Coffee at Pink Lane

At all costs we want to stir up some sort of feeling in others. Our soul abhors a vacuum. At all costs it longs for contact - Hjalmar Soderberg, from Doctor Glass. It was good to meet up with Mike again. I have known him from my days at North Tyneside and we make the … Continue reading Coffee at Pink Lane

Phil loves books

One of the pleasures of having a granddaughter is having to sit and watch CBeebies with her. It’s not that we encourage too much television watching but rather I don’t have the energy to entertain her for a whole day. We have fallen into a routine of an hour in the morning before we go … Continue reading Phil loves books

The second of my workshops

My first ever two online workshops turned out to be on the same day. The first was number one in a series of three workshops for the North East Initiative on Business Ethics around designing a series of tools for companies to help ‘prove’ their ethical position. I have blogged about this one already. The … Continue reading The second of my workshops

Make way for social interaction

These days I am having loads of conversations with people without actually seeing anyone. Yes, I see their image on the screen and I can hear their voice but it is not the same. I want to be next to them because that is what being human is all about, the social interaction. But we … Continue reading Make way for social interaction

When maps are not good enough

Sometimes seeing is not believing. I am thinking of when maps are presented to show the results of an election. Take the 2017 UK parliamentary election for example. A standard map projection of the UK, the type we are used to seeing in any atlas, shows England almost entirely Conservative blue. Ignoring the other parties … Continue reading When maps are not good enough

Have a casual meeting

Waterston's in Durham is a company that I have long admired, really ever since I met its founders, Mike and Sally Waterston. The company is built upon their strong ethical values and shows that you can be successful while doing the decent and right things.  I mention the company as I was down there for … Continue reading Have a casual meeting

Things will find their own level

Stephen was telling me about a conversation he was having with a friend who had been in marketing for longer than he cared to mention. The subject of new media came up and his friend hit the roof. ‘Don’t talk to me about new media’, he said ‘there is no such thing - there is … Continue reading Things will find their own level

The power of social media

I use Twitter a lot. It is my way of keeping brand Phil alive and well. I know it works as people respond and always mention it to me when I meet up with them. As Carlos Fuentes said ‘We all need witnesses to our life to be able to live it.’ Occasionally though it … Continue reading The power of social media

Yesterday’s world today

I have always been fascinated by man’s story as an animal.  It is some time now since I read Zoology at Newcastle and I have not really done anything with the knowledge but the interest has remained with me ever since.  I have often pondered on how much of what we do is driven by … Continue reading Yesterday’s world today