Category: Communication

A Letter to My Father

Like many people, I have mixed feelings about the whole Father’s Day thing. I don’t need a particular day for Keira to acknowledge me, every day we let each other know about the love we have for one another, and I’ll readily admit there’s something fun about a little fuss being made too. This year, we are off on a long walk this Father’s Day with some good friends, I’m really looking forward to it.

I was tidying up some papers yesterday and I came across an old letter I wrote to Dad, shortly after Carole and I got married back in August 1992. By way of context, after Mum died in 1984 my relationship with Dad deteriorated…a lot. We were frequently horrible to each other and there were times I was sure we’d never reconcile things. As is often the case, I was wrong, and Dad and I started to get it back together a little while before this letter was written. Reading the letter for the first time since I wrote it almost twenty two years ago, I sense a clunkiness and awkwardness to it at times. Nevertheless, I’d like to share it with you, and if Father’s Day works for you, I hope it’s a happy one.

Dear Dad

Carole and I have been married for over a month! Time flies when you’re having fun. After all the excitement of the last few weeks, life seems to be returning to some sort of normality, if there is such a thing. We would both like to say how very grateful we are for all your help towards our big day, and the rest of our life! Not only for the invaluable financial generosity but also for everything else.

I think I now have some understanding of the importance of the reliability and guidance of parents. That is not to say that you and Mum have seen eye to eye with everything that I have done or tried to do. Despite the fact that shortcomings in my life have given you justifiable cause for concern, upset and other feelings I’m sure you’d ideally not wish to experience, I can now stand back and look at my life which is basically happy and sane, I think! I owe no small part of this to you and Mum and I’m truly grateful.

As you know, it is unfortunately all too difficult to talk frankly and openly, especially to those closest to you and though I’m just as hopeless as the next person in this department, I want you to know that it is with the greatest sincerity that I tell you how proud I am that I was able to share our wedding day with you, and Helen and Moira.

I take a great deal of pleasure from the music I listen to, I know you do as well. People who you have no personal knowledge of can write words which make you think ‘I really know what you mean’. The following few lines sum that sense up for me.

Good work is the key to good fortune
Winners take that praise
Losers seldom take that blame
But sometimes the winner takes nothing
We go out in the world and take our chances
Fate is just the weight of circumstances
That’s the way that lady luck dances
Why are we here? Because we’re here
Roll the bones

Cheers Dad, take it easy and thanks again

Love – Doug

A Picture Paints a Thousand Words

Working on a social media strategy in Riga. How to take advantage of fine weather and get some good work done too.

Deep in the midst of developing a social media strategy, I asked one of the team of people I’m working with about their use of Flickr. The particular channel they shared with me relates to the Latvian armed forces, and when I asked why they used it, I got a very simple reply:

‘A picture paints a thousand words’

It was late afternoon and the hot Riga spring sunshine was streaming through the windows as we were started exploring the possibilities of using visual aids: photos, videos, info graphics and more, as part of a wider communication strategy. Rather than continue to let the fine weather distract us, I invited the team to split into three groups and go and photograph the city. Each team would then present their view of the city back to the group in the morning, as a way of promoting the city for the upcoming EU Presidency. Extra points would be awarded if the slideshow could capture the three Latvian EU Presidency values: Involving, Growth and Sustainability.

The following day we reconvened and were treated to a series of interesting and entertaining slide shows of Riga. Here are a few excerpts:

Often when the town or city where we work is just somewhere we walk through every day, we take it for granted. It was great to get out and enjoy the sunshine, sure, but the feedback that really interested me from this exercise was how much people appreciated the opportunity to see their city in a different light.

What Did You Do Before

The old man sat next to me on the slow train into London. Like so many others on board I was passing time staring at a tiny screen.

The old man asked, ‘What did you do before you had a mobile phone?’ ‘I stared out of the window, read, sketched, wrote and sometimes talked’ I said, and so, twenty five minutes before reaching Victoria station, our conversation began.

The old man studied American history, ‘Abraham Lincoln forever, and all that,’ he said. Turns out he’s a Packers fan and so we talked of American football, cheese heads, Vikings, Broncos, Seahawks, Raiders and more. ‘I’ve never been to the United States’ the old man told me, and I explained that’s where I was journeying to. ‘I like the sound of Baton Rouge, it has a nice name’, he said. Somewhat surprised I replied ‘that’s where I’m heading.’

We talked about the trip I took to New York City with my late father. I told the old man about the sights we saw and added, ‘we even went to see the ice hockey.’ ‘The Rangers?’ Asked the old man. ‘Indeed’ I said, and we spoke of sport and our separate experiences of listening to US forces radio bouncing crackly live signals from various sports on the medium wave.

With Victoria approaching, and with twenty five minutes passing like twenty five seconds, we shook hands and wished each other well. He continued his journey to the midlands to watch Wolverhampton Wanderers take on Peterborough, and I headed for the airport, to catch my flight to Baton Rouge.

What did you do before you had a mobile phone?