I was at a CIM breakfast seminar on ‘The value of blogging’ this morning. I learned two things: 1. Marketing folk are terrified of new stuff and blogs scare them witless. Blogs represent ‘loss of control’ and at best, a new way to get valuable feedback. The idea of being authentic, interesting and talking to…

The British Social Attitudes Survey was out this week. While facts are nothing without ideas to bring them to life, or understanding ‘why’, stuff like this is still useful: Work life balance is getting harder as 84% of women and 77% of men would like to spend more time with family and friends. Only 8%…

Some thoughts on how to change things from Bulb Magazine. I like especially like ‘hate the sin, love the sinner’. It’s easy to  berate people for not getting your point of view, it’s hard to  figure out how to be more persuasive (I exclude sausages from this) Recipe for a change  Maker: Ingredients A simple…

Thanks to Scamp, I’ve found David Bonney’s blog. Thanks to David, my group got first prize at the APG Training Network back in the day. Now, with a rigour that could settle the argument about blogging being bad for planning , he’s posting all sorts of meaty stuff about the power of negative emotion in…

‘ "Economics is not a gay science", wrote Thomas Carlyle in 1849, meaning that it’s concerned with dreary statistics and the measurement of demand and supply. But maybe not any more. The world economy has grown at a rate of 3.2% since 2000. Capitalism is doing well. Or is it? They’re beginning to mix psychology…

On the Radio 4 this morning I heard the results from the what is claimed to be the biggest memory survey ever. They got ten thousand people to reveal their earliest memories, self defining memories and public event memories (I remember where I was when Kennedy died for example). There was lots in this stuff…

Can’t resist getting involved in duck v turkey. I agree with Paul (who’s lovely picture you see above) vote duck, it tastes better and duck fat is THE thing to fry stuff in. Turkey is bone dry in the wrong hands.

Speaking of motorways, the journey home through wind ravaged carnage on the Yorkshire motorways reminded me how risky driving really is. Todays cars are designed to make us feel impregnable. We can drive at high speeds and feel in control, while we’re cocooned in our own little kingdom. People drove far more politely on Thursday…

Sorry, I’m sure you’re as sick of Big Brother as I, but I can’t help it. From ‘good hearted working class girl’ to ‘foul mouthed dimwit’ in the space of few days. Has anything revealed the cruelty of the media better than this sorry spectacle? No one would excuse the bullying meted out to Shilpa,…

This is a brilliant article from The Guardian on the development of motorways in the last 50 years. You’d be pushed to find a more searing example of the changes in our cultural tastes than roadside services. Out with Little Chef and in with M&S Simply Food.