Sunday was incredible. I was perfectly fine until the organiser called my name to go in the first plane of the group and then gush of adrenalin sent me into giggling verbal diarrhoea. The instructor was really great, but by the time I was 10,000 ft in the air, I was petrified.

Obviously, once you are tightly strapped to a (very nice) instructor, there is no way of escaping, so you have to go….and I’m so glad I did.  The freefall is an odd experience; it’s like being in one of those films where you see someone falling for so long they stop being terrified and just keep on falling.  And that’s just what the sensation is – it becomes a ‘wow’ instead of an ‘ahhhh’ and before you know it, the parachute opens and it seems you are falling very, very slowly.

An incredible experience with lots of money raised for charity.  Our sponsorship has raised over £4,000 so far – and of course we are keeping the page open…so go on, just click here and help raise some more cash for the NSPCC.

Setting a target for raising £5,000 seemed a big challenge at the time but knowing how much is needed to make the NSPCC Bristol Service Centre ready for action, it is worth setting a high bar.

From a personal perspective two aspects have been incredibly emotional over the past couple of weeks:

Firstly, sponsorship.  I am utterly amazed at the generosity of clients, friends, journalists and acquaintances; I have to admit that I do not undertake in regular ‘fund raising’.  I give my time for various community and not for profit organisations, but I never really ask for cash.   And asking isn’t always easy, especially when it’s from people who are your customers, close friends, work colleagues and people that you don’t even know well.  Okay, it’s difficult asking from anyone!

So, a gushing thank you to my poor work colleagues at Ascent PR and Berkeley PR who have gallantly volunteered in this madness and of course all those that have sponsored us, my deepest, most sincere thanks. I cannot tell you how much this means to us all.

The second emotion?  I have a confession.  I have done a skydive before – nearly 20 years ago on a static line and although the experience was great, I actually passed out when jumping from the plane.  I only came around as the parachute jolted open and woke me.  So I’ve never actually experienced a freefall sensation!  It also means that I’ve spent the last three nights dreaming about passing out again….let’s hope the chap that I’ll be doing the jump with realises…

Obviously, you can still sponsor us!  www.justgiving.com/PRskydive

Sara

Alongside our sister agency Berkeley PR, we are raising money for the NSPCC in order to support the fantastic work they do in helping to make sure that children and young people are better informed, better cared for and better protected. In 2012, the NSPCC will be opening an exciting new service centre in Bristol, allowing local children to benefit from national services.

To help raise much needed funds, a group of daring individuals across Berkeley PR and Ascent PR, will give up time on their Bank Holiday weekend and skydive on Sunday 6^th May 2012. Free-falling from 10,000ft and then floating over some of the most beautiful scenery in England seems to be the most apt way for us to raise our target of £5,000!

It’s not very often we call upon you for sponsorship, so we’re hoping that you will be able to support us. If you can, please dig deep and donate now.

https://www.justgiving.com/PRSkydive

The doors opened at 10am, and from the very start there was a great flow of people, both keen to talk about the services that their own company provides, and also to hear about services their business can benefit from.

As the good PR professionals that we are we of course wanted to do something a little different whilst at our stand, and so we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to do a little market research. After all, carrying out research at an event like this is a great way to engage with delegates, and also attracts attention to the stand – particularly when there’s a luxury Fortnum & Mason hamper on offer as a prize draw

We asked businesses at the event how they utilise their media coverage. Suffice to say that the results have proved very interesting. We’ll be updating our blog in due course with the results, so keep an eye out!

Lindsay

In many ways the Occupy Movement was also the communication story of 2011, but as we start a New Year I have to confess I’m still confused by the aim of the protests – was it a campaign for a fairer society, a protest against corporate greed, a way to highlight unemployment, or all of the above?

The Occupy Bristol group for example has confirmed it will leave its protest camp on College Green, following a court ruling. The protesters have been camped on College Green since the 15 October, a full three months, and I wonder how many people actually know what they were standing against, or what their key message was?

In those three months I also have to question what Occupy Bristol and its wider movement has really achieved – what will be the lasting impact on politics and culture?

From a PR perspective I do believe Occupy will have an impact on communication in 2012. The Occupy Movement took their message to the streets and forced the news agenda to take notice through rapid mobilisation and use of social media and live feeds to create a structured communications approach. It has shown the industry that we must be willing to follow by taking more risks, thinking creatively and becoming aggressive in order to get our clients message across.

PR’s may also take note from the failings of the Occupy Movement. There is little point making a splash if your client’s message is confused, lacks a unified aim and is not repeated often enough – it may grab attention, but won’t leave a lasting impact.

Well, not one that a little re-seeding won’t fix anyway.

Mark

To start the year, we’re helping the NSPCC organise a networking breakfast in Bristol. If you are in the region on January 31st, its a great opportunity to develop your network contacts with both large and small businesses in the region, hear how local businesses have raised funds and learn about the exciting developments for the NSPCC in Bristol during 2012. Email me for further details or register your attendance at http://nspccbristolbusinessclub.eventbrite.co.uk/

As part of our commitment to the NSPCC, we have also agreed to take part in a tandem skydive in May!!  Watch this space for more information…

Sara

I cannot begin to explain the gravity and diversity of the emotions I have experienced: utter exhaustion (managing to fall asleep in a bar was not my greatest hour); believing I was going to die when driving the infamous Nairobi – Mombasa highway in the dark; catching up with a rally car along an unmade road as it hadn’t seen us and needed a service and of course the emotion of seeing team eCar completing the final competitive stage of the rally.

What has made this rally for me is the people I’ve met along the way.  From rally champions that have been driving this and other courses for forty years, to the press officers, photographers, branding experts and management team.  But most of all, the friendships made with the management and service crews; Toby, Charles and Peter in our vehicle; Titch and Mark supporting Al and Flash; Rajil, Phil and PJ, with Riz and Adam supporting Aziz; Ian Freestone and Phil running between us all.

I cannot thank you all enough for your support, this has been the most unique experience in my life.

Travelling with the service crews, we leave the designated hotel an hour before the rally cars set off, hurtling towards the end of the first stage to meet the team as they arrive from the time-controlled section.  Then in a frantic half an hour, the team services the car, making repairs, (which include replacing steering racks, duck-taping broken windscreens, replacing tyres, doing the tracking and of course, refuelling) and getting them back on the road again for the next stint.  This happens two to three times a day – between which we then gallop to the next stage.

Apart from taking photos and making notes for the blog, I am now a fully fledged service assistant; my role involves navigating (I now know all about tulip diagrams), making sure Arron and Tim are fed and watered, helping set out the area to be serviced, getting tools from the car while the vehicle is being serviced and any other errands that are asked of me!

The service team are a miracle in action.  I’m travelling with three lovely chaps; Toby, chief driver, mechanic and all round marvel; cheeky Charlie, who’s a whizz under the bonnet and Peter, who always seems calm, cool and collected – and in this race, that’s a skill in itself.  Charles and Peter are Kenyan and built the car from scratch, so know it inside out.  And just as well, I’ve never seen as much work done on a car in such a short space of time.  I just about know what a head gasket looks like (thanks dad), but these men seem know each part of the car upside and inside out and are able to make the car work beautifully with just a couple of gaskets and duck tap

The journey’s between the stops, takes in the most awesome views of Kenya and Tanzania, places that you wouldn’t stop on a commercial safari or would take you days to get to on public transport.  To see so much of a beautiful country in such a short space of time is a privilege.  Stopping in the middle of the Rift Valley, being able to talk to women from a Masai village (with the help of my wonderful translators) will be a unique memory for me.

As it’s the rest day today, I’m off for a swim and a beer; to reflect on my time so far and look forward to the next stage of this epic adventure….

The Brightside Group Plc and eInsurance Group is sending its CEO, Aaron Banks to participate in the East African Safari Classic car rally.  As part of the rally, the team has been tasked with raising £100,000 for Alive and Kicking, a social enterprise that manufactures sports balls to provide balls for children, create jobs for adults and promote health education through sport.

To help raise awareness of the company and the charity, I’ll be part of the support team, writing about the race, its drivers, the highs and lows, challenges and successes.  You can follow the progress on the eCar Alive and Kicking blog.

As well as covering the rally, I’ll be writing up the experience from a personal perspective.   So watch this space in the coming days…..

Sara

I believe that the most pressing concern that has arisen from the advent of text is a hindrance to basic spelling and grammar skills.

The continual use of abbreviations (for example: wud instead of would) can be argued to lead to laziness, which in turn can result in a lack of knowledge of the traditional English language. Text speak isn’t solely confined to the younger generation either; I have received a text from my 60-year old mother asking if I’ll be around ‘l8er’.

Here at Ascent PR we are firm advocates of the writings of Lyne Truss, in her book ‘Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation’. After all, when writing for the media we must ensure that all copy is of the same linguistic and grammatical standard as used in the publications we target.

But in the wider society does it really matter? With so many means of communication available, is simply being able to effectively communicate a message what matters most?

Perhaps, but I firmly believe that we must ensure the younger generation has a sound grasp on English language, spelling and grammar. Thirteen year olds might think it’s ok to use text language right now, but in ten years’ time, if they want a career in business, then basic language skills will be essential.

Whilst it is only natural that the English dictionary evolves (otherwise we would all still be talking in Shakespearean), to allow the standard of spelling and grammar to disintegrate would truly be the greatest crime to our language.

Having written a blog on language and grammar, I risk being picked up on a misplaced comma, or a forgotten exclamation mark. But, solong as the msg is undastud mayb it will b all rite.

Lindsay