Australia

We arrived in Australia on 13/11/12 after our flight from Singapore to Darwin and ten another flight from Darwin to Gove and then to Cairns. We state over in Cairns for 3 nights at the YHA in the city centre. The location was perfect and made wondering around the city really easy. Cairns ivory centre isn't huge, so it didn't overwhelm us which was great, and there was a heap of things to do in and around the city centre, from the ACA gallery to parks and the huge Lagoon, which made up for the distinct lack of beach.
On leaving the airport our driver told us that the following morning there was to be a full eclipse. We met loads of people who had travelled to Cairns just for this, so it was a lucky coincidence for us to just happen upon it! The ill owing morning along with the rest of our dorm we woke at 4am and made our way down to the esplanade. 100s of people had gathered here so we found a spot to sit and waited for the main event. Unfortunately it was really cloudy where we were, so our visibility wasn't the best, although it was still pretty cool to see it get 'dark' at 7am and hearing the birds call change was eerie.
From Cairns we made our way north to Port Douglas. A small costal town, about an hour away from Cairns. The town was beautiful to walk around, passing from the Harbour to a small white church on the beach (st Mary's on the sea) then down to the famous 4 mile beach all in under an hour. There are also a few lookouts around the town, situated on hills which give an amazing view.
One thing that has really struck me here in Australia is how different the way of living is compared to back home in the UK. Come 5pm locals flock to the beach and esplanade to make best use of the sea, free fitness classes and council operated BBQs. Everyone is so laid back, it's really nice to see- I guess it's amazing what a bit of sunshine can do!

Singapore Zoo.

Before we reached Singapore we had written a list of all the attraction we wanted to visited and sights we wanted to see. Unfortunately our ability to over spend (or inability to budget) meant that before we had even arrived, a few of this plans remained little more pipe dreams. The zoo however held its position as our number one must see attraction. We decided to head to the zoo first thing Thursday morning in an attempt to miss the weekend rush. We caught the MRT to Ang Mo Kio and from there hopped on the number 138 bus. We were right to head out mid week as the zoo was quiet and relaxed- made for our leisurely walk around. The zoo itself holds no cages which is something we personally hadn't encountered at UK zoos we have visited. The no cage environment made for perfect photo taking opportunities, you really felt you were getting up close to the animals- in some cases that became a reality with a number of public feeding times available throughout the day. We thoroughly enjoyed our time here- spending well over 5 hours without once back-tracking on ourselves. A great day out and a nice retreat out of the city.

Singapore, & the story so far.

Ok, it's been an absolute age since I even looked at this thing, let alone blogged. Looking at my last post it is surreal to think 1 year on I'm actually here living and loving it!

So 10th September 2012 me and my sister, Katie left walsall in search of new adventures. We have an 8 month round the world ticket, hard earned savings and not a care in the world.

Our trip has already taken us to Thailand and Malaysia, we are currently in Singapore, and we still have: Austrailia, Fiji, New Zealand, Chile Peru and Brazil to come!

We've actually been travelling for
nearly two months now, but I'll be honest I got travel blogger envy, and it finally spurred me into starting a travel blog of my own, and well, here it is.

I have been keeping a written journal whilst I've been away- so all isn't lost, my aim is to start from now but every so often upload an entry from earlier on in our trip. I know I'll lose out in terms of the chronological order of things, but honestly I just want to have everything in one place, whatever the order.

Right well that's the story so far, (kinda) here it's is from now.

We arrived in Singapore yesterday 06/11 after taking a 5 hour coach journey (yeh right, it was more like 7.5, we've come to learn that time here in South East Asia is forever underestimated) from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We arrived early evening and made our way to the Beary Nice Hostel in Chinatown. This is our first time in dorm accommodation. Not sure what we expected but its really nice here, clean!! & very chilled which is exactly what we like!
Today, being our first full day we decided to get our bearings (no pun intended). The public transport system in Malaysia, I'm not gonna lie was amazing- I am aware that such statements don't light me up to be the all out definition of fun, but hang in there. But wow, the MRT system here in Singapore is just as good if not better! Everything is SO clean and actually runs on time, it's incredible! Right transport geek out over, back to what else we did today. First off (obviously) we caught the MRT to Bras Basah station and then made our way to Fort Canning Park, a small green retreat located on a hill within the city. The streets of Singapore a very busy so it was nice to take a break here for an hour or two and learn about the parks history throughout the ages, dating back to 1822. It started raining just as we got the the end of our loop of the park so we decided to seek shelter and head over the road to Raffles hotel and Long Bar for a Singapore sling, it was yummy!
We made our way back to Chinatown for an early dinner. We'd read about Hawker stalls but as yet we are yet to find any- or should I say find any that are as cheap as the ones we have read they were. But there's always tomorrow....

The next big step...

Completly ashamed to admit this is my first post in MONTHS! I have been so busy lately with dissertation work, and my blog unfortunately took this biggest hit! This is something I promise to rectify, and provides the foundations for this post.

Last week saw the completion of my master's degree in Public Relations. It's a date I have been counting down to for some time, for a number of reasons, but mainly so I can move into the next stage of my life- placing the skills I have learnt on the course into practical applications. However I have instead decided to place these plans on hold for the short term- instead I have decided to go travelling for 10 months. This is something I have wanted to do for as long as I can remember; I have searched for many reasons not to go over recent years but now, finally, the time seems 'right'. My plans are being set into albeit slow motion, with a list of destinations and 'must see' sights being compiled. I cannot wait to go out and see the world, and now couldn't be a better time. I see my trip as very much marking the end of one chapter of my life, yet symbolising the beginning of the next, a chapter which I hope will be heavily involved within the industry of Public Relations.

"Each of my days are miracles, I will not waste my day, I will not throw a away a miracle."

And the winner is...

I´ve seen a few people commenting on the Oscars lately, or to give them their full title the 83rd Academy Awards. A number of predictions have appeared through my Twitter feed, and I thought it seemed like a great idea to engage with some general opinion- below I have listed what, I feel in my opinion are some of the biggest categories within the ceremony- As listed on www.oscars.org

I´d really like to hear what my like minded people think about the awards. So I thought I would go through my chosen categories and strike through who I would like to see take the gong home, but also change the colour of the nominee who I think will take home the award.

Don´t Worry if you haven´t seen every film that´s nominated- It would still be interested to see who you think will and should win in relation to media representations!

I would love it if you would do the same, for no other reason than my own curiosity! so just copy and paste the categories and nominations into the comment box and use the same process I have.

Feel free to add some of the categories I have not selected below.

There´s no prize, but it will be interesting to see who comes closest to achieving a ´full house´

Actor in a Leading Role

• Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”
• Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”
• Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”
• Colin Firth in “The King's Speech”
• James Franco in “127 Hours”

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Christian Bale in “The Fighter”
• John Hawkes in “Winter's Bone”
• Jeremy Renner in “The Town”
• Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right”
• Geoffrey Rush in “The King's Speech”

Actress in a Leading Role

• Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right”
• Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole”
• Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter's Bone”
• Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”
• Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Amy Adams in “The Fighter”
• Helena Bonham Carter in “The King's Speech”
• Melissa Leo in “The Fighter”
• Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit”
• Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom”

Animated Feature Film

• “How to Train Your Dragon” Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
• “The Illusionist” Sylvain Chomet
• “Toy Story 3” Lee Unkrich

Art Direction

• “Alice in Wonderland”
  Production Design: Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Karen O'Hara
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1”
  Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
• “Inception”
  Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas; Set Decoration: Larry Dias and Doug Mowat
• “The King's Speech”
  Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Judy Farr
• “True Grit”
  Production Design: Jess Gonchor; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
  

Cinematography

• “Black Swan” Matthew Libatique
• “Inception” Wally Pfister
• “The King's Speech” Danny Cohen
• “The Social Network” Jeff Cronenweth
• “True Grit” Roger Deakins

Costume Design

• “Alice in Wonderland” Colleen Atwood
• “I Am Love” Antonella Cannarozzi
• “The King's Speech” Jenny Beavan
• “The Tempest” Sandy Powell
• “True Grit” Mary Zophres

Directing

• “Black Swan” Darren Aronofsky
• “The Fighter” David O. Russell
• “The King's Speech” Tom Hooper
• “The Social Network” David Fincher
• “True Grit” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Documentary (Feature)

• “Exit through the Gift Shop” Banksy and Jaimie D'Cruz
• “Gasland” Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
• “Inside Job” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
• “Restrepo” Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
• “Waste Land” Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley

Film Editing

• “Black Swan” Andrew Weisblum
• “The Fighter” Pamela Martin
• “The King's Speech” Tariq Anwar
• “127 Hours” Jon Harris
• “The Social Network” Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

Foreign Language Film

• “Biutiful” Mexico
• “Dogtooth” Greece
• “In a Better World” Denmark
• “Incendies” Canada
• “Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)” Algeria

Music (Original Score)

• “How to Train Your Dragon” John Powell
• “Inception” Hans Zimmer
• “The King's Speech” Alexandre Desplat
• “127 Hours” A.R. Rahman
• “The Social Network” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Best Picture

• “Black Swan” Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
• “The Fighter” David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
• “Inception” Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
• “The Kids Are All Right” Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
• “The King's Speech” Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
• “127 Hours” Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
• “The Social Network” Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
• “Toy Story 3” Darla K. Anderson, Producer
• “True Grit” Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
• “Winter's Bone" Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers

Short Film (Animated)

• “Day & Night” Teddy Newton
• “The Gruffalo” Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
• “Let's Pollute” Geefwee Boedoe
• “The Lost Thing” Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
• “Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)” Bastien Dubois

Visual Effects

• “Alice in Wonderland” Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
• “Hereafter” Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojansky and Joe Farrell
• “Inception” Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
• “Iron Man 2” Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• “127 Hours” Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
• “The Social Network” Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
• “Toy Story 3” Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
• “True Grit” Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• “Winter's Bone” Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• “Another Year” Written by Mike Leigh
• “The Fighter” Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson;
  Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
• “Inception” Written by Christopher Nolan
• “The Kids Are All Right” Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
• “The King's Speech” Screenplay by David Seidler 

And now, let´s see yours.....

Week 3 of my Placement in Reykjavik.

OK, as my last blog wasn't incredibly broad in content I wanted to provide an overview into my last week here in Iceland, for my own reflection if nothing else.
I cant help noting i should probably keep a Diary, yet it some how feels a lot less contrived to just write down my thoughts and experiences here, maybe thats a reflection of the times and a change in media consumption; or maybe I´m just over thinking.

As I mention my last week here in terms of my placement was my busiest and most exciting yet. Due to the language barrier there isn´t a great amount for me to carry out during my time in the office. KOM produces 2 weekly newsletters in English, so I have been editing these on a number of occasions. Fortunately I have been kept busy with meetings outside the office, traveling round to meet with a number of in house and agency based PR practitioners which has been really helpful. I have realised that where I thought previously I might like to specialise within a specific area of PR; i had thought about the film and media sectors- However all of the in house practitioner i have spoken to have conveyed a similar story of never seeing themselves within the sector they are in but can now not imagine being anywhere else. I think its an exciting prospect of not knowing where you are going, and the journey getting there just makes up the experience.

Alongside my meeting with Islenska I also had a meeting with Árni Svanur Daníelsson, who is a priest within Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland. his role within the Church- i don't want to go into a great amount of detail here because I think my meeting here with Arni deserves its own blog- however it was extremely insightful, and the juxtaposing ideologies held by the Icelandic church and the UK church could warrant a whole separate debate. the information I was given here was probably the most interesting with regards to social media and its place within the institution of the church. it really was fascinating to find the levels of social media deployed by the church and the gains achieved by these.
my week continued with a trip to a meeting for the National Institute of Icelandic Farmers- concerning the possible food shortage we can expect to face in the upcoming years, this made a change from the usual meetings i have sat in on as it was in English, it also provided (excuse the pun) food for thought with regard to the mention topic.

Friday presented me with something slightly out of my comfort zone- my first Thorrablot celebrations- a yearly festival in Iceland where a number of peculiar delicacies are consumed throughout the month of Þorri in a tribute to past Icelandic culture. I went to a local rotary club in the suburbs of Reykjavik- again another first for me. The feast was held on a small island in Seltjarnarness accessed during low tide. There was a selection of traditional Thorrablot food available from boiled sheeps head,  putrefied shark,  ram´s testicles and wind dried fish, I´ve not had much exposure to these types of food before, as you can imagine being from the Midlands. However I gave them all a go, and they weren´t bad suprisingly- though the Shark is definitely an acquired taste and something I will not be trying again!

This weekend I planned a number of trips for my week before I arrive back in the UK, I also planned a trip to see the Northern Light on Sunday evening, however poor conditions ment this was cancelled- I am really not having much look with them, though I am sure they will be worth the wait.

Inspired by Iceland

Another week, another post.

Its now the end of week 3, (Actually its the start of week four, I have become somewhat slack in getting these posts out in any form of timely fashion- but in my defense I have had a lot to think about.) of my stay here in Reykjavik- I can´t believe how quickly it is passing, two more weeks and I will be home, and back to normality- something I am not looking forward to!

This week has been very mixed, the weather has been awful! There has been rain, hail, sleet, ice, snow and more rain; so in terms of seeing the sights, I am afraid I have spent most evenings at home watching DVDs. Although on reflection I did sample the most amazing chicken noodle soup I have ever tasted from Noodle Station in Reykjavik 101- definitely somewhere I will be returning to and a recommendation for anyone who is planning to visit the city.
 

Yet in terms of my placement- it has definitely been the most exciting, and it is with one particular encounter in mind I shall focus my blog.

 

On Monday I had a meeting with an advertising agency, Islenska; which roughly translates as Icelandic Advertising Agency-´ not the most creative of names, but don´t let that fool you! Here I met with Kristjan, an Account Planner. My knowledge of advertising is fairly limited, but on looks alone the agency seamlessly fell in with all my assumptions of what it would be, minimalist in appearance, yet effortlessly stylish. I hate to judge a book by it´s cover but like I said, my knowledge of this industry is fairly sparse and heavily influenced by media representations- which didn´t seem to be too far from the mark- the staff were young, creative and right on trend. 

 

The culture in Iceland with regards to public relations, varies from that in the UK. The industry is still in its infancy, KOM, where I am undertaking my placement celebrates its 25th anniversary this month, and is regarded as one of Iceland's oldest PR consultancies. Publics and practitioners here seem to agree that many companies are still clouded in their visions as to what PR can actually achieve for them, and while this is slowly changing, still a lot of companies perceive public relations to simply be a matter of advertising.
It was refreshing to hear though, in fact it was one of the first things Kristjan stated about Islenska was that it actively distanced itself from PR. The agency recognised the relationship PR and advertising shared, yet when it came to clients who were seeking PR the agency openly stated this was an arm it could not provide- and pointed them in the right direction.

I discovered that Islenska was the advertising agency behind the 2010 campaign Inspired by Iceland. An advertising campaign which launched in late spring 2010, to challenge the media mis-represntation that Iceland had been essentially closed off by the eruptions of Eyjafjallajokull. 
 

Pitched and live within 4 weeks- I was astounded at how incredibly fast this was, a factor something I had not afforded much consideration to previously; this alone was a fascinating area of ´real-life´ practice for me. 

Contrary to my other meetings with various pr practitioners this campaign encompassed a range of social media platforms in order to ensure their message reached their intended audiences. This involved
• A Facebook page- I´ve come to accept as much as I personally don´t ´like´using these pages they are undeniably incredibly popular over here in Iceland.
• A Twitter Page- That was regularly updated
• A campaign specific website www.inspiredbyiceland.com
• Use of a YouTube channel- which featured a number of celebrity testimonies regarding Iceland
• Creation of a user blog station- visitors to Iceland were invited to share their experiences with fellow travellers- which aided the word of mouth factor and undoubtedly added authority to the campaign message.
• Iceland hour invited people of Iceland to send E-cards, created by Inspired by Iceland the event was held on 3 June 2010 and attracted over 100,000 website visits and over 32000 people participated in the event.
• The campaign also saw the use of live videos from around Iceland which formed banners on a number of site, users were also able to tune into these channels 24hours a day.

The campaign was a huge success generating serious media attention internationally, in fact i was informed that one tweet by Stephen Fry actually generated 1.5 million website hits.

It was refreshing to see so many aspects combine and integrate to form the final piece, and the campaign evaluation -itself conducted by a PR agency showed a decline of just 2% in travel sales for the period of summer 2010.

As I mentioned it is quite rare to seen so many social media platforms being utilised in Iceland though I was told that this was more to do with the nature of the campaign- it was international, and providing a broad range of social media channels ensured that a greater number of publics were reached. Though I hope it also represents a sign of change that will take place with regards to the use of social media, and its potential capabilities here in Iceland.

Inspired By Iceland

www.inspiredbyiceland.com

Iceland is literally bursting with more energy than ever before. That’s why now isn’t a time to stay away, this is a time to get closer. Tell your story on www.InspiredByIceland.is.