Ludicrous journalism prizes...

Could this be the most ludicrous annual journalism prize awarded? Yes, it's the award for the best writing about, er, ceramic tiles. Listed below is the blurb for the 2012 award - keep an eye on the link below for the 2013 details which will be uploaded soon.

If you write about bathroom furnishings, and there can't be all that many of you, then this award could be the one for you.  Just for info in 2010 the prize was awarded to Anthony Stock for his feature Slim line tonic, or the thin edge of the wedge? published in (ahem wait for it...) Tile Today. Too much excitement for one day...

Ceramic Tiles of Italy Journalism Award 2012

Competition Rules

Ceramics of Italy are pleased to announce the sixteenth competition for the Journalism Award. This award will recognize the best published article/report on Italian Ceramic Industry  and / or Cersaie 2011, the International Exhibition of Ceramic Tile and Bathroom Furnishings (Bologna, Italy: 20 - 24 September).

1) The competition is open to all journalists outside of Italy. Journalists may submit up to four articles. Only single author articles will be eligible.

2) To be eligible for the competition, articles must have been published by April 30, 2012 in magazines outside of Italy. All applicants must submit at least three copies of the magazines containing the article, a short description of the features of the magazine, as well as background biographical information by May 15, 2012 to:

http://www.journalism.co.uk/shorturl/GGHWB/

How blogging can help your SEO

Good news for disheartened journalists - your training and skills may soon be in high demand again on the web because quality content is becoming increasingly important in SEO.

For several years now, journalists have felt undervalued as it seemed like any old content, created by anybody with a keyboard, would be good enough to fill up the pages. It has seemed as if nobody really cared about the quality of the writing. Instead, it's been all about quantity. Now it seems things are radically changing.

I've just had a meeting with an SEO expert - Jim Drew at Business Revolution, in Norwich www.bizrev.co.uk I am editing the website content for my client, who runs a hockey coaching business, and he is designing and hosting their website.

I asked the inevitable: "So what can we do to make this website appear higher in the Google rankings?"
His reply was: "Start with a list of the terms people might use to search for you  - and make sure you include those in your content. Make sure your writing is good quality."

What? Did he say - "Make sure your writing is good quality". So the quality of the writing and the content actually matters at last.

As a journalist, feeling a little out of sorts at the overwhelming amount of free but poor quality content that's now on offer on the web, this was proverbial music to my ears.

"Make sure it is well-composed and not just a load of search terms. Make sure you are giving people quality content. The best advice is definitely to add good content. Every time you blog or add content, this is updating the site and Google will re-index everything," he added.

What a relief. After a few years of rubbish-content and an anybody-can-write ethos prevailing on the web - things have finally come full circle. Now SEO experts are talking about 'inbound marketing' - or offering such great content that people come and find your business rather than you searching them out.

Maybe journalism, in its new form of 'content' may survive albeit in another form as it becomes the latest weapon in the SEO battle.

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Think the opposite of what you think you should think

Just picked up a copy of Whatever you think, think the opposite by Paul Arden (Penguin Books, 2006). Arden makes the point that until the Mexico Olympics of 1968 the customary way for a high jumper to cross the bar was with their body parallel to it - the Western Roll. A little-known athlete then turned his back on the bar instead of turning his body towards it. Dick Fosbury set a world record height of 7ft 4.25ins and invented the still-used Fosbury Flop. He jumped higher by thinking the opposite of everybody else. Hmmm. Easily said, harder done...but worth doing.
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River Island - don't shop there!

I am outraged by the customer service - or lack of it - at fashion shop River Island in Norwich. My teenage daughter has just had her ears pierced and I gave her some money to get her first fashion earrings for a party. She came back with some earrings from River Island. But unfortunately - and bear in mind you are not allowed to try on pierced earrings before you buy - when she put them on they were so heavy they were unwearable. They dragged the ear lobe so far down that the hole tugged and gaped and you just couldn't wear them. I've had my ears pierced for years but I couldn't wear them either. At £12.99 I considered that they weren't 'fit for purpose' and went back to the shop. 'These earrings are so heavy they are unwearable. You can't try them on before you buy to discover this. They are unfit for purpose and I would like my money back please,' I say with a smile and what I considered to be a pleasant manner. 'We don't refund pierced earrings', says a surly assistant. I repeat that I don't want to change them because I don't like them, but because they are not fit for purpose. She repeats that they don't refund pierced earrings. I ask to see the manager and she has the same surly, rude attitude. There is nothing doing. They are not listening. They are rude. They don't get they we like the earrings, but can't wear them because they are so heavy they are unwearable. 'Nobody else has complained.'I am feeling humiliated and hot. There is nothing doing. I walk out with no joy. What terrible customer service. It was their rudeness that annoyed. Even if they hadn't been able to change the product, or the law isn't on my side (I'm not sure where I stand on this) they could have been more pleasant. I spend hundreds of pounds in River Island. It's where I buy many of my daughters' clothes and would have bought many of their Xmas presents. I instantly vowed to never ever spend a single penny in their ever again. So for the sake of refunding £12.99 and having a happy customer. They have a very unhappy customer who will never shop their again and has been repeating negative comments about them to anybody who will listen. 'Never shop there' I have told my daughters, and friends, and relatives...terrible customer experience. I decided not to bother writing to the management because if the shop ethos is this rude it probably comes from the top of the company. It wouldn't surprise me if they end up in financial trouble - and I wouldn't care either. River Island  - just say 'no'...

Aggregation of marginal gains

I love the philosophy espoused by Team GB Cycling's psychiatrist Steve Peters (see pic left) and coach Dave Brailsford.

They talk a lot about what they call 'aggregation of marginal gains' - making tiny improvements wherever you can which adds to a constant total improvement. It is the most optimistic and inspiring philosophy for sport

On the Team Sky website http://www.teamsky.com/article/0,27290,17547_5792058,00.html Dave Brailsford explains: "We've got this saying, 'performance by the aggregation of marginal gains,'" Brailsford continued. "It means taking the 1% from everything you do; finding a 1% margin for improvement in everything you do. That's what we try to do from the mechanics upwards.

"If a mechanic sticks a tyre on, and someone comes along and says it could be done better, it's not an insult - it's because we are always striving for improvement, for those 1% gains, in absolutely every single thing we do."

All these tiny gains gradually add up to a larger gain. I'm holding onto this thought in my veteran novice attempts to improve my hockey playing. I motivate myself by making sure that after each training session or match, however down I feel about my performance, that if i can take one tiny thing from it and improve the smallest amount it's moving in the right direction.

Indeed, the marvellously positive ''AMG" mantra as the team cycling coaches call it, applies well to any endeavour in life as well as sport.

Liz Hollis

Field hockey - my new obsession

It passed my by at school - I was more interested in gymnastics than standing in the cold on a muddy field. But in my forties I have just discovered field hockey. It's tough starting from scratch and coming up against players who are the same age but have been training solidly since school - or indeed highly skilled younger players. But I keep plodding on trying to improve my skills and I'm now into my second season playing with the second team whenever I get the chance. Not sure what position I should play yet - am usually put in left wing or left half. I'm not just enthusiastic I would say that I have become fanatical about this marvellous sport - probably because it's the first time I have been part of a sports team. There's vast room for improvement but that's part of the appeal - as well as the fitness benefits. There's a lot of failure involved (missed balls, when your team loses, not being selected for the team, injury, messing up a tackle, being outplayed) but the joy of the small successes when they come more than compensate. I've discovered it late in life - but for me it has to be the best sport.

Local newspaper journalists a disappearing breed

They are shedding 20 more editorial jobs at my local paper the Eastern Daily Press. Must be a high proportion of jobs, as I guess there are only just over a 100 editorial posts at the company Archant anyway.

Couldn't help wondering how many public relations professionals there now are compared to journalists? The ratio of people wanting to create news, compared to those wanting to find out and write about it.

My guess is that there are thousand more PRs now trying to talk to local newspaper journalists - who are working ever harder, with less time to find stories and get out and meet people.

Indeed, Archant suggested that shedding journalist jobs would enable them to 'consolidate' editorial coverage - especially in the digital economy. Also, they suggest that in future journalists will be out in the community more.

Again. I'm wondering how this might happen? Perhaps local village correspondents (hopefully not unpaid, although I fear they might be) will become more important contacts for PRs than local journalists? Liz Hollis