As an associate of The Governance Partnership, I am privileged to be a guest blogger from time to time on the TGP company blog, intelligently called AOB, or an An Occasional Blog. A dedicated reader of The Governance Partnership blog will surely have noted the increased production of blog posts in recent months, and I have been lucky to slot a couple of my own posts into that publication schedule.

Guest Posts on the TGP Blog

Rather than re-produce my posts here, I thought it would be simpler to post links from here to there.

Preventing One Hit Wonders »

E-Courtesy is good for you »

The Governance Partnership is a communication consultancy offering advice and implementation in public relations, public affairs and innovation management and implementation, founded by Peter Hill and Ross Davies. I’ve worked with Peter and Ross since 2007 or so, combining our respective skills for a number of clients on a variety of web-focused projects.

As always, it’s a real gas working with Peter Hill and Ross Davies. Such great writers and skilled professionals are not common in today’s workplace.

Over at lbdesign, my colleagues and I worked very hard towards the end of the summer to create a detailed infographic entitled Life of a Blog Post. The stylised illustration, complete with the detailed steps on the progression and value of blogging, is now available on lbdesign’s website. You can enjoy the infographic, tweet about it, like it on Facebook or request your own PDF version of the illustration.

Of course, I welcome comments and feedback on the infographic: Comments via the form below or drop me an email if you prefer.

See the Life of a Blog Post »

A late convert to the wonders that are Apple products, I wanted to pay a small tribute to the man whose influence on my own career flows through my office on a daily basis.

Others will be more eloquent in their eulogies. Others will be more profound in their reflections. My own tribute to Steve Jobs is small and will definitely go unnoticed by most of the world. Yet that is a testament to the ubiquitous presence of Steve Jobs in this world — he spread design, innovation, enthusiasm and more into every corner of the world.

Photo: Shot on and emailed from an iPhone 3Gs. Edited and posted to the internet on a MacBook Pro. Says it all, doesn’t it?

Spotted in a parking lot not far from where I live. Apparently my fan base is growing. It must be that people are starting to see me on the iTunes store now with increasing regularity.

And, yes, I blurred out most of the image to protect the identity and privacy of my fans. That’s just how I roll.

Recently, I obtained my very first piece of art. More specifically, I am now a proud owner of a John Gwinn original. It hangs on the wall in my office. The painting is one of chickens, painted in John’s unique ‘Flashing Exuberance‘ style — a style that dances on the border of realism and abstract.

In considering the painting as it hung on my wall for the first time, I experienced an epiphany. The beauty of art does not rest solely in the beauty of the finished piece. Rather, the creative process by which the artist crafts the art is very much a part of what makes art beautiful. Yet, there is even more than that when it comes to art, at least in my humble opinion.

Working with the artist

Over the past few months, I have had the pleasure of working with John Gwinn on a marketing project. John and I met at Franklin Commons, where many of his paintings grace the walls with stunning effect. John asked for my help in creating an online presence for his work.

This project was my first opportunity to work so closely with a painter of such talent. In the months that passed after our first meeting, we chatted in person, over the phone and via email, developing ideas and designs for a website, business card and promotional postcard. Working with a true creative was such an exhilarating challenge.

Connecting via art

In reflecting on the painting on my wall, the piece seemed all the more amazing and engaging because I personally knew the artist. I knew of his story and of his creative process. Through my work, I had learned what makes John ‘tick’ as an artist. In studying his painting within the confines of my office, I made such a strong connection with the art. It really spoke to me in ways that I had not experienced when viewing the wonderful masterpieces that grace London’s art museums.

As the summer races to a close faster than many of us would like, I am really excited to tell everyone that we’re looking to hire a web designer for our London office. If you’re a great web designer, big on web standards and are interested in working with clients in the UK, US and beyond, then I’d love to hear from you.

Surf over to the job advert on the lbdesign website and read more about it.

While you’re there, you can also check out some photos of our London office that we’ve just posted. Our offices, based in Nice Studios, are a bright, vibrant and happy place — great for delivering creative solutions to clients around the world.

As the summer drifts along at a frighteningly fast pace, I am excited to share the news that, over at lbdesign, we’re holding our second Tweet, Tag & Blog session. If you’re interested in learning more about how social media can be utilised to build an online presence, increase brand awareness and connect with customers, then this seminar is for you!

Here’s what Rachel Collingwood, director of Nice Images, said of the seminar we ran in May 2010:

“Whey hey! Nice Images loved the ‘Tweet, Tag + Blog’ session by lbdesign and we are working hard using all the excellent ideas we were given and bringing some joy back into our business.”

This valuable training session is being held in London, UK, on Thursday, 23 September from 9.30 am to 12.00 pm. Check out the following page for further details and registration information:

http://lbdesign.tv/news/the-next-tweet-tag-blog

If you’re in London this April, I invite you to join the Hope Survivors Foundation at their official commemoration.  This important event will feature talks, testimonies from Holocaust survivors and 7/7 London bombings survivors, poems, films and music.

Date: Saturday, 17 April 2010
Time: Doors open at 13:00 – the event starts at 13:45
Place: Amnesty International UK, The Human Rights Action Centre, 17-23 New Inn Yard, London EC2A 2EA

The event is open to all; however, space is limited so please RSVP directly to the Hope Survivors Foundation.

If you’re looking for more information on the Rwandan genocide, the ongoing plights of its survivors and the work being done to help those survivors, I recommend visiting the Survivors Fund website.

It’s been a busy writing schedule for me of late. In addition to my normal publication schedule over at chickenmonkeydog.com, I’ve been writing a few posts for some of my colleagues’ and clients’ blogs. I’ve been fortunate enough to have been asked to contribute some thoughts on blogging and social media with a couple of different websites.

In my role as an associate of The Governance Partnership, I offered some guidance for blogging for small businesses. That particular post looks at some of the blog software options available to smaller organisations, including a programme called ‘Getting British Businesses Online‘, which I learned of from Enterprise UK.

As part of an exciting new blog launched this month by Cockpit Arts, I wrote a piece entitled Social Media: Thy Name is Community Building. The post offers a few tips to those who ponder what sort of material could be useful in building an effective online presence.

Our seminar is called Tweet, tag and blog: connecting with clients to build your brand, and will cover the key social media websites and how they can be of use to your business, offer some exciting ideas on how to build your company’s online presence through a combination of social media tools and will deliver a practical guide to implementing a social media strategy for your own business.

More information on how to register is on the lbdesign website. There are two seminars on Tuesday, 20 April, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. The seminars are the same, so there is no need to attend both.