Big post with a short message - We Care...

At the outset, I know this will be a long blog post because it is a round-up of a very busy year for fatBuzz, but I hope you all find the time to read it and, if you find it interesting, please share it.

EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS
2011 was a big year for fatBuzz, or so we thought. During that year we worked with 24 new clients, an amazing number in the current climate and we thought that would be difficult to repeat in 2012.  But we are optimists, so we decided to try and repeat this number in 2012. In fact, we actually exceeded our expectations by some margin - working with over 30 new clients.  

Our thanks go to all of these new clients for giving us the opportunity and to the many existing clients who referred us to many of these new clients.

Exceeding expectations is something we strive to do; we hope every client  we worked with in 2012 feels we exceeded their expectations.  If not, please talk to us about where you feel we could have done more.

We are extremely encouraged by last year's figures and even more positive about next year because we are already talking to a number of potential new clients for 2013. Hopefully we will be able to bring you some news about them early in January.

EXPANDING THE TEAM

Introducing so much new work to the business meant we had to expand our team and whilst I'd like to take credit for the great team we have, I must admit this was largely down to Kyle and Marion.  In fact, on one occasion, the first time I met one particular member of staff was the day after he started working with fatBuzz!  

Derek Howie was the first of the 2012 recruits. Derek actually interviewed me in 2010 as part of his university work but it wasn't until Kyle interviewed him that we knew he would be a great addition to the fatBuzz team.

Joanna Robb came to fatBuzz as an intern before joining us full-time a few months ago.  Joanna's marketing degree and experience in fashion retailing are very useful to a variety of our clients.

Chris Winch is the latest recruit (he's the one I met after he joined fatBuzz!) Chris has been a fantastic addition to the web development side of the business and his arrival brings us a range of additional skills that complement those already on offer from our design team.

Brian Blacklaw joined us at the start of 2012 to strengthen our accounting, reporting and admin functions - and he has exceeded our expectations!  We now have up-to-the-minute reporting and extensive financial data that helps us to set fair rates for the work we do for you. We are very pleased to have all of these people on board and I look forward to Kyle expanding the team further in 2013.

IMPROVING OUR ENVIRONMENT

We not only expanded the fatBuzz team in 2012, we also decided to give our office a major refurb!  We wanted the interior to reflect the innovative and dynamic nature of our business - and the main office is now bright and airy with lots of areas for team collaboration and client meetings. 

The floor of the office is Astroturf and visitors are invited to compete in our appropriately named "Finding the Net" golf challenge, where we record scores on a "Top Gear" style leader board.

We wanted the office to have a creative feel but more than anything we wanted it to be fun. We always tell clients that social media should be fun, even when the message is serious.
Thanks to John Dick & Son for their help with the office interiors, you can read more about the project here. 

SHARING KNOWLEDGE
fatBuzz is proud of its tradition of sharing knowledge, which we do mainly via the Social Media Podcast and the New Media Breakfasts.  September this year was the third anniversary of the Glasgow and Edinburgh events and what a busy year we had - over 1300 attendees heard a variety of presenters talking on a wide range of social media related topics.  

At our final breakfast in Glasgow a first-time attendee said to me immediately after we finished that she had been to many similar events that didn't impress her and she had come along not expecting very much, but that we had exceeded her expectations. That's what we like to hear. We do get lots of positive feedback from the breakfast attendees and we hope that most people take away at least one thing from each event.

The New Media Breakfast is a significant commitment for fatBuzz; many hours of preparation go into every one we do and we will continue to run them as long as we feel there is sufficient interest and support for what we are trying to achieve. The first breakfast of 2013 is already scheduled, where we will try to get your content creation off to a great start by giving you lots of tips for 2013. You can get full details of that event here.

In 2012, I also completed a large number of speaking engagements throughout the UK. I hope the 2000 (approx) attendees from Aberdeen to London enjoyed listening as much as I enjoyed talking to them.

WHERE WE DID FAIL

I will be the first to admit that we have failed to deliver a sufficient number of podcasts this year - this is very much a case of the 'cobblers bairns'. We have been so busy with client work and the breakfasts that something had to give way.  

We are still 100% committed to the Social Media Podcast and we're currently looking at ways to ensure a more regular release.  We may alter the format so that we have some like the existing one, others that are interview led and perhaps even guest presenters.  One thing is for sure - we will be bringing you more episodes in 2013 that we did in 2012, so please stay tuned to see what happens.

WHERE WE DID SUCCEED

Perhaps the most satisfying event of 2012 was the Social Media Day for Charities that we ran in October. We were delighted to welcome 125 guests representing over 90 charities to 29 Member's Club for a day of knowledge sharing about social media.  We were delighted to be able to offer this day to every attendee free of any charge.  Several people did say it had exceeded their expectations - we liked that!  

The day was made possible because so many of our clients supported what we were doing and helped us where they could.  We are very grateful to 29 Glasgow, Bloom VC, Commsworld, Dean's Shortbread, Meigle Print, Orb Group & The Networking Coach for their support and participation on the day.  

RAISING THE BAR
The only way we can keep exceeding expectations (yours and ours) is to continue to 'raise the bar'. The Social Media Charity Day was an example of this, we wanted to help charities make better use of the very limited resources they have at their disposal. Next year we would like to do it all again, but let's do it for 500 charities this time!

If we are to achieve this though, we will need even more support. We don't mind putting in the hours to make it happen and if any of our clients or social media friends would like to offer their support please let me know I will be delighted to chat to you about it.

GIVING SOMETHING BACK
fatBuzz has always adhered to the motto of The Entrepreneurial Exchange - 'Work Hard, Play Hard, Give Something Back'.  We will continue to work with a number of charities for discounted rates and in some instances for no fee. This year we are delighted to have worked with; Aberlour Child Care Trust, Action for Children, Hearts & Minds, Kilbryde Hospice, Carers Trust, Scottish Spina Bifida Association, Skillforce and With Kids.

We would urge all of our clients and social media friends to find a way to work with charities, the rewards for both parties will exceed your expectations.

IT DIDN'T HAPPEN BY ACCIDENT
We are genuinely delighted with 2012. It has been a busy year but it didn't happen by accident; lots of hard work helped but I believe the real difference this year lies in the goal setting and planning we did at the end of 2011, and before that, at the end of 2010. I really cannot express enough how important it is to set goals and plan how you will achieve them.  Personally, I would like to thank my fellow directors Marion and Kyle for their support and faith in me, it is much appreciated. It would also be remiss of me to exclude Philip Dearing, of Philip Dearing Works, who has helped us enormously with the strategic development of fatBuzz.   

AND FINALLY...
Finally, I would like to thank all of the team at fatBuzz for their hard work and dedication over the past 12 months. They really do work hard, we give something back and, as a result, we also have some fun!

We hope all of our clients, suppliers, partners and friends have a wonderful time over the next few days and we wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year.

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January New Media Breakfast: Content Creation Inspiration for 2013

CONTENT CREATION INSPIRATION FOR 2013

VENUE: 29 Member's Club, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow
DATE: 25th January 2013
TIME: 7:30am for 8:00am

Firstly, we would like to wish all of the New Media Breakfast attendees and speakers all the very best over the festive season, we hope you have an enjoyable break with your friends and family.

It's time to start thinking about our plans for next year and some topics for future breakfasts and we would really like to hear any suggestions you have for topics in 2013.  If you have any suggestions, please post them as a comment here on the blog, on the Facebook page or, email them to gordon@fatbuzz.com. It is important to us that we cover subjects that are relevant, interesting and topical so please give as all of your suggestions.

For the first breakfast of 2013 we thought it would be useful to give you some inspiration for content creation in 2013 so we've entitled the January New Media Breakfast:

CONTENT CREATION INSPIRATION FOR 2013

We have always recommended the calendar as a great source of content so we want to go through some ideas that may give you inspiration for your content for the whole year.  We will look at traditional calendar events and what you can do to tap into special times throughout the year for content ideas.

INDUSTRY/SECTOR SPECIFIC
We will also look at some industry specific dates and how different sectors can use specific events and dates to create interesting content.  If you would like us to specifically feature your sector, please email us details in advance and we'll try to include it in the presentation.  Please send your industry or sector details to gordon@fatbuzz.com

SPECIAL EVENTS
In addition, we will look at special events in the 2013 calendar and how you may be able to create relevant content around them.

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
All in all, we want to provide as many content creation ideas based on the calendar as we possibly can; we hope every attendee will leave with some great ideas about how to use the 2013 calendar to inspire and create good engaging content.

We hope you'll be able to make  it along to the first event of 2013, we intend to get the breakfast sessions off to a great start by sharing lots of knowledge that you can use and implement in your own social media. 

Once again, have a great time over the festive season, we look ofrward to seeing you all in 2013.

THE SPEAKER
Gordon White, Managing director of fatBuzz Ltd will present the January New Media Breakfast.

HOW TO BOOK
Venue: 29 Member's Club, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow
Date: Friday 25th January 2013
Time: 7.30am for 8am
Cost: £10 +VAT

BOOK FOR NEW MEDIA BREAKFAST GLASGOW HERE:

No.29 MEMBERS GO FREE 

If you are a 29 Member you can attend the breakfast free of charge. Please email malcolm@fatbuzz.com with you membership number and he will add you to the attendance list.

We hope you can make it along to this event. If so, I look forward to seeing you on the day.

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It's Nominations and Awards time, and our clients have featured a lot...

It's the time of year for awards and we're pleased that many of our clients have been featuring prominently in some of the most prestigious ceremonies around the country.

Ambicare Health 

Their Lustre Pure Light treatment for acne has won the Product Innovation of the Year award 2012 at the UK Cosmetic News Aesthetic Awards in London on Saturday December 1st.

Lustre Pure Light was selected ahead of many other innovative products by a group of leading healthcare professionals and industry experts.

The judges comments

"Lustre Pure Light was a breakthrough technology which finally allowed clinically proven phototherapy for acne to be delivered to patients in a convenient affordable manner" 

The technology was originally developed by leading dermatologists at NHS Tayside in collaboration with leading physicists at the University of St Andrews.

Paul J Donnelly CEO said, "This comes at a very exciting time for us as we recently launched in Holland and France in October and also filed our 510k application for USA approval in the same month.  It is very satisfying to see so many new customers supporting us in taking the product to persistent acne sufferers."

Anyone wishing to buy Lustre Pure Light can find their nearest clinic at www.lustrepurelight.com or you can visit their Facebook page here.

The Phoenix Group

John McGuire, Managing Director at Phoenix Car Company was particularly delighted when Phoenix won Employer of the Year at the recent ROCCO Awards in Renfrewshire.

Phoenix Car Company has grown steadily from its roots in Paisley to car and motorbike showrooms in Stirling, Grangemouth, Glasgow and Edinburgh.  The company has an impressive record with some of the best marques in the car industry with dealerships selling Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Suzuki.

John McGuire said, "We are delighted to win this award, it is reward and recognition for the investment we make in our people.  We are delighted to accept the award on behalf of our employees who make it possible for us to be recognised as Employer of the Year."

Scoot

Ranjit Anderson, Co Founder of Scoot has been nominated for Scottish Entrepreneur of the Year in the Scottish Asian Business Awards 2012.

Scoot are the innovative business who send drivers on Scooters to drive you home from town in your own car.  The business was founded in Edinburgh in  2003 and is set to open for business in Glasgow early in 2013.  We wish Ranjit well with the nomination and the expansion into Glasgow.

The Booking Room
We were also delighted that Michael O'Hare, Managing Director at The Booking Room was nominated for Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year in the Annual Entrepreneurial Exchange Awards at The Hilton Hotel, Glasgow last month.

The Booking Room offers the most advanced worldwide ground transportation service in the chauffeur industry.  In 1999, they developed an innovative new approach by delivering solutions to the global ground transportation market, since then the company has gone from strength to strength.  Based in Glasgow, they operate offices in London, New York, Paris and Hong Kong.

Spectrum Service Solutions

Sara Speirs, Managing Director at Spectrum Service Solutions has been especially busy with two nominations at the ROCCO Awards in Renfrewshire and a further two at The Herald Scottish Family Business Awards. 

Spectrum had a very busy year in 2012 with various new contracts, perhaps one of the most notable with The Olympic Games during the summer.

The Entrepreneurial Exchange and WeDo Scotland

Not only did our clients feature in the nominations for many awards, two of our clients actually hosted prestigious events: The Entrepreneurial Exchange Annual Awards were held the the Glasgow Hilton and WeDo Scotland hosted their very successful WeDo Business Awards 2012 in the Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh last month.  

So, we are pleased to have two leading business networks as fatBuzz clients - WeDo Scotland and The Entrepreneurial Exchange.  Both these organisations promote knowledge sharing and business networking at the very highest level and we are delighted to work with both of them.

These are just some of the clients who have enjoyed a successful year in 2012 - we will bring you more news in the coming weeks.  Meanwhile, if you have enjoyed this post, please share it using the social media share buttons below. There's a good chance others you know will enjoy it too.  Thank you.

New-Bees are Buzzing

We revealed last month that we were looking for two new mouths to feed at fatBuzz - and we are delighted to announce that we have found the perfect candidates!

Firstly, we would like to welcome our new Social Media Account Manager, Joanna Robb, to the team.

Joanna had been interning with fatBuzz for six months, and she has always been a major part of the fatBuzz team, but we thought it was about time we made it official!

Joanna graduated from Glasgow Caledonian University with a 2:1 Honours Degree in Marketing, and in addition to keeping the fatBuzz boys in check, she will work directly with a range of clients on marketing, social media engagement and developing online communities.

While carrying out 'extensive' research for this post, we found out that Joanna used to attend RSAMD Theatre Group... which really does explain a lot! 

In all seriousness, Joanna is a real people person with an infectious, bubbly personality and we are confident that she will bring a range of additional skills to the team.

We are also delighted to welcome our latest web developer/designer, Chris Winch, to the team.

Chris is a web and graphic designer from Dumbarton, with vast experience in developing websites for a range of businesses across various sectors. 

We knew Chris was the perfect candidate for this role as soon as we met him; he is experienced, enthusiastic and ambitious, but most importantly, he fits in perfectly with the fatBuzz culture.

Chris' main skills lie in HTML/CSS, WordPress and Graphic Design, but he is also vastly experienced with UX/Usability, Responsive and Mobile Web Design and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

Interestingly, we have just found out that Chris and our other web developer David actually went to school together, although they didn't know each other at the time!

It really is a small world, isn't it?

In saying that, we are sure that our own little world will continue to grow and we look forward to welcoming lots of new faces to the fatBuzz team in 2013.

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