by Gemma McNeilis
Sun, sea and sand…ok so maybe we didn’t have the first two yesterday and spent a typical May Day bank holiday huddled in raincoats around vats of tea and coffee. But yesterday wasn’t a typical bank holiday. Yesterday was six months to the day until the Granada TV region switches to digital and that meant building a five ton sandcastle for our client, Digital UK, the national organisation responsible for the switchover from analogue to digital TV.
When we make the switch to digital on 4 November 2009, the Granada TV region will be the largest area in the country to go. It’s true that Wales, the West Country, Isle of Man and Cumbria will all have gone before then, but with almost seven million people no other area will have been as diverse or as populated.
With such a large geographical area to cover it is sometimes difficult to decide where to stage Digital UK events in the Granada TV region, but as it was a bank holiday we figured that Blackpool was the place to be. Sadly the weather wasn’t on our side, but we didn’t let that dampen our spirits and after the sand delivery (yes we had to ship in five ton of sand to a beach resort, because beach sand is too round for sculpting!) our excellent sculptor Ray Wirick got underway.
We were really fortunate to have been given the forecourt of the Sandcastle Waterpark and the staff team there were among some of the friendliest and helpful people I have come across, no mean feat for the leisure industry which isn’t always known for its customer service. The Digital UK team brought along friendly switchover robot, Digit Al, who proved a hit with the younger visitors and was our ticket into the balmy 84 degrees of the water park!
It took all day to complete but by the evening we had an amazing five ton sand sculpture of Digit Al pressing the switch on his TV. I hope you’ll agree with me that yesterday we did indeed create a sculpture for switchover!
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