Fourth MAA Press Lunch in association with Dean & Reddyhoff Marinas
by Alison Willis 15 May 2015 13:08 PDT
15 May 2015
4th MAA Press Lunch © Marine Advertising Agency
Over 120 press and industry guests attended the fourth annual MAA Press Lunch, organised by Marine Advertising Agency in conjunction with Dean & Reddyhoff, at Haslar Marina on Friday, 15th May 2015. The MAA Press Lunch has established itself as a key event on the industry calendar, with journalists, editors and leading industry names keen to confirm their attendance.
This year's event had the added attraction of a pre-lunch tour of Portsmouth Harbour aboard Geoff Holt's Wet Wheels. The tour revealed how the Harbour is preparing for the imminent arrival of the America's Cup World Series and showcased everything that Gosport's waterfront location has to offer.
The event, which is held in the grounds of Haslar Marina overlooking its busy pontoons, is a unique opportunity for MAA's clients and top industry figures to discuss new products, projects and developments with key journalists and editors. The event is now well-established and growing year on year.
After the initial networking drinks reception, guests took their seats and Tracey Clarke, from the BBC's H20 show, interviewed selected guests. The overwhelming focus for those interviewed was about supporting increased participation in the industry. Mike Shepherd, Marine Advertising Agency Director, highlighted the role of events like the Gosport Marine Festival, which aims to get 1000 young people onto the water, in inspiring young people to see a future for themselves in the marine industry or its sports. Ross Wilkinson, Managing Director of Crewsaver, announced that Survitec will be the title sponsor of the Marine Industry Regatta, which will be a joint marine leisure and commercial marine industries regatta. The regatta will be organised and run in conjunction with Mercator Media and the Marine Advertising Agency. The company also announced its continuing support for the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation. Richard Percy from the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation, whose centre celebrated its birthday earlier this month, spoke about the grants that the foundation has made, as well as the research they are funding into the benefits of sailing. Participation was also on the agenda for other speakers; Geoff Holt from Wet Wheels revealed that there had been 180 trips on Wet Wheels last year, while Hugo Montgomery-Swan, Editor of Powerboat & RIB, advocated pushing affordable boating as a way of encouraging new entrants into boating.
Marine Advertising Agency (MAA) used the event to launch its new look website (www.marineadagency.com). The agency's online media centre is a vital resource for journalists, giving unrestricted access to news releases and downloadable high- resolution images for editorial use. The media centre on the new look site is now searchable, making it easier for journalists to find the information that they need and making clients' releases and images even more accessible. As well as being available for downloading in PDF and Word formats, press releases can also now be shared on various social media platforms and easily emailed.
Mike Shepherd set up Marine Advertising Agency (MAA) in 2009, since then the company has enjoyed continued strong growth both in terms of clients and the MAA team. MAA is now firmly established as one of the foremost agencies in the marine industry. MAA is based in Haslar Marina, one of the south coast's leading marinas and home to a range of marine-related businesses including MAA.
Mike Shepherd, Director of MAA, said: "This year's huge turnout shows that the MAA Press Lunch has proved its value as a key networking event on the industry calendar and cements MAA's position at the heart of the industry. It is the ideal environment for us to showcase our clients. We are delighted that today's event in particular has highlighted a desire to boost participation in our sport and industry, starting with young people, something that I feel very passionate about. I believe it's all our responsibility to inspire a generation to get onto and into the water."
MAA's services cover every aspect of marketing from advertising, PR, communications and media buying to brand development, websites, apps, email campaigns and social media.
Guests included journalists and editors from major UK marine titles, including Yachting Monthly, Yachts and Yachting, Powerboat & RIB, Boating Business and Marina Magazine as well as highly acclaimed freelance writers. Also in attendance were Fiona Pankhurst, President of the British Marine Federation, William Ward, CEO of Clipper Ventures and Caroline Dinenage, MP for Gosport. MAA's clients represented at the lunch included Ancasta, Crewsaver, Contender Sailcloth, Boats & Yachts Warranty, Jebb Smith Ltd, Nautilus Yachting, Clipper Telemed & Tecsew.
Richard Reddyhoff, Director of Dean & Reddyhoff Marinas, said: "We are delighted to be involved with the MAA Press Lunch for the fourth year running. It's great to have an event like this, which attracts so many of our industry's key players, held at Haslar."
For more information visit www.marineadagency.com