SD Create

A mismatch of 📸 but definitely a grid worthy milestone.

So saying ‘feck it’ to curated feeds and posting the lot!

So proud to pick up two awards at the awards on Friday night:

🏆 Culture, Art, Sport & STEM campaign for our work for .belfast

🏆 Plus Independent PR Practitioner of the Year.

Without going all ‘Oscars acceptance speech’ a few reflections and thank yous, because whilst this business is an independent practice, I seldom work solo.

When I started SD Create in 2022, I wanted to build something different.

This business is built on collaboration and from my experience, that’s where creativity thrives.

I’m surrounded by the most incredible associates, consultants, creatives, photographers, videographers, designers, and events people that I handpick to create bespoke teams: the best people, for the best briefs.

And it was an absolute pleasure to celebrate with so many of them on Friday. We definitely should have won a third award - Best table - the craic was mighty. 🤣

Huge thanks to all our clients and special hat tip to .mimi, Emma Hart, and the entire Strand team for trusting us, it’s a privilege to help tell your story. And a massive thank you to my right hand woman, who has been absolutely central to this and lots of other projects over the last two years.

It was lovely to celebrate with lots of other longtime collaborators, Stephanie , , , , , , .greenan, - I wish I could have invited more (WE NEED A BIGGER BOAT) but I’m so grateful to you for being part of it all.

Finally, big thanks to and all of the CIPR NI committee for a great night. We see you and all the work that goes in from a voluntary committee on top of the day job; and for the pics that will stand out here from the rest!

Congrats to all the winners and those shortlisted. We have a great PR community here and it’s great to be part of it.

I’ll leave it there. 😴 You’ll find longer musings over on LinkedIn if you’re remotely interested…

Our first CREATE Connections event did what it set out to: bring people together, creating space for conversation and collaboration. 🤝

& were joined by a fantastic panel:

• Martin Breen, Deputy Editor-in-Chief at & Sunday Life
• , Northern Ireland Photographer of the Year
• , comedy promoter at TSW Management (also Sinead’s long-suffering but brilliant husband )

We covered a lot of ground, but the common themes kept coming back to connection and collaboration and how that drives creativity; and storytelling as the heartbeat of journalism, PR, marketing, photography & comedy.

So much more to reflect on and share off the back of some genuinely great conversations, but for now, a few big thank yous:

To the community team for all their support and help. Excited to collaborate and host more events together in this beautiful space that we’re proud to call home for our business.

Our wonderful speakers, who shared their experiences and advice so generously.

Lynette Fay for doing an exceptional job as our host and MC – if you need an event host, don’t deliberate, just book her!

, who designed the SD Create brand three years ago and helped bring that that to life last night with some lovely digital and print branded bits.

Our friends at and for the gorgeous margaritas and Palomas.

for the gorgeous food and the perfect events space.
connor1 from who was a massive help on the night and kept the show on the road.

Ashleigh Averell from who knocked it out of the park (as always) with signage and branded merch. In LOVE with our new lightbox. ❤️

Andrea, Stephen & John from who demoed their fab digital ad walkers, with creative from our speakers (and )
greenan for snapping these shots – unbelievably my phone was on aeroplane mode all night!

And everyone that took the time on a dark, cold November evening to come along and enter the spirit of it plus supporting our charity partner for the eve ❤️

May Mayhem, part two 🤞

🥃 Dram-atic news – in May we marked the highly anticipated official opening of with two bursts of PR. Last week Harbourview’s exclusive new 1608 whiskey flight made a big splash, headlines locally and nationally.

The flight offers connoisseurs the chance to taste a curated selection of Bushmills’ rarest and finest whiskeys for £1,608 - a quirky nod to the year received its license to distil. Having worked with Bushmills on content projects to support two of the bottles that feature in the flight - the 46 YO Secrets of the River Bush, and 36 YO Hill St Edition - this was a particularly special launch. If you get the chance to sample these whiskeys, you are very, very lucky.

But if that’s out of your budget, there are a range of tasting flights starting from just £15, plus a great range of whiskey events and experiences, fab food, and stylish rooms if you’re looking for a summer getaway.

🤐 Secret Squirrels – we worked with a number of local content creators to build buzz for Victoria Square’s Secret Soirée event.

🍹Summer Cocktails – we’re working with Jose Cuervo tequila for a range of collaborations and cocktail events this summer highlting core Cuervo serves including the Paloma & Margarita (firm faves here in SD towers) - keep your eyes on the feed for future pop ups, giveaways and more.

👀 First Look at the future Strand – We’re proud to support the incredible .belfast team on media outreach for the £6.5m transformation of this true Belfast icon. There’s no better buzz than seeing the coverage roll in – locally and nationally – for a project you truly believe in. ❤️

🏢 Finally, we moved into to our first city centre office. We’re very excited to have a new base at the brand spanking new Bedford Street space, signalling the start of an exciting new chapter as we approach three years in business this summer. 🎂