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.

Breeching Subjectivity

Today is the end of my second week here at KOM and a lot of my work this week has centred around one continuous theme- subjectivity.
Being outside of the UK I have made a very conscious effort to keep up to date with topical themes surfacing. I might be completely off the mark but these seem to surround the re-branding of the Starbucks logo and the possible implications of celebrity endorsement on Twitter, there have been other themes of a less influential nature- but I´m afraid they come into the category scandal/ guilty pleasures.
The issue of ´celebrity endorsement´is difficult to address effectively,yet it appears it will be one that ultimately is answered with a simple yes or no answer. The practicalities of the issue though would encourage further debate no doubt centering around freedom of speech and higher governing bodies regulating social media- from policing possible endorsement to deciding ultimately who we ´brand´with celebrity status´- all of which are open to subjectivity on a number of levels.

The theme of subjectivity however has transcended across into my placement. I have spent a lot of this week talking to my colleagues in detail about the work they carry out here at KOM. I have being trying to delve into the real life workings of a PR organisation, and explore its reflections on what I have been taught. So far i have uncovered a number of differences, one I have found to be quite startling however is the issue of evaluation, this area provides hours upon hours of discussion in my lectures, with its importance being paramount with regard to measuring the achievement of stated objectives. What I have found interesting during my time here in Reykjavik, is an apparent relaxed attitude towards evaluation and the possible gains it present to PR campaigns. It seems to be very much an afterthought, and though while AVE has not been mentioned (nor it would appear used) I have been struck by the apparent generalisation afforded to evaluation. The methods used, and this may be a sole reflect on the type of campaigns I have researched so far, are heavily focused quantitative methods, with impact on targeted publics remaining on the back burner.
From what I examined so far, a huge empathises has been placed on:
• Monitoring sales.
• The amount of press afforded to a campaign
• Agency based surveys
• Website hits
• Limited use of social media- namely the creation of ´Like´pages on Facebook

While all these tools are effective in measuring the apparent success of a campaign non of them really examine the impact it holds on publics.
Sales, provides merely a number, and while on the surface it is a useful tool it doesn't examine audience experience.
Press coverage provides a mere number of possible people who have had possible exposure to your message- it fails to explore how many people read and adopted your message.
Surveys seem to be the most favoured evaluation technique i have discovered so far- agencies target a random selection of the population here in Iceland by e-mail. However this again has its downfalls- found in the subjectivity of the answers given (from what I have seen the surveys used provide closed answers, with sample groups selecting the ´most relavant´ box, and while these results are easier to collaborate into results, they are also free from the subjectivity of interpretation by the survey agency.) They fail to engage in conversation with the respondent.
Website hits are proving popular as an evaluation tool and if used correctly (with such tools as Google Analytics- measuring how people came to your site and the average time each surfer spent there) it does provide a perhaps more comprehensive evaluation tool. The issue of dialogue is address to a certain degree in the function of Facebook ´Like´pages- however this relies heavily on your audience using the function correctly and with the respondent then transferring this into dialogue, but yet again this has possible negative connotations, the type of person likely to respond or post on such page is often “active” in there stance towards your campaign and objectives, perhaps a slightly easier person to engage with as their is already a common thread between the responder and respondent.

All of the above centres round subjectivity- an issue which I am beginning to see is not as ´black and white´as presented on the sheets on any industry text book, and is an issue that ever needs addressing by means for it ever to be effectively overcome- a job that although massive in its possible gains to the legitimacy of PR as a profession, will not be addressed by simple methods.

Fireworks are a class of explosive pyrotechnic devices

Loved by Icelanders, apparently. I´ve been in Reykjavik now for just over a week, and have fallen completely in love with this city! even if I haven´t had a single night yet without the deafening explosion of fireworks, yet again celebrating the end of Christmas!
It was fairly daunting at first, navigating around the city, however as time has passed I have come to realise how small this city really is, in comparison to home.
I haven´t done a great deal yet recreationally; as i wanted to try and establish my bearings first, however within my placement I have barely had a moment to stand still. In my first week alone I have met with the PR and Marketing Director of the Reykjavick International Film Festival, sat in on some in-house media training, met with the Communications Director of The Federation of Icelandic Fishing Vessel Owners as well as spending a morning with a personal tour of the National Icelandic Film Museum. All of whom have provided me with more information I ever thought possible, and it is striking to see how differently public relations operates here, it has presented me with a mountain of questions which I hope will now go on to form the basis of my report.
The people I have encountered so far are extremely warm and welcoming, unlike the weather which I am told has taken a dramatic turn for the worse since I arrive, which is just typical. However even with the weather being as cold and windy as it has been- I have never heard wind howl like it does here, it has not taken away from the beauty I have seen, every person I have driven with has been kind enough to take me off road to ´just show you this one more thing´- so far my highlight has to be being driven up a mountain (although they call it a ´hill´here) in a 4x4 in the worst wind I have known however the views once we reached the summit- and yes my heart was in my mouth, were simply SPECTACULAR!
I have a number of trips planned over my next four weeks, and I intend to keep my camera firmly glued to my face, determined to capture it all.


.....by the way still no Northern Lights....yet!

Work Experience in Reykjavik

As part of my masters programme, I am required to spend 4 weeks within a public relations consultancy/ department.

I applied to a number of PR agencies, consultancies and in-house departments and can whole heartedly say, the process was one of the most challenging I have faced.
I applied via e-mail, so to improve my chances of getting a reply, to around 20 UK based companies and to one international company KOM. I received 2 replies one from KOM offering me a placement opportunity, and one other, informing me that they were not in the position to take on students at this time of the year.

2 replies?! Now forgive me if I'm wrong but does the whole fundamentals of public relations pin onto communication?! I understand that during this current economic climate (which seems to be the scape-goat for everything and it's brother of late) companies are not in the position to hire, but how exactly does this transcend into the voluntary sector? And while budgets are being cut left, right and centre is it honestly too much to ask for someone to click 'Reply'- its not even costing the price of a stamp. 

Enough of a rant for now- though the whole experience has made me seriously reconsider my approach the the jobs market once I graduate.

I accepted my placement within Iceland's capital Reykjavik, and set about sorting my accommodation and flights. The whole experience was a very relaxed and painless one, and I was made to feel at ease throughout.

So the Christmas period passed and I arrived on Saturday January 1 2011, the city is truly beautiful and I am truly lucky to have been given such a fantastic opportunity within such picturesque surroundings. the people I have met so far (although few) have shown generosity like I have never known, an already I feel settled.

This is just the beginning of my time here is Reykjavik, and I plan to document as much as possible from here on in, looking at both my work experiences within an international PR setting and my personal time discovering for myself this beautiful city.