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“This Exeter festival has evolved into a quasi-movement to connect innovators and ideas people” – The Guardian

We would like to extend an invitation to friends and colleagues to join us at the next Like Minds flagship Festival in Exeter on 24 – 25 May, an event the Guardian has named as a Top 10 Global Ideas Festival – http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2012/feb/17/top-10-ideas-festivals .

Use our “preferred partner” coupon code, StudioDiva – which guarantees a 20% discount off the full ticket price (only £280 for the 2 days, or £150 for each single day).

Details for the event and to register are here: http://wearelikeminds.com/exeter2012

This year the theme of the festival is “Why What You Do Matters”, and with global headline speakers and facilitators from the worlds of business, science, PR, Social networks, the law, and education, focuses on the need for people and their organisations to take responsibility for building better and more sustainable businesses. For the entrepreneurs, SMEs and global brands that attend, the Like Minds experience will provide them with a valuable opportunity to meet their peers, discover, network, learn from each other and build for their future.

Please tweet about it using #LikeMinds as the hashtag or click on a Like on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/WeAreLikeMinds

“Like Minds is not the same-old same-old. You need to take time out of your schedule and be there.” – Chris Brogan, President, New Marketing Labs

Nine months of hard graft at Studio Diva finally came to a head last night with the midnight launch of Modern Warfare 3 – the eighth installation in the Call of Duty franchise.

The whole team attended the VIP launch party overlooking HMS Belfast – a thank you for everyone involved in producing, publishing and promoting the game within Activision, Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games and supporting agencies like ours. The event also attracted a host of press and celebrity guests.

While the evening was intended as a chance for teams to let their hair down and relax after working around the clock in the run up to the launch, nerves were running high in the Studio Diva camp as midnight approached and we waited for our bespoke MW3 branded countdown sequence and special effects video to broadcast at coordinated launch events across Europe, including Game on Oxford Street, where die hard fans had been queuing in the cold since Friday.

To take our mind off the ticking clock (literally) we watched the action unfold across numerous games consoles around the Billingsgate Market venue, as guests relished the chance to be some of the first to try out the highly anticipated MW3 game. Meanwhile – on the big screens celebrity gamers took the battle up against teams from other launch events in a massive European multiplayer.

After months of going above and beyond the call of duty (ahem!) on the pre-launch marketing campaign, which included everything from designing the 30m square event environment and giant circular gaming table at Birmingham’s Gamefest (the table has made a second appearance as the gaming station at the VIP event tonight) through to the retail point of sale collateral, both on and offline, across numerous european stores, some of us couldn’t resist featuring in our own gun slinging MW3 pack shot to mark the occasion. Sorry mum.

Getting into the fighting spirit, we were just contemplating the idea of a quick game of celebrity headlock, when it was time to race over to Game on Oxford Street for the final midnight countdown and grand store opening. Just as well – the boys from The Risk never stood a chance!

Our countdown video went off across Europe without a hitch. And so to bed and the first proper night’s sleep in a long time.

Tuesday morning, the game is flying off the shelves and Paddington seems quieter than usual for 8am. I wonder how many people will have called in sick this morning to stay home and play MW3…

If pre-order sales are anything to go by it could be as many as 6.5 million worldwide. As part of the European retail marketing team that’s a figure the Studio Diva team can be pretty proud of.

So what’s next for us? We have a quiet train journey home to the west country to mull over the past nine months of work. We all know it’s the quiet before the storm – a perfect moment of reflection and evaluation before we shake ourselves down and get ready to do it all again tomorrow.

Sounds like the perfect hang out for the scarily high number of individuals who make it their life’s work to contribute cruel and insensitive reposts to all manner of people and events.

Yes, ours is a world in which everybody gets to have their say, but while we cannot possibly hope to agree with everyone, there may just be a gap in the market – and a positive need – for an anti-social network.

There’s no denying that human nature has a dark underbelly, and that Anonymous’ Anon Plus will attract a great many users, many of whom will no doubt be angst ridden teenagers looking for an opportunity to flex their tech muscles and display a bit of age-old anti-establishment rebellion in an attempt to kick back against their parents.

But maybe the platform will provide some much needed catharsis for all those people who feel the need to lash out verbally in a process of self cleansing; the digital equivalent of kick-boxing perhaps?

Better still, the current social networks might just turn out to be all the more ‘social’ for it. Here’s hoping anyway – because as it stands – the idea of Anonymous’ anti-social network is leaving us feeling pretty (ahem) ‘nonplused’

Had the expedition not ended in the tragic death of a number of men, including Captain Scott himself, who perished from starvation and exposure trying to reach the South Pole, this image would no doubt have become one of the most iconic images of the time.

True, we are more than a little excited about the move to our new, more spacious Waterfront offices, (yeehah!) slap bang next door to the inspiring art space of the Arnolfini, but to mark the passing of an era (six years to be precise) amongst the leafy environs of one of Bristol’s most gracious Squares, we thought we’d topically ease the sorrow of our departure by a quick reminder of its place in history as the location of one of the five great riots of Bristol!

Yes – long before Tescos dared to open up a convenience store in the middle of Stokes Croft – sparking the Stokes Croft riots of – well, last month, actually, Bristol has on more than a couple of occasions earned itself a reputation as something of a whipper snapper when it comes to social disquiet! Here’s our quick run down of reasons not to make Bristol people angry:

2011 – Stokes Croft
The first Bristol riots of the digital age – so fresh you can still watch the footage on YouTube.

1992 – Hartcliffe
A rowdy affair between police and locals, lasting some three days and causing local damage. Sparked off after a police chase ended in the death of two local youths.

1980 – St Pauls
A riot so famous I actually studied it at University. Generally perceived to be caused as a result of a police raid on the infamous Black and White cafe, during a period of great racial tension and inner city deprivation across a number of cities throughout the UK.

1831 – Queen Square
This lovely early 18th century Square, once the most enviable residential address in the City of Bristol, became the focal point of a large and brutal riot, involving over 500 people, which saw much bloodshed, many deaths and large swathes of the Square looted and destroyed. The Square was only recently returned to its former glory thanks to Lottery funding.

1793 – Bristol Bridge
A skurmish caused by bridge tolls and unwelcome town planning (something we can all relate to).

So as not to end on the subject of burnt bridges, we bid Queen Square and all its friendly folk a sweet farewell. Now we’re off to the Arnolfini Cafe for what we’re sure will be the first of many many many many many many ‘quick’ coffees…