Last summer (August 2011) we helped the Fly To The Past event organiser use social media to maximise the numbers of people attending the airshow/family fun day at Oxford Airport. In the end over 10,000 people attended. It was so successful that another event has been planned for 2012 – but this time over two days on September 1st and 2nd.

Before last years event we are able to do a number of phone interviews with the organisers, members of the Oxford Airport team, aircraft pilots and owners as well as a number of the ground exhibitors. You can listen to those interviews at this blog post.

We were also asked to film the event on the day. We are able to meet many of the people we had spoken to over the phone and others besides. We were asked to make the interviews available and also create a short video recording what had happened on the day and use it to help promote this years event. This is the video above. It is also on YouTube and on the FlyToThePast blog site together with all the video interviews we recorded on the day.

The integrated use of audio podcasts, Twitter, blogging and Facebook and now these online and YouTube videos are a great example of how social media can help make an event successful and promote follow up events cost effectively.

Fly To The Past had run a family fun day and airshow for a number of years at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, but were moving  to Oxford Airport as this gave them greater flexibility.  The challenge was to keep the original audience but also appeal to those who wanted more than just a ‘fly past’ air display.  People could see the aircraft landing and taking off, take helicopter and aircraft joy rides and see parked aircraft close-up.

We proposed producing a series of audio podcast interviews with the organisers and some of the pilots and releasing them in the weeks before the event to maximise awareness.  Using social media such as Facebook, blogs and Twitter, we promoted the podcasts and over 1,000 people listened in just a few weeks.  On the day over 10,000 people attended the event.

On the day itself we had video crews capture the action and do a series of interviews with the pilots and owners.  These will be used  to help promote the next event on September 1st and 2nd 2012.

Additional audio and video content can be found at  http://www.flytothepastblog.com/podcasts/

The concept of using audio and video content for event promotion can work equally well for any audience – employees or the general public.

To see what can be done, check out the video and information about the Fly To The Past family fun day event, held in Oxfordshire in the summer of 2011.  To play the video click on the arrow.

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

About us:

After almost 35 years in audio and video production there is not much we have not done.  From filming rats for The London Dungeon, to promoting academic conferences and research projects to recording live the largest emergency rescue exercise in the UK, our directors, producers, sound and video engineers and technicians have been there.

The sheer scope and range of work means you get the best practical experience on how to plan, record, edit and deliver powerful audio and video content that showcases your organisation and your event.  Whatever it is.  Wherever it is. Probably in ways you had not considered.

It also means that you get access to the key skills to ensure you make best use of the internet and social media to maximise and engage with your audience to help ensure the event is a success.

To find out more about how we can help you promote your event call us today on 023 8044 8822.

www.focusbiz.co.uk

‘Jext’

We worked with White Communications who provided us with the script. We prepared all the relevant material to deliver a clear and succinct video to complement the presentation. We filmed all the close-ups in our studio, then added bullet points, still images, and, text on top of the footage.

Due to  the nature of this device, clear and direct instructions on how to confidently recognise symptoms and follow all the necessary procedures when administering intramuscular adrenaline were key. Some careful editing of the narration was applied to ensure the instructions conformed to their guidelines.

Some custom images also helped sections of the video to flow nicely and deliver the key points on instructions. The video can be found at Jext.co.uk where they have posted it on the page for healthcare professionals.

Try Focus for your next audio or video studio session.  Contact us

Did you know that Agencies and Producers in the South of England use Focus studios in Southampton? 

Everything you need to make great audio and video content is right here – no need to travel to London.  Great news for Clients, Talent, and Budgets.

But don’t take our word for it!  Just this week Fred Dinenage was in the studio, recording Voiceovers for  Fred Dinenage’s Murder Casebook which Talent South are producing for the Crime and Investigation Network.  Fred’s links were recorded direct to our SADiE audio workstation, and edited right away.  From start to finish the session took less than 2 hours, far less time than it would have taken to commute to London and back …

Dervla Kirwan has been in to record Commercial Voiceovers for Agencies in London and Dublin … Louise Minchin and Nick Knowles recorded Voiceovers here for BBC1′s ‘Real Rescues’ for Topical Television … and Chris Packham pops in every now and then.

Our studio is great for Voiceovers, Interviews or as a TV Presentation Studio. It has a lighting grid and green or blue screen backgrounds for video work, and with ISDN audio links to connect with Studios, Clients and Voices worldwide.  Clients can record to picture, syncing with tape or video files, we ‘top and tail’ all audio files so they can be used directly in an edit.  We usually deliver final audio files by email or FTP.

Try Focus for your next audio or video studio session.  Contact us right away.

As part of our ongoing relationship with NHS, we were asked to film a recent Patient Safety conference at the Ark, the NHS Conference Centre in Basingstoke, and to carry out and record some interviews with staff beforehand which were to be used as part of the day.

This material and more will shortly be available on the NHS Patient Safety Federation website.

This edition of the monthly MCA Video News Podcasts explains why membership of the UKSR is such a benefit for ship owners.

Focusbiz produces video material and podcasts it for some quite unexpected organisations! For several years The Worshipful Company of Information Technologists has  used Video Podcasts produced and hosted by Focus Business Communications to keep their wide membership ‘connected’ and up to date.   The Worshipful Company of Information Technologists is the 100th Livery Company of the City of London, and their members are all senior IT professionals who joined the Company in order to give something back to the IT sector and the wider community.

Charles Hughes is the new Master Elect of the Information Technologists’ Company. He has been a Freeman of the Company since 1996, has chaired several committees, and is currently leading the team seeking a Royal Charter for the Company. His theme for the year will be “professional values”.  The is the second video podcast from Charles as he becomes the new Master.

See more WCIT Podcasts

With this year’s PSP Southampton Boat Show upon us, it’s worth showing how we helped SD Marine, UK dealers for Maxi yachts, to create a stunning exhibit for their Maxi 1100 .

Rather than adding to the rows of vessels aligned side-by-side at the show, SD Marine gave their exhibition floor space over to just one boat plus a plasma screen showing video material shot and edited at Focus of the Maxi 1100 at sea and sailing into the sunset.

Which is kind of what sailing is all about …

Enjoy … and dream!

Adrian Moss is Director and co-owner of Focus Business Communications Ltd.  He is a Marketing Communications Specialist with over 30 years experience.

He trained as an accountant and worked for Chrysler Finance and 3M UK, after which he moved into sales and marketing in the IT industry in 1981.  He  worked for Burroughs and then Peachtree before joining Lotus Software in 1984 as one of their first International employees. Adrian initially built up a team of software engineers and technical support specialist before establishing and heading up the marketing for the International Business Development team. During this time he pioneered the use of video for training and technical support updates.

In 1990 Adrian joined Tektronix Europe as co-founder and Head of Marketing for their Colour Printer Division. The team grew from 2 people to over 300 in 6 years. As Marketing Director he hired and managed a team of 35 people across Europe. From 1996 until 1999 Adrian was Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations at Tektronix Europe’s 3 business divisions, with a team of over 100 marketing and communications people. During his time at Tektronix Adrian championed the use of digital and web based marketing across Europe.

From 1999 to 2004 Adrian acted as a consultant for a number of marketing agencies including DraftDigital and The Opus Group/iFBC on e-marketing and Customer Relationship Management solutions.

He also worked for the Aziz Corporation where he coached and mentored senior management and executives in presentation and communication skills. During his time at Aziz he worked with many of the organisations on the FTSE250 as well as ones based in the USA and mainland Europe.

In 2004 Adrian joined forces with Ian Ward to establish Focus Business Communications to take full advantage of the emergence of Web 2.0 and Social Media especially where it can be integrated with audio and video. Adrian uses his background in Communications and people/team development to help organisations with message and program production management.

Over the last 6 years Adrian has acted as Producer for many hundreds of audio and video programs for public, private and not-for-profit clients in the UK and Internationally.

Adrian provides coaching and training in Social Media to the Digital Marketing Institute for their London courses and The Learning Ladder in Oxfordshire.

He  also runs FBC’s courses in Social Media from the Southampton studios and provides communication and presentation skills training.

For more details of the courses run by FBC please click here - social media, audio-video production and presentation skills  or call us on 023 8044 8822

Focus studios make extraordinary things happen!  Great audio, exciting pictures, creative post-production.

Our audio studio facilities are used for recording English and Foreign voiceovers for video, reading to picture or wild, or recording dialogue for Podcasts and training.  We edit ‘live’ (using SADiE) at the same time as recording so there’s not a lot to do when the session is over. We use ISDN to record live at full quality from or to another studio. And we often use phone or Skype to connect to clients anywhere in the world who listen in to the session down the line.

The video studio is great for shooting voice links and presenter pieces.  It’s soundproof and therefore QUIET, so no interruptions from phones ringing or people talking in the corridor, the things that drive clients mad when we shoot interviews in their’ boardrooms. But it’s not big – just right for a piece to camera or 1×1 interview.

It may not be huge but we have green screen (or Blue or Black or White) and that means the studio can be as big as you like and become anywhere you like – New York, underwater, the moon … you get the idea.

There’s a lighting grid and talented lighting guys who can make you look great on camera.  Green Screen techniques rely very heavily on good lighting.  We normally use Arri or Kino Flo lights.

Built-in Autocue makes it easy for even quite inexperienced people to amaze everyone with confident pieces to camera.

Oh … and to bring ideas to life we have really nice creative people behind the cameras with years of experience and real talent (but don’t tell them I said that!)

Contact us to discuss what we can do for you.

Green Screen – Autocue – Lighting – Sound proof – Air conditioning – Cameras – Voiceovers – Live voice editing – Presentations – Interviews – Media training – Viewing rooms – Control Room – Vision mixer – Encoding for DVD, Web, Podcast & PowerPoint: Virtual Studio.

Focus Studios … Bringing your ideas to life.

]]> http://www.focusbiz.co.uk/portfolio/our-studio/feed/ 0 http://www.focusbiz.co.uk/portfolio/portfolio-mithril-racing/ http://www.focusbiz.co.uk/portfolio/portfolio-mithril-racing/#comments Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:59:12 +0000 Ian Williamson http://www.focusbiz.co.uk/blogtest1/?p=876

These guys are definitely Licensed to Thrill! Enjoy this piece put together for the client by one of our producers Andy Goode. Another great use of video on the web to show what printed brochures couldn’t.

Everyone knows what a ‘Jimmy Jib’ is … at least everyone in the television industry. When we try to describe it to a client they find it hard to appreciate why we should spend their budget on one! So we put this together to show a Jib at work and the talented guys who operate it. A perfect example of how to use video to demonstrate a product that you can’t easily describe otherwise!

TV presenter Iolo Williams meets Colin and Mandy Powell who run this fantastic 5 star B&B in Mid Wales. Incidentally, they have the three minute Podcast running on their own website, possibly a first in the B&B sector. Originally as part of a DVD promoting the town of Llanidloes in Mid Wales.
www.grandstandbandb.co.uk  www.llanidloes.com

BT Intelligent Solutions

We are enthusiatic evangelists for the use of video in websites as a very direct way to help people understand the message.  And it’s just more interesting than a page of words!   Best practice in our experience is to give users control and this is what BT have done.  It is a very positive experience.