I have always loved Christmas and loved snow, and so of course, like many of us, always imagined that the combination of the two would mean perfection.
However events during the past two years have conspired to cure me of such childlike fantasies.
In December 2009 we took our usual trip to Cologne in Germany to visit the Christmas markets and kick start the festivities. We travelled by Eurostar and took three friends with us. I got my wish – it snowed – boy did it snow. Unfortunately the transport systems were unable to cope with it and our trip home became a logistical challenge. Eurostar closed down and the airports were frozen shut. We then had to abandon our friends to meet the challenge on their own because I got the novo virus and became so dehydrated I had to go into hospital. We did all eventually get home just in time for Christmas but without much joy or goodwill.
Unsurprisingly we decided to give travel a miss in December 2010. However the misery started much earlier. On November 23rd my one year old kitten vanished, it was out of character and unexpected. On November 24th it snowed – boy did it snow. Searching for Claude was a cold and miserable task and to expect people to crawl around their gardens looking under their sheds was a bit much but they did, all to no avail he appeared to have vanished into thin air.
Peter Murphy's current image
I spent yesterday evening in the company of one of my favourite voices. A voice that fills a room, that you don’t just hear through your ears, but from your heart to the soles of your feet and tingling down your spine.
The last time I saw him live was nearly 30 years ago! I was at art college studying design and Bauhaus were part of the image package. But they made a big impression on me and Peter Murphy’s voice went deep into my soul.
Going to see live bands is difficult for me at the moment but the chance to see him at the wonderful, intimate Garage in Islington was a chance not to be missed. And I was not disappointed.
His stage presence hasn’t changed hugely, he managed to maintain the air of mystery and drama but was no longer so aloof. Strangely an item of equipment broke both times but whereas 30 years ago he resorted to petulant kicks and temper, last night he was in control, confident and aware of the audience whilst things were mended.
My partner and I have for many years found the best way to relax is to get up at the crack of dawn and go motor racing. Whether competing or spectating we have had many years of fun. We are currently in a different situation and it is not so easy to get away for whole days together. But Steve recently took up marshaling and was asked to write an article describing what it was like to do it for the first time. It is so interesting that I thought I would share it with a wider audience…
Having really enjoyed running my Alfasud in the Crystal Palace sprint I was feeling that I could have done a bit more to help the build up and breakdown and so when I received an email saying that the club had been told that because of the demand for marshals at Goodwood there would be a shortage of marshals for the historic superprix at Brands Hatch, as a race licence holder of 15 years or more and never done any marshalling before I thought that I should volunteer, So a quick email off to the coordinator and the following day there were tickets and instructions on the doormat. Some orange proban overalls were obtained, some big gloves and a hat were selected and I was set.
I know that I wasn’t the only club member to offer, I’m guessing that everyone who volunteered got asked by Andy to jot down a few thoughts for the magazine, here are mine:
A 7 am start found me following the orange snake of a hundred or more fellow volunteers to sign on and find out where they are stationed, I was on post 14 which is at the top of Hawthorn hill, right on the bend.
It was a great insight into how hard marshals work and the high level of professionalism required.
As a “newbie” I did think that as a quarter of the team at post 14 that I may have been a liability but the post chief, Bernard Stanley, went to enormous effort to not only safeguard me but also to make me feel useful, part of the team and so make my weekend safe and enjoyable. The day started off with a 20 minute briefing, the bulk of which was to do with safety, in between races further updates were given, I was also given the opportunity to do some flagging (by the end of the weekend I had done nearly 3 hours, including all of the group C race, it is a much, much harder job than it looks and requires a level of skill and concentration way beyond my abilities) There were also a few myths dispelled, for instance some people affectionately refer to marshals as “the stonekickers”, this is because they clearly have nothing better to do than kick stuff around the circuit or even can’t be bothered to bend down. Wrong. One of the first things I was taught was don’t pick anything up even if you think you know what it is because it may be dangerously hot, kick it off the circuit, if it’s hot let it burn the grass. When walking on the circuit why wander about taking a diagonal path like some bizarre orange bishop? Simple, so you never have your back to the flow of the circuit. I could see there was also a great deal of preparation before each race starts, on the sighting lap notes were made about number of cars (in case there are stragglers at the start) and also the details of the first and last half dozen cars (for the flag man), how many female drivers, any disabled drivers or anyone using unusual fuel.
There were a couple of incidents on Saturday, A car lost a wheel in our sector but didn’t stop having his “moment” until he had reached the next sector but we did need to do some vigorous flagging. Later in the day the E type of Desire Wilson pulled up on the opposite side of the track to us but being very experienced racer she was able to move to safety without assistance and we only needed to supervise her recovery to the pits after the race, making sure the car was safe to move and that the driver was secure.
So during the course of the weekend I had gathered quite a lot of information which I hoped had sunk in, it was only during the last race of the day that a formula ford 2000 car lost control and entered the gravel trap at hawthorn bend that I found that it had, every word. All four members of the team did what they were supposed to do and the driver found himself out of the car and in a position of safety in less than a minute. (As a petrol head I am also pleased to say that apart from a broken steering linkage and some dust the car was also unscathed)
I had been a bit worried that there could have been some schadenfreude creeping in but I would have been just as happy if the day had been incident free.
So, to sum up. I had a very enjoyable weekend, I’m sure some of you may feel that I have been preaching to the choir, but I would recommend that everyone who enjoys motorsport to try a taster day marshaling. My only worry was that I would let the club down by not having the right gear or by saying or doing something silly but in the end nobody noticed, I also seem to have been hooked and have signed up for another half a dozen meetings this year, so maybe I’ll see you out there!
Steve Fox
I think by now we all realise we need social media to help communicate our business message.
But unfortunately a lot of people are now trying to find short cuts and are looking for instant results. I don’t think this is the way forward for real success.
This morning I had a DM from someone on Twitter asking me to validate using TrueTwit, and I thought if they can’t be bothered to look at my posts and judge for themselves that I am a genuine tweeter then I don’t want to engage with them anyway! Twitter should be a vehicle for people to communicate not an exchange of automated responses. If you have a Facebook page you should be using it to communicate and share not just to broadcast. If someone posts on your wall reply or at least acknowledge that you have read it by liking it.
If this all sounds a bit much for you to do in a busy day you can employ a social media manager to do some of the work for you. They will have experience with the various platforms and be able to effectively get your messages across to the right people.
It has been suggested by some people that employing a manager rather than doing it yourself is cheating as much as using automated software, but that is not so at all. If you run a restaurant you employ waiters and waitresses to deliver the food to the customers you don’t expect the chef to do it himself. You still decide on the menu and the prices they just deliver the service. You should also be proud to tell people that you are too busy running your successful business to be on Facebook all day long!
When choosing your Social Media Manager you need to consider whether you need a maitre d’ who will treat your customers as though they were the only one and persuade them to buy a very expensive bottle of wine, a friendly barmaid who will become the customers friend or a burger server who will deliver quickly and cheaply and will always ask if you want fries with it!
On St Georges Day this year we were sitting in traffic on the A21 on the way to finish clearing my mother-in-law’s house after she had died. Not the best situation for an appreciation you may think – but I found myself strangely contented. I realised it was because I love living in England. I have no particular wish to travel to exotic locations to assault my senses with new sights, sounds and smells! I am happy to caress my senses with the things I love:
- public footpaths
- Victorian chimneys
- hidden houses that tease you with fascinating names
- pub grub
- London markets
- faded seaside splendour
- gentle weather
- days out
- hidden beaches
- quirky culture
- the sound of a combine harvester
- windy hilltops
- peeling paint
- quiet railway stations
If you can’t get away for your usual holiday this year, just stop a while and appreciate the things around you – it’s very good for the soul!
A corporate identity is the image of your business. It identifies its position in the market place and its professionalism and adds hugely to its memorability. Just because you have a logo doesn’t mean that you have a corporate identity, it isn’t a badge to attach randomly to various web spaces and Word documents!
It is colour, style and tone, is is a mission statement and attitude to customer care, this is important whether you are a single freelance person or a large corporation, there are no exceptions!
Your identity is the uniform of your business, it should all coordinate and present a cohesive, efficient image. Some of you are going out in a dress shirt and bermuda shorts and even if you have a logo pinned to the lapel of your tweed jacket you don’t look very convincing as a business!!
Simple things to bear in mind:
- Consistency of logo size, position and background colour
- Consistency of colour palette
- Consistency of font where possible, this doesn’t mean you have to have your logo set in Arial – it is the font for text that needs to be kept the same!
- Consistency of tone, don’t be jokey in one place and painfully serious in another
Of course it is always best to consult an expert, but do keep the consistency rules in mind whether you do or not.
A few words of advice about naming a new company…
- Make it Memorable Short names are usually more memorable, a long description of the business may seem like a good idea but it leaves the door open for confusion with similar names.
- Make it Easy Don’t pick a clever word that people can’t pronounce, someone shy may not use your services if they can’t ask for you!
- Make it Unique Pick up a thesaurus, find a word that describes your business and then look at the less used alternatives – there are some great words out their just waiting to see the light of day again. Or pick two words and make a new one, keeping point two very much in mind!
- Make it Creative Give your new company name to a good graphic designer, they will be able to interpret your initial idea and spot any visual potential in the letters which will help reinforce all of the above
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- Great name for a medical events organiser
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- Very clever use of taking two existing words and making a new one
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- The name and design work together to create a memorable image
Living in the UK makes us weather watchers; but instead of complaining about it, work with the seasons and understands what motivates you. If you sit indoors all day in midwinter, with the heating on full, wishing you were at the beach of course you are going to feel miserable. January can be a hard month, full of highs and lows!
Top tips for working in January
- Don’t make your resolutions too ambitious, twelve monthly goals can be much more satisfying to achieve than one general wish such as ‘get fit’ or ‘get rich’
- Remember each day we get two minutes more daylight – that’s nearly a quarter of an hour a week – so that’s an hour a month – summer’s on it’s way!
- This is the season for homemade soups and jacket potatoes
- If you missed the opportunity to connect with customers before Christmas there are plenty of opportunities at this time of year, you can celebrate the Chinese New Year, 2012 is the year of the dragon; or there is Valentines Day coming up a great opportunity to tell your customers how much you appreciate them.
- This is a good time of year for networking – people are motivated
- If you find yourself feeling demotivated towards the middle of the month take some time to watch the birds – they can tell Spring is on it’s way
- Take advantage of all the hope and expectation that a new year brings
Living in the UK makes us weather watchers; but instead of complaining about it work with the seasons and understands what motivates you. If you sit indoors all day in midwinter, with the heating on full, wishing you were at the beach of course you are going to feel miserable.
Top tips for working in December
- Offer Advent Deals to your customers – it’s a good way to re-establish contact
- Have a little Christmas tree on your desk, it is important to recognise the changing seasons
- Eat seasonal food for lunch, if you only eat mince pies and turkey in December it keeps them special.
- Send a personal Christmas greeting to each customer, if you don’t do Christmas cards then a nicely worded email is good
- If you work on your own try to go to at least one networking event – it makes a great replacement for the office party
- If you do get invited out to a Christmas celebration at lunch time don’t expect to do any work in the afternoon
- Enjoy the festive season, it’s a great way to make and revisit contacts
Living in the UK makes us weather watchers; but instead of complaining about it work with the seasons and understands what motivates you. If you sit indoors all day in midwinter, with the heating on full, wishing you were at the beach of course you are going to feel miserable.
Top tips for working in November
- Make the most of natural light – if it is a lovely day get outside, go for a long walk at lunchtime and work a little longer in the evening – it will be dark anyway!
- When it does get dark turn on some cheerful lights, I have fairy lights in my window that are timed to come on at dusk.
- Eat seasonal food for lunch, a bowl of soup and a crusty roll is much better than a salad on a chilly day.
- Don’t have the heating up too high it will make you sleepy! Dress appropriately for the weather and keep yourself comfortable not hot.
- Christmas is coming – get organised – if you need greetings cards and calendars or to organise a Christmas Party don’t leave it ’til December!
- Look forward to cozy evenings in front of the TV. Plan to catch up on some good films or even play a board game!
- Don’t dwell on the passing of summer there will be another one along soon!
