An owd 'togs blog

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Anyone interested in watching what could well turn into a PR disaster may like to take a look at Hamleys Facebook page – Why?

Well Hamleys are having live Reindeer and Penguins in store at what must be one of the busiest times of the year and the Animal Welfare groups are not happy. They claim the environment these wild animals will find themselves in, surrounded by throngs of shoppers and the travel through central London to reach the store will cause them unnecessary stress, they are also concerned about the message of combining animals with toys sends out. Personally I can see their point how long have we heard the slogan “A dog is for life not just for Christmas”.

The question is how will Hamleys use their social networking and the Internet skills? Have they worked out that social networking in business is a two way street? Not only do you get to tell your customers, clients what’s happening, raise your on-line profile and hope to reach potential new customers and clients. Its is also a way for those customers and potential customers to make their feelings about your business known to you and when they do maybe just maybe you should listen.

If enough people are creating enough negative noise via social media about Hamleys Christmas PR stunt they could find what began a snowball rolling down hill becomes and avalanche by the time hits them and by that time its too late, all there is left to do is damage control, silly really when acting earlier may have sent the message “we listen and we care what people think”.

The Born free blog say of the event which started today, Monday 29th of November and finishes on Friday the 3rd of December.

“Born Free Foundation, the UK wild animal welfare charity, is shocked to learn that Hamleys, the world-famous London toy shop, is planning an event featuring live penguins and reindeer in store. Our message to Hamleys? Please don’t do it”

In a very unscientific test I ran the search “hamleys” through my Twitter account turning up over 50 tweets posted within the space of an hour and almost all of which were negative. When combined with the Comments on Hamleys Facebook it looks like this could go viral. If that happens and it draws draw the attention of the mainstream press then that is when you may well see that PR disaster avalanche hit Hamleys fair and square, leaving them with more to clean up than just Reindeer and Penguin Poo.

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OK so they didn’t visit Sheffield today or even together and while these photos may not be exactly “before they were famous” the headline did get your attention long enough to read this far so here come a few old pictures of the current X Factor Judges visiting Sheffield starting with Cheryl Cole

Most of these were shot back in November 2004, bonfire night to be precise. The on stage shots were a personal appearance by Girls Aloud at Sheffield’s main public bonfire and and fireworks display, earlier that day Cheryl and the the Girls had done a live radio interview at Hallam FM studios. The images of Cheryl in pink are from the Girls Aloud show at Sheffield Arena on th 20th May 2005.

Next up is Simon Cowell at Meadowhall shopping centre where he was officially switching on the Christmas lights back in 2004. Most of the images I have included are from the back room area and were candid shots of Simon being interviewed by various local media journalists before he stepped out into the public glare.

Finally Dannii Minogue from back in 2002 when she performed at Sheffield Arena with the Smash Hits tour. The photos show her both on stage and back stage during interviews.

My personal favourite is the one of Dannii holding a Polaroid picture. I remember she rushed into the room where the interviews were being held waving the picture excitedly saying “I’ve just had my picture taken with Blue” it just goes to show celebrities can find themselves star struck just like everyone else .

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www.pauldaviddrabble.co.uk

Saint Mary’s Church Ecclesfield also Known as “The Minster of The Moors” is the final resting place of Rev. Alexander John Scott, Chaplain and close personal friend of Admiral Lord Nelson. It was to Rev. Alexander John Scott that Nelson spoke his last words “God and my country.” below decks of the Flagship HMS victory at the Battle of Trafalgar. Nelson died at 16:35 on the 21 October 1805. His friend Scott lived to the age of 72 and died in 1840.

Its odd that Scott should have been buried in Ecclesfield. He was not born in the area and didn’t live in the area. He was in Ecclesfield visiting his daughter Margaret, a well known writer of the time who was married to the then Vicar of Ecclesfield Alfred Gatty, when he was taken ill and subsequently died. What is stranger is travel five miles by road and under what is now a Tesco car park is where the Walker Iron Works of Masbrough was. They cast about 80 of the 105 guns carried by HMS Victory into Battle at Trafalgar. Closer still is the village of Grenoside, only two and a half miles away, where Samuel and Aaron Walker began to manufacture Iron in the early 1740s before relocating and starting in 1746 as Walker Iron Works of Masbrough.

Photographers Technical info

Camera Nikon D700
Lens Nikon 50mm f1.8
ISO 200
Aperture F8
Shutter 1/200

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07:00 hrs ,as the military call it, is an early morning start at St Dunstan’s in Sheffield, this morning Im covering the beginning of a fund raising challenge by 10 soldiers, or Squaddies, from 39 Engineer Regiment Cambridge, and their support team. The team totalling around 14 are undertaking “10 Squaddies, 10 Marathons, 5 Days” to raise funds for the only charity to provide direct support, rehabilitation and training to service personnel and veterans blinded in conflict.

If the challenge of 10 Marathons in 5 days wasn’t “hardcore” enough for these members of the British Army, “just to make it a little more interesting” they will be also carrying 40lb Bergen’s and wearing combat boots” on a gruelling test of endurance. Thirty-four year old Staff Sergeant Jim Offord (the man behind the fund raiser) and nine fellow soldiers will complete a marathon every six hours, day and night, followed by six hours recovery time as they tab from St Dunstan’s Rehab & Training centre in Sheffield on the 1st of November to finish at St Dunstan’s centre near Brighton in East Sussex on the 5th of November.

“I created the 10 Soldiers, 10 Marathons in 5 Days to support St Dunstan’s as we want to give something back to a charity that helps fellow soldiers. I threw in the idea of wearing our Bergen’s filled to weigh 40lbs, plus combat boots to keep it interesting and opted to do 10 Marathons in 5 Days as I couldn’t find a record that it had been done before. Said Jim.

The original aim of the this mammoth effort was to raise £4,800 for St Dunstan’s but that target has already been smashed and the Engineers have reached £10,000 more than double their initial figure.

Staff Sgt Jim Offord, (front) and team members from 39 Engineer Regiment , Lance Corporal Dean Howard, Corporal Dave Little, Sapper Darren Pallatina, Lance Corporal Rich Holmes, Corporal Mark Cammock, Sapper Garry Scott, Lance Corporal Dave Hopkins, SSgt Darren King, Sapper James Payze, Captain Jo Miles, Sgt Steve Bedford and, Lance Corporal Lee Melia with support team members Ami Offord paramedic and Arlene Howard sports physio. Who will be working to complete the 10 Squaddies, 10 Marathons, 5 Days Challenge carrying 40lb Bergens. The team aimed to raise £4800 for St Dunstan's Charity for blind ex-Service men and women but the figure now stands £10,000 raised...1 November 2010 .Images © Paul David Drabble

Rough Guide to the route……..

Monday 1 November The team left St Dunstan’s Sheffield around 8am aiming to arrive at Chetwynd Barracks, Chilwell, near Nottingham at 4pm. From there they will head for Loughbourgh University arriving on Tuesday 2 November. The second day sees the group tab to Nuneaton via Leicester before heading for Staverton Park Hotel Daventry where they will arrive on Wednesday 3 November. They will leave Staverton Park Hotel heading for Milton Keynes TA Centre and from there to Sportspace, Hemel Hempstead, Herts. Which they will reach on Thursday 4 November They will leave Sportspace at 12 noon and march into London along the Edgware Road at 2.30pm on Thursday 4 November to visit St Dunstan’s HQ in Marylebone, where they will be greeted by soldiers the charity works with, ex-Service men and women, staff and supporters. They will leave St Dunstan’s HQ at 8pm to tab to the TA Centre, Northgate, Crawley arriving on Friday 5 November. The team start at 8am to tab the final marathon, through Brighton, arriving at St Dunstan’s Rehab & Training Centre, Greenaways, Ovingdean, east Sussex. Where they will cross the finish line to massive cheers from the soldiers the charity works with, staff and supporters and the people who have followed them through the streets of Brighton.

An owd 'togs blog

X Factor Judges visit Sheffield

Photo of The Day – and a little local history

10 Squaddies, 10 Marathons, 5 Days