Welcome to another week!
As its the last week of September, we are gearing up for a busy October with both The Fresh Awards and the CIPR Northern Conference, so its all hands on deck.
Social Media plays a big part in events these days and during one of our discussions on this subject, the topic of reading came up and just how many actual books we collectively get through now we are in an age when Kindles and ebooks are ever more popular.
If you consider just how you now read online, its very different and is ever changing. You may have an
ebook open on your iPad, plus your email, maybe a song playing on
Spotify, and of course when you find a memorable line in the book, you
might want to post it on Facebook. You also might look a word up online or check a fact or two via Wikipedia.
Kindles are great and make life so much easier: going on holiday you don't have to pack half your case with the latest novels which incurs huge charges at the airport; its portable and light and can store an incredible amount of books online; its much cheaper to download books than to buy them: some authors are now writing exclusively for Kindle - the list goes on.
Of course not everyone is a fan and at The Hay Book Festival back in June, which attracted a quarter of a million people, Kindle owners were told they would not be at all welcome. This coalition
of local booksellers are blaming the Kindle for the closure of 5 local
bookstores in the past year and claim that Kindle owners are different from other
readers in that they walk around like robots, not noticing their
surroundings or interacting with other festival participants!
What was slightly amusing about this was that Google was one of the sponsors of the event - and of course Google sell ebooks!
We are big fans of Amazon here at Cloud 9 Towers and regularly order or download books from the site, both actual books and Kindle versions (although the Kindle versions are cheaper) and whilst we appreciate the many benefits of electronic reading, what do you do with all of those books once you have finished with them?
Yes, you could donate them to charity, sell them online or pass on to your friends, but we think there are some great ways you can use old books without simply shoving them in a an old box ready for your next car boot sale...
Seating plans at events are always a key feature and offer a great excuse to get creative and whilst most formal events require a straightforward seating chart, we love the idea of using old books with bookmarks to guide guests to their appropriate tables. Whilst this image is a little "Weddingy" we think its a great way of using books and by using books with selected titles or of selected genres like Romance, Reference, Sci-Fi or even Thrillers, you can cater for any event and any theme in an effective and stylish way.
The Pages from old books also make excellent table confetti, just get an appropriately shaped hole punch and a few old pages and hey presto, or if you want to use a larger book, then you can even have a go at bunting! It doesn't matter what the book was about particularly, although you may want to avoid including paragraphs about grisly murders if using large hole punches or making bunting - it might well put your guests off their dinner!
Now we are not sure the next suggestion is great or simply bonkers but we love the idea of a Book Broom - especially if you are clever enough to make one from any book about cleaning or the art of housekeeping. Not having a single domestic goddess within the walls of Cloud 9, we like to think that this is a great idea for a book that tells you how great it is to spend your life cleaning! Fantastic!
The greener amongst you might like to take your old books to a recycling plant but if you are the owners of green fingers then we think this is a lovely idea, an old book plant holder. We are sure it involves some plastic and compost and a strict rule about not over watering, but its a cute idea all the same.
If you are feeling festive, then you might try wrapping old books up to boost the stash of presents under your tree - give old books as stocking fillers with a message on the front for your loved ones - or not depending on your feelings towards the recipient! While hardcore book lovers may have a hard time tearing out the pages
of any book, for those less faint of heart, use the pages of your old
books to wrap small gifts or to make envelopes, paper flowers or even personalised cards.
Whatever your feeling about books and reading, with the ads currently all over TV for Stoptober, the stop smoking campaign starting in October, we loved this campaign that featured heavily earlier in the year with a book.
An ambient campaign which cleverly inserted a page mid way through several new book releases, with the simple message that as a smoker, your story would end 15% earlier than as a non smoker.
So that's what came up this week at Cloud 9 Towers. Books and reading. Not a bad way to start a week so when you get the chance, now that the nights are drawing in, turn the TV off, stick the kettle on, and snuggle up on the sofa with a good book. You might just be glad you did.
Have a lovely week!
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