Blog > April 2007 Blog archive

The Jump

30 April 2007

In just a few weeks it will be ten years since I jumped off the cliff and started to work for myself. At the time lots of people I talked to about it said it was a dangerous thing to do. They loved me and they wanted to keep me safe. They said it was a long way down, and that I would drown, or fall onto the jagged rocks, or get eaten by the sharks. I was afraid.

But fortunately I was also young and self-important, so I jumped.

Only to find that actually, and there were no sharks... and the rocks were smaller than I'd feared. But there was an island. I swam there, and made base camp.

Since then life on the island has gotten much easier. Mike landed on the island soon after I did, and Chris washed up a few years later... and they both helped make the island a fun place to live. Since arriving we've explored some of the island, but there are huge mountains and great dark caves we've never visited... sometimes when I think about them I get scared (I'm much older now).

But then I remember that first jump, and I wonder if there are beautiful lost cities at the top of those mountains, or piles of treasure hidden in those caves... and how we will never know unless we are prepared to jump.

Isn't life exciting.

Note: Jumping off cliffs generally a pretty stupid idea... obviously... there really are rocks and sharks out there. But risk is a part of being alive. I jumped ten years ago, but Semantic only really began when Mike jumped too... and I don't mind saying that to survive we've had to jump a couple of times since. Sometimes, to get what we want, you need to jump. Just make sure you have a parachute, and I'll talk about that later in the week.

Posted by Nick Warren at 7:00 AM 0 comments

Marwell plus one month

23 April 2007

We are all very proud of the work we've done with Marwell Zoo since the start of the year... which makes this a great way to start the week...

"A quick letter to say thank you for all the hard work you and your team put into the launch of the new Marwell Zoological Park web site and over the busy Easter period. Building a new site can be a lengthy and complicated process, however you have made the experience very easy within tight timescales".

Rob Lee, Marketing Manager, Marwell Zoological Park

What Rob doesn't say, and should be noted, is how much support he and the team in the Education and Conservation departments gave us. Thanks Rob, and Cara and Tim for all your help. We're looking forward to continuing to develop the site over the next few months.

Posted by Nick Warren at 2:47 PM 0 comments

Dilbert on meetings

Personally I find Dilbert pretty hit and miss, but I have been in meetings that ended a lot like this.

Top 5 signs that a meeting is in trouble:

1) No agenda
2) No stated time limit
3) No one responsible for keeping on track
4) No one taking notes
5) No agreement on what happens once the meeting breaks

I wanted to right something funny for number 5 but the truth is that I've spent too much of my 37 years in useless, boring and repetitive meetings to find them funny.

On the flip side good meetings can be excellent. In 1990 I met the Minister for Information in the Seychelles. We were trying to shoot a TV ad on the tarmac at the airport, something which was severely frowned upon (by grumpy men with automatic weapons).

I was summoned to the Minister's office to account for our request. I said something along the lines of "We would like to shoot some video of your airplane for a television advert... it will take about 2 hours and we can do it whenever is convenient for the airline... maam."

She said, "Sure."

This brings me to number 6 on the list... a meeting is in trouble when the people who are actually able to take decisions aren't in the meeting. (This is actually one of the key reasons I prefer small businesses, the ratio of decision makers to non-decision makers is much preferable).

Posted by Nick Warren at 1:18 PM 0 comments

Who benefits?

19 April 2007

Driving up to Kingston this evening I stopped in at Fleet services to get fuel. Inside you cannot get to the tills unless you've walked around the shop... presumably just to make sure you don't miss any goods you've forgotten you wanted.

The question I end up asking myself is "Who benefits?".

- PC World want to know your postcode when you buy something. Who benefits?

- O2 need you to write (yes, a letter) to them if you want to leave their network. Who benefits?

- British Gas can only offer one days notice (and a 12 hour window) for and appointment.
(translation. We are coming tomorrow, sometime between 8am and 8pm... I kid you not)

Who benefits?

When businesses do things that seem to benefit themselves rather then their customers I worry for them... it seems short-term. When they do things that benefit their customers I cheer.

At Semantic, we're the second kind... so everyone benefits.

Posted by Nick Warren at 5:06 PM 0 comments