It was our regular autumn reception last week which brought together MSPs, journalists, policy thinkers and business leaders who made new contacts, renewed old acquaintances and chatted about what’s happening in Scotland right now. In between drinks, canapés and lively chat, our hundred plus guests were also shown first-hand how digital tactics and online social networks can help them communicate their messages.
Our colleagues from the Digital team came up with a great way of showcasing how businesses as well as politicians and campaigners can get involved in online conversations with their target audiences, be they voters or customers. During the reception we ran a rolling presentation showing the many ways people are now using social networking tools and raised more than a few eyebrows with some staggering statistics about the growth of YouTube, Twitter and Facebook over the last year.
Did you know that if YouTube was a country, it would be the third most populated country in the world? Or that Facebook grew by 100 million users in 9 months? Neither did most of our guests and despite some initial scepticism, especially from political quarters, we managed to convince a few of them that they should let us into their offices to talk to them in more detail about making the most of these new opportunities.
I had an interesting chat with some of the Conservative MSP group about how they think Cameron is doing as we approach the next election and whether they really will win any more seats in Scotland this time around. There was also a lot of talk among the media and other guests about the decision to release Megrahi, which has sent images of Scotland, very little favourable, around the world, 21 years after that dreadful December night.
It was also interesting to hear the views of people on the Scottish Government’s new legislative programme – it would appear as though the Bills on Alcohol and the Referendum will be the most controversial. The budget process could again face a tricky passage through Parliament, but opposition parties seem willing to engage.
Networking Event
As ever, we had to usher the stragglers out in the nicest possible way at the end of the evening. Along with their many thanks for a great night, some were heard to say that autumn had definitely now arrived as they had now been to a Fleishman-Hillard Edinburgh event, which always heralds the start of the autumn season.
