CLIC24 2009 News Update

This amazing weather must have got you thinking about those late spring dusty trails. The bluebells will have just gone, the warm evenings will be lengthening, the smell of barbeques will hang in the air and if you haven't already, you'll be looking for every excuse to ride your bike.
Well this year we have the perfect excuse and it's called CLIC24 2009!

As you'll know by now, this year has a special significance for me, and by the countless messages I have received, for many others too. So this is why we are going to make this year's CLIC24 extra special.

If you've ridden CLIC24 before you won't need reminding about the special atmosphere, the laid back campsite, the top quality facilities and THAT course... You'll be pleased to hear it's all back again this year plus a few special extras.

By popular demand we have increased the amount of live music this year. On the Friday evening you can ease yourself into the weekend with some great food and an acoustic set in the main marquee from Alfie Kingston and James Buckingham. Then on the Saturday night whilst you chill out in the warm moonlight you can enjoy the sounds of CLIC24 regular and headline act Mark Venus, joined this year by feature drummer Tony Howard.

This year we will be totally based in the main event field so you can get your food and drink from the main marquee without needing to go over to the Centre. All the usual favourites from the hot meal on Friday evening through to breakfast on Sunday. You won't need to bring your own food if you don't want to. We've got that covered.

We've also set up some room service, well 'tent service' too, so that if those poor little legs of yours are all achy and sore we'll deliver your food to your tent or camper van! How about THAT for service!

And if that's not enough to soothe those aches and pains then Sarah Redpath and her sports massage team will again be on hand in the main marquee and you can follow that with a visit to our block of hot showers to freshen up. If your bike is feeling worse for wear as well, then pop over to the Bike City marquee where you can get hold of spares and accessories of leave your bike for a service if it all seems too much to do yourself. This service will again be open throughout the event.

I've also had some enquiries about how suitable CLIC24 is for families with children and those looking for some great camping and a relaxing weekend without too much riding. Well CLIC24 is just that sort of event. It can be whatever you want it to be... so bring family and friends and make a weekend of it. The campsite opens at 5pm on the Friday evening and closes at 2pm on the Sunday and the camping and facilities won't cost your support team (family, friends, whoever) anything at all.

For those taking things a little more seriously Lumicycle will be supporting us again with that excellent light charging service to keep you going all night.... and you never know, we might even have some demo bikes and lights for you to try out. Watch this space.

If you want to keep up with everything going on around CLIC24 then tag me and/or the CLIC24 Facebook page and you'll be the first to hear.

I'll keep you posted about the course and things we are adding to the weekend in the coming weeks.... and just to remind you that if you haven't already, get that entry form in before this amazing weather convinces everyone else to enter before you do and then there are no places left :-) You can download an entry form from www.clic24.org.uk today.

Keep riding.
Regards, Neil

1SW Offroad Cycling Initiative

The 1SW Off-Road Cycling Initiative, run by the Forestry Commission and Sport England commissioned Viper to produce an 'emblematic' logo and website. Viper are also on the executive board for the project thanks to their rural communication and mountain biking experience. The project is well on its way too securing £8million from the Rural Development Programme for England. Five new hubs for mountain biking well be created with the money. The sites targeted through the funding bid are Forest of Dean, Ashton Court, Haldon Forest, Moors Valley, Plym Bridge and Cardinham. The South West Lakes Trust, the South West's AONBs and National Parks are joining forces to make the the region the number 1 destination for mountain bikers of all abilities. To find out more visit www.viperrural.co.uk

Zambia; Dancing and Duathlons

Apparently it's the first time in 15 years that I danced with my wife at our fundraising Barndance. The last time was our wedding night. I'm not convinced but I have no proof otherwise. Headbanging at the Salthouse pub in Clevedon doesn't count I'm told. 

Key to the Barndance success was the 'Caller' Rob Zikking. Rob very kindly gave his time for free when we explained about the Bookbus in Zambia. I now understand the value of a professional Caller. You need someone to encourage and cajole us hesitant and reticent Barndancers from our comfort zones! Special thanks also to St Andrews Church Hall committee for letting us use the hall for free. The Raffle was also a great success thanks to all the  companies that provided prizes. They're too numerous to mention here but special thanks should go to Souk, Pieminister, the Roman Baths, Noahs Ark Zoo Farm and on. 

One of the most curious and novel aspects of the night for us was seeing all our different social circles in one place. Teachers mixing with mountain bikers mixing with even more teachers (different age range) mixing with family. Thanks to this group of amazing people our fundraising achieved nearly £700 from this evening.

Talking of mountain biking, I had a days rest after the Barndance then off to Cirencester for the Duathlon. 2m run, 10m ride, 2m run all off-road. Forecast wasn't great but it turned out to be perfect, as long as you didn't finish after me as the freezing rain started on my last lap! I finished 31st out of 155 with a time of 1hr 22m, very pleased with that, and raised £250 from sponsors. Couldn't run up stairs the next day though!

More soon   

Social Networking Delivers Real 24/7 Business

One of the key attractions of online social networking is that it allows individuals and organisations the opportunity to stay open for business twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, even when the shutters are down and the doors are closed for the night.

Access to social networking sites through computers at home and mobile phones when on the move and outside of work hours, means those in the know can remain engaged with their customers wherever they are.

The popular myth that by simply having an effective website you will be attracting new business with little or no effort, has been surpassed by an entirely different approach to online marketing where the most successful businesses are now those using social networking as a means of communicating with customers on their terms and in their personal space.

Social networking is all about engaging with people, drip feeding them with relevant and interesting information and encouraging dialogue. The fact that this all happens in their own online space means they are far more receptive to talking and more likely to visit a website of a business that operates on their terms rather than one that simply opens its doors and expects people to come in.

Viper Marketing’s Neil Wilkins said, “We are seeing a significant increase in companies that are now using social networking to research the views and opinions of their customers as well as those drip feeding product and service benefits in a language their audience understands. LinkedIn and Facebook are currently the most popular social networking sites used in this way.”

The key to successful social networking is integration. Integrating your social networking strategy within the strategy and plans for your existing website, e-marketing and traditional communications and lead generation activity ensures you maximise the potential. If left as a standalone, ‘nice to do’ tactical activity it will quickly run out of steam and will be difficult to measure the value of time spent keeping your Facebook or LinkedIn pages up to date and relevant. Integrating it at the heart of how you communicate with customers and help them understand more about your products and services allows clear measurement of return on investment as well as essential ongoing feedback on how your business is perceived in the marketplace.

Neil added, “We currently have a public sector organisation who are redeveloping their website and are starting to build their social networking profile as the key medium for attracting people into the new site. The fact that everyone coming in through this route is a ‘Friend’ means they are far more receptive to everything they then see when they arrive at the site. We are also using social networking ourselves to keep our contacts and friends informed about new technologies and examples of what others are doing that they themselves might be interested in. It’s a great showcase.”

Best of all is that unlike most marketing, social networking needn’t cost anything to set up and run… just a little time and thought and strategic planning. The return on the investment of that time will be quickly recouped and you should be engaging with customers and new prospects in no time at all, in their space and on their terms. Just the way they like it, 24/7.

Interactive Page Turn Brochures

Becoming more popular by the day, interactive page turn brochures are ideal for presenting leaflets, portfolios and in fact most forms of traditional PDF documents in an engaging and exciting new way. By embedding video and sound into the brochures you can use them for promotional or educational projects or even as a standalone website in themselves. A recent example from the Viper stable is an online portfolio we created for Jacqueline Southway PR to showcase their customer testimonials and press coverage. The Viper Training Calendar and course descriptions will be presented like this very soon too. Watch this space!

7 Top Tips for Marketing in a Recession

For many people involved in marketing and communications in difficult financial times, knowing an appropriate balance and tone of your messages is essential. We've spotted this helpful little guide in www.managementtoday.co.uk which you might find useful - http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/newsalerts/article/887210/mtsweek/crash-course-seven-steps-better-marketing-recession/?DCMP=EMC-Daily%20News If you want some more detail around any of the concepts or a general chat about Marketing and Communications just give us a call.

Tentpole Trails Trust

Twelve flipchart sheets and nearly 100 Post-its later the Trails Trust have a great foundation of a plan to take them to a national level. Viper facilitated a great day for the Trails Trust with members coming from all over the west of England to join in the planning session. Highlight of the day was definitely the audience segmentation exercise. 'Ben' and 'Clare' are now fleshed out as the two priority target audiences that the Trails Trust need to communicate with. And why is it so hard to write down a 'vision'? Everyone knows it in their head but getting it on paper is so hard.

Demonstrating project and teamwork with the aid of a tentpole was a curious moment but it worked fantastically well. To find out more you'll have to get in touch and I'll tell you the secret of this little exercise!