Minding my own business - Think Different Events

What have you been missing

2007-04-22T21:20:00.000Z

It's been quite a while since I updated this blog. So what's been happening?

The Scottish Learning Festival progamme has just about been completed. Like most projects the first 80% of the work passed off OK but the final 20% has been nothing short of a nightmare. Between people failing to meet any number of extended deadlines, others that came out of the blue demanding some sort of slot in the programme and others still thinking they have time to get their act together, the finalisation of the programme has been a long drawn out affair. Still it's all been worth it and it's going off to print later this week.

The eLearning Alliance Scotland conference also took place on Friday. This was the first proper 'conference' that I'd organised as Think Different Events and it was really a challenge from the outset. We had a great venue in the Beardmore Hotel and Conference Centre, two good keynote speakers in John Connell and Steve Molyneux and sponsorship from Adobe, Qwizdom, Video3, eCom Scotland and support from Learning and Teaching Scotland through Glow. Special thanks to Audrey at the eLearning Alliance Scotland and both Michael and Kirsten at the Beardmore. And if it hadn't been for Joe Dorfman and the guys of Video3 it might not have been as successful as we had planned. Let's just say there were a couple of technological challenges placed in front of us on Friday and all the team pulled together to see things through.

On the office front, Laura is settling in, well she keeps turning up despite everybody we meet telling her it will never last!!! Took us an eternity to get BT to give us the telephone lines and we're still working on getting the network up and running. No website to mention at present but hopefully that will be sorted out early this week.

And finally on a personal note I entered my last year as a 40 something last week. And despite somebody's reservations about an old guy like me liking new music (see previous posts) I'm off to the Connect music festival at Inverary Castle in the first weekend of September to see some of my favourite bands including the brilliant Jesus and Mary Chain.

Keeping Fit

2007-04-02T14:59:00.000Z

My old boss Nigel Paine nominated me, if that is the correct term, to divulge what I do to keep fit.

Twenty years ago, my fitness regime would have included two football training sessions each week with Westerlands football club. At least one football match at the weekend, hopefully two, a game of five-a-sides at some point during the week and then, whenever I didn't have anything else on, a thirty to forty minute run to keep the old legs ticking over. Between the ages of 18 and 35 I would say I was as fit as a fiddle but like everything else in life changes in my body's ability to continue with the above schedule came over the horizon and the training became once a week and then disappeared off the radar all together. I damaged my knee running one night so stopped that too to save me for the football at the weekend and the fives. Suddenly the fives became that bit harder, the brain knew what I wanted to do but the legs weren't there to help me out so they were jettisoned too. So at 42 all I really had was the Saturday football until disaster struck and I broke my shin bone to end 26 years of amateur football.

So now, to answer Nigel's question, what do I do now to keep me fit? Coach an under 17's football team and get a wee run out with them at the end of the each session during a game - it's amazing how quick they are to the ball, or is it just me?

Try to play golf once a week. It's not a good walk spoiled I hasten to add but the way I hit the ball it can be an awfully long way from tee to green.

I even joined a gym for the first time in my life just before the end of last year but haven't been since January so not much progress there either.

So in summary, I don't do nearly as much as I'd like and I don't have any excuse to offer. I'm a stone over my fighting weight so maybe this admission will get me back on track.

Another musical interlude

2007-03-30T15:24:00.000Z

The only film I can think of which has an actual Musical Interlude as part of the main film is 'The Battle of The Bulge' starring Robert Shaw, Hendry Fonda, Robert Ryan, Charles Bronson and the usual assortment of C-list extras. When the young panzer commanders start singing you almost want them to win!!!

Anyway, over past couple of weeks I've been listening to and watching a couple of good singer songwriters and bands.

First up were the 13 Senses at the re-scheduled King Tut's gig. Their new album must be about due to hit the streets if it hasn't already and if you like easy listening rock music a la Coldplay, Embrace and Aqualung you'd like this. They had a quirky support act which for the life of me I can't remember their name but they were OK too though I wasn't rushing out to buy any of their material.

And then on Sunday past I went to see the Dykeenes support Get Cape Wear Cape Fly. The Dykeenies were immense and look set to break into the mainstream fairly shortly, while get Cape Wear Cape Fly is trying really hard to be the Billy Bragg for the new generation. Is that a bad thing? Nope it isn't. Great songs, a really strong voice and a bit of political baiting into the bargain.

If the 13 Senses gig was 6 out of 10 then the Dykeenies and Get Cape Wear Cape Fly was a definite 8.

How a big corporation can really screw you up

2007-03-29T21:19:00.000Z

The advertising slogan for BT once read

"It's good to talk."

Well you need a telephone line to make that slogan come true and four weeks after entering my new office I'm still waiting on BT to send out an engineer to switch on the lines for me. Four weeks, twenty working days. I know Dalmarnock isn't the centre of the universe but this has gone beyond a joke. I'm told they're coming next Tuesday but I won't hold my breath.

First of all I failed their initial credit check because I hadn't been in business for long enough. Well very sorry for being a new business mate. I also failed the second credit check on my home address, because funnily enough, that address has me down as the user of the line not Think Different Events, well there's a friggin surprise. So then I get a form sent to me to fill in. Guess what? I had to fax it back to them!! Well if I had a telephone line I might be able to do that but as I haven't........ Who's being stupid here. Me or a company that's making millions out of people like you and me?

OK maybe not the end of the world you think as there are also mobile phones that people can contact me and Laura on and vice versa. But what about Internet access, networking etc. Fortunately one of the other tenants in the business centre has an unsecured wifi network and I've been able to park onto that. But Laura and I have had to use a memory stick to transfer information to each other rather than resort to sending everything by email.

A foresee a letter of complaint winging its way to BT, but only after I get the lines up and running. But what good will it really do? Does BT really give a monkeys about a two person organisation which isn't even going to use its broadband service? I think not.

I spoke with a guy today who used to work with BT and he claimed that the business group within BT are a shambles with the sales guys getting huge bonuses signed off by their bosses, read pals, on a regular basis. I'm sure I can't be alone in this so why do we have to put up with it?

Two things I've learn since the start of the new year. Don't change bank to Lloyds TSB and don't rely on BT. If you're reading this please pass this advice on to ten other people and ask them to pass it on to ten others too. Maybe that way someone in one or other of these organisations will finally take the hint about what customer service really means.

You can't beat a good old one

2007-03-04T21:00:00.000Z

Driving over the Kingston Bridge the other day I heard the title track from Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here album on XFM. A really great track from a great album. But was it better than Dark Side of the Moon?

Don't think so, and that would probably go for most of the guys I was going around with around the time both albums were released. From what I can remember, and I'm sure Dek will correct me if I'm wrong, these were two of the albums that were played to death every weekend when we were out and about at someone's house, plus Yes albums if you happened to be in John McLaughlin's of a night. While the title track for me was the highlight on Wish You Were Here, the best song by a distance on the Dark Side of the Moon album is The Great Gig in the Sky. I'm sure I read somewhere that Clare Torry, the lead vocalist on the track, only got a few hundred quid at the time of the recording and it was only years later that Pink Floyd decided she deserved a good bit more for her 'singing' on that track.

I also got an email from an old boss and friend of mine, Nigel Paine who is probably instrumental in getting me to where I am today. He gave me a chance to move onwards and upwards when he was chief executive at SCET and I owe him a great deal for all the help and faith he had in me at that time.

Anyway, keeping to the music theme of this blog he tells me he is currently listenting to the Cowboy Junkies; Red Hot Chillies (sad but true - Nigel's words); the Killers, the Strokes and the Skids (well into the Valley actually). Nothing much wrong with that selection big man. Anyway for all Nigel's old workforce and any others who know him, check out his blog and find out what he's been up to.

It's been a funny old week....

2007-03-04T20:57:00.000Z

Sometimes you have weeks when you just think - 'yeah that was a good week. I'll have more of this please.' The beginning of the week saw me in the Optima with Learning and Teaching Scotland and a few meetings where we continued developing some of the ideas that will form the basis of the Scottish Learning Festival. The programme is starting to take a bit more shape, though as ever, some people just like to stretch the elastic a bit when it comes to meeting deadlines. No names mentioned but another raft of emails were duly sent with more than gentle reminders.

Later on in the week we had another productive meeting to discuss the eLearning Alliance Scotland Conference which takes place on 20 April. Anybody interested in elearning from across all sectors - education, local authority, health, business, etc. should consider coming along and joining the debate about how Scotland can take advantage of the tools and resources available.

Friday saw me heading across to Edinburgh to meet with Kenny Kinnear and Andrew Watt with a view to supporting the eLive event which runs annually for teachers mainly in Edinburgh and which this year will take place at Murrayfield on 22 and 23 May.

Also visited the Scottish Arts Council to have a brief chat with Joan Parr, this time to discuss how we can work together at the Scottish Learning Festival.

And then on Saturday I started moving stuff into the new office. Thankfully Bronagh and Laura decided they didn't mind giving up a few hours to lend their support - well taking boxes and the like from the cars up a couple of flights of stairs and park them ready for tomorrow. Still got a couple of car loads of material to take down with me but hopefully by the end of the week I'll have transferred almost all I need to the new place. Get the furniture in place, the systems setup and by this time next week we should be all systems go.

The next step

2007-02-28T22:07:00.000Z

Finally managed to get my hands on the keys to the new office. Not sure whether it was a matter of the cheque finally clearing or the letting staff finally getting fed up with my early morning calls to see when I could come down to the office and take them. So the new headquarters is now

Office Suite 35
Strathclyde Business Centre
120 Carstairs Street
Dalmarnock
Glasgow
G40 4JD

Telephone number(s) to follow.

So they keys to the office led me around the corner to the Office Furniture Centre to get the desks, chairs and tables I need to make it look like I'm making a serious attempt at this business. Another costly expense to chalk up as start-up costs. And then a trip to Comet for a kettle, table top fridge and a small microwave. Finally to the local Somerfield to buy in some tea, coffee and biscuits. Forgot to get sugar and sweetners but no doubt that will come to, and I don't even drink any of that stuff!!

On the work front, the eLearning Alliance Scotland conference is finally coming together as is the Scottish Learning Festival programme though with over 150 sessions to cater for its just a bit more complex.

Oldies but Goldies

2007-02-25T22:09:00.000Z

Decided to raid the music archives this week for my music pleasure.

First up was Billy Bragg and Workers Playtime. Being ever so slightly left of centre, some of Billy's songs which he recorded around the time of the evil witch were always good for singing along to while the country around us was falling to pieces, the so called UK government only concerned with the white middle and upper classes of southern England. Everybody above the Watford line had a heavy dose of industrial closures, unemployment, poll tax and all sorts of other disincentives to while their lives away. Twenty years on and what's changed the evil witch has been replaced by the smug wee liar.

Favourite song on the album has to be Waiting for the Great Leap Forward, though Rotting on Remand runs it pretty close.

And then a further trip down memory lane for one of Scotland's favourite sons, Alex Harvey, lead singer and tormentor of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band. It's one of my big musical regrets that I never made the effort to see Alex at his legendary, and regular, gigs at the Apollo in Glasgow. Some pals at school went to see him a couple of times and raved about the manic concerts.

My favourite album of the band is Next, probably because some of the lyrics and song titles were a bit dodgy for a 16 year old growing up in a house where the old dear and old man listened to David Jacobs on radio 2 and Val Doonigan and Perry Como on the record player.

Even remember a holiday with some mates in Arran where the DJ played Delilah but also Giddy Up A Ding Dong from the Next album. If that doesn't send the toes tapping then I suggest you see a doctor because you're probably in a coma. Still the highlight of Next is The Faith Healer. (Maybe something the smug wee liar should go and visit)

Reviving old memories

2007-02-23T00:02:00.000Z

Took a step down memory lane today when I visited the Quality Hotel this morning. Most people in and around Glasgow will know it as the Central Hotel, attached to Central Station. The only time I was there was over twenty years ago when the work's Christmas night out was held in there. The night was made memorable for the fact that it was Kim Conway's, Kim Beaver at that time, 21st birthday as well and we all made her night slightly embarrassing with the gift we had all chipped in for. Hopefully, her boyfriend of the time enjoyed it!!

Jo Hunter, the venue's sales executive was showing me around all the various meeting and conference rooms the hotel has at its disposal. In many ways its a schizophrenic experience. On the one hand you have all the traditional rooms that give such hotels their unique character. Panelled walls, high ceilings, chandeliers, long long corridors and if truth be told some areas where a lick of paint or new wallpaper wouldn't go a miss. And then Jo showed me the new Focus room suites which were beautifully decorated and furnished and had all the hallmarks of a really new conference centre. Jo has her mind set on transforming all the rooms to this level of service which will make a huge difference.

Jo had even done her homework on me before I arrived having visited both the Think Different Events website and this blog. As far as I could make out she was giving me about 6 out of 10 for my musical taste and given she's at least twenty years younger than me I reckon that's not too bad a score.

Think Different Radio

2007-02-21T22:38:00.000Z

As regular readers may have gathered, I kind of like my music. It's probably not to everybody's taste, right now I've got the Cocteau Twins Blue Bell Knoll playing.

Unfortunately, I'm one of those music wannabees, I wannabee a singer but anybody who's heard me knows that I can't put two notes together. If I ever got on stage and the keyboard player asked me what key I would be singing in, I'd tell him just to shuffle the keys in the hope that we got in tune at least once during the song.

I wannabee a guitar player, and even though I got a great electric guitar for my fortieth birthday sometime in the last century, I can't put two notes together.

I therefore wannabee a DJ. And here's the thing, I think I've got an idea what I'd like to do, I just don't know how technically, or maybe even legally, possible it is.

What I'd really like to do is create my own internet radio station which plays a fairly eclectic list of acts. From Fats Domino to the View via the Kinks, Pink Floyd, the Clash, the Stone Roses, Oasis, Groove Armada, Massive Attack, Nick Cave and of course the Bathers to name but a few. Each week I'd send out to potential advertisers what the following week's tracks are going to be and they can, for a small consideration of course, tag their advert to an individual track. e.g. If I decided to play Bloc Party's The Prayer from A Weekend in the City album, a tour operator might have its latest city breaks advert showing during the duration of the track. And before Fiona gets in on the act I'm sure she would want a Headache tablet advert associated with any bathers tracks.

Once the track ended and the next played a new advert would appear. Say 100 tracks per week, average length of track 4 minutes each. 10080 minutes in a week, so each track, and advert, would play about 25 times. No interuptions from the radio station's 'sponsors'. No two minute interludes while we listen to public broadcast announcements about healthy living, etc. Just non-stop music and no Dominik Diamond trying to massage his already inflated ego.

So if anybody can help me out or point me in the direction of someone else doing something similar let me know. I wannabee.

And with an office comes....

2007-02-21T20:14:00.000Z

Well should have the keys to the office early next week. No the picture on the right here isn't it, but I'm allowed to dream.

First couple of months rent have been paid, now all I have to buy is - a couple of desks, a meeting table, sundry chairs, a couple of bookcases/filing cabinets, a microwave, fridge, kettle, cups and saucers, etc., a couple of telephones, a fax, printer, copier, scanner or hopefully a contraption that will do most of the previous four functions, a new computer, software, broadband connection, maybe a name plate, a network setup requiring a server and no doubt a few other things that aren't on my immediate list. And here's me thinking my start-up costs were all but complete!!

If you've been reading the blog for a while you know some of the reasons for leaving group headquarters, i.e. the spare bedroom come study. But hopefully, now I've got a proper workspace I can start looking for other business, especially as I hope to have Laura starting with me in a couple of weeks to take the weight off me in certain areas.

So far this week's been a bit manic. I've been sending gentle reminders to a whole host of people who expressed an interest in speaking at the Scottish Learning Festival. The deadline for a short descriptor is this coming Friday but it seems the whole of the world has adopted the Just In Time approach to life, so I've been promised by a number of people that the descriptor is in the electronic post and should arrive by Friday. There's a very apt Glasgow festival taking place right now called Aye Write and that about sums up the way I feel about the chances of getting everybody to weigh in with their presentation template.

They say that changing your bank account is so much easier these days. Don't believe it! I've been with the same bank for years and while they've never showered me with great offers or shown any real interest to make my own money work for me they've never actually did much that I could complain about.

However, the business account is with a different bank and to safe hassle I agreed to change my own current account to the same bank as the business account. Call me naive but I thought it was just a matter of going into a branch, telling them my old bank details, opening up a new account and the banks between them would sort out all the details like direct debits and standing orders and the like.

Well almost two hours after entering the local branch of said new bank, I left with a new current account which is what they wanted but I had to let all the organisations and businesses know that I had changed account and get them to send me a new direct debit mandate. If I had known that I would have stayed at home and did some more meaningful work. I'm sure there's an easier way to changeover but before you do make sure the bank your moving to will take charge of all the necessary changes.

One bit of worthwhile business this week so far was meeting up with Marian Borde at Oran Mor today. Like me, Marion is out on business on her own, although she's been at it a lot longer and me and, up to a few months ago, also had a partner in the business.

Marian has been working with a number of blue chip organisations over the years helping them manage change within their organisations. Only yesterday she was working with a group of North Lanarkshire headteachers so even here we have a common client list.

Anyway, if your organisation needs a mentor or coach to lead managers and staff through change in the workplace then maybe you should give her a call.

I've told her that I'll blog an account of our meeting, a term she wasn't entirely familiar with, but hey neither was I up to a few months ago. So Marian, I hope this leads you to developing you own blog. If you need any help.......Ach it's OK there are millions of others better placed to help you, just like a couple of my pals, John and Ewan did for me.

Time to change the CD. So far tonight it's been George Harrison's All Things Must Pass album but I feel a little Bloc Party or Cocteau Twins coming on.

Haven't touched my email since I came in from my meeting with Marian today, I wonder how many emails I've had? Not bad 17 and nearly all of them relating to the Scottish Learning Festival. Oh for more gentle reminders, like the companies who still owe me money!!

And on the cd player this week you'll find

2007-02-18T21:25:00.000Z

You know how I bought the Hours album the other week and reckoned it wasn't what I thought it might be. Well I can't say that about the Hedrons album One More Won't Kill Us.

On the plus side they're a four piece girl band from Glasgow. OK that's two pluses. They sound somewhere between Patti Smith and Blondie so that's in their favour too.

A three and a half to four out of five star rating I'd say.

Moving out

2007-02-18T21:06:00.000Z

Looks like I'll finally be able to move out of Group Headquarters into a wee office which I found thanks to the Internet and Google in particular. Hardly a surprise there I suppose. Originally I had hoped to move into a city centre address and be near the likes of Learning and Teaching Scotland and a couple of the other agencies and commercial organisations I work with. However I took a financial reality rain check and agreed with my business advisor, well that's what she likes to think of herself as!!, that it might be better to look for an office a bit further out and one that wouldn't drain the bank.

Hadn't really considered Dalmarnock, and having drove around the area it looks like Glasgow City Council, the Executive and a host of other regeneration agencies haven't considered it either. It is the area where the Commonwealth Games site would be built so if there's one good reason to win the bid then it has to be to make some meaningful changes to this part of the east end of Glasgow.

I'm hoping to sign a one year lease tomorrow that will see me move into the Strathclyde Business Centre in the first week of March. From memory I think the office is the middle door on the top floor in the picture. It's an old school building that has been renovated to house a number of other small companies and I even have a very close up view of Parkhead, home of Glasgow Celtic, from a couple of the windows in the office. I'd have been far happier if it was Hampden or Firhill, but hey, maybe next year.

All I need to worry about now is office furniture, telecommunications links and informing everybody I've been dealing with to date that I'm moving address.

And this week's musical feast brings you....

2007-02-10T20:31:00.000Z

Went to a couple of gigs this week. When I say went I mean we turned up at the venue on Monday night to see Thirteen Senses only to find that it had been cancelled, or should I say postponed, until Sunday 11 March. King Tut's was absolutely dead. Appears that everybody who had bought tickets had the sense, or thirteen of them if you don't mind the pun, to check the website to confirm they were playing.

Fortunately the week was saved by seeing the Guillemots at the Carling Academy. What were they like. I think it was best summed up by a couple of guys on the way out when they said that each song was radically different which made it different from what they expected. I thought it was great, despite some technical difficulties first with the double bass then the guitar. The acoustics at the Academy are shit as well but the band were able to overcome all these difficulties to put on a really great show, just a pity they didn't perform an encore. If you haven't bought or downloaded their recent album Through the Windowpane then you should, you won't be disappointed.

Had my weekly retail therapy session at Fopp this week (I see they took over most of the MusicZone Shops across the UK, apart from those in Scotland). Had heard a few tracks of the Get Cape War Cape Fly album on the radio and thought I'd buy the album to see how the rest of the tracks were. Not bad from the few listens I've had and would probably give it three and a half stars out of five with the hope it jumps to a four. Not much chance of going any higher I'm afraid.

Also bought the Hours debut album Narcissus Road.The cover is a skull with a couple of time pieces for eyes and there's the now obligatory Parental Advisory sticker. I'd heard the single and bought the album thinking/hoping it would be a bit like the Arctic Monkeys/The View/Little Man Tate, at least a bit upbeat and raunchy. Ooops. More Embrace I'm afraid. Not that that's an entirely bad thing but unlike Ronseal it doesn't do what it says on the tin!!

Maybe a three stars though again with a few more listens it might grow on me.

The hunt for an office goes on

2007-02-10T20:13:00.000Z

Spent a couple of hours last week trying to get an office together. Just like buying a house there seems to be so many obstacles to overcome. The price for one thing. The shortage of suitable accommodation for another. I suppose its a bit like being a first time house buyer. You know what you want and where you would like to move to but if there's nothing in your price bracket then you lower your sights, and sites at the same time!! and when you do that you also feel that if its not what you really want why invest the time and money.

The vast majority of offices are only available 'To Let' and as previously mentioned they don't come cheap. Well not in and around the Glasgow area anyway. So I've started investigating investing in some property for myself. Use my pension, equity on my house, sell off some of the endownments, take out a commercial mortgage? The numbers are scary but at least you're not throwing money away each month to another investor in rent. It'll take a couple of months to get off the ground, maybe even more, so in the meantime I'm hoping to get a short term lease to see me through until the end of the Scottish Learning Festival project.

Saw a couple of places that might have suited the bill. The first was in Shawlands but that was just too big. The other is in St.Vincent Street, again a little too big, but I'm hoping Lucy from the agents will be able to do a deal with the landlord. If lucky that means I can get half of the available space for the short term period I'm after. Should hear about that next week.

Of course if there are any readers of this esteemed blog who know of someone who wants to sell some office space or offer a cheap letting deal until the end of September then you should know how to contact me.

Back in the old groove

2007-02-10T19:27:00.000Z

It feels like old times, well this time last year really. And each of the past six years for that matter.

The Scottish Learning Festival is starting to take shape with daily emails and calls from people and organisations either being invited or wanting to take part in the two day event. As ever that's been the easy part, the hard bit is to make sure the potential speakers give you all the information you need before the deadline date at the end of this month. Its sometimes even worse than getting paid by the clients!!

And then every day you remember another person or group you've still to contact!!!

So if I haven't contacted you yet and you meet all the criteria then give me a shout.

Fortunately the various teams are starting to get a bit more organised as we sort out who's doing what, whether it be the planning group or the daily working group and we're all working together to make sure it comes off in September.

All the more amazing given that Elaine is a couple of months pregnant (though she looks nothing like the cartoon you'll be glad to know!!). Just as well she's so organised that by the time she goes on maternity leave we'll have everything covered off.

Anyway, more details about keynote, spotlight and seminar speakers over the next couple of weeks, and all the other fringe activities of course, and if lucky we'll actually see you at the SECC in September.

Cheaper than Fopp. Its an ASDA disaster!!

2007-02-04T23:00:00.000Z

Before I went to stock up with food the other day I spent a couple of minutes in the DVD/CD section of the local ASDA store. Nothing strange there I suppose but then I noticed the price on two newly released albums that would put CD-WOW and FOPP to shame.

Jamie T's Album panic prevention at a mere £7.97 had to be worth a listen to.

And just a few CDs along was Just Jack's Overtones at the same price.

Now the only reason I knew of them was through XFM Scotland and what I had heard was pretty good so they have now been duly added to the collection. Unfortunately, when I went to pay for them at the counter the not so young lady assistant asked if I was buying them for my kids!!! Hey come on. I might not have the wide musical ear of someone like John Peel but does that mean I have to stick to Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath and Barclay James Harvest? Don't think so.

The first four months are over

2007-02-04T21:47:00.000Z

Where did all the relaxation time go. When people said it would be great to be on your own, no bosses to worry about, no required attendance at fairly meaningless meetings, no more chasing your own tail trying to catch up with all the emails, telephone calls and of course the meaningless meeting tasks you were given that somehow seem to be important to everyone else.

Aye right! I feel like I haven't had a minute to myself, although of course I have. More time on the golf course? Don't think so. Haven't played since I left LTS in September and the weather can't be blamed for all that. More time to return to the Tartan Army and travel to obscure lands, drink obscure beers and, for some reason that beats the hell out of me, meet the rest of the fans at some Irish Bar in the middle of the capital city. Where are all the ex-pat Scots? Can't they open a Scots bar we can all meet in? More time to fix all the wee things that bug me in the house? Nope you can forget that one too.

Meetings. Yes but there's a lot more travel involved. You can't wait until a couple of minutes beforehand and then skite down a couple of floors to the meeting room. Nope. 40 minutes from my house, sorry office, to even a meeting bang in the town centre. Are they still meaningless? Some are. Some aren't. So you can't take the chance. You go along all spruced up having recently shaved and did a quick iron on the first shirt that looks respectable. And then hope you've got a tie that might match. Although according to long time pal Paul, I've never got that double act together.

emails. Still inundated with spam and people desperate to get you to come and see what they have to offer you? And I'm still waiting my first free lunch too, though that's bound to be just around the corner!

Project reviews? Well they're kind of a thing of the past in some ways. Though with so much going on just now I could do with some project structure and review even if just to confirm everything in the business plan is going OK.

Telephone calls? The worst thing about working at home is the amount of cold calls you get from people trying to sell you a new mortgage, double glazing, a second mobile phone - now why would anyone want a second mobile? So they can multitask with their hands to their ears looking like a complete richard.

Finances? Four months down and one cheque received so far. Kind of tells its own story, though to be fair I don't expect to get paid for a couple of jobs I've worked on, or are working on, for another couple of weeks yet.

Regrets? Not at all.

Back in a routine

2007-01-26T23:17:00.000Z

For all the ups and downs of the past few months, this week probably rates as one of the best from a productive point of view and that's partly down to all the meetings I have had about the Scottish Learning Festival and the eLearning Alliance Scotland Conference (20 April, book your places now!!)

Next week looks even busier so the first round of golf of the new year will have to take a back seat - again.

The last couple of days have been spent back in the Optima and while not sitting at my old desk I wasn't far away and it was great to get a bit of crack with a whole load of people that I hadn't seen since before Christmas. Please note. That's not to say that LTS staff are on crack, though far be it for me to criticise anyone's personal habits!!!

Also gave me an opportunity to catch up with my accounts and send off a couple of invoices. So the race is on to see who pays first and what the best excuse is for late payment. Watch this space for further developments!!

What price an office?

2007-01-26T23:00:00.000Z

Started looking for office space this week. Nothing serious, just enquiries, and visited three office spaces that were up for let as well? For those of you who know Glasgow one was in Ibrox and the other two were around the Charing Cross area.

OK lets start with Ibrox. Maybe not the most obvious of location and there would be some concerns about bringing people on board who were travelling by public transport, but the serviced office was adequate for what I wanted and there were loads of other tenants who you could meet and chat with during the day and even build up some business links with. Between the rent and telecommunications which were extra there probably wouldn't be much change out of £450 - £500 per month.

Want to make a guess about the other two? The first was a large area on the first floor above a garage which had been split into a number of self contained units. About 8-9 tenants here, similar service arrangements to that in Ibrox and the telecoms were extra. Approximate monthly bill. Let's round it to about £800.

The final one I saw today. Four townhouses linked together with offices and meeting rooms dotted here and there. Nice plush reception and again a similar level of service support with extras for printing, photocopying, faxing, telecoms and coffee. Oh and a nice wee price tag of around £1000 per month.

And all three were exclusive of VAT!!

Certainly makes you think how much developers are making out of businesses small and large in the city.

Where do I go from here? Well hope to see a few more places in the coming weeks, but its fairly certain that anywhere in my budget radar will be a few miles out of the city centre.

Of course if there are any philanthropic developers who wish to help a start up company then you know how to contact me.

Eclectic choice of music

2007-01-26T21:55:00.000Z

I'd like to think I've got quite a varied taste in music. Some people, no names mentioned but lets call them Fiona, might argue I've no taste in music, but we can discuss that at another time.

Between the ears this week I've been listening to a number of new or recent albums which vary widely in style but each of them have made a decent impression on me to the extent that I'd recommend each of them to you my esteeemed readership!!

Country music. If there's a genre of music I can't really be bothered with it would be this, and anything to do with Simon Cowell, Pete Waterman, etc.. Sometime last year I went to see the acclaimed Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line. The acting was fine, the story reasonably interesting but I couldn't get off on the music in the way that I did for the Ray Charles movie, Ray, where the music was just brilliant.

However, a couple of months ago I was channel surfing, as you do, and I caught the last two or three minutes of Johnny Cash playing one of the last songs he ever recorded and I was fair struck by how tender it was. Maybe not enough at the time to rush out and buy it, but it changed my opinion of some of his music. Anyway, I bought American V:A Hundred Highways and though it might not be a regular on the playlist it is actually quite good.

Star Rating: ****

At the other end of the spectrum, and again without wishing to jump on the bandwagon, but if you like the Arctic Monkeys, you're probably going to love The View's Hats Off to the Buskers. Right now they are Dundee's finest and tipped to be the next big Scottish band to make it big across the UK and beyond. There first three singles, Wasted Little DJs, Superstar Tradesman and Same Jeans have been played to death on XFM Scotland but the other tracks on the album are just as catchy. As someone said recently its a change to see something good coming out of Dundee!!!

Star Rating *****

Another of Fiona's favourites is likely to be the new Tom Waits album, Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards. Tom's an aquired taste and to be honest some of the albums I have are a bit hit and miss. However when he's on form I think he's just a great storyteller. This new triple album has him at his best with three different styles showcasing his range. I've only heard it a couple of times but I'm sure there'll be plenty of more playbacks in the months and years ahead. If you have to start your Tom Waits collection, start here.

Star Rating

Brawlers ****

Bawlers *****

Bastards ***

Sometimes I go into FOPP for a wander around to kill some time and end up buying an album that I think I've heard some of on the radio, or the cover looks interesting, or in the case of FOPP, it's relatively cheap. I can't remember exactly why I bought The Long Blondes, Someone to Drive You Home, but whatever it was it was a very good decision even if I say so myself.

Again, not heard it too often to make a definitive claim that I'll still be playing it regularly in five years or so, but early days yet. If you like Siouxsie And The Banshees, Patti Smith or the Ramones then chances are you'll like this.

Star Rating ***

Finally for this week I should mention the Gossip's Standing In The Way Of Control. Like the Long Blondes it reminds me of female led punk bands like Siouxsie, Blondie, etc. (The etc. just means I can't think of any similar influences at this moment!!). I got this as a Christmas present from Lucy and a fine choice it was too.

Star Rating ****

So there you go. Five albums covering a wide range of music and not an X-Factor winner in sight.

Feeling like I've never left....

2007-01-25T17:10:00.000Z

Over the past few weeks, and in the weeks to come, I've been in and out of the Learning and Teaching Scotland's offices working on the Scottish Learning Festival 2007.

A lot of the core team who worked on the event over the past five or six years have left during the last six months or so including myself. That leaves Elaine, Tracy, Moira, Jeremy and Jackie as the sole survivors, though as you can tell I've managed to come back as the dreaded 'consultant / contractor' to work on various aspects of the festival this year, especially the development of the conference programme.

I've even got my own hot desk, a temporary staff badge to get me in and out of the offices and I'm meeting so many people I was working with only a few months ago it really seems as if I've never left. The best bit of course is that I can come and go as I please, though some folk have been getting away with that for years!!!

It seems quite a few of the gang even pop in to read this blog so see what I've been getting up to. Just today I was ambushed in a conversation between Jan and Robin about how I had failed to keep up my daily musings on life on the outside. Robin's take was quite insightful. He reckoned I had a rotten lawyer who failed to keep me out of jail for my latest escapades. Robin, if only that were true!! So how often do you add to your blog? Do you eventually get fed up due to a lack of response, or does the novelty wear off and it gradually slips down the priority list? Others are obviously blogging furiously, John Connell, Ewan McIntosh and Derek Robertson to name but a few. Me? I'll keep you posted, if you excuse the pun.

How time flies

2007-01-21T22:35:00.000Z

I've been that busy recently that I didn't even realise that it's been well over a week, nearly two since my last post. So here is a quick run through what's been happening since.

BETT 2007 was a great success, as you would expect when you get well over 25,000 people attending the UK's biggest educational ICT event. Is it Europe's biggest, the world's? I'll leave that to emap to fight over. Whatever way you look at it, it was a big, big show, with almost all the key players in the UK and beyond in attendance. I say almost all but not everybody was there and those who didn't make the trip this year, especially from Scotland were sorely missed by all who met me and asked where so and so was and when they would be coming down or why they weren't coming, etc. The biggest loss was the whisky tasting night the Learning and Teaching Scotland had traditionally hosted on Thursday evening. The number of people who were gutted about that was unbelievable!!

Working in the VIP Pillar Hall was a change for me and one that I thoroughly enjoyed, though there are areas where the lounge could improve and I'm sure emap will consider some of the comments I made in my reporting back to them.

I just managed to get back to Glasgow in time for Match of the Day on Saturday night despite the efforts of the weather and BA to keep me at Heathrow. Not that I've anything against London, but the thought of another night there didn't really appeal.

Tuesday saw me working with Steljes Ltd at Dunkeld House Hotel as they showcased their new technologies to a host of luminaries from across Scotland. Well OK maybe not luminaries but there were a whole host of ICT Advisors or Quality Improvement officers or whatever their job titles are who were present. Many were the usual suspects and I have dealt with them over the years first with SCET and then LT Scotland so it was very much like a home from home throughout the day. The setup Steljes provided was a lot more than I had anticipated with a false wall being built and two Interactive whiteboards being suspended from it. Needless to say Malcolm Stewart, one of the main Steljes people, was a bit reluctant to hang from any of the wall mounted projectors despite some good natured heckling from the audience. The event went without a hitch as far as I could see and with a bit of luck I might get some other work from the company in the future. There were also a couple of other leads which might bring in some work so all in all a richt' good day as they say.

And then the rest of the week was all but taken up with the Scottish Learning Festival, first contacting a whole load of senior people at the Scottish Executive to explain the process of developing and delivering the conference programme and then with a series of meetings at Learning and Teaching Scotland to update a number of people on where we are, where we should be and what's happening next. One of the meetings was with John Connell, who has now left to join CISCO - lucky for them that's all I can say. You can follow John's work across the world in a new blog he's created especially to make us all feel jealous!!

I'm also going to have to find the time to update the company website, somehow manage to pull my accounts together and begin the process of looking for some office space. You can read earlier posts as to why this is necessary for my mental well being.

So with all this work to be done there hasn't been much time for any play. Got some brownie points by taking my maw for wallpaper. What started off as a wee trip down to Newlands ended up with a tour of the north west of Glasgow in pursuit of the last four remaining rolls of the same batch of wallpaper!! Fortunately she's got a painter and decorator coming in to do the living room and hall but she feels I need to keep my hand in just in case this business goes pear shaped so she's got me painting her bedroom for her, just as soon as I can find the time. God bless her!!

Also managed to buy a couple of new albums, Tom Waits - Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards, The Long Blondes - Someone to drive you home and Gruff Rhys - Candylion. The Tom Waits album is brilliant, though Idare say he's not everybody's cup of tea. The Long Blondes is also good and they remind me of someone else though I can't put my finger on it - kinda like Blondie but I'm sure it's nearer someone else and I'm hoping Gruff Ryhs is a grower in the same way that Badly Drawn Boy was. The album has its moments but right now it's not one you would play over and over and over again.

Looking forward to a hectic week in London

2007-01-09T19:08:00.000Z

Here I am down in Olympia, setting up for the BETT Show which begins tomorrow and runs through until Saturday. They're expecting in excess of 25000 people through the doors this week which is about as many as will see Partick Thistle at home all this season!!

Its been a bit manic as ever but working in the VIP area should be OK and not too stressful. Just hope the foreign contingent can understand my accent.

On another note my best man, Dek, only stays a couple of miles away. Maybe its a guy's thing, but we only seem to see each other about once a year. Met him on Friday with his three boys to see what he was up to and tell him a few stories about setting up on my own. As ever we left with promises to meet again soon, have a game of snooker and maybe sink a couple of pints. Anyway where is this story going..... sitting at the airport today waiting for the flight down to London and meandering my way through the Herald with its lead story about the alledged failure of the McCrone agreement for teachers. The chartered teacher system came in for a bit of criticism and who's ugly mug and words of wisdom was there to back the chartered teacher process, the bold Dek. And I thought he only went into teaching so he could have numerous holidays throughout the year!!

First payment!!

2007-01-07T10:26:00.000Z

After three months and four days Think Different Event's bank account finally bulged with its first pay-in from a client - the Scottish Executive. As you can imagine, cash flow during these first three months has been a bit like travelling on a one way system with any savings I had slowly running down as all the necessary bills were paid and it was a relief to see all the work that we did during October and November finally pay off.

Hopefully it'll be the first of many in the coming months and years though I hope to improve the cash flow process by billing clients on a more regular basis as milestones are reached rather than just when the work is completed.

Time Management

2007-01-03T19:39:00.000Z

I haven't made any resolutions for this year. But I should probably have made one about better time management. Here I am, coming up to eight o'clock on a Wednesday night and still firing off emails here, there and everywhere. Will the recipients jump up and down when they receive it tomorrow morning?, maybe not even until next week if they're still on holiday, I doubt it. So why bother?

Because the wee guilty devil is on my right shoulder telling me that if I had bothered to do some of the work a few weeks back there wouldn't be the same rush to complete the task now. So just get on and finish it!

Anyway, I've been busy on the BETT blog over the past week or so, trying to give people an opportunity to comment on their various experiences of the event. I'm pretty sure I could structure it better, and maybe some of the blog whizzes can give me some tips, because it's just got so huge, it'll be hard for visitors to the blog to follow the train of discussions. Can 'Comments' be highlighted in some way? Can the most commonly accessed posts be put to the head of the blog? Don't know the answer but I hope someone out there does.

2007 is the Make year. Notice I didn't put the Break in - that's next year, or never I hope.

Objective number one is to work with at least 10 clients throughout the year on various projects. Already have work for three clients in the coming weeks or months and a site visit to Dunkeld on Friday will hopefully make the organisation of one of them fairly straight forward. With a bit of luck I might get some more work down in London next week with a few other clients and it won't be for the lack of trying.

Next objective - to move into some kind of office environment as I've decided that home working may be OK or some but it ain't for me, certainly not on a full time basis anyway. It'll possibly mean taking someone on to help with the admin and other aspects of events but if I can get the client structure in place then that should be a worthwhile investment in itself.

I'm sure there are a host of other objectives but hey ho I'll post them as I come across them.

Nothing better to do on a Saturday so.....

2006-12-30T13:27:00.000Z

With the Thistle game cancelled due to the fact that we couldn't raise a team, some might argue that's been happening for the past three years since Lambie retired, I've found myself upstairs working on the BETT 2007 blog.

Started off with the BETT Awards shortlist and have progressed to the seminar programme. Hopefully by the time I head down to London I'll have been able to post quite a few bits and pieces about the event. If you're going down to the show and see something that might be unique or relevant post a comment to let other know.

I've already had a few comments from people across the UK which just goes to show I'm not the only sad beggar at this time of the year, or should I say that I'm just part of the professional community of educators who are dedicated to improving the chances of those in their care.

Either way the work has to be done so might as well chip away at it when I'm not doing much else.

On a personal note the concert last night was great. The Grim Northern Social, I think its a great name but others don't - any opinions? - treated us to a mixture of material from their debut album and tracks from their hopefully to be released second album though they don't seem to have a record deal.

They even finished the night with a one song encore - New Rage Hope Song which, if you read the previous post, was my favourite track of their debut album.

The new single Connected, is released in February so with a bit of luck they'll get some decent exposure and maybe the record deal they deserve.

Album of the week

2006-12-29T17:24:00.000Z

This week's album of the week belongs to the Grim Northern Social with their eponymously titled debut album.

The real reason for choosing it for this particular week is that I'm off to see them at King Tut's tonight. Saw them this time last year and they put on a real good show. Maybe not everybody's cup of tea but hey who's asking!!

Best song on the album - probably New Rage Hope Song but if I remember the best song live last year was Gasoline Queen.

Tracks:
Urban Pressure
The Changes
Maybe It's Time
Star
Snap The Imposters
New Rage Hope Song
Honey
Clash Of The Social Titans
Gasoline Queen
Money
Favourite Girl

Looking back on 2006

2006-12-29T13:52:00.000Z

And what a change has taken place since January. There I was happily minding my own business with Learning and Teaching Scotland and now I'm high heid yin with Think Different Events.

After over 23 years we (LTS) moved from Victoria Crescent Road in Glasgow's west end to the Optima building in city centre. The character of the old building, a former teaching college, convent and no doubt other worthy causes was replaced by a fully furnished, modern 21st century office environment with, fortunately in my case, great views over the south west of the city and beyond.

And then in March, well things to a wee turn for the ...... better or worse will hopefully be inserted this time next year.

Anyway, six months later I left the comfort of the old firm and the two hundred odd staff (as in approximately 200 staff - only some of them were odd!!) to start a new life as a sole trader, entrepreneur, businessman, etc.

Three months on I'm still awaiting my first cheque for some of the work I've done although I've been promised that it's in the post! The home office is all setup, my typing skills have not improved, I've started not one but two blogs and I've got a fair amount of work for 2007. Not quite enough to buy the Porsche and the new office but hopefully enough so I won't be starving at the end of next year.

Highlights of the year

Gary Caldwell's strike against France and Ricardo's three penalty saves against England. Ah well just another few years until they remember that it will be forty four years since they last won the ......... Might as well add winning the Ryder Cup against America and Australian Cricket - but enough of the English bashing.

Muse at the SECC. Brilliant light show, great music. XFM Radio, without Dominik Diamond, which is as good as radio gets.

Tommy Sheridan winning his case against the News of the World. Do we really care what he gets up to in his private life? As for the SSP? Looks like RIP for them.

First work as an independent businessman with the Scottish Executive.

Low Points

Leaving all the good guys from LTS.

Tony Blair and George Bush - the blind being led by the blinded.

Favourite albums of the year

2006-12-22T13:18:00.000Z

All the music press, radio stations, etc. all seem to have their lists of the top albums of 2006 and so, just in case you're wondering, I thought I'd share my top purchases for this year. As you'll see they weren't all released this year but thanks to the magic of FOPP they winged their way into list.

Favourite sport being football, it's only right that I have a top 11.

In goals I'd have Mogwai's - Mr.Beast. A bit of a refined taste which might not suit some people but just occasionally they're just what you need to listen to.

Auto rock
Glasgow Mega-Snake
Acid Food
Travel is Dangerous
Team Handed
Friend of the Night
Emergency Trap
Folk Death 95
I Chose Horses
We're No Here

At right back I'd have Big Audio Dynamite's - This is Big Audio Dynamite. I remember being gutted when the Clash broke up but this was one of my favourite records of 1985 and I bought it again on CD a few months ago.

Medicine Show
Sony
E=MC²
The Bottom Line
A Party
Sudden Impact!
Stone Thames
Bad

With number 3 on her back would be Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan and Ballad of the Broken Seas. I can't remember why I bought this, probably like a whole load of other purchases over the years I heard a track or two on the radio and decided to give the album a go. Good choice even if I say so myself.

Deus Ibi Est
Black Mountain
The False Husband
Ballad of the broken seas
Revolver
Ramblin' man
(Do you wanna) come walk with me?
Saturday's Gone
It's hard to kill a bad thing
Honey child what can i do ?
Dusty wreath
The circus is leaving town

At centre half and number 5 I'd want Primal Scream shoring up the defence with their latest album Riot City Blues

Country Girl
Nitty Gritty
Suicide Sally & Johnny Guitar
When The Bomb Drops
Little Death
The 99th Floor
We're Gonna Boogie
Dolls (Sweet Rock and Roll)
Hell's Comin' Down
Sometimes I Feel So Lonely

Sweeping up all around her at number 4 I'd have Skin who released Fake Chemical State at the begining of the year. Saw her this time last year at King Tut's and she ws brilliant. Wouldn't want to meet up with her in a dark alley, then again maybe I would.

Alone In My Room
She's On
Movin'
Just Let The Sun In
Purple
Don't Need A Reason
Nothing But
Take On Me
Fooling Yourself
Falling For You

Seeing as we're playing 4-4-2 I'd have some young whipper snappers with at least one old head to guide them on their way

On the right of midfield would be the Arctic Monkeys, Whatever People Say I am, That's What I'm Not. OK you might think I'm jumping on the ban wagon but if you haven't listened to the album then you should. Some cheeky down to earth songs which take me back to some of the antics we used to get up to a few years ago - a good few years then.

The View From The Afternoon
I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
Fake Tales Of San Francisco
Dancing Shoes
You Probably Couldn't See For The Lights But You Were Looking Straight At Me
Still Take You Home
Riot Van
Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured
Mardy Bum
Perhaps Vampires Is A Bit Strong But...
When The Sun Goes Down
From The Ritz To The Rubble
A Certain Romance

In a forward midfield position supporting the forwards would be We Are Scientists. I bought their album With Love and Squalor last year and when I was doing a bit of further research in FOPP one day, as you do, I came across Crap Attack which is a mixture of B-Sides, Remixes and rarities, aren't they always. Thing was it's better than the other album with some great remixed versions of their well known numbers. If yu're a fan and haven't got it then you don't know what you're missing out on.

The CD contains:
Ram It Home
Surprise
The Great Escape (The Silence Remix)
Mucho Mas
Callbacks Under The Sea
Hoppipolla
Bang Bang Rock & Roll
Nobody Move Under The Sea
Sie hat Was vermisst
Be My Baby
This Scene Is Dead (Pete Predictable Remix)
History Repeats
This Means War
The Great Escape (Under The Sea)
Textbook (Under The Sea)

Whereas the DVD has only got:
Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt directed by Akiva Schaffer
This Scene Is Dead directed by Mathieu Shrontz
Inaction directed by Eric Gross
Can't Lose directed by Graham Rich
Callbacks directed by Akiva Schaffer
Cash Cow directed by Keith Murray with Christian Owens
It's A Hit directed by Akiva Schaffer
The Great Escape directed by Akiva Schaffer
Textbook directed by Randy Bell & Justin Rice
Lousy Reputation directed by Justin Rice & Randy Bell
Worth the Wait directed by Mathieu Shrontz
What's the Word directed by Agnes Chu
It's A Hit (alternate version) directed by Mathieu Shrontz
Shepherds Bush Empire show, April 13, 2006, with full commentary

All good teams are a blend of youth and experience and in the midfield holding role would be AC/DC. (I know its a bit like signing Henrik Larsson to bolster the attack, but hey if its good enough for Manchester United....)

As a young lad I was never a big AC/DC fan and didn't see them live. But once again I was in some shop and they happened to be playing a track from the If You Want Blood live album and it just took me back to those days of long hair, cheap beer and headbanging nights at Glasgow's Apollo watching Black Sabbath, Status Quo, Aerosmith and Deep Purple amongst others.

This is the album playing in the background just now so it wasn't a one play wonder.

Riff Raff
Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be
Bad Boy BoogieThe Jack
Problem Child
Whole Lotta Rosie
Rock 'n' Roll Damnation
High Voltage
Let There Be Rock
Rocker

On the left of midfield would be The Guillemots and Through the Windowpane. Probably picked this band up through listening to XFM Scotland, a great station spolied by Dominik Diamond but he's only on first thing in the morning so once he's out of the wasy you can sit back and enjoy the music the whole station plays.

Anyway, going to see them live at the ABC in February next year so looking forward to that.

Little Bear
Made-Up Lovesong #43
Trains to Brazil
Redwings
Come Away With Me
Through the Windowpane
If the World Ends
We're Here
Blue Would Still Be Blue
Annie, Let's Not Wait
And If All...
São Paulo

And so to the goal scorers, the big hitters, the stars of the team.

At number 10 would be The Stone Roses and The Remixes Album. Its already been one of my albums of the week this year and I still love putting either this or the originsl album on the system. There's just something about the Stone Roses music that I really like and this was a bonus find this year.

Shoot You Down (Soul Hooligan)
Fools Gold (A Guy Called Gerald)
Made of Stone (808 State)
Waterfall (Paul Oakenfold & Steve Osborne)
One Love (Utah Saints)
I Wanna Be Adored (Rabbit In The Moon)
Fools Gold (Grooverider)
I Am The Resurrection (Jon Carter)
Waterfall (Justin Robertson)
She Bangs The Drums (Elephant)
Elizabeth My Dear (Kinobe)
Elephant Stone (Mint Royale)

And finally, well almost, the number one album, band and live show all rolled into one this year. No not Van Morrison although he was a close.......!!

Muse and Black Holes and Revelations take the accolade as my favourite purchase of 2006. They're maybe not the most original of bands, will people still be buying and playing their music on whatever devices we have in twenty years or so? Well I hope so. Their live show at the SECC a few weeks ago was a knock out.

Take a Bow
Starlight
Supermassive Black Hole
Map of the Problematique
Soldier’s Poem
Invincible
Assassin
Exo-Politics
City of Delusion
Hoodoo
Knights of Cydonia

And finally. My predictions for 2007. Scotland to qualify for the European Championships, Colin Montgomerie to win the British Open, Tommy Sheridan to become First Minister and the Dykeenies to be the next Scottish band to break into the mainstream. Remember you read it hear first.

Festive period slowdown

2006-12-21T14:48:00.000Z

Depending on your point of view the festive period is

a great time to go out and get blootered for a fortnight
enjoy the break from work and put your feet up watching a selction of the good the bad and the ugly on TV (although The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, is one of my favourite films)
spend spend spend on the sales

revisit your youth by playing with all the toys and games that the kids got

or disappear for a week to some exotic place with a bit of sun on your back (unless of course your flying out of Heathrow these past couple of days)

And so as I look forward to my first 'holiday' as a self employed entrepreaneur I'm starting to think that maybe it would help if we didn't all switch off for our holidays at the same time. There's things I'd like to do over the next couple of weeks to get one or two projects up and running but I can't because people don't expect, or welcome, a business call at this time and who can blame them.

No doubt some people who read this, hopefully multiple readership isn't an exageration, will be thinking 'for goodness sake enjoy the break like the rest of us'. But I can't, I probably won't, and by the time the 8 January comes around and most people I deal with are back at work, I'll be climbing up the walls waiting for answers from people so that I can get on with my own work.

Another new partnership to build on.

2006-12-19T20:11:00.000Z

If you've been reading some of the previous posts then you'll have gathered that being stuck in the house day in day out was driving me around the bend. Some people who know me may be surprised that it took me so long to figure out what they had thought about me for years but I'll save that for future rants.

Anyway, Tuesday is nearly over and its been a really good day. Had a call late yesterday afternoon from an old contact to see if I could organise a product launch for her at Gleneagles Hotel. Unfortunately it's being refurbished, well that was the excuse given, and we've settled on the Hilton Dunkeld House hotel. All Anne has to do now is get the go ahead from her financial director and we'll be heading into Perthshire in the middle of January for the Scottish launch of a new educational product. Once it's confirmed I'll post some more details about the event.

Also spent the afternoon back at LT Scotland at the first meeting with the various parties who will take forward the organisation of next year's Scottish Learning Festival. I'll be working with Elaine from LT Scotland and people from Meeting Makers who are going to support the logistical organisation of the event. Their key contact today was their joint managing director (maybe I need to get myself a title like that) Graham Samson and we seemed to hit it off so hopefully, together, we'll put on another successful festival in September.

The beauty about going back to LT Scotland today was that I hadn't been around for a few weeks and with Christmas and all the holidays coming up there was a chance to meet up with old pals to see what they were upto. A couple even said they kept up to date with the blog so thanks to Tracy, Jackie and Heidi - there's the mention I promised!!!

Anyway, even although its late on there's naff on on the telly so I'm going to do a bit more work on the BETT blog.

Dumb Bells

2006-12-17T23:06:00.000Z

So I ask the wee man 'what do you want for your xmas?' and he tells me that he could do with a set of weights. Fine by me, saves having to think what to get.

Only problem is when I go to get them I leave the car parked about a mile and a half away from the shop. Have you ever carried 50lbs of dead weight, through Christmas shoppers in the middle of Glasgow? Don't. I must have stopped every 100 yards and my arms probably stretched about an inch! Next year he can just get the money.

Being self employed means 24/7

2006-12-17T22:53:00.000Z

Just when I was hoping for a relaxing weekend I've found myself building another Blog, this time for the BETT 2007 Show - http://bett2007.blogspot.com/. The idea is to help me with some of the groundwork for next year's event when I'm developing the seminar programme for emap education.

So the weekend was spent getting some text and graphics together for a number of the Shortlisted resources for the BETT Awards. Surprising how some of the publisher's websites don't have a suite of graphics that you can use to help promote their products.

Still got quite a few to go but hopefully they'll all be up and running in a couple of days. With a bit of luck I'll get feedback from teachers who actually use the resources shortlisted which will help feed into the information I'm providing within the VIP area.

I'm also hoping to link some of the seminar speakers with resources being displayed in the main exhibition hall. Ah well should be a nice wee job over the Christmas period.

Van was a man in form

2006-12-16T11:08:00.000Z

OK I take it back. The Van Morrison concert last night was .... well it was really quite good. I'd only seen him once about six years ago and while he played a load of songs then that I recognised I came away thinking he didn't give a shit about the audience or his band.

Well he must have mellowed during the intervening years because last night he was keen to showcase his band and interact with them and the audience throughout the hour and forty minutes he was on stage.

While there was a country lilt to some of his songs, and I suppose somebody has to like country music, thankfully there was a real rythym'n'blues feel to much of the material played.

His final song, Van doesn't really do encores apparently, was Gloria which was a great way to end the night. Not as good as the Eddie and the Hot Rods or Patti Smith versions but hey, give the guy a break, he did a great rendition to send the crowd, probably average age 55 plus, home happy.

One tip if you ever decide to go to see him. When it says 8 o'clock on the tickets it means 8 o'clock be in your seats 'cos I'm going to play my first song. Needless to say we were running up the stairs at five past thinking, like all the other concerts we've been to recently that you can add an hour or so on to the time the 'star' of the show comes on while they try and flog stale beer and merchandise to you.

Tender update

2006-12-15T15:59:00.000Z

Ah well, there's always another job around the corner.

Just heard that I didn't get the other tender I had bid for. The Porsche will just have to wait another couple of months then.

Album of the week

2006-12-15T13:53:00.000Z

I should really have a Van Morrison album this week as I'm going to see him at the SECC tonight. But why spoil a week listening to a grumpy old git, who to be fair has written and performed a few fair songs in his time, his time being the early seventies!!!

Nope, this week's album of the week is The Clash and London Calling. Probably a fairly standard album of choice for a lot of people who grew up with Punk in the seventies early eighties but the songs still sound great today. It was realeased around this time in 1979 and as a 20 something year old I can remember getting it as a present from my girlfriend at that time.

Anyway, for those nostalgic enough to remember it here is the tracklisting from, probably, the best punk album ever. Well apart from...... (and you'll be posting your own thoughts on what was the best punk album then!)

All songs written by Mick Jones and Joe Strummer unless otherwise indicated.

"London Calling"
"Brand New Cadillac" (Vince Taylor)
"Jimmy Jazz"
"Hateful"
"Rudie Can't Fail"
"Spanish Bombs"
"The Right Profile"
"Lost in the Supermarket"
"Clampdown"
"The Guns of Brixton" (Paul Simonon)
"Wrong 'Em Boyo" (Clive Alphanso)
"Death or Glory"
"Koka Kola"
"The Card Cheat" (Jones, Strummer, Simonon, Topper Headon)
"Lover's Rock"
"Four Horsemen"
"I'm Not Down"
"Revolution Rock" (Jackie Edwards, Danny Ray)
"Train in Vain (Stand by Me)"

Quiet week on run up to Christmas

2006-12-15T13:39:00.000Z

Its been a pretty quiet week and that's hardly surprising given that Christmas and New Year are just around the corner. I think more people are interested in their Christmas shopping than thinking and planning about events in the coming months.

Still awaiting a decision on one of the two tenders I submitted for work next year and it would be a really pleasant and early Christmas present if I was lucky enough to win that.

Also started a new blog, this time based on some of the work I'm doing at BETT 2007 next month.

http://bett2007.blogspot.com/

Should I have developed a website, a blog, or maybe even a wiki? I don't know what would have been best but I think I know my way around this blog template so I decided to go with that.

Anyway content wise I'm starting off with the shortlisted BETT Award winners and hope to get some feedback from users of the, potentially, award winning resources. I suppose we should also be asking whether just because they're award winning are they the most appropriate resource right across the board given all the various contexts that teachers work under?

Hopefully you can read the posts their and maybe give your own views about BETT.

Good news on the tender front

2006-12-12T16:17:00.000Z

Well, after a couple of weeks of waiting I finally received an email about this time yesterday confirming that I had been successful in one of my tender bids for a major conference in 2007.

Until the contract is signed I better not say too much about it but it was a bit of a relief to get most of the work I had bid for and at least I can start planning for next year with a bit more confidence.

Not quite the time to uncork the champagne but hopefully I'll get things done and dusted next week, just in time for Christmas.

I'm now concentrating on a couple of smaller projects over the coming weeks and even months.

Anybody who has been to BETT before will realise the scale of the event and I'm heading down there in January to work in the VIP area for emap education. Just a few days work but it's the start of a long journey with them as I've also been successful in winning the contract to organise the BETT and Education Show seminar programmes in 2008. That should certainly please an old friend of mine, Merlin John, who always came away from the Scottish Learning Festival wishing we could do a similar job for the English market in particular.

The other project on the go just now is the eLearning Alliance Scotland Awards and Annual Conference which I hope will be taking place in April 2007. I'll post further details about the event as I have them but I'm sure the event will be of interest to anybody involved in eLearning across Scotland both in the formal education sectors, the public services sector and the commercial sector.

Finally, I've been to a few intimate gigs in my time, well if you call King Tut's Wah Wah Hut intimate, but I was at a 'Living Room' gig in the west end on Saturday night, you know G12 and all that where the crowded room was filled by a mere 30 souls to listen to Lies Damned Lies.

Dot and Charlie are a couple of pals who invited us along, at a tenner a head of course. It was a pleasant way to spend a Saturday night and the Living Room Tour is coming to... well probably a living room near you if you want.

I wonder if Muse or the Bathers (so well known they don't even have a website!!) would consider doing a gig in my wee living room?

Market forces could be the death of me yet

2006-12-09T15:30:00.000Z

Still awaiting news on whether I've been successful with the two tenders I submitted a couple of weeks ago. Don't know whether to drop those procuring a wee email to see if there is any news. Could be there's some delay in the decision process in which case you look pushy by looking for answers when they're not ready, on the other hand I might not have won the tenders and they're waiting for contracts to be signed by those that did before informing the unsuccessful bidders.

In the meantime do I chase other business to fill in the gaps in the calendar when I need to be earning some money. Danger is you win the extra work and some or all of the work you've tendered for and find yourself overstretched, at least in the short term until you can get some people on board to help you.

I was trying to think how other one person businesses cope. If I had a shop I could maybe influence demand by lowering prices for a short period of time and get some footfall through the shop with the aim that the customers will return, even after the prices are raised again. Alternatively, I could get a fresh range of stock in to try and tempt new customers.

But when you're running a conference and events management company it seems a bit more difficult to tempt people to come to you. What would the slogan be. 'Roll up, roll up, conferences and events, two for a tenner.' or 'There you go sir. Buy one get, one free'.

Maybe like the guy here I could be selling ideas - 'Madam, I have 4 cabaret events this week, but they're going fast. Will I keep one aside for you? Hold on, I've another caller..'.

'Yes sir, I've still got that breakfast seminar free. Theatre style. For 50. No problem. See you Wednesday then'.

'So madam would like Monday's cabaret event. Would that be with or without voting technology?.....'

At the end of the day, the market I'm aiming to attract generally have an idea that they want to run an event to disseminate their latest initiative, project or whatever, but at a time in the project cycle that suits them, not necessarily one that suits me.

What with Christmas and the New Year celebarations coming up its unlikely that any new work will become available so I guess I'll just have to cross my fingers for what I've already got in people's in-trays and keep an eye open for any other opportunities.

Live act of the week

2006-12-09T15:12:00.000Z

Whilst in Barcelona we made a trip to the Harlem Jazz club. Well couldn't find the local version of King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in town so had to go somewhere to while away the night. Anyway, for the price of a San Miguel or two or three we were treated to a marvelous gig by a band called Down Home. They describe themselves as "neo swing, crazy bluesin', shaky rhythm & groovy boogie", and that just about summed up the night. Absolutely brilliant and I’m sure they would go down a storm her in Scotland if anybody was able to bring them across. As ever, they had a CD to sell after the event – ‘Running Out of Time’ which was duly purchased to remind me of a great night.

Unfortunately, while the album is good, it doesn’t capture the dynamics between the five band members in their live show. But don’t be put off. If you’re heading for Barcelona, and there are plenty of cheap flights now, visit their website, see if they’re playing locally and make a point of heading along to see them.

Time for an update

2006-12-06T21:06:00.000Z

Finally found time to update the blog following yet another period of silence. Maybe not a bad thing some might say.

Anyway quite a lot has happened over the past couple of weeks since the last posting.

The series of Scottish Executive events has now finished. Of the nine organised, seven took place with two having to be cancelled due to the retirement on health grounds of the education minister Peter Peacock.

As mentioned in previous posts there was still a lot of administration to clear up the project including the important little matter of submitting my invoice and expenses!! Hopefully get a cheque before Christmas so I can by the wee man his present!

I've still to hear one way or the other whether I've been successful with my the tenders for next year's conferences and summer school. Caught between a rock and a hard place in some ways. Do I wait on the post, email or telephone call to let me know what the position is or do I make some enquiries myself knowing that it may result in disappointment? And then, as the days go by, I've got to start looking for alternative work in case either or both don't come my way.

I've lined up a meeting tomorrow with some people who organise a nursing event in Scotland each year who are interested in finding out how we developed the Scottish Learning Festival over the years. I think their plan is to develop their event along similar lines. With a bit of luck I might be able to get some work out of that even if its just in a consultancy capacity.

Even managed to get a short break in Barcelona. While it was pouring with rain and the wind was battering Scotland, we had a great time walking about with just a t-shirt and the sun beating down on our backs. Did the usual tourist things, boat trip, bus trip, tapas on the terrace, etc. Its just that you don't expect to be doing it during the first week of December. Stevenston by the sea eat your heart out!!!

Now some of you might recognise the above building, Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia. I did a quick search on Wikipedia to get a flavour of the building - 'The Sagrada Família was planned in the late 19th century and construction work, under the supervision of Gaudí, commenced in the 1880s. After disagreements between the founding association and the original architect Francesco del Villar, Gaudí was assigned the project in 1883 and created an entirely new design. At the time, the basilica stood in an empty field over a mile away from urban Barcelona. Gaudí worked on the project for over 40 years, devoting the last 15 years of his life entirely to this endeavour; on the subject of the extremely long construction, Gaudí is said to have joked, "My client is not in a hurry." After Gaudí's death in 1926, work continued under the direction of Domènech Sugranyes until interrupted by the Spanish Civil War in 1935.'

You'll be glad to hear that if you visit Barcelona in the next twenty five years it probably still won't be finished!!! Why? It's an ugly building that should be torn down and started again. Gaudi's work looks as if he's been given a whole load of uneven bricks and cement to play with and couldn't come up with a plan where they could all come together in a meaningful manner. Or is that just philistine old me.

Album of the week

2006-11-23T20:39:00.000Z

Well if John Connell didn't think much of my last band of the week, the magnificent Muse, he's not going to have much of an opinion of this week's album of choice, the brilliant Darklands from Scotland's Jesus and Mary Chain. Just like Guinness, the Jesus and Mary Chain are an aquired taste and its hard to imagine that this album was first released nearly twenty years ago - no doubt next year we'll see the 20th Anniversary remixed special edition being released - yeuch.

The best track by a distance is April Skies, though Happy When It Rains runs it very close. If you haven't heard them before try out the 'greatest hits' album '21 Singles' which is a perfect, understated title for a compilation that nonchalantly illustrates just why the Jesus and Mary Chain are revered by post-punk partisans and are considered so influential.

If John gives me a clue where his music taste lies I'll try and pick out a record which will be more suited to him!!

Where did the time go - again?

2006-11-23T19:56:00.000Z

Just about two months into the new business and time has really flown by.

Thankfully there's probably been more ups than downs. The biggest down continues to be the lonlieness that comes about from working in your own house day in day out. You start to look forward to meetings, no matter how trivial, just to break up the day and get to talk to people.

On the upside the events so far have been quite successful and hopefully it augurs well for getting more work from the Scottish Executive. In fact I've just spent the best part of two to three days preparing a tender for them for an event next summer at the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh. Forty pages of blood sweat and tears highlighting how we would do the event, how long the key tasks would take, what other companies and individuals we would bring into the bid, etc. and of course how much it would cost the Executive to take us on board as the main contractor.

The next couple of weeks will give an indication as to what exactly we will be doing next year. The tender above plus one sitting with Learning and Teaching Scotland would help make sure there's enough work in the education sector to concentrate on. If we're not successful in either of them then we'll just have to keep looking for some other work across the country.

Just a quick note to wish John Connell well in his new role with CISCO. I've worked with him for the past six years or so and in some ways if it wasn't for his early support when we were building up the Scottish Learning Festival then I wouldn't be here. Oh and he happens to be a decent guy as well which helped. Celtic supporter mind but everybody needs at least one thing which you can count against them!!

A week's a long time in business

2006-11-16T13:09:00.000Z

Seems like ages since I last posted on this blogsite, probably because I got into the good habit of trying to post something, however irrelevant each day.

What's happened since my last post? Well we've had another event at Ardoe House in Aberdeen which was moderately successful due to a clash with the local in service days. This meant those attending generally had to rush off back to school to work with their staff. Consequently the discussion element of the event was a bit loose. Still succcessful, but I think it gave us some points to consider for future events.

The Edinburgh event at the Hilton Airport was again a fairly small affair but from the feedback people seemed to enjoy the intamacy and ability to discuss some of the key educational issues with the minister and the officials.

And then I'be been engaged in pulling together a large tender for work at two conferences next year. Stressful or what? You know you can do the job but there's always that nagging doubt that the client wants to go down a different path from what you envisage or try another way of doing things.

I've been on the other end of this process, scoring people's tender proposals, and you sometimes feel like rolling a dice there's that little to choose between rival bids. Obviously price matters but then again there's the confidence factor in being able to get the job done, the creativity attached to the bid, etc. So for me this week has all been about trying to free up some time to concentrate on developing a proposal that is cost effective, creative and meets the key aims and objectives of the client. Come back here in a couple of weeks to see how I get on.

Ah well. Need to go now. Unfortunately my aunt died at the weekend and the funeral is tomorrow so I need to get 'ma maw' and a couple of relatives to the chapel tonight. And of course my other aunt and uncle are stying at my bit tonight so I've had to do a bit of tidying up. The bed needed changing anyway!!

More news and views and a lookback at this week's top album tomorrow - hopefully.

No rest for the wicked

2006-11-08T17:37:00.000Z

Well that's Wednesday almost out of the road. Half way through the week with the third and fourth of the Executive Breakfast series now completed. So far so good on that front although the event at Glasgow was probably a bit too busy, either that or we needed a bigger room. Get a bigger room and you don't get the intimacy that the Minsister wants so you just have to compromise.

However, Monday's event at the Western House Hotel in Ayr was a great success. If you ever have to organise an event in Ayrshire then I can really recommend this as a venue. Like all the venues so far, the staff were great but what set this apart was the building itself, the quality of the seminar room and bedrooms and the setting next to Ayr racecourse. Well worth a visit, and if you have a few bob you might want to stay in one of the main hotel bedrooms.Mind you I'm not sure if the Minister was that impressed because there was a wedding on at the hotel onthe Sunday evening and his room was right above the band who were giving it laldy for the wedding guests.

Another thing I've learnt over the past few weeks is that you have to give yourself some slack in any tender you develop for a company. It might lose you the odd job but at least it covers you for all the additional work that you didn't expect would be required to get the job done to specification. The Executive job has been a lot more intense than I first envisaged and meant that it's been hard to find time to look for other work once this series is finished and just to keep up to date with areas of business interest - even finding time to read the papers can sometimes be difficult.

On a lighter note, Muse were friggin' brilliant at the SECC last night. Just wished I could have been 19 again,jumping about like a maddy. There were a few young guys next to us obviosuly with a few libations down their throat giving it big licks throughout the concert and here we were in our very late forties trying not to look too out of place. Did we care? Not a jot. Roll on the Grim Northern Social in December, though hopefully some other gigs between now and then.

Another week over and so far so good

2006-11-03T16:25:00.000Z

Well, another week over. Another event successfully completed, but with three events next week there's just never been a minute to rest - a bit like the guy in the picture. I know I'm losing a bit of hair like him but it's not me, honest!!

This week the taxman kindly invited me to consider filling in self assessment tax returns. Do I have a choice? Don't be so silly, but the paperwork isn't sitting near the top of the to-do-tray to I sense a few reminders coming my way in the months ahead.

As I've said before I've been taken aback a wee bit with the amount of paperwork that needs to be done even for just one series of events. I could really have done with an industrial strength photocopier as my we laser printer has been burning up the paper and ink like it was running out of fashion. Why didn't I use a photocopying company I hear you say? Well simply put there's been so many changes at the last minute I'd make their lives a misery by getting them to halt jobs half way through. At least this way it's only me that's miserable.

I've also been asked to tender for some work too, so that'll take up some of my time in the days ahead. Sometimes when you get so engrossed in one or two tasks you forget that you need to do some business development to make sure you've got work coming in during the next few months. Fortunately I was on this company's tender list but I think I'll need to see about getting on a few more between now and the end of the year.

Also got a call today from one of my old mates Craig who's over from Spain for a few weeks. Like me he's a keen, should that be mad, Thistle fan and can't believe we're top of the league, though that might change tomorrow when we play St.Johnstone. I've still got the mental scars from watching the drubbing they gave us earlier on in the season.

Band of the week

2006-11-03T16:08:00.000Z

Its Friday so about time I presented this week's album of the week. But just for a wee change, I thought I'd make it band of the week seeing as I'm going to see them at the SECC in Glasgow on Tuesday night. Muse is the band and their latest album Black Holes and Revelations has been hovering about my CD player for the past few months. It would be fair to say that it's a right good album though not my favourite from the band. That remains Hullabaloo which captures Muse live in concert at Le Zenith in Paris in October 2001 and when I watched it on MTV2 a few years ago I promised myself that I'd go and see them the next time they were in Glasgow.

What have I got to look forward to on Tuesday night? Well the set listing from their concert last week suggests a right good night out.

Take A Bow, Hysteria, Map Of The Problematique, Butterflies & Hurricanes, Assassin (extended), New Born, Plug In Baby, Forced In Bliss, Sunburn, Hoodoo, Invincible, Supermassive Black Hole, Starlight, Time Is Running Out, Stockholm Syndrome, Muscle Museum and Knights Of Cydonia

They'll also be supported by the Noisettes who I saw supporting Skin last year. Hopefully they'll go down well too though I think I might be in a bar having a small shandy during their set.

2006-11-02T17:43:00.000Z

Where did all the time go? When I woke up this morning I thought I had the whole day to myself to catch up on all the odds and ends not only with work but shopping, paying off bills, etc.

And now I find its pitch black outside, fast approaching six o'clock and just about half the things on my To Do list are still there. Together with another three or four which popped up during t he course of the day.

Multi tasking, that's the thing I need to get a handle on, or is it better time management, or do I think about employing somone part-time to help me out?

I can just see the advert now.

Person Friday Wanted. No regular office, no regular work, no regular money. But great experience. If you can spare somewhere between 30 minutes and 30 hours per week please contact.....

I don't expect to be knocked down in the stampede, so in the meantime its back to updating the database, sending out some more letters and emails and making a few phonecalls - during business hours of course. No point in phoning anybody now, day's work is done, they're quite rightly off home.

Building on a sound template

2006-11-01T10:19:00.000Z

The success, or otherwise, of what you do has to be built on some form of strong foundation or template.

Yesterday's Executive event at the Peebles Hotel Hydro again went really well, despite the relatively small numbers in attendance. However, the workload for the event was much reduced because we were replicating the successful elements of the previous event and spending some time on the bits that could be improved. e.g. We got our signage for the discussion groups and registration laminated so that the cards didn't flop to the side on the tables. Johnathan from the AV company, who is working with us on most of the events, knew exactly what we needed and so his time setting up the event was reduced, Lucy knew exactly what to do and when to do it, and the hotel staff were again brilliant in making sure everything went smoothly.

Different events call for certain tasks to be completed at different stages in the event cycle but generally, when you analyse what you did for one event against another, whether large or small, there is a great deal of commonality. The key skill of the event manager is to adapt the successful template to meet each client's individual needs.

Begining of a new week

2006-10-29T16:18:00.000Z

Whoever said that weekends are your days off from work were just kidding themselves on. Ever since I went out on my own a month ago, I feel that I should be doing something every day, and night, just in case someone is trying to reach me via email, through the company website, Think Different Events, or even through this blog. And then you also think of some of the things you ought to do to make sure that everything you might need is ready.

Ostensibly I booted up the computer a few hours ago to check my email. Since then I've updated the Executive series database, printed the delegate list, timetable and evaluation forms for the event in Peebles this coming Tuesday and started identifying what discussion groups the delegates will be placed into for the event.

They have four choices, A Curriculum for Excellence, Glow, NEET and Schools of Ambition.

Unsurprisingly, just about everybody attending wants to know more about A Curriculum for Excellence, but this week just as many want to find out about Schools of Ambition.

From my point of view I just have to hope it goes as well as last week's. Watch this space as they say.

This week's Album of the week

2006-10-27T14:47:00.000Z

I know Fiona is going to love this. She probably can't believe it took me until the third week to place this album at the top of this week's pile.

1. The Pursuit Of An Orchid 2. Two Cats On The Piano 3. Memory Fever 4. For The Delicious C 5. Desire Regained 6. Get Out Of Live 7. Pistol Crazed 8. The Wreck In The Bay 9. Reason To Feel 10. Memory Fever 2 11. The idyll Off Crown Circus 12. Perpetual Adoration 13. Sweet Deceit 14. The honeysuckle Rose 15. On The Steps At Park Circus

Now like a lot of people on the good side of Scotland, I haven't much time for the Scotsman, but when I was trawling around the web looking for a decent image to put on the blog I found this great review dating from 2005.

The Bathers Sweet Deceit (Island, 1990)

"I'm nineteen and I'm crazy about you. Yes I'm crazy about you. So crazy." If you've heard Chris Thomson sing this song, Desire Regained from this 1990 record, you should have hairs standing on the back of your neck by now. It is certainly worth seeking out if you haven't. If The Blue Nile offer a late night Glasgow train or car journey, The Bathers offer the same tour but in the form of a bracing walk. Thomson's voice, the closest Scotland has come to Tom Waits, later came to distinction on Bloomsday with two of Lloyd Cole's Commotions, but Sweet Deceit is the start of something good (The band continued to record through the 90s on Marina records). Unusual Places to Die, The Bathers' previous album on Go! Discs, is also worth your investigation if you can find it on CD, but Sweet Deceit is where The Bathers started to luxuriate. As well as the stunning Desire Regained, it's difficult to hear The Pursuit of an Orchid, The Honeysuckle Rose or Memory Fever without hearing a singer and songwriter at his evocative best. A wonderful 1990 late night snapshot of the then City of Culture.

Well, so much for the Scotsman's John McKie. What do I think? I think its one of the best albums to come out of Scotland in the past twenty years. Unfortunately, despite a small cult following, the band, and Chris Thomson in particular, never got the wider recognition they deserved. If you ever get the chance to hear a Bathers album, but this one in particular, then give it a go. You'll be glad you did.

27th of the month syndrome

2006-10-27T14:34:00.000Z

Not sure what the 27th of the month means to you guys, but for the past 25 years or so its generally meant that my bank balance has suddenly bulged back into the black, even for just a short time until all the direct debits and standing orders come off at the start of the next. But that's not the case on 27 October 2006. Having left the bosom of the 'Company' behind me I also left the security of having the monthly payment that kept all sorts of creditors off my case.

When you go out on your own you have to rely on a few other minor details like getting some work completed to allow you to send off an invoice to your clients. And if there are no major milestones that you can tick off then it might be difficult to lever the cash from them.

The first month has been a bit like that. Never felt like I had a minute to spare yet at the end of it all I've got one morning seminar to show for it, though a lot of effort has gone into the preparations for the rest of this series. Hopefully this time next month I'll be sending in my first invoices and letting you know how long each takes to get paid!!

No time to rest on the laurels

2006-10-25T20:58:00.000Z

Ok so we're on our way to our first million, but that doesn't mean we can take a rest from all the other work that's on the horizon.

While there are still another eight of the Executive seminars to go there'll be a bit of multitasking with work beginning in earnest on a few more projects, namely the eLearning Alliance Scotland conference and awards ceremony, Xchange 2007 and the Scottish Learning Festival. Not to forget some work we're doing for emap at BETT.

So here's a question for you, two if you're a techie minded person.

a) What are the three most important factors that make you decide to attend an event, whether it be a conference, exhibition, seminar or awards ceremony. Here's just a few suggestions:

Quality of conference/event programme
Quality speakers
Exhibition
Hands on experiences
Networking opportunities
Venue
Location
Cost
Themes and outcomes of the event
Part of an ongoing series
Counts towards professional development

and others which I hope you'll feedback to me.

b) For the techie people here. Can you put an online questionnaire into your blog? and if so how?

First hurdle safely dealt with

2006-10-25T10:43:00.000Z

It's a great relief to announce that the first event organised by Think Different Events as an independent entity went off smoothly. Well I thought so anyway!!

Having put just about everything bar the kitchen sink into the back of the Golf with premonitions of "I'll maybe need that box of paper, they scissors, that stapler, they paper clips, that ruler, etc., etc.", together with all the paperwork, pop up stands and suits, Lucy my calm administrator, and myself headed north east to Dundee on Monday night to set up shop and wait until the punters, sorry esteemed headteachers, business leaders, Minister and his officials arrived to survey the venue, eat a hearty breakfast, listen to the Minister and join in a series of discussions on key topics affecting Scottish Education.

The Hilton Dundee staff were great, from the moment we arrived until we left nothing was too much bother for them. OK the heating, or lack of it, in the main room caused a bit of grief, but once we got an engineer in place to fix it then the problem was resolved.

Most of the nominated punters, sorry read that as esteemed...., arrived on time, took part in the discussions and left their evaluation sheets which seem to suggest that the event was an overwhelming success for the Minister and his team.

Was the wait finally worth it? Yeah of course it was. It wasn't a big event in the grand scheme of things but when it's your first and its for the Executive then you want to make sure you do it right. But like everything else it was a team effort with Lucy, Johnathan from Sound and Vision, Janis and the staff at the Hilton and the Executive team itself all contributing to the success of the morning.

Just another eight such sessions to go in Peebles, Ayr, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling, Aberdeen, Inverness and Cumbernauld. Not that the workload will ease but it makes life a whole lot easier knowing their are only a couple of small changes that need to be made to the setup to make things run smoothly.

Last minute panics!!

2006-10-23T11:25:00.000Z

Not so much panics, more making sure I've got everything done before I set off to Dundee later today. Was hoping to go to the gym and get the car washed and tidied up inside but the time has just flown by this morning so they'll have to be put off for another day or two. Last minute changes to the delegate's discussion group lists had to be done, update the delegate list, a series of letters to some of the headteachers in Scottish Borders, signing off a couple of venue contracts, it all takes time and before I know it its almost lunchtime.

And the inevitable call from some mobile operator trying to get me to change my mobile contract. Guys, if you're listening out there in Mobile Call Centre Land, I'm not interested and neither are any of my family, neighbours or the old lady I bumped into in the Asda aisle yesterday. Talk about a pressure business, I hope they're a lot luckier with other people who feel the need to change every other month.

First event just around the corner

2006-10-22T20:48:00.000Z

Week four and where are we?

Well this week sees the beginning of the Executive's breakfast series, kicking off the first of nine seminars in the Hilton Dundee.

It seems to have been really quick in coming around but now that it's almost here I just have to hope that all the planning, letters and telephone calls have been worth the effort.

A few last minute things to buy yesterday - a couple of storage boxes, new printer cartridge, four way extension cable, emergency supplies, etc. All the things you hope the venue has to hand but just in case they haven't....

As for the relaxation part of the weekend well.......

The mighty Thistle beat Airdrie United 2-1 thanks to Adam Strachan's winner and amazingly we're still joint top of the league. But hey it's Thistle so it won't last much longer!! Went to see the Departed last night in the West End. Great film but you would think some of the G12 crowd had never been to a gangster film before what with the gasps everytime someone suddenly got popped. Got up early to play golf at East Renfrewshire today. Turned out a great morning though the golf was pretty average, even although I won - sorry Alan!! But the good weekend came to a disappointing end when our own under 17s team got a bit of a going over.

The morning after the night before

2006-10-21T08:02:00.000Z

Has anyone discovered the word which describes the infectious pull of writing on your blog? Here I am on a Saturday morning with a wee bit of a hangover, pretty tired and finding myself drawn to the computer to add more too this blog. Can't explain why but it seemed like a good idea once I had something to eat.

Right now I'm feeling a bit like The Cincinnati Kid. Went to the poker night last night in aid of the under 17's team with the hope that I didn't lose too much money. In the end it only cost me a five spot, the entry fee for the competition.

Decided to play safe at the beginning to see if I could get some sort of an idea how to play the game. Before long everybody around our table was hooked and even though most of us hadn't met each other before there was a good bit of craic going around. Next thing I know there are only two of us with any chips left , me and Neil. He should have won hands down but gradually, with a bit of luck on my side, I managed to claw all his chips away from him and found myself in the grand final.

The final lasted another 45 minutes or so as gradually one by one the six finalists were whittled down to just two, me and Johnnie. After a couple of hands pussy footing around we both decided to go for broke but unfortunately my pair of eights weren't good enough to win the pot and the £50 prize money. Ah well so much for a good night out tonight. I'll just have to win the lottery instead.

If you've never been to a poker night out I can really recommend it even if you're not a gambler at heart. The way this was organised means you can't lose much money, the club funds which we were supporting benefits and there's a reasonable prize on offer to keep everybody interested.

2006-10-20T16:11:00.000Z

Well, the third week is over, well almost as I've still got a bit of work to do over the weekend for the Scottish Executive seminars which start next week. I'm still upright. I don't think I've had any second thoughts about what I've let myself in for and some things are starting to come together.

The images above just about sum up the first three weeks.

You always want to get up and 'Go' and achieve some short term results - preferably positive ones.

However, sometimes you have to 'Stop' yourself from going headlong into projects without proper planning or organisation. A great lesson so far is the amount of administrative work that I have to do which takes up valuable time when I could be doing other things more suited to my skills.

And then at times you start questioning yourself '?' to find out if you're doing things the way you want them to be or the way you think others want you to think they should be.

And finally there's the big alert sign '!' which is warning you about all the things you think that could go wrong, when you should really be thinking about all the things that could and will go right for you.

Never mind the weekend is here. I'm off to a fund raising poker night tonight which is bound to set me back a bob or two. Maybe a bit of gardening and tidying up the house tomorrow and possibly get to see the Departed movie at some stage. Golf early on Sunday and the under 17's are playing on Sunday afternoon. Oh, and time for work too, whatever hapened to the 35 hour week. I'll have to rejoin the union and complain to management!!

Met up with my good pal Fiona this morning, along with her cute little fella Michael, for a coffee and chat about how things are going and some of the ideas I've seen or heard about recently that she might want to follow up for her own work.

I've decided that if I'm going to be working on my own as much as I've done in the past three weeks I really need to make a point of staying in touch with people who you can bounce some ideas around with and hopefully they can give you some hints and tips too, as well as some contacts for further work.

Jacky's working rule number one. (with hopefully more to follow as the weeks progress!!)

Don't lose contact with people who've helped you previously or who you have helped along the way. You can't do it all on your own and every opinion received or shared is probably saving you a few hours of anguish, or worse, trawling through the Internet looking for the ideal solution to your current problem/challenge.

This week's album of the week

2006-10-19T23:11:00.000Z

Hello, Hooray
Raped and Freezin'
Elected
Billion Dollar Babies
Unfinished Sweet
No More Mr. Nice Guy
Generation Landslide
Sick Things
Mary Ann
I Love the Dead

This was the very first album I bought in 1973. I didn't buy it just for the fact that it had Elected and Hello Hooray on it. It was more because of the gatefold cover and the billion dollar bill inside. At the time my house was full of Cilla Black, Bing Crosby and Perry Como records, sorry dad I know you liked them, and this was the first chance I had to listen to something I had bought for myself on the old style grampahone record player.

But my mistake wasn't in buying the record, that was the easy bit. My mistake was playing it when my old dear and old man were in the room. A couple of beats into Raped and Freezin' and it was fair to say they'd heard enough. From now on that 'thing' whatever it was could only be played in my bedroom. Just as well they didn't get the chance to listen to my favourite track on the album, I Love the Dead - they'd have made sure it was my first and last record purchase.

My next three choices were a bit more sedate by comparison - George Harrison's Living in the Material World, Sladest by Slade and Kimmono My House by Sparks.

However, I've returned to Billion Dollar Babies this week and sad man that I am, I still think it sounds great and my favourite track is still my favourite. Unfortunately I didn't get to see Alice Cooper live though he did appear at the Apollo in Glasgow a few times around about this time. Maybe someone out there has a different favourite from one of the characters of 70's music.

What was I thinking about

2006-10-19T22:14:00.000Z

Not long back from an evening of sporting endeavour. I would like to say it was enjoyable but that would be taking things a little too far. The evening started with a game of five-a-sides with a group of guys from Learning and Teaching Scotland and a few ex-convicts like myself and Vinnie Collins. Reasonable game, pretty even throughout but ended up on the losing side. Soaking wet as well, more from the rain than sweat it has to be said.

Anyway that game over I'm heading for the changing rooms for a shower when a bunch of other guys ask if I'll play with them as they're a man short. "Sorry lads. Coaching in a wee while can't help out." But then I get to the main door of the pavillion, look in at the time and have second thoughts. "Aye OK, if you're struggling I'll play." "Gaun yerself big man, cheers", came the reply and I was in. The first person I shake hands with is none other than Brendan Graham. I was playing football with his dad almost twenty five years ago when Brendan wasn't even at school. So there I was nine young lads tearing all over the place and me just trying to catch my breath. After this second hour of what can only be termed torture I stumbled into the car and lay back exhausted, knowing that I had another 90n minutes of football training to get through.

I'll spare you the details, but right now I'm sore in places I didn't know even existed on my body. What I could really do with just now is a back massage.

What was I thinking about. I was born in 1958, you can do the maths yourself, what made me try and run the legs off not only the guys at LT Scotland but then some bunch of mid twenty somethings followed by an under 17 team. I should be locked up.

Anyway its fair to say I'll sleep well tonight knowing that if I can walk tomorrow I'll count that as a blessing.

Just an ordinary day

2006-10-19T15:26:00.000Z

That well known song Perfect Day by Lou Reed suggests a day that you can only dream of when you're at work. My Ordinary Day involved updating the database, creating an evaluation form, a conference call, a trip out to the Post Office to post a couple of letters, (Emphasis on couple here, though I left the Post Office £13 lighter. Let's not go there for the minute though.) setting up a couple of meetings and reading through a list of emails that I need to get on top of. Is life getting any easier as the end of the third week approaches? Nope afraid not. However, for a bit of relaxation I'm just off for a game of five a sides to be swiftly followed by a training session with the under 17's. That should take care of a few excess pounds. If I don't add anymore gibberish for the next couple of days you'll understand why.

What good's a laptop if you don't get the software with it

2006-10-18T17:01:00.000Z

One of the biggest startup costs for me has been the purchase of a new computer. Do you buy cheap then find you've got to replace it in under 18 months or so, or do you go to the top of the market and hope you get some future proofing at least for two to three years? I kinda opted for the middle ground and bought a DELL laptop hopefully without the battery they were having problems with a couple of months ago.

And then you open it up, switch it on, do all the usual online registration of product, etc., etc. and ......

Well that's about it. You can surf the net until your hearts content, but you can't write any letters, prepare any presentations or get cracking on the latest figures with a spreadsheet. What doesn't come as standard is the software and it's not until you start looking for the best deals via the web that you find out the software you need to work with is more expensive than the laptop computer.

Now I realise that PC World maybe not the cheapest, but as a guide three choices of software I need to run the business are going to set me back the following:

Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003 - Complete package - £279.99

FileMaker Pro ( v. 8.5 ) - complete package - £199.99

MindManager Pro ( v. 6 ) - complete package - £187.06

Almost £700 to be added here. OK I could probably do without MindManager for a wee while. Need a database though for client contact details, etc. and where would we be without Word and Excel, etc.

OK. I know some of you will be saying go OpenSource, use something like StarOffice or whatever else is out there. And I'd love to, but I'm not sure at this moment in time I've got the space to start re-learning how to format various documents and then save then in a way that everybody else on the planet can access.

Yet another hard earned lesson. Although I had put in monies for software and the like in my business plan its still a sore one when you've got to pay all this money upfront before the income starts being generated.

The DAY I tried to pull my accounts together!

2006-10-17T15:11:00.000Z

In the long distant past I trained to be an accountant. It was possibly a waste of six years between university, college and one of the big six (at that time) accountancy firms. If I could be given my life again the one change I would probably make would be to change the university course I began. Maybe to something I was interested in like Geography or Economics.

Accountancy was supposed to be the means to get a really good job, earning really good money. I've got to tip my hat off to all the accountants who lasted their particular course and completed the professional examinations.

What wasn't said at school when you were making your life choice was that to become an accountant involved an awful lot of hard work by day in various companies and serious study at nighttime in preparation for the professional exams. I was about 22 at the time. My mates at that time were all working with decent salaries coming in. They were out three or four nights a week and had left all their studies behind. Look at it from my point of view - Out with your mates playing football and having a few pints or staying in with a mountain of accountancy books, case law and taxation to worry about. Sorry guys. No brainer.

Anyway, here I am in week three of Think Different Events. One of the tasks I know I have to get sorted out is to make sure I keep track of income and expenditure. Easy just now, all I have to do is concentrate on the expenditure side of things as there is no income to speak of. Quick look at the folder I kept the receipts in for the past six months. Oh dear, one or two more than expected. Ah well better get the finger out.

I could just put all my receipts in a shoe box, save them up until the end of the financial year, and then hand them over to an accountant to try and interpret them for me. However, I thought I'd just run up an Excel spreadsheet and have an ongoing view of how the business is proceeding.

Typing in the data is just time consuming, as is trying to distinguish the dates and companies whose receipts I've kept. Don't think I can claim for the wee man's birthday present or that receipt for the latest album by Primal Scream. But what about the added gas and electricity usage due to working from home, the printing and stationery, petrol, car repairs......

It's taken me the best part of the working day to do what I set out to do at nine this morning. And will it mean I'll have less to pay at the accountants when I pass the semi-analysed income and expenditure details over to them? Don't be daft. They sat in and studied while I was out trying to play football, passed their qualifications and now await simple folk like me who need their services to appease the taxman. 'Thank you Mr. Jack', they'll say,'Nice spreadsheet, but not acceptable for tax purposes. Give me a couple of weeks to sort it out for you. Do you want to pay a deposit on your bill just now. I'd suggest you try and find a juicy big contract quickly. Might take some of the pain away.'

No such thing as a free lunch - well maybe.

2006-10-16T15:07:00.000Z

Just returned from a site visit to the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow where I met up with Grant MacGadie who handles all the Scottish Executive Accounts in Scotland. The venue was much better than I expected, though maybe that's because I hadn't been there for several years. There's been a massive investment in the hotel chain and it clearly showed. The suite of conference rooms available range in size from around 20 upto 1000 and they have some real nice touches which are included in the room and conference package, irrespective of the group size. Even managed to take lunch in Minsky's which was a bonus, and while there's no such thing as a free lunch, Grant didn't manage to commit me to any further events in Scotland's Hilton hotel chain - for now at least.

Final job of the week

2006-10-15T21:17:00.000Z

Only one more task to complete before the weekend is out and it's for the Scottish Executive - writing to the last of the nominees for the Education Breakfast series. There's only 40 to write but it seems to have taken me an eternity - keying in details to the database, exporting relevant information to a csv file, lining up the approved text within Think Different Events' headed notepaper, mail merging the text with the nominee's data and then finally printing off the letters and labels. And then, for good measure, putting them into envelopes and adding the first class stamp so that they can be posted tomorrow morning. Skoosh case. Oh the joys of working on your own eh!!

As for the relaxation this weekend, I lost at the golf and the under 17's

football team got beat 3-0. Ah well there's always next week.

New Author on the block

2006-10-14T12:24:00.000Z

The ceilidh was really good last night. Pity the poor ladies who had to dance with me but that's another story. Met a pal who had one of her books published and short listed for an award. Haven't read the book but I'm sure it's good. Just thought I'd give her a wee plug should anybody be interested. For more info see Carmen's website.

A funny thing happened yesterday.....

2006-10-14T10:32:00.000Z

Anybody who has been following this blog over the past couple of weeks, and if you've just arrived here where have you been, you've missed all the foundation stuff which puts the rest of these diatribes into context!!! ;-), will probably realise that I was with Learning and Teaching Scotland and its predecessor bodies for almost 24 years and only left on 29 September to set up Think Different Events.

Just before I left, my good friend and colleague Bronagh Bell who was Head of Marketing and Public Affairs also left the company to join the NHS National Waiting Time Centre Board.

So anyway, there I was working away yesterday morning when the phone rang.
"Hello, is that Mr. Martin Jack?", asked a very pleasant young lady. I'm assuming she is young, doesn't impact on the story though.

My first thoughts were 'Double Glazing', 'New mobile telephone', 'New kitchen'....
But surprise, surprise, in front of her was my CV, a fairly old one which I sent to some of the online agencies a couple of years ago just out of interest to see if anything came back.

"Martin", didn't take her long to get personal, "are you still on the search for a new challenge? I might just have the job to match your skills set".

She went on to describe this dynamic job which was requiring a dynamic individual to fill it. Hey boost my ego any day girl. Keep on going. However, as she continued to describe the job it struck me that it sounded fairly familiar.

"Excuse me", says I, "this job wouldn't be with Learning and Teaching Scotland would it?"

"Why yes. Do you know of them?" says she.

And what part of my CV haven't you read I thought.

"It's the Head of Communications post. Would you be interested?"

I had to see the funny side of this. Here was me two weeks out of the organisation and being asked if I would be interested in putting myself forward for a role Bronagh had filled. I can well imagine the reaction within Learning and Teaching Scotland if the recruitment agency put my name forward.

And so I took the Sam Sensible option, thanked her for considering me, but politely declined.

Ten seconds later I was on the phone to Bronagh to let her know what had just happened and share a laugh.

Mind you if things don't work out with Think Different Events I maybe just..... Nah only kidding.

Album of the week

2006-10-14T10:05:00.000Z

I'm going to try and give you an idea of some of the music I'm listening to while I'm working. One of the big benefits of working alone is that you can play whatever you want knowing you won't be upsetting anybody's music sensibilities - apart from the neighbour's of course.

I should say at the outset that I'm still a bit old fashioned, preferring to buy CDs rather than download them. The art work, lyrics and other information that comes with the CD is all part of the music buying experience.

Top of the list this week is The Stone Roses, The Remixes. The Stone Roses debut album was one of the most influential albums of the late 1980's early 1990's and one which was played to death by me when it first came out. I can't think of a bad track on the album, with my favourite track being I Am The Resurrection. I found this remix collection the other week in Fopp and paid the princely sum of £5 to add it to my collection.

The full track listing is as follows:
1. Shoot You Down (Soul Hooligan)
2. Fools Gold (A Guy Called Gerald)
3. Made of Stone (808 State)
4. Waterfall (Paul Oakenfold & Steve Osborne)
5. One Love (Utah Saints)
6. I Wanna Be Adored (Rabbit In The Moon)
7. Fools Gold (Grooverider)
8. I Am The Resurrection (Jon Carter)
9. Waterfall (Justin Robertson)
10. She Bangs The Drums (Elephant)
11. Elizabeth My Dear (Kinobe)
12. Elephant Stone (Mint Royale)

with a whole host of well kent mixing gurus delivering their take on some of the classic songs off the original album. If you like the Stone Roses then you won't be disappointed in this album.

The end of week 2

2006-10-13T16:03:00.000Z

The end of another week then. Plenty of work done, but plenty still to do over the weekend. On a scale of 1 to 10 this week has probably been about a six. I know I could have done some things better and other people I'm dealing with could maybe be a wee bit better prepared when I've taken the time to come and visit them. But all in all a fairly decent week. Still no income to talk of but a range of costs to be paid for - petrol, postage, stationery, hotel bill, meals, .... and the list goes on.

Also started going back to the gym this week. Only joined a couple of months ago as I was never a gym trainer, preferring the football field or roads for any kind of training I wanted. However, I thought I'd join the local authority gym to keep fit and also give me a reason for getting up early in the morning to get ready for the rest of the day. However, as one old guy remarked today, ''Son, you look jiggered, if I felt as bad as you look, I would have stayed in bed.' Well thanks for that auld yin away back and play with your zimmer!! ;-)

I've decided to try and relax over the rest of the weekend starting with a ceilidh tonight. Not my scene generally but it should be a good laugh if nothing else. If I can find time maybe some golf at East Renfrewshire GC tomorrow and then coaching the under 17 team on Sunday. Washing, ironing, tidying up, cooking, aye, this list goes on and on as well. I wonder how much a house maid costs, one with some admin skills, who can drive and maybe wanting to learn a bit more about organising events? Any takers?

The way we were - kinda.

2006-10-12T17:07:00.000Z

I was checking out John's blog to look for any ideas I could nick and found this intriguing photograph.

Anyway, it reminded me of a photogragh taken at the 25th birthday party for SCET, one of the two orgainisations that joined to form Learning and Teaching Scotland, a few years ago when I dressed up as a punk - a music genre I really liked and still do but at the time, studying to be an accountant, it wasn't a dress code that was likely to get you far in the commercial corridors of power. Not that I ever did get far anyway!!

Ah well. Dinner is almost ready. I'd invite you all but haven't enough chairs around the table.

Come back again for some more rants from the startup business community.

What online service should I sign up for?

2006-10-12T16:54:00.000Z

Hopefully someone out there is reading this.

Quick couple of questions if you are. I've got a broadband connection at home with ntl. Maybe not the best but I've got my phone and TV package too with them and if there are any suggestions of an alternative let me know.

When I was travelling around last week I couldn't get a dial up connection because I hadn't signed up with anyone. Stupid I know, but hey, I'm here to learn from you guys. What internet service provider would you recommend for those lonely nights in the hotel when pay per view TV is all that stands between you and a lonely night!!

And finally, with all this wifi installed across the land is there a common service provider or do you just pay the going rate at each venue?

Call me think, but trust me I'm a quick learner so any help will be gratefully received - and acknowledged of course.

I should have been a mechanic

2006-10-12T16:02:00.000Z

Good things about being your own boss. No need to have early morning or late afternoon dental appointments anymore to make sure you don't arrive too late at work or leave too early. Still costs the same though, no change there. And its the same when you have a fault with your car. Build your day around being close to where you drop it off in the morning and pick it up when the job is complete.

Now I know nothing about cars - my knowledge wouldn't fill the back of a postage stamp but I wish I had trained as a mechanic. Finally got to the root of the problem with my faithful old Golf - a broken starter earth cable. Well of course anybody worth their salt would have recognised the symptoms, unfortunatley my salt is a bit wet in these matters. Anyway replacement of said starter earth cable a mere £12.00. Not bad you might think. Total bill before I got the car keys back - £84.60. I wish this was a typo but no. Eighty four pounds and sixty decimal pence please.

A four letter word added to 'me gently' was my reply, silently off course in case I didn't get the keys back. Not only did the service station gain to the tune of £60 for labour, and by the way it's a good wee garage who've served me well for a few years now - Manse Brae Service Station, Cathcart, but the Chancellor of the Exchequer got £12.60 of the total. More than the part itself cost!! Well I just hope it goes into better public transport because I'm gutted and skint into the bargain.

Attention to detail

2006-10-11T16:28:00.000Z

It's always the little things that seem to take up so much of your time. To make sure you get things right you have to pay particular attention to the small details otherwise the so called 'big project' is likely to go off the rails. Today its been about looking at all the responses received to date for the series of educational seminars that the Scottish Executive is hosting. Chasing up a couple of Local Authorities to see if their nomination list is likely to arrive, updating the database on the choices being made by delegates for the discussions they will take part in and making sure that the food, mid morning break refreshments, car-parking, accommodation and all the other elements at the venues are in place. And this is just for one event. I'm also working on four other conferences, though they're all at different points in the project cycle.

And just as an aside, there's the little matter of Scotland playing the Ukraine in Kiev in about half an hour. Come on ye Scots.

Driving 450 miles to see Scotland at its finest

2006-10-10T22:04:00.000Z

For the past two days I've been driving around the north east of Scotland doing some site visits for a couple of the up coming events I'm organising for the Scottish Executive. The weather was great and during the trip I just wished I had someone else driving so I could enjoy the scenery. I even managed to take some of my own pictures which I'll upload sometime soon. You can see why so many foreign tourists come to Scotland it looks absolutely brilliant and the couple of tea rooms I visited for lunch or breakfast are the kind of places I really need to start taking my mum too - she'd love the home cooking though no doubt reminding me its not as good as hers. Tell me this, does everybody think that their own mother's cooking provided them with the best meals they ever had. Certainly is in my case!!

Ah wis there!!

2006-10-08T16:04:00.000Z

Let's be honest about it few of us really, I mean really, expected Scotland to beat France yesterday. World Cup finalists, top drawer players, only one defeat in qualifying games since 1999 or whenever it was - but the Tartan Army was sent homeward to drink again (and again) last night after a brilliant one nil victory thanks to Gary Caldwell's goal.

And I was one of the 57,000 who were there to soak up the atmosphere. No doubt by tomorrow morning the crowd will have soared to over 200,000 with all the punters who claimed to have been there but who really cares, all that matters is that we got the three points and can look forward to Wednesday night and the trip to the Ukraine. And as an added bonus you know who didn't beat Macedonia!!!

Review of the first week

2006-10-08T15:37:00.000Z

I suppose the question I should be asking is - Do I think it was the right decision to go out on my own? It would be great to respond with a resounding you bet it was but the reality has been a bit of an eye opener. Not to say that I'm disappointed or down in any way, it's just the amount of work that needs to be covered to make sure you're doing what needs to be done for all the work you're meant to be doing, and at the same time making time available to look for work in the future. And then there's a life to be getting on with too - eating, shopping, keeping the house tidy.....and watching Scotland beat the French at football. More of this on the next post.

The first week was hard with a few late nights and early mornings making sure I got all the work completed for the Scottish Executive's series of education breakfasts. In addition I'm trying to keep a few other plates spinning at the same time hoping that none of them will fall off because I neglected them.

I've still to update my accounts with all the expenses from the last few months with no corresponding income to date and I want to make sure I can keep the blog and the Think Different Events website current to make sure people have a reason to keep coming back to it.

Next week - well its back on the road with a few site visits across the country, a couple of update meetings and the dreaded six monthly visit to the dentist. And the Golf car wouldn't start in the Executive's car park on Friday, almost had to get the AA out, but after a bit of Basil Fawltyesque bashing the bonnet I finally managed to get it started so it's going into the garage on Thursday too to see what's up.

Driver required

2006-10-03T22:40:00.000Z

I've promised myself this is the last bit of work I'm going to do tonight. I'm just back from football training and with nothing on the TV, again, came upstairs to unwind with a bit of work and a bit of research.

Tomorrow I'm off on my first set of travels conducting site visits at the venues we're using for the education briefing sessions which begin at the end of this month and run through most of November. Ayr and Dunblane are on the cards tomorrow with a stop in Stirling to see what the management centre has to offer for another event I'm involved with early next year. I'm just hoping my old VW Golf, not the one in the picture I'm afraid, can see me through the next couple of months. What I know about cars can be put on the back of a postage stamp with a big thick pen so when the simplest thing goes wrong I just haven't got a clue what to do as Sweet would have said.

So much to do and so little time to do it in

2006-10-03T10:23:00.000Z

Beginning to feel a wee bit more relaxed about working for myself now and managed to get a few things off my To Do list which I thought I'd still be 'doing' come Friday. This week I'm concentrating on organising a series of breakfast seminars for the Scottish Executive Education Department. A whole host of people have been invited to the nine events and I've set up the database for their contact details, arranged site visits to the venues and generally made sure the events will go smoothly.

Its amazing how much you really have to multitask when you're on your own. Right now I can choose from any one of the following job titles, Business Development Director, Administrator, Website and Blog Content Editor, Driver, Accountant, Conference and Event Planner, Consultant..... the list seems to go on as does the time, so now that I've finished my mid morning drink, I'll post this comment and hopefully get back to the real day job, whatever that maybe.

Off and running

2006-10-02T07:55:00.000Z

2 October 2006 and life has just taken a brand new turn. Generally I'd be in the office by this time and had a bit of banter with a few folk in and around the office, probably deleted fifty or so unwanted emails that had arrived over the weekend and looking forward to whatever challenges and opportunities were to become available during the week ahead.

But as your own man..... Well I've still got a list of things that I need to do the first of which was to resolve the email problem which thankfully hosting-unlimited.net seem to have achieved with another slice of bewildering techno speak. -

"No specific information is available to update this ticket with today, but please check http://webwhois.nic.uk/cgi-bin/whois.cgi?query=thinkdifferentevents.co.uk&WHOIS+Submit.x=30&WHOIS+Submit.y=5 periodically; if the nameservers have been changed from ns1/ns2.hu-eros.com to ns1/ns2.hu-dns.com, the migration will have occurred.Please also note that your e-mail will automatically recommence on completion of the migration."

Well at least it appears I'm now back in the land of email - How did we survive before email came onto our radars? - If i remember we talked to people a lot more that's for sure.

Loads of work to be getting on with and hopefully through this blog you can share in the trials and tribulations of the company.

Remember yesterday's post about the online community aspect. Well I can now add Jim Buchan to the list of people who immediately stepped in to try and help me. You can catch Jim's own blog for a whole lot more.

Online support in a meaningful sense

2006-10-01T16:06:00.000Z

It probably seems obvious that I'm pretty new to this Blogging lark as can be witnessed by my simple posts to date. However, in the past 24 hours alone it has shown me how powerful it can be as a medium to support each other.

Two of my former colleagues John and Ewan have both tried in different ways to solve my current email problem. In addition, John has given me some great advertising for Think Different Events. I've known John for several years now, he's a better laugh than his photograph suggests!!, and I'm really glad that I'll be continuing to work with him in a number of capacities in the weeks and months ahead.

Ewan is one of the new kids on the block full of great ideas about how to make the most of the emerging technologies especially in an educational content. If both don't mind too much I'm going to try and plagiarize some of the ideas they have and build it into my own blog.

Does anyone understand Error Messages

2006-09-30T21:02:00.000Z

I wouldn't claim to have a great knowledge of all the things that go in to today's modern technologies but I think, given basic instuctions, I could work out how to get my way around today's gadgets - mobile phones, X-boxes or computers.

As you can see from earlier posts on this blog I'm having trouble with my new company's email system which was working perfectly for the last six months until last Wednesday night.

I've spent quite a while today trying to get some idea where to start looking for the reason why the sudden change came about and the only clue I can find is this error message. Can anyone explain what it means?

The connection to the server has failed. Account: 'martinjack@thinkdifferentevents.co.uk', Server: 'mail.thinkdifferentevents.co.uk', Protocol: SMTP, Port: 25, Secure(SSL): No, Socket Error: 10061, Error Number: 0x800CCC0E

The day after the night before

2006-09-30T10:51:00.000Z

This isn't me but it sums up the way I'm feeling just now!!

Just sitting here recovering from one too many wee sherries last night. This is a quick note to thank everybody who contributed to my leaving present yesterday and hope that all the gang who turned up for the leaving do, both past and present staff, got home safely. It was a bit of a shock to me, and no doubt a few others, to see a film clip from 1984 with my Michael Bolton haircut - hey remember it was fashionable then!!

Still no sign of fixing the Think Different Events email problem so I just have to hope that anyone trying to contact me has my phone number.

Last Day with Learning and Teaching Scotland

2006-09-29T11:41:00.000Z

A horde of delegates await further pronouncements on the imminent departure of Jacky and David.

Just a few more hours to go and then, after almost 24 years, I'll be leaving Learning and Teaching Scotland to earn a living on my own.

The last 24 hours have been a bit hectic especially since I found that my 'new' email system had somehow crashed meaning no email in and no email out. The last thing I needed on the eve of starting up on my own. If anybody out there tried to get through during this time then sorry, but you weren't being ignored.
It really makes you appreciate having a system support team in-house to fix all those system problems as and when they arise. Just hope that I don't have too many problems in the future.

The leaving 'do' is due to begin at three in here with me and David both being honoured or dishonoured depending on your view with a range of stories of our times here and there. Then it’s off to drown our sorrows with a few wee Sherries and await the inevitable hangover that will be awaiting tomorrow. I've tried to personally thank as many people as I could with various emails a few weeks ago but there are a couple worth a more public vote of thanks including Willie Coffey, hopefully a soon to be MSP, from my development days - Ian Graham, Mike Thomas, Graham Wilson, Paul Kennedy, Ralph Andrew and Iain Fyfe. The Technology Centre would never have been the same without Diane Izatt and Fiona Andrew. And SETT - The Scottish Learning Festival is a whole team effort with this year special mention to Bronagh Bell, Jackie Ferguson, David Boag, Moira Taylor, Heidi Idle, Ailie Pollock, Jeremy Stevenson and last but by no means least Elaine Docherty and Tracy Reilly.

Without them and hundreds if not thousands like them the last 24 years or so would have been really dull.

Just putting the final touches to some of the work that had to be completed post the festival and then hopefully some time to relax, well at least for a day or two.

Trying to tidy things up

2006-09-27T12:21:00.000Z

This week is all about trying to make sure I tie up all the loose ends for the various work I've been doing over the last few months in particular. Quarter two claims are required to go to the Scottish Executive for last week's successful Scottish Learning Festival which means going through all the budgets and financial information. I'm still trying to tie down some contracts for Xchange 2007 which Learning and Teaching Scotland are hosting and there's the small matter of getting myself organised for working on my own - trying to source a computer to work with and continue with this blog, buying paper and folders, keeping the bank manager happy now that I don't have a regular income.

Also need to start thinking about developing the business and contacting people who may be helpful in sourcing work for me.

2006-09-26T14:59:00.000Z

The hardest thing about setting up on my own has been the amount of administration I've had to do to make sure I don't lose anything that might help me in the coming months - contact details, press cuttings, expense receipts, keeping the website up to date, www.thinkdifferentevents.co.uk, etc. And at the same time knowing I've a full shift to put in for Learning and Teaching Scotland especially the logistical planning for the Scottish Learning Festival which seemed to go with a bang last week.
Still got a few things to finish off before I leave on Friday - letters of thanks, preparing for the steering group, handover to other people, etc. Oh and the small matter of a few wee sherry's on Friday night!!

The Final Countdown

2006-09-26T14:34:00.000Z

On the final countdown to leaving the security of the company behind me to set up on my own as a conference and events management company. Finally leave Learning and Teaching Scotland after almost 24 years to begin life as Chairman, Chief Executive, Business Development Director, Festival Director....Accountant, Administrator, Driver, etc. etc. Basically for any job that needs to be done over the coming months I'll have to look in the mirror and tell the person facing me that I've got every faith in him and it's his responsibility to get it done.

Minding my own business - Think Different Events

What have you been missing

Keeping Fit

Another musical interlude

How a big corporation can really screw you up

You can't beat a good old one

It's been a funny old week....

The next step

More bank problems

Oldies but Goldies

Reviving old memories

Think Different Radio

And with an office comes....

And on the cd player this week you'll find

Moving out

And this week's musical feast brings you....

The hunt for an office goes on

Back in the old groove

Cheaper than Fopp. Its an ASDA disaster!!

The first four months are over

Back in a routine

What price an office?

Eclectic choice of music

Feeling like I've never left....

How time flies

Looking forward to a hectic week in London

First payment!!

Time Management

Nothing better to do on a Saturday so.....

Album of the week

Looking back on 2006

Favourite albums of the year

Festive period slowdown

Another new partnership to build on.

Dumb Bells

Being self employed means 24/7

Van was a man in form

Tender update

Album of the week

Quiet week on run up to Christmas

Good news on the tender front

Market forces could be the death of me yet

Live act of the week

Time for an update

Album of the week

Where did the time go - again?

A week's a long time in business

No rest for the wicked

Another week over and so far so good

Band of the week

Building on a sound template

Begining of a new week

This week's Album of the week

27th of the month syndrome

No time to rest on the laurels

First hurdle safely dealt with

Last minute panics!!

First event just around the corner

The morning after the night before

This week's album of the week

What was I thinking about

Just an ordinary day

What good's a laptop if you don't get the software with it

The DAY I tried to pull my accounts together!

No such thing as a free lunch - well maybe.

Final job of the week

New Author on the block

A funny thing happened yesterday.....

Album of the week

The end of week 2

The way we were - kinda.

What online service should I sign up for?

I should have been a mechanic

Attention to detail

Driving 450 miles to see Scotland at its finest

Ah wis there!!

Review of the first week

Driver required

So much to do and so little time to do it in

Off and running