CIPR Northern Conference Reflections

I attended the CIPR Northern Conference today, so I thought I should commit my thoughts to the blogosphere whilst they are fresh in the old grey matter.

I’d like to say from the outset that the West Yorkshire Playhouse was an excellent venue and one that I’d have no hesitation in recommending or using again – it is well worth suggesting it to your clients. The rooms, food and staff etc were great. The day was well organised, the sessions didn’t last too long - the CIPR, WYP and Don’t Panic Projects deserve credit for putting together a great conference. Interestingly we were encouraged to Tweet throughout the day and there was a lot of trending #ciprnc.

Here is a quick run down and my thoughts on the speakers (in chronological order).

Heather McGregor, Financial Times
We kicked off with a well known commentator. She was an engaging speaker with some great stories to tell, from PhDs to learning to fly to shooting grouse. Although, her pearls of wisdom were mostly centred around her experiences, I’m sure many of the delegates will be able to take something away. Heather also spoke glowingly of Editorial Intelligence – a media analysis service that keeps you abreast of the commentariat's latest interests and recent ramblings. It could be a great agency tool.

Mark Hanson, Wolfstar
Mark was standing in at the last minute for Stuart Bruce who was ill. However, nonetheless he gave a very insightful presentation on Twitter. Many of the audience who I spoke to were attending as they felt their organisation should be using Twitter, but were not quite sure how to go about it. During the coffee break I discovered many were impressed with the presentation and the models that explained how and why people should use Twitter. Apparently the slides will be going on the CIPR NC site later – well worth a look.

Yasmin Diamond, Home Office
It was a real coup by the CIPR to get the Home Office Director of Comms to speak. She must have one of the hardest jobs in the country and I found it a great insight into the PR function of a government office. Yasmin spoke to us about the need for perspective and context in the media and how a lack of perspective can drive up the fear of crime.

Andy Green, Green Comms
This was a very creative, if slightly abstract session about meme. Andy spoke in a lot of metaphors and it was geared more towards about getting us to change our approach and thinking to PR. It was something different and I’m pleased I attended. A different way of looking at a problem is never a bad thing.

John Neilson, BAE Systems
This was a solid keynote that focussed on how BAE have implemented the improvements from the Woolf Report in 2008. Lets not kid ourselves - arms sales is a pretty murky world and John was pretty ‘corporate’ in what he said, with an impending day out at court, we shouldn’t expect anything less. However, he spoke about getting BAE’s key messages into untraditional and somewhat hostile publications – a lesson to any PRO and I’m sure one that would make a good case study.

Sarah Knight, BJL
I was tempted to go and see Rob Brown of Staniforth speak, however I’ve seen him before so plumbed for BJL. I think I made the right choice - it was an enjoyable master class that focussed on a case study aimed at preventing domestic violence in Hull. This has certainly awoken an interest in social marketing and something that I would like to increase my knowledge of. One of their taglines is ‘engaging people, changing lives’ and the case study certainly lived up to this billing.

Paul Willis, Leeds Business School
Disclaimer: I work with Paul, so you would expect me to say nice things! That aside it was an interesting keynote and focussed around Paul’s view of the current media landscape and how he sees it evolving. He also focussed on declining trust in the media and government during the credit crunch.

Specifically, one of the memorable points I will take away is Paul’s comment that nowadays managers are expected to have a degree of competence in HR, budgeting etc – so why not a firm grasp of PR too? Either way, I look forward to working with Paul over the next 9 months and hearing more of his thoughts on the industry.

Alastair Campbell, former Director of Comms for the Labour Party
Before we even got to see the grandfather of spin, a lot was being made of the fact Campbell had gone for a run prior to his keynote. Once he started he raised some good points… championing the simple PR mantra of objectives, strategy and tactics, as well as commenting ‘newspapers are not purveyors of factual news anymore’ which stood out on Twitter.

Campbell then made reference to how Barack Obama harnessed social media in order to do a very old fashioned task - namely using Facebook to mobilise people who then canvassed undecided voters. Essentially supporters became activists.

Campbell entertained us with some amusing anecdotes from his time at number 10, as well as not missing an opportunity to put David Cameron down. Interestingly, he went a bit quiet when the idea of Tony Blair running for the EU Presidency cropped up…so watch this space.

Overall
I think the CIRP deserve a pat on the back for putting together a good programme of master classes and seminars. There was a lot of emphasis on social media, which demonstrates that the CIPR have been listening to feedback. A straw poll amongst delegates showed social media to be the biggest challenge and one that communicators want guidance on.

Personally, I a bit more on SEO would have been nice. This is something I have blogged on before and feel it is an area PR should claim for our own. Perhaps one for next year then.