GC takes on Kent B2B

GC takes on Kent B2B

Giant Campus Takes On Kent B2B

reporting from the Kent B2B in Ashford

Giant Campus has returned back to GC HQ after a super great day at Kent B2B yesterday.

The event was held at Ashford International Hotel and is the county’s most premier business networking event. It was also our very first solo event so the pressure was on to impress.

Kent B2B was hosted by Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce and saw almost a hundred different exhibitors. We set our pitch at stand 87 the night before, ready for an early morning and busy day of telling people how awesome our digital marketing training courses are.

There was a variety of compelling and inspirational talks from industry experts and sponsors of the event. The day was introduced to us all by the BBC’s Julie Maddocks and we then heard from the headline speaker Matt Lane – the founder and managing director of BeerBods, a weekly beer subscription service. We also got to hear from Paralympic hero and TV presenter Steve Brown, who spoke about defying the odds and implementing changes.

 

 

Stand 87 at Kent B2B

“It’s always nice to get out there with other businesses and speak about your passions.”

It was a great opportunity to discuss some of the real digital needs that small to medium business are experiencing. Campus has been set up to help bridge that gap between smaller businesses in the area and the larger nationals, and we’re really proud of this. We are so passionate about digital marketing, and spreading the message that it is about much more than just social media. To help put across our message we held a competition. We asked ‘Has Google ruined the crossword?’, and boy did we get some interesting answers! If you grabbed one of our crosswords, remember to send us a completed version!

Cupcakes at Kent B2BHead-Boy Danny Windsor said “Today has been a great event. It’s always nice to get out there with other businesses and speak about your passions. Everyone here has that in common, a passion for what they do! And that’s cool. We also got a chance to introduce some people to our brand and our personalities behind the social media accounts. Sometimes offline is good too!”

We had great fun meeting and networking with a large variety of high profile exhibitors, delegates and speakers. We got to interact with some of our current and (hopefully!) potential future learners. We also got to show off what we have to offer and introduce you to the world of GC. Oh and let’s not forget all the freebies, everyone loves freebies!

We have a lot of great, GIANT news lined up in the future and some more exciting events in the calendar too. Make sure you stay tuned to find out more. 

 

Prefect Amber kept Twitter updated so you can follow our day, check it out;

Amber Vellacott

Amber Vellacott

Content Marketing Lead

Follow us on social media for blog updates and more kick-ass learning content to grow your digital skills!

Happy Birthday YouTube

Happy Birthday YouTube

Happy Birthday YouTube

you’re an old girl now, but bring us so much joy!

Yesterday marked 12 years to the day since the first video was uploaded on YouTube.

It’s been 12 years since the first ever video was uploaded onto YouTube, and haven’t we been making up for it since!

d7f8207d13571482431074-yt1

The first ever video uploaded onto YouTube was ‘Me at the Zoo’ an 18-second video of YouTube’s co-founder Jawed Karim, recorded by his friend Yakov Lapitsky in 2005 (watch it below). In the video, Jawed is filmed in front of the elephant enclosure at the San Diego Zoo. He comments on the elephant’s ‘really, really, really long trunks’ before saying, ‘…and that’s cool’. Finally, Jawed concludes the video by saying ‘And that’s pretty much all there is to say’ – Profound.

“really, really, really long trunks”

It may not be the most captivating video ever posted online, but it is a hugely symbolic one in the history of online video. Who knew that 12 years later the platform would have grown to the massive size it has today. From a short 18-second long video to 300 hours of video uploaded every minute; it certainly is impressive.

Check out some other fascinating facts below on the world’s second biggest search engine.

  • 1,325,000,000 – Total number of people who use YouTube

  • 300 – Hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute

  • 4,950,000,000 – Video views every day

  • 3.25 b – Total hours watched each month

  • 829,000,000 – ‘Charlie bit my finger’ views

glitter_you_tube

 

From a marketer’s perspective, Youtube is a great tool for sharing video and one that shouldn’t be ignored. Though certain businesses and brands are intimidated by the prospect of making videos for YouTube without a huge budget, it is often a lot easier than they initially think. As we mentioned earlier, YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine, (behind Bing… nahh just kidding, Google.) So if you want your business to be found, YouTube is a great place to start.

It even has its own in-house video editing software that talks you through making a range of different videos step by step. Additionally, there are hundreds of free apps and programmes that enable you to make quality videos for your social media and website. Here are some of our favourites apps at the moment:

iMovie – for those Mac users out there. It’s already installed on your machine and to make it even easier for you, if you have an iPhone, it’s on there too complete with some nifty little animations and some licence free music. It is worth noting however that the app is slightly more stripped down when compared to the desktop version. Why not see for yourself. (Apple)

clips_ios_app

Clips

Clips –  A sweet little app. It has a wider selection of music than that of iMovie, as well as some nice filters. You can input pre-existing video and photo content into the app to edit, or shoot and edit a film directly in the app itself. It also has a nice ‘text as you speak’ function, which essentially means the app will subtitle your movies as you speak. Warning – make sure you speak clearly, or you have to reshoot! Check out Clips for yourself. (Apple again)

Google Photos – Out of all the apps on this list, this one gives you the most functionality and is a good ‘all-rounder’. It enables you to create GIFS and well as video files and edit your photos. With regard to video editing, it’s the Video Stability function that makes this app stand out. If you have shot the content on your iPhone then, unless you used a tripod, footage can be a be shaky. This app sorts that out for you. Take a look for yourself here. (Google)

youtubeYouTube Editor – Whether you use this programme via the app or through the main YouTube site itself, this software allows you to do everything above, just with a lot fewer extra features. It does have some nice features, such as subtitles, smart transitions and some stock video (or Creative Common CC) that you can cut into your own footage. The best thing about using YoutTube Editor is that you can cut out the middle man and upload straight to the platform.  Go have a go yourself.

 

Whether you choose to create new videos on YouTube, of just be a casual spectator, one thing is for sure – there will always be new videos to engage, educate and excite us including everything from double rainbows, to creeping cats.

It’s here to stay, and as far as your business is concerned. It’s time to embrace it.

 

If you want to take your video marketing skills to the next level then take a look at our videos that are part of our Giant Thursday series or have a look at our courses, designed to show you not only how to make your own, but also how to promote them online.

Danny Windsor

Danny Windsor

Head Boy

Follow us on social media for blog updates and more kick-ass learning content to grow your digital skills!

Welcome to Campus!

Welcome to Campus!

Welcome To Giant Campus

who, what and why… an intro to Giant Campus

Giant Campus, the brainchild of Sleeping Giant Media, has already blossomed into the role of the cheeky younger sibling.

GC started in response to SGM never wanting to let a client lose out on the opportunity to make their business GIANT.
They found that many smaller businesses wanted to control search and social themselves, or simply didn’t have the budget to work with a specialist agency. Rather than turning these clients away and only being able to offer small snippets of education at their free seminars and events, SGM decided to build up the training they already offered that had proved popular.

sleeping giant media and giant campus

From the very beginning it was clear that GC needed its very own dedicated resource to run and ensure it could really benefit everyone who needed it (and those who didn’t even know they needed it yet)!

31208To address an observed skills shortage when recruiting for SGM, they developed their own in-house training programme. Then decided, “hey why not share our knowledge and deliver this to other businesses and individuals?”

And then, as if by magic, Danny (our self proclaimed Head Boy of GC) appeared!

Danny and CEO Luke had known each other for years after studying together at art college, where Danny then took the route into the education and training sector, remaining completely creative in his approach.

These old friends got to brainstorming, forecasting and planning, and Luke introduced Danny to the all important Google drive. After discussing the ideas with co-founder Ant, Giant Campus was born!

Danny, with the support of the Giants at SGM, built the business from scratch and now manages all of the day to day activities within GC. Our most recent recruit, Amber, has taken on the role of GC Prefect. She’ll be providing Danny with support on all elements of the business as we take on the coolest and most exciting projects! Watch this space.

From the changing of names from Giant Training, registering as Giant Campus in July 2016, the official public launch was in September with a super snazzy 360 video party! The website launched with new branding and a super exciting course calendar.

img_1812So what has GC been up to since then?

Well, what haven’t we been up to?! It’s been kinda non stop.

As Danny says, everything has been memorable and full of challenges…

“From finishing off as Giant Training and then designing a brand from scratch that carries the same values as SGM, but is different in its own right. That process was fun!
Pulling late nights and developing a website with no previous WordPress experience, to go live at the same time as launching a 360 launch party video on YouTube. That was a steep learning curve, but I loved it.”

Danny has loved every minute of working with the professors and experts at SGM: “I have learnt so much from them, without them none of this is possible, in every aspect of the business. Their knowledge just amazes me, and they really love it! I just sit in campus, but they are campus.”

Campus is also super proud of its partnership with Runway, delivering unique digital marketing apprenticeships. We also have plans, BIG plans, GIANT plans, with a rather well known search engine. It’s going to knock your socks off, it has ours!

“There have been quite a few fist pumping moments in the short life of GC.”

Ant teaching

Why should you choose us? Well our approach to training is like no other, so you know you’re getting a unique experience along with courses that are a super good value.

GC offers training from an introductory level, through to advanced, focusing on a range of different digital marketing tools and methods.

We don’t use trainers, we use our very own experts – because, well, they’re pretty good at what they do. They write, produce and deliver our courses, and with creativity and style at our core we keep it interesting – from sessions in our ball pit, to hands on experience.

That isn’t the only thing that makes us unique, we’re a live agency therefore we are very up to date with all things internet and much much more.

We don’t just teach you the theory, we teach you how to do it for yourselves. We have quizzes, tasks, programmes and equipment for you to play with during your time with us, it’s never a dull moment in our classrooms.

Want to know more about our upcoming course dates? Check them out here.

There is SO much more to come, so join our mailing list below and keep an eye on what we have to offer.

Amber Vellacott

Amber Vellacott

Content Marketing Lead

Follow us on social media for blog updates and more kick-ass learning content to grow your digital skills!