I’m so excited to report that donations are starting to come in for the Charity Auction and Tweetup at Manchester’s Living Room on Thursday 25th June.

Starbucks Manchester Arndale have kindly donated a hamper!

Tampopo, Manchester’s original noodle bar, which serves dishes from all over the far East have also said they’ll donate something, possibly a meal for two.  They are based in Exchange Square.

How did all that happen?

Well, I spent much of yesterday afternoon going to a number of shops in Manchester city centre, introducing myself and talking to the manager about 7 Wonders in 7 Days.  I had a small media pack with a covering letter addressed to each manager, a copy of the Press Release and flyer in tow.

Tampopo were one of the first I went to that were happy to provisionally agree.   Starbucks were amazing, the manager just said, “What do you need from us?”

I now understand why they display so many posters about their charitable work around the world in their stores.   You get the impression Starbucks really care and after getting a reaction like that, from walking off the street, I’m convinced they do.

I’m hoping to hear back from the other shops I went to early next week.  In the meantime, I’m bowled over by the reaction of staff at Tampopo and Starbucks.  Thanks so much, you made my afternoon!

Friday was a pretty busy day.  I spoke to a couple of agents for well-known writers/celebrities about 7 Wonders in 7 Days who were very supportive.  I’ll keep you posted on the outcome of those conversations as soon as I can!

I also spoke to a lovely reporter from the Manchester Evening News’ Salford Advertiser who will be interviewing me about 7 Wonders in 7 Days on Monday and taking pictures.

Looking forward to that!

She was particularly interested in how I would be dealing with the physical demands of the actual trip.  I’m going to be crossing multiple time zones, sleeping on planes and dashing from airport to airport.

I will be asking for tips on how to best cope with all that transcontinental travel on Twitter closer to the time.   In the mean time, I tweeted a question about Michael Palin after the journalist asked me whether I had asked him how he coped with his incessant travelling.

For those that are unaware, Michael Palin CBE is best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python.  He has appeared in a number of films including A Fish Called Wanda and is also a highly regarded travel broadcaster.

I tweeted a question to find out if he’s on Twitter.

A journalist wanted to know if I’d asked Michael Palin about travel fitness tips. Anyone know if he is on Twitter? Please RT. #90909
1:08 PM Jun 19th from web

I’ll chase that up next week as I didn’t really follow it up very well.

I also met up with Kate Butler, freelance communications manager and the latest addition to Team 7 Wonders on Friday.

Kate and I had a really interesting chat during which we discussed managing the PR and publicity for 7 Wonders in 7 Days after Thursday’s Tweetup.  It was really helpful as I hadn’t really thought about it, I’ve been so busy focusing on the Tweetup.

She had some fabulous ideas about keeping the momentum going after Thursday.  She will be managing PR communications regarding the 7 charities I am raising money for through the trip going forward.

The positive developments on Friday were all the more interesting because they came after I received the first negative comment about the 7 Wonders in 7 Days project on the website.

I responded as best as I could.  Check it out: what do you think?

What would you say?

Let me know in the comments.

Your thoughts on the donations from Starbucks and Tampopo also welcome!

Image credit: www.wcmhblogs.com