The power of community - the small, big things

This world is amazing.

I tweet that I want to play guitar again and someone I have never met gives me a guitar, won't take a penny for it. You have to stop sometimes and reflect on how amazing people can be when they feel part of a community.

For my part I have freely given start up advice, relationship stories and fostered partnerships that have blossomed but still I didn't expect a guitar. Humbling really. 

Another day, another dollar

Today is an important day for me; I have decided not to go back into agency-land but to strike out for myself, returning to the roots of my career.

My reasons for this are many but it really comes down to a belief that I achieve my best work when I am free from the inertia of a large agency, and especially free from the shackles of selling over creating.

Currently I am working on a number of lovely projects including Head of Digital at Nova Festival, but I do have capacity so please let people know I am available for hire. 

 

Life is about being happy

A very dear friend sent this to me a while ago, I think it applies to everyone:

My view on social media

Everything is social. Social media is not a separate skill, but something that each part of each organisation touches in some way. It is inescapable but can be harnessed and to harness it there is value in looking at social media, and the part it plays, under a microscope.

Things you should know if you work in digital communications: some history

I was rendered unusually speechless on Monday evening and I wanted to put you in the situation and ask what you think. The scene is a Social Media Week conference, 150 professionals interested in digital communications, are packed into a room and as an aside a speaker says “Hands up who has heard of Alan Turing?". How many hands do you think go up?

Three.

Yes, three. Three hands go up in the room to signal that they know of the man who by played a significant role in the creation of the modern computer.

Come on, something is wrong when people don’t know the origins of the technology that allowed social media to exist, right? I wanted to ask the room if they know who Tim Berners-Lee is, but I refrained; I might leap into the Thames if I didn’t see 150 hands go up.

Does history matter?