DAVE SALTMAN, Managing Director.
Took a weekend break in Switzerland recently to hone his yodelling skills. There was no need to practice his downhill though as his social life is doing just that looking after his eight month old son, Max. He is now an expert in Iggle Piggle, Upsy Daisy, Pinky Ponk and Makka Pakka!
JOHN RICHARDS, Operations Director.
Can now truly be considered a professional granddad following the birth of his third grandchild, Oscar. This one though, is closer to home in Yorkshire -h
granddaughters are in Australia -a his two
already being taught how to kick a football. I think we need a Pitchcare creche!
LAURENCE (WRITING) GALE, Editor.
current mode of transport do not bode well for car parks up and down the land!
PETER BRITTON, Sales & Production.
Lost count of the number of times he was told at Saltex “you’re looking well” which, to be honest, is just another way of saying “blimey, you’ve put on weight”! To be fair, jogging has been off the menu for a while. It’s just a pity the same can’t be said for all the pies!
ELLIE TAIT, PR and Marketing.
Cottage during Fulham FC’s first game of the season against Arsenal. In the Championship, Forest’s dismal results have since forced her to seek solace in chocolate – just DON’T ask her for a piece!
ALASTAIR BATTRICK, Web Monkey.
Complains that his work colleagues keep phoning him whilst he’s at work -iit ruins his concentration and makes him grumpy (sorry, grumpier). Has now resolved the echo on the new phone system... has now resolved the echo on the new phone system ... has now resolved the ec....
DAN HUGHES, Sales Manager.
Has enjoyed goading staff members about the successful start to the season that ‘The Wolves’ are having. It’s amazing how success is so much easier to achieve in the lower divisions! If it’s anything PC Shop related Dan’s the man to talk to, that’s if he’s not on another holiday!
CHRIS JOHNSON, Training Coordinator.
Surprisingly, no new photograph for this issue so you’ll have to make do with this ‘old’ one! The hair will be slightly longer but she’ll still have those piercing green eyes, mysterious smile and soft, delicate voice. Have I done enough to dig myself out of a hole yet Chris?
STUART BURTON, Web Designer
Continues to plod his quiet furrow in an orderly ‘web designy’ manner that, quite frankly, is alien to most of us. Stu, Stuart or ‘oi you’ enjoys running and snooker which seems an odd mix unless, of course, he’s running to the snooker club for the first pint of the day!
SHARON TAYLOR, Company Accountant.
Recent horse trials were successful -tthey were all found not guilty! Continues to bombard staff members with late night emails about irksome invoices, credit notes and bookings. The trouble is she expects an answer when most normal folk are tucked up in bed!
hasn’t been to Molineux for a while (they have seats now Julie). She enjoys watching football, cricket, rugby and golf on the TV, which is a fine example to set to women everywhere. Can you explain the offiside rule to Alastair please Julie.
JULIE ROBINSON, Administration Julie is a long-s
standing Wolves fan but
Ellie was oozing with pride as she watched step-s
son Matt divot the pitch at Craven
The latest in a very long line of ideas from Loz is the Pitchcare Caravanette “so that I can tour the country visiting people”. Whilst there is some merit in the idea -h out of the office -h
his parking skills with his he will be and is
Lies, damned lies ... and statistics
Another Saltex has come and gone and, as usual, the Pitchcare message board attracted comments good and bad about the show.
The organisers were incredibly lucky with the weather, finding a window of relative calm in a stormy end to the summer. Visitor numbers were down on 2007, but that was to be expected given the awful weather forecast and the backlog of work that groundsmen and greenkeepers had at the time.
The ‘spin’ for Saltex 2009 has already begun with the organisers claiming that 80% of exhibitors have rebooked for next year. Of course, looking at it another way, that means that 20% haven’t rebooked, and that’s quite a substantial figure, roughly ninety exhibitors! My point here is not to have a dig at the IOG or, indeed, Saltex, but to highlight just how statistics can be used to advantage.
We are constantly being told in the national press about this, that or the other survey that highlights the preferred choices, habits and trends of the UK population. Delve deeper and it turns out that these ‘facts’ are based on a survey of 1,000 people and, from that minimal figure, our lifestyle is confirmed. Well, excuse me, but I have never been asked to participate in a survey about my shopping habits, TV viewing or anything else for that matter.
So, can you trust these figures? Given the small sample audience it is hard to see how they can be accurate. Yet marketers have to rely on them because there is little else to go on.
And so it is with our industry. Circulation figures for magazines and online membership of websites are bandied about with amazing regularity and, of course, you have to accept the validity of these claims. But do you? Have you ever stopped to ask yourself where
these figures come from?
At Pitchcare all our online data is provided by Google Analytics. Now, you may think that that’s good enough. See those two words and you should be confident the figures are accurate. However, that is not always the case.
Take, for example, the question of page views. Unless Google Analytics is ‘set up’ correctly at the outset it will include page views from the Google search engine without anyone actually visiting the site in question! They are known as ‘spiders’ and it is a common mistake when web stats are being collected. Fortunately, our web monkey knows what he is doing and has overcome this anomaly, so our monthly figures are correct.
Don’t just take figures as gospel. Ensure that your suppliers can back up their claim. Is the 10% reduction in emissions on your brushcutter just slightly altering the colour of the blue smoke or is it a valid statement of ecological benefit?
I know of one supplier of niche machinery who touted a 20% increase in sales from 2006 to 2007. It was a fine piece of PR designed to give a nod of approval for the product. All very well until you realise that in 2006 they sold four machines and, in 2007, shifted five!
And what of Saltex? Who cares if visitor numbers were down or that 80% have rebooked for 2009. The bottom line is was the show worthwhile for
exhibitors and visitors alike? Dave Saltman Managing Director WELCOME TO pitchcare
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