Is it really THIRTY years Ago?

The last referendum held in the UK was 30 years ago apparently, and asked people to decide on whether or not we should remain in the Common Market.

I remember it well because on that particular day I was one of the additional roadies recruited to help unload and set up for The Police who were playing a gig that night at Birmingham Town Hall. I was the only one who went off to cast my vote (in favour of staying in the EEC if you’re interested) once we’d got all the equipment and PA installed.

It was pretty tough going, even for a fit youngster which I was in those days, so when we came across a couple of crates of lager we thought it was a very kind gesture to reward our efforts with some much needed refreshments. Of course they were really destined for back stage and naturally we knew nothing about their disappearance when ‘the alarm was raised’. I’m sure they knew damn well who had had them away but we escaped any retribution – we still got our £20 and got to see the concert.

In fact me and a student friend spent most of the gig sitting on the edge of a box either side of the stage holding on to the top tier of speakers that, although adorned with safety chains, were swaying precariously in time to the thump, thump, thump of the music. Did I mention that I hate heights?… that I have problems even up a step ladder?

It was a truly memorable experience, really great concert, and although it was approaching 3 in the morning by the time we finished, I went home blissfully happy (yes, we had secreted enough lager to keep us going all evening and on the journey home) with a pair of Stewart Copeland’s drum sticks. OK, it took the best part of the next day to get my hearing back to normal, but my girlfriend at the time
was thrilled when I presented her with the drum sticks and very appreciative. She dumped me a few weeks later, so with hindsight, I wish I’d hung on to them!

If you’re still deciding whether or not to vote, I urge you to go and do it. Who knows, something equally memorable might happen on the way to the polling station that you can recall in 30 years time.

Proposed New Stadium @ Booker

Now there’s very little  likelihood of me ever learning to fly a plane or a helicopter for that matter, but I’d hate to see Booker Airpark bulldozed over to provide a new stadium for Wycombe Wanderers and Wasps.

From when our twin daughters, Phoebe and Isabella, were babes in arms we’ve enjoyed going to The Pad Bar & Restaurant at Booker to watch the gliders take off and land, trainee helicopter pilots hover and swoop across the great expanse of lush green grass, and generally enjoy a pint (or two) and a bite to eat. Great place to people watch as well!

The size of development that’s under consideration at Booker would have an horrendous knock on effect not just for residents of Lane End but for Marlow people as well. Disruption during the building works for months on end and nightmare traffic problems every time there was a match, on top of losing this area of Green Belt. Add the hundreds of cars coming and going every day if the proposed additional housing along with a hotel and conference facility and we could be looking at grid lock at peak times/rush hour.

Currently, neither Wanderers or Wasps fill the present stadium to capacity on a regular basis, so the argument for relocating to provide a much needed bigger stadium is pretty spurious. Even if the option of expanding the existing stadium is not a tenable one, there are more acceptable solutions than the Booker option. Far better to look at one of the five Brownfield sites again that have been earmarked for development before we start surrendering our Green Belt.

Wasps have threatened to up sticks and relocate if they don’t get their way. Much as I admire them as a team (I’m an ex rugby player myself) I say let them leave if by them staying it means the destruction of Booker.

It will be interesting to see if there’s any fall out for any of the sitting Conservative councilors who have backed the new stadium proposal at Booker. Not long to wait now.

Whoever you decide to support and however you decide to vote in the referendum, please at least make the effort if you haven’t already done so by post. I think we should follow Australia’s example and make it compulsory for people to vote in all our elections, even if it’s just putting a cross against ‘none of the above’.

No one has the right to moan about what our elected representatives do in our name if they can’t be bothered to use their right to vote.

To AV or not to AV?

To AV or not to AV?.

To AV or not to AV?

Well I’m not enamoured with our current first past the post system, but I don’t believe AV is the way forward to create a fairer system. If we were voting for PR that would be a totally different matter; I’ve been in favour of Proportional Representation for a long time.

In fact, if Labour had agreed to hold a referendum on PR with in a year when they were in post election negotiations with the Lib Dems, we’d be debating how well the Labour/Lib Dem coalition government were doing and I’d be voting for PR tomorrow.

The Tories would never have got their party members to accept a referendum on PR so agreeing to a vote on AV was the compromise sop to the Lib Dems in the hope of building up Cleggs standing in the country.

The odds are stacked against the yes campaigners, particularly if as expected, it’s a low turn out tomorrow. There certainly won’t be another referendum on changing the voting system before the next election that’s for sure.

The council should ask the people what they want more than every 4 years

I, like many people I talk to, am not sure that all our elected representatives actively seek the views of their constituents let alone listen to them. I’d like to see the quarterly Marlovian magazine that’s delivered to every household in Marlow used for more than just highlighting what the mayor has been up to lately; don’t get me wrong, I do support the office of mayor when it’s used to raise money for local charities and organisations and to promote Marlow in a positive way. Though more often than not, you’ll find exactly the same stories have already appeared in The Marlow and Bucks Free Press along with The Maidenhead Advertiser.

I’m all for communication, but it should be a two way affair. I’d like to include a Freepost survey in every edition of the Marlovian that asks residents some pertinent questions and gives everyone an opportunity to give their opinion on the burning issues of the day. This could be funded by reducing the size of the magazine from A4 to A5 and maybe even inviting a local company/organisation to sponsor the survey. I’d also want to promote the town’s web site forum much more and encourage locals to utilise it again to foster some debate about Marlow and it’s future, but a Freepost survey would be all inclusive and not deny those who have not got access to a computer or the internet a voice.

I’m in the fortunate position as a director of our local community radio station Marlow FM 97.5 and as a regular presenter to be able to invite our elected representatives to answer questions, give information and explain policies live on air. I intend to devote one of my regular lunchtime slots, the first Wednesday in every month, to Q & A’s so that listeners can have the opportunity to talk to their elected representatives and appointed civil servants about anything and everything that affects Marlow. And should I have the good fortune to be elected myself, one of my fellow co presenters on the lunchtime show would do the honours and pose the questions to me.

I’d also like to try and organise a regular open meeting or town debate along the lines of Any Questions which would be recorded for future broadcast and be another good barometer of current public opinion.

I like to think that I will Walk The Walk and not just Talk the Talk…

Marlow Town Council Election. Why vote for me?

Yes, it is the same Paul Mansell who has stood as a candidate for the Labour Party at town, district and county council elections over the past 24 years. Brought up in a South Yorkshire mining community, with a grandfather who was an NUM shop steward, and many school friends who chose to work in the local collieries whilst he went off to art college. The same friends who he stood shoulder to shoulder with on the picket lines and who were charged down by mounted police.

I couldn’t grow up to be anything but a socialist, and equally, being taken along to church every Sunday morning and evening, it was no surprise that I would accept being a member of The Church of England as the norm. Like my elder brother and my father before me, I sang in the church choir and then when my voice broke I became a server. At aged 19 I was made Master Server, much to the chagrin of many of the regular and established ‘christian church goers’ who didn’t like a young long haired hippy assisting their priest at the altar. My father didn’t much like me having long hair either and he would go on at me to get my hair cut on a daily basis, but I’ll give him his due, if anyone else cast aspersions on me he would back me up 100%.

My father despised Arthur Scargill and was a great supporter of Ted Heath, so you can imagine that we would hardly see eye to eye on most things political. My dad always thought that my mum voted the same way as he did; in fact he took it for granted. In reality, my mum revealed many years later that she’d always voted Labour the same as me. I’m pleased to say that before my dad died, we were definitely as one in our outlook on life and we agreed on far more things than we disagreed. It wasn’t me that had changed my fundamental beliefs though I hasten to add.

I didn’t renew my Labour Party membership of close on 30 years last year. I didn’t agree with Blair taking us into the Iraq war, was pretty incensed when I didn’t even get to vote on whether or not I wanted Brown as leader of the party, let alone prime minister (which, by the way, I didn’t), and I’m afraid I just became totally disillusioned with party politics if the truth be known.

I believe that at local level, and certainly at the level of town council that common sense should prevail rather than party dogma. I respect those hard working elected representatives who care about the community and want to make a difference whatever party they happen to be in. I may not necessarily share many of the views that Richard Scott holds, and I daresay he would say the same about me, but that hasn’t stopped us successfully working together as fellow directors to the benefit of Marlow FM 97.5.

Luckily, we’re not launching our new FM radio service until after the May 5th Elections on Wednesday 11th May, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to present any of the shows on Marlow FM 97.5 that I’m so looking forward to bringing to listeners in Marlow and beyond. There are strict OfCOM rules and regulations that govern broadcasting during an election campaign and life can become very stressful for presenters who have to maintain a fair and equal balance between the coverage for each party. It has been know for party representatives to sit with a stop watch whilst the candidates are quizzed to make sure that their man (or woman) has had the same amount of time to put forward their views as the others. Certainly no candidate who is a regular broadcaster can continue to present for the duration of any campaign. So, if I happen to get elected at least next time around in four years time you’d get a break from having to listen to me on Marlow FM 97.5.

That could be some big ‘if’ however as I’m very much aware that it won’t be an easy task going solo as it were with no supporters to rely on, but I’m going to give it my best shot.

My father always said to me, ‘Always aim for the highest…’

Beat the increase in paper prices

Hoorah for the chance to have a lot of fun with the kids in the snow. OK, not good if you really felt it crucial you had to be somewhere and frustratingly you just couldn’t make it, but life goes on and as a nation we cope.

With each day seemingly bringing more doom and gloom I think it probably did us all a good turn by making us review our perspectives on life if only for a few brief moments building that snowman or hitting the intended target spot on with that snowball. I don’t know who were the biggest kids; me and my wife or our daughters and their class mates?

I’ve no desire to break the spell or add to anyone’s woes, but I feel I need to make businesses aware that paper prices will be increasing from March 1st for some ranges, but come April 1st all stock will have gone up by between 5-10% depending on the material/finish. So if you were planning on renewing your stationery, producing a mailing campaign or that company report, you may be wise to place the order with your supplier now if you can and agree a price before the increases come into effect.

Not only may it be an opportune time to get your company stationery or sales literature printed this month, it may be worth considering reviewing your company image. I’ve actually just gone through the process myself after discussions with my personal marketing adviser. Usual scenario, the things you know you ought to be implementing yourself that you’re encouraging your clients to do get shoved down the list of things to do when you’re ‘busy’. For someone who promotes himself as a logo and brand design specialist, I hadn’t actually reviewed whether my own image was still doing it’s job for a while. It had occurred to me that it was probably time for a change… nothing drastic, maybe just a tweak or a change of colour and typeface. As I’m also working on my new web site it was the right time to revisit my own identity so that I can launch with a fresh look and carry that across all my stationery at the same time.

And of course, the importance of having your own regular blog is something I’ve been well aware of for a long time. In fact, I have been blogging… but not for my own business, PM Graphics. One of my ‘other hats’ I wear says Marketing & PR Director for MarlowFM on it. I’ve been beavering away for over a year designing and implementing the MarlowFM brand, designing and maintaining the web site, and spreading the word about our ambitions for a full time community radio station on FM for my home town of Marlow whenever and however I can.
I also schedule the station’s output and present shows myself on a regular basis. Add to this my role of taxi driver for my twin 11 year olds, and you can probably guess I have had time management problems.

I’d like to thank Nigel Temple for introducing me to The Marketing Compass.
A combination of constructive nagging on his part and my own guilt have spurred me into action to at least get this first blog aimed at providing business start-ups and small businesses in particular what I hope will be some useful insights into the world of graphic design, print and digital publishing… and also raise the odd smile along the way.

Feel free to contact me to follow up on anything… even if it’s just to compare the size of our snow men!

Beat the increase in Paper Prices

Hurrah for the chance to have a lot of fun with the kids in the snow. OK, not good if you really felt it crucial you had to be somewhere and frustratingly you just couldn’t make it, but life goes on and as a nation we cope.

With each day seemingly bringing more doom and gloom I think it probably did us all a good turn by making us review our perspectives on life if only for a few brief moments building that snowman or hitting the intended target spot on with that snowball. I don’t know who were the biggest kids; me and my wife or our daughters and their class mates?

I’ve no desire to break the spell or add to anyone’s woes, but I feel I need to make businesses aware that all paper prices will be increasing from March 1st for some ranges, but come April 1st all stock will have gone up by between 5-10% depending on the material/finish. So if you were planning on renewing your stationery, producing a mailing campaign or that company report, you may be wise to place the order with your supplier now if you can and agree a price before the increases come into effect.

Not only may it be an opportune time to get your company stationery or sales literature printed this month, it may be worth considering reviewing your company image. I’ve actually just gone through the process myself after discussions with my personal marketing adviser. Usual scenario, the things you know you ought to be implementing yourself that you’re encouraging your clients to do get shoved down the list of things to do when you’re ‘busy’. For someone who promotes himself as a logo and brand design specialist, I hadn’t actually reviewed whether my own image was still doing it’s job for a while. It had occurred to me that it was probably time for a change… nothing drastic, maybe just a tweak or a change of colour and typeface. As I’m also working on my new web site it was the right time to revisit my own identity so that I can launch with a fresh look and carry that across all my stationery at the same time.

And of course, the importance of having your own regular blog is something I’ve been well aware of for a long time. In fact, I have been blogging… but not for my own business, PM Graphics. One of my ‘other hats’ I wear says Marketing & PR Director for MarlowFM on it. I’ve been beavering away for over a year designing and implementing the MarlowFM brand, designing and maintaining the web site, and spreading the word about our ambitions for a full time community radio station on FM for my home town of Marlow (see http://www.marlowfm.co.uk) whenever and however I can.
I also schedule the station’s output and present shows myself on a regular basis. Add to this my role of taxi driver for my twin 11 year olds, and you can probably guess I have had time management problems.

I’d like to thank Nigel Temple for introducing me to The Marketing Compass (see www.themarketingcompass.com).
A combination of constructive nagging on his part and my own guilt have spurred me into action to at least get this first blog aimed at providing business start-ups and small businesses in particular what I hope will be some useful insights into the world of graphic design, print and digital publishing… and also raise the odd smile along the way.

Feel free to contact me to follow up on anything… even if it’s just to compare the size of our snow men!