Getting Ink Requests

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Share your childcare experiences

Hello,

I am wiriting a guide on finding good childcare and would like to add some quotes from parents who have had good and bad experiences of using:

Nurseries
Childminders
Nannies
Babysitters

If you would like to contribute (please!!), please explain what the problem was, and how it was resolved (if at all) and any advice you would like to give to parents in the same position/what you think you could have done differently in hindsight.

Thanks!!

Jocellyn Akuffo 

Doulas wanted!

Jane Yettram is looking for a mother who hired a doula during the birth of her child, to talk about the experience and whether she'd recommend her doula to other mothers. This is for a parenting magazine. If you can help please email Jane directly.

Are you returning to an old job?

I am looking for people who left jobs in the corporate sector or public sector with steady career paths to pursue something a bit different e.g. alternative therapies, setting up as a freelancer, pursuing a quirky career dream, but are now returning to their previous work sphere due to financial pressures (credit crunch, house prices, cost of living in general etc).

Also looking for a careers advisor to talk about CVs for returners, and give tips.

Please email by Monday lunch time if you can help!

Anna McGlynn

Did you buy a franchise?

Tina Walsh is looking for examples of men and women who have recently bought a franchise.

If you can help, please email Tina.

Were you a best woman?

Tina Walsh is looking for examples of women who were 'best men' at a wedding for a friend or relative. This is for a potential feature in a women's glossy supplement.

If you have any leads, please email Tina.

Are you a new Dad or parenting expert?

Kara is looking for new Dads who would be willing to take part in a major new TV series about Dads and their experiences of their partner's pregnancy, the birth, bringing baby home and caring for children from 0-4.

This is a very relaxed documentary styled film, interviewing groups of dads talking about numerous different topics - cravings, birth, diaper changing (the smells), miscarriage, IVF, home/alt births, twins, special needs kids, post natal depression etc. We also slot in a number of influential experts to talk about common challenges and how to manage/overcome them.

Participants won't be paid, but there's free lunch and beer and filming will take place around the UK in the coming weeks. 

The TV company is also looking for childcare experts to comment on the issues faced by the Dads. For example, GPs and midwives (especially male), doulas, parental educators, sleep experts and general family experts to be part of the project. Previous media experience is preferred but not essential - and organisations/charities will be given credit.

Please get in touch via Getting Ink in the first instance. 

Yesterday's posts

Apologies for the email subscribers who received only partial posts from yesterday's Getting Ink. Technical snafu, and should all be back to normal - but thanks to those who got in touch to let me know!

Sally

Workforce issues in the North West

I'm writing a series of features for Crain's Manchester Business covering workforce issues (anything from training to recruitment to dress codes). If you have any interesting stories/ideas/leads etc about companies in the Manchester/Stockport/Macclesfield/Wilmslow area please email me by May 30. Many thanks.

Edwin

Getting users to use new software

I'm writing an article for an IT magazine looking at how managers can persuade staff to use clever new bits of software.

For example, if you move from XP to Vista, how do you persuade people to take advantage of the new software? If you're introducing a new BI tool, how do you persuade people to abandon the spreadsheets they've been using for years?

We're looking for case studies of UK companies where we can talk to an IT manager about the techniques they used when deploying new software. We're also interested in expert comment from analysts and consultants, as well as good resources for our readers.

Please email if you can help.

Thanks

Sally Whittle

Life Settlements

'LIFE SETTLEMENTS INVESTING' IN SOUTH AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN.

I'm doing this story for an international business journal. I'll be happy to give the name, details and a PDF copy to PRs interested in working with me.

"Life Settlements" investing is simply buying life insurance policies from the people who originally bought them. Trust me, it makes big economic sense, once you grasp the mechanics of how life insurance policies work.

In the UK, this type of investing is more commonly called investing in "TRADED LIFE POLICIES" (TLPs).

I'm looking for information, quotes, research and opinions of life settlements investing that is in any connected with South America, Central America or the Caribbean.

Things are happening fast in the life settlements sector. Barings recently put shares of the EEA Life Settlements Fund (domiciled in Guernsey, managed in London), into several of its portfolios.

A bank on the Isle of Man (a/k/a "Isle of Sam") is marketing shares of an Australian life settlements fund to its clients worldwide. These things are popping up all over the place.

My deadline is Friday, 23rd May 2008, at 18:00 GMT (6:00 PM London time).

Reg Crowder

True life stories needed

I'm on the lookout for inspiring  true life stories - please let me know if you have anything suitable.

Jane Gallagher

Were you made redundant?

I'm looking for women aged between 19-32 who were made redundant but it turned out to be the best thing that happened to them.

Maybe they got a new job where they found the love of their life or maybe they decided to go travelling and found their true passion out there. Perhaps they set up a brilliant new business or did they decide to write a book that's now been published.

Whatever the story, I'd love to hear it. The feature includes phone interview and photoshoot and we can offer a credit and fee for the case study.

Please email me any stories and a snapshot

Thanks

Jo Adnitt
 

Logrono/Barcelona

Norman Miller is interested in any information on Logrono (the capital of the Rioja region in Spain) and/or novel travel or food/drink angles on Barcelona.

If you can help, please email Norman.

Over 60s and the Internet

·    Do you use the internet to keep in touch with someone special?
·    Do you know anyone over the age of 60 who has met someone special through the internet?
·    Have they rekindled an old flame online or kept in touch with a new love via email?

If so, we want to hear from you!

We’re looking for over 60s who have an online love story to tell for a PR campaign on behalf of a commercial business. We‘d like to find people who will be prepared to take part in photography on Wednesday 21st May and talk to their local media. As a thank you, those who take part will receive a meal for two for themselves and a guest.

If you know anyone with an interesting tale to tell about an online romance who might like to get involved, please email a brief note to Gemma by Thursday 15th May.

Life changing stories for R4

Hello all

I'm producing a series for radio 4 about life changing decisions and wondered if anyone had any good case studies they wanted to suggest to me?...they can be stories already published elsewhere, as long as they've not been aired at length on radio 4 and similar.

The kinds of stories weve covered in the past include the American soldier who handed over the Abu Ghraib photos, a woman who helped her husband commit suicide, a former paramilitary murderer who became a peace campaigner.

Although we do interview politicians and writers etc, its the " ordinary" individuals stories which are often most powerful.

They must have a great story to tell and be articulate...a tall order of course!

I look forward to hearing from you - many thanks in anticipation!

Dawn

Teenagers and maths

Jan Murray is looking for teenage girls (ideally) to talk about maths and their perceptions of maths/maths teacher etc. This would involve a quick 5 minute phone call and is for the Guardian.

Please email Jan directly if you can help out.

Thanks!

Know any students?

Guardian freelancer Jan Murray is looking for students who have stayed on campus and are still available for a quick phone interview - ideally, she's looking for a group of FOUR or more students, in second year (or later) and sharing halls or house.

Email Jan if you can help - it's pretty urgent.

Virtualisation and the mainframe

Hi All,

Virtualisation means that companies can now have one large mainframe running dozens of virtual machines, reducing hardware costs, energy consumption and administration. But what is the role of the mainframe in a virtual world? Have we overcome the traditional limitations of the technology? This feature could look at the importance of rationalisation ahead of virtualisation, and how to ensure mainframes don't simply become "glorified filing cabinets" as they used to be known.

Email if you can help

thanks

Sally Whittle

Multi-core processors

Hi All,

Paying £10,000 for licenses on a £100,000 server makes sense – but when the hardware costs fall by 50%, why don't the licenses? With high-end core processors, dual processors and multi-core processors, how are vendors' pricing strategies adjusting to the new marketplace? This feature looks at the new licensing models, and how to work out whether a proposed deal offers good value for money – does performance match pricing?

If you can help, email me

Thanks

Sally Whittle

Endemol seeks twins for Virgin 1

We are looking for identical sets of twins to take part in a 1 hr Documentary for Virgin 1. 

We want to talk to twins about how being a twin affects their relationships with the opposite sex, why men are wowed by twins, what the science is behind the fantasy of twins and how twins feel about the attention they receive. We want to talk to lots of fabulous twins about their relationships and experiences with the opposite sex.  Any ages between 18-40 please get in touch with by email  stating your name, age, contact number and preferably a picture of yourselves.

Please get in touch with us asap

Mira Parmar
Tel: 020 8222 4015

Buying property abroad

Hi,

I’m writing a feature for a weekly women’s magazine about buying abroad and I’m trying to find a woman (or couple) who found it all a nightmare, perhaps because, looking back, they didn’t do their research properly, or they didn’t fully understand the local system.

I’m ideally looking for someone under 45 to fit in with the magazine’s readership. If you take part, I’ll need to chat to you on the phone at a time convenient to you, and I’ll also ask for a photo of you outside the apartment in question. You will receive a payment for taking part. Please email if you’re interested. Many thanks

Judy Yorke