Baker Hughes 10k Run. Done.

You may remember a recent blog post where we relayed both our intentions to run Aberdeen’s famous Baker Hughes 10k on behalf of our sponsor charity ‘Befriend a Child’ (BAC) and our worries at being able to actually complete it. If truth be told, I suppose we used the post as a means in which to offset any level of expectation, inferring, quite clearly, that we (Jim, Angus, Becky, Scott, Scott F, and Ian) weren’t exactly mini Linfords or Paulas!

Admittedly, we also let our envy of Scott’s rather nifty situation be known, where he would run ‘virtually’ from some swanky pad in London, while we were stuck up here running in (what had been for countless weeks) some seriously unseasonably wet and freezing weather, even by Aberdeen’s usual standards.

Well, Woopdedoop on four levels…The sun was out for the first time since March’s heat wave. We raised our target of £1000 (and it continues to grow!) Nobody bailed; everyone ran the full distance in an hour, (give or take 10 mins!) even Jetlagged Jim who had just returned from a content strategy conference in the U.S. And Ian wore a kilt.

Although we are rather happy the preparations for the run are over, nonetheless we had a great day and it was great to get involved with an event which raises so much money for local charities. So, all in all, what a great thing to get involved with - we’re fitter, we’ve raised heaps of money for BAC, and we now have the kudos of adding ‘Marathon Running’ as an interest to our profiles!

Getting involved with the event was great for team morale, only buttressed by the fact that DEER digital are Grampian Business Awards finalists in the categories of ‘Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year’ and ‘Employer of the Year.’ Our nomination applications for these awards largely detailed how much importance management place on the well-being of the team…musings from Jim in the aftermath of the event….

                                            Jim: “Ian….”
                                            Ian: “Yes, Jim”
                                            Jim: “Do you have a rash”

Speechless.

DEER digital’s First Breakfast Briefing!

Today we delivered our first breakfast briefing, on the topic of Social Media in the energy industry.

From a burst of discussions with various clients recently, it seemed there was a desire to learn more about the best way for the energy industry to use Social Media which led to us delivering the session today.

Scott and Becky were up early to host the event with Alice, on an invite-only basis (ohohoo) for key energy industry players at Malmaison today.

Check out Scott and Becky in action:

The session went down well with all our guests (as did the breakfast!) and so we’re hoping this is the first of many sessions to come.

If you’re interested in attending future briefing sessions, please get in touch with becky@deerdigital.com

How to get ahead in taxi driving

So DEER digital decided to contribute to North East Business Week (NEBW) by being ‘Digital Sponsor’ which meant we would provide the website, do a talk about Social Media and help graphically interpret the results of a survey of all North East businesses. The full story is on our Work Blog.

We also decided to try and have a presence at every single event throughout the week. It was a great idea. DEER have focused heavily on supporting the local digital community but we wanted to be more visible amongst our fanbase (customers) so this was the ideal opportunity.

We perhaps under-estimated the logistics of this.

Monday saw an easy start with an 11am meeting on Queens Road discussing internationalisation. Easy to get to, middle of the day, sandwiches provided. Good Times. Becky and I met some very interesting people but I almost sparked all-out political war with an innocuous question about Scottish Independence.

Having learned my lesson we decided to forego the next meeting on Tuesday which as it turns out was the more appropriate forum for discussing Scottish independence. Our pop-up stand of awesomeness was present though and like the monolith in Kubrick’s 2001 changed the lives of all who encountered it.*

Wednesday was logistically difficult. I headed off to Peterhead very early in the morning to give a talk about Social Media. Bus was my preferred mode of transport for this trip, however my intended plan of working during the trip was dashed by the lack of suspension on what seemed to be the world’s oldest, steam-driven coach.

The audience in Peterhead were very receptive and we got lots of them inspired to move their businesses forward. I was surprised by their enthusiasm and positivity for the subject. In Aberdeen you can’t throw a day-old rowie without hitting a Social Media ‘expert’** but in Peterhead, this knowledge is being welcomed.

That same day Becky and I were attending the Be Your Own Boss seminar at RGU in Aberdeen, so I high-tailed it back to the Granite City and we set off in a taxi for Garthdee. Highlight of that evening was a very refreshing talk by Jim ‘the Jedi’ Eastwood of Apprentice fame who is one of the best speakers I saw over the whole week. That event finished at 9pm.

Next morning I had to be up at 5am in order to make it to Dyce for an early Business Breakfast. Another taxi drive and was frustrated at how busy the Haudagain was even at that time of day. A constraint for growth indeed.

The Business Breakfast was well attended and Becky and I made some great contacts. I also was really impressed with a presentation by Funding Circle - a neat solution to an emerging funding gap. Sausages and Bacon were on offer and gratefully received, however I almost wept at some presenters who think that reading out 15 bullet points off a single slide, is a good way to keep people awake at 7am. You never bored anyone into buying anything.

That was my one and only NEBW engagement that day so I welcomed the chance to catch up with something called ‘work’. Luckily the fantastic team here had got on so well without me, that I was considering what I actually do. (I don’t even answer the phones anymore!)

Friday saw me invited to an exclusive business summit at The Marcliffe (another taxi) where I was sandwiched between the very entertaining editor of the P&J and a local MP. Conversation was productive and decisive. These guys know how to make stuff happen. Sadly I had taken along our Pop Up of Awesomeness and I absent-mindedly left it behind. As I write it is probably surrounded by worshippers, founding a new cult praising its existence.

Another taxi ride back to the office and I was greeted by a bunch of balloons (nope, not the local football club) and a bottle of wine as a thank you for being one of the speakers.

By attending these events we raised our profile locally. As for ‘driving growth’, we are secure in the knowledge that we have contributed to the financial well-being of many, many taxi drivers.

We look forward to next year!

Scott

*Not true in the slightest.
** Please try this

Publicity Postcards!!

Yay…our pretty awesome (if we do say so ourselves) postcards have arrived in time for us to show off at next week’s North East Business Week.

DEER digital are sponsors of the event and we couldn’t help but use it as an excuse to get some super shiny, super pretty, postcards printed to show off Jo’s print design talents. Scott had the idea to quote John Wanamaker’s (considered by many to be the ‘Father’ of modern advertising) infamous predicament “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; trouble is I dont know which half, seeing as many of our clients have voiced their uncertainties about where to best spend their marketing budgets in the increasingly digitally powered landscape.

We think Jo has done a great job enlivening this vintage quote with some rather ultramodern typography and design work…what do you think?

Office Easter Egg Hunt

At around 11am this morning, the Deer Digital office realised that it was Good Friday. What better way to mark the end of the working week than to exploit to our advantage a perfect excuse to run about like kids in a candy shop. The team had great fun deciphering Alice’s cryptic clues, although certain members of the team were more competitive than others (any guesses?) But, to be honest, we’re really a caring, sharing bunch, so everyone had as much chocolate as they so desired!In the end, Deer Digital’s newest member of staff, Scott Finlayson, was the first to find the prized Easter Egg (he’s the one with the big, white egg, but to be honest, he doesn’t appear half as elated as Angus!