The Original Sims

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On Wednesday I’m off to speak to the Invest Northern Ireland International Team about social networks. I’m hoping INI and the people who work there will give serious consideration to developing a social media startegy for the business and for the indivuals who work there.

If you can use BBC iPlayer, go there now and watch or download ATL at the Hall - let me make it easier for you - use this link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00jcx8x/ATLLive_at_The_Hall/. When The Bottom Line started, it wasn’t tough to find talented bands to record for sessions, but it was difficult to get the budget to record bands.  When I eventually moved on to other projects, Mike Edgar took over and steered The Bottom Line to become Across The Line and the whole ATL brand.

Now talent like Paul McClean and Rigsy pushing the idea of a platform for young bands has gone further than Mike or I could ever have imagined.  ATL at the Ulster Hall is everything we could have wanted with an access all areas back stage pass, a white label vinyll and a good shot of whiskey bolted on.

Congratulations guys - you did it and I was happy to be in the audience.

Good morning from The Origional Sims and a happy St Patrick’s Day to one and all. (Creative way to say "Test, Test, 1, 2, 3)

I’m off, then - to another blog-home.  After a couple of years here at Blogsome I’m moving into two new detached blog villas.  First stop will be davysims.com which I have moved into now.  But soon to a newly and significantly renovated davysims.co.uk which I’m told will be very modern and state of the art. 

 

So update your book marks (who am I kidding?).

Thanks Blogsome.  Not sure why you provided this free, but thanks anyway.

Thanks to whoever it was who nominated me for the Digital Circle Steering Group.  My and the other names now go forward to election.  But nomination in itself carries responsibilities and among them the most important is the CV.  That balance of fact and modest ambition while trying not to be too po-faced and having to write in the 3rd person which is always weird.  And trying not to name drop left right and centre, too. The CV will appear on the Digital Circle Website soon.  So I thought I should post it here, too.  One thing I can’t say in the CV - "Available For Hire from March 2009" - call me …

 

In March 2009, Davy Sims will mark 30 years working fulltime in Media. 
 
Starting as a presenter in Downtown Radio where he championed new and experimental local music, he moved to BBC in 1986 where he launched The Bottom Line – later renamed Across the Line. 
 
Just over half his 22 years in BBC was as a Radio Producer in Radio Ulster, Radio 1 and Radio 4. He produced the first ever BBC radio programmes on computers and the internet "Cyberphobia" and was contributor on Radio Ulster and Radio 2 on "The Web".
 
In 1999 he became the first Online Producer in BBC Northern Ireland where he launched a range of sites within the BBC NI portfolio.  Within 18 months Davy became Editor New Media where he further developed the department and portfolio to include Web, Interactive TV, Mobile, Communities (real and virtual) and activities around the digital divide (BBC Bus).  His responsibilities expanded beyond Northern Ireland into helping lead the change BBC’s Web 2 Strategy, and in particular the  development of Message Boards platforms and management, Blogs and Social Navigation and Networking across BBC.
 
Leaving the BBC in August 2008 he entered the wonderful world of the freelance producer and media consultant.  Davy’s clients range across broadcasting, publishing, charities/voluntary sector, public sector, marketing and communications. He is developing several sites and blogs. One site is aimed at selling Northern Ireland abroad and one blog is www.gaelgames.com a Podcast about Gaelic Games.
 
Davy has been a member of the Digital Circle Steering Group since just after its inception. He produced the Digital Circle podcasts.
 
His own personal and professional objectives include helping and supporting new talent and he as a long track record in the area including giving early opportunities to journalistic, presentation and music talent while in Radio and spotting and supporting a number of small digital business and individuals in the digital industries in Northern Ireland.
 
Where finance has been available he has always been keen on finding new ways of working and delivering creative ideas and production. 
 
His personal and professional network extends into the UK, Ireland and Europe, but is now beginning to develop links in North America.
 
Davy stills sees himself as a Content Producer; he can’t design a straight line and an only read code a little bit - but can’t write it.  His focus is on The Content and most importantly The Audience.   His biggest audience was 19 million listeners for the first Radio 1 Green Week; his smallest is the few people who occasionally visit davysims.co.uk (which at time of writing has an Alexa rank of 9,027,497 – down almost 3,000,000 from last week. So not very popular, then).
 
Davy has a strong belief that the digital industry in Northern Ireland can achieve remarkable results providing that the industry is results focused and works as one big organisation when needed and as small innovative organisations and businesses when appropriate.

After several years at Blogsome, I’m planning to move out to davysims.com

Spent this morning at the Eventure NEW YEAR MEDIA FORUM (Meet the Media and Plan Your Tactics for 2009)

Leading media (almost exclusively traditional media - Newspapers and Television) were on the panel and in the audience for sessions with people from PR businesses, Press Offices and PR Departments in local goverment departments.

The opening session was interesting to listen to.  Remember these are all TV and Print people.  What was being said marked two changes - first the one that affects all media these days - finance, budget and audien ces.  But there is a particularly Northern Ireland aspect to this; the changing nature of news in Northern Ireland and that is just as signicicant.

Somethings we already know: Life is getting tighter in all media businesses in particular Newspapers.  One newspaper’s business editor said that Business news once tucked away is now Front Page – however, that’s making filling the Business Pages harder.

News sales are being driven by Advertising Sections.  Top three weekly sellers by day: Jobs, then Property, then Cars.  Interesting to hear a News Man admitting something we already are aware of as consumers.  His message?  Newspapers must think about moving from News to Informing and Educating.  That’s a realistic if bold statement.

Younger people are switched off (one news man said “switched off by News Papers” I would argue they are switched off by stories) and find the news they want online.

Journalists will have to work harder – News no longer Orange and Green and readers no longer interested in O/G politics in local councils.  The news is no longer led by the Police overnight report. Journalists will have to work harder to investigate and tell the story – not just trot out the facts and get a couple of quotes from either side of the political divide.

There is a new journalistic job (new for NI traditional media, anyway) questioning and explaining policy, spending, effect on public and people. 

Younger journalists will have to learn our history – some simply don’t know what happened here over the last 40 years.

More young people know about US elections (and more interested) than Stormont.

Some tips for PRs

• Don’t tell me about the policy and the launch then trot out the Chief Executive, bring me the person who it will affect and bring me the person who will “do it””
• Remove these two words from your press releases – “delight” and “major”
• If you want newspaper space, bring me the Story not the puff piece.

My messages: 
      Core message

• If you only use the web for sending out a message you are missin two thirds of the resource; the information coming back and the conversation,
• Use the web and web tools to create your own channels,
• Use the applications (Facebook, Bebo, Twitter, blogging etc) for yourself and learn how they work,
• Observe how other people use them,
• Then use them to develop the conversation not sell a product.

Additional messages

 

• Digital media should be at the heart of a business and communications strategy
• You are embarking on a relationship not a sales pitch.
• This is what young consumers are doing now – in 15 years these are the people who will be ruling the world, business, politics and even PR.
• If you don’t have the budget, then get people who believe in what you are doing to produce web content
• Established management fear the loss of control – experiment outside work and bring evidence of how new media will work.

Yesterday my old (or should that be ancient?) friend Padraig Coyle and I quietly launched the gaelgames.com podcast. It struck me that in such a fan driven range of sports there were quite a few blogs, but no podcasts.  So I suggested to Padraig (like me started in Downtown Radio a long time ago) who recently left BBC NI Sport that we should play around with a Gaelic Games podcast.

It is a quiet almost restrained start; but I hope before too long it becomes irreverent, edgy and driven by the passion that supporters of gaelic football and hurling have for their sports.  So the first is the "Test Transmission".  If sport is your thing, please check it out and let us know what’s on your mind.

Well, I am honoured - I know that can read as sarcasism - well it’s not.  Once upon a time in BBC Online as it was in those days I met young Martin Belam who was just starting to optimise several web sites including Across The Line which I was producing at the time (the web site, not the radio show.  I had established The Bottom Line which became ATL in the mid ’80s).

Martin and I later did some work together. He’s a very smart guy who I learned a lot from.

So, this humble blog appears in his line up of the year.  Chuffed as well as honoured, then.

Invited to the EGSA (Educational Guidance Service for Adults) bi-annual staff meeting today I was asked to give a talk on the importance of Media Literacy.  This is a term that has not been in common usage for very long and has become popular with the rise of Web/Internet and the expansion of professional, amateur, citizen media production.

I think it’s important for two main reasons; first we need to know the agendas of those professional organisations that bring us News and Information every day, and we need to know how we can use the media (especially Web) to distribute our own information and news.

One of the points that was raised by someone of my generation was that all the words and terminology is difficult to follow sometimes.  Words like Blog, Wiki, Podcast are new and everything moves so fast, it’s hard to keep up.  I agree, but you need to take hold and learn about these things.

There was some discussion about Digital Natives (young people who have grown up with digital technology) and Digital Immigrants (older people who need to learn about it now).  But I argue that there needs to be a third in that terminology; something like “Digital Conquistadors” people who invade the language and ideas behind digital technology and use it for their own needs.

We older users of digital media need to be even more aggressive and not just as consumers but as utilisers and for others who cannot do it for themselves, as enablers.