Done and Dusted: Digital Marketing Show 2013

The 25th of November 2013 brought around one of the busiest weeks of my life.

After hours spent travelling to London, we finally arrived, unpacked and headed to the hub of it all - ExCel! (Luckily the hotel was right outside the venue, so it wasn't too far to travel every morning...)

After putting the final touches (an email here and a little panic there), we were ready for it all to start at 9am the next day.

By 9am queues were forming - the audience were ready and waiting for the first Digital Marketing Show to begin!

Each day the show was alive and buzzing with attendees, exhibitors, tech team and the show crew.

The theatres were jam-packed...

Speakers were in full flow...

And the exhibitors were engaging with the audience.

We've had some fantastic feedback and can't wait to do it all again in 2014. If you missed out this year then don't worry, we've got it covered. Check out our 2013 review with presentations, videos and some of the best bits.

Of course, we're not going to leave you to battle in the big wide world of digital marketing alone for the rest of the year. The Digital Marketing Magazine offers advice, tips and great articles all year around. I'm the new Deputy Editor so let me know your thoughts!

Are you planning on coming to the Digital Marketing Show 2014?

Mo At The Show

Like our fancy moustache? 

The Digital Marketing Show is supporting Movember by donating 50% from every VIP ticket sold this month. 

Now you have even more reason to go VIP!

The perks include:

• Fast track entry
• Reserved seating at all DMS presentations
• Round table participation
• Networking breakfast
• Naked Wine Voucher
• Ask the expert executive sessions
• £70 Discover Digital module
• VIP Lounge Entry

If you're taking part with the show or growing a mo', send us a picture of you with your moustache (real or not!) to @DMSLDN. 

Here's mine! 

Happy Halloween... Time to get Scary!

Boo!

Hope you're having a wonderful (or horrifying?) day.

Here's 10 scary facts about digital marketing to spook you into digital action!

Don't worry - it's not all that horrible...

The Digital Marketing Show can help you not be part of those terrifying statistics!

Head here for tickets.

50 Shades... of Digital Marketing!

Since joining the Fresh Content and Digital Marketing Show teams, I have been working on two exciting projects - a new e-book and the (fast-approaching!) Digital Marketing Show.

You'll have to wait until the 26th November 2013 to attend the show but I'm happy to announce that the e-book, 50 Shades of Digital Marketing, is now online!

I co-edited the e-book alongside Francesca James and I must admit I am proud of the final result.

The idea behind 50 Shades of Digital Marketing is that although it might be argued that ‘digital’ is turning marketing more into a science than an art form, there are certainly many different opinions as to what businesses should be doing in this brave new world.

Our ebook features commentary from 50 digital leaders and offers a range of opinions from experts and practitioners in the field.

Download your free copy and enjoy! Let us know your thoughts by tweeting @DMSLDN.

Re-blog: Newbie Alert!

"As a newbie to both Fresh Content and the fast-paced world of digital marketing, I expected my head to be in a spin before the end of my first day, let alone my first week. Now I’m at the beginning of week 3 as Event and Content Marketing Executive and I can happily confirm that my head is firmly still in place!"

...read more of my first blog for the Fresh Content website here. 

Hello from the world of employment!

Yep, that's right. I got a job!

If I'm honest, I'm surprised it happened so quickly. I had visions of myself being 12 months down the line and still sat in my bedroom, tweeting about being bored and/or wishing I was back at university. 

However, Fresh Content came to the rescue! 

Fresh Content are the great business I'm working for. They, obviously, create fresh content. But they (or should I say, we) do this to help companies and brands engage with prospects, customers and partners. It's all relevant, bespoke and up-to-date.

I better re-introduce myself then! I'm no-longer Hannah, BCU graduate, but now I am Hannah, Event and Content Marketing Executive. Pretty fancy title, eh?

In reality I'm working on a really interesting new event called The Digital Marketing Show. 

It takes place in London on the 26th, 27th and 28th November 2013. The show will have over 150 speakers and a number of stands and great things going on. The Digital Marketing Show isn't for digital experts though (although you are welcome!), it's for marketing professionals who want to bridge the gaps in their knowledge. Plus you get all this for a grand total of £0. It's free! Check it out, follow us on Twitter and come to the show.(I've made it even easier by adding a link to the tickets... no excuses!).

My role in the show includes oragnising speakers, contributing to the social media, creating content for the website and... more to come! As it's my first week I'm still learning about the role but it's been fantastic so far and I expect much of the same for the future. 

So, apologies if I don't get around to updating my blog as often as I'd like but you can keep up-to-date with my work via The Digital Marketing Show!

Are you Thinking Big about your career?

If you're a young, aspiring professional trying to get a foot on their desired career ladder, you should already know about the great site that is Go Think Big... 

If you didn't then now you have no excuses! 

Start searching, reading, practicing, applying, and generally using Go Think Big to improve your chances of employment. After all, it's there to help you better your professional chances and opportunities! 

So, who are Go Think Big and why are they helping us?

The teams behind O2, KISS, Kerrang!, Grazia, Empire, Q (...and more!) have come together in response to young people's challenges in the field of work. It's hard to know where to start so Go Think Big have set out to make it that bit easier. But don't worry, it's not all boring business jargon... check out their Twitter page and you'll see they're not immune to some silliness and fun. 

If you're still wondering why you should check out Go Think Big (there can't be many of you!) then I can recommend it from some great firsthand experience... 

As a recent graduate and someone who is actively pursuing a career in the music industry, live events and media fields, Go Think Big has been invaluable. From little things such as 'what to wear to an interview' to huge things such as securing an internship with Bon Jovi's Tour Management, they cover it all! 

There's written features offering advice and inspiration, opportunities to develop your CV and skills, and tools to help you get closer to your dream job. 

Sounds too good to be true, right? Wrong! 

It's all on Go Think Big, so what are you waiting for?

Get ahead in that big, bad world of employment! 

Dotty about Business Cards

I can't help but love business cards. They're functional and fun, especially with the range of creative designs and styles available. I love handing them out while networking! 

Not only are they easy to use and great for developing and maintaining an important contact base but they can be effective in creating a lasting impression if done well. Think of your business card as an extension of the 'professional you' which, if given to the right person, could land you with an exciting opportunity! 

After being pleased with the quality of the Moo.com cards produced for Sundae Promotions, I decided to turn my hand to making some for myself following my graduation from university and transition into the world of job hunting. 

My key tips for effective business cards are:

1. Easy to read - This includes font and colours but also the content of the card. You don't want to bombard your contact with information. Make it short, snappy and straight to the point. You want the reader to know who you are and what you're about in a glance. 
2. Know your field - Design your card to suit or stand out in the career field you are heading into. Perhaps have a look at other examples online or at networking events to get a feel for the style. You want the design to represent you and your skills at a glance.  
3. Attractive design and colours - Of course this depends on what style suits your career field. However, I think having an attractive or eye-catching card is just as important as the content. For example, with my business cards, I am hoping the bright colours will draw the attention of the contact. Remember they may have a pile of business cards but if yours stands out then you're in with a better chance of being remembered. 
4. Vital information - Name, skills, telephone number, email and (if you have one) website. Remember that a business card isn't just there to look pretty. You want this little treasure to develop contacts and provide opportunities. So, the reader needs to know who you are and what you do but your contact details are just as important. Make sure they're all up-to-date and correct before you hit 'Order'. 

Here's my finished product...

If you're going to the effort of designing an attractive and well thought-out business card then make sure you give them the storage they deserve! A flashy little tin card holder keeps your cards crumple-free and safe. You don't have to go rummaging in your bag or purse... they'll be easy to find and easy to give out to those important people. 

What are you waiting for... start creating and networking! 

Degree Results

Over the past few weeks I had been preparing to receive my results and overall degree classification on July 2nd so it came as a great surprise when, on Monday 1st July, I received a text saying the results had gone live.  

Three years of hard work had  been building up to this moment and I am absolutely ecstatic to announce that I will be graduating from Birmingham City University with a First Class BA (Hons) in Media and Communication!   

Safe to say I have spent the last few days celebrating with friends and family!  

Tour Management Intern

On Wednesday 12th June, I had the amazing opportunity to put my event management skills to the test working as a Tour Management Intern for none other than Bon Jovi! 

My role included setting up, organising and managing the VIP party room for the day of Bon Jovi's show, assisting the fans and support acts and liaising with the venue staff to organise the fans between the party room and show space. Not only was this a fantastic experience for my professional development, but seeing all the happy faces made it even more worthwhile. Bon Jovi have some serious fans! 

The day started at 10am and it was hard work straight through until 8.30pm when we were released into the crowd to watch Bon Jovi do their thing! It was great to see how such a grand scale event is put together and all the equipment, people and work that needs to be done to make a stadium show go off with a bang!

If you're interested in getting involved with something like this then I highly recommend checking out O2's Go Think Big. This invaluable site is dedicated to helping 'young people get a foot on the career ladder'. They certainly did that for me! 

Not only did the work increase my desire to work in the live music industry but meeting Bon Jovi's Management Team proved to me that with hard work and a positive attitude this could be a real career option for me!

Interested in getting such experiences and opportunities? Start with O2 Go Think Big, hunt high and low and apply, apply, apply! I've secured so many opportunities that I never could have imagined I would be involved with. If you're serious about your career and passion, then go for it! 

If you have any questions about the role then please get in touch, I'm more than happy to share my experiences with others. 

Exhibit This 2013: Day One!

So yesterday saw the launch day of Exhibit This 2013!

It was a long and rainy day but the students of Birmingham City University's School of Media made the best of it. We're thankful for all the people who came along and showed their interest... I believe the cakes and sweets on offer made the travel down to the Custard Factory much easier!

Here's myself with my team partner showcasing our work on Sundae Promotions -

We were also happy to be able to work again with one of the great artists from Access to Music (Birmingham), Mike Scarrott, at the exhibition. His acoustic performance welcomed our guests into the exhibition space. 

Don't forget, if you missed out last night then you can still get involved tonight!

Head down to the Custard Factory from 6pm and see all the great media talent on offer. 

Exhibit This 2013: Media Talent of BCU!

On the 28th and 29th of May, the Media and Communication students of Birmingham City University are inviting the public to come along and experience the great talent they have to offer! There will be exhibitions from all of the specialism so there's guaranteed to be something you'll be interested in. 

I will be exhibiting Sundae Promotions with my team partner, Amy McArthur. Say hi and get yourself one of our stickers!

The exhibition takes place at the Custard Factory, starting at 6pm and ending around 9pm. There will be refreshments available too.  

We hope to see lots of people there to celebrate and see all our hard work! 

Put the date in your diary! 

To keep up-to-date with Exhibit This 2013, please follow our Twitter or 'like' us on Facebook. Confirm your attendance here! 

It's done!

After spending what feels like forever on this one piece of work, I have finally completed it.

That's right, today I submitted my dissertation!

It was a lot of hard work but I am proud of what I have achieved.

Here's the final document:

Now to play the waiting game until I find out the final mark! 

Sundae Promotions Presents…

Sunday 21^st April 2013 saw the Sundae Promotions team hold the project’s debut event and we’re happy to announce that it was a great success!

From 1pm, Sundae Promotions took over Six Eight Kafe’s basement room to set up the stage and room ready for the acts to showcase their talent to the audience.

After calming some nerves and a number of sound-checks, the acts were ready to get going!

2pm came around quickly and as the crowd starting taking their seats, Myles headed up to the stage to kick off the show.

Offering a mixture of originals and covers, Myles was a great start with his emotional acoustic style.

Next up, one half of The Populars! Unfortunately, Simon’s musical partner was unable to make it to the show so Simon took to the stage alone but didn’t let the missing half of the duo let him down as he gave 100%.

The performance began with two originals played on the piano and a vocal cover. Simon’s velvety, rich vocals had the crowd in awe of his talent and his playful stage presence had the crowd laughing and singing along.

Third on, Mike Scarrott or ‘Skaz’!

Mike performed a mixture of covers and original songs (offering some anecdotal background to each!)  

Contrast were up next! The trio’s set consisted of covers but their talent had the crowd cheering, especially at Claire’s vocal ability.

The penultimate act was Two Day Nation. This female pop-punk band usually consists of four members but unfortunately one of the band was suffering with a sore throat so Shiwani took to the stage as the front-woman without her singing partner. The set featured two classic covers, “Skater Boy” by Avril Lavigne and “Teenage Dirtbag” by Wheatus, which had the audience singing and clapping along. A big hit was the band’s original song, Hit The Deck in which Kelly impressed with her guitar solo.

Last up (but certainly not least) was the fantastic, Call Me Unique, who put on an amazing headline set which even moved one of the audience to tears! She summarised the afternoon’s display of local talent by urging the crowd to continue supporting their local musicians and continued to channel this passion through her set of original songs.

Although the acts were the true stars of the afternoon, these sundae glasses full of sweets certainly went down a treat with the crowd.

For those of you who weren’t lucky enough to see these performances live, as they should be experienced, we will be uploading some footage of the event so keep checking the Sundae Promotions Facebook page and Twitter! However, you can head on over to Facebook now to see our event photography album! 

Want to know more about the event and our wonderful acts?

The reviews and interviews are coming soon!

Sundae Promotions Photo Shoot: The Final Images!

As promised, here are the fantastic final images from the photo shoots we held for of a selection of our artists who performed at Sundae Promotions Presents... on Sunday 21st April!

Head here to see the rest of the shoots!

In the meantime, here's a preview of what you can find in the full album...

Contrast

Myles 

Two Day Nation

Mike Scarrott 

Credit to Stephanie Thompson and Alexandrea Kennedy, go check out the rest of their great work.

Sundae Promotions Photo Shoots!

Today Sundae Promotions held a number of photo shoots with the acts performing at Six Eight Kafe on Sunday 21st April! We teamed up with two lovely freelance photographers, Stephanie Thompson and Alex Kennedy, to offer Mike Scarrott, Contrast, Two Day Nation and Myles Minihan a set of professional photos to take forward in the development of their music career and visual identity.

Here's a sneak peek of the shoot!

We can't wait to see the final images!

Don't forget, you can see all these great acts and more at Six Eight Kafe on Sunday 21st April from 2pm. 

Hope to see you there!

Next Gen Fest and Sundae Promotions

Are you ready for a weekend of culture and creativity? 

Sundae Promotions are excited to be teaming up with the creative forces behind mac Birmingham's new Next Generation Festival, curated by the Cannon Hill Collective. 

We're going to be bringing you a weekend of events dedicated to supporting Birmingham's emerging creative talent! 

Next Gen Fest takes place on Friday 19th April and Sundae Promotions Presents is on Sunday 21st April. We'll give you a day in-between to recover!

Both events are completely FREE so there's no excuse. Come and support a wide range of creative talent!

Head on over to the Sundae Promotions website to read more about the up-coming events. We hope to see you there!

We'll be talking to people at Next Gen Fest about the debut Sundae Promotions live event, so come say hello and grab yourself one of our cute new stickers! 

Sundae Promotions Presents...

Check out our fantastic line-up!

Sundae Promotions Presents...

If you already 'like' us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter then you'll know that Sundae Promotions have announced their first creative live music event! 

We're excited to be holding it at Six Eight Kafe in Birmingham on Sunday 21st April 2013.

The cafe has recently done up their basement room into a great space for holding creative events. They've previously used the space for film nights, live music, comedy nights and art exhibitions and now Sundae Promotions are using the space to celebrate and support unsigned music in a creative way. 

We'll be announcing times and the great musicians we'll be showcasing in the near future so watch this space!

Can we expect to see you there?
Let Sundae Promotions make your Sunday more exciting! 

Auditions

Yesterday Sundae Promotions had the pleasure of holding auditions at Access To Music (Birmingham). We spent the day listening to a wide range of musical talent and watching performances to seek out the acts to perform at our upcoming event in April 2013. 

It was fantastic to see how the college is developing these students into performers and crafting their skills. We really hope the Sundae Promotions live event will give them some great experience in the music industry and a platform to showcase their talent to more people. We'll be releasing taster clips and images on Facebook of those great acts that we were lucky enough to see perform.

Remember to get involved in our event if you want to see and hear more and support passionate and ambitious students! (Information coming soon)

Getting Professional!

Say hello to Sundae Promotions' fancy, new business cards! 

They're looking great thanks to Sundae Promotions' Visual Communications Manager, Amy McArthur. We're hoping to get these handed out and start networking and making contact with Birmingham's creative communities and businesses.

What do you think? We love them! 

If you're interested in getting some printed for yourself then check out Moo for great offers and service.   

Exciting News for Sundae Promotions!

As I mentioned in my last post, I am currently managing a project that I am really proud of and excited about. Sundae Promotions is a new creative live events project management team and we're seeking to put on a music event in the coming months. 

Of course, with this comes the need to spend money.

Myself and my team partner, Amy McArthur, are both students and so with our tight budget we were wondering if we'd be able to afford all the costs of hiring, printing and such fees...

That's where O2 have stepped in. 

That's right, O2! 

We're so excited to announce that Sundae Promotions are now working with support from O2 Think Big so we can make our project bigger and better. 

At Sundae Promotions we're all about bringing communities together through arts events and with this funding and supporting we're hoping we can reach even more people and make sure the night is a great success! 

Don't forget to keep up-to-date with our progress on Facebook and Twitter. A website will follow shortly! 

We'll be announcing our event in the near future so make sure you mark it in your diaries.

We'd love to see you there! 

Sundae Promotions

Welcome to my new project!

Sundae Promotions is a Creative Live Events Project Management Team set up and run by myself and my team partner, Amy McArthur. Our mission is to challenge the perception of unsigned music and promote Birmingham's creative industries. We're going to do this by putting on a live event experience in a creative space rather than a 'traditional' venue. 

We want to bring back the art to live music and involve people in new music experiences as we feel live unsigned nights have become a little boring and standardised!

Not only are we working with and supporting Birmingham's creative industry but we want to offer platforms for talented young individuals and groups in Birmingham to showcase their talent - be it musical or media based! We're currently collaborating with music colleges around Birmingham and various university media projects to ensure Sundae Promotions is a creative community project that brings a little excitement back to Birmingham's music scene. 

I've been super busy working on this project for the past few months and we're really hoping it's going to be a great success and an event that people will remember as offering something different! 

You can keep up-to-date with the project on Facebook and Twitter. Please check these out as we'd really appreciate your support and as always, any feedback is welcome! 

Watch this space!

Talent: How to Use Twitter Professionally

I love using Twitter to update friends about my personal life (I'm a self-confessed tweetaholic!) but also to update about my professional life. Twitter is a great way to create awareness of projects I'm working on, work I'm involved with and following accounts related to my career interests. Therefore, when my friend and fellow media student, Grace Montgomery, asked me to get involved with one of her pieces about using Twitter with a career focus, I was more than happy to do so!

As a media student, I am aware of how important it is to have an online presence and Twitter offers a great platform to interact with people in your desired career field and create awareness of your skills and the work you do. A bit of self-promotion never hurt anyone! 

If you haven't got a professional Twitter account, get on it! While you're at it, don't forget to follow me and check out Grace's tips on How to Use Twitter Professionally (featuring some words from me). 

Grace writes a whole host of interesting articles for Talent, "a dynamic and innovative youth & entertainment project aimed at improving the life chances of young people in the West Midlands".

Interested? Check out the site here and don't forget to follow Grace's Twitter for updates on her work! 

Do you have a professional Twitter? Follow & tweet me so I can check out your profile and work too.