29 July 2024

What a year we had last week. Welcome to a weekly recap of what a bunch of media and communications people discussed on WhatsApp.

Big topics: the US election transforms overnight, and that trippy Paris opening ceremony

Biden stepped out, Harris stepped up, Vance stepped in it, and then we watched the opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics.

Election chatter

• Boon for young voters. Matthew Gallagher on Biden's withdrawal might mean for his generation, in the Byline Times.
• Can she win? At first many news outlets had questions . But with endorsements and delegates rushing in, most agreed: the election is completely different now .
• Not going back. How campaign slogans are born, in real time.
• Being brat. It's a good thing. Thanks for the clarifying Thread , Jamie Klingler . And this from Keren Darmon .
• Zoom booms. These giant Zoom telethons are raking in dollars - and enthusiasm. Thanks Stefany Strah .
• SwiftiesForHarris. This could be significant. Thanks again Jamie Klingler - who said her threads went from being apolitical to 80% pro-Kamala almost instantly.
• Couch potato. A tweet about Repulican nominee for vice president JD Vance is probably not true. But that doesn't mean it won't stick to him forever.
• Childless cat ladies. His comments about people without children certainly is true, though, and somehow in his first week on the campaign trail he picked a fight with Jennifer Anniston.
• #100DaysOfAction. I've noticed a big surge in interest from American voters abroad and back home, many looking for ways to convert their enthusiasm to action. I've started listing resources on my other social feeds - please add, share and like.

Olympic banter

Good grief. That was the Frenchest fever dream ever, and I loved it. Reactions from the night:

• Myreete Stanforth : I love the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! I mean… the opening ceremony!
• Diana El-Azar : I find it stunning actually … how they are using the whole city as the stage and incorporating all of French history and culture in it.
• Aaron Berger : I’m a cynic every opening ceremony, and by the end I’m sure this is the peak of humanity.
• Julio Romo : I had to do a playlist of that Euro House moment. If anyone else is interested: I had to do a playlist of that Euro House moment. If anyone else is interested, here it is.

And Also ...

• Cannes Lions. Informa buys the festival owner, Ascential for $1.6 billion.
• Movers and shakers. The 13th Influence 100 listing reveals "the most powerful chief comms, corporate affairs & marketing officers, with profiles & industry insights."
• Real-life Succession. But not as funny . Thanks Stephen Waddington .
• Lobby limits. UK members of parliament will find it harder to take on outside jobs as lobbyists, under new rules . Thanks Shayoni Lynn FCIPR FPRCA and Stuart Bruce .

The Chats

Subgroups include Artificial Intelligence, Biocomms, Capital Markets, Creative Displays of Brilliance, Crisis & Issues, Digital & Tech, Education & Research, ESG & Sustainability, General Discussion, In-House, Mis/Disinformation, Neurodiversity, Politics & Policy, The Job Board, The Library, and Ukraine News. You can join any or all of them - just ask for a link.

Below are some highlights selected by me ...

Artificial Intelligence

This is an extremely active and rich chat led by Andrew Bruce Smith and I'm never where to start or stop for a summary. For the full download, please join the chat.

• Claude starter. From Andrew: Apropos of nothing, I tried Synthesia’s document to video feature. Fed it a PDF I’d put together - a step by step guide to creating a Claude project - and this is the video it generated as a first version in response - not bad.
• AI 2 AI. Autonomous AI workers that talk to each other will arrive in 2025, Capgemini predicts .
• AI task forces. Why they miss the point , by Jenny Nicholson
• Zuckavision. Meta's views on the future of AI.
• Artificial politeness. Should we be nice to chatbots ?
• The Last Screenwriter. First feature film written entirely by AI. Thanks Anastasia Ivanova .

Capital Markets

• Party over. A Financial Times film on who killed the ESG party. Via Anastasia Ivanova .
• Philanthropic private equity. How to give away your first billion .

Creative Displays Of Brilliance

• Free audio books. Listenly and a partnership with the Gutenberg Project has hundreds of public domain books available - for free. Not so sure about the Henry Ford book, though.
• Ignorance. It has a long history . Thanks for the recommendation Paul Middleton .

Crisis & Issues

• Crowdstrike. We still have lots to say about this, but giving Rod Cartwright the last say , at least for now.

Education & Research

• Social capital. So grateful for practitioners / scholars like Stephen Waddington working to bridge the gap between academia and industry, and for sharing content like this . Semi-related: I was chatting with Paul Cohen about the inherent difficulties of 'earned media' these days and it all makes me wonder: what are we trying to do, and has our wider PR ecosystem helped or hindered whatever that is? Topic for another day...

ESG & Sustainability

• California dreaming. Evolution of sustainable investing from the perspective of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System.
• American unions. Not strictly an ESG story but interesting.

Library

• Autocracy, Inc: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World, by Anne Applebaum. From Keren Darmon : Have not yet read this by Anne Applebaum, an author I am familiar with and whose analysis I trust. The book appears to be very timely so thought I’d share.
• Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kinsolver. I picked this up a while ago - thanks Katy Blake Burch-Hudson - put it down, and thankfully picked it up again. A much clearer look into modern-day Appalachia than JD Vance's Hillbilly Elegy.

Mis/Disinformation

• News hustling. "This is the wild west of news hustling on X, where a varied group of anonymous middlemen have fast-become the platform’s go-to breaking news sources. Most accounts in this vein combine news aggregation with techniques borrowed (or bastardized) from open-source analysis." Link .
• Pop Crave. Related: memefication of breaking news.

In-house Discussion

• Magazines. I always love the in-house chat - really zeros into what corporate/institutional communicators are thinking about. Here Jenni Field wonders about the role of print magazines for internal communications. And from Olaf Grewe : We had the discussion with blue collar workers asking for PDF version and please don't send it home. But the majority wanted a printed version and sent home. Reason: the Intranet is not used too widely with blue collar workers, beside this huge differences in different countries. And a lot of our 10k employees show off with the magazine at home and show it to friends and family. So we stick to print, 7 language versions and send home.
• Cheeky request. Sometimes you ask the universe for help, and sometimes the universe responds. Nice work , Lorna Branton .

Item Of The Week: Updating My Portfolio Of Projects

I’m looking to update / reorder my portfolio of work projects and would love to brainstorm potential areas of collaboration. I’ve got some new as well as ongoing commitments but can make time for the right fits as a non-exec board director or chair, strategy advisor or project consultant around investment assessments.

Full-time “real” jobs, as one holding company boss described them to me, are not out of the question, assuming I can be re-domesticated - and of course happy to recommend candidates for agency and in-house roles.

Looking ahead, I’m in discussions with partners to help founders in interesting markets or addressing underserved populations. This is likely a 2025 proposition, but it’s not too early to explore possibilities.

And I think I can handle one new volunteer board assignment - ideally in the global health or pro-democracy spaces.

Meet-ups

This week brought together Rod Cartwright Andy West Marshall Manson John O’Brien MBE 'Anthropist' Anna Koicheva and me in London - but not all at once.

Thanks!

If you'd like to jump into the live WhatsApp conversation, drop me a line for a link, and thanks as always to those who contribute each week.