August 26, 2022

Catch up with CC

Featured image for “Catch up with CC”

Catch up with CC

Conscious Communications team photo 2022

From new team members to new clients, and even a royal visit, the Conscious Communications’ (CC) HQ has been a hub of activity. Read some of the latest updates from the team below. 

Sophie Baillie, PR & Marketing Director, Head of Client Services:

A large focus of my year so far was developing Cambridgeshire County Day, the county’s largest Platinum Jubilee celebration, with over 6,000 people in attendance (including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridgeshire – so exciting!). It was a true honour to work alongside The Lieutenancy of Cambridgeshire to deliver this once in a live time event. We built an incredible event, alongside the Organising Committee, dedicating over 730 hours of pro-bono support to make it happen. I couldn’t be prouder of what we achieved. 

Alongside Cambridgeshire County Day, it has been brilliant to on-board a whole host of new clients, including Ashcroft, a Cambridge-based accountancy firm with a difference. I thrive on building new client relationships and I am looking forward to executing stand out media relations and video work for the firm to give them the competitive edge. 


Hanna Garrett, PR & Marketing Manager:

Recently, I have been working with one of our technology-focused clients, Health Tech Enterprise (HTE), which helps innovators develop medical technology that will solve current and future healthcare challenges. It is exciting to be supporting the organisation to reach its priority audiences through both owned and earned channels. 

From live-Tweeting its Diabetes Care event, to developing case studies and thought leadership features that demonstrate the HTE team’s expertise, the company’s reach has never been wider. I am proud to play in role in helping the company to turn today’s technology into tomorrow’s healthcare solutions!   


Elle Roberts-Nissen, Head of Events:

Following the launch of CC Events in February, the team has been busy organising various events; from a biodiversity and sustainable themed art exhibition for our client, Socius, to a number of large conferences and networking events to bring industry experts together within the community. It’s been an exciting first six months for the new division at the agency. We’ve even got branded t-shirts for when we are onsite at all these wonderful events! Keep an eye out for the team in black and green. 

We pride ourselves on making every event bespoke to the each brief and are to elevate events and bring clients ideas to life. Keep your eyes peeled on our social media channels to find out more!


George Reader, PR & Marketing Assistant

My internship highlight? In my few months working at CC, I’ve already had some great times with the team, but without a doubt my biggest highlight has to be celebrating the company’s 10-year anniversary. Celebrating such a big company milestone in only your third week of the job can be quite a daunting experience (especially when you’re dressed up in 1920’s fancy dress)! But it wasn’t! From start to finish it was such a fun experience. Between the bottles of prosecco, all of the food and the rounds of murder mystery it was a fantastic chance to get to know everyone outside the office. A great night of talking, eating, drinking and dancing made Friday’s sore head so worth it!


Alison Taylor, Managing Director:

There’s nothing more exciting than developing a new proposition for a client.  From the research and insight gathering, through to finessing the final proposition, and rolling out the internal and external communications, the process is always intellectually stimulating and fulfilling for everyone involved.  This year, the CC team is privileged to be working with a number of prestigious academic and scientific organisations to define their propositions and re-position them for a successful and sustainable future.  Like the crisis and issues work that we do, these projects are highly confidential.


Rick Newman, PR & Marketing Executive:

I am so happy to be a part of the team at CC. From my first day in July, the friendly and welcoming team have made me feel valued and supported, and I have improved significantly as a writer in the past 30 days. CC works with a diverse range of clients, but what I think makes the team extra special is their ethics and principles, and their unwillingness to work with clients if they don’t fit within that framework. Now that I am a part of the team, I am able to reflect at the end of the workday, calm in the knowledge that the work that I do is making a positive impact on the world. The team couldn’t be any more supportive, the clients are all so interesting, and I couldn’t hope to be a part of a better company. I’m excited to continue to learn from and work alongside the team.


Joanna Colley, Senior PR & Marketing Manager:

It’s been great working with Cambridge University Press & Assessment on its latest virtual event for international ELT educators – Cambridge Live. We’ve been helping to secure inspirational speakers who can inform and engage educators on a wide range of topics – the line-up includes English naturalist, Chris Packham, marathon-superstar Paula Radcliffe, champion skateboarder, Alana Smith, and many more!  


Gemma Cooper, PR & Marketing Executive:

I have had the pleasure of helping to secure features and news coverage for the innovative award-winning start up from Cambridge, iKVA. I have to admit that I never expected by now to be so versed in the language of tech, employing words such as Artificial Learning, Deeptech and Unicorns (yes, that’s a real technical term in the start-up world!). From engineering, mining to business audiences, we are ever evolving our PR strategy to meet the client’s needs to deliver as much relevant coverage as possible and I’m really excited to see what the rest of this year holds as we begin to promote upcoming product launches!


Ali White, PR & Marketing Director:

It has been a busy few months for our incredible client, RMI, a bespoke solutions partner that supports operations in complex environments and manages risk through medical, security, and technical staffing services. The opportunity to hear about the day-to-day courage and service of RMI’s personnel is truly inspirational; one day we are pitching the story of a life saved on-board a maritime vessel, the next we are looking at stories on international stability operations.  RMI’s mission is to protect the lives of workers and it generates truly powerful stories that we are honoured to help them capture and share.


Tom Evans, Senior PR & Marketing Executive:

I have been part of the CC team for one month – and it’s already been so insightful! I’ve loved taking a deep dive into the CC clients, who all have a positive impact on the world, and learning more about the digital tools available to us as PR practitioners. A lot of these tools are new to me, but I can already see how they help us get the very best results for our clients. Looking ahead to the coming months, I can’t wait to get stuck in with even more exciting projects and use my previous agency experience as a force for good – thanks CC!


Blessing Raimi, Junior Content Designer:

Rebranding the prospectus for Impington International College has been an enriching process, moving away from the design style used in previous years to appeal to prospective students; designing this in a dynamic yet compact way. To maximise the space, we utilised QR codes to enable the reader to seek more detailed information on relevant pages on the website. I’ve also been busy working on some video editing. To promote Cambridge Maths School, I recently edited together a video which featured student interviews about their experiences and the benefits of attending the school alongside information on the progression to university.


Samantha Cunningham, Junior PR & Marketing Executive:

We were proud to support Whirlpool UK in the creation and delivery of its Purposeful Innovation competition, where students, in Years 7 – 9, were tasked with re-designing a household appliance and making it more sustainable. The winners were each awarded an appliance of their choice, as well as one for their school and a local organisation of their choice, all alongside a tour of the Whirlpool factory. 

As part of the event I was involved in creating the TikTok dishwasher challenge; where students raced to load the most items correctly into the appliance. It was great to see the students getting so involved and being so enthusiastic! I am quickly learning that no event organised by CC is the same;  each requires a different approach, and I love seeing how each team member brings their own ideas and approach to make each event a success.


Alan Beeson, Head of Design:

At the centre of our good friend Cindy Forde’s fantastic multimedia education initiative, Planetari, is Makerzines. These contain lesson plans and activity packs containing projects for children like making an oyster bed and making mobile of a marine protected area; to assemble these involves paper folding. Paper folding was the idea behind the website’s main slider promotion for the new Planetari book, Bright New World, which we built and updated recently pro-bono, in support of the brilliant initiative. 

From new team members to new clients, and even a royal visit, the Conscious Communications’ (CC) HQ has been a hub of activity. Read some of the latest updates from the team below. 

Sophie Baillie, PR & Marketing Director, Head of Client Services:

A large focus of my year so far was developing Cambridgeshire County Day, the county’s largest Platinum Jubilee celebration, with over 6,000 people in attendance (including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridgeshire – so exciting!). It was a true honour to work alongside The Lieutenancy of Cambridgeshire to deliver this once in a live time event. We built an incredible event, alongside the Organising Committee, dedicating over 730 hours of pro-bono support to make it happen. I couldn’t be prouder of what we achieved. 

Alongside Cambridgeshire County Day, it has been brilliant to on-board a whole host of new clients, including Ashcroft, a Cambridge-based accountancy firm with a difference. I thrive on building new client relationships and I am looking forward to executing stand out media relations and video work for the firm to give them the competitive edge. 


Hanna Garrett, PR & Marketing Manager:

Recently, I have been working with one of our technology-focused clients, Health Tech Enterprise (HTE), which helps innovators develop medical technology that will solve current and future healthcare challenges. It is exciting to be supporting the organisation to reach its priority audiences through both owned and earned channels. 

From live-Tweeting its Diabetes Care event, to developing case studies and thought leadership features that demonstrate the HTE team’s expertise, the company’s reach has never been wider. I am proud to play in role in helping the company to turn today’s technology into tomorrow’s healthcare solutions!   


Elle Roberts-Nissen, Head of Events:

Following the launch of CC Events in February, the team has been busy organising various events; from a biodiversity and sustainable themed art exhibition for our client, Socius, to a number of large conferences and networking events to bring industry experts together within the community. It’s been an exciting first six months for the new division at the agency. We’ve even got branded t-shirts for when we are onsite at all these wonderful events! Keep an eye out for the team in black and green. 

We pride ourselves on making every event bespoke to the each brief and are to elevate events and bring clients ideas to life. Keep your eyes peeled on our social media channels to find out more!


George Reader, PR & Marketing Assistant

My internship highlight? In my few months working at CC, I’ve already had some great times with the team, but without a doubt my biggest highlight has to be celebrating the company’s 10-year anniversary. Celebrating such a big company milestone in only your third week of the job can be quite a daunting experience (especially when you’re dressed up in 1920’s fancy dress)! But it wasn’t! From start to finish it was such a fun experience. Between the bottles of prosecco, all of the food and the rounds of murder mystery it was a fantastic chance to get to know everyone outside the office. A great night of talking, eating, drinking and dancing made Friday’s sore head so worth it!


Alison Taylor, Managing Director:

There’s nothing more exciting than developing a new proposition for a client.  From the research and insight gathering, through to finessing the final proposition, and rolling out the internal and external communications, the process is always intellectually stimulating and fulfilling for everyone involved.  This year, the CC team is privileged to be working with a number of prestigious academic and scientific organisations to define their propositions and re-position them for a successful and sustainable future.  Like the crisis and issues work that we do, these projects are highly confidential.


Rick Newman, PR & Marketing Executive:

I am so happy to be a part of the team at CC. From my first day in July, the friendly and welcoming team have made me feel valued and supported, and I have improved significantly as a writer in the past 30 days. CC works with a diverse range of clients, but what I think makes the team extra special is their ethics and principles, and their unwillingness to work with clients if they don’t fit within that framework. Now that I am a part of the team, I am able to reflect at the end of the workday, calm in the knowledge that the work that I do is making a positive impact on the world. The team couldn’t be any more supportive, the clients are all so interesting, and I couldn’t hope to be a part of a better company. I’m excited to continue to learn from and work alongside the team.


Joanna Colley, Senior PR & Marketing Manager:

It’s been great working with Cambridge University Press & Assessment on its latest virtual event for international ELT educators – Cambridge Live. We’ve been helping to secure inspirational speakers who can inform and engage educators on a wide range of topics – the line-up includes English naturalist, Chris Packham, marathon-superstar Paula Radcliffe, champion skateboarder, Alana Smith, and many more!  


Gemma Cooper, PR & Marketing Executive:

I have had the pleasure of helping to secure features and news coverage for the innovative award-winning start up from Cambridge, iKVA. I have to admit that I never expected by now to be so versed in the language of tech, employing words such as Artificial Learning, Deeptech and Unicorns (yes, that’s a real technical term in the start-up world!). From engineering, mining to business audiences, we are ever evolving our PR strategy to meet the client’s needs to deliver as much relevant coverage as possible and I’m really excited to see what the rest of this year holds as we begin to promote upcoming product launches!


Ali White, PR & Marketing Director:

It has been a busy few months for our incredible client, RMI, a bespoke solutions partner that supports operations in complex environments and manages risk through medical, security, and technical staffing services. The opportunity to hear about the day-to-day courage and service of RMI’s personnel is truly inspirational; one day we are pitching the story of a life saved on-board a maritime vessel, the next we are looking at stories on international stability operations.  RMI’s mission is to protect the lives of workers and it generates truly powerful stories that we are honoured to help them capture and share.


Tom Evans, Senior PR & Marketing Executive:

I have been part of the CC team for one month – and it’s already been so insightful! I’ve loved taking a deep dive into the CC clients, who all have a positive impact on the world, and learning more about the digital tools available to us as PR practitioners. A lot of these tools are new to me, but I can already see how they help us get the very best results for our clients. Looking ahead to the coming months, I can’t wait to get stuck in with even more exciting projects and use my previous agency experience as a force for good – thanks CC!


Blessing Raimi, Junior Content Designer:

Rebranding the prospectus for Impington International College has been an enriching process, moving away from the design style used in previous years to appeal to prospective students; designing this in a dynamic yet compact way. To maximise the space, we utilised QR codes to enable the reader to seek more detailed information on relevant pages on the website. I’ve also been busy working on some video editing. To promote Cambridge Maths School, I recently edited together a video which featured student interviews about their experiences and the benefits of attending the school alongside information on the progression to university.


Samantha Cunningham, Junior PR & Marketing Executive:

We were proud to support Whirlpool UK in the creation and delivery of its Purposeful Innovation competition, where students, in Years 7 – 9, were tasked with re-designing a household appliance and making it more sustainable. The winners were each awarded an appliance of their choice, as well as one for their school and a local organisation of their choice, all alongside a tour of the Whirlpool factory. 

As part of the event I was involved in creating the TikTok dishwasher challenge; where students raced to load the most items correctly into the appliance. It was great to see the students getting so involved and being so enthusiastic! I am quickly learning that no event organised by CC is the same;  each requires a different approach, and I love seeing how each team member brings their own ideas and approach to make each event a success.


Alan Beeson, Head of Design:

At the centre of our good friend Cindy Forde’s fantastic multimedia education initiative, Planetari, is Makerzines. These contain lesson plans and activity packs containing projects for children like making an oyster bed and making mobile of a marine protected area; to assemble these involves paper folding. Paper folding was the idea behind the website’s main slider promotion for the new Planetari book, Bright New World, which we built and updated recently pro-bono, in support of the brilliant initiative. 

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