So how was it for you...and yours? We wuz ill! Yes, us!! All that good stuff about go out do stuff and we wuz stuck in. Not an ill day in the year but Christmas Day.
Still who cares? We ate turkey, wore hats and drank wine, despite Beecham's dire warnings against that combo. Now the race is on to New Year and this bug had better xxd off by then. Really looking forward to 2009 think that we're heading for a fresh start - even if financially things are melting, hope that we'll all be better off in the long run. Boxing Day 2008, have a great time!
Friday, 26 December 2008
Wednesday, 24 December 2008
T'was The Day Before Christmas
T'was the day before Christmas and the trifle's unmade
the cake's on the side, the carols all played
we re all very excited about the stuff under the tree
although still searching for the tag labelled 'me'.
time to reflect on the year that i've had
some of it was great and most not at all bad
but nearly all the things i recall that were fun
are to do with time spent with a person, a some one.
getting older i realise that despite all the bling
despite all the must haves and that one special thing
the only real happiness that i ever had
was with friends and family and being the mum in mum and dad x
the cake's on the side, the carols all played
we re all very excited about the stuff under the tree
although still searching for the tag labelled 'me'.
time to reflect on the year that i've had
some of it was great and most not at all bad
but nearly all the things i recall that were fun
are to do with time spent with a person, a some one.
getting older i realise that despite all the bling
despite all the must haves and that one special thing
the only real happiness that i ever had
was with friends and family and being the mum in mum and dad x
Tuesday, 23 December 2008
Threads
In my header you can see a planet shaped ball of wool. This is to show that i like the idea that we follow threads of thought, as i have become interested in how live events affect us in all ways it has become increasingly an act of following a line of thought, likened to looking at a ball of wool, finding the end and then pulling it, to see where it leads. This means you can have no judgement on the matter, you merely pull. i follow any thought and see where it leads. the amazing thing is that you are always living in a state of some surprise, it takes me into worlds and ideas that i could not go from my own imagination and yet it means that i am constantly updating myself effortlessly. the internet has made this even more possible, but it can happen anywhere, i can see things in newsagent stands, in libraries, in bookshops, in museums and galleries. knowing what you are looking for and yet not knowing what you will find, is an exciting adventure, it also means i am pretty sure i am not just following everyone else's ideas or simply repeating the newspaper's version of events. allowing thinking to become rutted in a version from a newspaper is a waste of time and a recipe for disaster in the new order of things or life on earth version 3.0.
Monday, 22 December 2008
Alive & Kicking
Had a mega weekend, the sort of weekend other people have. Bit over the top really re the credit crunch, but one of those booked ages ago things and others invited us etc. So Thief of Baghdad, Annabels for dinner and Hansel & Gretel at ROH. Are things better live? My eternal question. Well there's the actual performance with which you share the energy in the room with everyone else, a collective experience, then there's the venues, full of the glitter and glamour that we all secretly enjoy, Annabels was dressed to the nines, full of tinsel and Christmas decking, sparkling. The Royal Opera House gives you the impression that you are back in the 1800's with carriages awaiting you. Then there's the drinks in the interval or before dinner, chatting to others and listening to stories, then there's the ride home feeling quite good about yourself, either your ability to sit through a German opera, or being popular and connected enough to get an invite or just being alive despite credit crunch R US. Even though I love the telly, especially huddled up with family watching something exciting or funny or addictive, there is something very special and memorable about the whole paraphenalia that going out to a live event delivers. Happy Christmas!
Friday, 19 December 2008
New Year - New Race
just thinking about the new year now, had a big concept about the human race a couple of years ago. a big idea for a stream of conscious style movie, enough, that's for a paying audience, but it's linked to this thought, if we emerge out of the caves as the human race, one by one and then as one moving through time and space to our ultimate destiny whatever, wherever that may lead, then some of us are fitter than others, some of us are funnier than others, some of us, dare i say it are cleverer than others, so that means that we start to run with our own family pack in the beginning but after a bit of time, we start to run with our friends more than our family, and then a bit later we change friends as we move through our own little race that we call life, bit by bit we act like birds of a feather and we flock together. so here's the thought for new year, have a look around at the pack you are running with, are they right for this time in your life, this part of the race? if they are not? what's your obvious choice...spend this lifetime running in the wrong part of the race, at the wrong speed, never able to laugh completely or be entirely understood. perhaps the first thing to do in 2009 is to reflect and then to take one step towards the year, find one new person from another pack that seems to reflect some of the angles that shine for you, hang around with them for a bit and then do it again. 2009 is the year for doing things differently and doing different things, it's a fab shake up time, enjoy!
Who're Ya Gonna Be?
Mindshare's leader of business planning Sheila Byfield says: "Change drivers like Sir Richard Branson and Sir Martin Sorrell never stop looking for opportunities, whether times are good or bad.
"This group has different attitudes to other senior executives. They influence the future shape of our business worlds and are incredibly important to the future director of business brands."
i know lots of wannabee ricky and marty's, people who talk the talk, who nod their heads sagely, when the conversation turns to innovation etc. but there are only a few who deliver. or are there? now i am thinking about it, doesn't every indi high street retailer that shuffles his or her window around every couple of weeks, reorganising the shelves, dusting off the stock, know something of innovation? trouble is lots of the big guys haven't done some of the work down at the roots of their luscious trees. some of their staff are not so innovative, not so hungry as ricky and marty. trouble with blogs they have a mind of their own. had no idea where this riff was going when i started. so i am wondering what is innovation really? isn't it customer contact, right up close and personal, really interested in the other guys story. i am really not sure that if i met ricky and marty at a party they'd be interested in the least in my story, thinking they may only be interested in their own. now i don't know what to think. cos yes i think they'll shape the future, but what future will they shape? will i be part of it, or will it be a future for ricky and marty look a likes? anyone care to comment?
"This group has different attitudes to other senior executives. They influence the future shape of our business worlds and are incredibly important to the future director of business brands."
i know lots of wannabee ricky and marty's, people who talk the talk, who nod their heads sagely, when the conversation turns to innovation etc. but there are only a few who deliver. or are there? now i am thinking about it, doesn't every indi high street retailer that shuffles his or her window around every couple of weeks, reorganising the shelves, dusting off the stock, know something of innovation? trouble is lots of the big guys haven't done some of the work down at the roots of their luscious trees. some of their staff are not so innovative, not so hungry as ricky and marty. trouble with blogs they have a mind of their own. had no idea where this riff was going when i started. so i am wondering what is innovation really? isn't it customer contact, right up close and personal, really interested in the other guys story. i am really not sure that if i met ricky and marty at a party they'd be interested in the least in my story, thinking they may only be interested in their own. now i don't know what to think. cos yes i think they'll shape the future, but what future will they shape? will i be part of it, or will it be a future for ricky and marty look a likes? anyone care to comment?
Friday, 21 November 2008
Why The Recession Is A Gift
Counter-intuitive I know, over optimistic possibly but...
according to many trend experts more of us are going to hole up indoors more, finding cheaper alternatives to going out...going out to the pub, going out to restaurants, going out shopping...now what are we going to do while we are indoors? Well some of us are going to play more electronic games and watch more mindless TV but a lot of us are going to find time for hobbies and interests. Cheap alternatives to expensive shopping. Now if we start cooking more, or sewing, or drawing, or carving, or painting and decorating, or ...we will want to know about how to do it better...be ready to take advantage of this new found interest. Make sure your marketing links to know-how sites on the internet and to books that are being sold. Use your customers to spread the word. Take advantage and watch the chance to build new audiences.
If we aren't able to buy all the latest fashion every season then perhaps we may start to create our own - a fashion event would be well advised to think a bit more about putting on sewing machine demonstrations making sure some of the audiences can see how to make their own clothes or adapt things they already own. Shopping in your own wardrobe is a newly minted phrase.
How about the trade events - well if you're a bit worried that you may not have covered all the angles and your competitors are ahead of you then the best place to be is in the industry trade space - n'est ce-pas?
How about the people that lose their jobs...well they are going to want to network more than ever aren't they?
How about people cutting budgets, well procurement may be a bit more open to new initiatives to help them find savings in unexpected places - again where's best to do that then?
As BT used to say 'it's good to talk'...well there's no better time to talk than in a downturn, turning challenges into opportunities takes talk and that's what this industry sells, talk time!
We're saying 2009 is the year of inventiveness, there is no better place to get inventive than at an exciting trade fair.
How about the doom and gloom and misery, well we're in the happy market, so we are part of the solution not the problem. Look at it this way, it's impossible to be gloomy when you are looking at a classic car or losing yourself amongst boats or bikes or whatever your particular persuasion is...a 30 year study shows that indulging in hobbies and pastimes is the best way to improve your mood. Yes, the best way.
So, all in all, this recession is the biggest opportunity this industry has had in the past 57 years - what are you waiting for? If you want more thinking like this and some targeted action to help you take advantage of that tsunami of opportunity - you know where we are...
according to many trend experts more of us are going to hole up indoors more, finding cheaper alternatives to going out...going out to the pub, going out to restaurants, going out shopping...now what are we going to do while we are indoors? Well some of us are going to play more electronic games and watch more mindless TV but a lot of us are going to find time for hobbies and interests. Cheap alternatives to expensive shopping. Now if we start cooking more, or sewing, or drawing, or carving, or painting and decorating, or ...we will want to know about how to do it better...be ready to take advantage of this new found interest. Make sure your marketing links to know-how sites on the internet and to books that are being sold. Use your customers to spread the word. Take advantage and watch the chance to build new audiences.
If we aren't able to buy all the latest fashion every season then perhaps we may start to create our own - a fashion event would be well advised to think a bit more about putting on sewing machine demonstrations making sure some of the audiences can see how to make their own clothes or adapt things they already own. Shopping in your own wardrobe is a newly minted phrase.
How about the trade events - well if you're a bit worried that you may not have covered all the angles and your competitors are ahead of you then the best place to be is in the industry trade space - n'est ce-pas?
How about the people that lose their jobs...well they are going to want to network more than ever aren't they?
How about people cutting budgets, well procurement may be a bit more open to new initiatives to help them find savings in unexpected places - again where's best to do that then?
As BT used to say 'it's good to talk'...well there's no better time to talk than in a downturn, turning challenges into opportunities takes talk and that's what this industry sells, talk time!
We're saying 2009 is the year of inventiveness, there is no better place to get inventive than at an exciting trade fair.
How about the doom and gloom and misery, well we're in the happy market, so we are part of the solution not the problem. Look at it this way, it's impossible to be gloomy when you are looking at a classic car or losing yourself amongst boats or bikes or whatever your particular persuasion is...a 30 year study shows that indulging in hobbies and pastimes is the best way to improve your mood. Yes, the best way.
So, all in all, this recession is the biggest opportunity this industry has had in the past 57 years - what are you waiting for? If you want more thinking like this and some targeted action to help you take advantage of that tsunami of opportunity - you know where we are...
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