The Top 10 Twitter Hashtags Every PR Should Know and Follow

#PR
Well, obviously. Let’s start at the beginning shall we?

#CommsChat 
This recently re-launched weekly conversation is a must for any communications professional looking to share advice and thoughts with other comms professionals.  Be sure to join the conversation at 8pm (UK time) on Mondays for guest speakers and sessions around topical themes. Originally started by @AdamVincenzini and @EmLeary, it’s now run by Communicate Magazine. www.commschat.com for more.

#CrisisPR
Don’t get caught with your pants down. Learn from others on what to do when you find yourself in a ‘brown-stuff-meets-fan’ kinda situation.

#JournoRequest 
A bit like rummaging in a jumble sale, PRs are sometimes able to pick-up a bargain here. This one is often used by journalists looking for contributors, case studies or spokespeople. Be quick though, the journalist is likely to be on deadline.

#PRrequest 
Got a PR request or need a contact for a journalist? Share it with your fellow PR brethren.

#PRStudChat 
With the aim of stimulating conversation between PR students and professionals, this is a good one if you want to join in and help inform young aspiring PRs about recruitment, interning and everything else about the PR world.

#SMMeasure 
Hosted by @MarketWire and @Sysomos this weekly chat (Thursdays 12 EST) brings in different experts each week on different themes. It’s been running for over a year now and recent sessions have covered making your real-time content SEO friendly and Twitter for business.

#SMO 
Social media optimization. Learn from those that know how to make the best of your social media content strategy.

#soloPR 
The sum of this one is greater than its parts. Even if you’re a solo PR professional, you can join your community here and share insights into working alone as a freelancer.

#PRethics
Hosted by the @PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) and @CIPR_UK (Chartered Institute of Public Relations) this month marks PR ethics month with various chats around the theme of ethics in PR.

Have any more suggestions? Tweet me @JamesAldousPR  

Why the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were the biggest stars in LA

The Telegraph, Expat Life
Expat Briton James Aldous says the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s visit to Los Angeles was an undeniable success.

The arrival of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge last week in LA – for three days after their tour across Canada – caused a great deal of excitement in America. For a city like LA where celebrity culture often dominates, how did the city’s residents and British expat community respond to the visit of the celebrity couple of the hour?

Sadly missing from their itinerary was an opportunity for them to meet the masses. There was no drive by parade or meet-and-greet opportunity through the streets of LA where they could meet the city’s public. This trip was kept very contained, tightly controlled and strictly for those with tickets or access to the small number of events on the pairs’ packed schedule.

For those that were fortunate to see them at one of the events they attended however, it was a chance to be part of history, for this was the first official visit of the couple to foreign soil. It was also a chance to glance at the future King and Queen of England and see them participate in some of the organisations and causes close to their hearts. They managed to pack quite a bit into their brief trip here, including an event promoting London’s Tech City initiative at the Variety Venture Capital and New Media Summit, a BAFTA event celebrating up-and-coming British talent, a charity polo match in Santa Barbara, a visit to Inner City Arts in Downtown LA and a veteran jobs fair at the Sony studios in Culver City.

Indeed, during the Duke’s speech at the polo match he hinted at his harsh schedule over the previous 12 days, and suggested that he was pleased to be able to let his hair down and have a great time playing polo. This, despite being tackled by the only girl on the playing field during the match, and being referred to as Prince Charles on more than one occasion by the match commentator.

Craig Young – a British actor who has been here for 12 years and is one of the organisers of “Brits in LA”, an expat group which put together California’s largest live viewing party for the Royal Wedding back in April – attended the polo match and said how the crowd went “nuts” when the Duchess presented the cup and kissed her husband on the cheek.

“The whole field of people attending in the cheaper ticket area rushed over to the presentation stand to get a glimpse,” he said.

Their enthusiasm and eagerness to see the couple clearly paid off.

“The presentation stand trailer was actually brought closer to us so we had a better view than those paying for the $4,000 tickets with the sit-down lunch included.”

The coverage of their visit in the US media was intense, with live footage of their every appearance and move. As they stepped foot into camera shot, journalists would immediately be issued emails detailing everything the Duchess was wearing. It seems that her fashion choices throughout the trip were widely hailed as a success – proof that the money on her wardrobe was well spent.

But what of the legacy of their trip? For me, there was too little attention placed on the detail of the organisations they visited. Inner City Arts – an organisation that teaches skills and tools to children in some of LA’s poorest neighbourhood they need to succeed personally and academically – lacked the attention it should have been given and the valuable work it does. KTLA – one of the major local news outlets – met with and spoke to some of the homeless in the Skid Row area, many of which had no idea the couple were visiting. What real effect did their visit into this extremely deprived area of downtown LA have? The same too for their trip to the veteran jobs fair in Culver City, where ex-military personnel were seeking employment options after their military service.

But for a great deal of people the couple’s visit did help highlight British interests on a global stage. Young believes they ”did Britain a hell of good by coming here” and believes there will be many Americans planning trips to the UK as a result.

“People in California were really pleased they came,” he added.

James Aldous, who works in communications, recently moved to Los Angeles. You can follow him on Twitter here.

An English gent in LA: my expat adventure

The Telegraph, Expat Life

I am finding that emigrating is sort of like being sucked into a spiralling tornado: you’re not quite sure how everything is going to look when you arrive at the other end, wherever that may be.

As anyone who has relocated to a different country knows, it is one of the most exhilarating and nauseating experiences you can put yourself through.

Start with the paperwork. As I explained to friends, just have a think about how many letters arrive through your letter box in an average month and then start to build a mental picture of all the mailing lists you need to end, contracts you have to cancel, accounts you need to transfer, utilities you need to tie up…

When I received my United States work visa in late January, after months of immigration hurdles to jump over, the start date of 21 March for my new job in Los Angeles seemed an age away.

Little did I appreciate at that point the level of administrative paperwork I would have to go through before I left. At times it felt like I was tying up all my finances and commitments in preparation for my own funeral, especially when I laid everything out in front of my mum so she had a record of everything should she ever need it while I’m abroad. And the truth is – there’s no guide for what you need to do when you leave the UK. In the absence of a handy ‘out of the country’ auto-responder on all enquiries as to your whereabouts, who are you supposed to tell that you’re no longer around?

Paperwork and Wizard-of-Oz-style continent-shifting aside, I’m already two weeks in and so far the move has been a reassuringly good one. One key thing I’ve learnt already is to just assume that everything will take a lot longer than you think it might, and cost a heck of an amount more than you think it should. Keeping that at the forefront of your mind means nothing will be too much of a challenge.

One of the upsides is the transition in rental offer. Everything I own that once squeezed into my tiny room in West London now occupies barely more than a corner of my rather sizeable flat by Griffith Park, rather like a Mini rattling around an empty freeway.

Another is that people endlessly find my accent quite the entertaining overture to a conversation about my reasons for being here, particularly when I say the words ‘photo’ or ‘arse’.

Another truth about emigration is that it opens your eyes to the possibilities of what your future will look like, and makes you think of all the variants you’ll use to finish the sentence you inevitably utter in years to come when speaking to friends and family: ‘when I lived in LA’.