News from AE, and AE in the news...

With Abbeyview Equine, you get far more than a website, in fact, you get promotion, constant support and great exposure via social media too! Liam is always happy to receive news from his customers for his e-newsletter, and the PagePlay team are always at the end of the phone or the end of an email to help answer questions - no matter how stupid these questions are!

They are willing to go that extra mile to help support the businesses of their customers, this can range from a 'reweet' of something key, or offering advice on campaigns and ideas. They help promote the good times and achievements of their clients, and also help support during the bad times, the cancellation of Badminton has really shown this as the team are working with customers, helping to share and publicise offers and promotions.

It’s not one of these things that makes the difference, it’s the whole package, and as the company is continually evolving, it’s exciting to see what they are going to come up with next!

Keep up the excellent work!

To honour this special year for the sport, British Eventing is offering budding film-makers the chance to submit their Eventing footage as part of an online competition: ‘Eventing Cinema’ in association with HorseHub, the ultimate equestrian training app.



The winning entry is that which best captures the spirit, adrenaline and horsemanship of the sport of Eventing. This is a celebration of the sport and as such, film-makers are invited to submit films from any Eventing competition around the world.

The winning film will be selected by a panel of ten experts and will be shown on the big screens at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials 30 August - 2 September 2012. The winning film-maker will also take home £1000 in photographic equipment with the nine runners up winning passes for The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials in 2013.



The public will vote with their feet* for the top ten films which will then be judged by an expert panel consisting of:

- British Eventing Chief Executive and International Course Designer, Mike Etherington-Smith

- The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials Event Director, Elizabeth Inman

- Australian Eventer, Paul Tapner representing HorseHub

- Liam Killen from Abbeyview Equine: websites for Equestrians and the PagePlay Equestrian Social Media Awards

Mike Etherington-Smith says: “The Eventing community is really getting into the spirit of the digital era according to the fantastic feedback from our social networks.

 “With the Olympics being held in Britain, the central hub of Eventing, what better time to launch a campaign so everyone can get involved around the world and put their creativity behind this fantastic sport!

“ We are very grateful to Elizabeth Inman for agreeing to both showcase and judge the winning film at The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials and also for the support from the team behind HorseHub.”



Ever since Edison first recorded sound we have been transfixed by captured and shared speech, drama and music. Even with the advent of talking movies and later television, recorded audio has held its own.

Today, audio recordings have a new lease of life. Radio is as popular as ever; helped by smartphones, streaming and the iPlayer. Perhaps it is ironic that podcasting has been among the quietest revolutions of the past digital decade. Many podcasts have achieved a cult following. There's something intimate and immediate about the audio experience - whether it's music, sports coverage, drama, debate, spoken word or just personal insights.

Today we announce a new feature for PagePlay which makes sharing audio with your visitors easier than ever.

Now you can add audio to your site from either of these excellent free online providers: Audiofarm or Audioboo.

If you've never heard of these before, don't worry - they're easy to use and you can setup a free account today. Audioboo is particularly good if you want your audio clips to be available as podcasts.

You can either upload your own or use an existing clip from one of these sites. For example here's the Horse Radio Network's Chris Stafford talking about their shows.

Go to the page for the clip you want to use and copy the URL. On your PagePlay site, click to insert a new item and choose 'Audio'. Paste in the URL and press confirm. Then your sound clip will be ready to play on your site.

We're looking forward to hearing you when we visit your sites over the coming weeks!

We're always happy to help promote you. Send Liam a link to your podcasts and he'll add them to the monthly Abbeyview Equine newsletter.

Embedding audio. It's as easy as PagePlay.

I am delighted with the Equine Council for Northern Ireland’s new website from Abbeyview Equine and Pageplay. The whole process was so straightforward and couldn’t have been simpler. The website is very professional looking and was up and running in a very short space of time.

From our point of view, the greatest benefit is the fact that changes to the website can be made in a matter of minutes without the need to be trained to use complicated software. It is a very user-friendly system and in a nutshell allows us to edit our site as we see it on screen. We are looking forward to developing the site over the next few months as we complete the project.

We are delighted to offer British Eventing members a 25% discount on all PagePlay website subscriptions. Riders find PagePlay really useful because sites can be updated on smart phones - keeping fans, owners and sponsors up-to-date with results during competitions.

For more information on the offer check out the members' section of the British Eventing website.

We're pleased to announce that we have been granted Trade Membership of the British Horse Society (BHS).

We've offered BHS members members a 25% discount on PagePlay subscriptions for a while. We're now really pleased to have been invited to join as trade members.

We are committed to supporting the grassroots growth in our sport. We plan to use the trade membership to support riding schools, with many already taking up the offer of one of our discounted packages.

We had a look at the website for the Nestle, Get Set, Go Free campaign after seeing adverts on the TV. They're giving people the chance to try new sports by offering free access to many activities (including riding lessons) for people who register codes from their products on the website.

We noticed that there was one riding school on the list of registered schools covering the 2.6 million people in Greater Manchester and one for the 1.7 million people in Northern Ireland. One Tweeter noted that (in the south east) their nearest registered riding school on the Get Set, Go Free site was over 20 miles away. As you can imagine, we got quite excited about the opportunity this could be for riding schools to get new bums in saddles!

We decided to contact Nestle and find out how you can get a listing on the Get Set, Go Free website. Here's some info from them about the campaign and how you can get your riding school involved:

The Get Set Go Free promotion is one of the largest on-pack promotions in the UK, communicated on over 65 million packs of Nestlé cereals, confectionery, coffees, chilled and beverages. Brands participating in the promotion include Cheerios, Shreddies, Milky Bar, Smarties, Nesquik and many others.

We are in the planning stage for this year’s activity which has been refreshed in order to create an even bigger consumer impact. In short a bigger and better promotion entitled “Get Set Go Free”.

The Get Set Go Free promotion is aimed at getting families with children more active during the long Summer Holiday period and in 2011 and we will be offering a great variety of free activities to choose from. Simply collect points (and tokens/wrappers) from your Nestlé family favourites and redeem them for activity vouchers online.

One of the categories we are looking to include within this exciting campaign is horse riding and we would very much like to discuss partnering with you on this promotion.

Below is an outline of the offer we would like to include along with an outline of the chosen mechanic and exposure;

Offer: Free Horse Riding Taster Session

Mechanic:
Customers will call you to book their chosen activity
Each pack is worth a pre determined points value
Each activity requires a predetermined points value
Customers collect points by entering URN online
Customers select activity and we send a security printed and sequentially numbered activity specific voucher out in the post
On arrival will present completed voucher in exchange for a free session

Communications:
On-pack – Over 65 million Nestlé packs (cereals / confectionary / coffee / chilled / beverages)
Below are examples of the current campaign
Online - https://www.getsetgofree.com

Each activity will have its own landing page and search facility (as shown below)

Partner Benefits:
Inclusion in the high profile activity based on-pack promotion
Communication of venue on the website
Engagement with core target audience
Increased footfall to your website and venues
New customers / members

Timings:
The promotion will go live in June 2011.
Next Steps:
Could you please print the agreement form and complete one for each activity you’d like to offer then either fax them back to me by as soon as possible on 020 8977 1203, scan and attach to an email, or post to:

Grass Roots Consumer Promotions
Our House
60 Waldegrave Road
Teddington
Middlesex
TW11 8LG

If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact Annabel on 0208 614 5885.

We've been inspired to help the British Equestrian Federation's Hoof Networks increase awareness of equestrianism within their local areas, building on the positive impact the Olympics and Special Olympics will have on our sport. On Twitter we follow BBC Sport's Ollie Williams. Ollie is an equestrian enthusiast, their leading equestrian journalist and writes a blog on the BBC Sport website. In his bio he says he, "covers sports which don't normally hit the headlines." The Olympics will be a different story with the BBC guaranteeing continuous coverage of equestrian sports online during the games, not to mention the television coverage they’ll get. This is an amazing opportunity for the grassroots in our industry to capitalise on the exposure and help get bums in saddles!

We want to start a conversation on the social-sphere by getting industry professionals talking about what they've tried in their local area, what worked and didn't. Getting marketers, organisations and equestrian companies talking about how we can help each other to break down barriers and shatter preconceived ideas about horse riding. We want to hear from a broad spectrum of equestrians using the hashtag #bumsinsaddles. This of course will not just be visible to those in the UK. We encourage equestrians across the globe to join in for the benefit of the grassroots in their own countries. So please do join in and spread the word!

If you’re not a ‘Tweeter’ find out about hashtags.

We are thrilled to announce that the 2012 Equestrian Social Media Awards (ESMAs) will see the introduction of categories for best use of social media by region. Based on the FEI Regional Groups, the categories will help us achieve our aim of connecting the global equestrian community through social media.

That’s not all; the winners of the regional categories will be passed to the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) for them to decide the winner of the 'FEI Award for the Best Use of Social Media in the Equestrian World'. FEI President, HRH Princess Haya said: "The FEI is delighted to be part of the 2011 ESMAs and looks forward to judging the international categories from the online equestrian community."

The FEI joined the world of social media in early 2011 and has seen a huge amount of online support, creating an amazing forum for equestrians across the globe. The FEI's Director of Communications, Richard Johnson explains, "its a real testament to the thriving equestrian social media community that the ESMAs have been set up - I really hope the global equestrian community start to think about the scheme and look forward to being involved in the judging process".

Keep an eye on the ESMA Facebook page, as we have a few more developments on the horizon before the nominations stage opens for the 2012 ESMAs, this December.

... and in the first 20 minutes 80 people voted, 7 hours later we passed the 1000th voter mark! Needless to say Rhea and I are SUPER chuffed with how well it's going. Voting will close at 1pm GMT on 18 February. After that we will let you know who has won each category in our own rather special way.

Make sure you check out the ESMA's page.

Equestrian businesses and riders are starting to embrace social media as a marketing tool, but many are still missing valuable promotion opportunities.

These are the findings of Ulster University student Stephen Farrell who researched the horseworld's use of Facebook, Twitter and the like, as part of his equine studies degree.

He found many brands unwilling to try social media, but said charities like World Horse Welfare and brands such as Spillers and Horse & Hound are making a real success of it.

"The concept now has the potential to connect the equine industry with existing and prospective customers," said Stephen.

"Bombarding users with adverts is not a good idea, but it works well for charities and social groups. The Redwings/Spillers campaign was excellent."

Horse welfare charity Redwings collaborated with Spillers and for every person who "liked" the Spillers page on Facebook, the company gave the charity 1kg of feed.

Redwings received 18 tonnes of feed and much publicity and Spillers also enjoyed the advertising.

"Clothing brand Joules has been a pioneer as far as promoting its merchandise — when I started my research in 2009 they were one of the few with a real presence on Facebook," said Stephen.

Stephen interviewed 40 equestrian brands. He found companies were worried that having a Twitter feed or Facebook page was "tacky". And because of a lack of knowledge about what it involved and the fear they would not have time to update their paged, 52% would not consider using it.

But Liam Killen of Abbeyview Equestrian hopes to change this preconception. His company, helps equestrian traders build their brands online.

He said: "Social media is huge, but many businesses are missing it. For example, a Belgian showjumper is looking into ways of getting sponsorship on the back of his Twitter feed. British riders should be more aware of the possibilities."

H&H web editor Carol Phillips has put H&H at the forefront of social media for some time.

"Facebook is the largest single website driving visitors to us online, excluding search engines like Google," she said, adding that H&H has almost 64,000 Facebook friends. "We have used social networking to expand the H&H brand to reach out to new readers and website visitors.

"During 2010, the number of people using our site increased to nearly 530,000 per month."

And Nicola Markwell at Redwings added: "Our Facebook campaign with Spillers was a great idea and an incredible 15,500 people agreed to help us."

I just wanted to say a big thank you to you and your team for our great new website.
PagePlay is simplicity itself to use. The results of just a few hours work, loading text and images, look fantastic and the speed and helpfulness of your support is second to none.

I am delighted with the results and more importantly, so are my customers.
PagePlay is innovative, creative, cost effective and very high quality. It has huge potential, both in the UK and internationally. Foot to the floor guys – the world’s your oyster!

Richard Balfry – New Equine Wear

L-R: speaker Jon Downer from Sportswise, BETA president Jane Holderness Roddam, speaker Martin Dupree of Dupree Creative, BETA executive director Claire Williams, speaker Liam Killen of Abbeyview Equine, speaker Sylvia Rook from Trading Standards, new BETA chairwoman Alison Sherwood Bruce and retiring BETA chairman Roger Cooper (photo thanks to Bob Hook).

Horse owners are beginning to loosen their belts, with fewer cutting back on equestrian goods and services. Thirty-seven per cent say that they are spending less, compared with 63 per cent in June 2009.

This has led to a change in shopping habits, with 57 per cent turning their backs on non-essentials, 35 per cent snapping up products on special promotions, 22 per cent putting off buying expensive items such as saddles, 10 per cent switching to cheaper brands and an identical number moving their horses to cheaper facilities.

These fascinating facts and figures were revealed by Jon Downer – managing director of UK-based sports and leisure research agency Sportswise – when he spoke about the role of market research in business at the British Equestrian Trade Association’s annual conference.

The company, which conducts about 100,000 interviews each year and worked closely with BETA on the National Equestrian Survey, collated the results taken from a poll of more than 400 horse riders and owners in September, who were each asked a series of questions about their spending over the previous 12 months.

“It is clear that there are cutbacks on items such as clothing, saddlery, lessons, competition and, perhaps, bedding while maintaining spend on things like feed, livery, farriers, safety and vets,” concluded John.

Other speakers at the conference included Liam Killen, of Abbeyview Equine, talking delegates through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, Martin Dupree, of Dupree Creative, discussing developing and maintaining a brand, HSBC senior economist Mark Berrisford-Smith, providing a world view on the economy, and Sylvia Rook, of the Trading Standards Institute, bringing everyone up to speed on the latest legislation.

“The BETA Conference is always a tremendous opportunity to dip into some fascinating topics, to find out more about specialist fields and to broaden your own knowledge base,” said BETA chief executive Claire Williams.
“This year’s speakers proved highly popular and we have already had extremely positive feedback from many delegates. Business development was definitely the order of the day and our speakers succeeded in providing presentations that were educating, inspiring and entertaining.”

Sweet Wall has had a website for quite a few years, but it was hosted and updated by the company that designed it. This could be very cumbersome, as proofs might come when you were away an it could take up to a week to effect changes.

With PagePlay changes are done by me when I want to do them, be it 3am! I can also access and update the site through my iPhone making the new site as current as possible. The initial build took me approximately 4 hours over two evenings, so was certainly no hardship and the result looks clean and professional.

PagePlay's service and assistance has been simple to use and efficient and I look forward to a long and happy relationship with them.

Check out the new Sweet Wall Stud website.

The next Equestrian TweetUp will be crosscountry day at the Badminton Horse Trials (Sunday 2nd May 2010) 2pm, in-front of the Mark Todd big screen!

See you there!

During an action-packed BETA 2010, Abbeyview Equine ran a competition for one of their stand's visitors to win a free PagePlay setup and year's subscription.

Entrants had to answer the question “Which of the following involves someone gaining access to your computer files illegally?” with the right answer being “Hacking”. Sarah Case of the London branch of the Women's Farmers Union (WFU) was one of those with the right answer and after being drawn at random on the last day was awarded with her prize.

BETA 2010 was another great show for Equestrian web experts, Abbeyview. Director Liam Killen said, “vistors with a clear view of what they wanted from the show were coming to the stand and requesting their 60 second PagePlay demo to see for themselves just how useful the system could be for them.”

No time was wasted following the show in getting the new site up and running. One of the benefits of Abbeyview's PagePlay tool is the speed of setup which can be achieved. Commenting on the experience, winner Sarah Chase said: “Abbeyview and the PagePlay team got to work on our web site, literally, within a few hours of contacting them! They were attentive to every detail and seemed to operate seamlessly on their end. The initial design was complete in under 24-hours and we had a workable, visible page ready to show to the world.

“Once I had the link to the admin section, I was able to begin uploading content immediately. Abbeyview and PagePlay took the initiative to set up some of the initial content, and then we were free to upload text and the initial photos. There's always a bit of a learning curve, but the directions and process is so simple that anyone can be operating and updating their own web site within just a few minutes, without being a "web guru."

“We're currently trying to update the web site daily. It really only takes a few minutes, so it's something that can be done while having your morning coffee! As the WFU London branch progresses, we'll be appointing to or three official Admins for the site, who will be charged with updating and uploading all the content. Also, the Events Committee will play a special role in making sure the Events section always has the latest details and photos. Same with the Press Centre ... as our campaigns push forward this year, we find it vital that everyone stay informed and that all of the news releases, quotes and white papers are readily available.

“While Abbeyview and PagePlay offer wonderful e-mail marketing services of their own, we happen to use another service. That said, we were very happy to learn that with the format of this web page, we can still integrate our outside email campaign service. I think this enhances Abbeyview rather than detracts from it, because it shows that they can offer complimentary services, but are not exclusive. Ultimately, this make Abbeyview very easy and pleasant to deal and work with ... they have your best interest in mind.”

It's also a really exciting time for WFU's new London branch, Sarah commented, "The WFU chose to launch a London Branch in order to effectively bridge the rural-to-urban divide and to better inform and educate those in urban areas about farming, food, the countryside and the rural way of life.”

Lady Apsley, a much credited and nationally-famed campaigner for farming issues, became the honorary spokeswoman for the WFU's new London Branch on Friday 12th March, during a formal ceremony at the Farmer's Club in Whitehall.

Speaking at the inaugural meeting, Lady Apsley rallied the crowd saying , "While the work on the ground and in the countryside is being completed on a day to day basis by our dedicated farmers, it is our duty as women to get behind them and enliven a nation. To truly speak for Britain and it's food production, and to get the job done of converting consumers into a healthier and more patriotic way of life, which includes food shopping, as well as appreciating the countryside and it's issues."

The Irish Draught Horse Society of Northern Ireland (IDSH NI) has chosen Abbeyview Equine for their new website for their annual Stallion Covering Auction. The site will showcase the 20 stallions whose covers have been kindly donated by their owners. They include Registered Irish Draught stallions, Irish and foreign sports horses.

Believing the Irish Draught is an integral and valuable part of the Irish Sport Horse industry, IDHS NI represents the interests of breeders, producers and enthusiasts located in Northern Ireland. They work closely with the Irish Draught Horse Breeders Association and share their objectives.

The Stallion Covering Auction is a vital fund raiser and provides assistance to local charities. The Riding for the Disabled Association are this year's chosen charity.

The initiative is applauded throughout the equine community and beyond.

Open to breeders across the UK and Ireland, the auction will be conducted by sealed bid and closes on 10th April 2010. For more information visit the Irish Draught Horse Society (NI) website

BETA International 2010 hit the peak of social networking when it played host to the first equestrian TweetUp, with magazine editors, PR and marketing professionals, and key industry movers gathering to meet fellow Twitter members.

The event was organised by ourselves - an online marketing company, if you hadn't already guessed - and promoted on Twitter, with account holders spreading the word among their own followers.

“I decided to hold the world’s first equestrian TweetUp to demonstrate how Twitter can be a useful tool for an equine organisation of any size and to show that the equestrian community on Twitter is growing,” said director Liam Killen.

Claire Thomas, commercial manager of BETA International organiser EMC, added: “We use social networking sites as an additional form of promotion for the trade fair and are extremely keen to inform and engage with our exhibitors and visitors in a wide range of media.”

Updates have informed BETA that suggestions of the level of the HORSE tax have been as high as £100 per horse, per year. As part of the BHIC, discussions have already been held with the conservative party as indications have been given that this initiative will be carried through into the new government, in some shape.

It is vital that we get as many people as possible to sign the petition and that we spread the word about the campaign far and wide amongst customers and consumers.

Please don’t forget to direct people to the link to the Rethink the Horse Tax petition to the Prime Minister.

One year ago today Abbeyview Equine was born. The past year has been an exciting challenge for us and we're so pleased with the enthusiasm the equine community has for PagePlay not just in the UK and Ireland but across the world - we knew you'd love it! Thanks so much - here's to many more!

Liam

PagePlay is one of three companies selected to join the NEM EnterPrize All Stars programme & is in the final three for a high growth award!

Our fingers and toes are crossed for Chris and Harry!

The new abbeyviewequine.com has been assembled and is now live, bursting with information about our award-winning products and services. It looks really pretty too!

The new site is hoped to bring much needed consistency to all of our content. We had grown so rapidly from our launch last October - that we had a severe case of 'physician, heal thyself' when it came to our own site!

We hope you like it!

We now offer a 50% discount on PagePlay subscriptions to charities and social enterprises with an annual turnover of less than £50k.

Zes paardenproducten wonnen deze week een innovatieprijs tijdens ‘s werelds belangrijkste hippische vakbeurs BETA International. Daarnaast kregen een aantal paardenproducten een eervolle vermelding. BETA International is een vakbeurs waarbij hippische groothandels elk jaar hun nieuwste paardensportproducten lanceren. Deze producten zijn binnenkort verkrijgbaar in de winkels. BETA International vindt van 15 tot en met 17 februari plaats in het Britse Birmingham.

- Harnachement: beenkappen voor over bandages of peesbeschermers van Golly Galoshes
- Kleding: waterdichte jas van Rambo
- Voeding en supplementen: ontwormingstabletten Equimax Tabs van Virbac Animal Health
- Verzorgingsproducten: Elim-a-Net van Parell Products, een hooinet dat (te) snelle voeropname voorkomt
- Veiligheid: balanshulp RS-Tor Rider Security Aid van Equiline
- Overig: websitebouwer Abbeyview Equine

De jury van de Innovation Awards bestond uit een zestal vakbekwame personen uit de paardenwereld, namelijk: bondscoach van het Britse eventing team Yogi Breisner, voedingsdeskundige Catherine Dunett, fysiotherapeut Kate Rees, hoefsmid David Gill, zadelmaker Mike Norton en internationaal dressuurruiter Pammy Hutton.

De genomineerde paardensportartikelen kwamen in de afgelopen twaalf maanden op de markt. De winnende producten in de verschillende categorieën zijn: