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Testimonials

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

Intro

A post about recent work that Souter Consulting carried out on behalf of two North East England customers:

  • Digital Transport event at Newcastle University
  • CONNECT North East

Please read on for more details.

Digital Transport

Souter Consulting Limited was approached by Hannah Bryan, at the time working as part of the Newcastle University School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, to help her run an event which would investigate what role technology would play in the future of transport.

What SCL did

  • Acted as a mentor, explaining how Social Media tools could help publicise & run the event
  • Set up and configured a number of tools to publish information about the event, and capture any multimedia content that was created
  • Wrote blog posts, tweeted, and ‘live blogged’ the event itself (i.e. created a real-time & interactive record of proceedings).
  • Provided project management and community management advice

What they said

Hannah Bryan, Director of event management company Sailor Girl Limited said:

Swallow smallJustin was a pleasure to work with. I was given three weeks to put on this event and Justin was a massive support from the initial brainstorming to the post-event feedback capture and close. The ‘live blogging’ in particular was a real hit as many of the project partners were not able to attend in person and so attended ‘virtually’.

More info in the related case study.

CONNECT North East

imageCONNECT North East (CNE) brings together high growth technology businesses with those who are interested in funding them. Typically these businesses are start-ups, often run by young entrepreneurs who are very comfortable using digital technologies to communicate and collaborate.

What SCL did

  • Created a social media strategy for CNE, and provided ongoing tactical advice
  • Set up various online tools, e.g. blog, Twitter & YouTube accounts; published regular blog posts; ran the Twitter account; and monitored what was being said about CNE online.
  • Participated in existing online forums to help increase awareness of CNE
  • Worked with PR agency and CNE team to re-package key messages for Social Media audience
  • Shot, edited, and published video of key sessions – so those who couldn’t attend events might learn through viewing the material online.

What they said

John Sargent, CNE Business Manager said:

clip_image001“Souter Consulting added a very significant dimension to our marketing activity: contemporary, effective and insightful communication, tailored to a technology-savvy audience in a medium which they value. We recommend Souter Consulting highly.“

More info in the related case study.

Drop us a line

We’d love to hear from you if you’d like some help along these lines – please use our contact form.

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Posted in Business, Social Media, Web 2.0, blogging, collaboration, education, enjoyable, experiment, innovation, newcastle, north east england, research, technology, tools | Comments

Belated write-up of TaaD event – ‘Social media: beyond the hype’

Friday, November 20th, 2009

A recap of this event, with photos and the presentations (where possible).

Intro

“Your Honour, being conscious that it’s a while since the ‘Social media: beyond the hype’ event at the end of October, I’d like to plead in mitigation that I’ve had a couple of bouts of ‘flu since then, and a broadband cut-off [although that’s another *very* long story :-s].” [Enough excuses – Ed.]

Event details

As per my original post, the event was held at the Great North Museum Hancock, and really ran very well, courtesy of fantastic organisation from Ellie Silson and Julie Moore (and others) from Codeworks.

We discovered during the evening that the reason the room was so cold was because of a dead body at the back of the room (until 27th Nov 09), more often known as Lindow Man.

I’m told that the business networking facilitated by the Dollywagon technology was a success, although perhaps the format should have included a bit longer for folks to make each other’s acquaintance.

Only blot on the landscape was my dodgy timekeeping. :$

Photos

Paul Santos

Photos that Paul took are on his website here. They’re also available via the Codeworks account on Flickr, viz:


Via Armin

Mine

Presentations

Herb Kim

How Twitter Helped Save the Thinking Digital Conference
View more presentations from Herbert Kim.

Stephen Davies

Social Media is a Global Phenomenon

Declan Metcalfe

Think and a Drink Social Media Presentation
View more documents from Declan Metcalfe.

Mine

Social Media – Measurement

Presos from Jason Brownlee (Professor Young was also struck down by ‘flu) and Armin Talic to come hopefully. I’ve checked with Paul Smith, who feels his presentation loses rather too much in translation, but essentially tells the story of Twitchhiker.

Feedback

Ellie tells me that the speakers all got excellent marks, and also that the feedback was very favourable. Well done everybody!

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Posted in Business, Social Media, Social Networking, Web 2.0, blogging, business networking, collaboration, customer service, education, enterprise 2.0, experiment, ideas, innovation, interesting, marketing, newcastle, north east england, photography, technology, tools, twitter, work | Comments

Social Media strategy – Vignette-stylee

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

Intro

I used to work at a systems integrator, as part of their Knowledge Management practice, and then latterly as a business consultant in their Information Management practice.

Vignette was a name that always came up in discussions about web content management, and so it’s interesting to see that it was bought by OpenText this summer.

I happened to be browsing through Slideshare, and found these presentations by Gerardo Dada, who is Senior Director, Product Marketing at Vignette.

With Sapient

This first presentation is useful in terms of Social Media ‘strategising’:

Find the Risk vs. Reward Balance in Social Media

Enterprise 2.0

This one is a teensy bit product-oriented, but a useful explanation of Enterprise 2.0 (i.e. what happens to an organisation when it adopts Web 2.0).

Enterprise 2.0: Boosting Employee Productivity With Social Media

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Posted in Business, Social Media, Social Networking, Web 2.0, collaboration, digital nervous system, education, enterprise 2.0, ideas, marketing, technology, tools, work | Comments

TaaD event – Social media: beyond the hype

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Introduction

Quick plug for this event by organised by Codeworks Connect this coming Thursday.

Think and a Drink

As credited by Herb Kim at the recent TEDxNewcastle, I am helping to ‘produce’ the evening – i.e. Herb and the team were kind enough to adopt my rough concept for the evening – and organise it! :-D

Aims (from my perspective):

  • Bring Social Media to a wider audience and into the mainstream of the North East
  • Grow the pie for various players in this space – yes, we’re in competition, but that doesn’t mean it’s a zero-sum game out there
  • By using these tools, Regional players can help increase turnover and reduce costs.

Codeworks billing

As the Two Ronnies used to say, in a packed programme on [Thursday] night, we’ve got an All-Star line-up (excluding me!).

The following is a cut-and-paste from the Think and a Drink website [n.b. link is probably time-limited].

Date: Thursday 29th October 2009

Time: 17.30 until 22.30

But what’s the truth about social media? Can they really help your business? And how, exactly?

Everyone and anyone is talking up social media right now. Asking you to "join the conversation", "engage" with your customers rather than shouting at them. And telling you that if you don’t use these tools you’re at a major disadvantage. 

At October’s Think and a Drink event, you’ll get to see social networking in action and learn about the science behind it. A selection of social media experts – including ‘Twitchhiker’ Paul Smith and Stephen Davies, one of the UK’s most popular PR bloggers – will give you an insight into how social media can be used, based on their knowledge and experiences.

Who’s speaking?

• Professor Malcolm Young. A professor at Newcastle University, Malcolm’s research expertise lies in complex systems analysis and informatics. He was one of 18 scientists worldwide nominated by The Sunday Times as the "Brains behind the 21st Century".

• Paul Smith. A freelance journalist, copywriter and new media "ideas man", Paul is perhaps best known in social media circles as ‘The Twitchhiker’. Together with Newcastle-based developer Jon Nairn, Paul recently launched Never Odd Or Even LLP, specialising in mobile application development.

• Stephen Davies. An online public relations specialist and managing director of 3W PR, an online PR and social media agency based in Sunderland. He also writes PRblogger.com, one of the UK’s leading PR blogs.

• Jason Brownlee. Prior to launching Dollywagon Media Sciences, Jason was the founder and research director of Other Lines of Enquiry, a successful media research consultancy. He has developed several new media research technologies, including eye-tracking, SMS surveys and online media engagement testing.

• Justin Souter. An experienced, customer-facing consultant who recognises the wider context for IT solutions. Justin recently started his own business, Souter Consulting, which offers advisory and consultancy services to customers who want to maximise the return on their technology investments.

• Armin Tali?. Armin has spent the last seven years as a designer, project manager and new media practitioner, most recently putting his experience to use as the community manager for revolutionary web video specialists Quick.tv.

Want to be a guinea pig?

Good. Because if you come to October’s Think and a Drink, you won’t really have a choice. During the event we’ll be running an exclusive networking experiment run by Jason Brownlee of Dollywagon Media Sciences.

Armed with a Think and a Drink delegate badge, some business cards and your sparkling personality, you’ll be ready to experience 3 genuinely useful 60 second business meetings.

The Think and a Drink delegate badges will have 3 names on the back with 3 highly relevant people you are due to meet (and in what order).  It will also tell you what you are meeting to discuss and where you will meet – the venue will be split into ‘zones’.

Each meeting will last for 60 seconds.  That’s long enough to put a face to a name, break the ice and identify your common interests.  You can then arrange to meet later in the evening, perhaps with a relaxing drink in your hand. 

After 60 seconds a bell will ring and you’ll dash off to your next meeting.  At the end of the speed networking session you will have made 3 new contacts with experience of a specific issue or challenge that you stand to learn from.

We will learn all the information we need to from your registration form.

Register today

Places for Think and a Drink events usually run out quickly. So book yours today at www.thinkandadrink.com

If you have any questions please call Ellie Silson on 0191 556 1127 or email ellie.silson@codeworks.net.

P.S. If you’re coming from Middlesbrough you can hop on a free bus we’re running to and from the event. Please indicate so when booking.

So, hope to see you there and good luck with the networking!

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Posted in Business, Social Media, Social Networking, Web 2.0, blogging, collaboration, enterprise 2.0, experiment, ideas, interesting, newcastle, north east england, research, technology, tools, twitter, work | Comments

Social Media for Accountants – the real thing

Friday, October 16th, 2009

Intro

To recap:

DFK is:

a major international association of independent accounting firms and business advisers that has been meeting the needs of clients with interests in more than one country for 45 years. The association now has over 300 offices across the world.

DFK International creates special value for clients with cross-border interests. DFK member firms enjoy effective cooperation throughout the world resulting in the ability to deliver international services on time and at a competitive cost.

Fascinating to find out that I should be speaking at an event for a far-flung business networking organisation!

The Burns Supper

I thought it might be a good idea to go up the night before – there was a set-piece Burns Supper with haggis. Our table had a great vibe, but not enough grub: maybe we were just being greedy [shurely not! – Ed.]

Speakers

Anyway, we had fine food, and speeches by:

Format

Followed the traditional form of Burns Suppers

Video of Rab Tait

Rab Tait – champion piper was on hand to pipe the haggis into our dining room. Also to give Burns’ “Address to a Haggis” – priceless, as you can see by the rough video below.

All in all, a very enjoyable evening, with good company on our table of Scott from Glasgow, Shane from Dublin, and Paul & Nick from London I believe.

Photos

The Morning

  • Some people were holding their heads in their hands, and I wasn’t sure whether this was because of
    • the content
    • my delivery, or
    • they had had a very enjoyable evening!

Slides

This is the deck I delivered:

Intro to Social Media – for Accounts (the real thing)

Video

I made a recording of my presentation, which is of better quality than the screenshot below. You can be your own judge of how informative it was… n.b. it’s probably 55 minutes, so if you’ve watched it all the way through – I’d love your feedback. Thanks!

Once piece of constructive feedback is that there was probably too much content on the slides. Unfortunately I haven’t reached heights of greatness akin to Tara Hunt or Stowe Boyd. :-(

Anyway, feel free to whack whatever comments you might have below.

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Posted in Business, Social Media, Social Networking, Web 2.0, blogging, business networking, collaboration, customer service, digital nervous system, education, enterprise 2.0, experiment, facebook, groundswell, ideas, marketing, technology, tools, twitter, video, work | Comments

Byte Night #3

Monday, September 28th, 2009

The latest enthralling instalment of my preparations for Byte Night in NewcastleGateshead on October 2nd.

Tent & dry run

Somewhat embarrasingly, when I tried out the tent & sleeping bag on Friday night, I managed an hour or so and felt a bit odd, so came in to a nice warm bed. Mmm, perhaps sleeping outside is not so easy after all.. :$

I should say that I cycled around Brittany with a school friend when I was 19, and for 2 weeks that was rather pleasant – perhaps it was because it was during the Summer…

Anyway, I’ve learned that

  • a pillow would be a terrific idea
  • bed roll was rather good
  • sleeping bag was warm enough (fingers crossed)
  • it could be quite a tough gig to sleep out, especially if the weather isn’t kind :-s
  • I’m not all that good at putting up tents :$

I’ve also found my own survival / bivvy bag and also a sleeping bag liner.

I think I’m beginning to get my head around it all – but it helps having the pledges so far, and also means I can hardly back out.

So, Friday night at the Baltic – here we come!

Photos

Some of my stuff – and putting up my tent.

Video

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Posted in Business, bonkers, business networking, byte night, experiment, gateshead, good cause, north east england, serious games, technology, work | Comments

Social Media for Accountants – the sequel

Monday, September 28th, 2009

Intro

Quick post to say I’ve re-hashed this presentation, based on feedback from:

Basically it was too long and too detailed. Please take a look and suggest any improvements you might think of.

I plan another version, to take into account some thoughts from the Senior Partner at RMT. So, watch this space!

Preso

Intro to Social Media – for Accounts parte the seconde

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Posted in Business, Social Media, Social Networking, Web 2.0, blogging, collaboration, education, enterprise 2.0, ideas, research, technology, tools, work | Comments

Byte Night update #2

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

Hello folks, I’m thrilled to be able to say that (at the time of writing) I’ve nearly reached 2/3rds of my initial fund-raising target of £500. I’ve also got some cheques coming in, so the fund-raising continues! :-D

I’m really happy about this, but am keen to collect as much money as possible.

[The widget on the right is powered by the JustGiving website, so the total will hopefully have gone up.]

My Brother has offered to double his donation if I shave my beard off, but I’m not altogether sure for how long!

So, if you can think of other ideas as to how I can raise some more wonga – please leave a comment.

I’m including some more background information:

  • Things I think I’ll need
  • The second part of a previous Byte Night video diary from Reading
  • The flyer to accompany the Newcastle event, to give you an idea of what’s it all about.

Packing List

I like lists, so this one is my aide memoire starter-for-ten:

  • Camera
  • Video camera?
  • Microphones
  • Monopod
  • Sleeping bag
  • Inner?
  • Bivvy bag?
  • Survival Bag
  • Bed roll
  • Cardboard?
  • Dry bags
  • Waterproofs
  • Coat
  • Overtrousers
  • Boots
  • Head torch
  • Thermals
  • Fleeces
  • Hats
  • Buffs
  • Gloves
  • Fleecey face thing
  • Sense of humour

More video

Byte Night video diary part 2


Byte Night Newcastle flyer

Byte Night 09 Newcastle Flyer

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Posted in Business, bonkers, business networking, byte night, experiment, gateshead, good cause, north east england, serious games, technology, work | Comments

Excellent Social Media case studies by Ron Ploof

Monday, September 21st, 2009

High recommended reading to see how large companies are using Social Media. Enjoy!

Social Media and PR

The Ranger Station Fire

Johnson & Johnson does New Media

Johnson &Johnson Case Study – Social Media

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Posted in Business, Social Media, Web 2.0, blogging, business networking, collaboration, education, enterprise 2.0, groundswell, ideas, innovation, marketing, technology, tools, twitter, work | Comments

Presentation: Social Media for Accountants

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

Mega quick post (that I may well update) to capture any comments you goodly people might have about this preso.

The story is that I have been invited to speak at the DFK UK & Ireland Annual Conference on the 2 October at the Marine Hotel in Troon (www.barcelo-hotels.co.uk/marine-hotel/)

This is my draft presentation to 50 Accountants to give them an intro to the Why’s and Wherefore’s of Social Media.

Intro to Social Media – for Accountants

UPDATE: The presentation is up to slide 44, and the rest are stats or ‘off-cuts’. Many props to Emily Coltman for input re Acountants who ‘do’ social media.

UPDATE 22 Sept 12:55: Dennis Howlett has blogged the following feedback on my slides:

I’ve no idea who sent me this link, probably some well meaning soul on Twitter but the embedded Slideshare presentation is worrying. Stuffed with out of date ’stuff’ like on overfull suitcase, it takes the wrong angle on so-called social media, a term I detest, for accountants. It demonstrates a lack of understanding about what makes this style of audience tick. It’s hard enough to get professional accountants to understand the world of marketing, social media as presented here will blow their heads off.

Instead, can I suggest that those who are curious steer away from the consumer facing spiel and think more about communications, internally at first and how sharing information might better serve the practice. Professionals should be looking for ways to better collaborate both internally and among their communities.We’re starting to see that at ion. And it’s not about using these tools as direct marketing tools or gimmicks but about the indirect effects that arise out of your efforts at supporting those around you through the stories you tell.

But above everything, please don’t see this as any quick fix. Making these things work takes time.

Interesting points & I need to update the deck asap with the gist of this, and also from Phil Richards (see comments).

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Posted in Business, Social Media, Social Networking, blogging, business networking, collaboration, customer service, education, enterprise 2.0, facebook, ideas, research, technology, tools, work | Comments

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