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.

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. It worked perfectly but needed some creative input to make the interface seem as polished as the reports being beamed from South Africa.

This is where Zeta got involved. Unicorn had seen the quality of work we are capable of since they host the main video on www.ecoffee.co.uk and we were more than happy to be involved in the biggest show on earth, so we set to work.

With sites like www.independent.co.uk and www.nuts.co.uk ready to offer space to the 2010 world cup news player we set about turning the project around on schedule. Working with Unicorn’s developers couldn’t have gone better and a solution was in place a mere 48 hours after the project had begun.

If you want to keep up-to-date with all the latest football news from around the rainbow nation here’s some sites where you can find the world cup news player:

www.independent.co.uk/sport/
www.nuts.co.uk/worldcup
www.soccerlens.com
therepublikofmancunia.com
tottenhamblog.com
arsenalfcblog.com
overthebluemoon.net
trulyreds.com
thechelseablog.org
anfieldred.co.uk
soccerlens.com
manutdtalk.com
footballfantalk.com
football-talk.co.uk

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.

In 2010 the dynamics have changed – The 2010 Fifa World Cup will be the first in the history of the tournament where every game is going to be streamed online live, as well as being the first with high definition coverage of the tournament. Meaning employers face a new host of challenges relating to the World Cup. With all games available online, companies are facing further serious drop in productivity and concentration as employees openly or secretly watch games at their PC’s or even on their iPhones.  And don’t forget all that social media buzz that employees will be involved in; Twitter, Facebook, Sports blogs and news sites provide further forums for discussing the World Cup 2010 action and further distracting employees from their work tasks.

But is it really all that bad?

Many employers are learning from past experiences and openly allowing staff time off to watch England games so long as they make up the hours, some will even be watching the games together as a team building experience.

In fact the Trades Union Congress (TUC) have advised and encouraged bosses to allow employees to watch the games either away from work or on the company premises. The TUC believes the World Cup proves an excellent opportunity for many employers to embrace and support flexible working hours, by using the World Cup as a way to introduce the option and ‘test’ the flexible approach. In the run-up to the World Cup the TUC has issued advice for staff wanting to watch the tournament, which is available at http://www.workSMART.org.uk.

However, if you are not so lucky then you can of course make use of the online streaming and watch all the games via live online streaming either on BBC iplayer or ITV player, and there will no doubt be a lot of unofficial channels popping up everywhere too.  I have just found  a great one called TV Catch Up (http://www.tvcatchup.com) that lets you watch live UK TV (including all Freeview channels) on your computer, iPhone or games console!

You can also keep updated on the go via your mobile phones. Here is a quick guide to keeping updated on the World Cup 2010 via your favourite smart phones!

iPhone apps

• Fifa News iPhone app – follow your team before and during the tournament. This app is great for stats, photos and score updates.
• World Cup Trivia Challenge app – this app costs $1.99 and provides a plethora of questions and answers – perfect when it is world cup trivia night at your local.
• 2010 World Cup – this unofficial app features regular updates so you can keep an eye on the goals from all matches. You can also flick between groups and knockout stages easily. Price £0.59

Visit the iPhone app store to purchase these apps and more: http://www.apple.com/iphone/apps-for-iphone

Blackberry apps

• World Cup South Africa 2010 App for Blackberry. The app has been released from the developers over at S42 and Zona Blackberry. The World Cup app delivers live scoring updates, team stats and integrates nicely with your calendar. An ideal companion for World Cup time especially if you are on the road for business meetings or commuting.
• Goal Mobile app – Watch Live Games extracts and keep up to date with scores – simply download the application from the app store.

Visit the BlackBerry App world to download these apps and more:  http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore

Android apps

• Sky Sports – courtesy of Google you can get all Sky Sports news about England and the 31 other teams in a formatted concise version. FREE!
• FotMob – Serving up news coverage from Fifa this app allows you to keep updated with fixtures, group tables and positions. And apparently you can also watch live games straight from the app. You can download a month free trial directly from the site http://www.mobilefootie.com. Usual cost is $1.49 per month.

Visit the android store to get these apps and more: http://www.android.com/market/#app=com.epocrates

To keep updated with the world cup game schedule visit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup-2010/fixtures/6664365/World-Cup-Game-Schedule.html

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.

The government’s attempts to ‘market’ themselves and influence public opinion have always had a negative impact on the perceived value of Public Relations and there is nothing new here. However the last thirteen years or so of government ruling have left the UK industry severely tarnished. From the appalling MP’s expenses which were leaked in 2008-09 to the infamous “good day to bury bad news” email sent by Jo Moore during the 9/11 bombings – Labour has been an excellent example of poor reputation management riddled with communication crisis, slander and lies and this is giving the PR industry a terrible position.

Secondly, in an attempt to win the public votes the three main parties (hypocritically) throughout their campaigns have taken a real swipe at PR.

“They’ve threatened to slash public sector PR and marketing spend, or even to ban public sector spending on what we’d otherwise see as normal government activity. The risk is that good government takes second place to good political positioning, and that in the anticipation of a second election in 2010, the parties decided to make PR their punch bag of choice” says Francis Ingham the director of the PRCA.

A party coalition and hopes for economic recovery

The long awaited outcome of the 2010 UK General Election was finally concluded earlier last week after a long weekend of political confusion, discussion and debate.  After thirteen years of doom under New Labour ruling, signified by Spin, Conspiracies and of course the hated Recession – we hope that an alliance between Tory leader Cameron as PM and Lib Dem’s Clegg as deputy will see Britain move into a realm of stability and economic prosperity, with Cameron leading the way to an economic recovery.

The Conservative-Liberal Democrats coalition has left many UK businesses and business owners feeling a lot more optimistic about trade and the future stability of the economy. The proposed cuts to the public sector spend may finally give private sector organisations the fuel to prosper again.

A study of business owners and executives by employment law firm Citation (www.citation.co.uk ) found that 63% of business owners believe their company would perform better under the new Con-Lib ruling.

But what is the feeling of business owners and directors in creative industries and other private sector organisations? I sought to do a bit of my own research to see if this figure is representative by asking business executives and directors whether they agreed that UK business would perform better under the new ruling.

The general views reflect the findings of the Citation research. And despite the differing political opinions there is a general consensus of optimism and hope. Clive Sexton’s comments highlight that whilst the government is essentially leading the country and dictating budget and spend within the UK economy, the sustainability of individual businesses and organisations will always be determined by the drive and innovation of their individual leaders and employees.

Ruth Lopardo, Entrepreneur/Founder of www.loveitloveitliveit.co.uk Online Children’s Clothing Store

“My thoughts on the coalition as a business owner are that I’m concerned that the government will be stable enough in the medium term to see the fledgling economic recovery through without tipping the country back in to recession, especially with a Chancellor as inexperienced as George Osborne.   The Conservatives are often seen as the party of business, and whilst the Lib Dems are an unknown quantity in Government they may bring a fresh approach.  However, the current economic situation will give both the Government and businesses a very rocky ride.  The scale of spending cuts proposed by the coalition to cut the budget deficit is also of concern; if lots of customers are losing their jobs or cutting back spending in case they lose their jobs that can only be bad for business.  On a personal note, as a children’s clothing retailer, I would be very much against the application of normal rate VAT to kids clothes, that would be a disaster for my customers and for my business.”

Liz Jackson – MD of Great Guns Marketing www.greatgunsmarketing.co.uk

“I’m very pleased that after much deliberation the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have finally struck a deal. If they can put their differences aside and work for the common good then I see no reason why it shouldn’t be a success. Undoubtedly what we need right now is a government that acts quickly in cutting the deficit, removes the ludicrous ‘jobs tax’ and believes in public sector growth. Also, I think it is good to see wise political minds such as Vince Cable being drafted into the cabinet as he clearly has a vast array of political and financial knowledge that will help lead the British economy from the brink of bankruptcy towards growth.”

Roger Allen, MD of Zeta

“Britain desperately needs a stable government that addresses the issues at hand clearly without the ’spin’ and double speak which was synonymous of New Labour. The new Con-Lib coalition will combine Tory realism with Liberal policies. Political stability and sound financial management are the foundations that businesses need to prosper.” Roger also shared his opinion to leading business website, Business Wings.

Hessia Fernandes, Entrepreneur/Founder of www.cooltribe.com -  Online Green Social network

“The coalition was born more out of need than idealism so I am slightly suspicious of its agenda and its ability to last. But having said that, there is a real opportunity for both parties to make it work.  I am at the moment reserving judgement as we haven’t yet passed the PR/spin phase.  I am genuinely interested to see what happens in the next few weeks.  As a small business, my main point of concern is George Osbourne´s inexperience at managing projects of this scale, after all the economy is in dire straits and it feels like we´ve given the little schoolboy the titanic to captain in a sea full of icebergs.  For my business to grow I need a growing economy where businesses will invest in online marketing so I just hope that the budget deficit cuts don’t put too many people out of work and don’t push businesses to be more cautious with their marketing spend.”

Commenting on the 13^th May 2010, Clive Sexton – Director of leading Global Interim Management Provider –Impact Executives

“49 days to the emergency budget, 4 days to parliament assembling, 11 days to the Queens speech. It is inevitable that there will be significant and major cuts across the Public Sector, inevitable union strife, in addition there are concerns that there will also be civil unrest also across the UK, this has been building for sometime. Unavoidable higher taxes, VAT going up to 20%. So the Private sector just needs to draw a line under it all, look at new markets beyond the UK and Eurozone, where there is growth opportunity and come up with totally new propositions for the UK market and adapt those on a country by country basis and lift itself out very positively of the demise we have been in this past year plus and GO FOR POSTIVE CHANGE AND GROWTH STRATEGIES, which will be driven by INNOVATION.”

Siobhan Bales, Managing Director of Managing Director of bgroup creative agency & bdaily business news network NE – www.thebgroup.co.uk

“The coalition fills me with a real mix of dread and hope. Dread becuase of the fundamental belief systems of each party being so opposed, with liberalism wanting to take more from the self made business people, and Tories rebalancing the tax system to encourage entrepreneurship – business people pushing to grow and develop their businesses to the next level. It is a time when we don’t know the economic support infrastructure for our regions going forward. Will the coalition disbanned the RDAs or Business Links, what will happen to the real spend in 2010/11/12 on public health, tourism and enterprise promotion. All of these decisions will have a significant impact on the strategy of both of my businesses. Hope lives in a new administration, not as tired and wanting to make their mark. Successful business startup and growth sits at the heart of our economic growth in the UK. It is essential to support our businesses and create fast wins, to move confidence and opportunity for growth across our regions. This government may have the right mix to do this”.

Jamie Gavin – Founder of Jay –G Media http://www.jaygmedia.com

“I believe the Conservatives are trying to appeal to small businesses by offering normal incentives like waving N.I contributions for the first registered employee etc – which is all well and good, but I worry that if they are unable to live up to expectations and effectively recover the state of the economy there will be no economy left to operate in under con-lib.”

So what is the future for our industries (Marketing, Digital Communications and PR)?

Did our former government understand the value of the creative industries? My answer is no. They largely failed to demonstrate themselves as good communicators as you can read above. Labour is a great example of when PR goes wrong, and how to not conduct crisis communications!

What about Digital? The report for a digital Britain ensured a strong digital economy by 2020 by promising all broadband access by 2012.  Gordon Brown came across well using industry terms and  knowing exactly what he was talking about and understood the value of digital communications. I personally think it was just web-wash – another ‘promise’ that would never surface if they came to power.

However business owners and executives are hopeful that the new alliance will help British businesses perform better. I guess we have to wait and see…

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…

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.

The best part of the roasting process was learning about ‘cupping’ – when Graham taste tests each and every batch of coffee for colour and taste, and we also got the chance to test one of the freshly made batches.

I (@aimeecarmichael)  appointed myself chief photographer that day – check out my lovely pics  on our flickr account here: www.flickr.com/photos/zetadigital, there are some great shots of @bradfry and @willcustard in blue hair nets!

Visit the Rogers Estate Coffees website to learn more about the coffee roasting process!

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.”

Background

When Zeta moved no one could begin to agree on art for the offices. Sometimes an outside view can give a better perspective of the strengths and USPs of an organisation.  Zeta does it for others so why not have someone do it for us?

Then there was that great weekend in Shoreditch and down Brick Lane.  A party in an old warehouse and sight of the most amazing street art spread across one whole wall in the warehouse.  That’s where we met Jay Gawronski.  The next morning Henry Waterfall-Allen announced that Jay was coming to Poole.  He would be looking at Zeta… who we are… what we do and then he would create his own street art on our walls.

Flowers and plants are important to Zeta, we’ve had the same plants from day one. They are part of our identity.  Interconnection is another theme in the world of digital, web, email and mobile.  That was it really so Henry started moving the furniture and three days later they were done. This part of the process has been documented with pictures and comments on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zetadigital

The Result

The finished designs incorporate Zeta’s logo, colour palette and the words analyse and create – lead words in Zeta’s business strategy. Everyone agrees the office walls finally reflect the characteristics of Zeta and have made it an even better place to work.

View the complete photo album.

Contact:

Jay Gawronski
+44 (0)7760406574
fanakapan44@hotmail.com

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.

The businesses that are moving with the times are not just surviving they are advancing. And when I say “moving with the times” I don’t just mean making best use of the internet and up-to-the-minute web strategies; I mean working that bit extra for clients, analysing market trends, re-visiting product design and measuring the quality of post-sales service. In other words: making sure that everyone, particularly senior management, is on top of their game.

Staff need more than a boot up their backside. They need to be reassured. They need to know they have a future and that the company wants to succeed. Company success can’t happen if the staff can’t make it happen. Sir Alan Sugar’s ad on UK television for apprentice schemes is very succinct.

UK political leaders wring their hands in despair and then put ill-conceived strategies into place, and despite all this business will still go on. As I’ve said before, the economy is changing, please refer to our post on the ‘world is changing’. Many British businesses are doing very well indeed.

Whilst UK leaders say everyone is in the same mess I say what about China? Yes exports have dropped but China has considerable dollar surpluses. China is developing its internal economy and consequently making huge investments in their infrastructure. China is also investing overseas with many projects throughout South & Central America, The Caribbean and Africa.

With this in mind Zeta has opened an office in Shanghai. Not a hot-desk scenario, but a proper office with staff, phones and a local manager. The office will be run by Jennifer Yang. Jennifer has a wealth of business experience and will deal with enquiries in Shanghai.

Zeta Shanghai will create online strategies for businesses to penetrate the Chinese, Asian, Pacific Rim, US and European markets.

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. The X-Cart system gives Rogers Estate full e-commerce capability. Customers can take advantage of special offers, discounted products and the ‘recaffeinate’ facility, which allows users to repeat their orders. There is a choice of three coffee ranges: San Francisco Bay, Organic Coffee Co and Café Flavors.

Zeta’s online strategy will ensure Rogers Estate Coffees achieves long-term success in search engines.  The site is built with SEO in mind, which is just the first step. Our mixture of organic marketing, online PR, content development, email & viral marketing and display ads will ensure Rogers Estate Coffees builds a strong brand and stays ahead of competition.