Community Impact Initiative Launched!

Recently, with a little bit of flexibility at my disposal regarding my working hours and availability, I decided that I wanted to to be able to give back and support worthy projects that may otherwise not happen without some reduced costs or even volunteer time.

It’s all well and good placing a value on your time, expertise and equipment etc. but sometimes it is just as important to do something because it feels like the right thing to do. I’ve worked a lot with various charities over the years and also been a long-standing member of a local Round Table, helping to organise events that raise tens of thousands of pounds for good causes in the community. However, through Racing Snake I have an opportunity to dedicate a bit of my time to providing media support to organisations or people that may not have the budget to even consider a service that would really benefit their success.

I am delighted to announce that my first Community Impact case will be The Birkenhead Priory!

I use this image a lot so you may recognise it. It was taken during my original 3D scanning of Birkenhead Priory - using a Leica BLK360 Lidar scanner to supplement my Matterport infrared scanning, allowing me to capture the outside spaces, high walls and also to work in direct sunlight (almost impossible with infrared scanning).

Combing my love of heritage and my experience of delivering engaging educational resources, this is the perfect project to begin Racing Snake’s Community Impact.

The oldest standing building in Merseyside has a history dating back more than 800 years and boasts a beautifully preserved medieval site packed with history and intrigue. A few years ago, while I was at hi-impact, I was fortunate enough to create a 3d virtual tour of the entire site - no mean feat given the scale and complexity (huge amounts of outside space, tall and winding towers, high ceilings, gravestones with weathered text and carvings in the ancient masonry of the ruins.) The aim was always to create a highly interactive resource from this tour, something that schools would use to support their topics about local history. Resources have not been available to achieve this mission and I felt that I could step back into the project now as a volunteer and complete what I started.

Working alongside the wonderful staff and volunteers at the site, we have already begun to plot our next steps, which will include:

• Audio descriptions of the key areas of interest

• Video pop-ups around the site

• Language options

• A digital treasure hunt to engage children as they explore and learn

• Bespoke branding and menus to help navigation

Having recently had one of my previous interactive experiences win an award, I am really hopeful that the finished resource of The Birkenhead Priory will be similarly well-received and we may enter it for some awards in the heritage industry once it’s up and running and been tried and tested in schools. You can check out the basic tour here, but do check back on my social media or on the Priory website for updates over the coming weeks as we complete the resource as it will change quite a bit!

If you have ideas for a project that you think could be worthy of consideration for future Community Impact, do let me know. I can’t promise to help each and every single one, but I will see what aligns with my values and skills and availability and see what I can do!

Stadium Experiences

The inspirational Aaron Phipps gives his key note at the Stadium Experience meeting this week

Several years ago I first worked with the fabulous Debbie Rigney and the team at Stadium Experience, a Not-for-Profit organsiation that brings together representatives from the hospitality teams at all the major UK stadium venues to share best practice and industry news.

Presenting our virtual tour services at one of their meetings led to us working with Liverpool FC, Twickenham Stadium, Everton FC, Manchester United FC, St Helens RFC, Ipswich Town FC and Norwich City FC. In fact, I’ve been very privileged to return to several of these to renew their tours over the years as they renovate or rebrand, none more so than Norwich, where I have been back 4 times. I love working at stadiums: not just because I am a sports fan, but because I love meeting the people behind the scenes and finding out how the industry functions away from the match day

Stadium Experience recently hosted their first in-person meeting since Covid at the wonderful Edgbaston Stadium in Birmingham and I took the opportunity to exhibit there as well as cover the event with film and photography. It was fantastic to reconnect with existing clients such as Jodie from Norwich and Sophie from Ipswich Town FC but also to meet prospective venues for virtual tour services.

Continuing my close ties with the sector, I will be covering July’s awards for Stadium Experience, which is always a lively affair! The event will be held at Brighton and Hove Albion’s American Express Stadium, and I cannot wait!

One thing I really enjoy about covering events is getting to listen to the key note speakers, and this week’s was particular impressive and inspirational - the paralympian and renowned British athlete, Aaron Phipps. What an honour to hear his story. He closed by telling everyone in the room that they should take themselves out of their comfort zones and attempt something a bit different. That struck a chord with me as I embark on my new venture as Racing Snake - although the services are not outside of my comfort zone, branching out and doing them without having a team behind me is definitely a little bit uncomfortable! It’s also exciting and really not that impressive given what people like Aaron have achieved in life with far more to overcome.

Edgbaston Stadium, the perfect venue in the heart of the country and a spectacular skyline view over Birmingham.

2025, the Year of the Snake

In the Chinese astrological calendar, this year is indeed the year of the snake. For me, according to one horoscope I read, “2025 will be a breakthrough year for you as things fall into place easily. Your hard work is creating a strong foundation for future success”. I don’t usually spend time looking at horoscopes (in fact, I don’t have any time for that nonsense), but I like this (admittedly generic) statement as it certainly feels apt for me at the moment. Well, maybe not the ‘easily’ part!

Having spent the previous 14 years at one of the UK’s leading education providers, hi-impact, I decided that it was time for a change. In my time there I had been an IT technician, operations manager, innovation manager and worked at board-level to develop the company from its early days (I was just the 5th member of staff) through to its current position today as a major force in the EdTech sector with nearly 50 employees. However, sometime you just know when it’s time for a change, to be brave and see if there’s another adventure on the horizon. And here it is!

I am over the moon to have been able to plan this new venture alongside my friends at hi-impact and it’s a uniquely privileged position to be able to maintain my close links with everyone there as I will be still be delivering their educational media services and website builds. I am eternally grateful to them for their support and all the memories they have given me. Now, it’s time to make some new memories.

So, with Racing Snake, you’re not getting a newbie. You’re partnering with expertise, experience and a broad skill-set that encompasses a variety of digital creative media services as well as senior leadership, project and event management, client relationship management - in short, you can be confident that you’ll be in safe hands.

Why Racing Snake? Well, aside from it being a phrase Terry Wogan used to use on his Radio 2 breakfast show, I was reminded while trying to come up with a business name of our skipper on a Greek sailing holiday we had many years ago. Whenever we’d offer him a drink he’d pat his stomach and say “you don’t get a racing snake figure like this from drinking beer”. That seemed as good a reason as any for choosing it, tbh! Also, my initials are SS. That’s a bit like the sound a snake makes, isn’t it…?

Disclaimer: Don’t be fooled by the photos of me on the site - I’m not always this much fun.