I’m an entrepreneur and a business developer at heart. In 2006 I co-founded 360Brandvision in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. A leading holographic display firm specialising in designing new ways to hold and capture an audiences attention for major brands.
As the VP of Business Development I was responsible for marketing the concept to companies such as Google, BMW and Siemens as well as marketing to the casinos. Working with MGM Resorts, Venetian and Planet Hollywood.
360 Brand Vision
I attended Cal State Long Beach (California, USA) focussed on strategic marketing and business. I’ve overseen teams of employees as well as interns helping set career development paths with strong goals and objectives.
So how do I fit with skignz? Having been in the tech field for the last 15 years it's very rare you come across a technology like Skignz ... I knew immediately I wanted to be a part of bringing this unique technology to the US.
Also I was very keen on their focus on working with graduates and interns to harness the power of the young energetic and creative minds, to deliver skignz in a way that relates to its audiences in a more dynamic way. Their work with universities, student interns and graduates is very much akin to my way of thinking and further enforced my inital impression of them.
Las Vegas is seen at the 'global capital of gambling' and my experience of working with the casino groups on increasing their customer experiences; skignz provides a solution to the casino's biggest challenge! Which is getting people from the Las Vegas strip to come into their casinos ... skignz will change the way casinos enage with their customers allowing them to promote their loyalty programs, free play and other promotions.
Conventions centres can now offer skingz as part of the exhibition show attendees package: the skingz app to download and view upcoming events, major sponsor parties and things that are going on within the conference, this opens up a whole new world of data and engagement outside of the event that until now the convention companies or even the exhibiting companies have not been able to measure!
My interests focus on brand building and market strategy as well as emerging new technologies. Although my professional and personal lives intersect, I’m also passionate about traveling, film, staying active, golf and meeting new exciting people.
University campuses are changing every day. With the constant
updates in technology it is essential that Universities make sure they adapt to
that change to meet every need of their students and provide them with the best
experience and education available.
skignz can help speed up that change, as it
can provide all services that a student needs for when they are at University
and even beyond the campus. I will explain how skignz can help in more detail
below.
Teesside University Main Campus
Let me just start off with informing you about the work that skignz has currently provided for Teesside University by working with them to
adapt to the changing needs of the University campus and students themselves. skignz is a new way for students to navigate around campus. It is a free app
that everyone can download to their mobile devices.
skignz provides students
with a lot less worry for when they arrive at Teesside University. Prior to
coming they will download the app and ensure that everything is set up for when
they arrive. To find where they need to be on campus they can simply navigate
through loading up skignz on their phone and scanning the campus environment to
see where the building is they need to locate.
Teesside University Enhanced by skignz
It simply is a sign in the sky. Teesside
University were the first to use skignz and have ensured that it is a huge
benefit for everyone to the University; staff, students and visitors, providing
them with the simplicity of being reassured when on the campus.
No need to try
and understand them maps anymore! Students can download the app as soon as they
get the offer letter from their university.
Don't just take our word for it, here a few students tell us what they think about skignz being on the Teesside University Campus:
Abigail Allick - 2nd Year Degree Student
“I’m not very good at navigating
myself around, especially if I don’t know the area”
“I find the app a lot more easier,
like getting myself around Uni and different places where I actually am”
Timi Odeyemi – MA
Student
“If you think about the fact that a
lot of students come here relatively clueless, and you want to know where
buildings are, you want to know what exactly is going on”
“To meet and discover, wow, this is being
set up right here. It just sort of gave that potential, made it feel real, that
certain things can be developed”
“It’s essentially like a visual
google or something of the sort”
As you can see from above, students who have experienced skignz already on campus have said how much it really helps for people
attending University.
“It’s
essentially like a visual google or something of the sort”
Freshers at Teesside University
skignz has provided a new exciting, interesting and essential
service to current and new students, including everyone at Teesside University.
It is new technology developed and Teesside University have jumped right on
board of taking advantage to be the first to use this, and they have done right
to do so! The difference it has already made is fantastic.
So what are the benefits of skignz?
skignz has many benefits to what it provides. I could talk
about them all and go into much detail; the possibilities of where it
could go and what it could do are vast.
skignz provides a new way for 'EVERYONE' to navigate about. It
doesn’t just have a certain place it can be used or a certain audience that can
use it, it is for everyone. You no longer need to be lost. You no longer need
to feel alone. You can now prepare and know where you are at all times. Plus it
is not boring like looking and trying to read or understand a map. It is simply
straight there on your device. It is always with you wherever you are. No need
to go in search of a map or some form of location help.
Whats in it for you? The social side of skignz!
And there's more ... skignz is not just for navigating. It has a whole social
side to it beyond University campus. It is the social element of taking skignz into other parts of your life.
You can use it when you go shopping. Say you fancied going shopping in a new place you hadn’t been before, you can set
up skignz before you go and easily locate the shops and where you need to be
when you arrive.
It saves you time from looking around and wasting valuable time
what can be used to shop. You can find your car in a very busy car park.
Most of us forget from time to time where we have parked, so simply set up a skignz above your car for when you having finished where you need to be and
find where you have parked you will be able to see it through skignz on your
mobile device. It can also be used when you are at concerts or festivals
with your friends.
Getting lost from your friends or group is very easy: going to the bar or to the toilet - how will you be sure to find
them again in that huge crowd? Well, before you go to the festival you and your friends can each download skignz and set it up before you head off to your festival.
Therefore when you arrive you will each already have skignz set up, so if you go to the bar and lose your friends, just load up skignz on your mobile, scan
the crowd and there you will see a little sign just above your friend's head
informing you of where they are.
Just like Timi Odeyemi – MA Student
stated:
“Imagine going to somewhere like London or
Tokyo and trying to meet someone or find jobs or anything. You could try to
find bars, you could try to, well, meet people socially, that kind of thing.
So, to me, I see the possibilities of this particular app to be, like, endless.
It could be the next big thing, in my opinion”
skignz really is the next big thing. It has a lot of benefits
for people who use it and can be used in any way you wish.
So what does skignz mean to student experience?
It provides new students who are coming to University a way
to feel comforted and reassured that they are going to know where they are
going when they arrive on campus. Everything will already be set up for
them putting them at ease and giving them time to get used to the app. It is
also available for them to download before they come to University prior to
them receiving the offer letter.
TU Freshers understanding skignz!
They can also find it to find new friends. Such as students
who may not be very good at making new friends, they can use it in a social way
to talk to new people. They could set up a skignz for themselves to inform
people that they are new, what course they are on or if anyone else is doing
the same, going to the same lesson as them and so on.
It provides a new way for them
to interact with other students if they do not feel they are best at doing
that.
It can help foreign students also who have mentioned to us that when they arrive on campus they are generally
alone. This way they
will be able to find each other and a new way to make friends who they feel
comfortable with. It is not always easy for foreign students to make new
friends as they have said before to the university.
Professor Eileen
Martin (Deputy Vice Chancellor)
“It’s a really important tool when students
first arrive on campus because it’s an easy navigation, as they are used to using mobile technologies. This is a really good addition”
As you can see above, Professor Eileen Martin of Teesside
University stated that it is an important tool for when students first arrive
on University campus, providing them with easy navigation to where they need to
be.
Party Time with skignz at TU Students Union
skignz also provides students with excitement when they
come to University. They can use skignz not only to find new friends but for
nights out or if they wanted to interact with others to have some fun. It
provides value in their learning ability as it will put them at ease to find
other students who they can relate to and also to have some friends and fun for
the nights out in the Student Union and around town. For example: if they were having a house party for new students then they could
place a skignz above their house to let people know that’s where the party is
or even to try a few places with new friends. If they were to go for food and a
few drinks they could each set up skignz on their phone, plan out where they
wish to go and then each find where they need to be.
Understanding skignz on Campus
It is a new town for some students
arriving. They need to feel at home where they are and that they are well
looked after by the University.
Professor Eileen
Martin
(Deputy Vice Chancellor)
“I guess it adds a USP (unique
selling proposition/point). It brings some fun and excitement into the
student experience as well”
“I think it’s a really exciting
and also very innovative and
creative development. And I think we’re only just starting to understand the
potential and the very different ways in which we can use it, both across the
social world of the student but also actually in terms of their learning as
well”
skignz really is the new best piece of technology that
University campuses can take on. It will provide a whole new outlook to
students on University campus and improve their life in social and learning
aspects. It will give the University a huge boost in providing good technology
and keeping up to date in all the advancements. skignz can be used in any way
anyone wishes. To sum it all up below is a short video for you to see.
For anyone the 1st day of a new job or starting a University course can be daunting. What if you are doing this in a new town or city, this goes from daunting to scary. How about coming from a different country? Speak a different language?
A whole new culture and experience awaits you! Your senses are 'through the roof', your usual creature comforts and habits don't apply here! This for all intents and purposes, may as well be the Moon or Mars that you have landed on?
Atmosphere, landscape, colours, smells everything is different and it's that way until you settle in! Big question is, how long will that take? What parts of your life, health and peace of mind will be effected in the meantime?
Today (7th February 2014) was induction day at Teesside University Business School for some of their courses. Most of the students who started University today instead of the usual September/October intake is because they are 'top-up' students who are continuing their education from their previous course, from wherever on the planet they previously studied and 'top-up' to gain a degree or to a masters degree at Teesside University.
Kamran Tanveer, is one of those students embarking on the final year of the BA (hons) Applied Accounting & Finance Degree at TUBS (Teesside University Business School). Kamran is from Pakistan and has not previously been to the North East of England let alone Teesside. During a brief discussion with him it's apparent he's keen to learn and get on with his course, but he has not much knowledge about how to find his way around the campus or how to find his way around the surrounding local area. Something he and his new colleagues are clearly daunted by!
Kamran Tanveer:
Induction Day using skignz!
As part of their orientation and induction for new students TUBS engaged with skignz to produce a 'treasure/scavenger hunt' using the skignz technology to take the students on a hunt around the campus and surrounding town centre to help them familiarise themselves with their brand new surroundings.
Each student download skignz onto their smart phone or mobile device, then they were asked to go out onto the campus and use skignz to find the first clue, which when they found it, not only gave them some important information on that specific location, but also gave them the clue to the next location.
To prove they had visited each location the students had to take a 'selfie photo' in front of the venue and pick up something (something physical, menu, what's on leaflet, etc..) from each specific location. Only by accessing each skignz at each location would they know what they had to get from each venue.
Kamran said: "skignz was really easy to use, helpful with information and that you can zoom in and out of clues, even swipe away content to see other skignz behind them. The whole experience really helped me not only find places that I will need to go to such as supermarkets and clothes shops; but also places I would like to go to such as the Cinema, Art Gallery and the Main Library.
skignz is informative, helpful and I will certainly be telling all of my friends about it! Even when I return home to Pakistan, it will be really useful in many ways back there."
Kiersten Avery, Assistant Dean, TUBS said:"We wanted to not only help the students settle in, find their way around campus, but also provide them with a whole new interactive experience. skignz provides us with something that no other University has and we are working with them to utilise the skignz technology in many different ways for the benefit of our students.
Kiersten Avery: Assistant Dean, TUBS
The feedback so far has been incredible and gives us a whole different way in which to interact and communicate with our students. Due to this successful pilot of using the technology in this way, we aim to roll this out for all students for this years September induction and orientation events".
In 2014 many of the largest brands in the world are focusing on how they can improve user/consumer/customer experience rather than just try to advertise at them and push their products on to them.
Teesside University are leading the way by using skignz technology to improve the whole student experience on campus in a way that is helpful, insightful, interesting and provides the students with something they can take out into the real world and use, alongside their studies and learning.
skignz was co-founded by two local Middlesbrough guys Gary Baker and Si Brown, the latter an Alumni of Teesside, who gained both his undergraduate and postgraduate Master Degree at Teesside University.
As part of the induction, Teesside are showing real life examples of how students have completed their course and apply that experiences and knowledge in the real world, this demonstrates to students about how important employability and gaining work experience is, alongside their studies and gaining a formal qualification at the University.
If you would like to learn a little more about how skignz can work on your University Campus(es) please take a look at this short film.
This film was actually developed and produced by varying members of the skignz team, ALL of which are ex-graduates of Teesside University, having completed an internship or placement with the company. They are now in graduate positions working on projects for some of the worlds most popular brands.
Hi I'm Si and I'm one of the Co-Founder’s of skignz but
as well as helping come up with the wonderful creation that is skignz, my day
to day role is Chief Marketing Officer.
Fat Boy Slim
I'm responsible for the brand positioning and marketing
strategy for skignz. Once we established the positioning of skignz (where it
fits in the world) and established a marketing strategy and delivery plan, I'm now busy delivering that strategy through a well-structured plan.
Rock in Rio 2014, Preparation
Many of the skignz team feel I have the ‘rockstar role’
at skignz as I seem to be out and about all the time! Meeting with potential
clients, giving presentations, travelling across the globe and talking to some
of the world’s most famous and well-known brands.
So True...
On the surface it sounds like a dream job and in the most
part it is my dream job, I get to visit some awesome places, meet some
fantastic and very interesting people whilst showcasing skignz to them.
Most Contagious 2013
However below the surface are the parts that people don’t see, which are the long hours spent, in the car, on a train or plane, waiting in departure
lounges or on freezing cold train stations.
Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro
Chasing across London on the Tube
like my life depended on it to make appointments. Getting to a location after
3-4 hours of travelling to find that 6 out of 8 scheduled appointments have cancelled
and you end up spending most of the time, trying to get to see other people and
sitting in Costa or Starbucks for the free Wifi.
However the good does far outweigh the bad and because of
this, no day is the same! Even in the office I have a multitude of things to do
from my client correspondence to briefing in the audio visual and creative
teams for the latest promotional video production or working with our marketing
team to develop the content for our blog, website and social media channels.
skignz in action
On top of my ‘day-job’ I work closely with skignz’s other
co-founder and CTO Gary Baker on setting the business goals, administrating the
company and delivering the dream that is skignz.
Outside of skignz I spend most of my time with my family
and friends.
Future M'Bro FC stars
Being a taxi to my 5yr and 7yr old daughters, taking them to
dancing, swimming, ice skating, gymnastics, football etc... and enjoying nights
out (very occasionally) and nights in (gorging on box set series) with my wife.
Along with a number of my friends and family, I’m a huge
football fan and a lifelong follower of Middlesbrough FC. I also enjoy mountain
biking, golf, reading and architecture. The latter two I always try to indulge
myself with, by taking in as much as possible during my work travels.
Conventions centres can now offer skingz as part of the exhibition show attendees package: the skingz app to download and view upcoming events, major sponsor parties and things that are going on within the conference, this opens up a whole new world of data and engagement outside of the event that until now the convention companies or even the exhibiting companies have not been able to measure!
