The January Experiment

Post Post a day January didn’t go so well, and I think I know why. My heart is just not into what the kelpenhagen blog is about. There may be a few bits and pieces I may post here in the future but for the time being I have a feeling it will be on haitus until I go back to work.

What I have been up to though is start something new over at Godzookie Baby – a place where I’ll be posting things that are a bit more close to my heart right now.

I may be dropping in here occasionally, but otherwise, until October 2010!

I believe the children are our future…

An interesting tweet from Tom Ewing (@tomewing) has been rolling about in my mind.

It has made me think about a few experiences  have had with “young people” over the past ten years of working in the same firm. I started there in my late 20s, but now I am clearly the old guard; pushing 40, senior role, blah blah blah. Here are some observations.

1. I’m not sure if this is just the type of young researchers we have been hiring, but there is a desire by about 90% of them to have a 9 to 5 career. Good on them. Market research is a means to an end. A job they hold down to pay bills. The future of the industry for them is about as exciting as the future of the Wedgwood factory. This is not a “bag Gen Y” observation – for a start, I loathe the whole Gen Y labeling system, but rather that the majority of young researchers treat their job, well – as a job. The future of the industry they work in is of vague interest, but not a conversation they want to help shape. And it should be noted there are a bunch of researchers in their 30s and 40s who are like this too.
2. A young-researcher-future-leader we did have who worked for us perhaps wasn’t supported as well as he should have been, as no one really knew what to do with his skills. He was digital when everyone else was analogue. He was turning left when the whole place was hardwired right. Everyone loved him and appreciated his passion and enthusiasm, but no one knew what to do with him. I’d like to think we would now (this was about 7 or 8 years ago), but back then the best thing was for him to head to a place that could harness his passions (and at the time that was outside the MR industry). I see on LinkedIn he is now “Head of Projects, Europe” for a new media company. He is still working outside of consumer research, but he is the type of guy who I’d love to have back in our organisation. (Simon – if by some random chance you are reading this – we fucked up. But looks like it worked out the best for you anyhow!)
3. So back to the 10% or so who give a shit. Where is their platform to tell and talk to us about how they see things? Internally organisations tend to be quite poor at setting forums for researchers to “navel gaze” at where we are heading, and the noise about the industry tends to be generated by the same old voices those who need to be heard and seen to have a view via conferences, PR etc. The big risk is that bright and passionate people are needed everywhere. And I’ve seen a lot of these bright and passionate young researchers move in other directions as what they have is a valuable and desirable commodity – passion, curiosity, commitment, intelligence, and drive. Working with them is a pleasure, sometimes a pain in the arse (the little upstarts) but never dull. How do we get these “kids” more involved in shaping the future of research?
4. The cynic in me though has always seen a lot of talk about the changes and challenges in the industry, but there is still nothing like just getting on with it.  Making it up as you go along, perfecting the theory by working on a real project, delivering good work by creating something that worked for your client and their problem. The real bright stars out there should be engaged as much in this sort of work as talking about where we are headed.

This post is a little foggy with no conclusion or answer, as I shift thoughts about in my “sickness head” but that little tweet has got me thinking…

(Tom Ewing has done a post about this as well which can be found here)

So, I haven’t done a post a day…

I’ve been slack. But I’ve also been as sick as a dog.

To cheer you and me up I leave you with this…

More 80s memories…

Have been thinking more about the clubs and bars in Darlinghurst in the late 80s / early 90s.

SITE – next door to the Soho club. Monday nights was MADD club hosted by Maynard. Think Tuesdays were Meltdown (??). Friday night was also great but I can’t remember the name. I remember Saturdays being a goth night as I went there once and the girl on the door who I vaguely knew let me in for free as she knew I’d mixed up my nights and thought it was a Friday (I was a little sloshed).

SPAGOS – on Crown Street. Good for some mid-week or Sunday night dancing

FREEZER – Now Goodbar, and before the Freezer the Hip Hop club.

CLUB KAKADU – can you believe there was actually a club called Club Kakadu?  Was Mars for a while; not sre what it’s called now

THE EXCHANGE – We LOVED this place! As underage funsters, it had free entry, they were a bit laxed in the ID checking, and there was always dancing! When we were very young – about 16 – you had to have a pretty boy with you for them to let us in, but later on – maybe when we had become firm fag hags – it wasn’t a problem.

The Albury – another great place to go out. Drag shows every night and no cover charge. I remember that my friend and I moved into a terrace in Surry Hills late one Sunday afternoon (we were both nearly 17). We moved in with some great gay guys and later that night found ourselves drunk as skunks at the Albury celebrating the move with them. While we were all constantly broke, we always seemed to have money for a cask of wine! The Albury sadly closed and there is now a Puma store there. I always feel sad whenever I see that.

I will keep updating this as I think of more places. If you stumble across this, please add in any places you remember too in the comments.

Positively brimming with Optimism

It’s been a few days since I saw the 80s exhibition at the Powerhouse, but since Monday I’ve had this song in my head, constantly. I can still clearly remember singing along at the top of my lungs with 1000s of other people one NYE at the Hordern seeing off 1988 and welcoming 1989. And at the time anything seemed possible.

The Eighties

The Powerhouse Museum is currently showing “The 80s are back” – an exhibition that covers all things from the decade. My friend Rebecca had seen the show and told me that it really highlighted that the 80s was “her decade”. I had never considered the 80s as my own – if I had been asked I would have maybe said the early 90s was “mine”. But like Bek I found myself excited and moved by the show that seemed to have at every turn something that switched on a memory.

Highlights from the show for me;

• Poster from the ABC show “sweet and sour” – on afternoon tele show when I was in year 7. Loved that show so much – and still sing the theme tune in my head – check out the video. Tracy Mann lip syncing to Deb Conway…and yes, that IS David Reyne)
• Tim and Debbie outfits!!
• The little room you step inside and are surrounded by images of parties at the Hordern – there is a small audio grab with Rusty Nails from triple J (when it was good) talking about a sell out RAT party one NYE. (check out the very thorough Wikipedia entry here on RAT parties and their background) That day my friend Chrissy and I had caught a train to Sydney to scout around a few places in Surry Hills rumored to still have tickets. When we ran out of luck we headed back to Wollongong. I wasn’t home for half an hour when Chrissy called and said she heard that there would be some tickets at the door. We got dressed and got straight back on the train for Sydney and queued outside the Hordern for about 5 or so hours. I think we must have been 16 (??). A nice man in the queue gave us a beer. Getting into the Hordern was a big crush and we luckily got in. I think there is also a women on the audio talking about the big crush. We saw in the New Year there and a growling Grace Jones (who was 3 or so hours late to the stage!). It was the start of parties at the Hordern for me where we had the time of our lives – but maybe that’s for another post. Let’s just say those parties where very different form the glam happy-happy outdoor festivals and parties of today. Verrrryyy different indeed…

• They have a small section of the AIDS quilt on display.  I worked for  GP located on Oxford Street in the late 80s and some of their patients were participating in a trial for a new drug called AZT. And while there was this fun happening in the dance and club scene in the Darlinghurst area, it was also a horrible , sad period – and seeing part of the quilt with other parts projected onto the screen was very moving.
• The many band posters – Hunters and Collectors, The Dynamic Hepnotics (speaking of…Continental Robert Susz used to drink and play pool at the Darlo bar when that was our quasi local in the late 90s…), Spy V Spy, The Triffids, Electric Pandas (who no one ever heard from again after they did that Diet Coke ad) – even a nod to the Wiggles with a reference to the Cockroaches…

I’m going back again to have another look. With a young boy in tow you have to keep moving.

I leave you with the Dynamic Hepnotics and Soul Kind of Feeling from 1984 (with Donnie Sutherland! Where is he now? I loved Sounds!)

A is for Aesop

I’ve been a fan and committed user of Aesop for a while now (has it been ten years??). I love the stores, I love the staff, I love the packaging and oh yes, love the products too.

A few months ago I purchased some of their body balm in Myer in Melbourne and got it wrapped in this great bag. Printed on the bag is an A-Z of London. It tells you where to get jellied eels, find a classic old butcher, buy a nice bunch of flowers, as well as the usual bars and bistros.  And given Aesop has impeccable stores and products, I will take this little bag with me on my next trip to London inside the sleeve of my note-book to spark ideas on places to see.

What I love the most about this bag, and what has made me hang onto it all this time, is that while I have no idea if Aesop is on facebook, or has a twitter profile, they have taken their “conversation” with customers to the good old printing press (the original source of mass-communication) and printed some useful, fun and inspirational info on their bags. On lovely, scratchy brown paper. It’s on their website, but I like that this is tactile and was given to me when I bought something from them. A fair exchange.

and the other side of the bag is quite nice too…

Je m’ennui

This last few months I have been meaning to get back to my blog. It has been on a rather long hiatus – longer than even I realised. May was the last entry and a lot has happened since then.

In order to encourage myself to start writing again, I challenged myself to a “post-a-day-January”. And I also got a nice DM on twitter from a nice man who gave me a gentle tap to get on with it as well.  I managed to let the first day of the year slip by, but here I am on the 2nd Jan, beginning a post.

From early November up until now things have been a little blurry. Our amazing son has been here for 8 weeks now, and my daytime is broken up by 2 hour intervals when he feeds – it’s amazing how quickly they fly by when they are demarcated in this way. The evenings are a little less time-intensive, but I’ve been like a zombie (or a beached whale) on the couch. Anyhow, I’ve noticed how dull I’ve become. I can talk to you about the plot line of the bold and the beautiful (same old shit…Taylor versus Brooke,  Forester creations under siege etc etc – earily similar  to the last time I watched in the early 90s) and I have become a HUGE fan of TMZ – more on this later probably. But there is only so much you can talk about B&B or TMZ; and indeed, while my son is an endless source of fascination for me, and my friends are happy for us and his safe arrival – there is only so much I can talk about on that topic as well.

Basically, I feel I am boring. Je m’ennui. Literally translated – I bore myself. So this “post-a-day-January” is an attempt to talk about anything – some days it may indeed be all about the action in my son’s nappy, but I hope not.

I hope it gets me thinking again.

But here is a gratuitous picture of my son. He’s very sweet you see. He’s just stated to do this cute thing with spit…

And while I am at it…

 

Sunset in Erskineville by Was

Those pesky developers are trying for the second (or is it third?) time to get a DA approved for the Hive site on Erskineville Road. I have noticed they have changed the wording in their DA application from supermarket to “grocery store” – because that sounds so much more benign doesn’t it? 

 

Hello Mr Developer – the locals of the area have asked that you not be allowed to build a supermarket for them.  They don’t want you. They are afraid that you will increase traffic in what is already getting to be a pretty conjested road. They are worried you will change the character of what is one of Sydney’s nicest village atmospheres. You are not filling an unmet need as there are two decent sized supermarkets only a short walk away on King Street, and two pretty big supermarkets close by at Marrickville Metro and Broadway.  There is also a good deli, a mini-mart, a fruit shop etc on the strip on Erskineville Road itself.

We don’t need you, we don’t want you. Piss off!

If you feel the same way I do, I encourage you to visit the web page of the Village Friends that has all the information about the development and who to write to at Sydney Council.

Blow it up and start again

I go to a supermarket about once a month. Just to get cleaning products, garbage bags, that kind of thing. We buy our fruit and veg from a fruit and veg shop. We get our meat form a butcher. Bread from a baker. I know that a lot of other people go to supermarkets more often for their bread and meat and veg.  Supermarkets are doing very well thank you out of the GFC as Australians take a little more notice of what they are spending on food and household stuff. So I’m not claiming that the supermarket is dead. But man, I wish they were better.

So this Sunday we stopped in at our local supermarket – we needed some toothpaste and tooth brushes and other bits and pieces. And even though we’d done our fruit and veg shopping that day, I had a sudden urge for Mexican style beans and salad for dinner.  So we needed a tomato and some lettuce.  

The drama started at the “oral hygiene” section. Tooth paste was relatively easy – sort of. We grabbed one, then realised it was a whitening one and spent a little bit of time just looking for the normal tube.  But trying to find a normal, small head, non-fluoro brush was impossible. I stood there trying to make sense of the selection –  there are definitely cues toothbrush designers are taking from the sex toy market (vibrating / battery operated / ribbed grip etc – not in my mouth thanks).  And then there are the bristles – none of them point the same way, are of the same length, made of the same material. There are no small head tooth brushes (sorry, I come from the school of thought that a massive head of a tooth brush cannot clean your teeth in the same way that a small one can – they just can’t get into the same places.  And I know when I go to the dentist the toothbrush sample she gives me is a small head one – and she should know what’s good). I am mourning at this stage my electric toothbrush – a nice Oral B number that I think got bashed about from too much travelling and just gave up the ghost about a month ago. I am getting another one.  So in the end, tucked in the back corner I found a toothbrush with a small head and a plain handle. Finally, despite the fact I had to enter into the “sensitive teeth” sub-category it was 90% right, so took it.  In the mean time, a woman stood next to me and did exactly the same thing. She was holding her small son, and kept sighing “There are too many – I have no idea which one to get.” We laughed at each other when we realised we were doing exactly the same thign. I wonder how many other times this scenario happened on that Sunday alone?

After a similar situation in front of the yoghurt section which I will not bore you with (apart from saying – there has to be other people out there who do not what “lite” yoghurt), we remembered to grab the lettuce and tomatoes – dear god. Living proof as to why there is still a healthy fruit and veg business  in this country. Why fruit and veg shops like Harris Farm keep growing. I have  never seen such dire, saggy, disgusting, inedible, vegetable-like things masquerading as items for sale before in my life.  Everything was in shiny plastic bags – making sure everything had this ugly slimy sweat.  

So just to go in and pick up a few things was such a horrible experience.  And whose fault is it?

1) the toothbrush fiasco is the manufactures fault. In order to drive growth they keep making more and more and more. Instead, all you are doing is driving me crazy. You are not giving me what I want.  I will not buy more toothbrushes because they vibrate. I will not buy more toothbrushes because they come in a “fun fluoro” 6 pack (I do not need to brush my teeth in the dark). This is a category (like so many others) that needs to be blown up and then start it again. From scratch.

2) The Fruit and Veg – no matter how many ads that say you are fresh food people (that’s both of you, not just the one with that slogan), to me you are “sweaty, slimy” food people. Your fruit and veg is pretty much the same price as the fruit and veg guy outside your store or across the road, and they are 100 times better. You also need to blow up your department and start again with your buying and storing ans while you are at it – get rid of the shiny over packaging.

 I am so glad that I don’t have to  go back there for another month or so.