A Vital Voice for Northern Ireland’s Peace Process - Farewell Visit by US Secretary Clinton

Morrow events team had the pleasure of providing event support services to OFMDFM and the Executive Information Services team during the recent visit by US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to Northern Ireland.

Secretary Clinton said during the Stormont Castle Press Conference "Peace here has proven remarkably durable, "However it is being tested. The recent attacks are a sad reminder there are still those who would try to destroy it. The promise of peace must be delivered. There has to be an economic return for people here.

"I offer to you, as I stand down from Secretary of State, to continue working with you in developing the peace process as an advocate and cheerleader for the process and to reach out to those who are not feeling part of it."

In a relatively short lead in time – 4 days to be precise, Morrows provided bespoke indoor and outdoor staging units for the world’s media at the Stormont Castle Press Conference and co-ordinated local media accreditation in the run up to the day.

It was such a privilege to be involved in such a significant milestone in the Northern Ireland political calendar.

Peace be with you – PEACE III Programme is on the Morrows agenda

Morrows events and production teams have recently won two separate contracts under the PEACE III programme – Investing in Our Future Good Relations programme for the Southern Partnership and the North West Partnership PEACE III Legacy Celebration project. 

Investing in Our Future Programme is an engagement programme aimed at community groups celebrating good relations activities across the Southern Cluster area which includes Armagh, Banbridge, Newry & Mourne, Craigavon, and Counties Monaghan & Louth.  The programme will deliver 15 regional events and a closing Good Relations conference in September 2013.

The NW Partnership Legacy project aims to consolidate and celebrate the excellent work and projects that have been delivered through the Peace III programme in the Derry/Londonderry, Strabane, Omagh and Donegal areas. The project will consist of an online exhibition with photo galleries, video libraries, project library and vox pops from project participants; additionally a brochure will be developed capturing a flavour of the 26 projects from the programme; and a series of celebration events will take place between May – June 2013. 

Morrows are delighted to have the opportunity to work on these projects and hope that they bring about a long and PEACEful partnership!

Portia earns her PR spurs at Morrow Communications

Back in September we were contacted by the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) about the possibility of getting involved in a new Internship Programme that it planned to launch.

After meeting with DEL we signed up and took the opportunity to meet the candidates.  Portia-Ellis Woods joined Morrow Communications in October.  With her eight week placement now complete, we were keen to find out how she had gotten on.

"When I heard about the DEL Internship programme I jumped at the chance to be a part of it.  I completed my application form and waited.  Thankfully I was selected by DEL and was delighted to be placed with Morrow Communications", explains Portia.

"My eight week internship with the company has involved a varied range of activities, tasks and projects. Starting in October I was included in the team from day one and have had the chance to work in every area of the event, production and PR teams."

Portia took the opportunity to not only develop her public relation skills, but to also get actively involved with the Morrow's Events and AV teams.

In terms of highlights, Portia has a lot to choose from!  "I never thought when I started the programme that I would be talking about meeting the world famous Basil Brush, but that's exactly what happened when I helped to launch the Dale Farm sponsored Panto 'Cinderella'.  It was great to be a part of this, as well as a host of other client photo calls.  I learnt the level of preparation needed before the shoot, organisation at the location and then the process of selecting the best pictures."

Portia also had the chance to work on client projects for companies like Asda, Dale Farm, Flahavan's, NYSE Euronext and Moy Park - which helped her gain an insight to the many different elements the team manage on a daily basis.

"It was great to get introduced to such a wide spectrum of clients and to have the opportunity to get involved in many aspects of account management.  The team really looked after me and took the time to include me and to explain what we were doing and why.  I have learnt so much from them. It has definitely been a very busy eight week period. Arranging photo calls, researching, helping at events, liaising with journalists as well as writing press releases and advertorial copy are just some of the activities that I have undertaken.

"It has been a valuable experience working for such a successful company and a pleasure to work alongside a talented, hardworking team of people. I feel very privileged to have been part of the team at Morrows and will take with me all the skills and attributes I have learnt during my internship."

New Dimension helps win new AV contract

An innovative approach to 3D animation, placing staff members within an architect’s impression helped our Design and Production team to fight off stiff competition to secure the contract for a set of informational videos about the new Community Safety College being developed in Desertcreat, near Cookstown.

The new college is due for completion in October 2015, for the training of PSNI, Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service and the Northern Ireland Prison Service staff. With work not yet underway at


the site a 3D `architectural flythrough’ of  the college is the only thing available to bring the building to life. Our team came up with a creative treatment which involved filming staff members in front of a Green Screen and then using graphic effects to make them look like they were actually inside the 3D flythrough.

The first edit, featuring the effect, was completed for a conference in Mid-November and won great praise from the clients, with three more edits to go. This is a new style of production and we hope to be able to roll the effect out to more clients in the future.

Morrow's AV wins new health DVD contract

We are delighted to have won an exciting new project with Queen's University and St. Mary's Hospital, Manchester.  We were tasked with producing a health promotion DVD to help raise awareness of Gestational Diabetes.  

Aimed at pregnant women, the DVD will be given to those diagnosed with the Gestational Diabetes and will provide them with information on the condition,


how to best manage it during pregnancy and how to cope with it after birth.

The DVD has been produced in a number of different languages (English, Urdu, Arabic and Somali) in response to communities with the greatest occurrence of the condition.

With work almost completed and pilots planned for January 2013 we are looking forward to getting some true quantitative and qualitative analysis of the impact of our work.  

Ruby Rouge Ball in aid of Lauralynn Children’s Hospice

The Morrow Communications team was out in force to lend our support to a recent charity event in aid of the LauraLynn Children’s Hospice.

The Ruby Rouge Ball in loving memory of baby Victoria Thompson,was held at the Belfast Cabaret Supper Club at the end of November.  The event was a fantastic success, raising over £12,000 for the charity.

Morrow’s Director, Moya Neeson took a hands on approach, helping to organise the event.  She was ably assisted by a number of Morrow's staff including Events Director Jane Watson. The event was a huge success and a fitting tribute- truly a night of mixed emotions.

QUB extend Morrow's AV contract into 2014

The Design and Production team are delighted to have had our contract for the provision of video services to Queen’s University extended until 2014. We have been working with the marketing team at the University since January 2011 and have produced several successful videos and established a fabulous relationship with the team. We are delighted at this endorsement of our hard work and ability to deliver exactly what a client needs!


QUB Slice of Life from Morrow Communications on Vimeo.

Making his Mark in the Design and Production Team

 A fresh new talent has joined the Design and Production team at Morrow Communications. University of Ulster Graduate, Mark Robinson took up the post of Trainee Editor and Graphic Designer in September 2012, and due to hectic timetables has had to hit the ground running.

Mark is the first male addition to the all-female Production team, but is taking it all in his stride- thanks, he says, to his part-time student job in a Bingo Hall!

As a student, Mark’s work won him recognition and a number of awards, including the Creative Skillset Undergraduate Award for his dissertation. He has already brought his impressive editing skills to the productions of a number of our clients including Invest NI, IntertradeIreland and Asda.

Mark’s addition to the team brings a fresh youthful perspective to our work and allows us to keep more of our production work in house- thus offering even better value to our clients.

Cool FM’s Jingle Ball Rocked!

Morrow Communications’ client, Cool FM last week filled the Odyssey to the rafters with thousands of screaming pop fans for the first ever Cool FM Jingle Ball Live. Thousands poured into the arena to witness the biggest pop gig Belfast has ever seen - a line-up which included JLS, Matt Cardle, Labrinth, Amelia Lily, Misha B, Ryan O'Shaughnessy, Stooshe, Lawson and Joe McIlderry and Morrow’s own pop svengali, Marty Byrne was backstage taming the press pack in an exclusive media room

The press conference-style backstage media room brought together a host of glamorous showbiz reporters and some slightly less glamorous press photographers for quickfire questions and photos just before the artists took to the stage. The media room ran very smoothly despite some extraordinary wardrobe choices, demands for better refreshments and a dash of diva behaviour (and that was just the journalists).

Morrows were involved with Jingle Ball Live from the beginning, organising media partnerships with local press titles, celeb interview pieces, ticket giveaways, social media and crisis management consultancy as well as management of the backstage press area. With the event being hailed as a huge success, we’re already looking forward to Cool FM’s Jingle Ball Live 2013!

Local schools visit Boys' Model School

Earlier this week we attended the Boys’ Model School as part of its Transition Open Day.

The School invited pupils from 18 local primary schools to come along to the special ‘open day’ with the aim of giving the pupils an insight into what school life would be like if they decided to attend the Boys’ Model.

Pupils spent time with school staff and student mentors in each department and were given the opportunity to get to grips with gym equipment, conduct science experiments, create comic strip animations in the Media Centre, and to cook up a storm in the Home Economics Department.

Commenting on the open day Alan Logan, Acting Principal from Boys’ Model School said: “The day was a great success. More than 18 schools from our catchment area attended, and the feedback from the pupils and their teachers was very positive.

“The move to post primary school is an exciting time for children. However, it can equally be a time of uncertainty due to the prospect of meeting new friends, learning new subjects and getting to grips with a more independent lifestyle. The Boys’ Model Transition Days are designed to familiarise primary school pupils with the facilities, routines and culture at the School and reassure them of the fun and rewarding learning experiences they will have if they choose to come to the school.”

There's nothing like a Dame !

As part of our 'Morrows Masterclass' Series we were delighted to welcome Dame Mary Peters to our offices to speak to us about her journey of success. The masterclasses are designed to motivate, inspire, engage and challenge our thinking on how we do business - and Dame Mary certainly achieved that.

Dame Mary, or 'Mary P' to her friends, recounted her fascinating story from her early childhood through to her role in the recent London Olympics and peppered it with interesting insights into her experience of competing, winning, teamwork and personal development.

As Lord Lieutenant of Belfast and the official representative of the Queen, you can see why she makes the perfect Ambassador for Northern Ireland, for sport generally and for wider humanity. Despite her amazing success and profile she remains very humble and grounded and impressively left the room full of infectious positive energy.

Perhaps not surprisingly, her focus and determination to succeed are as strong as ever, now channelling her energy into her charity, the excellent Mary Peters Trust. They are supporting the next generation of sporting stars from Northern Ireland and helping them to achieve excellence in their chosen sport. We have had the pleasure of working with Mary through a number of our clients including Dale Farm and Asda and can vouch for the great work that she and the Trust does. With her help, there is no doubt we will have more local champions to cheer on in the sporting arenas around the world.

Propelling Entrepreneurship Forward

We are delighted to be supporting the promotion of the excellent Invest Northern Ireland Propel programme again, working alongside the delivery agents, Xcell Partners. The programme is now inviting applications for its 2013 intake and is designed for entrepreneurs with business ideas that have the potential to scale up and reach significant export growth. It has already helped over 30 local entrepreneurs to set up and grow successful businesses based on innovative ideas, products and technology.

In launching the call for new applicants, we were delighted to be joined by previous programme participants Janette O’Hagan co-founder and CEO of Okotech, which has developed an innovative, wireless heating control system called heatboss®, and Fergus Wallace, founder of www.mygripzone.com an online interactive golf coaching aid - both excellent examples of the innovation excellence we need to encourage  in Northern Ireland.

To launch the 2013 Propel programme and outline how it can help turn an idea into a globally focused business, Invest NI is running five regional awareness seminars during w/c 10th December in Newry, Omagh, Londonderry, Ballymena and Belfast. For more information on the programme visit www.propelprogramme.com or to register for the events, go to www.investni.com/events

NYSE Euronext Rings our Bell

We’re delighted to announce a new partnership with NYSE Euronext – the global operator of financial markets and a provider of innovative trading technologies. We’ve been following the NYSE Euronext story with keen interest since their arrival to Belfast in 2008, following its purchase of Wombat, and with the financial technology sector booming in NI it's fantastic to now be working with one of the biggest names in the business.

Morrows will deliver an integrated communications strategy for NYSE Euronext including public relations, design and advertising helping the business drives its recruitment and brand profiling needs. Check out www.nyxjobs.co.uk for the latest local developments.

Morrow Events team 'Up their Game' with InterTradeIreland

The events team at Morrows have just completed a series of three cross-border Meet the Buyer events hosted by InterTradeIreland which took place in Athlone, Cookstown and most recently in Kilkenny. Other partners involved in the event were Central Procurement Directorate, National Procurement Service, Enterprise Ireland, Strategic Investment Board and Invest Northern Ireland.

The “Upping Your Game – Meet the Buyer” events programme gives SMEs from across Ireland the opportunity to meet with procurement managers from public sector bodies, North and South and help overcome barriers to winning public sector contracts and inform SMEs of boosting their capability in doing so. The parallel session programme also gave SMEs a chance to boost their tendering knowledge with workshops on ‘Refining Your Pitch’, Procurement Clinic’, and ‘Sourcing Low Value Tenders’ among others.

Morrow events team – Jane, Karen and Nicola worked together in co-ordinating stands for over 50 Buyers and managing over 1200 delegates in total over the series! Kilkenny was the most successful event so far with over 450 supplier companies attending on the day, which made the 3 ½ hour drive worth it!

Check out the Meet The Buyer highlights video below which Morrows AV team produced from the Cookstown event in September and watch this space for more Meet the Buyer events in 2013!

 

Boys' Model are 'Rocking All Over the World'

Secret rockers in Morrows relived their misspent youth recently in the presence of rock legend and former drummer of Status Quo, Jeff Rich who shared the secrets of his success during a music masterclass with students from Boys’ Model School, Belfast. We have just started working with the North Belfast School to help it effectively communicate its successes,  state of the art facilities and community engagements to key stakeholders and media. 

The world-famous musician treated pupils to a creative tutorial offering a first-hand insight into the opportunities and challenges of the music industry. On the day, students discovered the history of drumming and listened to Jeff’s path of success, from playing in bands at school to recording with chart-topping artists including Def Leppard and Status Quo. After an exclusive performance from Jeff, Boys’ Model students got the chance to put their skills to the test by performing a mass percussion piece with the drummer.   You can see Jeff in action in the UTV news piece below.

Beware of 'Twibel' Law

One of the many potential fall outs from the now infamous Newsnight broadcast on 2nd November may have major implications for users of Twitter. We now know that the broadcast carried mistaken claims by a former care home resident that he had been sexually abused by a prominent Conservative politician.

Following the broadcast, there was much speculation as to who that politician was. Some of this discussion was via Twitter, with a large number of individuals linking Lord McAlpine to the Newsnight report – which in turn caused his name to appear as a "trending topic" on Twitter alongside that of Newsnight itself.

Following clarification that this was mistaken identity, recent media reports suggest that Lord McAlpine may now be considering suing some of those for libel and if he proceeds it may represent a significant landmark in the development of what has been coined ‘Twibel’ Law.

In recent months and following some high profile cases there has been increasing clarity around the legal position of Twitter posts which everyone would do well to be mindful off. When you post content online, be it Twitter, Facebook, Blogs or even on the many comment sections of online news pages, you are responsible for that content. In effect when you post online, the law suggests you are acting as a publisher and those publications are subject to the same laws as other publishers, such as newspapers. Importantly, retweet’s also amount to a further publication and makes the retweeter responsible. In case you’re wondering ignorance of the law is not a reasonable defence.

In addition, the individual who originally tweeted the defamatory tweet is also likely to be held responsible for any retweets, as in publishing it in the first instance they may reasonably expect others to retweet it. Neither is it a defence for retweeters to say they were simply repeating a statement made by someone else even if they do so verbatim. Just because something is already circulating out there does not make fair game and the more retweets received the more damage it can do and hence the greater and more costly the libel action it may then trigger. As the law currently stands, libel is actionable without proof of damage and so, on the face of it, you can even get sued if you tweet something defamatory and don’t have any Twitter followers. That sad fact may just lessen the perceived damage done.

If Lord McAlpine does sue (and let’s face it, unlike many others he may well have the wherewithal and necessary support to do so), this high profile case will join the increasing number facing the courts.

In England’s first libel case involving Twitter in March of this year, New Zealand cricketer Chris Cairns was awarded £90,000 in damages after he was wrongly accused of match-fixing by Lalit Modi, the former chairman of the Indian Premier League. Modi was also ordered to pay Mr Cairns' £400,000 legal costs ! Lawyer and defamation expert Niri Shan, said at the time: "'This case demonstrates that posts on Twitter are taken as seriously, in the eyes of the law, as comments printed in mainstream press. Whilst people may feel less cautious about tweeting- the level of risk they are taking, and protection of those being referred to, remains the same.”

It would seem that with total costs amounting to over £1 Million in that case, we should all be a little more careful with the next ‘140 characters or less’ message we tweet or retweet– at the full 140 characters that equates to £7,142.85+ per character – ouch !

And the Oscar is awarded to..

Belfast Media Festival 2012 -Northern Ireland: Open for Business

For the third year running, Morrows were delighted to manage the Belfast Media Festival, a prestigious event for the creative industries in Northern Ireland. Held over two days at the BBC Blackstaff Studios in Belfast, the aim of the Festival was to encourage debate, thinking and collaboration amongst companies involved in one of the fastest growing and most important sectors to the Northern Ireland economy.

Delegates representing broadcasting, music and the digital industries heard from a host of keynote speakers including Gerd Leonhard, a futurist who discussed how the broadcasting landscape and technology could change over the next five years; Peter Salmon, Director BBC North and Laura Mackie, Director of Drama for ITV who is responsible for many successful productions for the channel including Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Monroe and of course the worldwide phenomenon Downton Abbey.

As well as keynote speakers, delegates could tailor make their own agenda by attending workshops focusing on a diverse range of topics including Business Opportunities in the Chinese Market; Sell it! a pitching masterclass; Getting Games into Bed with TV, which examined the role broadcasters can play in the continually growing gaming industry and Journalism and Ethics, a though provoking session which discussed the role of the newspaper industry following the Leveson inquiry.

The festival was drawn to a close with an inspiring and insightful interview with Northern Ireland’s very own Oscar winner Terry George, who, together with his daughter Oorlagh won the Academy Award for the Live Action Short Film Category for The Shore earlier this year. Terry also wrote, directed and produced Hotel Rwanda which was nominated for three Academy Awards, In the Name of the Father and Whole Lotta Sole.

Video highlights, including the interview with Terry George are available to view online at www.belfastmediafestival.co.uk

Sam Neill Uncorked !

We truly went from Holywood to Hollywood this week when Kieran Donnelly had the great pleasure of meeting acting legend Sam Neill at the launch of his own Two Paddocks wine in Bureau by the Lough  in Whiteabbey, Co Antrim. 'Mein hosts' were Damien and Dana Curran who treated guests to a wonderful tasting lunch, complemented by two fantastic Pinot Noir wines from Sam's artisan winery in the Central Otago region of New Zealand. Bureau by the Lough Bar and Restaurant as well as sister company The Light House Wine Store are among a select number of independent NI outlets chosen to stock the award winning wines.

The special tasting was attended by wine enthusiasts, film buffs and media alike who were treated to stories about Sam's successful acting career as well his clear passion for wine. Answering questions from guests Kieran asked him about his latest role in a new BBC drama - Peaky Blinders- due to be aired in 2013. Sam plays a tough Northern Ireland policeman tackling gang crime in post WW1 Birmingham and has had to relearn the accent from his early childhood spent in Omagh and Armagh. Leaving these shores for New Zealand at the age of 7 he has enlisted the help of our very own James Nesbitt and Liam Neeson to help him perfect the accent.You can hear a short clip here on audioboo as he recounts the story and gives us a sample of the accent. (Apologies for the quality, but it works ok if you play it loud or with earphones !)

listen to ‘Sam Neill @ Bureau by the Lough, Whiteabbey, NI’ on Audioboo

A Brush with Fame...

From Dan Akroyd...to Basil Brush. Yep, we really know to mix with the A-listers at Morrows!

Seona, Kelly and our new intern Portia showed their 'foxy' side yesterday, mingling with the Grand Opera House's Panto stars for 2012 - including Mr. Brush himself.

Sponsoring NI's favourite pantomime for the second year running, our client Dale Farm is gearing up for the Cinderella extravaganza which opens to the public on 8th December...and we can't wait for the 'Dairytale' to begin!

Boom Boom!



Mixology meets Mythology at the Crystal Head Vodka Launch

It's not too often that you get to work with a hollywood legend, but that's exactly what we got the chance to do when we helped local sales and distribution company LMI Drinks (part of the LMI Food Group) to launch Dan Aykroyd 's premium vodka, Crystal Head.

OK, so the man himself wasn't able to attend the Belfast launch at Love&Death INC, but more than 50 of Northern Ireland's top mixologists did. Each got the chance to sample Crystal Head, to learn a little bit more about the story behind the brand and to take home a few new cocktails ideas!

Crystal Head is steeped in myth and mystery. Legend has it that 13 crystal heads were unearthed in regions from all over the world, including the southwest of America and Tibet. Dated as between 5,000 and 35,000 years old, many believe that the skulls were polished into shape from solid quartz chunks over several hundreds of years, and that each head offers spiritual power and enlightenment to those that possess them!

The launch night was a tremendous success and although there were a few sore heads the next day (of course we had to try the product!!) the team from LMI Drinks were delighted with how the night turned out.

We have been working with the LMI group for a number of months now, and very much look forward to helping the team to grow its profile in Northern Ireland and to working with its ever expanding portfolio of brands.

Digital TV Goes Local

While much of the focus has been on the digital TV switchover here (with Northern Ireland being the last UK region to witness the end of analogue) another digital development has flown somewhat below the radar. Northern Visions TV, the long established not for profit community-based media and arts organisation, which operates a media centre in the Cathedral Quarter of Belfast, has just been awarded the licence to be the local Digital TV channel in Belfast by media regulator Ofcom.

Well done them ! Not bad for an organisation that just a few months ago was facing closure following the decision by the Arts Council and Northern Ireland Screen to remove its core funding, some would suggest because it fell between two stools.

This decision will see Belfast becoming one of only 21 towns and cities across the UK who have been chosen to join the digital revolution scheme launched by former UK Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, to enable a new generation of local TV news and content to emerge across the UK.

This should prove to be an interesting experiment in just how important local and regionalised content is to viewers in Northern Ireland, and no doubt will be an exciting venture for all concerned. From what we can glean so far, NvTv hopes to be live on Freeview in Belfast on September 9, 2013, but also plans to launch two ultra local TV news channels online in advance.

As with most local TV channels planned under the scheme, the focus of NvTv will be on news, with the first year seeing six bulletins a day on weekdays and Saturdays, with five-minute bulletins four times in the daytime, and 15-minute bulletins at 7pm and 10pm. Sunday will see a round-up of the week’s news added to the schedule.

There is also a flagship 40-minute Community Today show which will showcase in-depth news coverage every weeknight from the beginning.The general aims of the channel are to broadcast local news, current affairs, and a wide range of cultural, educational, and entertaining programming – in keeping with the previous work of Northern Visions. They are also planning to deliver a regular Current Affairs programme – called 'The Insider', as well as a regular business programme. Ambitious indeed !

Other programmes will encourage citizen journalism, educating in the techniques to produce high quality content using mobile phones and other cheap video devices. We all know just how important mobile phone coverage has become in helping shape the news agenda these days.

A national company will manage the TV transmissions for all the local TV channels and Ofcom has produced maps predicting the coverage. The Belfast city area covers 268,000 people, but the full range of the transmitter is expected to reach more than 645,500 people, albeit to varying degrees.

So for those of you in the Greater Belfast area, just when you thought all your digital retuning days were over, remember to add September next year to your long term calendar. It should make interesting viewing !

Outstanding in Our Field

We are delighted to have been recognised as 'Outstanding Public Relations Consultancy' of the Year at the recent CIPR Pride Awards, claiming the evening’s most prestigious title for the third time.

Collecting a total of four Gold and three Silver awards at the glittering ceremony held at Titanic Belfast, Morrows took the Gold and Silver awards in the Corporate and Business Communications category, Gold in Community Relations and Not-for-Profit categories and Silver in Public Sector and Best Digital Campaign.

Speaking about the award Kieran Donnelly, Director at Morrow Communications said, “We are delighted to be recognised as the 'Outstanding Public Relations Consultancy' for the third time. In the current economic climate the team has been firmly focused on adding value to each of our clients through strategic and professional communication services. These awards are a fitting recognition for all their hard work and dedication."

As if that wasn’t enough, one of the team, Marty Byrne won the ‘Photo and Caption Competition’ on the night. His creativity was awarded with an iPad courtesy of the competition sponsors, Origin Partners who designed the App used to host the gallery of pictures taken on the night. Needless to say he was a very happy boy !

Inspired by his Shakespearean amateur dramatic roots, his winning picture and caption is below (the Joris in question being none other than Joris Minne from JPR !).



Winning Picture & Caption:
"Alas poor Joris, I knew him well !"



Who is your (alternative) most refreshing NI personality?

Belfast boxing hero Paddy Barnes may have taken the title of Carling’s Most Refreshing NI Personality, but who else should have made the top 10?

 

You can get in touch via the Carling Ireland Facebook page or on twiiter using the hashtag #CarlingBrilliantlyRefreshing.

 

 The current top 10 list is as follows:

1. Paddy Barnes
2. Terri Hooley
3. James Nesbitt
4. Stephan Nolan
5. Paddy Kietly
6. Rory McIlroy
7. Tiffany Brien
8. (Jedi) Jim Eastwood
9. Titti Von Tramp
10. Van Morrison

Cameron Stands in the Footprint of Titanic

No...not the Prime Minister, but none other than multi-oscar winning Director James Cameron who visited Northern Ireland recently to launch his Titanic 3D remake. Calling it the highlight of his visit he and Producer Jon Landau visited the last standing place of the Titanic, the Titanic Dock and Pumphouse, in the Northern Ireland Science Park - the very place where Titanic last stood on the eve of her first and last voyage in April 1912.

During the tour which was hosted by Mervyn Watley, Director of Corporate Real Estate and Facilities at the Northern Ireland Science Park and Tour Guide Colin Cobb he said it evoked strong memories of his trips to the ocean bed where the ill-fated liner now lies. He was impressed by the sheer size and authentic nature of the visitor attraction including the dry dock and the original steel dock gate, which itself is over 100 years old and built in the same way as the hull of the Titanic itself.

For anyone who hasn't yet visited the site or stood down in the dock you should make it a priority. Alongside a visit to the Titanic Belfast building, it offers the authentic heritage of the period and immediately presents you with the size and scale of engineering brilliance that Belfast was once synonymous with. Sitting as it does alongside the modern innovation of the Northern Ireland Science Park which plays host to a range of engineering sectors from the modern era, the juxtaposition reminds us that NI's innovation gene is alive and well.

Boxer Barnes ‘Brilliantly Refreshing’ says NI

Belfast boxing hero Paddy Barnes has certainly enjoyed a fantstic summer. Not only did the 25 year old have an incredible London 2012 Olympics, he also made history by becoming the first boxer from Northern Ireland to win consecutive Olympic medals, and to round it all off he has now been named as Carling’s most ‘Brilliantly Refreshing’ personality.

It fell to Gavin Bates from Molson Coors to deliver the good news to Paddy, who in turn decided that Gavin deserved an impromtpu sparring session - can you tell who won? 

In Carling's poll Paddy beat of some stiff competition from the Godfather of Punk, Terri Hooley, the star of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit, James Nesbitt, broadcaster Stephen Nolan, comedian Paddy Kielty and the World’s number one golfer, Rory McIlroy – to name but a few.

The nationwide survey sought to identify Northern Irish personalities who are famous for their open, unique and sometimes controversial views. The announcement of the survey results heralds the launch of Carling’s new ‘Have the Next One on Us’ campaign that is running in participating pubs across Northern Ireland.

Commenting on being named Carling’s most ‘Brilliantly Refreshing Personality’ Paddy Barnes said, “I’m really chuffed to know that people see me as refreshing! I went to the Olympics to compete but also to enjoy the experience. I had a ball, met some fantastic athletes (Usain Bolt was something else) and did my best to represent my country and the sport of boxing.

“The support I received during the Games was amazing and certainly gave me a boost. I’d like to thank everyone who supported me. London 2012 was an experience that I’ll never forget.”

Taking Advantage (NI) to another level

We are delighted to welcome Advantage NI to Morrow Communications. Our AV Team has been commissioned to produce a series of web based videos and case studies to assist Advantage NI tackle the issue of youth unemployment in rural areas. The video case studies feature young people, and tell their story of how they found employment, as well as additional commentary coming from employers discussing the skills sets they are looking for.

Life Through a Lens

The past few months have been busy for our AV Team. They have been involved in some fantastic projects - they rubbed shoulders with Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall when the royal couple visited Irwin's Bakery as part of a special two day visit to NI, took a golf lesson from Mr. Caddyshack himself, Bill Murray at the Irish Open and completed work for a variety of organisations from across a diverse range of NI business sectors. Some of the highlights have included:

The production of a fast paced promotional film for the NI Defence Industry. Commissioned by Invest Northern Ireland, the DVD showcases the advanced skills we have to offer this specialist sector in the likes of manufacturing, innovation and exports. The film was shown to a select group of stakeholders at a special screening hosted in the Houses of Parliament.



We've also been re-commissioned by Queen's University to work on 'Season 2' of its highly successful innovation series. Filming is well underway and some of the projects that will be captured are quiet simply amazing. For a flavour of things to come why not check out Season 1

Ground Breaking Design @ Morrow Communications

Morrow Communications is not a company that ever stands still! In fact we're always keen to explore new ways of improving our client services. For some time now we have been exploring how best to integrate graphic design in to our client offering….and are delighted to say that we now offer an in-house graphic design service.

Perhaps the most exciting project to date has been an augmented reality project for Moy Park. Working closely with Blippar we created an on pack competition with a difference - using the very latest smart phone technology. 

Moy Park is the first Northern Irish brand to use this cutting-edge technology, which brought the competition to life and enabled people to enter via their smart phone in the supermarket. By simply holding their smart phone screen over the Moy Park logo on the pack consumers were taken to a virtual reality Moy Park recipe book and interactive link to the Florida competition.

InterTradeIreland

Morrows events team are delighted to announce that we’ve just been awarded the InterTradeIreland Event Management contract for a second term! We first won the tender for event management services in 2010 and this new contact will see us continue to produce events all over Ireland! Some of our recent InterTradeIreland event successes include:

Venture Capital Conference 2012 - An Oscar Winning Performance!
Over 250 delegates from across Ireland came to Belfast’s City Hall to 'Navigate the Funding Maze' and to build on the experiences of companies that have been through the private equity process. Hosted by the BBC’s business editor Jim Fitzpatrick, the event featured keynote presentations from Danny Moore of Lough Shore Investments (who had funded the Oscar winning production“The Shore”) and Dennis R Costello from Braemar Energy Ventures. There’s more to events than setting tables and issuing name badges - Have a look at this timelapse video that shows what goes on!



Collaborate to Innovate Conference

The Andrews Gallery in the iconic Titanic Belfast was the venue for the recent InterTradeIreland “Collaborate to Innovate” Conference. The event was to highlight and demonstrate the importance of research and innovation in achieving Europe’s 2020 objectives for economic growth and job creation. As a cross border event, the conference was opened by both Arlene Foster MLA and Lucinda Creighton TD as well as featuring a keynote address by Máire Geoghegan-Quinn the European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science.

Young People Making an Impact

 The Northern Ireland Environment Agency together with OFMDFM jointly hosted the second Impact 2012 Youth, Sustainability and Environment Awards in March. The Awards were an opportunity for young people from across Northern Ireland to be rewarded for their activities in sustainable development initiatives and to showcase their projects at a final exhibition and celebration event.

Morrows managed the full event process from managing entries and judging packs; organising and managing 38 project exhibitions; commissioning unique bespoke trophies; booking and coordinating the arrangements for the awards including compere Frank Mitchell as well as entertainers, suppliers and venue management

The day was a great success with 300 attending the awards final to view the innovative environmental projects before being entertained by circus performers, interactive characters, an ariel silk performer as well as up and coming Northern Irish band “The Wonder Villains.” Judges commented that the standard of entrants was extremely high and finalists waited with baited breath as the winners were announced. A great day!

BEST foot Forward....

In May, Morrows organised the final of the BEST (Business and Education through Skills and Training) Awards on behalf of Colleges Northern Ireland. The event showcased and celebrated the creativity and innovation across Northern Ireland's colleges with a particular focus on the disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Held in Cookstown, the final was attended by over 100 students from colleges all over Northern Ireland with 75 exhibitions showcasing a wide range of projects encompassing STEM subjects ranging from a “Hydraulically Powered rotavator” to a “One Wheel Wonder.” Competition was fiercely competitive with each of the projects assessed three times by a panel industry experts before the two overall winners were announced at an awards ceremony. Morrows successfully undertook complete event management for this project including exhibition build, venue management, administration – all within a very tight budget!