Digital Love

I went to a very interesting event yesterday, organised by Figaro Digital, which they billed as a “digital health check”. In fact it was more like digital speed-dating – they had invited a number of companies that deliver elements of digital marketing and communication (from website design to online video to search to e-mail marketing to server hosting) and these companies gave presentations and were available for on-on-one discussions. All the participants had sent in forms in advance explaining what would were interested in, and then we had a tailor-made schedule for the day, with a combination of presentations and meetings. I met several digital agencies, plus people doing search optimisation, e-mail and hosting. We’re planning to redesign one of our sites, and the whole thing was incredibly useful as part of the preparation of that process. It was a bit like when you are directing a theatre show, you don’t need to operate the lights, but it’s useful to know a little bit about what they do and why they are important. So I feel I’m better equipped now to ask the right questions when it comes to tendering for the work for the website. It also meant that I could find some companies out there prepared to go through a public sector tendering process, something I have found in the past is in no way a given! Although I often felt like an O-level student who had stumbled into a university lecture, it was definitely a good use of a day.