Archive for the 'Announcements & Prize Draws' Category

In the last few months, I’ve been involved in the preparations for the EuroComm Conference in Barcelona coming up early next year and I’m pleased to report that we have just launched the website and blog for the Conference.

The IABC EuroComm Conference in Barcelona will take place on 4-5 Feb 2008. The website is at http://www.salle.url.edu/EuroComm/.

The blog will feature articles and posts on the theme of Innovation through Communication, which is the theme of the conference. We would very much like to engage in discussions and shares view around this theme even before the conference starts so we hope that you’ll come along to visit the blog at http://www.salle.url.edu/EuroComm/blog/.

Guest-bloggers include business communicators who will be speaking at the conference - they will be sharing their personal views on the blog in advance of the conference. There is also a core team of bloggers, including IABC members Marc Wright of simply-communicate.com, the online communications magazine, Kevin Keohane of SAS, the branding agency and Yang-May Ooi of ZenGuide, the social media consultancy as well as web usability expert, Giles Colborne of cxpartners, the usability professionals.

We are also inviting business and communications professionals to submit articles around the theme of the conference, Innovation through Communication. You do not have to be a member of IABC and you do not need to be going to the conference to submit an article. We’d just like to hear your views if you have a story or opinion piece that is relevant to our theme. You can find out more through our Article Submission Guidelines

The programme for EuroComm Conference is available at http://www.salle.url.edu/EuroComm/programme.html

Registration for the Conference is now open - find out how to register at http://www.salle.url.edu/EuroComm/registration.php

For information about discounted accommodation during the Conference, go to http://www.salle.url.edu/EuroComm/hotel.html

It looks like spammers have been using false [at]fusionview.co.uk email addresses to spam all and sundry. I’ve been getting all the bounce-back messages from their recipients. This is very annoying for everyone - the spammed and also me.

All I can say to anyone who has been spammed by a false [at]fusionview.co.uk is that the emails did not originate from me and I am as fed up with it as you are.

I’ve looked into this and it looks like quite a number of domain name owners have had this problem and there doesn’t seem to be much that we can do about it. If someone has found a solution, please let me know by adding a comment.

This is a cross-post from my social media blog, ZenGuide

I am delighted to report that my associate Silvia Cambie and I have been commissioned by business book publishers Kogan Page to write a book on New Trends in International Public Relations, aimed at business communicators, PR professionals and marketeers.

I will be focusing on the impact of social media on business communications and how PR practitioners can incorporate social media into their communications and marketing strategies. Silvia will be focusing on all the other key issues for practitioners such as corporate social responsibility, crisis communications and current hot topics and trends affecting international public relations.

We both have a strong interest in cross-cultural issues. Silvia is Italian and has lived and worked across Europe, speaking several European languages fluently. As for me, I have links with Malaysia and the Far East as well as being now based in London, UK. In today’s globalised world, PR practitioners are increasingly needing to work from a cross-cultural perspective so Silvia and I will be exploring the relevance and impact of cross-cultural issues for business communicators online and also offline.

I’ll be letting you know more details about the social media and cross-cultural issues I’ll be researching in the next few weeks. Silvia and I will both be blogging about our research and the progress of the book on our respective blogs and we hope very much that you will all be able to help us by adding your comments or sharing your experiences and thoughts with us. I will certainly give credit in the book to anyone whose contribution I use in the book.

My dilemma is whether I should blog about this book primarily on my social media blog ZenGuide, because obviously, it’s all about social media - or, on my cross-cultural blog Fusion View, because obviously, it’s also all about cross-culture. If I blog about the book on both of them, will it get confusing if different people comment on one or other of the blogs? Would it be better to choose one of them and then stick to it? But Fusion View has a great international, cross-cultural community there already and I really would love to hear what everyone has to say there. But my cross-cultural readers may not be so interested in social media as such? But if I blog about the book on ZenGuide only, will I lose the cross-cultural dimension by focusing on my social media readers? You see my dilemma. What do you think?

For those of you waiting for my third novel…. hmmm, it looks like that is going to be delayed while I try my hand at non-fiction with this new book project!

Further information

Silvia’s blog X-Culture is at www.chandacom-xculture.com.

Pic: thanks to health.state.ny.us

bkprj

Following my plea for help the other day about business that blog in Malaysia, I got some helpful suggestions from a range of different sources. In addition to the business blogging landscape in Malaysia, I have added a section on the political blogging landscape there, in particular in the light of the recent government iniatitive to recruit a blogging squad to counter the claims of political bloggers. I’ve now completed my article for Communication World - which is hopefully going to be useful for its international audience of PR professionals, marketeers and business communicators.

I’d like to say thanks to the following people who generously contributed their suggestions, links and views for the article:

Richard for telling me about Wiley Chin at http://www.ximnet.com.my/thelab

Sharon Bakar at Bibliobibuli

Eric Forbes at the Book Addict’s Guide to Good Books

Kenny Sia at KennySia.com

Francis Ho of Kuching Kayak, who blogs at FH2O: Kuching Kayaking

Kevin Anderson, the Blogs Editor at The Guardian, UK who blogs at Strange Attractor

Asohan Aryaduray, the New Media Editor of The Star, Malaysia

Due to space/ word limitations, it’s not been possible to include in the articlea reference to all the suggestions and links that everyone gave me but I’ve squeezed in as much as I could.

I hope to be able to share the article with you on this blog when it is published in Communication World in a little while.

Do you know any Malaysian businesses that blog or use social media? Or are you a business-owner, corporate executive or professional person in Malaysia who blogs as part of your business? I need your advice!

I’m writing an article for Communication World, the journal for the International Association of Business Communicators, (IABC) about business blogging in Malaysia. I have a couple of businesses in mind that I will focus on in the article - businesses based in KL who are actively engaging with bloggers and who have blogs themselves.

But I am keen to discover other Malaysian businesses that blog or use social media to promote their enterprise or to engage with their customers.

If you live in Malaysia or have a connection with Malaysia, can help me flesh out the article with some of your thoughts:

# Are there businesses or professional people (eg lawyers, architects etc) do you know of that are engaging with bloggers eg via their own blogging or by making contact with local bloggers?

# Are there any businesses using other types of social media to connect with their clients and customers eg podcasting, video, social networks?

# Do you have any advice for businesses wishing to engage with Malaysian bloggers?

If you are a blogger and you think that your community of bloggers around your blog could help with these queries or may have any experiences/ ideas they can add, please do blog about this query.

Communication World goes out to around 14,000 professionals in PR, marketing and communications around the world as a glossy magazine and also, some of its articles are available as pdfs online. IABC also has a Malaysian chapter. This will be a good opportunity for Malaysian innovation in the blogosphere to be seen world-wide and a good platform to showcase MPH and local litbloggers. I will give full credit to you - and any of your blogger contacts whose information I use in the article.

The deadline for my finished article is the end of July so I hope you’ll be able to let me have your thoughts as soon as possible eg in the next few days so I have a chance to write them up into the article. (Sorry for the short notice - I only got the commission to write the article a couple of days ago!)

Please add a comment or you can email me via the Email Me link at the top of the far right side bar.

PS. I am going to keep mum about the two businesses that blog that I know of for now as I would like to get fresh ideas from you

Photo: thanks to kleinmatt66 from flickr.com

Are you a writer who has self-published your book? What was your experience of trying to market it? Dealing with the printers? Trying to get it taken by bookshop? What tales from the trenches do you have to tell?

Or are you a writer who has been published the traditional way and taken an active part in marketing your book - even beyond the call of duty? What stories do you have to tell about what it takes to sell, sell, sell your book?

This week on my blog, to coincide with the publication of my article about The Writer as Entrepreneur in the July edition of Mslexia, the journal for women writers, I’m posting up my interviews with three self-published writers and a publishing industry insider.

As part of this innovative magazine/ blog initiative, I’d like to open up the discussion to you. If you have a story about your publishing or self-publishing experiences that is related to the business, marketing or entrepreneurial side of the being a writer, I’d love to hear it. Please email me your story and if it’s suitable, I’ll publish it on Fusion View.

This invitation is for enterprising writers who’ve achieved their success through their own hard work and dedication on the business side of publishing their book. I want to celebrate the power of the individual!

And in particular, I’d be very interested to hear from you if you’ve used social media like blogging, podcasting, online video, Facebook, MySpace etc as part of your marketing campaign.

Fusion View has a global readership and is read by 8,000 unique visitors a month, totalling over 13,000 monthly hits. It has recently been featured on BBC Radio and is read by writers, poets, film-makers, photographers, other creatives and publishing industry insiders - as well as many book lovers and avid readers. If you’re an enterprising writer, I don’t need to tell you that this is a great opportunity to raise your profile as part of the Fusion View community!

The closing date for submissions is the 31st July 2007. Please read my Guestblogger Submission Guidelines.

Additional inspiration

Success Stories

Movie Trailers for Books

Photo: of stock trading frenzy thanks to theonion.com

After a successful print run in hardback, tradeback and paperback, my second novel Mindgame has now pretty much sold out. However, I have the last 100 copies of the paperback edition of Mindgame sitting in my hallway.

The blurb:

In MINDGAME, the career of ambitious young lawyer Fei-Li Qwong looks set to soar as she steers her major clients to the successful launch of their visionary sanitorium. Piers and Ginny Wyndham claim their Centre for Mental Health and Excellence will revolutionise Asia’s health care practices. Fei is proud to be part of the team.But Fei’s professional success masks a turbulent private life as she tries in vain to reconcile her Western education and outlook with the restrictions of life in Kuala Lumpur and the feminine qualities of charm, modesty and family-mindedness demanded of tranditional Asian womanhood.Her problems have only just begun. As she begins to uncover the dark reality behind the Wyndhams’ public front, Fei finds herself drawn deep into a pall of intrigue and murder to a secret experiment that could enslave Asia under a terrifying new tyranny.

If you’d like to buy a signed copy direct from me, here’s the deal:

RRP: £6.99

My price: £5
plus post and packaging: £2*

*This is for one book posted by the public postal system to an address in the UK. If you would like to order more than one book or to have it / them posted to an address outside the UK, email me the details and I’ll work out the cost and let you know.

What you need to do:

1. Contact me using via the Email Me link on the top of the far right sidebar with the following details:

• Your name and address

• No. of books

• Name and Address to post the book(s) to (if different from yours)

• Any short message you’d like me to include when I sign the book(s)**

2. I will email you back to confirm the cost and give you an address to send your cheque to. I can only accept UK cheques drawn from a UK clearing bank.

3. Once I receive the cheque for the cost I quoted to you, I will post the book(s) within 28 days and confirm this action to you by email. When sending your cheque, please include a print out of our email exchange. If the address to post the book to is not the same as your address, please also ensure that you include with it your name and address so I can contact you if necessary.

4. Please note the following:
4.1 I will post the book(s) by the public postal system. I am not liable for loss or damage caused by any acts or omissions of the postal services in the UK or any other country.
4.2 Where the address is not in the UK, I am not liable for any taxes, duties, or customs or excise or import requirements that may be applicable in the country of receipt nor for ensuring compliance with any other laws, including but not limited to laws relating to copyright, censorship or any other matters that may arise regarding or in connection with the book(s). These remain the liability of the recipient and it is the responsibility of the recipient to ensure compliance with the laws of their country.
4.3 By sending the cheque for purchase of the book(s), you are confirming to me that you are over 18 or that you are over 13 and have the permission of your parent or guardian to purchase the book(s).
4.4 I reserve the right not to make any sale whatsoever and in such circumstances, I will inform you of this by email and return your cheque to you by post.

** Please be sensible - I won’t write any offensive, obscene or inappropriate message nor anything over lengthy.

Fusion View is being featured on the BBC Radio 5 programme Pods & Blogs on Monday 25 June night (actually 02am on Tuesday 26 June) when it will go out over the airwaves to around half a million AM listeners and half a million FM listeners. The programme will also be available online for ONE WEEK on their website but unfortunately not as a podcast so if you’d like to catch it, you need to go to the site and listen during this coming week. (The Fusion View piece is at around 30 mins into the show, after the news and sport.)

I met Chris Vallance, the presenter, for lunch a few weeks ago at Hayes Galleria by London Bridge and we had a wide-ranging discussion about blogs, podcasts, the Chinese in the UK, cross-cultural issues, globalisation, Malaysian bloggers and much more. It was great to get his perspective as a blogs and pods watcher as well as sharing mine with him as a blogger and podcaster.

He only pulled out his recording equipment after lunch and we wandered around trying to find a quiet corner for him to record the interview. We ended up standing in an alleyway, not far from a white van where a couple of builders were having their sarnies and thermos of tea. Having had a good old chat over lunch, the moment Chris thrust his fancy microphone towards me, I went completely blank and started stammering and dithering - we had to start again several times before I hit my stride and could even say anything sensible about who I was and what Fusion View is all about! I’ve interviewed a number of people on my podcasts and I have to say, it’s utterly different being on the other end of the mike - I have even greater respect now for my Fusion View interviewees in that they never had to do any re-takes and just started chatting with confidence and panache.

The interview was only 10 minutes and we ended up focusing on my novels rather more than on Fusion View. After we finished, I realised I hadn’t had a chance to talk about the various themes of my blog such as:

# Fusion Stories - personal stories of people who live cross-cultural lives eg a Welsh-Iranian student, a South African living in Germany, a Caucasian-American who writes fiction in Mandarin.
# How switching between my “two voices“, speaking “proper” English and heavily accented Malaysian-English, affects my personality and identity
# Podcast interviews with Lucy Luck, a literary agent and Terry Bailey, a lecturer in screenwriting
# Curious Legacies - Recipes and other legacies from people who have influenced my life eg my first boyfriend’s recipe for Hairdryer Duck and my grandmother’s recipe for Soy Sauce Chicken.
# Legacy Blogging: stories from my family eg a recording from 1976 of my late grandfather telling the story of the “first ancestor” from China and my father’s Memories of Malaya during the Japanese occupation.

Chris also wanted me to explain to the world the equipment I use to do my podcasts. I had described it to him over lunch and he thought it was worthwhile for other potential podcasters to know that the equipment didn’t have to be too fancy or expensive - although I have to say, I was rather impressed by his equipment: the professional big flash drive; the robust noise-cancelling microphone and all those buttons. In the end, they didn’t use that bit of the interview in the piece they broadcast but anyway, here’s a picture of my home-made podcasting gear.

That’s a wooden kitchen roll holder and slotted into it is an old leather mobile phone case. The digital recorder sits snugly in the leather case. Ideally, I sit at a table with my interviewee with the equipment sort of in the middle on the table between us. I point the recorder at them when they speak. When it’s my turn to speak, I swivel it towards me by turning the base gently, ask my question and then swivel it back to them. The advantage is that my arm doesn’t get tired holding the recorder up and it also sits a sufficient distance away from our mouths to avoid explosive “PPPs” and “TTTs”. I’m tickled that Chris, the professional BBC journalist, has given it his seal of approval!

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The variety and fun of this blog would not have been possible without all the people who contributed to it through writing guest pieces, agreeing to be interviewed, adding comments or emailing me in response to posts - and also all those offline who sparked ideas for posts through our conversations over coffee and dinner. So thanks to everyone who has been part of the Fusion View community is some way or other!

From time to time I experiment with adding useful or interesting items to my two sidebars over there on the right. To make the most of your visit here to Fusion View, you may like to check some of them out.

What I’m Reading

I’ve added a new widget thing to my sidebar which shows what posts I’m reading that you might find interesting. Take a look at the far right sidebar, just under the Links section. Check back from time to time to see what new items may be useful or intriguing or entertaining.

Here is the linkroll for easy access:

Live Updates via Twitter

In the middle sidebar, you can see live updates via Twitter - it’s like having a mini-blog alongside this main one. The little messageboard displays the latest mini-post. You can see previous ones by clicking on the down arrow.

To find out more about this fun took, you can read the post I wrote about Twitter a few months ago.

Fusion View Podcasts

You can also catch up on my podcasts in the Podcasts section in the middle sidebar. They are all displayed in the podcast player there.

You can also view a list of my podcasts by clicking on the category marked Podcasts in the far right sidebar.

I am delighted to officially announce the launch of my new Social Media Consultancy, ZenGuide.

Interactive web tools like blogging, podcasting and social networking are increasingly being used by businesses to communicate with their customers and stakeholders at a conversational level. Professionals can showcase their expertise. Businesses can engage with customers in a direct and immediate way. The key is a clear, integrated marketing strategy between online and offline media as well as effective blog management.

The ZenGuide consultancy draws on my success as a writer and blogger as well as my experience in the legal and local government sector to offer strategic consultancy to businesses and professionals on how effective use of social media tools can contribute to their business and personal success. We also provide a range of related services from writing bespoke web-content to web and blog design as well as blog editing and management.

You can visit the combined website and blog at www.zenguide.co.uk .

You can find out more about our range of services by clicking on the What We Do tab at the top of the home page at ZenGuide.

For more information about me and my areas of expertise as well as about the associate web design team, click on the Who We Are tab at the top of the home page.

I hope you enjoy reading the ZenGuide blog which aims to bring you views and analysis of current issues and trends in the world of blogging and social media - all in plain English. You’ll see a number of ways to subscribe in the far right sidebar on the homepage of ZenGuide.

If you’d like to find out more about how ZenGuide can help you and/ or your business, do get in touch with me via the Contact page where you’ll find a contact form and my Skype and telephone contact details.