Month: November 2009

An unexpected week of successes

by mkingdon, posted in mkingdon

It would have been very hard to predict how this week was to pan out.  Monday saw me bedazzle several persons of some import, with details of what it is I have been up to for the past nine and a bit years.  Tres satisfying I must say.

After what has been almost a year of derision, doubt and another word beginning with d, some folk have had to quickly back track.

Then, later in the week, along with a colleague, I seem to have influenced more persons of import to make a decision that should see work be a whole lot easier in the long run.  It is tricky being so cryptic here, but it wouldn’t take too much for someone to stumble across these ramblings and connect the dots.

I made it to the gym three times this week, which is the best for a while, with all my jaunts out of the office.  I am to be away away again in a week or so at one of our Southern locations as a project needs “executing”.  More of that after the event.

Away from work, I re-discovered the genius of Jellyfish via YouTube.

Jellyfish
Jellyfish are genius, trust me.

It really is a travesty that they ony delivered two albums (of absolute class, originality, melody and the finest harmonies known to man) before disbanding.

Please check them out.

Then, this evening I have sinned by starting xmas shopping before the month of December commences.  Things have changed since the girls were younger, as xmas day mornings used to consist of four hours of trying to free the latest doll from the truly ludicrous packaging.  These days, it is electronics, clothes and cash.

The weekend beckons, and this sees us at the mobile shop trying to get the girls onto a mobile tariff that will accomodate their text addiction without breaking the bank.  Then on Sunday, we are off to the Good Food Show at the NEC, so the challenge will be getting the girls out of bed early enough.

Till the next time.

A brief trip to the capital…

by mkingdon, posted in mkingdon

It has been a full week, with two and a bit days in the “smoke” attending the Forrester Marketing Forum EMEA by the Thames.

It truly was a Planes, Trains and Automobiles journey, minus the planes, as my company are too tight to do that.  However, it was car to Preston, train to Euston, and then what seemed like endless tubes to Southwark.  But wait, did I not say the event was by the Thames?  Yes, I did.  So why the did I go to Southwark?

Simples!  It saved about £20 a night on the hotel.  The tube fares and shoe leather cost about £40, but hey ho!!  The Travelodge at Southwark was a total hole, and was barely one up from a hostel.

Anyway, enough moaning.  The event itself was pretty good though, with some great seminars from the likes of LEGO, ING Direct, Starbucks and a new company called Magiq, who consist of some folks I’ve worked with for a while, so I wish them well.  I took some inspriation and ideas away with me, before realising that I’ll have to work somewhere else before I can implement them.  Work is woeful, with what seems to be a very slow limp to the finish line.  We need putting out of our misery.  Still, with luck I won’t have to stick around to see it finally take the bullet.

So this week I learnt that my company’s accomodation policy is pitiful, some companies other than mine actually believe that online is worthwhile, and that Starbucks have over half a million friends on Facebook.  One day they will have more than my daughters!!

So after surviving the city I’ve had two very hectic days back in the office, but found time to catch up with my ex boss over a coffee.  It was great to catch up, and to get some sanity from outside the walls of the asylum.

The weekend arrives, and I have things I need to get done, the most important of which is a haircut as I am resembling a cross between Bob Greaves and Liberace.  Not a great look.  Then I need to take Emily (eldest) to the O2 shop to investigate a tariff that is affordable, and can sustain her 40,000 texts per month lifestyle.

As Forrester predicted, the next ten years is all about the growth of the mobile channel in the multi channel experience….and that is just from my daughters!

Forgive me, it has been several days since my last post….

by mkingdon, posted in mkingdon

Work gets more manic by the day, and I have to be honest that this constant fire fighting and lurching from one disaster to another is getting a tad tedious.  We haven’t had anything as boring as business as usual for years.

Not to worry, I have two days off now, but am preparing for an important day tomorrow, with a couple of opportunities I cannot divulge full details of here.  I shall when the time is right of course dear reader.

As I career (see what I did there) at full speed into my mid life crisis, I have a feeling that it is time to stop playing things safe, and take a risk or two.  I fear these opportunities will come to nought, and I shall once again be cast into a pit of firey depression and self loathing,  cursing my ineptitude, incompetence and all round lack of va va voom.

So a short post today as I must retire to my pit in the hope that a rested brain will stand me in good stead tomorrow, and my form shall be that of the top variety.  A change is required, and I hope I can deliver, as the frustrations of day to day work are growing.  Nine years in, that is no surprise.

I wonder if others have the feeling of “being found out”?  I am of the mind that those who succeed are those who can hide that the best.  Nine tenths of a bullshit facade and one tenth real ability.  Hmm, time to relieve the shoulder of the chip, best foot forward, and show some self belief fat boy.

Onwards, upwards, and I shall report back when it is appropriate.

I must be getting old.

by mkingdon, posted in mkingdon

Years ago, when I was young, my Mum used to always say..

“Its Friday again…these weeks are just flying by”

They never used to seem that way to me, but the older I get, the quicker the weeks fly by.  This week has shot by more than most, as I spent almost two days out and about, down in Stroud to be exact.

I used to get out and about with work all the time, but with increasing responsibility, and having developed a hatred for traffic jams in a previous job which involved around 40,000 miles a year, in recent years I haven’t so much.

Anyway, I enjoyed my little trip, apart from the journey down, which should, according to the sat nav, have taken just under three hours, and ended up taking nearer to six.

I stayed over in a lovely place called The Ragged Cot.  Great value too in terms of the room (£65).

Ragged Cot Room
My room.

So I spent Tuesday evening there, having a lovely dinner with my favourite supplier.  I had Olives and Bread to start, followed by a lovely steak with a stilton sauce.  It was well done in all ways.

Wednesday saw a meeting with the development team at Merus Software who are a really great team, and are close enough to being rocket scientists to make me look good!!  I forgot to say that Wednesday started with a full English, despite still being full from the night before.

After what then turned into a large lunch, I waddled to the car around 3pm, and battled my way up my favourite motorway, the M5, to then battle a lot harder to get up the M6, my least favourite by some distance.

It was dark, pouring down, and busy.  So after three hours staring at a set of brake lights I got in around 7pm.  I declined any tea!!  Too full.

The rest of the week was pay back for daring to leave the office, with a very busy Thursday (see last post) and an equally manic Friday.  So here we are, Friday evening, sat, laptop on my…well, lap, watching the girls flick through music channels.  Adam Lambert’s new single is on right now.  An incredible voice indeed.

So what have we learned this week?

Spend more time out of the office, be ready to pay the price for doing so, I need to go the gym a few more times to work off my excessive dinner, breakfast and lunch and writing a blog like this is probably only of interest to me!!

Oh yes, and to top of my hectic week, a friend and colleague (who won’t be either if he does it again) phoned me from West Palm Beach, to let me know how his holiday is going, under the pretence that he was making sure we were coping without him.  Thanks, I enjoyed that Steve.

Till the next time.

Hello world!

by mkingdon, posted in mkingdon

No big intro or back story.  Can’t really be bothered to be honest.  You’ll get to know me as we go along.  This might help.

A very busy and stressful day at work today, consisting of two interviews, (one of my least favourite activities) a couple of meetings, a one to one with one of my managers and about thirty thousand interruptions at my desk whilst desperately trying to clear the backlog caused by daring to have a day out of the office yesterday.  Wow, that was a long sentence!!

Despite having done what I do for more or less nine years now, I’ve been trying to educate myself a little recently on the vast, complex and mystical world of digital marketing, social media etc.

Being a recent iPhone convert (well, I got one from work), I have been dipping my toe into the waters of podcasts.  Some for pleasure, like Stephen Fry, Dave Gorman and Ricky Gervais, but others about work stuff.  I have to say I have learnt some things that have actually been of use in my day to day job.  When I use these nuggets at work, my guys, who thought I was just some sort of “jack of all trades” charlatan, give me a worried look, realising that I might actually know something about what I employ them to do all day.

Seems to me that all these experts in the dark arts of online marketing are called Kelvin or Niall, and wear posh open neck shirts, with cufflinks the size of golf balls, and only drink £7.50 coffees from Starbucks.  99% image and 1% knowledge in most cases, but have a £950 day rate.

Actually I must apologise to a real Kelvin, who does know his stuff, and appears on one of these here podcasts from AI-Digital.  I’ve found their podcasts the most informative, even though Kelvin tends to say “as it were” about every six seconds.  🙂

Work is weird at the moment, but really has been that way for the past four years, and it feels like we’ve been in a state of constant upheaval for all that time.  We have a new MD this week, but he is only interim (but so were the last two), so we’re all charging round trying to press palms and make a good first impression.

It seems like a groundhog day loop of getting to know, impress and educate a new guy every year or so.  Stability, where art thou??

I’m too tired for insightful prose tonight.  Not a great night to start your blog then is it?  Anyway, Phil and Kirsty are on the telly, the girls are at guides (and need picking up in thirty minutes), and my eyelids are like lead.  Early night I think, with tomorrow being a little less manic than today.

Now, if I can work out how to publish this thing…….