Member Blog

Google announced in its blog that AMP pages now appear in mobile search results. What is AMP, who uses it and do you have to adjust your web pages?

What is AMP?

The AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) project is an open-source initiative aiming to improve the performance of the mobile web. It was launched by Google last October.

In simplified terms, AMP strips out most of the elements which cause web pages to load slower on mobile devices. For example, JavaScripts, unnecessary navigational elements, and a lot of traditional ads. HTTPS is mandatory for AMP pages.

On February, 24th, Google announced that AMP pages will be displayed in mobile search results:

“Now when you search for a story or topic on Google from a mobile device, webpages created using AMP will appear when relevant in the Top Stories section of the search results page. Any story you choose to read will load amazingly fast-and it’s easy to scroll through the article without it taking forever to load or jumping all around as you read. It’s also easy to quickly flip through the search results just by swiping from one full-page AMP story to the next.

AMP is great for browsing the web on mobile devices, because webpages built with AMP load an average of four times faster and use 10 times less data than equivalent non-AMP pages. In many cases, they’ll load instantly. It’s how reading on the mobile web should be-fast, responsive and fun.”

AMP pages will be highlighted in the mobile search result pages with this marker: AMP marker

Who uses AMP?

At this time, AMP is mainly used by publishing and technology companies. AMP is mostly targeted towards news articles.

Do you have to adjust your web pages?

At this time, AMP is an experiment, albeit a big one. It’s hard to tell whether AMP will be a success or not. Instructions on how to make your web pages AMP ready can be found here. If you use WordPress to create your web pages, this plugin can help you:

https://www.wordpress.org/plugins/amp

AMP is not critical for most web sites. There are many other things that are much more important to make sure that your web pages get high rankings on Google.

Two salesmen go down to Africa in the 1900s. They were sent to find out if there was any opportunity for selling shoes. They both wrote telegrams back to Manchester. One of them wrote, “Situation hopeless. They don’t wear shoes.” And the other one wrote, “Glorious opportunity. They don’t have any shoes yet.”

This is the charismatic opening gambit from Benjamin Zander’s TED talk; it is used as an example of a great way to start a presentation off….with a story.

I sit in the audience encircling John Bates in the dimmed auditorium of the John Innes Centre in Norwich ears pinned, pen ready, eagerly awaiting his dissection of the 20 second TED talk opening clip he’d just played.

John admits to us that the first TED talk he did was a failure but since then he has worked with the likes of IBM, NASA as well as hosting, speaking and training speakers at TED events.

Being Awesome

Last year I attended a talk by John focused on presentation skills, I have put his teachings into my work and the one that has stuck with me the most, although deviously simple, is just a different way to think about going into a presentation.

“I am awesome, and my audience wants me to be awesome.” Sounds a bit trivial, almost stupid to highlight, but I use it all the time. When I first walk in and the nerves start to creep up I just think “I want to be good, they want me to be good so, just do myself, and them a favour, and be good!” why would I want it to happen any other way?

Tips from the man himself

In the break I was lucky enough to catch a few minutes with John. I asked him “What one thing do you think has made the biggest impact for businesses in terms of getting a point/presentation across using storytelling?” He gave me two…

​​Tip 1 – Start in the middle

“It’s a cardinal rule of great, interesting story telling.” John states. “The Ancient Greeks called it “in medias res,” into the middle things. We all live in a world that happens in chronological order. So, what do you think would be the most boring order in which to tell your stories? Right! Chronological order!

So, start in the middle, somewhere exiting! Then, once we’re hooked, go back and explain how we got here and then tell us the wonderful, exciting and good for us, conclusion! By the way, I don’t mean the exact middle! Anything that is not the absolute beginning or the absolute ending counts as the middle! Pick someplace interesting and exciting to begin and then we’ll want to hear the rest!”

Tip 2 – Tell the story in the present tense

John continues “If it happened in the past there’s nothing we can do about it! But, if it’s happening now, well, that’s exciting! And, in the same way that you picture a little purple elephant dancing at your feet when I say, “don’t​picture a little purple elephant dancing at your feet​…” people will experience being there with you if you tell the story in present tense! It’s not for every story, but it’s good if you want to really draw people in. As an opening, as a way to share an ah-ha moment you had, or as a way to give them the experience of something that you experienced very deeply it’s great.”

And, as a little bonus John shared a saying that world famous speaker Les Brown shared with him: “Never tell a story without a point and never make a point without a story! “It’s how human beings brains work,” John retorts, “so just go with it!”

You may have noticed that I have worked on weaving those tips into this article; hopefully this will spark something off so you can weave a vein of gold through your own presentations/stories. As the headline states if you have a good story to tell it’s like giving someone a bit of gold, happy prospecting.

Article originally from the Indigo Swan website:www.indigoswan.co.uk/TED-talker-john-bates-storytelling-tips

— More information about John Bates – Peck Here Benjamin Zander TED Talk – Peck Here Sign up to our Newsletter. Peck Here

Every time snow falls or is forecast we receive calls and emails asking ‘Will I be sued if I clear snow from a path? Or do I have to keep my Car Park clear?’

The simple answer is yes you can, if you do it carefully!

You are unlikely to be sued if you are sensible.

So how to clear snow and ice…..

When you clear snow and ice:

• Do it early in the day – it’s easier to move fresh, loose snow- if you remove the top layer the sun may melt the rest.
• Don’t use water – it might refreeze and turn to black ice & become more dangerous.
• Use salt if possible – it will melt the ice or snow and stop it from refreezing overnight (but don’t use the salt from salting bins as this is used to keep roads clear)NB Do take care not to cover plants in salt.
• You can use ash and sand if you don’t have enough salt – it will provide grip underfoot pay extra attention when clearing steps and steep pathways – using more salt may help.It is best to salt the night before before persons use the path in the morning.
• Take care where you move the snow.When you’re shovelling snow, take care where you put it so it doesn’t block people’s paths or drains. Make sure you make a path down the middle of the area to be cleared first, so you have a clear surface to walk on. Then shovel the snow from the centre of the path to the sides.
• Be flexible with staff’s and your own traveling plans this will ensure that staff are reducing the risk of accidents by travelling at peak icy times; Consider if you can staff working from home to avoid the need to travel, non urgent meetings can be postponed – Ensure clothing is appropriate, and phones are charged.
• Safety Policy & Risk Assessments; Ensure your safety management system covers work travel and work arrangements for such conditions.
• At Home offer to clear your neighbours’ paths.If your neighbour will have difficulty getting in and out of their home, offer to clear snow and ice around their property as well. Check that any elderly or disabled neighbours are safe in the cold weather.

If you follow the above sensible guidance you are unlikely to be sued when you clear a path, and your staff & visitors will have a reduced risk of slipping or falling in the Ice or Snow.

‘I trust you becauseyour customer service is great.

I trust you becauseyour product is good quality and reliable.

I trust you becauseI know I can get in touch with you if I need to.

I trust you becauseyou clearly value my custom and I feel special.

I trust you becauseI like you.

I trust you becauseyou keep me updated with news and ideas or products.

I trust you becauseyou don’t always want to just ‘sell’ to me.’

………said the happy customer to the customer-centric, modern day business.

If you have many customers who are saying the same thing to you, stop reading. You’re clearly aware of what sort of marketplace we live in in 2016. Otherwise read on!

It doesn’t matter what business you are in, if you have customers, this year you will be prioritising ‘trust’. ‘Trust is earned, not given.’ We know the mantra and we also know its value. And yet many businesses are still operating under the illusion that the customers are out there and that business will arrive at their door, till or webpage as if by magic.

They won’t.

This is the age of the customer. Google the phrase ‘customer-centric’ and you’ll have enough blogs or articles to read until 2017. The customer is in the driving seat. Your customer will know all about you, the good and the bad, and will know all about your competitors. Your customer won’t hesitate to seek out the best deal or offer and will use reviews, social media and referrals to assess your credibility.Your customers’opinionof you will be based on data, whether accurate or not. Your customers’reactionto you will be emotional.

According toForrester Analyst Anjali Laito, “Emotion is often the primary factor influencing customer loyalty and the strongest driver of customer retention, enrichment and advocacy”.

One thing will drive your customer back to you and keep them close – TRUST.

“The most credible advertising comes straight from the people we know and trust. For that reason, it should come as no surprise that more than eight in ten global respondents (83 percent) say they completely or somewhat trust the recommendations of friends and family. But trust isn’t confined only to those in our inner circle, as two-thirds (66 percent) say they trust consumer opinions posted online-the third-most-trusted form of advertising.” -(Nielsen, 2015 report)

If your customer trusts you, they will love you. If trust is there, you will have earned an advocate, a raving fan and a lifetime supporter. Trust is a belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of….; it is an expectation of faith and consistency. That expectation is not granted as a ‘default’.

Judy Randon

Digital tech businesses are at the heart of the UK economy and are playing an important role in driving growth. Norwich has some amazing organisations doing great things and as part of the latest report, Norwich is on the map again as a top Tech City.

Although this is great news, Norwich and Norfolk still has a lot of work to do as a region.

Weaknesses for the region (from the report) include low sector awareness, weak digital infrastructure and limited access to finance.

Benefits include access to commercial property, local networks and talent education.

There may still be the perception of a lack of internet connectivity, slow connection links to the rest of the UK, etc, but we as businesses need to change this perception. Norwich has received great PR as a great place to work (recent Guardian article) but as businesses, it’s time to make it a great place to do business too.

A career in the digital industry might sound exciting but what skills do students need and what opportunities are there in Norwich? Kieran Miles, a local entrepreneur came up with the idea of a digital city walk which takes place next week.

This great concept will give students,parents and teachers the opportunity to step inside the doors of digital businesses in Norwich and show them face to face what skills and opportunitiesthere are locally.

Digital is a growing industry in Norwich and as a Tech Nation cluster citythere are over 14,500 people employed in this growing sector. However,although the digital sector may be growingone of the biggest problems Norwich businesses have is recruitment. Recruiting people with the right set of skills is difficult which is why businesses are keen to start conversations with students to share with them the careers and opportunities they have on their doorstep.

As a career path, digital businesses in Norwich are keen to showcase the local career opportunities, educate and help students from schools, colleges and university. It’seasy for students to thinkthey need to head to London for a great career in digital but we have lots of businesses in Norwich doing great things, including large-scale national and international projects.

To find out more including a list of businesses students, parents and teachers can visit go to https://wearedigitalcity.org/

Has the New Year heralded the start of a new career for you? However experienced you are, the first few weeks in a new job can be just as intimidating as they are exciting. We’ve compiled some of the top tips our recruitment consultants regularly share as part of their ongoing support for our candidates, even after they’ve found them a new role.

1. Build respect

Build respect and trust by looking for ways to help out and take an interest in what other people are doing. Try to pick up on your new colleague’s working styles and adapt your approach to meet their needs. If you are a manager, take time to get to know your team as well as other senior colleagues. Building relationships will enable you to nurture a strong team spirit and establish yourself as a supportive leader from day one.

2. Understand the new culture

Use your first few weeks to absorb what goes on around you in order to understand the organisation’s culture and values, and how it engages with its customers, employees and the local community. In many instances the culture will stem from an organisation’s origins. Read up on its history as well as any current mission statements, business plans and company handbooks. Also, look at how new ideas are developed and implemented, and understand who the key decision makers are.

3. Get to grips with your job description

A written job description is only one element in fully understanding your responsibilities. It’s also important to establish people’s expectations of you, and for you to discover the structure and skills available within your team to help you meet these expectations. Although you will be expected to deliver results eventually, be patient and don’t rush with ambitious goals. Spend time developing your knowledge of the organisation’s industry, its customers, competitors, products, services and people. When you have absorbed the necessary information, you will be in a stronger position to really start performing at your best.

4. Build a rapport with the boss

Request meetings with your boss on a consistent basis to review your performance, and also to establish a rapport. If they haven’t provided you with a list of expectations for your probationary period, take proactive action. Either ask your manager to write some goals and objectives for you, or write them yourself and ask for them to be approved. Make sure you schedule in an informal review of your performance halfway through the probationary period, so you can put yourself back on course if things are going wrong.

5. Find a mentor

As you get introduced to senior staff, look for those who convey reliability, confidence and initiative, and who could act as a mentor for you. Mentoring has numerous benefits, from having an experienced, knowledgeable person to bounce ideas off, through to someone who actively helps direct and advance your career within the organisation.

Nestlé fails in its battle to protect the shape of its KitKat bar as a trademark, after High Court of England and Wales rules that the chocolate bar has failed to acquire distinctiveness through use. Novagraaf’s Claire Jones outlines the implications for brand owners.

Obtaining trademark protection of shapes is not as common or as simple as trademark protection for other types of signs, such as words, slogans or logos.

Registration limitations exclude shapes from trademark protection, if:

• they consist of a shape which results from the nature of the goods themselves;
• the shape gives substantial value to the goods; or
• if the shape of goods is necessary to obtain a technical result.

Shapes that are not excluded on these grounds can obtain trademark protection, but – as with trademarks in general – only if they satisfy criteria for distinctiveness. In practice, this is quite a hurdle as it can be difficult to argue that consumers recognise a shape as a distinguishing mark of a particular undertaking. Ideally, shapes need to depart significantly from the norm or customs of the sector in order to fulfil the essential function of a trademark of indicating a product’s origin.

Why KitKat’s four-finger shape falls short In 2010, Nestlé filed an application to register a trademark for its four fingered KitKat bar. As the application was for a shape mark, the (word) mark KitKat was not included in the application.

The UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) originally accepted the application and registered the shape mark; however, competitor Cadbury’s opposed the registration. In the procedure that followed, the High Court of Justice of England and Wales referred the following questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for a preliminary ruling.

In essence, the procedure concerned the following questions:

• Is the shape of the KitKat bar excluded from trademark protection because one of the grounds for refusal is applicable? And, if the answer to that question is negative;
• Has the shape acquired a distinctive character through use?

Applying the grounds for refusal With respect to the first question, the CJEU heard arguments that the chocolate bar’s shape contained three essential features: one of which results from the nature of the goods themselves and two of which are necessary to obtain a technical result.

The court discussed that it is possible for the essential features of a sign to be covered by one or more grounds of refusal. It then went on to clarify that the grounds of refusal regarding the technical result must be interpreted as referring only to the manner in which the goods at issue function and not the manner in which they are manufactured. The court also clarified that registration may be refused only where at least one of those grounds is fully applicable to the sign at issue. The case was then returned to the UK courts for review.

A final refusal by the High Court of England and Wales Guided by the CJEU’s opinion, Mr Justice Arnold concluded that: “In order to demonstrate that a sign has acquired distinctive character, the applicant or trademark proprietor must prove that, at the relevant date, a significant proportion of the relevant class of persons perceives the relevant goods or services as originating from a particular undertaking because of the sign in question (as opposed to any other trademark which may also be present).” (para 57)

In other words, to prove acquired distinctiveness, Nestlé must show that the relevant public recognises the shape in itself as originating from Nestlé. However, Mr Justice Arnold ruled that was only able to establish association, which was not sufficient to demonstrate the necessary acquisition of distinctive character. The shape was, therefore, deemed ineligible for registration and the appeal was dismissed.

Implications for trademark holders In effect, there was substantial evidence presented in the proceedings to show that consumers associated the shape of the bar with the KitKat brand, but not that consumers already relied upon that shape before purchase. Therefore, the main evidence point to come out of the proceedings is that the evidence must show that consumers perceive the trademark as indicating exclusive origin from one particular undertaking. However, the application of such a test was not made entirely clear by Mr Justice Arnold, and this point is likely to be contended in the future.

The bar for acquired distinctiveness of shapes has been set very high and consumers will be foremost in any analysis.

Claire Jones is a trademark attorney in the London offices of Novagraaf.

The new year is a good time to step back and assess whether the IP rights in your portfolio are adding value to your business, but where should you begin?

Many companies estimate the healthiness and relative worth of their IP portfolios based on size alone. However, those IP rights could be worth far less than hoped if the following checks and balances aren’t also considered. IP portfolios are frequently cluttered with unused registrations or starved by gaps in coverage; reviewing your IP now via a detailed audit could help you to identify ways to streamline your portfolio in 2016, saving you money while also improving the efficiency of your assets.

Step 1: Review your IP records and data for accuracy The data in your IP portfolio needs to be accurate and up-to-date, otherwise you may find that you don’t quite own the rights that you think you do. Taking the time now to cleanse, update and rationalise your IP data can save you both time and money in the long-run, as it will identify errors in the records, as well as unnecessary costs such as duplicate registrations (e.g between national and CTM rights).

Centralising IP ownership can also help you to avoid unnecessary costs and risks, e.g. due to refusals or duplicate records. This also enables companies to file oppositions or to act against infringement on behalf of one formal party, instead of being forced to initiate double procedures in case of decentralised ownership.

Step 2: Audit your IP portfolio for value A regular IP audit enables you to assess the value of your portfolio against the costs involved in growing and maintaining the IP rights it contains. It helps to identify, for example, trademark rights that are being renewed despite never being used, as well as gaps in protection, which might leave a company exposed. To undertake this audit, we would first recommend:

• Reviewing your IP strategy to ensure that it takes into account your strategic business goals;
• Prioritising your IP rights (e.g. between ‘core’ and ‘non-core’), and markets (countries and goods/services) based on current branding/R&D strategy and future plans;
• Auditing licensing and royalty agreements to ensure that the rights have been correctly maintained and the revenues received; and
• Reviewing your supplier list to see if it is possible to generate further cost savings by consolidating your IP portfolio with one provider.

Step 3: Conduct regular healthchecks Completing an IP audit is only the first step in what should be a regular programme of portfolio reviews. By conducting audits at regular intervals (ideally at least every six months), you can ensure that your portfolio continues to evolve as your business does, and it could also identify additional savings in the future; for example, by:

• Merging registrations;
• Allowing possible duplicate (local) registrations to lapse; and
• Identifying unexploited rights that could be sold, licensed or allowed to lapse.

Find out more Novagraaf regularly undertakes IP audits for customers, helping them to assess the efficiency of their rights, to identify gaps in coverage and to highlight areas where they could save costs. You can find out more about this service and our methodology on our website.

Yes you read correctly. Don’t promote your developers. They deserve to stay where they are.

Having worked for a number of companies who believe the only way to show their appreciation for hard working developers is to give them more responsibility, I am a firm believer in doing the exact opposite. Companies move successful developers into other areas of their business, often into people management, and take away what makes the developer good at their job, or at the very least dilute their skills by asking them to focus on people rather than code. But there’s a reason your developer is good at what they do. Most developers are not ‘people people’, they are software people and for very good reasons.

If the software development team is writing the core product or system the business is using day-to-day, moving those developers away from developing will have a significant impact on productivity and quality. Even promoting a developer to an architect, for the purposes of paying them more, is often wrong. Software architects are not the same as building architects, they still need to code and code regularly. Obviously there are exceptions to the rule and a developer may want to make a career change. If they want to move to something very different, let them. If they want more responsibility, make it over the design and or make them the team or project technical lead, but make sure someone else does the people management of the team.

Perhaps some companies feel the need to justify the pay rise on offer, giving the developer more diverse responsibilities in order to do so, but why would you move someone from a job they excel at into a job they’ll struggle with just to pay them more money? Tech firms need to understand that their software developers are at least as important as their people managers, if not more so, and recognise the importance of technical excellence. The solution as a business owner is to keep talking to your developers, make sure they’re doing what is best for them, and your business, and regularly increase their pay in line with everyone else in the company. A good developer is a valuable asset, so reward them by letting them shine in their role. Listen to what they have to say and let them manage code, not people.

Ideas: Paul Grenyer Words: Lauren Gwynn

Help young people kick-start their careers with Future You – a free careers app for 13-21 year olds in Norfolk. Using skills, aptitudes and qualifications, Future You can help young people identify their ideal careers in one of Norfolk’s six leading growth sectors.

Future You is a completely free careers guidance app, developed for young people, by young people. The app is available for both Apple phone users and Android and there is also an online web tool.

The app is designed to help young people recognise the wealth of career opportunities available to them right on their doorstep in Norfolk. Norfolk has six leading growth sectors which provide a vast range of career prospects.

We have identified the six leading growth areas as follows:

• Energy
• Engineering
• Life sciences
• Creative industries
• Financial Services
• Health and social care

The app takes interests, skills and aptitudes and provides link to advice and support on what different jobs are available within each growth sector, it identifies the career pathways that are available and what steps to take. There is also support in creating the perfect CV, preparing for an interview as well as highlighting the latest apprenticeships and traineeships available to them and much more.

Future You is supported by six partner companies who, with the help of their employees, brought the Future You campaign to life. Those companies are:

• Marsh UK
• Institute of Food Research
• Norse Care
• Perenco Ltd
• osbornenash
• Dodman Limited

If your company falls within one of these six growth Sectors we are here to help

We are always looking for more local businesses who represent the 6 key growth areas to support and work with us to help promote Future You to future generations of talent in Norfolk.

If you would like any further information about the Future You app and how to get involved then we would love to hear from you. Please email the communications team at[email protected]

For more information on Future You, including how to download the app as well as the six case studies featured within the Future You campaign visit www.futureyounorfolk.com

Future you is also on twitter – follow @Norfolk_FY for app support and feedback, tips and advice as well as highlighting current vacancies and how to make the most of Future You. We are always looking for ways in which we can improve Future You and your feedback is greatly appreciated to help make Future You a better experience for everyone.

The Future You team will be at the Norfolk Skills and Careers Festival to connect first hand with the future generation of talent in Norfolk and help demonstrate the Future You app and the support it can offer.

We have produced a member list database for managing member information.

Features:

• Templated email messages for easy send of similar information.
• Custom fields of varying types.
• Selection by attribute AND individual name. This means that one can select an attribute of committee which sends to those with that specific attribute attached.
• Reporting on full information or simple list

Planned Features

• Scheduled emails​
• More comprehensive reporting
• Billing ability if required.
• Heirarchical display of audited outbound contact
• Inbound contact management

If any thing here sounds interesting, or you wish to know more please contact me using my email address and I shall be most forthcoming.

All.

David A. Robertson