Look no further!

TIN IT OR BIN IT is your weekly social media need-to-know.

Hot off the press we deliver the week’s most ground breaking social media news,
oh-no-you-didn’t stories, tips you can’t afford to miss or simply our opinion on trends in the digital landscape.

Lastly, we’ll tell you whether it’s tin material or bin material!

View them all here on our Facebook page.

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Tin It Or Bin It – 23 September 2011 – Give Em This…

Sometimes finding the perfect gift for your nearest and dearest is, if we are being honest, a bit of a struggle. If you are stuck for ideas, then GiveEmThis.com might just be what you are looking for.

This free web app, by Imply Labs, is a personalised gift engine that algorithmically analyses your friend’s social media updates to recommend relevant gift ideas that your Facebook friends actually want.

The system connects to your social media and analyses your friend’s interests based on their likes, dislikes, interests and other data stored in their profile. GiveEmThis.com then recommends original gift ideas relevant to your friend’s interests and activity.

GiveEmThis.com doesn’t select one perfect gift (that’s up to you) but looks at countless options to show you the things they will love the most.

The app works by calculating your Facebook friend’s online data, behaviour and patterns. Events, status updates, shared links and “Likes” are all included in the algorithmic calculations.

It doesn’t just evaluate Facebook data. Twitter is also analysed, although the downside it that it isn’t as detailed.

The programme is still in its early stages, with only Amazon being used to generate gift ideas. However there are plans to expand, with companies potentially being able to add their products to the system, and Google+ and LinkedIn integration.

Now, don’t get us wrong, we really like the practical application of this gift generator…so we should TIN IT, but we are going to BIN IT purely because we don’t like Facebook and Twitter knowing so much about us. And Christmas just wouldn’t be the same without those weird and wonderful random presents we get but don’t want!

This gift generator is a BIN IT.

Look no further!

TIN IT OR BIN IT is your weekly social media need-to-know.

Hot off the press we deliver the week’s most ground breaking social media news,
oh-no-you-didn’t stories, tips you can’t afford to miss or simply our opinion on trends in the digital landscape.

Lastly, we’ll tell you whether it’s tin material or bin material!

View them all here on our Facebook page.

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Tin It Or Bin It – 26 August 2011 – Maximising your impact on Twitter

Twitter is great and we sure love to tweet, but lets be honest, it’s sometimes pretty difficult to be consistent with your tweets. It seems to be that you either post lots at once or don’t tweet enough. This is where Buffer comes in.

The app, co-founded by Leonhard Widrich and Joel Gascoigne, builds a ‘tweet queue’ and spreads your updates out over time, meaning that you never have to flood your followers again with tweets. You simply add your tweets to your ‘Buffer’ and they spread them out over the course of the day. Simple.

Now, when you’re browsing the net and you come across lots of great content, you don’t have to post it all at once – this handy little tool will spread it out so you don’t tweet eight things in a row and annoy your followers.

Conveniently Buffer also has an analytics feature for every tweet you send so you can see exactly how many people your tweet has reached and how many followers have re-tweeted.

Another advantage is that Buffer has extensions for every major browser so you don’t even have to visit the website.

We think scheduling tweets is definitely the way forward, however we would not recommend scheduling all of them. Finding the right balance between ‘Buffering’ and live tweeting seems to be the best and most efficient way to use Twitter.

Buffer is a TIN IT.

How NOT to treat an intern.


Hot Tin Roof’s star intern, Hilary Gray, explains why she has found the experience valuable…

I have a confession to make. I am a news junkie.

I have always been fascinated with how the media works and how a story becomes a story. In PR, I found a career where I could put this obsession and my love of language to good use. However, although I was sure it was what I wanted to do, I had no first hand knowledge of how the industry works and what was involved in working in PR. Winning an internship at Hot Tin Roof has allowed me to learn on the job.

Graduating into the biggest recession since the thirties was not part of my career plan. It has meant that internships – a traditional route into PR – have become longer and more common and it is more difficult than ever to find a permanent position.

Hot Tin Roof allowed me to dive straight in at the deep end and I was given real responsibility within minutes of walking in the door. On my first day, I started working on a press release and after selling it in to The Drum and PR Week it appeared in print and online.

Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to practice writing press releases and receive feedback on my writing. I’ve also been able to speak to journalists and, although it was daunting at first, it has really buoyed my confidence.

Since graduation, I’ve immersed myself in the world of digital PR and the skills I’ve picked up have been put to good use at Hot Tin Roof. I helped launch the Twitter profile for the Three Harbours Seafood Festival (@3harbourseafood) and I’ve found online opportunities for clients to provide comment and publicise their brands. I’ve been able to share my knowledge with my new colleagues so we’re learning from each other.

I believe that digital PR is going to be key to the future of the industry and having embraced Twitter wholeheartedly, I am pleased to be one of the co-organisers of this year’s EdTwestival. As the official PR person for the event, I’ll be responsible for media requests as well as finding sponsors and raffle prizes.

I’ve started networking within the Scottish media and have built contacts at several PR firms. I’ve attended the Young Communicator events, run by the CIPR (and sadly discontinued) which enabled me to make contact with others at a similar level from agencies and in-house PR. Tonight I’ll be getting my networking head on again as I’ll be attending the inaugural Twitchicks dinner organised by Victoria Raimes of the Edinburgh Evening News.

Of course, long-term internships aren’t sustainable for anyone and at some point internships need to turn into a permanent job. I recommend trying to get a part-time internship that you can mix with paid work or even a short, weeklong placement. My internship at Hot Tin Roof has been very flexible and I’m pleased to say that it has improved my PR skills. It has allowed me to get my first press hits and helped me stand out from the crowd.

hilaryjanegray@hotmail.com

The Fringe may be over but there’s no time to relax as we’re getting busy with our work for next week’s EdTwestival Local.

Taking place in cities across the world, global Twestival events bring together Twitter followers to raise money for charity while having fun.

Having worked with organisers of the inaugural EdTwestival in February 2009, we’ll be running the PR campaign and raising awareness of the second event in the press and online.

Twestival Local, the second Twitter festival, is set for Thursday 10 September and hundreds of events, held around the world, will fundraise for charities in their area. EdTwestival will be held at Electric Circus on Market Street in support of local children’s cancer charity, CLIC Sargent, following a vote by Edinburgh Twitter users.

Entertainment on the night will include sets from The Banana Sessions, Cornelius Pierce, Chutes and Calamateur.

Hot Tin Roof’s Chris Welton will also be appearing on Leith FM on Tuesday 8th September to promote the event so tune in to hear more.

To buy tickets for the event visit http://www.amiando.com/edtwestlocal.html.

Well, it’s all over now. After some furious PR activity, including notable success in print, radio and Twitter, Show Scotland 2009 exploded into life over the bank holiday weekend.

With over 180 events across the country, there was something for everyone and the reception to the exciting Museums and Galleries big events weekend has been hugely positive.

Reflecting this uplifting campaign has been the official office symbol of Show Scotland 2009, the butterfly balloon.

You may have seen this chirpy inflated item in the official Show Scotland 2009 photocall, as two cute child actors chased it around up Blackford Hill.

Despite the breeze, the extravagant prop returned to the office where it has been left to its own devices.

Unfortunately after a month of strong floating, our colourful friend is suffering and is on its last legs as the image below shows.

Could be bird flu, could be swine flu, either way it’s been a cracking member of the team throughout April!

If you managed to get along to a Show Scotland event we’re keen to hear from you. There are £100 vouchers up for grabs if you fill in the following short survey: http://tinyurl.com/ddfwwu

Here comes the pitch!

Offering a story to a carefully selected journalist before the rest and making the promise you will only give it to them, has always been an important relationship developing experience for PRs and their contacts.

But with the internet and online PR building up a full head of steam, questions are being asked about the validity of an ‘exclusive’.

Charles Arthur, Technology Editor over at the Guardian is no doubt a massively popular target for a stream of press releases and recently spoke about the need for PRs to learn to pitch in the digital age.  He made it clear that he is now only accepting stories pitched via Twitter. (Now is that Twitter pitching or Twitching…?!)

Anyway, in an interview about Twitter pitching by Craig McGill, this issue of exclusivity was raised. If pitches become so public, like they would on Twitter, a complete reinvention of the PR to journalist conversation, the PR cannot promise an exclusive. In response Arthur said: “I’d understand it was non-exclusive. That’s OK – exclusives last about three minutes online.”

While these thoughts might make Arthur the most forward thinking journalist out there (and we tip our collective hats to him for it), most journalists and PRs wouldn’t share this view.

There is still a huge demand from journalists offline and online for first dibs on a story, plus an indeterminate amount of time withholding the release from any other targets.

But perhaps this is because there has never really been a universal ‘exclusive’ code of conduct. It is a bargaining tool from which the PRs can ‘sure up’ a journalist who is maybe only half interested in the story, while for the journalist it is a chance to ‘one up’ its rivals.

Often we’ve chatted in the office about what constitutes an exclusive. We deal, on the whole, with SMEs here, not major major brands which are reported everywhere at the click of a finger.

To us, an exclusive is given to the key targets by sector and by publication type. If there is a business story we will offer it to a target newspaper, sector specific and vertical sector magazine.

But with the demand for online PR so high we also have important targets in our online distribution. On top of this, stories you thought would be held back until the magazine of paper is published can appear online within minutes.

The reality is there still needs to be dialogue and trust between the PR and the journalist, online or offline, to set out whether a story is exclusive and what this actually means. Even with everything evolving in both our worlds so rapidly, an exclusive can still exist if these conversations are maintained. And with any luck, the result will leave both parties happy.

Hot tin Roof is launching Hot Tin Wire, a spin off internet division, creating and delivering online PR strategies primarily for the SME sector.

The agency has spent the last 12 months developing the infrastructure and perfecting the skills that will allow it to offer one of the hardest hitting online PR services in Scotland today.

Online consumer and corporate campaigns have already been delivered by the agency for all of its clients including Ryvita Limbos, Spencerfield Spirit and User Vision.

The unprecedented growth of social media over the last two years has changed the media landscape forever. It’s no longer a question of should a company develop an online PR strategy, but how quickly it can start and how it maintains visibility.

Hot Tin Roof has worked in digital marketing since launch, having delivered Ambergreen’s campaign for seven years, positioning the company as one of the UK’s leading digital marketing agencies, pioneering search marketing in Europe.

Sarah Lee, Hot Tin Roof MD explains: “Online PR is fresh, new and exciting. It has matured over the past five years and today UK business is ready for the concept and eager to engage.”

Many companies are now looking to online PR as a more accessible and affordable entry point to public relations. Traditional offline PR that builds reputation and positions a brand has to be sustained over the long term. Online PR can be instant, rapidly raise awareness and deliver results immediately.

There are plenty of stories of bad online PR like the forum discussions that destroyed the Kryptonite bike lock reputation because its brand managers did not monitor what was being said about the brand online.

Lee continues: “And thank you Ryanair for such a monumentally bad response to a blogger last week. Communication like this shows that we all need to become PRs now. Good communication is absolutely essential to the success of businesses online and to the security of brand reputation.”

The key to Hot Tin Wire’s success is taking the traditional PR skills and using them online. Knowing how to communicate a message and what makes a good story is combined with a broad and deep knowledge of the internet.

Hot Tin Wire offers a full online PR service including media monitoring, market research, key message creation, copy writing and online press release distribution. It designs, writes and publishes websites, blogs, Facebook and Twitter profiles, newsletters and podcasts.

Weary eyes this morning at Hot Tin Roof after an epic night at the Edinburgh Twestival.

We were delighted to be involved in such an exciting and worthy concept and are happy to report the evening was a great success.

In the end our wee event attracted around 250 of the McTwitterati and a brilliant £3,500 was raised for charity: water, with more to come for extra auctions due in the coming days.

The press were out in force with cameras, microphones and pads at every turn and we’re looking forward to seeing all the great coverage the event is sure to get.

Congratulations to our wonderful organisers @tanepiper – @andrewburnett – @bureauista – @davelaw00 – @jimwolffman and a hearty applause for Peter Gregson for a tremendous performance.

What the Scottish twitter community showed last night is while we embrace more technical communication, we are a very social bunch. Rather than loads of bowed heads cooing over iPhones there was great banter and plenty of mingling.

A fond hello to all the new folk we were lucky enough to meet and a hopeful ‘meet you soon’ to those we avidly follow and still have not spoken to in the flesh.

Twitter has shown its awesome power over the last few weeks and last night was a fitting culmination. Proving its worth as communities demonstrated they are ready and willing at short notice to come together and raise money for worthy charities.

If you want to relive all the connections made last night, check out the amazing graphical display at the Twestival by Blonde. http://edtwestival.blonde.net/replay/

You can still donate in many capacities at the Edinburgh Twestival website: http://edinburgh.twestival.com

Digital marketing agency Ambergreen is conducting a social media experiment with Scottish Twitter followers at the inaugural Edinburgh Twestival.

Embraced not only by entrepreneurs and workers, Twitter is becoming increasingly important for big brands, such as with Dell, who recently announced they have generated over $1m in sales through the service.

On 12 February 2009 hundreds of cities around the world will be hosting Twestivals, bringing together Twitter communities for an evening of fun, all to raise money and awareness for Charity: Water.
Ambergreen will be on hand to interview participants as they enter the Twestival for a special video that will be produced for distribution after the event.

By engaging with the very people who have embraced this rapidly growing micro-blogging service, Ambergreen aims to capture authentic insights into Twitter as well as producing facts and figures about the event.

Arranged in a matter of weeks by supporters of Twitter, the event is the first major offline gathering of the Scottish faithful, many of who have already engaged with each other on the social networking tool, but have never met in person.

Eliza Dashwood, Director of Sales and Marketing at Ambergreen said: “We are delighted to be sponsoring our local Twestival and know with the McTwitterati being so active it is sure to be a very special event.”

“All of us are great fans of Twitter, and we know how important it is for engaging with your peers and spreading information.”

Ambergreen has pioneered the use of social media by business and recognises how important Twitter is for any brand wanting to succeed online.

“From a marketing perspective Twitter is a fantastic way to engage directly with your customers with a transparency you just don’t get from other social media. You can choose who you want to follow and who is allowed to follow you, allowing for a very personal experience.”

“Big brands need to use Twitter and use it properly. If they just create a profile publishing links to new press releases the likelihood is people are going to switch off from it.

“But Twitter does have so much to offer and we believe there are five factors associated with social media like Twitter that will determine who will win in the digital landscape. Community, trust, permission, transparency and value.”

The Edinburgh Twestival takes place on February 12 from 7pm at the Hawke and Hunter. Go to http://www.amiando.com/twestivaledinburgh.html for tickets and follow @EdTwestival for updates.

Follow Ambergreen on Twitter: @ambergreenim

Everybody is talking about it. It’s the ‘in’ social media tool…it’s Twitter.

Early adopters were counting down to the return of Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, but for very different reasons. Will Stephen Fry and Jonathan Ross talk about twitter? And, much like the countdown to the millennium (albeit with very little hint of panic)…what’s going to happen once Twitter enters the mainstream?

Well celebrity endorsement may have contributed to the surge in UK Twitter popularity but to be honest it couldn’t come at a better time.

This February 12 sees the inaugural Twestival with events across the globe bringing together Twitter communities for fun filled occasions, all in the aid of Charity : Water.

The Edinburgh Twestival, to be held at the newly refurbished Hawke and Hunter, sold out like hot cakes. Tickets flew off the e-shelf as the Scottish twitter community swooped to ensure their part in such an exciting event.

We here at Hot Tin Roof are happy to be attending and are keen to spread the good word.

If you were also lucky enough to get tickets we look forward to a night of live music, auctions and prizes…oh and twitter.

Our Chris Welton can be found on twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/cwelton