The Project

Independent film specialists Raindance attracts visits to its website plus questions over email from moviemakers across the world. So when its current hosting supplier failed to make the final cut, it turned to Memset.

Elliot Grove, Raindance’s founder, says: Memset now host our busy website and all of our emails. And OMG, the change was immediate and dramatic.

The Background

We were with another hosting service which was always breaking down. says Elliot. "We would have two or three total disconnects and website crashes a week.

Raindance run Europe's largest independent film festival (Raindance) and a film training programme including Britain's largest postgraduate film degree. They also have a membership programme that offers information and advice on all things film-wise.

In 2014, the website had 2.5m unique visitors and Raindance were the second largest film organisation in Europe after the British Film Institute (BFI).

Since 1992, Raindance has had a reputation for innovation so it’s crucial they are always there with information, advice and innovation when people need them.

We chose Memset because

Elliot says his key requirements as a non-techie was to have a solution that could be implemented quickly, be simple to comprehend and be cost effective.

He explains: We wanted reliability and security. If our website goes down as it did previously, we lose business."

Memset was able to offer us a range of products and tailor them to suit us. The service offered is also very competitively priced.

He adds: My technical experts were worried about security and Memset was able to satisfy them with an easy-to-understand solution."

Yes there are tickets and ticket numbers when you need help, but behind each ticket there is a human being who actually cares.

The end result

It’s been a terrifically excellent customer/supplier relationship, says Elliot. For someone not so technical, they are very helpful."

"We are having a new website built which required different server software. I was mortified when our developer gave me the list of geeky tech stuff, but Memset had all the new bells and whistles installed overnight."

Since Raindance switched to Memset, its web traffic and social media has grown a staggering 41% year on year. Web visit times have increased as well, which Elliot says were in large part due to user satisfaction with the experience (according to in-house surveys).

He adds: "As we get to grips with the various possibilities offered by the advanced tools and technologies offered by Memset, we are coming up with better ways to utilise our service from them."

In a nutshell

Elliot cites three main reasons why Raindance chose Memset. He says:

They are quietly confident and professional. Moving to Memset was incredibly easy, a simple 1-2-3 step method that was clear, easy-to-understand and execute.

Memset impressed as they have powerful online tools we can use as we grapple with the reality of needing to host film content - which we do for our MA programme.

I have learned that for any business to succeed, especially a new media content creator and provider such as Raindance, it must have an online media strategy. Memset knew exactly what we needed doing and how to do it.

And finally

Elliot offers this advice to anyone thinking of moving to the cloud or choosing Memset. He says: Get started as early as possible and make sure what you are being offered is what you really need, and what you really want.