Mar 16 2021
Which supporters first adopted “Blue Moon” as their fans anthem? Both Crewe Alexandra or Manchester City claim it, and it’s a disputed assertion in Wikipedia. My friend Charlie Morris (another London-based Crewe Alexandra supporter, who also grew up in Cheshire; also an ex-FT journalist and author of Generation Game, an excellent memoir about being a …
Jul 20 2020
An email landed in my inbox this morning announcing that it was a year since my first Parkrun. It motivated me to write about my past year in running, and to ponder on volunteer communities. I am a late convert to running, though I ran a lot in my teens (I did some cross-country for …
May 30 2019
News today (see The Guardian, The Drum, for example) that marketing agency Leo Burnett Tailor Made (part of the multinational Publicis marketing and public relations agency group) has manipulated Wikipedia on behalf of its client, outdoor apparel manufacturer The North Face, has spectacularly backfired. The North Face has been forced to apologise for its campaign, …
Oct 22 2018
Last week saw the launch of ‘Platinum’, a book celebrating 70 years of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR). The book includes 45 essays providing an insight into contemporary PR practice, alongside the history of the formation and development of the CIPR. Written by a diverse group of practitioners, working in a broad range …
Sep 25 2017
According to a Designing Buildings analysis of six million pieces of data, the knowledge framework underpinning the construction industry is no longer fit for purpose. Designing Buildings Wiki has undertaken what it says is the “first ever comprehensive mapping of construction industry knowledge”. It analysed data relating to its 5,000 articles, looking at the popularity …
Dec 02 2016
The English football sexual abuse scandal is being extensively covered in newspapers and on TV and radio. It is also being captured in Wikipedia articles; articles about organisations or individuals involved are being widely read. Wikipedia statistics can help indicate interest in a subject, but care is needed in editing articles relating to an ongoing …
Feb 19 2016
Sometime earlier this month, I passed a Wikipedia milestone of sorts: I submitted my 20,000th edit. I started editing the English Wikipedia 12 years, four months and 16 days ago (there is a handy counter on my user page that tells me this). As I noted on my 10th anniversary, my first edit was a …
Sep 23 2015
The Institution of Civil Engineers has become the latest supporter of the Designing Buildings Wiki.* Launched in 2012 (see my November 2012 post and February 2013 follow-up), Designing Buildings Wiki is an industry-wide endeavor to share best practice, promote innovation and break down single-discipline barriers. Just like Wikipedia, anyone can access, create and edit articles, …
Jun 21 2015
Photographs including modern buildings and other creative works may fall foul of new European Parliament copyright proposals. New constraints on ‘freedom of panoroma’ may stop PR businesses using photos and videos taken in public places for professional purposes, including reuse on social media. Do you take photographs on your foreign holidays? Perhaps share some of …
Jan 05 2015
An unsubstantiated addition to a little-watched Wikipedia article can quickly become accepted as ‘fact’. Having neglected Wikipedia for a while, I got down to some serious editing yesterday, starting an article on a firm of consulting engineers, Sir M MacDonald & Partners (since 1989 part of the Mott MacDonald international multidisciplinary consultancy). While searching for …
