I hope you’ve got your tickets booked! There’s just over 3 weeks to go now until we get together with How-Do to host our Reputation Management seminar on the 7th May! Being the kind people that we are, we’ve decided to extend the offer of the early-bird discount for one more week, so hurry up! This week, I am going to be profiling Rob Brown, Managing Director of Staniforth. Background Rob is a graduate in Economics & Politics from the University of York. He spent a year in independent radio before joining Staniforth PR, working on Rowenta, ICI and Oddbins. Rob set up his own media PR business in the 1990s, with Granada Television, Channel Four and Endemol amongst the clients. His business was acquired by Leedex and Rob was appointed Managing Director of Leedex GTPR’s Manchester office. During this time he was also Chairman of the Institute of Public Relations in the North West. Rob joined McCann Erickson in 2001 to set up their PR division working with Aldi, Peugeot, the Department of Health and numerous NHS organisations where he specialised in strategic communications for public health and dietary campaigns. He is a regular visiting lecturer in PR at Manchester Metropolitan University and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. In 2008 Rob returned to Staniforth, now part of the TBWA group, as its UK Managing Director responsible for its offices in Manchester and London. He works with companies and brands that include M&S, Nissan and Kellogg’s. He is also the author of “Public Relations and the Social Web” published by Kogan Page on April 3rd this year. The Presentation Rob will be discussing the PR Challenges of the Social Web, including how reputations can be affected by social media, the impact of UGC and how reputations can be built and lost. Tickets are still available at the early-bird rate of £95 + VAT – offer ends Friday 17th April. Book Now!

There’s just 6 weeks to go now until KMP’s seminar on the topic of Reputation Management takes place in Manchester on the 7th May! But, if you can’t wait until then, don’t worry! In the weeks running up to the seminar, I am going to be profiling the speakers and giving you a sneak preview of what you can expect from each of their presentations. As well as this, I’m going to let you in on a bit of background information about each of the speakers so that you can get to know them a bit before the seminar! First up this week, we have KMP’s very own Managing Director – Jon Keefe! Jon was one of the original founders of KMP in 1991, and has embraced internet technologies since 1995, helping organisations to understand how they can benefit from digital innovation. Jon has steered KMP from its inception in 1991 at the end of the last UK recession, through the Dot com crash to the steady growth and profitability it returns today. This experience overlaid on 13 years digital expertise in the public and private sector means Jon brings extensive knowledge and insight to any organisation and their digital strategy. Jon has also been a long time supporter of Manchester Digital, the trade association for ICT and New Media in the Northwest and an advisor to The Big Chip awards since they were first held in 1997. Jon will be presenting the keynote presentation, entitled “Are you ready to manage your reputation?” Jon will be finding out just how “social media ready” your company is, where he will be discussing the resources and skills available in your company vs what is required.

Ok so there’s not long to go now until KMP’s Social Media Marketing seminar (25th Feb) takes place at the MDDA in Manchester. We’ve got some great speakers for this seminar, with Mike Antliff from Huzu and Dominic Sparkes from Tempero presenting for us for the first time, alongside KMP Chairman – Bill Daring! It’’s really exciting to have some new speakers with fresh ideas and opinions speaking at the inblackandwhite seminars. I’ve had a sneak preview of Dominic’s presentation, and all I can tell you is that it promises to be educational, fun and really interesting! Titled, “Extend Buzz – spend less – managing online communities to drive success” (you see it even rhymes!) Dominic is set to discuss the topic of moderation and community management. Mike has also given me a little insight into his presentation, which looks to be jammed pack with social media goodness! Covering everything from the evolution of social media, the rise of the web, some of the most influential landmark sites, and highlights of the social media tools and applications contained within, it really promised to be value for money! Bill is set to discuss “PR 2.0 and the Social Media” where he will be presenting the case for social media in PR. Most of the UK’s population is now online – blogging, chatting, visiting message boards and exchanging news and views, and the introduction of web 2.0 and the implications of social networks have encouraged a change in marketing methods. Bill will discuss how we can track, manage and respond to brand buzz online. So, if you’ve not got your tickets yet, where have you been? Luckily for you there are still a few tickets available, so book now!

On Wednesday we hosted our second social media workshop at the MDDA in Manchester. This was hosted by KMP’s MD – Jon Keefe, alongside one of our Client Service Managers, Gerry Daring. The workshop was a great success, and had attendees from a wide range of companies including Johnsons Cleaners, Business Link NorthWest, The Beatles Story and Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce. As part of the workshop, Jon adressed the popular topic of “How to get your Organisation Social Media Ready,” and a video of this section of the workshop can be seen below. http://www.vimeo.com/3378687