More Cattle, Less Class – Matt in United Arab Emirates – Part 2 of 4

After realising the following day that the “map warming party” might not have the impact we collectively and enthusiastically felt it would the previous evening (you should always try ideas out sober first as well) I quickly cancelled said “party” via email, citing “technical difficulties” and that we had appointed the organisers of the Delhi games to rectify the situation – this prompted amused and positive responses and we got a few meetings out of the whole exercise – job done!!

Despite the best laid plans, my intended clustering of meetings in Abu Dhabi in the first half of the week, followed by Dubai based ones in the second half went awry. I should know by now that any meeting schedule out here is indicative at best. As a consequence I was back on the highway that makes the Bolivian death road look like a relaxing Sunday morning jaunt.

Cityscape Global was due to start on Monday, so I had the chance to spend a weekend in Dubai on my own for the first time. I was lucky in that I have been over enough to establish some good friends who kindly offered to include me in their weekend frivolities.

Politely turning down a kind offer of accompanying some ex-pats to a hugely popular brunch (have done this before - give some Brits an all you can eat and drink free bar and set the stopwatch to count down – carnage ensues – fun, but seriously messy…)

I elected instead to fall asleep by the pool, get sunburnt and then head out to a birthday party where I met at least 3 other ex-pats who had done just that, so we glowed like tomato beacons around the table and chewed the fat over politics, economics and how much it costs to rent a car out here….

To be continued….

More Cattle, Less Class.... Matt in United Arab Emirates Part 1

So it would appear that funding for some of our international clients is starting to lazily make its way to the right places to kick start some projects. In the last few weeks we’ve secured work in Belgium, Holland, Moscow, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

I’m starting to feel like Uncle Travelling Mac (perhaps Matt) from the Fraggles –(showing my age), sending postcards home and dealing with a lot remotely.

This week, I got to travel on the A380 with Emirates for the first time. I’ve been testing ways to get bounced into Business Class and so far the conclusion is offering Cadbury’s Fruit and Nut to the duty manager is the most effective strategy – unless you know a pilot of course…

Sadly on this occasion my efforts were thwarted as I was caught short with just a raisin and biscuit Yorkie which was deemed a sub-standard bribe and did not do the trick…

The other thing to note is that more people, means longer to do everything: checking in, registering at the gate, boarding – it took ages and every single seat on the entire aircraft was taken and there was a long standby list to boot.

Nevertheless, I was excited about the prospect of getting on the most spacious passenger aircraft ever built, that was until I reached my seat to find that the three of us that were due to sit with each other could have played front row for Leicester this weekend. Marvellous, and an overnighter to boot...

What is interesting to note is that 6 months ago, all outbound flights to Dubai were practically empty and all the inbound ones from Dubai were heaving – symptomatic of the exodus of ex-pats fleeing an ailing economy. I was therefore not looking forward to the return journey either.

The main reason for my trip was to assist our Creative Director and General Manager, Jon Wells, launch our long awaited new office in the media freezone within Abu Dhabi, TwoFour54, and to attend Cityscape Global to check out other international opportunities.

Straight from Dubai airport, I travelled to Abu Dhabi by car which is an hour and a half on one of the most aggressively (and badly) driven stretches of motorway you will ever experience. A mixture of locals and ex-pats that choose to live in the livelier Dubai and work in the more prosperous Abu Dhabi, driving at high speed – often on the hard shoulder at 100MPH less than a foot from the car in front. I’ve stopped sitting in the front as I keep imaginary braking – if you try and sleep, you dream about car crashes which really doesn’t help…

The quarterly Twofour54 event was well attended – the media zone itself now has over 90 partners all from the creative services and early indications are proving that this was a good business decision despite the time it has taken to set up there. TDIC (Abu Dhabi’s tourist board) overviewed their museum and cultural development programme which was interesting and we met some great potential partners along the way. I drunkenly dared a PR Consultant to get as many people to our new studio as possible (for a “map warming ceremony”) to view our newly installed world domination map vinyl that we had proudly put up that day…

To be continued….

We are recruiting.............Account Director, London

We are currently seeking an Account Director to work from our London studio.

You will have extensive experience of project and account management in the creative industries, exceptional communication and organisation skills with a proven ability to win and deliver medium to large scale projects and build lasting client relationships - ranging from Identity & Print, Web & Interactive to CG illustration & Animation - both on time and to budget.

You will be managing a small but growing team across our three offices, taking a proactive leadership role as the company expands.

You will be required to liaise with our design, sales and marketing teams and report into the Directors and Board.

Knowledge of SalesForce CRM, Access Focal Point Project Management, InDesign and Photoshop or similar systems would be preferable.

For further information or to apply for the position, please email
richard@assemblystudios.co.uk

We are recruiting…Business Development Manager, Abu Dhabi

We are currently seeking a New Business Manager to work from our Abu Dhabi studio, alongside the UAE General Manager.

A natural communicator, you will have experience of working in both the Middle East and within the creative industries, and possess exceptional client management and relationship building skills. The role could be either full-time or part-time and you will most likely be an accomplished consultative sales executive, account manager or similar, looking for a fresh challenge.

You will be responsible for all aspects of lead generation, client relationship building and the tendering process. If you are excited by the prospect of supporting the growth of the company within the GCC regions and establishing our Abu Dhabi studio as both a market leader and a strategic international hub, then we want to hear from you!

For further information or to apply for the position, please email jonwells@assemblystudios.co.uk

Click to visit the Assembly Studios Homepage.

Flash Update - Area Sq Website Finalist in the DADI's

The Assembly team are very pleased to announce that their website for leading independent office design and interior fit-out company Area Sq has been selected as a finalist in the Professional Services Website category of this years Drum Awards for the Digital Industries (DADI).

“My experience of working with the design team has been fantastic, from the design brief which they interpreted in a very creative way, through to the development stages where they have been flexible and extremely responsive. Our website looks great and the feedback from clients has been extremely positive. I am now looking forward to work with them on another website!” Guenaelle Watson, Marketing Manager - Fourfront Group

To learn more about how we managed to increase site traffic by 200% post launch with a fully flexible user-controlled framework, innovative integration of the PPC technology that has enabled the client to be far more targeted and efficient with their marketing budgets then click on the link below:

http://p0.vresp.com/REo3KK

We are recruiting........ Marketing Intern, London

We are currently seeking a Marketing Intern to work from our London studio, supporting the Marketing Co-ordinator and Director.

Ideally you will have an understanding of marketing or creative industries and want to develop your knowledge and experience within a young and vibrant creative agency.

You will undertake research, assist with building contacts lists, follow up campaigns, maintain and develop our CRM database and help the marketing team with bespoke activities.

For further information or to apply for the position, please email richard@assemblystudios.co.uk

We are recruiting........ Marketing Intern, London

We are currently seeking a Marketing Intern to work from our London studio, supporting the Marketing Co-ordinator and Director.

Ideally you will have an understanding of marketing or creative industries and want to develop your knowledge and experience within a young and vibrant creative agency.

You will undertake research, assist with building contacts lists, follow up campaigns, maintain and develop our CRM database and help the marketing team with bespoke activities.

For further information or to apply for the position, please email richard@assemblystudios.co.uk