Cross Media 2013

Cross Media at the Business Design Centre Islington October 2013

On Wednesday and Thursday I attended 12 free seminars on digital marketing at the Cross Media show. Leading executives from across the online marketing and software development industries spoke at this event which has now drawn attendees from other European countries such as the Netherlands, France and Spain. There were several young female French students and apprentices from the publishing industry attending the publishing seminars. I sat near some delegates from the University of Rotterdam who were involved in software products. Several women from Spain were especially active in asking questions at the Cross Media seminars.  From England, I noticed a number of employees from the University of Loughborough who were interested in products relating to publishing. Cross Media now incorporates Media Pro and suppliers to the publishing and print world continue to run stalls advertising their wares such as paper from Denmaur or printing machines from Ricoh and Kodak.

Being the only SEO expert in one session I was asked what effect I thought the new Google introductions of Panther and Penguin would have on online marketing. I could only reply that SEO was now very difficult as one could no longer use Black Hat techniques to improve search ranking and it was too early to say how one could now do SEO and that Google was penalising companies that had used keyword stuffing and non-natural text. I was told that my response was "rather soft...."

Cross Media 2013 23-24 October at the Design Centre Islington

Cross Media, which incorporates the original Media Pro event is coming back to London shortly. For anyone in the online publishing world who wants to learn about recent industry developments this is an event not to be missed. It's free to attend, just register online at: http://www.crossmedialive.com/ This event is about the power of multi-channel marketing and how to target mobile users. The seminars are free to attend. The big development this year is the emphasis on mobile applications with a new seminar theatre dedicated just to mobile marketing. There is also space devoted to Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, where you can see how these tools are able to be integrated into marketing campaigns which combine digital with print media. The event will cover apps, social media, mobile, mail, print, network, ROI and web development. It's likely to be highly useful for anyone involved in website design, promotion, PR, marketing and social media.

Women In Publishing. Poetry, Performance & Publishing with Sabrina Mahfouz, 9 October 2013

The popularity of the spoken word and poetry was the topic under discussion at the October WIP event. The multi-award winning poet and playwright Sabrina Mahfouz gave a lively talk and performed some of her work to an enrapt audience. A former civil servant with a Masters Degree in International Diplomacy, Sabrina writes poetry and prose. "That Boy", her first theatre piece won a Westminster Prize for new playwrights in 2010. She has also been awarded a UK Young Artists Award for her poetry collective and an IdeasTap Innovator Award for theatre and poetry and an Old Vic New Voices Edinburgh Award. Represented by Curtis Brown she has recently been signed by Bloomsbury's Methuen Drama imprint.

Sabrina said, "Poetry is gaining in popularity, [it's] a lot to do with being an antidote to other art forms popular right now...against X Factor..[it's] a communal experience." She added, "Trust is at an all time low..no one believes anything anyone says anymore..three to five minute bursts to listen to something...[it's] really instinctive...[people] recognize it as something really rare in their lives..at the moment." She believes that there is "cumulative power in small live events" which can transform people's lives. Performance art is now able to be enjoyed across the UK. She recommended attending "Farrago" in London, which is a performance and spoken word event.

eCommerce Expo - Olympia 2-3 October 2013

I attended eCommerce Expo, the UK's most important online selling event, on the 2nd and 3rd October. Each year the companies represented in these media events who engage in online selling, SEO and media, appear to be more professional, larger, increasingly established. The free seminars are a definite bonus, allowing those in the industry to keep up to date with recent changes in analytics, metrics, SEO and more. They also offer a forum for scouting out potential employers and recruitment agencies. The free pens, stress balls, yo-yos, balloons, bags, bottles of water, and USB sticks disappear fast. Look out for middle aged men sneaking past a stall and nabbing the free gifts! This year the best freebies were popcorn (in the Call Centre Expo) and the help yourself to a bag of sweets stall. Brilliant marketing!