Orchard is the North of England's largest Digital, Creative and Marketing recruitment consultancy. With Offices in Manchester and Leeds we place talented people in freelance and permanent Jobs online and off-line within Agency and Client side companies.

 
Date: Tuesday 22nd May 2012
Time: 8.30am
Venue: The HIve, Lever Street, Manchester, M4 1FN

The Chartered Institute of Marketing's Northern Conference 2012, now in its second year, is being hosted by the North West regional group and will offer exceptional learning and networking opportunities. The programme features high profile keynote speakers and a choice of thought provoking and interactive CPD workshop sessions.

The event is open to both CIM members and non-members and will be of value to a wide range of delegates both agency and in-house from the public, private and not for profit sectors. This years' event will explore the theme of 'The Power of Marketing'

Last years' event was a huge success attracting over 100 delegates including senior marketers from across the North who benefited from a day of critical learning, inspirational speakers and networking with their peers.

Keynote speakers:

* Catherine Howard, Head of Private Sector Marketing, Fujitsu.

* Professor Michael J Baker, Marketing - A power for good?

* Roy Sandbach, Research Fellow, Proctor & Gamble.

Workshops:

* Financial services - speaker TBC.

* Marketing the professions - David Criddle, Chairman, Eudaimon Holdings.

* Tendering - Jim Williams, Managing Director from Tender Management Consultancy Ltd.

* Food, drink and agricultural - Michael Bensons, Lathams.

* Medical/pharma - Nicky Unsworth, Managing Director, BJL and Jane Hazelhurst, Planner, BJL.

* Legal - Keith Arrowsmith, Partner, Head of Intellectual Property, JMW Solicitors.

* Social marketing - Amanda Jane Stocks, The National Social Marketing Centre.

* Technology - James Eyre, Head of UK Marketing, Vertex.

* Public relations - Oliver Chesher, Head of Office North West, Admiral PR.

* Social media - Ben Aronson, Director of Digital and Creative for Tangerine PR.

* Travel and tourism - Tony Openshaw, Marketing Director, Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board.

* Retail - Mike Phillips - Pure Pages Group.

Registration is from 8:30am and the event starts at 9.15am until 5pm.

The non-member rate includes six months affiliate membership of The Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Up to six CPD hours can be claimed under category 7 for attending this event. 

Price information: Member: £118.80

Studying Member: £118.80
Student: £238.80
Guest: £238.80

The early bird price shown is available until the 27 April 2012. Price includes refreshments, please contact the events team with any special requirements.

For more information and to book visit www.cim.co.uk/Events/EventDetail.aspx or cal the Chartered Institute of Marketing on 01628 427 340

Thursday, May 24th 2012 from 7:30 PM to 11:00 PM (GMT)

The Round Foundry
Foundry Street
Leeds
LS11 5QP

Join us on the 24th May to celebrate the Sh! Awards. From 7.30pm at the Round Foundry in Leeds, this annual student creative award ceremony rewards the very best student work across the creative industries. From advertising to web design, graphic design to illustration the coolest student awards in the North brings together graduates from Yorkshires' best universities with creative professionals from our most celebrated companies.

Over the last few months we've been collecting work from brilliant students in the region. On the 24th May we announce the winner and bring media students and businesses together for a night to remember. With entertainment, cash bar, food and fantastic raffle prizes to be had, you really don't want to miss this one!

Join a great cause
SH! is for Stuart Hocknell, a brilliant young designer who died in 2002 from meningitis. Stuart loved life, adored design, and his enthusiasm for both touched all those around him.
Money raised by Sh! goes straight to the Meningitis Research Foundation. We're looking for businesses that really want to help promote this fantastic cause so if that sounds of interest or for more information contact Marian Smith at marian.smith@yourchamber.org.uk.

Sponsors
We'd like to thank all our sponsors for making Sh! happen this year. Particularly our headline sponsor Numiko for being first at the post to kick start the fundraising. Thanks also to Brass, Elmwood and The Round Foundry - all giving for a great cause.
Want to find out how you can help Sh! raise lots of money and have a great time all on the same night? Get involved ... add your name to Leeds Media's fund raising event of the year ring 0113 247 0000 today!

Please note our sponsors are given priority tickets.

All other tickets are sold on a first come first served basis. In order to avoid block bookings we are limiting the number of tickets to 5 per company.

Should you require more tickets please contact marian.smith@yourchamber.org.uk

http://sh-awards-es2.eventbrite.com/?srnk=13

Friday 25th May, from 8.00am

Club LS1
3 Albion Place
Leeds
LS1 6JL

Using industry case studies and examples, Neil will show delegates how and where to use research, irrespective of industry size or type. Neil will also show you how to access valuable information very cost-effectively. Finally, Neil will reveal how access to research data will change in coming years, and what this will mean to your business.

Registration from 08:00; breakfast will be served at 08:15, the presentation will start at 08:45 and the event will finish at 10:00. This is a CPD category 10 event. If you are non EU resident, please call the events team to make your booking.

Price information:
Member: £10.00
Studying Member: £10.00
Student: £10.00
Guest: £10.00
Breakfast is included in the price. Please contact the events team with any special requirements.

Alternative Pay Details: Please book online for this event. If you cannot do so please call The Chartered Institute of Marketing on +44 (0)1628 427340.

Contact: Region and Branch Events
Contact Email: cimevents@cim.co.uk

http://www.cim.co.uk/Events/EventDetail.aspx?ObjectID=45155 

 
Date: Saturday 26th May 2012
Time: 2pm - 4pm
Venue: Ampersand HQ, 3C Tariff Street, Manchester M1 2FF

There will be great prizes and everyone will get a free gift.

Categories include:

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• Manchester Knowledge
• Front-End Development / Design
• Famous Geeks & Stuff Geeks Like
• eCommerce

What else is awesome about this quiz? Play your own music!
Add tracks to our shared Spotify playlist and we'll play your favs during the quiz.

Watch #theQuizMcr for updates about prizes, clues, and/or to live tweet from the event.

The quiz will be followed by an informal walk to a pub for what will (hopefully!) be a lovely, sunny May afternoon.

Having graduated almost 3 years ago, I was released into the working world just in time for the recession. Brilliant. I know only too well of the hurdles, obstructions and down right rejections graduates face on a daily basis. After 3 years of being encouraged into believing the future is bright, I slowly realised that the world may not be my oyster after all. I digress; this blog was not intended to highlight the economic climate of the time, neither was it to belittle university. It is simply a personal opinion about how Recruitment agencies should treat it’s candidates, no matter what their background. On reflection of my own experiences with recruitment agencies, and those of the friends I have asked, the answer was always the same; We got no reply. Not even a rejection. A rejection would be better because at least that’s something. But alas, the applications of thousands of candidates lie vacuously in the recruitment abyss never to be spoken of again.

And then there’s Orchard. Prior to being plucked from obscurity by Orchard, I researched the company I was to be interviewing for and was impressed; the relationships they build and maintain with their candidates are unique. It is probably this quality that ensures Orchard remains the largest digital, creative and marketing company in the North.

My job as Resourcer allows me to communicate with applicants, challenge myself and learn new things daily. I am inundated with applications from graduates, just like myself seeking recruitment in the sector they feel so passionately about. How ironic that just 6 months ago, I was in their shoes. I was the one manically applying for jobs and harassing recruitment agencies until they were forced to reply to my desperation. It is such desperation that has made me determined to give these applicants the time and consideration I wish I had been given. Admittedly, this sounds incredibly twee when you put it in writing, but it remains a subject in which I, and thousands others, feel very strongly about. If someone is going to take the time to log onto your site, fill out their personal details and apply for a job, the least we can do is acknowledge their application.

That is why Orchard is so different to many agencies.

Katy Mullen

@orchard_katy

If you have asked yourself this question, like many of our clients, you should find the information on www.itjobswatch.co.uk points toward a very obvious answer.

Let me guess, you’re looking for an experienced web developer who is experienced in ASP.NET, SQL, C#, PHP, MySql and not forgetting that they have to be an e-commerce expert. All for a very reasonable £30k?

You're offering really cool offices, city centre location and great career opportunities. Yet, whilst these may have some influence on a free roaming Developer, they are simply not the answer to the question.

Would it surprise you if I tell you that, in Manchester, the average salary for a “.net” developer is £33,000, and this is before you increase the seniority or start delving further into your wish list.


Salary average - (.net developers) - Manchester

I am afraid the bad news doesn’t stop there. We haven’t even taken into consideration that if a web developer works freelance, they can potentially earn double that, charging on average, £250-£300 per day. To put this into perspective, for the same amount you are willing to pay they would only have to work half the year, or less.

So what’s the answer?

Firstly you need to ask yourself, do I need a developer in-house and how much am I paying a year to bring in a freelance web developer?

If your answer is “yes, damn right I need a developer,” then be prepared to pay for it, at least for now.


Demand Trend - (.net devleloper) – UK

The good news (well almost) is that, like everything, eventually the supply will catch up with demand and there are more students coming out of university than ever before with relevant IT or Computer Sciences degrees, meaning that eventually these very high paying roles will slowly become more reasonable.

For now though, when hunting developers on the open grasslands of the creative industry, our advice is, reign in your wish list, bait your trap with a large pot of gold and hope that a good one bites!

James Mellor 

Everyone knows I love Apple, but recently I found their behaviour just plain flabbergasting.

I was looking to upgrade the RAM on my Mac Mini so I looked on the Apple website for the type of RAM I needed and to get a costing. I was staggered to see an 8GB upgrade costing £320. OK, RAM's expensive you might say but I wasn't sure. So I checked around online and that's when I really caught my breath.

Market rates for the same memory from an independent memory specialist was £33, making Apple's memory an astounding 1000% dearer. I purchased my memory from Mr Memory, a reputable retailer with 17 years experience in Mac memory.

What could possibly justify Apple's position. As an exercise I decided to configure a new Mac just incase Apple were not interested in selling RAM upgrades and I was stunned to see the figure was still £240, even if the RAM was fitted straight in the factory! You can't tell me that Apple buys less RAM than a retailer in the UK.

It's difficult to come up with a commercial justification for this, which leaves me with a rather cynical one. Apple is preying on their own target consumer.

Apple loves to target the early adopters, the techno savvy to bolster their marketing messages, but they sell the vast majority of their product now to people with little or no technical knowledge. In many ways that's the beauty of their proposition, hardware and software combined, it just works. However these people are open to influence. I wonder how many Mac purchasers would know they could upgrade RAM themselves? Indeed with this particular machine it's literally a 2 minute job requiring not even a screwdriver.

Is Apple taking advantage of these purchasers to gain margins over 1000%? Are consumers buying upgrades from Apple at these rates because they simply don't know better? These consumers trust the Apple brand to deliver honestly, they know they are paying premium for their products but they certainly wouldn't be comfortable knowing that Apple was charging them over 10 times the market value for a product.

Apple I still love you, but sometimes you make it really hard to do so.

Mike Carter

BLAB #10 plays host to two legends of the design world who will be speaking on the night - Peter Saville and Vaughan Oliver. Looks like being another great night, hope to see you there!

Find out more information on Blab #10 here www.orchard.co.uk/events