The BBC is test driving this incredible SaaS search tool for searching its archives. I’ve been diving around making comments that talk to the commercialisation of the BBC at Drew Benvie‘s place and Neville Hobson‘s.
Using the search facility puts a whole new meaning to the term research, especially when it comes to accountants. It’s important we understand this as a profession from a communications perspective. If you run a BBC search on my name – Dennis Howlett – you’ll find a single reference. OK – so you can’t see the clip but I can tell you that was the hardest £100 I ever lost money on.
Sure, the BBC paid me £50 for turning up but it cost me £150 to get there! I understand why folks turn up at FlogIt! in the near certain knowledge their £30 trinket will make money. But I digress.
What you won’t know is we were filming near Heathrow and part way through I had an attack of the giggles. Do you remember the skit on Yes Minister when Paul Eddington was being filmed for a pre-recorded broadcast and ended up pulling all those silly faces?. It’s true when they do this stuff. If they ever get around to making available my 90 seconds of free advertising for Sage then you know a bit about what happened. This has a serious side:
Do a search on ‘chartered accountants‘ or ‘Eric Anstee‘ or ‘arctic systems.‘ Now do you get my point? We’re irrelevant without exposure to media. The blogging medium gives us a chance to shine. If we get really clever and add in podcasts and vidcasts then maybe as Hugh says: “Why do I need it. I have a blog.”
Sure – but the BBC remains a vast, useful catalogue of social history from which we can draw and make useful comparison – in real-time. So for those who worry about the validity of my arguments around SaaS, check out searches on Larry Ellison.
Technorati Tags: accountancy, accounting, blog_marketing, influence, SaaS
