Zeta News

Zeta is one of the hottest digital agencies on the south coast. We’re based in Poole: just minutes from the beach and a quick trot from the train station.

Our work demands and clients are growing and we need a senior / lead PHP developer to take command of all our LAMP projects.

We are looking for someone who:

• Knows that LAMP is not what sits atop a lamp post
• Writes specifications that a monkey could follow
• Can make their dinner object oriented
• Sees HTML and CSS the way Tank sees the Matrix
• Eats open source cereal for breakfast
• Has lived the Digital Agency high-life for at least 3 years
• Can order a pizza from a Linux command line
• Knows their ASP from their elbow
• Can hold an entire conversation in SQL
• Debugs code like a hungry ant-eater

It would be great if you:

• Are familiar with Zen Cart & Word Press
• Know how to implement a slick version control and release system
• Can write a bit of ActionScript when required
• Have real experience with iPhone and Android Apps
• Like to get blood on your hands with cutting edge technologies

If this is you – and you’re up for getting into bed with one of the best agencies since sliced bread – then drop us a line.

Our head office is based in Poole, Dorset: just 10 minutes from Bournemouth and two hours from London. This is where you will spend most of your time working. Although you may have the opportunity to work in our London office from time to time.

We also have a dead friendly team that is fanatical about everything digital. They’re a lovely bunch and will make sure you feel right at home. They’ll also make sure you get everything you want out of your sparkly new job.

Did we mention money? We’re offering a competitive salary plus bonus and benefits depending on experience – and you get free breakfast and as many cappachinos as you can drink. Make sure you let us know your salary expectations so no-one is left disappointed.

We’d guess you’ll have some good experience in doing the things mentioned above. We’d also imagine you’re extremely ambitious and hungry for a role that grows quicker than you can say “Digital Superstar”. You may have a degree, but we’re not that bothered really. We just want to know you eat, sleep and breathe web development; with extra points for having a penguin tattoo (OK, so that might be going a bit too far).

If you’re still reading then we’d love to hear from you. Send us your CV, but make sure you mention anything you think we’d like to know about you in your covering email (especially the items on our nice-to-haves list) and don’t forget your salary expectations.

Send an email to careers@zeta.net.

I know what you’re thinking… Rio breaks his leg in a horrific training ground accident and Cappello’s obvious replacement is central defensive work horse Henry Waterfall-Allen.

Of course we took Fabio’s call seriously, but due to a last minute project involving Unicorn Media and global media giant IMG world to produce a video skin for a world cup news player, Henry had to tell him to take Michael Dawson.

The project Unicorn approached us with sounded really interesting, an opportunity too good to pass up. They had developed a player which would carry video advertising before and after world cup news reports produced by IMGs network of sports journalists. more…

According to a survey released yesterday, a third of football fans are planning on skipping work to watch England compete in the 2010 World Cup which kicks off on June 11th. The YouGov survey found that thirty-eight percent of full time workers were planning on missing work to watch England play.

There is also speculation about the strain on employee productivity caused by the World Cup, but I guess you might be hard pressed to find a company who would reveal any exact figures – still it is easy to imagine the loss of productivity derived from watching matches and discussing football.

And let’s not forget the dreadful effects of World Cup hangovers, as everyone enjoys a beer, or five, while watching the games! New research by charity Drinkaware and Bupa found that over half a million people in the UK go to work with a hangover every day, and Drinkaware have highlighted that this will become even more relevant as the World Cup season occurs in June and July, when we may see an increase in hangovers in the workplace.

Previous year’s tournaments sometimes proved a headache for employers with staff either sneaking into the breakout rooms for extended periods, taking long lunches to watch the games in the local pubs or even taking a sick day. more…

An Overview of the Creative Industry

The economic growth of any country comes from the government and the private sector. I do not need to tell you about the state the British Government has been left in after thirteen years of Labour Governing. But let’s take a look about the state of UK creative industries:

I speak on behalf of those working in creative industries throughout the UK that many of us have seen a drastic cut back in Private Sector spending – huge cutbacks in client budgets since 2008 particularly in the advertising, public relations and graphic design industries. This being attributed to the massive government spending which has had a negative impact in private sector consumption and investment. When business directors and shareholders do not understand the true importance of marketing these divisions of the business are usually the first to see a slash in budget.

Lucky for those of us in the digital industry we have not suffered so much at the hands of the public sector over spend. In fact we have seen an increase in online marketing spend with more organisations and companies starting to embrace and understand the value of marketing their business and products online. In fact, 66% of companies are planning to increase their digital marketing budgets during 2010 (Marketing Budgets Report, econsultancy 2010).

Creative SME’s have competed for public sector contracts

In attempts to further conserve profits many SME’s have turned to the public sector to sustain their business. This has proved a good strategy in some cases but has generally not been the case for creative SME’s due to the rigid procurement processes which prevent smaller private sector providers from competing for public sector contracts. Sam Allen, search expert at Zeta wrote an excellent post about public sector organisations using private design agencies.

Labour ‘spin’ has resulted in a negative reputation for Marketing and PR

PR is often said to be about reputation management yet through poor and ineffective attempts to manage themselves the UK government has damaged the meaning of PR. more…

Here at the Zeta offices we often eat weird and wonderful things: Well KFC, Marks and Spencer Meal deals and chocolate if last week’s lunch order is anything to go by!

Today however we received a delightful suprise from my mum. Some scrumptious custom made cupcakes were delivered direct to our office.

Simply delicious!

We would offer you one but we have eaten them all… but here are some pics…

more…

Earlier this week on Tuesday 9th February,  Me (Aimee), Brad and Will spent the day at the Rogers Estate Coffees UK Roasting Plant in Wales.

The purpose of our trip was to see exactly how green coffee beans are roasted, quality tested and packaged. It was also a great opportunity for us to meet the PR team who will be working on the launch of one of Rogers new exciting products. Watch this space for more news!

It was a particularly interesting day for me (apart from having to get up at 5.30 in the morning) as it was my first visit to the plant. Having worked on the Rogers Estate Coffees account for almost 2 months now it was great to finally meet some of the UK team and experience the coffee roasting process – that I have spent hours writing about. And not to mention the incredible coffee aromas throughout the factory that certainly kept me awake!

I was extremely surprised that the roasting process is managed by just a small team of very capable and hands on people. Although they use machinery, there is also a lot of attention to detail required from the workers to roast the coffee beans. For example each batch of coffee is roasted for between 17-20 minutes, and under different temperatures  according to the required strengths and flavours. Graham, the master roaster, keeps a watchful eye on the temperature control gague to ensure the perfect roast. more…

Digital agency Zeta has recently transformed its office with three striking graffiti murals. The all important working environment now makes a bold statement.  It reflects the company’s identity and attitude and critically the Zeta crew is very happy with the street art.

Managing Director Roger Allen says, “In any business the workplace has to be fit for purpose and that doesn’t just mean practical.  People have got to feel at home, comfortable and proud of the company they work for. The graffiti art on our walls is great and I just love the process we went through to do it.”

more…

Roger’s previous post on the regeneration of Weymouth’s seafront has been published in this week’s Design Week (Volume 24 / Number 25)

You can read the article on the Design Week website.
http://www.designweek.co.uk/let-weymouth-beach-group-boost-the-resort/3001720.article

Since its foundation in the UK in January 2000, Zeta has progressed and expanded at an enviable rate. Team spirit, hard work, the ability to learn new things and strong financial management have created a very solid business.

2008 has been dramatic, if not frightening, and 2009 is set to be the same or more so. Banks are going bust, businesses are ceasing to trade and people are being thrown out of work. Despite the appalling news trumpeted and amplified every hour some businesses are still thriving and expanding.

more…

The Rogers Estate Coffee site is now live and ready to compete with the UK coffee giants. The company is a subsidiary of Rogers Family Coffee Co, one of the largest gourmet coffee roasters in the States. Having supplied coffee to the UK for at least five years, Rogers Estate decided an online arm was critical to the success of their three to four year European roll out.

The site is built on two systems. A robust typo3 system that allows multiple editors to upload articles to the Coffee University, add new products, and tell their customers what’s new in the world of coffee. more…