Marketing on a shoestring…

We look forward to this Thursday when we team up with Techmesh our IT & Telecoms friends here at the Chamber for their next event. The three guest speakers for ‘Shoestrings and straight lines’ have put together an amazing presentation on the subject of marketing technology products and services. Together with the Chartered Institute of Marketing, this event is not just for our techies but for all Leeds Media members – there really is something for everyone! For CIM members you can pick up CPD points and meet fellow marketing people. Speakers include:

Andy Peterson – Head of Business Marketing, Product & Propositions for KC  – Andy will share his experiences with ‘welcome to the real world – a users guide to the high and lows of marketing technology products with social media and everything else’.

Rob Heerdegen – Online & Strategic Marketing Consultant – Rob looks at ”Warning! Your brand has been hijacked. Your buyer is in complete control and your marketing team likely has no idea.’

Paul Lancaster – Founder of Plan Digital and Web Development Executive for Shell LiveWIRE – Paul will talk about emotional technology (or Emotech) and how to start a viral/global campaign with nothing more than a laptop, smartphone and your imagination.

Contact CIM to book your place: 01628 427340

 

 

Inspire. Create. Winners

We caught up with ‘Inspire. Create.’ future stars Sai Praefa and Polly Williams to see how they were getting on in their new intern/mentee roles. Polly Williams, a graphic design student at Leeds College of Art, won a brand new Apple Mac computer as well as ongoing guidance and support from a mentor from Leeds-based communications agency Logistik, for her entry ‘Life’s Not All Lollipops & Candy Canes’. Sai Praefa, also a graphic design student at Leeds College of Art, won a placement at strategic and creative marketing agency Brass for her entry ‘I was going to make a A0 Poster’.

 

Case study: Polly Williams

I felt completely over the moon to have won Leeds Media’s Inspire.Create. competition. As if winning a Macbook Pro wasn’t enough; I was thrilled to win an opportunity to be mentored by Logistik.

Especially in my final year, where I will really value all the advice and support I can get to help me with the transition from student to professional. This is an opportunity that not every student can say they have had, although undoubtedly every student could benefit from. I feel sure that I will learn a huge amount from the time I spent at Logistik and in so many areas; whether it’s shadowing members of the design team, getting some feedback on my own work or discussing interview technique, job applications, advice on my creative CV and portfolio. I can’t wait to start spending some time with Logistik over the next few months. I think that Inspire.Create. is a brilliant competition and event to get involved with, not just for the fantastic prizes, but for the networking opportunities that it offers for both students and design companies as well as the lectures and seminars with professionals that you just don’t get access to every day.

 

Case Study: Sai Praefa

I started my placement on Tuesday but I was only able to do it for one week due to university commitments, I am however going to be going back into Brass in February for another week which is fantastic. I really loved getting to see how all the designers work together and just generally being part of the working environment. I was mainly supervised by Andrew Brown and Ian Rossin, the creative directors there. They were so welcoming and really great to work with – I can’t wait to go back next month!

Oh and check out Sai’s new website:

www.designbysai.co.uk

Region’s media sector gets behind creative talent

THE future stars of the region’s media and digital sector were given a boost at a special event organised by Leeds Media and Social Alchemy.

Full time media, digital and creative students, graduates and freelancers battled it out in a competition to showcase their work at the recent Inspire.Create event, which combined an exhibition of budding creatives’ work with a series of seminars and workshops.

Polly Williams, a graphic design student at Leeds College of Art, won a brand new Apple Mac computer as well ongoing guidance and support from a mentor from Leeds-based communications agency Logistik, for her entry ‘Life’s Not All Lollipops & Candy Canes’.

Also studying graphic design at Leeds College of Art, Sai Praefa’s work won her a paid placement at digital agency Brass.

Polly said: “I feel so lucky to have won such an amazing opportunity, especially in my final year where I will really value all the advice I can get to help me with the transition from student to professional. As well as the incredible prizes, I think the competition and event were a fantastic opportunity for students from all over Leeds to network with professionals and each other.”

Sharon Ward, corporate responsibility manager at Logistik, said: “We wanted to get involved with Inspire.Create as part of our drive to broaden our work with educational establishments.

“Our head office is based in Leeds and we therefore want to promote local agencies and the creativity of the region so that we have the best people to recruit.

“We’re looking forward to supporting Polly. We have a large studio and a lot of expertise so we really want her to be able to pick what’s most useful for her.

“The event provided a great opportunity to network with fellow industry creatives and make contact with students with heaps of potential. Overall the event had a great atmosphere and a genuine collaborative agenda.”

Some of the UK’s leading agencies based in the Leeds City region joined forces to support the event and Yorkshire’s rising talent.

Representatives from What !?, Engine Room Apps, Thompson Brand Partners, BrandNu, Clearsilver, Coolpink and Creative England ran workshops and seminars offering advice on CVs and portfolios, career progression, how to become a freelancer and how to set up an agency.

Over 150 students, graduates and freelancers attended last week’s event to seek advice from the creative agencies present. Over 90 professionals from various companies in Leeds came to view the creative work on display and discuss employment opportunities with the young creative talent in the region.

Nick Ramshaw, Chair of Leeds Media comments: “The event was a resounding success, competition entries poured in and I’d like to congratulate the winners and everyone who submitted their work.

“The event demonstrated the calibre of talent that lies within our region’s creative and digital sector and the commitment that Leeds Media is making to help develop and support the future stars of the industry.”

Michaela Laubscher, Director of Social Alchemy commented: “The event not only gave young creatives the opportunity to show what they have to offer the sector but also provided them with vital information on how to progress their careers.

“Some of the best agencies in the region turned out to support the event to offer practical support to ensure that the Yorkshire’s next generation of talent are able to make the most of the opportunities that lie ahead and set them on the road to success.”

03

Digital & Media Round Table

The first, Digital and Media Round Table event was held at the Queens Hotel on Thursday 22nd Spetember, the aim of the event was to engage local businesses with a view to discover what they look for when searching for a media agency.

The event saw some of the regions top corporate businesses and agencies take part, including Leeds Building Society, Northern Ballet, Yorkshire County Cricket Club, WYG and Leeds Met. The agenda covered; how and where companies deploy their marketing budgets, how to tackle the North/South divide and the best ways to engage with the clients helping to build the Leeds brand.

It was clear from the discussion that Leeds Media can lend itself as a community, broker and point of contact for businesses in the region and this is where we will be focusing our efforts for future events and to reach this position.

Due to the success and the insightful feedback from the attendees, we will be holding more round table events quarterly so if you would like to be involved please contact us at 0113 2470000 or email us at marketing@leedsmedia.co.uk.

Call for entries

As part of Leeds Media’s and Social Alchemy’s campaign to help retain the best creative talent within in the region we are hosting an exhibition – with a twist!

Not only will we give local students and freelancers the chance to showcase their digital work to the thriving creative sector we have here in Leeds, but we have also secured two fantastic prizes for the winners. Brass Agency is offering a paid placement with in their business and Logistik are donating a brand new Mac plus a highly experienced mentor as the other prize.

So what do you have to do…….

Simply drop us an email at info@inspirecreateleeds.co.uk with your best piece of work to date. The exhibition is open to all full time media, digital and creative students, graduates and freelancers. All we ask of you is to get in touch and show us what you can do; whether you are a graphic genius, PR guru, web geek, digi designer – we want to hear from you!

Interested? Send your work over before Thursday 20^th October. Submissions at this stage will not be formally assessed and all suitable work will be displayed in the online gallery at www.inspirecreateleeds.co.uk. The top 15 entrants will be selected via an online voting system and will be given the chance to showcase their work at our upcoming event; Inspire.Create, on Thursday 27^th October, where a panel of experts will pick the final winners.

If you’re not one of our lucky winners you needn’t worry as we’ve got a wealth of agencies coming down to the event to spot the hottest raw talent – what have you got to lose?

If you have any queries please contact Jenny Wall or Michaela Laubscher at info@inspirecreateleeds.co.uk

New cultural brief up for grabs!

We’ve been given a copy of a brief for an exciting new opportunity to develop a website promoting the cultural opportunities and events taking place in Leeds as part of the 2012 Olympics and beyond.

‘Leeds Inspired’ is a new cultural programme which in 2012 will result in a celebration of culture across the city as part of the Olympics year. The website will play a key part in sharing information about the programme and will help us deliver an amazing cultural experience for everyone.

Agencies and freelance web designers interested in applying for this commission should submit proposals of up to five sides by 5pm on Thursday 6th October. Have a look here for the full brief: http://www.yourchamber.org.uk/images/stories/pdfs/leeds_inspired_wb.pdf  

Good luck!

Catching up with the creatives of tomorrow…..

Catch our interviews with some of the highly talented students at Leeds College of Arts end of year show. The event showcased the work of recent graduates and we caught up with a few promising stars, to question their views on the Leeds creative scene and see what their plans were after university.

A huge focus for Leeds Media at the minute is to help promote and retain the talent we have in the region – signposting Leeds as the media centre of the North. We’re building our connections with the universities and enabling businesses to work more closely with students. Watch out for our student focused events during Leeds Digital Festival!

Details to follow….

Christmas Knees Up

For all you good boys and girls, Leeds Media and the Round Foundry Media Centre are hosting a Christmas party. For one night only on 16th December, the Round Foundry Media Centre will be transformed into a festive wonderland with plenty of mulled wine, food & good company. Leeds DJ, Annie Errez will be providing the tunes.  So come on! Don’t be a Grinch and join in the celebrations!