Our MD meets Richard Branson!! 15/01/2012
  Blog: re @VirginMoney #SecretEvent Jan 10th 2012 by SurfZap http://bit.ly/y12atGhttp://bit.ly/yLZNWk @Catchawaveuk This week I was invited to an AMAZING #secretevent set up to launch @VirginMoney Banking, organised by #RichardBranson and @VirginMoney; I had been invited to be part of a select group of people to blog/tweet online about what was we experienced at the event. I didn't realise till I got to the location of the #secretevent (Senate House, University of London), how select the group was! I imagined there'd be hundreds there … c.50 people in attendance :) What a FANTASTIC opportunity this was … after a gruelling 10 hour coach journey overnight from #Cornwall (!), I located the Venue near Russell Square; at first I wondered if I had the right place, as it was so quiet with hardly anyone around … the organisers had obviously done a great job of keeping the location secret. I can say now that (at last!), my name has officially reached 'A List', as we were checked in by tight Security at the Gate. I got a sneak preview of what was to come as I walked into the Courtyard, as Technicians were working on some kind of 3D display on the walls of #SenateHouse. Once inside the allocated @VirginMoney 'Green Room', we were welcomed with a lovely hot drink and some biccies, and got the opportunity to network with each other - @VirginMoney Staff and Customers, @VMPioneers, Bloggers,Tweeters, and Press – loved it! Then, within minutes there seemed to be a commotion in the foyer … so we all streamed out and in a very surreal way, there was #RichardBranson having a Photoshoot a few feet away from us all … my first impression was that he has a lovely energy, seemed very laid back, and non-egotistical, chatting to us whilst having his photos taken. He then invited us to join him in the Courtyard area outside. The atmosphere felt almost electric with suspense! As luck would have it, I ended up in an ideal vantage point, right by the Press Area (was amazed that nobody asked me to move, but hey!). I managed to capture some great footage – albeit on my I Phone, so please excuse the quality. Intrigueingly (think I just made that word up!), a champagne bottle was hanging from a rope, beside Richard; he chatted with us all, and gave the thumbs up to me re lovely #Cornwall, which I was impressed by (think he'd make a brilliant Surfer!!).  All became clear as he made a down to earth short speech to launch @VirginMoney as a Bank, and then swung the bottle as if launching a Ship. At the same time, an amazing #3DProjection lit up three walls of #SenateHouse in front of us … with the graphic image of a champagne bottle swinging back into it, starting an INCREDIBLE feast of colour, graphics and sound for us all!! The 3D Projection included many of the great achievements of @Virgin over the last 40 years, my favourite part being the illusion of the Spacecraft appearing to come out of Richard's head). See: http://bit.ly/z1D7t9 and http://bit.ly/zijuqU Thankfully, Richard suggested that as it was such a brilliant display, it should all be projected again (yaaaay!), and we were treated to another viewing. It was SO incredible to feel that I was out in Space on the @Virgin Spacecraft, flying through the sky on a @Virgin Plane/Hot Air Balloon, racing along rail tracks on @VirginTrain … and I loved the part where the walls of #SenateHouse were completely illuminated by a flash of white light, symbolising to me that @VirginMoney are aiming to light the way in UK Banking. You can view the official @VirginMoney video at: http://bit.ly/wLlp  After the Projection ended for the second time, Richard thanked us all for coming along and then #ITV interviewed him about the Banking Industry. Again amazingly, I wasn't moved from beside the Press Area with everyone else, (I nearly became a Photo Journalist after Uni, so must have looked the part!), and I think two of us managed to capture the interview on our I Phones! See: http://bit.ly/zprnOc Great to see Richard giving what seemed to be a genuine, concerned interview about what has been happening in the world of Finance. An inspiring, enriching, magical evening, at which I met so many lovely like-minded people, and although the journey home to #Cornwall that night on the coach was again horrendous … it was well worth it!! … A free flight in RB's Helicopter next time please! :D See my video blog re the event at: http://bit.ly/yOhMW6 ©SurfZap 2012 Add Comment Good memory from earlier this year! D 24/11/2011
"Hi there I am in a competition via Virgin Media Pioneers, last week I was in the TOP FOUR!! Yaaaay! And I now need AS MANY VOTES AS POSSIBLE to become Pioneer of the Month, and then go onto meet Richard Branson. The poll opens today (tue 31st May) ... and I will post the link here and on our other Social Media sites as soon as it's revealed. In the meantime - please would you go to my videos at: http://www.virginmediapioneers.com/video/anneharrington/ ... and watch and 'like' my videos) ... prepare yourselves - one includes me asking Richard about Cornish Pasties!! :D (I don't get commission!!) This would be a FANTASTIC opportunity - not just for me, but it could raise our profile here at Catch a Wave UK cic hugely, and bring benefit to our local community and beyond. PLEASE VOTE and support me ... and free pasties all round if you do!! .... only joking!!! :) Wow, I don't know how people blog regularly! It's been hectic :) I am in a competition to win an opportunity to meet Richard Branson!! Yaaaaay! Last week I was in the top four as a result of a video I posted at: http://www.virginmediapioneers.com/video/anneharrington/ Please feel free to watch and 'LIKE' it - thanks! I have also been selected as Pioneer of the Week, and am now in a poll with 3 others this week, and it's all down to VOTES!! I will post the link tomorrow or tue as soon as it is revealed and PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE VOTE FOR ME!! I would really appreciate it. I feel I deserve this 100%, as not only is Catch a Wave®UK cic such a brilliant, unique, and pioneering concept - but also, I do feel I inspire many people, and feel that this is my life's work now being an Entrepeneur, and supporting others in their journey. I have literally set up Catch a Wave®UK cic from zero funds!! I initially borrowed the £20ish pounds from a friend to pay for the domain name, and then set up a free website, and started testing the water (excuse the pun!) by teaching myself Social Media and getting the message out on the Internet! The result has been incredible and we have made some amazing connections thru Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter!! Including Jamie Oliver (Yes, brilliantly he is following us on Twitter ... tx Jamie!!). I think he has over 1m followers and we are in the 4th he is following, whoo hoo!! Also, Lee Merriweather, Elle McPherson, Clay Marzo, and many more!! We also have a strong loyal following of a whole range of individuals and Businesses, who have been a great support :) We have had some amazing support from our community, including Errant Surf lending us a Gazebo last year for Boardmasters, Gwias Design designing and producing our logo, posters, and now upgrading our website for free!!! So many other lovely things have happened, including having the honour of being invited into Schools and Colleges to talk about being an Entrepeneur and our work as a more than profit organisation! -I LOVE Social Enterprise, yes it can be a challenge trying to run on zero funds - but I feel it is definitely the way forward for Society, and well worth it! We are definitely living the Social Enterprise Dream!! Catch a Wave®UK cic has far exceeded expectations in this first year! Established May 2010, we've exhibited at seven main events in the SW, including Boardmasters and The Blue Mile … We were the only Watersports Social Enterprise at Boardmasters last year. In the last year, The RSA nominated me as a Fellow due to my work raising awareness of Social Enterprise, and Health and WellBeing, and I also won an Unltd Millenium Award for my concept of Catch a Wave®UK cic. We have just won The Flybe Cornwall Travel Bursary Award, and have been awarded the ILCM Level 2 quality mark, and the SE100 index invited us to apply for 2011's Awards! AND ... we have just been awarded an Awards for All National Lottery Grant for an exciting beach project we are running thru the year!! I have also been accepted on a Senior Leadership course for Social Enterprise, which will ensure we continue as a groundbreaking enterprise successfully. Well, I will post more and of course the link tomorrow or tue for you to vote for me on - please keep checking back! Txx :D Hurrraaaay! Thankyou to everyone that voted for us in The Flybe/Western Morning News Cornwall Travel Bursary Award 2011!!! We won the Business section, having been shortlisted in the top three best Businesses in Cornwall. This means a lot to us, and afffirms we have a lot of support out there!! Yaaaaay!  ©Western Morning News BOARDMASTERS 2010!!! 27/07/2010
 WHOAH!Talk about 'Catching a BIG wave!!! :D As you can see from the date ... I haven't been able to sit down and do our blog for absolutely ages!!! The interest in what we are pioneering has been huge, and we literally feel as if we have been caught by a HUGE wave and we are just going with the flow now!! I think it must be because we are such a unique not for profit organisation in the area, offering Watersports for Health and WelllBeing, accompanied by Complementary Therapies. Am so glad my idea has finally come to fruition, as it's been a dream of mine for many years for such an enterprise. And of course, we have a BRILLIANT Team, making this a heartfelt reality ... thanks again to Kit, Rachael, Rowan, Jane, Trish and to all our lovely volunteers coming on board for Boardmasters!! Thanks also to The Queen's Hotel, Penzance!! At last I've mentioned you as I said I would ... you were brilliant when I needed to send that urgent fax, and I totally appreciate it. I love sitting in the Foyer at The Queen's Hotel, watching the ocean ... beautiful. Also thanks to all those LOVELY people (including many friends) who have supported us along the way. There were a couple of guys in Truro I have to def mention - but will do later as need to find their details! And of course Headland Printers - I have found them absolutely brilliant, supportive, professional and they really rushed through some printing for us when we exhibited at The Blue Mile. FANTASTIC. More on The Blue Mile later!! And talking of dreams .... yaaaaaaaaaaaayy!! We have a stand at Boardmasters 4-8th August, Fistral Beach, Newquay! How amazing is that? Personally, this is SUCH a fulfillment of a dream. I remember the first time I went to BM's, years ago, I knew I'd be involved somehow one day, love Boardmasters ... so this is fantastic! My very first experience of Boardmasters was during a surf lesson on Fistral Beach, there was a strong current and I got pulled right into the closed off section where Pro Surfers were competing! Was hilarious, as it was all being filmed and some amazing Surfers were spinning past me and around me - brilliant! With the Surf Guards laughing at the situation, and trying to get me out at the same time :) Priceless. So, lots to do, off to write our Press Release, but already the Media are contacting US which is exciting! Come and say HI at Boardmasters if you want to know more, and of course we'll be booking people in for Surf Lessons each day - so .... Catch a Wave with us!!! :D :D:D Yes, a brilliant day!! And hi to Gary and Lucy!! :) a lovely couple who were on holiday in the area, and were inspired by what we were doing; I hope you did book in for some surf lessons, wherever you live!! You looked so interested ... if not, why not book in for one of our Surfariz? We'd love to see you both!! Thanks also to Kirsty and Justin and lovely smiley baby son that came along to support us on the day, plus Denise and Rowena ... and to Tyson and all at Gwithian Academy of Surfing (where we held our pre-launch), all at Catch a Wave UK, and to whoever made us those gorgeous celebratory hot chocs at the Cafe at Sennen, Loooovely!! A few more photos re the Launch ...  © Christina Draper  © Christina Draper  © Christina Draper  © Christina Draper  © Christina Draper  © Christina Draper  © Christina Draper  © Christina Draper  © Christina Draper  © Christina Draper  Lucy Aldridge Photo: © Christina Draper  Tracey Wearnes Photo: © Christina Draper  Lucy Aldridge Photo: © Christina Draper  Tracey Wearnes Photo: Christina Draper Tracey Wearnes and Lucy Aldridge, professional Iyengar Teachers, took a group of children and a group of adults through an Yoga lesson on the beach at Sennen, before everyone had their surf lesson!! Both Tracey and Lucy are highly empathic, passionate about Yoga and made both Yoga groups great fun for everyone, thanks again to you both!! You all did brilliantly, and I think the photos speak for themselves!! (Photos by Christina Draper, thanks again for some lovely shots!! They really capture the essence of the day.) More photos of everyone having MAJOR fun!! ...  © Christina Draper  © Christina Draper  © Christina Draper  © Christina Draper Yaaaay! We held our launch of Catch a Wave UL C.I.C. last Sunday!! It's been SO hectic since then, I haven't had a chance to post anything, so apologies for that! So, here goes: The day was FANTASTIC!! We had such a lovely group of people involved in the Launch, and a HUGE thankyou for helping us to anchor Catch a Wave UK C.I.C. (excuse the pun :)). We were totally blessed with the weather and waves, and Dave and Grace's (Surf Instructors from Sennen Surfing Centre) expert, empathic and fun way of teaching;... which soon enabled us to acheive what we had set out to do, and inspired many to carry on Surfing!!. Everyone had different abilities, some with health conditions, and we had a good mix of ages taking part. Dave and Grace monitored us all carefully and ensured everyone felt included.  Huuurrraayy! The launch of Catch a Wave UK C.I.C. is taking place tomorrow ... really exciting to see everything coming together!! See Press Release:http:bi.ly/catchawaveuk. 20 people are having a free yoga lesson, from Tracey Wearne and Lucy Aldridge, and then off they go into the Sea for a Surf lesson with Sennen Surfing Centre. And then if it's a nice day, we'll all chill out on the beach, and eat our lunch! A huge THANKS to EVERYONE who has helped to make Catch a Wave UK C.I.C. a reality. Absolutely FANTASTIC!! :D | SurfzapTM's BlogWith a very 'alternative' style of Surfing, you can see me wiping out (a lot!) on the beaches of Cornwall ... & enjoying the magical healing qualities of the Sea! ArchivesJanuary 2012 CategoriesAll |
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