I am having trouble getting this text into the diary � the line dropped out when I had already written a fair amount earlier. Just to explain in case there is a certain tone to this piece.

Net-marketing with kwase-kwaza.org continues as a major activity. Peter C and I both were linked with www.autoindustry.co.uk which grew pretty strongly in terms of volumes. We kept thinking that it wouldn�t sustain exponential growth but each period it grew by a significant percentage. I went on an Institute of Marketing course on net-marketing at an early stage in this project. About 10-15 years ago I did some TV response advertising on quite a grand scale and I was also responsible for marketing at the Civil Service College. I did some teaching, wrote part of a textbook etc. So marketing is one of my fun subjects � partly because they way it combines art and science for want of more accurate terms.

The lesson from IoM confirmed by autoindustry were that content builds volume. There is loads of interesting current content about the UK autoindustry � most people�s image of the industry is completely at odds with reality. Also there are researchers and consultancies putting stuff up on the net all the time. It�s a matter of finding ways of continually pulling new content into the site. Then when that�s in place it�s a matter of getting the URL round to interested parties with a �come and have a look� message. On top of that we did some brand building � so whenever we did a conference or other suitable event we put up the autoindustry logo alongside the DTI squiggle and the IF logo � over this time the IF brand was gradually building on the basis of �real world� activities.

The other thing � essential to brand building and part of the IF philosophy � is continuity of purpose. It seems most website builders start with unreal expectations of the medium and give up too quickly. Provided the content is there the way to build site volume is to keep on putting the same proposition in as many different contexts and fora for a as possible. We ended up with good volumes on autoindustry from all over the world � just what is needed in terms of our objectives of getting a more modern view of the UK autoindustry. I could say more about segmentation.

Anyway that�s what we�ve started on with kwase-kwaza.org. The content seems to be OK but we want an experience where there is always something new and quirky on the site. A good example of this is �African First Ladies�. A news item has appeared about the wives of African heads of state starting an initiative. I mailed this to Peter C expecting he would know more � indeed he does and has a contact quite close to the group who he is sounding out. So the First Ladies initiative is up on the site � giving it currency � and we are building some proprietary info as well for subsequent use.

I am a fan of what Helen Epstein writes about AIDS � I have mailed the New York Review of Books about permission to reprint her latest article � which they gave really quickly. I actually want to contact her and so I was hacking around in Google to see where I would get to. I found a webmagazine from Canada where there was an article also commending Epstein�s stuff � I looked at the mag and saw that it seemed to be in tune and so I mailed it. Sure enough I got a fast reply suggesting a telephone interview.

All of this is about energy and faith � you have to keep on pumping out feelers and suggestions, knowing that there is a risk of being ignored , rejected or whatever and that from time to time you will get a hit. The smart bit is to do enough feedback analysis to refine the �emission� element. I suppose this all goes back to my mass media days when TV would �broadcast� messages � but you were always trying to buy slots which had a high proportion of the demographic that you were after eg late night films and documentaries.