We are extremely happy to be working with Vision & Media to support two trainee placements for a Trainee Web Developer and a Trainee Web Designer, starting in September.

So if you’re a talented, ambitious designer or developer who is looking for their first career opportunity and expand on their experience then these placements are perfect for you.

These are not  jobs – they are  training experiences which will be carefully managed by KMP Digitata and Vision & Media to ensure you get everything you need out of the experience, while gaining the skills and knowledge to become a professional web developer or designer. The selected Trainees will receive a training allowance for attending the placement, which will be geared towards an entry level salary for the web industry.

We have a long history here at KMP Digitata of nurturing and developing new talent within the digital space, many of whom stay with us long after their placement period is over. If you are interested in becoming the latest member of the KMP Digitata team then please apply on the Vision & Media Placements page. Any applications sent directly to KMP will be unsuccessful. For more information and to start your application, then please click on the following links;

Apply for the Trainee Web Developer position

Apply for the Trainee Web Designer position

We look forward to seeing you here soon

The KMP Digitata Team

The Big Chip Awards brings together the best companies in the North West digital sector for a night of food, wine and celebrations. Terry Christian once again returned to host the event for the 3rd successive year and we were lucky enough to listen to Shameless actor, David Threlfall, who gave an emotional speech on behalf of the homeless charity Byte Night.

After the meal it was time for the main event to start and the awards given out. Congratulations to all the winners, in particular StarDotStar who won an amazing 3 awards on the night. We were up for “Best E-Business Project” that was ultimately won by 11 out of 10 for their work on the Pure Gym project. Another notable winner was Cahoona, who won the “Tasty Website” award that is voted on by the public.

Thank you to everyone who made the night such a great success and we look forward to the next one.

Photos from our night out can be viewed on our Facebook page and for the full list of winners check the Big Chip website.

We have been recognised once again by the Digital Industry as a leader in our field resulting in two of our projects being nominated for “Best e-business”. As categories go “Best E-business” is one of the most fought over, because those that get nominated have proven that they have not only met targets but went beyond them, created new business and produced amazing ROI.

Our two projects that have been nominated for the “Best E-Business” 2010 are the Jetparks website and ASDA’s virtual assistant, Amy.

Jetparks

The JetParks project was created to help Manchester Airport break into the competitive offsite parking market and establish itself as a provider of cheap Manchester Airport Parking on the search engines. Since its launch a year ago the project has exceeded all targets and produced an ROI of 465%.

Asda’s Amy

Asda launched their new online grocery platform in July 2009 and required a web application that would guide customers through the new interface, encourage the shopping process, handle queries online and decrease the inbound calls. The result of which would subsequently improve customer service, their business process and profitability.
Our Virtual Assistant, Amy, fields over 20,000 conversations a month, 23% of which Asda believes would previously have resulted in a call being made to the call centre and produced a ROI of 185%, which is expected to increase to 1013% by the end of the 2nd year.

As it happens

If you’re interested to see if we won then be sure to return to the blog on Friday to read the post awards entry although we ask for forgiveness if it is late, especially if we win because we are only human and sometimes suffer from sore heads after these award nights.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter to receive the latest developments as they happen on the night.

People to follow:
@KMPDigitata
@JonKeefe
@Gezd
@DanielAshcroft

Once upon a time, a girl with a flower in her hair wondered into the woods . . .

The Tale of ROI from KMP Digitata on Vimeo.

Eh! I really don’t know what they have been putting in the tea over here at KMP or when Tim Burton slipped into our interactive department?

In-fact, this was a challenge we set ourselves, produce something creative in a day that would showcase our ability over here at KMP Towers to deliver ROI for our clients. Now, don’t get me wrong, we have plenty of work to getting on with, but sometimes it’s important just to have a bit of fun with your own brand, after all, we are a creative company and like to make cool stuff.

So hopefully you will enjoy our little mix of fairytale and business acumen, and who knows, if you do, flower girls adventures may continue . . . if our busy schedule allows once more!

Well we developed an app for that…

The free Manchester Airport iPhone application is an essential tool for those flying out, flying in and even collecting friends or family from Manchester Airport. It has been designed to save both time, money and enable the traveller to plan their journey and time in the terminals more productively, be it exploring the many retail outlets or airport lounges.

The Manchester Airport iPhone application is the perfect accompaniment for both business and leisure travellers.

The key features of the application allow you to:

• Explore each terminal through the interactive map
• Car park booking – Save money and time by pre-booking your car parking
• View a Google map of each terminal and get directions to and from the airport
• Get real time flight information for arrivals and departures.

The Manchester Airport iPhone application is available to download from the AppStore now for free and more information about the app can be found at the Manchester Airport website.

How-Do Awards 2010. Drinks reception sponsored by KMP Digitata from KMP Digitata on Vimeo.

KMP Twitterfall Awards

In addition to this we have had some requests to expand upon some of the Tweets we featured in our previous post. I’ve had chance to read through the 600+ tweets featured on our KMP Digitata Twitterfall and have selected my favourite tweets for an additional mention.

Best Dressed Award

Purely from the Tweet he sent, the reward for the best dressed goes to Jamie Lyons

@whatjamiedid: Slightly regretting the deckchair shirt look now, looked fun at home

First to get drunk Award

This tweet was sent relatively early on and after re-reading it many times, I still struggle to understand what it is meant to say. The first to get drunk award goes to Joe Bowler

@ItsJoeBowler: apparently I everything these things but I’m glad to be here on behalf of Refinery

What Happened Next? Award

There is always someone you see or hear that make you wander “What happened to them later on?”. In this case a tweet was sent and makes me think about how his night might of gone. Winner of the What Happened Next Award is Michael Pettyt

@speedia: look out, 2 pints and an empty stomach can’t be good

Awkward Office in the morning Award

It’s a clique at office parties that there is always one event during the night that causes an awkward moment the next morning. This also goes for Award Ceremonies and the winner of this award goes to Jon Clements for tweeting;

@JonClements: boss admiring shirt says “matching collar and cuffs”. And it’s still early….

Best way around the Profanity Filter Award

Throughout the night the ever entertaining Gordo came out with some classic Tweets, some that were banned and even one asking if I could fight after putting him in the Sin Bin for the 3rd time. One of his tweets got past my filters and due to his politeness I believe this tweet wins the award

@GordoManchester: Nina, my darling, just been sin binned again for saying what a tight derriere you have m’dear…

Nina Webb later returned the complement

Fail of the night Award

This Award is actually being awarded to the same person for two separate occasions. The first is for an attempt at trash talk towards us of all people, but ultimately failed by getting our name wrong

@ajevans85: who are @kmpdigital?

Yes Adam….who are KMP Digital? His second tweet was picked up by a couple of people who noticed his error. CTI rightfully received a highly recommended accolade but Adam jumped the gun slightly and sent the tweet;

@ajevans85: well done @ctisn for digital agency of the year

Andrew Binns was quick on the case to point out his error

@keeperbinns: @aajevans85 erm, they didnt win it

The Twitterfall would not have been such a great success if it was not for all the people who got involved, so from everyone here at KMP Digitata, we thank you.

The How-Do Awards bring together the cream of the North West’s media , from Digital Agencies, PR, Press, Radio and Television for a bit of a shin dig, a few awards, a pat on the back, a dig in the ribs, you know the score. This makes for an interesting mix of ideas and contrasting fortunes on the future of the Media within the North West.

The event was kicked off by Robert Shrimsley, the managing editor of the FT.com, delivering a stirring speech on the challenges UK journalism is facing as content and classified are finding more effective platforms online. Likening the landscape to that of the Wild West, where after the many battles for land peace was finally achieved and people found their place and their living within the new order. It was an interesting speech and for the gathered digital practitioners such as ourselves it offered a stark reminder of the realities faced by traditional medias within the North West as our digital world blossoms.

And so after being suitably fed and watered the collective back slapping began. Congratulations are extended to all the winners, KMP Digitata were up for best Digital Agency, an award won by Code ComputerLove, with CTI Digital highly commended, both richly deserved. Other notable winners included Brazen for PR agency and Made in Manchester delivering the best Radio Program for Gay Life After Saddam. Perhaps juxtaposition of the night was delivered through the best Newspaper category as Crains Manchester Business shared the stage with The Westmoorland Gazette as joint winners.

That’s not to say we didn’t make it on the stage in some sort of presence. Throughout the evening’s events, our Twitter Fall was showing on the big screen providing much entertainment. Having learnt from ITV the perils of allowing unmoderated comments on screen, we tasked our placement student Graham with building an app that would allow us some control over the wall, should people get a bit giddy.

Graham was more than up to the challenge and throughout the night the KMP team were happily moderating whilst trying not to let the power go to our heads. Although we were fairly permissive (we’re all adults after all), a few choice comments caused the guilty tweeters to be sin-binned for a cool-off period. By the end of the night the leader of the Naughty League was, perhaps predictably, Gordo from Manchester Confidential. He stormed in front mainly thanks to his overly-enthusiastic and potty mouthed appreciation of the female form. He’s not known for his tact or enlightened gender politics, our Gordo! The Sin Bin feature quickly became a challenge to some Tweeters to see who could get to the top of the list and a special mention must be given to @jameskay83 for his effort and appalling language he almost got through our moderating, but we were wise to him.

Our Twitter fall was used to discuss more than Awards. Tweets relating to other subjects appeared thoughout the night. One example was that it was used to keep people informed of the latest scores for Liverpool’s Europa League Semi-Final tie. There was a notable cheer when the news of Diego Forlan’s goalflash appeared on the big screen thanks to Paul Fabretti, the relationship between Manchester and Liverpool seems as strong as ever.

@paulfabretti: Hang on Liverpool fans…Forlan has just scored. Liverpool need one more now. 20 mins of ET left. #howdoawards

The awards was attended by some of the brightest technical minds in the North West who would of loved nothing more than to crash our system but we learnt from the Tories Twitter mistake and was able to build a system that was able to hold up to their attacks. @ajevans85 attempted to get some Java Script in there with the Tweet on behalf of @ctisn:

@ajevans85: while(true){print “@ctisn for the win!”} // #howdoawards

For @danielashcroft, behind the scenes of the Twitter Fall, it was an enjoyable night of watching discussions happen and observing the jousting to get into the Sin Bin, unfortunately these tweets prove too rude to publish but gave us a good giggle at the KMP Digitata table.

So thank you again everyone who attended and helped out with #howdoawards.

Photos from the event can be found on our Facebook page and Flickr.

The Technique Mission

Technique provide a fresh approach to training and development for digital designers and developers by organising events that are intensive, intimate and hands-on, helping to maximise time. More intimate and in-depth than a conference, and more dynamic than traditional training, Technique is all about practical, hands-on development.

Running in Newcastle, Leeds and Manchester, Tech Days are single day intensive workshops led by renowned international developers. Tech Days give you the chance to get in-depth and hands-on with the subject of your choice, learning from experts and fellow developers in a full-day of hands-on training.

Continued support for new developments in the North

KMP Digitata is always excited to support new innovative thinking and ways to help the development of the digital sector in our region. We previously sponsored Speak the Web, which proved a great success, and we see Technique Tech days as another great opportunity for both established and new members of the industry to learn from a variety of experts in these workshops.

As a company KMP Digitata are extremely proud that Richard Clark was invited to teach at this event, strengthening both KMP’s and Richard’s position as a leading authority in web design in the North.

Rich Clark had this to say:

I’m really excited to be involved with Technique Digital. It’s a great opportunity to educate designers and developers on the possibilities of HTML5. I’ve heard really good things about the previous Technique events so hope to continue that trend.

For more information or to book tickets to the events visit Technique. KMP Digitata and Rich Clark look forward to seeing you there.

Graham Smith – Junior Developer

Working at KMP has been a non-stop tour around the technical world. I have done so much over the last 6 months ranging from coding for API’s, systems administration, becoming the “printer guy” to cleaning the air conditioning filters (someone has to do it).

Before I came to KMP my confidence in my coding was less than brilliant, but with help and support over the last 6 months it has improved significantly, which will be a great help to me as I go into my final year. Working in a production environment has shown me how projects actually go live and how they can be configured, which is something that is seldom seen in the theoretical and academic world. Being at KMP has also inspired me to look deeper into social media and how this can be applied to various scenarios that I would not have thought of before.

I’d have to say my highlight was completing my first Facebook application, I really put blood, sweat and tears into the project and eventually got a good end result. There were some complex obstacles to overcome, which on reflection provided some of the best experience that I would never have got if I hadn’t come on placement. If that wasn’t enough, then I got employee of the month in February.

Over the coming 6 months I think I’ll see more of what I have learned, and tried not to forget, put into practice and built on even further. As time has gone on I have been given more responsibility, which I see as a natural progression that will probably continue.

My recommendations to future students, in the technical area: be prepared for quite an intense and varied role. Unlike other placement opportunities you will be working on various tasks, often at the same time, so time management is important. Don’t be like me and not drink tea or coffee and therefore not have to make rounds, this could very well mean you won’t get the job…

Tim Brook – Junior Front End Developer

Over the past 6 months at KMP I’ve worked on various projects from small page amends to dynamic websites and emails viewed by hundreds of thousands of people.  My knowledge and understanding of HTML & CSS has developed incredibly and I am now starting to dive into HTML5 and jQuery.  I have also learnt a lot of skills that only develop by working in studio, from time management to the development of a project, from the initial pitch to it finally going live.

The highlight of my first 6 months here at KMP would have to be completing my first WordPress website build.  It was a very steep learning curve but with help and support from the team around me the end result was spot on!

What do the next 6 months have in store for me?  Well, I’ll be brushing up my coding & design skills and as these develop, I’ll be working closely with other creatives to build more interactive and engaging sites so watch this space!

My advice for future creative students – first impressions last, so make sure that the first brew is pants! The requests will still fly in but you can always remind them of what happened last time!

Here at KMP we are extremely proud and impressed by their continuing development in the company and are looking forward to seeing how much further they improve in the next 6 months with KMP’s expertise guiding them.

In this post we ask 4 KMP Digitata staff members to say what they like best about their devices. This could either put an end to the arguments once and for all or pump ill-feelings to an all time high as heels dig in and opinions become more deeply entrenched.

Oh well, here goes…

Danny Ashcroft: Marketing Exec

Chosen Mobile Device: Google Nexus One

I started my smart phone experience with the G1 which was great over a year ago but is really starting to struggle now that most android phones are on Android 2.0 leaving the G1 stuck on the 1.6 with no hope of further updates. So the Nexus One was the natural next step.

It is undisputed that the Nexus One is the most powerful on the market with its 1 GHZ Snapdragon processor and 512MB of RAM, but if you’re like me you don’t really care about what is inside as long as it all works on the screen.

The Nexus One impresses from the very beginning when its 3.7inch OLED screen lights up. The screen looked good but it was only when it was put next to the iPhone 3GS that the difference was evident. The colours were vivid and more importantly the black was actually black compared to the washed out dark grey of the iPhone. The Blackberry and Palm Pre couldn’t compare either.

When the home screen appeared I would have expected to click on the menu straight away to see what features it has. Instead I was left just tapping the screen playing with the “live wallpaper” that changes when you touch it. I felt like a budgie in its cage pecking it’s reflection in a little mirror. There I was in a trace, tapping the screen and just watching the water background ripple from my touch.

Once I was able to tear myself away from the back ground, a quick log in to my Google Account and everything was synced straight away and I had access to all my emails/contacts/photos/etc that I have on various Google products. People may complain and grumble about Google taking over the cyber world but if it means I have quick and simple access to what I need then I’m all for it.

The speed of the phone became noticeable when using the apps. I used to have to open the app and wait for it to load on the G1 but it all works instantly on the Nexus and although it doesn’t change the experience of the phone massively it does make using the slower phones very frustrating. It also runs multiple apps at once allowing me to listen to music, keep up to date on the latest football scores and send messages all at the same time.

A major selling point of the Nexus is its navigator feature on Google Maps but unfortunately the UK won’t be updated until the phone launches over here sometime in the spring, although this is yet to be officially confirmed. Multi-touch is also an issue with the Nexus because although it is capable of it with apps, such as xScope, it is not supported in the phone’s navigation and photo gallery, instead the Navigation ball is used. I never use this for navigation but it does nicely pulse different colours when events happen, such as message received or score update available, and it actually works as a pretty good massage ball for your thumb.

With many App developers moving over to the android platform from Apple, thanks to its more lenient publishing rules, it won’t be long before the Android Market place starts to make up ground on the App Store.

All the smart phones have their own advantages and disadvantages but for the whole package I believe the Nexus One is the best out there. People claim that the iPhone is a fashion statement rather then just a phone but when you see them in the hands of nearly everyone you see, including 14 year olds, it’s hardly a fashion statement anymore. Nobody says “looking at my iPhone”, they say “look at this cool app I’ve just got” and increasingly I’ve replied “I have that on my android”.

Gez Daring – Client Services Manager

Chosen mobile device: iPhone 3Gs

What more can I say about the iPhone 3Gs that hasn’t been said all ready? I’m not an Apple fanboy but I decided to take the plunge early and was the proud owner of the original iPhone. I was immediately hooked. It wasn’t the first smartphone, nor was it the first touchscreen mobile browsing device, but when Apple brought out the original iPhone only 2 and a half years ago, it redefined both categories.

The main attractions were and still are a great mobile browsing experience and a stunning multitouch user interface. Combine this with a great screen for displaying photos and videos and the fact that you can run the phone from iTunes – a program everyone is already familiar with – and you have the perfect mobile device for the masses. But for all its gloss, the original device was admittedly flawed when compared with most European mobile phones that were out at the time.

I think this was partly due to the fact that the US mobile market was and still is a few steps behind the European scene. It was hard to convince naysayers that the iPhone was the future of mobile when it couldn’t send or receive MMS, had a disappointing 2MB camera with no flash or video recoding capability, no GPS and no 3G compatibility. It was basically an iPod and browsing device with a bog-standard phone thrown in.

It was the launch of the app store that saw the iPhone come into its own and, while some purists will never be happy with the proprietary, Apple controlled environment, most people are content with the fact that they can turn their device into anything they want it to be. Games, tools, publications are only a click away. I know, I know – it’s not open like Android and closed systems are evil and blah blah and more geeky blah – who cares? I know that my device won’t be hijacked by a malicious app. You’ll wish Google operated the same amount of control over their Apps the first time you try explaining to your mum that the porn links you sent her via MMS “wasn’t your fault”. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

The 3Gs model and firmware updates addressed the previously described flaws. So I now have a device that does everything I could possiblely want. Video (with nice trimming tool), MMS, iPod, 3 mpx camera with touch focus, games, tools, Emails… and unlike the other devices described here, the interface is a dream to use so no matter how many apps I have it’s never a chore to find the one I need.

And The 3Gs is fast. I mean really fast.Someone else will probably compare the processors but the 600 MHz and 7.2Mbps data speed does the job for me.

And if you need one more reason to convince you that you shouldn’t settle for anything less than the iPhone, just look at it. It’s gorgeous.

Drew Royle – Studio Manager

Chosen Mobile Device: Palm Pre

I’ve had a Palm handheld computer several times, on and off, over the past ten years and have always been impressed with the build quality and support offered by Palm. They’re like a Gameboy – they just keep going no matter how many times you drop them!

That’s the first reason I chose to vote with my pocket and resist the pull of the all hailed iPhone.

The iPhone was a trend-setter but as with so many new innovations, subsequent competition often outshines the original and that is what I believe the Pre has done for the smart phone market.

There are so many advantages that the Pre has over the iPhone but the main one is probably the addition of a full slide-out qwerty keyboard, making data entry so much faster than on-screen typing. However, probably the most talked about advantage is the Pre’s multi-tasking ability (although the Nexus 1 also possesses this). It’s fantastic to be able to be listening to music, have multiple simultaneous downloads, be replying to a text and be checking my work calendar all at the same time. I can’t even remember what it was like to have to close down each app and start a new one!

Ok the iPhone has the App Store with over 90,000 apps. That is impressive, there’s no getting round it. But, to play devil’s advocate, does anyone ACTUALLY need 90,000 apps – how many is too many? If you think back, Palm have had online app stores for their handhelds long before Apple came to the table and already have a vibrant online App Catalogue of their own, at 1,100 apps and counting.

Technically there isn’t a lot of difference between the handhelds, all having similar processing power and memory. The screen on the Nexus and iPhone are larger but only slightly and I prefer the phone to be smaller in my pocket and the 3.1” high resolution screen is more than enough to view the web in all its glory. Other than actual apps, the connectivity is far easier on the Pre, as you are able to dump music and files onto it from any Windows PC or MAC meaning you are not restricted to iTunes.

The nearest rival to the Pre is the Nexus 1, also possessing multi-tasking, a camera flash and gesture area. However the Pre still beats this as far as I am concerned with better applications, a cooler magnetic charging system and the most important – a UK support network in the form of 02 shops and call centre support. The biggest downfall of the Nexus 1 is the fact that users have to wait days for replies via forums or email.

In summary, if you want one of the most advanced phones in the world that lets you type fast, run multiple applications simultaneously and is reliable, buck the trend and get a Pre!

Graham Smith: Junior Developer

Chosen Mobile Device: Blackberry Curve 8900

Blackberry – synonymous with simply the best email integration in a mobile device. Setting up email accounts with Blackberry is not only intuitive but a breeze, including support for Microsoft exchange. Iphone users will  talk about their app store – well,  using the old adage “quality over quantity” Blackberry’s apps are more business focused, with one of the best apps for business users being on Blackberry; the “ Wireless Database Viewer Plus from Cellica Corporation connects and updates desktop-side databases and syncs automatically.

Simple things such as being able to replace the battery, which should be noted realistically lasts a total of 3.5 days WITH the Wifi on, a solid qwerty keyboard, expandable memory through micro SD (Nexus also features this) and a colourful LED indicator are things that both the Nexus and Iphone don’t have. The ability to run apps in the background and seamlessly switch between them when you receive that all important email or SMS is a mobile users’ delight.

Word processor, spreadsheet and PDF reader all come as standard with the trimmings including one of the best mobile messaging systems exclusively for Blackberry users, boasting such features as personal and group barcodes, allowing users to use their cameras to add new contacts. Furthermore the messenger integrates with email and all supported media types, allowing items to be sent seamlessly. For those unfortunate enough not to have a Blackberry there’s Yahoo and Windows Live Messenger for Blackberry.

Other non-business features such as Facebook  and Twitter are readily available. The music player is actually fairly good, with support for a wide variety of media types: MP3, MIDI, AMR-NB, AAC/AAC+/eAAC+, WMA and WAV. And Yes to answer the next question – it does play movies of the following types: MPEG4 , H.263 and WMV. The fact it comes with a decent set of included headphones makes this all the more enjoyable.

Future support for Microsofts’ Silverlight and flash in full -compared again to the Iphone’s limited flash support – has been promised for the first half of 2010 as well as HSDPA support and higher resolution screens on the horizon, which demonstrates RIM’s drive to produce the ultimate business smart phone.

In short: want a phone that has all the features you need , a screen that your children won’t break, has enough battery life to ensure you won’t need to panic when there’s a power cut , and is provided by a company who appear to be keeping a strong eye on the ball – get a Blackberry.

Conclusion

Not one of these phones can claim to be perfect and they all have their individual advantages. The Blackberry is more business orientated, the iPhone has the fun factor and the Nexus and Palm Pre take up the middle ground.

Whatever you look for in a phone, I’m sure that at least one of these 4 can supply it.

The decision is down to you.