Steve
Open Day photos
May 8th was Open Day for the European Institutions. WebCom was there all day, showing people what we do, recruiting Facebook fans and, at one point conducting our first weekend Facebook chat with Belgian vice-president, Isabelle Durant (to whom our thanks). Anyway, there are some great pictures online of the day’s events, by the inevitable [...]
A “big f*#king deal” in Brussels
It’s not often that the really big beasts of US politics pitch up in the European Parliament, but when they do, it’s a big deal. One US President has addressed the Parliament. That was Ronald Reagan in 1985. A far more recent visitor was the current Secretary of State, former First Lady and once heir apparent to the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton, who came to Parliament for a “town-hall” meeting with young Europeans. So there was the usual excitement this week when US Vice-President Joe Biden came to the European Parliament.
Did you know…? Maybe not. The antidote to techie online videos
…and if you watched the video posted in the last “Aside” and feel iconoclastic about it all, watch the hyped-up antidote to hyped-up techie videos right here. No-one gets a free ride on the internet, it seems.
How many MEPs use social media? A tentative update
Some rough ‘n’ ready figures on how many MEPs are using social media. Thanks to our doughty trainees for an arduous online trawl to produce these. Main finding: a qualified majority of MEPs are Facebook users!
The Office or… Transformational Digital Engagement.
A day in London today for a digital communications workshop at the UK Central Office of Information (COI). The event brought together public sector (mainly governmental) communicators from across the EU and a smattering of hipsters from Google, Facebook, Microsoft and the like. Organised with firm-handed devotion to timing, the workshop was intensive, leaving a [...]
Sponsoring the World Cup? Nah, put Messi on YouTube
Online videos are part of everyone’s advertising strategies now, of course, but some, like Pepsi, are going for it big time. Luckily, it’s not all about the big fish. The minnows, and even the public sector, are still getting a look-in. This post offers a short meander on a trail of online advertising.
BBC: new old media organisation
When looking at best web practice, it’s never long before you get round to the extraordinary BBC. For an “old media” organisation, it really seems to have worked out how to live in the brave new world. Spotted this week in the Economist a series of amazing facts. Each week 98% of adult Britons use [...]
Life and art, Europe and the West Wing
One thing this blog can do is let you into those little secrets of the daily life of the European Parliament. So here’s one for you: the place is positively heaving with ardent fans of the US television series the West Wing. Well at least that was my observation a few years ago when I [...]
When Hillary called Jerzy – NYT reveals all
Lots of articles in the press about the European Parliament all the time of course, but this one from the august New York Times caught our eye in the office today. It’s always interesting to see how the Parliament is perceived the other side of the Atlantic, and this suggests that an important change is [...]
MEPs and social media: who knows?
Before the June 2009 European elections, Brussels consultancy Fleishman-Hillard published a study into MEPs’ use of the internet. Really interesting. But a month later, utterly out of date, not least because of about 50% turnover in EP membership after the elections. So does anyone know how many MEPs have blogs, Facebook profiles or use Twitter [...]
A yes, a no, a maybe…
There was a palpable air of stakes being upped in Strasbourg this week, with parliamentarians flexing their muscles and, like rookie supermen early in the film, taking themselves by surprise with their own new powers. Last time I can remember that feeling was another seminal moment: the fall of the Santer Commission in 1999.
Facebook looks lively
Fans of the European Parliament Facebook page have been extremely active lately. It’s not always obvious to us why this happens on this or that subject, but of course we are delighted to see it when it does so. In particular, we have seen a very lively discussion on EU enlargement, which really seems to [...]
Twittering the hearings
Just a short post to draw attention to one of the more interesting aspects of the hearings of commissioners-designate, one which may mark an important change in the way EP political groups communicate. I was fascinated to observe during the seven days of hearings we have already had, and presumably in the one more we [...]
Rotten tomatoes?
Rottentomatoes.com actually haven’t got round to it yet, but we are seeing some reaction to our “six-pack” of videos on the web quite rapidly. So far, thanks to the critics, who seem to like what we did. First off the mark was Julien, as ever (thanks to him for spotting the other posts), then Macarena, [...]
Video six-pack.
It’s a tradition. Now and then we make a video, especially just before Christmas. Sure enough, at the end of last year, we made Writing for (y)EU. Basically, it’s a commercial. It’s about the stuff we do. You may know it; it’s on our Vimeo page and was embedded in a previous post on this [...]
California Dreamin’
If you work in something called the Web Communications unit, chances are you’ll happen upon one or two co-workers who like gadgets. Well, yes…
Presentations: how to
A while back this blog featured a minor rant about why one shouldn’t hand over one’s powerpoint (or keynote) files to the conference organiser. On the grounds that it’s nice to have one’s prejudices confirmed, but maybe more because this is a wonderful masterclass in making slide-based presentations, this Authors@Google video, “Presentation Zen” by Garr [...]
Website: where we are now. Auditioning too?
An interesting showcase of what Parliament currently does online getting underway as I write: the hearings (“auditions” in Franglais) of the commissioners-designate for Barroso’s 2009-2014 Commission. Even with our “old” website, combined with the newer tools we have picked up over last year, there seems to be a reasonable amount we can do. Tibo commented [...]
Help! It’s a blank sheet moment…
It’s a classic fantasy. You can start with a blank sheet, your options open, all choices yet unmade, no idea too crazy, no limits except the limits of your own creativity… I refer, naturally, to designing a website (what else?).
That was the year that was
One year ago. December 2008. I just remember being incredibly stressed out; and, remarkably, that Tibo was even more so. We were up against the deadline for signing the “online” contract with our agency. We maybe didn’t realise it at the time, but in that contract the shape of WebCom’s annus mirabilis could already be discerned.
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