So, the #digitalgokarting 2 event happened last night. At a different track, and with a different race format… which lead to, uh, mixed results. Still, fun was had by all, even those of us who crashed! There was a nice mix of new faces and people who came to the first #digitalgokarting over at 3 Sisters. This time we were racing at Daytona in Manchester, on their 450 meter track, and we were racing in a Grand Prix format instead of a team endurance.

14 people raced in all, with best lap times in the 28 – 33 second range. Best lap time goes to Rob Hayward, who came second over all, losing out to Alan Williams (A full results table will be live soon). So congrats to those two! But, you know, it’s the taking part that counts… (we would say that; our best position was 5^th!)

We’ll get stuck into organising the next #digitalgokarting soon. We’ve taken on board peoples’ comments about both races so far, and will be scouting out a new track and having a bit of a think about race formats and so on. Keep on talking to us about it; there’s a lot of chat on Twitter, just look for #digitalgokarting. We’ll keep you posted about the next race… hopefully this time we’ll manage to rig it properly so we win!

Everybody will get:

* 5 minute practice
* 3 x 7 minute heat races
* 12 minute grand final

It will be great to see everyone down there and as Daytona is indoor we don’t have to worry about Manchester’s winter weather getting in our way.

Event Details:

* Time - 19:30

* Date - 18/11/10

* Location - Daytona Manchester (Google map)

To book you place on the grid complete the form below.

There’ll also be a light training session to provide a taste of the Mozzies’ usual training regime. People who have previously played the game are more than welcome; anyone who wants to get involved is invited. It’ll be held at Burnage Rugby Club. Start time is 11am and it’ll be running until 1pm.

It promises to be a fun day, and you’re pretty much guaranteed to learn something, even if it’s just that the Aussie Rules scoring system is a little bit more complex than most games that involve kicking a ball! All the times we’ve been down to Burnage Rugby Club to watch the Mozzies play we’ve had a whale of a time, so expect fun, as well as a good work-out.

The Burnage Rugby Club bar will be open once the training session has finished, so there’ll be a chance to relax and chat with the team. Remember to congratulate them on their recent championship win!

Race-day is going to be Thursday the 12^th of August. We’ve set up an eventbrite page for it, but the order form is at the bottom of this blog as well (because we know what a lazy lot you are). The race will be taking place at Three Sisters in Wigan; check out their website – looks pretty good, doesn’t it?

As well as a chance to zip about in a 70mph twin-160cc-engine Go-Kart, it’ll also be a good opportunity to catch up with some other marketing and design types. We’ve already had confirmations from people from a number of other agencies around here, so you’ll be in good company.

Fancy it? You know you do. We’ll do a follow-up blog afterwards – with pictures, if someone remembers a camera – so the winners will get the recognition they deserve. And we’re talking about it on Twitter, as you’d imagine. All the tweets are being tagged #digitalgokarting. Have a look, join the chat on Twitter, and come down for a race.

We’re really excited about it, and not just because it promises to be a bit of a party. The 2010 Big Chip awards are the first awards that we’ve ever entered, and to make it on to the shortlist is pretty good going. At Moo we’ve just begun a very exciting stage in our growth as a company, and we’re looking at our shortlisting for Big Chip 2010 as a sign that we’re heading in the right direction.

There’s already a lot of chat happening on Twitter about the Big Chips; people are using the tag #BigChip2010. It’s more than likely that the tweeting is going to go on all night, so have a look if you want to find out the results as they’re announced, or read tipsy nonsense as the night progresses.

We’ll post another blog tomorrow to let you know what happened – fingers crossed! – but until then we’ve got some work to do. Good luck again to everyone else who made the shortlist. We’ll see you at the Palace.

We spent a lot of time with the Fudge gang, mostly discussing robots, occasionally touching on the morals of training a monkey to clean your flat, and once or twice actually talking about work. It was also grand to get a chance to talk to Jake Smith. A director at JP74, he was doing a good job of convincing our very own Duncan Green to have a bash at some skateboarding. Sounds like trouble.

As with all events of this nature, the variety of the people who attended was an excellent reminder of how diverse and vibrant the online creative / marketing industry is, especially around Manchester. Schedule permitting we’ll be at the next Northern Digitals meet, and should be attending a few more of the Future Everything events as well.  Come and say Hi to us if you happen to be at any of the same events; keep an eye on our twitter (@moomarketing) to see what we’ll be attending and when.

The Mozzies also played a social game against Wolverhampton Wolves. And a very social day it was for all involved; there was a good turn-out, and everyone enjoyed Burnage Rugby Club’s excellent facilities. For the players and those of us who weren’t running around like lunatics on the pitch, there was a BBQ and a post-match Raffle to enjoy. Oh, and a well stocked bar…

Aussie rules is an excellent spectator sport, and the Mozzies made us very welcome. We’re hoping that their winning streak carries on, and we’re definitely looking forward to their next match.

The Mosquitoes’ next home game is on the 12^th of June – two days after the Big Chip awards – and we’d like to extend an invitation to anyone who fancies watching some full contact sport and having a (hopefully not full contact) chat. For those who’ll be attending the Big Chip awards, there should be enough time to recover between events.

We’ll be posting blogs and tweeting (tweets will be tagged #ManchesterMozzies) with more information about the next Manchester Mosquitoes game closer to the date. Until then, another big congratulations to the Mozzies, and a big thank-you to everyone who was there on the day.

The Big Chip awards have been recognising the best of the digital industry in the North-West for over a decade, and received a record amount of entries this year. We’re shortlisted in the “Best Freelancer/ Micro Enterprise” category, one of the 15 categories shortlisted by Big Chip’s expert judging panel and announced today on the Big Chip 2010 website.

The Big Chip awards are always competitive and always focussed on recognising and rewarding the best of the best in our industry. That’s why they’re such prestigious awards, and why we’re so happy to have been shortlisted. Although it does mean that we’re up against some pretty stiff competition…

PS: Congratulations to all of the other agencies and freelancers who made the shortlist. Feels pretty good, doesn’t it?

Formed in 2005, the Mosquitoes represent the Greater Manchester area in the Australian Football League’s Central and North West division. Since then the Mosquitoes have gone from strength to strength, helping to set up AFLCNW and then establishing themselves as major players in the league.

Duncan Green, Director of Moo Marketing, is excited about getting involved with a community sports team. “The Manchester Mosquitoes are an excellent team, and Aussie Rules Football is becoming increasingly popular. Aussie Rules Football is a fun, competitive sport, and the Mosquitoes are a fun, competitive team; we’re exactly the same at Moo Marketing. We’re delighted to be sponsoring a team in our local area.”

Matt Shelton, the Manchester Mosquitoes’ Coach, had this to say about the sponsorship deal: “I’m delighted to be associated with Moo Marketing for 2010. Since our club started we have been gradually building a brand in the Manchester area, offering an exciting and fast-paced alternative to other sports. Their support will enable us to optimise training facilities and equipment, fundamental components in helping us achieve our goal of winning the division championship in 2010.”

This sponsorship deal, and the financial security it brings, is a great start to the team’s season. The first AFLCNW fixture is on the 8^th of May, at the Manchester Mosquitoes’ home ground, Burnage Rugby Football Club.

The Moo Marketing sponsor Manchester Mosquitoes press release is also available in PDF.