Were there blue words over the white cliffs of Dover?

When Kent based IT company X:drive Computing Ltd felt they needed a really big advert to launch their latest product WhosOff.com, a free online Staff Holiday Planner, an attention grabbing 30 Metre high advert across the White Cliffs seemed like a good idea, said their Director Philip Cross. We imagined all the scaffolding and specialist rope climbers we would need, and even thought of writing to Dover District Council - just so we could get turned down. In the end we just got painting and did it!

But donít panic everyone, itís only a PR stunt. WhosOff.com just used an image from their computers, and sent it out to ten thousand Kent based business on a seaside postcard to advertise a new staff holiday planner. The image showed the classic view of the White Cliffs of Dover with what appeared to be the companyís website address in 100ft high blue lettering. The result caused quite a stir and had many people totally fooled.

It might have been quicker to actually paint the real White Cliffs of Dover, says Philip Cross. At one point we nearly gave up on the idea, and after many days of trying we just couldnít get the right look, but I think we pulled it off in the end. It looks real but itís clearly just a bit of fun - in the long tradition of seaside postcards.

But who or what is WhosOff.com? Itís a beautifully simple idea for all businesses to use, and itís free: an Online Staff Holiday Planner. The concept was created following feedback from the companyís clients who reported big problems looking after staff holidays. It seemed to be a real nightmare to be certain of whoís off when, and how much holiday each member of staff has left. The solution is to provide the classic easy top follow wall planer presentation to all staff via the Internet, yet applying some powerful rules to co-ordinate each personís number of days left, and who should not be off with who. Applications for holidays are made online over a secure Internet connection which checks that the staff member has sufficient days holiday remaining, alongside any other restrictions that each individual client company may wish to apply. This is all done before being sent to an approver for final approval. Which of course means that some staff will still experience that dreaded line: .the computer says NO.

The White Cliffs postcard campaign has already captured the imagination with over 50 companies signing up on day one. If you are wondering íhow can it be free?í - itís like so many other Internet services which are paid for by the advertising on the site. In short, itís another age-old problem solved by the Internet for free.