Shout out to Frank’s Big TOE!

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by rob

Whilst I find the physical exertion of running for a bus these days a little bit of a struggle, an old mate of mine is in the process of running 2,000 miles in 62 consecutive days. No, there is not a decimal point missing or an extra zero included by mistake, he really is jogging his way through two months of back to back marathons (in fact, more than a marathon each day, since he’s not stopping at 26 miles, 385 yards).

So, here’s s very brief background outlining who Frank Wainwright is, why he’s doing it and how me and him go waaaaaaaaay back, literally to the last century. Scrap that, let’s say the last millennium.

First, the most important bit … THIS IS ALL FOR A GOOD CAUSE. Here’s a link for sponsorship but as you read on you will get an idea of why this may be particularly relevant to some agencies.

A prime objective is to launch Yvent, Frank’s charity, creating mentoring and work experience opportunities for deprived youth, providing a brand events experience outcome for young people being supported by youth charities, alongside aiming to raise a huge amount of money for the deprived youth development charity Brathay Trust as the first charity to benefit from the Yvent programme.

If you’re reading this blog, I would say there is a reasonable chance some of you may know of (either directly or indirectly) Frank already. He runs FMBE magazine and Awards, so Frank is the man with his finger on the pulse of all things to do with Field Marketing and Brand Experience.

On a business level, Alchemis frequently work with the same kind of agencies that would be featured in this publication or picking up these awards – albeit our job is to help them win new business.

On a personal level, I’ve known Frank for well over 25 years.

Back in the day, we both worked at a contract publishers in Covent Garden. I was a Production Editor of various exhibition catalogues for major trade shows such as the Spring Fair and Frank was brought in as the Editor to launch a trade magazine called DM Business (encompassing the world of Direct Marketing).

Given his current endeavour of running above and beyond what any normal human being would ever do, I’d like to say we originally bonded with a shared love of films such as Forrest Gump and Chariots of Fire. But that would be a bit of a lie.

What we did have was a decent group of very loyal staff at a small (and often slightly volatile) company who became friends both inside and outside the office. Many of us are still in touch a quarter of a century later, scattered throughout various companies and agencies, but still mostly connected in some way, shape or form to the marketing or media industries.

So, dig deep people… this is how we can make a better future for the next generation in our industry.