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Merlin's Diary

merlin's diaryAn innovative new search-engine based website is about to revolutionise the promotion and public awareness of Mind Body Spirit events in the UK. For the first time, users will be able to access a centralised user-friendly listings site, complete with public reviews and events feedback that instantly brings together the most up-to-date national MBS event information.

At present, listings are spread across hundreds of sites, many of which are difficult to navigate. Unique to Merlin's Diary are the cross-reference mapping and coding functions. For example a weekend festival that contains multiple workshops, demonstrations and talks can be listed both as the event itself and as the individual presentations that make up the weekend. Web searches then conducted by individuals using criteria such as event type, subject/presenter details or even just postcode will link both entries giving the enquirer broader scope of information, and the promoters and organisers greater audience catchment and crossover.

Merlin's Diary offers other distinct advantages too such as: the ability to build up feedback ratings; the option to repeat list events (such as regular classes) at reduced prices; free downloadable flyers for users to circulate, assisting in valuable word of mouth PR; facility for users to add favourite events to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter increasing event outreach; detailed event information including distance and directions from user's home; facility to bookmark several events during search for more informed decision-making; and the ability to break down searches into specific event categories such as talks, seminars, courses, workshops etc.

Merlin's Diary is the brainchild of author, coach and events organiser Barry Durdant-Hollamby of East Sussex based partnership The Art of Change. He says: "Having been hosting MBS events for many years, it has become clear how difficult it is to disseminate event information to a targeted audience of Mind Body Spirit lovers. What I needed was an eBay™, Amazon™ or Autotrader™ equivalent for MBS events. A simple, well organised website where a user could just put in a search term such as 'meditation' or 'happiness' together with their postcode and instantly find events that might be of interest, complete with location and even directions. There's nothing like it on the net. That's how Merlin's Diary came to life."

Event organisers will be delighted to know that event listings are free for the foreseeable future, making the site an invaluable resource for the MBS market. This free listing is to encourage the thorough dissemination of event information. It is UK-based at the moment but the structure is in place for expansion into other international MBS markets. Phase two of the site, planned for next year, will also see a ticket-selling system introduced.

Merlin's Diary is here to make the whole Mind Body Spirit event information process more streamlined, more businesslike and much more powerful. Durdant-Hollamby says: "We hope that by making it easy to access MBS event details online we will bring many more people into the sector; that can only be a good thing for the market as a whole. The 'New Age' movement often gets bad press for being flaky and disorganised. Merlin's Diary is here to offer a unique service and also to demonstrate that this sector can be not only highly efficient, but is also full of groundbreaking events and fascinating people."

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