What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 27 October 2014

Welcome to another week and we are delighted to announce not one, but two new Awards Ceremonies, one in conjunction with our friends at the CHS Group and one with our fabulous client, The Birmingham Press Club.

So lets start with our first, launching mid-week, it's the MMA Student Awards on behalf of the Birmingham Press Club. As the world’s oldest Press Club, it is only fitting that we should recognise the wealth of young and exciting talent that is emerging in the Midlands media sector.

That is why, as part of Birmingham Press Club’s 150^th anniversary celebrations, we are delighted to be launching the Midlands Media Student Awards.

A spin-off from the Midlands Media Awards, now in their 14^th year, the Student Awards will recognise the progress and achievements of next-generation media stars developing their skills via the fantastic range of journalism courses now being offered by universities in the region.

In the past, a Students and Newcomers category has always featured as part of the Midlands Media Awards. However, the time is now right for the Press Club to take a further step forward and create a special “Oscars” event for the legions of talent now beginning to make their presence felt in what is becoming an increasingly diverse industry.

The media sector is currently facing enormous challenges and traditional outlets are under immense pressure. But I am sure the vitality and imaginative creativity of today’s students will ensure its continued existence – even though a few years from now the landscape may well have changed again! So keep your eyes peeled and don't miss a fantastic opportunity if you are within the industry as there will be more news to follow and, the event will be taking place in March 2015!

Moving on to the other Awards Ceremony we are just around the corner from launching, it's the CHS Awards! 

Scheduled to take place towards the end of April/beginning of May, the Awards are not designed to be a formal black tie affair, but rather an opportunity for venues to network in a fun and informal environment and to try and gain some recognition for aspects of their properties.

The categories have been designed to allow for a complete level playing field and rather than invite the industry to vote, venues will have the option of whether to enter or not and then be judged by a jury of around 6-8 industry professionals per category to determine the shortlist before putting it out to an industry wide vote.

With the exception of the category we are running with Maiden Voyage, all entrants will be UK based and unless demand dictates it, based outside of the M25 – so your regional knowledge will be vital please!

Emma Cartmell, Director of CHS Group said: 

'We’re delighted to launch the the CHS Awards alongside the Conference and Hospitality Show next year.  The awards sit nicely alongside our flagship event that is now established as an show for the meetings and events industry.  The awards will give the industry an opportunity to celebrate some of the UK’s most outstanding venues the evening before the show and we’re delighted to be joining forces with Cloud 9 Event Management to deliver the awards with style.'

Although, that isn't it for this weeks Awards Ceremony updates as The Fresh PR and Fresh Creative Awards are taking place towards the end of the week. Fresh is an independently owned organisation that works in conjunction with a variety of leading industry titles, delivering awards programmes designed to recognise and reward creativity, effectiveness and innovation in the Creative, Digital, Media and Public Relations arena’s in the UK and Ireland. 

Established in 2003, Fresh has quickly become a recognised brand and an important highlight in the industry calendar, with an original approach to awards delivery and a policy of keeping the process of entering awards as transparent as possible. 

So that's it for this week folks, have a Happy Halloween! 

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 23 June 2014

Welcome to yet another week at Cloud 9 Towers! 

Last week we told you that the Bristol Media Brand You Awards will be closing for entries on Friday 20 June. There's a good quality of entries into the Awards again this year, but know that there are more of you out there who deserve to be recognised for your work. So they have extended the deadline to Friday 4 July, there's no excuse to miss it now!

Friday 4 July is proving to be a rather popular date for deadlines as The Fresh PR and The Fresh Creative Awards entries are also closing then. Fresh is an independently owned organisation that works in conjunction with a variety of leading industry titles, delivering awards programmes designed to recognise and reward creativity, effectiveness and innovation in the Creative, Digital, Media and Public Relations arena's in the UK and Ireland. Established in 2003, Fresh has quickly become a recognised brand and important highlight in the industry calender, with an original approach to awards delivery and a policy of keeping the process of entering awards as transparent as possible. 

Fresh is committed to ensuring the appointments of only the very best people to judge the awards across all three of the programmes as well as making the events themselves, not only spectacular but also a real chance to network. You will never find plastic chicken and soggy veg at Fresh - they take their awards and entrants work very seriously, but want to offer great value and more importantly make the ceremonies as fun as possible. So can you sock it to 'em and get Fresh in 2014?!

Cloud 9 are quite heavily involved with both of the Awards programmes, so as you can see we will have a rather busy next couple of weeks. Moving on to this week though, we have a couple of exciting events that we're attending starting with the Visual Media Conference on Wednesday. 

Visual Media are the diverse technologies of the communications industry: print, broadcast, email, websites. The conference is in the North because the industry is buzzing and the appetite for informed debate is strong – the concentration of media companies, digital agencies and printers is a magnet for the leading experts, industry resources and suppliers.

This conference is a direct response to demand for a follow-on conference from Media Market Place’s 500+ attendees. Bringing together leading figures across the spectrum of media to inform a debate of how integration will continue to disrupt the current thinking on comms. This is a first to take Visual Media from the brand owners’ perspective right through to the consumers’ emotional response with all the links. 

The speaker line up is pretty impressive with interesting talks from VPress, Sky Adsmart, Prolific North, Bloom, Proco, Media-Plaza, HP and many more. 

Also this week, we have been invited to take part in The Accor Agent Football Tournament on Saturday. It has to be said that the team at Cloud 9 have no experience in football but we're all for the taking part! The five a side football tournament will take place at Lancashire Football Association, Leyland with an overnight stay at the Mercure Dunkenhalgh Hotel & Spa, so its sure to be a fun day. We even have an official Cloud 9 uniform....!

This football tournament is part of Accor's new 2014 incentive Footballers Lives. The campaign will allow venue finding agents, meeting planners and event agents to earn "goals" for every meeting they book at any of Accor's UK and/or Overseas hotels. As 2014 is the year of football with Brazil being the very heart of the action. Accor would like to give you a taste of that with their exclusive prize draw, giving you the chance to with the life of a soccer superstar! 

That's all for this week folks, enjoy!

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!