- Celebrating people power
- Looking for adventure
- Asking: ‘what is overhype?’
In a week when the world’s commentariat went DiCaprio crazy, we think it’s time for our own little euphoric celebration.
Celebrating people power
Today is ‘Employee Appreciation Day’ (admittedly it’s an American invention but it might catch on here – watch this space…), so I’d like to use Redtarn’s maiden voyage into the blogosphere to officially welcome Ruth Tovey to the team.
Spot the cyclist!
Ruth recently returned from four years in the wilds of New Zealand – a place close to my own heart from which this company got its name and inspiration. Originally from the south-west of England Ruth, her husband and three young children decided to take a leap into the unknown and emigrate to Hawkes Bay, on the east coast of the North Island in 2012. After four adventure-filled years they bid a fond farewell to the land of the long white cloud to return to the Cotswolds.
Ruth’s professional background is in event management and marketing, with an amble through occupation psychology and a stop off in Australasian import and export (working for both Weleda NZ and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise).
She says her most apt job title would probably be Girl Friday, so I would like to pay tribute to her many qualities besides being an all-rounder. I really appreciate her people skills, enthusiasm for new projects and great sense of humour which are helping to shape what Redtarn PR & Events will look like in the near future. We love it when work is a mixture of fun and exploration and we will never stop striving to bring together our skills and experience with a splash of creativity, all aimed at getting those all-important results for clients.
Looking for adventure
I can only imagine what it’s like to emigrate, but I do know what it takes to up sticks and leave my comfort zone, having quit my job to travel the world for a year before starting this company. I also founded the 2000trees Festival from scratch and this will be our 10th anniversary, with headliners Refused and Twin Atlantic – happy days!
Those adventures will stay with me forever and have shaped who I am today, which is why I salute Ruth’s sense of adventure, amazing ability to manage the Tovey team through it all and strength of character to go through a huge transition to return to the UK.
Asking: ‘what is overhype?’
Finally, I’ve been contemplating the concept of overhype lately, and whether I have actually invented a new word or just been staying up too late. We find ourselves almost overwhelmed by opinions from the world’s fragmented media operating across many marketing channels, backed up by billions of momentary thoughts from the general public across all manner of social media networks. Plus there’s the bombardment of overenthusiasitc marketing and advertising campaigns at every turn and dozens of ways to get in touch with people without actually seeing them face-to-face.
Is the world enjoying all this communication, all the clever marketing messages, the super-sized features and benefits? Or are we merely navigating our way through a transition period, an era of saturation, from which will emerge new ways to unplug and unwind. I’m sure that it won’t only be historians who will have the answers to our current problems.
Funny thing to say working in public relations, but there it is.
Answers on a postcard…
Thanks for reading, and if you would like us to write about anything in future blogs, please drop us a line…
Cheers,
Andy
