This is
A PRACTICE IN CONTEXT DOCUMENTATION BY HARRY FRICKER
CONTENTS INTRODUCTION
MY RESEARCH
THE CONTEXT
TINDERBOX RECORDS
SARAH R-K
SITKA SURFBOARDS
TIKI NORTH AMERICA
EVALUATION
DOCUMENTATION - INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION *Quote
In this documentation I will be reflecting on my PIC (Project in Context). The three projects I took on, and how the have been fulfilled, changed, worked and developed. Within the past 6 months I wanted to experience as much as possible, this is why I took on the three projects and not just one. They were taken on due to the high interest I had in each and I feel I have taken so much from each area‌
BLOG (click it)
DOCUMENTATION - MY RESEARCH
MY RESEARCH HOW I GOT THERE
Over the past two years of studying music I have luckily come to a point where I have started to mark the route on which I want to take in the future. Unfortunately it isn’t in performing or making music. Yet. But to be behind the scenes… In marketing, business and branding (design). From knowing this and having the opportunity of a PIC I immediately started planning and looking in to ways of building experience in areas of which I’m most interested with. Having 6 months to grasp as much as possible, I thought I would write to the one company that has inspired me greatly and I have been following for the past 5 years, ‘Sitka Surfboards’, based in Victoria/Vancouver Canada. Many people asked why a surfboard brand, that it isn’t relevant to the course or ‘the context’. But they were wrong.
From my knowledge I knew that ‘Sitka’ were also involved with a number of musicians. And also hosted a number of events, gigs etc around Vancouver and Vancouver Island. Also being such a well branded company I knew that being any part of it would teach me a great deal about marketing and branding internationally. Sitka replied to me not long after I had written asking for an interview and that my resume was looked upon with great interest and that an internship with the marketing director would be possible. Score. Now I had to work out how heading out to Canada would work…
But I knew that it was going to cost a great deal, and being an intern you don’t always earn a great wage, if any at all. So as soon as I knew Sitka was a definite I applied for my Canadian work visa. While I was waiting (8weeks) for my work visa I looked in to other companies in Canada that I could possibly also write too. Where I could pick up more experience in different areas of marketing… Which I would then be able to take back to my professional practice back home… At this time I was very interested in global marketing and how international companies were now using social media more then ever.
As I have spent a lot of time in Canada before, I was comfortable in spending a few months out there working.
‘Sitka is a collective of like-minded individuals; a lifestyle brand designed by the sea and woven by a common thread. At the centre of our collective consciousness is a reverence for our environment – both the natural and urban worlds that we have created for ourselves. Sitka is a product of these environments, in which we find ourselves so at home. We’re found wandering the peaks and valleys of the mountain passes; trekking the low lying coastal trails of the Jaun de Fuca; drifting through the swell of the Salish Sea; wandering the rainy city blocks of the urban commute; and, submersed in the warm lakes of the British Columbia summer. And, if you’ve found yourself in these places; places where the fog clings to the trees and the ocean breathes salty breath on your face, remind yourself that there is no bad weather where there’s good clothing. And, for that, Sitka has got you covered.’ – www.sitka.ca/who-we-are
DOCUMENTATION - MY RESEARCH/THE CONTEXT
I had heard that a 50 year old British International surf company ‘Tiki’ had just set up base in Alberta Canada. And being a different province to Sitka, I thought it would be good to move about and see more of Canada then just the west coast. Having known the company from the UK I visited the owners in Devon after a phone call and organised a meeting with the company directors in Canada. (I was fortunate to make a trip to Alberta, Canada in March 2012 and tied in the meeting with Tiki) I got the job. As another winter intern. Which would follow on from my work in British Columbia with Sitka. The third project I had in mind was to carry on a record label (Tinderbox Records) in which I had set up in my 2nd year. I wanted to prove to myself that I could work from anywhere in the world, if I had good communication and my laptop. So running the label from the other side of the world was my 3rd and final project. This would run along side the other two as I would have to keep on top of the label on a weekly basis.
THE CONTEXT WHY CANADA?
THE ROCKIES
Having visited Canada a number of times I have never stuck in one place. This was the time I had the chance to spend a great deal of time in any one place. To be able to experience living and working in a new culture. And being an intern gave me the chance to have no ties and to move on to the next place when in need. I have never been one to live and work in a big city, but I thought Vancouver would be somewhere to break me in gently. A very cultural city within minuets of the ocean and mountains. The move to Vancouver was a big step. Stepping in to the context I had so been waiting for. To live and work in an environment in which I will one day settle…
ON ROUTE TO VICTORIA
PHOTO SHOOT
VANCOUVER SKY LINE
RECREATION
VIEW FROM FLAT
DOCUMENTATION - TINDERBOX RECORDS
TINDERBOX RECORDS THE FIRST YEAR OF AN INDEPENDAN RECORD LABEL. FROM A DISTANCE
I started up Tinderbox Records back in April 2011 with Roger Throp (My uncle). TBR was to be a small independent label that would take on acts ranging from acoustic/ singer-songwriters to blues around the southwest. I wanted to help the current music scene, as being a singer-songwriter myself I found it hard at times and having the help from a small label would have been perfect. As I was due to head out to Canada at the end of August and I only had 3 months to promote and push TBR in the UK. The Plan – With three months left and a lot of other commitments, finding the time was hard. But I managed to plan two big live music events that TBR would host. During the early summer months we built a cliff side amphitheatre at the ‘Barefoot Kitchen’ (which I was currently manager and head chef of). The Amphitheatre was a perfect venue and would draw a lot of publicity to the café and also TBR. The two events – Lucy Rose ( ), Neil Halstead (Brushfire Records) Harry Fricker (Tinderbox Records) Tom Baxter (Sylvan Records) Sarah R-K (Tinderbox Records) and Ashinoysha (Unsigned)
The promoting took a strong hold of my time. Through social medias, magazines, radio, posters and word of mouth etc… I found that Facebook was the key, as Lucy Rose is currently becoming more and more popular as the weeks go by. Uploading videos and interviews of her made people more and more excited…To add to our load Lucy Rose’s management were extremely ruthless and unhelpful with the whole run up. No push at all. (Other then a tweet before they started their set) The Amphitheatre, Gunwalloe 6:30 August 16th, 2012 + support
DOCUMENTATION - TINDERBOX RECORDS
Tom Baxter on the other hand has had a lot of coverage over the years and has a great following. Along with a great manager and team behind him, that also helped us a great deal with the promotion on his side. The nights took a great deal of planning and ticket sales were essential. As TBR doesn’t have any financial backing and I didn’t want to loose out on too much money before I headed over seas. Unfortunately the British weather held up and we had to hold the first event in our other venue ‘The Barefoot Orangery’. This led to a sell out of tickets, which was great! (Although we had to cut the number sold to 200 from 350). For Tom Baxter we were lucky with a beautiful evening and had our opening night of the ‘Barefoot Amphitheatre’. The nights both were a success, even though we didn’t manage to cover costs both times. (Lucy Rose setting us back £1000 and Tom Baxter being £1500). The summer events built up our fan base a great deal and we had great feedback since, asking what next and when will our next release be…
LUCY ROSE - TINDERBOX RECORDS VIMEO - (CLICK)
DOCUMENTATION - TINDERBOX RECORDS
SARAH R-K SIGNING AND RELEASING A RECORD
Tinderbox Records took on Sarah back in June, where we planned to release her debut EP and release her on to the UK and hopefully the world! A Summer release was on the books and once it was ready a 6 month contract was to be signed.
I feel I learnt a great deal by running the label alone on the other side of the world. Having to deal with the problems and hold ups on my own. Using time management to an extreme, being 7 to 8 hours behind the UK time.
December, 6 months later and TBR finally has the tracks from Sarah and the EP is planned to be released in the new year. This was a great hold back, which led me to spend a great deal of my free time in Canada focusing on the release. This was difficult. I was working between Sitka, Tiki and a part time job. I was under a lot of stress. And I needed a lot more time and help, as I was running this alone from the other side of the world. Money. I had the funds in the summer months to release the record for Sarah R-K, but as the time was held up and moving to Canada cost a lot more then I had wanted it to, the money quickly disappeared…
I managed to release the EP for online download in mid December hoping that with the Christmas rush it would encourage more downloads. I had managed to get the EP on Itunes, Spotifiy, Last FM, Band Camp, Amazon and a few other sites.
I really wanted to use my time in Canada to build a reputation for TBR, but due to the time I had and other commitments I never managed to get this done. This was quite a disappointment for me, and one day maybe I’ll get the chance to push it out here…
The next step before the release of the hard copy EP is to book up a tour for Febuary. I belive it will run alot smoother around this time as i will be back in the UK, and able to spend more time on the label. Which I am looking forward too.
CD Art Work Illustrations - Victoria Sheild Design/packaging - Myself
DOCUMENTATION - TINDERBOX RECORDS
BIO PAGE FROM SARAH R-K PRESS PACK
BROUGHT UP IN MANCHESTER BY TWO MUSICAL PARENTS, SARAH’S LOVE OF MUSIC STARTED AT AN EARLY AGE. JONI MITCHELL, CROSBY, STILLS AND NASH WERE ALL PART OF HER UPBRINGING IN THE R-K HOUSEHOLD. PIANO AND CELLO BEING HER FIRST INSTRUMENTS SHE WAS LEARNING WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A MUSICIAN FROM A YOUNG AGE. GROWING UP IN SUCH A VIBRANT AND CULTURED CITY SARAH KNEW WHAT PATH SHE WANTED TO TAKE - TO WRITE AND PERFORM MUSIC. MOVING TO THE RENOWNED ARTS-FOCUSED DARTINGTON COLLEGE OF ARTS IN DEVON AT 18, SARAH FINALLY HAD THE CHANCE TO PERUSE HER LOVE FOR WRITING AND PERFORMING, COLLABORATING WITH NEW MUSICIANS AND EXPERIENCING WHAT THE SOUTHWEST OF THE UK HAD TO OFFER. THE JOURNEY REALLY STARTED WHEN HER STUDIES TOOK HER TO FALMOUTH, CORNWALL, WHERE SHE BEGAN PLAYING SOLO AS A SINGER-SONGWRITER. SARAH’S UNIQUE SOUND STARTED TO BLOSSOM AND GAIN RECOGNITION AS SHE PLAYED AT LIVE VENUES ALL AROUND THE SOUTHWEST AND BEYOND. NOW SPENDING HER TIME BETWEEN UK AND CANADA, SARAH IS SOON TO RELEASE HER DEBUT EP ‘TO MY FRIENDS’ UNDER THE ‘TINDERBOX RECORDS’LABEL. ENJOY.
DOCUMENTATION - SITKA SURFBOARDS
SITKA SURFBOARDS MOVING TO VANCOUVER, CANADA
I started at Sitka two days after had arrived in Vancouver, so I hadn’t really had the chance to explore and get used to my surroundings. I was thrown right in to the deep end and given a number of projects to get down. Now I know it may seem that interning with Sitka dose not connect with a music degree but I chose them for a reason and the direction I want to take in the future. Marketing, design and events. Choosing a well established company led me to see how it is run from all angels. And the way it has been changing in recent times. Sitka gave me the chance to travel to Vancouver Island a number of times, to attend music festivals (to scout bands for future Sitka events) along with research trips to help marketing ideas. I was extremely fortunate. And I loved the job. My job was to be the marketing directors 2nd hand, so I had a great deal of different roles and jobs. A list of things I was apart of during my time with Sitka - Festival work - Festival Planning - Fashion show marketing - Modeling - Design work - Event organising - Skateboard deck design - Blogging - Social media updates - Photoshopping Images
Outline of one project I was working at Sitka for just over two months in Kitsilano, Vancouver and the project that I feel stood out to me and took the majority of the time was, to organise and plan the ‘Sitka10yr Annivsary Halloween Party’. It was to vacate 500 people, including their staff, buisness contacts and limited spaces to public. I was given a budget of $10,000 which I only used half of. I was given the instructions to find a location in Victoria, Vancouver Island. This was the biggest struggle as I had only been to Victoria once, very breifly a few years ago, and I didnt know the music scene and its area. What I needed to get/do - Find Location - Canadian venue Licencing - Achole licence - Drink - Food - Decorations - Find Acts/DJ’s - Sound/Lighting - Stage (if needed) - Security - Tickets and print - Market it - Social Media - Poster and print - Pay people - Clean up - (Director helped with extras)
Having only 6 weeks to plan a big event in a location i have never been was tough. And i feel this could have been cover come, if I had been informed before I started at Sitka, so that I could put some research in. I managed to get in touch with a number of well known acts for the night. To my surprise I got Alt-J interested in playing and was in the process of booking with their managment, when I got told the owner of Sitka didnt like them.... (This was a big let down) In the end I got acts that had worked with Sitka in the past and were local to Vancouver and the Island. Humans, Topless Gay Love Techno Party and Bear Mountain. I was lucky to show off my design skills and design the poster and tickets for the event. (which you can see on the following page.
DOCUMENTATION - SITKA SURFBOARDS
10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
HUMANS TOP LESS gay love tekno party
bear mountain DJ set by JU-ICY 9pm/late venue tba bar service 19+ tickets $15
$20 cinderbloc studio Victoria 602 ESQUIMALT RD. STUDIO D | VICTORIA, BC CANADA V9A 3L4
10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
HUMANS
TOP LESS gay love tekno party
9pm/late
bar service
bear mountain 19+ tickets $20
SITKA VIBE MANUAL - THAT I DESIGNED (CLICK)
DOCUMENTATION - SITKA SURFBOARDS
FIG.1 - Sitka Reference - Given by Mel Greene, Marketing Director WWW.SITKA.CA
LIVING IN VANCOUVER This was the first time I have lived in a city in my 21 years and it was a big change. From small costal towns to a big costal city. I was ready for it, I was slightly worried, that I’d hate it, that I would run for the mountains as soon as I arrived. But I didnt. I arrived in +25° weather which stayed with me untill the day I left for Alberta. I spent my first two weeks living in a hostel in Downtown Vancouver (before I moved in to a flat), where I met a great deal of people, but unfortunatly (which I knew) people staying in hostels are usualy only there temporarily. So meeting there people was hard. Luckly all the staff at Sitka happened to all be on my level, interested in the same things, ideas, and welcomed me in to their family instantly. After over two months I was starting to struggle with the cost of living in Vancouver, as I was working on a very low interns wage, I couldnt experience the city and its surroundings with my empty pocket. I knew that this might happen, so I had planned my next move to Alberta to work for Tiki North America. I left Sitka on amazing terms and recived a great reference, with an open offer for returning after my degree with a full time job within the marketing and design team. I feel that I had came for what I wanted, an idea for my future. Now I need to choose ....
TIKI NORTH AMERICA MOVING ON TO ALBERTA, CANADA
WHY TIKI? TIKI is a 50year old interntional surf brand that is based in North Devon, UK. And they have just set base in Canada and North America. I have worked for Tiki before in their retail store in Braunton, North Devon. I had heard of Tiki’s new ventures to Canada, and got in contact. I knew that working for another big international comapny would build my experience in such an important way I couldnt turn it away if I got a possition. WORK I took on the job of marketing Tiki to Canada and North America through social medias such as Facebook and Twitter. Along with being a strong part of the design team for the new website and branding their new upcoming winter surf hardwear. To get to know the brand and its products in greater detail I joined co ownder Mike Krazetski on a research/sales trip of Western Canada. This lasted 10 days and visiting areas in which Tiki will beable to sell their gear. We visited - Vancouver, Victoria, Tofino, Niniamo, Nelson, Invermere, Calgary, Golden, Kelowna, Okenargon Lake and a few other locations in which I cannot recall. This gave me a great insight on the brand and its identity.
FIG.1 - Sitka Reference - Given by Mel Greene, Marketing Director
Mel Greene Marketing Director
1864 West 4th Ave. Vancouver BC V6J 1M3 p. 778-987-8483 e. mel@sitka.ca
October 17, 2012 To: Whom It May Concern,
Harry Fricker worked as my intern in the Marketing Department of Sitka from September 3rd – October 18th, 2012. During that time, Harry worked on a number of projects, and his skill set proved to be wellrounded. He was assigned a wide range of tasks, doing anything from updating and organizing spreadsheets to coming up with the concept for and producing print creative for an event. During his time with Sitka, Harry was charged with the responsibility of both communicating internally between various company departments, and communicating externally on behalf of the company. He communicated in a professional and friendly manner that was appropriate to the type of audience he was dealing with. Harry’s design work was impressive. He showed the ability to understand and portray the message that was to be delivered in a timely manner. He responded positively to feedback while also presenting valuable ideas of his own. During Harry’s internship, he was required to work unsupervised for extended periods of time. During these periods he always met his deadlines and performed just as he did while supervised. I trusted Harry to put the same care and attention into his work regardless of whether I was around to supervise him. I found Harry to be reliable, up to any task, self-motivated and generally pleasant to have around. I would be happy to hire Harry back. Should you require any more information or have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me. Sincerely,
Mel Greene
FIG.2 - Heads of Agreement - Tinderbox Records & Sarah R-K
Heads of Agreement – Tinderbox Records Sarah R-‐K – Oct 10th 2012
Length of Agreement – 6 months (then to re assess)
Agreements between Tinderbox Records and Sarah R-‐K
For TBR to carry out the agreement Sarah R-‐K must provide to: -‐ -‐ -‐ -‐
Original music mixed and mastered ready for duplication & print Dates that you are unavailable ie. Vacation, house move etc… Information for bio and contact.
-‐ -‐
Promote Sarah R-‐K through public/social media Release EP as a hard copy and for sale online. (Through Itunes, bandcamp etc..) Release music video to help promote EP 4 weeks of promo before hard copy release. Book tour for UK (possibly Canada if location change) Build press pack for 2012/2013 Be the point of contact for gig bookings Sell EP/merchandise on TBR web page Make/design website for Sarah R-‐K Design Logo/branding Tinderbox Records will have exclusive rights to the tracks released for 6 months once EP is released.
On agreement Tinderbox Records will to their best endeavours: -‐ -‐ -‐ -‐ -‐ -‐ -‐ -‐ -‐
-‐
Live Performance – Cost will be agreed between TBR and venue/promoter
Sarah R-‐K will take 100% of live performance costs. (Session musicians will be paid by Sarah R-‐K and not Tinderbox Records)
Sales – EP will be sold at: -‐ -‐
Hard Copy -‐ £5 Online Download -‐ £4 (depending on upload cost)
Tinderbox Records will take 20% of hard copy CDs sold (£1 per CD) from the point at which production costs have been recouped by Sarah R-K.