2013-05-20T03:09:59-04:00 Mina Zaher http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/index.php?author=mina-zaher Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Mina Zaher Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2270738 2012-12-10T10:07:44-05:00 2013-02-09T05:12:01-05:00

Mina Zaher http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mina-zaher/
Given that this was my first weekend off in several weeks and the last thing I wanted to do was bore someone else with talk of work, I kept my answer brief.

"I work in social media," I replied.

I had expected a polite comment or maybe two, depending on how interested she was in talking to me. What I hadn't expected was the anger that came from my response.

At first I had to address the age-old myth that 'twittering', a familiar term amongst non-tweeters, wasn't solely about sharing tedious updates such as her example, 'picking her nose'.

I explained that a lot of employers today assume candidates applying for a job have a digital footprint whilst using the value of LinkedIn and one's Klout score as examples.

She replied by saying, "So it's like knowing Powerpoint."

"Powerpoint?" I replied.

"Yes, Powerpoint." She enunciated very clearly. "Back in my day, knowing Powerpoint could get you a job. Not anymore because everyone knows how to use it."

I was confused so I repeated myself as I listened to her follow suit. We were going around in circles. Knowing how to use Powerpoint was being compared to digital sharing and social networking. Was I missing something?

So I tried another tactic. I tried to explain the concept of social networking by using an example of closed-school offline networking as an example. When working at a national newspaper years ago, I remember someone telling me that there was a time that the best way to get a job at this organisation was to visit the pub across the road and get talking to people. It was about being in the right place at the right time and as in a lot of industries, knowing the right people.

Today, social networking is a free for all. The digital landscape doesn't limit itself by defining boundaries. If you have a voice and something interesting to say then people will want to listen to you and your audience will develop.

"So if everyone's doing it, what's the point? It's not worth anything," she continued.

She didn't accept 'the best rise to the top' or 'there are plenty of doctors around too, it doesn't mean their skills are devalued'. Admittedly, the latter point was very tenuous and sounded quite desperate. I just didn't know what else to say given that by this time, I had to watch her wagging her finger at me as she made impressions of me, as if I were a giddy schoolgirl whose manner was vague. I was trying to keep my cool especially when I heard her turn to the person on her right and tell him, "They're not real people you know. All these people on social media, they're not real people."

I later found out that she was a housewife, living in a Hampshire village, and I wondered where her reaction to social media was coming from. Was she reliving the 1950s hysteria of the body snatchers coming to get us? Did she think social media was a conspiracy to dehumanise society?

Her verbal attack continued for a short while longer and admittedly became tedious. Later I found out that she had gulped three large glasses of white wine whilst everyone else sipped their glasses of champagne before dinner. Meanwhile, I knew I was fighting a losing battle, trying to explain the difference between the one-sided nature of advertising compared to the two-way interaction between brands and customers with social media.

"It's not so bad because nowadays the consumer influences brands more so than ever. Social media has given customers a voice and brands have to listen to them," I continued.

But it wasn't until I told her that I still wrote letters by hand and that I remember how letters were replaced by emails and that now, my friends and I rarely email each other, that she seemed to have calmed down. I seemed to have demonstrated that on some level I was still human, that I wasn't all machine.

And the funny thing about the whole scenario was that when I managed to extract myself from the discussion, her husband on my right asked me what I did for a living soon after. I took a deep breath and said "social media". I braced myself as I listened to him tell me about a friend of his whose start-up company, which monitors brand mentions and provides sentimental analysis, was doing well. At this point we embarked on a discussion about the importance of monitoring and I wondered if he'd ever told his wife about his friend. I'm not so sure I would.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2073713 2012-11-05T11:43:56-05:00 2013-01-05T05:12:01-05:00

Mina Zaher http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mina-zaher/
A couple of weeks ago Paul Turner-Mitchell linked my post 'What's Happening To The King's Road?' to his blog on The Guardian. His headline was 'An Urgent Cry For Help From Indie Fashion Stores' and it drew our attention to the desperate state of UK's independent fashion shops.

Whilst it is hardly news that general trading conditions are under much strain, Turner-Mitchell also looked at the injustice of business rates within the retail industry as well as the nail in the coffin for independent shops: the withdrawal of credit insurance which brands have relied on.

Last week's news that the revaluation of business rates is now to be postponed means that there is no imminent solution for the indies' urgent problem. Businesses will be paying rates based on 2008 property rent, when the market was almost at its peak, until 2017.

But is revaluating business rates the only way to help save independent shops? I asked Fifi Wilson, owner of fashion boutiques in Chelsea and Edinburgh.

Fifi suggested rent reviews "so that in hard times rent can be reduced as well as remain static or be increased." She also pointed out that "VAT needs to be reduced immediately." She explains, "we [independent retailers] did not increase our prices as it would have been counterproductive and prevented sales. And so we have swallowed yet another extra cost in this extremely difficult climate."

Fifi continued, "when the congestion charge for Chelsea was abolished last year the parking increased by a pound an hour. Many retailers feel that the parking costs are off-putting for customers. This is probably where large shopping malls score. And there is so much the government could do to help. For example, as in France and other parts of Europe, Sales should only be allowed a couple of times a year for specified periods of time to prevent this discount culture. My partner Jay and I had an idea of chain shops giving something back by sponsoring an Indie. You could have Starbucks investing some of the corporation tax they have saved into some local coffee shops, Topshop in boutiques, Waitrose in small grocery shops etc. After all, it is us that offer choice, quality and have a passion for what we are doing that transcends financial gain. We are a great testing ground for larger establishments, keeping things fresh and innovative with new products and designs."

Personally I like the idea of sponsorship but there is also the issue of how much corporation tax international companies, such as Starbucks, are actually paying to the UK economy. For some cynical reason, I question the possibility for altruism in the commercial sector.

My final point is the idea that landlords would rather keep their units empty, of which there are quite a few along the King's Road, than lower the rent. Their supposed argument is that they don't want to lower the value of their property. But aren't they just forcing themselves into a corner? Surely they would want to contribute to the King's Road being a shopper's paradise rather than make a Faustian pact with the chains? What about helping to recreate an identity for Chelsea so that there are more shops like Fifi Wilson, Harvest, Austique, Ad Hoc, Claudia Sebire and the rebranded Ross X Bute, formerly known as Anonymous to name but a few? At least then, there would be a reason for shoppers to head to SW3 instead of the West End. Business would be booming and everyone would be winning.

Or is this merely a utopian idea based on the nostalgia that King's Road was once the capital of cool? Just as some businesses have to accept that the digital age is threatening their existence, do we as shoppers have to accept a homogenous retail landscape? Or is there actually something we can do to make the high street a friendlier place for independents?]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1550219 2012-05-28T08:51:48-04:00 2012-07-28T05:12:10-04:00

Mina Zaher http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mina-zaher/
It is just - and here I begin - there was one scene in particular that bothered me. If you have seen the film, you might know which I am referring to. It's the one in which Sam and Suzy are standing by the lake and are having a sexual awakening. She tells him he's hard and he touches her underdeveloped breasts, which are covered by a training bra, as she reassures him that they'll grown soon. And herein lies my problem with the film.

In film reviews these two characters are described as teenagers but in the movie, it is clearly stated that Sam is 12. I cannot remember Suzy's age. But in the light of Sam's, it is almost as if these critics refuse to acknowledge that both characters are simply children.

In general I found the kids behaving like adults endearing in this film: in fact the humour of an adult-child is a classic dramatic device. Only recently I enjoyed yet again the role reversal of adults and children in Monkey Business whereupon the grown-ups embody child-like roles and one child becomes the voice of reason.

In Moonrise Kingdom, the child as an adult takes the audience in its role as the voyeur a step further or perhaps too far. And I cannot help but wonder if images of Suzy sitting in a tent in her underwear and Sam lying back on the rocks in his pants were found on a home computer, would its owner be in trouble?

Cinema doesn't have to be easy viewing. Great films draw us in emotionally and challenge us. Throughout the film, Wes Anderson even makes us aware of our role as the voyeur as we peek through a pair of binoculars and are firmly placed in the film. And when the narrator turns to the camera and speaks to us, we could be forgiven in asking 'who is watching who?' But when challenging the audience's cinema-going experience, isn't there a fine line between a misjudged scene and getting it quite wrong?

I don't believe in censorship. I have moments in my life where I am grateful that I have grown up in a country and at time where I haven't had to experience my voice being suppressed. If I have held back, it is only because of my own personal development and not because of any social or political dictatorship.

Film is also where I have gone to escape. It doesn't matter what problems I have faced in the real world. When I sit in the cinema everything disappears, if only for a couple of hours. Film also allows us to explore another side to our psyche or emotions that lie deep within. And through history, it has held a mirror up to our status quo and reflected the economic and social developments of our times.

So I'm in a quandary why if Facebook is adamant that it is not opening up its social networking platform to under 13s as an ethical code of conduct, why does the film industry think it is acceptable to place under-13s in sexualised roles? Is it one rule for Hollywood and another for social media?

I understand that these two industries cannot be directly correlated. In cinema, the audience is the spectator and the content is the spectacle whereas in social media, its broadcasting platforms are interactive so there is more of a reason to protect a child. But surely the representation of individuals is also valid? Or doesn't it matter because the child cannot be directly approached?

As I left the cinema, I wondered if this particular scene in Moonrise Kingdom needed to be included in the final cut. Could the filmmaker have made the same point about the characters' relationship without it? Or did the story really need it?

What if there was another way to explore the children's sexual awakening? If not subtly between the two child characters then perhaps through the regression of the adults as explored in Monkey Business? Or am I just being a prude and should I learn to accept that today children are not just growing up quickly, that we should simply be comfortable in perceiving them in adult roles?]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1273228 2012-02-13T11:15:36-05:00 2012-04-14T05:12:01-04:00

Mina Zaher http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mina-zaher/
Upon arriving, I was pleasantly surprised by the sight of the filled room. Not knowing a single soul, I first introduced myself to London Beauty Queen who had created and organised this event single handedly. I have only admiration for this beauty blogger because I know how difficult these things can be.

Last year, I had been responsible for setting up monthly tweet ups for the #scriptchat screenwriting community, which I had started with four other writers who were based in the US: Jeanne Bowerman, Jamie Livingston, Zac Sanford and Kim Garland. A year later, the meet ups are still happening but now a team of three writers are working behind the scenes to make them happen in London: Teenie Russell, Taro Russell and Alison Parker.

Like TOWIB, #scriptchat's events are non-commercial and were created for the benefit of the community. So given that we were all supposed to be in it together, it was quite a surprise to witness, from a distance, a backlash following Saturday's event.

From a personal viewpoint, the day went smoothly. Granted, the first group of girls I introduced myself to didn't really want to engage in conversation. It truly felt like the first day of school and whilst I may not have remembered their names, I still remember their uninterested faces. Thank goodness for the other bloggers who were both friendly and fun to meet.

The day started with a PR panel who were available to answer bloggers' questions. Areas such as what PRs looked for in a blog as well as the nature of their business were discussed. The roles of bloggers' agencies were also explored: a topic I'd like to research further before writing about it.

Next up, a couple of representatives from ebuzzing discussed the opportunities for monetising one's blog: something I am not yet interested in but nonetheless found fascinating from a business level. For example, banner advertising blindness was discussed in the light of the growing value of carefully targeted blog posts: brands are keen to get their message across.

And after a wigs demonstration from Annabelle's Wigs, I joined a Q&A panel which included London Beauty Queen and Get Lippie. By this time, the room was now half empty or half full - and there was a somewhat relaxed atmosphere.

The event ended with a drink in the hotel bar and was followed up by the loveliest tweets from bloggers I had met that day. It was great to hear that they found the bloggers Q&A helpful and informative.

So where exactly is the problem? Well, since Saturday there has been a small backlash: for a fiver, we were located in a hotel conference room and were watered with tea and coffee and fed scones and cupcakes. And of course, we were placed in the same room as industry professionals who we had direct access to. Not bad going really, for a fiver. But I guess some of the attendees wanted more. Perhaps free perfume or handbag? And of course, complimentary lunch. There were also issues from Saturday which individuals didn't agree with. But instead of opening the field up for discussion, social media suddenly became unsociable.

None of these issues had actually bothered me until I spotted a tweet from someone who had started to receive backlash emails and is now considering not attending another event. Given my experience with #scriptchat whereby the members of the community are beyond supportive to each other and genuine friendships have been formed, I was left wondering about the blogging community. What was it really about?

I am also starting to glimpse why perhaps PRs struggle with the notion of getting to know bloggers if some of them are so clearly difficult to please. But of course, these folks are only the (albeit vocal) minority.

Whilst I enjoyed connecting with bloggers I had met on Saturday, I struggled yesterday with the identity of being a blogger. I blog because it's compulsive. At heart, I am a writer and there is nothing more satisfying and immediate than publishing a blog post. I don't care about petty politics, especially if detracts me from blogging.

Today, I feel differently. Instead of feeling disillusioned. I feel focused. I am looking forward to developing relationships with likeminded bloggers, especially those I met on Saturday. And as for the haters, they're not worth thinking about.

I just hope that London Beauty Queen listens to all the positive feedback from Saturday and continues her great work.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1221979 2012-01-22T10:52:11-05:00 2012-03-23T05:12:01-04:00

Mina Zaher http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mina-zaher/
But as a few websites breathe a momentary sigh of relief, I couldn't help but wonder what if SOPA and PIPA were both voted through: what would the world be like without bloggers? After all, bloggers rely on social media networks as their channels of distribution. Of course, the answer isn't so simple because the blogger comes in different styles and forms. Their function within the social media landscape isn't singular and their reputation amongst the PR and marketing industries shouldn't be generalised.

So who are the bloggers out there?

Well, there's the hobby blogger:
Perhaps the world wouldn't miss him or her as they secretly blog from their bedroom about what they care most about in the world: fashion, beauty, restaurants or in Bad News Hughes' case, the minutiae of his daily life. But successful blogs have to come from somewhere and in most circumstances they usually start off as a seed of inspiration from someone's gut.

Concepts as simple as what someone has worn each day or how to put make-up on have become internet sensations. And in such cases, bloggers have given up their day jobs because their hobbies have suddenly taken them beyond their wildest dreams.

Without these bloggers, readers wouldn't be able to seek out niche content that escape the mainstream trap of being samey. Magazines need a high level of traffic to please their advertisers. Blogs don't, which means they can be a little more interesting and a lot more original.

The opportunist blogger:
Through the social media grapevine, I have heard grumbles from other bloggers about those who have uploaded products meant for reviewing onto ebay. I have also been on the receiving end, managing a social media account and being approached by bloggers requesting products to review. I like to believe that their intentions are honourable as I direct them over to the PR executive in charge of the account. In the meantime, I continue to observe their blogging activity and in some cases, start to build online relationships with them.

True, there is the blogger who is out to scoff as many freebies as they can. Their online socialite persona may be about dining at the best places and drinking in the most salubrious haunts but each time you see them, they whistle a different tune. They expect you to buy them drinks as if you were an extension of the PR agency they managed to 'blag' for that night.

Businesses of course would miss this type of blogger. I mean, who else would they have to promote their product for the price of a meal? A good blogger is influential and if people are listening to them, then it's a win win situation for the business and blogger.

The social media savvy blogger:
This savvy blogger sees their work as a piece of marketing. They have an agenda and are working to engage their readers because of the bigger picture; be it for their career or perhaps a book they are writing.

My favourite blogs are those which writers have developed a fictional character for. Maybe it's because writers understand the process of engagement clearer than the average person or because I am a writer too and admire the success of their venture. My favourite blog in this category is The Death Guide to Life by @Its_Death.

Blogs have become an essential self-promotional tool, especially for those who have the ability to think outside the box. They have given geeks and writers alike, a global platform on which to stand on. And without these individuals, the internet would simply be dominated by the monotone ringing of the corporate voice.

The business blogger:
But blogs aren't just for hobbies and fictional characters. They have also become a business-marketing tool. Websites nowadays need to feel fresh and organic. They're not static platforms anymore. They're alive and evolving thanks to the blog, which also helps with the website's
SEO.

True, business blogs could be used as a form of online newsletter but the more interesting blogs are dynamic and have content that is relevant and entertaining - as well as informative and brand reinforcing. A blog also allows a business to connect with its customers or readers by developing an online community within their platform, through comments and author responses.

So, rather than silencing these dynamic voices, perhaps we should all be working towards a more integrated solution and realise that once you have opened Pandora's box, it is now virtually impossible to close.
]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1194070 2012-01-09T11:32:59-05:00 2012-03-10T05:12:01-05:00

Mina Zaher http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mina-zaher/
So when is the relationship good for bloggers? When the PR involved remembers that the blogger is also a person. They don't simply see bloggers as promotion tools. They think long term and about building relationships with them. And like any healthy relationship, they nurture them. Sometimes we go for a drink. The other day I had lunch with one. It's not about discussing anything current but simply getting to know each other and who knows, maybe preparing for the possibility of a future together. Needless to say, this is my favourite kind of relationship because the socialising happens offline as it does online. Or to put it simply, it is very real.

And what about the bad? Imagine dating someone who only calls you up when they want one thing. You could call this a booty call I suppose. Or perhaps they want something else. Either way it's one sided because when you send them an email, they ignore it. Or when you express a sentiment, they express condolences but later ignore the false promise they had just made to you. Given these circumstances, most people would dump the other half or else the situation could become very unhappy for them. Yet this type of relationship isn't restricted to the bedroom, it also exists within the social media arena.

I remember once receiving an invite to review a restaurant, which was accompanied by an apology for not responding to an email I had sent a short while back about a press release the PR had initially sent me. The review was arranged for the day before my holiday, much to my reluctance and when I arrived at the restaurant, I discovered that the food festival, which I was supposed to be covering wasn't actually happening until the following week. Needless to say, I didn't hang around and chose somewhere more salubrious to eat that evening. The next day, on my way to the airport, I wrote a polite but firm email expressing my views on the situation. I received huge apologies back as well as the promise of a meal and a hamper when I returned. But after forwarding my details, I didn't hear anything else. Well not until the next press release was due. This time it was for the re-launch of a pub which I was invited to but didn't attend. Whilst I am happy to accept invitations from other members of this PR firm, my relationship with the individual has soured. After all, I've had my fair share of bad relationships and now I hear alarm bells when I'm being taken advantage of. Plus the PR is getting paid a healthy sum to get someone like me to write about their restaurant. So why should I contribute to their coffers whilst being treated like a booty call?

As for the incompetent PRs, I'm just not so sure they know what they're doing. They're the ones who include my Twitter account in tweets for an RT. Yet they don't even consider the notion of building a relationship with me; be it good or bad. They don't even respond to my tweets, which I address to them. And they're the ones who expect me to jump to, to write a piece for them irrespective of what my blog is actually about. They're also the ones who ask me to consider interviewing someone or writing a review, only to never get back to me. In this case, the communication is broken. And ironically, the two essential services a PR provides for their client isn't extended to us mere bloggers, which makes them short sighted.

Social media is still in its infancy. We still don't know where it is heading and which platforms will have so-called longevity. Already trends for 2012 are being discussed and the likes of Pin Interest and Instagram are being rumoured as the next big thing with mobile social networking leading the way. If this were the case, surely it would be in the PR's best interest to develop healthy relationships with those at the forefront of social networking: the ones who are actually doing it. By that I mean us bloggers.

Next week, I'll be taking turning the spotlight onto 'us bloggers'.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.1158091 2011-12-19T19:00:00-05:00 2012-02-18T05:12:02-05:00

Mina Zaher http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mina-zaher/ King's Road's Rock! - on a whim, following an ice cream with a friend in Battersea Park. It was the summer of 2010 when I was thinking about a novel I had wanted to write and about establishing a readership for my story. A brand new Twitter account and blog sprang to mind and both were swiftly set up. The focus was to be Chelsea because this was the setting for my story but other than that I had no idea what I was going to blog about.

By no means was I a stranger to blogging. I had been writing a personal blog about my journey as a screenwriter for the past year. It had become successful in its own right and I was already writing guest posts for other, more established websites. But I was tired of self-reflection and instead, I wanted to reach out and grab the public's attention. I wanted to be commercial.

But before I could set up my blog a local website asked to meet me after seeing my new Twitter account appear. Looking back, I guess I was being sussed out. Who was this new kid on the block? What was her intention? It didn't matter that I had lived in Chelsea my entire life and was simply looking to explore my passion. In their eyes, I could have been a possible competitor. But no guns were drawn. Instead, we had agreed that I was going to blog for this local business website and provide them with content on a weekly basis (for free).

In the meantime, I experimented with side projects: blogging short stories set in Chelsea and about local cocktail haunts. Then one day, it dawned on me. The blog posts I was writing for the other website weren't being promoted on Twitter and following casual discussions with the editor, I started to wonder if he had actually read any of the recent posts, which I had uploaded. I was also developing relationships with PRs for my research whilst introducing the PRs to the website's owners. And then alarm bells started to ring. What was I doing? There was a clash of interest here. I was providing content for a website which promoted businesses that had paid to be on there. So this meant either I was writing about a business that was paying to be written about, or I was setting up PRs for a possible business transaction each time the website's owners asked to be formally introduced. I felt like a Chelsea pimp. I mean, where was the journalistic integrity in what I was doing? Then I remembered, I wasn't a journalist, I was a mere blogger.

So last Christmas, I decided to go it alone and remove myself from the commercial arena. I decided to start my own blog and keep it fun. Little did I realise, I was about to enter the competitive playing field that belonged to the PRs. This time, it was their game.

When I set up King's Road Rocks! I wasn't looking for freebies; neither did I have a business plan. I simply wanted to blog about Chelsea.

In fact I remember an editor for a local magazine once remarking on the amount of freebies I must have been receiving. I looked at her quizzically and replied, sometimes. But as the year developed, I started to realise what she meant. PRs were starting to contact me, asking if I wanted to try their restaurant or go to their launch party. I've also accepted discounts and have received complimentary cocktails: pure joy when you think about my original intention when starting my blog. Yet, as much as I have enjoyed the odd freebie, I realised that there was another side to this whole game. It wasn't the dark side. It was more pragmatic. It was business.

The blogger provides exposure for the brand. It's that simple. It is somewhat free advertising for the PRs and as the journalistic landscape develops, the blogger's clout is gaining weight. Recently, I read a post by Disneyrollergirl in which she explains the shift in attitudes towards her as a blogger. She explains that today PR companies are developing their strategies to include various social media platforms with the primary goal of creating a buzz around their brand. Certainly these are interesting times for any blogger, and how they choose to develop their relationship with PRs is up to them.]]>