Just a quick post as I'm working all day today but have had a couple of days off on Friday and Saturday.
Saturday saw me and Jane pop along to Redcar seafront for the opening celebrations for the Redcar Beacon. What a splendid effort has been made by the council. The seafront was buzzing with lots of families and people in general coming along, going to the top of the Beacon (great views) and generally just admiring how good the regeneration looks. We went to the Beacon viewing platform despite the queues and it looked great on a bright sunny day. We also popped into Rock and Rollabilia in the Beacon for a look round and chat with Ian the owner - some great stuff in there so will be popping back in soon. We then went in to see the Palace Hub Gallery which looked fantastic with great artwork from local artists - it's really well worth a visit so pop along and get some fantastic art for your home or office. Great to see so many people in Redcar and long may it continue.
On Friday we drove off to Grinkle Park for the wedding of Robin and Claire, Jane's niece I'm not really one for weddings but it was a nice relaxed affair and myself and Matt drank our way through it so it was quite enjoyable. The highlight was the photo session with confetti throwing outside. I have to say I wasn't actually in attendance for this part of the day's events as Matt and I had an appointment with a Kronenbourg at the bar (the only real ale was in poor condition). Jane and my in-laws went out to throw the "bargain confetti" supplied by my mother-in-law but came back inside pretty sharpish. From their explanation I look forward to seeing the photos of the bride covered in small, shiny bits of paper in the shape of reindeer, snowflakes or bearing the message "Merry Xmas".
'Til next week dear reader.
Sunday, 31 March 2013
Sunday, 24 March 2013
Lots of Visitors - Must Be The View
Just a quick post again this week as I've got a lot to do this weekend.
We had more visitors to the office last week than we did for the whole of our 16 months at Wilton Centre - then again we have a cracking view and I think that's why people pop in. We also had a photographer employed by Redcar & Cleveland Council taking photos in the office to publicise the Palace Hub. I'm not saying I'm the office minger but the photos only featured Peter and Steve.
Well a busy week and next week looks the same, long may it continue to be like that. We're currently working on 10 web projects with another agreed and due to start very shortly which is great plus a couple of related projects kicking in soon. Along with new sites on the way for local companies and a couple of companies further afield, we've got two more complex jobs with working on the background functionality of the GiveItAGo project with Cleveland Police and Teesside University plus about to start on the website for the new community radio station in the Palace Hub. We're also about to create a new website to allow local artists to sell on-line for only a small outlay. It may be a couple of weeks until that's on-line and we'll keep you posted.
Bye 'til next week.
We had more visitors to the office last week than we did for the whole of our 16 months at Wilton Centre - then again we have a cracking view and I think that's why people pop in. We also had a photographer employed by Redcar & Cleveland Council taking photos in the office to publicise the Palace Hub. I'm not saying I'm the office minger but the photos only featured Peter and Steve.
Well a busy week and next week looks the same, long may it continue to be like that. We're currently working on 10 web projects with another agreed and due to start very shortly which is great plus a couple of related projects kicking in soon. Along with new sites on the way for local companies and a couple of companies further afield, we've got two more complex jobs with working on the background functionality of the GiveItAGo project with Cleveland Police and Teesside University plus about to start on the website for the new community radio station in the Palace Hub. We're also about to create a new website to allow local artists to sell on-line for only a small outlay. It may be a couple of weeks until that's on-line and we'll keep you posted.
Bye 'til next week.
Sunday, 17 March 2013
Bad Cold and Bad Rugby (for England anyway)
Just a very quick post this week. End of the week including today I've been full of cold so whilst still working I've not been at full tilt, though need to work today.
The last week was a pretty typical week, some new work agreed, some web design done, SEO work done, graphic design done, meetings, social media work, networking, a chess match, couple of quotes drafted.
Saturday saw a day of rugby watching in front of the TV. Started well with a good performance from Italy showing how competitive they are in the 6 Nations now but was followed by Wales' demolition of England. I have to say I fancied a narrow Welsh win in a close game. How wrong could I be? We were totally outclassed in just about every position with, in my view, the Welsh forwards winning the game. Well done Wales!
I'm now off to nurse my cold, sulk about the rugby and do some work.
The last week was a pretty typical week, some new work agreed, some web design done, SEO work done, graphic design done, meetings, social media work, networking, a chess match, couple of quotes drafted.
Saturday saw a day of rugby watching in front of the TV. Started well with a good performance from Italy showing how competitive they are in the 6 Nations now but was followed by Wales' demolition of England. I have to say I fancied a narrow Welsh win in a close game. How wrong could I be? We were totally outclassed in just about every position with, in my view, the Welsh forwards winning the game. Well done Wales!
I'm now off to nurse my cold, sulk about the rugby and do some work.
Sunday, 10 March 2013
Meetings and Interesting Projects
It's been a really hectic week as alongside the usual work there has been a lot of meetings. Sometimes that's a bad thing as meetings can be talking shops where you meet some interesting people and we all tell the others how good we are but there is never going to be any useful outcome. We've all been to those and I still sometimes end up in such meetings but this week has seen me at productive meetings.
There have been meetings to collaborate with a few other more commercially-minded creative businesses in Redcar & Cleveland including the idea of creating of something more formal to put our local creative industries on the map and generate income for artists, photographers, musicians and yes, even web agencies. Early days yet but there is a willingness amongst a small group of businesses, ours included, to take that forward.
We've had a meeting with the college tutor of our apprentice, Peter. The Social Digital Apprenticeship through Middlesbrough College and the Digital Youth Academy is proving an ideal vehicle as Peter further develops his multimedia and social media skills and gains a qualification in the process. We know the social media strategies that Peter manages and largely runs for us take time to bear fruit but they are already increasing our audience as a quality and customer-focused, and customer-friendly, business. Peter has great artistic skills which we are utilising in our web graphics and we are providing him with time to develop some of his digital artwork and encouraging him to get it published, hopefully in the soon-to be opened Palace Hub Gallery. If you are a local artist and would like to exhibit there then get in touch with Mark or Nel.
On Friday we had a visit from Keith, the owner of Moseley Marketing in Birmingham. A bit disconcerting as I last saw Keith around 30 years ago when he was about 17 and he is a couple of years younger than me, I recognised him straight away as he looks about 25! Anyway, a great meeting and we will be developing Moseley Marketing's website and there may be some collaborative work where we work with their customers in the future as well - so great news all round (apart from the bit where Keith looks 25 years younger than me!).
On Friday I was also at a meeting in the HQ of Cleveland Police over the border (one for my fellow Boro dwellers there). Due to work commitments I didn't manage the full tour by popping into Boho and The Bongo as well but stuck to the focus of the visit. And that focus is GiveitaGo, a project aimed primarily at youth in the Cleveland area. We are providing support for the development of the website for this, primarily for the back end as it is a data driven site but also support for the web designer looking after the front end via advice, support and some jquery work. A worthwhile project which does not have a lot of cash behind it - so whilst we are doing this as a commercial company we are charging very little for our time and services. Money isn't everything so if you are a local company and would like to get involved and sponsor the project then I'm sure they'd love to hear from you.
And that's about it - time to spoil my mum's Mother's Day by visiting her.
There have been meetings to collaborate with a few other more commercially-minded creative businesses in Redcar & Cleveland including the idea of creating of something more formal to put our local creative industries on the map and generate income for artists, photographers, musicians and yes, even web agencies. Early days yet but there is a willingness amongst a small group of businesses, ours included, to take that forward.
On Friday we had a visit from Keith, the owner of Moseley Marketing in Birmingham. A bit disconcerting as I last saw Keith around 30 years ago when he was about 17 and he is a couple of years younger than me, I recognised him straight away as he looks about 25! Anyway, a great meeting and we will be developing Moseley Marketing's website and there may be some collaborative work where we work with their customers in the future as well - so great news all round (apart from the bit where Keith looks 25 years younger than me!).
On Friday I was also at a meeting in the HQ of Cleveland Police over the border (one for my fellow Boro dwellers there). Due to work commitments I didn't manage the full tour by popping into Boho and The Bongo as well but stuck to the focus of the visit. And that focus is GiveitaGo, a project aimed primarily at youth in the Cleveland area. We are providing support for the development of the website for this, primarily for the back end as it is a data driven site but also support for the web designer looking after the front end via advice, support and some jquery work. A worthwhile project which does not have a lot of cash behind it - so whilst we are doing this as a commercial company we are charging very little for our time and services. Money isn't everything so if you are a local company and would like to get involved and sponsor the project then I'm sure they'd love to hear from you.
And that's about it - time to spoil my mum's Mother's Day by visiting her.
Sunday, 3 March 2013
The Office is Now Warmed
On Friday we had a wee office warming gathering at the end of play with a few friends, collaborators, old neighbours and new neighbours over a few glasses of wine and crisps. There were cupcakes ordered with our company logo on but despite the confirmation of the order earlier in the week we were informed late Friday morning that "due to illness" the order could not be fulfilled. We won't name the company but they have missed out on possible business from the council for a full Palace Hub opening event and we certainly won't be using them again.
A good evening was had apparently but, like my head on Saturday, the details are little fuzzy as it turned into something of a session in Martha's Vineyard and the Plimsoll Line in Redcar. There are some provisional plans to do that more often though I'm not sure my liver would survive it in that format.
Last week started badly as our once glass-fronted, limited edition photograph appeared on the floor surrounded by shattered glass first thing Monday. It's now back up sans-glass and with a little damage to the frame and image but that's life. We have now added a sketch by Dee Danks to go with our photo and original painting by Di Fox. That's it for artwork for the moment as we're skint after moving!
Last week saw us develop two draft website designs for local businesses, a garden wooden structures/gardening company and a gas engineers plus out touting for new business now we have an official address and land-line phone number again. We're hopeful of two new contracts being agreed very soon.
Next week we've got a chunk of work to crack on with including completing the wooden structures/gardening company website, sorting out a website for a beauty salon in Newmarket that was made elsewhere but not completed, starting a website for a company that helps Dyslexic children, creating a website with an interesting navigation system and finishing the business card design for a therapist, plus the usual stuff of SEO, social media, Adwords management, etc. We've also got to look at developing some plug-ins and software tweaks for a major on-line CRM software package where we plan to partner up with the UK distributors who also sell to some big players in the Middle East.
It's going to be a busy week plus we've got 498 meetings (maybe an exaggeration) including Peter's course tutor coming in, meetings with other local creatives regarding some collaborative projects, a meeting with Cleveland Police (no, not what you're thinking) to help with their Give It A Go project and a meeting with the Keith the owner of a Birmingham marketing company who is provisionally coming up on Friday. Plus our BNI core group on Wednesday morning which is always good for the business and an enthusiasm boost for the week ahead.
And today there's the accounts to do and an assignment and marking guide to create for a Programming Methods module - so I'd better crack on. Goodbye until next week.
A good evening was had apparently but, like my head on Saturday, the details are little fuzzy as it turned into something of a session in Martha's Vineyard and the Plimsoll Line in Redcar. There are some provisional plans to do that more often though I'm not sure my liver would survive it in that format.
Last week started badly as our once glass-fronted, limited edition photograph appeared on the floor surrounded by shattered glass first thing Monday. It's now back up sans-glass and with a little damage to the frame and image but that's life. We have now added a sketch by Dee Danks to go with our photo and original painting by Di Fox. That's it for artwork for the moment as we're skint after moving!
Last week saw us develop two draft website designs for local businesses, a garden wooden structures/gardening company and a gas engineers plus out touting for new business now we have an official address and land-line phone number again. We're hopeful of two new contracts being agreed very soon.
Next week we've got a chunk of work to crack on with including completing the wooden structures/gardening company website, sorting out a website for a beauty salon in Newmarket that was made elsewhere but not completed, starting a website for a company that helps Dyslexic children, creating a website with an interesting navigation system and finishing the business card design for a therapist, plus the usual stuff of SEO, social media, Adwords management, etc. We've also got to look at developing some plug-ins and software tweaks for a major on-line CRM software package where we plan to partner up with the UK distributors who also sell to some big players in the Middle East.
It's going to be a busy week plus we've got 498 meetings (maybe an exaggeration) including Peter's course tutor coming in, meetings with other local creatives regarding some collaborative projects, a meeting with Cleveland Police (no, not what you're thinking) to help with their Give It A Go project and a meeting with the Keith the owner of a Birmingham marketing company who is provisionally coming up on Friday. Plus our BNI core group on Wednesday morning which is always good for the business and an enthusiasm boost for the week ahead.
And today there's the accounts to do and an assignment and marking guide to create for a Programming Methods module - so I'd better crack on. Goodbye until next week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)