July: a month of milestones

Thanks July for finally giving us the start of summer, as well as a monumental month of news. From an historic general election to the Olympics kicking off in true Parisian style, there was no end to the stories that grabbed our attention last month. Here is a snapshot of what caught our eye, as well as some updates from the firslight team.

🗓 The month in review

A self-imploding Tory party, the Lib Dems’…*checks notes*…‘Operation Cinnamon Bun’,  accusations of AI-generated Reform candidates and The Telegraph being pretty unhappy about things not going their way — it's been a chaotic time in British politics.

But we can rest assured that this has not matched the chaos happening across the pond, with an assassination attempt and the sitting President stepping down from the upcoming election. Donald Trump has so far projected himself as the boring candidate whilst Biden tried to convince everyone of his cognitive fitness. The introduction of a younger, more agile candidate in Kamala Harris may serve to flip perceptions. But does she have enough time to convince voters, even if she jumps on the latest pop culture trends? (More on that later).

And talking of chaos, we saw an antivirus software update causing Microsoft devices to crash all over the world, resulting in the biggest global IT outage we've ever seen. With flights grounded and severe disruption affecting everything from hospitals to banks, it highlighted just how pervasive our reliance on technology is, and how easily things can fall apart without it. CrowdStrike not only has a reputation to rebuild but now a lawsuit to tackle too.

🎂 firstlight turns 15

2009 - Obama's inauguration, an economic crisis, the miracle on the Hudson - oh, and the beginning of firstlight. 2024 marks our 15th birthday, so our founder and CEO Paul Davies penned a few words on the firstlight blog to mark the occasion. You can read it in full on our blog here, but here's a brief excerpt:

"I didn’t have a grand plan to try to make firstlight a certain size and I didn’t want to load the business with debt to inflate our worth. Nope, firstlight exists so I can do the kind of work that interests me, for the type of clients that inspire me. 

That hasn’t changed. It’s just that over the last 15 years I’ve been joined by an amazing group of people who share the same philosophy. Which is handy because our business plan was, is and will remain to – hire great people, do brilliant work and build a great agency."

Over our 15 years we've been lucky enough to work with inspiring clients, super talented colleagues and dedicated partners. You have all helped make firstlight what it is today - so thanks to everyone who has been part of our journey. Here's to the next 15.

🤖 Getting started with AI

Looking for simple, practical advice to get started with AI? Neil Young sums up his top tips.

• Identify time consuming tasks - tasks which are repetitive and time consuming are prime candidates for AI assistance. Pick one task to start with and remember, it's trial and error.
• Experiment with tools - ChatGPT is well-known but explore other tools that might suit your needs, from Otter.ai for meeting summaries to Claude for longer, more nuanced content.
• Learn how to prompt effectively - this is key to getting the most out of AI. Be clear and specific, provide relevant context and examples, and specify your desired structure.
• Always review and refine - remember your knowledge and professional judgement are irreplaceable.

Read more over at the blog or get in touch to learn how we can help your team make the most out of AI.

👀 In brief

• The Independent's ‘In Focus’ article on how Linkedin has changed as a platform since its launch in 2003 discusses the shift to long form posts, emphasis on personal experiences and the rise of the ‘LinkedInfluencer’.
• Meta is launching an AI studio where you can create custom AI characters - no tech skills necessary.
• It's a Brat summer - apparently. Rebecca Barton breaks down what brands can learn from pop stars' 'inclusive exclusivity'.
• A Turkish Olympian shooter has gone viral as 'the star we didn't know we needed', winning a silver medal with no specialist equipment and his hand in his pocket (image above). A great example of how social media can catapult the most unlikely people into the spotlight.