Our monthly shout out about what’s buzzing in the Better studio.
Is it March already? Well January and February didn’t hang around did they! A very belated Happy New Year to you, I hope your year has gotten off to a great start and ahead of you are rewarding months and new experiences.
At Better we’ve just finished our first year end and it’s been a great ride so far.
We’re pleased, and very proud, to announce we’ve been shortlisted for the ‘ICT and Internet Award’ in the North East Business Awards. We got the call last week from the sponsors of the category to give us the good news and we’ve had visits this week from the judging panel and a camera man who called in to film some of the goings on in the studio (some photos are on our Flickr Photostream ). We’re now all excited and looking forward to the Awards Dinner on 25th March at Teesside University. The winning companies from each of the sub-regional heats will go through to the Regional Final of the nebusiness awards which will be held at Hardwick Hall Hotel on Thursday, 29 April 2010.
We can only put this down to a great team working incredibly hard for some great clients, so we will look to develop both areas in the year ahead. To that end we will be adding to the team shortly (More on that soon) and have finalised the brand and business development strategy that will help us capitalise on the momentum that is building up behind the business. We’ll be supporting the core business with some product development which we’re really excited about. Obviously we can’t say much about it right now, but the opportunity is huge and we’ve partnered with some really cool people who will help us make it happen. Watch this space.
Next month I’ve been roped into taking on the swim of my life and have entered Swimathon 2010, the world’s biggest fundraising swim. I’m part of a team called the ‘Twimmers‘ (check out the photo of us with ‘The Hoff’) and the money that we raise will help Marie Curie Cancer Care provide care and support to people with cancer and other terminal illnesses. The network of 2,000 Marie Curie Nurses work through the day and night to provide this care and every £20 I raise will pay for an hour’s nursing care.
If you would like to support me please just click on my personal donation page on the official swimathon website and make a secure online donation using your credit or debit card. It’s really that simple. Thank you for your support.
We also want to put out an early shout out for TyneTwestival, which will be soon upon us (7pm on the 25th march in fact!). Northern Film & Media are the headline sponsors this year and all money raised will go to Concern who are doing unbelievable work tackling poverty across the globe so we’re very proud to be involved in supporting the event. Please follow @tynetwestival for regular updates and news of what they’re planning and of course do join in, be part of it.
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We’d also like to say a warm welcome to some nice new clients.
Please look out for them, they’re great businesses and organisations led by good people.
ArtsBank
Having met the guys who are making ArtsBank a reality (a serious gallery selling local, national and international art works both in their gallery and online) we really wanted to contribute towards something that is so clearly going to be important to the local community and a new platform for Artists in the North East. We’ve worked with the team to channel their vision into a cohesive brand and are currently working on the eCommerce website due to be launched when the gallery opens in the spring.
Entrepreneurs’ Forum
So here’s how it went down. We were talking to the Entrepreneurs’ Forum conference team about the upcoming Youth Summit. We’d decided on the title ‘Use your Loaf ‘ and somewhere during the buzz that happens when you throw ideas around (and I hold my hand up to this) I suggested wouldn’t it be a good idea to produce actual toast, with the conference brand toasted onto it, and mail it to 250 headteachers across the North East. A great idea yes, we just needed to think of how we were going to produce it. Well we did deliver it (Have a look here ). We’ve supported the direct mail with a website and conference literature and really enjoyed the whole process of working with a great team who are incredibly committed to producing high value conferences.
Social Media Training & Consultancy
It’s not surprising so many companies both in the public and private sector are investing in social media. What we’re really pleased about is they are not blindly walking into it but exploring how social media can help them support their communities and deliver their marketing strategy effectively online. We’ve been working closely with clients such as The Youth Hostel Association, Chapters Hotel & Restaurant, Teesside University, Darlington College, Teesside Hospice, and the author Philippa Gregory amongst others to help them develop an effective digital strategy for their individual audiences, and passed on our experience to enable them to take their strategy forward themselves. We’ve also been delivering some ‘Introduction to Social Media’ workshops across the North for organisations including North East Property Forum , Newcastle University Business School, Entrepreneurs Forum, North West Network and Grow, NEPIC, and CIM as well as speaking at Marketing:TheArtOf and Codeworks ‘Think and a Drink’ events.
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From the Blog
We’d rather contribute to the conversation than sit on the fence.
That means poking your head up above the parapet to get shot at. We have opinions and ideas we’d like to share so here’s one of our most recent blog posts.
Social Media Burnout
I’m an average kinda guy. I have social network profiles on Twitter (x2), Facebook, LinkedIn (Including four groups), Flickr, Slideshare and Friends Reunited. I have my own blog and contribute to a company blog. I Subscribe to, and read regularly, eighteen blogs through my reader. Thats a total of 31 connections with different social networks and contacts. Read full blog post here…
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Out and about.
Where we’ve been and where we’re going.
Well it feels like the event season has got underway and the entire team has enjoyed some great evenings and daytime seminars around the region. a:design have set the bar high (Ilsa Parry winner of the BBC’s Design for Life competition with Philippe Starck last year is a point in case) and the big events being organised by CIM (Your Marketing Show) and the Business Link (Business to Business Exchange) were around in early March and of course Twestival will keep us busy too (more on that a little further down). All told the events on the horizon are looking great and we look forward to catching up with some of you along the way. I’m also looking forward to delivering some social media workshps across the North including ‘Twit or Tweet’ event as part of the Blue Sky Enterprise and North West Network and Grow events.
Tyne Twestival
Tyne Twestival means to provide real value for attendees and as big a return as possible to Concern to help them tackle poverty through children’s educations. We’re looking for Mystery Boxes with a minimum value of £150 to ensure we raise as much money through raffle tickets as is humanly possible on the night. Micro Mystery boxes of at least £50 are welcome but when you think that one additional year of primary education for girls (Which the price of a Mystery Box could pay for) can increase the life time earnings potential by 10%-20% it puts it into sharp perspective. Please contact the @TyneTwestival team on Twitter or me directly if you can help.
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From left field (but it shouldn’t be).
Take a look into Bob’s office at Web Hosting company Hostway. Looks like a fun place to be. Check out the wrestler post guy in the rear view mirror plus take a peak in the bottom draw for the knights jousting and post it decorators video.
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From our Flickr Channel.
We’ve updated our Flickr channel with pictures from some of the recent goings on in the world of Better.
We’ve added some photos of our recent projects and activities including how we put together the Use Your Loaf direct mail campaign, my Round the Table experience , and some images from recent enterprise events from around the region. www.flickr.com/betterbrandagency
From our YouTube Channel.
The Entrepreneurs’ Forum was proud to announce its 2010 Youth Conference, Use Your Loaf, to be held at Rainton Meadows Arena, Houghton Le Spring on March 10th. Check out the showreel featuring past youth conferences. www.youtube.com/betterbrandagency
Follow us on Twitter.
Keep up to date with the day to day goings on in the Better studio. www.twitter.com/better_studio
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