Tag Archives: media

Jun 24 2013
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Hi Tech Monday

Hi Tech Monday : Customers Are Social Too

I’m making another change to the 7kindsofmind this week, I’m introducing Hi Tech Mondays – I may be talking about my newest app obsession or something on social media that caught my eye. If it’s techy, it’s Monday.

So this week I’m interested in the ways in which customers use social media to communicate with businesses. The relative new-ness of social media as a method of formal communication means that the relationship between businesses and consumers is ever evolving. The idea that every user can have an equal voice means that well-known figures as well as the everyman get to have their say, and as such businesses can be built upon word of mouth, but this time it’s the entire world having a conversation. I’ve experienced both sides of the coin, as a customer trying to work out why it takes 7 months for a Scottish brewery to deliver my brother’s Christmas present (and when I say Christmas, I’m talking about 2012. Seriously. Those guys are useless.), or as a representative of my employer sometimes replying to Twitter questions. This has been a fairly new thing, but it means that we can still answer people’s questions about our theatre and our hardworking Marketing Officer can actually enjoy her weekend.

I have always been interested in keeping up with what is being said about my employers, whether it’s their Facebook page or Twitter account, just to see what kind of feedback our company gets. It’s nice to know if you’re doing your job properly. These are not always positive comments, sometimes people expect the impossible or are simply having a bad day, where any slight inconvenience feels like the end of the world. Sadly, I do not control the weather in an open air venue or create a new product on the spot that will fit one person’s very specific requirements. I’ll definitely do my best. Yes, a person is more likely to speak up if they are dissatisfied by an experience, but that doesn’t mean that it is all bad.

When you work in customer service, there is nothing more rewarding than a person making a point of thanking you for the assistance that you provided, it really makes my day. Which is why I strive to be good at my job – if my customers are happy, then I’m happy. The mind boggles as to why people put no effort into their work and then complain that they receive very little in return. A positive attitude is key. There have been times when, reading a Twitter feed or Facebook comments, I have recognised the person discussing their experience and felt that their enjoyment of a performance is a credit to the many people across all departments working hard every day to make sure they have a good night out. That is the whole point, after all.

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Apr 13 2012
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Fame On A Friday

Fame On A Friday: Brad Pitt liked it so he put a ring on it

Almost married, always smug

It seems that the tabloids’ favourite couple have finally decided to add some truth to the many millions of marriage stories that have been surrounded them ever since they got together in 2005. Brangelina have been parading their low-key-yet-so-high-profile love for quite some time, and I don’t imagine that it’s about to go away now. I imagine that Jennifer Aniston is dreading the barrage of questions coming her way despite the fact that she is obviously over Pitt (and has been for some time, if only the press would stop bringing it up). While reps for the couple have yet to confirm that the two most beautiful people in the world have decided to make it official, this is the first time that the legitimate press (i.e. not The Sun) has reported on such a rumour, so one can’t help but think that it might be slightly true. However, the twosome didn’t even confirm that they were an item until Jolie was pregnant with The Chosen One Shiloh a full year after they got together.

It does make you wonder what their life (and that of their many children) must be like, to be at centre of a maelstrom of fascination 24/7. Their personas aren’t particularly likeable, not in the same way as Kate Winslet, nor are they easy to dislike, a la Katherine Heigl – they are superstars, plain and simple. Maybe it is that they’ve transcended the more human status of other stars and become godlike beings, permanently enigmatic and a source of wonder.

Who knows? I have no idea why we are all so interested in the engagement of two people in a long term relationship who share six children and are obviously very committed to each other. But none of us are about to rock the boat because we can’t wait to see what Angelina will wear on her special day, and whether her much-discussed leg will make a reappearance.

 

[Image via nydailynews.com]

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Feb 24 2012
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Thursday Me Time

Thursday Me Time: Twitter Job Hunt

Apologies for the lateness of this post, I fell asleep while writing it yesterday and had to employ my Superman-like reflexes when I awoke as my laptop was about slide off the bed. Obviously baking cakes really takes it out of me…

This week I was talking to my Dad about trying to find work, and how most of the people that I follow on Twitter post alerts for job vacancies in the media. Ideally I want to get into television production or development, but the old adage of needing experience to get experience is slightly halting my progress. So with that idea, my Dad decided to tweet a message to his 3000+ followers seeing if any of them know of any vacancies, and there have already been a few responses. He included a link to my blog, so I thought that I would aim this post at anyone who fancies a read.

I should mention that my Dad works in the computing industry, so I imagine that most of his many followers work in a similar field of cloud computing or some such software engineering type thing. I freely admit to having no clue about any of this. So if anyone needs an admin assistant or similar, I’m there. I know that I can do the job and make a valid contribution to the company. But if there are vacancies with more of a programming vibe, then unfortunately I cannot be of any help. While my computing skills cover a wide range of office software and social media, when it comes to…whatever software engineering entails, I am without knowledge. As a proactive learner, I am working on this by teaching myself Photoshop and HTML to broaden my tech skills.

The areas in which I most excel are television, film and entertainment – did I mention that I have a photographic memory? – I have become the go to person for information on any of these subjects. I am also a keen traveller, if you read my Travellin’ Tuesdays posts then you will see that I have backpacked around Australia, the South Pacific islands and New Zealand, where I also studied Pacific Lit for a year. So I like to think that I am pretty adaptable and can manage any situation no matter what issues may arise. My 7 years of experience in customer service roles are also a great help.

These skills served me well last year, when I was a Hospitality Intern at The Cambridge Film Festival, where I compiled and managed daily itineraries for all of our delegates. I organised transport, accommodation, dinners, sponsor receptions, and even a UK premiere. I also managed the delegate reception desk and complimentary ticket allocation, which required me to learn a lot of new software fairly quickly. During the festival, I made myself available 24/7, at one point taking a guest back to London at midnight because her flat had been burgled. Whenever anything went wrong – which, in such a fast-paced environment, was quite often – I thought of the best way to solve it and put my plan into action. From co-ordinating multiple arrivals/departures and juggling ticket allocations for sold out screenings, to racing across to town to get vital supplies for the 60+ delegate packs. You give me a challenge and I will get results.

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Feb 09 2012
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Wednesday's Got Issues

Wednesday’s Got Issues: Something happened in the football world, and everybody cares

The main news story today has been the resignation of Fabio Capello as the England football team’s manager, it has been everywhere since it was announced. If you look on the BBC homepage this story, and the story of another aging manager’s court trial, are pretty much dominant features. And what irritates me is that everyone has an opinion, is talking about it as if it affects their life, and generally accepting the massive coverage that has been going on. Why? Because the UK is a nation of football fans, you only have to look at an average tabloid newspaper’s TV advert to see that the majority of the working and middle classes focus a lot of their attention on which of ‘their’ teams has beaten the hated rival (which incidentally changes to suit every single match), rather than realising that there are bigger news stories out there.

The same applies to the importance that the general media place on stories of celebrity hook-ups and break-ups, it is almost painful to see a BBC newsreader, used to reporting in a warzone, relegated to a red carpet event just to ask some jumped up ingenue about what it was like to kiss Brad Pitt. Fuck. Off.

I’ll admit, the world of entertainment is something of an interest of mine and while I can’t stand football, if there’s a story about the All Blacks then I’m all ears. But the point is that if I want to read about such subjects, then I go to the relevant source, I do not expect Perez Hilton to get as excited about a general election than he did about Kim Kardashian’s wedding. Of course, he does report quite often on political matters, particularly ones relevant to gay civil rights – which is very admirable – but that’s not why I read his website. If I go to the BBC News homepage, I expect to see stories that fit in with their reputation for high brow reportage, not the revelation that millionaire Russell Brand will not be asking for any money from millionaire Katy Perry. Yes, it’s refreshing to see celebrities mid-divorce behaving like adults (I’m looking at you Halle Berry), but I’d much prefer to hear about what has been going on in Syria, or at the Leveson inquiry.

In a way, I’m mostly annoyed with other people. The media has responded to signals from their viewers about what constitutes an engaging news story, and they are going to do whatever they can to increase their ratings, I get it. But just once it would be nice not to have to get my information about more serious topics from sources on Twitter, rather than have to wait even past the human interest story, in which a farmer has grown a marrow bigger than his entire family, to learn a bit more about what’s going on in my country.

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