In business, there is a moment when everyone has to make a pitch; it might be your own personal OK Corral, when the consequences of failure are too painful to even contemplate, but it will always be an occasion where the outcome really matters. Brilliant Pitch will equip people to tackle pitch situations (however tough), improve their own skills and, importantly, leave them enthused about the idea of pitching and looking forward to the next one. It will do so first by outlining how to approach any pitch, then how to tailor the approach in different situations. There are secrets from the masters. There are pitch stories. (Such as the agency which pitched to British Rail, and deliberately kept them waiting in reception for an hour, with bad refreshments and no explanation for the delay…) The book brings the process to life, rather than simply listing things to do. It shows readers how they, too, can become great at pitching. Brilliant outcomes: It eliminates the possibility of doing a 'bad' pitch It will help readers get the content and preparation spot on by focusing on the needs of the audience. It will help give readers tons of confidence so they’ll not only deliver brilliant pitches, but they’ll be eager to pitch time and time again.

New to this third edition is an expanded leadership chapter - most leaders fail because they have no idea how to create a vision and strategy for their team or business plans for their offerings, and so this chapter following leadership will explore “Vision, strategy and plans”. Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about management – but were afraid to ask. The third edition of this book is a refreshingly honest and practical guide to the best managerial practice. Designed to give you a head start over those learning just from experience, this book contains an invaluable mixture of generally agreed best practice and real-life experience of others to provide the tools, tactics and techniques for every situation, to help you achieve brilliant management results. Most management books are theoretical, strategic or task-focused – this is different: fundamental principles of successful management are told in a refreshingly short readable way.

Examining the many controversies associated with pitch standards in Melbourne over more than a hundred years, Simon Purtell discovers their impact on the tuning of the city’s orchestras and organs, as well as its defence, municipal and Salvation Army bands. This fascinating history involves famous local and touring singers, conductors and organists, including Nellie Melba, Malcolm Sargent and William McKie, revealing just how complex a problem it was to ensure that Melbourne’s music-makers remained in tune. “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has nothing on the saga of ‘Pitch, pitch, that cursed pitch’: the seemingly endless and frequently caustic attempts to establish a uniform performing pitch for music in the Antipodes. It is a typically Melburnian drama of mixed deference to Britain and stubborn upholding of local interests that the author so eloquently and patiently chronicles, and it ranges from the almost theocratic intervention of Dame Nellie Melba at the beginning of the twentieth century to the Stanthorpe Apple and Grape Harvest Festival of 1972. At the same time, it will have been a battle taking place comparably in all the major cities of the British Empire and beyond, though each with its peculiar twists and turns. What Simon Purtell has done is show us, in immaculate detail, just how pervasive and intricate, not to mention costly, this tectonic realignment of a fundamental element of musical infrastructure must have been in all places over a very long period of time” (Emeritus Professor Stephen Banfield, Centre for the History of Music in Britain, the Empire and the Commonwealth, University of Bristol).

PRODUCING INDEPENDENT 2D CHARACTER ANIMATION takes an in-depth look at the artistry and production process of cel animation in a friendly, how-to manner that makes the sometimes tedious process of animation enjoyable and easy to understand. This book guides animators through every step of planning and production; includes examples of actual production forms, organization tips, screen shots, and sketches from the pre- to post-production processes; and contains detailed information on the hardware and software used to complete each step. By mapping out the course of how his small studio brainstormed, created, then produced its award-winning animation, TIMMY'S LESSONS IN NATURE, Mark Simon explains to animators what it takes-both creatively and resource-wise-to get their animations to market. Includes exclusive interviews with Oscar-nominated independent animator Bill Plimpton, Craig McCracken, creator of the POWER PUFF GIRLS, Craig "Spike" Decker of SPIKE & MIKE'S SICK AND TWISTED FESTIVAL OF ANIMATION, David Fine & Alison Snowden who are the Academy Award-Winning producers of BOB AND MARGARET, Cartoon Network's Senior Vice President of Original Animation, Linda Simensky, and Tom Sito, Co-Director of OSMOSIS JONES...as well as others.