Meet Dogs Trust: Abbie Smith

Having recently joined the Dogs Trust Digital Team, I will be spending my days communicating with all of our great supporters out there - so I thought I would take a moment to introduce myself to you all...

Name: Abbie Smith

Location: Dogs Trust HQ, London

Job: Digital Marketing Officer

You what...? Yes that’s right – I’m the new Digital Marketing Officer! And I’m thrilled. I’ve been working here 7 years in June so I’m no stranger to the brilliance of all things Dogs Trust. However moving to the Digital Team is totally new to me, and just a couple of days in – I love it! So far I’ve been getting to grips with the website content, doing my usual scribbled notes that make little sense… before neatly transferring into my notebook to be highlighted / colour coded - oh yeahhh,  I’m one of ‘those’ people!

I’m surrounded by digital gurus... Literally - Jacqui to my left and Lo to my right. Therefore I’m confident I will be learning lots along the way, and  I’ll most probably ramble in future blogs too –  there’s something to look forward to.

Best thing about my job: The people! Having been here a fair few years I’ve seen  people come and go, but the majority are ‘long timers’ and (hopefully)  aren’t going anywhere anytime soon – you can’t blame them. I was 17 when I started here, my first real job in the ‘big wide world’… so in all honesty – my colleagues could be rubbish…but I have no comparison - so to me they are great! This goes for my new team too; the best thing about working in the Digital Team so far has been instantly feeling comfortable enough to ask questions and being shown the ropes by Jacqui and Lo! Of course, having Twitter and Facebook open on my screen 24/7 will be an added bonus!

Pets: I have a gorgeous little 9 month old Kitten called Kenny. He is mischievous and a little crazy! He’s often casually hanging over my shoulder while I’m walking around the house – I always fail to tell visitors about this trait so they are a little alarmed when he springs up and does his best impression of a parrot.

Favourite websites: I’m a self-confessed Twitter addict, scrolling through the tweets of the rich and semi/not-at-all famous makes my journey to the office in Angel from my home in Essex much more entertaining!

What I'm reading now: I am half way through a book called Before I Go to Sleep written by S J Watson. It's a good read, It takes a bit of brain power to keep up – which is ironic since it’s all about a lady who has lost her mind!

Weekend plans: I will most probably go for drinks after work on Friday with the girls and for a meal of some kind on Saturday with my boyfriend and our friends. I always make time to see my Nan for a cup of tea too!

Spring has sprung, so celebrate the Dogs Trust way!

Spring has finally sprung, so it’s time to shrug off those winter blues! This is the time of year for holiday planning, celebration, and sprucing up that spring wardrobe. We thought we’d let you in on a few quick and easy ways to help out Dogs Trust while you spring into these seasonal activities!

Holiday planning - Thinking of escaping the Royal Wedding commotion? Already thinking of your summer getaway? Think your pets deserve a treat for being so patient through the snowy winter months? Plan a trip with Dogs Trust Cottages and choose from a superb selection of dog friendly holiday cottages throughout the UK, France and Ireland! For every holiday, we benefit from a 10% donation of the cottage element of your holiday.

Celebration - I hope you didn’t forget Mother’s Day, as it’s just around the corner! What about that certain loved one’s birthday coming up? Don’t fret, because we are happy to introduce our brand new card shop! With over 3,000 greeting card designs to choose from, there is something for everyone and a percentage of each card sold comes straight to us!

Shopping spree - Try this free service where you can shop with your favourite online stores at no extra cost and raise funds for Dogs Trust! You still shop directly with each retailer as you would normally, but simply by using the links from the Easy Fundraising site first, each purchase you make will generate a cashback donation!

Easy Fundraising, it's really THAT easy!

Ok, by a show of mouse clicks, how many of you plan to do some Christmas shopping online. I'd say that a fair few of us do this. In fact, I know we do! Eighty-five percent of all internet users are also internet shoppers, according to a May 2010 survey.

So, how can you continue to do your shopping AND raise funds for Dogs Trust as the same time for no extra cost to you? How, you ask? With Easy Fundraising!

Easy Fundraising provide a FREE service where you can shop with your favourite online stores and at no extra cost raise funds for any charity, good cause or group you choose to support. You still shop directly with each retailer as you would normally, but simply by using the links from the Easy Fundraising site first, each purchase you make will generate a cashback donation to the cause you wish to support. They explain:

"For example, spend £25 with WH Smith and 3.5% will be donated. You will have raised £0.88, at no extra cost to your purchase. Make any purchase from Amazon and 2.5% will be donated. Insure your car with Direct Line and raise £35.00, or purchase a mobile phone from O2 and earn £17.50, and so on."

The site is great because you can shop with 2000+ brand name retailers and to raise funds you just use the links from their site first - it's that simple! It just serves as a portal, so if you ALREADY shop online, why not help Dogs Trust at no extra cost from purchases you would make anyway.

Go on, at least check it out! I promise it won't exhaust you as much as that little guy in the photo!

Of course, if you're looking for Dogs Trust items from our cataloge you can see all those products online by going to http://www.dogstrustgifts.com/.

Charity Web 2.0: The Social Media Exchange

I don't generally say much on this blog about Dogs Trust and our social media work because if you're reading it, you generally have the idea that online = good are here, and we're going to work our (obviously, svelte) behinds off making sure that you can find us online, talk to us and get a conversation going.

However, today was one of those days where I get immersed in explaining to other charities why we do what we do and how they could do their own version of it too. This was courtesy of the Social Media Exchange.

The day was created to support charities by Sound Delivery, a communications agency that devotes itself to working with the 'third sector'. As such the guest list covered a range of social media evangelists and consultants like Steve Bridger and Rachel Beer and representatives of a host of diverse charities. Some - like us - were there to present, others - also like us, if we'd been able to stay! - were there to listen. The format wasn't the usual keynote-and-speeches, variety, though, but small, more informal and to my mind more useful masterclass sessions.

These were 40 minutes which roughly broke into half-presentation, half Q&A. We were presenting a case study to talk about the reasons why we use Facebook, MySpace, bebo, Twitter, DoggySnaps and, of course, Blogger; we also touched on how we use these sites to ensure that it's the supporters doing at least 50% of the talking whilst respecting the online space (e.g. not spamming supporters constantly with Facebook updates). Finally we covered what we've learned from being online: what worked, what didn't, and what our most satisfying achievements have been so far. Why the Royal We? Because I was lucky enough to have Digital Marketing Manager Jacqui by my side for moral support and because no-one know Dogs Trust online like she does.

I had a brief presentation prepared with some notes on each site, but we had a projector malfunction so I ditched the PPP and spoke straight to the audience. I explained why I was so passionate about social media; in a quick podcast vox pop taken by Sound Delivery afterwards, I was asked to finish the sentence "for me social media is..." and simply replied "a conversation". Asked to elaborate, I continued "with our supporters, with each other... with the world!". It sounds a bit trite put into one sentence, but for me communication is what makes social media important. We're not on Facebook because it's just the place to be, we're there because 32,000 people now have the chance to start discussions, share photos and videos, ask questions, give their opinion and generally feel like there's an online corner where they and Dogs Trust can meet and have a virtual cuppa (maybe a biscuit too). We like to return the goodwill our supporters show us, partly because we want you to continue to support us and encourage your friends to do so too, but also because you deserve a voice and a listening ear, so we're working on giving you that!

It was very useful to have a number of interesting questions put to us from the likes of Great Ormond Street Hospital and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme. A lot were to do with community management - moderation, frequency and nature of updates, whose job it is to actually do it. Some were to do with measuring the success of what's happening; that, of course, depends how you define success. I hope we were able to give useful, considered answers to these, and was glad they gave us something more to think about. The best thing about my job is the variety, and always looking forward; listening to the way other charities work gives us ideas, too!

It was a pleasure and an honour to be asked to present, and we both felt productive and relieved at the way things panned out. A few people nodded, though no-one nodded off and we didn't have to dodge any tomatoes! I look forward to seeing all the blog posts, Twitter chatter and more that will have come out of today.

If you didn't have a chance to attend the Social Media Exchange and would like to know more about what happened in our session or would like to see the (very simple!) presentation, please feel free to email me.

Meet Dogs Trust: Katie Purvis

I was a little taken aback when Katie sent me this profile to post for her as I noticed we're both getting married and changing our names in December! Turns out it's just a week apart, too. Here Katie tells us all about her work at Dogs Trust:

Name: Katie Purvis (soon to be Katie Chapel)

Location: Dogs Trust Rehoming Centre, Darlington

Job: Supporter Relations Officer

You what...? It’s a really varied job, but basically I’m the first point of contact for local media and PR as well as supporting our Fundraiser’s Committee and promoting our work.

Best thing about my job: I’ve worked for Dogs Trust for the last 5 years, first as a Canine Carer, then as Receptionist and now in this role. The best thing about my job is that I get paid to do something I really believe in. Another benefit is having lots of puppies to hug whenever you feel like it!

Pets: Nellie, a 3 year old English Bull Terrier. She’s a real superstar and doesn’t mind me bringing centre dogs home for sleepovers!

Favourite websites: I’m a bit of a Facebook geek as I’m a really nosey person and like to see what people I went to school with are up to! I’m about to start decorating my kitchen and have found a site that stocks pink utensils and accessories, so that’s a favourite! Check out www.pink-princess.co.uk - its fab if you’re a girly girl!

What I'm reading now: I read all the time and I’ve always got a couple of books on the go. One of my favourites is ‘Guide Dog for the Thick – The Misadventures of Morris’, by Terry Doe. It’s short stories of humorous situations involving the writer and his bull terrier dog. I can really identify with Terry as my life generally revolves around Nellie and the scrapes she gets into – she’s a menace!

Weekend plans: I’m getting married in December and I’m meeting with our photographer for a pre-wedding photo shoot, so I can make sure only my best side is photographed!

Trish's Trudge for dogs from John O'Groats to Land's End

Dogs Trust and Oldies Club supporter Trish Adams wanted a challenge to help her raise money for both charities. As a dog lover and owner she certainly spent a lot of time going 'walkies' so in May this year she started her trek from John O'Groats to Land's End.

Now three months into the 'trudge', the idea for which she wrote about on her website, she'll be dropping in at a couple of Dogs Trust Rehoming Centres along the way and we're very happy to help her publicise her remarkable efforts.

Although her lovely 14 year old dog Ben can't quite manage the 10 miles a day trek, when kind friends have brought him along for a section of the walk he has taken part! Friends have also joined the route for stretches at a time with their dogs and I bet she has a few recommendations for lovely dog walks now!

But enough from us: you can read Trish's own words and sponsor her on her travel blog.

Thanks for your support, Trish - we hope we can offer some in return and wish you well!

Meet Dogs Trust: Jacqui Darlow

Our supporters like to contact us to tell us about them and their dogs; we'd like to return the favour. Over the coming weeks we'll be introducing you to some of the team at the HQ and Centres around the country. First up: web guru Jacqui!

Name: Jacqui Darlow (not spelled 'Jackie'!)

Location: Dogs Trust HQ, London

Job: Digital Marketing Manager

You what...? Being a Digital Marketing Manager, my day job entails looking after Dogs Trust's many websites as well as thinking about what exciting things we can do next online. I've been at Dogs Trust for 10 years now; I started out in the PR department.

Best thing about my job: Getting to surf the net for a living! :)

Pets: At my house, none; my two cats live with my mum, though as soon as I can get a house with a garden they're coming back home to me.

Favourite websites: I can't live without BBC News for information, but have to read the List of the Day blog at least once a week as it's brilliant!

What I'm reading now: I've just finished Theresa Rebeck's Three Girls and Their Brother, an interesting insight into the real world of being a model, the pitfalls of immediate fame and what happens when it goes to your head...

Weekend plans: My partner and I are house sitting, so it's the usual weekend stuff in a different location - like a mini holiday, but I'll still find time to be checking in on those DoggySnappers!