Marketing & Communications Working Group Minutes

Minutes for the meeting held on 23 April 2008 at the University of East London. 

Present:  Angus Brown (Imperial College), Genein Cox-DeSousa (LSE), Lisa Jolliffe (British Library for Development Studies), Matthew Lawson (KCL), Frances Norton (Wellcome Library & Chair), Dave Puplett (LSE), Catherine Walsh (UEL & Secretary),

Apologies:  Marysia Henty (LSE), Annette Linton (Canterbury Christ Church), Barbara Spina (SOAS)

1. Minutes and Actions
The minutes were agreed as an accurate record of the meeting.

Action 5: Work plan Members had agreed to the allocated responsibilities and the layout. Lisa will work on identifying the audience for each activity
           Action: LJ

2.  M25 Prize
i. Information about the CPD25 travel award had gone out and the deadline for applications had already passed (31st March 2008). Any further marketing will be co-ordinated by Suzy Ball, the CPD 25 Administrator. The result will be included in the M25 e bulletin.

ii. It was suggested that the prize and winner should feature in the Annual Report for 07/08. It was agreed that we should showcase some of the applicants as well as the winner. Information about the prize could be provided in a text box within the CPD25 section. The M25 members’ day in January 2009 would provide another opportunity to highlight the prize.

iii. The Group agreed to bear in mind the possibility of a bi-annual Marketing and Communications prize relating to the promotion of services and/or collaborative projects.

2. Visual identity and brand guidelines

i. AL had produced some very helpful visual identity guidelines which were circulated to the group

It was proposed to make the new logos available in a secure area of the web site, together with guidelines on their use. The guidelines would be drafted by the MCWG.
DP and GC will work on some recommendations for storage for the June meeting. A further action would be to identify the main M25 image files and store them in the same area.
Action: DP & GC

FN asked Group members to forward any further feedback about the visual identity guidelines to AL.
Action: All

FN will raise the issue of ‘sign off’ for the use and commissioning of M25 logos with the Steering Group.
Action: FN

ii. Members Pack
It was agreed that we should use the generic M25 folder. The contents need updating and some still display the old visual identity. ML has already been allocated the responsibility of reviewing all our printed material.
Action: ML

3. Review of Anniversary Event

The 15th Anniversary celebration had been a very successful and enjoyable event thanks to the hard work of the chief organisers, Maureen Wade and Genein Cox DeSousa. We had also succeeded in attracting a small amount of sponsorship.

GC reported that she has sent the specially produced packs to all Directors and working Group members who were not able to attend on the night. A press release had also been sent out, including quotes from the speeches by Roy Williams and Nick Bevan.

4. Press and Specialist Journals Contacts

MH and FN had produced a list of contacts which was circulated to the group. Web page links will be added for each rather than personal details.

We need information about more journals that will take our copy and FN asked for suggestions to be forwarded to herself and MH.
Action: All

The anniversary event press release will be posted on the web site. It was suggested an archive of all M25 events, including images, would be very useful. Images can be sent to GC.
Action: MH

5. Annual Review 2007/08
The sub group has met the designer from Ocean and briefed him on our ideas for a 15th anniversary edition, to include the usual annual reports from the working groups but also a ’15 year’ reflective report from MW and some other additional features.

We have agreed we want our theme to reflect the range of buildings occupied by M25 member libraries and a request has gone to Directors for images of their libraries. In addition we are commissioning photographs from diverse institutions like the Wellcome, Kings College, Hertfordshire University and the British Library.

CW circulated a proof of the suggested design. We agreed we need to maintain the M25 orange but use the anniversary logo which had already been used on the commemorative brochure.

Next steps are to get photographs organised and contact chairs of working groups for copy.
It was agreed that we should have a group photograph of the Steering Group this year, to be taken at their meeting on 14th May at South Bank University.

Action: CW, ML & BS

6. Any Other Business

The group agreed on single branding for the new pens – they will bear the M25 logo and can be used for any M25 or CPD25 event. 5000 will be ordered.

Meeting Dates:
25 June 2008  10.30            LSE (SOAS)
24 September 2008 14.30   London Bridge
5 November 2008 14.30      Imperial College