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Blogs are a great way to get employees to share thoughts and ideas, but inexperienced bloggers can be reluctant to join in.
In the latest issue of Strategic Communication Management, we hear how HP’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region used its sponsorship of the Cannes Film Festival to launch a competition and get people blogging. Leticia Gow, internal & HR communications manager for HP EMEA describes the competition.
Creating a fun environment
"The central themes of the 'HP Starring at Cannes' blogging competition were film and digital entertainment," says Gow. "We wanted to encourage employees to embrace blogging in a fun environment, on a popular topic, without having to create their own blog or worry about regular postings. Before taking part, we asked employees to register and complete a short training course on HP’s blogging guidelines.
"Initially, topics were covered by a blog editor whose role was to understand common interests, identify 'champion bloggers' and generate excitement around films and filmmaking. We later gave our champion bloggers the status to start topic discussions, while an editorial team kept the blog up-to-date, monitored for misuse and encouraged discussion.
"We used a thumbs up/thumbs down system to allow participants to rate fellow employees. Of the more than 500 registered employees, the 20 most engaged bloggers were reviewed by the editorial team and judged on the frequency, content and quality of their writing. Two 'star bloggers' were picked in a random draw for the grand prize – a VIP trip to the festival and tickets to a film screening."
This approach seemed to work, as one blogger put it: "I only entered for a chance at the prize, but quickly became engrossed in the whole thing."
You can read the full article in the latest issue of Strategic Communication Management.
See you next week.
Mandy Thatcher
Editor
mandy.thatcher@melcrum.com
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Further reading
Top tips - Introducing social media into your company
Top tips - Tapping into intranet user needs at IKEA
Comedy Comms – Pranks make perfect
E-mails can cause office strife
Internal Comms Hub – 30 July 2007
Is it right to ban Facebook at work?
Melcrum Blog – 30 July 2007
Black Belt Dojo – 23 July 2007
Group Internal Communications Assistant, The Foundry – London, UK
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