The following information will give you a good idea of my background in the field of marketing. This shows that I have both the knowledge and experience which I can put to good use to help you!
- From January 1985 - November 1998 I was Tourism Manager for Christchurch Borough Council in Dorset.
- From this role I gained a great deal of experience in a wide range of promotional ventures, advertising, marketing, design, placing print, preparing press releases and public relations exercises.
- We were pleased to be one of the forerunners of a tourism website , and this provided me with a great deal of exciting experience in the early days of website production.
- In addition I was responsible for a number of staff and substantial budgets covering many different subjects, and so gained valuable personnel and financial budgeting experience.
- In November 1998 - May 2006 I was offered the post of Manager of the Alice in Wonderland Family Park (latterly Adventure Wonderland), Christchurch which attracts around 120,000 visitors per year.
- From this I substantially expanded my knowledge of the design/print market, as well as placing a great many adverts in all sorts of media.
- One of the most valuable lessons I learnt was how to get the best possible coverage in the press, radio and TV for the least amount of money! It is possible, with innovative ideas and well written press releases, to get a huge amount of airtime or column inches for absolutely no cost other than preparation time!
- Setting up and maintaining original website for the Park, and subsequently upgrading it as the technology improved.
- Event Management - as a Visitor Attraction, we would have events and entertainers on many days of the year. This meant sourcing, organising and setting up a great variety of actors and performers, as well as all other aspects of an event such as props, lighting, marquee hire, costumes etc.
Other Information
- Southern England in Bloom Judge from 1999 - 2003
- Represented the Visitor Attractions on the Christchurch Tourism Association (CTA) and subsequently elected Chairman from 2001-2006
- Member of the Christchurch Christmas Festival Committee for 2006
- Member of the Christchurch International Food and Wine Festival Committee for 2007