Year: <span>2015</span>

Year: 2015

Clap traps

Claptrap is another word for nonsense. It is derived, not surprisingly, from the words clap and trap. It is a trap set to draw you into applause when none is warranted. A clap trap lures you into being impressed when you really shouldn’t be. A clap trap is an ideological …

Six years of agency staff meetings analysed in hindsight.

You learn a thing or two as the managing director of an advertising agency. Like what makes a good agency tick. Like what motivates good people. Like how it feels when the agency’s heart is in the right place. I was fortunate enough to be given temporary stewardship of such …

Brain surfee (why you should buy a copy of Brain Surfing).

There is an implicit disclosure in the title of this post. Here is the explicit version: I am the subject of Chapter 5 of Heather LeFevre‘s book called Brain Surfing. I have a small reputational (not financial) vested interest in this book doing well. But there are much more important, …

Google Firestarters 16 – The Magnificent Seven

I was insanely privileged to be invited to speak at Google Firestarters 16, as one of the Magnificent Seven CSO’s and Planning Directors curated by Neil Perkin. We each had ten minutes to talk about “The most useful thing you have learned in your career to date”, and to do …

Poetry Club (aka European Literature Night: Camarade! The Grand Finale)

If Chuck Palahniuk did poetry readings they might be like this. Fifty eight people out of ninety in the queue are allowed into the Demonstration Room at Edinburgh’s Summerhall venue. We have been standing with our craft beers in a small car park surrounded by shabby Seventies offices. We look …

The exhibitionists

I have posted a second Salmon and Bear short story. It is called The Exhibitionists and it involves a near-death experience for poor Salmon, who was just trying to live a little. “I’m going to create a diversion,” said the boy, “Something that is temporarily more interesting to a bunch …