Two bits of excellent news. First, there's a conference for copywriters and wordsmiths happening in Bournemouth on 18th May this year. And second, readers of the Creativepool blog can enjoy a special discount.
The event has been pulled together by Bournemouth University Media School, The UK Speechwriters' Guild and Richard Spencer, Creative Director of south coast writing agency 'A Thousand Monkeys'. Together they've persuaded a stellar cast of business writers and business owners to come along and inform and enthuse about the art of business communication.
Richard at a Thousand Monkeys says, 'By celebrating business writing in all its guises we hope we can add more quality to the art. With the explosion of social media and the world online there's a big danger of business writing becoming horribly commoditised and low value. We want to nip that in the bud by giving business writers a presence on a bigger stage.'
Come along and you'll hear the theory behind good communication and experts will be sharing their own experiences. And they promise to mix it up with some humour and examples of the best work out there. Speakers include:
Phillip Khan-Panni
Phillip is the UK Business Speaker of the Year. He is also a professional copywriter. He is the author of eight business books, the latest one being The FT Guide to Making Business Presentations.
Nick Parker
Nick is Creative Director for The Writer. He's helped all sorts of organisations make their words work harder: from cool brands like MTV, to global firms like PwC and regulatory bodies like Ofgem. He writes regularly about language in the national press, and wrote a monthly column for Director magazine about business jargon. Before joining The Writer, he was deputy editor of The Oldie magazine.
Sarah McCartney
For 14 years Sarah McCartney was Lush's top writer, and during her time there the company grew from 10 to 700 shops worldwide. Now she works with UK tone of voice company Afia as Head of Ideas, and US creative agency The Odyssey Network, copywriting and running workshops to inspire better writing and creative thinking.
Her third business book, 100 Great Branding Ideas, was published by Marshall Cavendish in January 2012. Her talk will be titled: We're All Writers These Days.
Andy Maslen FIDM
Andy Maslen is Managing Director of Sunfish Ltd, a copywriting agency specialising in corporate publicity, direct marketing and subscriptions. He writes and speaks regularly on copywriting and corporate communications and is the best-selling author of Write to Sell: the Ultimate Guide to Great Copywriting.
Reg Starkey
After studying French in Paris, Law in London and Advertising in Watford, Reg started work as a copywriter when the Dead Sea was only poorly. His agencies included KMP, Y & R, BFMO & S and GBH. His work has been recognised with national and international awards, including a Clio for radio in New York. The American Education Foundation has recently put the book he co-wrote last year - The New Millennium Tales on its recommended reading list. His speech will be titled: 'Two Quick Easy Ways to Write Ads - And a Hard Alternative That Works Immeasurably Better.'
Alan Barker
Alan Barker is Managing Director of Kairos Training. He has worked for over 20 years with a wide range of organisations, helping people think more clearly and communicate more compellingly. Author of 13 books: his Improve Your Communication Skills is now in its third edition. His latest book, How to Solve Absolutely Any Problem, will be published by Pearson later this year. Alan will run a session called Copywriting for non-copywriters.
Matthew Male
Matthew is the English language consultant from Future Perfect, ensuring that written communications, on which image, reputation and professional credibility rely, are beyond reproach from even the most discerning reader.
Yay! Special discounted tickets for friends of Creativepool
It's easy. When you buy a ticket simply enter 'Monkey' into the promotion box and you and your friends can save £25 on the ticket price. Tickets available here: www.wordsthatsell.eventbrite.com
The event is happening at: Bournemouth University Business School
Executive Business Centre
89 Holdenhurst Road
BH8 8EB Bournemouth
United Kingdom
Friday, 18 May 2012 from 09:30 to 16:30
Sure, I'll be in attendance. But don't let that put you off.
John Fountain is a freelance copywriter
Follow @fountainjohn
