Tweet dreams of new custom

Jul 2 2009 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal

POKES, tweets and status updates are no longer reserved for young socialites with hundreds of friends and time to kill.

Social networking sites, and their many peculiarities, are now firmly established in the business world as marketing bosses look for ways to make the likes of Facebook, Twitter and MySpace work for them.

Next week some of the country’s leading authorities on the social networking phenomenon will head to the region to explain just how this can be achieved.

The Chartered Institute of Public Relations’ Social Media Conference will bring together expert bloggers, tweeters, and er … Facebookers at a major conference in Newcastle to examine online PR and the tools that are leading the revolution.

Mark Payne, head of press and public relations at West Midlands Police, will give delegates an insight into one of the UK’s busiest police PR operations.

He will talk about the aptly-named “plodcast”, which promotes the work of the force and employment opportunities within it.

Meanwhile the conference will also bring marketing guru Robin Wilson – who has worked on campaigns for Apple, Facebook, MTV, Motorola and Yahoo – to the region.

He will examine the importance of monitoring online coverage with an emphasis on free software tools for the job and will look at how social media can influence your business.

Perhaps the biggest coup for the event organisers is Robin Hamman, the former head of blogging for the BBC, who now runs European social media empire Headshift.

He was also previously an executive producer at Granada TV and last year was described by media organisation Press Gazette as “one of the most influential journo blogs”.

PAGE TWO: Top tips from a social networking expert