs are unable to respond by the very nature of their profession. Yes, PRs can and have blogged their frustrations anonymously, but on PR Fail, respected journalists need not fear naming and shaming specific agencies as they see fit.
So while we appreciate that PR Fail highlights issues that urgently need to be addressed, we just wonder if it isn’t all a little bit too one-sided. And a little bit like not having comments on the Beam blog, perhaps…?
Recruitment drive Part 2: Senior Account Manager
Beam has been around for just over 4 years and so far, so good. We have a great selection of clients and a lively, talented, hardworking and respected team of individuals. What we currently need is a Senior Account Manager who has the vision to lead a team, whilst not being afraid to get their hands dirty. The ideal candidate will be/have (in no particular order): a clear thinker and fantastic communicator; a proven track record within the Consumer Electronics / Tech sphere; pro active in their approach; a good reputation with clients and journalists alike; the desire to be part of the expansion of an independent agency; 4+ years experience under their belt; a keen interest in new media; the ability to demonstrate great campaigns; an interest in music and a genuine desire to inspire and manage a team. Salary dependent on experience. £30k-35k.
No agencies please. Contact Jane on 07949379974, or jane@beamagency.com
Thanks very much.
We're gonna make you a star...
Mingling with hot celebs is a tough job, but someone’s got to do it. So spare a thought for the Beam team who, in the name of hard graft, headed off to the O2 Wireless festival last week to show the stars of today what iwantoneofthose is all about.
The team spent the weekend in the 'talent retreat', where a backstage stand provided a little bit of IWOOT-style light relief for all the musicians and artists at the show. Dressing up in Selks, playing with robots and trying to keep a remote control helicopter in the air for as long as possible – and other miscellaneous craziness – was all in a day’s work for the industrious Beam team. Particular favourites amongst the celeb guests included the Stylophone, the Boppit Download and the flying helicopters and we gave out quite a few pairs of Elvis Shades as well - no doubt they'll be gracing the gossip pages of the London Lite before long.
We’ll keep you posted with our favourite celeb snaps - Heat magazine eat your heart out...
Starting the day with iwantoneofthose
If you’re as much of a morning person as Count Dracula, a dose of daytime TV last week might have given you some food for thought. We’re pleased to say that the mp3 alarm clock from iwantoneofthose, which lets you wake up to your own favourite playlists, rather than the infuriating peeping from your mobile phone, featured on LK Today last week.
And what a response – on the day the product was featured, the search function on IWOOT went absolutely crazy with viewers looking for a nicer way to wake up in the morning. For more details, click on the link: http://www.iwantoneofthose.com/ipod-alarm-clocks/index.html
So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodnight
It is with a heavy heart that the Beam team announces that we will this very week be saying farewell to Beam veteran Claire Wood. On Friday, after three and a half years, the girl with the golden tan is leaving us for pastures new.
And how to replace someone like Claire? For a start, who else has as much Lionel Ritchie on their iPod? Who else would grace our karaoke sessions with such unique dance interpretations? Who else has a phobia of bananas?
There has been laughter. There have been tears. There have been showtunes, and cakes from Konditor and Cook. In all seriousness, Claire has been an asset to the Beam team, has produced some amazing results for a whole host of clients with her fantastic knowledge of the media, and we wish her all the best for the future.
So, bon voyage Claire, and good luck! And remember, we’ll be here on Exmouth market if you want to drop by for a cup of tea.
Beam is recruiting
Intrigued by PR and looking for the chance to discover what it’s all about? London based, boutique lifestyle technology PR Agency, Beam, is looking for a bright, creative, enthusiastic intern to join the team over the busy summer months. Work would entail general office admin but you’d also get a chance to support the various Beam accounts. So if you’re hard working, organised, passionate about working with the press and the latest gadgets, we’d love to hear from you.
e: jane@beamagency.com
Furious, Exmouth Market
Here’s a telephone conversation I had, with a journalist who will remain anonymous, one afternoon last week. I have in no way exaggerated my politeness, the genuine relevance to this particular person of my call, or his uncontrollable venom.
Me: Hello, is this X?
X: Yes.
Me: Hi, this is Kate from Beam. I wanted to ask…
X: [loud and deliberate sigh]
Me: I’m sorry, is this a bad time?
X: Yes it is.
Me: Oh, I apologise, I’ll call you another time…
X: What is it?
Me: Don’t worry, I’ll…
X: WHAT IS IT?
Me: Well, I wanted to ask… [concise explanation regarding news that was absolutely relevant to the journalist in question].
X: [adopts patronising tone, as if talking to five-year-old] What you do in this situation is write an email. I’ll read it, and get back to you if I’m interested. [Dial tone]
Well, I learned my lesson. There’s just one problem… many journalists I work with would prefer me to call directly, since they have enough emails to get through every day. So what am I to do?
This incident (which didn’t leave me feeling great) comes at a time when the PR industry comes under fire (again) from the media with new humiliation hothouse PRfail.
http://prfail.tumblr.com/
A place for all to twitter about their PR peeves, here are writers who seem to assume that all journalists are exactly the same, and that PRs should be able to anticipate every detail of their professional circumstances. To the journalist who cries that he is ‘not interested in coming to football, cricket, grands prix, Olympics, driving or other “days out”….’ – well, there are plenty of journalists who are interested as well as those who aren’t, and unless we send an invitation, we’ll never know which category you fall into.
I’m sorry to say that I don’t believe that PRfail is, as some claim, about helping PRs to improve the way they work. Humiliating agencies by posting specific examples of their (allegedly) bad service (which in truth may be uncharacteristic / explicable), is nothing but a demonstration of power, a pulling of rank that serves only to perpetuate the divide between PRs and journalists. Constructive criticism this is not, and within such a hostile environment, how are the two sides of this story meant to work together in a way that would be beneficial to both?
One final thing. We’re well aware that our blog, lacking a ‘comments’ section, does not exactly enter into the interactive, banter-y spirit of this lively discussion. Apologies. However, if you’ve got a point to make on the subject, then email me at kate@beamagency.com, and we promise to post your comments for you.
Praise be - iPhone 3G announced
On Monday, tech disciples across the land reverently awaited the second coming of the gadget known to many as The Jesus Phone. Yes, the iPhone 3G was finally announced, with a surprise price drop and new features such as GPS - Hallelujah. For what we are about to receive, we are truly grateful, Mr Jobs.
When it comes to companies excelling at branding and PR, is there a better example than Apple? The company that changed the future of mobile with its revolutionary iPhone is the undisputed champion of one key thing: good communication.
From the way their products engage with you – their clean, accessible and intuitive interfaces making them unmistakeably ‘Apple’ – to the way their offices look and their representatives dress, this is a company whose brand values are translated through every fibre of their existence. And with superb PR, whose control over every detail of every new announcement creates a level of anticipation unseen anywhere else in the tech sphere, these messages are then communicated flawlessly to the public. For what other company would so many journalists worldwide blog live for two hours throughout a press conference, as they did on Monday night? How many stories aside from the iPhone 2 announcement would get 20 million hits on Engadget?
Apple is coherent, controlled, creative and colossal, because of the way they communciate; their omnipotence is demonstrated in the way they speak so well to each other, to the press, and to the consumer. And this is at the heart of all good PR. PR isn’t about taking a product, a business, or a person and dressing it up until the original offering is barely recognisable – it’s about getting to its core, and presenting its heart in as clear a way as possible. Unless you work closely with your PR agency, building strategy on a solid foundation of clear brand values, you haven’t got a prayer. Especially when you’re up against a behemoth like Apple.
This will only take a minute...
After bustling into the office this morning, waiting for the kettle to boil for what seemed like an age, and desperately trying to chivvy my computer along with an obviously fruitless ‘come on, come on’, my impetuous eye was caught by an interesting story on the BBC website. Apparently, ‘web users are getting more ruthless and selfish when they go online’, and are increasingly aggressive when it comes to web activity.
According to research conducted by Jakob Nielsen, users are not interested in lingering on websites and sampling the array of widgets and promotions that are now available to them – they just want to get online, get the job done, and get out again. And why is that? Given that we’re generally much better at surfing the net than we were even just a couple of years ago, why aren’t we enthusiastically taking advantage of our new playground?
Well, given that the majority of Londoners can hardly wait 2 minutes for a tube train without having an aneurism, this news comes as no surprise. A skinny soya latte from Starbucks can’t come quick enough for the young professionals whose very existence is given meaning by their Swarovski Blackberry. Does this news mean that the internet is now just another part of our Big Mac-munching, express-delivery, quick-fix culture? Are we missing the point of the most remarkable invention of our age, through our own impatient nature?
Of course not. We’re not being selfish, we’re making the most of this amazing resource. Unlike a hamburger, the information highway was built for haste. I don’t use nationalrail.co.uk instead of the phone because I can’t bear the sound of another human voice – I choose it because it’s quicker and easier. Likewise, I don’t use Google maps because I can’t muster the strength to open an atlas – I use it because it’ll save me a good sixty seconds.
Other than some particularly outrageous Facebook tagging, it’s going to take something pretty special to hold my attention – so, if you’re still reading, thanks for sticking around…
The Apprentice: Harsh truths
If you’re a fan of The Apprentice (come on, who isn’t?) you will have enjoyed the delusions of several young professionals, whose indefatigable arrogance in the face of crushing failure makes for an amazing kind of weekday telly. See Jen, the self-confessed ‘best saleswoman in Europe’ who didn’t manage to flog enough Avocado & Chilli ice-cream to keep her out of the boardroom in week five. Or Ben, the ‘good Jewish boy’ who thought having a Muslim holy man bless a chicken made it kosher. What a schmuck.
This series has got me thinking. Not just about why some contestants choose to refer to themselves in the third person (‘Lee McQueen is concerned’) – but also about the staggering difference between our perception and the reality of how many of us present ourselves. The immaculately coiffed Raef claims that ‘the spoken word is [his] tool’; but after his assessment that women between the sizes of 16-32 are so ‘because they like cake’, we wonder whether this tool is more of a sledgehammer than a precision drill.
Good PR is about helping an individual or a company to communicate efficiently in what can often be a high-pressure environment. We help clients to create and project a clear and consistent message about their product or brand; we build press tools which reflect the character of their business; we make sure the media understand exactly what the offering is all about.
But, Raef and those like him should be warned – this isn’t about fluff and deceptions, shadows and lies… good PR companies rely on the integrity of their teams and their clients, and PR is effectively used to push only those products and services that will stand up to scrutiny into the harsh media spotlight. Frankly, this year’s bunch of blundering backstabbers should have kept out of the firing line altogether.
A Brave New Media World
The menacing shadow of new media has long loomed large over the print news industry, but a survey carried out by Zogby International suggests that 85% of the UK’s newspaper editors are optimistic about the future.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/may/07/pressandpublishing.digitalmedia?gusrc=rss&feed=media
Of course, the newspaper landscape has in recent decades been hewn into an unrecognisable and threatening terrain: readers find their news for free online, or in the number of freesheets which are thrust upon us every day at every city street corner. Meanwhile, traditional media is being forced to up its game, with journalists said to produce three times as much copy as they would have thirty years ago and teams working to tighter budgets than ever. So, while editors are free to be optimistic about the scope for editorial opportunity, a more pessimistic question is where to find the cash with which to enter this brave new world.
One thing that seems certain is that it will take a new breed of journalist to navigate this new territory. While some PRs still differentiate strongly between online and print media, it seems likely that there will come a time when all journalists need to be as savvy online as they are on the page – a time when, in fact, we get the majority of our news from the web and newspapers are something nice and free to read on the train.
So, just as editors realise that it’s time to make sure their staff understand the online news agenda, surely it’s time for we in the PR industry to do the same. In this age of technological revolution, there isn’t a single PR company out there who can afford to ignore the increasing relevance of online and multi-platform campaigns - just as it’s natural for us to treat TV, radio and print as parts of one machine, we should by now have accepted online media as a fundamental and increasingly important element of our remit. For those out there who still see online PR activity as ‘specialist’ or ‘niche’, the future is closer than you think.
Griffin's fantastic review from What Hi Fi
More praise for the Griffin Evolve this week, with a sparkling review from the home entertainment experts at What Hi Fi magazine. The stylish, wireless iPod dock received a fantastic four stars out of five in a review that can be found in the latest issue of the sound bible, and we couldn't be more thrilled.
Explaining how the portable speakers will continue to play when they are taken away from the main unit, the reviewer remarks that the product boasts a 'strong signal that's remarkably robust. Griffin claims anything up to 150 feet and it's not kidding'.
And the reviewers are pretty impressed with the sound too: 'the bass is strong but not overly present; where some dock systems over compensate and end up with bass that's loud but lacking in articulation, the Evolve does a good job of knitting the sound together.'
Nice work, Griffin.
Just another day at the office
There's certainly never a dull moment when you're working with the quirky gadgeteers at iwantoneofthose.com - and last week was no exception. The Beam team headed out to a top secret countryside location to film the latest craze to come off the IWOOT shelves: The Rolerball. Yep, you can ditch the bike and bin your walking boots: rolling around in this big, inflatable ball is officially the only way to get around this summer...
There were thrills, there were spills, and there were plenty of chuckles as the team tested out their hamster-powers for the afternoon - and thankfully, these were all caputured on film. The final edit caused much amusement when we sent it to our tech friends on a Friday afternoon.
See the movie here: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=A7pMNhCF-MM
Melanie steals the (Paul O Grady) show
With her dazzling smile and Northern charm, you might already think that Melanie Sykes is magic. But did you know she was a dab hand at tricks, too?
Allow us to explain. When the lovely Melanie hosted popular magazine programme The Paul O’Grady Show, she wowed the audience with none other than the severed arm from Freaky Body Illusions. The studio audience was certainly impressed with her performance – and so were we.
Have a look at the picture above. Do you think you could match the magical Melanie?
Rockaoke on a roll
Following an extraordinary showcase event at London’s Sway bar last week, Rockaoke’s fanbase is growing faster than Wino’s beehive. This morning on popular morning show LK Today, style expert Nick Ede explained to Lorraine why the band is ‘one of my favourite things’.
Showing a clip of Kirsty and Dan rocking out, Nick exclaimed: ‘Ricky Wilson of Kaiser Chiefs, well he joined them on stage in Ibiza! So it’s really big! So that’s rockaoke.co.uk. I think that’s a really good fun thing.’
Well, Nick, so did the revellers who were still throwing shapes four hours after the showcase was scheduled to have finished. Hey’ it’s only rock ‘n’ roll – but we like it.
Griffin gets 5 stars from T3
What’s better than five stars? Exactly. Nothing tops five stars. Which is why Griffin, maker of cool and quirky iPod accessories, will be extremely chuffed to hear that their brilliant iTrip Auto was given top marks in the latest review from T3 magazine.
The T3 team called the iTrip Auto ‘a breeze to set up’, and agreed that ‘this iTrip looks the shizzle. Its rubberised black buttons and reverse complement the faux chrome OLED display perfectly’. At this point we were pretty pleased, but by the time they’d described the kit as ‘a stonker’, we were beside ourselves.
Read the full review in the mag, and also online here: http://www.t3.com/audio-equipment/audio-equipment-accessories/griffin-itrip-auto-smartscan-review
Thanks very much to the T3 team – and well done Griffin.
This could be you
On 17 April, behold as the Gods of Rawk rain thunderous power chords upon those worshipping at the altar of Rock’n’Roll.
At Sway bar, we’ll be gathering the biggest crowd of Eighties throwbacks you’ll find outside Shoreditch, for a real rock bonanza. We’re encouraging anyone with a vocal performance as big as their barnet to have a few beers (free, until they run out anyway), and get behind the mic to sing some rock classics backed by Rockaoke, a professional live karaoke band. We want to show you – PRs, journalists, events managers, chimney sweeps – how much fun Rockaoke can add to the events you’re planning.
And the best bit? You’re invited. Places are limited though, so make sure you arrive at Sway bar in Holborn (www.swaybar.co.uk) as close to 6:30pm as you can. We’ll be striking up the band at 7:30pm, so don’t miss your chance to make that dream of stardom a reality.
For those about to Rockaoke… we salute you.
Gotcha...
If you fall for a prank faster than it takes to say ‘Spaghetti Harvest’, then you’ve probably had a rough morning. Because today is April Fools Day, and thanks to the joke-loving online press, spoof news stories are spreading faster and further than ever.
We at Beam have to confess that we were guilty of pulling the wool over your eyes today too, with the help of the cheeky monkeys at iwantoneofthose. The Dynamo keyboard, which ‘launched’ today, was the ultimate in eco-tech, ingeniously powering your entire computer through the kinetic energy of your typing. Have a look at the details here (you’ll notice from the spec that this is, curiously, not for the lactose intolerant):
http://www.iwantoneofthose.com/dynamo-green-keyboard/index.html
Loads of huge sites showed their sense of humour by running the story, including Gizmodo – which named the Dynamo keyboard the best April Fool of the day. So apologies to any of you out there who were fooled – but our advice is to keep your wits about you next year. Oh, and watch out for those flying pigs.
Cebit 2008
While old sages of the tech game may remember a time when Cebit attracted almost as many UK journalists as its glittering Las Vegas counterpart, CES, it seems that the Hannover-based technology show has in recent years become an increasingly B to B affair.
But for those out there who think the show has taken a turn for the serious, we’ve got photographic evidence to prove otherwise. Well, it made us smile on our trek through the 27 halls, anyway.
See our top five moments of Cebit 2008, below...
1. Oompah band
Wilkommen auf Cebit. In the spirit of unashamed national stereotyping, visitors to Cebit were greeted this year by a good old-fashioned oompah band. The bratwurst platter and ready-towelled sunbeds are just out of camera shot, unfortunately.
2. Woman on scooter thing
OK, so she’d mown down four brand managers in one morning. But, thought Heidi, at least the big scooter diverted the attention from that pastel polo neck.
3. Big heads
Yes, the big head costumes were eye-catching. But perhaps impractical, thought Hermann, when he realised he’d wandered blindly into the car park.
4. Sony Ericsson gets down with the kids
We’re glad to see that Brian Harvey is getting gigs again. Full marks to the stylist who teamed this backwards, Burberry-check baseball cap (may I never need write this sequence of words again) with perhaps the most appropriate T-shirt a trade show has ever seen. FYI, Sony Ericsson, we hear that the kids from So Solid Crew are knocking about next year.
5. And finally... wood man
And, of course, no technology trade show would be complete without: wood sculpture. What mate, the Viking Longboat Construction Fair? Nah, that’s next door.
The Old Ones are the Best
Having made the annual decision to give it up for Lent, the very whisper (Wispa? did you say Wispa?) of any kind of chocolate is currently enough to turn my head. Which explains why my eye was this morning drawn to a national newspaper story about Mars bars - apparently, the company is to revive that classic slogan (and tune) 'A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play'.
In between dreams of Milkybar and snacking on marshmallows - don't bother, it's not the same - I got to thinking about what this is all about. Resurrecting a slogan from 1959? Why, in order to find a breath of fresh air, do we need to delve into the past? Have we all run out of ideas or something? To be fair, the tagline has been made contemporary through abbreviation, and will now read simply: 'work, rest, play'. (At a time when our young people are too busy even to use vowels anymore, we're surprised they didn't go the whole hog with 'wrk,rst n ply').
Or is this just a reaction to a current and potent craze for nostalgia, a love of retro? Look at the recent Rubik's cube renaissance. Note how we're all using the iPlayer to watch Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes. See the Facebook campaign to bring back the aforementioned Wispa: the perfect harmony of new and old school, you might say. While we take huge technological strides forward, and the future rushes towards us faster than ever, why are we all so keen to hang on to the past?
Maybe I've just had a few too many marshmallows, but maybe it's because of our fast-changing landscape that we are all so keen to hang onto the constancy of the past. In a world where your mobile phone goes out of date in just a few months, at a time when we're about to say goodbye to analogue telly, at a time where gadgets come and go within the year (what, don't tell me you've still got the ORIGINAL iPod??) these are the things that give us fond memories. You see, you just don't have time to build a lasting love with today's tech - it's all past its 'best before' in the blink of an eye.
One more thing - how many more days until Easter Sunday?
Sparkling review of Griffin speakers from Shiny
The praise just keeps on coming for iPod specialist Griffin... The girls at Shiny Shiny have been reviewing the wireless Evolve speakers, and look like they've had jolly good fun doing it too. Although Susi seems to get a little bit frustrated with her iPod in the process, she seems much happier with these portable speakers. Click on the link below, and check out their video review:
http://www.shinyshiny.tv/2008/02/shiny_review_gr.html
Always nice to see another happy customer. Thanks very much to the Shiny team for taking the time to test the kit.
Good Stuff
You’ve got to hand it to those guys at Stuff magazine. Cast your minds back to the Beam birthday party (see scribblings from 4th February, below) and marvel at their dedication. While everyone else’s inhibitions are disappearing out of the window faster than a TV from Donny Tourette’s hotel room, the Stuff team is coolly nursing that Flirtini, ever pondering their next issue.
Yes, little did we know that, as we murdered much-loved classic hits from Nirvana to No Doubt, the Stuff kids were taking notes. And now, three weeks later, the Beam team is thrilled to see their name in print, beside the fantastic Rockaoke who have made it into the ‘Stuff Loves’ section.
Big thanks to the Stuff team for spreading the word. For more Rockaoke info, go to www.rockaoke.co.uk
Griffin Evolve speakers get top marks from Stuff
How good is it when celebrities get top marks on Dancing on Ice? Exactly. It’s the best thing ever. So, imagine how excited the team at Griffin Technology was to hear that their Evolve speakers had received a brilliant five out of five from Stuff.tv for their brilliant Evolve wireless iPod speakers.
Evolve, which allows you to move cube-shaped speakers from room to room and hear your favourite tracks 150m from the docking station, was praised for its simplicity and compact design. You can read the full review here:
http://stuff.tv/Review/Griffin-Evolve/
Evolve is perfect for parties, and is bound to be a smash hit this barbecue season. And with a result like that, looks like Griffin will be having a little celebration of their own. Well done, team.
Happy 15 February
It’s very strange. We’ve already allowed for the fact that even first class post can end up appearing 24 hours late, but we’re starting to get a little bit concerned about where our Valentine’s Day bouquet has got to. Oh, well, we’re sure the courier is on his way now.
*sigh*
In the meantime, we’ve been wondering about this perennially controversial calendar date. Frankly, if Saint V was our client, we’d be seriously concerned about his public image – think of all the people who await the arrival of February 14th with a sense of doom:
1. Singletons (you won’t get any presents, but complaining about it makes you look like a sourpuss)
2. Happy couples (there’s nothing like enforced romance and competitive gifting to put pressure on an otherwise solid relationship)
3. Unhappy couples (this is the one day you definitely have to spend time together, even though you can’t stand the sight of each other)
So, more or less everyone, then.
We think that Valentine’s Day needs a little something: some good PR.
So, here’s how we would go about taking Saint Valentine from zero to hero.
- Reassess those brand values. Start thinking ‘timeless’, think 'excess'. Your partner would definitely appreciate a deluge of cheap teddy bears and ten boxes of Ferrero Rocher more than one meal in a quality restaurant
- Make sure your spokespeople are up to the job. That infuriating couple (who have only known each other for a week) gushing about their amazing champagne breakfast aren’t going to get anyone on side. Let’s get someone whose relationship is / was a bit less perfect (Kerry Katona? Paul McCartney?) to make Valentine’s Day a bit more accessible
- Chocolates for every journalist in the country probably wouldn’t go amiss. An expensive proposal, but the nominally out-of-date stuff is usually quite a bargain
Makes sense, yes? Oh, and if you see a courier wandering around with gifts looking for Rosoman Place, give us a shout, will you?
Keeping a level head through the ups and the downs
In a thought-provoking podcast for The Times, the president of the world’s biggest aluminium producer described how advancements in technology, particularly the internet, have finally ‘made the world flat’. According to Klaus Kleinfeld, who is also the chief operating officer of Alcoa, our global communication network means that it’s possible (if not necessarily desirable) to have a team working together across a number of countries; it’s possible to find in-depth information about more or less any subject you like with just a few clicks of the mouse; it’s possible that now, for businesses, ‘the only sustainable competitive advantage, probably, is the type of people you have’ working for you.
It’s an interesting concept: this ‘flatness’ of the world, created by the internet. There are certainly ways outside the business landscape that the Web has levelled out our playing field – an example being students with lesser access to libraries than their peers, or to expensive specialist texts, who are now able to do their research through the internet available at school or college. But, returning to the field of business, have the vast technological resources at our disposal really evened things up a little? And more specifically, is the PR playing field any flatter thanks to the 2.0 revolution?
Arguably, the path of online PR is more perilous than any other. Do it well, and the kingdom of new media will be yours; do it badly, and there’ll be no mercy. Think of the interviews with a certain global mega-brand, featuring overbearing and interfering PRs, being passed from one gleeful online journalist to another. Think of the businesses who were setting up blogs before the word had settled itself into the lexicon, delivering posts that were pointless, off-message and (most importantly) off-brand. And (*gulp*) think of the PRs, named and shamed last year on a prominent blog for sending irrelevant press releases to its cheesed-off editor.
In short, the power of the internet is both liberating and dangerous; it’s not just about putting these tools to use – it’s knowing how to use them expertly, and knowing that the road won’t necessarily be smooth, let alone flat.
What you want to hear, when you want to hear it - Radiopaq launches today
Unless you’ve been living in a nuclear bunker for the past few months, or simply lost interest in music when the Cheeky Girls were in the charts, you’ll have heard the news about the changing landscape of digital music. Now that the Net has altered the way we listen to our favourite tracks (so long, CDs, hello iTunes and internet radio), the race is on to see who will be the next trailblazer when it comes to listening online.
With sites such as Last.fm and Qtrax clamouring to provide the most appealing offers for web-savvy music lovers, one thing is clear. We’re a hungry, impatient bunch when it comes to content. What do we want? Everything. When do we want it? NOW.
Which is why we’re so excited to announce our fantastic new client: Radiopaq.
Radiopaq is a portal featuring on-demand radio, podcasts and news services, and it’s the easiest way of finding all the entertainment and information you want to hear. It features thousands of global radio stations and a dedicated podcast library, all available now, with new content being added every day. Want to listen to your home footie team on your local station, wherever you are in the world? No problem. Want to hear the latest podcast from Russell Brand? It’s all there. Like to try out a bit of Radio Armenia, followed by Terry Wogan’s latest broadcast? Erm, that’s fine, whatever floats your boat.
The fact is that the choice is yours – whatever you want to hear, whenever you want to hear it. Go on, visit www.radiopaq.com and try it for yourself. It’s currently in beta format, so if you’ve got any comments or ideas about the site then we’d love to hear from you.
All work and no play? Beam takes time out at the Toy Fair
Plato famously said, ‘you can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation’. Except for when the conversation is sambuca-fuelled, in which case you can probably learn more about a person in five minutes than you’ll ever wish to know, this is largely true. Are you the one who falls off their chair playing Pop Up Pirate? Then you’re probably of a nervous disposition. The one who gets RSI playing Hungry Hippos? Fiercely competitive, potentially borderline sociopath. The one who always loses at Jenga? A clumsy oaf.
So, what does the kit on offer at the show say about the kids of today? Well, robots were big news at the Toy Fair, from the impeccably old-school (see above) to the cutting edge. The Pleo – the hotly anticipated baby dinosaur robot, which hit the news back in 2007 but had not made much of a public debut since – was on display, demonstrating its super-responsive movements and lifelike look. Rex the Dawg (who we first encountered at CES – see below) provided more gadget animal magic, while inventor Mark Tilden has created another gem for Wowee’s robot portfolio with the fantastic Fembot. We also love the i-Sobot, a tiny creation which can perform some pretty complicated manoeuvres: balancing on one leg, and doing a handstand, amongst others.
Funny, isn’t it? While the parents spent their formative years on a Space Hopper, today’s youth has been busy programming their mechanical menials to do their bidding. In the end it means that, when it comes to games – from Battleships to Burnout Paradise – the kids could probably wipe the floor with you.
Happy Birthday to Beam
Four years old already, hey. Beam may be getting on a bit these days, but the birthday bash we had recently proved that we’re still as young at heart as ever. We packed a hundred of our nearest and dearest into the church hall on Exmouth market, got them all revved up on a bit of pink champagne and unleashed the evening’s entertainment: rockaoke.
For the uninitiated amongst you, this is karaoke with a live band – you can finally fulfil your dreams of rock stardom without a spell in rehab. It does seem to bring out the Mick Jagger within, judging from some of the outlandish performances (and costumes, for that matter) displayed that night…
The stage was packed all evening, and the vocal gymnastics were followed by some foot-stomping, hand-clapping, singalong indie disco tunes. There was even a gargantuan delivery of pizza, piping hot from the local Italian, which lasted for all of ten seconds. Rock is hungry work, it seems.
Highlights from the evening included:
1. An admirably reckless stage dive from one of the guys at T3
2. An emotionally charged performance of 80s classic ’18 and Life’ by the Stuff boys
3. An alarmingly athletic rendition of ‘Roxanne’ by Beam’s resident musician Andy Stafford
We’re already looking forward to the next birthday. We’re not, however, looking forward to the morning after, when an inspection of photographic evidence suggests that thanks to that fake blonde mullet you looked less like Jon Bon Jovi and more like Pat Sharp.
Thanks muchly to MC Hannam and DJ Davies for providing gags and tunes respectively. For more pics, see the Beam Agency group on Facebook.
CES 2008, Las Vegas
You thought you’d heard all the big news from the mighty Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas: Warner’s shock announcement that they will drop HD-DVD and now support only Blu-ray, the gargantuan telly from Panasonic spanning a whopping 150 inches, the final predictions from tech guru Bill Gates as he hangs up his gadget cap. For all the details, check out news from the hottest tech sites on the net – T3, Stuff, Pocket Lint, Gizmodo, Tech Digest, Shiny Shiny, Electric Pig, Tech Radar and Cnet have also posted great stuff after their stint at the show.
But here at the Beam blog, you can find some of the more random stuff from gadget land. Have a look at the posts below to find the kit that didn’t quite hit the headlines, but is pretty good value anyway… And, of course, we’ll be awarding each with a coveted Beam Award.
Gibson tent
In the hustle and bustle of CES, Las Vegas, amongst the gadget chaos and press hysteria, the last place you would expect to find refuge is a chapel of rock. But the Gibson guitar tent, set apart from the rest of the Consumer Electronics Show, is a veritable haven for those who have seen one iPod accessory too many.
The Gibson tent includes a selection of guitars, complete with effects boxes and headphones – just pop them on, and retreat into your own little world where you’re The Boss. There’s a stage where some of the less inept performers can share their talent with the group, and even Hollywood star Kevin Costner made an special appearance for the CES crowd (you can’t win ‘em all, apparently).
Air Guitar Belt - ‘Beam Award for Most Self-Indulgent Tech’
For those blessed with a whole lot of enthusiasm but not a great deal of talent, the Air Guitar Belt from Guitar can make you feel like the rock star you’ll never be. A celebration of style over substance, this brilliant little gadget connects to an amp, which in turn connects to your speakers, through which you can make some proper meaty power chords ring simply by strumming with the plectrum in an ‘air guitar’ style. Don’t worry about the left hand, just pretend you’re in the middle of some frenzied fret-wizardry, and wait for the groupies.
Mullet not included – be sure to style accordingly.
Robot Lawnmower - ‘Beam Award for Unashamed Encouragement of Laziness’
They say that we in Britain are in need of a shake-up. We eat too much fast food, we don’t do enough exercise, and our national obsession with telly means that the only time we get any fresh air is when we walk the few short steps from our front door to the car, and from the car to the office. And back again. With crusaders like Jamie Oliver and Gillian McKeith beseeching us to sort our act out, it seems we in the UK should be making a few extra resolutions this New Year.
Full marks, then, to this robot lawnmower for flying in the face of reform and giving you one more excuse to avoid engaging too intimately with nature. This little gizmo will take care of the garden, without you having to get out in the sunshine and do it yourself. Let’s hope it knows the difference between a clump of overgrown grass and the neighbour’s sleeping Persian.
Clothes Dryer - ‘Beam Award for weirdest advertising’
If you thought the Cadbury’s gorilla advert was a bit odd, you’ll be interested to note that one of the stands at CES boasted an image continuing the same strange animal theme. This collapsible dryer, which inflates with hot air to dry the clothes hanging inside it, is handy for anyone who hasn’t got space in their home for a tumble dryer – it also seems that, should you choose, you can keep an elephant in it.
As suggested usage goes, this wasn’t quite what we expected; we almost feel foolish for planning to stick our boring old socks in there. But we still think it’s a pretty good idea anyway.
Camera Goggles - ‘Beam Award for Good Intentions’
We can see it now: the azure seas, the shoals of canary-yellow fish darting in and out of the delicate coral, seaweed lapping at your bare feet like mermaids’ hair as you draft along the water’s golden bed… This great pair of goggles features a video camera, so that you can record all of your wonderful adventures below the sea.
However, the reality for us in the UK is that you’ll more likely be navigating the freezing cold waters of Blackpool, filming empty ice-cream wrappers and ominous brown torpedoes as they bob perilously close to your tech-bedecked face. So, while it’s a fantastic idea, this is probably only for those who regularly spend their summer hols in the Caribbean.
Wowee Dog - 'Beam Award for Most Heart-Rending Tech'
Who could resist this little face? Come on, people. If you find real dogs a bit of a chore, what with their smelly breath and shedding hair, muddy paws and burning desire to chew only the finest upholstery on your premises, then this little fella could be for you. No need for early morning walks, expensive dog food or clearing up little ‘accidents’. Unless, of course, he has a short circuit and burns a hole in the kitchen carpet.
Creepy advertising? It's all in your head
This week, tech lovers among you may have spotted a curious story on media news and gossip site Gawker, about a recent advertising campaign for an American TV show called Paranormal State. Above a towering billboard on a Manhattan Street sit a pair of speakers, beaming sound waves towards the unwitting pedestrians below – no sound can be heard until some poor soul moves into their path, at which point they will hear a whisper as if coming from inside their own head, asking: ‘Who’s there? Who’s there?'
http://www.shinyshiny.tv/2007/12/its_official_bi.html?dm_i=192787573
This campaign, technologically creative as it may be, has of course stirred up some strong feelings among the blogging community. Described as both ‘creepy’ and ‘a huge liability’ by Gawker users, this appears to be advertising taken a step too far. But, when we are bombarded with visual advertising all day every day (much of which we may well find intensely annoying), why are we so perturbed by an invasion of our sense of sound? Now that audio messages can be targeted in this way, isn’t this just a logical advertising step?
In this case, is it the subject matter? The ghostly whispering (presumably even more disturbing at as night draws in) isn’t communicating a particularly pleasant message when you’re walking home after nipping out for a packet of Quavers. But at the same time, you get the feeling that the crowd would be just as - if not more - annoyed by a voice in your head saying ‘Go on, buy yourself a Coke.’ Is it that, planting itself inside our own heads, this advertising is bordering on mind-control?
Or, in an age when the public understands PR and advertising better than ever, does this bizarre mixture of the two leave us feeling foxed? After all, the campaign has stepped beyond traditional advertising boundaries to gain column inches in its own right, and leaves us feeling like we’ve been part not just of an advert but also a stunt. In our cynical age, are we just a little put out that they have managed to grab our attention?
Navman and Griffin scoop Pocket Lint Awards
More exciting than Santa with a sackful of Wii’s going spare, the Pocket Lint Awards this month celebrated the gadget world’s favourite bits of kit. And what a fantastic night it was – when toasting the top tech of 2007, the Beam team cheered extra loudly for Navman and Griffin, who each managed to scoop one of the coveted prizes.
The S90i from GPS specialist Navman received yet another award when it was named at the Pocket Lint ceremony as the ‘Best GPS’ – knocking the formidable TomTom from the top spot, this was another accolade for Navman’s S-Series, their most sophisticated range which has already received several technology awards and rave reviews…
…And then applause for Griffin, whose iTrip Auto took the top spot in the ‘Best Car Gadget’ category. The device, which allows you to listen to your favourite playlists via FM radio while driving, has become a favourite amongst tech lovers and Apple addicts, and has no doubt spared many a weary traveller from a dodgy local radio station or two.
So congratulations to Navman and Griffin! And we’ll see you at the awards next year.
Doris Lessing speaks out against ‘inanities’ of the Web
Today’s press (both online and offline) was filled with the words of Doris Lessing, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature, who has warned the world that the internet is contributing to a ‘fragmenting culture’ in which ‘young men and women who have had years of education to know nothing of the world, to have read nothing’. She is not the only academic who has highlighted a future in which the Web - with a blog culture that can allow amateurism to flourish and traditional writing skills to decline - not only smothers and subdues the very craft of writing, but diverts our attention from important world issues.
Of course, there is a sour truth in what Lessing has to say about the temptations of the Web – think of all the people who check their Facebook accounts several times a day, and those who would sleep with their Blackberry on their pillow if you let them. Lessing is right in saying that ‘once they are hooked, it is hard to cut free’, and the concept of technology addiction is nothing new:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/6411495.stm
Of course it follows that, while engrossed in this virtual world, the young men and women of which Lessing speaks will not notice the real world passing them by. A woman who grew up in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), acutely aware of the harsh reality of Mugabe’s dictatorship, Lessing is clearly passionate about education on global issues for the youth of today.
However, the internet has played and continues to play an integral part in raising awareness of important world events. When, in September, the peaceful protest of Burmese monks in Rangoon ended in violence, the Junta shut down internet links in a bid to limit information to and from the outside world:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/burma/story/0,,2177667,00.html
The fact that the Junta attempted to deny spectators access to internet cafes and mobile phone links demonstrate the power of the medium - able to disseminate information to the furthest corners of the globe, the internet is a great vehicle for global education. It was through these internet reports that the world saw another side to the story, which sometimes differed from the reports of government officials.
Just like other mediums, this is a question of quality and not quantity. And, unfortunately, it is presumptuous to assume that, without the ‘inanities’ of the internet, young men and women would turn to reading and writing. Inanity will still be found, in everything from books and radio to TV and the Web. Perhaps it is better for a student to spend the day blogging seriously, developing writing skills that might otherwise not be used and accessing information that would otherwise be inaccessible, than curled up by the fire with a Jeffrey Archer.
Amazon invite us to inspect a gadget
When I was a nipper, I must confess to being something of a telly addict (programmes were so much better then. Masters of the Universe, Knightmare, the list goes on). One of my heroes came from the classic cartoon Inspector Gadget – not the title character himself but his sidekick Penny, purely because she helped the hapless hero solve each episode’s mystery using an amazing electronic book (remember?). And I think my childhood dreams might actually have been realised with the launch of Amazon’s Kindle.
This paperback-sized device not only stores up to 200 books, but also allows you to access online newspapers and blogs, and will let you buy new electronic books through the Amazon website when you’re on the move. But for everyone who salivates over the latest shiny gadget, there’s a traditionalist who will be up in arms. What happens to the romance of reading a book: the crisp pages which soften at the corners with age, the wear and tear on the best chapters, the smell of an aged favourite?
The Kindle is simply a reflection of a fast-paced culture in which commuting is a part of daily life and time is shorter than ever. And while there’s nothing better than curling up by the fire with a good book, the Kimble allows those who can never find the time to visit a library to start getting to grips with literature. Just like the iPod allows us to spend otherwise wasted minutes on a packed train becoming a die hard music lover, the Kindle might just make it more appealing to grab a good book. And shouldn’t we just be happy that we can all read more, instead of just sitting in front of the telly like I did?...
Journey to the Centre of Europe exhibition, Brussels
This week saw the opening of the fascinating ‘Journey to the Centre of Europe’ exhibition at the European Commission in Brussels. The event showcases stunning images taken by British photographer Justin Leighton as he travelled around the continent in a bid to find its centre.
Justin used a Navman GPS system to direct him (and his entourage: wife, daughters and mother-in-law) around the many different locations which have all at some point laid claim to being Europe’s centre. Taking into account social, historical and political factors as well as geographical, the family visited spots in Germany, Poland and Estonia, before completing their expedition in the Europas Parkas in Lithuania – currently considered the ‘true’ centre.
The exhibition is a charming diary in images of the family’s time on the continent. From gingerbread making to ice-hole fishing, this is a very personal tale of a story in which we all play a part.
See www.journey2.tv
iPhone launch
Praise be. On Friday, the most highly talked-about tech toy of the 21st century touched down in the UK, and scores of shoppers were waiting outside the Oxford Street Apple Store to get their hands on their very own ‘Jesus phone'.
And, rising to the iPhone’s exalted nickname, Apple addicts awaited its arrival with a devotion bordering on the religious. Fervently chanting ‘Apple’ and ‘iPhone’ as a clock counted down the seconds to launch, gleeful fans were captured by the gathered media crews cradling their new favourite gadgets with a look of beatific ecstasy.
There has surely never been quite so much hype about a gadget, and it just goes to show far we have come since technology was a topic just for the geeky guys in IT. But how mainstream is this kind of kit really, and does the press merely pay lip service to what is essentially just another trend? After all, the iPhone can’t really work technological miracles (it won’t send group SMS, can’t handle MMS and doesn’t feature 3G, for starters) – at a time when we are obsessed with ‘what’s hot and what’s not’, is the iPhone simply another style icon?
Perhaps we should try to remember when the now-ubiquitous iPod first hit the shelves. While hailed as a great gadget for music fans, it wasn’t expected to change the course of history – yet you’ll probably never make a train, bus or tube journey again without spotting those telltale white headphones. And while the arrival of the iPhone won’t send all of us into raptures just yet, it may just have begun to change the way we think about and use our mobile phones. With the best screen and web browser you’ll find on the market, and email functionality to rival even the Crackberry, Apple has done it again: the company has not just created a new piece of tech, but has perhaps changed the way we’ll live our day-to-day lives just a little bit. And, well, Amen to that.
Navman inundated with awards
Fantastic news for Navman this month, as their unstoppable S-Series scoops more than a handful of awards in print and online press. Not only was the top-of-the-range S90i named ‘Best Buy’ in a Sunday Times sat nav round up, but Navman’s latest range received awards from tech specialists at MSN Cars, PC Advisor and Stuff.tv.
MSN Cars decided that the S30 was the ‘Best Budget Buy’ of their group GPS test, while PC Advisor described the same sat nav as an ‘excellent navigation device’ before awarding it four-and-a-half stars out of five and a ‘PC Advisor Gold’ award. The Stuff.tv team was also impressed with the S-Series, slapping a ‘stuff.tv Hot Buy’ badge onto its standalone review.
Stuff and What Hi Fi? Show
There were decadent helpings of gadget goodness last week, when the Stuff / What Hi Fi? Show at the Hammersmith Novotel gave tech lovers a sneak preview of the hottest kit for 2008. After being greeted at the entrance by men in full-body sleeping bags duelling with lightsabres (courtesy, unsurprisingly, of iwantoneofthose.com), guests were invited to check out brand new devices from Nokia’s N810 to Sony’s new Vaios and Walkmans.
Click here for more news about the Stuff show and to see the team in action: http://stuff.tv/video/51-stuff-shows-best-bits/default.aspx. As well as getting a run down of their Cool List, you can see the lads channelling their inner Slash via Guitar Hero III…
Also on show were Ferguson Hill’s amazing transparent speakers, along with must-have iPod accessories from Griffin. And, for all those telly-addicts out there, Panasonic’s enormous 103-inch plasma made for an eye-catching addition to the show. X-Factor is about to get even more shocking…
In the line of duty
Some of us get into the office at the crack of dawn. Some of us don’t bother taking a lunch hour. Some of us even force themselves to do the tea round. But if you think you’re a dedicated worker spare a thought for Helen, who spent a day in a bodysuit sleeping bag. That’s taking one for the team. Thanks Helen.
Congratulations! Griffin takes MacUser award
Let's have a huge round of applause for Griffin - the company has just won the iPod Accessory Manufacturer of the Year award from MacUser. Taking the title for the second year in a row, Griffin beat strong competition thanks to great products such as the popular iTrip and unique iKaraoke, and is fast becoming established as one of the UK's leading consumer tech brands.
The Griffin team proudly accepted their award at a sparkling awards ceremony in London, just days before they release an all-new range of iPhone-compatible accessories.
Marvin's Magic on Radio 1
Just to get us all in the mood for Halloween, Marvin's Magic took a trip to the Chris Moyles breakfast show to demonstrate some Freaky Body Illusions. As you can see, Aled was keen to master the Living Hand trick...
See his performance here: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6fwYwt53ODA
Have you worked it out yet?
Magic Marvin at the Dream Toys show
At the same time every year, the Toy Retailers Association gives mums, dads, grannies and granddads everywhere a quick heads up, compiling a list of the top toys that kids are bound to be hassling Santa for this year. So, unless you want to be trawling round every toy shop in the land like in the Great Furby Shortage of 1998, you had better get those Hasbro Optimus Prime figures and Mattel Barbie Girls in early – these are amongst the twelve gifts the TRA have selected as hot tickets for 2007.
Marvin’s Magic was one of the Christmas toy teams who rolled up to the show at 6am sharp – and the eye-wateringly early start certainly paid off when the freaky ‘Hand in a Box’ was immediately snapped up and demonstrated live on GMTV. Not what you’d usually expect to see when you’re eating your Cheerios.
Navman on Sky News, Technofile
This week, it was great to see Navman’s brand new sat nav being tested on the newly relaunched Technofile, a regular feature on Sky News online. Primarily an online show, Technofile is presented by Martin Stanford and takes a look at the latest news from the world of technology - this week’s show saw presenters from the show using the top-of-the-range Navman S90i to guide them around the centre of London.
Technofile is a great example of broadcasters investing more time and effort in their online arms – quality shows are being made by corporations from Sky to the BBC, and all the while a path to mainstream internet television is also being forged by Babelgum, Joost and Zattoo amongst others.
IWOOT Christmas Event 1
For one night only, something spectacular took place in the darkest corners of a Covent Garden bar - far from the humdrum of the city, a magical world of Sumo Suits and Inflatable Horse costumes could be found. You see, I Want One of Those, the famously fun and fabulous etailer, was busy creating a Christmas press event to remember. Over a hundred journalists and researchers came along to see Body Suit Sleeping Bags, Talking Daleks, Money Monsters and Crawling Zombies… just some of the things that will be on Christmas lists everywhere this year.
Papagenos restaurant provided the prefect theatrical backdrop for a day with a panto twist. Widow Twanky, Captain Hook, Tinkerbell and Peter Pan were on hand to keep the guests entertained with mischief and tom-foolery, while enthusiastic TV researchers tried out some of the more outlandish costumes first hand in the dedicated dressing room…
The T3 Gadget Awards
On Wednesday night, in the heart of London’s Soho, the most anticipated event of the technology calendar took place: the T3 Awards, the Oscars of the tech sector, celebrated the great and good in the world of gadgets. At the glittering Floridita, Friday Night Project host Justin Lee Collins dished out the coveted awards, to winners of everything from the Best Bachelor Gadget to the Best Gadget of All Time.
Apple certainly made their mark on the evening, walking away with no less than six awards including Most Gorgeous Gadget (for their MacBook Pro) and Best Music Gadget (no prizes for guessing that the iPod scooped this one). Though the Xbox grabbed the Best Gaming Gadget Award, Sony’s PS3 was named Best Gadget of 2007 thanks to its unbeatable multimedia functionality – interesting to see how the best consoles now include features which extend beyond the traditional gaming remit. In addition, the Nintendo Wii won the Gadget Candy award for best girls’ gadget, another example of a product that is redefining gaming, and making it available to more than just World of Warcraft fanatics.
Freaky Body Illusions
Those out there of a delicate disposition, look away now… because the latest news from the Beam team is a little more grisly than usual. Freakybodyillusions.tv, a blog which will show you some of the greatest and most gruesome tricks from Marvin’s Magic, has now gone live and will keep magic lovers and budding David Blaines out there wondering… ‘How does he do it?’
From the eye-watering ‘Brain Flossing’ to the spine-tingling ‘Living Hand’, the blog contains videos, pictures and news about some of Marvin’s finest tricks. From impromptu street performances from Freaky Body Masters to the latest news from the world of magic, freakybodyillusions.tv will keep you hooked – but be warned, they won’t be giving away any secrets…
Facebook - friends and foes
Disciples of social networking behemoth Facebook were perturbed this month to hear that it will soon be possible to search for user profiles not just through the site itself, but also through search engines like Google and Yahoo. While it’s promised that only member names and pictures will be visible to the general public, fearful Facebookers are wondering whether this is just the beginning of an inevitable erosion of their formerly watertight privacy.
Already the newspapers are filled with articles about how to make sure social networking doesn’t turn you into a social outcast: tips on how to be sure your private stuff stays just that, and that your boss / clients / parents don’t see those infamous pictures of you doing karaoke dressed as Dr Frank N Furter.
While you may think that censoring your profile, well, sort of takes the fun out of it, at the same time it seems strange that we ever considered these sites a safe place to share our secrets. Facebook is designed to share a huge amount of information with a huge number of people – the beauty of the site is that contacts, images, videos and more are effortlessly passed from one passing acquaintance to another.
They call it social networking for a reason, and if you’re only sharing stories with the friends you see every week at the pub, well, you’re not making the most of it are you?
So, at the risk of sounding like a killjoy, if there’s something you don’t want to share with the world, don’t go sticking it on the Net. After all, you don’t want your boss seeing those Ibiza pics. Unless, of course, they’ve been foolhardy enough to upload their incriminating holiday snaps too…
How real is your Second Life?
It’s likely that you’ll have read about Ofcom’s recent media study, the results of which suggested that while the general public is falling out of love with TV and radio we’re all becoming more au fait with the net than ever.
Incidentally, it has also caused some surprise that women are taking over from men as the most prolific users of the Web (in the 25-45 age bracket), and the report has of course sparked debate as to what effects this extra internet time is having on our behaviour. An interesting article entitled ‘Your Second Life will soon be as irksome as your first’ by Martina Hyde, posted on the Guardian’s Comment is Free, warns us that despite the ever-advancing capabilities of the Net, this is an area that will always be governed by age-old, fundamental truths of human nature – if we are looking for escapism we’re not going to find it in a virtual world like Second Life, which has mirrored real-life by facing its own problems with terrorism and paedophilia.
Hyde’s article is interesting, but it makes a serious and erromeous assumption that Second Life is nothing more than a retreat from the real world. True, many users find that the virtual world allows them to step beyond their real lives in a positive way – it’s reported that sufferers of Aspergers syndrome can find that the exaggerated facial expressions and body language easier to understand. But Second Life is not some kind of game. It’s a real communications tool, where you can do anything from keep in touch with friends to see a concert that you otherwise would never have been able to attend. With real shops and real services available, why assume that this is a form of escapism? And, if you’re still not convinced, shouldn’t you just be glad that people are watching less Big Brother?
Read Martina's article here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2156068,00.html
Navman wins Auto Express award
Congratulations to Navman, who have received the Auto Express Recommended Award for their N40i satellite navigation system. Their unique NavPix technology was described as ‘brilliant’, and the system praised for being ‘easy to use’.
It must be love
We hate to admit it, but the girls in the Beam team go weak at the knees whenever we get a handsome visitor to the office. Call us shallow, but if you’ve got style, elegance and class, then you’re on your way to winning our hearts.
Imagine, then, our glee this month at being appointed by Ferguson Hill, creators of the stunning designer speakers above. Already receiving rave reviews, their unique speaker systems are perfect for both tech-savvy and fashion-friendly music lovers.And, unlike those dreamboats who are better seen and not heard (think David Beckham), these speakers sound every bit as good as they look. Beauty that’s more than skin deep? We think we’ve found the perfect match.
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Going to a new business pitch is a serious business. You turn up, hope that the stern-looking suits on the board won’t be too intimidating, pray that they’ll like the ideas you’ve poured your heart and soul into… and breathe a big sigh of relief when you’re done. So it was fairly unusual for us to go to a pitch and be thoroughly entertained – as an ice-breaker, world class magician Marvin Berglas performed some breathtaking close-up magic for the bemused and gobsmacked Beamers.
Now, while we pride ourselves on knowing how to make him appear in the nationals, we haven’t got a clue how he got that six of clubs to appear between his teeth. That was definitely something of a ‘first’ for the Beam Team.
And even better, we’re over the moon to announce that Marvin will also be our first magician client – in a move that made us smile even more broadly than the card tricks, Beam was selected to publicise the Marvin’s Magic range of tricks. While we know it’s going to be great working with him, it’s going to be frustrating trying to work out his secrets…
Are we all going to be living a Second Life?
While the near-hysterical media hype around it seems now to be descending to a rational level, the evolution and expanding popularity of virtual world Second Life continues at pace.
A ‘virtual Tokyo’ has been unveiled, to give users a taste of the culture of the real city; the Liverpool Philharmonic orchestra is preparing to become the first ever to play a professional concert in the virtual space; and companies are realising that this is a place where adventures can be taken and interesting lessons can be learned.
We recently worked with IWOOT to launch their store in Second Life, revolutionary in that the virtual products ordered online will be delivered to your real-life door. IWOOT’s Creative Director Tim Booth is less concerned with sales generated by the venture than the opportunity to engage with customers on a new level – but is it possible that this new kind of online shopping will at some point become the norm?
There was once a time – not all that long ago, you’ll remember - when most of the general public wouldn’t consider logging their bank details on the Web for fear of fraud or some other complicated internet witchery that would undoubtedly leave them penniless.
Yet Christmas 2006 was the year of internet shopping, with John Lewis seeing a 60% rise in online sales, and 4 million products sold on Amazon in just one record-breaking December day. And while many currently presume that the world of Second Life is for those who 1) only have friends on World of Warcraft, or 2) need to get a first life, bear in mind that most critics will no doubt have already constructed a Facebook profile as painstakingly as SL users design their avatars. It may not be now, and it may not be Second Life – but it’s not unlikely that one day we’ll all be leading double lives.
Wootie Weekends
While we at Beam pride ourselves on our sunny disposition, we’ve been feeling a little sad at the fact that summer seems to have gone AWOL (those fabulous cupcakes from Exmouth Market aren’t quite the same when munched in the drizzle). However, after hatching some plans with the perennially perky gadget lovers at iwantoneofthose.com, we’ve learned that you don’t need good weather to spread a little sunshine.
Recently, iwantoneofthose.com decided to pay a visit to all their loyal fans within the UK. In just four weeks, Beam took the gadgeteers on a trip to four major cities – Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Belfast – to say hello to gadget lovers everywhere. Armed with a (fairly conspicuous) purple IWOOT taxi full of gifts and gadgets, and with fantastic local radio competitions lined up, Beam was ready to have some extra-London fun.
However, the real stars of the show were undoubtedly the Wooties – the inimitable IWOOT mascots put a smile on locals’ faces with free hugs and dances in the rain. These funny, friendly, erm, ‘faces’ managed to create hordes of new IWOOT fans. Let’s face it, these vibrant purple characters were always going to brighten up a grey day.
Sing it loud
Music to our ears, there’s more fantastic news from Beam HQ this month – we’re thrilled to announce that we have been appointed by leading iPod accessory manufacturer Griffin. While highlighting products such as the superb Amplifi sound system (see pic) we’ll be looking after the whole range of Griffin goodies, a selection which (praise be) includes the eternally entertaining iKaraoke.Being no strangers to the karaoke scene (we’ve even got VIP membership to K-Box in Soho: fact), the iKaraoke was always going to be a particular pleasure. We’ve been dying to give Whitney Houston a bit of a spin. Which perhaps goes to show that, while we can definitely help get your product noticed, we can’t be held accountable for our musical tastes…
And the winner is...
Exciting news at HQ today (sound of drum roll and cymbal crash) – Beam has been selected to handle PR around tech Bible T3’s inaugural awards ceremony. Having worked closely with the magazine since it was knee-high to a grasshopper, we’re thrilled to be involved in this great event.The T3 Awards will take place in October and will honour both the highs and the lows of technology in 2007, with the gadgets we couldn’t live without starring opposite the ones that frankly we can’t bear to get out of the box. Want to know if modern classics like the iPod will beat icons like the Nintendo Gameboy to the Best Gadget of All Time title? Well, you’ll just have to stay tuned…
The Web: Hero to 2.0
They said that iPods would get you mugged. They said that the Wii would make you break your TV / hit yourself in your own eye with its new fangled control. And now it’s the turn of Web 2.0 to get a bashing, as the inevitable backlash begins – with Andrew Keen’s book, The Cult of the Amateur: How today’s Internet is Killing our Culture set to work bloggers into a frenzy, we are led to wonder if the Net really is dumbing us all down?
Web 2.0 has made it possible for everyone with an opinion – however informed or otherwise – can now air it quite easily by harnessing the power of the Net. The internet is not about who is saying what, it’s about who is saying it the loudest, and instead of the formidable resource many of us hoped for we have found stuff of value can be obscured by stuff and nonsense. Look at Wikipedia, the ultimate collaborative effort: only recently co-founder Larry Sanger described the site as ‘broken beyond repair’, after the site became populated with inaccuracies and poor content from people who just wanted to be heard.
So, has the rise of Web 2.0 really led to the cult of the amateur, in which expert opinion and talent means nothing, as long as everybody gets a go? Well, this is nothing new. Ever since Shipwrecked and Big Brother began the reality TV phenomenon – way before MySpace, YouTube and other social networking took shape – we have learned to believe that you don’t need talent to make your voice heard. Just a bit of confidence.
And isn’t that why the nation loved shows like Pop Idol and X factor? You, along with everyone else in the nation, get to have a pop at the title – you might get your face on TV. Surely the fact that Jade Goody has risen to celebrity status proves that the cult of the amateur exists without Web 2.0? The internet might be perpetuating this culture – but it isn’t to blame.
Beam is recruiting May 2007
It’s a cliché we know, but we’re always keen to hear from people interested in joining the Beam team. We appreciate that the lack of a website (oh the shame of it) gives you somewhat limited information about who we are and what we do, but in a nutshell - our current clients include the leading satellite navigation brand Navman, the fantastic gadget and gift website iwantoneofthose.com, the stylish yet very practical L.I.P.S luggage range and the innovative Bluetooth accessory brand Mogo, from Newton Peripherals. We’d like to think of ourselves as: creative, smart, honest and genuinely passionate about results. All sounds rather self congratulatory doesn’t it? But there you go, we’ve told you about our best assets, now tell us about yours (within reason of course). See our homepage for contact details.
Picture Yourself There May 2007
This month saw the launch of Picture Yourself There, a blog created by our satellite navigation client, Navman. Have a peek at pictureyourselfthere.net, and you’ll see how they’ve taken a host of topical, interesting and just downright fabulous locations, and turned them into NavPix – this means that, using a Navman, you can download all the details straight onto your sat nav and visit whichever ones take your fancy. They’ll be posting a new locations each day, so check out the blog for some holiday inspiration…
Fooled you! April 2007
Not exactly the toughest PR job in the world . . . develop an April Fool for our gadget friends iwoot.com. Beam developed the concept of the Robogirlfriend and Roboboyfriend and worked with a fantastic illustration team (Louise and Mark from Aardvart) to devise credible working drawings of this “must have” gadget. From there on in, it was a case of seeding the story online with bloggers who were equally up for the joke.
Who fooled who in the end? Ethel from Bognor was apparently quite confused. Ultimately, it was a fun story that spread across the world wide web faster than you could say Spaghetti Harvest. And the results – lots and lots of stories appeared on UK, US, Australian and many European based websites and blogs.
Beam also received a request from a well known International newswire agency for an interview with the inventor of the product (so we guess they were fooled?). The Australian business website ITnews.com.au ran the story of IWOOT’s April Fool alongside Google, the BBC and Nasa jokes. And the bottom line - traffic to the IWOOT website was up 8 times compared with the previous weeks statistics.
IWOOT appointment - March 2007
Nobody quite appreciates gadgets like the Beam Team do. Whether it’s the latest, top-end, gas powered, costs-as-much-as-a-light-aircraft outdoor barbeque or just a pair or battery-powered racing grannies, we’re guaranteed to love it.Imagine, then, our delight at being appointed by the gadget and gift gurus at iwantoneofthose.com! The Beam Team is thrilled to announce that we will be working with the e-tailer to really shout about their fantastic product range and develop the brand’s profile. Look out for the latest IWOOT products, campaigns and events, and just think how much fun we’ve had putting everything in place…
Beam office is One! February 2007
If you’d been here a year ago, when Beam was moving home, you’d know that we were just a few tables, with computers and files all over the place, a suspicious looking electric heater and no carpet. In truth, it looked a little bit like a car park. But gadzooks, you should see us now.
As of February 1st, we have spent exactly one year on our own floor at number 1 Rosoman Place. And, my, haven’t we grown. We’ve got new clients, new staff, and a new lease of life.
And not only that... We’ve got some brand new housemates in the form of DnA PR, another boutique style agency who now shares our office space. DnA work on movie PR (very showbiz), so not only do they have some great chat and free DVDs, but they have some brilliant ideas that we can all share and share alike.
We decided to celebrate with a few post-office drinks. Eschewing our usual on the market, the lovely Medcalf, we journeyed to the Queen Boudica on St John Street (look at that, DnA encouraging us to broaden our horizons already). A few glasses of red wine later we’re all feeling very good about the past year, and enthusiastic about the next.
If we managed to come so far in 2006, just imagine what we can do in 2007. We’ve already got a few tricks up our sleeve. Keep your eye on Beam Enterprise for details of something completely different...
CES January 2007
For every self-respecting technophile, the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is sure to be marked in the calendar (or Microsoft Outlook). Every year the products get smarter, the hype gets bigger, and the news gets faster as more and more bloggers make the trip to the USA so that their readers can get news about the latest tech goodies as it appears. The business pages suggested that there were a few pieces of kit to look out for, including a social networking site from Disney, a watch from Sony Ericsson which would allow users to field calls, check emails and play music, and Near Field technology from Nokia. However, most of us were planning to keep an eye on the battle between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, and were expecting to see some rather exciting players from Warner Bros and LG compatible with both. This CES was clearly all about the big guns.And then came along the biggest gun of all. The mighty Apple announced the iPhone, and secured front page news on The Times, The Telegraph and The Guardian. Mobile phone and widescreen iPod in one, this Internet friendly gizmo includes ‘desktop-class’ web browsing, email and searches. Wi Fi compatible and with Google Maps navigation, the iPhone also features a display that knows when it’s is portrait or landscape and can change the brightness of the screen according to just how moody the lighting is. A nice touch is the Visual Voicemail, a feature which allows you to view your voicemails and select the one you want, rather than having to listen to them all in chronological order.And lo, the world of tech looked on what Apple had done and saw that it was good. It does, however, come at a cost – at $499 some cynics have suggested that the iPhone is just beyond the reach of the ordinary consumer, yet doesn’t really compete with other devices such as the Blackberry for the business users who can afford it. However, many others argue that, whatever its drawbacks, people will buy it anyway...
In my day, all we had was sticky backed plastic - January 2007
There’s a man in one corner doing magic tricks. Sonic the Hedgehog is having a look at the Brio. And a man is blowing bubbles in my face that smell of chicken (designed for dogs, you see). This is no ordinary day at the office. This is a day at the TOY FAIR. If you think that a trip to the Toy Fair at ExCel will be like a second childhood, where you’ll be jolted back into the days when you had a Rainbow Brite lunchbox and knew all the names of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you can think again. However cool your kit was, it doesn’t come close to what’s on offer here. The kids of today are so high tech, they can probably pimp your VCR so that it can play Blu-Ray by the time you’ve learned how to record Coronation Street, and the manufacturers know it.You see, it’s all about robotics in 2007. One of the most hotly-tipped creations is the Pleo, a baby dinosaur that can ‘learn’ things as you look after it. Fitted with sensors left right and centre, it’s so sophisticated that if you handle it too roughly, it will flinch the next time you go to make the same movement. And the latest robot inventions from WoWee are similarly breathtaking – Robopanda, who’ll read interactive bedtime stories to the kids, Roboquad, an incredible four-legged creature who looks so alive it’s untrue, and the Flytech Dragonfly who’ll be buzzing around mildly irritated parents right through to Christmas.Also in 2007, it seems that licensed products will be big news – Spiderman, High School Musical and The Simpsons branded products were popular at the fair. And of course, the fabulous Spyke robot, pictured...
LIPS on This Morning - December 2006
Lovely to see the L.I.P.S. laptop bag being admired by none other than Mr Philip Schofield today on This Morning, as he and Fern gathered together the best Christmas gifts for Dads.
Welcome, Leonie! November 2006
You know that bit in Mary Poppins, when the slightly anaemic-looking children sing a song about the perfect nanny, and the lyrics go up the chimney and then, as if by magic, the perfect nanny arrives at the house? Well, Leonie’s introduction to the Beam Team was a bit like that.Still reeling from the shock of Jenny Davey’s departure (as you’ll see from previous posts, Jen left us to go and have adventures in New Zealand) the Beam Team set to work looking for her replacement. ‘As if there could ever be a replacement,’ we cried. Trying to find someone to fill Jenny’s stack-heel leopard-print Mary-Janes seemed too insurmountable a task to comprehend.Then Lady Leonie breezed in, spit spot. Just like the song, ‘rosy cheeks, no warts’, although we haven’t yet seen her ‘play games, all sorts’. Actually, we’re also waiting for her to ‘take us on outings, give us treats, sing songs, bring sweets’, so that’s something to think about, Miss Martin.But thus far, Leonie seems practically perfect in every other way. Full of beans, enthusiasm and the joys of spring, Leonie has taken on every Beam-based challenge with spoonful of sugar. Welcome to the Beam Team, Leonie!
Soho's Shining Star relocates to New Zealand - October 2006
Stop Press: Yet another award fell into the lap of ‘London Based Tech Shop’ (PR Week, 2006) Beam Agency this week, when their social coordinator, events manager and all-round good egg Jennifer Davey was appointed Unofficial Karaoke Ambassador for the Antipodes. In November, she will be jetting to the other side of the world to take up her new post (and to do some surfing, and to ‘catch some rays’).
The award recognises Jenny’s outstanding contribution in the field of karaoke, and the news follows her recent relocation from the relatively dingy Karaoke Box to the much cleaner (and redder) Lucky Voice. Critics have suggested that her flair for the tambourine helped her rise above the competition. ‘Her performance brought tears to our eyes,’ said one Soho resident. ‘We wanted to give her the outstanding achievement award, but she gets more marks for effort, really.’
Boysstuff Event - September 2006
Shopping list for Boysstuff Christmas showcase:
1. Space hopper race track
2. Promo girls
3. Battle tanks / helicopters / racing cars
4. An array of robots
5. A gold man on stilts
6. Free booze
7. A man in a box
8. Canapes (Hot dogs? Pizza? Chips? Yes.)
9. Gorillas (mountain, x2) plus keeper
10. Mini motorbikes
11. Candy floss makers / popcorn machines
12. Clairvoyant
13. Journalists
That's England Alright - Summer 2006
NEWSFLASH: The PR world was taken by storm recently when the daring Beam Agency began their campaign to get World Cup song That’s England Alright ‘into the national consciousness’.
As soon as PR guru Jenny Davey was put in charge of the TEA account, Beam began a PR push that included radio drops at 5am in the morning, prolonged harassing of both national and regional radio stations, a visit to the Liverpool docks to drum up local support and an elaborate launch party at HMV in Newcastle (naturally involving Beam's beloved karaoke). It was a hard slog, but the team revelled in the results – at least eleven copies of the CD were sold in Newcastle alone.
‘We’re thrilled,’ said Jenny, who has also guided vocalist Kate and her pianist Tim in their musical career (she does the door at their charity gigs). ‘Probably around fifty people turned up and appeared in the video, so to sell so many copies is fantastic. We’re really excited about shifting those units!’
‘Predictions suggest that we’re entering the charts at about number 148,’ she added. ‘But we’ve got our fingers crossed for a number one.’
Home Sweet Home - February 2006
As all good things must come to an end, so must our time on the top floor of 1 Rosoman Place. After 18 months sharing an office with super branding agency 300million, we’re finally parting company. ‘It’s not you,’ they said. ‘It’s me’. Truth is, we’ve grown too big for our table up there – our happy band of Beamers has grown from two to six in the space of a year, and we need a new home. So we’re moving. Downstairs.
After three months of debate as to what colour the carpet should be (we eventually settled on beige) and a number of office-based furniture workshops (Jenny’s shelving creation still astounds us all, not least because it’s still standing) the Beam team have made the journey down to the second floor.
Setting up a new office is hungry work – so after a long day, we celebrated our new start with some cheese (both the savoury foodstuff and the music) and wine. OK, so it looks a little bit like a car park. And it’s pretty cold at the moment. But it’s pretty exciting, and we can put Atomic Kitten on in the office without all the guys from 300million getting a bit sad. Here’s to a new year and a new pad.