The JAM Jar

I’ve been jammy to jam with JAM.

Miles Zilesnick provides insight to work experience at JAMpr.

Alongside many other graduates I’m currently on my quest for employment – and like all quests there are always stepping stones along the way. My last two weeks here at JAM Towers have been my most enjoyable steps yet, and a brilliant insight into the PR world.

I received an offer for the placement and rapidly managed to secure time off work and found a sofa to crash on – I’ve been paying my friend back with freshly baked bread each week. Once that was sorted, I confirmed the placement and then just had to wait… I was counting down the days until I found myself reunited with the marvelous city that is Manchester. I’ve spent three years here studying Classics at university and have been itching to move back ever since.

From day one with JAM I was thrown straight into work and hopefully I’ve been some help. Of course there has been the occasional brew involved, but that’s just good manners. Starting each day by reading all the papers has been brilliant – and that’s not sarcasm. It’s a calming way to start the day, and very eye-opening to see how one story can be twisted and shaped several times as I scour the pages for useful information.

I’m hardly a stranger to the telephone, and working here has certainly propelled my manner and confidence in this field. I’ve been surprised how easy it is to get in contact with key journalists and editors of national papers too. When I began selling in stories it started as a daunting thought but ended in being great fun. I can’t put into words how happy I felt when I got my first bit of coverage for my Travel Cash. In addition to all this I’ve been doing a lot of research for new clients and helping brainstorm, which has been incredibly insightful.

Asides from all the serious work, we’ve tried hunting down a few of the English Rugby Team and UFC champion, Michael Bisping, who were in town for the UFC fight at the Phones4U Arena this weekend. We wanted to sell them cakes for Caketober, which the entire team got behind baking up some gorgeous treats. I got involved too making chocolate smothered cake balls. There’s also been a lot of boob talk for Transform Cosmetic Surgery, as it’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The last fortnight has certainly been diverse! 

Working with new people, especially in such a small environment, can be a tricky thing. It’s an open plan office at JAM, where everyone is sat next to each other, so you can’t avoid anyone, not that you have any reason too with these lovely Jammers, they are all delightful to work with. I’ve been made to feel so welcome and am sad that Friday was my last day. It’s been a pleasure being a temporary Jammer for two weeks and hopefully it won’t be the last I see of the team!

Last week we were reminded of just how much this vibrant city of ours has to offer, with the news that a new report has cited Manchester as the most “vibrant” place in the UK to call home.

The “vibrancy index”, compiled by information services group Experian, uses census and commercial data to rank the UK’s top cities based on changes in society, and this month the report saw Manchester scoop the top spot – with the London borough of Kensington coming in at second place.

With this in mind and to show our appreciation for all that this colourful city has to offer, we did a whip round at JAM Towers to find out just what it is about Manchester that makes it so darn lovable:

Dave @davefromjam
Anywhere with a roof garden or terrace that means you can watch the world go by gets my vote – Great John Street hotel is perfect for this!

I also love the ‘old mans’ public houses. There are so many colourful characters that drink in there day in day out, and you can guarantee that they’d do anything for you!

Jaime @JaimeGee
Quite simply – the people. Mancunians are the friendliest folk in the world and their humour is second-to-none. Parsonage Gardens provides a slice of sanctuary in an otherwise hectic city, while the steak at Grill on the AlleyGrill on the Alley melts in the mouth, and the wine flows freely!

Viki @vikitahmasebi
The Christmas markets! Plus you can drive everywhere unlike in some cities. And the restaurants are fantastic.

Rich @RichardTPay
Beggars Bush in Chorlton on a sunny Saturday / Sunday. It doesn’t open until 1pm, which is prime breakfast time when you’ve been out of a night, and it’s the best full English I’ve ever tasted!

Francesca @FrancescaGaffey
I love looking up in Manchester – we still have lovely old buildings, like the ones on King Street. The town hall is an amazing gothic, Victorian building, and we also have some amazing converted buildings. 

I love the fact that it’s so international and you hear so many languages just walking around the city centre. Plus, we have our very own Captain Manchester who is a legend in his own right already!

Stephanie @StephBrookesPR
You can’t beat Dukes on a sunny Sunday afternoon with pizza, prosecco and a guy playing jazz! I also feel Manchester is so much cleaner than some cities, particularly London.

I love Manchester Cathedral too, it’s beautiful.

As for me? I’ll always have a special place in my heart for Afflecks Palace. Having spent many a youthful shopping trip wandering it’s rooms, I can safely say that it’s one of the most colourful places in Manchester with a unique atmosphere that takes you straight back to your teens (or at least it does for me).

And let’s not forget the eats on offer – from Almost Famous burgers, to Katsouris Deli on Deansgate and the Hard Rock Cafe. What’s not to enjoy?

If you’re feeling the love for your fellow Mancunians (especially us Jammers) why not cast your vote for us at the 2013 Talk of Manchester Awards? We’ve been nominated for Best PR Company.

The business awards season is in full swing and here at JAM towers we have had our heads buried in awards submissions to help our clients in their quest to be crowned the best in their industries.

Preparing the submissions can be a long and hard process, but one that we hope will see dividends for our clients. Winning an award will help to raise their profile, it will provide industry endorsement of the services and products they offer and ultimately pay recognition to the work that they do.

What’s more, there is the award ceremony to look forward to! We love a good awards do at JAM and are gearing up for a host of glittering events in the coming months. We are eagerly awaiting the results of the EN Entrepreneur of the Year Awards next week on 16th October and will be watching out for the nominations of the Business Travel Awards on 28th October, as well as the Card and Payment Awards at the end of November and the Insurance Tech Awards, to name just a few.

We like to practice what we preach at JAM and have a trophy cabinet fit to bursting of our own industry awards to prove it. This year we hope to add to our expanding accolades at the CIPR North West PRide Awards, in which we are shortlisted for Best Technology Campaign and Outstanding Small Consultancy. PRide is definitely one of our favourite events in the calendar and JAMMERS will be out en masse, dressed up to the nines for the ceremony on 13th November. 

We are also really excited to be nominated in the Talk of Manchester Awards this year, where we have been shortlisted in the Best PR Company category. The awards look for the best SME support businesses and the winner is found by public vote. As such, it would mean so much to us to win this based upon votes received from our employees, clients, peers and friends.

Voting opens today, so please would you vote for us via this web page: thetalkofmanchester.co.uk/awards

That’s all for this week. Time to draft our submission for the Golden Hedgehogs!

At the end of September, the JAMpr team headed down to London for the annual lunch! trade show, the UK’s premier, award-winning, food-to-go event. The two-day show attracts visitors from across the retailing, foodservice, hospitality, snacking and catering sectors, so we got to meet some very influential people.

There were three floors full of exciting new food and drink products, as well as an Innovation Challenge Zone, Working lunch! Theatre, a full seminar programme as well as the British Smoothie Championships.

Here’s an overview of some of our favourite foodie finds:

•Bottle Green
•Pago 
•Warburtons Escapes, which JAMcreative’s MD, Dave Gee, enjoyed whilst on his escape to Corfu!

•Newburn Bakehouse
•Dina Foods
•Freshfayre
•Boxer Chips
•Odysea Foods
•CHO 
•Taylors of Harrogate
•The Handmade Cake Company
•Pulsin’
•Sweet Horn

The most unusual item we tried was a range of gazpacho drinks called CHO – a twist on traditional Spanish gazpacho with exciting flavours such as Beetroot and Apple, and Almond and Raspberry. The range won Gold at the Innovation Challenge, along with the delicious Mr Sherick’s Shakes and Vivid Matcha Drinks. We also loved the Beond and Pulsin’ bars – organic, fruity, healthy and very tasty!

We also helped Pussy Natural Energy Drinks with a little market research for their new ad campaign whilst visiting their stand. The new campaign is interesting, to say the least!

And we were treated to the most beautiful, gluten free Almondies courtesy of Ginger Bakers. To. Die. For!

The show was well attended and the organisers report that attendance was up by 37% on last year. We love to keep our finger on the pulse of new foods and drinks and lunch! is a great way to discover new products on the market…and to sample as many possible!

Here is a photo showing some of the goodies we brought back with us from the very generous exhibitors:

Lunch! takes place again next year on 23rd – 24th September 2014 at the Business Design Centre, Islington, London. More details about the show and a list of exhibitors can be found on the website:  http://www.lunchshow.co.uk. We hope to see you there!