This week the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre has called for all social networks to adopt its online abuse reporting button which allows young people to report online abuse and danger straight to the police. Bebo and MSN Live Messenger are among the hundreds of sites who have already added the button whereas a couple of the major networks such as Facebook and MySpace are yet to follow suit.

Facebook advises that it hasn’t adopted the button because its own system is robust but is taking extra measures in this area by urging the Government to create a way for information on registered sex offenders to be securely shared with public chat sites and social networks, so they can remove them.

A Facebook spokeswoman said, “If we can get this data from authorities we commit to removing registered sex offfenders from Facebook within days.” (nma.co.uk 11th March 2010)

It’s unfortunate that these measures are necessary, but good to see that social networks are taking action to make the online space a safe place for young people to occupy and engage.

Over 65% of products now include the benefits of Community Trade giving customers high quality products as well as the opportunity to demonstrate their ethical purchasing power.

To celebrate Fair Trade Fortnight (22nd February – 7th March) we were given the extremely rare opportunity to invite some of our beauty bloggers to meet the Brazil nut oil and sesame seed oil suppliers for The Body Shop, who visited from Peru and Nicaragua to share their experiences.  

Gaston, who works for the cooperative that supply The Body Shop Brazil nut oil, described the positive effects of trading with The Body Shop and the environmental story behind the ingredient, whilst Nick, the representative from the sesame seed oil supplier gave a true insight into how trading with The Body Shop has benefited local communities and what it means to them.   

It was amazing to meet the people behind the products and for the bloggers to hear about Community Trade from the horse’s mouth. Some of the products were also showcased through relaxing hand massages and nail treatments which were very popular!

Nick, the sesame seed oil supplier from Nicaragua

Gaston, the Brazil nut oil supplier from Peru

Our beauty blogger friends

From biathlon to bobsleigh; curling to cross-country; skiing to skeleton and snowboarding to ski jumping, the BBC TV team of roving reporters will provide intelligent, informative and exclusive insight on all the action in Canada.

Full details of BBC coverage can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/winterolympics

And you can stay up to date with all the latest news and information via Facebook and Twitter: 

www.facebook.com/bbcwintergames

www.twitter.com/bbcwintergames

Will the winner be Mozart who has had no less than a staggering 20 works in last year’s poll or will it go to one of England’s finest, Edward Elgar? Perhaps James Horner’s exquisite new score from Avatar might make a new appearance towards the top? Or will Vaughan Williams’ stunning Lark Ascending maintain its three year lead at the top? The battle has commenced, so nominate your favourite to decide who is going to win!

Visit www.classicfmhalloffame.co.uk to vote for your favourites. Online voting closes on Sunday so there are only a few days left to vote. The brand new Top 300 will then be revealed on Classic FM over Easter weekend from 2-5 April 2010.

Andy Jarosz, writer and owner of travel blog 501 Places has recently completed a survey of 90 Twitter users who tweet on travel matters and found that the majority had only started tweeting in the last six months.

The survey responders included business owners and directors from both overseas suppliers and UK tour operators, with more than half of the sample group working in paid roles within the travel industry.

Of particular interest is the amount of travelling done by those surveyed with 62% travelling internationally three or more times a year. More than 60% used Twitter to connect with local suppliers, hoteliers or transport companies before they travelled and an amazing 28.8% reported that they made a reservation following an initial contact on Twitter.

This suggests that travellers are starting to move beyond merely looking for information on destinations and services, and are actually making purchasing decisions based on their Twitter conversations. It also shows that brands who are open to engagement with consumers on Twitter are giving themselves a distinct advantage in this increasingly competitive marketplace.

Strictly Social  allows viewers to watch the live show in real time on their computers and, at the same time, comment as they watch and guess the Judges’ scores. In addition to this, fans will be able to give their instant reactions to what they are seeing by pressing emotion buttons such as gasp, boo and wow.

If the majority of the people watching press the wow button a giant ‘wow’ will appear on screen enabling fans to gauge the mood of the rest of the nation watching – impressive stuff! You can even close down the live feed on your computer and play along whilst watching the show on TV. Viewers will be able to watch the show back online whilst seeing these added reactions too.

It’s really good fun so make sure you give it a try!

For more info on the store and campaign visit www.gap1969.com

As we would expect, respondents reported that Web technologies have strengthened their companies’ links to customers, citing blogs, microblogs such as Twitter and social networks as the most important, allowing companies to readily distribute product information, invite customer feedback and encourage participation in the creation of new products.

69% of the 1,700 respondents to the survey also reported that their companies have gained measurable business benefits, including more innovative products and services, more effective marketing, better access to knowledge, lower cost of doing business, and higher revenues.

This survey really highlights the importance of using Web 2.0 technologies, not just on the B2C level that we, at Headstream, are heavily involved in, but also internally and on a B2B level. The opportunities really are endless…

For the full survey summary take a look here

In the summer of 1969, Doris and Don Fisher created Gap with the simple idea of ‘jeans and discs’ and now, 40 years on, Gap is launching a concept store off London’s Carnaby Street to celebrate this heritage.

The store will be open for 19 days and 69 hours and will showcase an extensive range of Gap’s iconic denim styles, limited edition with only 69 pairs in each style. On opening day ONLY there will also be the opportunity to purchase a limited edition pair of Gap (PRODUCT)REDTM rinsed jeans with half of the profits going towards the Global Fund to help eliminate AIDS in Africa.

Designers Pierre Hardy and Albertus Swanepoel have both created bespoke denim pieces for the store and the store will also host the European launch of Pharrell Williams’ new Bionic Gap Collection.

Continuing Gap’s history of creative collaboration, celebrated illustrator and photographer Garance Doré will curate an exhibition of her work for the space and the store will host a selection of breakthrough artists with live acoustic sets including VV Brown and Taio Cruz.

Visit www.gap1969.com to register for more information.
September 10th – October 5th 2009
G7/G8 Kingly Court, Carnaby, London, W1

The piece considers in detail Glastonbury, The Big Chill, Sonisphere, T in the Park, Latitude and our local favourite, the Isle of Wight festival. Weighing up the evidence on the contribution these events make to the local and national tourism economy, key opportunities for festival organizers, tourism-based businesses and local authorities are also identified.

The scale of some of the most popular festivals is huge with all kinds of businesses involved. The amount of money brought in locally can be vast and the Isle of Wight Council estimates a cool £10 million spend from festival visitors alone!

The article concludes that these festivals are one of the good news stories for British tourism and the wider economy as long as the local community and the festival organizers work together proactively.

Over the summer we have been working closely with one of our clients, Red Funnel, to do exactly this by securing coverage for Red Funnel in conjunction with the Isle of Wight Festival and Bestival. Using a number of PR tactics including publicity, competitions, Twitter and Facebook we have built awareness of the festivals online and helped to drive traffic to the Red Funnel site where consumers can find lots of useful information and purchase tickets for the many events taking place on the Island.