A hot ticket among start-ups in the events industry these days is San Francisco based Eventbrite.

The online event ticket-selling company for event organisers is backed by $6.5 million from Sequoia Capital partner Roelof Botha, the same guy who took a gamble on YouTube, is just coming off a successful year in which it had $100 million in ticket sales.

Eventbrite, which has 3 million unique visitors a month, has earned its success by selling tickets to events that are too small for industry heavyweight Ticketmaster, which rules the large venues for sporting and music events. Instead Eventbrite makes it easy to buy tickets for conferences, night clubs, classes, training sessions, reunions and the like. Convenience fees are low, a 2.5% cut plus a dollar per ticket (the industry standard is more like 10% to 15%). The service also allows users to create Web pages for events, promote events and sell tickets on the Web.

“Selling tickets on our site is as easy as publishing a blog post,” said Eventbrite Chief Executive Kevin Hartz, a serial entrepreneur who co-founded the company with his wife, Julia Hartz.

Source: http://www.eventindustrynews.co.uk/2010/01/former-ticketmaster-ceo-joins-board-at-eventbrite.html

The BBC’s governing body was under fire tonight for lavishing thousands of pounds on hospitality and expenses.

Despite the painful economic climate, BBC Trust officials spent £11,000 on lunches with MPs and hosting boxes at the Proms over a six-month period.

This came even though a number of them also received Proms hospitality from other BBC bosses, who they are meant to be overseeing.

In total, the 13 members of the BBC Trust racked up expenses of about £65,000 in the six months between April and September last year.

This did not include £4,200 spent on hiring boxes at the Proms and £6,400 spent on three separate lunches at each of the main political party conferences last year.

Up to £1,500 may also have been incurred on costs related to the Proms on taxis and accommodation.

Chairman Sir Michael Lyons lead the way in expenses claimed, incurring £30,000, including £12,500 for a driver to ferry him around London.

Over a one-year period, his expenses totaled £63,000 – he claimed £33,000 for the previous six months, according to the most recent report.

The expenses are so high due to Sir Michael declining to move from his home in Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham, even though the job is largely based in London.
Overall, the trustees claimed about £24,000 on accommodation, £12,000 on cabs and ‘long distance cars’, £16,000 on rail travel and £7,000 on flights. A number also claimed for their Sky Television subscription and tube travel to the office.

Source: Daily Mail

http://www.eventindustrynews.co.uk/2010/01/bbcs-governing-body-under-fire-for-11000-event-hospitality-bill.html

The idea of charging a fee for video and audio from conferences and events is old, and comes from the days of charging for tapes of presentations as a way of boosting revenue from live events. Those days are over.

Today, sitting in little old South River, Ontario, Canada I’m watching the live streaming event LeWebfrom Paris France – for free. Not everyone can afford to travel to conferences and not everyone can attend your event each year. By letting participants peak into your conference on their computer, you build your event reputation, entice future attendees and earn fans far beyond the walls of your event.

Events like LeWeb and Web 2.0 Conference put some of the brightest lig

Source: http://www.eventindustrynews.co.uk/

by Matt Williams, campaignlive.co.uk 25-Jan-10, 15:15

LONDON – Ford is positioning its new Ranger model as “the heart and soul of a true pick-up” through a new press and online campaign inspired by comic strip illustrations.

The press ads, created by Ogilvy Advertising, imitate the front cover of a comic book and place the Ford Ranger in high-octane situations.
In one spot, the pick-up is seen in a jungle being chased by a giant gorilla, while in another the vehicle is shown tackling tricky terrain in Egypt.
The digital campaign, created by Wunderman, includes banner ads that follow on from the print creative.

The ads link through to a specially created Ford Ranger website that promotes the vehicle as something “every man should own”.
The campaign marks the first time a Ford vehicle has been shown as an illustration in its advertising.
The spots will run in a number of European markets, including the UK, Ireland, Portugal and Germany. Mindshare will handle media planning and buying for the campaign.

Source: http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/979503/Ford-looks-comic-book-inspiration-Ranger-campaign/

Campaign: Golden Joystick Awards 2009
Client: Future UK
PR team: In-house and Boom!
Timescale: July-October 2009
Budget: £20,000

Joysticks.

 Objectives

- To achieve one million consumer votes for the awards

- To increase awareness of the awards.

Strategy and plan

The PR team created an awards roadshow and visited companies to showcase
the awards. The consumer side of the campaign kicked off with a viral
containing visual clues to hidden video games, alongside a ‘vote now’
call to action and a competition for consumers to identify the most
games. Partnerships were set up with consumer media including ShortList,
Bliss and MSN. A world record attempt to complete a level of Sonic the
Hedgehog 2 in 22 seconds was carried out successfully on the day of the
awards and the ceremony itself broke the Guinness World Record for the
most popular video game awards.

Measurement and evaluation

The campaign generated more than 30 pieces of mainstream and lifestyle
coverage, more than 50 pieces of specialist and trade coverage and
appeared on more than 100 specialist games blogs.

Results

There was a 47 per cent increase in voting and the one million target
was exceeded. The event was recognised as the world’s leading video
games awards ceremony.

Source: http://www.brandrepublic.com/InDepth/Features/978508/Campaigns-Technology—Golden-Joysticks-top-game/?DCMP=ILC-SEARCH

Source

Whilst employed, you will naturally build and develop your skill set, which can be used to sell yourself into your next role. However, in order to assist the development of your skills there are several things you can do. Having new skills and knowledge can be invaluable to receiving a promotion and moving up the career ladder.

Transferable Skills
There are several transferable skills that can be used from trainee level right up to CEO level, for example, communication, teamwork, problem-solving, negotiating and organisation skills. These are all transferable skills that if can be performed properly will help you promote yourself and move up the ladder at every stage. Try to make sure you are capable of performing these skills and if not, practice them until you are confident.

Join an Association
By joining an association or club that interests you, you will meet new people and get involved in activities where you can develop and learn new skills. These may or may not be work-related but whichever type it is, it will help you build a network and get involved in things outside your daily routine. As well as building your transferable skills, you will also learn new skills that you can bring to the job and organisation.

Ask for a Mentor/Supervisor
These people will look after you and help you develop the skills you want to build. By talking to them about what you want to improve on, they can help coach and manage your learning.

New Tasks and Responsibilities
By getting involved in new tasks at work, you will increase the chances of learning new skills. Volunteer for jobs outside your allocated role – not only will this impress your boss itself, but the new skills you develop can be highlighted when you want to move up the career ladder.

Take a Course at College/University
You can take a course in the evenings, at the weekend or even a distance-learning course to develop your knowledge in an area that you want to take forward. This will show your boss you are interested in personal development and willing to invest time in learning. Once you have completed a course, you will have new knowledge and skills that are invaluable to promotion.

Do a Professional Qualification
Depending on what line of work you are in, you can always decide to complete a professional qualification e.g. CIMA for marketing or CIPD for HR. These involve a lot of hard work and will allow you to gain professional knowledge that can practically be applied to your current role.

Conferences, Exhibitions, Workshops and Seminars
Find out about events going on in your industry. Exhibitions and seminars will normally be free and you can spend a whole day at the events talking to people, asking questions, listening to others and just generally learning. Industry leaders who have a great deal of knowledge and many years experience will usually take the seminars – these people are inspiring and you can learn a lot from them. Conferences and workshops will cost you some money to attend so you may have to ask your company if they will pay. These industry events can provide you with great ideas, future trends and they are a great place to network and seek informative information.

There are various ways to develop your knowledge and skills and it is about being proactive in order to do so. You personal development will allow you to build a positive, impressive picture of yourself when going for promotion and is invaluable to moving up the career ladder.

Source

The higher education sector should play a greater part in the government’s agenda of improving skills of the workforce, says a new report* by a parliamentary select committee. MPs looked at the review of leading businessman Lord Leitch, published in 2006, which was based on depressing statistics revealing the level of skills among the UK working population.

At the time of the report, more than a third of adults lacked the equivalent of a basic school-leaving qualification, nearly half of all adults lacked numeracy skills and one in seven was not functionally literate. Figures from 2006 placed the UK 17th among the 30 OECD countries in terms of the proportion of 25-64 year olds with low qualifications.

To remedy this and achieve the ambition for the UK to become a world leader in skills, Leitch recommended “radical change across the skills spectrum”. He focused on adult skills, in recognition that 70% of the 2020 workforce had already left school, and proposed a series of objectives for 2020:

* 95% of adults to achieve basic skills of functional literacy and numeracy (up from a 2005 base of 85% and 79% respectively) – also known as a Level 1 qualification;
* More than 90% to have basic school-leaving qualifications (69% in 2005) – also known as a Level 2 qualification, equivalent to five GCSE’s at A*-C;
* More than 40% to be qualified to degree level or above (29% in 2005) – also known as a Level 4 qualification.

These ambitious targets were enthusiastically adopted by the government. Some of the evidence collected by the committee, however, questions the fundamental philosophy of Leitch’s prescriptions, particularly when people are moving between types of employment, not just looking to increase their overall skills levels.

“Reskilling, rather than upskilling, is increasingly becoming the norm and it is our view that targets and the government’s allocation of resources must change to reflect that,” said the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills committee.

The report notes that the old attitude of higher education setting itself apart from the skills and training agenda has broken down in recent years with institutions developing ever closer links with business.

The government recognises this development but wants to push it further and faster. It argues: “Higher education institutions have been increasingly positioning themselves as agents for economic and regional growth and are identifying their areas of competitive strength in research and teaching; the goal is for businesses and universities to work together and learn from each other how to generate and exploit innovative ideas.”

Yet the role of higher education within the Leitch agenda, in particular its relationship with employers, seemed to the committee to be a major point of weakness within the implementation of the government’s policy on skills.

In recent years, there have been considerable increases in the number of students going to university and acquiring level 4 skills which should make the Leitch target of more than 40% of the adult workforce holding such qualifications by 2020 challenging but within reach, it says.

But there are doubts whether industry co-funding of 50% will be forthcoming in the quantity required to meet annual targets of 20,000 places. Such doubts are voiced by one of the Higher Education Funding Council’s objectives for the next three years: testing the policy of employer co-funding to get beneath the welter of opinion and anecdote to establish hard evidence on the willingness of employers to pay for the right higher level skills product.

The current economic downturn may make this level of employer investment even harder to attain, says the report.

Source

HMV Group has invested in a joint venture with venue owner Mama Group that will own 11 venues, including Hammersmith Apollo, the Edinburgh Picture House and Birmingham Institute.

This means HMV will have naming rights, which will result in the Hammersmith venue being renamed the HMV Apollo, the Picture House will be HMV Picture House, and Birmingham Institute will be the HMV Institute. The team has also bought Heaven and The Forum in London.

HMV will have naming rights for a further four venues as and when they are acquired by the joint venture.

“I am pleased that we have taken our first steps beyond the current three-year plan into the ‘live’ space,” said HMV managing director and group chief executive Simon Fox.

“Music is very much part of our DNA, and by extending the HMV brand into the growing live music and entertainment market, our customers will be able as never before to access and experience music in all of its forms through HMV.”

HMV found that the live music market is worth approximately £1bn in the UK and is of strong interest for its core customers.

HMV has also entered into an agreement with ticketing agency Seatem to sell tickets via its stores – and online – to events at venues owned by the joint venture.

Franz Ferdinand will perform at the HMV Apollo on 9 March, while Late of the Pier will appear at the HMV Forum on 17 February and The View at the HMV Picture House on 12 February.

Source

They are young, media literate, tech savvy and a lot more discerning about how they consume than their predecessors. Most of all they are at the centre of the brand conversations that are taking place and marketers had better remember that.

‘Generation Y’ is probably the most media literate generation modern marketers have ever encountered. Why do brands obsess so much about the under-30 consumer base, or Gen-Y as they are often called today? Simple – the under-30s are vital to brands as they remain more open to new concepts and are at the age when habits and relationships with brands form. It’s a bit like the Jesuits used to say – get them when they’re young and you have them for life.

The great fear among traditional publishers, broadcasters and media owners is that Gen-Y is turning its back on ‘old’ media like newspapers, magazines, TV and radio to consume their information online.

This is an exaggeration. In fact Gen-Y is probably the most media literate generation modern marketers have ever encountered.

Yes they are online but they are fully aware of print, TV and radio offerings. They also adore the cinema. They just like to chose things themselves rather than be passive and receptive.

Attempting to lump all 18-30 year olds under the umbrella of Gen-Y is a futile exercise. An 18 year old ‘fresher’ is nothing like a 25 year-old first-jobber in the same way a just-married 30 year old is nothing like a 21 year old who has got the J1 for the first time.

Double dipping not tripping

To say that 18-30 year olds are not receptive to ‘traditional’ media and advertising is disingenuous. “We still see radio and TV playing an important role. However, certainly the competition for attention space for Generation Y is ever increasing. In addition, never before has this age bracket been so media literate,” says Luke Reaper, director with Behaviour and Attitudes.

“What we found through our ID research programme is that this age group is increasingly ‘media meshing’. The brands that are gaining traction are those that use traditional media like TV, radio and outdoor while at the same time launching complimentary interactive online campaigns,” says Adrian Fernandes, Amárach Research.”

“Online is a vital part of communicating to this particular group,” argues Sonia Harris of Burrell Marketing. “The majority spend their day at a computer and often their only break in the day is a little bit of ‘me time online’. The internet is a beckoning tool for marketers with smaller budgets and bigger goals.”

Adrian Fernandes also points to Gen-Y’s habit of ‘double dipping’. “Younger consumers often watch TV and have their laptop open, or they might listen to the radio while searching on the Net. If you look at outdoor campaigns many include their search terms on the posters.”

According to the latest Beta Life Youth study (on behalf of brands such as MTV and Nokia), 25% of Gen-Y first see or hear of brands through TV ads. 60% of those surveyed agreed TV advertising plays a role in their brand decisions, and 50% think that television ads endorse a brand’s image. The study covered five markets – the UK, US, Germany, India and Japan. The study also highlighted the influence of digital media. 71% of respondents agreed that the internet makes choosing a brand easier and that blogs, review sites and social networking sites are increasingly important.

“An important thing to remember about communicating on web 2.0 platforms such as Bebo, Facebook and YouTube is that the medium belongs to the audience,” says Philip Macartney, head of sales, Bebo.  ”It is their space because they create most of the content as well as consume it. Get on these platforms , connect with the audience and have a digital conversation with them. Brands are part of the conversations on these spaces at the moment. The difference is that some brands are influencing these conversations and some are not.”

Click and stick

While young consumers tend to crave individualism they still form groups, both online and offline, that suit their perceived image of themselves. It has always been this way, it’s just today they have more immediate solutions to their needs such as social networks, blogs, Twitter and of course YouTube. “The basics of marketing still hold, we need to connect, engage and have a compelling message. But marketing to this generation is not solely about product qualities, but also about entertaining and having a brand story, the challenge is to move beyond simple product needs,” argues Reaper.

“Gone are the days when a website’s only use was to inform users about a product or service,” says Sonia Harris. “Users expect fully-functional sites that entertain and inform them. These users want genuine interactions with brands. Marketers can benefit from these interactions through designing clever usages such as competitions whereby users must click through to other sites all the while spending more time learning about the brand.”

Growing up in the Google Age

It is also important to note that for most in the 18-30 age group they have never really known a world without a search engine. Think about it. What kind of expectations does a person have growing up in the Google Age?
They are in constant communication with the media they chose to consume and the brands they chose to champion.

“Understanding the role of new media is critical. This often involves allowing consumers to own a brand, interact with it and even develop it. Sometimes marketers can be wary of this loss of perceived control. However, developing a genuine dialogue and having the courage to do so with Gen-Y is essential,” says Reaper.

“With regards to the likes of Twitter, Facebook, Bebo, YouTube etc. – the main concerns facing marketers and brands in these cases are the fact that it opens up discussion on the brand and while this can be beneficial it can also be detrimental to the brand’

s integrity. Personal opinions can be damaging and long-lasting, whether or not it’s justified. This lack of control can understandably make marketers wary and limit usage of online tools,” suggests Harris.

“Gen-Y also expect a lot from their brands,” says Fernandes. “They talk about what they buy when they are online. They will broadcast bargains they find as well as highlighting rip offs. Four years ago they were quite passive in terms of receiving messages from brands … now they are actively looking for good value. We are seeing the death of the cash-rich time-poor consumer. Gen-Y is also showing a greater interaction with loyalty schemes. We have seen the development of the ‘Recessionista’ – a consumer type who celebrates their bargain hunting and good money management.”

Easier and cheaper

However, at present the Gen Y consumers simply don’t conform to most of the standard marketing categories. They are quite difficult to reach – unless you know how.

So how do you reach them? “Understanding the different sub-targets are vitally important for targeting,” says Reaper.  If we take the simple example of what the internet is used for in the past month from the JNIR/Behaviour & Attitudes research, 54% of 15-18 year olds used the internet for social networking in the past month versus only 20% of 25-34s. A similar age difference in free music downloads is also evident. Generation Y are vital to brands as they remain more open to new concepts and are at the age when habits and relationships with many brands form.”

“Launching a campaign online in Ireland is still perceived as a risk, brands often tend to have the safety net of a traditional media campaign to back their online activity up,” says Philip Macartney. “While this is a prudent strategy with older audiences it makes no sense when you are targeting the youth audience, as they are easier and cheaper to target online.”

At present, however, the internet has not delivered on all its promises. Search still takes in nearly half the money, display is disappointing and it’s difficult to make internet users pay for content. But all these things are not necessarily true forever. The crisis in traditional media is useful for shaking the rules. More importantly, now is the time to find new solutions. A new standard of video advertising on the web that will transform online display advertising is already in development. Google and some very big agencies are working on it. Watch this space. Gen-Y will soon seem like quaint, predictable consumers of the first digital age.

Source