At a recent meeting I found myself the only media-type in a room of non-media charity folk. One bright spark innocently asked if I was the Siobhan Sharpe of Shelter Scotland. Although a catchy title, I was flabbergasted.
If you who didn’t watch the BBC’s mockumentary Twenty Twelve, Siobhan’s the excitable, but ultimately clueless Head of Brand at PR company Perfect Curve.
Here’s her take on the digital strategy for the Olympics (or should that be Jubilympics?)
You get the idea.
With one-liners including: “Guys we are where we are with this, and that’s never a good place to be” you can see why I was somewhat confused by the comparison.
But I was not surprised.
PR is often misunderstood and although the Perfect Curve motley crew leave us in fits of laughter, they do PR professionals no favours.
Nevertheless, the off-the-cuff remark got me thinking: what would Shelter Scotland’s PR activity look like if Siobhan was at the helm? Would our two campaigns which have appeared in the media in the last year have achieved the same outcomes towards helping those in housing need? What do you think?
1. The 2012 homelessness commitment dare I say would have become the ‘Jubimittment’. However unlike the Jubilympics, the 2012 commitment is real, it’s here, it’s now and it’s going to make history. The commitment represents the most significant landmark in Shelter Scotland’s campaigning life and is at the cutting edge of progressive homelessness reform, which will see every unintentionally homeless person have the legal right to a home. Whey-da-go Scotland.
2. Reclaim Your Fees: Shelter Scotland’s brilliant campaign to stop tenants being ripped off by unscrupulous letting agents may have been re-branded to something ridiculous (Reclaimpics?). Hopefully though the end result would have been the same. The announcement from the Scottish Government last month clarifying the Rent [Scotland Act] 1984 making it absolutely clear to tenants, landlords, their agents and the courts that all charges above rent and a reasonable, refundable deposit are and will remain illegal is just one of many examples of Shelter Scotland’s totes amazeballs influence.
Follow Siobhan on Twitter – @perfect_siobhan or for a more accurate representation of what goes on, follow @shelterscotland