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Events

Babies in the frame for stardom

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28th May 2019

- Events

The most beautiful babies and cutest toddlers in Telford came out to take part in a competition.
 
The Baby and Toddler of the Year competition, run by the Shropshire Star, launched earlier this month, and parents from around the county have been putting forward their youngsters for the coveted title.
 
The free photography sessions have been taking place at Telford Shopping Centre since Monday, and our professional photographers will be in Dean Square, near Primark, until next Wednesday.
 
Entry is free and open to parents and guardians within the Shropshire Star circulation area with a child aged five or under. 
 
Sessions will run from 9.30am until 4.30pm every day, except Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday, when they will run from 10.30pm until 4 pm. 
 
The children will be split into four age categories – 0-9 months, 10-18 months, 19-35 months and 3-5 years.
 
There will be a £500 prize for the winner in each category and a further £250 for the overall winner with the most votes. 
 
The photographs will be featured in the Shropshire Star on Thursday, June 27 and on our website. 
 
Visit baby.shropshirestar.com for more information
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Events

Star Employment Services on show at festival expo

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28th May 2019

- Events

The Star Employment Services team were out in force to engage with businesses at a leading local showcase exhibition.

Recruitment sales executive Gemma Merrick and resourcer Rebekah Rowley attended the Black Country Chamber of Commerce’s Spring Expo which attracted more than 200 visitors to GTG in Willenhall.
 
They handed out brochures and promotional material to promote the MNA’s recruitment offer at the event on Wednesday.
 
The expo showcased more than 50 chamber members this year and formed part of the second Black Country Business Festival. 
 
There was plenty of networking going on as businesses made new contacts at the four-hour event.
 
‘Laurel and Hardy’ turned up to support the expo and promote the Funny Things Comedy Festival being run by exhibitors Creative Black Country from October 26 to November 2. 
 
They also had caricaturist Pen Jones on hand to sketch those attending and invited people to submit jokes.
 
The expo had a special area to encourage Black Country firms to get involved in bidding for work on the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
 
The festival ends on Friday (24) with the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley hosting the closing celebration from 12 noon.
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News, News Titles

Businesses given expert MNA Digital advice on raising profile online

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28th May 2019

- News, News Titles

A series of workshops to educate local business leaders on increasing their online activity has proved a resounding success – with more dates planned.
 
The free training was delivered by experienced professionals at MNA Digital – part of the Shropshire Star’s parent company Midland News Association. 
 
Up to 30 businesses attended the Attract and Convert workshop held at Haughton Hall in Shifnal, which built on the success of an earlier event run for companies based in and around Wolverhampton.
 
The need to provide Shropshire’s SME business community with training in how to optimise their digital presence and increase revenue was highlighted during conversations between MNA staff and partners. 
 
Andy Hill, MD of MNA Digital, said the event was created in response to the demand.
 
He said: “It was great to see so many businesses attend the free MNA Digital training. 
 
“The Attract and Convert workshop was aimed at showing people how to grow their online business and what strategies to use to optimise marketing potential. 
 
“It follows an event held earlier this year in Wolverhampton and both will become regular fixtures for business leaders throughout our area.
 
“In a competitive environment that sees more consumers making their buying decisions online, it has never been more important for businesses to have an effective digital marketing strategy. 
 
“We covered areas such as reputation management, optimising a website for conversion, and how to measure the effectiveness of your business. 
 
“Everyone left the workshop with some new knowledge that they could implement in their own firms.
 
“The event was a real success with great engagement from the delegates,” he added.
 
The next event will be held in Wolverhampton’s Casino 36 on June 27th. 
 
Any businesses wishing to attend should contact Natalie Coughlan on 01902 319 292, email natalie@mnadigital.co.uk  or visit mnadigital.co.uk for the latest event news.
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News

Festival helps businesses to share their news as focus switches to media’s role

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28th May 2019

- News

The role of the media was in focus on day seven of the Black Country Business Festival.
 
The Express & Star, which last week was heavily involved in Local Newspaper Week, has a commitment to supporting business across the area.
 
The newspaper yesterday hosted Content is Key, a special event aimed at helping businesses to share their news.
 
It included presentations from Business Editor John Corser, MNA Digital digital sales campaign manager Natalie Coughlan and Star PR agency director Sundeep Sehijpal.
 
The event offered insights into how businesses of all sizes can get improved coverage in print and digitally. 
 
In total, 15 businesses were represented at the event, held at the Express & Star in Wolverhampton.
 
The delegates attending included representatives of the Black Country Consortium, KMB Shipping, Wolverhampton Racecourse, Wrekin Housing Trust and Thornes Solicitors. 
 
The event was organised by the marketing team, including group marketing services manager Lee Young and marketing executive Gerda Jonaviciute.
 
Opening the morning on behalf of MNA Digital, Natalie’s presentation covered advice on how to optimise digital content to meet business objectives.
 
Covering PR opportunities, Sundeep then explained to delegates how to identify a newsworthy story, how to illustrate it with photos and how to distribute the content.
 
John then drew upon his 40 years of experience by outlining the kinds of stories which get coverage in the MNA business editorial pages, as well as the best ways of making him aware of news.
 
The delegates fielded a range of questions to the speakers to get their advice.
 
As well as offering networking opportunities in the boardroom throughout the morning, the MNA event ended with a tour of the newsroom, led by John Corser.
 
The guests also had the chance to see the digital operation in action, which was well received by Wrekin Housing Trust Ed Thomas.

Ed tweeted: “Great hearing about video, podcasting and social media all with interaction from sports fans and the public from @njudah_star.
 
“Thanks @JohnCorser_Star for the tour of the newsroom and the @ExpressandStar digital team for putting up with us disrupting them for 10mins.”
 
Wolverhampton Racecourse also hosted the business festival race day yesterday afternoon. 
 
The scope of Dudley’s multi-million investment opportunities was profiled at an event held at Dudley College. It was aimed at business leaders, developers and investors.
 
Alan Lunt, deputy chief executive at Dudley Council, said: “As an authority we are forging a future for Dudley borough and creating a place where businesses thrive and people want to work, live and visit.”
 
Today sees the Black Country Chamber of Commerce Expo which is taking place at GTG West Midlands in Wednesfield. 
 
Tomorrow there are 15 more events taking place across the Black Country with the racecourse again at the heart of activity as it hosts the Black Country Environment Challenge with the EnTRESS (Environmental Technologies and Resource Efficiency Support Scheme) project at the University of Wolverhampton from 1pm to 4.30pm.
 
Small and medium-sized businesses will be exhibiting their innovative green solutions to environmental challenges the racecourse has identified.
 
Walsall Football Club is the venue for the Sovereign Expo.
The festival continues until Friday. 
 
Places are still available at some of the remaining free events at www.blackcountrybusinessfestival.com
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