‘ello, ‘ello, ‘ello PCs now plodcasting

Whatever would Dixon of Dock Green say about all this – coppers on Facebook, posting up videos of their community message on youtube and even plodcasting.
Talking at today’s social media seminar in Manchester, the West Midlands Police’s Mark Payne told delegates how the force is with a multitude of new platforms.
Illustrating his presentation with some of the youtube clips which also make up PCTV on the official website, the police officer said they had found social media a good way to connect with members of the public direct – without any interference from journalists.
It was a theme which re-occurred throughout today’s Don’t Panic Guide to Social Media.
Organisations ranging from public sector to global brands are looking at ways to engage with their consumers/readers/users direct by using social media platforms to communicate.
The assembled 100 plus delegates were mostly from public relations firms around Manchester and elsewhere in the country.
The presentations at the Bridgewater Hall covered case studies from a variety of different angles from community publishing at the Guardian to selling condoms.
There’s a full stream of the day’s conference from me on Twitter @sarah_hartley and from those attending using the hashtag #dontpanic.
Here’s what I took from the speeches in a nutshell;
1. Tom Murphy of Microsoft Ireland.
Social media is a great way of measuring impact. There’s so many metrics and firms are emerging which can offer intelligence mapping brands.
2. Marshall Manson, Edelman.
Technology means we can form relationships in different ways. It’s important to be an authentic voice. People more likely to trust people – not institutions. Behave online as you would at a party.
3. Simon Wakeman, Medway Council.
Listen, acknowledge , create and share. He was talking in a local authority context but that sounds like good advice for anyone engaging with the public. He also urged people to tackle internal IT issues and get them to open up.
4. Meg Pickard, Guardian.
Curate other people’s content. Make it very clear what you expect of users and once they’re up and running they will understand without you policing. Example of this was their “message to Obama” Flcikr group activity.
5. Graham Goodkind, Frank PR
Spoke about PR professional now needing to produce “3D” press releases. Video clips have proved to be popular and therefore successful for clients such as Race for Life where they had naked but body painted runners including Nell McAndrew.
6. Mark Rogers, Market Sentinel
Showed software available which helps people identify online discussions and debates which can be useful to brands. Also said that its possible to accurately tell a lot about a person just from their friends and networks.
7. Stephen Davies, 3W PR
Need to produce social media releases now. Has designed a template and includes social bookmarking, links, video clips and even a comments box. Unfortuately the comment haven’t yet caught on – people don’t comment on releases, even if they can!
8. Mark Payne – as above.
9. Stuart Bruce, Wolfstar
Keep doing what you’re doing and with new stuff – suck it and see. Sounds like good advice to me!