Matmi’s had an interesting experience this week and, in my opinion, we’re better off for it.

We got knocked back at three award presentations this week – and maybe we deserved it for getting a bit too big for our boots. 10 years in, most successful year yet, some great new clients and releases, nominations at The Webbys and Cannes Lions on our 1st attempts, blah blah.

Had we started to believe our own publicity? Every marketing/PR person will tell you that’s a very dangerous thing, so I’m glad we were pulled up short.

It made winning Digital Agency of the Year at the DADI Awards last night very special indeed (yes, 4 award ceremonies in a week is a new one on us too). And to see Optathlon (United Airlines) pick up another win in the DADI’s Travel category was a fantastic pat-on-the-back for the team.

When Richard Draycott (MC’ing at the time) described the winner being in a ‘humble location” my heart started beating a little faster, and when he said “specialists in branded entertainment” it started to pound so that by the time I heard him say “And the winner is ….. Matmi!” I thought the whole audience would be able to see my heart about to leave my chest. The adrenalin rush kicked in and by the time I returned to Table 24, I was shaking like a leaf!

A monstrous Thank You

Guys, girls, everyone who voted for us, a monstrous thank you from the stunned and amazed Matmians of Macclesfield (that previously unknown centre of the universe). Thank you to Table 24 (LBi, BJL & The Drum) for your great company – let’s do it again soon, please. And thank you to everyone at The Drum and the judges of the DADI Awards for your obvious passion for digital marketing, and all the hard work that made last night’s awards ceremony the resounding hit that it was.

From a few over-awed Matmians, I can safely say it’s been a tough week with a fairytale ending which our CEO, Jeff Coghlan, should have been there to see in person, but duty called .

I hope we can live up to our voters’ expectations in Matmi’s second decade, should we work hard enough and be fortunate enough to be writing blogs (or whatever the 2021 incarnation is) by then.

From a very excited team of Matmians, enjoy. Penny

PS. A few quick messages: Ian & Bobby @ Lost Boys – enjoy LBK (Life Before Kids) while you can & all the best for next Spring’s arrivals. Richard – thank you for the name checks (which I’m sure I didn’t deserve) and when I’ve finished the first book, I’ll make you read it . James – JFDI and so will I. Lines ends, over & out.

There’s definitely mischief afoot. In the space of 36 hours on 10th and 11th November, no less than 4 digital marketing and business award ceremonies take place. And guess what? We’re in all of them! It’s a conspiracy!!

Right now, we know that we’re shortlisted for the BIMA Awards (British Interactive Media Association) for the second year running, and for the DADI Awards (Drum Awards for the Digital Industries) for the fourth year running. As well as a category listing in the DADI’s Leisure/Travel/Sports for United Airline’s Optathlon campaign, Matmi and Jeff have been shortlisted for Agency of the Year and Individual of the Year, respectively. None too shabby that!

Fortunately, these two take place on consecutive nights, the BIMAs in London and the DADIs in Leeds. So far so good. But then, the inaugural Lovies Awards, a European version of The Webbys (the Oscars of the digital industry) decides it’s also going to hold its awards ceremony on the same night as the DADIs in London. And our local Macclesfield & Wilmslow Business Awards makes its presentations on the same night as the BIMAs in Cheshire!

Confused?

Oh yes – totally! It looks like we will have to send one envoy to London and another to Cheshire and Leeds, so please don’t give us any deadlines for 10th & 11th November! We also entered the EPICA Awards for the 1st time this year – but they’ve had the good sense to wait until 20th January. We may need until then to recover.

Joking aside though, it’s no hardship to enter and attend awards with highly successful campaigns like Optathlon and “Escape to Plastic Beach” for the Gorillaz/EMI Music. Yes, we’re hoping for some wins, not least to show the marvellous Matmians how marvellous they are, and to thank them for the blood, sweat and tears they shed on our behalf.

A big Thank You to all the award organisers too. Cross everything everybody – especially on 10th & 11th November. It could be an early Christmas (ugh – there’s that word again, sorry).

Humbly and hopefully, Penny.

To say that our Chief Matmian has the gift of the gab is an understatement, so where better for us to put him to good use than the odd speaker engagement?

That was our plan, but it’s also proved to be an underestimation because our very own Jeff Coghlan, CEO at Matmi, seems to be getting a reputation for himself as being knowledgeable and controversial on all matters of digital marketing.

His likeness to a chubby Johnny Depp means that he’s pretty memorable to look at too – but whether that will still be the case when he returns to work with a newly reset nose, we have yet to find out. Watch this space – and let’s hope it didn’t go horribly wrong!

So where can you see our leader in action?

• The new “Games for Brands” conference series, starting in London on 27th October.
• The “Your Business, Your Future” seminar in Manchester on 1st November pitching best business practice to other entrepreneurs.
• TEDx Liverpool on 7th November – in Liverpool surprisingly – part of the prestigious TED (Technology Entertainment & Design) global conference series.
• MoMoMcr on 14th November, the Mobile Monday Manchester forum of the global Mobile Monday network, exploring the subject of “Freepremium vs. Premium”.
• Integrate 2011 with How Do magazine on 7th December talking viral and advergaming to advertisers and digital marketers.

It’s simultaneously pleasing and humbling to be involved with events like this, especially when they’re part of a series and TED? Well, it’s legendary. Known for “Ideas worth spreading”, its speakers of the last 21 years include Bill Gates, Al Gore, Malcolm Gladwell (of Tipping Point fame), many Nobel prizes winners, politicians and visionaries of all denominations.

Speakers are tasked to make their presentation in the most innovative and appealing way inside 18 minutes, and with over 750 events scheduled in 60+ countries, the global TED network has become a library of all things inspiring, innovative and futuristic.

Over to you, Jeff. No pressure. Penny.

Matmi have had a fantastic year so far regarding recognition for our work.

We have won at events such as The Big Chip Awards, The Digi Awards, How-Do Awards, nominated for Best Use Of Games at the Cannes Lions and received a special honoree mention at the Webby Awards (first time of entering too). Enough awards to make the little Matmian eyes pop.

And our run keeps on going. Only last week we were nominated for a BIMA award for our work on the Optathlon Campaign.

However, that was not the end of our amazing week. Our chief Matmian Jeff Coghlan was nominated at the DADIs for ‘Individual Of The Year’ (fear not, my fellow Matmians shall keep his feet on the ground). Matmi itself was also nominated for ‘Agency of the Year’. We are all obviously very proud of the work we do but it’s always nice to be recognised by others.

The winners of the DADI awards are based on an open vote. If you feel the Matmians and their ever-so humble leader Jeff Coghlan deserve this recognition, you can vote here: http://vote.dadiawards.com/

If you need some persuading, check out our some of our latest work:

• Optathlon
• Gorillaz: Escape to Plastic Beach

Matmi need your vote!

As you may have read, our HUGELY (yes caps are warranted) successful App, Monster Pinball, has taken a trip over to the Symbian platform.

Now, we know it’s a great game, even 2 years down the line…but to receive a glowing review is always a nice surprise.

The jolly pleasant peeps over at Allaboutsymbian.com took the game in hand, played it and then posted their thoughts.

Steve Litchfield is the man we have to thank for this particular review. Here is just a snippet:

It’s not often you find the perfect game. Great concept, great implementation, great price. But Monster Pinball delivers on every level and is truly impressive. iPhone owners got to play this almost two years ago, but the Symbian version, working on the new Symbian^3 phones with the graphics acceleration, is here at last and it’s almost a must-buy for just about everyone.

We must say a BIG (yes, caps again!) thank you again to Mr Litchfield for posting such a positive review – which you can read here.