Stay engaged and remain curious

Sitting in a cafe in Luton a few days ago I caught sight of a poster 'House Rules' and although it was full of lots of the sort of cliched words I usually loathe it did make me think a bit about what I would want a poster about us (Frank Communication Solutions) to say. As someone who generally loves what I do (I get to work with some really amazing, clever and talented people - what's not to like?).So below are the perhaps cliched, perhaps trite but certainly heartfelt messages that I would like on a poster for our office.

- Today is going to be a great day

- Try something you love everyday 

- 'When you hand good people possibility, they do great things' (confessions of a creative mind)

- What good shall I do today?

- If you don't like something, change it

and perhaps my favourite 'Stay engaged and remain curious about the world'

What Dietmar Dahmen said to me (and about 500 other people)

On the 10 April I attended the Sitecore Digital Trendspot ‘Digitally Ever After’, ‘The Art of Storytelling’ conference at Islington’s Design centre. Dietmar Dahmen, self proclaimed ‘Enricher of People, Brands and User Experiences’ was the afternoon keynote speaker – and the 7 things I took away with me from his presentation were:

1)      Development is not in straight lines – it jumps as new technology opens up new opportunities

2)      You should not ask ‘Why’ you should ask ‘Why not’

Brainstorming the future - The future for the new digital age - Brighton 6 March 2014

JEB, (Junior Enterprise Brighton) ,organised and ran Brainstorming the future for the new digital age at Brighton University .  JEB is entirely managed by students who engage in projects such as professional consultancy to SME's, events management and charity fundraising. And for the event they secured a great trio of speakers: Aral Balkan, Rory Sutherland and Tom Warner. 

Things I have bought back to the office from Aral's presentation are below. 
Aral Balkan
-Facebook can see when a relationship is over - they have developed an algorithm that detects behaviors of a couple that are splitting up.

Alpha Papa -Growing up Gracefully

Being a business owner can be one hell of a ride and being the proud parent of a delightful 14 year old I have started to see the similarity between him trying to make and find his way in the world and me trying to grow and develop the business. He won't thank me for comparing his coming of age with my company finding it's feet - so best not mention it if you meet him!

Each day he seems to discover a little more about the man he wants to be - and each day we discover a little more about the sort of company we want to be.

He learns about the things he cares about and how to express his passions so they enthuse and excite those around him and we do the same.

How women can take the lead..

I went along to the RSA Brighton event last night – speakers were Penny Thompson, Chief Executive Brighton and Hove City Council,  Anne Boddington, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Brighton and Caroline Lucas, Green MP, Brighton Pavilion

The event was title ‘How Women Lead’ http://www.thersa.org/high-contrast/fellowship/where-you-are/south-east/highlights/rsa-brighton-february-2014

Below I have pulled out a few things that struck a particular chord with me… and maybe they will with you too

Penny Thompson

I wanted to be the sort of manager I craved

Anti-models allowed me to fashion myself

The new normal - acceptance rather than optimism.

This article first appeared in Absolute Brighton magazine -  March 2013 

What we are seeing in the market at the moment is a general acceptance that we are living in a changed economic environment. Companies have cut their costs, reduced their staff and revised budgets to take into account a slower economy. These changes have taken their toll over the past two years but it feels that now we are all settling into a new ‘normal’. And companies, including ours, are now looking to maintain and grow their market share from this new base.

So slowly slowly companies are feeling optimistic enough to invest in their future by looking at how they can cost-effectively market themselves to current and new audiences. But there is a caution in the way that this is being done. Budgets are carefully monitored and fixed cost projects seem to be more desirable than open-ended ones. Companies are also looking at their own purchasing and procurement processes to ensure that the very systems that are meant to control costs are not restricting better value purchasing decisions.

We are also finding that clients are looking for a partnership approach – one where we support their in-house resources rather than take everything off-site. They are keen for us to inform their decisions but want their in-house teams to implement, or at least be able to implement some of the work. Their nervousness about the economy is understandably extended to nervousness about taking risks.

Are we seeing green shoots of recovery? I think we are – but at the moment we are having to dig deep to give the shoots the environment they need to grow (sorry about the extended metaphor).

To encourage business growth in Brighton we need to make sure that every small business owner has access to the support they need to ensure they are running their businesses as effectively as possible. A combination of peer-to-peer learning and really good professional support can really change the way a business ‘works’. Business owners themselves should look to develop their networks and to take the time to look at the real value of what they are delivering and who their potential audiences really are. And.. where possible keep the money in the city by using local talent whenever you.

If you'd like to find out more about how Frank! supports Brighton & Hove businesses do get in touch 

Jo@frankontheweb.com Tel 01273 670 100 www.frankontheweb.com 

What makes a great man great?

Yesterday I was privileged (and extremely chuffed) to be invited to Roger French's retirement celebration. For those of you who do not know of Roger French - he was (until lunchtime today) The Managing Director of Brighton & Hove Bus Company. And he really is a remarkable man. His retirement celebration was in Hove Town Hall - which was crammed with 200 of the great and the good from Brighton and beyond who had come to say their goodbyes. Speeches were given by Michael Beard (editor of the Argus), David Brown (Group Chief  Executive of the Go-Ahead group), Norman Baker MP (Parliamentary Under Secretary for Transport), Caroline Lower (CEO of the Martlets Hospice) and Tony Mernagh (Executive Director at Brighton and Hove Economic partnership). Each speaker identified why they thought Roger had made such a great contribution to the City and to the Brighton & Hove Bus Company. Their speeches were all extremely eloquent and certainly a fitting tribute to Roger.

At risk of sounding like Carrie Bradshaw 'It got me thinking... what is it that makes a great man great?'

In his speech, Roger talked of how he was dealt a hand of aces - a great city, a great company, great people and the right time. In a speech two nights before to his staff, he had talked about how he saw the Brighton & Hove Bus Company as a beautiful jigsaw - and that everyone in the Company was a piece of that jigsaw - and that together they made a beautiful picture.

What these two metaphors tell me - is that what made Roger so refreshing and inspiring to those he worked with and around was that along with being an exceptional MD he was also a man who understood it wasn't just about him. He understood that to do his job as well as he wanted he needed other people to do their job as well as they could too. He needed to trust, to empower, to  energise, to inspire and to motivate his management team, his staff, his suppliers and all his 'partners'. So - yes he learnt their names and he learnt about their lives. He did what he said he would as well as he could and trusted that others would do the same... and they did... And the result of all those people being the best they could was that Brighton & Hove have one of the best bus transport networks in the country. One that is held up as an exemplar, in parliament as well as in the corridors of global transport companies.

I was extremely lucky to work with Roger producing On Route - the Brighton & Hove bus passenger magazine. We had twice yearly editorial meetings and it was at these meetings that I got a tiny insight into the way Roger worked - and over time I realised that of all the people I have known in business Roger is the person I most admire. I love his honesty, his integrity, his generosity of spirit, the fact that he just loves what he does - but most of all I admire his desire to make the world he lives in a better place.

So what makes a great man great? Well I would say a great man is man who makes the people around him shine. And Roger does that in bucket loads.

Best of luck in your retirement Roger and Thank You for showing us how it can be done!