While it was wonderful to hear recently that Porter Novelli had won, for the second year running, Holmes Report’s Best Consultancy to work for in EMEA, it feels ever so slightly like a bit of a burden too.

As we celebrated in the office with our obligatory drinks trolley, (complete with new healthy snacks in place of crisps)  I couldn’t help feeling it’s quite a responsibility to be acknowledged as the best place in Europe to work. How do we keep this up and how on earth are we going to try and complete the hat trick next year?

I suppose one of the advantages of being one of the smaller international networks is that it is easier to foster a sense of community across borders, and this is certainly true when we reach out to each other and ask for help. And when we ask individual offices what talent initiatives they run locally, it is astonishing how many similarities there are even though most are conceived and implemented independently.

This month, I also started my annual peer group meetings inviting all staff to tell me the best and worst about working at PN, and what was encouraging was hearing consistent feedback with the shout-outs from Holmes. Phrases like “supportive and encouraging culture” and “honest and transparent”  come up again and again. Mind you so do those PR agency perennials “very busy” and “challenging work”, so still work to do.

(Sally Ward is MD of Porter Novelli UK)

Over the past three years, I’ve been leading the team of volunteer trainers at Porter Novelli – thanks Anna, Emily, Emma, Fiona, Geoff, Hannah, Jemma, Jennifer, Julia, Kimberley, Letticia, Lucy and Rhakee! They’ve worked with over 200 spokespeople from the voluntary sector to help improve their understanding of the media and ability to deliver stronger interviews that get their important stories heard more successfully.

It’s one of the most enjoyable and rewarding projects I work on at the agency and forms a central part of our ‘better’ commitment to use professional skills in positive ways to help organisations that might benefit. I’ve met some great people through the training and their rich stories gave us the original inspiration for the award; so it’s very rewarding to see Charity Voice help share their efforts more widely.

We’ll be looking at interviews by candidates from large and small organisations, including ASH Wales, KeyRing Living Support Networks, Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, British Association of Dermatologists, Environmental Funders Network and Action Aid International. Third sector organisations have a fantastic opportunity to get positive profile for their campaigns by effectively contributing to media stories, so it’s great to see so much talent shortlisted.

Given my first hand experience of working with them, I’m sure the final decision will be a difficult one…although I plan to be more Tom Jones than Simon Cowell in my approach towards judging. We’ll be announcing the winner next week and they’ll receive a profile interview on the Guardian Voluntary Sector Network plus a free training session for six people at their charity as a prize. More news to follow.

Wikipedia is a global phenomenon; the openly-editable encyclopedia is the sixth most popular site in the world. So it’s not surprising that, every now and again, vested interests seek to manipulate its content. Not least in the American presidential race, where, its been reported that Mitt Romney’s Wikipedia page has been edited hundreds of times since the Republican primaries began.

Wikipedia’s community guidelines are all available online and easy to find, and emphasise that entries must be written from a neutral point of view, in line with the second of its five pillars. So as a communications professional it’s always worth bearing in mind the following principles (adapted from Wikipedia’s guidelines), to avoid wasting your time creating/editing changes that are undone, or worse, cause severe embarrassment or legal consequences:

1. All of your edits should be in line with the aim of Wikipedia, which is to produce a neutral, reliably sourced encyclopedia
2. Wikipedia is not a battleground – you should not try to begin or engage in disputes via Wikipedia entries
3. Avoid Conflict of Interest (COI) editing. This involves contributing to Wikipedia in order to promote your own interests or those of other individuals, companies, or groups. Where advancing outside interests is more important to you as an editor, than advancing the aims of Wikipedia,this counts as a conflict of interest
4. This includes avoiding self-promotion: adding advertising links, personal website links, personal or semi-personal photos, or other material that appears to promote the private or commercial interests of the editor, or their associates. Examples of these types of material include:
   • Links that appear to promote products by pointing to obscure or not particularly relevant commercial sites.
   • Links that appear to promote otherwise obscure individuals by pointing to their personal pages.
   • Biographical material that does not significantly add to the clarity or quality of the article.
   • Promotional article production on behalf of clients Editors should not create articles which serve solely to promote their subject. All Wikipedia articles should contain useful information written as if from a neutral point of view. The writing of “puff pieces” and advertisements on Wikipedia is strictly prohibited. If you contribute to Wikipedia on behalf of clients, you owe it to both them and the encyclopedia to make very sure you understand the standards for content here, and do not insert promotional material.
5. Wikipedia is not a soapbox or means of promotion or advertising. All information about companies and products are written in an objective and unbiased style. All article topics must be verifiable with independent, third-party sources, so articles about very small “garage” or local companies are typically unacceptable. See also Wikipedia:Notability (organizations and companies) for guidelines on corporate notability.
6. Those promoting causes or events, or issuing public service announcements, even if noncommercial, should use a forum other than Wikipedia to do so.
7. If you are in a situation where you need or wish to try and adapt a Wikipedia page on behalf of an individual or institution on the grounds of accuracy, explain your case on the Wikipedia talk page that sits behind it (example shown below) – being transparent about how you would like the page to be edited and why, and including reference links.

(Adapted from a post which first appeared on Mariamz blog).

Make Your Sweat Count

Nike+ users in Mexico can really make their sweat count. As part of the global Make It Count campaign Nike Mexico have launched an auction microsite that allows users to bid for Nike products using their kilometres accumulated using the app. This is a great example that merges online with real world experiences while staying true to the brand and the core campaign.

Strip for Likes

In a bid to showcase their Spring/Summer 2012 collection, laid back fashion brand, Stussy target male fans with their “Strip for Likes” campaign on Facebook. The idea was simple, for every new like the brand received the featured model removed a layer of clothing – with each item of clothing being from the Men’s Spring/Summer 2012 collection. The campaign has been reported with mixed opinions many claiming that Stussy have broken Facebook rules by using likes as the mechanism for the campaign. It is unclear whether or not the campaign does contradict Facebook policies as the guidelines prohibit asking for “Likes” specifically around contests and competitions. The main reason for this is it artificially inflates the EdgeRank of the posts involved. This campaign asks for page likes and therefore Stussy could argue that this is no more controversial than using the old landing tabs with the mandatory like feature and although the campaign has now concluded the app is still live on Facebook.

Kraft Mac & Cheese goes Likeapella to celebrate its 75th birthday

Last week Kraft put out this post on its Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Facebook page:

“LIKE” this post and you never know what may happen. Click here for details: http://bit.ly/I6svCM

Over 4,600 fans clicked like, a record for the brand, and within 48 hours Kraft rolled out a perfectly produced video which featured the Yellow Jackets singing a seven minute cappella number with names of all of the fans who liked the post. The video was unveiled on the Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Facebook page with a post stating, “We LOVE it when you “LIKE” our posts. So we’re showing you some love back with a song personalized for you, our fans.”

This was a smart tactic showing fans that the brand is listening and appreciates the support fans give to its social media activities. The content also ties back perfectly to the product without feeling like it’s over-selling. And the song’s pretty catchy too!

From the moment I set foot in the distillery, I was struck by the way in which it brings together the raw materials, peeling paint and growling forklifts of a working operation with tastefully decorated, backlit and wood-floored visitor spaces. Oddly, it doesn’t seem contrived at all – both elements have apparently grown up together organically over time and as a whole it seems to just work.

We were walked through all this by Ian Millar, the Global Brand Ambassador, a man who appeared to know more about whisky than, say, the whole of America’s Eastern seaboard. We sniffed at tanks, sipped at flasks, gawped at deft coopers and drifted between seemingly infinite rows of ancient barrels. Faced with decades of careful tradition, we felt like very small and temporary parts in the great Glenfiddich story.

These feelings were alleviated a great deal by the post-tour tastings. The 12-year-old Glenfiddich is all about pear drops – light, oaky and almost quaffable when opened up with a splash of water. The 15-year-old was on another level entirely – magnificent complexity from sherry casks that impart a sweeter, deeper, marmaladey flavour of honey and raisins. The 18-year-old tastes of Christmas, all sweetish, cinnamony spiciness with a long, warming finish.

The 14-year-old Rich Oak came next – almost the anti-Islay single malt, with its smooth, honeyed butter-toffee tones. And then there was the 21-year-old. Just wow. In all honesty, no drink, from vintage wine to beautifully mixed cocktails to a dark, syrupy old cognac has ever shut me up. But this did. It’s deeply golden, Caribbean rum cask-aged dram, pairing sharp citrus with dark cocoa and mellowed with creaminess and smoke. It’s the kind of taste that, in my head, I associate only with the nectar of the Gods. And frankly, I’d still take the whisky.

After this almost epiphanical moment, it was sadly time to go home, smelling slightly of alcohol – back to London and my Scots-born wife, who took one sniff and muttered something about me turning into her dad. At which point, I grabbed my brand new bottle of 21-year-old and headed off to the garden shed.