The day I met the Queen
There's no way of dropping this in without it sounding crow-barred in, so I'll just say it.
Last Thursday, I was presented to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh as one of 14 business people to discuss the challenges and opportunities that this economy is presenting. They were in the North West to open the Leigh Sports Stadium and to visit the institutions of Heinz and Warburtons but had requested the chance to meet a few business people on the way. I was lucky enough to meet her alongside people such as Dave Whelan, Martin Ainscough, Imran Hakim, Moneeb Awan and Amin Amiri.
It was a surreal experience but one that certainly makes you appreciate what a great marketing asset we have in the pair of them, especially after they had spent the best part of an hour with us.
Dave Whelan said to me over lunch that he was going to ask her to disolve Parliament and start again in the light of the ongoing expenses storm but we both agreed that it probably wasn't the time to raise the subject.
My mother has already started dining out on the back it. Great day.
Collaboration's what we need
Throughout history every slowdown/recession/depression has resulted in a new emphasis coming out of the period. These periods are traditionally a way that the market clears out dying industries or practices and replaces them with the new blood.
Following the industrial age and the 70's recession, the eighties saw the turn of the i-bankers to emerge. The rise of private equity and hedgies as a power in the noughties leads us to where we are.
This period is no different and it is interesting to see the evolving market take a bit more shape.
From where I sit, after the last 12 months of market paralysis, there is a growing tide of activity and energy. People are getting together and talking. The new entrepreneurs are emerging. As always, Apple set the agenda by understanding that the i-phone wasn't the holy grail but merely a box. The real prize sits within. The ability to create content that produces sustainable ongoing revenues. But the key aspect of this is that instead of keeping this to themselves they threw their code out to all the tecchies and invited them to share in the revenue that it's apps can create. Instead of hundreds of developers, all of a sudden they had thousands.
To me this is the future of business life. I am seeing it day in, day out. I am involved in numerous projects now that are truly collaborative ventures and we are lucky to be in a region that seems to be leading the way in this new model of working.
Maybe I'll be proved wrong but if you don't see a world changing venture coming out of this region in the next few years, I'll eat my i-phone.
Students should be given a 'right royal rollocking'
There are a number of high profile and controversial education stories in today’s nationals.
The front page of the Independent focuses on an interview with Sir Alan Steer, the Government behaviour “tsar” and his views on how schools should be dealing with badly behaved pupils. The article has also been picked up by the Telegraph.
In the interview with the Independent, Sir Alan, a former headteacher said that “sending them to the head and giving them a right royal rollocking could be better than giving them a fixed-term exclusion.” He has warned that schools that frequently suspend pupils for two or three weeks at a time, should review their policies because they are failing to tackle poor behaviour. New powers are necessary according to Sir Alan and he plans to enshrine in law the teacher’s right to impose discipline, making measures such as detention and confiscating mobile phones legal.
The Independent also carries a story on how vulnerable children are missing out on the life-saving chance of a boarding school education. Despite a Government plan to encourage both state and private boarding schools to accept children at risk of being taken into care, only a handful of places have been funded.
The Telegraph features news on how thousands of children may not get a place at their local primary school this year due to a places crisis, caused by the recession and increased birth rates. The article states that competition for places is likely to be fierce and many parents may be forced to accept their second, third or even fourth choice school.
Judging a book by its cover
Today's news had decent coverage of Andrew Nulty's fall from grace having been struck off for “disgraceful” misconduct in his handling of sick miners’ compensation claims.
In the early days of MC2, we met Andrew with a view to taking on all of his marketing work. There was a significant budget (unsurprising now looking at the £40 million in legal fees that he took from over 30,000 claims) but we felt something wasn't right about the business. The more we looked into it the more uncomfortable we felt. We declined the work. Sometimes something that looks like a dog and barks like a dog, actually is a dog.
Creating a sixth sense
TED Talks never cease to amaze, but the ability to create a sixth sense really will take some beating.
Have a look at Pattie Maes talk at TED for a jaw dropping look at new ways to access information. It is incredible.
Thanks to my pal Chris Cox over in San Francisco for pointing me to this
