Lawrence Mburu is a digital service designer focusing on user experience for Northants. County Council.

 

Lawrence describes his background from growing up in rural Kenya, moving to the capital Nairobi, before continuing his studies in the UK, at Northampton.

 

The other journey was the one that started from a keen interest in Art at school, that took him into graphic design and then on to web and Ux (User experience) design.

 

The final journey is the one of the people needing to use the County Council's digital services. Lawrence describes the way that this is approached and how it considers the mood, purpose and place of the person using the service, as much as it includes their overall intent and aim.

 

LGSS

Lawrence's Linkedin profile

 

Safaricom

The Rift Valley (Kenya Tourist Board)

Western Highlands (Kenya Tourist Board)

 

Follow Digital Northampton:

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Linkedin linkedin.com/company/digital-northampton

Eventbrite eventbrite.co.uk/digital-northampton

Hosted by Ken Punter produced by Oppidium.

Key Sector and Knowledge Transfer Manager Charlotte Patrick joins the podcast to talk about the many ways that the University of Northampton interacts and supports businesses in the county.

Charlotte was a very early supporter of Digital Northampton, she tells us why she got involved and how the network can support her work. She also tells us about her background and the journey that led her from Northants, to York, Leicester and then London before coming back to the county.

 

We discuss what a Knowledge Transfer Partnership is and how they benefit businesses, we talk about grant opportunities and the industry forums the university coordinate and lead.  

 

If any of the things covered are of interest to you, please contact Charlotte.

Charlotte's contact details at the university. 

Grants and case studies – BIIG Ideas launch

Business Support Team at the University of Northampton

Charlotte's Linkedin profile (follow for information about the business forums and latest Grant Programs).

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) at the University of Northampton.

Information about KTPs from Innovate UK*

*Innovate UK is part of UK Research and Innovation, a non-departmental public body funded by a grant-in-aid from the UK government.

 

Follow Digital Northampton:

Twitter @DigiNorthampton

Linkedin linkedin.com/company/digital-northampton

Eventbrite eventbrite.co.uk/digital-northampton

Hosted by Ken Punter produced by Oppidium.

Interview with three graduates from the University of Northampton's Advertising & Digital Marketing BA (Hons) degree course.

Katie Rushmer, Billy Little and Henry Brown join Ken to share their experiences of the course and their individual journeys to university and beyond.

 

Katie, Billy and Henry also produce the #AdStudents podcast on YouTube and they talk to Ken about setting this up and some highlights from the first season.

 

This is an inspiring and really useful interview especially if you're considering university (or know someone who is) and you're trying to decide what to study.

If you're wondering if university is even a route available to you because you think you don't have the 'right' background or grades, this discussion could really help.

It's useful for prospective students, parents/guardians and teachers.

 

Billy, Henry and Katie will be joining the podcast in future to share their thoughts and experiences of the digital world. This is an introduction to them.

Billy's Linkedin profile and his personal website.

Katie's Linkedin profile and (wikipedia page for the village of Studham in Bedfordshire)

Henry's Linkedin profile.

The #AdStudents Podcast (YouTube)

 

Digital Northampton podcast with course lead Kardi Somerfield

 

Advertising and Digital Marketing BA (Hons)

International Marketing Strategy MSc

Previous interview with the course lead and Senior Lecturer, Kardi Somerfield

University of Northampton - Foundation study framework

 

University of Northampton - Twitter

University of Northampton - Facebook

University of Northampton Linkedin

University of Northampton - Instagram 

 

Follow Digital Northampton:

Twitter @DigiNorthampton

Linkedin linkedin.com/company/digital-northampton

Eventbrite eventbrite.co.uk/digital-northampton

Hosted by Ken Punter produced by Oppidium.

Clare is the original founder of accountants and business advisors Elsby & co. She's also an Area Lead for the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) for Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland.

 

Clare talks about growing up in Belfast during the Troubles and contrasts that with the visitor economy and profile of the city and Province now (including where much of Game of Thrones was filmed).

 

As a passionate advocate for the FSB, Clare speaks about the types of things she's involved with when lobbying and working for their members in the region.

 

And last, but not least, and based on Elsby & co bring a cloud accountancy practice, Clare  describes the digital approaches and tools that have transformed bookkeeping and accountancy for all organisations, including Making Tax Digital.

 

Clare's Linkedin profile.

Elsby & Co

Federation of Small Businesses (East Midlands) (Twitter)

Making Tax Digital

 

The Good Friday Agreement

Joe Biden and Brexit

Titanic Belfast (visitor centre video)

Linen Mill Studios (Game of Thrones Tour)

W5 (whowhatwherewhenwhy)

Follow Digital Northampton:

Twitter @DigiNorthampton

Linkedin linkedin.com/company/digital-northampton

Eventbrite eventbrite.co.uk/digital-northampton

Hosted by Ken Punter produced by Oppidium.

A keen supporter of Digital Northampton, Northamptonshire County Councillor André De Savage joins the podcast and tells us about his background, the catalysts a town or region needs for economic growth, his work as a County Councillor and the two new unitary councils planned for the county.

André also highlights a number of digital and technology initiatives already happening in Northamptonshire.

Richard Beards also comes on to talk about the consultation and survey for Digital Northampton 2030 which will help create goals and focus for the next 10 years.

Councillor Andre Gonzalez De Savage (County Council website)

Future Northants North website (news about the unitary council in north Northants.) 

Future Northants West website (news about the unitary council in west Northants.) 

Digital Northampton 2030

Follow Digital Northampton:

Twitter @DigiNorthampton

Linkedin linkedin.com/company/digital-northampton

Eventbrite eventbrite.co.uk/digital-northampton

Hosted by Ken Punter produced by Oppidium.

#BlackInTheIvory founder Dr Shardé Davis was the keynote speaker at the University of Northampton's Black History month event in October 2020. 

Organised by the Global Ethnic Majority (GEM) staff network the event was a one-day, free online conference featuring scholar activists in the UK and the USA on their work and experiences in advocating for positive changes for equality and inclusion in the Higher Education sector.

Shardé speaks about her background and the path to her academic career and talks about why she started the hashtag #BlackInTheIvory

Shardé's teaching and research focus is Communication, she is Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Connecticut.

 

Shardé's wikipedia entry

The Chronicle of Higher Education story covering #BlackInTheIvory discussed in the interview.

The McNair Scholars Program Shardé mentioned is to increase graduate degree awards for students from underrepresented segments of (US) society.

Shardé speaks about Dr Brenda Allen's book, "Difference Matters: Communicating Social Identity"

 

Follow Digital Northampton:

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Linkedin linkedin.com/company/digital-northampton

Eventbrite eventbrite.co.uk/digital-northampton

 

Hosted by Ken Punter produced by Oppidium.

Hannah Brady (The Brady Creative) and Steve Walsh (Jump Media Group) join Ken to discuss some digital stories that have caught their eye recently.

This week they look at:

Burger King Tweeting on behalf of their competitors and discuss their Global Chief Marketing Officer, Fernando Machado, the person behind their eye-catching approach to marketing. 

How English Premier League team, Chelsea FC are using The 5th Stand App to engage supporters, even when they're unable to attend matches.

How the results of the US Elections could effect the tech giants and the potential impact on digital marketing.

 

We reference a previous podcast about Search Engine Marketing (SEO) with Alan Perkins at Silverdisc. That can be accessed here. 

 

Follow Digital Northampton:

Twitter @DigiNorthampton

Linkedin linkedin.com/company/digital-northampton

Eventbrite eventbrite.co.uk/digital-northampton

 

Hosted by Ken Punter produced by Oppidium.

This weeks episode features Fashion Designer, and Senior Lecturer in Fashion, Gavin Douglas.

 

Gavin shares about teaching Fashion at the University of Northampton, the adjustments having to made due to the COVID-19 restrictions and the students' use of digital technology, such as Computer Aided design during the course.

 

He also talks about how 'digital and online' can help young designers but how the fashion industry hasn't really experienced the disruption felt in other sectors and how this can limit access for many aspiring designers. 

 

Linked to this, Gavin discusses his recent Research - The importance of understanding ethnicity and student attainment which he shared at Global Ethnic Majority (GEM) staff network  #BlackintheIvory conference  

Gavin's website

the-dots.com- "The professional network for people who don’t wear suits to work"

Follow Digital Northampton:

Twitter @DigiNorthampton

Linkedin linkedin.com/company/digital-northampton

Eventbrite eventbrite.co.uk/digital-northampton

 

Hosted by Ken Punter produced by Oppidium.

In this episode Ken meets Kardi Somerfield, Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Northampton. They talk about the course she leads, the types of students it attracts, the types of things covered in the course and where the students go on to after they graduate.

Kardi describes her pre-academic background in loyalty marketing, how advertising has been affected by 'digital' (the lean back and lean forward moments) and her Research focus which is how people engage and interreact with brands online. This includes looking at User Generated Content (UGC) and Influencer

Marketing.

 

University of Northampton - Advertising & Digital Marketing BA (Hons)

 

Digital Northampton podcast with three of the 2020 course graduates.

 

Follow Kardi:

Twitter @kardisom

Linkedin linkedin.com/in/kardisomerfield

 

Follow Digital Northampton:

Twitter @DigiNorthampton

Linkedin linkedin.com/company/digital-northampton

Eventbrite eventbrite.co.uk/digital-northampton

 

Hosted by Ken Punter produced by Oppidium.

Hannah Brady (The Brady Creative) and Steve Walsh (Jump Media Group) join Ken to discuss some digital news stories that have caught their eye recently.

This week they look at:

restaurant chain Wagamama and their campaign to engage with students with  Noodle Union. 

Fortnite developers, Epic Games going to trial with Apple about App Store terms and payments.

how Ocado became more valuable than Tesco through their Technology business.

 

Follow Digital Northampton:

Twitter @DigiNorthampton

Linkedin linkedin.com/company/digital-northampton

Eventbrite eventbrite.co.uk/digital-northampton

 

Hosted by Ken Punter produced by Oppidium.