are these the most amazing chocolate baubles you have ever seen?

Well Ruth's amazing chocolate baubles are the current Most Wanted in the Scotsman Saturday magazine.. and no wonder they are fantastic. The Scotsman call them the most amazing chocolate baubles they have ever seen due to their detail - just too good to eat! Well done Ruth and David - and Well Done too on your gorgeous freshly extended retail shop - minus the stock I bought!!

lots of chocolate tasting on wednesday

The newly extended Cocoa Black shop opens its doors this Wednesday 7th Dec in Peebles - I am looking forward to going down there and seeing the new shop which is much larger now and will be a very effective vehicle and showcase for David and Ruth. Look forward to some sampling too - they are going to be doing Chocolate Afternoon Teas and Ruth will be holding regular demo's too. Shoud be a good one and chance for last minute Christmas shopping too.

CHRISTMAS GIFTS

Well it's great to say that you enjoy what you do and I am certainly enjoying carrying out the PR at the moment for Esmond at Ecooldesigns - it is going very well. It was the one account I really wanted to do because I just loved his products the first time I saw them, especially the large tea light dice, the whole Cool Fire Collection actually - who would have thought that recycled aircraft aluminium could produce such a great result, so sleek and shiny! Esmond gave me a set of the champagne flutes which was very good of him and they have been greatly admired. As I though the media have reacted well to his products and the story behind the firm- he has been on the front page of SOS business section with the folding chair and was in the Spectrum Gift Guide too with the large dice - they pitched it as glam accessory for the man about town, something you would see in a Games Room or something like that which is definitely the case - it's a very unisex product though I think. So we are looking forward to the products apperaing on many of these designs blogs that you see, its an ideal product for this and we are also hoping for a few more Gift Guide mentions before Christmas - Daily Mail next weekend - I really want Esmond to see the benefits of PR and get the items shifted!

confectioners of the year!! Cocoa Black triumph

Yes it was a win for Cocoa Black - they are the Confectioners of the Year! Well Done to them, beating well established firms who have been around for 20 years or so - and its a real coup for a Scottish Company too - putting the Borders on the foodie map again.

Ruth met Richard Madeley who was compering the event and he presented her with her trophy. She deserves it and next stop is the UK Chocolate Masters again.

Plus I can't wait to see their new and extended shop at Cuddy Bridge!

craigsanquhar PR kicks off in style

It hasn't taken very long to attract some of the biggest names in travel journalism to come to my new client Craigsanquhar House and Estate near Cupar in Fife. I know they won't be disappointed... we had Adrian Caffrey from Birmingham Mail here this weekend and coming up soon is Tom Little from the Edinburgh Evening News; Gaby Soutar from the Scotsman and Fiona Leith who is covering the estate for a Do Not Disturb. The Daily Record and Scottish Daily Express are also covering it.

Its a fabulous place and I look forward to making it better known - PR is definitely the way to go!
My thanks to attractions in St Andrews such as the British Golf Museum and the Secret Bunker for agreeing to provide journalists with free tours too - lets show off the Kingdom of Fife!
Exploring Fife is another great organisation who have agreed to partner us and will also assist journalists who wnats to try out some walking and visits to places of interest nearby.

Latest media testimonial for me

I am indebited to Gordon Blackstock from the Sunday Post who has been the latest journalist to say some nice words about me for the testimonial section on my website. He says: "I 've always found Advantage PR an extremely professional busines to deal with. A lot of PR firms fail to grasp what journalists are looking for, the deadlines we may be under and that not all publications are the same. But Advantage PR have always been able to respond to my queries promptly as well as having an in-depth knowledge of what our readers are looking for in a feature." Thanks, Gordon!

more success for cocoa black!!

Congrats to Ruth and David Hinks at Cocoa Black who have been selected as finalists in the Confectioner of the Year Awards as part of the British Bakery Awards. Cocoa Black have been winning so many awards recently that my press releases can hardly keep up.. it wil be a few weeks I think til they find out if this latest accolade is theirs but let's hope so - Ruth's work is absolutely superb and she woud be a very worthy winner - what an honour for the Scottish Borders once again as well as the last winners were from London. Cocoa Black are also going to feature in a new prestigious TV series called Chocolate Unwrapped which will be shown throughout the world!

craigsanquhar house by cupar

I am delighted to announce that I have a new client in Craigsanquhar House by Cupar in Fife, a real hidden gem if ever there was one, a truly gorgeous country house hotel and estate with real wow factor self catering lodges which have to be seen to be believed. Looking forward to getting them some great brand building coverage - lets get the word out there that this place is fantastic for weddings, events, team building etc - and all in the lovely Kingdom of Fife. Its certainly nice to have another client in the Kingdom.

Highland Safaris Go Wild Day - more elements added to the mix!

Looking forward to trying out the inflatable assault course that the Black Watch cadets are bringing to Highland Safaris Go Wild Day - this is its debut and it should be fun to try - might have a go myself. I am also taking part in the Big Bertha Challenge this Wed in Pittencrieff Park in Dunfermline with my British Military Fitness colleagues - sounds like a real challenge right enough as you build a canon in teams. And I have also found that the Tayside Mountain Rescue are bringing their Rescue Dogs to the Go Wild Day too - they will explain just how they learn to find people lost on the hills - should be very interesting and another crowd pleaser.

highland safaris go wild day 2011 - line up revealed and great new charity beneficiary

I am delighted to announce that I am sponsoring the falconry display at my client Highland Safaris Go Wild Day 2011 taking place on Thursday4th August at the Safari Lodge. This annual event is a great day out for locals and visitors to the area alike and this year has a great new charity benefitting from the cause - Tayside Mountain Rescue. Many peope will not realise that the TMR are a registered charity, I know I didn't and it is assumed that this vital service is paid for by the Government but that is not the case and a 25-30 amn team takes £30,000 a year to run and it operates 24/7 365 days a year - a really important service saving many lives! Donald and Julie at Highland Safaris have decided that the TMR are this year's charity benefitting from Go Wild Day and a very worthy one they are indeed and I hope that my sponsorship money helps them out even a little bit - I have suggested to Donald that some other companies may want to come in and sponsor specific elements of the day - there is the Gold and Gem Panning Championships too and Bushcraft Workshops, Highland Warriers Display and lots more - as well as stalls from the RSPB anf Help for Heroes. Children will be delighted with the BBQ and bouncy Castles and of course everyone can try out BikeTRAX this year - the new Mountain bike skills loop. I am really looking forward to it and taking my own family along.

Trip to the offices of the scotsman/edinburgh evening news

Well I am delighted to say that my trip to the Edinburgh Evening News with the senior media students from Dunfermline High School on Monday went very well - the ten students who attended found it very interesting and there are a few amongst them who are very serious about a career in journalism. We were shown round the spacious and airy offices by Tom Little, the Editor of the Evening News - our thanks go to him for putting so much time and effort into the trip. His informative staff also each talked about their own specialities - so we had an insight into the picture desk; newsdesk; sports desk and production and so on. I am keen to arrange other trips for the students to other publications, maybe even some TV and radio stations too, who knows? It is something that I am enjoying myself very much and it is great to see the students getting a love of the subject and discovering like me that media studies can open up some great career opportunities for the future.

Congrats to Pitlochry Festival Theatre from Atholl Palace Hotel

The Atholl Palace Hotel handed over a gorgeous decorated cake on the theme of My Fair Lady to the Atholl Palace Hotel in Pitlochry to celebrate the theatre's 60th Birthday. That was the original story with my client Dougal going over there with the plan of having some pictures taken - but then we found out that the actor Joss Ackland was going to be there as they were having a special Anniversary Gala Dinner. Mr Ackland was then given the cake in front of the audience and cut it up to be enjoyed by cast and crew. It turned into a great story and my thanks to everyone at the theatre especially Giles Conisbee and of course the lady who made the cake - it photographed very well and I am sure it was delicious too! Mr Ackland was then staying at the Atholl Palace for the night so I hope he enjoyed that too.

ECOOLDESIGNS!! THEY ARE COOL

I am waiting and hoping to hear in July if I have the go-ahead to commence PR for an exciting new client called Ecooldesigns who have some fabulous products I would be happy to have in my own home - any excuse! I particularly love their dice tea light holder - it is gorgeous and is going to be massive. Their products are all very innovative with great PR mileage as many are made from recycled materials - yet they are chic and stylish, nothing shabby there - I am already thinking about feature opportunities for them - it is very exciting when something new comes along, especially a client who has never used PR before but has already had the very good sense to identify that here is a cost effective way to gain profile - rather than just rushing to book advertising. I know they won't be disppapointed if they do appoint me - watch this space.

I have also recently put in a price for a lovely project next February - the snowdrop festival at Cambo Estate which would be a great seasonal campaign to work on - and right on my own patch in Fife.

And I have recently pitched for some work at Cardona Hotel in Peebles - another lovely part of the world where I seem to spend a lot of time! The Hotel is beautiful, once again the setting blew me away just like Atholl Palace.

FIRST WINNER OF MY INAUGURAL PR TROPHY AT DUNFERMLINE HIGH SCHOOL

I am delighted to say that the first winner of my Excellence in the Higher Media Class trophy at Dunfermline High School is Ian McLaren who was presented with his trophy last night at the school. A very worthy winner, Ian tells me he is going to study at Stirling University - just like I did. I thoroughly enjoyed the Awards presentation and am glad to say that there a great many more awards given out in all different subjects nowadays - including Media Studies now of course, a truly great and extremely interesting subject. I wish Ian all the very best and I am always here for advice if he ever wants to email or call me to get in touch as his career progresses.

Trip to the offices of the scotsman

This coming Monday 20th June I am taking ten senior pupils from Dunfermline High School to the offices of the Scotsman and Edinburgh Evening News - it's part of the sponsorship work I have been doing with the school since I put forward the new prize for Excellence in the Higher Media Class. My thanks go to the Editor of the EEN Tom Little who has agreed to show us around the offices and answer a few questions. I am hoping it will be a very informative trip for those students perhaps wanting to enter journalism as a career or even PR because as we all know us PR people have to do all we can to get to know journalists personally and not just be the annoying voice on the phone! So there are more than a few people I myself will want to meet.