tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-168354942024-03-13T22:07:06.271-07:00Learning LabThis blog explores common elements of successful leadership, brand partnerships through storytelling across contexts.
What makes someone a leader anyway? And how do you learn to innovate in business?Annette Kramer, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085789930912143549noreply@blogger.comBlogger327125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16835494.post-62661506735866227992014-10-09T00:52:00.000-07:002014-10-09T00:52:00.143-07:00Ad campaigns for women focus on leadership rather than beauty<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="article-body">
I've discovered a
tremendous change in what are called beauty products' approach to
potential clients: your confidence comes from the way you think and
behave, not your hair or skin.<br />
<br />
@DianaTheodores has tweeted two great campaigns: one from P&G's <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/author/createArticle?trk=tod2-c-art" target="_blank"><span class="topDivVideo"><span class="popup_video_header">#LikeAGirl Social Experimen</span></span>t </a>and one from Pantene on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzL-vdQ3ObA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">women constantly apologising</a>.<br />
<br />
Both
campaigns focus on developing leadership skills for women. Has anyone
noted how radical a change this is from the success that used to be
promised due to feminine wiles?<br />
<br />
Here's a story: I worked for one
of the most successful women's magazines in NYC for a short stint of 8
months. I didn't know what I was getting into, right out of teaching
drama at Brown University where no one really cared what your hair
looked like or if you wore make-up.<br />
<br />
On arrival at this first job (I was told I was lucky to get with a PhD and no experience), I began planning my exit strategy.<br />
<br />
Why?
The editorial strategy was (in short) to alternate articles telling
readers that they are enough just as they are -- with articles that tell
them they are not nearly good enough.<br />
<br />
In other words, the
editorial strategy - led by advertising - alternated enough support to
keep readers reading with enough anxiety to make readers run out and buy
something to make them good enough. Women need to dress differently,
look younger, lose weight - you know the drill.<br />
<br />
It was an editorial formula followed every month, and I didn't want any part of it.<br />
<br />
What
a difference a decade makes. Women have transformed the way companies
advertise because of the way we think about ourselves. Campaigns are
designed to target our aspirations. Apparently, increasingly, the market
is demonstrating we aspire to leadership based not on our looks but on
our confidence in our own ability to lead.<br />
____________________________________________________<br />
*Please
note, UK folk: in the US cultural norms insist you don't apologise in
business. One takes no prisoners, as I've been told as a New Yorker in
London throughout my seven years here.</div>
</div>
Annette Kramer, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085789930912143549noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16835494.post-31221817970352741332014-10-02T00:50:00.000-07:002014-10-02T00:50:00.520-07:00Commercialising research as a road to entrepreneurship and innovation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Academics are often dismissed too quickly
by industry when not looking for R&D because communication is not
necessarily a researcher's strongest suit. However, innovation is not
subject-specific. It's a process that can be applied to anything.<br />
<br />
Mix
innovative academic smarts at every university with just a little help
articulating commercial benefits, and the UK could take over the world.<br />
<br />
I had the great privilege of working with academics
across Imperial College and Business School helping them commercialise
their research. This was the idea of <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=126390612&authType=name&authToken=jtDm&trk=prof-sb-browse_map-name" target="_blank">David Stokes</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/search?search=&title=Programme+Coordinator+%28Cross+Faculty%29+%E2%80%93+Digital+City+Exchange&sortCriteria=R&keepFacets=true&currentTitle=CP&trk=prof-exp-title" target="_blank">Programme Coordinator (Cross Faculty) – Digital City Exchange</a>, and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=35519&authType=OUT_OF_NETWORK&authToken=m-Pv&locale=en_US&trk=tyah2&trkInfo=tarId%3A1406530577818%2Ctas%3AElizabeth%2Cidx%3A1-1-1" target="_blank">Elizabeth Varley</a>, <a href="http://www.techhub.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">TechHub</a> CEO and board member at Imperial.<br />
<br />
Please
note: these researchers are already very successful finding commercial
partners - businesses come to them. This was a top up as there's always
room for improvement. David found me because I work with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o-un9MlOD4" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">TechHub helping entrepreneurs pitch for investment and partners</a>, and Elizabeth kindly recommended me to him.<br />
<br />
And
thank you Elizabeth, for restoring my faith in innovative thinking.
When business meets academics in the right spot, anything is possible -
just give the researchers a little help talking to industry.<br />
Companies
dealing with smart cities would be tremendously lucky to have any of
the folks I worked with at Imperial - with their depth of industry
experience, agile thinking, and energy to make things happen. Genuine
innovative thinking is so hard to find.<br />
<br />
Want to learn about
innovation? Go directly to Imperial. I am not usually a betting woman,
but I suspect you'll find someone to help.</div>
</div>
Annette Kramer, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085789930912143549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16835494.post-40638263565502895332014-09-25T00:49:00.000-07:002014-09-25T00:49:00.024-07:00Nothing since 2002? Why is it so hard for start-ups to scale?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This might be a small point, but it seems worth making based on a pitch workshop I gave at London's <a href="https://www.campuslondon.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Campus</a> for <a href="http://www.techhub.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">TechHub</a>.<br />
<br />
If
scaling is the single most important capability investors look for,
it's not just a technology issue. Even if you have a great idea for a
start-up, it's a much better idea to get some business experience to
make sure you can run the company before quitting your job and going
full time. Another alternative is to get a founder with a lot of
business experience to run it for you, of course. Otherwise, how will
you grow?<br />
<br />
Resist the urge to take money - as a loan or in exchange
for equity - before you have a team that can make it all work in the
long haul. HBR said it in 2002, and it's still true - a successful
business requires a lot more than innovative thinking. See <a href="http://hbr.org/2002/12/why-entrepreneurs-dont-scale/ar/1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Why Entrepreneurs Don't Scale</a>.<br />
<br />
Just as an example of why founders might want to reread this old chestnut, back to my workshop.<br />
We
had a class-wide debate on behalf of a founder's concern: would
investors respond poorly if he told them that the company was 5 years
old?*<br />
<br />
Some participants suggested that the founder shouldn't tell
investors the company's age - 5 years is when you exit, they said. Why
haven't you raised funds before?<br />
I voted with the other half the
class who said that it's an advantage to have bootstrapped. It gave the
new company time to develop the technology and client base before
selling any equity. It shows commitment to your business, they said (and
I agree), and you're in a better negotiating position with a higher
valuation.<br />
Here's my conern:<br />
<br />
A very smart, accomplished,
internationally experienced group of people had a heated debate about
whether or not to take a cash infusion.<br />
<br />
But the management team's ability - or inability - to grow the company didn't even come up.<br />
<a href="http://hbr.org/2002/12/why-entrepreneurs-dont-scale/ar/1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Did I mention that article from 2002</a>?</div>
Annette Kramer, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085789930912143549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16835494.post-88679596981843043372014-09-18T00:48:00.000-07:002014-09-18T00:48:00.033-07:00A day with Jane Goodall and her remarkable team<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I am led the closing workshop for Jane Goodall's <a href="http://www.rootsnshoots.org.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Roots and Shoots</a>
in their week-long residency at St. George's House, Windsor Castle. So I
spent yesterday morning observing and listening to see what they might
need in terms of skills at presenting their business proposition to
corporates, partners, governments and volunteers.<br />
<br />
When I've work
with global charities, group dynamics can be fraught. Individuals mean
well, but when given short periods of time together, their main concern
is getting problems solved in their own countries rather than having a
concern for the overall organisation -- or for each other.<br />
<br />
Quite
to the contrary, Roots and Shoots is a case study in how to do things
right. Individuals from all over the world, with vastly different
projects and challenges, talked for 4 hours about solving problems
together. In fact, much of the time was spent finding ways to make sure
they do things as a group - not to preserve the brand in a superficial
way - but to make sure the work itself continues to run with the highest
possible integrity.<br />
<br />
Jane gets a lot of credit. At 80, she doesn't
seem to have slowed down with her work - both as evangelist and on the
ground. Jane is no figurehead - she continues to inspire and support her
team in-country in a hands on way. She also vets those who grow her
charity and Institute, and that has paid off.<br />
Those in the field
have accomplished what seems like superhuman feats in short periods of
time. And with very little infrastructure, both as an global
organisation and as national offices, they maintain connections with
each other all over the world to improve they do their work as
individuals and as a group.<br />
One quick example: In South Africa,
there is programme that helps children learn about how to treat animals
by conquering their fear and making them more aware of animals' needs.
The result has been not just healthier pets and livestock but more
confidence in children. It's been repeatedly demonstrated by a new
willingness by children in this programme to stand up for their beliefs
in school.<br />
Over lunch, everyone exchanged connections - to their
own funders and other resources - that could help others start, develop,
or expand similar projects around the world.<br />
It's hard to convey
in a short post the breadth and depth of impact that these individuals
have had on their communities and countries - or how fast they've grown
the organisation through love of people, animals, and the environment.<br />
<br />
Definitely worth checking out, as is the <a href="http://www.janegoodall.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jane Goodall Institute</a>, and I'm looking forward to help them tell their stories.</div>
Annette Kramer, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085789930912143549noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16835494.post-32769538616901663382014-09-11T00:46:00.000-07:002014-09-11T00:46:00.537-07:00The financial benefits of diversity: Women improving the bottom line of VC firms<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
There has a lot that has been written on the financial value of new
perspectives when organisations put women in roles of leadership.
However, lately, there seems to be increasing evidence that VCs are
leaving money on the table by neglecting to include women's perspectives
in their investment choices.<br />
Perhaps the most obvious reason is
that with no women around, it's hard to understand of what female
customers will spend money on. Women investors clean up here, as <a href="http://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/does-the-female-customer-perplex-vcs-too.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Inc's article says they "profit from others' clulessness"</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-04-19/vcs-that-back-women-beat-those-that-dont" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bloomberg said </a>
last year that VCs that back women-led companies do much better than
those that don't. This is becoming increasingly true as women help each
other in the start-up world and beyond. <a href="http://fortune.com/2014/04/02/how-women-can-make-the-vc-money-flow/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fortune agrees</a>. Gender bias in male-dominated VC firms tends to examine women founders in ways that miss the where the value is.<br />
<br />
If
this is true for start-ups, imagine what women in leadership could do
for the bottom line of organisations with the infrastructure in place to
reach enormous markets. Corporates, take note - and while you're at it,
hire some qualified women to help take your business forward.</div>
Annette Kramer, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085789930912143549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16835494.post-49007385806904142042014-09-04T01:37:00.000-07:002014-09-04T01:37:00.169-07:00STEMS: Good for kids and industry<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In my 7 years in London, I've seen two ministers in charge of
education who seem almost entirely unqualified. Ed Balls was a finance
guy - and Gove doesn't seem to have much more experience than he.<br />
In
New York City, when the Board of Education was disbanded, decisions
went to businessmen as well. Wouldn't it make sense for someone to have
done a job before they manage others doing it?<br />
<br />
Despite the top
leaders, this UK government does indeed have a few smart programmes,
probably created by experienced civil servants. Two are programmes
around STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and STEAM
(the same, but the A stands for Arts).<br />
<br />
(My friend and client, <a href="http://tamsinfoxdavies.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tamsin Fox-Davies</a>, now working and writing for <a href="http://blogs.constantcontact.com/author/tamsinctct/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Constant Contact</a>, says a kitten dies every time you use an acronym. STEM and STEAM do so much good that they are bound to be exceptions.)<br />
<br />
Both
STEM and STEAM are equally useful for kids who want to go into industry
and industries who will eventually want to hire them. And when industry
gets involved, the combination of academic and commercial assets make
the programmes more likely to spur on the economy.<br />
<br />
Here's an example:<br />
The
Medway Science Centre Partnership is a growing community-led group,
based in the relatively deprived Medway area of Kent. This group is
supported by a number of local institutions, most notably The University
of Greenwich and Medway Council. The aim of this group is to develop a
Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education centre
that will ultimately act as a hub for consolidating and promoting STEM
activities in the area, with the purpose of supporting education and
raising local aspirations.<br />
<br />
Medway has a strong heritage in
technology and in particular engineering, however, following the closure
of the Naval port in the 1980s, the area has declined, leaving a real
need to promote the benefits and opportunities in science, technology
and the environment to children.<br />
<br />
The area covered by the proposed centre covers a substantial population; within the proposed catchment of our centre there are:<br />
· 170,586 Primary pupils in 680 Primary Schools<br />
· 147,689 Secondary pupils in 136 Secondary Schools<br />
<br />
Such
a centre would therefore have a significant impact on STEM and
environmental teaching in Medway, and the wider Kent area, which is
relatively lacking in suitable resources. The centre would be of benefit
both directly to the students, but also as a source of continuing
professional development for teachers, and we have received strong
support from a significant number of teachers in the area. We also hope
to provide a conduit by which local science and education students –
from the nearby universities: University of Greenwich, Kent University
and Canterbury Christchurch University – can obtain a first experience
of public engagement on these important subjects.<br />
<br />
Medway Science
Centre Partnership has been working with the EU-funded Recreate project
to host a month-long, free, science and arts festival in the POP
gallery within the centre of Chatham. This “Medway Science Centre
Partnership presents” festival, will host a number of science-of-art
themed exhibitions throughout the month of September 2014. This festival
will be run along the theme of “The Beauty of Science” and will feature
local and national artists and science communicators, with individual
exhibits rotating on a weekly basis.<br />
<br />
A particular focus of this
period will be the “Hands On Science” weekend, where for two days the
gallery will be converted to a hands-on science centre, free and open to
the public; and featuring a variety of activities similar to those that
will ultimately feature in the permanent centre, once established.
Activities for this weekend will include: science-education shows by the
London Science Museum’s internationally renowned engagements team,
hands on science activities and meet-the-scientist sessions run by
researchers from the local universities, scientific face-painting and
exhibitions of science-art.<br />
Anyone interested?<br />
They would
welcome anyone who is interested in getting involved and supporting the
project, from business who would like to sponsor aspects, to volunteers
in any capacity: <a class="pretty-link js-nav" href="https://twitter.com/MedwaySciCentre" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="screen-name"><s>@</s>MedwaySciCentre</span></a></div>
Annette Kramer, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085789930912143549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16835494.post-77260697821043332722014-08-28T23:46:00.000-07:002014-08-28T23:46:00.269-07:00One of the best storytellers I've met: Now easy and cheap to study with Doug Rushkoff <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I am a huge fan of Douglas Rushkoff -there's little that he says that
doesn't deserve mulling over at least. On top of that, he's one of the
loveliest, least pretentious, and committed people I've ever met.<br />
<br />
And what a storyteller: economics is usually dry. Not this material, ever. <br />
<br />
Doug
is now giving classes that anyone can take. As of this Fall, he'll be a
Full Professor of Media Studies at CUNY/Queens, the public university
of New York City. He's teaching undergraduates as well as helping start a
new Graduate Program in Media Studies, specifically targeted at
activists and others who want to create change through media. You can
study with him easily and cheaply - how fantastic is that?<br /><br />See: http://www.qc.cuny.edu/Academics/Degrees/DAH/MediaStudies/Pages/MAinMediaStudies.aspx<br /><br />This
is what Doug says about the programme<br />
Disclaimer: I get nothing from this
except the pleasure of evangelising about someone worth listening to:<br />
<br />The
idea is that media studies for the 20th Century was largely about
reception: how we can “read” media such as TV and radio in order to
better assess its intent and influence. Now that we’re in an interactive
era, I think media studies has a lot more to do with how we create
media, from email and tweets to journalism and movies. As I explained in
the press release about the new program, “the essential skill in a
digital age is to understand the biases of the landscape – to be able to
think critically and act purposefully with these tools – lest the tools
and companies behind them use us instead.”<br /><br />It’s a truly fabulous
department with an activist and intellectual bias, from Richard Maxwell
(the leading scholar in the environmental impact of digital media
devices and production) to Mara Einstein (Compassion Inc and Brands of
Faith) to Amy Herzog (working on peep show arcades of 1970’s Times
Square) to filmmaker Zoe Beloff to feminist and queer studies genius Joy
Fuqua. And those are just the ones I’ve gotten to meet so far.<br />
<br />
[Cheap and easy - what a world!]<br />
<br />
You
can take undergraduate or graduate courses at CUNY/Queens as a
non-matriculated student, which means a la carte. That’s one of the main
reasons I picked this school. I get a few emails a week from people
asking how they can study with me, work on projects, or do some reading
with me. Most schools require students to be full-time, and charge tens
of thousand a year for the privilege. I wanted to be able to look into
the faces of students across the seminar table without worrying that I
was putting them in life-long debt. <br /><br />So now is our chance. The
undergraduate course is almost full, but the graduate course is not.
Here they are, as well as how to register. You can also find application
materials to join the program and get a Masters degree - in class
schedules designed to let you have a job while you study. <br /><b><br />Undergraduate Course: Media Studies 350: Propaganda</b><br />In
this 15-week course, students will be exposed to the practice of
propaganda as well as the assumptions underlying its use. What does the
intentional application of propaganda techniques say about the
governments and institutions using it, and what does its effectiveness
say about the populations on which it is being practiced? Instead of
taking a strictly historical approach, we will explore propaganda by
venue and medium, including spectacle, atmospherics, television, and
social media. For instance, in studying the use of spectacle we will
compare the Roman games to the Nuremberg Rallies to an NFL football
game. Our study of atmospherics will include Victorian The Crystal
Palace, the 1964 Worlds Fair (which took place next door to this
college), and Disneyworld. We will give particular focus to the
migration of propaganda techniques between governments and corporations,
as well as the way propaganda changes the greater media landscape of a
society.<br /><br /><b>Graduate Course: Interactive Media Theory</b><br />The
emergence of interactive technologies has profoundly altered our
relationship to media and art from the position of passive spectators to
that of active players - at least potentially. For longer than we might
imagine, cultural theorists have foreseen these shifts, feared them,
fought for them, celebrated them, and, clearly, misunderstood them. In
this seminar, we will explore the thread of interactivity in cultural
media as well as the opportunities and perils posed by the associated
rise of mass interpretation, authorship, and bottom-up organization. It
is our purpose not only to understand theories on interactive media as
they emerged, but also to be capable of developing and arguing our own
theoretical approaches.<br /><br />How do you enroll? If you are already in a
CUNY school, just sign up through the course catalogue. I will be
accepting qualified undergraduates into the graduate seminar for the
first semester or two. If you want to take either of my courses as a
non-matriculated student, apply for non-matirculated status here
http://www.qc.cuny.edu/admissions/graduate/applying/Pages/Non-Matriculation.aspx
(they make it look hard but it’s very easy), and then, simply email me
and I’ll put you in the course. </div>
Annette Kramer, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085789930912143549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16835494.post-28001278122517980642014-08-21T23:46:00.000-07:002014-08-21T23:46:00.243-07:00What banks can't do for themselves: Reuters offers innovation for financial services<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Most of discussion about innovation focuses on tech inventions and
billion-dollar exits. This story of creative thinking demonstrates that
the bigger the business, the bigger the pay-off.<br />
<br />
<div id="article-body">
Despite the
ubiquitous, continuous fall-out of the global financial crisis, and the
continuous challenges within banking practice, there have been very few
effective solutions offered.<br />
<br />
To be fair, regional challenges take
up a lot of our bandwidth. In the UK, we had a hard time agreeing
on how to handle problems as local as <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/feb/27/wild-beavers-england-devon-river" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">a couple of beavers</a>
who showed up, unannounced, and are causing quite a row among
conservationists. Once this is solved, try working your way up to the
NHS lack of funding or benefits, and it's hard to see how it will all
come out.<br />
<br />
Now move to something with the enormous impact on
everyone globally - say, transparency in global financial practice. And
don't give up.<br />
<br />
Cross-disciplinary innovation is probably the most
effective because it brings with it a kind of perspective that an
industry can not have for itself. So despite the crazy agreements
required among stakeholders across countries and continents, Reuters has
begun to make a real dent in the problem that the banks themselves have
not been able to. And they've done it in less than a year.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://tabbforum.com/users/anna.mazzone/profile" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Anna Mazzone</a> is primarily responsible: she's worth checking out.<br />
</div>
</div>
Annette Kramer, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085789930912143549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16835494.post-76064899239632376832014-08-14T02:06:00.000-07:002014-08-14T02:06:00.465-07:00UK Research Council's Conference on the Digital Economy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A scary smart friend and client, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=126390612&authType=NAME_SEARCH&authToken=AKaK&locale=en_US&srchid=74088591404896409072&srchindex=5&srchtotal=132&trk=vsrp_people_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A74088591404896409072%2CVSRPtargetId%3A126390612%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary" target="_blank">David Stokes</a>,
has raved about a December conference that might be of interest. I
write about it here because it won't get the kind of publicity that the
more commercial events get. <br />
It's called the DE2014 Symposium, and it's the <a href="http://www.de2014.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">prinicipal annual event of the Research Council's UK Digital Economy programme</a>.<br />
From
what I'm told, the symposium is unique in bringing together the UK’s
most innovative research thinkers with key members of the industrial,
entrepreneurial, creative and finance communities. <br /> <br />It is not just for scientists, but is also aimed at entrepreneurs and basically anyone involved in the digital economy.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.de2014.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Check it out</a> - more information than this, even, will be fully up next week at the same url.</div>
Annette Kramer, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085789930912143549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16835494.post-35653409449934221772014-08-07T23:08:00.000-07:002014-08-07T23:08:00.192-07:00Follow up on delivering information exactly when needed: this time, in person<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Following from the last post, there's a reason that we need information delivered exactly when it's useful online: it's the way we think everywhere.<br />
<br />
The best way to learn how to fish - or anything else, for that matter - is to master the skill in one context so that we can think fluently around all aspects of the problem we're solving. Until we've got a lesson down in one area or kind of situation, human beings are not great at transferring learning among contexts.<br />
<br />
It's a mistake many coaches make when they take people off-site: we might feel free and creative out of our normal work environment, but how do we sustain it when we trudge back into the office on Monday? <br />
<br />
Terri Mcclements, a great thinker from PwC where I used to work, wrote about it <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140623230144-155466906-improving-feedback-create-a-winning-team-by-coaching-everyday?trk=prof-post" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
Annette Kramer, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085789930912143549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16835494.post-50248676130299127542014-07-31T01:17:00.000-07:002014-07-31T01:17:00.165-07:00Despite press, start-ups aren't just for 20-somethings<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div id="article-body">
No surprise that founder <a href="http://www.operation-enterprise.com/46/The-Confident-Entrepreneur." rel="nofollow" target="_blank">confidence</a>
has a huge effect on a start-up's success. As in most press, the focus
is digital natives. Diversity, when measured at all, is measured by
industry, gender, nationality and race rather than age.<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://www.statisticbrain.com/startup-failure-by-industry/" target="_blank">failure rate</a> in young start-up companies that is <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jun/28/silicon-valley-startup-failure-culture-success-myth" target="_blank">higher in the younger population</a> than in the older. It's not clear exactly why, although there has been much attributed to the determined energy that carries the inexperienced into new ventures with less back-up and know-how than older colleagues who understand more of what it takes to build a business. Knowing a little - in the exuberance of youth - can be dangerous.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://realbusiness.co.uk/article/25434-over-55s-are-most-confident-about-launching-a-startup" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Time for the over-50s to jump in with both feet</a>.
There are certainly perceived barriers to entry, most of which are
age-related in a digital economy inhabited in greatest numbers by people
who are the same age as their kids.<br />
<br />
This perception won't last
forever. As technology continues to move from rarefied to ubiquitous,
the business experience that these people bring, and the desire to work
for themselves (equal to that of their younger counterparts) will
transform the economy.</div>
</div>
Annette Kramer, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085789930912143549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16835494.post-26485117439594012982014-07-24T00:27:00.000-07:002014-07-24T00:27:00.579-07:00Michelle Sellinger, The Internet of Everything, and Learning More Effectively - For Life.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="share-body"><span class="commentary" id="control_gen_34"><span class="commentary">Rereading </span>
<span class="new-miniprofile-container /profile/mini-profile-with-connections?_ed=0_F7dJ2aXBOqr66MiKCQ0FVQZHmeeUQgSraQLnDJW4KxCsWFKbvFJ8Y6x6ZhPKIW9T" data-li-miniprofile-id="LI-4675507" data-li-tl="tl/shared/profile/mini_profile_shell" data-li-url="/profile/mini-profile-with-connections?_ed=0_F7dJ2aXBOqr66MiKCQ0FVQZHmeeUQgSraQLnDJW4KxCsWFKbvFJ8Y6x6ZhPKIW9T">
<a class="s5890360403115925504-4803955 mention" href="https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=4803955&authType=name&authToken=k0H7&goback=&trk=MENTION_MEMBER_NUS_SHARE">Michelle Selinger</a></span><span class="commentary">'s piece on <a href="http://lnkd.in/bRCR9AX" target="_blank">the Internet of Everything </a>and Learning worth a go. And it's not just for kids.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="share-body"><span class="commentary" id="control_gen_34"><span class="commentary">Children's educations tend to suffer most obviously sitting in a classroom with chalk and talk. But adults - from surgeons to financial managers - could benefit enormously from getting the right information at exactly the right time. Motivation soars as people get what they need to know when they need to know it.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="share-body"><span class="commentary" id="control_gen_34"><span class="commentary">Storytelling works, but only in the right context. And because we all learn differently, the most certain way for us to all get what we need from stories (which, in themselves, are abstract) is not in advance or after the fact: it's at the point of application. In other words, the right context is as important as the right information told in the right way.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="share-body"><span class="commentary" id="control_gen_35"><span class="commentary">Michelle doesn't talk about this as storytelling - but it is.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="share-body"><span class="commentary" id="control_gen_35"><span class="commentary">In addition to co-founding with me a traveling business communications academy called <a href="http://www.shmoozecommunications.com/" target="_blank">Shmooze</a>, Michelle is helping me design an online course on pitching for investment. Her experience is invaluable, and her work is inspiring. <a href="http://www.consedu.5gbfree.com/index.html" target="_blank">Dr. Michelle Sellinger</a> is definitely worth knowing about.</span>
</span></span></div>
Annette Kramer, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085789930912143549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16835494.post-60144134718813174962014-07-17T23:19:00.000-07:002014-07-17T23:19:00.094-07:00Rushing to Discover: The Only Way to Innovation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="share-body"><span class="commentary" id="control_gen_10">
<span class="new-miniprofile-container /profile/mini-profile-with-connections?_ed=0_2w2YPV2B3Jt-MrtrKXyZylX-Xp5dibQur3rQJ4lbVvI5prW3j62XSysi4fSWktrh" data-li-miniprofile-id="LI-5077148" data-li-tl="tl/shared/profile/mini_profile_shell" data-li-url="/profile/mini-profile-with-connections?_ed=0_2w2YPV2B3Jt-MrtrKXyZylX-Xp5dibQur3rQJ4lbVvI5prW3j62XSysi4fSWktrh">
<a class="s5889619391242317825-18864969 mention" href="https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=18864969&authType=name&authToken=voSA&goback=%2Enmp_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1&trk=MENTION_MEMBER_NUS_SHARE">Deborah Mills-Scofield</a></span><span class="commentary">
has framed beautifully the challenge of our cultural habit of rushing
to results before enough thinking has gone into the data around the
problem. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="share-body"><span class="commentary" id="control_gen_10"><span class="commentary">Deb calls it <a href="https://www.blogger.com/Deborah%20Mills-Scofield%20has%20framed%20beautifully%20the%20challenge%20of%20our%20cultural%20habit%20of%20rushing%20to%20results%20before%20enough%20thinking%20has%20gone%20into%20the%20data%20around%20the%20problem.%20She%20calls%20it%20Rushing%20to%20Discover.%20My%20goal%20with%20clients%20is%20always%20to%20help%20them%20(more)%20comfortably%20spend%20time%20in%20unfamiliar%20territory,%20on%20observation%20before%20rushing%20to%20judgement.%20Without%20the%20unfamiliar%20territory,%20you%20end%20up%20rearranging%20the%20same%20data%20points%20in%20different%20patterns.%20This%20isn%27t%20critical%20thinking,%20in%20school%20or%20work:%20less%20http://lnkd.in/bci9GBm%20Thanks,%20Deb!" target="_blank">Rushing to Discover</a>. It's exactly right.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="share-body"><span class="commentary" id="control_gen_10"><span class="commentary"><a href="http://learninglaboratory.blogspot.co.uk/2006/12/critical-thinking-for-new-year.html" target="_blank">In my 8 years at PwC</a>, years before and after with clients at universities, schools, entrepreneurs, and larger businesses, my goal is always to help them (more) comfortably spend
time in unfamiliar territory, on observation before rushing to
judgement. Without time in unfamiliar territory, you end up rearranging the
same data points in different patterns. </span></span></span><br />
<span class="share-body"><span class="commentary" id="control_gen_10"><span class="commentary"><br /></span></span></span>
<span class="share-body"><span class="commentary" id="control_gen_10"><span class="commentary">This is worse than trying to innovate and failing: this will prevent innovation from happening. Ever.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="share-body"><span class="commentary" id="control_gen_10"><span class="commentary"><br /></span></span></span>
<span class="share-body"><span class="commentary" id="control_gen_10"><span class="commentary">Thanks, Deb - What a great way to sum up my favorite part of work.</span></span></span></div>
Annette Kramer, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085789930912143549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16835494.post-78857535472331342422014-07-10T22:57:00.000-07:002014-07-10T22:57:00.137-07:00Amazon's Smart Phone: Not so smart?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div id="article-body">
When I started as an early adopter in the agency world in the early
mid-90s, Silicon Alley in New York corporates rushed to create websites
once they realised the web was here to stay.<br />
<br />
The good news was
that they understood that a web presence was a competitive necessity -
they knew everyone else had one, and the Internet was here to stay. The
bad news is that they didn't understand what an effective presence
actually entailed. So brochure-wear won over smarter ways of engaging
clients and <a href="http://www.cluetrain.com/book/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">sustaining conversations</a>.<br />
<br />
Smart Phones seem to be going the same way - <a href="https://technology.ihs.com/AboutUs" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">IHS</a> has come out with a rather damning report about Amazon and their attempt to get into the market. <a href="https://technology.ihs.com/503493/amazon-must-change-tactics-with-its-fire-smartphone-to-ignite-the-mobile-market" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Take a look</a>.<br />
</div>
</div>
Annette Kramer, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085789930912143549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16835494.post-75815902751873562372014-07-03T00:50:00.000-07:002014-07-03T00:50:00.329-07:00Small world lessons: Reach out and hit someone important<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I tell my clients, when on a plane, train, or automobile: just reach out, and you'll hit someone important. Just try not to hit them too hard.<br />
<br />
While you're apologising for dislodging a hat, why not start a conversation? If you're persistent, you'll find a fan.<br />
<br />
Something along these lines worked for Broad City, It's a <span class="share-body"><span class="commentary" id="control_gen_55">great example of how <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/06/23/140623fa_fact_paumgarten" target="_blank">Abbi and Ilana</a> use storytelling on the Web to get around establishment industry
obstacles. </span></span>It's not just the web itself that is making the world a smaller place:
it's also the pop culture we share on it that creates a bond that TV
could never do at the same scale. Their show gave everyone a big tap on the shoulder.<br />
<br />
<span class="share-body"><span class="commentary" id="control_gen_55">Take advantage of how small the world is.
If you just reach out, you will hit someone important who will make it
happen, if you keep pitching. Excellent business case: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/BroadCity" target="_blank">Broad City</a> US TV
phenomenon from web serial.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Annette Kramer, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085789930912143549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16835494.post-30757380961934868192014-06-29T00:37:00.002-07:002014-06-29T00:37:32.643-07:00Is Everyone a Really a Gamer?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/nhome/nus-redirect?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Elinkedin%2Ecom%2Fprofile%2Fview%3Fid%3D7408859%26authType%3Dname%26authToken%3DDDro%26ref%3DNUS%26goback%3D%252Enmp_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1%26trk%3Dmember-pic&urlhash=esOy&pos=3%3A1&trkToken=action%3DviewMemberPhoto%26pageKey%3Dmember-home%26contextId%3DIaFSPz0bfBMQVswpxyoAAA%3D%3D%26isSponsored%3Dfalse%26distanceFromViewer%3D0%26aggregationType%3Dnone%26isPublic%3Dtrue%26verbType%3Dlinkedin%3Ashare%26activityId%3Dactivity%3A5888915353815232512%26isDigested%3Dfalse%26isFolloweeOfPoster%3Dfalse%26actorType%3Dlinkedin%3Amember%26feedPosition%3D3%26actorId%3Dmember%3A7408859%26objectId%3Darticle%3A7815764166791445732%26moduleKey%3Dhp_feed%26rowPosition%3D1%26objectType%3Dlinkedin%3Aarticle&tev=0" title="See Annette Kramer's profile">
</a>
<br />
<div class="feed-body feed-uscp">
<span class="share-body"><span class="commentary" id="control_gen_12">For those who would like to
understand gaming more but prefer a good film, NPR has a nice piece on
what they call "games for the intellectual set" <a href="http://lnkd.in/bs8Cayu" target="_blank">Modern Video Games Go Beyond 'Jumping Blocks</a>'. </span></span></div>
<div class="feed-body feed-uscp">
<span class="share-body"><span class="commentary" id="control_gen_12"> </span></span></div>
<div class="feed-body feed-uscp">
<span class="share-body"><span class="commentary" id="control_gen_12">Bad title. Most people already know this. What's great about the piece is that it focuses on games many people don't know about, the kind that would appeal to film fans - from art house to blockbuster.</span></span></div>
<div class="feed-body feed-uscp">
<span class="share-body"><span class="commentary" id="control_gen_12"> </span></span></div>
<div class="feed-body feed-uscp">
<span class="share-body"><span class="commentary" id="control_gen_13">Regardless of NPR commentary, it's clear to everyone who has played online is that the distinction among games is not about brain power - it's about
taste. That's why my clients and I spend so much time crafting the
right stories for each set of listeners - and make them flexible to
adapt. No surprise - people love a good story - find the right one, and
you'll engage anyone. </span></span></div>
<div class="feed-body feed-uscp">
<span class="share-body"><span class="commentary" id="control_gen_13"> </span></span></div>
<div class="feed-body feed-uscp">
<span class="share-body"><span class="commentary" id="control_gen_13">As my friend once said on his answering machine, "The mind craves
narrative: tell me one after the beep."</span></span></div>
</div>
Annette Kramer, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085789930912143549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16835494.post-44658809754763459542014-06-25T01:00:00.000-07:002014-06-29T01:02:24.950-07:00Fighting City Hall: How do you change the story so you win?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I live in a leafy suburb of London on purpose: after spending my infancy, childhood, and (til now) adulthood in Manhattan, I needed a break from relentlessly urban.<br />
<br />
I love neighborhoods South of the river, and Shoreditch is very chic, but I crave more green space than they can provide. Even in New York, I made sure I lived near the Park, no matter how many Superintendant doorbells I had to ring.<br />
<br />
(It used to be that one way of finding an apartment in New York is to walk up and down the streets of the neighborhood you want and talk to Super's directly. Sometimes you gave them "key money", sometimes they just didn't advertise an affordable flat and it was yours. This I did for 3 months on until I found my home.)<br />
<br />
In the name of housing shortages, there are plans to build a huge building in my 'hood that will not only block out the light in our local green space but also create the kind of wind tunnel one usually only feels when entering some tube stations. That will be the end of our outdoor market.<br />
<br />
The planning document is a sham - there are so many untruths, either from fraud or neglect, that it's untenable according to English law. Despite the disproportionate amount of money on the builders' side, however, the neighborhood might well defeat them.<br />
<br />
I haven't heard anything like it in New York since the 1970s. <br />
<br />
<b>So What?</b><br />
<br />
What does this have to do with storytelling, leadership, and all the usual topics in this blog? For justice in the US, the answer to a bad man with a gun certainly isn't a good man with a gun. The answer is blasting away a credible but false story with a credible true one.<br />
<br />
(Would someone take on that gun story, for a start?)<br />
<br />
It's not news that politics is all about which story is most persuasive to the right people to win the day in the same way that history belongs to the victor. <br />
<br />
In New York, we call countering the dominant narrative "Fighting City Hall." Here, I guess you'd call it arguing with the local council. Has less of a ring to it, but it actually could be more effective.<br />
<br />
Why? There's a transparency in England, I've found, not available in the US, probably because of the difference in scale. If a story is not true, there are more people closer to the centre of power who can expose it. When the story breaks, all the news is national. It is even more quickly international because many in the US who get their news from BBC Worldwide. <br />
<br />
In the US, who lives within 4 hours from the White House? In England, who doesn't?<br />
<br />
English culture is built on a premise that the US lacks, and it's equally important in the fight for transparency of storytelling: people here believe that things should be fair. It's not just an inward complaint, either. When I approach friends, they say, "Of course things should be fair. What are you talking about?"<br />
<br />
My Fellow Americans, can you imagine a country where everyone believed in a reality that prioritised fairness, if not always in practice, than at least in everyday theory? How many of the stories that you know are false would you stand up and fight with a better story - from local or federal government, from corporations, from people trying to get you fired, from anyone who's lying, really?<br />
<br />
*For anyone interested in helping fight developers who will come to your neighborhood next, please keep your eye on 100 Avenue Road in Camden. Link to follow. </div>
Annette Kramer, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085789930912143549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16835494.post-90774936586768736262014-01-23T01:13:00.002-08:002014-01-23T01:13:54.606-08:00When Navigating Investment, Good to Know What's Out There<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I came across <a href="http://pitchbook.com/Daily_Newsletter.html?nid=S7F4DOT46KU4C#!" target="_blank">Private Capital 101</a> and thought I'd share. The article is selling something called <a href="http://pitchbook.com/" target="_blank">The Pitch Book</a>, and I'm not endorsing buying anything at all.<br />
<br />
But it's a hard road out there. Good to know what's available, in case it's for you.</div>
Annette Kramer, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085789930912143549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16835494.post-14593475704822762612014-01-20T08:39:00.002-08:002014-01-20T09:28:40.295-08:00Marketing Reboot: Join Us Next Week with a Discount<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">I've had the honor to work with <a href="http://tamsinfoxdavies.com/" target="_blank">Tamsin Fox- Davies</a> as a speaker next week in the Marketing Reboot. Love the idea of shaking off the cobwebs and creating some momentum for 2014 in the midst of January blahs. </span></span><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Added bonus: you can have close to a 30% discount on the event if you enter ANNETTE20 when you register. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"><br />Here's Tamsin's blog post about what we're up to, and please join us if it catches your fancy.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 9.6pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 9.6pt; mso-outline-level: 1; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 24.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">How a
Marketing Reboot Will Help Your Business in 2014, in Three Steps</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 9.6pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 9.6pt; mso-outline-level: 1; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 24.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"></span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; padding: 0cm;">What is a Marketing
Reboot</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 24.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"></span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">A Marketing Reboot is when you take
stock of your marketing to date, see what’s working for you, and make a plan to
rework and restart it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">A New Year is a great time to do this
because most of us have the time over the Christmas & New Year lull to
think about our businesses properly. The hamster wheel has stopped for a little
while, you’re not getting <i><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">quite</span></i> so many
customer emails, and your brain has time to breathe.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The start of a new year also just
feels like a good time to try something different and 2014 will be no
exception.</span><br />
</div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Rebooting your marketing is all about
assessing the best ways to get new customers into your business and encouraging
existing customers to come back to you again. You’ll look back over the past
year and see what’s worked and what hasn’t, and also give yourself a clean
slate to work out what’s possible for the upcoming year.</span><br />
</div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; padding: 0cm;">Why you need to
reboot YOUR small business marketing</span></b><br />
</div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">If I was being blunt, I would tell
you that you were in a marketing rut – doing the same old things, over and over
again, with little awareness of whether you could do things more effectively
for better business returns.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">That may be taking it a little to
far, as a ‘rut’ sounds like a bad place to be, although actually it can be
quite beneficial – keeping you on a simple track that allows you to keep moving
without too much thought or effort.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">In reality, both of these things are
true. Your marketing rut both helps and hinders you – the help is that you can
get it done and you know what you’re doing, and the hindering is that you don’t
try anything new or look for different things to experiment with.</span><br />
</div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">With the increasingly competitive
small business market, nobody can afford to keep doing the same thing. This is
because our customers expect us to evolve – even if they love our long-term
values, they want to see a steady improvement in how we implement them.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">This is where a Marketing Reboot
comes in. Instead of carrying on with the same-old, same-old, you’re going to
look at your marketing as a whole and take proper stock of where you are.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">It’s not as hard as it might sound,
and there are three easy steps you can use to get going now.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; padding: 0cm;">N.B. Constant
Contact is running a great free training programme throughout January to help
you learn new things and put them into action too. </span></i><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-field-code: " HYPERLINK \0022http\:\/\/archive\.constantcontact\.com\/fs150\/1106456207026\/archive\/1116002968286\.html\0022 \\t \0022_blank\0022 \\o \0022Marketing Reboot\0022 ";"><i><u><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #df9012; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; padding: 0cm;">More details & booking here</span></u></i></span><span style="mso-field-code: " HYPERLINK \0022http\:\/\/archive\.constantcontact\.com\/fs150\/1106456207026\/archive\/1116002968286\.html\0022 \\t \0022_blank\0022 \\o \0022Marketing Reboot\0022 ";"><i><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #df9012; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; padding: 0cm;">.</span></i></span></span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; padding: 0cm;">Three steps to
doing your own Marketing Reboot</span></b><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; padding: 0cm;">1. Commit:</span></i></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Intentions are not good enough. Make
a commitment to DO this. The best way to do this is to be accountable to
someone. For some people who like to be accountable to themselves alone, it’s
enough to put a daily reminder in your mobile phone, write it on a sticky note
and pin it on your notice board, or to say it out loud.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">For others, getting a marketing buddy
will be more effective. All you need to do is find someone else who runs a
small business and wants to reboot their marketing too, and commit to do it together.
Figure out how that’s going to work – are you going to email or call each other
once a week with an update? Will you set goals together? Are you going to share
a reward when you hit a target or milestone? You will be able to figure it out
together, and if you don’t already know someone who could become your buddy,
come along to our </span><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-field-code: " HYPERLINK \0022http\:\/\/events\.r20\.constantcontact\.com\/register\/event?oeidk=a07e8p9vbtjaba71076&llr=n6f8yklab\0022 \\t \0022_blank\0022 \\o \0022Reboot your Marketing conference\0022 ";"><u><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #df9012; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; padding: 0cm;">Marketing Reboot conference</span></u></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> on 30</span><sup><span lang="EN-GB" style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; padding: 0cm;">th</span></sup><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">January and find
yourself a buddy there.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; padding: 0cm;">2. Make
a plan</span></i></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Motivation alone won’t carry you
through this process – you need to figure out exactly what you’re going to do
in your reboot.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I recommend the following stages, but
how you put it together is up to you (and your buddy, if you have one):</span></div>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #4f4f4f; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Take a sheet of paper, whiteboard or flipchart
and write up everything you’ve done to promote your business in 2013.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #4f4f4f; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Decide what worked and what didn’t, and
annotate your list accordingly (if you don’t know for sure, take a guess).</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #4f4f4f; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Take a new piece of paper (or whatever you’re
using to make your notes) and write down all the things you think you
could do to promote your business and create great customer relationships
in 2014. This is where a buddy with fresh eyes can really help, as they
may think of things that you wouldn’t.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #4f4f4f; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Look at the two lists side-by-side and
compare. Is there anything that worked for 2013 that isn’t on your 2014
list? If so, why? What is new on your 2014 list?</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #4f4f4f; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Put the combined list in priority order.</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; padding: 0cm;">3. Set
aside regular time for marketing (and use it)</span></i></b><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Now you know what you’re going to do,
you need a timetable to get it done. Look at your list, and work out when you
are planning to achieve each one.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Start with the items that relate to
specific times of year, e.g. Valentines Day, Mothers Day, Bank Holiday
promotions, and put them in first. Then work back and fill in the gaps to see
where your other items will fit. You can use our <u><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">free marketing calendar</span></u> to help you work this
out.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Now decide when you’re going actually
DO this stuff. I recommend a regular appointment with yourself. Block it out in
your diary and keep to it (this is another time that your marketing buddy can
help to keep you on track).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I find it easier to block out a small
amount of time (say 15mins) every day, rather than to try to put aside
something like a whole day once a month, or a half a day a week. You may want
to try some different schedules out and see what works for you however.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; padding: 0cm;">These three steps
will ensure that you can get your Marketing Reboot planned and actioned – bit
by bit.</span></b><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Rebooting your marketing means a
better chance at building those customer relationships that matter so much,
creating more sales for your business, and drawing existing customers back to
you again and again.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; padding: 0cm;">If you want to find
out more about rebooting your marketing for 2014, how to do it, and some of the
key marketing techniques that you should be using, join us for our Marketing
Reboot series of webinars and the one-day conference in January. </span></b><br />
<br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-field-code: " HYPERLINK \0022http\:\/\/archive\.constantcontact\.com\/fs150\/1106456207026\/archive\/1116002968286\.html\0022 \\t \0022_blank\0022 \\o \0022Book your place today\!\0022 ";"><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #df9012; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; padding: 0cm;">Find out more and book your place here</span></b></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #4f4f4f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
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Annette Kramer, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085789930912143549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16835494.post-74153240061366975782014-01-16T06:02:00.000-08:002014-01-23T06:07:23.461-08:00Blogging Around Chatham House Rules: Windsor Castle Consultation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Because I am a Fellow at St. George's House, Windsor Castle, I have the honor of introducing highly interesting people into high-level discussions that go on there.<br />
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Such was the case with Hermann Miller's innovative thinker, Mark Catchlove. And the event that came out of the introduction was almost as dynamic as he.<br />
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Chatham House Rules prevail, so I can't say much. But I can link you to <a href="http://stopdoingdumbthingstocustomers.com/connection/social-capital-in-the-workplace-whats-my-thing/" target="_blank">Doug Shaw</a> who attended, and facilitated, and he will share more as it becomes available.</div>
Annette Kramer, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085789930912143549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16835494.post-51270533572780199062014-01-02T20:15:00.000-08:002014-01-02T20:15:02.401-08:00Catching up in India: International presentation training and more<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's often difficult to find a balance betweeen being active and reflection, as my clients often tell me. <br />
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I work with people who are so close to the details in the work they do every day that it's hard to see the big picture. Generally, our work together gives them both time and a new set of eyes to remind them of the value they have forgotten to include in the way they present their businesses and themsevles.<br />
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This Autumn, working with <a href="http://www.cisco.com/" target="_blank">Cisco </a>and <a href="http://www.ucl.ac.uk/" target="_blank">UCL</a> at <a href="http://www.idea-london.co.uk/" target="_blank">IDEALondon</a>, <a href="http://www.constantcontact.com/uk/index.jsp" target="_blank">Constant Contact</a>, <a href="https://www.microsoftventures.com/" target="_blank">Microsoft Ventures</a>, <a href="http://www.friedfrank.com/" target="_blank">FriedFrank</a>, <a href="http://www.ukti.gov.uk/home.html?guid=none" target="_blank">UKTI</a>, <a href="http://www.virginmediapioneers.com/" target="_blank">Virgin Media Pioneers</a>, <a href="http://wayra.org/en" target="_blank">WAYRA</a>, <a href="http://www.bbcworldwide.com/digital/labs.aspx" target="_blank">BBC Labs</a>, <a href="http://www.techhub.com/" target="_blank">TechHub</a>, the <a href="http://cleanandcoolmission.com/" target="_blank">Clean And Cool Mission</a>, and others I can't name - plus private clients who are on the verge of IPO, it has taken a trip to India to sit down and consider the past few months.<br />
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I'm in India working with an <a href="http://www.auroville.org.in/login?destination=front" target="_blank">Auroville </a>social enterprise that wants to grow and with <a href="http://www.ukti.gov.uk/export/countries/asiapacific/southasia/india.html" target="_blank">Chennai's UKTI</a> and <a href="https://chennai.tie.org/" target="_blank">TIE</a> entrepreneurs. The time continues to prove an excellent adventure. Despite the fact that busiensses operate every day but Sunday, often until 8pm, life away from work in India seems to be more separate in the minds of people with whom I work than in the UK where people work until 5 or 6pm and have the weekends off.<br />
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In fact, my clients here turn off their business heads at lunch and in the middle of the day and seem entirely present with their friends and family. The mobile phones are neglected except to text about social plans. <br />
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I can't say whether or not this behavior is representative in India. But what I can say is that my Indian clients have been quicker to complete training with me and present their business propositions engagingly. <br />
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I suspected this is because they have access to more than one way of thinking every day, more than one way of experiencing their identities and relationships with priorities.<br />
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This seems to be true. "I just think of the converstaion about family I had with my sister at lunch," said one entrepreneur when I asked how she transformed a rather flat monologue into an engaging presentation so quickly.<br />
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"Sometimes I forget that there are people who need to understand what goes on in my head," she explained. "Then I look back on my day, and I remember that everyone hears what I say from a different perspective."<br />
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For the entrepreneurs I've worked with here, embedding emotional intelligence into every day seems to be useful for meditating on business. "It's a practice," said my client, "and it takes discipline to enforce on myself. But when I do, I know I work smarter."<br />
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Annette Kramer, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085789930912143549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16835494.post-55039687488197466922013-10-13T03:20:00.002-07:002013-10-13T03:25:17.819-07:00A Mention in The Guardian<a href="http://www.thepitchuk.com/live" target="_blank">The Pitch Live</a> seems to be everywhere. They were written up in <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2013/oct/11/the-pitch-investment-start-up-businesses?CMP=twt_gu" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, where you can see some of the things we all did and said.<br />
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An honor to be quoted among some of the other talented people participating. To name a few, the article discusses the value of excellent pitching with words from winner, Arthur Kay from <a href="http://www.bio-bean.com/" target="_blank">Bio-Bean</a> and judges <a href="http://www.laramorgan.co.uk/" target="_blank">Lara Morgan</a> and <a href="http://www.heroncapital.co.uk/" target="_blank">Heron Capital.</a> Annette Kramer, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085789930912143549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16835494.post-7195694459308495612013-10-07T02:15:00.000-07:002013-10-13T03:18:48.200-07:00Laughing is the best way to learn: What NOT to do with slidesThis video was sent to me kindly by my client, Alex Webb, at <a href="http://cleanandcoolmission.com/" target="_blank">Clean and Cool Mission</a> UK after I did a video for their teams as an aid to a pitch learning day we'll do together in November.<br />
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If no one every helped you with a pitch, or if you haven't been able to find the discipline to create a deck that really works, you'll enjoy this. And if you've got rid of bad habits, you'll enjoy it more.<br />
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Here's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjcO2ExtHso&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">the best way to create a slide deck</a> by avoiding everything you could do wrong. And remembering why. Annette Kramer, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085789930912143549noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16835494.post-43265731162168968512013-09-30T02:07:00.000-07:002013-10-13T02:10:00.724-07:00The Pitch - Live - In BristolReporting back on <a href="http://www.thepitchuk.com/" target="_blank">The Pitch</a> in Bristol from London, I'm not sure where to start. Thank you to everyone who participated in my <a href="http://www.thepitchuk.com/pitch-live-agenda#" target="_blank">keynote workshop</a> before the festivities began. I was told by many that each of you helped the others enormously not just by showing mistakes but also by demonstrating your strengths.<br />
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It's not easy learning new tricks right before performing. I congratulate you all.<br />
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Second of all, what a wonderful addition this year to add 275K from investors to companies they choose, whether or not they win the pitching event. It felt like a very friendly room with everyone giving <br />
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The Pitch was not only a lot of fun for me, but those pitching had a great time. I got more email from this event than from The Entrepreneur Festival a few weeks ago, even though the Pitch participants numbered a quarter of the other event. Here's something on <a href="http://www.thepitchuk.com/blog/pitch-2013-hits-headlines-bbc" target="_blank">BBC Radio</a> as well.Annette Kramer, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085789930912143549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16835494.post-51752088426729289942013-09-21T01:11:00.000-07:002013-09-21T01:11:14.708-07:00How to Raise Money from Investors: Learn to Communicate First So There's Energy for the RestMany of my clients come to me initially to hone a one-off pitch for investors. Their logic goes something like this: if I can impress the right people with my messaging, I'm in!<br />
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What everyone quickly realises is that far from having quick results, fund-raising requires a long, long slog. An engaging 3-minute monologue is not enough. Effective fund-raising also requires the ability to impressively answer investors' questions, command an hour-long meeting, talk to the press, and network with high-level individuals.<br />
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The pitch is just the beginning.<br />
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Paul Graham's article describes the level of focus it takes <a href="http://paulgraham.com/fr.html" target="_blank">to raise money to keep your company going</a>. If you get your business communication right first, the rest becomes a lot easier.Annette Kramer, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085789930912143549noreply@blogger.com0