I've always been indecisive, so when it came to choosing work experience before applying to university, I knew that it would be hard to narrow down my interests. It's widely accepted that as inexperienced students we need to put up with the less glamorous tasks until we get the 'real' jobs. Luckily, Rewired PR came to my rescue and from the moment I walked into the office, I was being offered tea & coffee rather than making them.

On my first day, I wasn't dropped into the deep end nor was I left bored or jobless. I immediately enjoyed the atmosphere; not only was it professional but everyone was friendly at the same time and I didn’t feel unwelcome or out of place. Instead of being the seemingly useless tea girl, I have had the opportunity to work on some of the company's larger projects such as Style Birmingham, FleetMilne Residential, NHS Local and Hello Digital; carrying out competitor research, product portfolio analysis and interviews with Birmingham's Independents for the lead up to Style Birmingham Live. I have also put together press lists to send out to magazines, newspapers & blogs to promote different clients that work with the company.

For me, the important part of the four weeks has been the vast amount of things I have learnt that are so valuable for future careers and university; and the knowledge that it will give me later in life. With blogging experience and an interest in English, I'm really glad Rewired PR gave me the opportunity to write a press release for the Retooled website, so now I can work on my writing skills and hopefully improve, with the first hand experience and advice from a PR company itself. My interest in fashion has also meant that working on Style Birmingham has been my 'dream job’ of the four week placement.

It hasn't just been all work and no play either. After discovering Pope Leo XIII’s endorsement with Mariani wine & the various conversations about compare the meerkat advertisements, you can see just how friendly and relaxed the environment is that I have been working in over the last four weeks. Despite the initial stereotypes of what work experience would consist of, I have in fact felt part of a team and not entirely useless. The idea of leaving Rewired PR has become somewhat daunting. The team has given me a real insight into the PR industry and they are both talented and a pleasure to work with. They have proved to me that it is both an interesting and exciting industry to work in and I would consider my time at Rewired PR a priceless experience.

Jennifer Mitchell

Birmingham Metropolitan College

It’s that time of year when my inbox is filling up steadily with CVs and covering letters of varying quality, so I thought I’d chip by giving some advice. Much of this will (hopefully) seem blindingly obvious, but I'm still suprised by some of the simple mistakes that people make before they've even got to interview stage, and I really hope that by avoiding some common pitfalls those looking to get a foot on the ladder might start to get some more positive responses. Remember, first impressions really do count!

- Don’t send out blanket emails. Anything entitled ‘Dear Sir’ tends to go straight in the dustbin.
- Don’t get the name of the person you are emailing and/or their company wrong. Particularly if you then list ‘attention to detail’ as one of your key skills. All the information you need to get your covering letter perfectly tailored is available on company websites and Google.
- Don’t rely on email. Make yourself stand out from the crowd by sending a hard copy CV or a creative portfolio. Post is a rarity these days, so you’re more likely to make an impression.
- Don’t forget to tailor your approach to the company you want to work for. What do you like about their campaigns? Why would you want to work for them over any other company?
- Likewise, don’t forget to draw out your key skills and interests, make them relevant to the agency you are approaching.
- Don’t miss out on great opportunities. Schemes like B-Hive give you the chance to get paid work experience at some great consultancies, and meet plenty more in the process.
- Don’t hide away. PR is a people business, so if you get the chance to meet someone at an industry event or launch you’re far more likely to make an impression.
- Most important of all, don’t give up. Quite often it’s a question of timing, so don’t be afraid to follow up your initial approach and stay in touch.

And if you really want that dream job, take some inspiration from Alec Brownstein and do something different!

Looking back at when my team was successful has been really good. However, all this nostalgia fuels hope for the forthcoming season and for the rest of the World Cup in South Africa.

As the title of a Sunderland Fanzine sums up- ‘It’s the Hope I Can’t Stand’.

To give in to the nostalgia and have a look back at your team actually winning something, visit www.wevee.co.uk.

The people of Birmingham took this cause to their hearts and began supporting it in a number of different ways including taking part in a Workplace Walkabout challenge. We chose a cross section of the people working in Birmingham and challenged them to see if they could meet the daily recommendation of 10,000 steps. Each was issued with a pedometer with the weekly results recorded and posted on the BRMB Walkathon website. It may not surprise you to learn that the overall winner was Lee Poultney, a Primary School PE Teacher from Summerhill Primary in Tipton.

Even Birmingham born international rock star Ozzy Osbourne agreed to lend a hand and donated a pair of signed trainers to our celebrity trainer auction. Other celebrities to take part in the auction included international tennis star Maria Sharapova and chart sensation Ellie Goulding, who’s personally designed and signed trainers raised over £250. I’d just to say a huge thank you to all of our celebrities who donated their signed trainers to the cause, it was so exciting watching the bids coming in and knowing what a difference the money would make.

The atmosphere on the morning of the Walkathon was fantastic and there was a real sense of community spirit. The people of Birmingham turned out in their thousands with some even dressing for the occasion. It was touching to see so many people each with their own reason walking side by side in support of our troops. By the end of the day emotions were running (or should that be walking) high but there was a real sense of achievement.

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity wanted me to pass on their thanks to all those who not only walked but supported such a worthy campaign.

We’re hitting the half-way point of this year’s BASS Festival so I thought it was the perfect time to look at one of the city’s most successful events.

The brainchild of Punch Records, BASS (British Arts and Street Sounds) Festival is now in its fifth consecutive year. Having worked on BASS ‘09, which was listed in The Sunday Times Top 100 Festivals, I was really excited about the start of this year’s festival.

BASS 2010 is all about DNA, looking at what makes you as a person; from identity and history to culture and surroundings. This year’s festival line-up includes a host of music and arts events happening throughout June, across some of the city’s best venues. Through the festival Punch creates opportunities for artists (of all genres and backgrounds) to develop; giving a platform to new commissions and existing projects. Working on the festival has meant I have been able to work with a host of artists, promoters and venues that have a real passion for the arts; a lot of whom I would probably not have worked with otherwise.

This year’s festival has had an amazing response from press already, particularly the controversial propaganda exhibition ‘Fight The Power’, which has featured in the Guardian Guide’s Pics of the Week (29 May) and as a full-page feature on the back of Design Week (27 May). There have also been online galleries on the Independent and Guardian websites.

The festival as a whole has had some great coverage too; being picked as a highlight event in the Guardian Culture’s ‘This Week’s New Events’ section and listed in Flavour Magazine and Creative Boom. Regional press have shown fantastic support too, including Birmingham Mail, Brum Notes and 24 Seven.

BASS Festival is one of many events that are helping to drive Birmingham’s bid for UK City of Culture. As a whole, the city has so many passionate individuals and organisations creating and maintaining an exciting and eclectic cultural programme. Having just worked on the International Dance Festival Birmingham, I again got to work with some of the city’s best organisations and dance companies to promote an event that was raising Birmingham’s profile on a national scale.

I’m really excited about the future of Birmingham and its cultural programme and have all fingers and toes crossed for our City of Culture bid. It makes me feel a little better to know that Ammo Talwar, Director of Punch Records, has been chosen as one of the few people to present the bid to the DCMS later this month… he’ll definitely do us proud! 

Photo credit: Jessica Diamond

I can't quite believe it, but today marks Rewired PR's second birthday! It's been quite a year so far, with Sam Dowling and Tom Braithwaite joining the team, winning the CIPR's Small Team of the Year award, moving to our lovely new office on Frederick Street in the Jewellery Quarter and welcoming some fantastic new clients.

Our third year is set to be just as eventful, with a new starter joining us in August (watch this space!) and some exciting projects lined up for the second half of 2010.

A big thanks to all of those who have supported us so far, our brilliant and valued clients and most of all to the Rewired PR team: Tara, Sam and Tom.

Overall B-Hive winners 2010: Ellie Rance, Sarah Mortimer, Mandy Wong, Alex Badau

It was great to attend the B-Hive awards this week, and see a room crammed full with student talent.

As you'll have gathered from our news pages, B-Hive is all about giving the next generation of creative and marketing students a foot in the door by offering them paid work placements in the region's PR, marketing, digital and design agencies. This is the second year that Rewired has supported the B-Hive initiative, developed by Pitch and backed by Marketing Birmingham. We had such a positive experience last year with our placement student Katie White and B-Hive finalist Charlotte Payne that it was a no brainer to take part in the scheme in 2010.

It's fair to say that all of the students in the PR catagory pitched some fantastic campaigns, and they have already put themselves in good stead by getting in front of six of the region's leading agencies. We're really looking forward to welcoming Sarah Mortimer to the team this summer, and wish all the B-Hive 2010 participants and winners all the very best for a bright future.

A big trend this year has been the increase in brands experimenting with ‘participatory entertainment’ through social media.  Some of the most creative uses have, not suprisingly, been linked to TV and film fiction, where the fanbase has taken over to create parallel stories that happen online after or in between the story that develops on screen. One of my favourite examples of this back on home soil is the Peep Show characters on Twitter.

Back in the US, the hit series Mad Men has been at the centre of a hugely successful fanbased social media campaign. Mars Elkins has blogged the details of a session led by Helen Klein Ross (@BettyDraper) and Michael Bissell (@Roger_Sterling) which outlines how the campaign worked, but in essence what started as a couple of fans taking on Twitter profiles of the central characters developed into a Shorty Award winning campaign which saw thousands of people take part .

Cable channel AMC had commissioned a number of online applications to support the show, including the popular Mad Men Yourself tool, but it was the fans who took hold of the central characters online through a series of live Twitter events and character blogs. Interestingly, AMC initially contacted the fans to ask them to cease, but were quickly talked round to the value and power of harnessing this interest and passion to promote the show.

The big question for me is whether the success of the resulting brand fiction campaign was due to the fact that it was led by fans, or whether it would have been as successful if it had been driven by AMC. For those looking to give it a try, here are the 10 rules for creating effective brand fiction, courtesy of Helen Klein Ross and Michael Bissell:

1. Content is king – take it seriously
- In order to make quality creative happen – you need a dedicated brand fiction manager
- Design a brand fiction canon – a highly detailed account of characters, settings, vernacular rising from central story
- Similar to brand identity manual . You shouldn’t think, ‘just because its social media we’ll make it up’ 
2. Maintain continuity across platforms. It’s not an alternative universe, its one universe
3. Be authentic – content must embody brand values
4. Be relevant to your audience and know your brand fans  - what distinguishes your story to others in their minds?
5. Share. Allow  fans to engage, respond, retweet, build the relationship
6. Don’t trust a robot to do the job of a human. You can’t automate good content, you can’t automate wit. Don’t use a tool.
7. Don’t dilute your brand. Don’t push products or screw with characters. Keep it real.
8. Undertake a campaign assessment that includes:
- Monitoring
- Engagement
- Redirecting/harnassing
- Tracking
- Archiving
9.  Don’t underestimate the time and effort necessary for success. Just because it’s digital doesn’t mean it won’t take time to get it right.
10. Have fun

Brian reiterated a lot of things we know already: the importance of transparency, conversation, how to measure return on investment etc. But the most salient sound bites for me were:
- People don’t fan you because they need another page to follow. They do it because they have a strong reason to do so, and they stay because you give them something of value.
- Brands need to start thinking like media channels. They need to consider programming their content, and having an editorial strategy. Just chatting on a wall or on Twitter is not enough. They need to add value and programme that value so that they give audiences something to come back for.
- Once brands have their content sorted, they need to advertise it, just like a TV channel, programme or film would do. Content marketing is vital to attract new people. Let your audience know that it’s there, and what to expect from it.

Brian’s conversation prism diagram designed by JESS3 is also a great reminder that the world of social media does not revolve around Twitter and Facebook alone.

You can read more of Brian's thoughts on brands becoming media here.

This is my third year at SXSWi – and in that time I’ve seen the biggest changes to the media industry in my career.  I’m here to keep on top of how brands are reacting to that change, and how we can work with our clients to make the most of new opportunities online. It’s also great to be surrounded by 17,000 delegates from across the world, all looking at new ways to be creative on the web. I’m certainly feeling inspired already, and we’ve only just finished day two.

Notes and videos on keynotes and most of the presentations are generally available on the SXSW site during and after the event, or courtesy of the army of live bloggers, so here I’m going to pull my highlights from the best of the sessions I’ve attended, and provide any interesting links to resources or case studies.

Day one for me drove home the importance of solid strategy and planning in client campaigns. In Content Strategy, What’s in it For You, Margot Bloomstein from Appropriate Inc focussed on the time, money and effort that can be saved if a content strategist is brought in at the very early stages of planning a web campaign. It’s pretty obvious stuff, but still so many companies dive in to create a site that looks great without enough focus on how it will be used, how users will engage with it and how they’ll ensure the content keeps growing in line with their brand values. This becomes even more of an issue given the number of online platforms brands are using.

Developing a sound editorial schedule for a  site which is influenced by and shared with all parties including the designer and search marketer, ensures that not only will the content be right for the brand, it will fit with the site’s structure and will be found online. This needs to be echoed across all other platforms, such as social media sites.

I think PRs have an important role to play in content strategy. We’re looking out for the opportunities to tell our clients stories, and should have a solid media plan for generating coverage across the life of a campaign. We’ll also be the ones who will challenge a client if we don’t think a story is strong enough, and work to create something of value. These skills for teasing out newsworthy and relevant content, along with communicating a strong message and targeting diverse audiences put us in a good position to cross over to content strategy on the web. It’s certainly a role that our company is being asked to play an increasing part in, and something that we’re developing to bring more value to client campaigns.

Margot’s link for more info and groups to meet and discuss with other content strategists can be found on www.contentstrategy.com/community  It’s pretty US focused, but I’m going to be searching out some closer to home. You can also download a free chapter of Content Strategy for the Web by Kristina Halvorson here.