Welsh butcher enjoys his own recipe for PR fun

One of Swansea's finest proponents of grassroots PR is about to hang up his hotline to the Evening Post.

Roger Thomas has been one of the city's finest butchers but now plans to retire.

He'll be missed not only for his range of exquisite meats, pies and ready-made meals but also for his passion for publicity.

Being the owner of a small business is tough, not least when you're competing against the big boys who seem to have marketing budgets the size of a nation state's GDP.

But Roger simply got on with the job in hand, ensuring that Sketty-based Howard Thomas and Sons - the business launched by his father - achieved more than its fair share of photo stories in the Evening Post.

Topical

Rugby was his favourite topical hook. If Wales won a Grand Slam he'd create a sausage with ingredients favoured by each of the defeated opponents - beef for England, malt whisky for Scotland ...

Invariably, a Post reporter would hear about the new offering, see it as a fun way of illustrating a big story and send out a photographer. Roger and his staff would be pictured with a string of their new bangers.

Only this summer he was still at it. Roger's World Cup sausage was a South African-style concoction of beef, pork, coriander, nutmeg, Worcester sauce, vinegar, garlic and thyme.

I'm ashamed to say that the Media Master family failed to make the short trip to Frogmore Avenue. Our loss.

What Roger did show is that a little creativity and cheek can go a long way in getting news of your business out there. Well done, Roger - now you'll have more time to enjoy reading your bulky scrapbook of press cuttings!

Swansea media duo make timely progress

The joint editors of the Community Times edition that slips through Media Master's Killay letterbox continue to make impressive progress.
Their new edition, datelined March, has a number of useful new editorial features and a few advertisers that haven't been too prominent in the past.
Editorial material offered by co-editors Lorna Davies and Joanne Caulfield includes a cinema review by Jeff Day (this month it's Avatar), a beauty review by Lorna, a day in the life of photographer Liam Reardon and a focus on Easter chocolate.
The advertisers who haven't made a habit of such promotion in the past include Home Instead Senior Care, the Swansea Excelsior Ladies Choir and Sketty's Edith Mai beauty and health spa.
This edition of Community Times heads for 5,000 addresses across Sketty, Uplands, Dunvant, Killay and Tycoch. If you'd like to speak to Lorna and Joanne about hitting that reasonably lucrative target market, give me a shout.

Swansea broadcast blast for Mike, Olly, Chris & Steve

Sketty broadcast phenomenon Mike Leahy is ploughing on energetically with his fledgling blog radio show In Town Today.
He broadcasts every Thursday from 7-8pm and the show can be enjoyed after that by download.
The latest features news from the Uplands Diner, home of The Beast breakfast, a frank chat with Swansea Council leader Chris Holley over budget cuts and some verse from Olly the Uplands street poet.
Olly's charming first poem begins: "The small, quiet village settles down, only protected by the stars/ The women make the suppers as the men put away the cars/ The lights disappear into the night as the village soundly sleeps."
There's a splendid interview with Steve Balsamo (pictured), lead singer of Swansea band The Storys who plan a rousing farewell gig at the Grand Theatre this June.
He tells Mike: "I grew up listening to my dad's favourite, Mario Lanza, and my mother's country choices like Jim Reeves. I was greatly influenced by that mix."
Tune in!

Photo: Terry Morris Photography

Mike the mic - Swansea's smallest media mogul

You can't keep a good man down - and Mike Leahy resides in that category.
The energetic Sketty marketeer runs what is possibly Swansea's smallest media operation.
Every Thursday from 7pm he lavishes upon the internet an hour-long show called In Town Tonight - http://www.intowntoday.co.uk/.
Being new to radio-blogging (and you're not alone there, Mike) the show has a few creases to iron out. He's refreshingly up front about that.
There are some genuinely interesting individuals and tales on In Town Tonight.
I recommend that those with a new product or service to flog, go on the show - Mike will welcome you because he understands that humanity makes for maximum texture to his output.
This week's effort is due to reveal that Mike is making rapid progress in developing the show's content. The line-up features:
• The musical Russian Orthodox priest
• Conversation from Rules, one of London's oldest restaurants - http://www.rules.co.uk/
• Swansea artist Martin Williams on working for the World Health Organisation
• Young film-makers
• Rag week with medical students
• The "naked writer" who reveals all
• Encouragement from Spencer Kelly, of BBC technology show Click - http://bit.ly/XTQ8V
• A competition from Taybarns - http://bit.ly/auPtHC.
And don't worry if you're out and about when the show airs - you can always log on and enjoy the recorded version whenver you like.