Top stories published by In Front Of Your Nose in January of 2007

Journalists are shoddy, innumerate liars says Google’s Director of Research, Peter Norvig

Jan 23, 2007

Pay-per-view PR?

Nick Carr’s post on pay per view journalism has sparked some interesting debate. It set me thinking that maybe this is the way PR could go ie pay per view on press releases.

For example — when you post a press release on Daryl Willcox’s Sourcewire, you can see how many…

Premium rate phone numbers for press enquiries

I shamefully confess my ignorance of the above practice — however, a further comment (below) from Ian Murphy had me reaching to check that someone hadn’t dropped an acid tab in my coffee — have the lunatics finally taken over the PR asylum?

75pc of UK plc senior managers to retire in next 3 years?

According to Management Today:

A considerable majority of the UK’s senior managers are due to retire in the next three years, claims a new leadership report from the Hay Group this week. The report states that up to…

Happy New Year to everyone — a bit of humour to kick off 2007 here.

Jan 2, 2007

Lap dances are not expensible

Many thanks as always to Dennis Howlett for finding these gems.

SILICON VALLEY USERS GUIDE: SVUG #17: Do I need a PR firm? — Valleywag

The short answer to Valleywag’s question appears to be a qualified yes.

Link here.

Peter Judge: IT Anthems revived

Jan 22, 2007

Peter Judge: IT Anthems revived

I could do with a laugh — so thanks to Peter Judge for providing one:

You do have to wonder what possesses people to think that these corporate anthems will be taken remotely seriously by…

What IT journalists think of PR at the moment

Well, one at least — I posted a question about the state of PR on the UK Press e-mail list — this was the response from Ian Murphy:

You asked for it.

Over the last 24 years of doing IT journalism the level of PR competence has
gone up and now down…

Charles Arthur of The Guardian blogs re: latest schoolboy error from a PR exec here.

Jan 2, 2007

How to get in Charles Arthur’s good books — not

Depressing that this kind of thing persists — but it would be interesting to find out from Charles if he is getting more bonehead calls like this than a few years ago.

What Jobs told me on the iPhone

This story in today’s Guardian makes for fascinating reading — a real insider’s view — and the kind of feature that justifies buying a paper in the morning….

15 Rules For Clients

Matt Homann has posted his “15 rules for clients” manifesto here — substitute PR for lawyer, and I think many of the principles remain the same.

On the subject of manifestos, check out Gaping Void — a cornucopia of the things.

Now that’s what I call a Kodak moment!

The perfect antidote to a cold, grey London afternoon — big thumbs up to Kodak for putting a bit of humour into marcomms.

And thanks to the lads and lasses at Rainier PR for putting us on to this one.

Jan 8, 2007

Alexander Bruce Smith — RIP

Its going to be quiet around here for the next week or so.

My father, Alexander Bruce Smith, passed away last night — 6 days short of his 92nd birthday.

The world of hi-tech PR seems strangely inconsequential this morning.

Link: ANALYST EQUITY: Why has mainstream PR stopped growing?

Why has mainstream PR stopped growing?

Duncan Chapple has posted re: UK PR industry performance in 2006. His post worth repeating here:

Jan 22, 2007

Farewell to Scotland’s oldest paper boy

My father’s funeral service took place last Thursday, January 18th, 2007 at Fetteresso Church, Stonehaven and he was buried at Fetteresso Cemetry, Kirkton, Stonehaven.