The fifth and final event in the University of Sunderland’s groundbreaking ‘Delivering the New PR’ conference series will be held in London on 10 November almost a year to the day from the first event in Sunderland.

Over the past twelve months we’ve seen a phenomenal rise in the use of social media in the UK and the level of interest we’ve had in this conference series proves that those with a responsibility for PR, marketing and communications are keen to gain an insight and embrace new tools such as blogging and podcasting for the benefit of their organisation or business.

Our previous delegate lists read like a who’s who of PR firms, governmental departments, charities, universities, and major players in private industry and our last London date in May attracted 180 delegates.

For further information on the ‘Delivering the New PR’ London date please visit our event webpage where you can download the conference PDF and also find a link to a click and play podcast featuring delegates views on our recent Edinburgh event.

It’s a great advert for the enthusiasm this event inspires so don’t just take our word for it when we say this is probably the hottest PR conference in the UK. Have a listen and then decide.

For anyone wishing to get an overview of the subject I’d highly recommend the free to download 'What is Social Media' e-Book written by Antony Mayfield of search engine marketing firm, Spannerworks. Having just read it I can say it’s a great primer on the subject, clearly written and full of really useful examples.

If you’re ever in need of a serious sugar fix we know just the man to help you out.

A client of ours recently required 17,000 packets of space dust for a promotion we’re currently involved in. More an experience than a sweet, the blast from the past crystals 'explode' upon contact with moisture and come in either strawberry, tutti frutti or orange flavours.

Anyway, a quick search of the internet led us to North East based Phoenix Trading whose warehouse genuinely looks like an outpost of the Willy Wonka empire. For the record, give me Gene Wilder over Johnny Depp any day.

Dave at Phoenix Trading probably looks like neither but we can say he was great to deal with and even provided us with a photo of our palette to allay our ‘where are we going to store it all’ fears.

Thankfully the consignment is now secured in a water tight van and receiving police escorts around the UK’s motorway system.

Dave’s disclaimer – eat sweets sensibly and always clean your teeth.

Seven events in five days is a record for us and last night we were at Manchester Digital Development Agency’s Portland Street HQ to look after their evening seminar on project management.

The event was held in MDDA’s 50 capacity meeting room and was open to members of Manchester Digital, the trade association which represents the e-commerce, web design and digital animation companies in the county.

Speakers included MANCAT’s Alison Clough, E-Consultancy’s Sonia Kay and Stardotstar’s Nicola Teece. Judging by the turnout, there’s a lot of interest in methods and software which can help keep projects on track.

Like ourselves, many people seemed to be using Microsoft Office Project to plan and aid the delivery of work particularly for the more complex and long term projects they’re involved in.

So in between taking photographs what did I learn? Well, we all need structured frameworks to work to and have to think strategically and deliver tactically to meet deadlines, keep within budget and keep our clients happy. Poor communication leads to poor progress and we all need to ensure we keep the dialogue open, manage expectations and allow our projects to evolve.

MDDA have also recently launched the official blog of the One-Manchester Digital Challenge bid. It will keep members up to date on the progress of the digital strategy of the city which underpins the bid and provides direction for future policy development and investment in this area.

Last night we were in Liverpool managing the Chartered Institute of Marketing's 'Future Directions in Internet Marketing' seminar, the third event in their technology trilogy.

It was held at the University of Liverpool Management school and featured presentations from the CIM's Merseyside Regional Chair Rob Fearn, Google's UK Head of Technology Industry Mads Moller and Director of the University's e-Business Research Centre Professor Dennis Kehoe.

It was the first time we've used this venue and it was certainly popular with delegates. There are a number of bright, modern lecture rooms available for events and we used the School's cafeteria area for refreshments and networking prior to the seminar. Most importantly there is plenty of free parking from 5pm directly adjacent to the building.

We're pleased to say we're managing events for a number of the CIM's North West regions including Merseyside, Lancashire and Greater Manchester. We're especially looking forward to next month's event in the Isle of Man, our only dilemma being do we fly or sail.

What do event managers do when they're not running events? Well we seem to spend a considerable amount of our downtime printing the contents of endless delegate packs.

Maybe one day soon all conference documents will be downloadable from event specific websites (clients willing) but in the meantime we rely on our pair of trusty Brother printers.

The only problem is you've got to constantly feed them with paper and ink or else they make a dreadful electronic bleating noise.

Anyway, I wanted to tell everyone about the wonderful people at PrintCartridgeDirect who supply cheap, great quality compatible ink cartridges for all the major printer brands.

A week or so ago they alerted us to the fact that they were having a buy one get one free deal for all orders placed that weekend and so we went online and ordered a stack of cartridges for our stationery cupboard. Unfortunately they never arrived and so after leaving it a while to allow for any backlog caused by their generous offer, I called to query our order.

I didn't have to argue or plead at all and after checking that the original order had been dispatched they said they'd send it out again. Sure enough, the next day we got all our cartridges. That's great customer service and I know you all use ink so do try these people out.

You can now access two fascinating audio insights into the Delivering the New PR Edinburgh conference courtesy of podcasting guru Neville Hobson.

Both are available as simple click and play podcasts on Neville's blog.The first features an overview of the event from our speakers Stuart Bruce, Tom Murphy and Philip Young and you can click here to visit Neville's post and hear the audio. Unfortunately Elizabeth Albrycht and Chris Rushton are absent due to early flights and trains.

The second podcast features a conversation with a number of delegates who attended the conference and details their thoughts on social media and the value they'd got out of the day. It's a great advert for Delivering the New PR and the new thinking this event inspires. It's available from both Neville's blog and his and Shel Holtz's globally renowned business communications podcast site For Immediate Release.

Last Tuesday we took the high road to Edinburgh for the fourth in the series of the University of Sunderland’s ‘Delivering the New PR’ conferences which took place the next day.

It was great to meet up with the gang again and everyone was on particularly good form at the obligatory conference eve meal which was held at the city’s Bar Roma. The Scargilled lamb cutlets were excellent!

Sadly none of us had the time to take in the sights however I did manage a glimpse of the floodlit castle on an enforced outdoor smoking break with the inimitable Neville Hobson.

The conference opened with a welcome from CIPR Scotland Vice Chair Adrian Mahoney whose presence was greatly appreciated especially as he's in the middle of fighting a campaign to save his local museum.

As always with this event, the delegate list was a virtual who’s who of PR agencies and major players from the public and private sector all keen to learn more about this social media thing. Everyone was genuinely attentive and I guess we’ll be leaving behind yet another trail of 'New PR' inspiration.

Scotland’s a beautiful country and you never know, we might soon be seeing a blog and podcast from our Visit Scotland delegates. It was also good to meet Christine McMillan from Scottish Screen, Jim Sproat from Community People and the Press Officers from RAF Lossiemouth and the region’s MOD.

Particular mention must go to the Sea Fish Industry’s William Ancell who hosts the innovative Captain’s blog which details Jimmy Buchan’s life at sea and is receiving hits from trawler men worldwide. As well as playing a Fender Jaguar – probably the coolest guitar ever made - he is also planning to extend his interest in sound recording into a ‘codcast’ as a means to give us all an insight into the people who toil to put the fish with our chips.

The event took place at The Holiday Inn North’s Academy conference centre which is situated on the 5th floor of the building and provides stunning views of the nearby hills. We used the Macallan & Glenfiddich suites which were combined to provide a 120 capacity theatre style room. Our only issue here was that the required rear projection we’d previously discussed with the venue was not possible without losing a large percentage of our space. Thankfully the ever reliable LAS event production team of Chris and Darren set up a corner stage area to overcome the dilemma.

From a logistics point of view it’s also worth noting that there is no service lift and as parts of our stage were too large for the normal elevators they had to be carried up by hand. An observant text from Chris succinctly highlighted the issue as ’96 steps’! This is a major oversight but to be fair, the Holiday Inn’s conference host Janis Lee was particularly helpful throughout the day and did offer to provide some of the hotel’s staff to help.

The Academy’s panoramic business lounge area was used for our refreshment breaks with the added bonus of unlimited tea and Starbucks coffee built into the day delegate rate. An excellent lunch was also served in the hotel’s restaurant.

The Holiday Inn North is ideal if like us you have to fly in speakers as the airport is only 4 miles from the venue. We also had a number of delegates taking advantage of some really good internal flight deals to travel from London, the Midlands and Cardiff. As an added bonus the hotel also provides ample free parking and is next door to Edinburgh Zoo.

All in all it was a great day and I also got to use my Fuji S9500 for the first time at an event. The results are scattered throughout this post.

We even had some pre publicity in the Sunday Herald thanks to Media Correspondent Steven Vass. It's an interesting piece with plenty of examples courtesy of interviews with Stuart Bruce and Neville Hobson.Thanks Guys.

Sadly, we can now announce that the final ‘Delivering the New PR’ conference will be held in London on 10 November however, on a brighter note, we’re pleased to be in discussion with the University of Sunderland and our speakers to put together an essential sequel event which we intend to tour next year. Watch this space!

As we prepare for a trip to Edinburgh for the latest in the Delivering the New PR series followed by a three week tour of university freshers fayres on behalf of a national client I thought I'd sing the praises of our latest gadget purchase.

Tom Tom are accepted market leaders in the satellite navigation field and judging by the performance of our GO 510 it's well deserved.

The system couldn't be easier to use - just input the destination postcode and away you go with clear spoken instructions and a simple but cool display of the road ahead. It even re-routes you if you happen to take a wrong turn and will handle calls to and from your mobile via Bluetooth.

Tom Tom is going to prove invaluable for our forthcoming tour and the absence of thumbing through a road atlas or unfamiliar A-Z's will ensure future journeys will always be stress free and effortless.

I don't know how people feel about product endorsements but if something does its job well I think it deserves the credit.

Yesterday we provided event management for the Arts Council England Get digital! conference on social media which was held at FACT in Liverpool.

The event attracted local authority arts officers and representatives from arts organisations across the North West including Tate Liverpool, Royal Exchange Theatre, The Lowry, Cornerhouse and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic amongst many others.

It was refreshing to see a genuine level of interest in the potential applications and benefits of social media and also good to finally meet Nick Smale from our local and much loved arts centre The Met in Bury.

The conference featured presentations by Sarah Fisher, Head of Visual Arts for Arts Council England North West, Rosa Corbishley and Kerry Ellis from Arts About Manchester, Ian Jackson of the award winning artinliverpool blog, Gill Henderson of FACT and John McGuirk of the tenantspin multi media project as well as three of our 'New PR' speakers, Philip Young, Chris Rushton and Stuart Bruce.

The event was recorded for a forthcoming podcast and we were also asked to create a conference blog which delegates can visit to download presentations and share their views and ideas on how they might use social media tools to increase communication with their audiences.

FACT is an impressive cinema and arts complex which also contains galleries, a cafe and bar. It was an ideal venue for our conference which took place in the 100 capacity Screen 3. Most importantly from our perspective, their events team were fantastic.

The venue's event co-ordinator Kerry Moore had obviously taken a great deal of time to understand and accommodate our requirements and aside from a small technical issue with a live internet link the day ran as smoothly as it ever gets. Venue staff were also on hand to help usher our delegates and provide quality refreshments throughout the day.

FACT can also provide 50 and 250 capacity cinemas for conferences, talks or seminars and we'd certainly recommend you consider this venue if you are planning an event in Liverpool.

As high winds and heavy rain were forcing the cancellation of events across the UK, everyone involved in the New Islington Festival was determined that months of planning and preparation were not going to go to waste. It's true that the weather took it's toll on expected crowd numbers throughout the afternoon but let's face it, we're Mancunians and we had our waterproofs.

For such a large outdoor event we worked in conjunction with fellow Mancunian events company Ear To The Ground who did a meticulous job of managing the site and main stage as we looked after the arts marquee, caterers and other festival entertainment. Thanks Jon, Tom, David, Rachael and co.

Thanks also go out to Trevor Johnson of Via graphic design. His work has shaped this city over the last twenty years and he's also responsible for the New Islington look and feel which graces everything from the cast iron lamp post surrounds to our festival laminates.

Perhaps the true stars of the festival were our performers. Andrew Baynes is very particular about having damp sand and so we were happy to oblige. Without sounding picky, he was sat on his arse for six hours and it looks nothing like a donkey!

Elliot & Ray's pirate treasure hunt was one of the first casualties of the weather but along with jugglers and minibike riders Curious Eyebrows they just adapted their acts and made the most of the afternoon.

Despite the gusts, Herbie Treehead managed to walk one of his dinosaurs on Old Mill Street to the delight of the younger festival goers. It's a fantastic act, highly recommended and very, very funny. Likewise, Artizani who punted around the festival site serenading visitors with a very sharp send up of the over privileged.

Throughout the day a variety of activities were on offer at our arts marquee including an urban youth workshop with New Islington artist in residence Chris Edmunds and Sketch City, a workshop with leading marbling artist Victoria Hall and clay figure making with the acclaimed Daemon or Doppelganger team.

Phil and Catherine of the wonderful Liverpool-based Urban Canvas worked with visitors of all ages to produce an armada of paper lanterns which were later transported by boat and launched at dusk beside the main island stage. The rain had finally halted and the effect was truly spectacular as the candlelit lanterns drifted across the waterpark. It was a great way to get everyone involved in the festival and the pictures speak for themselves.

If you would like contact details for any of the artists who participated in the festival please get in touch and we'll happily help you out.

The evening's finale was provided by an eclectic DJ set by Mr Scruff followed by some seriously breath taking fireworks courtesy of Walk The Plank. Every flash and boom was soundtracked by a Mancunian trilogy of the spine tingling slow burn of Joy Division's 'Atmosphere', The Fall's clattering 'Jerusalem' and A Guy Called Gerald's spectral 'Voodoo Ray'. It felt like we'd snatched victory from the very wet jaws of defeat.

Seriously, thanks to everyone who made the event possible and to all those who braved the weather to come down.