Leith is who we are.
Leith is where we are.
The Leith Agency's weblog.

see me are launching their photo competition today. It’s already been covered in the Scotsman and the Herald and the above has been chosen as the Big Picture on the BBC News Online. And that’s without all of the regional press coverage that is bound to be forthcoming.

Hats off to Stripe, to Mandi and Kirsten for being so photogenic and to Fiona’s hand, without which none of it would have been possible…

And if you’re so inclined and would like to enter, (handsome looking) details (courtesy of Mike and Fletch) can be found here.

Last year we produced our eco bag and sold it around Leith but what would this year’s Leithal product be?

At our barge drinks on Friday we held a dragon’s den style pitch where 8 Leithers presented their ideas to our very own Mariapia along with fellow judges Billy (editor of the Leither) and those fire breathing owners of The Clock, Janice and Davey.

Only 3 ideas could make it to the next stage of feasibility study but which 3?

Conrad and Caroline presented Monopoleith, their very own version of the classic board game complete with Leith edge

In her absence, Vicky presented Thea’s proposed kids brand, Little Leithers - clothing and tattoos for infants with a strong flavour of the locale. Following on from this Vicky pitched her own thought of a developing a deck of Leith playing cards using images from our upcoming Leithal Images Exhibition

Claire Wood made a case for Leith deck chairs to be rented out and placed down the Shore to make the most of the sun’s fleeting visit

Gerry put forward 2 ideas with art directional assistance from Chris Scott - A See Me I’m a Leither campaign and a booklet celebrating the best of local eateries and their signature dishes - a Taste of Leith.

Brie and Brian opened and closed proceedings respectively with similar ideas -Brie   proposed a ceramic coffee cup to help save the huge environmental wastage caused every year by disposable ones while Brian pitched an environmentally friendly disposable cup that’s 100% biodegradable including a corn starch lid. Both ideas would carry fetching Leith designs and would be supplied to local coffee shops. Proceeds from the sale of these would go to a local Leith charity.

The judges discussed the pitches at some length and found it hard to reach consensus but after heated debate agreed that the coffee cup, playing cards and taste of leith booklet should move forward to the feasibility stage.

Given a fair wind the winning idea should sail through feasibility and be in stores for Christmas.

Friday night saw us planners putting on our party frocks and trotting (literally) along to the Old Fruitmarket Gallery in Glasgow to find out whether painstaking labours on papers would be rewarded.

Mine were not but the less said about that, the better. However, much better news for Mr Nicholson and Mr Marsham as they tripped up to the stage not once but twice to collect awards for the Government’s hand hygiene campaign for both insightful thinking and excellent cause-related marketing.

As luck would have it, in the end we all got to stagger up stage-bound as we also managed to pick up Marketing Services Agency of the Year.

I have some far more entertaining pictures taken post-watershed but I think I’ll keep them to myself.