So earlier this year I created my YouTube Channel dedicated to Observational Marketing, feel free to peruse what goes on in the Manchester Utd toilets, How to make your message come to life at an exhibition stand and watch an incredible face lift in action. http://www.youtube.com/user/geofframm?ob=5
But for now I turn to the keyboard for the final time this year and take a look back on what has been an exciting and extraordinary year in the world of a marketing speaker. From Manchester to Mashhad, from Cornwall to Cape Town the year was also littered with footballing stars wherever I went - to the point where I could have filled my incomplete Panini sticker albums twice over.
January 'It All Kicked Off.....
In George Best airport, where my first gig of the year was my keynote 'Branding It's Not Just For Cattle' for the teams and senior managers of hr departments in Belfast. Had a great time working with Maureen Robson-Norman and the team but the night before the event we went to a Chinese restaurant where kids could eat for £5 but there was a height restriction!!!!!!!!!! OMG leave height restrictions for the rides not the noodles!
February 'It was Kicking Off BIG Time'
Some of the highlights this month were (thanks to the snow) my postponed keyntoes for EMB Ltd in the East Midlands. This is the 3rd year running I have spoken for them and when I look back at how I got the gigs I spoke at a free event over 4 years ago. Never write off a freebie!
It was lovely to work with TEDCO again this time at the Customs House, South Shields, however, half way through my talk two guys who spotted each other decided they had previous with one another and decided to break out into a fight and chased each other round the room, welcome back to Shields!
This month also saw me speaking with one of my modern day footie heroes, Sir Niall of the Quinn. We spoke together at an Ecademy360 event for local children from Sunderland speaking about desires, aspirations and staying positive!! The man is a true gent, he is so humble and gave up so much time to speak and sign autographs and he also gave tickets to everyone there (not sure if this was such a positive gesture).
March and April 'Clogs and Wine Tasting at 10am!'
I began the Early Years Are Forever tour with great female speaker Shonette Bason - such a natural speaker and performer. We started in the North East and then took the events for Primary Schools to Nottingham, Manchester & Cardiff - watch out for her she's gonna be big!!! www.shonettebason.com
I also spoke at the GSS (Global Speakers Summit) in Noordwijk with some great speakers from all over the world. For me it was great to see so many familiar (for familiar see friends) in my talk inc; Alan Stevens (did a fantastic closing btw) Lesley Everett, Richard McCann, Ayd Instone, Charles Marcus to name but a few!
Later this month I flew down to Cape Town for my first trip of many this year to South Africa. Wolfgang Riebe of UK kids tv fame in the 80's picked me up and then 2 hours later we were all sampling wines in Stellenbosch at 10am. For me this was great but for Kenny Harris the only difference was it was warmer than Glasgow!
This was the greatest convention of all, an amazing place and such a welcome from our PSASA friends. I closed the conference on the first day and then roomed with my Iranian fellow 'Mercury' buddy Sepehr Tarvardian who insists on having the fire on all night!!!!
From Cape Town I flew into Joburg, stayed in the best hotel yet at Tinstwalo Waterfall www.tintswalo.com and then met the one and only Michael Jackson www.theothermichaeljackson.com for the first time since Isfahan 2009. We spoke together in Joburg and it was like old times just no rugs :-( Met so many of the USB superstars and the welcome into the speaker bureau from Paul McConnon and Marilyn Woolfrey was first class.
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| Geoff Ramm & Nissan Main Dealer |
An Englishman flies into Dublin on an Easyjet plane to speak to the Association of South African Travel Agents - you can't make it up. I was sponsored by British Airways to deliver the closing keynote of their 3 day conference. A tall order considering I was following Shay McConnon (Paul's uncle) and Kevin Gaskell. Q. What do you get when you blend Ireland with a South African audience? A seriously friendly event that can certainly drink!!! A lot ;-)
June - Joburg Part 2, University Challenge, Back to School, Half of Saint n Greavsie
Flew back into Johannesburg to deliver a variety of marketing keyntoes at the Markex conference I am now used to Braai's and Hunters Dry ;-) One stand out speaker for me was Debora Patta, no powerpoint, did not move around and stood behind a lectern - the power of her message and her voice simply blew people away. I got back from an overnight flight (sitting next to John Barnes on the plane) just in time to speak at the Blueprint Awards at Sunderland
Later that month I just had one of those days....spoke to 400 pupils at my old school Whitburn Academy about my journey so far, I don't specialise in speaking in schools but there is a buzz like no other audience I've known. I left school and drove down Oxford that same day oh and my Facebook grew by over 300 friends! I arrived to give the closing keynote at the CIMA Conference 2011 and later that evening I sat alongside Jimmy Greaves yes you read that right Greavsie!!!! footy legend and someone who I used to tape on VHS every Saturday afternoon - a great guy and a night I will long remember.
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| Awaiting 400 pupils from Whitburn Academy! |
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| I'll be Saint for the night |
July - For He's A Jolly Good.....
Fellowship to the PSA came through this month and it was a great ambition of mine since I joined the organisation 4 years ago. This was the start of a progression through the ranks which to be honest I never saw coming as I was also voted to become the President of the PSA UK in 2013.
August - Churchill, Gandhi and Ramm
Two further weeks in South Africa was nothing short of brilliant. Delivered numerous times at the Markex Conference in Cape Town, had another Braai with Wolfgang - rumours were that the stadium for the 2011 World Cup may not have been finished so they had Wolfgang's house and garden as back up!!!
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| The Wolfman - Get Well Soon Mate!! |
I toured Cape Town had hake n chips with Tim Keys and of course a meal at the gay burger bar Beefcakes with Ryan, Shelley and Marilyn - could you imagine a Brokeback Burger? or if you fancied something else how about an 'All Gay Breakfast'?
The second week took me to the Drakensburg (and you thought the Lake District was impressive!!) Enroute to a 5 hour drive to the conference for Harcourts, we stopped off at SpionKop, the incredible point in which the British suffered terrible casualties 100 years before. Sir Winston Churchill was a reporter on top of the kop and Gandhi was one of the stretcher bearers taking the wounded off the hill. Quite a breathtaking place which I am guessing not many people from Boldon have been too?
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| On top of Spionkop - the silence was deafening! |
A crazy month if ever there was one! Started off with a keynote and master class for Gateshead Council and from this the Marketing Hotseat Challenge was officially rolled out. This is where the audience literally go away with a pocket full of marketing ideas just for them!! One example was for Tallulah Love who created a fantastic viral campaign on the back of this talk and the with models in lingerie on the Millennium Bridge, Newcastle caused a pr stir for her brand during the Turner Prize!! well done Michelle! www.tallulahlove.com
You guessed it - back to SA for the final time this year and spoke at the impressive Coca Dome (There was no coke to be drunk in the sponsors lounge! doh!) I spoke to many start up businesses and also spoke to over 100 pupils from a local business school - and honour and a privilege.
Later that day I meet up with Gary Bailey ex-England and Man U Goalkeeper and someone I had many panini swaps for 20 years ago! A great guy and just the best afternoon was spent listening to stories alongside Gerry Skerrit (aka the funniest man on planet earth) and Paul McConnon - what a team!
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| A New Panini Sticker Album? |
Two speakers I would strongly advise you to see are Hamish Taylor and Miles Hilton-Barber - we worked together at Angle's 'Don't Be A Dodo' conference in Lincoln. Harriet Ennis and Helen Peake - event organisers supreme!
October 'Sage n Cornish Cream'
I said it last year and I'll say it again, the SageWorld Conferences take some beating!!! The stands, support, goody bags, av, staging, networking, speakers, break out sessions and everything in-between make this the must go to event in the UK!!!!!! I loved returning for the second year to do two different talks. Great to work with the Sage team and to watch Andy Lopata, Jo Malone and Simon Calver to name but a few. All of these videos are on YouTube so feel free to catch up with a cuppa!
After SageWorld in Manchester it was down to Cornwall to deliver for Visit Cornwall at the magnificent Eden Project. I hadn't done the 8 hour train journey since I was a child. This event came from a referral from Pat Smith a member of the audience when I last spoke in St Austell some 3 years ago, and I had the pleasure of staying with her and the amazing Bosinver Cottages - if you're reading this and have a family or know of a family take a look at the best self catering accommodation I have ever seen! www.bosinver.co.uk
The main PSA Convention was held this month and a special mention must go to John Hotowka aka new brand name 'Magic John' what a performance and the standing ovation was so well deserved. it was great that the rest of our mastermind group were there to share it with him (Ayd Instone, Jem Nicolas, Andy Lopata, Richard McCann & Amanda Clarke).
November - E.T The Capitals Of Scotland and Iran!
From Edinburgh to Tehran in 24 hours was the start of a memorable month. I kicked off a 3 day conference in Edinburgh - only sorry I could not have stayed to see Michelle Mone keynote a couple of days later.
Then it was back to Iran for my third year running and a host of crazy stories and memories await..... On the flight to Heathrow was Robson Green and Alan Shearer (he had a man bag ye know) I was praying we'd be safe as any crash would have meant not a jot of publicity for me!!!!
Got into Tehran at 1.30am and to cut a long crazy story short I spent 8 hours in the back of a broken taxi en route to deliver 2x 90 min talks in the beautiful city of Yazd, and here are my executive chauffeurs next to the broken down vehicle!!!!
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| Fred N Barnies Crazy Yazd Cabs! |
I arrived in Yazd, got changed in a hotel room last seen in Middle Earth, and I met up with Sepehr Tarvardian, George Torok and Mike Ogilvie. Working with these friends / professionals was such a laugh and we bounced off each other for the next 10 days - Magic - It was great to be back!
Rugs, Rice, 50 year old jet planes, Trophies, Award Dinners, Kebabs, Bavaria, Crazy Drivers, all Google key word search terms for Iran.
Could you imagine walking down the main street and then seeing your own face?? Surreal isn't it.
As part of the closing ceremonies at each of the 4 conferences the sponsors present you with trophies – these may be made of plastic and wood but to me they mean so much more and are a lasting memento of the tour.
I was awarded two Persian rugs for winning the best speaker prize as voted for by the audience. Although we arrive individually we all work as a close knit team to bring the best out of each other for the audience. It is an honour and a feeling of great pride that I have these rugs but I also accept them on behalf of everyone.
Lesley Everett, Shaun Smith, Mike Ogilvie, George Torok, Barnaby Wynter, Martin Butler and John Goodman was the line up for the World Advertising Forum 3 in Tehran - proud to work with you all.
2011 Highlights
There are simply way too many to mention, but here are a few... Iran, Sepehr Tarvardian, Voted best speaker again in Yazd and Tehran, 4 speaking trips to South Africa, Voted in as PSA UK President for 2013, gaining my Fellowship, speaking alongside Michael Jackson and all my USB pals and working with Paul and Marilyn at USB, working alongside and learning so much from Mike Ogilvie, George Torok, Lesley Everett (my fab mentor) Shaun Smith, SageWorld, and for every audience member who took the time to write, email or message me - thank you.
2011 Lowlights
Well there are two that are linked really. Firstly my great speaker friend Clive Gott passed away this year. We last met up last Christmas to chew the fat I still have the emails of encouragement and support from him saved on my pc. For the first time in my life I did not want to speak on stage but I did to say a few minutes about him at the PSA Convention, I can't remember what I said but was proud to do it for him.
Secondly Clive used to talk about Authenticity and Integrity and yet if I come across one more person claiming that the crumpled up flyer marketing idea/story is theirs they will be eating it!!! I have been tipped off many times that this marketing story is being used by others and yet no credit is given back to me. Now Clive would be saying just smile and let them get on with it - you and I know the truth. In that case this rant is over and keep smiling.
Through the beauty of blogs and YouTube his inspiration will live on so please take time to click here and watch Clive at his best http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9eCI3UqtM8
So What's In Store for 2012????
Well The Great Event is coming to South Shields on the 2.4.12 to celebrate my 10 years in business. I have brought together the people who have inspired me over the years to take to the stage with me at the Customs House to 400 entrepreneurs and businesses. Michael Jackson is flying in from South Africa just for this event! Richard McCann will deliver his incredible life story and Secret Millionaire Kevin Morley completes the line up.
Every penny from ticket sales will go to the Bubble Appeal, Newcastle for babies who are born with no immune systems.
Massive thanks to all the sponsors especially the main event sponsors SAGE for helping this to happen.
Tickets are now on sale at the Box Office (0191) 4541234
As 2011 draws to a close I just want to say thanks to everyone I have worked with and spoken to. Here are a few last minute stocking fillers for you and wishing you continued success for 2012.
Geoff Ramm, Marketing Speaker
Must buy books for this Christmas, Easter and for your summer holidays!
Recommended by Andy Lopata
Mr Moon has left the stadium by Jem Nicolas
