How to search Facebook group messages

Hidden in the top right corner is a little magnifying glass

Click and search the message contents for previous discussions and topics

Media Case Study: G Adventures

With the route along the West Coast of Africa becoming more popular with serious adventure cruisers, I sensed a rare story opportunity.

I outlined a media plan to Silversea, Lindblad and G Adventures who were then promoting the itinerary between Cape Town and West Africa.

G Adventures international PR agency, Mulberry Marketing Communications, responded in March 2012 and offered me a confirmed spot on the March 2013 departure based solely on my publication history.

The following publication results have been achieved so far:

Print

• Cruise Passenger Magazine Issue 53 Spirit of Africa
• Courier Mail (QLD) Cruise supp. Unlock the Heart of Africa
• News Ltd Escape (Sunday national papers) Joy found beyond dark past
• Ocean Magazine Issue 50 Through western waters
• Get Up & Go Winter 2014 Africal Idol

 Online

• CNN as part of 10 of the world's most adventurous cruises
• Adelaide Now and Perth Now (News Ltd) Fetish Central via AAP
• Yahoo!7 Go Go West Africa
• Looptail Save the west till last
• Courier Mail, Herald Sun and Daily Telegraph via AAP Premium
• CruisePassenger.com.au MS Expedition review
• Unlock the mysteries of the West African coast on a cruise at: News.com.au | Daily Telegraph | Herald Sun | Adelaide Now  | Courier Mail | Perth Now
• Cruise Weekly Go West Africa and Into Africa
• Expedition Cruising Blog Bad Lands Come Good and daily blog posts (sample)

Radio

• ABC Nightlife (national) 15 mins. with Tony Delroy (air date: 20 Oct 2013)

Tips for DIY press photography (or how not to)

Hey PRs, you want your client portrayed in the best light possible (pun intended) so take a few seconds to think about that pic you are going to send to the world's media.

The image below is exactly how I received it to go with an important media release. But they're all important right?

here is the original image as received

click to enlarge any image

After a quick-and-dirty five minute post-production fix.
But which of your journo friends will be bothered?

Even if you're in a rush, try and find time to tick these boxes.

[] Find even, filtered light ie shade. This may even be inside. Use fill flash if you must.
[] Avoid distracting backgrounds. Compose.
[] Is it a group of four - or two couples? (Or opposition parties?) Make the group.
[] Use best available camera. This was shot on an iPhone 4. Meh.

Then don't send 4MB files to everyone as an unsolicited attachment.

How to search your Facebook timeline

Here's a useful tip for searching your Facebook timeline that I haven't been able to find on any of the forums.

Frustrating isn't it? Trying to find that post you made about cinnamon scones back in 2012. Well, in the absence of a search facility for personal pages, use Google. Just know how to form the right query.

In the Google search box, type the following:

site:facebook.com/username "cinnamon scones"

This should bring up all the posts about this bakery item from your timeline. It's not 100%, because it will only work with 'public' posts indexed by Google, but go ahead, try it. You might be surprised.