October 2017 from russelldavies on Vimeo.
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10 years ago, 5 years ago
Ten years ago this week my boss at Nike said this to the New York Times:
“We’re not in the business of keeping the media companies alive,” Mr. Edwards says he tells many media executives. “We’re in the business of connecting with consumers.”
I used that a lot in presentations over the following few years, trying to make the point that a company had been historically very good at advertising was very willing to walk away from it. It's the moment that really convinced me that smart corporate attention would eventually but inevitably move from a relationship via marketing to a relationship via services.
This is not happening quickly. I suspect it's happening in the way that Hemingway describes how one goes bankrupt: "Gradually, then suddenly".
Five years ago this week GOV.UK launched.
My only real contribution was to make sure we didn't spend any money on advertising it. That seems to be going OK.
(I am also quietly proud that they're still saying Simpler, Clearer, Faster)
City Snacks
City Snacks closed over the summer. For a long time it was a place I walked past occasionally. I popped in to cover it for A Good Place for a Cup of Tea and A Think. But when I was working at GDS it was just around the corner, 10 minutes walk, just the right distance to be a bolt-hole, a retreat. I came to love it. The people, the atmosphere, the food. We gossiped here, we made plans, we cursed the system and marvelled at the determination of our colleagues.
I think this was us designing these.
This was probably Matt making them better.
Oddly, just a few weeks ago it popped back to life on the telly, as a location in The Cuckoo's Calling. I hope they got a last bit of decent money from the fee. Used it to have a proper holiday. When I'd first seen the place was closed I wasn't that worried, they always used to close for quite a long time over the summer, go back to Italy. I admired that. I thought that was happening again until that dry-cleaning sign appeared.
Mostly though I just remember sitting here, writing optimistic notes about work that mattered, for stuff that had a chance of actually happening. That's proven to be rare in the world of 'digital transformation'.
Those red tables were gorgeous. Highly instagrammy.
And there was always a little odd thing to notice.
Ah well. City Snacks is now on EBCBrevisited and will be in tomorrow's Afternoon Slow.
I need to find another cafe.