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Month: May 2009

Microposting(s) for May 20th through May 25th

These my micropostings and bookmarks – May 20th through May 25th:

Microposting(s) for May 18th through May 19th

These my micropostings and bookmarks – May 18th through May 19th:

Nelly Duff/Eine World Record Print and private view

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We’ve been fans of Nelly Duff for ages, and our growing collection of prints attests to this. Cassius & Co are not only knowledgeable and infectiously enthusiastic, but also full of great ideas and a sense of fun.

The latest ‘wheeze’ was collaborating with Eine (rumoured to be, ahem, Banksy’s print-maker and of course recognised creator of the alphabet of ‘circus font’ stencils that adorn most of Shoreditch and Hoxton’s store shutters). The collaboration involved a world record attempt for the largest number of individual screens and colours in a single print. More info is on Eine’s page at Nelly Duff.

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The print is a w-less alphabet, with each letter taking 3 separate passes: the base colour, the outline/border colour and then the stripey fill. None of the colours are used elsewhere in the print so this is 3×25 ie 75 individual screen passes, plus the black and white – 77 in total. All of course need to be precisely in register.

We ordered the print white, but there’s also a run on black and on gold.

The private view on 7 May, 2009 was a real scream. It was held in a car respraying place just north of Brick Lane. The added cunningness was that they’d pulled a print at each stage of the printing process (ie #1 had only the white base, while #76 had every letter finished, bar one final colour pass). The whole 77 series was arrayed around the room. You can see the panorama of the PV at the top.

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UPDATE: See the photos of the event on Nelly’s blog.

Google’s “Survival of the Fastest”: my video contribution on YouTube

A couple of months ago the folk at Google asked if I’d contribute to a YouTube channel they were creating, soliciting input from a range of practitioners, thinkers and leaders in eCommerce on the subject of how best to survive the economic downturn.

I agreed (very pleased to have been asked) and then immediately regretted it (a combination of _hating_ being filmed and a bit of a panic attack that I’d have nothing to say in such august company).

Both of these concerns were well founded and the first attempt was utterly awful. Google kindly allowed me to hit the virtual ‘delete’ button and re-shoot. I (and all viewers) owe them a debt of gratitude 😉

The format was a difficult one: a straight-to-camera piece on a topic. This requires more skill and preparation that I had understood. I generally prefer a ‘Q&A’ approach – being interviewed by someone else makes it easier to keep on topic and respond to a lead.

That said, I’m really pleased that I’ve had this experience. At InternetRetailing we’re starting our video podcasting programme in June and going through this experience has been a timely shock that I hope will improve our approach.

In the meantime you can find me burbling and only loosely in charge of a Welsh accent here:

In fact, this piece was a ‘version’ of my ‘profit per pixel second‘ metric provocation that I’ve been covering in print. It’s an area in which I’m interested, but I think it suffers here from being too long (maybe I’m too used to giving this as part of a presentation?).

All of this goes to prove Mark Twain’s (well, Blaise Pascal) thought: “I have only made this [letter] longer, because I have not had the time to make it shorter”. The same seems true of videos 😉

You’ll see in the linked videos some very impressive (and more succinct!) contributions from a great range of people – from Boris Johnson, Mayor of London and Martin Sorrell of WPP to numerous leading academics and practitioners.

I’m pleased to be in illustrious company (even if as the slight splotch on the otherwise immaculate canvas) and I’ve learned some good lessons about video presentation.

You can see the whole channel here:

https://www.youtube.com/user/survivalofthefastest

Microposting(s) for May 7th through May 14th

These my micropostings and bookmarks – May 7th through May 14th:

Masters status awarded to the Diploma in Internet Retailing!

I’ve posted the fuller story elsewhere, but I’m so pleased I couldn’t let this pass without a post 😉

The Post-Graduate Diploma in Internet Retailing (which I created along with Econsultancy.com) has just been accredited by Manchester Metropolitan University as the UK’s first Masters programme in Internet Retailing…

We’re about to change the marketing blurb and website to proclaim ‘MSc in Internet Retailing’, but for now I’m just enjoying the glow of pleasure after over 3 hours of grillings!

Thanks to @cragster and @groovegenerator for their hard work.

Frenetic phase of speaking

It’s been a busy time speaking of late. In the last month I’ve:

I was particularly taken with the venue for BBDO U: an hour outside Paris in a chateau run by Chateau’Form, a business-only venue format that takes stately piles, renovates them and then makes them available for business summit and conference hire. For more cost-effective and characterful than hotels, and providing a convivial atmosphere – ideal where networking and team building go alongside the more formal presentation and conference activity. Chateau’Form de Mello was a chateau on top of a fort and a really amazing place:

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I managed to grab a few mins to try my hand at archery. Ahem:

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While I’m pleased with getting one on the target, the two in the wood show my aim’s a bit ‘off’ and I’ve ignored the arrows on the floor and in the trees behind!

After my presentation and Q&A I headed back into Paris for meetings, pausing only just long enough to wander through the Jardins du Luxembourg and get caught in an almighty downpour: here’s a panorama from my shelter:

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Microposting(s) for May 3rd through May 4th

These my micropostings and bookmarks – May 3rd through May 4th: