Writer in Residence - Cornwall

Bizwords Blog has moved

2009-08-24T22:27:00.002+01:00

With the new Bizwords site which is now on stream and being populated, I’ve taken a decision to run two blogs.

The blog for Bizwords is on the new site
It will cover Business Writing and Networking
Click here to go there

This will now become my personal blog and retain the title 'Writer in Residence, Cornwall'.

It will cover Personal Writing, the writing experience and general writing issues.

Business Networking - do or die?

2009-04-03T16:56:00.000+01:00

In tough times, there is always more pressure on business budgets and businesses begin to strip non-essential expenditure out of the mix. The budget for marketing is an area that often comes under intense scrutiny and there is a temptation to reduce expenditure that seems to have no clear hard benefits attached. There is an article to be written about the importance of marketing out of tough times – this is not it. This is about a small part of marketing – the budget, both of time and money, for business networking.

It is notoriously difficult to quantify what hard benefit comes from networking. Done properly, networking is about casting bread on the water in order for some of it to be returned. It is not a sales activity and the return will come not from the people you speak to but often from those they speak to.

Some networks count referrals and attempt to value them and that is something we all could do, however, how do you identify work that comes via a contact of a contact (of a contact of a contact …) who first met you networking?

There also remains the problem of how you value the intangibles of networking. I wrote about some of these in Fresh Business Thinking last year - Business Is ‘Just Below The Surface’ At Network Meetings. They include such things as education, confidence, business intelligence and camaraderie. All of them are areas where the business could lose an edge if they are not satisfied in some way – especially where the business is a small one and dependent on others to find paid work.

However much you need to focus internally and on sales, you will still need to be seen by others in business. Would you refer business to someone you hadn't seen recently. You might ask yourself ‘are they still referrable?’ or, worse, ‘are they still in business?’

There is a myth that battening down the hatches and riding out the storm is a viable strategy in the current climate. In my opinion, you may ride out the storm but the damage to your reputation and presence may be done and if anyone bothers to open the hatches, they will find a dead company there.

Those are some of the reasons why you'll find me out there networking, connecting, advocating, referring, learning and doing my best to keep business flowing and confidence growing.

You must decide your own approach to the current circumstances of business. But in my view, networking should be one of the activities that you increase rather than decrease over the coming months.

Three new Rapport Articles

2009-04-03T14:48:00.002+01:00

From the Rapport Magazine Spring 2009 edition -

Debate - Social Media Marketing
Online Social Media (see box for my definition) has been picking up speed in early
2009. Facebook became the largest worldwide social network in mid 2008 and
is growing fast. Micro blogging service Twitter is also growing rapidly with a threefold
increase in traffic this year and with celebrity members like Stephen Fry and
Jonathan Ross giving it profile in the market. Andy Coote asks what that means
for the Personal Development community.

Frank Bourke - Taking NLP into the Mainstream
Meeting Frank Bourke is an experience. His passion
reverberates so strongly and creates such resonance that you want the
conversation to continue indefinitely. As the figurehead of and driving force behind
the NLP Research and Recognition Project, Frank brings all of his wide experience,
determination and wisdom to the development of a scientific process supporting
NLP. Here, he talks to Andy Coote.

Book Review - Clean Language: Revealing Metaphors and Opening Minds
by Judy Rees & Wendy Sullivan
Clean Language: Revealing Metaphors and Opening Minds is a book with a mission. As an ‘essential primer’ in Clean Language, its purpose is to introduce the subject to a very large group of people around the world who could, say the book’s authors Wendy Sullivan and Judy Rees, benefit substantially from the technique. Andy Coote
spoke to them for Rapport.

Feedback welcomed.

Andy

Networking – Avoidance or Powerful Marketing?

2009-01-08T21:00:00.001Z

More networking meeting invitations are pouring through my inbox than ever. New networking groups are starting up and existing ones are expanding at an unprecedented rate. In a way it is quite good to hear that the networking message is being taken up with such enthusiasm. I could attend networking meetings morning, noon and night for the whole month but would it help me to grow my business?

It is only too easy for networking to become a way of avoiding business issues. The argument runs something along the lines of, “I’m taking positive action by attending networking meetings, by growing my contact base and by refining and developing my message.” It can be very seductive, but it can also be self deluding.

To be successful in networking, you need to have a plan. What is it that networking should be doing for you? It can be as simple as getting to know more business people in your area or business sector but it can also be a powerful business builder if you approach it in the right way.

Know what you want and what you can offer to the other people in the meeting. Be clear about who you are and what you and your business can do. Try to make it something that others can understand and remember. In networking it is you as an individual that others will relate to and your business depends on how you come across in meetings. By knowing what you want, you can pick up on cues in conversation to find the people who need your service and also the people who can advocate your service.

Be prepared to give to the group. When others give their introductions or explain their issues and needs, pay attention to them and, where you can, offer help and advice. Networking is a conversation not a selling pitch. Pay attention to the other people there. After all, if you don’t listen to them, how can you expect them to listen to you?

Understand your reputation and build on it. Your reputation is built on your visibility, your clarity and, most importantly, your generosity towards others. Your actions and your words build an impression of you in the others in the group. By taking a full part in the activities of the group and by being attentive to the needs and issues that others present, your reputation will grow positively. If you are tempted to start selling your goods or services, resist. Networking events are seldom a good place for the harder sell.

Build advocates by advocating others. Networking is a recipriocal activity and if you don’t recommend others, why would they recommend you?

Dismiss no-one. It is tempting to focus on those you think are the quality contacts in the group and ignore the others – but don’t. The defect in the oft-deployed quality argument is that you can never know who they know or when you can help them.

A word of caution - networking can take time to pay off. One major project of mine in 2008 began with someone I met in networking meetings in 2004 and had lost touch with. My Facebook profile prompted my client to contact me and the project developed from there. Not only did it take four years to happen, it also came through a network that isn’t my primary business focus.

Networking is not a stand-alone activity. It must be part of a wider marketing mix. From networking contacts, you can schedule meetings to understand each others’ businesses better and, from some of those, longer term business relationships may build. Your networking group may never be your customers – but their contacts may be.

Networking is not selling but it can and does lead to sales.

Networking and Training Events - create them and find them

2008-10-05T18:12:00.002+01:00

I recently took on the role of Regional Leader for Business Scene in Devon and Cornwall. My objectives are to capture all events that are happening in Devon and Cornwall and to establish our site as the 'go to' place for finding events in the two counties and beyond.

To that end, I am happy to add your event to the site and even happier to give you the ability to do so. Business Membership of Business Scene costs just £60 plus VAT per year and allows you to add events, articles, press releases and classified ads. I can give you a free starter period on the site for no cost (just email me at andy.coote@business-scene.com for the code). Events appear on other sites - including the Microsoft Small Business Centre and the Telegraph Business Club - and you can add them to your site by following this link to get the html code.

Events can be added to link to your own site or we will record attendees for you and notify you as they register. To register requires a Personal Membership which is free. We can also process payments to your paypal account.

Come and take a look at the Business Scene site.

Ecademy Cornwall - October Meeting

2008-09-29T17:54:00.003+01:00

Lunchtime Networking Ecademy Cornwall October 2008 Wednesday, 8 October - 11:30am to 2:00pm at the Victoria Inn, Roche, Cornwall

Time to get the networking glad rags on and come to Ecademy Cornwall.

We have changed our date - at least for this month - to the first Wednesday which is the 8th and we will be in a new room at the same venue. Instread of the Conservatory we will be in the upstairs meeting room at the Victoria Inn.

The format bit
Tea and coffee on arrival from 11.30am is followed by informal networking.
Food will be served at about 12.30 when we will sit down and give everyone a chance to tell us who they are, what they do and what they need (contacts, resources or help) to succeed in their business in what remains of 2008.

So far, 2008 is proving quite good for the businesses we talk to, but it is clear that there is a slowdown in the UK and it may begin to affect businesses here in Cornwall.

Networking can help when times get tough - and the time for networking is now.

This meeting is also open to non-members. Please invite along your business friends and colleagues. Just so we can get an idea of numbers beforehand, please ask them to register their attendance here: http://www.business-scene.com/event_detail.php?e=5864

** Please note that for this meeting there is a £5.00 meeting fee towards costs and room hire. **

Ecademy networking works! Come and try it. We are a friendly group who want to meet you and understand where you fit in the business life of Devon and Cornwall (or indeed beyond) and to help you where we can.

Our sponsors for this meeting will be Bizwords.

If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact Andy Coote on 01326 373057.
WHEN?
08/10/2008 (11:30 - 14:00)
WHERE?
The Victoria Inn, Victoria, Roche, Bodmin, Cornwall
Click here for a Google Maps link to the Event Location
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
This event costs £5.00* for Full Business Members, Personal Members and Non Members

Click for your Free Business-Scene membership

Business Networking events in your area

A new voice in the Cornish Blogosphere

2008-02-19T16:52:00.002Z

Robert Rush of PFA Research and co-leader of Ecademy Cornwall has started a blog in partnership with Cornwall and Devon Media (ThisisCornwall.com). The blog is ostensibly about research - so what have thongs and anger to do with anything?

I look forward to further revelations about the world of research - and its seamy side?

How X Factor shows the value of honest feedback.

2007-12-03T21:31:00.000Z

I know that X Factor may not be one of Fresh Business Thinking readers’ most favourite shows, but given its immense audience and the coverage it receives in the press, you will probably have seen some of it. If not, then think of Dragon’s Den or the Apprentice, for they demonstrate the point I want to make, though maybe not as powerfully.

Each new season of X Factor begins with the auditions. The team visit a number of places and get to see hundreds of hopeful acts who believe that they have the X Factor – the ability to be the very best in show business - if only someone would see it and give them their big break. The problem – for them – is that they are in most cases simply awful. What raw talent they have appears to be storable in an eggcup with plenty of room to spare. We can see this, the panel can see this but they, the hopeless hopefuls, simply can’t.

When Louis Walsh, Sharon Osbourne or Simon Cowell tell them how it is, they get angry and emotional but their internal self-belief often appears to be unchanged. The feedback is honest and, often, brutal, too. It is, usually, deserved. How do those contestants reach that point in their lives – some of them quite a long way in – without someone telling them honestly what anyone can hear? Or have they done that and it is simply discounted and denied?

Giving and getting honest feedback is not an easy process. Giving good feedback depends on our objectivity in doing it. We must consider the behaviour and the outputs and feedback on them and not on the individual who is responsible for them. We also fear that if we are ’brutally’ honest with someone that may change the relationship we have with them. That is not a groundless fear, either. When receiving feedback, our ego often gets in the way and we do, in the old cliché, go on to ‘shoot the messenger’. Even when acting as our own critic, we may be too easy on ourselves in some areas and too hard in others.

What does this have to do with leaders? We, too, may have unrealistic beliefs about our own performance. I’ve met leaders who believed that they were comedians and yet were totally unfunny (like David Brent, the ‘chilled out comedian’ in ‘The Office’) and others who indulged in ‘once more unto the breach’ company motivational speeches that were laughable. This mismatch between belief and reality affected their performance and their credibility. They were less effective as a result.

As leaders we need to be realistic about our strengths and our weaknesses. The level of feedback we need to achieve this is unlikely to come from within the business. What we need is a place where we can give and receive feedback as peers with people who understand our problems and can help us know the real us and can help us to work on developing the skills and understanding that will change that reality for the better. We are all imperfect works in progress. Time spent on self-improvement in a safe environment is never wasted.

Andy Coote is a professional writer and publisher and co-author of A Friend in Every City (2006), a book about Social Networking and Business. As a commentator on leadership and networking, Andy writes for a number of Business Leaders. You can reach him at andy at bizwords.co.uk.

This article first appeared at Fresh Business Thinking

Free Delivery at Ecademy Press this week

2007-12-03T21:25:00.000Z

We are offering free delivery when you buy two or more books at Ecademy Press this week. Offer must end on Sunday night (9th December 2007).

Full details HERE.

Offer includes all of our 30 plus books including the Village folk children's books. More HERE.

Take a look at our books HERE.

Commercial over :-)

A

Evening Networking Event - Redruth Cornwall - 11th December

2007-12-03T21:21:00.000Z

If anyone is reading this who might enjoy a networking evening in West Cornwall, please find a notice below that might interest you -

---------------------------------------------------------------
OPEN NETWORKING EVENING EVENT
HOSTED BY REDRUTH BUSINESS LEAGUE
Sponsored by Business Link

Tuesday 11th Dec
7-9pm
Crossroads Lodge, Scorrier, Redruth

FREE!
SPEED NETWORKING
and
PRESENTATION by PETER STACEY of BUSINESS LINK
“How Business Link can help your Business”

Find out about the support available for your business
Come and meet new customers and suppliers
Meet The Business League

To book your place:
Contact Kevin Oates on kevinoates@thebusinessleague.co.uk
01209 719223 /07968 639 592
---------------------------------------

From Vampires And Zombies To Business Leaders

2007-11-26T09:54:00.000Z

The next generation of business leaders is waiting, sometimes impatiently, to take their place at the head of business and of government. OK, so James Purnell is currently the youngest cabinet minister at 37 years of age but that won’t be the case forever. The new generation are still in university or taking their places as junior members of business. There are also entrepreneurs who are starting out young, just as Sir Richard Branson did, and beginning to have their impact on business.

Maybe all new generations of business people have been different. My generation came out of the sixties with more informal views on life and on business, but we still conformed with suit and tie when it was needed. We’ve embraced the web and email (or at least tolerated it) and we are getting involved with newer technologies, so can this new wave be so different?

The answer to that is probably. They are far more informal in their dress and in their attitudes to authority, more immediate in the way they act and they are much more open in sharing the intimate details of their thoughts and lives.

What’s more, the technology is arriving that supports those changes in attitude and approach. Where we have, in the most part, held on to our face to face meetings, this generation will be much more comfortable building networks and transacting business online.

So what are their technologies of choice? They use instant messaging and text messaging in preference to email. Their familiarity with computer games also makes them comfortable with technology and they learn quickly as technologies change.

Social networks such as Bebo (during earlier years), MySpace and Facebook have been available to them for a few years now and they have mastered these ways of brand building – personal branding is the essence of networking - until it is second nature to them. They share their lives using the Social Networks and blogs. The technology may, in the view of my generation, leave them open to abuse by sharing too much personal information but they don’t see it that way.

Why Vampires and Zombies? Applications that can be quickly added to Facebook allow anyone to put a Vampire or Zombie on to their profile – the place where their musical, literate, filmic and life preferences can also be presented – and use it to ‘turn’ their friends into Vampires or Zombies and to fight with them to earn points. This may epitomise an approach that life (and business) is a game – or it could disguise a killer instinct. The approach of Facebook is to allow anyone to add applications to their platform (they call it a Social Utility) and offer Facebook users a choice. Most applications are free but with advertising, merchandise or other revenue earning options also available. Facebook earns money by creating and signposting web traffic to providers of paid services and through advertising.

‘Older’ business people are also involved on Facebook and are building their own networks there. I’m there myself. However, I doubt that it is the same experience for me as it is for the younger, much more actively engaged, users. The technology, of course, is not new, just easier to use, quicker and more ubiquitous than before and that makes the difference in my view.

As this Facebook generation develops careers or businesses, will they change and begin to conform to the way things are done? It looks likely that their approach to meetings will be different, with far less travelling needed to be face to face, especially as webcams get better and networks faster. Decisions may be more collegiate with the use of polls to gain an understanding of people’s views both within and outside the business. Style and communication will be more informal. The rise of Second Life and other silicon based parallel universes is also likely to change things. Your avatar (an online ‘physical’ representation of you) may attend meetings in cyberspace for you, giving the impression of being together whilst the participants are far apart, sitting at computers.

Does any of this matter? Here on Fresh Business Thinking in the past week, Clare West reported a Jobcentre plus survey that shows that older workers learn from their younger counterparts. Business leaders will also have to learn and adapt to these new attitudes and approaches. We often claim that business should be fun but are we prepared for the logical extension of that – the business version of Vampires and Zombies?

Of course, we can stay as we are and wait for them to adapt to us, to don the suit and tie and conform. I have a small problem with that. Just as Canute failed to hold back the tide, so we may also fail if we try to resist.

Perhaps we need to adapt to them? See you on Facebook for New Business Leadership 101?

Andy Coote is a professional writer and publisher and co-author of A Friend in Every City (2006), a book about Social Networking and Business. As a commentator on leadership and networking, Andy writes for a number of Business Leaders. You can reach him at andy@bizwords.co.uk and, of course, on Facebook at http://profile.to/andycoote/.

Article first appeared in October 2007 in the Virtual CEO Newsletter at Fresh Business Thinking.

Authorship and Writing

2007-07-19T13:34:00.000+01:00

A lot of confusion appears to afflict people about the difference between these two concepts. In the controversy about ghost blogging, one of the themes that frequently emerges is this idea that an article or blog written by a ghost is somehow not from the person whose name is on the 'byline'.

I view the two as very different. In my last blog here I talked about my writing process and that is relevant here as well. Essentially, the process starts and finishes with the author. I may write the piece but my client is, whenever their name alone goes on the byline, the sole author - that is the ideas came out of their head and what I wrote for them was checked and changed by them before publication. In other words, whilst the wordsmithing is mine, the ideas, the tone and the overall effect of the article is my client's.

Some people can write and some people can't. I know people who, when faced with a piece of paper or a blank computer screen, simply panic. Others write excellent prose and, in some cases, are just naturally good communicators. I can help those who can write but have little time to do it or who choose to spend their time on their main role, to improve their copy. For those who can't write or who struggle with grammar and structure, I can write every word. The authorship in both cases is theirs because we will have begun with a conversation, recorded for reference, which I use to construct the finished piece of work.

The following diagram shows the continuum between the client doing 100% of the writing job to a writer doing as much as 90% of the writing but using the client's ideas. The client is the author.

The work I prefer is generally in the 50/50 area of that continuum as it challenges me to understand and explain the client's theme whilst giving me enough support to be sure that I'm getting it right for them.

If I need to be more involved than that, though, I can do it. If you can talk about it, I can write about it.

Writing, Blogging, Ghost Writing and Ghost Blogging

2007-07-18T19:38:00.000+01:00

The BBC ran a story this week about Thomas Power, with whom I worked on the book A Friend in Every City and on a blog also called A Friend in Every City. For both I operated in a mode that works for several of my clients. That is, we talk, I research, I write, they review and we post (Thomas on Ecademy and I on the blog). That arrangement ended with Thomas late last year by mutual agreement, but it is still something I do for some clients.

In the way that these things take a life of their own, Thomas and Rory Cellan-Jones of BBC News connected on Facebook and Thomas made known his use of ghosts to write his articles and blogs. The type of blog that I was involved in was akin to an article, not the short, personal exchange type of blog that Ecademy uses. I spoke to Rory on Friday 13th (an auspicious day). Rory also spoke to a colleague of mine on Ecademy who now writes for Thomas (I won't mention his name because he has enough publicity already and I won't, on principle, add to it - but you can easily find it). As a result, an article appeared yesterday in which he appeared as the main focus and I was 'several people'. Seems that my colleague had the magic formula for giving Rory a hook and the quotes/direction for the story and I didn't.

I asked my network if I should have approached the task differently and one member noted that, though this blog appears high on the Google results for Andy Coote, there was nothing here that even hinted that I work as a ghost writer, let alone a ghost blogger. So lesson learnt - except for one small detail.

To my mind, I simply work with people to write material that reflects their views and message in a way that provides them with the best impact for their words and gives them profile. I do this by getting out of the way of the client and letting their words, in their voice, come out. Is that new and cutting edge? I think not. It is simply the trade of a professional writer and that is what I am - and that is what I told Rory Cellan-Jones that I am.

It may not get me headlines and allow me to rampage across cyberspace, adding my own blogs to the fire in an attempt to create a viral forest fire, but it does allow me to remain true to my beliefs and to my clients.

More on the controversy about ghost blogging will almost certainly follow here. Seems some people feel let down by the thought that the blogs they read come from the pen of another person. I am very clear that the articles and blogs I write for clients come out of their head and represent their ideas. As I put it in a post on a closed message board earlier -
"There is not a single word in any of those articles that Thomas couldn't or wouldn't say in conversation with members of this network or others. That is because we always began with conversation and from that might come a series of articles, each one of which would be seen and approved by Thomas before publication.The same process, with tweaks for the preference of each client, holds for all of the writing I do for clients, whatever its destination in print or online."

Andy Coote
Professional Writer and Publisher

AZAB Race starts from Falmouth 2/6/07

2007-06-03T11:51:00.000+01:00

The 2007 AZAB Race began in grey and overcast conditions from Falmouth, Cornwall at 1pm yesterday. One of the delights of living in this part of the world is the opportunity to see this type of event close up. As with the arrival of Ellen MacArthur on her return from her solo round the world voyage a couple of years ago, I was stationed at Pendennis Point for the AZAB race.

Four races began 10 minutes apart at 1pm, 1,10pm, 1.20pm and 1.30pm and a total of over 60 yachts set off on the 1200 nautical mile journey to the Azores watched by a crowd of several hundred people. There was a good breeze and the boats seemed to get off to a good start, though, of course, the start may be of little relevance to the overall race distance.

A few more pictures HERE. Apologies for the greyness - that was how the day was.

Catch up time

2007-02-04T23:49:00.000Z

Can't believe that my last entry here was so long ago! It was a hectic end to the year but that's no excuse! 2007 is looking like a hectic year already, so I need to make time and apply a proper division of my efforts into the various projects I have on the go.

I spend my time writing for myself and others and publishing books for people, so it seems to me that this blog could be a good place tro share some knowledge and support about good writing and getting published and to find help on those subjects from others who are on pages ahead of me.

So watch this space.

First change I've made is to upgrade to the non-beta Blogger. Expect some changes to the format of the blog as I get to grips with the new features.

In the meantime - Happy New Year - I'm only a month late with that!

A

Gordon Hits Falmouth

2006-09-21T19:57:00.000+01:00

High tides and the final throes of Hurricane Gordon combine to create some spectacular pictures taken on my way home from town this afternoon - enjoy!

Castle Beach

Swanpoool Beach

More pictures HERE

Andy Coote CREATOR profile
Ecademy Press - A Friend in Every City available now.
Ecademy Regional Leader, South West

Ecademy Writers & Publishers | Ecademy Cornwall ! Creators Round Table !

Places left for my talk in Truro next week

2006-09-20T23:46:00.000+01:00

I will be talking to the Truro NLP Practice Group next week about the writing process. I will be trying out some new material and taking a few risks to try to help people write better and with more facility.

Some of the material will find its way here and may also form the basis of a future seminar. So many people want or need to write but find their efforts are frustrated by a variety of blockages - my talk will attempt to do some unblocking.

If you want to come along, it is currently planned for The Globe, in Truro between 6.30pm and 8.30pm on Wednesday 27th September. Cost (at the door) will be £5. Please do let Elizabeth Pritchard know if you plan to be there - phone 01326 212959 or email elizabethmpritchard@talk21.com.

If you can't be there, I'll let you know how it went.

Andy

Teleseminar worth over $1,000.00 yours for free! (link)

2006-08-30T20:48:00.000+01:00

My friend Frank Kanu in the US is making an offer that runs for one day (31st August) only.

Those who either buy at least two copies of my book Stop Telling… Start Leading! The Art of Managing People by Asking Questions directly from me or buy at least one copy at Amazon.com on August 31st between 12pm EST and 1 pm EST.

This seminar has a value of over US $1,000.00 !

Full details HERE.

Net-working beats big boys

2006-08-14T11:15:00.000+01:00

A great article, by a publisher, in The Times last week which Book2book has just brought to my attention. Suggests that online selling to readers is the way forward for small publishers. As we have Ecademy Press already doing that, as well as selling through amazon and bookshops, I feel vindicated!

Making Writing Fun

2006-08-13T17:07:00.000+01:00

It's Sunday afternoon and I'm sitting here writing this blog - and others - in a cafe overlooking Gyllyngvase Beach in Falmouth and working wirelessly. I can look up references, copy them into mind maps and then type them up whilst listening to a laid back jazz set being played by a DJ who knows that we just want the music without chat.

This is definitely fun - and the bashful sun keeps trying to make an appearance. Beats working at a desk any day!

Internal blogging thoughts

2006-08-13T16:54:00.000+01:00

This is one of over 5 million blogs that are tracked by Technorati. How do I know? Dave Sifry, who keeps track of such statistics has said so in his State of the Blogosphere blog.

This leads me to think about what should be recorded here to make it of interest to readers. Clearly, Writer in Residence, Cornwall tells part of the tale. Posts about being writer and living in Cornwall are clearly on message here. I'm also, in my slugline, interested with building a business whilst maintaining work/life balance - so some of that softer stuff will find its way here. As a publisher (for 9 months so far), I may also touch on topics of interest to writers who want to publish or be published. Some of those posts will also find their way on to Ecademy.

If I can clarify in my mind what goes here, mabe I'll take the time to write it. One of the penalties of writing professionally is that writing for and about me is a bit like working. Maybe it is time to find a way to make my professional writing more like fun? Any ideas?

UK ID cards - unravelling?

2006-07-10T07:28:00.000+01:00

The Times in the UK reports this morning that "the Government's controversial identity card scheme is in jeopardy, with Whitehall officials accusing ministers of ignoring reality. "

Based on leaked emails, the report claims that ministers want the scheme tested and delivered by 2008.

Ministers are now said to be rethinking which, given Government IT propject experience over recent years may be wise.

David Foord, ID card project director at the Office of Government Commerce is quoted as saying "this has all the inauspicious signs of a project continuing to be driven by an arbitrary end date rather than reality. "
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Squidoo revisited

2006-05-09T01:40:00.000+01:00

In addition to the lenses in my post here on New Year's Day, I've now added a fifth lens on Squidoo called Cornwall and all Things Cornish. At present it is languishing in the 4,000 rankings and needs a little traffic to spark it up (the others would also reward another look). Find it HERE.

Recently Squidoo notified me of the princely payment of 25 US Cents, earned since the site went live. It promised payment by PayPal but fortunately sense seems to have prevailed and nothing has been actually paid over.

I'm trying to discover what it is that Squidoo offers. It is, I suppose, a quick and painfree way of developing a personal or interest based web site. However, it lacks (currently, anyway) the interactivity of a blog. Whilst visitors can rate you out of 5 stars, there is no mechanism (as far as I can find) to share feedback on the lens itself, other than by email. This means that a debate cannot be started amongst a group of interested people in the way that Blogger or Wordpress allows with ease. Some Social and Business Networks (like MySpace, MSN Spaces, Ecademy, OpenBC) also allow blogging and debate to take place. Interactivity and community building seem to me to be keys to the direction of online activity and it will be interesting to see if Squidoo survives without it or if the site begins to acquire some of the facilities of a social network.

Perhaps you know more about the underlying strategy of Squidoo or have views on how to best deploy it. Share them here and let's have that two way debate.

Book completed - blog resumes

2006-04-27T23:42:00.000+01:00

Today, if this blog gets completed by midnight, otherwise yesterday, we published A Friend in Every City, a book that has been 8 or 9 months in development. The authors are Penny and Thomas Power of Ecademy and me. As the writer on the project, I've laready talked about the interviewing and research that was needed. I'm also the publisher, so, once the writing was done (in fact before that), I was working on cover designs (with Simon May of Ideas of the Mind in Bath) and book design with Jaquetta Trueman of Graphic Solutions in Alton. The book was also indexed by Martin Ley of Em-Dash.

So now you can buy the book. More details about it are in the A Friend in Every City blog and it is offered for sale on Amazon UK and Ecademy Press in Soft and Hardback editions.

Now that's done, I will resume this occasional blog about the craft of writing and the ups and downs of life as a writer in the SW tip of the UK.

The music on my computer

2006-01-13T12:32:00.000Z

I found Pandora.com by accident. Now it provides me with a musical soundtrack when I need one. This morning I'm listening to music that is similar to Kaiser Chiefs (as decided by the Music Genome Project). Music includes tracks from MeWithoutYou, The Editors, H.I.m and the BeeGees! I have similar 'radio stations' as they term them for Roxy Music, Bowie, Dylan, Tom Paxton, Carly Simon and, in case I need musical education, The Aphex Twin - now there's a wide ranging selection.

RSS from their blog is on my Squidoo Lens. Tune into the evolution of web radio!

Interviewing

2006-01-01T12:26:00.000Z

In a comment to my post about 'Kickstarting the Writing Process' David Corking said...

Interviews? : do you transcribe your interview tapes and add them to your pile, or FF through them and transcribe only the interesting quotes, or rely solely on notes made at the time?

The answer is - it depends. Some interviews are crucial to what I'm writing and will get the full treatment whilst others will simply add confirmation to my arguments in the form of quotes. I take notes during the interview - sometimes these are comprehensive and other times the interest in what the interviewee is saying means that I have few, very sketchy notes.

By using a digital machine (currently out of action, sadly), I am able to transfer the interview as a sound file to my PC. I've not yet come across voice recognition software that can handle multiple voices. Dragon Naturally Speaking works well for me when I'm dictating but is useless for interviews. So it is a question of transcribing crucial interviews.

I've looked at using various services to do the transcription for me, but so far, I've found none that provide me with a service I need at a price I'm prepared to pay. When you think that four or five interviews will form the basis for a piece that a magazine will pay between £300 and £600 for, you can see that there is little margin for expense items like transcription - so I trade my time, instead.

I was taught that I should never ask a question to which I didn't know the answer. That isn't always possible but these days, with Google at my elbow, I can do a huge amount of research before interview.

That's not to say, though, that I'll always ask the important question. I'm the interviewer who, when talking to Fiona Richmond in the 80s, asked her about her marriage, the fashion show she was sponsoring for Live Aid but didn't ask a single question about her past as a writer (and alleged sex tester) for the Paul Raymond publication 'Men Only' or about her relationship with Raymond. I hope that I would, these days, ask those questions.

More on writing later....

Squidoo

2006-01-01T03:20:00.000Z

I have been pointed at a new(ish) site called Squidoo. It acts like a concentrator of various resources on the Web and allows you to make an individual page around your interests or expertise. I'm told (and haven't confirmed) that Seth Godin is behind it.

I have four lenses (as each set of pages and frames is called) which will develop over time. They include links, RSS feeds, text inputs and Flickr pictures. It is very Beta and has numerous undocumented features (bugs) and is currently very US oriented (Amazon feed is only to Amazon.com and the Google Maps module doesn't recognise UK addresses, town names or postcodes). There is a plan for lensmasters to be able to make money from popular lenses, though I'm not really there for that.

My lenses -
Ecademy Press - with updates and news about my new publishing business in partnership with Mindy Gibbins-Klein.
A Friend in Every City - about the book I'm writing with Penny and Thomas Power of Ecademy.com. Publication planned for April 2006. Blog at www.afriendineverycity.com.
Bizwords - a lens about my writing business with the intention of publishing writing tips and hints.
My Personal Page - a place to pursue non business interests - like photography, creative writing, reading and watching good (and bad) movies.

There is a club for Squidoo users (and potential users) on Ecademy HERE and a list of lenses maintained by members of the club can be found at the bottom of that page.

It's relatively easy to set up an account and start building lenses, but do try to have a theme for each - they're much stronger when they're focused.

Happy New Year

2006-01-01T03:11:00.000Z

2006 comes in as 2005 went out in cornwall with high winds and squally rain showers. There are great advantages to that, of course - the sea is absolutely massive and there is no way that you don't come back refreshed!

Went to Mullion Cove and Poldhu on New Year's Eve. Brilliant places and very quiet, of course, being midwinter. Poldhu is the place where Marconi made the first radio broadcast to Newfoundland in 1901.

Mullion Cove below

and Poldhu

Ecademy Press launches

2005-12-15T09:19:00.000Z

Ecademy Press launched on Wednesday 14th December as a result of relationships built using the Ecademy network. We intend to network more during 2006 to find more authors and, with them, publish some great books for Ecademy members and anyone else who wants to keep up with the changing world of business.

We launch with A Girlfriend in Every City a book sharing Geert Conard's networking diary during the year and a half after joining his first online networks (LinkedIn and Ecademy). His personal approach to making and developing connections on these networks and his approach to face to face meetings provide a wealth of insight into one of the most successful networkers on Ecademy.

I'm writing "A Friend in Every City" with Penny and Thomas Power (blog of the book). We will publish that book in April 2006. We are also publishing "Your Personal Brandwagon", a book on personal style in the office, by Ecademy networker Tessa Hood of Changing Gear in February 2006. For those who've seen her talks at one of many Ecademy events in the UK, the subject matter and the professionalism with which it is delivered will be no surprise - if you haven't, it's in the book.

Take a look at the site and buy the book, if you like it.

Meanwhile, I'd like to wish everyone who celebrates it a great Christmas.

Andy

Kickstarting the Writing Process

2005-11-08T08:26:00.000Z

Writing a piece of non fiction - an article, say - has a process for me which I follow every time. Firstly, I mindmap the topic and try to get all the angles. Then I work on the mindmap to synthesise the topics and get an initial shape to the article. At that point, I know what I already know and what - with thanks to Dick Cheney - I know I don't know. Now it is time for research and interviewing.

I'm still very old fashioned in my methods and so my research builds up as a gratifyingly solid pile of paper (even though much is found on the internet these days). When I have enough material and the deadline is looming, I map the research and interview material onto the mindmap structure so that I will remember to include it at the appropriate place.

Now all that remains is to write the piece. Despite the inclusion of research and interview material, it has to hang together as a unitary piece of work. That comes from writing not once but two or three times. After draft 1, the whole structure might change. What I'm trying to do here is to tell a story.

Finally, it reaches a point where I am happy with the structure and the flow of the piece and I'm happy that it is telling its own story. It is ready to submit.

Now, of course, all of this is being done to a deadline. Douglas Adams famously like deadlines - "I love the sound of them whooshing past". But if I want to get paid - and I do - then deadlines are important elements in this process.

Now scale all of that up from the 1500 words or so of an article to the 40 to 50 thousand words of a book. I'm currently at the writing stage but juicy bits of research keep winking at me and dare me not to include them. I'm writing in 'parts' which may or may not be in the final structure. Inside the parts are chapters and each has a mindmap and research. So far so good. The next stage will be the interesting one. When I try to make the whole book tell a story - and the structure begins to change.

And so to work ......

My Desktop Picture

2005-11-07T20:30:00.000Z

A blog on Ecademy this afternoon asked about the desktop picture that various members are using. Mine is a photo I took from a plane whilst passing Sumatra, Indonesia on the way to Bali last month.

The volcano, as you can see, was venting slightly but I was doubtful that I would get a decent photo through the airplane window. I'll let you judge whether I did.
More of my photos here.

Confession Time

2005-11-07T20:24:00.000Z

National NO novel writing month for me. I'm backed up with other writing work and the novel has gone on hold. Maybe next year.

My best wishes go out to all of the writers who are chasing this particular dream. May your keyboards not melt and your brains remain clear and prosaic - or poetic if you prefer.

Once again earning money comes before living the dream! Still, after a weekend in London, I've been out in Falmouth today and it is just as inspiring as ever. I was even able to sit out in my favourite spot overlooking the harbour and work today. November and the temperatures are still in the teens. Let's hope it lasts and the 'hard winter' the met office boys and girls are predicting stays 'up country' and leaves Kernow alone!

National Novel Writing Month

2005-10-06T10:11:00.000+01:00

National Novel Writing month is open for registration HERE. The objective is to write a 50,000 word novel from scratch between 1st and 31st November. Plotting and character sketching beforehand is allowed but the witing must happen in the month. The quality of writing is of no matter - it is all about actually finishing a task against a deadline.

I'm planning to take part - though I don't yet know where ther time is going to come from. anyone else reading this who is tempted, please let me know and we can set up mutual support in the blogosphere.

From the site -
How many novels have been written through NaNoWriMo?
1999: 21 participants and six winners
2000: 140 participants and 29 winners
2001: 5000 particpants and more than 700 winners
2002: 13,500 participants and around 2100 winners
2003: 25,500 participants and about 3500 winners
2004: 42,000 participants and just shy of 6000 winners

Has anyone had their novel published?
Jon F. Merz was one of Team 2001's winners; his NaNo book The Destructor was published by Pinnacle Books in March 2003. Lani Diane Rich, sold her 2002 NaNo-penned manuscript, Time Off For Good Behavior to Warner Books, and it came out to great reviews in October 2004, and won the Romance Writers of America RITA award for Best Debut Novel eight months later. Her 2003 NaNoWriMo novel was published by Warner Books as Maybe Baby in 2005.

Got to be worth a go!

Europe's Broadcast Flag

2005-10-04T11:29:00.000+01:00

Julian Bond, CTO of Ecademy has posted the following on Ecademy today. I make no apologies for repeating his words here because they represent a warning to us all. We can't leave this to someone else, if we see this as a problem, we all must raise our voices against it.

Cory Doctorow has written a tremendous piece (The Digital Video Broadcasting' Project Content Protection and Copy Management: a stealth attack on consumer rights and competition.) about the work being done in the EU behind closed doors to force you to accept less in the coming digital TV age and to take away basic rights you thought you had. It's a big long piece so I've extracted the main summary points. But even that is hard to get worked up about so here's the management summary.

For 20 years now we've grown used to being able to record an ITV program on Sunday night and watch it on Monday. While watching it, we'll fast forward through the adverts. If our mother missed it, we'll lend her the tape. And for those favourite programs like Black Adder we'll build our own library for a rainy day.

The big media corporations are using the EU to try and make sure we can never do this again and to make it a criminal offence to try. They want the VCR manufacturer to sell you a box that will record ER but not 24; that will stop you lending the result; that will force you to watch the adverts; and will expire your copy of all the Black Adder episodes after 6 months. And crucially, to be able to change the rules after you've bought the box. Last week 24 would record. This week it won't.

In order to do this, they have to lock down every device that might be able to receive or display the TV picture. That includes your computer, your computer monitor, your xbox, your mobile phone, your psp, your portable media player. And that means that every electronic device with a screen will have to be certified CPCM friendly. Even the ones you build yourself. And every operating system whether from MS, Apple, Linux or embedded from Palm or Phoenix will similarly have to prevent anyone from writing software that could circumvent it.

And this isn't just a computing standard, it's proposed to be the law, with criminal consequences if you break it. So bye, bye, general purpose computing.

Now it's pretty hard to know what a private consumer can do about this, but you might start by writing to your elected representative and making it clear that people who take away the right to watch TV how we like it, don't get re-elected.

Anyway here's the bullet points.

Overview:
* DVB creates digital television specifications for use in Europe, Asia, Latin America and Australia
* A DVB project called Content Protection and Copy Management (CPCM) goes beyond the customary work of setting television standards to set out specifications for restricting how television programmes are used after reception
* CPCM represents a grave danger to nations that mandate it as part of their digital television strategies

About DVB, digital television, and the broadcast flag
* CPCM is the DVB's answer to the failed American Broadcast Flag, an attempt to buy the studios' co-operation with the digital TV transition by offering them control over DTV devices
* The studios have no credible new threat from DTV, nor is there any reason to believe that they will avoid DTV in the absence of a CPCM regime
* It is crucial to keep CPCM from being mandated in national laws

CPCM overview
* CPCM's main areas of specification are Usage State Information (complex instructions for restricting use after reception), definitional elements such as "Authorised Domain" (a proxy for one household's worth of devices), and compliance (rules that all manufacturers are required to follow in implementing CPCM)
* CPCM is intended to form the basis of regulatory mandates in Europe, Australia and parts of Asia and Latin America
* CPCM exists to "enable business models" for rightsholders, even if doing so means destroying the business models of some manufacturers

CPCM and copyright
* Copyright has many limitations, exceptions and exemptions that allow the public to make "unauthorised" uses of copyrighted works
* CPCM does not respect copyright: it runs roughshod over the public's rights in the copyright bargain, allowing rightsholders to misappropriate any exemption they desire
* Coupled with a regulatory mandate, this amounts to permission to write private laws to underpin business-models, at the public's expense

CPCM and competition
* CPCM's interoperability with other technologies will be limited by contracts that ensure that no disruptive entrants to the market are permitted
* These licensing regimes limit implementers' freedom to contract with other technology vendors
* Historically, these licensing regimes limit innovation in the industries to which they are applied

CPCM and consumer rights
* It will be impossible to know, a priori, whether a CPCM device will allow you to use it in the way you intend on using it
* Even if a CPCM device does work "out of the box," its functionality can be constrained at a later date by disabling its features or activating USI in programming that limits a desired feature

CPCM and free/open source software
* CPCM's robustness requirement will make it impossible to implement CPCM in free and open source software (FOSS) and hence FOSS programmes will necessarily be precluded from the market if CPCM is mandated into national law
* The right of programmers to publish their work through FOSS regimes is often equivalent to other forms of scientific publishing and is often protected under free speech laws and traditions
* The CPCM robustness regime will therefore stifle free and open source software and the scientific inquiry that relies upon it

The Broadcast Flag, the Broadcasters' Treaty and CPCM
* CPCM is the latest salvo in a global campaign to restrict consumer rights that encompasses US initiatives like the Broadcast Flag and WIPO (UN) initiatives like the Broadcasters' Treaty
* CPCM encompasses many failed US regulatory initiatives and the move to encase it in international treaty obligations will likely be used as leverage to get these initiatives reintroduced in the USA
* CPCM compromises national self-determination by allowing US culture-exporting companies to dictate public policy

Bali - how could it happen again?

2005-10-03T13:15:00.000+01:00

I've just spent a few days on the delightful island of Bali within sight of the Hindu temple of Tanah Lot (below at sunset). The whole place is laid back and very spiritual (apart from the traffic which is manic) and the people are gentle and helpful. I was there to work and spent no time outside of the hotel complex but didn't pick up any edginess or fear.

According to Baliguide.com, 'Bali, however, has learned from the incident, and security precautions in resorts and public places as well as – most important – on the village level are today much higher than ever before.

We believe also that Bali is currently much lower on the target list for international terrorists than countries such as Australia and the U.K. – which still refuse to lift the travel warnings for their nationals to visit this island.'

The 2002 bombing took a lot of Bali's tourist trade away. According to this BBC article "In the immediate aftermath of the October 2002 bombing, hotel bookings fell by 80%, flights arrived and left empty, and shop owners put their staff on half pay.

It has taken three years of hard work to convince tourists to come back to the island - hard work that was undone in an instant on Saturday night".

Would you go back to Bali in the aftermath of the bombing? My answer (given here on Ecademy) is a definite YES. I will go to London during this coming month and firmly believe that I cannot reduce my risk simply by avoiding KNOWN risks - it will be the unknown risks that get me!

What about you?

A Friend in Every City

2005-08-02T08:22:00.000+01:00

A welcome arrival in the blogosphere from Thomas Power, chairman of Ecademy with his blog 'A Friend in Every City'. His first blog - on the controversial topic of Quantity versus Quality in Networking - shows that his usual combative style has survived the move outside Ecademy - where he has been a regular blogger for many years.

Worth pointing your RSS reader at this blog - along with other key social Networking commentators Christian Mayaud, David Teten and Scott Allen. Technorati keep track of blogs - here is its latest listing for Social Networking.

The Summer Season - weather lousy

2005-07-29T00:11:00.000+01:00

As the school holidays begin, the weather has decided to take an unseasonal dip into cold, wet weather of the sort we get used to in the autumn and winter. We do have a full complement of tourists around the area, so the roads feel like summer even if the weather doesn't.

I'm head down into writing 'the book' at present and so I don't get affected by the tourists that much. Where I do notice them is when I go out to places that help the creative process to flow. I have a number of places to which I go including Maenporth Beach where the summer car parking fee is now in place. At least one Sunday has seen the overflow car park in use. Still it's worth the extra £1.50 just to be able to sit and watch the sea and to use the freedom from this computer to get the ideas that have been hiding coyly in my brain out onto paper (or into a dictation machine). Gyllyngvase Beach also has a cafe that I use from time to time. Here, on a hot day, the outside verandah is often full and I have to sit inside. Ah the deprivations of living in such a glorious place!

My last visit to London ended at just before midnight on the 6th of July. It was a very successful visit with some excellent meetings and the euphoria of the Live8 concerts which had happened the previous weekend and the Olympic award to London. My pleasant feelings came to an abrupt end the following morning when I awoke (having arrived home at 5.30am) to hear of the bombings in Central London. How thin is the line between elation and terror. I will be back in London but probably not until September. Getting back onto public transport will be nervewracking, no doubt, but I don't have to travel on London's transport system on a daily basis. Those who do at present have my greatest admiration.

My condolences go to those who lost relatives or friends in the attacks and to those who were injured or traumatised by them. Ironically, today has been the day that the IRA, whose bombs I dodged in the 70s and 80s, have chosen to turn their back on violence. Let's hope that this announcement leads to peace at last for the people of Northern Ireland. They deserve that.

New home for Writer in Residence

2005-07-29T00:08:00.000+01:00

As I rebuild the Bizwords web site, I have taken the opportunity to publish this blog within the site at www.bizwords.co.uk/wir.htm. I hope to use a mixture of static and dynamic pages to improve my web presence and to allow me to provide a more dynamic service to those who use my services.

Just talking to my computer

2005-06-14T21:10:00.000+01:00

I have never been one of the world's gifted typists. In fact, my style is essentially style free. Now I'm using a new set of tools and literally talking to my computer. I've tried voice software before but never really got on with it. There was just too much adjustment to make, too long to train the software to my words and too much inaccuracy in the final result. When friends, including Philip Calvert tried to convince me that dictating to a computer was much more accurate these days, I was a little skeptical to say the least.

Nevertheless, I have an awful lot of words to get into the computer whilst writing within my current project, a book with Thomas Power, chairman of Ecademy. I am up for the gadgets and ways of making my life less stressful, so I invested in a dictation machine from Olympus -- a D3000 for those who know about these things-- and software called Dragon Naturally Speaking, Preferred Edition. I've been indexing my research and selecting paragraphs to quote using a Plantronics headset connected by USB to my computer and simply dictating the words that I need in the document. Whilst it's an intense process, it has probably saved me many hours of hand writing, followed by typing and in truth would probably never have got completed.

On a completely different tack, I have just got used to using the overnight sleeper from Truro to London Paddington and now I hear that it is under threat from the Strategic Rail Authority. If I need to be in London for an early meeting, the sleeper is the only way that I can guarantee to be there. It leaves Truro at 2234 and after working its way through Cornwall, arrives in London at 0511. I can leave the train at my leisure at any time before 0830. As soon as I can find it, I will link from here to a campaign website to save our sleepers.

Whilst writing the book, these blogs may become a little erratic -- in fact they already have. I hope to be back in business within the next two months and blogging more comprehensively and more regularly than I do now.

All the best from Cornwall
Andy

Security Light?

2005-05-04T08:11:00.000+01:00

An article in CNN.com sourced from Reuters here - http://edition.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/05/03/australia.cryptology.reut/index.html - heralds the possibility of hacker proof code by using a microscopic diamond to focus a photon beam of light.

“When it comes to cryptography, the problem is getting the key” said Melbourne University research fellow James Rabeau. “The single-photon beam makes for an unstealable key.” Time will tell.

Newz from Suze

2005-05-03T12:02:00.000+01:00

Suzan St Maur is a very funny person. That is, she is professionally funny as a writer of humourous books. She is also a very helpful person who knows a lot of very useful things for writers (aspiring and expiring) and shares many of them through her blog. She is also a very valuable member of the Ecademy Writers Club and was a speaker at our first meeting in 2004 in Oxford UK. Suze also has her profile on Ecademy. Get to know her - you won't regret it.

Ecademy Writers are getting together again in two weeks time (May 14th) in Bristol and our speakers will be Katherine Trimble who will share her experiences writing for business and Mindy Gibbins-Klein, The Book Midwife, who will get that book out of you! I won't go into too much detail about book birthing in case you're squeamish. If you want to get involved with Ecademy Writers you need to do two things in this order -

Join Ecademy

Join Ecademy Writers Club

You will then be able to check out the details of the meeting and register for it.

The blog goes mobile

2005-04-29T14:41:00.000+01:00

Just a short post now to try out 'mail to blog' on my Blackberry. As I spend more time on the road, I want to make real use of the mobile facilities at my disposal. Let's see how this works.
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Sent with Instant Email from T-Mobile

News from the Firewall

2005-04-28T10:55:00.000+01:00

Infosecurity is once again taking place in Olympia London and I've relocated myself away from the sea to the edges of Hyde Park for the three days. I took the sleeper from Truro to arrive in time for Tuesday morning's breakfast meeting and presentation by Bruce Schneier, Information Security guru and founder/CTO of Counterpane. Apart from giving away copies of his book - Beyond Fear - a look at security from a more measured standpoint away from the usual hype that comes from the security vendors (most of whom are here and hyping the magic that they can do). Bruce noted that much of cyber crime - hacking, viruses and worms, spam and spyware come through criminally controlled bot nets - groups of compromised home and small business PCs whose security was either non existent or out of date. Question is how do we eliminate the problem. Education of users has been mooted, but who should do this and how would it be funded? The metaphor often used is the Driving Test for motor vehicles but could that sort of operation work - and would it improve things? Schneier points out that problems arise when home users take to the internet and that they do that through ISPs. Some ISPs offer spam/virus/spyware checking currently and most don't. If they all did, maybe we could deal with the problem.

However, as we have seen many times before, solving one problenm simply sends the vast army of very clever individuals out to find a new way of making money out of the dark side of the net. Happy surfing.

To Pee or not to Pee, that is the question

2005-04-20T10:50:00.000+01:00

My good friend and Ecademy colleague Robert Rush has drawn my attention to a fine piece of blogging on the BBC Cornwall site. It follows the London Marathon last Sunday where Paula Radcliffe stopped by the roadside to empty her bladder on the way to once again winning the event. Thruster is a mature surfer (if that is not an impossibility) who draws a comparison between Paula and the frequency with which surfers pee their suits and concludes that surfers who do this must now be considered "among the most dedicated athletes in the world" rather than "a festering scumbag" as might have been the case pre Paula's pee. See the whole article here (and do look at previous blogs, too).

Hungry Week - go a little hungry to highlight a major imbalance

2005-04-18T15:25:00.000+01:00

Today sees the Web launch of Hungry Week, a project which has been gestating in Ecademy for a while. It has been developed using collaborative tools on the web and we are now looking for YOUR support. Around the world there are more than 1 billion overfed and obese people and more than 840 million people who are living in a state of chronic, persistent hunger. Developed countries are spending billions every year treating obesity related illnesses whilst 6 million children under the age of five die from the effects of hunger every year. Up to 7% of some healthcare budgets is spent on treating obesity-related illness - for example heart diease, high blood pressure, diabetes, osteoarthritis and psychological symptoms.

This situation is not inevitable. According to the World Health Organisation, there are 2,750 calories of food per day for every person in the world at current production levels – enough to provide everyone with their minimum nutritional needs every day – and still have some to spare.

Take 30 seconds now to register your interest in this campaign. Then from 13th June this year, spend seven days feeling a little (or a lot) hungry.

One of our team, Jeremy Dent has just undertaken a Hungry Week in which he lived on 1,000 calories a day. His comment on Day 6 was "You know those things you take on rather glibly - giving your own time; helping someone out; giving to charity....you part with resources but it isn't too painful. Try parting with one of the most fundamental resources you need: shelter, companionship, love, warmth or....food.
My 1,000 cals a day diet this week has affected me fundamentally. It has changed my attitude to food, what we use it for, how people suffer without it, how listless you become on a below-par diet."

Please, if you do nothing else - do this. It costs you nothing except a little weight and it could be big enough for the politicians to hear us. In the 21st century there should not be such a shocking situation where some of us stuff ourselves with plenty whilst others die through lack of basic nutrition.

Creating Excuses

2005-04-03T21:27:00.000+01:00

Seems like I've been a little remiss in posting here for the past two weeks. The excuses come tripping off the tongue so smoothly - Easter got in the way, dial up networking whilst waiting for Broadband - but the truth is that my brain hit overload and I really couldn't find space to think what should appear here.

As I may have noted here before, the move to Cornwall was made to free me up to write more and better stuff. Then I chose to get involved with activity taking place in other parts of the UK and other parts of the world. Travelling may broaden the mind (and the backside) but it also adds costs to life and makes those of us who are getting on in years more tired.

However, I am where I am and that is precisely where I wanted to be. Somehow in the welter of activity that has been the past year, we have moved to where we want to be (well, perhaps a little further from the sea but it's only five minutes away) and are beginning to recognise the benefits of living in Cornwall. So why make excuses for the fact that I've been spending some time in the garden getting it straight (I'm hired labour not the creative element!) and I've been enjoying the environment I'm in. Most of the pressure I feel is self-made and it can be sorted. Instead of sitting here in front of my computer, I should be relaxing ready for a busy day tomorrow.

Oh yes - Broadband arrived in the new place on Friday. 2MBs of it! The difference between dial up and Broadband just got much bigger. Now I'm back on Broadband, I will commit to putting this blog out there more often. So, if anyone is listening - good night and speak soon.

Andy

On the road

2005-03-17T21:19:00.000Z

Blogging tonight from the glamorous surroundings of my room at the Premier Travel Inn in beautiful downtown Bracknell. My aging laptop - still running - W95 has embraced the wireless age, so here I am, burning money at the rate of £5 for two hours to update myself on Ecademy and to catch up with the world. I've actually spent some time downloading Mind Manager X5 only for it to tell me (during installation AFTER a lengthy download) that my op system isn't supported. Might have told me BEFORE I downloaded? Would have saved some of my £5, too.

Here in the UK, we live with weather that changes minute by minute. Yesterday I drove from Falmouth to Kettering (which took from 10am - 6pm) in what could best be described at times as zero visibility. The M4 between Bristol and Swindon was especially bad, not helped by the inevitable idiot who decided that front ending the central barrier would be fun. Today, I drove from Kettering to Andover in bright sunlight and was walking around in Andover in shirtsleeves. Temperatures in the region of 19 - 20c in March are rare but may stick around a few more days.

It's been a while since I was a regular road warrior. The feeling soon comes back. At times today, I was actually ENJOYING driving on the A34. Perhaps I need to get my head checked!

Tomorrow I'm in a seminar on seminar selling by Philip Calvert whose Ecademy training sessions, usually given for free and on the end of a long drive, are always good value. A full day, not free but still reasonably priced, should be a real shot in the arm for my speaking aspirations (I nearly wrote pretensions). I'll report back on that from this same room tomorrow.

Saturday is now also a networking day. A major networking event, organised by Larry Osei Kwaku, takes place in Central London. He has over 200 coming for a saturday full of speakers and food. Must be doing something right!

Farewell to Rick West

2005-03-06T17:57:00.000Z

Who, you may ask? Rick West became Tommy Vance when he took his first job in radio at KHJ Los Angeles. The only jingle package available was for a DJ called Tommy Vance who had not turned up for his new job. Rick became Tommy and the rest is history. this weekend Tommy died, aged 63, from a stroke.

The most significant thing about Tommy was his deep, rocky voice. It was what made him such a successful DeeJay in his chosen field of Heavy Metal and Rock. In recent years he has also become a very successful voice over artist - that voice again!

To lose Tommy so soon after the great loss of John Peel is a saddening event and one that will have all of us who grew up with their distictive voices considering our mortality.

Some archive material HERE including plenty of archive audio clips.

Somewhere in heaven tonight there'll be a party going on and a familiar voice shouting 'ROCK ON'. Our loss is their gain.

RIP Tommy Vance 1943 - 2005. He will be missed.

A Sign of the Times - Spammers get Commercial

2005-03-01T10:19:00.000Z

A Press Release on behalf of Email Systems this morning notes a massive reduction of pornographic content in spam emails in favour of dating, financial services and scams. Nevertheless spam reached 97.6% of all email traffic on Sunday 6th February. Full details below -

Porn Plummets as Spammers Look To Dating Services & Financial Scams in February
Legitimate Mail Less Than 2% In February - Lowest Point To Date Says Email Systems

Email Management specialist Email Systems has unveiled new statistics which reveal that pornographic spam mail dropped by a massive 92.5% during February, whilst unsolicited emails offering dating (+171%), financial services (+107%) and scam (+70%) opportunities have all increased significantly.

Spam as a whole has continued to increase this month, with an average of 92.08% of all incoming email being identified as spam, versus an average of just under 90% during January 2005. These figures, which represent the first monthly average above 90%, are based on the detailed analysis of hundreds of millions of emails across Email Systems’ client base, spanning sectors such as Construction, Energy Utilities, Financial Services, IT, Manufacturing, Medical and the Public Sector amongst others.

On Sunday 6th February - the worst point during February - Spam reached a staggering 97.6% of all email traffic. Combined with 0.61% of virus traffic on that day, fewer than one in fifty-five emails were legitimate. At February’s high point on Thursday February 24th, legitimate email comprised 12.42% of email, with spam at 85.83% and virus traffic at 1.74%.

Medical and pharmaceutical-related spam remains the most prevalent type of unsolicited mail, with almost one in two (46.68%) of all spam mails currently being of this type. In addition to those mentioned above, other spam categories during February include educational/degree offers, cheap software, travel and religious emails.

Neil Hammerton, CEO of Email Systems, said:
“The drop in pornographic spam is incredible considering that this type of mail was the most prevalent type of spam just over a year ago. The change indicates how spam as a whole has shifted towards overtly promoting scams, financial incentives, cheap products and other consumer-focussed opportunities in an attempt to encourage mainstream recipients to part with their cash.

“In contrast to the ever-increasing spam numbers, the virus figures seem extremely low by comparison. However, although the proportion has decreased, the amount of virus traffic has actually increased since late 2004, which again underlines the massive quantities of spam that are now being distributed each day.”

Email Systems manages and monitors the flow of spam and virus infected email messages on behalf of millions of corporate, public sector and domestic users across the UK. For more information, visit www.EmailSystems.com or call 0870 141 7070.

Frank Schmidt - One Genius at Genius One

2005-02-28T17:42:00.000Z

I'm in the middle of a Skype conversation with Frank and looking at his blog- Frank's Blog. Take a look - I think you'll like it.

Now available for XML, Atom and RSS Feeds

2005-02-28T10:22:00.000Z

Just added this site to Feedburner giving me syndication potential through all of the feed streams shown above. Talk about accelerated learning!

There is a button just above the Links heading on the sidebar that will automatically provide the link in your favoured format - magic!

Now all I need to do is to make people aware that this blog is here. Don't think it's Field of Dreams territory 'build it and they will come' - more promote it and you might get some traffic.

A reminder of why I live here

2005-02-27T23:55:00.000Z

Today has been blue skies from dawn to dusk with a clarity of light that makes this place look magical. To get into Falmouth this morning involved driving through Swanpool and past the beach which was already busy. It isn't warm, of course, so no Rio beach scenes, but plenty of people out nonetheless. A steady breeze has the sea agitated and the view out across the bay to St Anthony's Head is, as it often is, stunning.

Tonight I chose to drive out to Maenporth Beach. It is only a mile from home and a different world. When I was here before, in 2001/2, doing my PG Dip in Professional Writing, Maenporth was my inspiration and my refuge, and it still serves both purposes.

When Cornwall appears decked out in sunshine, it is easy to understand its appeal to so many writers now and in the past. The Daphne Du Maurier literary Festival takes place in Fowey, Cornwall later in the spring. I'll blog details of that soon. It looks like it will be an exceptional event. Maybe this year I'll get there.

Making a start

2005-02-26T10:16:00.000Z

begins......../

I'm just one more voice in the hundreds of thousands of Bloggers active today. Even as someone who is making their living by writing, I'm not that unusual. Several UK newspapers now have their own blogs. So what can I offer in my own blog that I don't put into my published work?

Good question, that. I'll answer it when I've worked it out.

I'm a professional writer, living in Cornwall. In that one sentence is the story of a change process that has been taking place now for some years. Most of my working life I have been in IT. I've been an analyst/programmer, a business analyst, System Development Manager and Merchandise Inventory Controller for two major retailers and an IT sales person for three organisations in the E-commerce (and before that EDI) marketplace. I've been freelance since 1998 when my last company and I parted. In 2001/2, I took the Professional Writing post grad Diploma at Falmouth College of Arts and in October last year, finally relocated from Hampshire in the UK to Falmouth.

I'm very involved with networking, both at a local level and nationally - indeed internationally. I am a member of Ecademy and of Linkedin and you are welcome to connect with me in either network. I co-lead Ecademy Cornwall and Ecademy Writers clubs and I am part of the team developing an international initiative to draw attention to the inequality in the availability of food in the world.

For Hungry Week, an initiative that is being developed by Ecademy members but which will soon break out on to the web, I was researching hunger and obesity. Those who know me, will know that I carry some additional poundage that I'd love to lose. The figures are stark - 847 million hungry in the world but over 1 billion overweight (and over 300,000 obese), and there are 2700 calories available each day for EVERY PERSON in the world - enough to feed the world with some to spare. The website for Hungry Week will go live soon.

/.........more follows