Certificate in Digital Marketing

Last Wednesday, I spent a few hours with the delegates on the IDM's new Certificate in Digital Marketing teaching them about Mobile Marketing. It was a tough call to put in everything I wanted to in just 3 hours, but I got most of it in. The students were all really motivated and asked pertinent questions so we got some good debate going and it also meant that the learning had sunk in. They all knew about blogging and podcasting which makes a change. I've got my next group in a couple of weeks time and I'm also preparing the online learning segment for the certificate which is taking a long time to prepare but looking forward to seeing the results and the feedback as it's my first foray into creating and delivering online learning.

I raced for life in Richmond

Ok, it's been a while since I last posted but we've been madly busy in the office so had to focus on the job in hand. However, that didn't stop me from watching the Glastonbury coverage on the TV and online over the weekend (even with the mud, I wanted to be there). And I also did my bit for charidee by getting involved in the Race for Life for Cancer Research UK. I've been volunteering at the race events for the last year or so with Ladies Circle London and it has been great fun handing out goodie bags and medals to the runners as well as selling pink bands, caps and t-shirts to raise money. But this year, I thought I'd take the plunge and run myself and I managed to run/walk the 5k in 37 minutes. And not having done any training, I was very pleased with that. If you'd like to give me some money for this, then please either contact me directly or go to my sponsorship page and don't forget to Gift Aid any donation. Not all our sponsor money is on the site, but it looks like we've come close to raising our target.

And as if that isn't enough, I'm down to run the British 10k run on Sunday. This time I'm running for Clubs for Young People. And it's on hard pavement around the streets of London and it's twice the distance as Race for Life. Let's hope my legs and feet are up to the job. Unfortunately they're not so webby wise at CYP so if you'd like to sponsor me for that, then please contact me via email - helen at beepmarketing dot com. All donations very gratefully received.

It's my lucky day

Hurrah! Not only have I won 2 tickets to see the King and I in Wimbledon in September today, but I've also won a fab new all-singing all-dancing sim-free camera phone with everything (well video, games, mp3 and a whole 12mb of memory) but NOT bluetooth (yet it has infra-red... bizarre). I thought all new phones would have bluetooth as standard rather than infra-red. I guess it's a pricing issue.

International Day of Sexy and Attractive People - 12 June 2005

It seems that yesterday was International Day of Sexy and Attractive People. Well at least according to the text message I received yesterday afternoon out of the blue (and yes, I was very flattered):

Today is International Day of SEXY & ATTRACTIVE people. Send this to someone who fits the description! Don't send it back to me, I've received ****ing hundreds.

I wonder how far this message got? Anyone else get it?

Shock, horror - women buy more mobile games than men!

I just picked up this story via Moconews that women are buying more mobile games than men and not only that, they like different games than men. Well, I'd never have guessed that (*grins*). Reading between the lines, it looks lik women enjoy games they already know how to play (like cards and puzzle games). And, as James points out, it just means that women are as likely to buy mobile games if there are games that they want out there to buy. Now, when can I buy and download a decent trivia quiz, solitaire game, reversi and connect 4 to my K700i? I've actually been looking for Solitaire since I got my phone a year ago. And I still can't find one that's compatible. If anyone knows where I can get any of the above, please comment or let me know.

Research and development tax credits

My good friend, Sarah Williamson, of specialist software firm KWI is featured on page 32 of today's Daily Telegraph [subscription required]. She has managed to extract £350k from Gordon Brown using R&D tax credits. Well done Sarah and look forward to you sharing your top tips with me too.

Seminar - Navigating the mobile media maze

I'm doing a free seminar on Tuesday 14th June at Internet World, Earls Court, London, for the IDM Academy on mobile marketing entitled: Navigating the mobile media maze. Do you know your MMS from your GPRS? No? Then come along and find out what’s new and what’s now in mobile marketing.

• Today’s mobile media landscape – what does it look like?
• How to incorporate mobile media into the marketing mix?
• Who’s using it and how?

It's only a short session so I won't be able to reveal everything there is to know about mobile marketing, but I'll do my best to give you a short insight into it and how to apply it to your business.

And if you're wondering what IDM stands for, it's short for The Institute of Direct Marketing

A podcast about mobile marketing

Here's the link to a podcast I did a few weeks ago, with Lloyd Davis of Perfect Path, on my thoughts about where mobile marketing is today. I also chat about what I've learnt about running mobile marketing campaigns for the last few years at BeepMarketing and previous to that, at mobile marketing pioneer, ZagMe. Hope you enjoy it and please feel free to comment. More podcasts coming soon.

Update Monday 27 October 2014 - I've just uploaded this podcast on to the Heroes of Mobile Soundcloud account where you can enjoy it there, if you want to. Some 9 years later, it is interesting to listen to a bit of mobile marketing and technology history. And that gives us a better context for what's happening today. https://soundcloud.com/heroes-of-mobile/helen-keegans-first-podcast

Moblogging campaign for Sony Ericsson

Shame Academy - check it out! It's the latest campaign we've done at BeepMarketing for Sony Ericsson with our friends at ijack. Send in your pictures from your phone via MMS (standard rate) or online and you're in with a chance to win a new Sony Ericsson K300i cameraphone. Good luck.

Race for Life at Hampstead Heath

I volunteered today, along with several other members of the London Ladies Circle, to help out at the Race for Life at Hampstead Heath. As usual, it was both great fun and very moving. If you haven't got involved so far, then please do. If you don't want to walk or run, then there's volunteering work that can be done at the events including marshalling, helping out at the information stand, giving out medals at the end, selling pink bands or sponsor us doing our 5k here. Check out the Race For Life website. Every little helps.

When fashion and mobile technology meets

I just spotted this over at Textually.org about where fashion and technology meet. BT labs is linking up with the London College of Fashion to push the boundaries of what's possible. And it reminded me of a session I did about a year ago for Cass Creatives where we discussed the future of fashion and the impact technology (including mobile) would have on production and marketing. It was a fascinating debate and you can find the report of it here.