We ALL work in PR.

Looks like a flume, but isn't. Guess. Photo via Whatsername?

It's a little bit of a black hole, isn't it? This being on the internet malarky, creating a digital footprint with every tweet. God knows where it all goes.

I was a touch worried to find out (don't worry, I haven't been googling myself that much...honest) from Priyanka that if you type in my name into google, it begins to auto complete. Fuck me. I'm one of them proper internet people (or tremendous nerds - in fact, almost certainly the latter).

Something, in truth, I never really thought about when I first got into blogging, or writing nonsense on the internet. I wrote to amuse myself. And it got me to thinking. Has this sort of attitude changed?

With the tremendous takeup of twitter by celebrities, do people now primarily use the web as a source of fame, rather than writing to express their opinion? And if so, at what cost? Has 'honesty' been bastardised?

I've always been acutely aware of just what I write online. I don't write anything that I wouldn't say in real life (yes, even taking the piss out of social media, or ranting about how badly put together most organisations seem to be). And I wonder, as people grow up with the technology to say whatever they want, whenever they want to - whether it'll begin to have more negative aspects.

Kids who've never thought about censorship will continue to be positively encouraged to tell brands what they think. With this power, do you honestly think it'll make things better in real life? I don't. I think it'll lead to a lot of people who speak first and ask questions later.

Surely, some of the benefits of being online - being able to enforce change, to speak your mind and improve things - will persist. But I do worry about the other side of things. Is it a job for parents? Part of me shudders at that; no-one had to teach me how to 'be' online. But then, I didn't get online properly until I was about 14 or so, I didn't blog until I was 21.

I'm not suggesting anything so drastic as a code of conduct. That seems like bollocks to me, tremendous overkill.

But, as the title of the post aludes, we are all in PR. All of us have a measure of responsibility of ensuring our online image corresponds to the real thing. I'm not suggesting naming your kids some unique name to ensure you can get the URL (God, that'd be cringey, wouldn't it?), but taking care when you're online is undoubtedly a Very Good Thing.

And this includes those older folk in the communications business. I get hacked off when I get told how to think about twitter by a supposed communications 'guru' who has 34 tweets to his name. Or worse, one with 20,000 followers, who hires people to tweet for him (which he does constantly) - that's not communications, that's the equivalent to pushing 5 yellow pages through the internet's post box daily.

Maybe it comes down to some form of web manners. Which shouldn't mean a stuffy, fastidious code - but more behaviour centred around basic politeness or thoughtfulness.

And to even THINK about this sort of thing boggles my mind. Alongside people needing media training (which is one of the ultimate examples of money for old rope), it's staggering to think people don't interact with media as an everyday thing.

I'm sure the passive massive are out there, but i'm sure their number is dwindling, what with ever increasing opportunities to interact - either to post product reviews or participate in their interests.

And, to me, it's somewhat comforting to know the individuals, not the organisations behind certain things. I like knowing who i'm dealing with, not some faceless agency or business. I can have a relationship with a person. I'm not quite so sure I'd ever value a PR or ad bod's paid opinion in the same way.

In short, it seems honesty's a bit of a two way street online. I'm interested in how it helps (or hurts) people. Especially those who have always had the tools to express it.

Look Familiar?

Remember those days? My mortarboard didn't fit. Sigh. Via David. Usual rules apply.

You'd have thought the majority of people in the picture above will have graduated recently, and will be wondering what the hell to do with their lives. However, an awful lot of them will have made up their minds, and I'd have thought those lot would have been interested in working in our business.

Rewind a year, and ask yourself. Did I, or my agency, do enough to make them consider advertising/media as a career?

Well, if that picture isn't from select Universities, probably not.

God knows the career options I faced were either become an accountant, a lawyer or a recruitment consultant. And, with respect to all of those professions, they weren't what I wanted to do.

And I'll be damned if the same happens to the next generation after me.

So it heartens me that Ad Grads is beginning to whir into action. We've now got 5 star stories (the most recent one is Scamp, aka Simon Veksner of BBH), some graduate accounts of what the business is really like, some notifications about the newer schemes being opened and have (finally) begun to cobble the wiki together.

Heck, we've even gotten into Media Week this week, apparently (nice one Sam).

But that's not enough. No, we want even more accounts from you guys, whether you are a recent grad or an established star. If you read this blog and would like to contribute to it, shoot me an email (it's on the right hand side of the page), or email ad grads at gmail dot com.

And it's not just account handlers or planners we want. Nope - traffic/creative services, researchers, all are welcome.

Additionally, if you think we've not raised something which should be discussed (working conditions, for example), let us know, and we'll see if we can't help sort it out.

It's funny, the more I practice, the luckier I get...

The great Gary Player, possibly the best bunker player ever. The picture's from justaregularbloke. Usual rules, etc.

Regular, or astute readers will know that I hold golf very dear to my heart (yes, I'm actually 55, just masquerading as a 23 year old). I think only Dino and myself play the game on the plannersphere. The above quote is from one of the greats of the game, Gary Player, and it came about when a journalist asked him how he was so good out of bunkers.

It's a classic. And very true, and relevant to a lot of how I think people should be generally.

I'm crap at drawing. But I bet you that if I practiced (yes, Zero, I'll get round to it eventually), I'd get much much better. It's that fear of failing (and not having a lot of time at the moment) which keeps me from doing more.

And that's a nonsense, when you think about it. How the hell can I talk about something, say discuss creative thinking, when I've never ever really tried to do it myself? I mean, I can talk with some reasonable authority on the topic of web design and HTML, as my belaboured efforts in the mid 90s (now happily lost in the mists of AOL Press and Altavista) show. I might not be able to code properly, but at least I can root my thinking and discussion in something.

Now, I'm all for people trying for integration in agencies (even though, at times, it risks being a massively overused buzz word, up there with viral and web 2.0). But for God's sake, don't try and tell me you're an integrated planner/account handler/creative if you've never ever done what you claim to be integrated in yourself - knowing the mechanics of DM, being aware/having tried coding of some description, and most importantly, knowing how businesses work. Most people are culpable of this. Indeed, I think planners (and junior planners, in particular - I include myself in this critique) spend too much time in the theoretical and not enough time in the practical.

It's why I praise artists, account handlers and people who have to physically deliver the goods. Sure, I can spout Barthesian theory, come up with convoluted theories about twitter, or debate, ad infinitum, about where the agency model is going. But it matters not a jot if I've not done the legwork beforehand. Physically gone and seen how different cultures live, act and are, along with people in different jobs. No, I'm not contending that I should spend a year learning the intricacies of, say a job clientside which is wholly different to what I'm going to do in my job.

But I completely reject the notion that a simple factory visit, say, is enough to get under the skin of how a product is made - it's like me watching some Spanish language TV and claiming to be able to speak fluent Spanish on the back of it. No, no no. Just not true.

Ultimately, you have to be able to do more than empathise. You have to be able to have done, or at least attempted things. And keep doing them. THAT'S what makes a good planner, or indeed 'Wannabe Ad Man', whatever the stage in their career.

It's partly why I want to play a big part in Ad Grads, a blog I'm helping co-author. I don't want a generation of ad folk to live in the theoretical, especially those who look at planning and think 'ah yes, that sounds pretty hands off - I could do that'. Getting your hands dirty and learning from a wide range of sources should be prized like never before, especially given media's divergence. If you can actually say 'oh, I've coded x' or 'Yeah, I can illustrate Y' as an account handler, say, it should be oh so useful. And THOSE people will change the industry. Not some cliche driven, marketing buzz word ad wannabe.

Congratulations, a Good Luck, and a New Venture..

Thanks to Narunaka. Usual rules apply.

This is going to be short and sweet.

Nina (of Too Small To Be Big) has just got herself a new gig. So congratulations. Lauren (of SheSeesRed) has had a successful viewing of her installation at Spinach. Very well done to you - I also have a photo of the sweary artist addressing the audience, which will be up on my Flickr at some point..

Good luck to Marcus Brown in his new venture, The Ides of March. Anyone who reads this blog who doesn't know Marcus (not many, I wouldn't have thought) should know that he's incredibly perceptive, a fantastic writer, and a very, very bright. I think he's going to do really well.

Finally...a new venture. I've begun to co-write a blog for grads, which can be found here. Sam & Anton from the Ad Lads are helping, along with Jack Bauer from the Brand Republic Forums. We'll be detailing our experiences, and asking some other people (yes, you) to help contribute and guest post.

You can find it here.