Tony Waghorn
OMF UK Communications Manager | IAMNOTAWEBDESIGNER
When I'm not managing a small media communications team at OMF, I try and find interesting projects to get behind and share what I've learnt.
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Tony Waghorn
Can charities and financial services clients gain any relief from VAT on postage? Brightsource -
Yes – provided certain conditions are met. Take a deep breath… If the production costs of the direct mail pack can be zero-rated (using the ‘package test’ rules), then postage can be treated as an ancillary supply, and would attract the same VAT treatment as the principal supply (the direct mail pack itself). But the postage needs to be managed by the same supplier who is producing the printed item from which the VAT relief derives. And the final condition is that the company which is acting as the point of ‘single supply’ for both the print and the postage, needs to have print production as its core activity. (It can’t be your creative agency, or your postal provider, both of whose core services are standard-rated. The rules on ‘single supply’ have changed recently – there’s an explanation here.)
Put more simply… if you’re a Brightsource client, and the pack we are producing is zero-rated under the package test, and we are also managing the post for you, (whether that’s our own Brightpost service, Royal Mail Retail, or managing a DSA operator such as TNT or UK Mail) then you will get VAT relief on the postage.
If you’re not a Brightsource client, you need to have a print partner with a deep understanding of VAT and single supply rules, who can also manage post for you – they have to act as a Tier 1 supplier with financial responsibility for all aspects of production and postal delivery. It’s a complex area, and HMRC will undoubtedly be keeping a close eye on how single supply rules are being applied with regards to VAT and postage. So clients – and their print services suppliers – need to be clear where the risk sits.
Lost in Tokyo on Vimeo - Timelapse +
By Mark Bramley : http://vimeo.com/user2062525
Intermission: A Miniature Fantasyland Built on Food - Lifestyle - GOOD
Seattle-based photographer Christopher Boffoli has an odd and intriguing relationship with food. In his Disparity series, a stack of cookies is the setting for 'rock climbers,' and rice is more than just a bed for stir-fry.
Photos courtesy of Christopher Boffoli
Missional Business: BTS on Vimeo
Chris and Nigel - Behind the scenes on an OMF video shoot.
Lightworks Free Video Editor
This is a BIG, fully featured video editor for free.
http://www.lightworksbeta.com/
Other FREE tools are:
Simple/Basic: (untested)
http://www.nchsoftware.com/videopad/index.html
Online, you could try:
What is your Organisation using to share stories/articles?
At the end I've dropped a couple of solutions from other orgs.
We suspect that:
- Much of what is being written only ends up in one place
- People are comissioning similar material
- OMF websites are suffering as a result of to little content
Wer'e investigating:
- Networking writers, bloggers and editors - maybe through a private Social Network
- Collating, storing and publishing articles using a Digital Asset Manager (which we have for photos) - or using a Content Management System (we use eZ Publish)
- Enabling content to be syndicated out to our existing websites, but also Facebook, Blogs and other sites via an API.
We'll have to work on:
- Uploading mechanism/form
- Workflow
- Tagging (Taxonomy)
- Article/Media types
- Technical - systems, networks, security
What other Orgs are doing:
@justinlong from Mission to Unreached Peoples uses google apps domain. Reset younger leaders used a Facebook group and we are beginning to test google+ for apps
Wycliffe (via @kouya - Eddie Arthur)
"Our lot use a Wiki, though I'm not sure how successful it is."
What do you use ....... ? Please comment
How to make a fun leaflet with longevity
We set out to make a leaflet to hand out at www.youthworkconference.co.uk.
Brief:
- Make it useful (to youthworkers for world mission)
- Make it fun (flat paper is dull)
- Make it last (something that wont head straight to the bin)
- A talented designer like @ccwatts2
- A printer
- A die cutting company like www.medwaycutters.co.uk
- A conference to hand it out at.
