Buenos Dias to new Spainish Friday-Ad

Next week sees the launch of the third edition of Friday-Ad in Spain for the Costa Blanca area.

Here's the map of where it covers, so if you're off there on holiday next year then make sure you grab a copy of your favourite free classified paper...

For more information please contact Tim Kafourous via internal email.

www.friday-ad.es

New recruits for Pre-Press

Two new faces in the Sayers Common Pre-Press department: A belated welcome to Jess Baldwin, who actually started 3 months ago. And a 'Hello' to Dina Cameroo who joined last week.
Both are 'Pre-Press Originators', which sounds a little bit like a character from an Arnie film!

Do you know a 'Borrower' or 'Pussy Galore' in your office?

An interesting press release arrived today from officebroker.com, highlighting the various types of 'office personalities' there are in the workplace.

Here's a few of them. See if you can match people you work with (or used to work with) to them...

The Hipster – He wears the shiniest suit, the loudest tie and the silliest socks and is a grand master of the fake golf swing, finger pistols, thumbs up or spin bowl action. Shout Fore! or Six! every time he swings into action and get everyone to email him details of the local bespoke tailor.

The Borrower – Something missing from your desk? Every office has a perpetual borrower. Tell them you’ll start charging ‘interest’ if they miss the deadline - one chocolate bar for every hour past the deadline sounds a reasonable amount.

The Snake – Slimy, limp hand shaker who slithers around and stares at colleagues for far longer than should be allowed. Intensify your own hand shake grip and start staring back in an attempt to out freak your colleague.

The Smacker – The colleague who slurps their way through lunch, talks with their mouth full and shares far more of their lunch than they should. Vomiting actions or comments on the nation’s poor eating habits should nip this in the bud.

Pussy Galore – sweet yet neurotic colleague whose desk is covered in pictures of ‘Fluffy’ and who loves to share stories of her pussy’s ‘cute’ and ‘amazing’ antics. Fight back with ‘Fido’ pictures or invent a few alarming shaggy dog tales about cat lovers.

Moaning Minnie – there’s always one person who we’d like to put a sock in it – sometimes literally! Counter the corporate Victor Meldrew by whistling ‘Always look on the Bright Side of Life’.

The Gossip Monger – loves a good drama and is always first to share any scandal. Tell your colleague a story ‘in confidence’ then watch it spread like wildfire. Then confront them publicly with the fact that you are not really moonlighting as a lap dancer to pay for your daughter’s gap year – surely they can understand a joke when they hear one!

The Sniffer – The woman (or indeed man) who overdoses on perfume or aftershave and wafts through the office. Invest in the cheapest, nastiest smelly you can find or break into fits of sneezing and talk about your severe allergic reaction.

The Message Mangler – Takes a message but always forgets to find out where the caller is from or take a contact number. Give them a message template with headings for name, company and number or remove their phone altogether.

When ads go wrong

Hampshire Police have recently started an advertising campaign on buses across the county.

They have booked several 'bus backs', which is usually a prime advertising spot as motorists stuck in traffic will be able to read the ad.

Sadly they neglected to take account of something when planning the design of it...

New recruit for Boats and Outboards team

Captain Tucker has found another victim, I mean person to join her motley Boats and Outboards crew.

His name is Joe Bennett and he is their new online sales executive.

Alan Partridge

Joe Bennett

Here's some Joe Bennett facts:

• Customers at his previous job included Number 10 Downing Street, Robbie William's tour manager and the Williams F1 racing team


• He had an audition for Masterchef Goes Large


• He ran a bar in Greece and delivered yachts around the med
  
  

Simply breeding like rabbits

Perhaps it's something they put in the water up North, but Simply Online has now launched another 3 jobs boards:

These sites fall into the 'Super Niche' category, meaning that they represent a specific niche area of jobs (i.e. 'media sales') within an already niche industry (i.e. 'sales').

All three sites already have hundreds of relevant jobs on them and thousands of registered users.

Marketing and PR activity to support these is planned for the forthcoming months.

For more information contact Ian Partington.

I fought the law and the law won

We have recently completed the acquisition of another website - Simplylawjobs.co.uk.

This niche jobs board contains over 10,000 legal jobs from solicitors to legal executives to legal accounts.

The site will be (coincidentally) operated under the Simply Online Services umbrella of niche job boards.

JustABid.co.uk promotes local online bidding

This week sees the launch of JustABid.co.uk, a new concept from Friday-Ad. It's focused just on Sussex (and Tunbridge Wells) and is the UK's first 'regional' online auction.

The idea is simple - our readers find an item that they want and bid online. If they win the bid then they collect the item from the local shop or business that has given it. As the businesses are local this means people have the chance to view the item first as well before they bid.

The auction runs from October 19th to November 5th - browsing is available from tomorrow (October 16th).

A free 48-page publication featuring the lots on offer will be distributed throughout hundreds of Friday-Ad stockists across Sussex.

There's a huge choice of items, from a Vespa to tennis rackets. Here's a few examples:

• 5 Course Medieval Banquet for 4
• Union Jack Smeg Fridge
• Thailand Holiday Villa for 2 Weeks
• Scooter Vespa 150 Sprint

For more information about JustABid contact Gemma Abrahams.

Croeso i Cymru Mr Cruise

Firstly apologies to any Welsh speakers if my translation is wrong...it's been a while since I left Uni in Wales!

Just to prove the world of New Media is changing fast, there are a couple more staff moves...

Paul Cruise will be soon taking the post of Operations Director at Pembroke Dock and will therefore also be moving to Wales.

Gillie Fuller has now become Online Sales Manager for the Sayers Common online team.

When Paul leaves (in a matter of days/weeks), the responsibility for IRT sales will be in the safe hands of the dynamic duo of Stuart Fowler and Gavin Pitts (see previous post for more details).

New recruit for Sayers Online team

The Sayers Common Online Sales team has a new member of the team - Chris May.

Chris is New Media Sales Executive and is responsible for selling online advertising products on Friday-Ad.co.uk and other sites.

His previous jobs have included an events and promotions manager and professional footballer for Brighton and Hove Albion.

Fascinating Chris May fact: He once went on a date with Kelly Brook, official hottie and contestant in BBC1's Strictly Come Dancing.

(listen for audible reaction of jealousy and respect from most male staff).

Ironic press release of the week

Good to know that England Goalkeeper Paul Robinson has a nice new lawn at home. No excuses for 'bobbles' eh Paul?

www.inturf.com/press-releases/paul-robinson-lawn.html

Quote of the press release:

“It is very pleasing to know that Paul has also chosen our turf for his garden – and that he sees Inturf as a safe pair of hands!”

Which is more than he has himself, many England (and Spurs) fans would argue.

Boris is a winner at Mascot Grand National!

OK he didn't win the actual race (although he did do very well coming 25th out of 55 runners), but he did win the award of "Best Turned Out Mascot"!

The Mascot Grand National, held last Sunday at Huntingdon Racecourse, was a fantastic and at times very bizarre occasion.

55 mascots from across the UK gathered for this event with characters including Captain Blade, Spike the Road Safety Hedgehog, Reggie the Red Devil and Pudsey Bear. They paraded in the show ring, fought a bit, then raced each other down the final furlong of the racecourse in front of thousands of spectators.

As well as raising hundreds of pounds for Children with Leukaemia and The Brooke, we also got some fantastic PR for Horsemart. This included Boris being interviewed live on Sky News, being interviewed by legendary racing commentator Derek 'Tommo' Thompson, an interview with Virgin Media, plus numerous mentions of Horsemart on the PA during the day.

We filmed Boris throughout the day and will be putting together a montage for your viewing pleasure very soon.

In the meantime you can view a short video of the race here. Boris is the one behind Pudsey on the left of the screen - blink and you'll miss him!

And you can watch Sky News reporter Derek Tedder getting a cuddle from some mascots too.

Well done to Chip Kidger whose weeks of training paid off. Chip has now headed back to University to bask in his glory and consume the case of John Smith's he won for his troubles!

Thank you to all of you who sponsored Boris - I will be coming round to collect your donations shortly.

New team leaders for IRT

Congratulations to Stuart Fowler and Gavin Pitts who have both been appointed as team leaders for the IRT sales team.

Stuart is now Staff Development Team Leader, with the main responsibility of developing and leading the staff to achieve both sales and productivity targets.

Gavin is now Business Team Leader, with the main responsibility of monitoring and reporting on the performance of the team.

In case you're not familiar with these two characters, here's a bit more info about them...

Fowler Facts:

* He drives an old skool VW Golf convertible

* He likes Hip-Hop music

* He's a bit of a Gordon Ramsey and enjoys creating new dishes in the kitchen

Pitts Particulars:

* He drives a TVR (flash g*t!)

* He is getting married next year (sorry girls)

* He has a deep and heartfelt passion for milkshakes

Bikers, bands and babes in Brighton

Sunday saw the return to Brighton of Brightona, an event sponsored by UKBike.com.

Here is Boyd's report...

Brighton groaned under the weight of several thousand bikers on Sunday 7th October down at Brighton sea front Madeira Drive.

The event was the fourth annual ‘Brightona’ event a charity biker day organised by the Sussex Heart Trust in conjunction with UKBike.com

Channel Manager for UKBike, Boyd Cruttenden, would like to express large thanx to all the team that showed up and helped make the day a roaring success.

Photo: The UKBike Team before the event

450 new members were recruited and equivalent amount of t-shirts given out to those who chose to register.

Photo: After the event was over (l-r) - Kerry Rolls, Sarah Strudwick, Dan Murasko, Lawrence Murphy, Karen and Rob Hancock, Kelly Smith, Chloe and Samantha White, Boyd Cruttenden, Monica Howlett, Jiab Rosewell, Byron and Fiona Wratton, Nicky Tucker.

He does a lot of good work for charity

Boris took a break recently from his busy training schedule to present a cheque to the Hope In The Valley charity, a riding group for the physically disabled.

The £300 donated was raised from the Horsemart Tack Sale that was held at Sayers Common at the end of the summer.

The cheque was presented by Sarah Wood and Boris to the chair of Hope In The Valley, two of the children that ride with them and two of their ponies (who looked completely unfazed about having a giant furry horse stride towards them!).

You're hired!

A recent survey of 2,500 interviewees found some interesting facts for all of you who are carrying out interviews to consider...

11% of people have flirted during an interview

10% of women admit to dressing provocatively in order to get a job

14% of those think this is the reason they got the job

Despite these results, I'm sure none of you would be swayed by such obvious tactics as this!

A day at the races

Some nice PR for friday-ad.co.uk and horsemart.co.uk today with a couple of races at Brighton Racecourse named after the websites.

The naming of the 2.20 'Horsemart.co.uk Apprenctice Handicap' and the 4.50 'Friday-Ad.co.uk Handicap Stakes' means that the sites get promotion in all national newspapers, racing papers and racing/betting websites. And they're screened live on Attheraces TV so we'll get name-checked there too.

Not that I'm condoning betting of any kind betting whatsoever, but the hot tips are Young Bertie in the 2.20 and Dancing Mystery in the 4.50...