How Advertising Works in Chippenham #22


  1. Start up your local computer business in a small rural town
  2. Think about ways in which you can show off your expertise
  3. Install a webcam at the side of your shop
  4. Wait for a blogger with a camera to realise it doesn't quite show off the town at its best
  5. Et voila!
I'm not really being fair as the company is located right behind where I took this photo, so they've had to work with what they have. I'm sure they'd have had all kinds of problems in getting permission to show off the Yelde Hall or the Buttercross in the marketplace at the other end of town. Besides, Brunel's railway viaduct is a grade I listed building too.
NAH thinks it's an extremely useful webcam as it allows Westinghouse employees to see if they'll be held up in traffic on the way home. I on the other hand am used to looking at webcam views such as this one in Sydney.
Chippenham's webcam updates every 10 seconds showing what's going on at the traffic lights at the bottom of New Road. If you wait long enough, you'll be able to see me on the way into town ;)

Update April 2012: The computer shop has moved up the road, so sadly the webcam isn't there any more. Hopefully they'll set up another one soon. I've taken a screengrab from this website as it shows a shot from 10th January 2012, so you can compare it with the photo I took and see what the webcam used to show. I like that it has a train going over the viaduct.

Comments

  1. Susan Tomlinson20 November 2010 at 14:05

    I think it looks kind of quaint, actually. I should post a view of what 34th street looks like here. Nowhere near as pleasant...:-D

    WV is "pling." Don't think it's a real word, but it should be.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The bike shed20 November 2010 at 16:07

    What I want to know is why that man is wearing an arrow on his head?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Damo20 November 2010 at 17:42

    Ah I use to work in the building in the Sydney view (the one lit up with a purple roof) - from memory it's number 1 O'Connell St or something similar and was called the Winter Garden Plaza (it was 11 years ago now) - I worked for HSBC at the time (or the HongKong Bank of Australia as it was then) and 1 day I was sent to the boardroom to go through a load of paperwork, a very dull job but for the view of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. To be fair the view from the IT shop would struggle to beat that!

    ReplyDelete
  4. RobD21 November 2010 at 10:59

    It's not so bad - I'm sure there are much worse webcam views. And plus the fact they're getting plenty of free advertising on the BBC - and here - so I reckon it's doing its job well ;>)

    ReplyDelete
  5. VP22 November 2010 at 08:28

    Susan - pling most definitely should be a real word. I had fummemoo earlier on today - another candidate methinks

    Mark - I wondered if anyone would notice that. Perhaps he's about to win the lottery?

    Damo - I love Sydney, hence my checking the webcam from time to time. My first job was at National Savings in Durham and the view from my office window was of the river, cathedral and castle. I still miss it.

    RobD - good point.

    ReplyDelete

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