Whilst I can see the reasoning behind resistance to the allowing of amateur images of great works of art becoming the norm in the public domain, I find it incredibly hard to believe that what is essentially a visitor attraction can deny the importance of sharing content and engaging with consumers in their digital space.  As newspaper readerships decrease and social media networks grow, we are becoming increasingly dependent on our digital networks to share opinions and experiences, give advise on holidays, days out, books or art, providing an opportunity not to be missed.

Campbell Johnston’s belief was that an image taken on a phone takes directly away from the challenging experience of viewing art, that it makes it one dimensional and that social media as a whole reduces art to the lowest common denominator!

Fellow interviewee Brett Rogers from the Photographers Gallery acknowledged the need for engagement and the important need for the gallery to draw in new audiences.  She rightly pointed out that whilst visiting a gallery is a unique and multi dimensional experience that cannot be replicated with a snap shot on a smart phone, the opportunity to become part of online conversation and encourage those that do visit to share their experiences with others in their networks is one not to be missed.

Social media is not about stealing IP or reducing the effect of a photograph, a painting or a product; instead it offers an ability to enrich the visitor experience.  It means that we can take something away from an artistic experience, revisiting it at our leisure, it also enables us to open up our conversation outside of those in our immediate circle, to learn from other opinions, debate and experiment with our thoughts.  

Art and history are great mediums to spark education, conversation and engagement and in my opinion there is no greater place to do this than on forums such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.  Users post 40 million pictures a day on Instagram so why not have a piece of the pie and get visitors sharing the way they see an exhibit or work of art and discussing it with their fans and followers?  Surely better than yet another picture of a meal in a restaurant… (which we also hugely encourage as we look after the PR and social media for a number of bars and restaurants!)

So in summary the acceptance of social media within the world of art doesn’t sound like appealing to the lowest common denominator, in fact it sounds to me like embracing technology and taking a step towards the creation of a nation of citizen art critics.  They may not be as educated and well practised as the pros but that doesn’t make their opinion any less important.

I guess the question is… does the art community care what the rest of us think, are they prepared to get involved in our dialogues and do they really want to open themselves up to new audiences at all?  Politicians and brands have embraced these changes and relaxed their need to control and own all conversation about them and visitor attractions like MOSI here in Manchester have made a huge success of using the sharing of ideas online to market themselves.  Will the art world follow suit? 

Rachel isn’t on Twitter but Brett is, you can follow her here @BrettRogersTPG, and so are MOSI, @VoiceOfMOSI. 

At first, there were large amounts of controversy surrounding the new health plan with nutritionists claiming the new diet would not allow followers to achieve their recommended nutrition intake, but Sarah believes there are many health benefits to the diet. After extensive research she found the 5:2 diet prolongs life expectancy, reduces the chance of getting cancer, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease and makes you more alert and energetic.

Sarah’s recipe book is full of healthy recipes for those following the diet to make that will allow them to satisfy their hunger whilst on fast days. The recipes are delicious and the ingredients included are designed to make people feel satisfied and fuller for longer, lessening hunger pangs and cravings. 

We have already achieved some great press coverage including a feature in The Times, as well as the Daily Mail, and Sarah’s local newspaper The Wansted and Woodford Guardian. The new Fast Diet Recipe book has been reviewed by a number of health & beauty bloggers including Get the Gloss, you can also find a few of Sarah’s recipes below on Red online. 

The main question everyone is asking – does the diet actually work? Sarah believes if you can stick to the diet and eat sensibly over the other five days, you will lose weight. As busy PR professionals who attend lots of events and social gatherings we don’t have a lot of control over what we eat a lot of the time, two days a week sounds perfect to us!

SarahSchenker.co.uk

Coverage:

http://www.redonline.co.uk/food/recipes/thai-stir-fry

http://www.redonline.co.uk/food/recipes/lentil-tikka-masala

In this time Sarah has given regular comment to national newspapers and magazines such as the Daily Mail, Sunday Times, Men’s Health, Health & Fitness magazine, Bella and Prima, and seen the growth of her Twitter following.  Our next job was to overhaul Sarah’s website and make it fit for the social media driven world we have today.  

Sarah’s old website was built over 5 years ago and what we expect from such a portal has changed massively since then.  The content was all perfect but it had walls created by the need for registration to access particular information such as recipes as Sarah had wanted to build up a database of potential clients.  

We took the decision with Sarah that this was no longer the main requirement for the website but instead we wanted fluid content with the potential for a blog for Sarah to discuss current issues and projects she is working on.  Plus links to Sarah’s key social media channels, Facebook and Twitter, and a wealth of recipes which are available to all to make good use of this content for search engine optimisation.  There is also a gallery for the media coverage we generate for Sarah on a weekly basis.

You can check out the website here SarahSchenker.co.uk.  Do tell us what you think or tweet Sarah (@SarahSchenker) if you have a question about diet or nutrition.  

COSMO Careers Master Class #cosmocareers 

On 17th April Pippa and I headed down to Manchester University for the Cosmopolitan Careers Class – a seminar by one of our favourite mags as to how to make the most of our careers.  

On arrival we were handed drinks tokens and entered a room full of fashionable young women and a few guys. Despite a delayed start, we were ushered into a lecture hall and greeted by our goodie bags which were perched on seats waiting our arrival. The room was buzzing, full of aspiring media hacks who wanted to break into journalism, radio and PR. We were soon introduced to our panel, which consisted of six inspiring women…

Cosmo’s editor Louise Court (@LouiseCosmoEd)

Cosmo’s digital editor Pat McNulty (@Pat_McNulty)

Cosmo’s entertainment director Lizzie Hosking (@Lizziehosking)

Commissioning manager for Lime Pictures Rachel Hardy (@RachelHardyPR)

Senior publicist for Sony Music Sarah Hall (@sarah_hall)

Capital FM Breakfast show presenter Rachel Burke-Davies (@MissRachBD)

Louise got started by asking various questions to the panel about what they think about their jobs.

Rachel Hardy, who works in PR, said that her job is “full time and takes over your life. It is exciting and fast paced, you get to work with the best people”. As Communications Manager at Lime Pictures (who produce shows such as The Only Way is Essex and Hollyoaks), Rachel mentioned how it can be a challenge to work with reality stars such as Joey Essex who have no previous media experience. Whatever he says on TV ultimately falls on Rachel’s shoulders! It cannot be controlled!

As we moved down the panel, Sony’s Senior Publicist  Sarah Hall added, you are not on 9-5 hours, it is a constant job, “The hours are a downside. I’m very busy. I’ll be on a shoot 9am-6pm, go home and be sat there answering emails until 12am. I guess if you’re doing something you love then it doesn’t matter”. The positive aspects of Sarah’s job are amazing. She travels worldwide to look after international artists who are on the record label, visiting places you wouldn’t necessarily go on holiday. For her, there is no better feeling than knowing something will run in the press and your hard work pays off.

Lizzi Hosking is the Entertainment Director at Cosmopolitan Magazine, she is in charge of all the celebrity content that goes into the magazine. “All my friends think I have the most amazing/glamorous job. It is, but it is difficult and hard work. It is amazing to work at a women’s magazine with a big team of creatives. It’s like going to work with your friends everyday. But it is never ending, especially with the increase in social media, it becomes 24/7.”

Rounding off the first lot of questions was Pat McNulty, the Digital Editor of Cosmopolitan online. The rise in social media is a big aspect within Pat’s job. “I can’t control everything on social media. Another thing is deadlines are not monthly anymore the rise of website content means deadlines everyday! but it is immense fun working on a women’s magazine. You get access to people you admire, and that is exciting”.

Pat, talked about having a good presence on social networking sites such as Twitter. “If you can express yourself well on here it is key. Are you funny, but aware of what is going on in the current media/affairs? Can you write well in 140 characters? Now, the more multimedia skills you have are beneficial”.

We are all aware now that when we apply for a job, be that paid or work experience, it is more than likely that the employer is going to look you up on social networking sites. It is vital that you are presenting yourself well upon these public sites. Sure it’s great that you show your personality as that can be endearing to an employer; but no provocative pictures, drunken tweets or foul mouths are needed, Louise said.

For Rachel H, a good understanding of the industry is crucial. You need passion, and be able to show you are aware of what is current. “You need to be consuming news in every format and know what is going on, we don’t expect you to pretend to know everything but you need a knowledge of what is going on in the world”. She also added that it is not just London where there are opportunities, “There are so many opportunities in the North now to work in the media or PR, look at MediaCityUK”.

Sarah who did a journalism degree at university said that her degree has played a major part to her work in PR, she knows exactly what journalists look for in a press release and this helps in getting a journalist to write and article or do an interview. A press release need to be exciting or it is likely a journalist won’t even look at it.

What I took from this part of the evening is to go the extra mile, because if you don’t – someone else will. Being a team player is always beneficial, and to be happy and smiley. Make your work experience really worthwhile, as in this industry, it is the main way to gain an entry level role.

“What is the best advice you can give?”

• Louise: Your moment when you achieve something great will come. Don’t let the people who have got you down stop you. Run your own race.
• Rachel H: Take every opportunity and work experience position offered to you.
• Rachel BD: Be yourself. Work hard and respect the people around you and your position.
• Sarah: Be indispensable and enthusiastic. Don’t give up.
• Lizzi: Don’t be scared of rejection. Who cares if you get a few no’s on the way up?
• Pat: Push yourself and be brave. Go for it. You are more capable than you imagine you are.

All in all, it was a very inspirational night. I learnt some great tips which I will put to good use whilst working my way up to be the best I know I can be.  

To top it off we invited the Cosmo team to enjoy a few games of bowling and dinner with us at afterwards.  The girls loved our client Black Dog Ballroom’s new venue and tweeted about the night @BlackDogBowl to their followers.

Jessica Taylor

Cocktails are particularly popular in Manchester but many of the bars have very different offerings. Monotonous bars are becoming less common and all of the bars in Manchester are developing their own personalities to contribute to the amazing nightlife.

Bars are evolving from the simple offering of drinks and a familiar DJ and many are now branching out to offer guests different experiences such as karaoke, live music and even ping pong. Another welcome addition to the city this year is bowling which has been popular in London for the past few years. Our client, Black Dog Ballroom, recently launched their new bowling concept, Dog Bowl, in the Southern Quarter which is fast becoming a great new area for a night out.

There is no doubt Manchester is becoming a destination location for a top night out so when an opportunity came up to write for BarChick.com – a guide to the best bars around the world, I jumped at the chance to get involved and show off the city’s first-rate offering. Working in PR means I love searching out the newest, coolest watering holes, and what better way to use this than to share the knowledge through BarChick’s guide to the city.

You can read my posts here – http://barchick.com/city-guides/manchester

Pippa