Greatest Cup Never Run unveiled

Melbourne Cup winning jockeys, Glen Boss and Roy Higgins, joined Greg Carpenter, Terry Henderson and Mick Robins as well as special guests The Hon. John Brumby, Premier of Victoria, VRC chairman Rod Fitzroy and event MC Bruce McAvaney on Wednesday at the Melbourne Museum to launch The Slattery Media Group's new book – The Story of the Melbourne Cup, Australia’s Greatest Race.

A celebration of this year’s 150th running of the Melbourne Cup, this beautiful coffee-table book – nearly four years in the planning – is filled with superb racing essays complimented by magnificent illustrations and images.

As part of the launch, ‘The Greatest Cup Never Run’ – a fictional Melbourne Cup field, featuring 24 of the most outstanding winners of the Cup – was announced by VRC deputy CEO Sue Lloyd-Williams, Racing Victoria chairman of stewards, Terry Bailey and Deputy Premier, The Hon. Rob Hulls. This release of this field has generated much debate over the past 24 hours.

Attendees at the book launch were treated to a Q&A panel, hosted by McAvaney and featuring Boss, Higgins, Carpenter, Henderson and Robins. The panel provided a unique insight into the characters, genius trainers, skilled riders and champion horses, who made the field and played a starring role in the commemorative book.

“The past 149 years has seen countless exhilarating, courageous and heartbreaking Melbourne Cups, and it is the stories and emotions that make up this iconic race that we wanted to capture in The Story of the Melbourne Cup, Australia’s Greatest Race,” said Geoff Slattery. “This book is the most extensive historical and cultural account of the Melbourne Cup ever offered, an exciting depiction of the history of the Melbourne Cup and a testament to its incredible national and international significance.”

Thirty-five of Australia’s premier racing and sporting writers contributed to the book, including John Harms, Andrew Lemon, Neil Kearney, Bruce Clark, Adrian Dunn, Andrew Rule, Gerard Whateley, Danny Power, Jim McGrath and Mike Sheahan.

To find out more about The Story of the Melbourne Cup, Australia’s Greatest Race click here.

New Our Great Game iPhone app out now

Today The Slattery Media Group unveiled a free iPad application based on our most recent publication, Our Great Game – The Photographic History of Australian Football. With more than 25 images and captions to view, the iPad app is a great sneak peek of the book which launched earlier this month. Download the free app here.

If you're interested in an iPad or iPhone application for your product or service, email our digital team here.

Handmade in Melbourne iPhone app

This week our talented digital team launched an exciting new iPhone application in Handmade in Melbourne. Based on the 2nd edition book of the same name, the app is a directory of 200 of Melbourne’s finest artisans and craftspeople.

With a stunning design and quality content on each artisan, the app is packed with features helping you to easily and quickly locate the artisans you’re interested in by category, location or stockists. Search 39 craft categories – including fashion, accessories, furniture, homewares, metalwork, textiles, jewellery, and much more.

This new iPhone app is perfect for anyone looking for inspiration to explore their own creativity, as well as giving Melburnians, overseas and domestic visitors a glimpse of the city’s creative heart.

For only $4.99 you can download this guide to buying Handmade in Melbourne here.

Footy Lite #1!

Footy Lite, our flagship iPhone application, has peaked at #1 on the iTunes Store in the ‘Free Sports iPhone App’ category, and is ranked #76 overall on the iTunes Store. This puts Footy Lite ahead of some of the big players on the iTunes Store, such as the Commonwealth Bank, Dominos, Yellow Pages and… the Official Miley Cyrus application!

Our digital team has had their ear to ground, listening carefully to our users requests, likes and dislikes. They’ve been working hard to implement as many of the suggested improvements as possible. Recent updates include adding photos to the player profiles and push notifications to give users the most up-to-date news and scores.

Feedback thus far has been fantastic, and we are planning more innovative updates for the app by the end of the 2010 AFL season...

Download the latest version here.

If you are interested in advertising on Footy Lite, please contact Andrew Slattery on 03 9627 2600.

AFL greats launch Our Great Game

Sam Newman, Kevin Bartlett, Allan Jeans and Tony Jewell yesterday formed a panel at the launch of The Slattery Media Group's new book, Our Great Game, The Photographic History of Australian Football.

Joined by Australian Hall of Fame Legends Kevin Murray and Bob Skilton, the panel discussed a number of images featured in the book. Jeans, looking at a photograph taken after coaching St Kilda to its only premiership win in 1966, reminisced: “It was a long, hard battle (to get there) in those days.”

Bartlett, an Australian Hall of Fame Legend and former Richmond great, provided a summary of events that took place during the infamous Windy Hill brawl in 1974. “Essendon officials came in and started whacking Richmond players, who were whacking Essendon players, who were whacking (Richmond’s) Mal Brown, who was still holding (Essendon’s) Graeme Jenkin by the balls … that was the reason it all began,” he said.

Newman, a 300-game star for Geelong, delivered a ringing endorsement. “This is a fantastic book of what this great game is about. Sometimes we speak ill of it (the game) and most of the time it's theatre but this is a great book. You are to be congratulated for putting it together and this (book) will be almost mandatory for anyone that's ever been to the game around Australia.” Ever the comedian, Newman suggested that if a second edition was published, that he at least had a photograph included of him getting a tap out (he appears twice in the book, once having his ankle strapped by a trainer and the other lining up to congratulate Kevin Murray on his 300th game). Newman then produced the type of photograph he was suggesting, much to the amusement of those in the MCG’s Olympic Room.

Last night on Channel 9’s The Footy Show, Newman continued his praise (much to our delight). “I went to a launch today of the best book you'd ever buy. A fantastic book. This is as good a reference to our great game from when it started up until the present. If ever I was going to recommend anything this is it. This is a sensational book.”

Our Great Game is available now at all good bookstores and AFL stores – click here for further information and to view media coverage on Our Great Game.

Evans & Partners Morning Mail Videos

The Slattery Media Group has been working with Evans & Partners on the implementation of their new Morning Mail videos. Evans & Partners produce each video daily with up-to-the minute news received just minutes before the stock market opens.

Our services have allowed Evans & Partners to simply upload their source video to a hosting server and we take care of the conversions required to give end users the best possible video experience. Our experience has shown that by producing files in the three most popular formats (MP4, OGG and FLV), they are able to be viewed by almost all visitors.

The video module has been compiled using the latest HTML5 technologies, giving users a great interface, and the video is able to be viewed in full screen when running in a modern browser such as Safari and Firefox. We have also been able to provide access for iPad and iPhone devices, which isn’t normally possible due to most online video being streamed using Adobe Flash. For more information on our digital services click here.

Collingwood stars launch The Official Collingwood Illustrated Encyclopedia

Dale Thomas and Steele Sidebottom yesterday launched The Official Collingwood Illustrated Encyclopedia at Angus & Robertson, Bourke Street. Thomas and Sidebottom, two of Collingwood's most popular young players, went head-to-head in a handball competition before signing copies of the book, and fans were also treated to a Collingwood-themed balloon and photo with the players.

The Official Collingwood Illustrated Encyclopedia, written by Michael Roberts and Glenn McFarlane with a foreword by Eddie McGuire, celebrates the rich history of this great club – players, coaches, premierships won and lost, fans, memorable moments and more, all captured in stunning photos. Profiles of the Magpie heroes and legends are also featured, with a decade-by-decade analysis of the club since its first official match in 1892 and a look at the football families who have black-and-white running through their veins.

This updated edition also includes profiles of new inductees in the club’s Hall of Fame and headline-grabbers from the previous five years. In club president Eddie McGuire’s words, “The Official Collingwood Illustrated Encyclopedia is all about the culture that makes this great club. It has gathered all the reasons why we exist: a champion club, created by champion supporters, creating champion teams, made up of champion players. We have a great story to tell, and this book tells that story brilliantly.”

Thanks to Angus & Robertson, Bourke Street for assisting with the successful launch. The Official Collingwood Illustrated Encyclopedia is available now – click here for further information.

I want to be a....

If you could write a book along the lines of I want to be an Olympian, what would it be titled? I want to be a dancer? I want to be a gymnast? I want to be a chef? These were just a few of the answers Sally Carbon, Olympic gold medallist and author of I want to be an Olympian, received today when presenting to the students of Methodist Ladies' College in Kew.

Sally spent three hours with grades two to six, teaching the girls plenty of facts about the Olympics and sport in general, as well as letting them in on secret tips for writing their own books.

Sally has also visited Doncaster Primary School during her time in Melbourne, and yesterday was a guest on ABC774's Conversation Hour with Jon Faine.

Purchase a copy of I want to be an Olympian here.

AFL team canvases now for sale

The 2010 AFL team canvas collection is the latest addition to our suite of AFL image products. An official AFL licensed product, the canvases are available for eight popular teams: Carlton, Collingwood, Geelong Cats, Essendon, Hawthorn, St Kilda, West Coast Eagles and Western Bulldogs. Featuring the marquee players of the 2010 season, the team canvases are set to be an annual product range, updated each year to include the heroes of your club. Priced at $100, these canvases are the perfect gift for the ultimate footy fan. Available now at AFL Stores, AFL Club Merchandise shops and online by clicking here.

A real-life Jackson!

Last Saturday, Dwayne Russell had the pleasure of meeting a 'real life' Jackson. The recently turned five-year-old had just finished his first day at Auskick when he and his parents came to Werribee Plaza where Dwayne was signing copies of Jackson's Footy. Still in his footy boots, Jackson had his book signed and got the chance to show Dwayne just how good he was at handballing.

Dwayne was at Werribee Plaza as a guest of Collins Booksellers & ABC Centre Werribee. He will continue to make appearances around the state to sign copies of Jackson's Footy.