Personal

Photo by Russ and Lori

I was at a networking event earlier this week and was told by (a really drunk) someone that I expressed my personal ideas and opinions a bit too much in my blog. Which was interesting, because I generally consider I'm not doing enough of that - actually not doing enough writing altogether, really. And ultimately, it's my personal blog... So sure, it's personal thoughts, etc. Check out George's AdScam (Which I love by the way) if you need contrast...

That same person also explained how and why I was really arrogant - but that's not really my fault, I'm French and moreover was raised in Paris, so I can't help it... (But apparently they're trying to make some efforts about it) ;o)

Anyways let's update on other news: I decided to go ahead and get myself a professional Flickr account! If I upload pics at the same rhythm I write here, maybe you'll see pics from my holidays two years ago in about two years time! Lucky for you, patience is virtue...

Let's finish with the best news, I'm finally changing my role next week and starting to work full time on digital strategy!! Woohoo! Jen's replacing me on the recruitment front at iris and is already doing great. It's weird to be letting go of all your work, but I'm really looking forward to the change!

Big Red Button

All right, I had a few drinks (great evening at Beersphere, met with cool planning/digital/blogger/smart/cool people) and this is the first thing I saw opening an email in my inbox - huge and covering most of the screen.

I still think it's the best email marketing campaign I've seen:



Call me shallow, I don't care - most people are anyways...

8 more - Social Media -things meme

Photo by Omer Simkha

Laurence just tagged me for the social media meme - basically it's about sharing 8 ways in which you've used social media (original post form C.B. Whittemore here). I like memes - it allows me to write a potentially/relatively interesting post without making the effort to think of what I should write about. I know, I'm a lazy bastard...

1. I started blogging last year in October - I wondered at the time why it was I wasn't already doing it - though I probably answered that question in the previous paragraph. I really love it and got into a whole world that in all likelihood will never ever be able to fully apprehend nor comprehend, which I find find very exciting! Technorati tells us they're tracking 112.8 million blogs at the moment, and that's by no means an accurate representation of how many blogs actually exist (Do they use it much in China..?). Over 112 million simultaneous conversations on every possible interest human beings have - awesome! And pretty overwhelming.

2. To waste time. Mostly with Facebook last year (though now I use mostly to find people and to let old school friends find me), and just recently with Twitter - I'm just starting to get into it and quite liking it; though I still don't think it can be "useful" on a day to day basis.

3. For recruitment. In other terms, I'm a complete online stalker (I'm sure you're all very happy to know that about me ;o). I've been looking for professionals in the digital space for close to 3 years and if I can't find them and unravel a good chunk of their lives on the web most of the time, they're probably not the associated digital geeks and nutters I'm generally looking for (I include myself in that bunch - can't say if that's good or bad). Prime suspect for this channel is LinkedIn, as well as Facebook and any other website that has some kind of community aspect (Not revealing all the tools of the trade). Google, while not exactly what goes under the vast "social media" umbrella, will lead you to it pretty quickly if you start googling people's names.

4. As an (important) extension to the previous point, I essentially sought and found my current job through social media channels. Pay me a drink some day and I'll go into more details

5. For meeting new people with similar interests. I used to play role playing games (table top, not video games) back in Paris with a group of good friends. I only stopped when I moved to London because I didn't have that circle of friends anymore. Last year, I decided to get back into it and found people doing all the research online, going through MySpace, Forums of UK RPG shops, conferences, etc. I managed to find a group of cool people and we (try) to play once or twice a month. Similarly, I got hooked on the Rhum arranges website, as you can see from the previous post - who again, have a very cool widget.

6. I started using too many websites for my own good. Fortunately Netvibes allows me to manage pretty much the whole lot of them as well as my blogs and other feeds. I've checked out a few other sites like that, but I don't think I'll be changing soon. And it's French so "Que demande le peuple?" It also has a community aspect, though it's still in beta (As are most such like sites these days) and I don't know many people using Netvibes so far, so it doesn't make it as interesting.

7. Not exactly using, but I read about social media. So far my favourite book in the domain is Wikinomics - loved it! Read it if you haven't, it's awesome. On the opposite end of the spectrum, The Wisdom of Crowds - which I didn't really like. Read it only because it's so hype right now and then you'll be able to quote it in meetings or something. Essentially there are some good enough parts in the book, but overall I thought it was a few interesting points poorly strung together into a (non) unifying theory. Just my opinion, glad to talk about it over a drink...

8. Actually talking about books, I love Amazon. How do I sometimes choose books to order if not from other reader's comments? Most of my library and DVD collection is on Amazon (I've rated them, but not commented for each - it's on my "maybe I'll do that someday" list). I also put nice pics such as the one on this post from Flickr, and I use it to to share my beautiful pics! (I need to upload plenty more...) On the music side of things, I'm now a complete fan of Deezer - best music/online radio/music community around by far (And also French!) - definitely tops Last.fm for me. I'm not using the community side too much yet, but using the music part every day!

Done! And to finish I'll tag Will, Michelle, Neil, Priyanka, Amelia and George for the meme.

Rhum arranges

Hey by the way, did you notice my very cool widget on the right hand side with my collection of macerated/infused rums? ("Rhum arranges" in French) I'm very happy I managed to find the online community for macerated rum lovers! If you click on the recipes, you can also have a look at the pics - most of the pics are actually my rums!


(Mango & Passion fruit rum - that's not ready yet...)

I love Sushi!

June is almost over... This has made me smile all month on the calendar on my desk so I thought I'll share it with you! Way to go Rob, cool work ;o)

Rambling: digital, names and stuff

Photo by aeu04117

I was reading the digital supplement to Campaign earlier. I don't read Campaign that much these days, generally getting my industry information from blogs rather than the press. But apparently the conversations that took place in the lunch they organised gravitated around some things I've been thinking about on and off for quite a while - mainly around the place of digital agencies, the name "digital" itself, and such vast topics.

I've been thinking I would wait until having really thought the whole thing through before blogging about it (Probably with some romantic notion of it being completely amazing and ground breaking) but actually I've been thinking about maybe doing something for the past 8 months and never starting, so I'm using the blog to draft some ideas and things will take shape over time.

Names are very important and human beings are pretty addicted to labeling stuff ever since the rise of language. And it's damn useful to be able to make sense of this whole wide world around us. Also, in numerous mythologies and folklore names hold great power, you can even practice ancient forms of magic with someone's/something's true name.

If there's one thing we surely kept from the myths, I think it is that names still hold a lot of importance in our minds, whether consciously or in the background - all the time. Looking at it from that point of view, it isn't that surprising there are so many arguments around what to call a digital agency (not "digital" apparently is the new thing). The number of words that have tempted to or have been used so far to describe an industry is ridiculously huge, and most are right and wrong at the same time, depending on what you're referring to.

Essentially I thing the whole names argument is a function of the technologies used and the work developed and/or created evolving faster than anyone can name and describe them.

But for all these ingenious buzzwords, does it really matter? It's all about communication and experiences in the end. Do people in the real world really want to know how the company that built this nice website/banner/interactive wall/application/widget/thing defines itself..?

I think that's it for now. I may give that some more structure later on. next rambling about the rift between digital and advertising (which I get on some level, but I find completely silly overall)

The Great Football Giveaway - Happening now in Uganda

I wrote about the Great Football Giveaway a few months ago when I found out about it and donated a few balls - I think it's a brilliant idea!

Duncan Thomas and a team of volunteers have collected donations for 3000 footballs to give away in Uganda and they are in the middle of it right now, I wanted to share the email I received from them:

Hi Willem,

Well we’re approaching the mid point of The Great Football Giveaway in Uganda and finally have found somewhere where we can send you a quick update. We have been joined by our full team of volunteers – Paul & I, Beth, Lisa Ben & Rick, as we continue our journey across rural Uganda, traveling East to West.

In the first two weeks we have already visited over 50 schools in rural areas, many orphan centres, programmes for partially & severely disabled children, and linked up with a number of local NGOs. The passion that people have here for caring for their own is both extraordinary and inspirational. We have already distributed over 1,000 footballs and netballs direct to the children and the reactions have been breathtaking.

The majority of schools visited have had very poor resources and we have seen that those fortunate enough to have a football have often either borrowed it from a neighbouring school, or are using very old balls in poor condition. We have also had many opportunities to “stop & swap” homemade rag balls for those we have brought, with children in villages, or those playing by the side of the road. Reactions have varied from shock followed by excitement, to excitement followed by yet more excitement. So many smiles…

In brief everywhere we have gone across some of the most rural areas of Uganda, we have seen the kids go wild with joy and have often left a legacy of chaos and hysteria in the schools we’ve visited. The beginning of next week sees us leave the East of the country and travel in an arc across the north towards the hotter climate of the West. But more of the later… Thank you so much for the balls you’ve given us to give to the kids here. Already there are tens of thousands of children that will have enjoyed kicking & throwing them around and we still have another 2,000 balls to give away. Even if we had to return today, this project has already been a huge success, so thank you.

All the best

Duncan

A really inspiring project, and I encourage you to check out the site and the video.

The Visitor

I was lucky to be invited by a friend for a press screening of a movie yesterday, so I might as well write about it given it's the point.

And moreover because I thought this was an absolutely beautiful movie, definitely one of the best - if not the best - I've seen in a long time. The Visitor will be released in the UK on the 4th July and I really recommend everyone to go see it.

The movie is the story of a lonely man whose life is changed by the unexpected encounter with a Syrian musician in New-York and by the rediscovery of music and rythm in his life. There are a lot more to it than this and it's a really short sum up, though you can read more about the movie elsewhere (Future Movies review), and view the trailor here. I thought the shots and photography were beautiful and the acting is great. It deals with a lot of pretty tough topics in a very real way and at the same time is humourous, emotional, and overall very humane.

Playing Balloonacy

Not really news by now, but I love the new Poke campaign for Orange! I'm playing the game and I certainly intend for my camel to be a serious contender!!

Click here to support Socrates the camel, or click in the box on the right side bar =>

Just brilliant, I love playing games. The concept makes me think of PMOG a lot (which I'm completely addicted to - tell me if you'd like an invite for the Beta!). The web is turning into a gigantic playground interwoven in any site, and I think that's very cool ;o)

PMOG

I just found out about PMOG, the passively multiplayer online game, from Russell's blog, he sent me an invite and I'm already loving it!

I love games but never wanted to get into a MMORPG like World of Warcraft for fear of spending way too much time on it, but this is great, it just translates all the hours I spend surfing the web anyway into a game experience! It's still in Beta, but it looks pretty cool.

Tell me if you'd like me to send you an invite! Come and play!