Flame Awards
As Zephyr’s newest team member, I was delighted to go along to the ukactive Ignite and Flame events last week. Two days of educational conferences, two dinners and some interesting stories from the team about previous year’s events pretty much guaranteed this was going to be a lot of fun – and I’m happy to say I wasn’t disappointed!
With a hearty breakfast courtesy of Telford Innovation Campus, Chloë and I made our way over to the ukactive Ignite conference were we received a warm welcome from some very familiar faces and a warm brew. Being new to the industry and to Zephyr, my aim was to form some new connections and also get to understand what it’s all about from a variety of different perspectives and levels.
We love what we do
Zephyr are a passionate bunch of sport influenced, like-minded creatives and we embrace every challenge that’s thrown at us and this is why I am so passionate to be part of that journey and get to know and understand every one of our clients so that we can give our 1000% to every project.
Amazing seminars
I was very excited to experience a social media seminar held by the newest member at ukactive, Liseli Sitali. The seminar had two fantastic speakers; one being a famous Personal Trainer & fitness blogger called Scola Dondo and the other being Matt Riches from CSM. In the first 10 seconds I was engaged and hooked and wanting more – Scola was so upbeat about everything she had to say and it was great to see a 20yr old woman as passionate as she is about the sports and fitness industry.
Understanding social media and the different tools behind what you can really do with it are a great asset to any company. Doing more with less can really push your boundaries in different creative directions, it doesn’t have to be mega budget campaigns, and Matt Riches spoke to the group about the new Made To Move Lucozade campaign which did just that. He chose not to launch the campaign on to TV or radio or even using print to help get the recognition, instead everything was done through social media and how one particular sporting event with Anthony Joshua was used to strategically launch the campaign. The campaign hit home with millions of followers, helping to raise awareness and push the campaign to new levels. I found it so refreshing for a big brand to be thinking so simply and creatively.
Members Dinner
Inspired and fresh faced, that evening we went to the ukactive members dinner, and being surrounded by planes and rockets seconds after entering the RAF hanger was very exciting – I felt like a little kid in a sweet shop! After an amazing meal and a couple of drinks, we were entertained by the Mentalist. He shocked us and wowed us with some of his amazing skills before we turned in for the night.
Q&A Sessions
So, to the main event – Flame… I have heard big things about this event and throughout the morning we had some really interesting seminars and also some great Q&A sessions about our sports industry, and how we should be pushing boundaries and thinking differently. I was particularly hooked on a Q&A from Professor Luis María Huete, who spoke to us on the subject of ‘What’s the Big Question?’ It was great to hear him talking about the ‘3 B’s’ – Belonging, Believing, & Behaving – and how as an industry we all need to consider these at every step of the way. It’s all about that one KILLER FEATURE; it’s the feeling you create and how you can give a better customer experience. The reason to believe. I liked that and it sat well with our own approach, which is always good to know!
As a keen cyclist myself I was (again) like a kid in a sweet shop when I checked my ukactive app and saw that up next in the Q&A with Baroness Tanni Grey- Thompson interviewing the one and only Jason Kenny, the track cyclist and Olympian! Being so passionate about cycling this was right up my street and hearing about the ups and down from Jason’s career was just fantastic.
Flame Awards 2017
After a day of conference and Q&A sessions we were getting excited for the evening, the Flame Awards. The Awards were one of the biggest and most talked about events of the year and to be invited to join Chloë at this amazing event was such an honour. After arriving at the event and walking through the double doors to see so many people spruced up for the occasion I knew it was going to be a fantastic night. We grabbed a drink and had a chat with some of our clients before making our way in to the awards hall – we decided to go rogue and sit with the hilarious Miha Bodytech team, who I met for the first time that day. After an amazing meal and some fantastic awards presented by ukactive’s Executive Director Steven Ward, UKactive Chair Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson & Jason Kenny, the night carried on with some interesting conversations and some dancing, well I tried…
Thank you to everyone involved at the event, it truly was amazing. Can’t wait for next year.