Some exciting news from us guys here! We will be sponsoring the social media event ‘Sweet Retweets‘ hosted by Sue Keogh from Sookio and  Christine Cawthorne from Crocstar Media.

The Sweet Retweets workshop will cover:

* getting Liked on Facebook

* writing tweets that will really travel

* crafting killer titles to make sure your content gets read and shared

* how to talk to your audience

* social media dos and don’ts

We’re heading there with some nibbles and drinks so if you managed to get a ticket we look forward to seeing you!

A recent report from CAMRA suggests that 2011 saw over 1,000 pubs across Britain cease trading with suburban and rural areas bearing the brunt of the closures.  The effects of increased beer duty and competition from the supermarket bohemoths has meant less of the community are using the local pub as a meeting place.

Increasingly local pubs are altering their communications to promote their venue as a meeting place for communities; a place to enjoy good food and speciality ales, ciders and wines; live comedy and quiz nights; baby mornings and afternoon teas; book clubs; community fetes and charity galas.

Handstand has worked on many pub brands over the last two years with success. Sometimes the turn around of a venue can be achieved by a lick of paint on the walls and a few clear messages on posters to a complete reposition and brand overhaul. Whether the project is big or small the message is always clear…support your local pub in case you lose it…

We’ve taken an interesting brief this week…from an MP.  Design and publish a constituency newsletter  to go out to over 45,000 households.  There’s plenty of content and imagery to work with – this MP’s an especially busy first-termer from the “class of 2010” so there’s no problem there….

My issue is however one of perception. Funding has been privately raised for the project –  neither our client’s constituency association nor political party provide any financial budget (to our surprise) but 45,000 constituent households won’t know that. Infact the logical assumption is that it has been centrally funded and therefore paid for by the taxpayer…

So the challenge is to produce a contemporary, accessible newsletter design that speaks to the constituents yet also presents the subject matter – an energetic 41 year old MP who is shaking things up a little bit – in an informal and friendly manner. However, to over –design it and ignore some standard community newsletter characteristics – those of cheerful economy of production – we risk, I think, drawing criticisms of style over substance. Such is an MP’s lot in life.