Natty

I found a link to Adele’s opener. He’s named Natty. Click here to hear his tunes.

Those with me during the college years probably know that I DJ’ed an AM Reggae show for the college radio station. Granted, the theme of my show was assigned. And it’s probably worth noting that as a rookie, I was in the 9AM SATURDAY slot — it’s safe to say listeners were few. But, it did inspire an appreciation for Reggae and hearing Natty tapped into that. Hope you enjoy his tunes, too. 🙂

Last night, G and I enjoyed a nice dinner at a Keralan Indian restaurant by Bond Street/Oxford Circus. Very authentic. This morning, we helped a friend by volunteering to paint the walls of senior center. Apparently they wanted a bit more sunshine to brighten their grey London days–by the end, I was covered in bright yellow paint as G remained pristine and paint free. Ahhh…flash back to our Cary days and our hideous yellow kitchen (before we painted it AGAIN!).

And tomorrow, we’re off to see Afrika! Afrika!–a cross between cirque de soleil and a circus–a show that’s in town through the Spring. We got free tickets thanks to Phillips. Hopefully it works out and the tickets are actually waiting for us when we arrive.

Also this week, my big clients (ie EMEA-level) are in town for Online Training 101. It’s a time for us to familiarize them with a few things and to begin planning on a few fronts. They’ll be in town for 2 days and I’ve developed the agenda, made the assignments and NOW I’m waiting semi-patiently as my presenters prepare their portions of the program. I’ve asked that everyone refrain from using PPT whenever possible and, if they must use it, limit their use to 3-5 slides for 30 minutes and double that for an hour. Slowly, I’m trying to break the internal trend to throw lots of words on the screen–lulling the client into silence for the next hour as they process in shocked awe. And, unfortunately, this goes both ways with the client doing the same. From last year, I know there are other ways. Hopefully it will catch on and inspire a bit of discussion and debate–interaction is good!

Setting the example for interactive formats, I’ll host “buzzword bingo”. A mix between Jeopardy and Bingo. I’ll read definitions for industry “catch phrases” and ask the room which word matches to it. They’ll then match the term bingo-style on their game cards. My goal is to start conversation and debate around what various terms mean. I’ve now discovered that many folks offer up words in conversation, assuming everyone has the same understanding of their meaning, only to realize that’s not the case. [I realized this after a long, confusing discussion on web portals and social media with an in-country marketing manager.] Hopefully this will set a precedent for everyone to feel comfortable enough to be vulnerable with one another–encourage taking a step back to ensure everyone’s on the same page.

Hopefully G will blog with an update on his iPhone in the coming days.