At short notice, Neil Usher asked me to give a short talk at Corenet earlier this year. Neil’s a friend, so I said yes, and worried about it later! The event was filmed, and until this weekend, I’d forgotten that the audio/video team sent me an unedited copy of my session. I stumbled upon it while putting together a speaker proposal for an event taking place next Spring, and having cringed my way through it (does anyone actually like watching themselves on playback?) – I thought I’d share it with you too, I hope you find it useful. The clip clocks in at just over ten minutes, so you might want to grab a beverage of your choice before you start watching.
Footnote. This was the first time I shared a stage with some of my own original artwork.
I’m out and about today having some useful fun. I thought I’d take the opportunity to replay some of my Youtube highlights from 2012, a kind of Christmas Top 5 if you will. Although there are no Christmas songs in the compilation as I haven’t done one this year. Whatever – here we go:
A Laptop From Currys
In at number five is my rant about Currys inability to unsubscribe me from their mailing lists. This video got picked up by the very lovely Mark Webb at Dixons who helped relieve the email pain, for which many Yuletide thanks.
Strategic Planning
At number four is a proper headbanger of a tune written for my lovely friend and adventurer Flora Marriott. At the time, Flora was in the midst of a strategic planning fest and I hoped to distract her, just a little.
US Tour 2012
Crashing in at number three is this 30 second Flipagram slideshow from my 2012 US tour. So many friends and memories, what a mighty fine experience.
Livable Lives
At number two is the version of Livable Lives I performed at Workplace Trends in London, October 2012. Neil Usher wrote the lyrics and because I fancied an extra challenge I rearranged this version on the fly, making some small lyrical and musical changes as I went along. Nerve racking stuff!
National Pie Week
Topping the chart is my National Pie Week anthem. This took literally seconds to write and it is my Youtube ukulele debut. A rocking tune that I hope will go on to become the bastion of pie week anthems for the future.
So there you have it, my personal Christmas top five, with not a Christmas song in sight 🙂
I don’t really want to go into the details of curry after effect. No, best not eh. So how are things in unsolicited email land? If that sentence means nowt to you, you can enjoy the Currys experience and song here first, then pop back and continue…
After five months of trying unsuccessfully to unsubscribe from Currys email database, the first Currys blog post, song and complaint letter to the ASA went live on Jan 12th. In 24 hours the song and blog post together received just shy of 400 views.
On Jan 13th some Twitter conversation started when @dixonsdelivery made contact
On Jan 15th I shared my frustration with the CEO of Dixons Stores Group Retail (who own Currys/PC World). And I contacted @dixonsdelivery. That same day I heard from the previously silent @dixonsops. Coincidence? You decide.
I dropped a line to @dixonsops saying I think everything is under control. Then on Jan 16th I got a follow on Twitter from @MarkWebb_Dixons. I followed back on the 17th and this happened:
Yep – we had a conversation, a straightforward, honest and quite enjoyable chat on twitter. Well done Mark. And have the emails stopped yet? Well I had one on Monday – nothing since – fingers crossed.
So once again the power of the song and the social web prevails. And whilst I admit I quite enjoy bashing out these songs about poor service, it doesn’t reflect well on the world of customer service when we have to go to such lengths just to make something simple happen.
