A little bit of New York is coming to Taunton in March with a free event for home workers, mobile workers, business owners and freelancers at The Genesis Centre, Somerset College, Taunton, Somerset, Thursday 20th May from 9.00am to 5.00pm, following the success of a similar events in Yeovil, Taunton, Bath, Wedmore and Frome.

Jelly was started in New York three years ago by a couple of freelancers working from home who felt the need to get out more. Described by its founders as a casual working event where people come together to work for the day, it is being organised by Andrew Knutt of ADK Ltd and Somerset College Business Centre.

Somerset writer Judy Heminsley whose book ‘Work from Home’ published earlier this year said ‘Isolation is one of the biggest challenges of working from home and Jelly is a friendly way for home or mobile workers to get out of their home office for a change of scene, a good chat and a shot of inspiration.’

Free Wi-Fi access will be provided by Taunton Conference Centre, there is coffee and food available onsite and Andrew Knutt will be there to help on matters of business, websites, ecommerce, search engines, social media and anything else you want to brainstorm about.

Taunton Jelly will take place between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm on Thursday 20th May. Taunton Jelly can accommodate 20-25 people and suggest you book in advance.

For more information go to www.somersetjelly.co.uk

Do you work from home or work as a mobile worker? Perhaps you’re an employee, freelancer or business owner that just wants a working day with a difference? 

If so then you’re invited to a FREE Jelly event at The Genesis Centre, Somerset College, Taunton, Somerset, Thursday 4th March 8.30am to 5.00pm. It’s completely FREE and housed in the airy, light Genesis café. There’s free Wi-Fi and as a bonus Andrew Knutt of ADK Ltd will be there all day to help with anything related to business, websites, search engines, social media, and anything else you want to brainstorm about. You can bring your own drinks, lunch or buy a coffee in the café and pop into the college food hall for a hot meal or snack.

What is Jelly? -  Jelly is a casual working event. Its taken place in hundreds of cities worldwide where people come together (in a person’s home, a coffee shop, or an office) to work for the day. We provide chairs and sofas, wireless internet, and interesting people to talk to, collaborate with, and bounce ideas off of.

You bring a laptop (or whatever you need to get your work done) and a friendly disposition.

Who can come? -  Jelly see’s a lot of designers, developers, writers, business owners and internet types, but they’ve also had musicians, cooks, sound designers, tea sommeliers, product designers, photographers, government agency workers, and more.

Some are entrepreneurs or freelancers. Others work in an office most of the time, but work at Jelly for fresh ideas and a change of pace.

No matter what you do or what you create, you’re welcome to come to Jelly and share your talent and learn from others.

Book your place at http://somersetjelly.co.uk/pages/book-form.html

Learn more about Jelly at http://workatjelly.com/

Learn more about Somerset Jelly

View full press release here

Community centre project provides a brand new web site by ADK.

More than 70 people attended a launch event held on 27 January 2010 for a new Community Enabling Project based in Victoria Park Community Centre, Bridgwater which is seeking to offer informal support to people to make changes which may improve their sense of wellbeing.  It was explained that people can be signposted by local agencies to the Community Enabling Team by with a free drink voucher for the ‘Café on the Park’ at certain times or by contacting the Community Enabling Team Co-ordinator.

Also launched on the day was a World Wide Website commissioned by the Project from ADK Limited, a Taunton web design company and which enables members of the community of Victoria Park, Bridgwater, and beyond,- to discover more about what goes on in and around the  area. The web site, found at www.victoriaparkbridgwater.co.uk , provides more than 50 web pages of local information and links, including: gallery, events, resources, advice, health, clubs, culture, resources, e-library, and more, for the local community.

The site, described as “impressive” by Sally Hill of Victoria Park Community Centre, provides resources not only on local activities and self-development resources, (topics include: babies, early years, parents, youth, mature years); but also directs visitors to numerous sites and tools that can further develop their understanding of what health and wellbeing is all about.   “The ‘For You’ section offers a great look at what’s available to those wishing to discover help and information.” said the site’s creator, Andrew Knutt, Director of ADK Ltd.

“This is an exciting community project and the website is very well designed, vibrant, and offers a wealth of interesting information for all ages,” said Lydia Woodward, Project Manager, NHS Somerset. The project and the website is designed to contribute to Bridgwater’s growing provision of services and wellbeing resources and the web site is like a ‘public library’ for Bridgwater activities. The website will include a list of clubs and societies, events going on at Victoria Park, the multi-agency services of the community centre, what’s available in the ‘Café on the Park’ and much more.

The site doesn’t just provide links to other resources; but also provides helpful editorial content and links to even more invaluable information for anyone living in Bridgwater and the county.  There are links and information on support available from NHS Somerset; Sedgemoor District Council; and Somerset County Council and others. The frequently updated site also provides a wide-ranging look at civic health and community participation.

From the comfort of their homes, local residents will have 24 hour access to interesting and supportive information. Here they will be able to watch videos, see what’s on at the centre, along with local consultation information. The site will be able to promote special local events throughout the year and offer newsletters, as well giving all visitors access to our extensive set of resources.

People attending the launch on 27 January, had the opportunity to meet the new Community Enabling Team and also see a live presentation of the website www.victoriaparkbridgwater.co.uk.   Many said that the website is a fantastic local asset, and worthy of an award for its delivery of information, and creation of a ‘virtual’ centre for the community.

Should Taunton’s networking and business support organisations unite? Download the flyer to a business breakfast event on 24th Feb 2010. All Taunton and surroundign area businesses welcome.

business-breakfast-taunton-24-02-10

A new group setup to encourage the sharing of ideas, information and news that affects Somerset businesses seems to be growing day by day.

The LinkedIn group called ‘Somerset Business’ was setup to offer a platform to discuss growth, opportunities, the good and the bad, in the aim of bringing a fresh perspective to Somerset’s growing business population.

“I started this group because I’m very much embedded into the Somerset business scene and LinkedIn gave me the opportunity to see what businesses in Somerset thought” said Andrew Knutt, director of ADK Ltd.

If you are a Somerset business and would like to get involved then sign-up to LinkedIn for free and join the Somerset Business group.

Somerset Design Enterprise Network (SDEN) is proud to announce a new website featuring some fantastic content including jobs, support, opportunities, news, competitions, noticeboard, showcases, events diary and much more.

The website at http://www.somerset-design-network.co.uk is part of the regional partnership SDEN has with other design networks throughout the South West of England and with the South West Design Forum. 

Why do creative industries and designers need to register?
The new website will form the official design directory for Somerset and of SDEN. So if you are in the creative industries or a designer or design company then you need to get listed and signup to the newsletter to benefit from the many activities offered to you. 

Plus, over the next six months SDEN will be migrating all thier activities and email newsletter to this site so if you want to stay informed about design and business activities you’ll need to join the new website. Just select the ‘Join‘ button to setup your account and then sign in to add your business profile. 

I’m not a designer or creative industries organisation. Can I sign-up?
To be a full member and have a business profile you must be a creative industries organisation, individual or design company. But don’t worry if you are not. We have a separate signup for email newsletter subscribers and you can add your subscription by clicking here.

Search design directory on the new website

Visit new website homepage

I need reminding about what SDEN is and what it does.
Need to be refreshed on what SDEN does and how they were set up. Visit their other website.

For more information about Somerset Design Enterprise Network email sden@adk.ltd.uk

EIL Intercultural Learning has gone one more step to reducing its carbon footprint by converting its Volunteer Abroad brochure to a digital online version. In 2010 it plans to convert all its printed brochures and publications and this will all be made possible through the sponsorship and skills of UK based design company ADK Ltd.

The Experiment in International living (EIL), founded in 1932, was of the first organisations of its kind to engage individuals in intercultural living and learning. The organisation has held consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council as a non-governmental organisation since 1978, and with The Council of Europe since 1981. In 1989 it was recognised as a Peace Messenger organisation by the United Nations Secretary General.

It is hoped that the move towards digitising its printed material will make the distribution of information easier and more accessible for EIL’s organisations around the world.

Brendan Kelleher, manager in the Irish office of EIL said “We are very pleased to have ADK as sponsors and to help us convert our print to digital, and though we started out with just our Ireland office ADK has now agreed to offer the same sponsorship to the Federation, which covers 21 countries worldwide”.

The sponsorship value of ADK’s contribution could mean a significant saving over the coming year, not forgetting the environmental benefits of not printing, for EIL which is a not-for-profit organisation.

“We completely support the great work that EIL does around the world and I hope all 21 countries and federation members benefit from the deal we have struck with EIL” says Andrew Knutt, director of ADK Ltd.

Andrew continues “We live in a digital age and the more we can assist organisations like EIL in adopting digital solutions the more we know that we can play our part in helping them provide intercultural learning opportunities”.

To learn more about EIL or ADK Ltd please visit the following links: http://www.adk.ltd.uk http://www.eilireland.org http://www.experiment.org

The European Commission has launched the eYouGuide, a new online tool giving practical advice on the “digital rights” consumers have under EU law.

The European Parliament called for such action back in 2007 and its designed to address consumer issuessuch as the rights towards your broadband provider, shopping on the web, downloading music and protecting your personal data online and on social networking sites.

Even though 48.5% of EU households have a broadband internet connection, a new Eurobarometer survey shows that a lack of confidence still holds many consumers back from online transactions.

- Only 12% of EU web users feel safe making transactions on the internet, while 39% of EU internet users have major doubts about safety, and 42% do not dare carry out financial transactions online.

- 65% of internet users in the EU do not know where to get information and advice about cross-border shopping in the EU.

- A third of consumers would consider buying online from another country because it is cheaper or better, but only 7% actually do so.

Giving consumers clear information about their rights will increase trust and help unlock the full economic potential of Europe’s single online market, worth €106 billion in revenues. (European Commission - Enterprise and Industry TOURISM - Source, May 2009

For more information

The website of the eYouGuide:

http://ec.europa.eu/eyouguide   (online: 5 May, 16:00)

European Parliament Resolution of 21 June 2007 on consumer confidence in the digital environment:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P6-TA-2007-0287+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN

The new Eurobarometer “Consumer Confidence in the Information Society” is available at:

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/nis/strategy/activities/index_en.htm

Web design and training company, ADK Ltd, a leader in delivering e-business solutions, has announced its first of many e-learning programmes; each designed for boosting, supporting and helping businesses succeed online; and ‘Foundation to Search Engine Optimisation’ is one of the first to hit the market.

Based on best practice guidelines, the ‘Foundation to Search Engine Optimisation’ course is part of a range of e-learning training products created for small to medium sized businesses and web designers who wish to learn the basic theory of search engine optimisation and wish to acquire the tools professionals use to automate and speed up any search engine optimisation (SEO) campaign.

In addition, ADK has introduced in this elearning course a set of routine tasks that run chronologically so you can start a search engine optimisation strategy within 20 minutes. The SEO e-learning course will be available as a digital download and comes with 14 enlightening yet simple chapters along with videos, tools, resources, and much more. And should you wish to take the optional exam at the end you could be on your way to receiving a certificate to recognise your newly found skills.

The search engine optimisation course covers areas such as search engine basics, link building, link baiting, content optimising, reporting and statistics, social media optimisation and more.

“In addition to our classroom based search engine optimisation training the Foundation in Search Engine Optimisation course we are launching is the first training course developed and aimed at a wide target audience, including marketing executives responsible for promoting their company’s web site via search engines, small business owners wanting to learn how to market their own web sites via search engines and students or young web designers wanting to learn how to optimise web sites for search engines in preparation for starting their own search engine optimisation business or applying for a job in the lucrative search engine marketing industry” Director, Andrew Knutt said.

SEO Expert Jon Dunn of SEM Studios said “This is the first search engine optimisation course I have seen that really does give you all the foundations you need to understand and implement SEO on any website. I love the simple approach and how the course sets tasks as you go along, which is great because there are many aspects of search engine optimisation and trying to figure how to get started isn’t easy. But this course makes it easy. I love the professional tools, videos, step-by-step tasks, and would not hesitate to recommend this course to any website owner, marketing expert or web designer”.

Foundation in Search Engine Optimisation training course is excellent value considering the additional tools, trade secrets, tried and tested techniques, resources and support. Retailing at just £149 this course will save £1000s and bring in more traffic and business due to higher search engine ranking.

To learn more details about the Foundation in Search Optimisation course or to view the demo visit Our search engine optimisation course details.

With today’s current economic climate businesses are looking to ecommerce websites for a wider audience and more sells. But research by ADK shows ecommerce can be a costly investment and for many existing owners a high yearly or monthly fee.

To combat this financial injustice ADK has announced its ‘rent an ecommerce store’ scheme designed to reduce all the investment burdens and to improve cash flow.

The ecommerce website scheme offers potential clients over 800 ecommerce designs to choose from each being customized by qualified designers and costing as little as £49 per month. Making it ideal for those that want to test the ecommerce waters or for those that wish to reduce their yearly fees.

“With some competitors charging £300+ a month for an ecommerce website we know its time to educate ecommerce owners into the cash they could save with shopping around.  With ADKs solution there is no sacrifice of functionality or design quality and the scheme provides a bank of ideas to clients while improving sells without breaking into cash flow” said Director of ADK, Andrew Knutt 

Along side the scheme are commercially focused search engine optimisation and emarketing modules that can help improve sells, ranking and customer services.  Plus you get the option of additional training materials to ensure you succeed.

ADKs ecommerce website solution, dubbed as the ‘Economic Ecommerce’, includes a complete suite of ecommerce features from shopping basket to credit card payments, to complex products options to online accounts, invoicing, email newsletter, integrated full content management system and much more.

Richard, who runs a small bathroom and kitchen company, is one client who has benefited from ADKs ecommerce website solution. “Seeing how my son spends more time on Facebook and Youtube than on the TV, we have decided to place more focus on marketing our company and products on the Internet. I was so impressed with all the features and the ease of use. This means I spend less time working on the website and more time working on my business. Additionally, the products fit in well with my business needs and my budget.” he said, giving his stamp of approval.

To learn more about this exciting ecommerce website solution and to see the stunning 800+ web designs just visit www.adk.ltd.uk or take the direct link to: http://www.adk-ltd.co.uk/ecommerce-web-site-design-solutions.html