Simon Says...the musings of a comms man

Rain, wind...and lifts

This afternoon started out as a glorious day.  Not a cloud in the sky and lots of sunshine.

"We're going on a walk around a country park" announces my wife.  "Are we?" I reply.  Which of course I needn't have done because the decision had already been made.  And why not, it was a lovely day after all.

So on arriving at the aforementioned country park, we met up with lots of other folk who were also going on this pre-organised event.  I started chatting to one of the dad's who had also been told he was going on a walk.

As we started strolling, I noticed fairly quickly, that there seemed to be a decreasing level of sunshine, being replaced with dark clouds and a chilly wind.  About five minutes into the walk, it started to rain. Then hail. Then thunder and finally lightening.  Oh dear.

Nevertheless, with true British grit and determination, we carried on regardless.

Inevitably, the conversation turned to work.  "What line of business are you in?" I enquired.  "I'm a lift engineer" said the dad.  After chatting about what that was like, he asked me the same question.  "I run a comms business" I replied.  After the usual ten or so minutes of explaining what internal comms is all about, he started regaling me with stories of how the large companies he has worked with in the past treat their workers.

What particularly interested me, is that it seems that no matter what business people work in, the comms situation tends to be largely identical.  I had never fully appreciated the size of organisations which specialise in lifts, but they're pretty big.  And they have all the same comms issues of any other business.  Banks, charities, public sector, private sector, they all tend to have the same challenges.

Anyway, although I got soaked, I rather enjoyed my walk.  Learnt something about lifts too.

9.20 to Leamington Spa

Today, I am sitting on a train heading to Royal Leamington Spa. For those of you who haven't been there before, it is a lovely town in the Midlands which has a river running through it that tends to flood on a bi-annual basis. As I sit on the train typing this posting, it struck me how comfortable train journeys are nowadays. On my table (which only has me sitting at it :) ) is a power supply, to which my laptop is plugged in and which, in turn, has my iphone connected to it. 

So here I am happily listening to music, answering the odd call, responding to emails (when I can get a signal) and writing a blog. At the same time, I'm able to gaze out of the window at the regularly changing landscapes, whilst a very nice man is bringing me fresh coffee for a fairly reasonable £1.40! 

All in all, generally a better experience than when I am sitting at my office, enjoying the sounds of sirens whizzing past to the latest London crime scene, and finding out that the milk in the fridge was bought three weeks ago and has developed a rather unique smell :( 

So, I've decided to move out of London and relocate to the 9.20 from London to Leamington. Cheaper rates as well (so long as you book far enough in advance) 

Simon

I'm back

It's been a while.  About 18 months give or take.  But after bowing to public pressure (about two people - one of which was my mum!) I have decided to return to the world of blogging.

However, the rules are different this time.  No longer am I a guru of all things in the world of comms (you never were I hear you cry), but if you chose to flick through these pages, you will be met, well, with my ramblings.  They might be about comms, but they might not. Who knows....

Anyway, that's it.  I'm back.  Well for now, at least...

Awareness week

I spotted a rather interesting article in this morning's edition of The Metro, written by Jo Steele.

Ms Steele has done a great bit of investigative journalism and discovered that this week alone there are 14 different 'awareness' weeks. Ranging from cheese, children's books, meals-on-wheels and outer space, this is the biggest week in the calendar for awareness programmes. Wow!

In fact, Ms Steele has deduced that October is in fact the busiest in the whole year for such weeks with a grand total of no less than 46 awareness weeks! Double wow!!

And, last but by no means least, did you know that awareness weeks all began back in 1957 with the first Christian Aid Week?

So there it is. It's official. We're surrounded by awareness programmes. Of course, I doubt that's going to stop any of us from running another one!

The Changing World of Communications

Isn't it interesting how many communications jobs are starting to appear.

Perhaps it's not too surprising to see the typical blue chip corporate recruiting in this area, but I must admit to raising an eyebrow when I flicked this weeks pages of The Economist and noticed a couple of adverts for comms directors. Both were for a director of internal and external communications - one based in Germany and the other in Egypt.

Perhaps comms is finally coming of age?