Cometh the hour, cometh the SN Cup. As promised, liquid football, in the name of a great cause, AuKids Magazine.

Ronaldo, Messi and Rooney take a backseat. Step forward Buckley, Butterworth and Lowe. This is your time. Use it wisely.

Manchizzle was the only weather on the menu, setting the atmosphere up nicely and getting the adrenaline going. As the crowds gathering at Powerleague Ardwick reached fever pitch, approaching half past the hour, it was evident what a tremendous turnout we had on our hands. Every single player had turned up. Not one cry off, not one dodgy excuse.  Unheard of in my football organising lifetime. I was then faced with the almighty task of keeping a huge squad of ‘insurance’ players happy. Tricky this rotation management style lark. Thanks to Mick Greer for agreeing to his last minute transfer!

The action was quickly underway and without a chapter and verse description of events, Studio North were bloody awful. And I mean rubbish. Overweight, undertrained, no obvious pattern to our play. Simply dreadful. Apart from one stellar performance in trouncing And Partners 6-1, there were a couple of bruising defeats as well as a 1-0 defeat by the eventual winners and a slightly unlucky 3-2 ‘derby’ loss to True North.

In the semi finals, Paramount Print beat True North on penalties while the Boulting Group comprehensively outplayed Wrights Printers in the other penultimate fixture. The final ended 2-2 with Boulting winning a dramatic penalty shoot out 1-0, deservedly hoisting the carefully crafted ceramic trophy.

The day has managed to raise £450 for charity so far and judging by the number of lads scavenging the buffet and propping up the bar afterwards a good day was had by all. A huge thank you to Steve Buckley for his massive contribution and also to the companies mentioned above for helping out. Especially and individually, Kev at True North, Adrian at And Partners, Damien at Paramount, Daniel at Wrights and the lads representing Boulting for putting up with our constant mithering this past fortnight.

It was a pleasure to lose to you all but we’ll be back.

STOP PRESS: Due to recent feedback it is worth pointing out that And Partners experienced the giddy sensation of convincingly defeating the eventual winners 3-1 in the group stages. And ‘trouncing’ is probably a touch harsh.

In all seriousness though it is an amazing cause and if you would like to show your support you can easily bob to our just giving site and make a donation:

http://www.justgiving.com/kazandrach-zipforcharidy

Thank you, wheeeeeeeeeeeeee…..arrrrrrrrrrggggggghhhhhh!

by 'eck that's high!

Ok, I get it, we’re in a recession so CSR and all those promises you made in the glory days of 2007 regarding the environment and the local charities you were going to help have been put on hold.  You haven’t forgotten, you’re just tightening your belt, weathering the storm, playing the long game, ready to lavish your time, effort and money once the future looks a bit brighter. 

The logic is there, albeit flawed: but consider this.  In many industries the hard times have encouraged businesses to look for lucrative public sector contracts where budgets have yet to be cut and are looking the most secure.  Of course public sector work demands the public money and there is no hiding from that boss, they’re everywhere, know everything and will have a tantrum to end all tantrums if they don’t feel they’re being kept in the loop.

Enter the tender process: long, laborious and sometimes disappointing, companies will spend hours making sure they are shown in the most favourable light.  You’re often competing like against like too, similar size, experience and cost structures.  So how do you differentiate yourself and generate that all important competitive advantage?

In the last few years CSR has become a buzz word in business, what you’re doing, how you’re doing it, how you can let people know that you’re ‘nice.’  But it isn’t just about nice.  It’s also about market awareness.  Globally 79% would prefer to buy products from environmentally responsible companies (Havas Global Media Survey, May 08) and recent trends have shown an increase in demand for brands to be open and honest; transparent about who they deal with and vocal about what matters to them.  As our industry rightfully evolves to become market orientated we would be stupid not to listen to our clients and respond accordingly.

So what’s this got to do with the here and now?  It’s quite simple.  Act responsibly now and reap the benefits.  CSR might have been a buzzword in the past but it is very real in the present and in order to gain competitive advantage it needs to be taken seriously.  Public sector and large corporate clients will not consider working with agencies that aren’t demonstrating a real commitment to sustainability and the effects their actions have on both their local communities and further afield. 

Do not be fooled into thinking this is an easy option.  The rapid evolution of digital technology has made communicating with clients a two way conversation rather than a single sided drip feed of corporate poomph.  If you make claims you can’t substantiate you will suffer when exposed; the commitment needs to be genuine and the action has to be real.  CSR doesn’t have to cost the earth but requires considered planning and careful management.   The ROI however will be very real and may not only help you survive the forecasted bleak months ahead but give you a real advantage to capture a sizeable market share when the casualties have been announced at the end of it.

Still not convinced?

The evening turned out to be eventful, a few revellers were a little worse for wear and a certain office manager had a dance off with her fiance to truly top the evening off in style but despite these images burning into our retinas we are proud to announce that the night was ultimately a huge success.

The venue was great, the bands were fabulous and the atmosphere was like a massive hug….although obviously I mean the rocky type….or something.  Everyone seemed to have a fantastic night and we just want to say a MASSIVE thank you (Oscar stylee) to The Underclass, The Score & 1913 who, although a fair way from being true gentleman did exactly what they said on the tin: entertained, looked pretty and played some bloody good tunes….enjoyed by all and very good sports to boot.

Of course we were all far too busy having a good time to pay any particular attention to photography and so the above is the best of a bad bunch photo wise but let’s face it, if I can’t paint a picture with my words you aren’t trying enough, or you simply don’t have enough imagination and will have to join us next time

More importantly of course is the grand total raised and (drum roll please) we are incredibly happy to announce that the evening’s entertainment raised an official grand total of £1100 and the figure looks set to rise….whoop whoop for us!

If you weren’t able to attend and still want to support Cash For Kids our justgiving page is open for a while yet and if you came and want to know more about the bands / get involved visit www.bangon08.com for links to their myspace pages.

We said watch this space and we meant it!  Without further ado, click the above, go to the website and get involved….

http://www.manchesterpride.com/

As a consequence of which I embarked on a scheme to discover the most credible way in which to carbon offset the emissions that we could not eliminate by switching to a sustainable energy provider or by turning off those lights in the loos; little did I know what a murky road I was embarking upon….

The problem with carbon offsetting is essentially ambiguity.  The more you look into it the more you realise that the money that you pay may not be going to the projects that you are investing in but rather get ‘lost’ in a system that is fledgling at best.  After all, carbon offsetting is the most amount of money in the modern business world that people invest without demanding proof of purchase or credible returns.  Many carbon offsetting sites have been criticised heavily for the lack of financial information provided and as a rapidly growing industry this should not go unnoticed. 

A second problem is credibility.  DEFRA, the governments environmental arm so to speak seems to have got on the band wagon a little too late and is having trouble reigning everything in.  It was only in February that it created a Carbon Offsetting Best Code of Practice which is in itself merely voluntary guidelines and has come a couple of years later than the initial offsetting companies. 

The Gold Standard is the most credible way to purchase carbon offset credits, guaranteing that projects approved by them will be independently verified and are supported by 51 NGO’s.  Perfect you might think but in fact the cost of such schemes, being few and far between at the moment is extremely prohibitive for small and medium sized businesses and so such companies have to think again.   

And as for us?  The journey to our chosen scheme has been long and eye opening and the experience was certainly not wasted.  We still firmly believe that small actions lead to big difference and as such will continue to offset and do as much as possible to become carbon neutral.  This may appear a bit odd in light of the above but it is all very well to sit on your laurels and berate things without actually tring to make a difference.  What we have learnt is that these projects should not be embarked on lightly and that these schemes need to be monitored closely to ensure that business, and more importantly the environment are getting a good return from their investments.  But rest assured, we will be doing just that, using the knowledge we gain to make the bigger difference.

For more information on the scheme we have chosen please visit: http://www.carbonfootprint.com/offsetalternativeenergy.html

For the Gold Standard and DEFRA website please select the hyperlinks below:

http://www.cdmgoldstandard.org/index.php 

http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/uk/carbonoffset/codeofpractice.htm

The Environmental Business Pledge is a unique initiative aimed at Manchester businesses who wish to improve their environmental performance. The scheme both rewards and recognises those businesses that have made a solid commitment and tangible improvement to their environmental attitude and impact.

Assessed on three levels; acknowledgement (bronze), action (silver) & achievement (gold) the pledge is an easy way for businesses to become involved in the local environment whilst rewarding those that have been successful.

We are proud to have achieved the Bronze level award since being made aware of the scheme in April and are well on our way to earning silver by the end of the year.

For more information please visit Manchester City Council’s website by clicking on the link above.