Last night I joined my fellow co-authors and around 80 practitioners to celebrate the launch of Share This Too: More Social Media Solutions for PR Professionals at the British Library in London.
It was the perfect setting to officially introduce the book, which is a practical handbook on social media from the social media panel of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), which I sit on.
Share This Too has already topped the PR chart on Amazon and feedback from the PR community so far reveals it’s a useful read for students, practitioners and people interested in all things comms related. It is published in the UK and US by Wiley, and is available in both hardback and digital formats with an R.R.P. of £19.99 via Wiley.com and Amazon.co.uk.
I wrote the chapter on social media in corporate communication and you can read an extract below. Thank you to the IC pros who I interviewed for my chapter. If you have read the book you’re welcome to post a review via Amazon.
I thoroughly enjoyed speaking with Dom Burch, who is Head of Social Media at Asda, who wrote the chapter on The Shift to Conversation: Content, context and avoiding cheap talk, and Thomas Knorpp, Head of PR at Sainsbury’s (Thomas and I are pictured on this page) at the event.
What’s in the book?
Share This Too @sharethistoo is split into 33 chapters over eight topics, covering: the future of public relations, audiences and online habits, conversations, new channels, new connections, professional practice, business change and opportunities for the public relations industry, and future-proofing the public relations industry.
Brian Solis @briansolis, Principal Analyst at Altimeter Group wrote the foreword (Brian came to the UK a few months ago and I wrote about his talk I went to at the #b2bhuddle at Microsoft, London.), sharing his insights into all things social media related and his views on the book.
Propaganda: Power and Persuasion
I invited Dana Leeson and Sarah Hodges to be my guests to the launch and we not only enjoyed the hospitality that was sponsored by Precise, but also took part in a private tour of the Propaganda: Power and Persuasion exhibition from British Library curator Ian Cooke.
This was absolutely brilliant. The exhibition is only on until 17 September, so you’ll need to be speedy to catch it, but I can’t rate it highly enough.
It’s a look at 100 years of international state propaganda from the 20th and 21st centuries. It covers everything from war time communication to how the UK re-branded itself for the London 2012 Olympics. It looks at how it is used to fight wars, fight disease, build unity and create division.
Its official description states:
“Whether monumental or commonplace, sincere or insidious, propaganda is often surprising, sometimes horrific and occasionally humorous. While it’s never neutral, it can be difficult to define and identify. Exploring a thought-provoking range of exhibits, you will find yourselves looking anew at the messages, methods, and media used by different states – discovering how they use propaganda through time and across cultures for both power and persuasion.”
I was struck by many of the facts and figures and quotes – and to compare and contrast with internal communication. Have you been? I’d love to know what you think. Do let me know by commenting below or tweet me @AllthingsIC.
See Matt Appleby’s set of pics on Flickr for a glimpse into some of the things we saw. Other photos on this page were taken by Steve Walker @spwalker.
Precise has put together some of the highlights from last night:
The authors
Want to read more from the authors? See the hashtag #CIPRSM on Twitter as many of us mark tweets with it to share info with each other and the CIPR social media panel community.
Share This Too was edited by Stephen Waddington and Rob Brown with contributions from Dominic Burch, Robin Wilson, Simon Sanders, Ged Carroll, Kate Matlock, Adam Parker, Mark Pack, Sharon O’Dea, Paul Fabretti, Michael Litman, Russell Goldsmith, Daljit Bhurji, Stephen Davies, Scott Seaborn, Dan Tyte, Matt Appleby, Kevin Ruck, Hanna Basha, Chris Norton, Becky McMichael, Rachel Miller, Stuart Bruce, Richard Bailey, Jane Wilson, Julio Romo, Jed Hallam, Katy Howell, Gemma Griffiths, Philip Sheldrake, Richard Bagnall, Drew Benvie, Andrew Smith and Simon Collister.
Want to see inside the book? Here’s a free chapter to download – it’s chapter four in the book and focuses on Planning: audiences, media and networks, by Ged Carroll.
An extract from my chapter: Social media in corporate communication
For today’s corporate communication professional, it’s now assumed that you have a solid understanding of social media. What if that’s not the case? Here are case studies, research tools and resources to help you make appropriate decisions.
Are you being asked to advise your company on the correct social media strategy to fit with your culture? What if you’ve never even used Twitter, let alone know how Pinterest works, but are expected to know what’s right for your business?
Internal communication is as important as external communication. Social media use is as crucial a conversation as explaining the profession of corporate communication or role of employee engagement.
There will always be a requirement for organisations to engage with online communities, albeit the tools may change over time. You need to be able to demonstrate gravitas in this area, and fast.
Even the term social media creates complications in some companies, who choose “digital”, “social” or something entirely different. I think its use for corporate communication will become ingrained to the point where the focus is the communication, content and conversations rather than the name.
Management consultant Peter F. Drucker said the best way to predict the future is to create it. That’s never been truer for corporate communication.
Want to know more?
I am going to be talking about my chapter during an event at Social Media Week, London on Thursday 26 September alongside fellow contributors Mark Pack, Head of Digital, Blue Rubicon, Russell Goldsmith, Social Media Director, markettiers4dc, Michael Litman, Co-Founder, BRANDSONVINE and Stephen Davies, Director, Ruder Finn UK.
In my chapter I mention the importance of choosing the right phrase for your company when it comes to using internal social media. If you’ve not completed the ‘what social media is called inside organisations‘ survey I’m conducting alongside simply-communicate, there’s still time to have your say.
You can do so here and I will be presenting the results at Social Media Inside the Large Enterprise (SMILE) on Monday 23 September as part of Social Media Week. I had a look at some of the feedback today and it’s a valuable collection of thoughts and experiences. Do please add your thoughts into the mix.
Thank you for stopping by,
Rachel
Further reading:
Books I’ve contributed to
Post author: Rachel Miller
