So my 5 year old son thinks daddy’s job is boring and he wants me to be a musician. I found this out by reading the comments in his school book from Mrs Mane:

“Well done today Tom, I enjoyed hearing all about Daddy’s musical instruments”.

Intrigued, mainly because I am tone deaf and my musical skills extend to iTunes, I tried to get to the bottom of it. He was a bit sheepish; I think he knew what he was going to say was a big deal.

“The thing is daddy. I think working in an office and writing big words is boring and I want you to be a musician because that’s cool.”

Dagger through the heart. My beloved first born thinks my job is boring and, given that this is the reason why I don’t see him for a lot of the time, that’s a big deal.

So I picked myself off the floor, wiped my eyes, and brooded about it all evening and the next day and all weekend. I’ve shared this with a few colleagues who seem to find it very funny, but don’t provide any real answer, so I thought I’d throw it open to anyone with ideas.

I did have a stock answer which I’ve used for a couple of years of “Daddy goes to the office and writes big words on the computer” (see an earlier post) which seemed to be interesting enough, when the idea of big words for Tom was cool in itself. Now he knows a lot of big words, I guess it’s a bit ‘so what?’

So I started to think about some of his mates and what their dads do: a professor, an engineer, a gym instructor, an architect, a software developer. I could think of a really cool way of explaining all of those. But PR?

I thought explaining PR to my parents was tough, but to a 5 year old? If someone has cracked it, please let me know, you will make a PR Daddy very happy. Please, I’m desperate.

Being scared how the year would turn out. Cake. Learning that Finland is a long way away. Making very tough decisions that kept me awake at night. Losing a minor organ. Going on a little plane with propellers. CenterParcs. Trying to explain to my kids what PR is and failing. Thinking big, winning big pitches. Starting the PR Daddies blog and not really updating it enough. Growing into Twitter. Getting my head around climate change. Being glad I’ve got boys, not girls. Comfort food. Having great ideas. And having shit ones. Wired Magazine. Economic forecasts. Discovering lots of new stuff to put into PR campaigns. Being nicked for speeding to a pitch (which we lost to make it worse). Cake Club.

Breaking new records for pitch preparation (24 hours). Liverpool FC nearly winning the league (and then thinking about relegation). Being worried. Sheer amazement at Roctostock Festival.

Octopus Fantasy Football. Feeling quite good about my golf, then realising I was still rubbish. Collecting a PR Week Award. Embarrassing myself at same PR Week awards. Walking my son to his first day at school. Cheering Ross Fisher on in golf majors. Brainstorming London 2012. Being out of my comfort zone. The Firestation. Being excited. My wife telling me I say ‘basically’ too much. Realising the value of taking advice from people who’ve grown businesses like yours. Cake. Teaching my kids to swim. Politics. Feeling knackered. Reading more books than I’ve read before. Running. Having lots of ‘difficult conversations’. Marvelling at Usain Bolt. Learning lots about other marketing disciplines. Feeling knackered. Loving France. Malcolm Gladwell. Linking in to lots of old contacts and seeing that pay dividends. Hiring great people. Taking some punts and wishing I took more. Celebrating success. Creating new things. Being very excited about the PR industry again. Snow. Thinking how well the year turned out.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Get ready to go again in 2010.

It’s finally happened. Octopus has reached the big one. Our official 8th birthday. When we got to 8 people in 2002, we thought that was cool, but I guess this milestone tops it.

We’re going big on the Halloween thing for our party today, but before that starts I felt I needed to mark this symbolic occassion in some way. So in no particular order, here are 8 things I’ve learnt over the years (compiled on a post-it, this morning):

1. Being involved in a new venture is the most exhilarating and scary thing ever. Everyone should do it, at least once, in their working lives.

2. Doing great work is by far the most important thing, above all else, in agencies.

3. Be nice all of the time. It pays off and you sleep better.

4. Hire people who ask you really tough questions.

5. Never forget the uniting power of a truly great idea.

6. Don’t forget your roots and be try to be something that you’re not.

7. Say NO to opportunities sometimes. It’s hard to do but quite liberating.

8. Remember, it’s only PR. Nobody ever dies.

We’ve done loads in the last 8 years, had lots of ups and a few downs, but have still got more to do. Thanks to all those (you know who you are) who have been part of the last 8 years of fun.

There, I feel a bit better now. Now off to carve my pumpkin.

Couldn’t miss the opportunity to combine the launch the new look PR Daddies Blog with news of Octopus’ first PR Week Award. Here’s the happy picture to prove it!

Now we’re quite a self-effacing bunch here at Octopus and don’t do self-congratulation that easily. But now the hangover is petering out, it’s a rare chance to say THIS IS BLOODY FANTASTIC and reflect.

We’ve been nominated for stuff several times before, won a few recommendations and silvers, but never the big enchilada. So what makes this campaign for Cisco, so special for us?

Well first of all it was an idea that we came up with in our boardroom brainstorm precisely 15 months ago, went into our pitch preso and ended up being a major pillar of our first year corporate plan. Doesn’t often happen as we all know. It was well funded by the internal marketing team who really saw it as a marketing programme and not ‘something for the PR guys’ (and hence it won in the Marketing Communications category).

It used sponsorship to get brand association and affect some real change in the way the client was seen. Most importantly though, it was the enthusiasm, support and trust from the UK & I Cisco team who believed in the strength of the idea and let us try something different. And all this in a recessionary year when taking risks wasn’t the done thing. So many PR briefs ask us to think big and differently, but in reality, most brands are reluctant to stray too far from what they know.

So enough back-slapping for now. Great job team, great job Octopus and, most importantly, great job Cisco UK & I for seeing through the idea with us. So much so that Cisco Customer Kings 2010 has already started! Feeling lucky?

It was going to take a PR Daddies classic to get me back on the blogging wagon after being in ‘pitchland’ for the last month and here it is.  So I have been a bit busy recently - more late nights and early mornings than I can count - and I admit, I’ve missed a few bedtime stories.  Been too busy to even as much as tweet if the truth be known.  But this vignette from the Lonsdale household yesterday just had to be shared busy or not:

Tom (5): Why is daddy sometimes late home from work?

Mommy: You know why Daddy goes to work, it’s because he’s earning pennies for our holiday…

Tom: But why is he sometimes late home though?

Mommy: Well it’s because Daddy has clients to look after.

Tom: What are clients?

Mommy:[Deep breath] Well…they are…erm…people who pay Daddy money to do things for them…

Tom: What things?

Mommy: Well… lots of things…writing lots of big words for them, going to lots of meetings, talking to them on the telephone…

Tom: [Big pause] But why do they make Daddy late and miss bedtime?

Mommy: [Bigger pause] Because they shout and get cross if Daddy doesn’t finish things…and he doesn’t like it when they shout…so he stays late to finish off all his jobs.

Tom: Do they shout at Daddy even if he’s being a good boy?

Mommy: [Pause] Sometimes they do because they can be really grumpy…

Tom: That’s not very kind to Daddy is it?

Mommy:No it isn’t…[Pause].  Do you want to watch Backyardigans on the telly?

So now my son thinks he knows what a ‘client’ is.  But more concerning is that he thinks all clients are evil, grumpy and make Daddy miss his bedtime.  To be fair I think my wife has given clients a bad rep there…so if any clients are reading this, really sorry.  (The views of my wife and children are entirely their own and not representative of mine or any companies related to me.)

Rest assured, I will use all my PR skills to mount an out-of-hours campaign to convince my son that not all clients are grumpy and that they can also make PR Daddies happy as well miss bedtimes.

Posted by Jon

Hosted a dinner with 10 really fascinating heads of PR for major technology companies last night to get a temperature check on where PR’s at.  Great night.  Everyone very chipper.  Amongst the intense debates on recession, budgets, evaluation, career progression and Twitter (what else!), there was one clear theme running through everything as the wine flowed.

Change.

Yes, everyone agreed that the wider world and the PR world is, quite frankly, changing like stink.  A few snippets to share with you from around the table that stuck in my mind…

“I give my agency a budget for the year and if they spend it in a month that’s OK.  As long as that month is awesome and I never see any timesheets.”

ECONOMICS OF PR CHANGING, AGENCIES FINDING IT IMPOSSIBLE TO PUSH BACK.

“My budgets are up 30% because I’ve taken the money from the marketing team.”

CLEVER PR PEOPLE ARE GROWING THEIR BUDGETS, NOT LOSING THEM.

“Our input into executive communications makes PR easy to justify.  My CEO really needs me right now.”

PR’S STANDING IN BUSINESS IS INCREASING BECAUSE EXECS NEED ADVICE IN UNKNOWN TERRITORY.

“The social media channels are changing and PR is the only department that can adapt quickly enough.”

DAMN RIGHT.  WHY DO YOU THINK WE’RE CALLED OCTOPUS?

“Our organisation has realised where the ideas come from, and it isn’t the ad agency.”

EVERYONE IS EVALUATING VALUE OF SUPPLIERS AND PR IS WINNING OUT, NO QUESTION.

“The marketing team are paralysed because they can’t spend money, we are innovating and selling new ideas to the business.”

PR CAN GENERATE IDEAS THAT DON’T COST MONEY, WE ARE A CLEVER RESOURCEFUL BUNCH.

“We’re moving into a new political cycle and things are massively going to change.”

WIDER INFLUENCER RELATIONS IS GOING TO BE KEY AND PR GETS THAT.

“I’ve just seen Suggs in the gents.”

HONESTLY. I GOT STARSTRUCK AT THE URINAL.

Now don’t get me wrong, there was a healthy dose of fear about the years ahead and many of the wise panel didn’t think business would ever be the same again.  But the unanimous response from this representative sample of the UK’s PR tech elite was not “oh no”, but more like, “bring it on”.

As I stumbled out of the club and into a taxi having had too much food and wine, I was left with the feeling that there probably hasn’t been a better time to be in PR, and be good at it.

Posted by Jon

Doing a typical PR Daddies trick next week and loading up the car for a few days in the forest with my little kiddies.  Frankly I can’t wait.  But alongside the happy thoughts of wave pools, mountain bikes and fresh air something sinister crept into my brain. This probably officially makes me sad but, too bad, I’ll say it anyway.  Center Parcs = total technology blackout.

In case you didn’t know Center Parcs are impenetrable for the mobile worker - there ain’t much of a signal in the forest.  I think they block it to stop losers working instead of playing with their kids.  But hold on a minute.  That means no sneaky email checking when the wife is not looking, no breaking news or factoids from Twitter and probably not even any good old fashioned ‘call me now’ emergency texts .  Now don’t get me wrong.  With 43 followers and 7 tweets to my name, I’m hardly Twitterati, but I do enjoy watching the game from the sidelines.

It got me thinking that the last time I went a couple of years ago, I was only using my mobile to speak and text and Twitter was just an egg waiting to hatch.  Now it’s a whole new world.  Can I really cope with 5 days off the grid?  I’ll let you know.

In fact…anyone know who PR’s Center Parcs?  You heard it here first, the UK’s first Twitter Rehab Centre launches in Sherwood Forest.

Posted by Jon

It’s taken me 13 years of agency life, but I have finally seen the light. I have just been part of the perfect pitch process.

It goes something like this. Ask for creds from loads of agencies, a week later book out a hotel room in London and invite 15 of the best looking ones to come and present to you for 15 (yes 15) minutes against a simple brief, let them ask as many questions as they like on the phone beforehand, pick the 2 or 3 companies that you liked the most, then have another session a week later to get to know them all better.  Then make a decision.

“Outrageous,” I hear the PR purists cry.  “15 agencies - what a joke! How can you make a decision based on 15 minutes? It dumbs down our proud PR profession.  I think agencies should refuse to pitch in these circumstances. “  Rubbish.  Here’s why I think it works:

Firstly, I know within 2-3 minutes whether I like a person, would offer them a job or invite them for a beer.  So should a selection panel.  (If you’re a Malcolm Gladwell fan, it’s called ‘thin slicing’).  Secondly, it is massively time efficient for everybody.  We presented 8 slides in total, each well thought out and packed with flavour.  It meant that I didn’t have to cancel seeing their kids for a week to sweat over a monster ppt.  And from the client side, they got to meet a really good cross section of the agency world.  Win, win. Finally, and most importantly, it was tough, but immense fun.  A true test of creativity and getting to the hub of their communications challenges.  Sort of the reason I got into this game in the first place.

A good, creative, honest, hard-working, entrepreneurial agency will throw themselves into it enthusiastically and actually really enjoy standing in front of a panel, Dragons Den style, to show what they can do.  Bring it on, I say.  A crap one on the other hand, will moan about the injustice of it. So there it is.  Clearly because I’ve now blogged about it, we won’t win the 15-1 long shot pitch, but hey, it was great to be part of.  I wish I could say that about all of the pitches I’m involved with.

Posted by Jon.

(This is our first guest post - kindly penned by Tom Berry, PR flack, former  journalist, father of three and collector of 7 inch singles. Thanks Tom, great stuff)

The UK Technology Journalists and PR Facebook group (@UKTJPR for the twits amongst you) asked the snowbound media world a simple question: Do you prefer working at home or in the office. Well, the dimpled chads have been recounted and the results show that 38% of us prefer working at home, 21% don’t and 40% like it sometimes. MORI researchers are sleeping safely in their beds, I’m sure.

What struck me about this poll, however, was the one-in-five people (like myself) who would much rather work in an office environment. The reason for this is blindingly obvious to anyone with children - trying to work with the strains of MarioKart drifting upstairs, or writing a whitepaper in the midst of an argument about lost library books, is the sort of test that should be reserved for cosmonauts and applicants for a double-O number.

Frankly, even on the most stressful of workdays, going to the office is like a holiday - it gives me focus, allows me to socialise with people who don’t need help going to the toilet and allows me to differentiate between professional and personal.

You can imagine that with two days off school (soon to be three) and a faulty train network, the Berry household is approaching something akin to Lord of the Flies. During an enforced wii cold turkey session this afternoon, William (for he is five years old) struck up a very odd conversation with my seven-year old Henry. The topic of discussion was our new daughter Elizabeth. “Do you think Elizabeth will get fat?” ask William. “Maybe,” replies Henry “But she might also die in a road accident or during childbirth.” Much wailing and gnashing of teeth ensued - mostly from Mrs Me.

I only hope that in between building snowmen, watching daytime TV and making sense of the insane ramblings of their own school-starved children, the magnificent employees of Southern Railways can get back to work, clear the lines and make it possible for me to return to sanity.

Elizabeth, put down that WD40…

I love it when it snows, makes it feel like Christmas Eve again. Lots of people not in the office and a slow work day.  Great to watch everyone’s attitude as the day presses on. Being in Windsor, my wife started with Radio Berkshire to get a list of the schools that were shut for the day. Funny thing is our kids are too young to go to school. I was later informed that the grand day out in the snow with the children lasted 10 minutes… hot chocolate and scones were certainly favoured in our household. Get that après ski in early I say.

We love a standstill in the UK and all the major news outlets had, not unsurprisingly, lengthy pieces on road closure, motorway closures, runway closures, even the football transfer deadline  has been moved. Football affected. This is positively apocalyptic. These stories then inevitably turn to the business cost of the snow. It’s a shame everything has a business cost these days.

Lastly, it seems everyone is in two camps on the snow, those that exclaim they can’t believe it is such a big deal “it snows in other places as well you know”. Bah humbug. We’re not in other places. And those that bunk off work to build snowmen. I salute you all. Lots of these people took brilliant photos of the best snow in London for a generation; Mark Pinsent certainly took some brilliant ones.

Posted by Louie