It’s that time of year again, when the LEWIS team dust down their sleeping bags (not known necessarily for being big campers!) and start preparing for a night out under the stars with the great and the good from the IT industry. Obviously this isn’t just for fun, but as part of Byte Night, the annual IT industry sleep-out in support of children’s charity, NCH.
This year we’re more heavily involved than ever before as part of the Byte Night PR operation. Never before has an account team been so close to the cause they’re promoting – to reward their efforts, they’ll be sleeping homeless for a night. Now that’s what I call practising what you preach.
Actually – it’s probably one of the most motivating campaigns you could work on and, over time, our involvement in this initiative has grown, from Cognos’ marketing director building our attendance into the campaign’s KPIs, to being part of the board and driving the PR effort. The event itself, the people involved and the contribution to combating youth homelessness makes it humbling, inspirational and an absolute must for anyone in IT. This isn’t exclusive to either the IT elite or the lowly – AKA PR people – a sleeping bag, portaloo and not a wink of sleep are great levellers.
Byte Night takes place on September 22, 2006 at Victoria Tower Gardens, Westminster. For more info visit www.bytenight.org.uk.