The longest week of two years

It's Friday and it's the day after Christmas and the day before the weekend. Most shops are open with all the nervous mood of a fire-sale after the credit-crunch hit pre-Christmas spending, stemming cash-flow and squeezing profits. My local department store launched its winter sale in several departments back on December 15th and the big retailers launched their January Sales on the internet yesterday - on Christmas Day.

If you're not out buying stuff then there's another weekend coming up, so there'll be entertaining and parties a-plenty. Many businesses across Britain will stay closed right through next week, cushioning the further hang-overs of New Year, and building up to traffic chaos on the following weekend as thousands return home to go back to work on Monday 5th. Or not. How many jobs will there be to return to? How many companies will be counting the cost and taking the difficult decisions?

Is there anyone out there who can make sense of this crazy world we're living in? Businesses are collapsing because nobody's spending and nobody's spending because businesses are collapsing. The banks are paying next to nothing to borrow money centrally and between each other, but they're not lending so nobody can buy or sell their home. Is it capitalism that's failing society, or society that's failing capitalism? How can we live the utopian egalitarian dream when a greedy few can seriously damage all the economies of the world in a matter of weeks?

Then there's global warming and the irony of well-meaning pleas not to leave the TV or computer in standby mode, not to fill the car right up with petrol because that reduces fuel efficiency, and not to boil a full kettle if you only need a cupful. All very worthy, I'm sure, but did anyone dare to suggest that Christmas decorations might be a profligate extravagance? One person did, but it does sound something of a kill-joy voice in the wilderness.

So where next? My pre-resolution prediction is that the only choice we have if we are to maintain our sanity and move forward is by adopting the powerful mixture of creativity blended with optimism. The next decade is going to be very different from the Noughties. We'll be less focused on quantity and more concerned about quality in many aspects of our lives, and in all areas of consumption. There will be a hunger for values, because so many have been lost since the global egotism that was born in the 80's. The alternative is the descent into a totally self-centred material jingoism that defies any concept of humanist values.

09 must be radical. Or else...

Future Marketing Summit

It's the wet Saturday before Christmas. I did the local street market before the car park was packed, bought my clementines, parsnips and Cox's apples, then decided mistletoe was both naff and over-expensive. Depressed myself reading the news in the Times over a cappucino, then abandoned the search for the outstanding pressies and came home. Lit the fire (Ah - remember now from Cub Scout days that shiny paper stops the wood kindling catching.) Finally the logs caught and the place started to smell lightly smoked and Christmassy. Collapsed on the sofa, found the remote under the cushions and started channel-hopping. The advertised programmes were the usual Strictly Come Snooker and repeats of old sit-coms but then I stumbled on the "Future Marketing Summit" and discovered a recording of the discussion panel at this recent London conference. Top marketing people airing their opinions on what's happening and where it's going.
The programme is being repeated on several occasions over the coming week. So, if you're interested in trends and innovation, and want to know what the gurus think of brand and advertising, make sure you catch it for a fascinating and intellectually challenging insight. For more thoughts on the Future Marketing Summit, here's an interesting view from one of the delegates.
But what am I doing, talking business when I should be decorating the tree or making mulled wine? Ah - wine - now there's a thought.! Well, maybe it's about time to find the corkscrew.

On my Soapbox

If your meetings mean going through a lot of detail, don't use PowerPoint. People can't listen to what you're saying and read what's on the screen both at the same time. It's at the heart of what all the experts are preaching about presentations and it stems from solid academic research in both Australia and the States. I had an article on this subject published this week, and I am hoping that I'll stir up a bit of controversy. There's more of the same on my Slideshare posting so - as you can see - I'm getting quite worked up about my favourite topic. I'm on my soapbox.

Wikipedia makes the point that blogging is the modern version of soapboxing though the advantage of a soapbox at a venue like Hyde Park's Speakers' Corner is that you do at least know if someone is out there. Sometimes writing a blog feels like a voice in the wilderness, but it is wonderfully therapeutic, and in a way it's a personal diary that one chooses to share. After all, a musician doesn't always need an audience, so why should a writer need a reader?

Tell me, am I starting to sound my age?