sportscotland, the national agency for sport in Scotland, has appointed Gravitate HR as an expert resource in a three year contract to provide outsourced HR services and manage a HR help desk available to all 50 Scottish governing bodies of sport (SGBs).

In addition to the online HR helpdesk and telephone helpline, Gravitate has developed the sportscotland HR Zone, available online 24/7 to nominated users with the SGBs. This innovative resource, containing a completely up to date library of HR policies and procedures, and template HR documents for the governing bodies, accessible in real time, anywhere in the country from any device at a time that is convenient for the SGBs.

Margery McBain CEO of Gravitate explains: “I believe firmly that people are the essence of any organisation and the style of approach and management of all at work significantly influences success. When people are drawn together by common aims and goals their energy and involvement can bring positive results.

“This is a critical time for sport in Scotland with the upcoming London 2012 Olympics and the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. With the eyes of the world on the country, people working with sport, either as athletes or behind the scenes, are likely to be under a great deal of scrutiny. It is critical that we create a robust and responsive HR framework for those involved to allow them to do what they do well and to add value to their endeavours to create world class sport within Scotland.”

Targets and benchmarks have been identified to ensure a standard and quality of service. Both helpline and the online HR Zone will be closely monitored ensuring accountability and visibility for Gravitate’s service delivery. Reports for account management will also allow trends to be identified and strategic decisions made.

Following any changes in legislation, Gravitate can instantly update the relevant documents centrally, ensuring that SGBs always have the most up to date information available. SGB users of the HR Zone can choose how they want to contact Gravitate to ensure absolute privacy and confidentiality within an open plan office. The help line lets people speak direct to a member of the Gravitate team who will be able to offer advice.

Lorna Callan, Partnership Manager at sportscotland said: ‘We are delighted to have this expert resource service up and running for all governing bodies of sport in Scotland to use to support them in the day to day running of their organisations. It is important that we support SGBs to be well managed organisations and this is one of the ways we will do this. We believe that this service will provide the support and guidance that SGBs need and we look forward to working with Gravitate and the other expert resource teams to make the programme a success.’

Gravitate HR is a full service outsourced HR advice and support company specialising in workplace dispute resolution, performance management processes and HR policy. Launched in 2006 by Margery McBain, the company works with a number of high profile companies including Found Ocean and The Kitchin. Gravitate helps a broad range of public and private sector companies to manage employment related issues, in many cases working as part of the management team to help make difficult decisions about their team and the way forward.

sportscotland is made up of a head office in Glasgow, a high performance arm, the sportscotland institute of sport in Stirling and the institute network regionally. The sportscotland Trust Company operates three national training centres, Glenmore Lodge, Inverclyde, and Cumbrae.

For more information please contact: Sarah Lee.

Independent travel company Haggis Adventures is using video to engage with the youth market, as part of a dynamic and interactive online marketing campaign. A new three minute video has been shot and produced by one Scotland’s leading agencies Heehaw Digital and launches next week.

Heehaw’s video aims to get people excited about Haggis Adventures and hopefully will act as a catalyst for customers to upload their own videos to YouTube. Haggis Adventures encourage bloggers with large YouTube followings to create their own YouTube travel videos.

Such consumer generated content is valuable marketing for Haggis, with one video posted by a passenger of the Loch Ness Monster trip getting 6,288 views on YouTube.

Haggis is part of the award winning group of independent travel companies including Busabout, Haggis and Shamrocker Adventures – carrying a total of 50,000 passengers a year across Europe, the UK and Ireland.

Heehaw Digital’s film is punchy, fast paced and energetic, quickly catching the essence of the brand for the viewer as Haggis Adventures brand manager, Roger Kerr explains: “ Video is an incredibly powerful way of communicating the experience of a Haggis Adventure and we also use the videos for training purposes with our agents worldwide. But most of all they are massively important for customer engagement and create real interaction between brand and customer.”

Kerr continues: “Heehaw are a great company – young, energetic, youth focused and good fun. They always thinking of new ways to do things – we have worked with them for many years and they always come up with something really fresh and exciting. They really get what we are about and that is important for us.”

As online and YouTube in particular, becomes more and more critical to success in the travel industry, video is now a key part of any marketing campaign. Video is highly measureable from the number of views to the comments left by viewers, allowing the brand to engage one to one with customers.

Mally Graveson, Heehaw’s Director of Productions says: “We shot the video from the passenger’s perspective on a tour of the Highlands so viewers are not listening to a sales guy but listening to other customers and likeminded people. This makes the film far more personal and emotive – customers feel they can connect with the brand and get a taste of what the trip is all about.”

One of the first agencies to start using video, Heehaw Digital has its own specialist inhouse video production team. Over the past decade they have built a powerful reputation in the travel and tourism industry, working with companies like Top Deck Travel, Intrepid Travel, British Waterways, Hopetoun House, Prestonfield House Hotel and Mariott Dalmahoy Golf and Country Club.

Heehaw has worked with Busabout a sister company of Haggis Adventures since 2000. In 2009 they edited a series of two minute taster videos. According to Graeme Ward, the travel group’s Managing Director “since the launch of the Busabout promotional videos sales increased by 79% in Greece, 95% in Croatia and 66% in Italy.”

For more information contact: Lauren Cormack.

Digital passport, miiCard, is launching a survey today aimed at users of dating sites. miiCard want to draw attention to the rapid rise in identity fraud, and are committed to increasing awareness of online safety and preventing fraud. The survey will examine how users build trust and protect themselves when meeting people online.

Online dating has quickly become one of the biggest industries on the internet. Whether you are trying to find an activity partner or someone to share your life with, a multitude of online dating sites can provide listings of people in your area.

However this rise in popularity has come at a cost: online dating sites are now a key target for organised crime, which has led to 200,000 people in the UK reporting financial fraud. A study by the universities of Leicester and Westminster, working with the Serious Organised Crime Agency, discovered that 2% of people surveyed knew of someone who had experienced fraud through an online dating scam.

Details such as surnames, anniversaries, place of work and the names of friends and family can all be used to trace identity and solicit valuable personal information, and so should be guarded at all costs. A similar degree of caution is essential with mobile phone and email account details, which should only be given out once trust has been established.

In order to prevent fraud, details such as passwords, hints and usernames should never be revealed, no matter how close you feel you are getting to someone. Similarly credit card and bank account information should never be released – this opens the door to fraudsters applying for cards and taking out loans in someone else’s name. A degree of caution is also essential when considering giving someone an address. This unlocks the offline world and could increase the possibility of homes being burgled.

As James Varga, miiCard’s CEO comments: “The news that criminals actively target online dating sites is a worrying trend for anyone using these sites on a regular basis. Security is critical, and users should be aware how to protect themselves and avoid being conned. This survey examines how users build trust and protect themselves, and will identify areas that need extra protection.”

To take part in miiCard’s survey on the issue of trust on internet dating sites please click here.

For more information contact: Sarah Lee

Look no further!

TIN IT OR BIN IT is your weekly social media need-to-know.

Hot off the press we deliver the week’s most ground breaking social media news,
oh-no-you-didn’t stories, tips you can’t afford to miss or simply our opinion on trends in the digital landscape.

Lastly, we’ll tell you whether it’s tin material or bin material!

View them all here on our Facebook page.

———————————————————————————————————————–———–

Tin It Or Bin It – 14 October 2011 – Apple introduces personalised snail mail and friend stalking

Apple has introduced a free ‘Cards’ app this week. It allows you to get creative, and design and send personalised, physical greeting cards to all your friends and family, choosing from over 20 template designs.

Buying and sending your postcard or greeting card is similar to buying a song on iTunes. You just enter your Apple ID password and then simply place your order. Apple will then print the card, put it in an envelope and mail it to your loved one on your behalf. Brilliant.

Cards is not an original idea. There are many other websites and apps out there doing the same thing, however this is an Apple app, and with its style and simple design, looks set to refresh and revitalise the crowded greeting card industry.

This is a fun, creative app and we predict it could really take off.

Cards is a TIN IT.

Cards wasn’t the only Apple app launched this week. ‘Find my Friends’ is a location app which allows you to keep tabs on your friend’s location.

We don’t know about you, but if we want to get hold of our friends to find out where they are, we usually just give them a call or drop them a text. This app seems a bit creepy in comparison.

Find my Friends shares your location with your accepted friends, all of the time, which is different to one of the top location apps FourSquare, and not something that is very appealing.

Before you even begin you have to wait about for your friend to accept your request and then, you have to accept there’s back.

Once you are both finally connected, you can click on your friend to see their current location completely in real time. Yet again, this is different to FourSquare, as with the latter, you have to option to ‘check in’ to a place that you think will of interest to your friends. I’m not sure any of our friends, no matter how much they love us, would appreciate a boring update that we are going to the supermarket or just walking home!

This all feels too much like a complete invasion of privacy and a bit pointless. This is not something we will be continuing to use.

Sadly, this app is a BIN IT.

Digital design agency Heehaw has been chosen by legal, financial and property specialists Pagan Osborne to redesign the company’s website and help it retain its strong position as large new players like Tesco and the AA move into the legal market.

Heehaw won the contract based on the proven creativity and skills of its staff and its broad view of communication, which fitted with Pagan Osborne’s ‘360 lifestyle’ approach to customer care over different life stages. Both companies share a philosophy of ongoing, powerful communication with clients.

Pagan Osborne’s Marketing and Business Development Director Tania Hemming says: “The legal landscape is going to change dramatically over the next year, and we really needed someone with insight, someone who will help us up the ante when the big players come in. We have always been innovative and forward thinking, with a different angle on selling legal and financial products, and we quickly recognised that Heehaw has the right skills and attitude to help us succeed in that. We also really like the people, and that was a key point for us – they’re people we want to work with.”

Pagan Osborne was also pleased to work with a full service agency based in Edinburgh, allowing regular meetings and exchanges of ideas.
The website will be an important portal as the market changes, and Heehaw will ensure Pagan Osborne stays ahead of the competition with a site that works as a ‘conversion tool’ in itself – getting users to complete a Lifestyle Survey, educating them on what services are available to them, and showing that Pagan Osborne is the right organisation to provide them.

Mark Strickland, Managing Director of Heehaw says: “We are very excited to be working with Pagan Osborne and feel we have the skills and expertise to really help to position the company well, and to contribute ideas to their ongoing digital development.”
Future work will include a redesign of the company’s intranet, and several other projects that promise to be very exciting for the future of both Heehaw and Pagan Osborne.

For more information contact: Sarah Lee.

Leading cloud software services provider, Flexiant, has today released a downloadable edition of its Extility cloud services management software.

The new Extility Foundation Edition will give smaller service providers the opportunity to compete in the provision of agile cloud services and will enable corporate users to build, manage and deploy private, public or hybrid clouds effortlessly – without high upfront costs. The Foundation Edition can be up and running within an hour.

Flexiant’s innovative cloud software, Extility, incorporates all the key components of cloud infrastructure into a simple virtual platform solution. Highly automated, Extility enables service providers to offer cost effective, on demand and flexible cloud services to their customers.

For enterprises looking to build their own cloud, Extility can be easily integrated into existing IT management systems, capitalising on existing investment and providing extensive flexibility to meet the challenges of today and the demands of the future.

A three-month Free Trial of this exciting product is available for download from the Flexiant web site – www.flexiant.com.
Flexiant pioneered the development of cloud computing in 2007, when it launched Europe’s first public cloud, FlexiScale. Flexiant’s flagship product, Extility Service Provider Edition, launched in 2010, already offers a proven, reliable and secure ‘orchestration and automation’ solution to managed service providers and data centre operators.

Extility Service Provider Edition continues to be available to service providers who require greater customisation and tailoring. In addition to having greater flexibility, the Service Provider Edition offers a full multi-currency billing system, white labelling facilities to support multiple resellers, greater scalability and multi-hypervisor capability supporting KVM, Xen and VMware.

Foundation Edition customers will be able to upgrade to the Service Provider Edition at any time.

Robert Karssiens, Flexiant’s Director of Sales and Marketing says: “We’re passionate about making quality, reliable cloud services available to every business. Our Foundation Edition lets anyone try Extility – they can download and use it, free, for three months – and then just get on with selling cloud services.”

For more information contact: Sarah Lee.

PR Account Executive
Up to £22K

Creative thinker, plain talker, great writer, media junkie, good fun, massive energy. Is this you?

Hot Tin Roof is a public relations agency creating iconic reputations through concrete communication.

With big plans and a growing client list we are looking for talented people with the enthusiasm and vision to help us build on our success.

For more information email Sarah Lee.

And to apply just send your CV and covering letter (with your favourite film, book and icon) to sarah@hottinroof.co.uk by Friday 14 October 2011. Interviews take place w/c 17 October 2011.

Look no further!

TIN IT OR BIN IT is your weekly social media need-to-know.

Hot off the press we deliver the week’s most ground breaking social media news,
oh-no-you-didn’t stories, tips you can’t afford to miss or simply our opinion on trends in the digital landscape.

Lastly, we’ll tell you whether it’s tin material or bin material!

View them all here on our Facebook page.

———————————————————————————————————————–———–

Tin It Or Bin It – 23 September 2011 – Give Em This…

Sometimes finding the perfect gift for your nearest and dearest is, if we are being honest, a bit of a struggle. If you are stuck for ideas, then GiveEmThis.com might just be what you are looking for.

This free web app, by Imply Labs, is a personalised gift engine that algorithmically analyses your friend’s social media updates to recommend relevant gift ideas that your Facebook friends actually want.

The system connects to your social media and analyses your friend’s interests based on their likes, dislikes, interests and other data stored in their profile. GiveEmThis.com then recommends original gift ideas relevant to your friend’s interests and activity.

GiveEmThis.com doesn’t select one perfect gift (that’s up to you) but looks at countless options to show you the things they will love the most.

The app works by calculating your Facebook friend’s online data, behaviour and patterns. Events, status updates, shared links and “Likes” are all included in the algorithmic calculations.

It doesn’t just evaluate Facebook data. Twitter is also analysed, although the downside it that it isn’t as detailed.

The programme is still in its early stages, with only Amazon being used to generate gift ideas. However there are plans to expand, with companies potentially being able to add their products to the system, and Google+ and LinkedIn integration.

Now, don’t get us wrong, we really like the practical application of this gift generator…so we should TIN IT, but we are going to BIN IT purely because we don’t like Facebook and Twitter knowing so much about us. And Christmas just wouldn’t be the same without those weird and wonderful random presents we get but don’t want!

This gift generator is a BIN IT.

miiCard, the purely online digital passport, has been selected as one of just ten finalists for the Innotribe $100K StartUp Challenge at the Sibos conference in Toronto, Canada on September 19-23, 2011 with digital identity a key theme for the conference.

Sibos is an annual member event for over 8,000 financial services senior professionals and the trade media. The Innotribe session is held on the final day of the influential industry event and pits a selection of promising companies against one another, in a ‘Dragon’s Den’ atmosphere. Last year, miiCard was voted ‘Most Promising Startup’ at the same event and this year is one of ten selected out of 200 applicants.

miiCard, powered by Yodlee, is a unique digital passport for the consumer that proves “I am who I say I am” in real time, for the first time. Owned and managed by the individual, miiCard allows the consumer to track, monitor and so take control of their online identity for the first time. miiCard costs the consumer a nominal fee and is charged to the vendor on a transactional basis. miiCard supports the UK, North America, Western Europe, India, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Stephen Brannan, miiCard’s latest board member, will take the stage for the Innotribe contest, bringing his considerable business and financial services knowledge to the fray. With 13 years experience in the international banking industry, including leading the Royal Bank of Scotland’s Separation Business Services team for the past five years, Brannan knows the industry well.

Brannan says: “I’m looking forward to the opportunity to talk about what miiCard is doing, and show where the company is going. Joining the board will let me bring my experience and expertise to help miiCard move to the next stage – and this event gives me a chance to talk about the future of this great company to an international audience.”

A patent pending global solution, miiCard demonstrated initial proof of concept to the financial services industry at Sibos last year. Its aim is to eradicate the final barrier to global trade, the need for offline proof of identity, before a financial product can be purchased.
Innotribe, a SWIFT initiative, is a set of events, tools and initiatives that enables collaborative innovation in financial services. It provides the infrastructure to find, co-create and invest in new ideas and projects.

Ends

For more information contact: Sarah Lee.

About miiCard

miiCard is a revolutionary “digital passport”, powered by Yodlee, that enables users to prove their identity online for the first time to the same level of authority as a driving licence or passport would do offline. By creating trust in an environment characterised by anonymity and transient identities, miiCard will open up opportunities for business online and put internet users back in control of their personal information.

The inability easily to authenticate a user’s identity online has long been a significant problem. Between 70% and 90% of all online financial transactions are terminated when the customer is required to provide physical proof of identity so it is imperative that businesses find a solution.

miiCard is designed to support ecommerce and eradicate this problem by enabling customers to complete complex transactions online without supplying further proof of ID.

For businesses selling online to consumers, miiCard improves conversion rates, cuts operational cost and fights internet fraud.
miiCard also benefits users and vendors by creating trust between parties in a purely online environment, increasing convenience, consistency and simplicity of shopping online, speeding up transactions, reducing costs, improving customer satisfaction and easing regulatory compliance.

James Varga – Founder and CEO

James is a Canadian entrepreneur with over 15 years of innovative technology and internet marketing solutions. In recent years, he has focused on developing Rich Internet Applications and User Experiences for global audiences. James has worked with leading brands in a range of sectors including Winterthur Life, Centrica Business Services, Thomas Cook and Sky Sports.

Stuart Fraser – CTO

Stuart is one of Scotland’s leading digital security experts. Co-founder of specialist IT security consultancy DNS, recently sold to SecureWorks, Stuart’s early career began in the energy sector working for Conoco, BP and Scottish Power.

Stephen Brannan – Board Member

Stephen Brannan spent 13 years at Royal Bank of Scotland, latterly as director of Separation Business Services, where he led the separation of a number of businesses as part of the RBS Group’s strategy to return to stand-alone strength, and further disposals dictated by the European Commission in return for state aid. Brannan also ran the RBS Cards business, was a member of the Visa EU board from 1999 to 2004 and has extensive experience of international banking.

Graham Paterson – Board Member

Graham Paterson was one of the founding partners of SL Capital Partners LLP and played a major role in the growth of that business from a team of two, with assets under management of £200 million, to a team of 40 and assets under management of £5 billion.

David Ball – Board Member

David Ball has held board positions with Tesco Bank and senior roles at HBOS plc and Bank of Scotland, managing IT and business transformation programmes.

miiCard, a purely online digital passport service, has agreed a partnership deal for global sales and channel development with Simbiottik, a UK-based technology marketing company.

Under the agreement, Simbiottik will develop a channel partner network to promote miiCard – a unique digital passport for the consumer that proves “I am who I say I am” in real time, for the first time to Anti-Money Laundering, Know Your Customer Regulations and the Proceeds of Crime Act standards.

Owned and managed by the individual, miiCard allows the consumer to track, monitor and so take control of their online identity for the first time. miiCard costs the consumer just £1 a month and is charged to the vendor on a transactional basis.

miiCard is keen to reach clients around the world, and needs a strong partner network to reach potential clients. Simbiottik specialises in channel development, and ongoing management of the channel relationship, for technology companies and will boost miiCard’s profile internationally.

“Simbiottik will help us quickly scale our partner network to reach the right clients for miiCard – their connections will get us into markets across the world,” says James Varga, CEO of miiCard.

“miiCard has a powerful product that will transform online commerce and financial services, and we know we can help reach its potential,” according to James Donaldson, founder and CEO of Simbiottik. “We are extremely enthusiastic about this partnership to promote miiCard.”

For more information contact: Sarah Lee.

About miiCard

miiCard is a revolutionary “digital passport”, powered by Yodlee, that enables users to prove their identity online for the first time to the same level of authority as a driving licence or passport would do offline. By creating trust in an environment characterised by anonymity and transient identities, miiCard will open up opportunities for business online and put internet users back in control of their personal information.

The inability easily to authenticate a user’s identity online has long been a significant problem. Between 70% and 90% of all online financial transactions are terminated when the customer is required to provide physical proof of identity so it is imperative that businesses find a solution.

miiCard is designed to support ecommerce and eradicate this problem by enabling customers to complete complex transactions online without supplying further proof of ID.

For businesses selling online to consumers, miiCard improves conversion rates, cuts operational cost and fights internet fraud.
miiCard also benefits users and vendors by creating trust between parties in a purely online environment, increasing convenience, consistency and simplicity of shopping online, speeding up transactions, reducing costs, improving customer satisfaction and easing regulatory compliance.

About Simbiottik

Simbiottik is about “Promoting Technology, Globally”. With offices in the UK and North America, Simbiottik is ideally placed to make lasting and profitable connections between business-sector software developers and value-added resellers to drive revenues and profits for both parties. Simbiottik’s service however, goes far beyond a simple matching service. Simbiottik’s teams in Europe and North America include experienced and innovative channel and business development managers who are dedicated to ensuring that both developers and resellers achieve the full potential from the relationship. Our teams pro-actively manage channel relationships. www.simbiottik.com