Our January Masher of the Month is Hannah Lord….Sheffield based but a real ‘nationwide’ Mash trouper.

A fantastic and consistently high standard of Mashing….

She has really excelled on the ongoing Lavazza campaign and now feels like the main challenge is “keeping the standard high”

Good work Hannah.

A short video encapsulating the fantastic Mash Culture that exists and has grown over the last 5 fantastic years and is fundamental to how we work and play. Enjoy

The internet has created the illusion of mass intimacy but how many Facebook friends is too many?
The asnwer, says Robin Dunar, is 151

It’s the internet world now, so you can speak to anyone anywhere in the world - right? Blog away, and every Tom, Dick and Harriet from Anchorage to Cape Town can admire your wit, marvel at your wisdom and might even offer a comment in return. Sign them up to your Facebook site, where you can now boast 300,500,1000 friends.

But how well do you really know all these peopl? Would you really respond with a cheque for £50 to an em-ail plea from one of them? OK, OK, I know a suprising number of people get hoodwinkey by 15-year old Nigerian spammers on a franky old village internet connection, but I’ll warrent that most of you aren’t so gullitile - and it’s precisely because you don’t treat everyone on your Facebook list as equally worthy of interest.

The bottom line is that our social worlds are actually very small. It’s easy to add friends to your social network site (or SNS in the trade) but it’s another thing whether you’d really lay down your life for all of them. The reason is simple: our brains aren’t big enough to allow us to have deeply meaningful relationships with more than a handful of people. There is a general relationship between brain size and social group size in monkeys and apes, and that relationship predicts a natural group size of just 150 for us human beings, now known as Dunbar’s number (thanks to some anonymous internet wit).

In fact, 150 - give or take a few - turns up in all sorts of obscure and not so obscure places. It was the average size of villages in the Domesday Book and 18th-century England, as well as in traditional small-scale societies today. It’s the average size of parishes among community-focused sects such as the Amish and the Hutterites, and the typical size of companies in most armies around the world.
When Brigham Young sent his fledgeling 5,000 Mormons of f to found Salt Lake City and the Mormon state, he did so in groups of 150.

It’s the average number of people to whom most of you send Christmas cards - not the number of cards, but the number of people in the households to which you send your cards. It’s the number of relations, friends and aquaintances you think enough of to be worth the time, effor and expense of writing out a card.

Dunbar’s number seems to demarcate a clear boundary between those with whom you have relationships of trust, obligation and reciprocity and those you don’t.
Beyond lie the many people whom you recognise by sight, might even be happy to have a passing conversation with, but whom you really wouldn’t count among your personal friends.
We are able to remember the names and faces of many of these “outsiders”, but we don’t have significant past histories with them.

But even within the hallowed circle, all is not equal. In fact, your social world consists of a series of circles of friendship, running from an inner core of about five intimates, through a series of layers of increasing size but declining intimacy until we arrive at the cliff edge at 150.

One slightly curious feature of this social world is the extent to which we people it preferentially with kin. Kinship, it seems, still has a singularly strong hold over us. We have examined large numbers of personal social networks - all laboriously and generously listed by long-suffering subjects in our studies - and there is a very striking tendecy for the number of friends to be inversely related to the number of kin included. Especially so from those who come from very large extended families, who as a result have fewer friends.
And kin are interesting for another reason if we don’t actively keep up our friendships, they gradually but inexorably slide down through the layers until eventually they will drop off the edge of the 150. But not so kin.
Not only are we stuck with them from birth (or marriage), but we can ignore them and abuse them and they will still come to our aid in a way that no similarly abused friend would ever do.

But for the rest, it is the opportunities that we have to interact that lie at the core of building relationships. We have to work at it in ways that only seem to work well if we do it face-to-face. There is no substitute, it seems, for doing stuff together if you really want to get to know someone to the point where you have a reciprocal level of intimacy, trust and obligation. It’s got something to do with triggering deeply buried emotional responses that need to be physically triggered by touch, smell and sight.

And this is where the virtual world of the internet lets us down. Yes, we can list 1,000 names on our social network site, but names is precisely all they are unless we have first grappled with them in the flesh.
The bottom line is that a touch is worth a thousand words. In real life, we gain signals about an individual’s true feelings and honesty from a touch taht we simply cannot replicate virtually on the internet.

And that’s why it is easy to be deceived by that terribly nice young man in Nigeria. In real life, ever senistive to subtle hard-to-disguise signals of the underlying intentions, we would never fall for this so quickly. It’s the way someone smiles at you that we notice, not just the fact that he smiled.

For those who don’t fall prey to scammers, our internet world is not that different from our everyday life. Most of the traffic on a website, or the texts that stream out of the mobile phones of our children, are directed at small numbers of individuals. And when we hit the keyboard on our own SNS, we seem to assume we are speaking directly to that handful of intimates.
We think we are engaged in one of those intimate late-night conversations. But on social network sites many other are peering in. It’s another version of those infuriatingly public mobile phone calls on trains.

For some, that’s the whole point: for them, a blog or an SNS is just a lighthouse beaming out its message to the anonymous world, a form of exhibitionism that offers its own pleasures. But the lesson that the world is full of voyeurs whom you don’t necessarily want to see the photos of your drunken behaviour in Ibiza takes time to learn. That’s why, in the end, SNSs have introduced options for censoring who has access to what parts of your life.

In real life, our social network consists of semi-isolated sets of people - family, work friends, the group with whom we play football at the weekend, the painting class we attend on Tuesdays and sometimes go on outings with. Most of us maintain different personas for each of these worlds, for they are just sufficiently isolated from each other to allow us to do that. The internet has cut a swath right through taht. Everyone from Granny to the stranger with whom we carelessly swapped addresses at that party now see the same “us” whether we like it or not. Defriending has become a necessary part of the SNS toolkit.

The internet has had another unexpecteed effect. Those indefinably special friendships of the late teens adn early twenties reappear casually on Friends Reunited. Forged in the white-hot heat of the emotionally most turbulent period of our lives, there is something deeply enduring about these relationships. Not a few old flames have been rekindled, sometimes fatally disturbing current relationships.

This is a reminder that some deepy meaningful relationships can remain half-buried in our minds, for ever occupying slots in a way that prevents later friends reaching those coveted innermost five positions of greatest intimacy. More evidence, perhaps, that our social world is limited by our capacity to manage relationships.

Blogging is almost the grandfather of social media. There are millions of blogs and bloggers worldwide, some read by millions, others by only a few.But, done properly, blogs can be a very important part of social media marketing for small businesses. Here’s why:

Convey your brand personality - even the best websites can be a bit dull. The best way to spice up your site is to include a blog. Here you can be more informal and get across your personality and the personality of your brand.

Demonstrate your knowledge, experience or expertise - blogging is a great way to demonstrate that you know what you are talking about. By going into greater depth on a subject you will engage with your visitors and demonstrate your knowledge

Make your website feel alive and up to date - static business websites can often feel as though they are ignored and are rarely updated. A blog will give regular, dynamic content that is changing on a frequent basis.

Give your customers added value - by blogging regularly, you can give visitors yet another reason to come back and visit your site, especially if you are using RSS or Twitter to send out updates about your recent posts
Help with search engine optimisation - a blog is a great way to build extra visibility with the search engines. Make sure your content is relevant and includes plenty of your popular search keywords.

Give visitors a reason to buy - whilst your website will give visitors lots of information about your products or services, your blog will offer a way for you to demonstrate why they are important or valuable. This could be through tips, guidance or possibly even case studies.

Become a thought leader - by blogging on a regular basis, you will build up a following in your industry and this will improve your recognition and publicity far and beyond your traditional customer base.

Valuable content for other social media channels - with so many social media networks out there, the challenge is often knowing exactly what content to share. Having regular blog posts provides a vast array of new, fresh content that you can tweet or share to your heart’s content!

Show you care - the time and effort that you dedicate to blogging will show to your website visitors that you really care about this business and are happy to go that extra mile

Embrace the blogosphere - blogging isn’t the end of the matter. If you are really going to make a blogging strategy successful, you need to be out there in the blogosphere commenting on other blogs and joining in the conversation. If you do this, your blog will be better known and your traffic will really start to grow
What else is there? What other reasons do you have for why small businesses should blog? Let us know in the comments!

By Social Small Biz on November 29, 2009

Apple’s new iPad at first might look like a bigger version of the iPhone although it has the capabilities to change the way publishers sell content and help package goods. As a multimedia tablet it supports not only textbooks but also video, audio and whole heap of applications, 140,000 o of which are out already. Best of all you can pick one up for as little as $499. So how will this effect the media market?

1. Paid content gets more attractive. Suddenly major publishers will have the opportunity to sell their content on a subscription basis, bundled into your monthly iPad contract. A bit like Spotifyselling music on their platform. You have the option to buy advertisement funded content or if you want it uninterrupted just subscribe.

2. Social Media subscription. Suddenly we will have social networking application which be designed for Apple iPad only. What are the advantages? Firstly you have a big enough screen to navigagte easily. It will help form a niche social network which will work like real social networking events. It will work online when you are away (via video chat perhaps?) and will require you to hold up the iPad in your hand when you are physically networking to identify the members. Great example of online meets offline.

3. News readers. Apple iPad will become the preferred gadget for news readers on your television. They will ditch their bulky laptops and embrace the iPad. This will happen sooner than you think!

4. Video game market. More video games will be released on a 12/18 months contract basis. Games as a Service (GaaS). This will bring the prices down and distribute the cost to a affordable monthly payment. Making game publishers a recurring revenue and boosting sales by making it affordable.

5. iTunes will be your digital subscription Walmart. If you haven’t still realised iTunes now sells anything from video, music, applications, e-Books and games. More so it will become the one stop shop to buy anything digital, whether it’s news, jokes, video games, social networking etc. In essence like your local Walmart store.

6. Movie premier on iPad. As iPad becomes popular there will be movies which will be released on it before they hit DVDs. It’s already happening to an extent on iTunes but now the tablet has given us a reason, especially for people who spend a awful amount of time commuting everyday.

7. iPad ready websites. Soon we will have wesbites compatible with the ipad i.e. they will render the experience to fit your iPad. A bit like iPhone/iTouch websites (example Facebook iPhone). These will provide new opportunities for web developers and publishers, providing a new range of rich media pages and e-commerce transactions. iPad-commerce?

In conclusion, these 7 changes are only the tip of the iceberg. We will see a wide variety of innovative products and services on the iPad. The mobility, screen size and mainly the prize have really made this an exciting opportunity for publishers and consumers.

He may not be the youngest kid to write an iPhone app, but 11-year old Cameron is wise beyond his years. He is donating a substantial part of the proceeds from his drawing app iSketch to the Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA.

Writing to Crunchgear, Cameron’s father explains the situation:

My son Cameron is 11 years old and, last year, he had a medical problem that prevented him from participating in the physical activities he otherwise enjoys. (He is nearly fully recovered.) During that time, Cameron became interested in computers, and he began to read anything he could get his hands on. He watched Stanford University professors on iTunes, scoured the web for articles on programming and taught himself several different programming languages. (Neither my wife nor I have any idea how to program.)

Cameron began to focus on the iPhone and iPod touch devices as the “apps” offered for sale for use on those devices seemed really cool to him. He began to work on a few different apps. After completing some summer camps on programming and continuing to read and learn, Cameron finalized an app, which he calls iSketch, and submit it to Apple. The app, which is a painting/drawing program, was approved by Apple for sale on its App Store in December. (He has since updated it several times..)

Inspired by the care he received at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital, Cameron has dedicated a substantial portion of the proceeds from his sales to purchase entertainment and electronic items for Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA’s Child Life/Child Development programs in Westwood and Santa Monica so that pre-teens and teens will have additional age-appropriate options available to them during their Hospital stays. Cameron’s sales so far have been good, but he hopes to accelerate them so that he can donate even more to the Hospital.

source: www.gizmodo.com

We are often asked why we pay our Brand Ambassadors on a P.A.Y.E (employed) basis and we understand that it is a grey area for many as different agencies have varying approaches to the legislation.

The below guidelines are taken from the Inland Revenue website and will help you (The Mashers) to understand your employment status with us.

~~~~~~~

In most cases your employment status will be straightforward. In general terms, you are employed if you work for someone and don’t have the risks of running the business.

You are self-employed if you are in business for yourself and are responsible for the success or failure of that business. To help you check your employment status, answer the following questions.

These also apply if you are a casual or part-time worker. If you have more than one job the same questions apply for each job.

Employed - if you answer yes to most of the questions you are likely to be employed:

• Do you have to do the work yourself?
• Can someone tell you where to work, when to work, how to work or what to do?
• Can someone move you from task to task?
• Do you have to work a set number of hours?
• Are you paid a regular wage or salary?
• Can you get overtime pay or bonus payments?
• Are you responsible for managing anyone else engaged by the person or company that you are working for?

Self-employed - if you answer yes to one or more of the questions you are likely to be self-employed.

• Can you hire someone to do the work, or take on he
lpers at your own expense?
• Can you decide where to provide the services of the job, when to work, how to work
and what to do?
• Can you make a loss as well as a profit?
• Do you agree to do a job for a fixed price regardless of how long the job may take?

If you can’t answer yes to any of the above questions, you are still likely to be self-employed if you can answer yes to most of the following questions.

• Do you risk your own money?
• Do you provide the main items of equipment (not the tools that many employees
provide for themselves) needed to do the job?
• Do you regularly work for a number of different people and require business set up
in order to do so?
• Do you have to correct unsatisfactory work in your own time and at your own expense?

For more information please go to:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/es-fs1.pdf

Peter hails from the Southampton area but his enthusiasm for the job and indeed for Mash spreads far and wide.

A real professional who works with a smile on his face and an attitude that really brings the best out of others.

Peter has been with Mash just under a year but in that time has received fantastic feedback throughout his Mash work and in particular for his work in the NHS Choices and Malibu campaigns.

Peter’s passion for all things Mash and his complete professionalism have led to him being recruited as our South Coast Brand Champion so look out for interview dates in the South Coast area soon.

Our Masher of the Month’s also take part in our new charitable initiative we are running here at MASH. For each every job that we win, we are going to be providing an interest free loan to an entrepreneur in need, on our client’s behalf. The way it works is that we provide an interest free loan of $50 to a low-income entrepreneur somewhere in the world, through our friends over at KIVA. You (the Masher of the Month ) choose who to lend to - whether a baker in Afghanistan, a goat herder in Uganda, a farmer in Peru, a restaurateur in Cambodia, or a tailor in Iraq, and WE provide the loan.

It’s a powerful and sustainable way to empower someone right now to lift themselves out of poverty.

Here’s Pete’s response to the great news…

“Hi Guys,

Thanks so much for making me Masher of the month, it was a lovely surprise.

Big thanks to Andrew, he’s been a great guy to work for on Malibu. Always friendly supportive and understanding, just what an EM needs when their out in the field.

After much deliberation, I’ve decided that Bose Patrick, the nice lady who sells gin in Nigeria should get our money. It seems only right that the gin should flow, while I celebrate.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=167745&_tpos=2&_tpg=1

Good work Pete! Here’s to a cracking 2010.

Ali Ali joined Mash in August 2008 and quickly became a consistently top performer in his first ever year in the field. Highlights include:

o Top performer on Thorntons Sept ‘08

o Stepped in last minute and travelled all the way to Kent as last minute replacement for Maddie on Virgin trains

o Didn’t make a fuss when we asked him to dress up in some ridiculous costumes.

o Received the following feedback on his first job in a supervisory role (Aviva): “Many thanks for the merchandising staff you supplied for Crystal Palace - all were fantastic but especially the supervisor Ali Ali. I was very busy running around the large stadium, and Ali kept everyone fully informed and under control - a real credit to your agency!”

o Dressed up as Rochdale FC’s mascot Desmond the Dragon

Our Mashers of the Month also take part in our new charitable initiative we are running here at MASH.  For each Masher of the Month award, we are going to be providing an interest free loan to an entrepreneur in need, on our client’s behalf. The way it works is that we provide an interest free loan of $50 to a low-income entrepreneur somewhere in the world, through our friends over at KIVA. The Masher of the Month chooses who to lend to - whether a baker in Afghanistan, a goat herder in Uganda, a farmer in Peru, a restaurateur in Cambodia, or a tailor in Iraq, and WE provide the loan.

It’s a powerful and sustainable way to empower someone right now to lift themselves out of poverty.

Here’s Ali’s response to the great news…

“Well I am shocked…I didn’t expect it at all. It has been a pleasure working for MASH since I joined, you guys are a great team there..can you send my thanks to the whole team please.

The jobs I have been involed in have been a great laugh, I just try and do my best when booked in.

Its great news that MASH are involed in helping provety.I would like to pick ZAIN AL ABDEEN in Lebanon

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=167507&_tpos=1&_tpg=1

Good work Ali - here’s to a cracking 2010.

Mash were out in force at the Annual Field Marketing and Brand Experience Awards at the Marriot Mayfair last night.

We received a ‘highly recommended’ Silver Award once again. We felt we were in with a really strong chance of Gold but no matter, it was still an awesome night and we’re over the moon at the success of this year.

We have delivered over 235 projects this year alone, working with some of the coolest brands on the planet at gigs, festivals and events all over the UK and Europe. We have a lot of work in the pipeline for 2010 already, some of which we will start planning and booking very soon. We’ve also got an awesome new development on the database front and hugely improved interactivity in the new phase of the website.

Lots to come, and lots to celebrate.

Not least our Mashers themselves. Without them nothing would be possible and as if to prove this very point - a team of our girls and guys did us immensely proud at the awards last night effortlessly hosting the guests and presenting the awards - with class and professionalism that only Mash can offer!

Here’s to a fantastic year ahead.