The Chameleon Net blog

Google Grants 3: Tracking: How to prove RoI for Google Grant activity

richardk@chameleonnet.co.uk (Rich Kirk) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:32:11 GMT

So what does the Google Grant bring to your business? Are you using the “free money” Google affords you to generate real revenue for your organisation? There are numerous ways to track this, but also numerous obstacles to getting this tracking in place as well.

The ideal situation
You tag all of your inbound traffic, and you can see at a glance which website, channel, campaign or keyword was the last referral point before a user came to your site and completed a key goal (download, sale, donation etc). You can talk in terms of marketing spend per completed goal for any channel, including AdWords.

AdWords Conversion Tracking
By implementing AdWords specific code on your goal completion pages, you will be able to see in your AdWords dashboard the cost / conversion for any keyword, ad text, ad group or campaign. Every time AdWords drives a user to a goal completion page on your site that conversion will be recorded. With some code adjustments you can also record the value of the conversion (e.g. donation amount or shopping basket total). N.B. these conversions only show up in your AdWords dashboard, and if you have several goals it’s quite hard to distinguish which goal was completed.

Good for: Grant accounts with one specific purpose e.g. purchasing from your shop. Requires simple code change to one page, so good if you have limited technical resource.
Not so good if: you have multiple conversions to record, or you’re interested in a user’s journey through your site from clicking an ad to converting.

Find out more here.

Goal tracking in Google Analytics
This is perhaps the best way of tracking the success of your Google Grant-funded AdWords campaigns, and also allows you to judge other marketing efforts against the same goals you judge your AdWords activity by. You can also measure the effectiveness of each stage in your conversion process (e.g. a shop checkout) using the funnel visualisation feature. If you are tracking this way you would find all stats in your Google Analytics dashboard.

Good for: anyone wanting to get serious about measuring RoI and site performance across all channels including the Google Grant.
Not so good if: You are short on time and technical resource for implementation.

Find out more here.

Barriers to tracking

Having processes hosted across different domains or subdomains.
As a user arrives on your site from a Google Grant ad, their session will be labelled as such. If you then force that user to leave the domain / subdomain for another in order to complete a goal, their session labels will change. It will appear as though goal completions originated in the previous subdomain, not your Grant ads. This makes comparing ad spend to completed goals difficult.
You will need to customise your Analytics code to ensure the correct session information remains attached to a user as they navigate across your domains / subdomains.

Find out more here.

Inability to set up goals correctly in Google Analytics
We see loads of Analytics accounts where goals are set up but not working. There are tons of help resources online for setting up goals correctly, although often you will need to use regular expressions to get these correct. One top tip is to always speak to your developer about the various pages a user could see upon pressing “submit” or “donate now” in order to make sure you aren’t missing any key conversions.

Find out more here.

Next time... I'll be talking about tailoring campaigns for seasonal topics and how to compete in very competitive keyword markets - for instance, how to stand out via PPC and sign up London Marathon runners.

Click for more on the tailored management and insight service Chameleon Net offer to organisations receiving the Google Grant.

Top Tips For Understanding Mobile Users

richardk@chameleonnet.co.uk (Rich Kirk) — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 09:24:18 GMT

This topic was covered at yesterday's "Money Talks" seminar. I said I would post some info on how you can segment your mobile users within Google Analytics; well here it is! What appears below is cut from an article I wrote for Marketing Pilgrim in the States. You can check out the full article here.

Understanding Mobile Users: Entry Level

Even if you feel the implementation of a mobile strategy is a long way off for your company, and you have no technical skills whatsoever, there is no excuse for not starting to try and get a handle on who your mobile users are, and how they interact with your site. This is a customer segment that will grow in the future.

Demographics You can easily build up a picture of mobile web users through the plethora of surveys currently being released. Here are a few recent stats:

74% of iPhone users are over the age of 25, (31% are 35-49) and more than 70% of iPhone users are male. [see here]
64% of key decision makers in marketing departments are using mobiles to view emails [see here]
Leading mobile browsing systems worldwide (May 09) = iPhone/iPod Touch 37.2%, Opera 24.6%, Nokia 17.9%. [see here]
In 2008 61% of all smartphone owners had a household income of greater than $70000, compared to just 49% of normal mobile owners. [see here]
40% of “smartphoners” in ‘08 would access the internet at least once a week on their device, (78% for iPhone owners specifically). [see here]

Behaviour as well as looking at the demographics of people browsing the mobile web, it’s also vital to understand their goals are likely to be different to those of folks browsing on a computer. Conversion points for mobile users are often basic things such as finding a shop location, contact information, or viewing product details. Generally speaking goals are more immediate and information based. More traditional goals such as purchasing or accessing documents will only be undertaken as a last resort where a computer is unavailable.

Mobile users break down into three rough categories:

“Time to burn”: browsing between events / meetings etc: your goal is to offer bite sized chunks of interesting content in order to attract repeat visits later via traditional browsing methods.
“Monitors”: Users who browse your site for specific data that changes over time: stocks and shares, sports scores etc. Identify the information on your site which gets repeat visits and make it as easily accessible as possible.
“Need it Now”: Live information e.g. running information, store locations, opening hours etc should all be easily accessible from your mobile homepage for those people who are relying on your brand rather than just browsing.

Understanding the key differences between your mobile and traditional users should directly inform the architecture of the mobile version of your site. For instance: An airline may focus on selling tickets online, but its mobile site should focus more on check in information, live flight times, and airport locations for people who are about to fly. Similarly, a financial services company might view their website as a place for prospective customers to research their products, but their mobile site could add value by offering simple services to existing customers e.g. balance checks.

With a bit more budget you can start to build up data specific to your organisation. Marketers should be equipped with smartphones, as using a mobile browser is the best way to understand and discover the difficulties and opportunities surrounding your brand and the mobile web.

Understanding Mobile Users: Intermediate / Advanced Level

Google Analytics provides a segment for iPhone users, but a broader mobile segment for analysing this traffic would be preferential. The most obvious way to construct this segment is by grouping together the different types of mobile browsers currently on offer, but this list is ever-changing and many of these browsers are poor at executing JavaScript: mobile data will be missed altogether and the segment will be less accurate. [ more info here]

A better option is to construct a GA segment based around screen resolution, as there is a greater accuracy of data collection:

Open a new custom segment within your GA dashboard
Select “screen resolution” as the segment’s dimension. You can find this by drilling down on “Systems”.
Select the match type “Matches Regular Expression”
Paste the following regex into the next field: (^[1-2]?[0-9]?[0-9]|^3[0-1][0-9]|^320)x([1-3]?[0-9]?[0-9]$|4[0-7][0-9] $|480$ )

For the more advanced technicians amongst you the installation of mobile-specific tracking software is a further option, however this can be costly and difficult to integrate with GA. Bango Analytics, Mobilytics and Amethon are key players in this sector.

UPDATE APRIL 2010: GA now offers mobile website tracking for FREE.

Once mobile users behaviour on your site is isolated marketers are able to analyse top content, entry and exit points, site search, etc. It is crucial to try and understand mobile user’s goals this data. These goals will define the architecture of your mobile site.

I hope that's useful: Try applying this segment to your website and looking at monthly visitor numbers over the past 18 months: usually a pretty telling statistic.

If you're struggling to get buy-in for a mobile site, why not sit your boss down, give them an iphone and get them to complete a key user action on your site?! - better still set them a time limit of the average time it takes a desk-bound user to complete that goal.

Google Grants Blog 2: Your first campaigns

richardk@chameleonnet.co.uk (Rich Kirk) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 09:08:23 GMT

You’ll actually build your first campaigns before you’re account has been signed off by Google: this is because submission of well-targeted campaigns that meet Google Grant’s criteria is a requirement for receiving The Grant.

So what key areas should I cover with my first few campaigns?

I’d advise that to start with, you should just cover a few topics, so that you can get your final application off to Google with the minimum of fuss. You need to impress the people upstairs with the first part of any marketing camapign so not spreading yourself too thinly is vital.

You could start with a campaign focussed around your brand and the main topics that your organisation is focussed upon. I would have an Ad Group and associated keywords for each of these topic, as it allows you to create specific ad variants based around that theme. Most donations that you receive from PPC traffic will be triggered by people searching these terms so it’s important to get them live and start optimising as soon as possible.

A couple of tips:

If part of your brand name is common to other popular culture terms, ensure you use negative match keywords to stop your ad being shown unnecessarily. E.g. if your charity was called “Lost Children” and your brand campaign targeted keywords broadly similar to this you would negative match terms like “lost property”, “lost tv” etc to ensure you weren’t paying for irrelevant clicks.
Include as many misspellings and acronym keywords for your charity as possible to your “brand terms” ad group: this will ensure you reach as many of the people searching for you as possible. Take a look at your site’s entrance keywords in Google Analytics for inspiration. (remember to filter out non brand terms to save time)

It’s also worthwhile to create another AdWords campaign for promoting specific fundraising drives or “take action” campaigns. Your ads here should try to contain a call to action; remember you can fully customise the display URL in your ad so this is a bit of extra space to incorporate messaging if you’re struggling with the 95 character limit on the ad.

So there we have it: try to focus your first campaigns on your brand, your primary issues and your current campaigns and you should have a solid platform to work off.

Next time I’ll be talking about how to track your AdWords / Google Grant activity against tangible goals such as donation, newsletter signup, form downloads etc. Add our RSS feed to your reader so you don’t miss out.

Rich will be speaking at our seminar “Money Talks” for charities on April 22nd. You should sign up to come along!

It’s all about user-centricity

danm@chameleonnet.com (Dan Martin) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:54:03 GMT

We all know that achieving success online is about more than just having a great website.

Now, more than ever, taking a holistic user centric approach to online activity means that we can create effective, joined-up communications, and an integrated online strategy.

It’s difficult to focus on one specific online tool in isolation; you can’t think about the website without thinking about how to maximise your SEO and PPC advertising. And once you’ve got people hitting your site, what tools are available for them to interact with it, and also engage with you without needing to come back? RSS feeds, blogs, social engagement and online communities all spring to mind. So how do we decide where to begin?

You probably already have a clear idea of what your objectives as an organisation are, so a good place to start in figuring out your best approach towards achieving those objectives is to concentrate fully on understanding your target audience and how they want to be communicated with. Without doing this you will have little chance of building a relationship with them that will benefit both parties.

So put your customer hat on! A user-centric approach makes your content, communications and online functions focus on the needs and desires of your audience, helping you to:

Reach out to your audience and engage with them, wherever they may be
Pull them into your site or online portals
Get them to interact with you
Keep them connected to you in a way that’s easy for them

One great example we have been involved with that epitomises this thinking is the innovative 'Challenge' site we created for Diabetes UK. It's a great example because it puts users (supporters and fundraisers) at its heart.

People who use the Challenge site are able to connect their supporter profiles to their online social networks, making the user experience easier, while extending the reach of the Diabetes UK brand further.

Did you know, for instance, that on average Facebook users have about 150 friends? Every time someone posts an update from Diabetes Challenge through Facebook Connect, that message is multiplied to their friends.

And very importantly this site does not work in isolation from Diabetes’ other online presences. For example, it communicates in real-time to their CRM system, helping Diabetes UK achieve a 360 degree view of their audience members, and allowing the charity to communicate with its supporters in a more tailored fashion.

At the concept stage of the Challenge site, we worked strategically with Diabetes UK’s to consider who their audience was and how best to target them. This strategic slant is essential for any agency to work effectively. If you don't let agencies into your strategy or at least your key objectives, start now!

The results of Challenge have been extremely good, exceeding expectations, and the site is a major success. Amanda Neylon, Digital Media Manager at Diabetes UK, will be telling the story of how the Challenge site evolved at our next seminar on 22 April, so to hear more about it, please do sign up to come along...

Google Grants 101: "What is The Google Grant?"

richardk@chameleonnet.co.uk (Rich Kirk) — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 12:32:09 GMT

The Google Grant is a free search advertising programme that affords charities and non-profits nearly $10000/month in Google Adwords budget. At Chameleon Net we provide Google Grant help and assistance to charities like The RNID, The Anthony Nolan Trust and Friends of the Earth. In this series I hope to talk about how your charity can apply for, and get value from the Google Grant. In our experience The Grant is a fantastic channel for revenue generation whether you’re a small charity or a major UK non-profit.

Sponsored search results are a form of advertising delivered via Google AdWords. They look like this:

You find these ads at the right hand side of top of a search engine results page (SERP). Your ad’s position is determined by the relevancy of your ad to the keyword searched for, and your bid for that particular keyword (aka search term or query). If your ad is clicked, you will be charged by Google. However, a Google Grantee receives $10000 of clicks a month for free.

Just think of all those terms you’d love your charity to rank number 1 for… a Google Grant would allow you almost unlimited budget to chase that coveted top spot.

So how does your charity go about getting one? A Google Grant application can take a long time - sometimes nearly 6 months! (Charities who have utilised our services have found we speed up this process dramatically). A Google Grant application falls into 2 stages:

Proving your eligibility to Google
Submitting a well structured and targeted set of AdWords campaigns

Passing stage 1 is fairly simple, and most charities should be able to get through this bit. The key thing is to prove you are a charity and that you actively campaign and have planned resource to manage AdWords on a regular basis.

To pass stage 2 is more difficult, and often this is where we see charities struggle, so you’ll probably need someone with experience to help you. You will need to submit an application that conforms with the extensive Google Grants checklist. Examples of the sorts of thing Google is looking for include an account that is well structured around keyword themes and relevant landing pages, applied geographical and language targeting, and keyword bids that utilises multiple match types to ensure ads are only delivered where they are appropriate.

To someone with a good amount of AdWords experience, creating and submitting an account that meets The Grant guidelines is not a difficult task, but we’ve seen many charities have their attempts rejected by Google, and as the Google Grants team is made up of volunteers it can take a long time for the resubmitted account to be evaluated. Ultimately, it is in a charity’s best interest to get the account right first time, so make sure you have access to knowledgeable AdWords resource before applying.

Next time...

...I’ll be looking at setting up your account in more detail and some of the areas you should target first with your Google Grant for maximum RoI.

Rich will be talking in detail about maximising RoI from search marketing at our FREE seminar “MoneyTalks” on April 22nd. You should sign up for a place here!

Top Tips For Charity Digital Marketers: Jan 2010

richardk@chameleonnet.co.uk (Rich Kirk) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:54:16 GMT

Two weeks into the New Year and already Christmas feels a lifetime ago. For many marketers, January is a quiet month, with conventional wisdom saying that apart from a few obvious products (gym memberships, savings accounts etc) acquisition / sales will be average at best given the previous months gluttony.

However, January is a really exciting month for charity marketers, especially those dedicating time and resource to the web. We run the pay-per-click search advertising for several charities, and we always see an uplift in the number of donations made in the weeks following 1st January. These conversions will usually originate from a brand keyword search, or a search on the issue your charity is associated with, suggesting that these January donors are aware of who you are and / or what you do, and have been triggered by the passing of the New Year to give you some cash. Whether this is driven by Christmas guilt or a desire to start a new year on the right foot matters little, what matters is that as a charity you take advantage of it.

Here’s our top tips:

Defer December spend: that Christmas campaign you were thinking of running? Save it! People are stressed, busy, preoccupied and generally frazzled in the run up to Christmas. Your message may achieve greater penetration and be afforded more thought in the New Year

Target your warm leads: cross reference the following:

newsletter subscribers
people who’ve signed your petitions
people who have fundraised for you
people who have sponsored your fundraisers

with your list of regular givers. Those people that aren’t giving via direct debit are a good group to target with email, social networking or even offline material around the 1st January.

Ramp up your PPC budget for the month and spend it effectively: Have you checked your AdWords scheduling recently? Do you know if your daily budget enables your ads to be shown 24 hours a day? Do you use bid adjustment to spend your budget at the most profitable times of day? Failure to do these things may mean your organisation misses out on a great deal of potential regular givers through a lack of visibility in search results.

For many charities, January will be a peak time for getting people to sign up to do various fundraising events in 2010. The London Marathon is one particularly lucrative opportunity. As a result however, competition in search results amongst charities is extreme. First page bid estimate for “2010 London marathon” in Adwords right now is $1.25, and $1.50 for “london marathon charity”. Maybe 1 in 100 people who clicked on your ad for that term would download an application, so now is the time to investigate the long tail of keywords for events like this, especially if your budget is not very big. Keyword research should inform not only your PPC campaigns but also SEO. Whilst there is little point aiming for a top 3 spot in the “London Marathon” SERP, you could get a real win optimising around “run the London Marathon for charity”.

Finally, a word on improving website performance, with special regard to acquiring regular givers. Recent research shows that the way you present amounts of money on your site affects the number of people who convert. 3 price formats were tested in the study:

Dollars and cents numerical format with a dollar sign ($00.00)
Numerical format without a dollar sign (00.)
Scripted or written-out prices (zero dollars).

It was found that adopting option 2 led to significantly more acquisition. Even if you have the most convoluted CMS, testing this would not be a great deal of work. We recommend trying an A/B test using Google Website Optimiser if you want to improve your site's performance: delivering a percentage increase in donations would be great way to start your organisation’s year!

Of course, our top tip is to get in touch with Chameleon Net if you think we could help you with search marketing or website improvement!

Paris Marathon

louiser@chameleonnet.com (Louise Ryan) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:24:30 GMT

In November last year I took the mad decision to enter the 2009 Paris marathon - to be held this year on the 5th April. I can't say that I'm particularly looking forward to it but I have enjoyed elements of my training. Two things have kept me going.

My running gadgets

Of course being a software developer I am naturally a bit of a geek (only a very little bit though of course). Therefore when I do my running training I must have either my iPod or iPhone with me. Obviously they keep me sane by enabling me to listen to music, podcasts and audiobooks during my training but they also record my progress. Here's a quick overview of how they work:

Nike+ for my iPod
This consists of a wee little accelerometer that you can attach to or pop in your running shoes and a Nike+ receiver which you attach to your iPod. It records how far and how fast you are running or walking. You can then sync this data with your Nike+ account via iTunes and get a marvelous little summary of how your training is progressing and a breakdown of each run. Here's a pic from the Nike+ website for you to take a look at. I'm a bit of a fan of RIA (Rich Internet Applications) and really like how the site utilises Flash in a useful and very pretty fashion. The main disadvantage of the Nike+ system is that it’s not totally accurate but I can live with that as it still gives me a good idea of how I'm doing.

RunKeeper for my iPhone
I love my iPhone. Probably too much. This free app is the thing I show to my friends when I want to impress them with how cool the iPhone is. RunKeeper uses the iPhones GPS (Global Positioning System) capabilities to track your run, or in fact your walk, cycle, sky, whatever. Then when you have finished your run you can view a highly accurate breakdown of not only your time and pace but also your route via clever use of the Google maps API. You can also view this same data on the web using the RunKeeper dashboard site. Here's a pic to give you an idea. You can share runs with friends and also have RunKeeper auto-tweet your twitter account with your run data! This kind of really useful mashup application gets me all excited about web development! However, GPS tracking apps also have all manner of privacy implications - for example, in this article I have linked to a picture of my run rather than sharing the run itself (which you can do via the RunKeeper dashboard) because I don't really want the world to know where I started and finished.

It does get you thinking about the world of possibilities that GPS tracking opens up though. At the moment you can only provide geo targeted content via websites by inspecting the users incoming IP address or by asking the user to tell you where they are. However, with more and more mobile devices supporting GPS being available more possibilities open up for useful applications of this marvelous technology.

Finally this brings me to the second thing that is keeping me going through training - I'm raising cash for MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières). I realised what amazing work this charity does when I worked on their website last year. In emergencies and their aftermath, MSF rehabilitates and runs hospitals and clinics, performs surgery, battles epidemics, carries out vaccination campaigns, operates feeding centres for malnourished children and offers mental health care. When needed, MSF also constructs wells, dispenses clean drinking water, and provides shelter materials like blankets and plastic sheeting.

If you've enjoyed reading about my pain or would like to help MSF please sponsor me or donate directly to MSF via their website.

Useful resources:

Nike+iPod: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike%2BiPod
RunKeeper: http://www.runkeeper.com/
Sponsor me via Justgiving: http://www.justgiving.com/louiseryan2009
Médecins Sans Frontières UK: http://www.msf.org.uk/

Face to face with the real chameleon (small 'c')

lucie@actualmarketing.co.uk (Lucie Bickerdike) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:25:22 GMT

Last week I and Actual group Directors Stephen and Suzie had the pleasure of attending Chameleon Net’s 10^th Birthday bash at London Zoo. It was great to meet up with the team, and to make the acquaintance of a couple of recent recruits. Without wanting to be too gushy, it’s evenings like this that make us thankful for such lovely clients. In true Chameleon style it was an unorthodox evening, with a drinks reception – of course – in the Reptile House, with a party in the Pavilion later in the evening. It was nice to share the party with the wallabies and emus just outside, who were all wide awake and surprisingly sociable!

This month has shown that Chameleon’s work is becoming more widely recognised for its innovation and creativity, and that the company has climbed a long way in a decade. Chameleon Net’s fantastic campaign site for the latest Diabetes UK campaign made it into the news pages of New Media Age, the company won a silver W3 Award for the innovative Bucks New University website, and we were also proud that Vicky reached the finals of the competitive Women of the Future Awards.

So, what’s in store for the next ten years? As the internet grows and the industry matures (according to a recent survey, 30% of UK digital agencies were founded more than ten years ago), Chameleon are in a strong competitive position with a grown-up, experienced and confident offering. Happy birthday Chameleon Net – and here’s to many more!

Will the semantic web save the planet?

stephen@actualmarketing.co.uk (Steve Thorn) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 09:38:57 GMT

^{Last week I attended the annual Digital Marketing Conference in
Cambridge to hear what those with a vested interest in the rise and rise of the Internet
had to say about the digital future for all of us.

Presentations were on subjects like the power of mash-ups, the
belated arrival of the mobile revolution, the next generation of web connectivity
and the dawn of ‘intelligent agents’ on the web. (As a side note, watch out for that
phrase, ‘intelligent agents’ - I predict we’ll hear more and more about the chips
and processors behind the web descending upon humankind and making our lives ever
simpler).

This wasn’t the first time in the week that the emerging revolution
in internet and mobile communications was brought home to me. Just the day before,
on Radio 4 Today programme, Tim Berners-Lee had been talking about the future of the
web – and how the progress being made on the development of the semantic web will
reduce the workload on our poor human brains.

Two days later Apple launched its clever new iPhone 3G with camera,
satnav and push e-mail. The device was greeted by Tom Dunmore, writing on Stuff.tv:
"I can prove that the iPhone 3G is 31% better than the original. That's 31% better
than the Best Thing Ever." Blimey.

And then to finish the week we wrapped up the work on a couple
of recent news stories for Chameleon Net (you knew I’d get a plug in there
somewhere), both of which demonstrate ways the internet is being deployed for social
and environmental good.

First, there was the news that they’d been working on a ‘mash-up’
of data drawn into the Medicins Sans Frontiers website where the extraordinary work
of the agency in remote field locations was brought elegantly to life through the
plotting of those locations on Google Earth maps. This reflects MSF’s philosophy of
‘temoigner’ (act as witness) brought firmly into the 21st century. (By way of complete
digression, that’s also the title of a book by Nicholas Sarkozy!)

Secondly there was, on the face of it, the not-very-sexy news
that Chameleon Net have been working with the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Environment
Forum (YHREF) and Yorkshire Futures to create a dynamic shared online diary
for environmental groups and those working on regional information sharing.

With their newly joined-up ability these groups can work together
to ensure that environmental issues and concerns can now have greater impact on the
local, regional and national agenda. I’d give that a ‘hurrah’.

From all I’ve learnt recently about the rise of the semantic web
intelligently connecting like-minded global communities, added to the long-awaited
mobile revolution to help disseminate their joined-up thinking, I can’t think how
else we’re going to effectively communicate the changes we need to make to our society
to increase the planet’s survival.

Let’s just hope Tim Berners-Lee gets a move on – the clock’s ticking.

Steve is MD at marketing and PR consultancy the Actual group
(www.actualgroup.co.uk)}

Plymouth/Dakar - We have made it to Africa!

chris@chameleonnet.com (Chris Thorn) — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 13:04:26 GMT

So we have made it to Africa! We have had a very eventful journey so far.

We crossed the Millau viaduct in a blizzard and flashed by a speed camera in France.

In Spain things got more eventful. Some youths tried to car jack us in Barcelona; in Valencia we got a puncture and after parking car overnight returned to find it had been towed away by the police!

In Tarifa we managed to cause a scare in a shop by accidentally setting off a camping gas canister.

In comparison to that our first day in Morocco has been much quieter but great fun.

More soon... Chris and Richard.

--Sent via BlackBerry--

Plymouth to Dakar Rally

chris@chameleonnet.com (Chris Thorn) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:01:33 GMT

As many of you may know I am taking part in the Plymouth to Dakar rally. A colleague and I will be setting off tonight, to drive to Portsmouth to catch a ferry bound for France. The plan is that we will then drive through France, Spain, take a ferry over to northern Morocco and then on through Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal and finally arrive in The Gambia in about three weeks time.

If we make it, the car will be auctioned off and the money donated to two local charities.

The Gambia is a small, poor country that struggles with having a population the size (roughly) of Birmingham and a land area that is more the size of Scotland. More than 75% of the population are subsistence farmers and therefore desperately needs all the support it can get.

The first charity supported by the rally is the Association of Small-Scale Enterprises in Tourism (ASSET). The second is the Gambian National Olympic Committee (GNOC).

ASSET operates in the tourism industry and was set up to help thousands of Gambians to scoop up more of the crumbs from the tourism table and to 'give a voice to the voiceless'. So it lobbies government to do more for the juice pressers, the fruit sellers, the tourist taxi drivers, the official tourist guides and people with many similar jobs, all of whom struggle to gain access to the tourists who are managed by the tour operators and the bigger ground operating companies.

By contrast the GNOC is about improving the quality of life of all ordinary Gambians by providing sporting facilities. In the Gambia, there is huge interest and participation in sport. The Gambia has a huge numbers of 'football pitches' - patches of bare sand - at least one in every village. Very few people can afford the kit that gets bought for kids from the age of two or three in the UK. Football boots, footballs are in very short supply and to see a goal with a net is almost unknown. The GNOC struggles hard in these circumstances to offer a variety of sporting activities and to build stadia around the country. The National Stadium, where our car will be auctioned, is apparently an impressive building but it is the only one of its kind in the country. The GNOC is building more facilities as and where it can but has very limited funds.

ASSET and GNOC ensure other Gambian charities also hear about the rally and are able to apply for some of the proceeds. In addition, they will also do what they can to monitor the way the money is spent in order to make sure it goes where it was meant to.

Since the rally began in 2003, hundreds of thousands of pounds have been raised, which has made a huge difference in a country as small and poor as The Gambia. We hope will be achieved again this year!

So although we will be having fun on the trip, we will be donating our car to these charities. If you would also like to follow our lead, it would be great if you could donate something to either UNICEF or Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without borders) both who do fantastic work in Africa, making a real difference to thousands of lives.

I have set-up specific fundraising web pages so you can donate; simple go to either of pages below and get your credit/debit card out!

http://www.justgiving.com/msf-plymouth-to-dakar

http://www.supportunicef.org.uk/Plymouth_to_Dakar

I hope to keep you all up-to-date with our progress on the Chameleon blog, which can be found at: http://www.chameleonnet.co.uk/blog/default.aspx

Or if you want to find our more about the rally and see up-to-date field reports from us and the rest of the teams, you can to the official Plymouth Dakar challenge site at: http://www.plymouth-dakar.co.uk