April 2007
Monthly Archive
Thanks Maryam
Posted by 
Michael) on Apr 26 2007 | Tagged as: Gab Gab Gab
This time I got Maryam Scoble to thank for finding the right button to push.
The western world is often criticised for interfering with other nations, and if you disagree with the underlying principle of that, then here’s a guy that’ll make you realise that perhaps you’re missing more of the point than you think.
I have met some wonderful people in my time, but the ones who really fascinated me, the ones who i “linked” with on a level most “civilized” yet soulless career-trekkers would never understand were the ones with a long and complex history and whose lives were carved out of millenia of culture-shaping values.
I guess this just brought a lot of it home.
| 2.5 |
Inspired by a Blue Monster
Posted by Michael) on Apr 23 2007 | Tagged as: Asides, Copywriting, Gab Gab Gab, Gaping Void, IT Blogs
I love it when this happens.
Lately I’ve been starting early and finishing waaay too late to be having any fun. My brain is so focused I’ve actually lost my peripheral sense of humour and have noticed I have iTunes playing less often. Productivity? Exhaustion? I don’t know as I don’t have any grey matter left over to give it any thought.
Anyway, like I said I work late. Tonight’s no exception and I’m having a hard time being creative. I’ve been writing almost non-stop for two weeks flat and my inspirations are drying up faster than I can type.
At times like these I usually start doing something I’d more or less given up. This time around I got back on my bike. Ahh, my beautiful Look 486. 8kgs of pure rocket science. 50km a day is enough to clear the mind (and lower the scales).
But not right now. Right now it’s dark and going out on the bike wouldn’t resolve anything as I need to be creative. Which leads me nicely to where this story is going. Click here, click there and I found myself being drip-fed some Hugh MacLeod.
Better yet I found myself watching a video about Hugh’s finest work, The Blue Monster.
Microsoft has a story to tell. My clients have a story to tell. I have a story to tell. This is well worth a watch if you don’t think you do.
| 2.5 |
Where’s Michael?
Posted by Michael) on Apr 20 2007 | Tagged as: Uncategorized
Not having time to blog, and by that I mean reading or writing, must be one of the hardest things any “serious” blogger has to deal with.
There’s always an excuse. Work. Family. Holidays (what are those?)… Mine’s the first.
This week (and from the looks of things the best part of next week is going to be the same too) has been mad. In at the office at 5.30/6am out at 8pm (just to show the kids I’m still alive) and then continuing into the night on my notebook.
Sure I’ve been following events. I even managed to write a few articles over on The Acer Guy but nothing remotely “strategic”.
Having said that, I am falling for the webcast spell. Caught it off Justin really, but Scoble does his thing sooo very well. I’d like to do some live Acer podcasts in future. Have to see how PodTech works.
My 5 minutes are up…
| 2.5 |
The luck of the Irish
Posted by Michael) on Apr 09 2007 | Tagged as: Copywriting, Gab Gab Gab, Projects
I have been asked to manage a series of property translations for a major real estate investment company that is going to take a while to set up.
That’s right: set up. I’m no fool. Trados can literally save days on translation projects like this and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone with repeat commissions to trawl through.
As I *officially* no longer do translations, there is the small matter of having to re-install it and set up the fiddly translation dictionaries but it should only take a few hours to get up to speed. Licence permitting…
Note to self: if all else fails I must get my trusty translators in on this as there’s plenty to go around and absolutely no time to waste.
And things could very well fail as there’s a major product launch (or two) coming for another client who should brief me on timing, content and products (minimum 4 brochures) on Tuesday. I fully expect they will have to be completed by no later than Friday.
This is after I’ve finished writing the master copy and headline for their latest 42” Full HD wonder.
And there was me thinking I’d have time to scout out some new clients.
| 2.5 |
Who said copywriters don’t need to adapt?
Posted by Michael) on Apr 03 2007 | Tagged as: Copyright, Social Media, You Tube
Found quite possibly the most informative video on Web 2.0 I’ve ever seen this morning.
Compiled by Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University, it’s a phenominally quick revue of the changes that have happened over the web’s brief history and a profound look at the implications of these changes.
Watch and learn.
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