The Signifier

Celebrating supreme enlightenment...Wesak!

This weekend saw a double whammy in the world of London Buddhists, an open day at the recently revamped LBC in Bethnal Green and more importantly the most significant event in Buddhism; Wesak, when the Buddha attained supreme enlightenment.

As part of the celebrations, LBC are distributing these mini Buddhas and asking people to take a photo and upload it to the website. so join in, enjoy, see how far on the map they go, and whilst you're doing that, take a moment to be mindful you never know, you may feel enlightened!

When brands reply to our tweets for help (listen-respond-learn)

A use for Twitter that's not an obvious revenue stream, but IS good for the consumer...whoop!

If I were sitting opposite Hayley right now, I'd be celebrating the fact that amid all the attempts to monetize Twitter and infiltrate with fake profiles, celebs etc. bubbling through the mud of ROI modelling has surfaced an ideal opportunity that frankly digital PR should have been onto years back when we were all excited about forums and blogs!

O2 worked some genius today in responding to the negative voices of consumers who,  frustrated with long waiting times on telephones to get customer support decided to tell their woes on Twitter.

So rather than the story ending up as "horribly ever after" Wendy McAuliffe (one of the said frustated customers) actually got her problem solved pretty quickly! Nice one.

Again, with a tone of frustration in my voice, this is where digital comes into the forefront of an integrated space. Why? Well because for every negative voice there is on the internet, there will be a number of people over time seeing that negative voice frozen in time UNLESS brands realise they need to  be listening in these (consumer drivenb) spaces (Twitter, Facebook etc.) and responding accordingly to assist and correct any wrong-doing.

Monetizers of all things digital...put that in your pipe and smoke it!

When we go to Heaven, what happens to our Blogs?

Sometimes amidst the traffic on the Information Superhighway, some things do stand still, even once we've gone....

I was reminded this morning with a thud about our own mortality and the power of words we share with people within a blog/tweet/facebook moment through a reminder of someone's funeral.

Mahanada (Andrew Serafinski) passed away suddenly on April 2nd having taken a lot of friends (real and virtual) on many of his travels and adventures around the world (and his mind).

This got me thinking about lots of things associated with the daily routine of orating our mental ramblings. For example:

• Who tends to our space?
• Does it disappear if not logged-into for a certain period of time or does it exist for time in memorium?  What do people conclude about the last thing we wrote?
• Without friends posting polite "he's died" notices, do people think we just got bored with talking?!

As I read throuhg Mahanada's last entry, I smiled with the words he'd written then, clearly not realising these to be his last...

"Yesterday the mercury bubbled and fizzed around 35 degrees C.
Humidity was a drenching 30%.
How I long for snow tomorrow!.....

....I hope to write more when I'm back at home, where I'll start on a long-overdue journey inwards.
What form despatches will take I do not know."

I hope his blog remains there for a good while yet. Although he's no longer with us, the journeys he took people on are still relevant, even to those who didn't even know him!

Amen

All that *glitters* is not Gulf

Voices emerge and break the myth of the Middle Eastern Dream
Today, like every other, part of my morning routine is a catchup on the world and a glimpse into the lives of people I've met over the years to see what's happening in areas of my past.

Ordinarily, this activity is a quick affair, scanning through lots of injections of what people have thought, smelt, tasted....everyday stuff that in most parts is nothing new or surprising. Now to the untrained eye, something like this (a report from journalist Johann Hari) would be considered just a bitter review of a trip to this glimmering city. However, what you're in fact reading is a brave voice emerging from a mission to find the REAL Dubai.

Already, the wheels of PR and loyalty are turning (AmazingWomenRock article) with an interesting "two wrongs do make a right" approach, pointing the finger to the rest of the World who treat their citizens in a similar fashion! Interesting considering that for a long time, the Emirates smugly announced they've built the city of Dubai using the lessons/mistakes made by the Western World as a guid of how NOT to do it!

Which Credit Crunch Profile are you?

What's the secret of success in the Credit Crunch?....I'll tell you!

We really can't ignore (still) the talk of Credit Crunch and the gloom and doom effects it's having on the economics of our country (and the World!). Mid February I woke up and decided I would no longer listen/watch the morning news on TV before heading out to the daily grind. Instead I would eliminate the talk of 'who is next to crumble?". Don't get me wrong, I wasn't avoiding the climate, I was just trying to level the amount of bad news floating round my head first thing.

However, one thing I did wish for in this resolution of 'switch off', was for once every so often for there to be some good news amid the bad, some minute granule of 'happy' for us to look at and praise.

Interestingly enough, a survey this week in Marketing now deconstructs our nation into levels of OPTIMISM amidst the crunch! Those who have reacted in a way as to just go 'safe' and those who are (trying) to take the stances of "life goes on...so shall I".

So which profile do you fit into, you're one of eight possibles:

• "On the up" (4%)
• "Life goes on" (13.3%)
• "It's worth it" (14.5%)
• "Occasional treats" (12.5%)
• "Cutting back" (20.4%)
• "Trading down" (18.7%)
• "Life on hold" (9.2%)
• "Trading off" (7.7%)

Make a wish list this year...

Continuing on from my previous post, it struck me in a conversation I had this morning our new year plans need to be things we WANT to do not feel that we HAVE TO do. With this in mind and taking on board all that has been considered as 'lessons learned in 2008', I'm making a list now, it's a combination of things I've been scribbling down (year on year) in my notebook, alongside some new dreams.

If anything, it's going to be things "I hope to experience in my post-40 years....

2008; That was the year that was.....

I know it's something we all do come close-down of the year, but that retrospective of the last twelve months is subconsciously the insight we use to put down our resolutions for the coming months of the new year.

If this is the case, then 2009 should be a year where mistakes, lessons and newnewss from 2008 make it one of the best. In my mind, that's quite fortunate, this being of course for me where traditionally 'life begins'.

So what were the good things to take from 2008 and take along with me on my trip into 2009?

• To never stop being content with oneself
• To have conviction in those instincts/spiritual rumbles that tell us things are good or bad
• To celebrate music and the many senses it pings
• To recognise why people come in and out of our lives
• To be honest with oneself, one's limitations & strengths

Easier said than done? Perhaps so, but we're never too old to make mistakes and learn from them...I can honestly say 2008 will be one year to remember for all the good things I come out of it knowing.

 

Hey Ho For Halloween....

     

For many weeks now, my regular Saturday jaunt out of the house has involved fish, cheese, meat and vegetables. Shopping on Royal Hill has revealed the believe that value isn't necessarily the price something costs but instead a combination (similar to the planning ideals I apply to Honda) of 'value of ownership'.

Take for example your humble vegetables; supermarkets reap the crops freeze, chemically treat or worst case IMPORT all for the attraction of choice and cost. However, in order to get products to this point and to last as long as they do (for our convenience apparently), we lose goodness, vitamins and taste.

Try it sometime, taste the difference and make the choice...Im converted that's for sure....

It's not waving the white flag, it's seeing the bigger picture and moving on.

For the last few weeks, you can probably tell there has been a bit of a radio silence on broadcast. Going into the details of the "whys" and "Who's" are probably best kept to oneself, merely because of the fragility of others involved.

However, what I can share is the realisation I had at the beginning of this week that moved me to decide to step back from the tornado of chaos I was experiencing and walk away from it.

Asking myself what it I was that I was ultimately looking for that made me take those decisions in the first place were based on the fundamental I've always held with high importance in my life;

The belief that one has the right to prove themselves in a situation where others are trying to bend the truth.

I've never liked being accused of something I've not actually done, especially when at the time, I did things to help others out in times of need. The natural response has always been to fight one's right for truth against those who wish to paint you with tar that is of their making NOT yours.

I had to make a choice this week. The choice of being comfortable with saying that I don't need otheres acceptance of the real story. Im happy to say "I know who was right", "I know what was said and what wasn't said" and those who claim otherwise are merely fooling themselves and running away from their own demons. As they scrabble from their own problem, they're pushing their demons onto others (they do catch up with their orignators very quickly though!).

The good news is that eventually this kind of thing sorts itself out. I'm a believer in Karma and I know it'll come bite sooner or later. I'd rather not be around when it does, because I know the same behaviour will just be repeated all over...that's for someone else to experience, not me.

I can quite happily hold my head up and smile, knowing the future will contain one less bad energy, one less reason to fear newness and one less reason to celebrate the many things I know I will now do because of this change in course and direction to my life.

If there is one thing I thank those fools I no longer suffer gladly, it's the newness their actions now put in front of me.....exciting, challenging, rewarding. Dad would call it Character Building!

Carry on regardless!

No matter what people tell you, the fact is that it's a terrible thing when people fall out. I have always had the belief that in this World we meet people for a reason. The real trick (and the thing I'd like to convince myself) is to celebrate the reason why people come into our lives and not focus on those rare instances whereby the leave our lives.

My most recent escapades in the Middle East I initially considered a personal Hades; no escape, personal challenges like none experienced before, the feeling of utter isolation! But I can (honestly) look back now and see the many good things I can take with me that can add to the basket of "what makes me the person I am today".

I have so many more new things to try out and experience and although there are some things looming that I know are not going to be easy to contend with, I can say that no matter what, it's not going to kill me so why be afraid. Just grab the NOW by the horns and deal with it inad humane way as possible irrespective of what others are throwing at you.

Life goes on.....the world still passes by unbothered by our personal battles.