Experience:
April – ACCOUNTABILITY ADVISER, ENGLAND – BBC Trust
Dec 2007 Based at BBC Birmingham with remit covering England. Supporting the work of the BBC’s Audience Council England (ACE). Working closely with senior BBC Managers across the 12 English Regions. Building positive relationships with ACE stakeholders including volunteers and BBC Trustees.
· Responsibility for day to day operational matters of the Trust’s Accountability team
· Evaluation of accountability practices in England
· Supporting the work of 12 English Regional audience councils (RACs)
· Sharing best practice with six Public Accountability managers by drafting guidelines, templates and business plans
· Overseeing the annual recruitment process for membership of RACs
· Collating ACE submissions to BBC Trust consultations
· Advising on RAC outreach events
· Organising two-day ACE meetings at venues around the English regions
· Organising annual conference for the BBC’s national audience councils
Sep 2006 – April 2007 MARKETING & FUNDRAISING OFFICER – MIDLANDS AND EAST, Comic Relief
Based at BBC Birmingham. Remit covering three BBC English Regions ; West Midlands, East Midlands and East (15 counties).
Working closely with senior BBC Managers, and local BBC and other media personnel to generate maximum awareness and income for Red Nose Day 2007. Also responsible for mobilising CR corporate partners and the general public to generate fundraising activitiies
· Building relationships with all relevant BBC contacts to maximise their involvement
· Creating and implementing local fundraising, marketing and media strategies
· Creating comprehensive and detailed date of key media and major employers throughout the relevant BBC regions
· Researching and identifying new key supporters and networks and creating relationships to help them fundraise
· Writing media releases and feature and news items, and liaising with relevant BBC press officers to get the most benefit for BBC regional TV, radio and ‘Where I Live’ content
· Assessing the success of the campaign and providing excellent files, paperwork and data for future work, and a detailed debrief.
· Line management responsibility for Midlands team including one full time paid assistant and two voluntary assistants.
Oct 2005 – July 2006 MARKETING & EVENTS MANAGER – WEST MIDLANDS, Big Lottery Fund. Leading implementation of regional dimension of corporate communications strategy
· Creating and implementing regional events providing information to potential applicants, and to third sector agencies
· Creating and maintaining positive relationships with the general public, with local authority funding reps and with voluntary and community sector ‘helper’ agencies across the region
· Co-ordination of sharing best practice across BLF’s English Regional teams
· Marketing the Fund’s brand
· Liaison with grant-funded projects to produce case study materials (words and pictures)
· Programme lead on ‘People’s Millions’ working with Central TV (West, East and South regions) and on ‘Breathing Places’ working closely with BBC
· Management of Communications & Events Officer and Admin Assistant
.
Jun-Dec 2004 EVENTS MANAGER (short term contract) Chief Fire Officers’ Association
Planning, development, organisation and management of Annual FIRE conference in
Sept 2004. (500+ delegates over three days with exhibition running alongside.)
Events management consultation and guidance for fire-related organisations in relation
to their annual conferences (Institution of Fire Engineers, Fire Protection Agency etc).
2001-2004 HEAD OF MARKETING, Putsman.wlc Solicitors
Creation and development of marketing strategies both corporate and for specialist market sector service providers throughout the firm. Responsibility for :-
· Internal/External communication – creation and development of intranet, website, client newsletters, staff newsletters
· Media liaison – developing corporate and sectorised communications programmes
· Project management of all corporate hospitality, conferences, exhibitions and the firm’s seminar programmes across all areas of the business
· Identification and management of strategic sponsorship
· Brand/image management on all corporate literature plus website, intranet
· Configuration of marketing database, definition of analysis reports
· Commercial awareness – identification of fee earner strengths and opportunities for use, team leadership/motivation techniques, cross-selling
· Direct marketing – sectorised mailshots
· Customer service – staff awareness programmes, quality benchmarking and monitoring
· Marketing training for fee-earners and trainee solicitors inc. presentation skills
· Competitor awareness – SWOT analyses
· Marketing team management – recruitment, performance reviews, quality control, training and development
· Marketing Budget creation and management for firm generically and for individual SBUs
1999-2001 PUBLIC RELATIONS PROJECTS MANAGER, The NEC Group
PR and event management support to selected NEC Group conference and exhibition clients across the five venues. PR support to NEC Group corporate activity in the wider business community.
Operational experience included obligatory weekends on Duty Manager rota for the NEC site. Projects included :-
· Creation and management of events to celebrate The NEC’s 25th anniversary, and the 10th anniversary of Symphony Hall, The ICC and the NEC Arena including:- (a) House of Lords luncheon with Michael Heseltine
(b) Birmingham Schools project ‘Our changing city’. Production of booklet and sending to 600 Birmingham schools to encourage awareness of NEC’s achievements. Competition with 600 schools to produce designs for a piece of public art to stand on the mall at The ICC
· Creation of Birmingham Conference Ambassadors’ programme specifically for The ICC Conference Sales team, to attract major international medical conferences (5000 plus delegates) to the city
· PR support to selected ICC conference clients to assist them in enhancing profile of their own events. Conferences worked on included:-
(a) Third International Symposium on Electronic Implants in Otology
(b) Society of Endocrinology Annual Conference
(c) 1999 Congress of Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
(d) Society of Financial Advisers’ Eighth annual conference
(e) ‘Body and Sole’ Physiotherapy/Musculoskeletal medicine conference
· PR for launch of new NEC Group Worldwide Division. In-depth article on assistance to Malaysian Airport Holdings plc when building new national exhibition centre in Kuala Lumpur
· Assistance with launch pr for new ‘Airbus’ service from city to airport, working with Travel West Midlands
· Management of NEC’s corporate presence at outside events, as well as organisation of NEC’s annual media lunch
· BT Global Challenge – pr input on NEC Group’s involvement with the world’s toughest yacht race. NEC to benefit from research findings including key factors that differentiate exceptional performance
· The NEC Group’s ‘Masterplan’ - Working with Chief Executive to produce ‘Defining Experience’ booklet to provide guidance for potential partners on the submission of their proposals to expand the NEC site in terms of leisure, accommodation, hospitality and business facilities.
· PR consultant for NEC Group Catering Division including their outside catering unit (known as Amadeus). Projects included :-
(a) launch of new café/wine bar in Birmingham city centre.
(b) Launch of Kingfisher restaurant at Warwick racecourse.
(c) Launch of corporate hospitality facilities at the Milton Keynes Bowl for Robbie Williams’ concerts.
· ‘Marketing Birmingham’ trip to New York in May 2000. One of a team of four people (NEC, Bham Airport, Bham Marketing Partnership, Heart of England Tourist Board) to promote Birmingham to American conference and exhibition trade press and to travel and leisure press.
1998-1999 PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGER, The NEC Group
PR support for diverse activities across the Group’s five venues (NEC, ICC, Symphony Hall, NEC Arena, NIA). Projects included :-
(a) PR consultant to ITMA – (International Textile Manufacturers’ Association exhibition) and the biggest industrial machinery exhibition in the world.
(b) PR Co-ordinator for Food Exhibitions. Joint pr for four major events run by competing organisers and co-located at The NEC. Included press conference for food and drink media at Chez Gerard in London. Working with Chief Executives of four organisers plus NEC Exhibition Sales team.
(c) In-depth analysis of media coverage of NEC Group activities over the last five years. Produced 6000 word dissertation covering all forms of media and recommendations for Group strategy based on emerging trends.
Management of PR service for NEC Group’s in-house exhibitions both trade and public shows;- Antiques for Everyone, International Classic Motor Show, Autojumble, Autotech, Marketing Your Business, Railway Technology, Photo Action.
Service included :-
· Meeting with client to identify pr objectives
· Production of strategy with linked budget and timetable
· Identification of news and feature opportunities
· Identification of other pr opportunities
· Creation of targeted media list
· Creation of monitoring systems
· Interview and research to produce media releases and specialist features
· Production and despatch of releases
· Liaison with key media
· Set up and management of on site press office
1994-1998 GROUP EVENTS MANAGER Midland Independent Newspapers
(which became Mirror Group Regional Newspapers in early 1998)
All corporate hospitality, Senior Management team motivational conferences, Corporate PR, Annual report and accounts, AGM commissioning editor of staff Magazine, co-opted to team working on Flotation of MIN. Advertising sales support to Birmingham Post & Mail Display Division plus revenue generating initiatives for advertising sales teams at MIN titles in Peterborough, Northampton, Burton, Derby, Lichfield, Tamworth. Ad sales support for sales team for Birmingham L!VE TV plus promotions. £2m budget management.
1991-1994 PROMOTIONS & EVENTS MANAGER, The Birmingham Post & Mail
Worked across all titles owned by BPM. Promotional campaign management, inc tv and radio advertising, corporate PR ; editorial input for Birmingham Post, Evening Mail, Sunday Mercury; new colour presses launch, Management Buy Out, special supplements; miscellaneous revenue activity management including Birmingham Post Literary Events, Place the Ball, Reader Leisure, Reader offers. Managed 25 staff.
1987-1991 PROMOTIONS EXECUTIVE, The Birmingham Post & Mail
Covering Birmingham Evening Mail, The Birmingham Post, Sunday
Mercury and Sports Argus. All major events in Birmingham and London for these titles –conferences, seminars, fashion shows, team building events, including copywriting, sourcing and implementing promotions and competitions, reader offers, giveaways.
Remit also included organising major circulation-boosting initiatives
1983-1987 MARKETING & PROMOTIONS MANAGER, Social Work Today
SWT Magazine, - turnover £1m in 1986. Remit : National conference management, exhibitions, seminars, sponsorship activities, corporate literature, displays etc. Campaigns to increase advertising volume, direct mail, circulation and subscription management, Data Protection issues. Worked on editorial projects with third sector agencies eg B.A.A.F. and Residential Social Care Association.
Education and Training:
Certificate in Advertising and Marketing
Aston Business School, Birmingham, Certificate in Management
References available on request:
yes