NORTHERN PLANNER

Fitting garb when talking about creative work

Andy’s sent me this limited edition silk screen print. The first thing I did was show everyone in the office. Hope the art directors give him a shout soon. Word of mouth marketing? Probably. Generosity? For sure.

My second name is Hovells. It never get’s pronounced right. Usually people say it to rhyme with hobbles, but sometimes I get something that sounds like go-wells. Thanks to Cafe Press, this should help.

Got a pitch on Monday (lovely weekend- not). For quite a while I’ve stuck to my lucky pitch clothes- all black. Should I stick to what I know or wear this? Should I spend more time worrying about something useful?

What do you think? It will do for monthly ‘My Brain Hurts’ meetings at least.

Third Northern Planning Summit tonight in Arts Cafe. After reading Russell’s ‘coffee and over the world’ post, it’s good to know we’re not alone (even though we may be drinking something other than coffee). It may have been started with planners, but anyone who wants to come is welcome.

We learned a few things from our first meeting; for example Leffe isn’t condusive for intelligent discussion and it’s always useful to have a tent in the garden if your locked out of the house.

When we managed to get together a second time, where we met Gemma, we found that I’m useless finding venues and James B gets lost easilly, while Famous Rob wowed us with his strategy for a discount supermarket.

We’ve sort of got a name for these meetings now (see below), and Rob will be bringing Joel. Next time Beccy from my place will be coming too. I’ve got Dave at work doing us a logo and things just for fun, maybe we’ll even have some tankards like my Grandad used to have at his social club.

Perhaps that’s what as should call it – ‘My Brain Hurts (Northern Chapter evening meetings)’.

Either this coming Thursday (12^th) or the next one (19^th) are fine with me.

gemma.

So does that make it a week on Thursday? That’s fine by me. Please say that’s what we’re doing my brain hurts.

The ever mysterious, likeable and wise (he even manages to challenge the omnipotent Russell) is celebrating his 100th post.

You’ve probably got some favourite posts of your own, but apart from the debate with Russell, I’m liking the appreciation for the much maligned suits. Something planners would do well to copy I reckon.

I love films and I think it’s important to pay to see them as often as possible, since the more you go see the films you like, the more they’ll make. A downside is being forced to sit through the ads. Not because I hate watching ads (most cinema ads seem to reward the captive audience with something worth watching, while TV ads – where you can go do something else –  don’t, curious) but  rather I start thinking about how they’ll work and what I would have done – sad I know.

But when I went to see ‘The Queen’ last week, not only was the film great, I got to see a new ad for Ben and Jerry’s Climate Change College. Not rewriting the advertising lexicon, but THE FACT THAT IT DIDN’T LOOK LIKE AN AD really got my attention. It was more a short documentary on young people going out to see the effects of climate change and passing on what they’ve learned. They wanted me to go to the website, which I did, and consider signing up for the next wave. Unfortunately I can’t since I’m over thirty (so Mrs Hovells can relax about me doing some grasping , at youth expedition for now)  but the site and the blogs kept me reading for quite a while.

I’m not sure how I feel about Ben and Jerry’s doing this, but since they started doing the happy natural stuff long before some brand called Innocent came along, I’m sort of okay about it. How many brands could do this and appear sincere?

Anyway, I just liked the media approach and the way they involved me. I’ve talked about this to quite a few people, and not just in professional capacity. These days, any brand that can create that kind of conversation must be doing something right.

I’m not fussed for Ice cream, but looks like mine’s a Phish Food……

According to a Harris survey,a quarter of the UK population have created their own content online. 16.7% have made a website, 9.2% are bloggers. Podcasting is minor at 0.4% – and mostly male.

The number of posts today may suggest otherwise, but I have loads to do, not least that pitch. My mind’s gone blank and blogging is great way to think abot something else for a while.  I’ll get back to it refreshed and realise how badly I’ve started. Ah well, at least there’ll be something to improve.

(by the way, I need a haircut don’t I? With my hairline the longer the hair,the balder you look)

I found this amusing, but I don’t agree with it.

This kind of thing is what makes the new series of Extras funny for me. There are jokes about every taboo subject you can think of, from what you can say in front of the disabled to homophobia. Even though you laugh, you know you shouldn’t. This is real genius of the show for me, it’s actually making fun of us and the difference between what we say and what we think. Brilliant. 

Speaking of things you shouldn’t really laugh at, the website for the new Borat film is genius. For some it’s puerile nonsense,for others achingly funny.  If you’re the latter, it’s brimming with classic clips, an excruciatingly funny reaction to the condemnation from the Kazakh government and, best of all, the link to an even funnier MySpace page. Loads to see and do, fun for the initiated, everything the new viewer needs to know before seeing the film. I like. Sacha Baron Cohen could teach quite a few of us about integrated planning n’est pas?.