We held a briefing with Steve Hawkes, Business Editor at The Sun on Friday 11 May, kindly hosted by The Institution of Engineering and Techhnology (IET).

Steve joined The Sun in 2008 as Business Editor having previously worked at The Times, Daily Mirror, Evening Standard and Press Association.
Steve edits Sun City and also writes business stories for the rest of the paper.

We heard from Steve about how he likes to work with PRs and the kinds of stories he’s looking to write for the paper.

>>Watch The Sun webcast, filmed by Visual Media

On Tuesday 01 May we held a briefing in Edinburgh with John Boothman, Head of News and Current Affairs and Douglas Fraser, Business and Economy Editor, BBC Scotland

We were delighted welcome John and Douglas who provided PRs with their tops tips for working with Scotland’s leading broadcaster.

>>Watch the BBC Scotland webcast, filmed by Visual Media

On Friday 27 April we held a briefing with The Mail on Sunday Live magazine

We were joined by deputy editor Andrew Davies and technology writer Phil Harman.

Live is packed with information and recommendations for the male consumer on all he needs to know about the latest technology, cars, style, leisure activities, food, drink and entertainment. The magazine includes celebrity interviews with some of the biggest names in the world from Prime Ministers to Bill Gates and Angelina Jolie to Frank Lampard.

We heard from Andrew and Phil about how they like to work with PRs and what content will make it into the mag.

>>Watch The Mail on Sunday Live magazine webcast, filmed by Visual Media

On Tuesday 24 April we held a healthcare briefing with Martin Barrow, Health Editor at The Times.

Martin has had a varied career during his 22 years with The Times but in November 2011 became its Health Editor. Since starting in the role he has written on a wide range of health issues including cuts to social care, NHS regulation, private healthcare, PIP implants, elderly care, organ donation, dementia, HIV, the ‘flu jab and the MMR scandal.

Martin has an overriding interest in the poor delivery of care to the most vulnerable, particularly those with learning disabilities or mental health issues.

At the event, Martin talked about the kinds of health stories he covers, his extensive career at The Times and the best ways for PRs to work with him.

>>Watch The Times healthcare webcast, filmed by Visual Media

On Tuesday 17 April we held a briefing with The Times, kindly hosted by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP.

We were delighted to be joined by Business and City Editor, Ian King, one of the UK’s leading business journalists. Previously City Editor at The Sun, Ian joined The Times in 2008 and became Business and City Editor in January 2011. His daily commentary provides a valuable guide to the credit crisis, for both business readers and non-business specialists alike, while an unparalleled team of specialist correspondents offers expert analysis on key sectors.

Ian discussed the latest key economic and business issues, explained how the award-winning Times business pages are put together and talked us through the kind of content he is looking for.

>>Watch The Times business webcast, filmed by Visual Media

Kindly hosted by

On Friday 13 April we held a briefing with the Evening Standard, kindly hosted by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

We welcomed James Ashton, Head of Business at the Evening Standard, Independent, Independent on Sunday and i. James joined the Evening Standard as City Editor last October and was appointed Head of Business across the group in November.

The Evening Standard now has 1.6m readers – more than most other national newspapers – and remains an agenda-setting source of business news and commentary.

James discussed the success of the Evening Standard going free, how he and his team have integrated business coverage across four newspapers and the best times for PRs to get in touch with the stories he would like to receive.

>>Watch the Evening Standard webcast, filmed by Visual Media

Kindly hosted by

On Wednesday 4 April Gorkana were joined by representatives fromLOCOG, Cadbury, Telegraph Media Group, WeberShandwick SportandBrandwatch who shared their plans around the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics from a number of unique perspectives.

It was great to hear from a group of the leading media professionals shaping and analysing the Games’ communications and to understand how to maximise PR opportunities around a major event.

We were joined by the following panellists:
Andrew Ager, Deputy Head,Weber Shandwick Sport
Joanna Manning-Cooper, Head of PR/Media LOCOG
David Oliver, Corporate Affairs Director UK&I, Kraft Foods
Jacquelin Magnay, Olympics Editor, Telegraph Media Group
Naomi Trickey, EMEA Sales Director,Brandwatch.

>>Watch the London 2012: The Comms Countdown webcast, filmed by Visual Media

On Friday 30 March we held a briefing with Easy Living.

Easy Living has recently undergone its first major redesign in seven years and relaunched in February under new Editor Deborah Joseph.

The new edition features a broader range of solutions for every aspect of modern living in seven sections – Women, Myself, Fashion, Beauty, Health, Food, Homes & Travel.

Editor Deborah Joseph discussed the new-look magazine as well as how she and her team work with PRs. Deborah was joined by Editor of easyliving.co.uk Natasha McNamara, Beauty Director Alice Du Parcq and Executive Fashion Editor Francesca Zedda.

>>Watch the Easy Living webcast, filmed by Visual Media

On Tuesday 27 March we held an evening with the GLAMOUR Style Tribe.

The GLAMOUR Style Tribe is a group of the UK’s top fashion and style bloggers that have been brought together to blog exclusively for GLAMOUR.com. They are a must ‘follow’ for anyone with an interest in fashion, beauty and lifestyle; and add a new and exciting dimension to GLAMOUR.com’s editorial.

This event provided a unique opportunity to meet Bangs & A Bun, Disneyrollergirl, Fashion Foie Gras, and The Very Simon G in person to talk about what provides their inspiration and how PRs may be able work with them.

We were also joined by Executive Editor Natasha McNamara, Deputy Editor Charlotte Duck and Fashion & Style Editor Leisa Barnett from the GLAMOUR.com team who will share with us how the Style Tribe fit into the ‘GLAMOUR family’.

>>Watch the GLAMOUR Style Tribe webcast, filmed by Visual Media

On Friday 23 March we held a briefing with Declan Curry, kindly hosted by SJ Berwin.

Declan Curry presents the weekly programmes ‘On The Money’ on BBC Radio 5 Live, and ‘Show Me The Money’ on BBC News and is one of the best known business presenters on the BBC.

Declan’s extensive experience at the BBC includes presenting Working Lunch, Breakfast Business News and News 24 after its launch in 1997. We heard from Declan about his wealth of experience interviewing chief executives and covering business stories, the shows he’s currently working on and the kinds of guests he’s keen to welcome in the future.

Kindly hosted by

>>Watch the Declan Curry webcast, filmed by Visual Media