The Teams Work - Thomas Edgar

Hello Ladies & Gentlemen,

Welcome to my blog post.

I’ll keep it short and sweet as I have a huge workload and I prefer to 

communicate in pictures so firstly here is a picture of my desk stuffs.

I work in a creative way! This is my station. The nerve centre of design.

So I have being working on content for promotional material surrounding

 a confidential client, positioned within the top 20 brands internationally we are 

all pleased to be a part of this. So what do I do? …Well I am an integral part of 

the promotional process, I provide images and content that is used within videos

and static images that are on social media and included within most of the 

promotional material.

Above is a big paragraph although there are not many opulent words that impel 

the mind to burst into overdrive I wanted to show you a picture that is 

personally one of my favourites.

Well thanks for reading I kept it short to spare you some of the time you 

would of wasted to download the app and try it, while additionally and to the point, 

I cannot write any more, as my mind is as blank as a sheet of paper I will spare you

 the picture. 

The skignz app is currently available on iTunes & Google Play

Get your copy now: 

www.skignz.com/download

Signing out

Edgar

The Teams Work - Glen Colledge

This is a Narwhal on a Skateboard.

When first asked about writing a blog describing what job I’m doing at the moment I have to admit I was a bit stumped. Not because I don’t do anything but rather I don’t know how to phrase it. 

A lot of my time is taken up with making short videos on the possibility of what skignz can do in order to help showcase the app to business types, and as such I can’t go into details on what the videos are about or which companies are included, and so when I was asked by a colleague; “Glen what are you doing at the moment” my genuine reply was; “I’m just making videos” which to be fair is completely true. As the title of Videographer suggests, I make videos.

I have recently begun preparation for a new video which involves an international client, and four days on from the initial brief I am still busy gathering as much information about them as I can find, in order to better understand their operation, and therefore to create content that is relevant and appealing to them. 

Over the next couple of weeks I will be sourcing footage, editing, drinking tea, and then more editing, until eventually I have a video that I am proud of.

And what after that? Perhaps I’ll take 5 minutes out to draw another Narwhal, or maybe a Platypus, because Platypuses are cool.

Here's a Narwhal on the moon. Good-day.

Glen

Get your copy of skignz now: 

www.skignz.com/download

Is Snapchat worth $3bn?

So it can’t have gone a miss to you, with what everyone is talking about in the news at the moment: Snapchat! Why they (Snapchat) decided to turn down Mark Zuckerberg, Owner of Facebook, $3bn offer. Well surely that decision can’t have been easy to make, or was it for Snapchat? We decided to dig deeper and see if we can figure out why this high offer got declined and what the end outcome could be? 

I bet the first question that everyone thought to themselves, especially Mark Zuckerberg, was why Snapchat thinks it will be worth more than $3bn. Well the founders did have their reasons for declining the offer. They stated that Snapchat was engaging with other money-spinning offers at the same time that the Facebook offer came about, such as a $4bn investment from a Chinese e-commerce company.

This will have provided Snapchat founders with a sense that they can do exceed the $3bn that was originally offered by Facebook. Although this won’t have been the only reason as to why Snapchat would not take Facebook’s offer. Stating that the app has been said to have been popular since May 2012 with 25 images being sent per second. This will have increased in 2013 and what the potential of it could become by 2014/2015 will be visualised and noticed by the founders themselves and other investors.    

Put aside the fact that they believe they can make more money, the co-founder and CEO of Snapchat, Evan Spiegel, was born and raised into an upper class family. His parents have always been wealthy, living in a nice multimillion dollar home and driving cars at the price of $56,000 to $75,000. With Evan Spiegel having been raised in a wealthy background, maybe declining $3b and asking for more may be easy for him if he knows he will get that little bit more.

What can we class this as; greed, idiocy or badly advised? A lot would seem to say that it is greed with the founders, but with them being as wealthy as they are it would not matter to them much as they have an upper class background as a back-up plan.  The decision could be classed as neither but yet a clever decision on behalf of them both.

Looking at Snapchat and the potential that it holds for the future, with the younger generations getting on board already with ‘SnapKidz’ for 13 year olds, which allows kids 13 or under to take a picture, draw and create but save it only to their device, surely when they reach an older age they will get on board with the different version of Snapchat too. The generation and popularity of Snapchat could be going on for a long time and whoever knows the real potential of it, like Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, the other co-founder of Snapchat, will know that they will need to make an offer to persuade the founder to sell to them.

With Snapchat not having any revenues or revenue streams identified, why did Mark Zuckerberg decide to bid $3bn for the company? Well, with Mark being the founder of the well-known social media site Facebook, he has seen how quickly social media flourishes and the potential that lies within it. Around Facebook he will have seen the popularity of Snapchat, with many pages getting created as to where people’s Snapchat images can be seen and revealed, plus the custom it brings both to Facebook and Snapchat itself through one aspect of the social item. 

From just viewing and seeing how popular Snapchat has become, it shows the potential it holds and just how well it works with Facebook and all users of the social site.

Why does Mark Zuckerberg want Snapchat, maybe instead of having the Facebook built ‘poke’, in its place he could use Snapchat and see what he can create with the two of them together? Will he bid even higher for a company with no revenues in place? Giving the ideas he probably has with what he wishes to do then eventually it may come to him to give in, as Snapchat’s co-founders will not give in until they get that higher bid off Facebook or another investor.

As we have seen above, Facebook already has ‘poke’ in place, which is similar to the social app creator Snapchat itself. So why would Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) want to buy Snapchat when he already has something similar? 

Well as it has been said, the idea of a ‘poke’ button does not seem to be as a fun idea or interesting to many people as Facebook may have thought when they created it. The idea of the ‘poke’ button can be seen as rude to some people and the thought of someone ‘poking’ them through Facebook may not seem appropriate.

The idea that was created by Facebook did not take off as well as they thought and when Snapchat came about, a whole other idea was exciting and everyone got on board to start using it. People could add their friends, screenshot, embarrass people, and create images that will never be seen again and so on. The qualities and fun aspects that it came with proved to be a hit with many straight away and with the younger generation too.

Having seen this, Mark Zuckerberg will have noticed how much of a hit this was compared to what was created for the social media site Facebook and the difference in how people have used it and view the aspect of both. 

Everything today and in the future is getting more about being social and what can be done more to keep on improving that, and that will be what Zuckerburg knows he needs to do and what he wants to do to keep improving Facebook itself and be the owner of two popular social media aspects.

So can we class Snapchat as a fad or can it be a way for young people to defy their parents who won’t let them have a Facebook account? Well Snapchat is a lived craze, but for now it doesn’t seem to be a short lived one. The potential that it has and the amount of users it has currently is high and certainly this will keep on growing for quite a while, hence the reason there are many added potential investors and people that wish to buy Snapchat.

Many can see Snapchat as a fad, for a while as the idea of it is exciting and no-one seems to have gone off the idea as of yet. People are having fun with friends and family, having experiences that they can joke about and be used as a social concept between them all.

In saying all this about younger generation, is this a way for them to just defy their parents who won’t let them have a Facebook account? Snapchat generally would not be a way for younger kids to want to defy their parents who will not let them have their own Facebook account as of yet.

The general age of Snapchat users is 13 to 23 years old, and those of 13 and under can only use Snapchat in a safe way. Anyone above that age generally most will have a Facebook account already themselves. 

If someone over the age of 14 was to have Snapchat, then they may as well have a Facebook account. Both of these social networks provide the essence and platform that anyone who uses either can communicate with anyone they wish too, and can be seen and contacted as Facebook provides private messaging service and Snapchat, screenshots can be taken to save for who wants it for themself.

So how many of Snapchat users actually have a Facebook account? Well let’s see as to whether the amount of people that use Snapchat also use Facebook too. The ratio could be quite different depending how Snapchat offers the ‘SnapKidz’ version to younger people who won’t be allowed to use Facebook as of yet. Saying that there has been pages and social content created on Facebook as to where people can screenshot what a person sends to another on Snapchat, then use Facebook to advertise that on there. 

So whoever use’s Snapchat will want to use Facebook in case an image of them may appear on that social network site, that they won’t know of if they do not have a Facebook account.

Most people who have Snapchat do have a Facebook account also. Snapchat gives a different concept to what Facebook does; the image that is seen doesn’t stay around and is a digital way to send photos that won’t be there all the time.

Now we come to thinking what would Facebook be gaining through the purchase of Snapchat? There are a lot of reasons as to why Mark Zuckerburg wanted to purchase Snapchat for $3bn, such as the future of Facebook being developed, help Facebook’s branding, develop the usage of mobile devices and much more. 

He would be thinking about how the future of Facebook could be improved and helped along the way with Snapchat. Snapchat may not be around forever or the craze may not go on much longer than the next couple of years, but Facebook could do some developments with it that along the way that will help Facebook as well as Snapchat itself.

Seeing how much awareness the declining of the $3bn offer has raised and the shock value it has created, it goes to show just how important Snapchat is, from the younger generation to the older, even though it may be in different concepts.

Snapchat will still be popular for at least the next couple of years given how it is in today’s society, so if Mark Zuckerberg was to manage to offer more and gain Snapchat for himself then he would be able to work and create something that would be even bigger, more fun and exciting than what Snapchat currently is like. 

It would develop the social media world and the aspect of all social media in different concepts, hopefully bringing around new inventions and new opportunities for the younger generation to take benefit of.

So now what is next? Will Mark Zuckerberg offer a higher bid for Snapchat? Will he give in? Will someone new come in and bid higher? Or maybe the founders of Snapchat come up with a new idea themselves and improve the future of Snapchat and social media generation itself. 

Likewise to Snapchat, skignz is very similar positioned to Snapchat and offers something unique but in multiple marketplaces across many different sectors, rather than focussed on one or two. skignz has already over 15 income streams identified, some created by the skignz technology as they would not exist without it and is already a profitable company, something quite rare in tech start-ups in the current day.

The comparisons don’t end there as skignz has a similar number of employees, about the same as Snapchat’s currently and the scalability and capabilities of skignz and the possibility it opens up for a whole new potential for the likes of Facebook, Google, twitter etc…! 

skignz essentially creates content out of thin air, making the next browser airborne, placing search and social in the sky around you?

Please take a look at each of the platforms, also a few links provided to showcase how skignz could be used:

www.Skignz.com
www.Snapchat.com
www.Facebook.com

Advancement in Technology: Santander/Skignz

The advancement in technology over the previous years has grown and extended enormously. People and companies are always looking for a way in which they can improve the next stage, create something new that everyone will want to get on board with, or develop further themselves.

Creating the next best advancement in technology can include, being able to consider the behaviour of people, the current technology and the environment around, then putting all three together and seeing what can be done to create advancements in technology to satisfy and be the best in the field. 

Each and every day people will look at how they can take current technology and see what can be done to create the next best thing.

Let’s take an insight into one of the top and biggest companies in the world, and look at how they have used the advancement of technology within their business to help themselves and the custom that they receive and aim to satisfy. Santander is one of the most well-known and successful banking companies of our time.

Let’s take their headquarters in Spain and see how they have made this the best they can. They have looked at the advancement in technology, and used that to create some innovative developments in how they can improve their business and to attract as many visitors to their company.

Santander headquarters has many buildings spread across the vast campus style site, Pereda building, training and development centre, data process centre, services and restaurants area, business centre, sports centre, golf course, exhibition hall, el Bosque, an outdoor sports area including 10km cycle track, a nursery school within the Eastern zone, including the media centre for all staff, and last of all the visitors centre.

The visitors centre is the central focus for the whole campus. Santander has spent  huge resource into styling this building in a way that will impress visitors when they arrive. The technology advancements that they have used have made the place outstanding, and will certainly impress people when they visit the headquarters. They have managed to look at communicating with the visitors in their own way, letting them be intrigued at the same time as interacting with them.

Let’s start off with looking at their first creation in technology and what they have come up with for their business.

Robots, who are interactive guest assistants – naming them Robotic Butlers. 

The Robots have been designed for Santander to communicate with visitors when they arrive to the building. They are little red robots that have been created using GPS technology to guide the visitors around the building facilities. The robots are only small/medium sized, but have a lot of information stored inside them, they are even fluent in various languages.

The way that the robots have been designed to work is that when a visitor arrives to the Santander headquarters in Spain, they will be able to find a touch screen console where they can choose their language and where they wish to be going. Whether that be a meeting room, another part of the building or campus, or just to find out some general information. The robots will assist visitors to find where they need to be, through the touch screen control, they ‘show you the way’.

Besides the robots that Santander have had designed, they also created the Augmented Reality model of their campus facilities: the Augmented Reality Explorer. 

Santander got a designer to build a massive architecture model of their campus, and then translated the model into a 3D space.

Four screens were designed to go around each side of the model which slide from side to side. Santander decided to use Augmented Reality and make it look like the four screens are transparent. When a visitor or someone wants to look at the 3D model, they will look through the screen and see additional information that is not already displayed. The screens provide a digital layer of information when you look through them, so that users can explore the aspects that we don’t see or understand about the campus and that is not already visually relevant.

Santander also has an interactive wall that they created for visitors coming to Santander headquarters. The wall has been created as a motion-sensing video wall out of touch screens. The wall can function on different stages given the distance that the user has to the wall itself. The application can react to what is around it and adapt to different situations. Visitors can also interact with the touch screen wall to find out information on Santander and the headquarters itself.

Santander has aimed to create this exploration of technology to distinguish it from its competitors as a forward thinking bank and be seen as one of the finest in the business, through interactive robots, augmented reality and touch screen interactive displays.

But how much will all of this cost them? Potentially costing Santander millions to create all this technology, yet limited to use inside its reception area within their headquarters campus.

What if there was a different and more cost effective way in which all of the above technology could be brought together in one simple app available on any mobile device.

skignz is a new app invention through which signs and 3D objects are placed in the environment and can be viewed via a mobile camera device. Through using the free viewer app, you can view the Skignz that have been placed in the real world in real time.

An example of where skignz has been used effectively in a similar type of environment is Teesside University (UK). Around Teesside University, skignz have been set up and placed around campus, so visitors, students, staff and even suppliers are able to navigate their way around the campus. They can simply load up the app through their mobile device and then view where the skignz are with the information of what they are looking for.

Similar to the Santander headquarters campus in Spain, helping people to navigate about through their robots and interactive augmented reality model, skignz does this for Teesside University. skignz is not restricted to Santander or Teesside University but can be implemented for any campus environment across the globe.

The skignz technology is not restricted just to campus navigation; imagine if every pin on Google maps was transformed into a skignz, it could be extended to villages, towns, cities, countries and continents or anywhere on the planet! There is no limit to where skignz can be placed and where it can be used. It adapts and has all the same advancements of technology just like Santander HQ visitor experience, however with no geographic location restrictions.

As mind blowing as skignz is to navigate around, it can also be used socially. It can be a way for people to keep in touch with others, such as social media, but instead of having Facebook they could set up their own profile right above their own heads.

You can place a skignz with all the information on, such as a status or what they wish to say along with an image, and have people see this or who they wish too by setting their privacy settings to either public or friends.

What do you think? Have a see for yourself using the following links.

www.skignz.com
http://bit.ly/1eS1emZ - Santander Technology Video
http://bit.ly/1hzMPQF - skignz Technology Video 

Halloween 2013

Halloween has come around again and the excitement of finding a scary outfit or planning what you are going to be doing for it is all happening! Have you got anything planned for Halloween already? 

There is always something going on and if not or if you have even, why not use skignz to help you have the best Halloween night of 2013. 

I bet your wondering well how could I use skignz for my Halloween this year… don’t worry there is plenty of ways in which skignz can assist you in having fun on the night. 

If you have children or younger family members that you want to take trick or treating on the night why not set up a skignz activity for them and pre choose which houses you are going to go trick or treating too. You could plan in advance, find those houses or places that are decorated up or that you know will be good for you to take your younger ones too. You could set up a trail and then let them have some fun in trying to find the house themselves through using skignz. It will be some fun for you and also for your family members or friends. 

Also this Halloween MyPlace Middlesbrough is holding an event for children ages 8-13 throughout the daytime between 8:30 am and 4:00 pm for you to take your child too during half term. There is a lot going on and if they do not want to go out during the night time if it may be too scary for them, then they are sure to have fun at MyPlace. The play scheme includes a free breakfast for the child including the whole week each day and fun filled activities such as trips out, swimming, drama, arts and crafts, Halloween disco and much more!

If you are from the Teesside area then try http://www.myplacemiddlesbrough.org 

MyPlace is an activity centre for children aged 9-19 up to 25 with special needs who provide amazing facilities and opportunities and activities for everyone all year round. 

If you already have something planned for the night such as a house party at your student house, why not make it the best night and the house to be at. Just place a skignz above your house as to where the party is then let people know about it. If they want too they can then decide to search on the night as to where the best place to go is and yours will stand out with a large skignz above it.

 

There are a lot of ideas as to how you could use skignz this Halloween, so why not give skignz a download for free and see how you can let yourself and others have the best Halloween of 2013. Unlucky 13, make it a scary but good one this year! 

www.skignz.com 

#Discoverskignz

Get your copy of skignz now: 

www.skignz.com/download

Travelling

Do you like to view different sceneries, different places or travel the world? If you do then skignz is definitely for you!

There are many amazing sights to see in the world in many different destinations. Some are easy to find as they are very popular and not located too far away. But what about those that are not located near, and are situated in a place that you have never been to before? 

You don’t really want to spend all your time looking for sights to see and missing out on other stuff you could be doing.

 

I go back a few years, when I was in college, I got the chance to go to Disneyland Paris. It was an exciting time as I had never been there before. I had never really travelled before so this was my first big place to travel to. I didn’t know what to expect when I arrived there let alone know what I was going to be doing in a place as big as Disneyland.

When I arrived I didn’t know my way around. I had to go by signs and use a map to see where each part of it was and where I wanted to be without getting lost. Maps are a mess on half the time, I barely understand them now let alone back then. 

Eventually I would find my way to each part of Disneyland that I wanted to reach but it was not easy for me. I wished they’d had a different way that would have enabled me to find my way around without taking ages and causing me mass confusion.

 

What they needed was skignz. skignz replaces maps and can help you prepare before you set off on your travels, therefore you can plan what you want to see, where it is and how you are going to get there when you arrive. You simply find your destination on a map through skignz; place a skign above where you want to be, then plan your directions of how you’re going to get there when you arrive. 

You can then view this through your mobile or tablet device and only you or whoever else you wish can see this skign.

It will save you a lot of time when you arrive and you will be able to easily find where you want to be without a mess on. No more wasting time; you will be able to see many other sights and have a look around whilst you are there.

 

skignz can be used for anywhere that you wish to travel too. It is free to download and whilst using it you will also have a lot of fun along the way.

So, now make sure before you set off on your travels, whether it may be a short or long distance, you plan ahead using skignz and save yourself time, hassle and confusion!

Available to download from Google Play and ITunes.

www.skignz.com

#discoverskignz

Get your copy of skignz now: 

www.skignz.com/download

The importance of doing a placement through your University years!

So you have all read about how skignz provided a Business student with a summer placement but let’s see how important it is to do a placement while at University.

I studied at Teesside University for three years where I studied Business Management. My course was a 4 year sandwich degree in which I could either go on a placement during my third year or continue to stay on to complete my degree instead. As I felt busy at the time with University work and it was hard to search for placements, I decided in the end that it would be easier for me to finish my degree then do some experience. I wish I had thought this through more clearly before making my decision. It was probably drummed into me all year round that when it came to my third year I should do a placement but I did not notice this, if only I had.

When I had finished my degree I decided that before I got all my results it was time to look for a placement. I got many interviews which went really well and did provide me with more experience in that sector. But when it came to the decision and the phone call to let me know if I was successful or not, I had lost all jobs available to another person who had experience. After a while I thought to myself how stupid I was that I didn't do a placement. I was beginning to come to the conclusion that I was never going to get the chance to have that experience. I mean I had all the qualifications and I knew what to do and that I could do it, I just needed the chance to show this. Even though the jobs available said that they wanted to provide someone with a summer placement experience they always still gave it to other people who had that experience already.

Teesside University this year are providing students now with a Get Ahead programme. This will show students and everyone just how important it is to do a placement and get that experience. It will provide you with a three-month paid internship scheme that runs annually for new graduates from January to March with internships provided by both employers and the University. It will also provide you with a mentor to help you, careers advice, find a student job and many more opportunities that will help. Believe me, it is something that you need to do! I am saying that as I have been in that situation and it doesn't feel good.

Luckily I finally got the chance with skignz to have that experience and show that I can do what I knew I could and learn more along the way. Please make sure that you do all you can to get a placement year throughout your time at University. It will benefit you personally as it will give you a deeper insight for when you return to your final year at University and it will also give you that extra step against anyone else when it comes to applying for a job.
You never know you might even get kept on permanently at the placement you go on if they really like you!

‘The question isn't who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me’ No one can stop you but you. Go for what you want and make sure you get it because you know you can!

Skignz in Brazil

Brazil conjures up some inspiring and romantic notions, strolling along the famous Copacabana Beach in your bikini or even 'speedo's, Pele scoring in the Maracana Stadium, or taking a cable car trip up to Sugarloaf Mountain for the magnificent view... not many would think that the exciting new skignz technology could be used there in the coming years to further enhance visitor experience?

One of the skignz directors has just returned from Brazil where skignz was showcased to a number of organisations and companies including FIFA World Cup 2016, 2016 Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games organisations.

The 10 day visit took in both Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro from which a number of other companies also have expressed an interest into how skignz can add value to their own offerings from both Brazil and the UK. 

The trip included VIP access to Beyonce live in Sao Paulo, Bruce Springstein Live at Rock in Rio, dancing with the Samba Schools, as well as receptions at the British Consulate, Maracana Stadium and the Rock in Rio venue through UKTi and British Excellence.

All in all a worthwhile trip, not only for the business side of things, but also involving some wonderful people we met along the way. The skignz team looks forward to working with them to see how we can give them the 'edge' in their sectors as well as exploring future development of our platform.

Copacabana Beach (Rio de Janeiro)

Trip to Favela Boxing Project

Bruce Springstein (The Boss) at Rock in Rio 2013

Rock in Rio World Stage

Crowds gathering for Beyonce in Sao Paulo

Sunset on Copacabana Beach

UKTi reception at Rock in Rio

Dance Stage at Rock in Rio

British Consulate in Sao Paulo

                                                       

Skignz at Christ the Reedemer!

Get your copy of skignz now: 

www.skignz.com/download

Having some fun around campus!

Having some fun around campus! Have you just started university or been there for a year or two now and want some new activities to try? Then let skignz give you some good ideas of what you can do. Just remember that skignz is not just a different take to a campus map. It can be used for many other activities socially that can provide you with a lot of help and fun at the same time. So want some good ideas as to what you can do? Then read on. If you have just moved into student accommodation with everyone and do not really know them, then you could invent a new drinking game or way to get everyone to interact. Say for instance if you wanted to hide something around the halls or flats then that person could place a skign above where that object is. Everyone could then download the app and the first one to find the skign above the hidden object wins, whoever loses has to drink the dirty pint or whatever is created! The hidden object could even be to find the free drink! You could also just have some joking fun with your friends. If youse are all on a night out in the student’s union bar or having a few casual drinks then you could place a skign above your friends or other people’s heads and get everyone else to look at it. Make some joking points or embarrassing facts about that person and they may not even know that everyone can see what it says on a skign above their head. Embarrassing!

Skignz is also useful for you to find out where you want to go on a night out or for you all to plan the best night and everyone can agree to it. You can all pre-prepare where you want to go, place a skign above each place so that everyone knows and even if someone got lost then all they would have to do is load skignz up on their phone and see where everyone is located that night. That way everyone can make the night out and not miss out! Also keep an eye out for any game offers that may be placed around campus. Keep scanning the students union and the local pubs around the campus so that you won’t miss out on any chances for drink offers or to get involved in some skignz themed night outs.

There are many more opportunities and social ways that you can use skignz, download it and have a go and then once you get the hang of it you can think of lots of ideas as to how it can be used for fun! Check out our Facebook and Twitter page for more updates. www.skignz.com #discoverskignz

Summer Placement at skignz

I am currently a BA (hons) Business Management Marketing stream student returning to Teesside University to complete my third year. I’ve recently completed one year’s industrial placement followed by a summer placement with Skignz. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in both establishments and feel I have grown both professionally and personally from the opportunities and experience I have obtained.

Skignz has allowed me to utilize and expand my knowledge of social media management, market analysis, product development and events management. My role required me to be creative in the ways in which we target a segmented market. I have tailored social media platforms to appeal to both corporate and social users i.e. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogger, Flicker, Instagram, Google+, YouTube, Stumble Upon Pinterest and Pearl Tree. Establishing a brand identity and driving user figures were the two main areas of focus when using social media.

I have contributed in creating the brand guidelines for skignz and worked on various promotional materials including an article to be published in Contagious. Attending strategic meetings with the managing directors allowed me to participate in the development of the company by providing valuable input as to how the product will be perceived and what was needed to meet consumer expectation. Liaising with clients such as Teesside University has allowed me to gain experience of client relationships and rapport building. I have carried out various events management tasks by organising and delivering events to correspond with skignz promotional activity. 

As my time with skignz draws to a close, I am grateful for the opportunities I have had and will apply the skills I have gained to both my educational and professional career. I am now excited to return to University as a placement ambassador. I hope to share my industrial experience and express the importance of gaining working experience to differentiate yourself from your peers. I feel strongly that placements put students in great stead when joining the employment ladder.

Freshers is just a stone throw away! Eeeeeeeek!

We all know how exciting it is to get back to University – I for one cannot wait!

Back to sports teams, back to banter with your uni mates, back to freedom from your mam n dad nagging 24/7! Not forgetting sharing summer stories and hitting freshers weeks big time!

For new students there really is nothing to be nervous about! Get out and meet new people. Freshers weeks are the best ways to get involved with sports clubs and societies. Make friends and enjoy the best 2 weeks of uni. I say the best - there’s still massive events like festive fling and final fling to look forward too, not forgetting club nights throughout the year!

skignz is soooooo excited for freshers; for you Teesside University students to discover the app we’re crazy about! We can’t wait to see skignz on nights out, above house parties, guiding your way around uni and used socially with your mates.

Find out what all the hype is about… Check out our Facebook and Twitter pages:

facebook.com/Discoverskignz #discoverskignz
facebook.com/skignz #skignz

Nervous about meeting new people? Don’t worry.

Coming to University and meeting new people is a huge daunting experience, especially if you are a shy person.

There are massive worries such as who will I get along with, will anyone talk to me, and are they nice? There are hundreds of questions you can ask yourself but the massive worry is if they will get answered.

There is many different ways at University as to how you can meet new people and make new friends.

Firstly there is accommodation. You cant always plan who your going to live with when it comes to student housing, but just think your not alone everyone else is in the same boat as you. You will always meet new people and chances are you will adapt to them straightaway with them being people who you are living with, you will soon feel comfier than what you expected.

Your course that you choose to do is also a massive help in you making new friends. During every different course your on there will always be a session to meet new people. You wont expect it, but even the person you may sit next to will become your friends. Eventually most people get to recognise one another, but you will make new friends from team building activities or working in a group with people. Soon you will create you own group of friends within your course.

When I started University I was dreading going in, but I did and on my first class activity we got put into small groups to do a task, from that I made my group of friends who three years later I am still close to now and will continue to be for many years.

I literally sat next to one girl, got talking to another in a group and then we got talking to two people behind us then later in another class got talking to another girl. Its weird how it happens but it just does and everyone just clicks. It will be one the best experiences you do in meeting new people and learning about them and where they are from.

Don’t let the worry about making new friends be a massive stress when coming to university. Just be yourself, you don’t even have to talk much just gradually become comfier slowly whatever is easy for you.

You will soon come to realise that you will have many groups of friends, even if you live at home, you will have your course friends, your friends you live with and even friends from any social or sport club societies you may join.

Everything will soon be easy and you will think back after a few year laughing at yourself when you first started. Hopefully you will make the best of friends and have an amazing time at University!