Quick word of caution when you are doing a website for any political candidate in the UK.
There are rules which are there for a reason.
Rules about publicity materials – also covering websites – can get your client in trouble if not followed. And when it comes to politics we are talking about serious trouble.
Speaking from experience I would always suggest that your first port of call is your candidate’s local Party people – they hold the ‘books’ as it where and I’ve always found them helpful.
Alternatively the three main parties at least have really good comms and campaigning departments who will help out.
Want to see an example? Check out the footer here.
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More information:
Electoral Commission website
Guidance for candidates and agents – Local government elections in England (pdf)
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Snow Uploaded by SykoFantiS Bastoyni on 6 Jan 10, 12.36PM GMT
Greetings earthlings from frozen London.
I won’t lie to you we’ve been having challenging weather. So much so that I even had to stop riding the scooter for at least a week and that’s saying something.
What better way to fend off the cold than the amazing little gift I got today from one of our clients. We were gossiping about pies the other day – steak and ale being my favourite, chicken and mushroom his. He remembered and got me this precious book on pies today – the day that we completed phase 1 of our work with him (yes, yes I’ll be blogging about it soon)
Pies: A lovely gift Uploaded by SoMaFusion on 9 Feb 10, 2.13PM GMT
Needless to say I am now obligated to cook at least one pie (sigh).
As the above talk regarding a client would evidence we have not died even though we did take a long and well-deserved rest over Christmas, especially Manolis who managed to wind down and reconcile all of our client hotels’ systems for the winter.
A lot of systems updating has been happening but I will not bore you with the details – suffice it to say that all client software and hardware is ready for the new holiday season. (Yes, we do feel quite smug about it).
Oh, and when I do bake the pie (notice the ‘when’ rather than ‘if’) I promise at least a picture.
* I was this close to titling this “It’s high time for 3,14″. All this systems and numbers talk is getting to me.
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The lovely original photo is by milena mihaylova (Creative Commons) please consider supporting her work
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A lovely surprise this morning as I was walking past Trafalgar Square (London as always) with the latest WWF project.
The London Ice Bear is in Trafalgar Square from Friday 11 December until Sunday 20 December, slowly melting over that time to reveal a dramatic bronze skeleton.
Inspired by the Arctic landscape, it’s a life-sized representation of a male polar bear in hunting pose.
Everyone is invited to touch the ice sculpture. Artist Mark Coreth hopes that by touching this sculpture audiences can become sculptors themselves and make a direct connection with the bear and its icy Arctic kingdom, now under threat from man-made climate change.
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I particularly like the way it’s all been communicated by WWF in various way.
The sculpture
It’s difficult to describe how striking the sculpture itself is. And the cool think is that you want to go again and again to see it in various stages until you can finally see the skeleton underneath the ice.
The people
You are approached by lovely young people who wear the WWF jacket and talk to you about what the bear symbolises. No talk of joining the organisation or supporting them financially (which I appreciated no end). Instead if you are willing to give them your e-mail they will send you all the information. Notice how the young man in the photos is not holding any paperwork. They all have little handheld devices where they note down your e-mail.
The goodies
If you are willing to give your e-mail the nice young people give you an wrist band and a Christmas card with a cute polar bear. Just as a thank – you but I love how when I returned to the office people asked me about the wrist band. Smart way to cause a conversation methinks.
The flickr group pool
You are encouraged to join the Flickr group and upload your pictures of the polar bear. The most interesting ones are also uploaded on the WWF IceBear website. We already added ours of course. 
The streaming video
It was great fun. They are actually streaming the whole melting process on their website – Needless to say I called Manolis and I was waving at the camera grinning like mad. Epic win for WWF here.
All in all I think this is an ingenious interactive installation. Absolutely e v e r y o n e is fascinated by it, people love touching it and photographing it. Thumbs up for WWF.
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It certainly is that time of the year – even though in London, if we believed the lights and decorations it has been Christmas since round about August.
We are delighted to announce our Christmas give-away for this year (our first one ever as well). Just book your stay at the Golden Bay Hotel Apartments, for as long as you want, any time from the 1st of April 2010 to the 31st of October 2010 and you get a 15% discount (see how to do this below). As long as you book your stay for those dates you can actually do your booking from today.
Golden Bay is a delightful hotel in Crete, 28km east of Heraklion. Surrounding it are the resorts of Hersonissos, Stalis and Elounda – with the Malia beach just 10 minutes away. It’s actually a wonderful haunt if you are planning to combine sea and sand with a bit of sight-seeing (go to the Palace of Knossos, you’ll never forget it). Check it out when you do your booking, you can also choose to book some excursions at the same time.
It was our pleasure to kick off this year’s give-away (and our first one) via an announcement at the Greek website prosfor.es (which means ‘offers’ in Greek). prosfor.es is a new project started during the 2nd Athens Startup Weekend by Nikos Anagnostou and Thodoris Kargas - helped by Th. Sapountzis and D. Papadimitriou. The idea rocks and we hope it goes the distance.
HOW TO CLAIM YOUR DISCOUNT
To claim your discount please book via the Golden Bay online booking system and in the Special Requests / Remarks field just input “SoMaFusion prosfor.es”
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If you have any questions or issues please contact us on AllOfUs(at)SoMaFusion(dot)com
Disclaimer: Golden Bay is one of our projects (see here for more details)
If you book from any other service and not the Golden Bay online booking system this offer will not be valid.
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Handshake
Uploaded by Sergio Prado on 30 Sep 09, 3.06PM GMT.
Here is a good example of why it’s a good idea to refer clients to people who can help them when you can’t do it.
Went to a corner shop today and I asked for something. The guy behind the counter looked at me, slowly turned around, checked if the product was there, looked back at me and with the bored look of the early morning said “I don’t have any”. Mind you, this guy owns the place. I’m not planning on going back. There is another corner shop just two doors now and I plan on starting to use that one. I would be prepared to stick to the first guy if he had said the most simple thing in the world. “I’m sorry I don’t have any right now, I will be getting a delivery tomorrow but in the meantime there is another shop two doors down where you might find what you are looking for”. There, how hard would that be.
Admitting the limits of what we can do and what we want to do is a SoMaFusion fundamental principle. If there is something that cannot be done or that we are not interested in we will always strive to recommend other people and/ or companies to the client. We do this for a number of reasons.
Asking us to do something is an act of trust
Even if it’s only an enquiry the prospective client is showing a level of trust by approaching us. It would be very poor form indeed if we did not at least strive to repay that trust by being honest and by introducing someone that might be able to do something that we may not be able to do at the moment.
It’s an opportunity to understand their needs and to better explain what we do
Some prospective clients have a vague idea of their needs and a vague idea of what we do. Sitting down together and looking at their needs we might discover that they should look into other communications priorities first before they come onto digital communications. By discussing their needs we can explain the field, explain what we do and give them a better idea of what we think their priorities should be.
Saying we cannot take on a project is a positive thing
Nobody can do everything. We know what we are good at, we know what we like doing, we know exactly where we can help a client. What is the point of pretending? If there are others out there that can do something better then we are definitely recommending them. How many times do you think a client gets to hear that a company is not in a position to do something? Not a lot. And they don’t trust people who claim they can do everything. Clients know from experience that it’s impossible.
Referring to someone else shows that we know our field
We don’t see anyone as a competitor (even though it’s a good word for the title). I come from a policy background which has taught me that businesses turn around a market a lot quicker if they cooperate and understand each other. Especially when it comes to an emerging market and in these difficult financial times as well. By referring to someone else we show the client that we understand our field – hence we know what we are talking about – and that we have good relationships with people out there.
Referring to someone else makes the customer happy AND improves the industry
Think about it. If we all admitted what we can and can’t do and referred to others whenever we couldn’t take on a job we would be able to a) make the client happier and b) make the market better. In the long run we would be building relationships and connections across the industry which would promote trust and would make it easier for a small consortium to be set up easily if a big account turns up. Why should we send it to the big guys? If we all know our specialisations and have been courteous to each other in the past what’s to stop us from getting the big accounts? Not to mention that referring to each other means that we slowly but surely identify the bright stars – in other words we are making the industry better with each referral (provided you are not introducing your best mate but someone who can actually do a good job)
Naturally there is always the money question
Fine, but is it making us any money?
It sure is making us not only money but also gives us a lot in social capital. When you say you can’t take on an account and you refer to someone else you are not losing money. You are deferring it to a later date when the client thinking back to your honesty and help and having understood what you do will come back to you. You are deferring it to a later date when the client will introduce you to other clients. You are deferring it to a date when the people you have introduced will do the same for you.
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It’s a good idea if you are a new company (or even if you are more established) to have very clear goals in mind when making the effort (and spending the time and money) to go to an industry event like a conference or exhibition. And I mean a different industry than your own. We were at the World Travel Market this week so that’s what partly prompted this post – as well as Manolis’ fascination at the absence of some companies that we ‘d expect to have seen there.
Planning ahead and having some ‘deliverables’ (what a horrible term) – or rather knowing why you are there – helps against wondering aimlessly for days and not doing any real work. Let me be clear. I don’t mean signing contracts. I mean realising that some things that you will gain even though intangible will have a lasting effect.
Be visible for existing clients
Let’s be clear. Your clients need the reassurance that they are not a one-off for you. They feel better if they know that you are interested in their sector and not in your own little ivory tower. If you specialise in a sector this is especially important. How can they trust that you understand their needs if you don’t learn about their industry? Being in some of their key events shows willingness to engage, learn and be part of that industry.
Be visible for prospective clients
Digital communications is a relatively new field. Especially if your core audience is small and medium sized businesses (like it is for SoMaFusion) you have to recognise their time constraints. In the current difficult climate they probably don’t have the time to seek you out outside their industry. Being there means that you are involved and you can talk about the issues of the day as they are shaped by the event you are going to. You don’t have to book any contracts (nobody does in these things anymore, people need more time and planning). You just have to be there. Trust me, they’ll remember you.
Check out the competition
Who is out there? Who is present? Who makes the investment of time and effort? These are the people you need to learn from, these are the companies that are working with the same mind frame. Knowing who they are and what they are saying provides insight into how your industry engages with the industry in question. Learn. Make friends. You never know when you’ll get a big contract and you’ll need help from companies and people who have the same principles as you.
Check your rhetoric
Are you sure that you explain who you are and what you do properly for the audience? If the only people that ‘get’ what you do are other digital communications people and you only get a blank stare outside your industry then clearly something is wrong. You need to go back and adjust your arguments and examples. Going to an industry event offers you ample opportunity to do that by engaging with people who are outside your own comfort zone.
Learn learn learn
It doesn’t matter if for example the big travel planning systems are too big for your clients (or too small). It doesn’t matter if the trade exhibitors are only slightly connected or completely unconnected with what you currently do. Ask them questions, ask for case studies and literature (opt for digital copies otherwise you’ll need a suitcase to carry things around), engage, discuss, see what their problems are. They are offering services in the same industry, you never know what lessons you can take.
Try to also learn from prospective clients. How do they exhibit, who are they talking to, what are their problems. If you are observant enough you ‘ll know the big issues of the day very soon and you’ll be able to plan and help in the future.
Be inspired
This is what most companies forget. Seek inspiration in everything – displays, people, events, colours. Take pictures and videos, make observations, use them when you plan your next campaign or when you brainstorm. In other words get out of the office, get outside the confines of your own industry and challenge yourself to see things from the perspective of another industry. You never know what great ideas will hit you.
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Being at the World Travel Market these days we were quite surprised at not seeing any of the digital comms companies and social media consultants we know from Greece. Our portfolio is obviously very much geared towards hoteliers and tourism when it comes to the Greek market (we have a different concentration in the British market) and many of our clients were at the exhibition so we did have to be there. Obviously it’s not just a client – thing, we were there for a variety of reasons but I’ll let Sofia explain that in another post.
What left me a bit flabbergasted was not seeing some of the best Greek digital comms companies there or any social media consultants- especially since most of them have been planning to work under the National Strategic Reference Framework (the EU structural funds) which would allow agencies to work closely with development projects – like for example e-travel solutions projects and get funding from the EU.
Let me be clear – and a bit blunt. The money is quite a lot. The level of investment that will be made into these projects will be quite significant and we have been following with interest all through the summer what the various Greek agencies have been offering in terms of e-booking solutions, communications and digital development projects. We saw such a high level of interest and services descriptions that it’s a bit of a shame that they were not at the World Travel Market to explore their options and ideas both with Greek hoteliers and travel people and with other countries that partake in the EU programme and where present at the exhibition.
For SoMaFusion, being there and discussing new developments and projects with the people concerned shows an interest and a desire for engagement and learning that is quite valuable. Our aim has always been to understand the need and provide the relevant solution and we find that these events help our understanding. And not only that. Our presence at an event that is key to any travel professionals calendar – especially at a time when the financial crisis has everyone worried – offers an opportunity to discuss within a potential clients’ own context. So we went to them rather than waiting for them to step out of their own market to come to us.
And boy was it useful! It’s quite astounding to see people from all over the world sharing similar concerns about world travel and the new expectations out there when it comes to travel destinations. It’s quite uplifting to realise that it’s not just our existing clients who look ahead and want to plan for a more engaged comms model but a lot more people, seasoned hoteliers from Greece and abroad are interested in what more they can do and how they can adapt new ways of doing things to their existing models.
It all certainly gave me a sense that we are going in the right direction.
Sofia will be writing soon about our upcoming projects with two travel solutions outlets in Northern Crete – their businesses involving travel, accomodation, activities etc. – as well as details of the discussions we had with some travel professionals from various countries.
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Manolis and I went to the World Travel Market today – met old friends and made some new ones. In my question “so, how did you find it this year” I heard a lot of “like last year“, “it’s going to be a tough year“, “we only come to maintain contacts anyway” and similar equally subdued comments.
There was a general worried stance that you could almost taste in the air – the financial crisis is making people nervous and nervous people tend to go back to their comfort zone – for seasoned travel destinations that sadly means playing the game based on price rather than quality and engagement.
Still you have some people – and it’s usually a people thing rather than on a company or country level – who look ahead beyond the financial crises and want to be ready and engaged. For them it’s not just a retention issue but rather a qualitative turn towards visitors who are engaged and demanding. Those visitors are the ones who will make a destination better through feedback and ideas.
For SoMaFusion I have to say that it was a good experience. We had some good meetings with existing clients from Crete (more on that later) and met some new people that we’d love to work with. I was quite impressed by some discussions we had with a truly visionary hotelier from Crete who is eager to engage with his customers and business contacts beyond the old ‘brochure and business card’ model towards a more interactive type of communication. These sort of discussions make these events truly worthwhile.
Work and business contacts aside it was a good exhibition I thought with a good mix of tour operators and booking/ travel systems with country and city presences as impressive as ever. Having said that it was as big and as chaotic as ever and I would have loved to see more tech tools to make navigating the exhibition easier – but hey, I’ll write a separate blog post on that one.
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Company Lunch !!!
Uploaded by convexstyle on 15 Feb 09, 10.42PM GMT.
I couldn’t agree more with David Meerman Scott’s post today (‘Who the hell are these people?’ on Web Ink now) – highly recommended reading for anyone that deals with a company’s online presence.
David has a relatively simple question:
Who are these young, happy, pretty, multi-cultural people with great teeth and even better hair who hang out with notebook computers in sleek and modern conference rooms on B2B company Web sites all over the world?
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What David is saying is that it’s high time we chose to display photographs of real people on our websites rather than stock photography
I couldn’t agree more. We had that discussion the other day about a company we like and I was insisting that their website is not taking advantage of their greatest assets. Their location and their people. Instead of proudly displaying that they are in a lovely town, contributing to its development and giving back to the community somehow they manage to hide it . At the same time they employ lovely and talented people and I know the accounts they get are also pretty exciting accounts ayet I never see their faces. Why not?
What is it that makes us try to appear to be something different than we are, subscribing to some sort of prevailing ‘one true way’ logic that dictates how the photographs should look like.
I say ditch all that and find what works best for you – not for everybody else. It’s the only way to be happy with the result and to make a difference.
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Written by: Sofia a.k.a. the Wordsmith Comments