On Sunday the 7th of March 2010, our own Co-founder Phil took part in the Paris Half-Marathon in aid of the Haiti earthquake.
Phil sprinted alongside 22,000 fellow runners on a 21,097 kilometre race through the streets of Eastern Paris. The weather was not in his favour unfortunately, with cold, wet and windy conditions.

Despite the set backs, Phil ploughed through, starting at the “Esplanade du Château de Vincennes” and finishing at the same point, with a brilliant time of 1 hour 46 minutes.
With our Account Manager Maddie currently taking part in the Big Cycle Challenge in India, we have been provided with inspiration for us all to get involved in the bigger picture.

Well done Phil!

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

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

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.

Are you a poet/novelist/songwriter? Maybe you’re in a band? What about a fashion designer? Are you a graphic artist? A filmmaker? A photographer?

Yes?  Keep reading.

Are you emerging, fearless and enquiring?

Yes? Pull up a chair. Let’s talk.

REMIX is fascinated with the idea of adaptation: in how content transfers but also how forms and skills translate. Why do we, as practitioners, choose the mediums we do to tell the stories we tell?

REMIX is looking to bring together a creative team of exciting emerging practitioners who have asserted themselves as innovators in film, theatre, fashion, music and the digital arts but who have never created a piece of theatre before. We’ll collaborate and communicate, creating a live performance with an ensemble of actors.

It doesn’t stop there. Each creative will be tasked with adapting the play into a bespoke adaptation for their own specialism. The REMIXes - the play in its five incarnations - will be launched at a live event on 29 and 30 April 2010 - alchemizing the theatre, visual art, virtual media, fashion, music and literary industries.

REMIX will steal all the best bits of all the mediums whilst leaving behind the constraints/rules. If Carlsberg made theatre…. It would be REMIX.

Where do you sign up?

If you want to play your part in creating 21st century multi-disciplinary performance for the iPod-listening, Vogue-reading, blog-writing, YouTube-watching generation then email Natalie Ibu : Artistic Director at natalieremix@googlemail.com by Friday 15 January.

In your email, detail

· Who you are and what you do.

· What you’ve done and what you want to do.

· What and who you like.

· Attach an up to date CV and portfolio.

· Include details of where and when we can see you doing your thing - whatever it may be.
… And we’ll take it from there.

Maddie George is taking part in a tough 370km cycling challenge in India to raise funds to help make a difference to those suffering from cancer.

“I am taking part in the second Big C Cycle Challenge to support the work of four special charities: Marie Curie Cancer Care; Children with Leukaemia; Ovarian cancer action and The Lymphoma Association. I will be among a group of more than 50 people from across the UK who, from 6 - 15 March 2010, will get on their bikes for the challenge. A highlight of my adventurous trip through rural Rajasthan will be a visit to the amazing Taj Mahal followed by a tough five-day cycle ride staying in campsites along the way.

This challenge is very close to my heart and my decision to do this came after I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in early 2009. In what was the most distressing part of my life, I was given support and hope from friends, strangers and charities like these, this is my way of paying something back to all the people that supported me.

Taking part in this challenge will raise funds for these charities which will enable more people to be supported through life threatening illness.

This is far from a holiday, in fact it will be a 5 day gruelling, bumpy and saddle-aching challenge, but we are doing this for all those affected by cancer and that, along with my supportive cycling buddies, will be what gets me through the cycle ride of a lifetime!

So please dig deep and donate now to help us support 4 life-changing charities: Marie Curie Cancer Care; Children with Leukaemia; Ovarian cancer action and The Lymphoma Association.

http://www.justgiving.com/Madeleine-George

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Today I ventured into the unknown, A foodies dream, a metropolis for Christmas shoppers and a celebrity chef followers heaven. Yes, it could only be the annual Birmingham Good Food Show.

Mash were there with Lavazza and had the best and biggest coffee demonstrating and sampling stand at the show, and it paid off, with the team selling 39 units in the first day!  It was exhausting enough just watching the amount of people crowding around the stand.

24 hours ago I was a GFS virgin, now I am doing the equivalent of a kiss and tell and boring anyone and everyone with what I ate, who I saw and what I bought. Who knew I needed silicone baking trays! Well I do, and my guess is if you were at the stand today, you would have too.

The Good Food Show hit fever point (imagine a Beatlemania type scene) when Jamie Oliver came to his stand for a book signing.  In our herds we thrust credit cards at the till to purchase his latest book (twice the price than in your local books shop I might add) and proceeded to wait in line for 70 minutes to spend a mere 7 seconds while Jamie signed your book. He barely looked up from the page or posed for a picture but still, with £20 less in my pocket and with very tired feet, I left the stand satisfied and triumphant.

I then, in a very organised fashion, did the rounds of the other stands eating cheese, garlic cheese, chilli cheese; Milk chocolate, white chocolate and organic chocolate;  I managed to get a fresh Gordon Ramsey salad made especially for me while I got talked into buying a griddle machine.  I tried four varieties of ginger ale wine?! Four, I didn’t even know there was one! I tried all kinds of sausages: the winner was the Lincolnshire of course.  You get the picture.

I ate and drank until I gave my self stomach ache, my feet were tired and I was growing weary so I popped by the Lavazza stand,  relaxed with a Cremo Coffee, chatted and made new friends, of course I told them I met Jamie, but they trumped me with a kiss from Marco Pierre White.

In the words of Gordon Ramsey: Good Food Show? Done.

Article written by Maddie George.

Our two co-founders are active members of an organisaton called EO (entrepreneurs organisation - www.eonetwork.org) and often come back to the office with stories of brilliance from commercial and social entrepreneurs from across the globe.  On Tuesday, they went to an EO24 Event to listen to a brilliant entrepreneur called Bill Liao, founder of Xing.com.  Bill is a serial entrepreneur, having taken part in 7 IPO’s in his career and works predominately in philanthropy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_liao).

Bill’s is currently involved in a building a new organization with resources and partners to reforest 20 Million Square Kilometers of our precious Earth.  To read more about his amazing new business, and to actively participate in helping change the World, visit his website on www.weforest.com and become a fan on facebook. http://www.facebook.com/WeForest?ref=ts

We want to help Bill achieve his goal, and hope that you’ll sign up too.  We can all make a difference.