A number of the Speakeasy team have been enjoying the comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe this year. Lots of good acts. Just to give you an idea of what’s been out here here’s top 10 for the Dave comedy award for one liners. Congrats to Tim Vine for wining!

1) Tim Vine “I’ve just been on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday. I’ll tell you what, never again.”

2) David Gibson “I’m currently dating a couple of anorexics. Two birds, one stone.”

3) Emo Philips “I picked up a hitch hiker. You’ve got to when you hit them.”

4) Jack Whitehall “I bought one of those anti-bullying wristbands when they first came out. I say ‘bought’, I actually stole it off a short, fat ginger kid.”

5) Gary Delaney “As a kid I was made to walk the plank. We couldn’t afford a dog.”

6) John Bishop “Being an England supporter is like being the over-optimistic parents of the fat kid on sports day.”

7) Bo Burnham “What do you call a kid with no arms and an eyepatch? Names.”

8 ) Gary Delaney “Dave drowned. So at the funeral we got him a wreath in the shape of a lifebelt. Well, it’s what he would have wanted.”

9) Robert White “For Vanessa Feltz, life is like a box of chocolates: Empty.”

10) Gareth Richards “Wooden spoons are great. You can either use them to prepare food. Or, if you can’t be bothered with that, just write a number on one and walk into a pub…”

MagnusM Team News, Tech chat

Fashion, glamour and glitz were today’s game. I found myself enjoying the shopping experience of New Look’s flagship Oxford Circus store. We were there filming an interview with CEO Carl Macphail who gave an excellent interview. All filmed in the heart of the new store (very funky). As he headed away he generously offered staff discount to the whole crew. Needless to say Lucy descended into a permanent state of euphoria and whirled off round the store while the rest of the crew got down and groovy with the cutaways.

So at the end of the day everyone has come out a winner, our client because they’ve got a great video in the can, the nice guys at New Look whose CEO comes across brilliantly, Lucy because she’s had her shopping fix, me because I bought the current Mrs Wake some cool clothes (many browny points), Speakeasy (cos of the new blog story!) and the biggest winner of all Mr Creditcard.

Magnus Wake - Director

MagnusM Team News, Work Completed Funky, New Look

Sounds a bit negative but as I was repeatedly reminded yesterday that’s a national trait ;).

Yesterday saw the first event held by Creative Scotland the new “national leader for Scotland’s arts, screen and creative industries.”. It was a good gig actually with a great band, some beautiful music from a harpist (sorry can’t find her name anywhere on the web), and some stunning physical theatre from Suspended Motion.

We also got a pretty honest overview from the two heads of the new organisation Chief Executive Andrew Dixon and Chair, Sir Sandy Crombie. They both talked about making artists the centre of Creative Scotland and how we needed to do more to recognise and highlight some of the fantastic and creative work that goes on here. They also commented that there isn’t going to be a lot of cash to throw around (not a big surprise) but that they would be keen to strengthen relationships with private partners. Geography got a mention too, with a need to highlight things that were going on in, say, Shetland as importantly as anywhere more central.

However, the details were all a bit hazy which brings me back to the vacuum bit. You see at the moment the board hasn’t met and by the sound of things hasn’t even been totally formed. This means that any kind of strategy isn’t even on the drawing board and that any kind of output from this new organisation is way off into next year sometime.

Having reflected on all that was said one concern I have is that with this body and any others there always has to be success. I think it was Sir Sandy that said they want a wealth of creative ideas so they can choose the best. Sounds logical but art isn’t logical - even a failure is important. If we are only going to look for exemplary success then risks aren’t taken, new ideas will not be tested and grass roots growth will see little benefit from this body.

All in all though, not a bad first step although lacking a bit of clarity. No that’s unfair, they were clear about their lack of clarity.

Ps. thought it was a shame their twitter feed didn’t reflect their event. Could do more to highlight their own light and not keep it under the proverbial. @CreativeScots

Magnus Wake - Director

MagnusM Industry Chat, Team News, speak360

I. Don’t. Wear. Make up.
There. I said it.
But it just so happens I have applied make up. More than once actually…

Because sometimes I go on shoots. And sometimes the lights are hot and the actors need some make up to hide the perspiration. And sometimes I happen to be the closest to the powder puff. That’s what happens on shoots - you have to pull together - and so sometimes the Producer does the make up. Sometimes, as in the case of our shoot for the Criminal Justice Service (part of the Home Office) we have to do a whole lot more…

So here we are. It’s the last day of a three day shoot in London; The clock is ticking, there are eight more scenes to get through before we hit overtime. There are six crew, eight cast members (and two clients) filming in a Crown Court.  It’s a big space so we have lots of lighting. So it’s also roasting hot. The poor cast are dressed in robes and wigs. But the aircon is off because a) it’s too noisy for the sound man and b) it’s broken. Everyone is busy but exhausted and the energy levels are dropping fast. I do what needs to be done - tea and a Twix all round.

We finish (almost) on time, hang up the costumes, put away the gear, load the truck, tidy the location, kiss the luvvies goodbye, and head home. The next few weeks are taken up with editing, re-editing and approvals, resulting in three case studies that explain the process behind criminal sentencing. These will be cut up and put on the client’s website, joining a pilot programme we shot earlier in the year. Thousands will see it and interact with it. Perceptions will be changed. Our client will be happy. The hard work will be worth it.

My other tasks on that shoot included dressing a judge, checking a script, four trips to Marks & Spencer, directing the second unit filming, wearing a police helmet and, as you can see, taking the shine off an actress’s forehead with a powderpuff.

And it wasn’t just me - my colleague Lucy organised catering for 16, kept a written log of each shot, taxi’d folk to the tube station, and was an on-screen extra (as you can see, she favoured The Method when playing the Defendant’s put-upon girlfriend…). We did all of this so that our director Magnus could concentrate on the important job of getting the right shots and performances, so there was something to edit. Oh, and also taking embarrassing photos of his colleagues applying make up.

Hard work, but we love it. It’s not about the job description, it’s about a team effort, and if you want to see what all that looks like go here.

Mark Turner - Producer

MarkM Speakeasy Company News, Team News, Work Completed

Do your customers give you good service?

I know what you’re thinking - shouldn’t it be the other way round?

Well, yes it should. Except we’ve recently enjoyed a situation where the tables were turned, and a customer (”Client X”) asked us, and its other preferred suppliers, to organise an event… for ourselves.

The idea was that we, the suppliers, would all work together to organise an away-day that would allow us to get to know each other and the client team, find ways to improve how we work together, and come up with ideas for delivering Client X’s new Communications Plan. During the planning meeting, we overcame any concerns that we might find ourselves having to reveal trade secrets to each other, and instead focussed on our common ground. In fact, we designed the day to illuminate and make the most of these overlaps.

On the day itself, we adjourned to a country hotel, and spent a very productive time designing a more efficient way of working together, and a strategy for delivering the Comms Plan that would save us time and the client money. It was a fun day, and genuinely team-building. But the long-term effects will be good for us all. Now, rather than scrabbling to respond to last-minute requests and struggling to produce projects on time, we will be able to prepare for the work and create more effective, considered, creative and joined-up solutions.

In one day, we have gone from reactive and competing suppliers to proactive partners. Which is nice.

It all goes to show, the customer is always right.

Mark Turner - Producer

MarkM Speakeasy Company News, Team News

6 months into the year 2010 and Speakeasy have been very busy indeed. As well as the productions we make for our lovely clients, we have merged Orchard Communications into Speakeasy and moved all our London operations under one lovely roof in Covent Garden. Not only that, but we’ve been picking up some pretty amazing awards along the way!

In February we picked up several at the CIB Scotland Awards for productions we made for Lloyds TSB, Co-op Financial Services, MoD and HMIE.

In May we picked up a Silver at the 2010 Questar Awards. We also won a Silver and Gold at the US International Film & Video Festival and have been shortlisted for winning a Best of Festival Award as well and at The New York Festivals we picked up a Gold Award.

In June we had two videos shortlisted for the best video award at the IoIC Gala Awards Dinner 2010 (formerly CiB) for video productions made for Lloyds TSB and NHS Leicester City. And the Lloyds video won!

We have also just had an office-warming bash to celebrate the opening of our new office in Henrietta Street for current and new clients. It co-incidentally tied in with the England v Slovenia game and we just happened to have an HD tv in our new Boardroom – I wonder who chose that date and was it a co-incidence!?

We’re still entering more awards so watch this space….

Jim Adamson - Managing Director

MarkM Speakeasy Company News, Team News

In a pained and laboured effort to develop my “voice”, I recently wrote a short story for a women’s literature competition. Jim has kindly let me put a snippet up here. Enjoy!

“Unlucky for Some”

On the first morning I went downstairs, I got horrendously lost and found myself in a porch with the door locking behind me. Not wanting another encounter with grandma, I hurried around the border flowers and pretended to inspect the rockery knowingly, in case anybody should be looking at me from inside and think that I didn’t know anything about rockeries. The garden certainly wasn’t in the best shape; they appeared to have left it to nature, in the same vein as the grandma. The grass had needed cutting about six months ago and was now in the process of becoming a field. It was covered in dew, and my flimsy floaty skirt which I’d brought because I thought it would make me feel like Elizabeth Bennett was soon soaked and probably see through. I ventured further from the house just in case the unsavoury uncle was getting any ideas.

A couple of hours later John found me wandering around an orchard looking pretty bedraggled. After he had ascertained that it was because I had snagged my clothes on a couple of twigs and hadn’t been cornered by a crazed feral pensioner, he took me on a walk to the maze like he’d promised. God he was gorgeous. He strode around like he owned the place- which he did. He pointed out all the plants worthy of notice and made insightful comments about nature, whilst I dribbled. A sexy, rich, unconquerable man- obviously he was Mr Darcy, but a Darcy who would rather feel up Mr Bingly than Elizabeth. It was depressing. I had never seen this side of John before. He was always playful and silly, but now he was showing me his home, which he clearly loved despite its insane inhabitants. He seemed like a real man, serious, very different from the John I had known back at home. Inside I think I started to swoon. It should also be noted that I hadn’t yet had any breakfast.

Amy Hawes - Events

If you’d like the full story, please email me at amy.hawes@speak.co.uk. Thanks for reading!

MarkM Team News

Here’s just a live update of our new London office being welcomed by some clients during the big England game. Including Jim sporting the local flag!

MagnusM Team News, Tech chat

Last Friday was a pretty dismal evening for the England football team… but that didn’t stop Speakeasy cracking open the champagne!

As well as being a night not to remember for English football, it was the Institute of Internal Communication Awards in London. So suits and ties (for some) and dresses for others, were donned and we headed down to the Hilton Park Lane.

Two of Speakeasy’s videos had been shortlisted in the same category and we had our fingers crossed that one might come away with the prize. The evening started with a drinks reception and photographs with our certificates, before a delicious three-course meal. For the avid football fans amongst us, there was a handy big screen at the side of the room, and the really clever ones had the match streamed to their iPhones.

Promptly after the match finished, our host, Alastair Campbell stepped up and assured us that it was only a game after all… which wasn’t a popular statement with everyone in the room. He carried on with the jokes, probably for a bit too long and then moved onto the awards…

It was soon the turn of our category – Best use of Video / DVD / Webcast / TV. I couldn’t quite believe it when they read out Speakeasy’s name – we were absolutely delighted – and went up to the stage in a bit of a daze to collect our award. Luckily, no-one fell over, we smiled for the cameras and we made it back to the table in one piece! “On the Inside” produced for Lloyds Banking Group had just pipped the NHS Leicester film to the post – but everyone on the Speakeasy table was still smiling… especially when the champagne came out.

The IoIC Award is the fifth award “On the Inside” has won this year… it’s other accolades include a Gold World Medal at the New York Festivals and two awards at the US International Film & Video Festivals.

Lucy Trendle - Producer

MarkM Speakeasy Company News, Team News, Work Completed

Last week Germany experienced some of the worst flooding in 30 years, but that didn’t put me off attending the international IMEX conference, the event you must attend if you don’t want to be left standing at the sidelines of the event industry. The annual meetings industry exhibitors event this year was attended by a record number of well over 2800 hosted buyers from more than 60 markets, and had a visitor total of nearly 9000 people.

Every year I do my best to go to IMEX, which allows me to meet industry partners and try out cutting edge developments in technology and global trends within the events and meetings industry. This year Corinthia Hotels hosted my trip to IMEX, where Corinthia were proudly showcasing their new 5 star London Hotel (which just so happens is around the corner from the new Speakeasy offices in Covent Garden!) The Corinthia Hotel Group and the Intercontinental Hotel Group in Frankfurt were excellent hosts, and the service was second to none.

Lots of views were discussed at the three-day event. The big topic on everybody’s lips was the recent volcanic ash cloud. The ash from the Eyjafjallajoekull eruption affected everybody to some degree, and the snowball effect it has had on the events industry, in particular how we have all been forced to rethink our concepts, strategies, costs and processes, produced some very interesting discussions.

Healthcare remained as the primary industry sector, with an increase in business in the corporate, science and engineering sectors, but interestingly government commissioning of events decreased this year.

At IMEX I got to discuss burgeoning trends with industry colleagues who all have something to bring to the table. One of the trends that has become apparent is that customers are now expecting greater transparency through procurement processes. Green concerns also continue to grow, with issues of sustainability in the event industry on everybody’s minds.

Like every year, I enjoyed meeting fellow colleagues, networking and exchanging ideas, meeting new people, reconnecting with industry colleagues and networking with the best global suppliers. Perhaps the most important part of attending IMEX is listening to the concerns of the event industry as a whole. This year there seems to be a greater sensitivity towards costs, a greater pressure to justify our actions and a greater demand on ROI.

There was a fantastic atmosphere at this year’s show, with exhibitors attending from all over the world. I am already looking forward to next year!

Catrina Cochrane-Mills - Events Producer

MarkM Speakeasy Company News, Team News, Tech chat