Mind the Pot Plant!

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I finally bit the bullet and agreed to give a presentation with Sharon Goble of If…Media to one of the networking groups I attend, the Exeter and East Devon Business Club. Now, although I have a background in drama (nay, a degree in the subject!) I have always preferred to be behind the scenes, having worked both as a video producer and a stage director. Getting up in front of a crowd is not something I particularly enjoy, which may seem odd given that I work in PR (for me the whole point is usually to PR my clients, not myself)!

However, Sharon convinced me, and came up with a great topic, PR – is it magic? She was keen to talk about the power of images and targeting stories for the right media. I wanted to explore the connections between PR and social media, and how businesses should make sure they don’t let great PR stories get away.

Come the day, and off to the Deer Park Hotel for lunch before the presentation. I put my nerves to the back of my mind, deciding not to indulge in a glass of wine – I thought Dutch courage could prove my downfall!

Sharon and I got ready to start our presentation, which is when I got up close and personal with a pot plant. The layout of the room meant that I was standing under the leaves of the plant and could barely see the people in the room.

After attempting to talk from behind the foliage I decided to twist it round to get the leaves out of my face. The audience gasped as the plant toppled and I dived to stop it from falling. General hilarity ensued – talk about an ice breaker!

Of course, my nerves dissipated and I (almost) enjoyed the experience. Sharon has offered the presentation to another networking group we are members of. My only request is that there is a pot plant in the room….

Thanks to Fluffy of New Tricks for capturing the moment.

The Biker Boys

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Well I know the Hairy Bikers have been in town, but there’s another group of bikers, not so hairy, that I’ve been involved with for a while. In fact, it struck me this week that I’ve been working with the Devon Freewheelers charity for almost a year.

I first heard of the charity in 2015 when I read about the launch of the first Honitonfestival pig Sausage & Cider Festival. I offered to help with PR for the event, which was being held partly to raise funds for the Devon Freewheelers.

I met with Daniel Lavery, who founded the charity, and we talked about all things motorbike. Not one of my areas of expertise, but there you go, I learn quickly. In fact, the Devon Freewheelers offer an out-of-hours courier service to the NHS free of charge. Yes, I’ll say that again, free of charge, throughout the night and for 24 hours on Saturdays, Sundays, and Bank Holidays.

Devon Freewheelers courierThey transport urgent medical supplies like blood, tissue for transplant and breast milk. They also deliver and collect patient notes when asked. If they didn’t do these things, a taxi or ambulance would be used, costing the NHS a lot of money and calling on scarce resources. I’m full of admiration for these volunteers, who include the riders, operations support and fundraisers. No-one gets paid.

Over the year I’ve written hundreds of press releases, taken photos, spoken to fundraisers, supporters and journalists, met the Wurzels (well I stood next to them BssssloodBike-Matt-Austin-3backstage at the Sausage & Cider Festival), persuaded Matt Austin to take photos of one of the riders for Devon Life, shaken hands with local MP Neil Parish who has been incredibly supportive of the charity, encouraged the team to find their first patron (Mark ‘Flymo’ Hayes), negotiated radio interviews with the BBC and Heart FM and generally done what I could to help raise the profile of the Devon Freewheelers.

The riders are out every night in the dark hours, journeying carefully across Devon’s road network, often on their way to save someone’s life. They are unsung heros as the patients they help never know they’ve been there.

It’s been a fascinating year – I’ve learned so much and continue to be full of admiration for the team. And yes, a second Sausage & Cider Festival is scheduled for 2015!

And finally, there’s some exciting news to come for the Devon Freewheelers, so watch this space – the press release will have my name on it!

Devon-Freewheelers-600-600

A picture paints a thousand words

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I have never been a natural in front of the camera – preferring to remain on the other side of the lens. In school group photos I always snuck to the back, and in family photos the one pulling the face, yes you’ve guessed it, that was me. When I worked in video production as a producer and scriptwriter, I occasionally appeared in shot, but only the back of my head as I filled in as an extra.

Obviously with the rise of social media a photo is a necessity – but from my point of view an evil one. So when someone mentioned every photo of me on the Internet was the same, a picture of me positioned ‘casually’ in front of a bush, I decided it was time to ‘go professional’ with local photographer Matt Austin from Lyme Regis.

Matt is just brilliant at portrait photography, so I made the booking and wonderedSueCade-Matt-Austin-30 what he’d manage to make of my slightly careworn face. I was terribly nervous and afterwards my jaw ached from smiling, but when the photos arrived in my Dropbox, I was speechless – and impressed.

I posted a photo on Facebook, just to test the reaction. Around 90 likes later it seemed that everyone loved the new look me – and there weren’t too many rude comments about Photoshop and kind lighting.

I’d also recommended Matt to a theatre group, and the shoot he did for their show, The Voyage of the Viqueens, resulted in some stunning images. They may not be a professional group, but they certainly look it in the photos. And I’d thoroughly recommend going to see the show at The Beehive in Honiton in November.

Viqueens-Matt-Austin-8 (3696 x 2460)

Now all I have to do is live up to my new photos, which luckily include shots of me in wellies with one of my dogs, which is pretty close to the norm.

Don’t hide your light under a bushel!

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PR is all about good news (most of the time). In Devon, we love to celebrate positive stories, and the county is full of people doing fantastic things in business, community and charity. However, sometimes people don’t realise they’re sitting on a great story!

Two of my clients in East Devon almost missed the opportunity for a shout out this summer, not realising the PR gold they were sitting on. Luckily, social media did its thing, and I was alerted to both stories by comments on Facebook and Twitter.

In the first instance, Otter Nurseries received an SOS call from celebrity gardener, Alan Titchmarsh who was in desperate need of coastal plants for a garden makeover in North Devon he was doing for his programme, Love Your Garden.

alan titchmarshThe makeover was for a man who had lost his sight after an aneurism, and Sir Alan had been let down by a supplier. He had rung garden centres across Devon before calling Otter Nurseries. Carla, the young lady who took his call, couldn’t believe it was him at first! Alan was delighted when Otter Nurseries was able to fulfil his requirement and sent his production team to collect the plants. When they arrived, they also had a wish list for lots of other supplies, which staff managed to get together for them in record time. A great good news story, I thought – and local press agreed. Read it here.

I recently learned that I’d missed another lovely story from Otter Nurseries, where a female member of staff grabbed her tools and fixed a customer’s car right there in the garden centre’s car park!

Over in Ottery town centre, I’ve recently started working with chef Robin Rea of the Rusty Pig. Robin has a great business, combining an exclusive dining experience with a specialist butchers shop selling fantastic air-dried charcuterie. I noticed on GoldFacebook that Robin had been awarded Gold in the Taste of the West awards. When I asked him if he’d created any publicity around it, he said that he’d put it on social media…. A couple of hours and one press release later, the local papers again were delighted to print the story of his success. Read about it here.

The moral of this blog is to tell your PR agency whenever something good happens. I’ve lectured (in the nicest possible way) both the above clients not to dismiss anything, but get in touch asap. After all, it’s my job to get their good news out there and there’s nothing I like better!

Festival-itis!

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This week I’ve mainly been working hard to promote two community events ‒ the Honiton Sausage & Cider Festival on May 3 and the Ottery St Mary Food & Families Festival on June 14.

The fabulous Exeter Food & Drink Festival, which I’ve had nothing to do with (!) is already underway this weekend. I’m hoping to drop in on Sunday to sample the delights of the South West’s finest fare and see some our finest chefs show off their cookery skills.

There is such a great community spirit in Devon. People work hard to support each other’s businesses and to celebrate the very best in their neighbourhood.

At the Sausage & Cider Festival a local producer is creating a Devon Freewheelers banger, in honour of the charity that the festival is supporting. Personally I can’t wait to sample the many locally produced zyders whilst being serenaded by the Wurzels. Yes, the Wurzels. We know how to party…

As Devon Freewheelers is my charity of the year, I’ve been helping out with PR for the event. Our local paper, the Midweek Herald has been amazing in its support both of the charity and the festival. I hope we’ll be seeing quite a few members of the press next weekend when Honiton really lets its hair down!

OFFFJust under six miles west of Honiton, the Ottery St Mary Food & Families Festival had its inaugural outing last year. I chanced upon the festival when I popped into the town on a sunny June afternoon with my son, returning home with lots of lovely nibbles, including an amazing Coppa (cured pork) that Josh loved (expensive tastes, my boy) and a somewhat lighter purse.

This year I’m helping to promote the festival, pinging out press releases and media invites and negotiating a media sponsor. The response has been so positive. Devon media folk do like to celebrate along with the community! I might even be supplying a busker or two if I can persuade the Coppa lover to take to the streets of the festival with his two band members.

Now, does that make me a manager, and do I deserve a cut of their takings?