Davemolloy.net

The biggest social event in the Trinity College calendar, the Trinity Ball, is Europe’s largest private party and is a black tie event. This year, in order to create a buzz around the event leading up to ticket sales, the organisers withheld the last act until today- revealing that it is, in fact, The Script.

Today, Facebook (which holds a massive place in Trinity’s social structure, far more, I think, than other universities) is awash with complaints, dismay, and general name-calling aimed at the Ents office. I think this is a little unfair- The Script, while not my type of music, are generally considered up-and-coming high-profile stuff- but it has to be said that this demonstrates a misunderstanding of how PR works.

If you’re going to keep people in suspense, there needs to be a pay-off of some kind. Deliberately heightening the public’s expectations does not automatically create a positive response- you run the risk, as in this case, of disappointing lots of people. And in the end, it amounts to a simple case of knowing your audience.

The reason that this is frustrating? Because the Ents office at Trinity has recently recognised the fact that the students there have, by and large, a preference for indie and electronica music. So much so, that they’re holding the launch party for the Trinity Ball at a new indie night called NOIZE in Andrew’s Lane Theatre on Wednesday. It should have occured to someone that raising expectations, only to reveal an act that will, by virtue of their genre, disappoint a large number of people (there were rumors of MGMT, for crying out loud) would create negative publicity.

Again, I’ve nothing against The Script myself, and in my opinion, Trinity Ents and MCD (their partners in the ball) have consistently produced good results, and I’m sure it will be a fun night. I’m just agog that the potential backlash for letting the rumour mill turn without actually having a stellar hand didn’t occur to someone.

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The excellent I love typography has a wonderful blog post on the font creation process. Written by Jeremy Mickel abouth the creation of his first typeface, Router, it’s an incredibly detailed (hell, it has references) and fascinating look at the creative process.

Recommended.

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(This entry has been cross-posted at Tomorrow’s News, Tomorrow’s Journalists.)

Bankruptcy, business models, downsizing, start-ups- they’re all I’m getting in my RSS feeds. And yes, it’s important for young journalists to stay on top of these developments.

But let’s get some perspective here- that’s business, not journalism.

Equally, in discussing how new technologies such as Twitter and blogging and user-generated content can make journalism better, it’s far too easy to (erroneously) jump to the conclusion that they are making journalism better. It’s not a given fact. It’s all about how these new technologies are applied and utilised: the simple action of using them in an unintelligent manner doesn’t help readers, and it certainly doesn’t help reporters.

What this boils down to is that “new media” is not really about content, but it’s a delivery system for content. That’s an important distinction, because the nature of modern media is such that anyone can make use of these delivery systems. The advantage of the professional press lies in the ability to generate cutting-edge, professional content using skills specifically honed for that purpose. I guess what I’m saying is that the ability to propagate content instantaneously world-wide is being used as a crutch- the focus is no longer on generating the best content you possibly can, but on publishing that content in the most effective manner possible. And what we need is some balance.

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The Dublin-based office of The Brand Union gets the nod for being the force behind two successful redesigns receiving “distinction” status from the 2009 ReBrand awards.

The excellent redesigns in question are the much-needed National Lottery and GAA brands. It’s a really interesting read, too, as the Rebrand sites linked to show the before and after stages, in addition to materials like colour palettes and website implementation.

Thanks to @lirmac for the retweet that pointed this out.

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A quick look at today’s Sunday Independent demonstrates a great subtle use of editorial control and suggestion. There are three stories on the page: “Lenihan admits VAT error cost us €700m”, “Former FF adviser predicts June 5 general election”, and “RTE tells Nob Nation ‘go easy’ on Cowen over personal jibes.”

Each of these stories is reasonably newsworthy and decently written (though I’m not sure about “Embattled Finance Minister” as an opening- but, the Sindo does use tabloid-isms) but it’s the editorial control here that’s most interesting- the juxtaposition of all three elements together on the main page. The first two are easily front-page stories, but the third- internal wrist-slapping for dome personal attacks in RTÉ- really isn’t, in my opinion, front-page material. Other options included gang attacks, “Armed gang tie up post office owner”, Declan Ganley running for Europe, etc. But, its inclusion creates a staunchly anti-Fianna Fáil front page. On a casual glance, many readers might assume that the RTÉ story is somehow censorship-related (though the text makes it clear that it’s a solely internal affair, with no government pressure).

So what’s going on here? As far as I’m aware, the Sindo used to be pro-FF. Are they just appealing to the lowest common denominator, as their sister publication Herald AM does? Or is this just a once-off coincidence? I’d be surprised fi the latter were true, as this type of placement strikes me as obvious and intentional.

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