News/Blog

The Institute of Internal Communication has updated the IoIC Awards to celebrate the kind of work being done every day by IC professionals in the UK, and entries are now invited for the 2012 awards.

The awards cover everything from campaigns, digital media and print media to writing and design.

New awards for 2012 include two innovation categories – most innovative use of media and ‘game changer’ (looking for imagination in practice that expands our sense of what might be possible in internal communication). There is also a dedicated event category this year.

The Institute’s ICon accolades are being included in the IoIC Awards event to showcase at one time and in one place the best of the best in the sector. The ICons celebrate individual work, recognising editors, designers, writers, photographers, agencies, IC managers and teams.

Awards chairman Paul Brasington comments: “In 2012 we’re pulling everything together: one award scheme, one awards dinner. We aim to create a real and telling snapshot of internal communication practice, celebrating excellence, setting down markers from which everyone can learn."

The entry deadline is 17th February and the awards dinner will be held at the Hilton Park Lane in London on 15th June.

Entry packs can be downloaded at www.ioic.org.uk

The Sidney Nolan Trust (Registered charity number 326945) is seeking a Treasurer (unpaid).
The Sidney Nolan Trust was established by Sir Sidney Nolan in 1985. Sidney wished for a permanent gallery in Britain for the exhibition of his paintings, and for a wide range of arts-based activities in a place of scenic beauty. To this end he purchased Rodd Farm in Herefordshire with its outbuildings and gave it to the Trust with a collection of his paintings. Lady Nolan has continued to support the Trust generously since Sidney’s death in 1992.

Currently the Trust is entering a transitional phase, new trustees are being appointed and a new governance structure has been adopted to meet modern requirements. The Trust is building its programmes in music, printmaking, book arts, sculpture and the arts generally. Meanwhile it is finalising plans for a permanent exhibition of Sir Sidney’s work. The Trust has defined the role of the Treasurer so that s/he will be responsible for generating, with the full-time Manager of the Trust, the annual budget and the Trust’s investment policy. The Trust’s financial position is sound. It has reserves in excess of four times annual expenditure.

Further details of the Trust and its work can be found at www.sidneynolantrust.org. The Annual Report & Accounts are available on the Charity Commission website.
Anyone interested in this challenging but rewarding role should in the first instance contact Anthony Plant, Trust Manager: 01544 260149, aplant@sidneynolantrust.org.

Launched in October, Creative England is the first agency to provide dedicated support to film, television, games and digital and creative services in the English regions, outside London. The agency has recently opened the new Film Networks Fund.

Funding is available towards a range of activities including:

• provision of editorial and technical support for emerging talent looking to produce work;
• delivery of networking;
• screening and industry speaker events and master classes; and
• provision of peer-to-peer support, mentoring, training and advice.

The Film Networks Fund is a fixed call with £150,000 to award in the current round. Awards will range from £2,500 to £25,000.

Applications can be made by:
• legally constituted organisations operating in the English regions (outside Greater London); and
• legally constituted organisations operating outside the English regions that wish to develop and deliver activity in the English regions (outside Greater London)

Click here for links to the relevant website/scheme guidelines and GRANTfinder report

10,000 Small Businesses is a business growth programme designed for leaders of established small businesses and social enterprises, who will benefit from targeted support and resources to help them define and achieve their business growth aspirations.

The core of the programme is a high quality, practically-focussed business and management education, delivered over twelve sessions lasting approximately 100 hours. 10,000 Small Businesses is funded by the Goldman Sachs Foundation. Applications are now open for the programme running at Aston Business School from November 2011.

Launched this week, the Nominet Trust £250k Challenge is supporting digital entrepreneurs over the age of 55 who have a viable idea for an internet start-up project which tackles the social problems afflicting senior citizens, and helps older people access the internet.

The programme was launched following research showing there is an urgent need for more web-based solutions designed for older people, by older people - as senior citizens are more likely to seek support from their peers than from younger age groups.

Grants of between £1,000 and £100,000 may be awarded towards projects costing up to £250,000 in total.

The money can be used to fund projects that:
• use the internet to address specific social problems that older people encounter;
• design new and better ways for older people to access and use the internet; and
• develop and use technologies familiar to older people that may have internet functionality, such as projects that use IPTV or internet radio.

Anyone in the UK who is over the age of 55 with a good idea for an internet start-up which uses the web to address specific social problems facing older people may apply. The applicant may be operating as a business, charity, community interest company, working at a university or within the public sector.

www.cogsatwork.co.uk

As you may already know, the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), in partnership with the West Midlands 2012 Business Network, is organising a free, half-day business seminar, to communicate to firms in its area the broad range of “Olympic” business opportunities still available, such as :-
•London 2012 buying right up to Games time
•tourism opportunities , driven by the Wenlock Olympian Games
•very substantial post-Games conversion work on the Olympic Park
•export opportunities in supplying other major sports events around the world

A strong programme of expert speakers has been put together – see attached programme. This will be in the morning of Wednesday 9 November, at the Telford International Centre. An Invitation to this event is also attached..

You are, of course, invited. And I would be very grateful if you would also forward the invite to any relevant colleagues, and among your networks, especially those in the town of Much Wenlock itself.

Abertay University's business support office has launched a new round of the Abertay Digital Prototype Grant Funding programme. The aim of the programme is to foster economic growth, facilitate job creation, and improve skills development in the sector.

Grants of up to £25,000 are available for small companies (based anywhere in the UK) that are developing their own games or other forms of interactive digital content.

The grants can be used to develop prototypes of original intellectual property (IP), allowing companies to go on to seek further funding or investment to launch their product. As part of the programme's offering, studio space, equipment, and software will be available for companies to use while prototypes are being developed at Abertay University.

Games projects and other forms of interactive digital content, such as e-learning, visualisation, interactive exhibits, online film/broadcast media, or middleware can be supported.

Grants can be used for a range of expenditure identified within the project budget, primarily:
• costs for a selected number of the applicant's development team;
• part-time employment costs of a proportion of students or graduates selected as part of the student placement element; and
• additional costs, such as a contractor to fill a gap in the team.

The closing date for receipt of applications to this round is 14 December 2011.

The Leadership and Management Advisory Service will provide up to £1000 to a business or social enterprise meeting certain eligibility criteria. Funding must be matched on a pound for pound basis and must be used to support the Leadership and Management skills of the MD or a senior manager. The Service is funded by the Skills Funding Agency and delivered by EMB Ltd across the East of England, the West Midlands and the East Midlands.

AAIB, the specialist insurance brokers, has commissioned Shrewsbury web developers The Web Orchard to create the worlds first online travel insurance site specifically for travel to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Designed for people visiting Iraq or Afghanistan for business or personal reasons, the new website enables travellers to get an instant quotation which exactly matches their needs. The variables that can be chosen from include duration of stay, purpose of visit, the amount of personal accident and medical evacuation cover required.

Managed by AAIB Insurance Brokers, the travel policy is 'A' rated and essential baggage cover is included in the price. Varying levels of cover are available as well as the option to add more specialist types of cover if required.

Peter White, Web Architect at The Web Orchard, said: “We are delighted to have been able to contribute to this first ever travel insurance site for travel to Iraq and Afghanistan. From a technical perspective, the main challenges were to create a web-enabled copy of AAIB’s risk calculation database, and then to offer users the chance to go from quote to payment in one seamless transaction.”

Additional refinements in the site are the ability to receive an email quotation with PDF attachment, and for customers to download a PDF copy of their policy whenever required from anywhere in the world.

William Wakeham, AAIB’s CEO Insurance is delighted with the outcome. “The Web Orchard created a very elegant front end for our quotation database. Now travellers only have to answer eight drop down questions in order to receive an instant travel insurance quote, which is linked to a secure card payment screen if they want to pay for immediate cover. Compared to other more complex insurance quotation sites, the single page quotation form that The Web Orchard provided is incredibly simple to use.”

The Web Orchard have a five year track record of creating sophisticated e-commerce web presences. They are based in Shrewsbury, near Birmingham, in the United Kingdom and work for an international client base.

www.theweborchard.com
http://travel.aaib-insurance.com/