In Memory of Lou Cummins.

I was among the many, many people who gathered at St. Nicolas Church in Newbury this afternoon to celebrate the life of Lou Cummins, former editor of the Newbury Weekly News and my first editor.

The memorial service was a fitting send off and as the audience captured the diversity of his friends and associates, so the speakers captured the unique characteristics of the significantly larger than life editor.

He was obnoxious, an aggressive bully who preyed on the spirit of fresh faced young journalists - and he was a talented editor who taught me much of the skills that serve me so well now. Not least the tenacity that being a journalist requires.

Infuriatingly he would send you back to your desk to phone someone 'one last time' after you insisted that you had exhausted every avenue. Inevitably he would be right, you would land a story and have learned a lesson.

It was fun to see many former colleagues, most of whom recalled such immortal lines as "what you need Morgan is a punch in the f***ing throat", bellowed across the newsroom during one of my visits when I really should have been in school - "being educated to be a better person."

I saw Lou a few months ago and we chatted for longer than I ever spoke to him as my editor. He was more challenging than he ever was as an employer, and more friendly too. Lou was never going to be two dimensional, but that, as it turned out to be, last encounter I had with him introduced me to a rich and deep man. Albeit one who tormented me so long ago!

Photography Thrilled the Radio Star

They say no good deed goes unpunished!

Ever the consumate PR professional I thought that The Best Of Newbury Photo Exhibition would benefit from a push on BBC Radio Berkshire , just to encourage a few more punters to wander through the door and admire this innovative display.

In the fast moving world of broadcast journalism you need to keep your wits about you and before you can say 'What, the guy from Game for a Laugh' I was speaking to Henry Kelly live on air. This when I just wanted to give the newsdesk a heads up!

His genial charm was perfectly suited to feeding me questions that allowed me to wax lyrical about this free exhibition that shows at the Corn Exchange in Newbury until 18 November.

They say fortune favours the brave and foolish and it just goes to show it is always worth promoting your event and local radio is a formidable weapon. There will be people who attend the exhibition now - and who will visit The Best of Newbury and Breathe Pictures websites because of those few minutes on air, and some of those could just translate into sales.

Four years with Thames Valley Police as a press officer equipped me with some formidable broadcast skills and one of the services that Morgan PR offers is media training. Perfect for budding would-be Paxman baiters and those looking for some team building activities alike!

The Best Of Newbury Photo Exhibition

A wonderfully innovative idea comes to fruition this evening when the wraps come off a highly original photographic exhibition at the Corn Exchange in Newbury.

Neale James of Breathe Pictures, a modern and creative commercial photographic business and Karen Holmes of The Best of Newbury, the local franchise owner for the national internet directory service thebestof.co.uk, first came up with the idea over a year ago.

Karen explained: “Both Neale and I wanted to capture the spirit of Newbury, not just a few buildings – but the true spirit of what makes Newbury a great place – the people. Newbury has undertaken so many changes over the last few years with events like the Bypass and the Market Place renovation; we thought lets capture the life and soul of our vibrant town in an exhibition.”

The Best of Newbury Exhibition carries shots of some of the real characters of Newbury. To be eligible to sit for a shot, the subjects must live, work or contribute to Newbury in some way. There is a mixture of humorous, formal, informal and eccentric portraits which describe the people around the town and capture the essence of Newbury, with subjects as diverse as you would expect in a town the size of Newbury.

“In all we have taken over 150 fantastic portraits of which we have chosen the best 50 to exhibit on a 12 x 16 canvas," explained Neale. "Each one of these portraits carries a small biography of the subject, capturing their story and what they do for Newbury. The others are displayed in one of two collages – everybody who has taken part will appear in the exhibition.”

Perhaps most exciting is that this will become a regular event and talks are taking place with several major sponsors for next year which will make this even bigger and better.

Those photographed (okay, I must declare a vested interest here and incidentally, my blog photo is one from my session in the studio - when my phone rang and Neale kept snapping!) have been invited to a special 'invitation only' preview tonight - officially opened by the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon.

Rest assured you will learn on this blog about how tonight goes and maybe with a few more photographs too!

The exhibition is on display at The Corn Exchange until the 18 November.

Keeping the Creative Juices Flowing

I've been quietly nagging my fellow novice bloggers to maintain their postings and keep everything nice and fresh and I have been asked for ideas.

I use my diary - in Outlook , to identify activities that I may wish to write about. Some will be previewed and reviewed, others trigger more general themes and the best part is how they will illustrate much of my work.

Also, when you know in advance that you plan to write about an event or meeting, you tend to spot things that might otherwise pass you by. You will find yourself thinking ' Oh wow! That's so going in my blog!'.

Ideally ask your clients if they would like to be mentioned and how you will insert a link to their website or blog - and of course give them yours.

But then you were doing that anyway...

Fifty Ways Beneath the Cover

In a song surely still ringing up royalties, The Flying Lizards warbled: ‘The best things in life are free’. Admittedly they were dismissing such things in favour of money, but I have just read a terrific book that cost me… nothing!

Those visitors to this blog who originate with the West Berkshire Business Club will already be familiar with our chairman, Steve Mills of Max Marketing. On his blog he is offering his ‘Stealth Marketing’ e-book absolutely free. You simply email him and ye shall receive.

Like so many good books on business ‘Stealth Marketing’ is a delightful combination of common sense advice – stuff that you are almost certainly doing, or at least know you should be doing! Through to other advice that is stunningly insightful and that you instinctively know will work. There are even a few that you will need to try to believe!

Anyone who has met Steve Mills is in no doubt of his ability and his enthusiasm is infectious. This book is just a glimpse of what he has to offer and does include details of an online course ‘Marketing Without Money’ The course comes in units and can be worked through either daily, weekly of monthly. Each unit lasts one to two hours and comes with full course notes. The course can be worked through at you own pace and costs just £49. He also offers a successful seminar under the same name.

The very first tip is to enter your company for business awards and rather fittingly I should remind you time is ticking away to enter the most prestigious of such competitions in our region. Check out WBBC for more details about the West Berkshire Business Club Business of the Year 2006 and how to enter.