Mentoring tech startups at TechHub

Mentoring tech startups at TechHub

Our Founder and Director of Hai Media Group, Lisa Devaney, will be back at TechHub this week on Thursday, 30 November, to counsel TechHuband mentor tech startups with public relations and social media strategy, and tactics. She’s been a guest mentor for TechHub for a few years now, and is pleased to be welcomed back.

TechHub is the global community for tech entrepreneurs and startups. They support the growth of over 750 companies across the world, whether they’re founders getting started, or fast-scaling 50 to 100-person teams.

Devaney’s mentoring sessions this week will be one-on-one and open only to members of TechHub. Topics of building a communication’s strategy across media and social media platforms, executing and establishing thought leadership in a sector, and how to use social media to build a brand and engage with valuable audiences online, will all be covered, among other discussion.

With more than two decades of communications experience, Devaney has helped dozens of tech startups navigate the often confusing, and complicated, world of the modern media landscape. Some tech startups she has worked with have gone on to experience great success, winning awards, securing customers, and even selling on to larger companies for significant figures.

If you are interested in a free, one hour counsel session – Devaney is happy to provide this service. Just get in touch to: lisa@haimediagroup.com

 

DIY PR at UCL Innovation & Enterprise

DIY PR at UCL Innovation & Enterprise

Our Founder & Director Lisa Devaney will be back, for a second year, presenting to startups and entrepreneurs at UCL on Thursday, 2nd March, this week, with her DIY PR workshop.UCL Innovation & Enterprise

About 30 attendants will participate in the workshop sponsored by UCL, where they will get insight on how to earn press coverage, and build social media presence, for their startup.

In the three-hour session, Devaney will cover:

  • Developing communications strategy for your startup that will win headlines
  • The tools of PR (email pitches, press releases, press lists, and more)
  • Social media for startups and entrepreneurs

An honour to be part of the UCL offerings, this workshop is included with the UCL Innovation and Enterprise department. which launched last year. As part of UCL’s mission to support students pursuing entrepreneurial paths, they have seen more than 200 startups launch from the programme, including RecommendMe.

Here’s more information about UCL Innovation and Enterprise:

Our aim is to inspire a spirit of enterprise across UCL: to ensure that the economic and societal benefits of our research are fully realised. To achieve this, UCL Innovation and Enterprise brings together academics, the business community and other potential beneficiaries of our research in order to maximize its potential for commercialisation and ‘real world’ use. The goal is to secure our institution’s long-term place as a global leader in enterprise and innovation.

See more about the session here.

Our founder interviewed on the Entrepreneur Podcast Network

Our founder interviewed on the Entrepreneur Podcast Network

In an interview with Eric Dye, host of the Entrepreneur Podcast Network, of Enterprise Radio, our Founder and Director Lisa Devaney shared some tips about tech startup public relations.

In the interview, she talked about planning carefully before you start talking in public, among other great advice:

Don’t over promise…remember that Google sticks! Be really careful about what you are saying publically. It burns your credibility to not deliver what you are promising.

Really build your own visibility online before visiting the media with your story.

Be sure to speak in clear, jargon-free terms when describing your business.

You can listen to the full interview here:

http://epodcastnetwork.com/talking-tech-startup-pr-with-lisa-devaney-of-hai-media-group

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Book ‘Saving Bletchley Park’ is social media for good story

Book ‘Saving Bletchley Park’ is social media for good story

This story was first published by our Founder and Director Lisa Devaney with Brand Republic’s The Wall Blog UK, and you can find it here, or read below:

So often these days, news headlines are pock-marked with nasty tales of hacking incidents, online trolling, bullying and abuse that are setting a lot of people off from participating with any social media platform. But now and then, examples of how fantastic, caring and beneficial social media can be comes into public awareness and forces us to not ignore the good of this medium for all.

Saving Bletchley Park

Saving Bletchley Park

In a new book Saving Bletchley Park written by Dr Sue Black OBE (@Dr_Black), with help from Stevyn Colgan, a fascinating story is told about how Twitter, and the power of digital and social media, strengthened and was instrumental in saving a near derelict World War II codebreakers headquarters at Bletchley Park. Recently released, and funded fully through a crowdfunding campaign orchestrated by the publishing company Unbound, the book is already a bestseller on Amazon.

If you are looking for that ray of sunshine in your social media case studies, or just want a positive example to explain to colleagues about how social media can work, this is a must read. I marvelled that it is a tale where old technology is saved by new technology, where modern Twitter, and other social channels, play a crucial role in helping preserve the place where modern computing took root, being the birthplace of Colossus and the work base of Alan Turing, who was key in cracking the codes generated by the Enigma machine.

In the book, the author shares so much about the step-by-step evolution of this valiant and dedicated effort of her, and colleagues, years of work to make sure it was not eradicated physically from the UK’s places of historic interest. Hundreds of people sought to preserve Bletchley Park over 20 years. It is likely that many in the UK, and beyond, will know that Bletchley Park is credited for having brought World War II to an end, two years earlier than expected, and to have saved an estimated 22 million lives with the top secret work of codebreaking. Nearly 10,000 people worked in cloaked roles, many being women, and all signed and sworn to a strict secrets act preventing them from speaking about their labour at the place. Sir Winston Churchill said of the codebreakers that they were “the geese that laid the golden egg and never cackled.”

What many may be surprised to learn is how decayed and near demise the site of this crucial turning point for the war was facing not long ago, until its rescuers became activists for the historic venue’s survival. What Dr. Black’s book reveals is a combination of historic information, human anecdotes, and a really good case study for how social media can flip a forgotten relic into public consciousness, over time.

Along the way, Dr Black, using Twitter, along with blogging and other social media channels, found that the digital generation’s freely available tools could help her make people care, and do something to save Bletchley Park. In her tale, you’ll read about how some of the UK’s popular Twitter aficionados like Christian Payne (@documentally), Jamillah Knowles (@jemimah_knight), Mike Sizemore (@sizemore), the Tuttle Club, and more, played a role in raising awareness for the Bletchley Park cause. So much so, that the effort won the attention of celebrity Stephen Fry and, also attracted support and attention from various members of the Royal family, and executives from Google.

Sure, social media wasn’t the only contributing factor, but, as you will find out in the book, it was a major catalyst and turning point for the campaign. The book includes Dr. Black’s tips and real-life, reality based, proven approaches to using social media, and her own journey from intrepidation and low confidence with the medium, to being a fearless advocate of its powers.

As Dr Black describes in this passage from her book:

Dr Sue Black OBE, photo by ali Tollervey

Dr Sue Black OBE, photo by ali Tollervey

“Social media has allowed me to be myself, the me that was always there inside but a bit scared to come out. I grew up a shy person, scared to voice my opinions in case I offended someone. Over the years, I’ve forced myself to speak when something needs changing. Social media has shown me that there are many people out there that feel the same way I do and that it’s fine to say what I think in public. It’s a simple lesson, but having grown up a girl in the 1960s and ‘70s, it’s diametrically opposed to what I grew up being told. “Don’t speak until you are spoken to” was a frequently used phrase in my upbringing, something I have in common with a whole generation of girls. I’m so glad that women are finally finding their voice. It may cause some change that will be difficult for society as a whole to deal with, but in the long run it will benefit us all.”

Our new website is live!

Our new website is live!

We are pleased to announce that the Hai Media Group website is now live with a fantastic new look and design! Hai Media Group Colour Logo

Made by Dave Hall, we are really excited to unveil this design today that captures the essence of the services we are offering.

With our new design, we have tried to encapsulate our three main areas of: Hai Media, Hai Social and Hai Beta – all geared to help early stage, disruptive, tech startups find their way in the world. A lot of our clients will tell you that we get up to a lot more than what our package says, often serving as advisors and connectors, who have proved very valuable for those we work with and support. We love these compliments! Keep them coming!

We also want to let you know that our popular blog will be continuing. Soon, we’ll return to providing our Startup Spotlight features, among other useful news and views that you can use. Ranked on Alexa.com, our website and blog have had more than 21 million views over our existence. How cool is that?

Dave Hall

Dave Hall

By the way, if you are looking for a new website, or website designer. We are happy to recommend Dave. Dave is a freelance web designer, residing online at I Can Make You Website. With a background including work in music industry PR and a number of his plays produced in professional theatres, he has specialised in creating sites for musicians and others in the entertainment industry. He is also the creator of Roktopus Themes, a nascent array of premium WordPress themes. He has a degree in Philosophy from Cambridge and lives in East London.

Thanks for the great work Dave!

If you are interested in starting something up with us, drop a line to our founder & director Lisa Devaney at: lisa@haimediagroup.com

 

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