What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 6 January 2014

Welcome to another week and firstly we'd like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year!

We hope everyone had a wonderful break over the festive period and you are all now rested and ready for the year ahead. We ended 2013 on a high with a new office move and a pretty full diary for the coming year so with pencils at the ready, please make a note of some of the dates ahead!

Fresh 2014 will open for entries in March and the closing date will be mid June with the final closing date set for 4 July 2014. The nominations will be announced on Monday 4 August and whilst we haven't quite 100% sorted the event date yet, it's looking very much like the first week of October 2014. Please keep an eye on the website for additional information and details of the Freshtival 2014.

Brand You from Bristol Media will also be back in 2014 and entries are set to open later this month. The Awards will once again recognise individual contributions to a wide range of creative disciplines and the awards are set to close in early Summer. The nominations will be announced once again in August and the event is set for 16 September 2014. After the inaugural Brand You Awards last year, working with Bristol Media we'll be making a few changes to the programme with a revised judging process and entry criteria so make sure you check out the Bristol Media Website for details of Brand You and regular updates.

The Midlands Media Awards, which we run on behalf of the Birmingham Press Club are now officially open for entries and set to close just before Easter. With another impressive two stage jury in place, chaired once again by the formidable Peter Lowe from Sky News, we're looking forward to celebrating the great work of journalists and broadcasters at Aston Villa, on Thursday 5 June 2014.

A week after the Midlands Media Awards we'll be in Manchester for the 2014 CIPR Northern Conference and the theme of the event is all around content and content management. The 12 June will see us at Manchester Metropolitan University with a rather special line up of guest speakers and an interactive event not to be missed.  

We've lots more events to announce over the coming weeks that we're directly involved with, but we'd also like to kick off the New Year with our lovely new website which our pals at Big Communications in Leicester have designed for us. We're pretty pleased with it and hope you like it too, as Cloud 9 Event Management Ltd gets a very modern makeover.

Don't forget please that we moved in December and you can now find us in our new offices Rosewood House | 84a Main Road | Radcliffe on Trent | Nottingham | NG12 2BQ | United Kingdom | T. +44 (0) 115 9333811 

Other key dates which might be of interest this next year, especially to the event industry, include in the first quarter of 2014:

• Spotlight on Venues in Bristol is 30 January at the Passenger Shed and is open for bookings now.  Only in its second year, we're hoping that one of the team can pay a visit with our increasingly Bristol based schedule of events. 
• Event Buyers Live is set for 30-31 January at the Crowne Plaza in Marlow and is a great opportunity for both those who organise events and suppliers. 
• The Event Production Show is being held on 11-12 February at Earls Court and is the perfect opportunity to find practical, workable solutions and innovations for every kind of event in 2014.
• The BNC Global Event Show 2014, Wednesday 19 February at The Brewery in London and registrations are now open. Both Shannon and Rubina are registered for this and raring to go!
• International Confex, 12-13 March is back at Olympia and now under the control of Mash Media. You can register your interest now and Paula will probably pop up at this one.

That's probably enough to bamboozle you with as you return to work, so enjoy!

 

 

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 30 September 2013

Whoops, this was scheduled for Monday but with all of the current chaos at Cloud 9 we forgot to hit that button.....! 

Welcome to another week and we've made it back in one piece after the madness that was the Freshtival last week. After the combination of two awards ceremonies, over fifty industry speakers, film screenings and a raft of other activities, we could certainly do with a little quiet time....

No time to relax though as tomorrow night its The Brand You Awards for Bristol Media, and an awards ceremony that recognises individuals rather than teams or agencies! The event sold out weeks ago so we're looking forward to a great night in the company of some great contenders and best of luck to all of the nominees! 

As soon as Brand You is over, we're then hosting an event with East Midlands Airport as part of our Ambassadors Role on behalf of the Birmingham Press Club. The plan being that there will be quarterly events within the East Midlands for the great journalists and broadcasters from outside of the East Midlands.

This will also help us to make sure that the Midlands Media Awards remain a key highlight of the calendar both in the East and West Midlands.

Additionally our new office move is imminent and its not until we started packing that we realised just how much stuff we have accumulated and how many bits of paper we have - how on earth people manage in paperless offices, we will never understand! 

Luckily our new premises are only around the corner from the current Cloud 9 Towers and very soon we'll be sending out our new address information, for the rather lovely Rosewood House.

A former nursing home, Rosewood House has undergone a major transformation and is now a suite of offices downstairs with apartments above so we are looking forward to having a little more space in which to work! The other advantage about the new office, its much closer to the pub (which cannot be a bad thing!).

Lots of other event news to come in the weeks ahead, but the one topic that we really feel we need to cover this week concerns applicants looking for work in event management....

We are only a small team and usually manically busy but we do our very best to try and reply to everyone who emails about employment opportunities, and we get at least 10-15 a week.

Whilst we appreciate its a tough market out there, we do despair that most of those applying are not really interested in our company, automatically think event management will mean rubbing shoulders with celebrities, or is just one long party.

The reality especially at Cloud 9 with so many awards ceremonies, is an awful lot of admin, meticulous attention to detail, and not very much partying or glamour!

When we get a good applicant we are always willing to see them, and if you want to impress then a few key tips, starting with the most basic. Spelling mistakes in emails, especially in these days of automatic spell checkers are guaranteed to get you a negative response.

Try and find out a little about us, what we do and who we work with. Google is a marvellous invention...!

Let us know what you can bring to the business. 

Whilst being able to swim 100m backstroke, baking cakes for your brothers Scout Group and knitting are all admirable skills, we'd like to know a bit about your gumption and aspirations and more importantly, why you would make a great member of the team.

Finally if we do call you in, make a bit of an effort. Although we all have a tendency to dress down this days, making a good first impression really matters. 

You never get a second chance at this, so at least make sure your outfit has seen an iron!

 There you have it...something to maybe ponder on before you hit send.....

Enjoy the week.

 

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 23 September 2013

Welcome to another week and the Freshtival is finally here.....

We kick off on Wednesday which is very much a PR orientated day with some truly great guest lectures scheduled throughout and also a hopefully humorous talk by our very own Paula Kelsey on the History of the Fresh PR Awards, which includes all sorts of gossip and a few stories too....

Paula founded Fresh back in 2003 and although the Fresh PR Awards were not introduced until 2006, she plans to share the journey and examine some of the trials and tribulations that we’ve experienced in competing with major publishers, industry bodies and a highly cynical industry.

Despite the many challenges, we like to think that we have turned Fresh into a respected Awards brand, one with a little edge against its rivals and a programme that is now attracting the attention of some serious consultancies from the length and breadth of the UK – and if we allowed them – from abroad.

Paula also plans to share some of my own personal favourite winning campaigns from

previous Fresh PR Awards, a few salacious stories and some of the more stupid questions we’ve encountered in running the awards.

We’re fairly fortunate at Fresh to have worked with some great people and industry bodies and have a little of an inside track on the thoughts of some of the best thought leaders in the business.

Some will argue that the business needs to embrace change and some will state that whilst change is a good thing, the industry needs to more to safeguard its best practice status from the social media starlets and wannabees that claim to be able to deliver PR simply through adding a few tweets to an existing campaign.

Of course social media is a fantastic marketing tool and we acknowledge that we need to do it better, be more proactive and engage more here at Fresh. But we like to think we learn and wherever possible adopt the tactics of some of the best Social Media Stars around.

We have the utmost admiration for those that can deliver truly memorable campaigns on a shoestring and anyone that can vouch for a campaign that they’ve seen or been exposed too (and we are not talking Jimmy Saville here!)

Fresh PR is not ready to go global yet, and yes we do get at least half a dozen enquiries each year about overseas entries, but if we did accept International Entries, we hope that both our entrants from the UK and Abroad would aspire to deliver projects of the calibre of one of the most talked about integrated campaigns this year: The three-minute short co-produced by Melbourne private rail service Metro Trains to teach people to be careful around trains, 'Dumb Ways to Die', has notched up more than 50 million views on YouTube since its release in November 2012, sparked hundreds of parodies and even become a smartphone game.

The fantastic Matt Neale first bought this campaign to our attention during the PRCA Dare Roadshows, and we are still talking about it now, so it goes to show just how memorable it has been! 

After all of the speaker events, it will then be time to celebrate at the Fresh PR Awards at the Imperial War Museum North, and to see just who has been successful and which campaigns we will still be talking about in the coming months.

To end this week, we'd like to remind you that the Brand You Awards are next Tuesday in Bristol and if you haven't got your ticket sorted yet, you had better shout as the event is now sold out!

Have a great week and we hope to see you at the Freshtival!

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 16 September 2013

Welcome to another week and we are still working on the Freshtival which starts next week....still time to book which you can do online!

One of the key things we are doing as part of the Freshtival is a "Pop Up" Library full of industry related books, so anything to do with Advertising, Design, Media, Digital, PR and Communications.

It wasn't until we started collating our library, that we realised some of our agencies and partners have compulsory reading lists for their staff. We are doing our best to try and track down some corkers, but these seem to make lots of lists...

Hey Whipple, Squeeze This by Luke Sullivan: Very few advertising books are as easy and enjoyable to read. Written by a modern master of the advertising craft, it contains a wealth of information that everyone should know. If you're just getting into the business, you'll find a step-by-step guide to every aspect of advertising. If you've been around for decades, you'll not only laugh (and cry) throughout the book, but will still pick up tips and reminders that continue to make you a better creative professional. If you're stuck on a desert island with only one advertising book to read, this would be the one. It's exceptional.

David Ogilvy was an advertising legend. His legacy lives on through the many branches of the Ogilvy network, and his books. Ogilvy On Advertising is considered an advertising bible, filled with indispensable knowledge and candid thoughts from a man who once said "it isn't creative unless it sells." Although decades old now, the principles within the book are as relevant as ever, and you're doing yourself a severe injustice if you have not read it from cover to cover.

From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor by Jerry Della Femina. Possibly the longest title ever written for an advertising book, and yet it doesn't make the information inside any less punchy. For people addicted to the life and work portrayed in Mad Men, this is the book for you. A vivid and no-holds-barred memoir of Madison Avenue advertising in the 60's, it's considered a cult classic, but should be right there on your shelf next to Ogilvy's book.

Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin:What if you see

a black and white cow after only ever seeing brown cows? It stands out. But what happens when you keep seeing more and more black and white cows? What stands out then? It would take a purple cow. That's the basic premise of Godin's seminal book on transforming

your business, and your advertising, into something remarkable. Stand out, be amazing, or blend in and go unnoticed.

Truth, Lies & Advertising: The Art of Account Planning by Jon Steel - Great account planning ensures that advertising connects with the customers. But you don't need to be an account planner to garner a world of savvy information from this book. Jay Chiat, founder of Chiat\Day, calls it “The best new-business tool ever invented." Memorable, and highly successful, campaigns like “Got Milk?" and "Think Different" started with smart account planning. A book that’s a must-read for everyone in your advertising agency, not just the account department. 

Positioning: The Battle For Your Mind by Al Ries and Jack Trout, We see thousands of advertising messages every day. We probably remember just a handful. Being part of that handful is what this book is all about. How to position your product or service, and therefore, how to market it, is the foundation of a successful advertising and marketing campaign. How do you become an industry leader? How do you take advantage of competitor weaknesses? You'll find out

How to Write an Inspired Creative Brief by Howard Ibach, One of the most important documents in the creative process is the creative brief. It gives the creative department its marching orders, telling them where to start digging for great ideas. Filled with examples of powerful and effective creative briefs, and written in a laid-back but very informative way, this is essential reading for everyone in the communications industry.  

 A Technique for Producing Ideas by James Webb Young, The foreword by Bill Bernbach, one of the greatest advertising professionals who ever lived, should be enough to let you know that this is a gem. And although published in 1965 (from a presentation first delivered in 1939) it's timeless advice to help copywriters, art directors, designers and planners jump-start their creative juices. If (or when) you hit a creative wall, this book will help you hammer it down. 

Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step by Edward de Bono, How does creativity work? How do you get results from it? How do you think differently, and more efficiently and effectively? Edward de Bono's classic book explains it all. Anyone who thinks for a living should read this book, and other works by the same author. It's easy to copy great ideas, but to know how to have them, and how to develop them, that's pure gold.   

Caffeine for the Creative Mind by Stefan Mumaw and Wendy Lee Oldfield, This book has enough exercises in it to give your mental muscles an extreme workout every day. Try them all once, then try them again. Find different solutions to the same problems (something advertising is all about) or use the exercises to limber-up before tackling a work-related task. It's also a great way to stay sharp when you have that rare down-time. 

Finding a Top Ten for PR has proved difficult and there appears to be a very long list of must-read titles when it comes to communications.

However, it doesn't seem to matter which list we looked at, there was always one book that stood out -How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. It's not a title that we have ever read here at Cloud 9 Towers, but its an expression that is probably used on a daily basis by hundreds of people! Having sold over 15 million copies since it was first published, its clear why its been called the Public Relations Bible.

So there we are, a little light reading for you over the coming week, better study - we'll be testing you later!

Enjoy!

 

 

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 9 September 2013

Welcome to another week and we're in full Fresh mode with the approach of the Freshtival. 

If you haven't booked yet then its time you did as this three day celebration of creativity and innovation is about to hit Manchester in a big way...

We didn’t want to make the Freshtival another of those overpriced industry events that make it restrictive for people to attend so instead you get to pick your very own package and you can customise your schedule to attend the events you want, when you want. We’ve also added in a couple of options if you want to come along and take advantage of the entire Freshtival schedule over three days, or two…

 

 

• Lowry Outlet Mall Wednesday 25 September - Friday 27 September 2013 Open Daily from 10.00-16.00 Freshtival Registration Unit + Collect your poken + Enjoy 10 Years of Gold Award Winning Work + NABS Display + Freshtival News & Updates & Media Information
• Lowry Outlet Mall Agency Shop Window Displays Wednesday 25 September - Friday 27 September 2013 Visit the Best Agency Trade Show with a fantastic display of Creativity from the UK's leading agencies                                   
• Lowry Outlet Mall Wednesday 25 September - Friday 27 September 2013 Open Daily from 10.00-16.00 Freshtival Library Browse Borrow & Behave in the Freshtival Library. Official Librarian Simon Sinclair Waggledace. Wednesday 25 September Guest Lectures 12.45-13.30 Paul Carroll, A Matter of Life & Death and 14.00-14.45 Jane Hunt, Rogue Elephants
• Lowry Outlet Mall  Freelancers Exhibition Wednesday 25 September - Friday 27 September 2013 10.00-16.00 Review the work of 12 leading freelancers and decide who just you will work with next, plus get advice and tips from our experts
• Lowry Outlet Mall  Shot Up North Exhibition Wednesday 25 September - Friday 27 September 2013 10.00-16.00 We are delighted that our friends at Shot Up North are joining in the Freshtival with an exclusive preview of some of the best photographic work from the 25^th SUN Awards
• Lowry Outlet Mall [Cuppa Coffee] Creative Macmillan Coffee Morning 10.00-11.00 Friday 27 September 2013 Buy a Coffee & a Cupcake with a Cake Topper designed by one of the leading International Creative Directors and make a difference to Macmillan. Meet other Freshtival guests and enjoy..                         
• Lowry Plaza [Between the Lowry Outlet Mall & Theatre] Three a Side Football for NABS 17.00-19.00 Thursday 26 September 2013 12 Teams, 5 x three minute games to compete for the Freshtival Trophy – which we’ll display in the Trophy Room at Manchester United on the Friday. £10 a player all for NABS
• Lowry Outlet Mall [Lime Bar] Meet a Mentor, Thursday 26 September 15.30-17.30
• Lowry Outlet Mall [Lime Bar] Northern Soho Meet Up, Thursday 26 September 18.00-22.00
• Dock Bar MediaCityUK, Daily 13.00-14.00 Wednesday 25 September - Friday 27 September 2013 Wednesday 25 September Meet the Media with PR Newswire, Thursday 26 September & Friday 27 September, Creative Meet & Mingle
• The Lowry Museum, Unseen Lowry Exhibition Wednesday 25 September - Friday 27 September 2013 Daily from 11.00-17.00
• The Copthorn Hotel Wednesday 25 September - Friday 27 September Wednesday 18.00-18.45 Meet the PR Judges, Thursday 26 September 18.00-20.00 Art & Copy & Cocktails, Friday 27 September 08.00-10.00 Art Copy & Coffee Breakfast,  18.00-18.45 Meet, Drink & Mingle with the Judges                                    
• Damson, MediaCityUK 08.00-10.00          Thursday 26 September Fresh PR Hangover Breakfast with ITV  | Saturday 28 September Fresh Hangover Breakfast with John Keiffer          - We’re All Beatniks Now + Shop Window Awards Presentation                    
• MediaCityUK Marketing Unit Wednesday 25 September - Friday 27 September 2013 Daily from 10.00-16.00 The Beattie Foundation Banger - Sign the Beattie Foundation Banger to be auctioned Friday night at the Creative Awards
• The South Room, Lowry Theatre Wednesday 25 September Fresh View Series : A 10 Year Retrospective View + Predictions for the Future, in association with Kantar Media, featuring:                              
• Francis Ingham, PRCA                     
• Rob Brown, Rule5                                           
• Rick Guttridge, Smoking Gun      
•  Andy Green, Andy Green Creativity                       
• Paul Newman, MediaCityUK                                                                
• Kevin Reed, Bell Pottinger           
• Joanna Halton, McCann Manchester                                      

The South Room, Lowry Theatre Thursday 26 September Fresh View Series : A 10 Year Retrospective View + Predictions for the Future, in association with Orchard, featuring:  

• Pete Camponi, them&us                                
• Vince McSweeney, McCann Erickson     
• Jeff Coghlin, Matmi                                     
• Dave Brown, Apposing                                 
• Bil Bungay, BMB                                             
• Ben Casey, The Chase                                   

The South Room, Lowry Theatre Friday 27 September 2013 Fresh View Series : A 10 Year Retrospective View + Predictions for the Future, in association with Pitch, featuring:                        

• Simon Elliott, Rose Design                                         
• Vineet Raheja Palmer Hargreaves
• Steve Hunter, Shop Direct                                            
• Jack Kramer, Oakwood Media
• Ady Bibby, True North                                                  
•  Stephen Reed, BMB                      
• Tim & James, Big                                             

If the Fresh Views are not your cup of tea, then maybe some of our specialised lectures are more to your thinking, so check out our great series of guest speakers at the Imperial War Museum North, running each day….and our keynote lecture on Thursday afternoon…

The Libeskind Room, Imperial War Museum North, Wednesday 25 September 2013

• Russell Goldsmith, markettiers4dc                         
•  Kevin O Sullivan, Surname & Surname                                
• Rod Nicolson, PR Newswire      
• Paula Kelsey, The Fresh Awards                                              

The Libeskind Room, Imperial War Museum North, Thursday 26 September 2013

• Ollie Purdom, Pitch: Build It & They Will Come
• Jon Bailey Pro Co: The Future of Print
• Kerry Dennison, Studio North   
• Paul Sheehy, Folk Digital, The Plot Thickens                                                      
• Keynote: Steve Henry Decoded               
• XXvXY with Emma Sexton Make Your Words Work                                          

The Libeskind Room, Imperial War Museum North, Friday 27 September 2013 The Freshtival Media Hub in association with Amscreen

• Paul Wheeler, Mediacom             
• Mike Hemmings, Digital Advertising Beyond the Web Amscreen
• Jason Spencer ITV                            
• Pete Davis, getmemedia                                             
• Mick Style MEC                                  
• Dan Cresta, CBS Outdoor                                       

The Greenhouse, MediaCityUK, Thursday 26 September 2013 Who Where What Why When: Presentations by the leading industry bodies as we look at who they are, where they can help, what exactly they do, why they were founded and just when they can help.                                     

• Clare Bowen, Radio Advertising Bureau                                               
• Beth Gardner, The Design Council
• Glen Christie, The Advertising Association                         
• Northern Soho 

We’ve sent invitations to the DMA, Internet Advertising Bureau, ISBA, The IPA and ThinkBox so lets cross our fingers! The Greenhouse is also the setting for a brilliant collaboration between One Minute Briefs and The Ad Pad

The Greenhouse, MediaCityUK, Thursday 26 September 2013 & Friday 27 September 2013 13.00-14.00: The Bank of Creativity One Minute Briefs & The Ad Pad Scamps If you fancy a bash at the creative treatment for Fresh next year or simply want to challenge One Minute Briefs, then this is the session for you. Just how creative are you?

The Greenhouse, MediaCityUK, Friday 27 September 2013

• The Coley Porter Bell Wedding Invitation Award             
• The In House Design Award & Lecture with Emma Sexton                           
• The Art of New Business with Sarah Bradley                      
• Creativepool Lecture                                    

We end our lecture series on Friday afternoon at a spectacular venue, the Egg Reception at Salford University with state of the art technology

                                               

The Egg, Salford University, MediaCityUK Friday 27 September 2013     

• Master of Dots with JJ                                  
• Keynote Lecture: James Hilton AKQA                                    
• Getting Past the PA with Antoinette de Lisser BMB
• Freshtival Vision with Paula Kelsey, Fresh Founder

And finally, we end with the two highlights of the entire programme, The Awards

• The Fresh PR Awards, The Imperial War Museum North, Wednesday 25 September 2013 from 19.00-1.00

• The Fresh Creative Awards, Manchester United, Friday 27 September 2013 from 19.00-1.00

   Tickets start at just £35 for a Bronze Day Pass which includes a fantastic poken! 

For full details please refer to the Freshtival website...

So that's it for this week, enjoy!