All change on the Blog Front!
Welcome traveller... but alas... you have strayed from the true path. For this is the ancient, archived, blog of Semantic.
True, it is full of ancient wit and wisdom, but after almost 5 years we have switched to a new platform (Tumblr) and a new URL.
You can still read all of the previous posts here on Semantic.co.uk, but for new material and news point your browser to the one true blog.
The blog is dead, long live the blog!
Nick Warren, 29th June, 2010.
Blogging Semantic Archive (Dec 2005 - June 2010)
Chessington.com 2010 is live!
03 March 2010
Are you ready for a Wild Adventure? Yes? Then you're in luck... the 2010 Chessington World of Adventures website is now live :-)Okay, so we know it's just a website, but we're still excited. Chessington's site hasn't developed much over the past three years, so it's great to give it a big makeover for 2010.
Check it out. We'll be adding bits and pieces as the season progresses, but all in all we are really happy with the new work.
www.chessington.com
Posted by Nick Warren at 9:57 AM
3 comments
Semantic Blab 1: The results are in!
02 February 2010
A month ago I wrote a• limit email to twice a day (11am & 4pm)
• auto-respond to all emails letting people know my plans
• ask clients to phone in an emergency
I did this under the Semantic Business Lab (Blab) label, with the promise to share my results. Here they are.
Results
Things I expected:
• No emergencies resulted. No one died.
• I got a lot more done (the key goal).
• Client response was overwhelmingly non-existent (no one had a significant problem)
Things I did not expect:
• It was sometime hard (really hard) not to click that button.
• I spoke to clients more by phone than usual. A huge plus.
• I received 15% more emails in Jan, but spent 30% less time responding. Another HUGE plus.
Conclusion
I'll admit it, I fell off the wagon a couple of times... but only when there was a really good reason to keep an eye on things.
But that seems reasonable to me. This is not some OCD rule-fest. It's a pragmatic solution to a real problem... one that can and should scale to fit the context.
As you'll probably have guessed I am keeping the system. It feels as though it's made a big difference on my productivity, and it's certainly made a huge impact on how I feel about my time. For the first time since I began work at IBM (1995), I feel like I am handling all my responsibilities without checking email 20 times a day.
That's worth a lot,
Nick
P.S. Watch out for more Semantic Blab Experiments coming soon.
Posted by Nick Warren at 9:47 AM
0 comments
Today is MOVING DAY!
20 January 2010
A quick post remind you all that today is Semantic's moving day, Wednesday 20th January! Yes, we ate so much at Christmas we've been forced to move to a bigger place.Do not adjust your set
Our contact details will not change, so there's no need for you to update anything... but please do take note below.
10am deadline
We'll be offline from about 2pm, so if you have anything really urgent for today please try to get it to us by 10am. (We'll be back as normal from Thursday morning).
Post 2pm crisis?
If you have a real crisis and cannot get through on the phones please email incoming@semantic.co.uk. We'll be checking this during the move, and we've made "just in case" arrangements.
On the other hand, if it can wait until Thursday you'd be doing us a favour ;-)
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If you have any questions feel free to call us this morning, otherwise we'll speak on the other side.
Nick
Posted by Nick Warren at 8:16 AM
0 comments
Usborne.com gets 5 Stars from Web User Magazine
18 January 2010
Thanks to Neil's eagle-eyed parents, who spotted that our site Usborne.com has gotten five stars in Web User magazine. I quote..."The childrens-book publisher has relaunched it's website to splendid effect... attractive... extensive... seamlessly integrated... easy... simple. It's a brilliant bookmark for parents, children and teachers alike."
See the full review on Flickr!
Posted by Nick Warren at 8:20 AM
0 comments
Thanks to all the Coaster Fans
14 January 2010
Yesterday I said that Theme Park fans were passionate and helpful, so I just want to say a huge "thanks" to everyone who's gotten back to us about the new THORPE PARK site. It's really great to see how much people care... really really... really care :-)And we are listening.
Obviously we love positive comments (cheers for those), but it's the "constructive" ones that help us hone the site.
Like any agency we have creative, technical and time constraints. Can we build something that everybody likes?... definitely not, but we'll always do the best work we can, both for clients and web users.
As I mentioned yesterday we have a list of things still to come on THORPEPARK.com, and your feedback is making a difference to that list.
You can still email the guys at incoming@semantic.co.uk. All constructive feedback (good or bad) will get a response, and a place at the table... subject to those pesky constraints I mentioned earlier.
So tell us what you think. Don't be shy. Oh wait... no one was.
Posted by Nick Warren at 6:53 PM
0 comments
THORPE PARK are BACK!
13 January 2010
Old friends are just the best... aren't they? That's why we are INSANELY PLEASED to be back working with our friends at THORPE PARK.Yes, the site is going live today... slowly... and no doubt we'll have the usual settling in problems while the different servers and domains update. Apologies if you hit broken links in the meantime.
Help us out
We know from long experience that you can be the most passionate people on earth... so while this site can never really be for you (sorry guys and girls) we hope you'll help us make it as good as possible for Joe & Jane Public.
So if you spot any typos, mistakes or things that are unclear do us a favour... email incoming@semantic.co.uk and let us know. We may not be able to change everything... but we'll do our best.
Obviously we can't spill any beans about THORPE PARK's plans, but we do guarantee that every friendly email will get an equally friendly response.
PHASE 2!
Phase 2 will happen closer to the start of the season, and our current intention is to add videos, the reviews engine, a toolbox for web masters and some decent stuff on SAW Alive... obviously.
Thanks as ever for your support,
Nick Warren - Semantic
Posted by Nick Warren at 2:02 PM
0 comments
Semantic downtime: 20th January
12 January 2010
Hi folks,A quick note to alert you that we'll be moving offices on Wednesday 20th January.
As usual I am ridiculously optimistic, and expect to start around lunchtime and be back up and running by the following morning.
We are just moving down the corridor to a bigger space, so all being well disruption will be at a minimum.
Ask me the day after :-)
Posted by Nick Warren at 8:19 AM
0 comments
Happy New Year to all our friends!
03 January 2010
Hey there all.Best wishes from all of us at Semantic... we wish you all a Happy and Prosperous 2010!
Nick, Mike, Chris, Neil, David and James :-)
Posted by Nick Warren at 2:42 PM
0 comments
Semantic's 2010 Business Laboratory (BLab)
02 January 2010
This year at Semantic I've decided to run a couple of small experiments... to see if we can't get even better in 2010. I'm calling this the Semantic Business Lab (BLab)... mostly because it makes me smile... but partly because I want to try some things out this year, test the results, build on what works, and dump or rethink what doesn't.Our aim, as ever is to improve the Semantic experience, both for our clients and ourselves. I look forward to sharing what we learn.
Semantic BLab 1: Email Batching
In fact any of you who have emailed me (nick@semantic.co.uk) since New Year will have unwittingly become part of my first experiment (cue EVIL LAUGH). As you'll have seen I now have an auto responder set up on my Nick@Semantic email that reads:
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Hey there friend, thanks for the note,
During January, in an effort to focus on upcoming deadlines, I am checking and responding to business email only at 11am and 4pm, weekdays. It's an experiment!
If your message is really URGENT please don't rely on email, call me on 02380 111 542. If I'm not in the office (and no one else is either) your voicemail will be forwarded directly to my mobile, and I'll respond as soon as I am able.
Many thanks,
Nick
P.S. If you are interested in the experiment read the background on our blog.
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So here we are, on the blog...
Why this experiment?
In December 2009 I received 642 emails (excluding spam) in 18 working days... on average that's an "interruption" every 5.5 working minutes.
Digging into these Numbers
Over Christmas I did some analysis of these emails, as well as looking at the work I did at the time. On one hand I was being pulled into my Inbox 20-30 times a day... on the other ONLY 7 of those emails were actually URGENT. That's just a smudge over 1%... and in 5 of those cases the sender had already called me, or called soon afterward.
Surely we can and should do better than this. When did email stop making life easier and become a crutch? The tail is wagging the dog.
New Rules of Engagement
So, in 2010 I'm officially standing up to my Inbox... and focusing on client work.
During January I will check email twice daily. I think that's fair, especially as urgent things are better discussed over the phone anyway. If the call is out of hours, or I am away from my desk, the voicemail gets routed to my mobile... and I'll respond as soon as I am able.
Of course all of the email still gets looked at (and responded to where appropriate), just in 2 scehduled batches rather than 20-30 little ones.
What's next
Of course I'll be sharing the results of this experiment with all our clients. If this causes any disasters I'll let you know, as well as detailing the positive benefits if any. Look out for a blog post in the first week of February (www.semantic.co.uk/blog).
Thanks for your support.
(Updated 2nd February 2010: The Results are in).
Posted by Nick Warren at 2:55 PM
0 comments
Semantic's Christmas Single is live
18 December 2009
If you are reading this you may already have seen our awesome Christmas Single. Lucky you... and if not why are you reading this... go see it.Lunchtimes and Evenings
It's amazing what you can achieve out of hours, and I'd like to say a huge thank-you to Mike, Chris and Neil for willingly giving up so much time over the last 2 months.
Obviously we've had a lot of fun, but it's also been a lot of work. As ever we hope it makes people smile.
If you feel like passing it on please do, but only to people you think might really enjoy it. This isn't intended as marketing, we are very happy with the clients we have.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New year from all of us at Semantic,
Nick, Mike, Chris, Neil, David and James.
Posted by Nick Warren at 2:34 PM
1 comments