Technology

1. New iPads for MPs

   Published on Thursday, December 1st, 2011
   On arriving for their first day at Parliament yesterday, MPs were given a goodie bag with pen and notebook, iPad 2 and iPhone or Blackberry. The iPads were preloaded with key information new members could refer to during their induction programme.

   No doubt there will be some of the usual criticisms leveled at our public servants receiving anything more than the basic tools of the trade, but in reality, issuing iPads makes perfect sense and the substantial benefits will be shared by taxpayers in many different ways.

   While Danish and German parliaments have already announced their adoption of iPads, our own New Zealand Parliamentary Services are just as forward thinking and these modern tools of the trade have been sitting in Bowen House for some time ready for their new users.

   We’ve moved a long way from the desktop computer and mobile phone to a range of items that might include a laptop, smart phone and iPad.  Excessive for some, but basic essentials for others.  Schools too are making iPads essential, and while many may balk at the cost in comparison to some prior technology innovations, it isn’t as bad as we might think.

   Particularly when you bear in mind the cost of the ear-thumping stereo systems or the latest DVD player or flat screen TV – more expensive and probably a lot less essential and multi-purpose.  Even so, here’s hoping those prices continue to lower as these almost essential life tools become as commonplace as televisions and telephones.

   It’s all about the Personal Communication Mixology; the personal customisation of information, communication and technology tools and techniques we each adopt both consciously and unconsciously. This of course is influenced by individual access and ability combined with their learning and communication style.  It’s a complex space that communication specialists like Network are constantly exploring and working in on behalf of clients.

   For MPs, where the volume of reports and information around the house could probably keep a convoy of paper trucks busy, the ability to share and access information on a small device is an opportunity we would be mad to miss.

   But we know that the opportunity is far more than this.  It would therefore be fascinating to study the use of those two items provided in the goodie bags for each MP.  Perhaps someone will do this.  Meanwhile I love my iPad, iPhone and Macbook Pro which I liberally interchange depending on circumstances.  But I am also rarely without a pen and paper.

2. Maintaining the art of real communication

   Published on Thursday, June 23rd, 2011
   There have been recent protests in Dunedin and Grey Lynn about the closure of local NZ Post Shops. As locals mobilise with their placards, NZ Post points to the new era that will see electronic kiosks replace or supplement face-to-face services.

   Now, if you’ve ever queued outside the door of a busy Post Shop waiting to execute a simple transaction, kiosks can’t come soon enough. But if you’re of a certain age and used to a weekly trip to check out your Kiwibank account and have enjoyed this social interaction, the world as you know it will seem to be coming to an end.

   The protesters’ placard shout “SAVE OUR POST SHOP”; and NZ Post rejoins, “that’s exactly what we are trying to do”.

   After a slew of closures a couple of decades ago, NZ Post is following the trend to migrate online and electronically. As with all such initiatives, it comes at a cost: an ever-reducing amount of face-to-face contact and social interaction.

   This adjustment is hard for many, and ultimately we may question how ideal it is for humankind. The economic rationale is beyond challenge. But surely the cost of this relentless journey toward the virtual and online, the impersonal channels of communication, is still debatable.

   As communicators we are being challenged to achieve the right balance between the two – personal and impersonal – least the art of human communication is lost. The evidence of demise of real communication is everywhere: we used to write letters, now we email; we used to phone people, now we text.

   It is more pronounced among young people where there are signs that real forms of communication have given way to online. Young people will express their most intimate thoughts online, but not in the spoken word. Sometimes with tragic outcomes.

   How, then, do we resuscitate the personal at the expense of online? Or is it too late?

   Will we be left to sing, with apologies to Joan Baez: Where have all the communications gone? Long time passing…

3. Is stubborn pride and political correctness stunting New Zealand’s Growth?

   Published on Monday, December 6th, 2010
   One of the first rules of communication is to ensure you don’t insult or criticise your audience.  When it comes to things related to Gods Own we are brilliant at making sure this rarely, if ever, happens.

   Remember John Cleese and his comments about how forgettable Palmerston North was?  It made national headlines and most likely put the fear of god into future visitors who might think to offer some constructive insights.

   The second question most visitors are asked by media is invariably: “and what do you think of New Zealand?” This is invariably in anticipation of a glowing response.

   But surely we need some constructive criticism in order to rattle the cages of the decision makers so shortcomings can be addressed and, where possible, we get ahead of the curve in core areas.  For example, our ride on the knowledge wave has slowed markedly, and we seem to be settling for a lot less and are content with simply being ‘a good place to live’, compared with other countries. 

   In reality though, we are now officially behind in some key areas which has been reinforced by leaders in internet, mobile marketing, food, the retail sector and communications, who’ve all shared this view at different forums in the past month. 

   In the food space, at a recent food industry conference, a keynote speaker referenced research that shows our retail offering in food is viewed as lacking in excitement and interest. How can this be possible when we produce some of the best food in the world?  Yet it seems people are bored and treat shopping for food as a chore, unlike our European counterparts who enjoy the rich experience of food shopping.

   Move on to consumer engagement with mobile technology. At a recent Marketing Association event, Derek Handley, co-founder of mobile marketing company The Hyperfactory*, told the audience of senior marketers that we need to go out into the world and see what is going on.  Being laggards in the internet and mobile phone space has serious ramifications for us locally and abroad.  When computers, cell phones and Eftpos came to market we proudly talked about how we were early adopters. Guess what? Our broadband charges, speed and accessibility means we are now way behind.
    
   One major step forward will be the move from “trickle” band to broad band and making it super cheap.  Derek Handley, who stated the next 24 months will see a total internet overhaul globally, went so far as to suggest that the companies offer free broad band for a brief period so that people can experience its potential. This would speed up our adoption of technology, and means that in 24 months time, we have a fighting chance of being in these critical conversations, rather than left out forever.

   I firmly believe that there are two key factors at play here.  First, we don’t like to be criticised and see it as either unfair or malicious. Second we rely on virtual connections to experience the rest of the world – partly understandable given the cost of travel. 
   But travel is an investment people need to make in business if they want to move forward, so they truly experience other markets and can apply those experiences back here.

   Another option could be for Air New Zealand to help more kiwis get out into the world to experience it for themselves, and I don’t mean the Pacific Islands or Australia.  Finally we communicators need to build a culture of more direct and honest communication within companies and organisations. Of course, one can go too far as Paul Henry discovered.

   * The Hyperfactory is a client of NetworkPR

4. Does this year’s hottest ‘toy’ require parental guidelines?

   Published on Thursday, October 21st, 2010
   With the iPhone being hailed as one of the best baby-sitters ever and a firm favourite with many young kids,  is there a need for the developers and marketers of such products to be issuing advice on appropriate use for younger audiences? 

   In the case of online time, child development experts tell us that too much time playing with technology devices prevents growing minds from other valuable life experiences and such time should be limited.   And with more high tech products and devices coming to market, naturally, more time is going to be spent on them.

   Certainly in many other categories there is an implicit moral responsibility to support safe and appropriate use of products.  So what of the case of the iPhone, which many children love every stolen second of.  My own children like nothing more than commandeering my phone, and, as a mum, it was one of the main benefits I extolled to others almost immediately after getting one.

   Not since the invention of the television has there been a device so easy to distract children with.  But, for example, during a car trip perhaps I should be using the journey as an educational opportunity, rather than simply being happy that they are happy.  On the other hand, the learning opportunities provided by a device like the iPhone are also rich.  So parents face yet another challenge and plenty of potential criticism.

   To date, there appears to be little credible research done in this area and one assumes the lead needs to be taken by those who are developing such products.  For now I am more than happy to occasionally allow my iPhone to be commandeered, but rest assured, we will continue to play I Spy and 21 Questions as well.

5. Can Social Media Turn the Tide for the Obama Administration?

   Published on Thursday, June 17th, 2010
   Ariana Huffington, Editor in Chief and Co-Founder of the self-named Huffington Post, wrote an interesting piece last week on how the US government is looking to develop social media channels to enable the public to be more closely involved in the decision-making processes of government. 

   Possibly it’s part of the Obama Adminstration’ s move to address concerns that Pres. Obama is not hearing what the people want. But it is also a sign of their very real understanding of the need to integrate modern communication mechanisms into the traditional communications mix.  
    
   The Obama administration’s appointment of the first ever Chief Information Officer demonstrates its awareness that this space should be developed, managed and protected, just as any other major piece of the nations infrastructure needs to be handled. So perhaps this next move will in fact highlight some of the underlying traps that businesses currently face.

   Presumably with access to the best tech brains in the US to help refine and fashion social media as an effective communication channel, the outcomes should be very interesting.
    
   While the premise of public input into law making via the news channels is  refreshing, almost inevitably there is a high risk of issues being captured by lobby groups who may use such  anonymous forums as a way of promoting their version of what  real Jo Public thinks  – which may not be correct. On the other hand, any such attempts at manipulation may be so obvious as to not be an issue, and the forum will prove to be a more modern means of truly allowing public participation in government. 
    
   Delivery of, and access to information through technology is an area that potentially requires a whole new set of guidelines, regulations and laws. Undoubtedly they will come and offset the wild-west dimension to what some people continue say and do in the new media. Examples abound of rogue sites, blogs and facebook postings. Here’s hoping that an initiative by a really tech savvy government will create some outcomes that will prove beneficial for the rest of the world.

6. Rewriting the crisis management template

   Published on Friday, April 30th, 2010
   Corporations not convinced of the role that social media can play in crisis or issues management communication need only study its role during the recent Iceland volcanic eruption to change their position totally.

   As you read this, the template for managing a crisis is being rewritten.

   In the recent airline crisis, experienced as a result of the Icelandic volcano eruption, twitter proved itself a frontline communication tool, sitting alongside the more traditional first responses such as call centres, hotlines and websites.

   According to Mashable, The Social Media Guide, the use of twitter during the crisis started as a self help tool among stranded travellers.

   Also immediately, airline communicators picked up on what was happening, and started to update flight status and provide service information on twitter through hashtags (devices for tracking specific topics). This initiative alone was credited with taking a significant level of pressure off call centres that were close to being overwhelmed.

   The more innovative airlines extended their initiatives down into their Facebook pages, providing general information and also engaging in one-on-one real-time conversations with customers, including seeking to re-book stranded passengers on alternative flights.

   Meanwhile, back on twitter the public started to lend a hand to stranded travellers – offering rides, places to stay and food.

   If you want a more detailed overview of social media’s role in the crisis please click here.

   The key learning to emerge from this for those involved in crisis management is the need to include in the management plan an important role for social media.

   A significant proportion of the public instinctively look to twitter and Facebook for information, and as communicators we need to reach out to our audiences, rather than require them to come to us.

7. The email world – where waspish comment, voyeurism and freeloading flourishes

   Published on Tuesday, March 30th, 2010
   “Whore” – the email response to a politely declined request for sponsorship is now part of email history. 

   Had I received such an email, I’m inclined to think I would have passed it on to a few colleagues. However, when  I received a copy for the third, or was it the fourth time, last week – under the heading how not to communicate in email – I asked myself why we are so quick to share someone else’s misspeak with everyone else when it is on-line. 
    
   We already know that this is not the way to communicate via email, so we can drop that as a reason for spreading it virally! The author ‘deserved it’ is another reason, but I have at the back of my mind that the ‘sender’ claimed someone else used his email address.

   When we communicate in the on-line space we sometimes forget to exercise common sense, and some fail to show basic good manners. 

   For some reason we treat mail-type communication totally differently.

   It is still regarded as bad form to open or read other people’s mail, and why when we pen ‘dear sir, madam, Jim or Jill’ at the start of a written communication do we tend to be more polite and more thoughtful in how we construct our sentences or what we want to say.

   Is it the instant speed with which email communicates that causes us to be more blunt, rude and forthright than we would be in a letter or on the telephone?

   If a person’s mail is accidentally delivered to our house or place of business we would make sure it got to the right person as soon as we could. Yet a recalled email message, or one sent to us inadvertently, is an invitation to check out what was sent before it is deleted. Why the difference? 

   Another area in the digital world where the norms of society have changed is the wireless ‘freeloader’. On Danny Watson’s Newstalk ZB show recently one chap announced he was entirely comfortable with using his neighbour’s wireless access as he only did it once a month to pay his bills.  Besides, if the neighbour didn’t want him to use it he should have had it password protected!

   I‘m wondering if I need to make sure my Sunday paper is put in a locked mail box as having it sitting there might suggest to people that I am offering it to them to read.

8. Curious questions for a new decade

   Published on Monday, January 25th, 2010
   1. Where did the man on the street go?

   Web 2.0 where? We wondered if the exuberance around the democratising power of the all-access-internet we saw mid-decade hasn’t become a bit deflated in the past year or so. Could the man on the online street have been shouted out by the noisier and better resourced?

   With a host of new web tools and loads of corporates, newsmakers, brands, politicians and NGO’s joining in the discussions, there is real concern over authenticity of content.

   We need the man on the street to speak out to ensure the balance of power remains fair.  We need genuine two-way conversations, or this fantastic medium will become another advertising forum with one-sided conversations.  Certainly the economic downturn has redirected people’s focus, but we are predicting a comeback of the everyday opinionated. And what a comeback it will be!

   2. Will the media make it? 

   Of course they will, but in what form? They have copped it with both barrels and boy it shows.  Barrel one – technological change has seen news content migrate online without a viable commercial model. Second barrel – audiences largely want their news ‘without’ advertising at a time, place and in digital format of their choice. Add in the reduced effectiveness of traditional advertising, which bankrolls most media, and ouch.

   Some outfits will no doubt falter, but by the decades end we are likely to be paying for quality news one way or another, and we won’t mind or probably even notice. Check out the New York Times who are on the brink of making it pay and they need to, because let’s face it, delivering real news real well costs a packet.

   3. Why are we more interested in the fallen mighty than the mighty issues?
    
   Despite the scary state of the world (think world peace, climate change and economic upheavals), celebrity news will always win the day.  The value in seeing the private foibles of the mighty such as our media stars, politicians, business leaders and sports stars played out in public is immense.  We think it might have something to do with the fact that it makes people feel better about their own lives, knowing that even the rich and famous don’t get it right all of the time.

   To err is human and to recover is clearly seriously divine. Unfortunately the message to the impressionable is that professional success allows for serious personal failures – providing we apologise.  All it takes for those in the public eye who have been caught out is to make a heartfelt mea culpa, fall on their sword or better still, check in to rehab, and all is forgiven – eventually.  While it might take our mind off the real issues at hand, it prompts real concerns for the impact it might have on younger generations.  Do some media not have a responsibility to truly hold these people to account in the people’s court?

   4. Is there a journalist in the house?

   The principles of the 4th estate are to hold the powerful accountable, to scrutinise and to provide transparent information on behalf of the citizenship so we can all choose how to vote, work, or shop.  This scrutiny requires experienced, thoughtful people working in an environment free of hefty commercial imperatives.  That’s a big ask given an environment where newsrooms are stretched to their limit, and media owners are screaming for more efficiencies to drive profit they now can no longer raise from advertisers.

   But never fear, journalists are a nuggety lot, and while it will take some time, we predict the next decade will see the rise and rise of the individual journalist.  Once the true value of their content is understood, and we have a workable way to pay for it, the face of news is set to change for the good.  This new breed will be real life crusaders with massive spheres of influence standing clear of news organisations to become brands in their own right, and they will cover the gamut of political viewpoints, single handed.

   5. To Blog or not to Blog?

   Our final question is an easy one really and the answer is an emphatic yes! While we may be a tiny drop in the Blog Ocean of billions, we are determined to shine in our own way.  We hope you keep following us and using your people power to ask the questions and pose new issues.

9. Fair Game – what’s thought in the real world can now be posted online

   Published on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
   Google’s Sidewiki, an application that appears as a browser sidebar where you can read and write entries along the side of a webpage, could become the ultimate platform for those who like to share their views and opinions. Brands and business had better sit up and take notice of this development.

   Sidewiki is a new way of allowing anyone to contribute information, comments, observations and criticisms right there on a webpage. Think about this for a second, with Sidewiki, any web based article can be transformed into a public space of unedited thoughts ranging from super insightful, through helpful and witty, to downright malicious.

   Many of us who are comfortable with the free-for-all of social networking spheres may not see this as a big deal because currently blogs, micro and otherwise, are the open forums in which people discuss all manner of things, including the performance of brands. 

   But Sidewiki will make these conversations mainstream. 

   It will now be impossible for brands to broadcast a message or to communicate in a one-way traffic style and not potentially be called to account.

   This new tool makes two- way communication the only communication option for brands as people now have the ultimate soapbox to express their views, right out there for all to see.

   For corporations, the Sidewiki forum drives home the importance of being able to stand up to scrutiny and being prepared to engage in robust discussion, with the added bonus of being able to defend your position too. Bring it on!

10. Will New Zealander’s need to rethink their stance on GE foods and Nuclear Power so we can keep up with the rest of the world?

    Published on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
    First off, I need to state that I am a complete fence sitter when it comes to GMOs and Nuclear power. The way I see it is that in an ideal world, we would enjoy the potential benefits while we fully manage the risks. But reality is always less simple.

    It has occurred to me of late that in the not too distant future, New Zealanders are going to have to think quite seriously about the potential of GMOs, nuclear power and other technologies that will enable us to meet our carbon emission targets, growing power demands and attempts to stay in the game, let alone keeping ahead of it.

    British scientist Dr Robert Winston has said that we need to be more open to new technologies so we can keep pace globally. He’s not wrong. Last week at the annual Food and Grocery Council conference, two of the keynote speakers highlighted changes that may need to take place if we are to feed the world and ensure human intelligence keeps pace with computers. 

    If GMOs are the only means of preventing billions of people starving to death, it will be pretty hard to keep it in the box. Then on the flip side, movies like Food Inc paint the food industry as giant manipulators of the world in order to reap the profits. Are we equipped to reconcile these positions and at the same time solve these very real problems?

    Honest and transparent communication will become even more critical, but often the truth is too boring. We truly need a media who report, not sensationalise the realities of these positions. With shrinking newsrooms under increasing commercial pressures and the more experienced journalists often being let go, this is sadly less likely to happen. Perhaps the emerging social media sphere will evolve into a forum based on true expertise?

    New technologies always raise new questions. Would a science that enabled a paraplegic to walk be halted because it breached our moral ethics? Currently there is already a scientist in Europe who uses himself as a human guinea pig – or should I say android, to test mind driven robotic implants. 

    The reality of new technologies being able to solve some very serious and imminent problems is upon us. And as clean, green nuclear free New Zealand, how well are we informed to be able to manage these dilemmas?

    As the Hon Maurice Williamson pointed out, had we invented Viagra we would be sitting very pretty economically. But we didn’t! So what’s next? Which companies will have the intestinal fortitude to take on people power for causes that they believe are for the good of the people? This is an interesting dilemma but who is debating it?