by Martin Thomas | Nov 24, 2024 | Burton Road, Christmas, Covid 19, Covid-19, Doddington Hall, Domestic Abuse, Domestic Vio;ence, Immingham, Lincoln, Lincoln Castle, Lincoln Cathedral, Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire Blogger, Lincolnshire Heritage, Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, Lincs Connect, LincsBlogger, LincsConnect, LincsConnectChristmas, Museum, Restaurant, Rutland, ShopLincs, Stress, WhatsOnLincs
Lincoln Christmas Market
If anything is going to epitomise the Lincoln Christmas Market it has to be Lincoln Cathedral and Lincoln Castle. Castle Square was the original home of the market and over the years the market expanded to the Lincoln Cathedral, The Lawn and surrounding areas.
The Lincoln Christmas Market saw a huge expansion over the years that it operated. In my opinion, the expansion wasn’t particularly well managed with many stalls duplicated and triplicated. The expansion saw a significant rise in visitor numbers. This resulted in the Lincoln council ‘pulling the plug’ on health and safety grounds. In my opinion this was a big mistake as it dealt a huge blow to the local economy and the kudos of Lincoln City internationally.
The market was a huge asset to the city and the wider county. Local employment, small business income and tourism have all been affected by its closure. Its Christmas atmosphere, local financial income and kudos are missed in equal measures. However, with your comments added to this blog and lots of shares around your friends we may be able to encourage a rethink. It would be fantastic to see the market return to Lincoln.
Vienna
As a result of the closure of the market we (my wife and I) decided to seek an alternative to get us into the Christmas mood. That meant taking our custom elsewhere. ‘Another trail’ around the city looking at ice sculptures, knights, imps or monsters didn’t appeal. The first trail was fun but having the same idea rolled out several times a year didn’t inspire us. As a result, our research took us to Vienna.
Vienna has much to offer. Its history, fantastic architecture and many Christmas markets caught our attention. Following some research we planned a short break (4 nights) centred around visiting as many Christmas markets as possible. We managed 7 of the 9 Christmas markets and enjoyed them all.
Lincoln Christmas Market Inspired By Vienna
The Viennese Christmas markets took us to several different areas of the city. All but one was in walking distance (30-40 minutes) from our hotel. It struck me that Lincoln could certainly learn something from the Austrian idea. One of the markets was a local art market where artists and crafters had stalls to sell their gifts. Mixed in with the craft stalls were quality food vendors selling local hot foods and drinks.
The most important point to remember is ‘no duplication’ of stalls. There may have been several stalls selling Christmas tree decorations but they each had their own hand made unique products.
The atmosphere was relaxed and unhurried with enough stalls to keep shoppers interested for several hours. With food stalls and gluvine available visitors were able to spend several hours at the market to enjoy the atmosphere. Local cafes and restaurants also benefited from the increased tourist trade too of course.
Could Lincoln have a series of markets inspired by Vienna?
Market Locations
Just to be clear, the markets in Vienna were all on every day from lunch time until 9.00pm. That’s all 9 markets trading every day from mid November until Christmas! Each market has its own location with a theme. There was some duplication of stalls over the 9 markets but generally each one was unique.
Perhaps some good locations for Lincoln markets would be around the outside of Lincoln Cathedral to encourage shopping around The Bailgate as well as the market stalls. Another at The Lawn to encourage shopping on Burton Road. The Strait, Brayford, the arboretum and South Park would be a fantastic locations to encourage more local shopping. In addition there is Hartsholme Country Park, Whisby Nature Reserve, Doddington Hall, Newark Air Museum and Boultham Park. Perhaps a ‘music themed’ market at The Cornhill? The possibilities are many and varied.
Just A Thought
I wonder how feasible it would be to take inspiration from the Austrian idea? Personally I think it would be a great tourist attraction which would have the advantage of spreading tourists out around the city. Obviously local traders would benefit in their shops just as much as the market stall holders. The knock on effect for restaurants, cafes and hoteliers would be a welcome bonus too. Perhaps ‘flat rate’ taxi fares from market to market would also help another industry.
I would love to know your thoughts. If you have any ideas perhaps you could leave a comment below.
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Merry Christmas
Whatever you do from now until Christmas, I hope you have a very jolly time.
by Martin Thomas | Oct 19, 2024 | Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire Blogger, Lincs Connect, LincsBlogger, LincsConnect, Mandarin Therapies, WhatsOnLincs
Social Media Trends
Social Media Trends – Does the ever changing face of our society leads us to reassess our social media habits?
It’s been a while since I put pen to paper (or rather, fingers to keyboard) so I thought I ought to post another blog. Despite what many might think, I’m really not a social media guru. In fact, my background is in health and fitness.
Like many others I’ve found social media to be an incredibly useful tool for connecting, advertising and marketing. As a result I’ve become reliant on the platforms to aid my business.
Social Media Trends – Our Favourite Platforms
Until recently my preferred platform was Twitter. However, since it has been under the control of its new owner there has been a marked change in the platform. Gone is the ‘fun’. It seems to have been replaced by toxicity and selfishness. It wasn’t too long ago that people (small and large businesses, charities and organisations as well as the general public) used to share experiences and support each other. That has changed now! Many larger companies employ other companies to look after their social media. As a result, the ‘personality’ has been removed from those companies and friendships have been cast aside in favour of ‘posting content’ to get views.
Smaller businesses and charities have followed suite and much of the camaraderie has been lost. Where ‘share and share alike’ used to be the norm, it’s now ‘post, post, post and me, me, me’. It’s sad to see. The question in my mind is ‘why’? Why have so many forgotten the benefits of working closer together and looking after each other that we learned during Covid?
Social Media Trends – Which Platform?
X (Formerly Twitter)
My experience has largely been shaped by Twitter. Facebook works for many people but I personally find the platform very confusing. I have a personal page (mandatory) and three business pages. Linked to those pages is Messenger, Instagram and Threads. When I get a notification telling me that there is a post for me I spend far too long trying to find it! Some of you may have noticed that companies are now using the tag ‘@followers’ on Facebook posts which sends a notification to all followers that there is a message for them. In reality, it’s just a way of pushing an advert to you. Again, the personal touch has been removed.
X – AI capturing
For those of you who didn’t know, X is now using AI to capture and analyse your posts. The information gained is being used to sell on to third party organisations for advertising and goodness knows what else! Huge thanks to Steve (one of my X followers and friends) who highlighted this for me. If you are an X user, here is how you can help to protect yourself against this intrusion:
- Go to your ‘Settings & Privacy’
- Select ‘Privacy & Safety
- Scroll down to and select ‘Grok’
- Turn off the switch and delete previous conversations
- Go to ‘Data Sharing With Business Partners and turn the switch ‘Off’
Threads by Meta
Threads
In my quest to find a replacement for the toxicity of X I’ve been looking at Threads. Yes, it is a social media platform that is based on ‘chat’ much the same as X. However, it lacks the facilities which are provided on X. There is no facility (at the time of typing this blog) to have group chats based around hashtags. That means there can be no special ‘Hour’ for hobby or group chats. That rules out its usefulness for the #LincsConnect Hour that I run on Monday evenings.
Unfortunately there are no facilities for creating lists either. As a result, it’s not possible to organise followers into trade or location lists. That’s the backbone of #LincsConnect so Threads is a non starter for me.
The Threads App is linked to Instagram. On a positive note, anything posted on Threads can be shared on Instagram. That’s handy but…
Threads, Instagram and Facebook are all owned by Meta. I feel very uncomfortable with the idea of one company controlling all of my social media and having access to all of my information. As we know, ‘information’ is money. I have absolutely no doubt that Meta will be harvesting my information to sell on the open market!
Bluesky
Bluesky
For those of us who have been using social media for some time, we’ll recognise the platform instantly. The reason for its familiarity is because it is run by Jack, the former owner of Twitter.
I signed up to Bluesky as soon as I heard about it. Unfortunately, in its infancy, it didn’t provide the facilities that I need. However, following some undesirable changes to the X platform I decided to give it another try. I was really pleasantly surprised. The platform is now instantly recognisable as the Twitter of old. All of the facilities that I need for #LincsConnect are in place so I’m now in the process of moving all of my accounts across from X.
Bluesky Security And Privacy
Unlike X, Bluesky prefers to keep its users secure and free from misleading accounts. This used to be the best feature in the old style Twitter. All X users will know that the current ‘freedom of speech’ has been taken to the extreme so pretty much ‘anything’ is allowed on the platform.
It’s refreshing to see that Bluesky has a more robust reporting system.
Bluesky Feeds
I think I may have become a Bluesky fan!
On the left side of your bio page you’ll see some tabs to help you navigate the site. Click/tap on the ‘# Feeds‘ tab then select the subjects that interest you the most. These feeds will be shown at the top of your page so that you can quickly skip around your chosen subjects at will. It’s a brilliant idea and is certainly worth exploring. Here is an example of the feeds that I’ve selected at the moment. I’ll be adding more as I use the platform more regularly. You’ll notice that there is a search bar towards the bottom of the picture so that you can search for additional subjects that interest you.
My favourite # Feed so far is ‘Only Posts’
Conclusion
Based entirely on my own experiences and requirements my preferred platform is now Bluesky. From what I’ve experienced so far it is very much a ‘personal’ platform. So far I haven’t experienced any professional social media companies trying to turn it into a corporate platform of ‘me, me, me’ posts. I really hope that it stays that way.
If you would like to join me, just follow these links: @MandarinLeisure and @LincsConnect
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Until Next Time…
Further Reading
by Martin Thomas | Apr 4, 2024 | Blogging, Lincolnshire Blogger, Lincs Connect, LincsBlogger, LincsConnect
The Original Lincolnshire Blogger
The original Lincolnshire Blogger (AKA Martin Thomas, ‘Simply Fit’) came to prominence in January 2011 (with the Lincolnshire Blogger concept being born in 2009) and quickly grew in popularity. The dedicated website followed in November 2015.
Initially writing as a columnist in the Lincolnshire Echo, The Target, Retford Times, Horncastle News, Louth Leader, Market Rasen Mail, Weddings Today and a few other newspapers and magazines the theme has always remained the same. Helping and informing people has, and is still at the top of the agenda for the newspaper and web based blogs and columns.
The Original Lincolnshire Blogger – The Beginnings
Initially the published works began as health and fitness columns with links to local charities, organisations and clubs to help give them a voice in the media.
The first regular column was instigated on 7 September 2011 in The Lincolnshire Echo but prior to that the published writing goes back to November 2009 in my capacity as the sponsor for The Midwife Of The Year (MOTY). The domain names were established at the same time while waiting for the website to be built.
Here are a couple of my early columns dating back to 2011 and early 2012:
Early Columns
The Lincolnshire Blogger – Moving On
The popularity of my columns soon grew and demand increased as more invitations for writing and radio interviews began to arrive. I wrote articles both as ‘Simply Fit’ and ‘Lincolnshire Blogger’ but the latter didn’t take off properly until 2015.
Fast forward to Covid in 2020. The blogs took on a new focus. The supportive blogs to help and inform people were gratefully received.
The Last Blogs Before Covid
The last Blogs before the pandemic included ‘New Website’ and ‘The New Logo’ with one of the last blogs being an advertising blog for the ‘Comedy Hotspot’ events. Little did I know what was going to happen in just a matter of days after its publication!
Little did we know what was to come in just a few days time! If you would like to read one of the last blogs before the Pandemic lockdown just click on this link: Comedy Hotspot
The Lincolnshire Blogger With Covid
It’s ironic that it took a major pandemic to shake me out of my fear of writing blogs. Everything up until then felt like ‘practice’ for the real thing!
Having contracted Covid the day before lockdown I was quarantined in the house. Luckily my bedroom was next door to my office so as a result I made use of my time by brushing up on my blogging skills. The writing has always been easy for me. The fear of the technology (along with my dyslexia) had been holding me back. I find the computer quite easy to use but WordPress (the website & blogging platform) somehow felt extremely difficult.
My first lockdown blog doesn’t look the slickest in the world but it was the start of my ever improving blogging journey. Thank goodness for YouTube tutorials and the help from the local Twitter community.
“Have We Become Numb” was the first lockdown blog of many. Thankfully they improved over time! Click on the blue link above if you would like to have a look.
Moving Up-To-Date
We faced many challenges during the pandemic and the LincsConnect blogs certainly went a long way towards helping people to navigate their way through it. Post pandemic blogging helped us through new challenges as many of us were nervous about reverting back to our pre-pandemic lifestyle. Once again, I did my bit with my blogs to help as many people as possible.
Blogs For Advertising
Rather than becoming ‘old fashioned’, blogging has become even more relevant recently as many people turn away from familiar social media platforms and embrace new ones. Readership has become very fragmented across the many platforms with ever more confusing sites launching on a regular basis. Twitter has certainly changed (not for the better) and Facebook experiences ever increasing updates which makes it more and more difficult to navigate. The blog has remained constant and as a result continues to be the perfect advertising medium.
Gala Fireworks used a LincsConnect blog to advertise their event at the Lincolnshire Showground. The blog is extremely useful as it’s much bigger than a standard advert. It contains more information than a standard newspaper editorial yet has a small link that can be easily copied and posted on any social media platform. The link comes with its own advertising picture (of your choice) which can be embedded onto a website as a permanent advert. All in all, it ‘is’ the perfect advertising tool. Click on the blue link above to see how effective a blog can be for advertising.
Take Your Advertising Forward
Get in touch if you would like to have a blog written for your business, organisation or charity. It’s ideal for advertising on any platform so contact me if you would like more information.
Alternatively, if you already write your own blogs you can get in touch to chat about sharing links.
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by Martin Thomas | Feb 26, 2024 | Advertise, Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire Blogger, Lincs Connect, LincsBlogger, LincsConnect, Networking, What's on Lincs
The LincsConnect Hour
The LincsConnect Hour is on Twitter (X) every Monday evening from 8.00pm.
The #LincsConnect Hour is on Twitter (X) on Monday evenings from 8.00pm
How To Join The LincsConnect Hour
Hop across to Twitter (X) on Monday evenings from 8.00pm. It’s simple to join in, all you need to do is go to the Twitter search bar, type in #LincsConnect then tap on the ‘search’ button if you’re using the App or hit ‘return’ if you’re logged in from a computer search engine. Then tap or click ‘Latest’.
That’s it! Once you’re there, simply follow the instructions from whoever is hosting the Hour. The #LincsConnect Hour often starts off with introductions and adverts along with an invitation for embers to post any adverts they may have. General chat between members follows as part of the introductions then sometime around 8.10pm the host will post a question. There are often 3 or 4 questions during the Hour but the format is flexible and dependant on the host on the night.
This Monday 2 December 2024
It could be you hosting…
Please do join us on Twitter at 8.00pm on Monday evenings
Who Can Host?
Hosting is open to all local followers so if you would like to have a go just get in touch to organise a date.
Why Host?
Hosting is a great way to get yourself known and is ideal for promoting what you do. It’s FREE networking across the whole County and more often than not, the #LincsConnect hashtag can be found ‘trending’ across the world. That’s great free advertising for you!
Use this template for your advertising when you host the #LincsConnect Hour
Simple
That’s it! I told you it was simple!!
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This blog is sponsored by Mandarin Therapies
Contact Mandarin Therapies for your mobile complementary therapies, injury prevention and rehabilitation sessions. Tel 07966 174878
LincsConnect Hour Host Advertising
Hosts can now have their details and advert added to this blog so let me know if you would like to host and advertise. You can use this blog to advertise the fact that you are hosting and encourage more people to join you. The more people who join, the more exposure your advert gets!
We look forward to seeing you (virtually) on Monday evening.
