Miltoncontact

Exporting Huntingdonshire – Gateway to the World

2012-01-27T00:26:00.003Z

With family budgets squeezed and the nation's GDP static or declining, the Huntingdonshire Manufacturer's Association (HMA) asked, where to next?

Stuart Gibbons, Chairman of the HMA competently chaired an excellent meeting with the following themes:

Export! With UKTI Assistance
Export! How R&D Tax Credits worked for Tensor
Export! Emphatically with HSBC
Export! It worked for Encocam
Export! To Russia with Love

Export! With UKTI Assistance

First speaker Martin Keepfer (Regional Team Manager UKTI, East of England) pointed out that Government spending and reliance on British consumers were unlikely immediate sources in the current market. Exports, however, provide a viable solution.

In the year to December 2011, there was an 18% increase in exports, to a value of £25bn. Furthermore, we in the East of England are one of the three regions that are the net earners for the UK.From there on Martin gave a good overview of the comprehensive assistance that UKTI can provide the novice and experienced exporters – for a summary of the funding available for various programs, see article “How to Make Britain a more successful exporter. Part A”.

Export! How R&D Tax Credits worked for Tensor

Nigel Smith of Tensor PCL then ratcheted up the pace a gear with his enthusiastic presentation on the underutilised R&D Tax credits. The news that the credit was equivalent to 225% for 2012 had the interest of the audience so fired up that it could well have been the cause of the fire alarm which interrupted Nigel's speech.

Suitably refreshed by the break in the winter air, Nigel added some useful tips on ensuring good records of labour and of the ability to claim against subcontracted work.As a tax credit, the system was most suited for companies in profit.

In fact, for Tensor the facility stimulated the company to free up its accumulated capital and actively pursue R&D, to develop new energy management systems as another product stream.

Export! Emphatically with HSBC

We had barely caught our breath when Phil Spencer (International Trade Director South, HSBC) breezed into a talk at breakneck speed. Phil's view was robustly positive and pro-export.

A tough EU environment was contrasted with an anticipated 73% increase in world trade growth by 2025. HSBC was finding its international side was extremely active, with 360 international managers and trade teams having doubled in number this year.

Fact. If you are an exporting company you are SEVEN times more profitable than a domestic one. Even if the World economy is slowing down, there are still tremendous opportunities.

One of Phil's striking personal observations was the readiness of other countries and nationalities to think globally in terms of international trade. Don't wait, be proactive and challenge your bank for regular support for international projects and aim for government assistance with projects of higher risk.Check out “HSBC EasyTrade – importing and exporting made easier”.

Export! It worked for Encocam

Mike Ashmead (Encocam) returned us to a more measured pace as he provided a useful case-study of a successfully exporting business. The long term strategy was to build brand awareness for the seven different product areas.

The intent right from the start was to think like a big company, something that it has now become with 120 staff. Exports were an integral part of the strategy because of the ability to

Spread risk
Expand opportunities
Increase credibility in other markets
and for the sheer challenge and adrenaline generated that keep the organisation alive

The result – increasing growth to 18% to 20% last year due to exports.

I particularly liked his four point advice:

Value your knowledge
Build your brand
inspire your team
Manage expectations

Export! To Russia with Love

We had been enthused, educated and received good advice. Now it was time to open our minds to a market usually ignored due to misconception – Russia.

Tim Jelley of UKTI and Anthony Day of RBCC (Russo-British Business Club) pointed out that it was at present easier to sell to Russia than to the US or France. Contrary to historic prejudice, Tim's experience when he was in business with Russia was of prompt payment; Currently, the anti-bribery legislation in the UK is actually seen as a positive element by Russian partners; And Anthony pointed out that the UK brand was a highly desirable commodity in Russia.

Russia is the closest of the emerging BRIC countries; has warm welcoming and very honourable people who enjoy an annual growth of 4% GDP and has large financial reserves.The country's future focus is modernisation and diversification of the economy.

Of course problems still persist, with bureaucratic forms being one issue. However, this had not prevented major companies establishing a foothold in the country, e.g. Cadburys, BAT, Vodafone & BHS to name a few.

Networking is extremely important in Russia and the RBCC has 2 offices in the country with 6000 contacts, so it is well worth getting in touch with them.

Conclusion

The lively questions after the four hours of presentations and occasional break were moderated by Jan England, who hardly had to prompt for comments from both the floor and the speakers panel. Was China's economy really growing as fast as claimed? Should we not concentrate on building our domestic market before tackling international ones? These two questions alone generated a flurry of responses and counter views.

In the end, Stuart Gibbons rounded off a positive event before being swept away to the buffet when hunger finally won out.

SmartLIFE Low Carbon meets businesses

2012-01-23T15:11:00.000Z

From Wordle-images

I visited the SmartLIFE Low Carbon open morning on 16th January to see how Green Technologies are creating opportunities for dramatic reductions in energy expenditure for our businesses.

It was only fitting to take my bicycle to visit the new SmartLIFE Low Carbon centre (http://www.smartlife.org.uk/smartlife-low-carbon-centre) last Monday. My interest stemmed from seeing the expertise of companies in retrofitting businesses and properties for increased energy efficiency, when accompanying a German delegation to EcoBuild and on visits to retrofitting projects in London (NRW Green Building Services Companies on a Mission to London and Ecobuild 2011 http://miltoncontact.blogspot.com/2011/03/nrw-green-building-services-companies.html.

The cold hard facts are that of the properties available in the year 2050, 90% have already been built. Many businesses will be more likely to move into existing premises than build totally new ones. With the increase in energy costs, the only real solution is to consider retrofitting, that is applying energy saving measures (insulation, glazing etc) and even generating own energy through solar heating or electricity.

One of the companies exhibiting was Paul Bourgeois’ Zerocarbonbritain.co.uk. His stand caught my eye due to the German language material. Providing a variety of services to UK companies, Paul can even help businesses and individuals who want to reach the ideal target of the German Passive House standard, equivalent to a 90% saving in energy consumption and costs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_house).

I also met Chris Jablonski from the Huntingdonshire Green House project, where properties in St Ives had been retrofitted and were now available to visit to gain an impression of what can be done. Huntingdonshire is foresighted in providing a £500 grant for businesses wishing to increase their energy efficiency – see article on the Green House and links to grants here: Cutting your Energy bills in Huntingdonshire http://www.hbn.org.uk/node/2878.

Most of my time was spent with Katherine (Kat) Von Glos of Cambridgeshire County Council, learning more about the SmartLIFE Low Carbon building and its wider ambitions.

The SmartLIFE Low Carbon Centre is a joint venture between Cambridgeshire County Council and Cambridge Regional College. Its objective is to support businesses looking to adapt to a low carbon economy. This can be both in terms of businesses increasing their own energy efficiency and in training construction related businesses or future employees in the implementation of these new skills.

A quick tour of the building took us past the fitted laboratories that could be used for training, meeting rooms where a visiting minister was meeting a local delegation, down to the ground floor. Here, opposite the smart meter showing current green power generation by the building itself, was also a practical workshop where fitters and other construction related businesses could be familiarised with the practicalities of installing green technologies.

The SmartLIFE Low Carbon building is partly financed through the European Union, European Regional Development Fund, in conjunction with the SEE Project (http://www.see.gb.net/).

It is great to see a local emphasis on a greener business future within our region – for more information visit the Smartlife Low Carbon site at http://www.smartlife.org.uk/smartlife-low-carbon-centre.

UK and Scotland replay EU and UK?

2012-01-09T22:50:00.000Z

From World Economies Infographics

A plucky nation wants to go it alone from a larger union that it feels cramps its style.

Today it is Scotland versus the wicked Westminster Parliament of the UK, the latter angling to force a decision at a time that would be more in the unions favour than Scotland's. Just a month or so ago, the UK was playing the same role as Scotland against the Eurozone which was trying to push through its decision.

From the chart above it is apparent that, based on figures alone, Scotland's departure from the Union would not necessarily be fatal. After all, Scotland accounts for 1/10th of the UK in population, number of businesses and GVA.

Of course, politically and culturally it would be lethal - which Prime Minister wants to be the one at the breakup of the Union. Even worse - how do you face the Queen!

The UK leaving the European Union, as a more significant economy, trading partner and financial contributor would be traumatic too.However, when I listen to local radio again here in East Anglia, which as a region is at least equivalent to or even outperforms the Scottish nation, I bet there will be voices piping up to the tune of Flanders and Swans about the merits of the English (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vh-wEXvdW8) and going it alone.

Your Business Start-up – Lite. Using StencylWorks

2012-01-04T16:04:00.001Z

Click a few times on game screen to start controls working

A more light-hearted view of starting up your own business. Converting gained experience into the visual form of a flash game.

I have met a number of business start-ups, providing them with assistance and guidance. This is often in conjunction with other networkers such as HBN.

Starting a business is quite simple in principle. You need to have ideas on the nature of your business. Researching and asking around for information can help you at least identify a possible route to success.Against that you have the barriers and obstacles on your path, often from those who are more interested in telling you why your proposition won’t work: the Scoffers who ridicule your ideas; the Doom-mongers who believe it isn't worth trying in the current market, Blockers who just obstruct you; and the Sharks who see you as easy meat due to your inexperience.

During the Christmas break, I followed up a site recommended on BBC’s Click by Kate Russell in her weekly website review. The site is called Stencyl.com and purports to make the creation of Flash games simple.

On the face of it, it looked so simple that I was tempted to play and create my own game.Stencyl allows you to download a free software, StencylWorks, which adopts a Lego type approach of different game building blocks and behaviours that you can choose as icons. They even provide you with a couple of starter kits that permit you to set up a demo game very easily.

The system IS straightforward but, like everything else, you can still make silly mistakes – and some of the elements provided by other players that you can download do not always work. Whether it is their fault or my ineptitude is a separate issue.However, by following instructions, searching for additional help on the web and perseverance, I was able to design the game you see here.

Basically, it is a wheeled little businessperson who has to travel through a maze to reach HOME (starting his business). On his way he can collect ideas (light bulbs) and information (information symbols) whilst stomping on or avoiding Scoffers, Doom-mongers, Blockers and Sharks.

The characters each have different properties; some can be pushed around, others can be stomped on to remove and two are lethal to the little businessperson. The little businessperson can walk left and right and also do a double jump.

This game is by no means perfect. For example, I can lose my character off screen to cause a restart and I also could not get a scoring system to work. However, it is satisfying to wander through the maze, popping light bulbs and information signs whilst avoiding the visual hazards.

The main lessons from creating this game were – 1. it is fun to acquire a new skill and 2. It is far easier to overcome the obstacles on the way to your new start-up in a game than in real life!

Cheers to Gregor Scholz – A farewell

2011-12-20T13:16:00.001Z

From Wordle-images

This Sunday, I received the sad news that Gregor Scholz of Bestwinus had passed away. This struck a particular chord as Gregor’s visit to the UK was one that I remember well.

Gregor was a shining example of how determination and self-belief can help you achieve your goals in life.

The idea was to visit some of the premium wine purchasers amongst the top class hotels and restaurants in London to raise interest in Bestwinus’s first class fruit wines, brewed and quality controlled by Gregor himself.

Before he arrived in the UK, we had great fun trying to find English equivalents for his imaginative fruit wine names – from Autumn Flame (a rose-hip wine) to Druid’s Magic (a cider). I do not drink but I was fascinated nonetheless.

Gregor’s passion for brewing had come at an early age, through his father, I believe. He would only use the finest ingredients and had expanded to create wines from fruits as exotic as prickly pear and drinking vinegars from beetroot (something we later learnt as of great potential to the Far Eastern market).

When he landed in Gatwick, I had made all sorts of preparations because I heard that he was almost blind. I needn’t have worried. He came with a friend to accompany him but Gregor coped just fine. I soon forgot about his “disability” as we confidently moved through the bustling metropolis that is London. What else should I have expected from a man who single-handedly brewed, bottled and labelled his own elite vintages!

At meetings, he would bring out his sample bottles and arrange them in order ready for the presentation and from there on he was off the starting line - professionally offering samples and discussing the finer flavours with top wine buyers, chefs and Cocktail experts alike. Martin Straus, a UK wine expert accompanied us on all our visits and we all made an excellent team as we moved from venue to venue.

It was only when we had walked to the Dorchester through half of London, because it was easier than braving the traffic, that Gregor’s companion pulled me to one side and said “you do realise he has a heart problem!” that we understood that he was even more remarkable than we had originally thought. That extra bag with the discreet white tube leading under his jacket was his portable life support.

As I said I do not drink, so the most memorable moment for me was when we visited one of London’s renowned cocktail bars. The conversation and tasting by the resident Cocktail expert had almost finished when he asked for another one or two samples and then invented a cocktail using Gregor’s wines as a flavour on the spot. A visual feast, even I had to taste them.

At the end of our visit, Gregor, his companion and I relaxed in an upmarket Indian restaurant, overlooking one of the renovated yachting docks on the Thames. I asked Gregor “How did you come to run your own successful business?”

“Well,” he replied with aplomb and a smile “Once I’d finished my education, I realised that any potential employer would just see my health issues and write me off on the spot. So I thought I would do what I had always enjoyed, making high quality fruit wines, and make a success out of it!”

I am saddened by his passing away but also feel privileged to have met him.

I raise my glass in your memory Gregor, you have been an inspiration!

Why do Robin & Holly feature at Christmas and other facts

2011-12-19T22:12:00.001Z

Merry Christmas!

This year, I was inspired to paint a robin with holly leaves and berries - a traditional motif, though in Victorian times, the robins were occasionally portrayed as dead, with delightful messages such as "Sweet messenger of calm decay".

So why is the robin an enduring feature of UK Christmas cards? Here are three possible explanations.

It is a distinctive native bird overwintering in the UK;
Local mythology is that a robin landed on Christ’s head and tried to remove the crown of thorns, splattering his blood on its breast.
Victorian postmen wore red and also delivered on Christmas day, becoming affectionately known as “Robins”.

For even more explanations, see http://christmas-celebrations.org/202-robin.html

Holly has a long tradition – beginning with its association with the Roman “Saturnalia”. In the UK, the Celts used holly as a protection against evil spirits by placing it around their houses. I did find one reference claiming that the holly was also used to provide a home for fairies(!) Holly was then taken into Christian symbolism, possibly representing Christ’s crown of thorns and blood.

With my personal and business interests linking the UK and Germany, what are our Christmas connections?

Whilst we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, the German Christmas greeting is Frohe Weihnachten und einen guten Rutsch, which translates as Merry Christmas and a Good Slide (into the New Year).

Christmas Markets were popular in the UK until Oliver Cromwell banned them, along with Christmas . They remained a German tradition – and have become a tourist attraction for visitors from the UK. The combination of wooden stands, gluehwein (mulled wine), gingerbread hearts and Christmas decorations is a major introduction to the festive season. German Christmas Markets are being introduced in the UK but are as yet pale imitations of the real thing. However several cities are intending to improve the offer in coming years.

We also have the German’s to thank for the tradition of the Christmas tree. It was introduced to the Royal family by George III’s wife, Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in the early 19th century and later became popular due to its adoption by Queen Victoria.

Nine points learnt photographing the Cambridge Public Sector Strike Action March

2011-12-01T01:46:00.001Z

The 30th of November promised to be the largest Public Sector strike action for a considerable period in Britain and a direct reaction to austerity measures and revised pension plans in this sector. In the current economic crisis, it could be pivotal – either in being the start of a future change in British economic policy or as the swansong of resistance to the reduction of the public sector.

At this moment in time, I had an opportunity to see and record such an event in the shape of the local marches planned in Cambridge. Not having done this before, it was a new photographic challenge and learning experience. Consequently, I did not sleep very well the night before! I learnt and applied nine principles to improve my chances of success.

I had checked out the potential Cambridge events online and decided to start with the feeder march starting at Shire Hall, Castle Hill, apparently starting at 10am. The route to Parker's Piece was not given.

I arrived early (9:30am) and introduced myself to the police, making clear that I was participating as a photo exercise. No problem. The police also gave me information on the planned route and were approachable throughout the event.

I then introduced myself to the union stewards marshalling the event, again removing any concerns on my part re being able to participate as a photographer and getting some additional information.

Protesters started arriving in dribs and drabs initially. They represented a range of unions, from the NUT to Unite, Unison, ATL, UCU and AWS. Again they too were open and friendly as conversations began. The overall atmosphere was a positive festival air. I was surprised at the diversity of unions present. This was due to the revival of the Trades Council Cambridge over the past year, which organised and coordinated the days event with all the different public sector unions.

I had brought along both my SLR and an SDR camcorder, with the aim of taking both stills and video if possible. When the march got under way shortly before 11am, this proved to be a good choice as the video could capture the movement of the procession and the sound. The stills photos could be to pick out details, faces, features etcetera in-between.

The atmosphere of the march and the conversations that I had during it with police and protesters were very positive in tone through-out. This meant that I was comfortable with photographing and recording from both within the march and without. As a PC had stated, the pace of the march was quite leisurely, so I could get ahead, take pictures or video, wait for the march to engulf me and then go to the side for more recording, join in walking and talking with members of the crowd afterwards. I did not express opinions and remained impartial, but interested.

It was in this way that I also learnt of the real diversity of people there – of course primarily from all parts of the public sector. But there were also ex patients, families or others who felt a strong affinity with the objectives of the marchers. Children had been brought along too, from those in push chairs, to 6 to 12 yr olds, to one or two politically aware teens.

When the feeder march reached Parker’s Piece, there were speeches and the wait for the Addenbrookes feeder march to arrive. Then the combined mass that had swollen to several thousand set out to march through the centre of Cambridge and then back to Parker’s Piece for the last set of political speeches. This meant that I was constantly either recording or looking for photo opportunities during the full 5 hours, with little opportunity to check what I had taken.

I was therefore grateful that I had pre-prepared my SLR such that it could either be used on automatic setting, or on fixed aperture pre-set at f8 or on fixed shutter speed at 1/400s. I left the ISO setting on automatic. I did not have to think much and could just point and shoot. Since it was a sunny day, light was not an issue for exposure, however there was a risk of glare or burning of highlights on faces at some points along the route.

It was only when back in the office that I could take time to look at the material and select what to keep, how to edit and what to discard.

Watching TV reports on other demonstrations in larger cities made me realise that following the Cambridge event was a good move. It was large enough to have an atmosphere but manageable enough that I could for example get close to the speakers on Parker's Piece.

The nine take home messages from this exercise were:

Check out the event in advance as best you can
Prepare your photographic equipment in advance for fast shooting
Arrive early at the event and talk to the police/marshalls/officials/participants about the event
Treat people with respect
Be impartial.
Be prepared to move away from trouble quickly, should it arise.
Take notes of names and participants if you can, to add value to your work..
Where possible, record views from both outside and from within the demonstration.
Take lots of pictures to optimise the chances of success.

You can see the photographs here: http://goo.gl/ljZ9s
And the video here: http://youtu.be/As0ua7oGwZ0

the Armourers' Hall of the Worshipful Company of Armourers and Brasiers

2011-11-25T01:45:00.001Z

I had the privilege of visiting the Armourers' Hall of the Worshipful Company of Armourers and Brasiers, a site occupied in London since 1346.

The reason for the visit was actually a talk on The Future of the International Monetary System by Vítor Constâncio, Vice-President of the ECB. It was after the talk that I had a chance to look around and get a better impression of the Livery Hall we had been in and prompt a request to be able to photograph in the building.

The Armourers' Hall had survived the Great Fire of London and The Blitz and is a little gem. It has been the home of The Worshipful Company of Armourers and Brasiers since 1346. The Company is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. Originally, the Armourers were responsible for producing armour and have had a link with the Army right through to the present day. Nowadays,The Company is now one of the leading charities in the UK supporting metallurgy and materials science education from primary school to postgraduate levels.

The armourers were given their first Royal Charter in 1453 by King Henry VI. I was thrilled to see the document for the Grant of Arms in 1556 up on the wall in the Court Room, the door to which had a lovely decorated door knob with the mottos "We Are One" and "Make All Sure" that included the Brasiers, who had joined the company sometime in the sixteenth century. The same room contains the petition to Queen Anne in 1708 for a charter including the Brasiers. Another lovely illustrated document, though possible water damaged, is the grant of Bye-Laws under the Charter of Elizabeth I in 1570 in the hall.

Ultimately, I was drawn back to the Livery Hall with its gorgeous lights and the Arms of Aldermen on the walls. En masse, they provide a colourful adornment to the panelling, however, close up, individual arms are little works of art - and often humour. These are but a few of the collection of Arms of the Alderman of the Company from more than two centuries.

Downstairs, I particularly liked the conjunction of mediaeval armour with an example of more modern Bristol armour

The last minutes before leaving the building I was attracted by the Victorian tiling on the floor. I then tipped my forehead to the bicorne hat in the downstairs office and left, delighted to have had the privilege of visiting this Hall.

This is one of four articles relating to a visit to London on 23rd November 2011:

The International Monetary System is to local crises like the climate is to weather

2011-11-25T01:06:00.001Z

From Wordle-images

Allow me to explain how a talk on the future of the International Monetary System (IMS) left me with the insight that the IMS is to local crises like the climate is to weather. I had made the trip to London especially for the talk by Vítor Constâncio, Vice-President of the European Central Bank. His talk “The Future of the International Monetary System” was part of the OMFIF Golden Series on World Money. The venue was the gem that is the Armourers' Hall, residence of The Worshipful Company of Armourers and Brasiers since 1346.

The talk was set against the backdrop of a third governmental change in Europe, this time in Spain, as part of the Eurozone crisis contagion. News programs were still ringing with the automatic triggering of historic drastic financial cuts in US public spending. UK politics and public opinion were trending towards the more insular. Just a mile away, the tent city (well hamlet actually) of Occupy London was still firmly ensconced outside St Pauls and major industrial action by UK public sector unions was planned for the 30th November.

In these “interesting” financial times, how could I resist attending an event on the future of the IMS!

Understanding the broad principles

Initially, Vítor Constâncio's talk gave me an insight into the roles of the International Monetary System (IMS), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and international currencies.

As Vítor Constâncio explained, the origin and basis of the IMS was to establish an orderly system of payment that works with internal currencies, exchange, adjustment and liquidity. Liquidity and adjustment would enable external stability, with exchange rates and capital flow as core functions.

The system is not perfect - in good times, trade imbalances can arise and there used to be little incentive for market discipline.

International currencies

The future of the international monetary system fosters international currencies. The reality is that no single currency can support international finance. To date, the US dollar has been the dominant international currency. However, the Euro is now the second most important currency, though it is more regional. It has held up remarkably well despite the Eurozone crisis. The belief is that when stability returns, it has potential for more influence in the future.

The Chinese Renminbi (RMB) is a new contender. Liberalisation and internationalisation will assist its growth into an international currency.

A view of the future

So how can the IMF contribute towards the IMS goal during the current economic fluctuations? IMF resources have been trebled since 2008, though Vítor Constâncio felt more financing is required to get countries to lower reserves (to stimulate the economy?). The multilateral surveillance of the impact of IMF and International Committee actions needed to be strengthened and more research conducted into the impact of any measures.

Are IMF changes over the next 10 to 15 years sufficient? Vítor Constâncio thought so, though he expected a bumpy ride to a multi-polar international monetary system. Requirements are domestic growth & demand and the EU learning the lessons from the current crisis.

The IMS to crisis is as climate to weather?

Absorbing the tenets of the talk (however inaccurately), listening to the question and answer session and a brief talk with Vítor Constâncio immediately afterwards did give rise to two overall impressions.

There is the long term – and there is the short term.

The discussions and opinions expressed as part of the event largely represented the longer term. They looked towards continued gradual internationalisation and stability in finance, involving nation states, regional groupings and international currencies. The time-scales are in decades, the impact is global. The fluctuations are evened out – like the gradual change in climate.

The current environment of savage national economic readjustments is the short term. The dramatic political and social reactions, the “adjustments” and counter-reaction are occurring explosively within days, months or a year. The rapid fluctuations are similar to our experiences of apparently capricious weather events.

So, in my mind, the long term perspective of the International Monetary System is to the very current crises as the climate is to weather.

Final thoughts

As I return to the current reality of survival in an immediate unpredictable environment, can I be reassured by the promise of long term positive change?

Or should I be worried about a potential increasing irrelevance of national democracy, subservient to international finance, spikily summarised in the joke “Banker are no longer bankers, they are potential prime ministers!”.

Alternatively, will there be cataclysmic social upheaval from an angry populace, bearing the brunt of adjustments, who make the same link as the tent city placard “If criminals can't print money, why can banks?” and negate any chance of change.

I am more of an optimist. Like Vítor Constâncio, I believe that long term, things should improve, it will just be a bumpy ride.

This is one of four articles relating to a visit to London on 23rd November 2011:

Some stained glass of St Lawrence Jewry, London

2011-11-23T23:33:00.001Z

After a meeting in the Armourers' Hall to hear a talk on the future of the International Financial System, I took a walk through Cheapside and came upon the church of St Lawrence Jewry. It is the official church of the Lord Mayor of London and the City of London Corporation and stands in the Yard of the Guildhall.

The original church was designed by Sir Christopher Wren. Seriously damaged during the bombing of London, it was rebuilt in the style of Wren by 1957.

The stained glass windows also date from the restoration in 1957. The ones that caught my attention were the three in the Commonwealth chapel, which depict countries part of the Commonwealth in 1957. The East Windows, of St Paul and St Catherine show the figurative style at the time.

I also photographed the Thomas More window as he apparently was born in Milk St a few yards away from the church.

All the pictures photographed here were designed by Christopher Webb. They are present at full resolution, 10 Mpx, so that you can zoom in on the detail if you wish.

This is one of four articles relating to a visit to London on 23rd November 2011:

Walk from Moorgate to Holborn, via The Armourers Hall, St Pauls demo and St Laurence Jewry

2011-11-23T22:48:00.001Z

I visited London today, primarily to attend an OMFIF talk on the future of the International Financial System. The talk was held in the Armourers Hall where I also spent some time photographing the interior details that interested me.

After the meeting, I thought I would walk to Holborn to catch the Piccadilly line back to Kings Cross.I love the way that, especially in the City, old buildings and new are juxtaposed or integrated, so photographed a few on the way.

The route went through the Ward of Cheap, which seemed amusing after attending a finance meeting. However, the real old meaning of Cheap was Market. Cheap is one of the 25 wards in the City of London, each electing an Alderman, to the Court of Aldermen and Commoners (the City equivalent of a Councillor) to the Court of Common Council of the City of London Corporation.

The area is also rife with halls of the different livery companies.

A major stop was the church of St Lawrence Jewry where I photographed some of the modern stained glass.

I then diverted to St Pauls Cathedral as the last news had been that the protester's tent city that I had seen a couple of weeks back was to be cleared. However, when I arrived, the protest was still very visibly present! Asking a couple of bobbies, I learnt that the matter was back in the courts.

From there on it was a straight line walk to Holborn, taking one or two further pictures.

The route is roughly given here:

View Larger Map

This is one of four articles relating to a visit to London on 23rd November 2011:

Stained glass in the cloisters of Worcester Cathedral

2011-11-23T22:27:00.001Z

Travelling back from Hereford on a dreary, wet Monday, I stopped off at Worcester and went to visit the Cathedral for the first time. With only a couple of hours and my small pocket camera, I liked the story in stained glass all around the cloisters.

The cloister windows on three (and a bit) sides, facing the herb garden, give the story of the English church through the ages, from Saxon times to the end of the 19th Century. Then there was a major new work, the Window of the Millenium, by the artist Mark Cazalet. This was an etched window and was easier to view from the Herb garden.

Photographically, the lighting was very poor due to the grey winter weather. Exposure times ranged from 1/8 to 1/25, averaging at 1/15, a challenge for me, trying to find support, and for the anti-shake function.

I've uploaded the pictures at full size (10Mpx) to the Picasa album so that you can zoom in to see the detail - follow the link from the slideshow above.

Worcester Cathedral is now definitely in my books for a return visit - with a tripod and the SLR - on a better day!

Making your own video: 10 points I found useful

2011-11-20T01:16:00.001Z

Returning from a networking meeting, I wanted to make a quick video. You can see the result below. What I found was that “quick” took a bit longer than I had blithely assumed – about an hours work for the 1 minute video. Here are the ten steps for successfully making a simple video yourself.

1. Planning your story

No matter how long or short, how impromptu or meticulously thought through, you need to plan the story your video is going to tell. This affects all other nine following points. If you are going to be the one recorded, plan it out briefly in paper.

Rehearse your story repeatedly, in your mind or out loud– it is amazing how blank your mind goes in front of a camera! Preparation helps

My planning was:

Key message: I should have included video in my networking introduction (subtitle: video is something that I can and do do on other occasions)

Overall story is reaction to a networking meeting I had just attended

Mention host
Mention location
Sunrise
Conversations – business, tattoos, fish, book, glass ceiling
Key point – being made aware that I should include video in my communication
Thanks for the insight
End

2. Choosing a video camera

Many cameras can now also record video at HD quality (720px or even 1080px wide), so this is less of an issue for first experiments. I recommend having a play with what you have at hand first. Then, if you want to make more demanding videos, you will have a better idea of what to look for in a more dedicated device.

My decision was actually made for me in that the resolution of my pocket camera's video is too low (320px), the battery on my hand held video-camera had run out - that only left the HD video-cam on the desktop!

3. Lighting

To give a good picture, a video camera needs lots of light, more so than a stills camera. Lighting also impacts on the appearance of you or your subject. Ironically bright sunlight on a face causes a lot of glare; if your subject has its back to the sun then it is likely to be in deep shade relative to a brightly lit background. So a bright day with your subject out of the direct sun and a not too brightly lit background is preferable.

I was fortunate in that there is a window high up behind my PC which let in enough light on my face for filming.

4. Microphone

I learnt very early on that the microphone and how it is used is critical for a video. Primarily, because it not only picks up the sound you want but all other background noise. Outside recordings really suffer from this. So, the closer you can get to your microphone to the sound you want to record the better. Even in a radio studio for example, I found the mike literally thrust right into my face during interviews. This means that the near sounds drown out those further away.

So if you can, have a separate microphone that either plugs into your video-camera or records sound independently so you can add it to the video later.

In this instance I used the video-cam microphone about a meter from me. A good sound system will pick out the noise of a loudly ticking clock and the fans of the computer in the video above.

5. Location

Because video is visual, where you film is important, even if it is a backdrop. Make sure that it is a relevant location to your film. My intention had been to record either as I was walking or standing in the nearby country park on the way back from the meeting I talk about.

The rationale was that if I recorded whilst taking the path through the village, I would have had noisy traffic drowning out my voice and anyway, the country park gave a pleasanter environment.

Not having a camera with me and then finding that the two outdoor cameras were unavailable put paid to that idea.

I therefore settled for an office recording.

6. Background

Once you have a generally suitable location in terms of atmosphere and low noise background, look at what is in the background of any scene you are going to record. I've used a Railway crossing, the River Cam, picturesque St Ives from the river to deliberately set up a particular atmosphere.

Try recording a few short clips of your scene before deciding on a final location and background and you will soon see how dramatically you can influence the look of your video. If you can control the background, say with a screen, by choosing a neutral wall etc., great!

Whilst my office background is OK when having a friendly Skype conversation, it is too distracting (code for untidy). I therefore used a large sheet of white paper to create a neutral background.

7. Recording

Once everything is in place, hit the record button and do a trial. If you are happy, go on to record the actual video, bearing the following things in mind.

Make sure there is a spare second on the video before the action starts and again that there is a bit of extra recording beyond the end of your story. This helps later with editing. Remember to save the clips in a format that your video editor (see editing below) can open,

Make several takes of the same video. I think I made 5 recordings before I had the one that I wanted.

For longer films, split the recording into several shorter recorded scenes. It makes life much easier as some parts of a story just seem to fall into place whilst others seem to need more work. By having several scenes, you can do work in stages. These are then stitched together later.

8. Editing

Basic video editors are available for free, with Windows Movie Maker being a good example. They allow you to upload your raw video recordings and tidy them up. You can determine where the real start and end of a video is. If you recorded several scenes, you can arrange them together the way you want. You can also add additional titles, effects and sounds.

This is where you turn your raw video into a proper little film.

Save your final video in a format that is acceptable for whatever video service you want to use.

9. Publishing

Most people set up an account with YouTube and upload their videos there, I do. It is an easy way to start and share.

To do this you need:

Your video file in a format accepted by YouTube -see http://goo.gl/iZqvf
A reasonably fast internet connection
A YouTube account (go to http://www.youtube.com)
Time – video files are large and take a while to upload, depending on how large they are and how fast your connection is.
Relevant information about your video, its title and how you would describe and categorise it.

The uploaded video is then processed further by YouTube. This again takes time. Be patient.

My short video uploaded in about 2 minutes and took a further 2 minutes to process by YouTube. With previous 10 minute videos it took up to an hour to upload and the same amount of time again to process by YouTube before it was live.

10. Publicising

Once your video is up on the web, copy the link to it and send it to all who you think might be interested. I used Twitter and e-mail to let people know about mine.

One of the most fascinating things is which of your videos generate traffic and which do not. For example, my English video “Five Memorable Key Steps to Ensure a Good Presentation” has 8000+ hits, yet the German version "Fünf Tipps zur Perfekten Rede" has now gone over 12000!

Conclusion

You can make your own videos quite simply. Using the ten points above, you can ensure that you make a video that you are happy with, whether it is a video-blog report on the fly or a finely crafted film production!

Go out and make a video!

How to Make Britain a more successful exporter. Part B.

2011-11-16T11:25:00.001Z

From Wordle-images

This is the second of two articles prompted by Prime Minister David Cameron's LinkedIn request for business input - on how Britain could become more successful at exporting (Part A here)

Part B. Encourage small businesses to partner and provide a more comprehensive service

A very effective route, especially for SMEs or microbusinesses, is to work in partnership on projects.

If you wish to enter an overseas market with a particular product, look for partners who have products or services that, together with yours, enhance the offer you can provide.

Example 1. Overseas assistance:

I provide assistance for overseas companies wishing to find contacts and markets in the UK. My company's (Milton Contact Ltd) strengths are communication - helping companies adapt their product information, accompanying on visits and acting as a Peer to Peer advisor on their behalf.

I partner with another business (Europartnerships) that has long established contacts abroad and is effective at the project proposal and business generation side in a range of countries. In turn, together we co-opt partners who can help with: client acquisition in the overseas location; Market research; Finding contacts; Arranging appointments for our clients.

By working together, we provide a breadth of service and skills that can tackle larger projects. Being modular also means that we can be as small or large as we wish.

Example 2. Web based English language tutoring site for professionals

I'm currently part of a UK collaboration that includes a web designer and Legal English Language Experts - aiming to launch an internet based language tutoring site for international business people in 2012.

Examples 3. German businesses coming to UK

My clients are adopting this strategy too - see previous reports:
Entering a new market requires persistence
Historic buildings and future-proofing the skills to restore them: DE and GB experts meet in London

Collaboration between SMEs or microbusinesses - a strong tool to enable a larger, sound business presence internationally.

How to Make Britain a more successful exporter. Part A.

2011-11-16T11:12:00.001Z

From World Economies Infographics

"How do you think Britain could become more successful at exporting? And if you do export, let’s hear your success stories."

These were the relevant questions posed by the Prime Minister David Cameron on LinkedIn, following last week's joint UK Trade and Industry/Department for Business Innovation and Skills conference on 'Exporting for Growth.

And with good reason, as he went on to explain"We know that exporting is good for the economy. Sixty per cent of the UK’s productivity growth is due to companies who export and those that do are eleven per cent more productive."

The Prime minister expressed an interest in hearing businesses' views and during his speech, he announced a business growth package to help Britain’s small and medium sized enterprises create jobs, export to new markets, secure finance and cut red tape.

Naturally, I thought about the issue and came up with two distinct answers, based on my experience.
A. Making it easier for small businesses to even think about exporting and
B. Encourage small businesses to partner and provide a more comprehensive service.

Point A is expanded further below.
Point B is tackled in "How to Make Britain a more successful exporter. Part B."

A. Making it much easier for small and micro-businesses to even think about exporting.

Here my two recommendations:

1. Mail the following basic information. As a single sheet.
a) Infographic on the potential markets out there for UK markets to tackle.
b) Bullet point signposting on entering new markets abroad
c) Basic information on the costs and financial assistance available

2. Follow up with well publicised country/tradeshow visits.
Actively target companies in chosen sectors, do not wait for them to come to you.

Rationale:

For example, here is information on UKTI support and costs/subsidies that actually took quite a while to compile

Export Market Research scheme - up to 50% support for agreed costs
Export Communication Review £350 subsidy towards £500 cost for first review
Overseas Marketing Info Service - from as little as £225 to £2000, depending on your requirements
Tradeshow Access Program for SMEs - From £1000 to £1800 assistance
Free Political and Economic Updates.

Small business leaders are pressed for time. A short prompt with relevant information is more likely to direct them to find out more.

The next step for those who are prompted by the initial short message: They may then be ready for the UKTI document "Your Export Opportunity - Our insight" (http://www.ukti.gov.uk/uktihome/aboutukti/item/217820.html). It is positive and generally informative.

It is only then that the UKTI website with its wealth of detailed information and services available for the future exporter becomes relevant. By this time the interested party has hopefully the incentive to take valuable business time to dig for more information.

Making it very easy for businesses to make a taster trip to an exhibition abroad would also be of great benefit. There is nothing like physical presence at an event for meeting people and being open to new ideas and opportunities.

I am a UK provider of projects, market research, contacts and appointments for overseas companies entering the UK. There is a real push by countries such as Germany to enter markets in the EU and abroad and I've accompanied four or five delegations on the past year, often comprised of micro-businesses.

Whilst only a small proportion of companies then follow through and persist, it is a numbers game. The more that try, the more that will become active exporters. See how Germany has maintained its growth.

Where are tomorrows markets? See my infographic here based on IMF projections for 2010-2016 http://goo.gl/pBTP9

From Science to Fashion: A former colleague talks about her ethical fashion business Samamba

2011-11-14T12:18:00.001Z

I'm just chatting to Denise Elliott, who was a colleague and excellent assistant when we were both in Biotech and before we escaped into running our own businesses.

Denise is running an ethical fashion business called Samamba based in Cambridge. She is active at most of the major festivals and of course, with Christmas coming up, will be at the Christmas Markets, for example Netherhall Shopping Nights on Friday the 18th and Bury St Edmunds on the 25th - 27th November.

Denise began Samamba with handmade jewellery, using natural materials such as semi precious stones, freshwater pearls, mother of pearl, glass, seeds and wood, for example. This is still is the mainstay of her business.Clothes and accessories then also entered her portfolio.

However, the amazing new item is Hula Hoops - which she makes tailor-made for customers. So whether you are a petite child or have a fun maturer figure - Denise can make a hula hoop for you. Apparently, it is not only great exercise - but warms you up. Hula Hoops have been a real hit for Denise at the festivals wherever she gives workshops.

Samamba's new product line in development is the use natural plant dyes for fabrics which she hopes to bring to the market fir the 2012 season. Currently Denise sources her own fabrics and she is now eager to find sources of fully organic cotton. This may mean helping a local farmer in Thailand or Turkey to convert their crops to organic methods.

Apart from catching up, our talk turned to vital business items such as best ways to improve your online presence. I recently modernised my website and Denise is eager to do the same.

When we started, it was all basic HTML coding - now there are excellent content management systems that make it much easier to have a professional looking website which can be updated more easily.

Blogs are also an excellent communication tool and social media such as Twitter and very importantly for business to client companies, Facebook.

If you are interested in ethical fashion accessories from Samamba, have a look at Denise Elliott's site http://www.samamba.co.uk/. Put it in your favourites and check out the new site as it is developed over the coming months.

The Eurozone crisis: It's all about trust

2011-11-09T23:53:00.000Z

From World Economies Infographics

What is the real issue behind the current crisis in the Eurozone? Trust. Which is why the situation is so unpredictable and rapidly changing.

On average, an EU country has a debt burden that is 80% of its annual GDP (see chart), with all the larger economies being the major culprits.

What distinguishes say Germany from Italy? It is the trust of a country's lenders in the country's ability to pay back the debt if challenged.

As small businesses we know that the trust you have gained from your clients is a hard-won achievement. We also know that that trust can be easily lost.

Unfortunately, there is a multiplicity of different trusts at play in the current European crisis.

For example, because Italy needs such a large bailout, questions begin to arise whether the other Eurozone countries can afford to cover it. France is now working desperately to ensure that it maintains its triple A credit rating.

Then there is the trust by a nation's people in their government's decisions. Current economic measures cause dramatic changes in existing social contracts and real job insecurity. If a tipping point is reached, trust in a government is lost and it becomes untenable - see the escalating protests at home and abroad.

Trust is an emotional issue. Logical arguments take a second place.

Which path the crisis will take - resolution by sudden inspired leadership, total collapse due to national popular revolts or a mess in-between - is unpredictable.

The one certainty is: These trust issues will have a major impact on us all. Prepare for the worst and hope that we will be pleasantly surprised.

The Return of the Saxons

2011-10-31T16:22:00.000Z

It has been over 1000 years since the granddaughter of King Alfred, Princess Edith, Married Otto I Holy Roman Emperor. Her remains were recently found in Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt. Today there was a return visit from Magdeburg to London, by the board supporting external trade for the Local Chamber of Commerce.

I had been invited to give a more light-hearted presentation to the group. This was followed by Lesley Hill, Geraldine Williams of MAMMALcreate www.mammalcreat.co.uk, an innovative marketing led design company.

Whilst we were in London England, the meeting was held in the very Scottish Caledonian Club, with gentleman in kilts, affording a great opportunity to introduce the guests to the complexities of the British Nations.

My presentation covered in brief (also see slideshow above)

British history and culture
The British economyPerceptions of Germany
Some Case studies
A practical session on Business Introductions
Staying in touch after first contact
The market assistance we could provide

Lesley and Geraldine followed with an unusual question and answer session. The aim was for the attendees to define the quality of their communication within the UK market, so that their launches would be targeted to achieve their desired objectives.

The case studies shown picked up the emotional elements that truly reflected the businesses; from a sixth form college, a design company through to a baby and children's safety swimwear provider. This was to the mutual satisfaction of both the company's teams and their customers. The latter associated with the brands and bought into them.

The Saxons successfully mastered the challenges that we put to them!

For us, as the UK participants, this was an interesting and productive afternoon and it also gave us insights into the Magdeburg businesses attending.

For more information about business opportunities by collaborating with companies from the region of Saxony Anhalt, contact:

Suzanne Doerrwand at doerrwand@magdeburg.ihk.de
or call her on +49 391 5693 138.

Lesley Hill of MAMMALcreate can be reached lesley@mammalcreate.co.uk.

Entering a new market requires persistence

2011-10-31T00:44:00.000Z

Entering a new dental market requires persistence, something that Ulrich Heker of TEETH”R”US has demonstrated – and it is slowly paying dividends, as we found at this year's BDTA exhibition at the NEC.

As a qualified and experienced Dental Technician in with a business based in Germany, his expertise is in attachments and telescopic crowns – intermediate techniques between plain prosthetics and dental implants that are an ideal way for a private practice to expand their portfolio. Yet these methods are still practically unknown in the UK.

I helped Ulrich begin to tackle this gap in local knowledge by publishing educational articles in UK magazines such as The GDP, Dental Tribune and The Technologist over the past year. Articles that have found resonance further afield with requests to translate and reprint as far away as China.

Manning the stand Y06 at the BDTA Exhibition at the NEC this year, we were now visited by a number of dentists with their case notes and casts to catch up on the opportunity to discuss past, present and future work with his lab. Taking a long term view was bearing fruit.

Ulrich had invited me to join the stand to give language support over the three days of the exhibition. I joined a team of five that included Ulrich Heker, fellow dental technician Thomas Loehre, Klaus Viesteg, a dentist based in Northern Ireland and Andrea Heker, who ensured that the stand was provided with all the notes, leaflets and that any appropriate dental models were immediately to hand as we dealt with the flood of visitors.

Thursday started relatively quietly, which allowed the team to mesh, so that by Saturday we were able to work seamlessly; dealing with simple enquiries and then passing on to the relevant expert for the questions arising. It was also lovely to see Marie-Theres Luetje, Handwerkskammer Duesseldorf, when she dropped by, as she had supported Ulrich's planning and preparation for this and previous exhibitions.

Ulrich had taken a lot of time to provide interest at the stand – good visual examples on a banner, a glass case with key models and Thomas demonstrating precision milling - these all attracted dentists and other professionals.

The joker in the pack was an inspired little sculpture, caricaturing a benevolent dentist cleaning the dentures of a knitting old woman seated on a dentist's chair and her cat on her lap. Andrea had found the gem that caught the eye of the passers-by, raised a smile and opened conversations.

Ulrich's repeated visits to Birmingham meant that I, as a Brit, happily gave him the lead to show us the sights. We saw the picturesque canals, found good eateries and marvelled at the Broad Street clubbing scene in the evenings as we relaxed after our busy days.

Have a look at the following links:

Wonder what dental telescopes and attachments are?
http://www.german-smile.info/combinedcare/combinedcare_02.htm

Interested in the technical publications – downloadable as PDFs?
http://www.german-smile.info/Publishing/publishing.htm

Some quirky pictures showing the effort that others made at the BDTA.
https://picasaweb.google.com/107595387761034666575/PicturesAtAnBDTAExhibition

Not a Who Done It, A Why Done It

2011-10-07T12:01:00.001+01:00

I had the pleasure of talking to Roger Purssord, author of "The Blue Box", at the Huntingdon Indoor Bowls Club. I recently finished reading his book, hardly being able to put it down!

It is a gritty crime thriller about a very nasty piece of work, Justin, who has ruined the lives of many families, including the main character, an unwilling participant, who's young son was a victim of Justin's predatory activities.

The story, I won't give it away, has many twists and turns and a satisfyingly realistic knowledge of the police investigative process - and it keeps you guessing right till the end.

Roger was telling me that the story appeared to have a life of its own as he wrote it, with characters and plots emerging as his subconsciousness revealed a darker creative side!

As a publisher, I get to see a number of books and I honestly regret that Roger had already published it elsewhere as it would have been a worthy, quality addition to my own company's portfolio.

If you want to find out more - or buy a copy of Roger Purssord's book, "The Blue Box", contact him on rogerp.cambridge@live.co.uk

To Have Vision and Foresight - What you need in the current depression!

2011-10-05T14:54:00.002+01:00

From Wordle-images

Another conversation today is with Carl Suffield of Praescio. What the hell does that mean? was my question! "To Have Vision and Foresight!" Was Carl's answer. As someone who has worked in investment and retail banking, Carl definitely needs to know how to apply these in the current economic climate. The real benefit is applying these skills for his clients.

A typical situation is his work for Donovan & Dunne Ltd, a cleaning company. They are looking for improvements in the review of their cash flow and provide simple financial forecasting. The benefits Carl can bring to the company will be the expansion of the most important aspect of any business, their vital current customer base, as well as attracting future clients. They will also be looking to enhance their service level and quality even further.

In these cash strapped times, having a clear immediate overview of your company's finances ensures you keep out of the red. The other advantage is that you can then see which areas to develop further.

It sounds so simple, but sometimes it helps to have someone like Carl Suffield of Praescio to see the broader picture. His clients comment was "It helps me see the elephant instead of the grey!"

Contact Carl Suffield via his LinkedIn Profile http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/carl-suffield/13/422/5a8.

Helping small technology companies export to Germany with Cambridge TEC

2011-10-05T12:07:00.000+01:00

From Wordle-images

With the world bemoaning the fact that we are not in a recession any-more but a depression, many would hunker down and sit tight until better time comes - or go under! The other alternative, and a philosophy that I find far more agreeable, is to see this as any challenging situation - a chance for new opportunities.
It is in this spirit that there is a meeting of the two doctors in the pleasant environs of Milton Country Park's Cafe Diem (with free WiFi).

Doctor Who? Well Dr Andrea Lorenz, who has just started her company Cambridge TEC (short for Technology Export Communication). As a linguist (she speaks English, German perfectly, conversationally in Italian, Danish and French) Andrea is originally from Germany and has adopted the UK as her home for the past 12 years, Andrea aims to assist UK technology SMEs in making a market entry into the German speaking world (which includes Austria and Switzerland too).

This is a nice counterpoint to my current activities, which is assisting predominantly German businesses find contacts in the UK, so we had a common base.

Why Germany? Germany is in the centre of Europe, it is the centre for trade fairs and it is the most active and successful economy in the EU, riding out the storm by actively promoting it's links with markets abroad.

Andrea has worked in technology and product innovation, for example with Healthcare, Food Safety, Smart Materials, with companies such as Innovia Technology Ltd., Cambridge IC and Sensotec.

With her own company, Cambridge TEC, she is offering targeted and bespoke service from introductions to on site trade fair support. What does this actually mean? Well a recent example was an excursion to Nuremberg, assisting Cambridge IC at the annual Sensor + Test Trade Fair, one of the biggest trade shows in the sector with around 600 exhibitors in 2011. Tasks included Press Releases, assisting in the stetting up of the stand and then being a proactive representative for the company, helping attract interested parties.

Andrea Lorenz's Cambridge TEC is "Translating aspiration into Achievement" for her clients. Our current conversation is finding many complementaries with Milton Contact.

Who is Dame Evelyn Glennie?

2011-09-30T01:39:00.000+01:00

From Wordle-images

I counted myself lucky to still get a ticket to see Dame Evelyn Glennie, the world renowned musician, give a motivational speech at the joint Business Club / Inspired Group event last night. I was not disappointed as she riveted us in a marimba accompanied journey. All this in support of three charities, East Anglia Childrens Hospices, Scotsdales Charitable Foundation and Able Child Africa.

Full Photo Album by 361 Photography here

Percussionist?
Of course, when she began with a dramatic piece on the marimba, it matched with my preconceptions of Dame Evelyn Glennie, Percussionist. But then she explained how and why she played the piece the way she did and we began to understand that she was something more …

Musician?
When Evelyn receives a composition as sheet music, she listens to her inner feelings and emotions, looks to the audience and venue and then gives her intensely personal interpretation. Sharing with us how the music could be played by rote and then comparing it with her interpretation was a dramatic illustration as the difference was so great once heard. We were also introduced to an important part of what Evelyn saw fundamental to her approach to life, being a …

Listener?
“Of course!” You might say, “She's a musician!” But Evelyn meant more than that. It was taking time to listen to her inner self, to listen to others and listen to the wider environment. Then she would digest and work through the information to come up with a plan of action. Musically, this could be finding out about a score, the venue and audience, and creating a vision of that performance, one that would be radically different between a venue such as cathedral and the Albert Hall. From a career perspective, it was noticing as a young woman the scarcity of percussion scores and the perception at the time of what was expected of a percussionist. Her solution was radical and yet simple, showing another facet to Evelyn Glennie …

Entrepreneur?
Evelyn wrote several hundred letters to composers (in the days before e-mail and push button mailing lists!), asking for percussion compositions. This was well before she was a recognised artist. Yet some did respond and as time went on, international compositions also arrived, expanding her experience and repertoire. She created her own opportunities. Of course this took time! So inbetween, Evelyn added another string to her bow as a …

Motivational Speaker?
It began with visiting schools and helping ignite the musical sparks in the young. As her career as a musician grew, Evelyn also expanded her motivational skills to encompass all walks of life, all ages. She is now equally renowned internationally for her motivational talks as her musical ability. As a member of the Hunts Speakers (part of Toastmasters International) I was impressed not only with her incredible lack of “ums” and “ers” but also with the fantastic vocal variety, passion and enthusiasm with which she talked.

But who/what IS Dame Evelyn Glennie?
Why the question marks for her different facets above? They are boxes. The undercurrent of both Evelyn's talk and the passionate presentation was; Whatever simple description for her or set of facets that you apply; They are merely pigeon-holes.

Dame Evelyn Glennie is herself, and she is constantly changing.

For me personally, the message at the end of the evening was: Be yourself; Seek out new challenges; Do your best.

Blindness - disability or different life style?

2011-09-22T18:17:00.002+01:00

Useful Hereford thePoint4 location linked to the RNCB inspires thoughts on remote working, leads to interesting contact and thoughts on blindness - disability or a different life style.

Spending time in Hereford whilst a relative is having a new Gas heating installed, I have been popping into thePoint4 Bistro, just off Venn's Lane. The refreshments were welcome and access to the free Wifi even more so as it permitted me to keep up with e-mails and do quite a bit of remote working on a range of urgent projects. Tweeting about the venue brought me to the attention of the very active twitter streams of @thePoint4 and @RNC_official, leading to an impromptu friendly meeting with the marketing and communications manager, Katrina Wilcox.

Now, I had not really given blindness or partial sightedness a second thought as it is a common sight to see students wandering confidently with either white canes or dogs around the Venns Lane part of Hereford, where the Royal National College of the Blind is situated. Pure convenience had taken me to the associated venue thePoint4 - food, drinks and free Wifi being the driving factors. However, with a few minutes to relax at the end of the day, it did remind me of an educational business accompaniment I had undertaken earlier in the year.

I found out by accident that the director of one of the companies from Germany visiting London, a quality fruit wine manufacturer whom I was to accompany to various business meetings with potential UK partners, was practically blind. Going into overdrive I thought of all the issues about travelling around the metropolis and contacted a number of organisations to see if they could advise me on how best to help my guest in terms of moving around. I was prepared when meeting him at the airport - and found myself a victim of my own preconceptions.

My guest had brought a companion to assist but, quite frankly, most of the time did not seem to require them as we wandered through the busy streets of London from appointment to appointment. Everything had been thought out including the arrangement and storage of the samples to be shown to potential partners, such that they were taken out and arranged in a convenient sequence to go with the business conversation. By day 2 I'd forgotton his "disability".

At the end of the trip, as we were having a last celebratory Indian meal in a relaxed restaurant by the Thames and I asked, how on earth my guest had come to be a specialist wine producer, fermenting and bottling all the products himself. "Well", he said. "It was easier to set up my own business doing what I enjoyed than trying to find a job!"

Which brings me back to my meeting with Katrina at thePoint4. She has a fantastic project underway - a full colour book under the aegis of the RNCB with stories of 14 or so similarly inspirational people. I also know that she is open to finding funding and sponsorship for this book. The aim is to publish early in 2012.

To find out more and see if you can be involved to help complete this project, contact Katrina at the RNCB on 01432 265725.

European court ruling on honey containing products from GMOs makes sense

2011-09-18T18:23:00.004+01:00

From Wordle-images

My first reaction to hearing today about the European court ruling on honey containing products from GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) was one of exasperation! I had been listening to on the BBC's Food Program on honey. However, when I actually dug deeper and read both the final ruling of the 6th September 2011(available in English here) and the thankfully clearer summary in an earlier Press Release (available in English here), I found myself agreeing with the sentiments of the well reasoned judgement.

The key point of the ruling is:
You cannot put honey on the market if it contains “Products of GMOs” which have not been authorised for use in honey.

The story and rationale is as follows:

Several Bavarian beekeepers had found that their honey contained DNA and trace amounts of GM protein from Monsanto Maize variety, MON-810, growing on an experimental plot 500m away from the hives.
The maize variety was one of two authorised to be grown and used for animal feed in the EU under the “Deliberate Release” Directive 2001/18 and also in producing products from GMOs, namely maize flour, maize gluten, maize meal, maize starch, maize glucose and maize oil. Note that some EU countries have unilaterally banned its use.
The court considered how honey was produced and defined. The inclusion of trace amounts of pollen in extracted honey is part of the process – indeed, pollen grains can be used to test the origin and provenance of individual honeys.
By current definitions, Pollen from a genetically modified plant is a GMO if it can still fertilise another plant. Now, by the time pollen has ended up in honey, it is no longer capable of fertilising another plant and legally ceases to be a GMO.
However, the inactive pollen and the nectar from a GMO plant that have been turned into honey by busy bees are deemed by the court as “Products of GMOs”.
In the original application and granting of permission for use of Maize MON-810, honey was not included as one of the permissible uses for “Products of GMOs”.
Therefore the honey containing products from Maize MON-810 cannot be placed on the market at this moment in time.

I cannot fault the logic.

Is this the end of the world for honey (we import a substantial amount from countries using GM crops) or for the use of GMOs? No. For Monsanto, the obvious next step would be to add a new application for deliberate release which includes the use of MON-810 products in honey, even if this is incidental. Any honey then produced which contains these products would be labelled as containing GMOs.

The use of GMOs for food is controversial in the EU, with views polarised on both the pro and anti sides. However, the current European court ruling on honey containing products from GMOs shows that legal safeguards and procedures are in place – and working.

Court ruling in English:
http://curia.europa.eu/jurisp/cgi-bin/form.pl?lang=EN&Submit=rechercher&numaff=C-442/09
Summary from an earlier press release:
http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2011-02/cp110005en.pdf

The author, Dr Chris Thomas, had over 20yrs experience working in the GM plant industry before setting up his own, totally unrelated company in 2004.

Making shopping in Luxor an enjoyable experience: David's Papyrus Shop in Luxor

2011-09-16T00:10:00.000+01:00

For those who believe that shopping in Egypt on holiday is equal to persistent hawking, there are gems such as Davids's Papyrus Shop in Luxor, where you have a much friendlier reception. I found it through a set of unusual circumstances.

Taking part on a Nile cruise (a holiday of a lifetime), we were offered an impromptu trip into Luxor for some window shopping. I was apprehensive because of the past week's experience of the very aggressive selling and hawking tactics at the sites we visited. I therefore tagged along with Myra, Amanda and Jacqui, who had been to Luxor and Egypt many times and had also suggested visiting the gardens at the Old Winter Palace Hotel.

I needed some cash from the ATM next to the hotel, when suddenly a figure dashed out and embraced Myra, it was an Egyptian family friend who they had known as David since he was a child.

I was drawn along, not sure whether to intrude, but David made me welcome too and we sat down in the shop as he prepared a cup of sweet tea for us all.

David's real name is Amin Ahmed Abd El Guoad. Myra and Amanda had met the family in 1999 on their first cruise, through mutual friends who already knew of a friendly quayside shop for purchasing bottled drinking water.

The acquaintance grew into friendship over the coming two years during repeat visits. Myra and Amanda were invited to the family home and onto the boat, for the family were fishermen as well as having a souvenir come tourist shop. They would help with outings and arranging things for their English friends. At this time David/Amin was still just a young 17. When David/Amin surprised them with his welcome embrace, they had not seen each other for ten years.

In that decade, David/Amin and his cousin Ashraf had set up their own shop, realising an ambition to open a small quality enterprise in the courtyard adjoining the Old Winter Palace. This prestigious hotel has catered for famous guests such as Howard Carter, the famous archaeologist who discovered Tutenkamun's tomb nearly a century ago, and Hilary Clinton and Princess Diana in more recent times.

It was this new shop where the reunion tea took place; amongst signed painted papyri, tiers of mother of pearl inlay boxes, with their glittering geometric designs in the Arabic tradition, and wood carvings of animals, bowls and other essential tourist paraphernalia.

In this relaxed environment, catching up with news and new developments, there was a natural interest in what special items David/Amin was now selling. I was not ready to buy anything but was not made to feel uncomfortable once this became clear. Myra took a shine to a delicate silver ankh that matched the sparkle in her eyes as we left an hour later to catch the bus back to our boat.

What a contrast to the pressure selling where you might be duped into one sale of a tacky knick knack and vow never to come back. Here, in David/Amin's shop I was left with the feeling that this was a safe place to return to – and suggest to others.

From a business perspective, the best client is one who wants to buy. Most tourists do want to buy gifts for friends and relatives as well as memorabilia. Yet time and time again I observed on our holiday how aggressive hawking outside shops put off the very clients they were seeking.

So, for a more enjoyable shopping experience for you and your customers, give them time to breathe.

And the next time you are in Luxor, I recommend a visit to David/Amin's “The Papyrus Shop”, in the courtyard by the Old Winter Palace Hotel.

New Business Exhibition at Wood Green

2011-09-15T22:32:00.000+01:00

If you went down to Wood Green today
You were sure of a big surprise
If you went down to Wood Green today
You Watched out for detecting Pis

For every business in Huntingdon there was
Gathered together to exhibit because
Today was the day we had a new Exhibition!

To be fair there were about 25 exhibitors with a scattering of visitors by the time I arrived around 5pm, having been delayed by completing a very long and complicated report. There were familiar faces and new ones. The latter included the private investigators of Heather Nesbitt Ltd, available for small and large projects, who also featured a collection of appetising cup cakes produced by Purple Sloth.

Chatting to Ken Seymour of KTS Computers Ltd., who had installed the WiFi for the Exhibition, revealed a common theme; good contacts were being made with the visitors who had come to the exhibition.

My favourite new business name was “Intelligent Penguin”, whose designer Karen Wells and director Paul Allington specialised in web design.

Mark Cooney and partners had put together an independent business exhibition which also included entertainment by a series of acts during the event and also brought in speakers on a variety of topics. Naturally not everything runs smoothly when you have such an ambitious first start – but I would be interested in coming along and perhaps even exhibiting there in a years time.

The exhibition was supporting a number of charities who had also brought their stands. I chatted for a while with Kate Angus who was one of four dedicated representatives in the UK for Action Duchenne. Duchennes is a devastating form of muscular dystrophy, a hereditary disease that only affects boys – and kills them by their twenties. Find out more about them at www.actionduchenne.org.For more about the exhibitors, entertainers and speakers – visit http://www.sept-15.co.uk.

Making social media relevant to your business

2011-09-14T17:37:00.001+01:00

From Wordle-images

I just returned from a successful event, organised by Richard Wishart, on "Social media-is it really relevant to my business?" (http://cambsbusiness.wordpress.com/2011/09/08/social-media-is-it-really-relevant-to-my-business/)
Thirty plus attendees had come from as far afield as Colchester for a practical insight into the use of social media for businesses. A brief summary of the presentations and useful links and keywords arising in the meeting are given below.

Richard Wishart, Delivery Management, concentrated on the intensive use of social media to forge contacts and participate effectively at events, giving practical examples and a detailed account of how he incorporated social media as a vital ingredient in his business development. Richard's additional strength was his background in technology and insatiable appetite to see what the new tools would be. Google+ is the new kid on the block and it was very useful to see the features and hear about their strengths and unique selling points contrasted with more established media.

Chris Thomas, Milton Contact, introduced social media as a natural extension of physical networking, giving an insight to the ease and time required to make entries in short posts such as twitter, participate in groups and discussions in Linkedin and to write informative blogs.

Two key elements were the 1. the interconnected use of different social media to complement each other and 2. the ability to collate media streams either in your personal online newspaper (using paper.li) or in Hootsuite (online) or Tweetdeck (device based).

Desiree Ashton, Virtual PA, reminded us of the incredible speed in which the social media had penetrated into social and business consciousness. Continually keeping ahead of the game was essential so that she could assist her clients to make that jump from the small goldfish bowl to the larger one in the world-wide web.

Established blogger and networker, Ann Hawkins, The Inspired Group, rounded off the afternoon by chairing the discussion and questions in a friendly and approachable way. Ann reminded us of the key element of using social media, the reintroduction of fun into a business environment. Where else could you gain an insight into the interests and personalities into the aspects that are most important in any business, the people who make it work.

The final question was on measuring the return in investment in social media. The beauty of using online social media is that they do permit the collection of real data, not just in terms of connections but also in linking preferences or success in redirecting to relevant sites. Ultimately, the ROI is a very individual aspect for each individual and company.

The ROI depends on the aims and objectives for using social media. Whilst for Chris it is a matter of increasing online presence, for Richard it is finding key contacts, connections and most importantly, creating opportunities between interested parties in his technology sectors. Desiree's key role is finding social media solutions that are appropriate for and tailored to her business contacts and Ann's in building an internet based, positive community that could also participate in her Inspired Group networking events.

Below are some of the main elements and keyword reminders of the topics covered in this excellent event, with the contact details of the people who made this event possible, either by presenting or ensuring it's effective organisation.

Check them out - and if you like what you see, connect!

Twitter

Hootsuite: http://hootsuite.com
Tweetdeck: http://www.tweetdeck.com/
Ability to post tweets at set times
google shortening: http://goo.gl/
paper.li: http://paper.li/
hashtags
#camsocial (for the actual event)
#in (for ensuring tweets go to linkedin)

Klout: http://klout.com

Facebook (personal): http://www.facebook.com/

Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/

Profile
Updates
Groups
Discussions
Questions

Google+ using a tablet (in beta, currently by invitation only)

Profile
Circles
Huddles
Stream
Photos
Blogs

Presenters & helpers

Richard Wishart

twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/Richard_Wishart
Linkedin: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/richardwishart

Desiree Ashton

twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/galenetogo
Linkedin: http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/desiree-ashton/1a/364/7a

Ann Hawkins

twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/AnnHawkins
Linkedin: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/annhawkins

Ruth Ekblom

twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/RuthEkblom
Linkedin: http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/ruth-ekblom/14/b58/305

Stuart Wishart

Chris Thomas

Sick Venom Elementz, Sick arts cuts: Two faces of the generation gap.

2011-08-28T12:21:00.003+01:00

When I sat down next to a young woman of 16 on a crowded bus, we ignored each other initially. Not only were we strangers, we were separated by an age factor of at least three and the unspoken assumptions each generation has about the other. Until I started the conversation.

I found that I was sitting next to a member of a dance group that had came second in their group in the national XXL Street Dance Championships (http://www.streetdancexxl.com/championships/). The dance groups Elementz Ent. & Venom are the over 17 and under 17 collectives of dancers from all over the UK, based in Cambridge (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=13111440835). The video above illustrates their style and previous performances included Move It, Kidz Take Kontrol, GWI Street Dance Weekend and the iDance UK Hip Hop Champs.

Street dance hit the consciousness of the broader public with the group Diversity winning Britain's got Talent in 2009. Physical, vibrant and often very expressive, street dance occurs in many forms throughout the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_dance), with those derived from breakdancing and popping being the most familiar within the uk.

The young lady, who incidentally already held a clutch of GCSE that would open doors to many professional careers, was obviously passionate about street dance and contemporary dance and this struck a chord with me. Whilst not a dancer myself, I find the exploration of physical language beyond the conventions of traditional ballet in contemporary dance gripping in a good performance.

The BBC recently ran “Dance! The Most Incredible Thing about Contemporary Dance” http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0126w6n which introduced me to both the Pet Shop Boys' collaboration in the contemporary ballet “The most incredible thing” which I thoroughly enjoyed. Other names were The Cholomondeleys and Featherstonehaughs (http://www.thecholmondeleys.org/) who have been providing innovative shows for over 23 years. Sadly they are disbanding this year after the 100% withdrawal of their Arts funding. YouTube has a collection of video samples for both of the above. (http://goo.gl/G5uyz and http://goo.gl/x2cgj)

The one thing that had surprised me was the frequent use of the word “sick” to describe the performances of Elementz Ent. & Venom online – until I learnt from my daughter that “Sick” was now the new “Cool”, meaning awesome or brilliant.

So in the end I find myself feeling sick in a positive sense about the vibrancy and success of Cambridge based Elementz Ent. & Venom and sick in the conventional negative sense, that cuts in arts funding have brought forward the demise of The Cholomondeleys and Featherstonehaughs.

Colonies of Stentor polymorphus associated with Ramshorn snails

2011-08-23T15:48:00.001+01:00

This article and the accompanying video illustrate the consistent association of Stentor polymorphus colonies with Ramshorn snails in a Cambridge pond.

Avid pondwatcher, Michelle Fleming, had posted images on Facebook of her Ramshorn snails sporting green somethings in the hollows of the centre shell whorls. Her pond is situated in a residential garden, just off Newmarket Rd in Cambridge.

The images were tantalising enough for me to invite Michelle and partner Mike to visit with some specimens for a closer view under the stereo microscope.

Viewed between 6x and 20 times magnification, green trumpet shapes became visible, that retracted on being touched. At less than a millimetre in length, they were identified as a colony of Stentor polymorphus.

Stentor species are large single celled organisms with cilia at the end of their bell shaped aperture, which waft in food to be eaten. S. polymorphus absorbs chlorella algae, which live symbiotically within its body, giving the Stentor species its distinctive green colour.

The unusual feature of the specimens from Michelle's pond is that they appear to be consistenly associated with the Ramshorn snails (Planorbarius corneus). Furthermore. They preferentially form in the centre of the snail shells whorl, which forms a bowl shaped environment. Whether this is due to selective settlement by the Stentor or because of removal by abrasion during the snails motion is not known, thought the former appeared more likely.

The specimens studied were unaffected by the snails motion or occasionally being agitated in the water during sharp turns of the petri dish in which they were observed and it took physical contact with a leaf or brush to induce contraction.

Future readers could check their ponds to see if they observe a similar association and whether it is limited to snails with a concave centre to their whorls.

To Huntingdon and back by bike along the guided busway

2011-08-22T01:34:00.000+01:00

Ever since the trip from home to Huntingdon last week, using public transport and the guided bus took a minimum of two hours one way, the nagging thought grew – I should be able to do that by bicycle! (see previous articel on the HBN blog "A businessman's experience and view of using the guided bus to travel to Huntingdon" at http://www.hbn.org.uk/node/2856

I had not cycled for nearly a year, however, a few short test trips suggested that maintaining an average of ten miles per hour on the bicycle was feasible, and that even if I averaged at 8 mph, I should be able to get to my meeting of the Huntingdonshire Business Network within 150 minutes. The safety fall back position was, that if I encountered problems – I could ditch the bike and take the guided bus!

The main concern was that whilst the forecast was for sunshine, there would be a headwind on the way to Huntingdon of about 10mph.

However, the trip started auspiciously at 08:55 and once past Histon, the open stretch was not too much of a problem and I stoped occasionally to take photographs. I reached Swavesey, which was exactly half way to Huntingdon distance wise, at just over one hours cycling.

From thereon, the ride became more difficult. The tarmacked cycle path gave way to a gravel track and also began to undulate. This was where I found that whilst I could cruise on the level, I did not have any energy reserves to power up the inclines. Instead I would slow to a crawl in the lowest gear. It therefore took me another thirty minutes to get to St Ives Park and Ride, arriving there at 10:35

I sped through St Ives itself (well apart from photo stops of course) and then encountered the next major hurdle, the hill out of St ives towards Houghton. A long gradual climb meant I was cycling at a rate where a tortoise could have overtaken me. Once it was on the downhill stretch and then back onto the level, the main hazard was the busy road traffic.

The ride into Huntingdon was straightforward but my energy levels were now very low, with no reserves. Fortunately, the feared hill to the Huntingdon Indoor Bowls Club where the meeting was to be held, was not as bad as I thought, in part as I had been joined by Ruth Ekblom, another HBN member who had cycled over from Godmanchester.

I arrived at 11:32, just in time for the meeting, after 2h 37mins.

Mervyn Foster and Ruth Ekblom reassured me that there was a route via Godmanchester and Houghton Mill to St Ives that would avoid the killer hill. Ruth kindly offered to accompany me and set off at a pace that I had no hope of maintaining, 10mph was really my limit at this point on the level. We departed at 14:12 and arrived at the outskirts of St Ives by 15:08, again with many photo stops.

From there, I managed to get to Swavesey guided bus station by 15:41. I then cycled to Over in about 10 minutes to attend another regular Friday meeting.

Departing Over at 17:34, I arrived at Swavesey bus station at 17:46 to take the thankfully tarmacked track home. It was now a matter of sheer will as I really had no energy reserves at all. I would cycle at an aerobic rate. If the lactic acid built up due to a slight incline or trying a faster speed, I soon had to stop and rest. The wind had turned to be more southerly and the gradual sweep around Longstanton meant I encountered a headwind that again slowed me down.

I stuck with it, mile by mile, occasionally overtaken by old women and children, never mind the more serious cyclists who would zoom by and disappear into the horizon at a fair lick. At last, I arrived home at 19:24.

Overall travel time to Huntingdon was 2h 37 minutes, whilst the return travel time (ignoring the Over stop) was 3h and 29 minutes.

Surprisingly, my legs were fine the next day, but my backside was saddlesore. It was with hindsight that I learnt from my cycling neighbour that the best cycling trousers have padded bottoms to avoid this situation arising!

On balance, I do think it is possible to cycle to Huntingdon in two hours or less – there were sufficient regular cyclists overtaking me in their streamlined gear to make the point. However, I personally would have to train a lot to build up the stamina for the 45 mile round trip!

Bedding in amongst the top 100 innovative German companies

2011-07-06T12:07:00.000+01:00

Bernd Mahnke on Right receiving award

What a delightful blast from the past - Bernd Mahnke of CareConcept Mahnke dropped me an e-mail proudly passing on the news that he was recognised as one of the top 100 innovative German companies this year.

I had the privilege of accompanying Bernd around the UK back in 2008 as he was exploring the potential markets here - see article Lincoln Imps and Pressure Beds. CareConcept produces specialist beds for hospitals or long term care, where patients can be bedridden for considerable periods of time. Using a unique system, the beds gently adjust position along their whole length to ensure that pressure sores and points do not arise.

Well done Bernd for the Award!

From international boundaries to broomsticks

2011-06-14T14:47:00.018+01:00

From Wordle-images

I talked today with Chris Little, who is a training consultant to the surveying and construction industries. We had wide ranging talks on topics that ranged from vehicle tracking devices to the resolution of international boundary disputes (where's the line on the ground!).

His company is Chris Little Training Services Limited and it provides courses from basic surveying skills to use of GPS and mapping software. But what does this actually mean?

"Most recently, I helped a company in Great Yarmouth use a theodolite and level to ensure the verticality of on- and offshore drilling derricks. For the company this meant significant time savings in both fitting the drilling equipment and the prevention of costly mistakes.

For many companies in the construction and fabrication industries, the biggest cost is often the mistakes made by their staff, as this comes out of bottom line figures.

I have also been involved in high precision industrial measurement, using surveying equipment that is capable of sub-millimetre accuracy. This is relevant for industries such as the repair of rail vehicles, the aligning of industrial gantries and pipe-work fabrication in the nuclear industry.

Some of the most unusual and interesting projects, though not major in themselves, included being involved with the filming of the last Harry Potter film, and position of a flying character (who can be a bit of an ogre) in a present stage play in London!"

With a hectic schedule and the possibility of international engagements, the easiest way to get hold of Chris is at chrislittletraining@hotmail.co.uk or +44 7932 383932

Marcus Orlovsky at The Inspired Group

2011-06-10T00:56:00.002+01:00

Emotion, passion and feeling - essential ingredients in our lives, ambitions and businesses, that seem to be absent along the fact oriented, evidence based route that we are supposed to use. Marcus Orlovsky skipped from education, through advertising to successful businesses and back in his presentation to The Inspired Group, at the invitation of Ann Hawkins. One moment we would be comparing two adverts for seat belt use - the fact based "Clunk Click" campaign of the 70s and a contemporary, never screened emotive one which had a significant part of the audience sniffing discretely into their hankerchiefs. The next moment we were following Marcus's dizzying rise to megabuck business, sometimes sailing very close to the wind in terms of what I personally consider ethical business.

What came through consistently, was Markus's passion in three key messages.
First; We have a great responsibility to inspire, enthuse and enable children to strive for distant horizons.
Second; That leadership is inspirational and enabling.
Third, Dare to Dream.

What's more he was willing to go out proactively to promote these messages, with passion, and be an example in daring to dream, encouraging leadership and being committed to providing an inspiring environment for children. (Read more on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/miltoncontact/status/79638202373255168).

New Author Debz Lowry in final stages of completing first book

2011-06-08T12:42:00.002+01:00

I am sitting in the Cafe Diem in Milton Country Park with a remarkable lady, Debz Lowry, sipping our cups of tea and looking out over the lake with the wind rushing through the trees.
Debz has a remarkable life story which she is in the final stages of writing up in her new book, "Dark Seeds 3am". Did I say one book? Debz's eventful, sometimes traumatic, but always uplifting life with a supernatural twist, cannot be bounded by just one book.
Brimming with energy, what was an initial short conversation has expanded into a fascinating couple of hours, exploring the possibilities ahead for Debz.

Ion Torrent sequencing technology helps identify German E.coli outbreak as new strain

2011-06-03T00:55:00.000+01:00

From Wordle-images

As a former molecular biologist, I take my hat off to BGI-Shenzhen who managed to sequence the DNA of the virulent German E. coli strain within 3 days. The analysis of the the bacterium's DNA sequence suggests that this is a new type of E. coli strain O104 that contains pathogenic genes from two known nasty strains.

It binds to the stomach wall, produces toxins that cause severe diarrhoea, haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) - which results in the destruction of red blood cells - and can affect the central nervous system. In addition, the bacterium contains a whole series of resistances to common antibiotics (described as aminoglycoside, macrolides and beta-lactam antibiotics).

The rapid result was achieved using a new method of DNA sequencing, called Ion Torrent, by Life Sciences.

When I started sequencing, we used radioactivity to detect and score DNA sequences. By the year 2000 this had been replaced by faster, safer methods using different coloured dyes. Ion Torrent does away with any unusual additives, it measures small changes in pH (acidity).

The principle is clever and simple:

As usual, you begin with your test DNA which has been split into single strands.
Synthesis of the complementary strand is then primed in a special microwell plate.
The sample is flushed with a solution containing an enzyme (DNA polymerase) and one of the four DNA building blocks (A, T, C or G).
If the base can be added to the primed complementary strand, it releases a hydrogen ion. This can be measured and recorded as a small pH change.
If the base is not added, there is no release of an ion.
The well is then flushed with a second base and again the change is noted.
The process is repeated, gradually giving the sequence.

Using existing technology, where lots of different DNA fragments can be sequenced in parallel, the process can proceed very rapidly.

The different sequences for the DNA fragments are then matched like a giant jigsaw string until you have the full sequence of an organism.

Having this molecular information for the German E. coli type will help doctors and agencies come up with better ways to search for the source of the outbreak and also plan for prevention and treatment.

Sources:
http://kbgtestblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/e-coli-strain-previously-unseen-and.html
http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2011/06/02/bgi-sequences-genome-of-the-deadly-e-coli-in-germany-and-reveals-new-super-toxic-strain/
http://www.bio-itworld.com/news/06/02/2011/German-teams-BGI-Life-Technologies-Identify-E-coli-strain.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_semiconductor_sequencing
http://lifetech-it.hosted.jivesoftware.com/videos/1016

Genetically Modified Plants, Where are we now in the drought ridden UK?

2011-05-23T14:58:00.003+01:00

The BBC Cambridgeshire's Andie Harper Show touched on the developing drought on this morning's progam and the topic of GMO crops and foods came up. It elicited a remarkable run of mainly positive comments, before resistance kicked in.

Until 2004, I worked as a researcher in the plant area and was responsible for biological safety, so I naturally turned to relevant online sources to see what the GMO release situation was in the UK and wider Europe at this moment in time.

Field trial application

A quick check on ACRE (The Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment) which regulates ALL UK field trials and releases of GMOs showed that in 2010, there were only:

Two applications for trials

Nematode resistance in potatoes – my old colleagues in Leeds continuing their great work
Potatoes modified for resistance to potato late blight – Sainsbury Lab

One EU Notification to renew authorisation to market:

Carnations with altered flower colour – Florigene

Two applications to market GM food and feed

Maize with Herbicide tolerance – Monsanto
Maize with insect resistance (specific Lepidoptera and Coleoptera species)

There were also a number of applications to cultivate or import and process varieties for feed, where further assessments were awaited or where these had already been considered in the past.

(Source: Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment: Annual Report Number 17: 2010 http://archive.defra.gov.uk/acre/pdf/acre-annrpt17.pdf)

What was most striking about the numbers of applications for GMO releases to the environment was how these had plummeted throughout the EU, especially in the former leaders, France, UK and Germany.

The trend was countered in Spain, where there has been a steady increase in trials over the past decade. (Source GMO Compass http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/agri_biotechnology/field_trials/).

Is plant GM work dead in the UK?

Of course not! Whilst trialling in the UK may be at a low, this does not prevent the continuation of ground breaking work in plant genetics in the UK and worldwide. Old challenges, such as making nitrogen fixing crops are being revisited and there is also current talk about third generation biofuel production using algal cultures that have been modified. Hopefully the latter will take away the threat of more farmland or natural habitats being converted for fuel generation.

The hidden benefits of GM technologies

What is often not realised is that the 99% of work required understanding a particular plant gene or set of genes before even making a transgenic crop plant is in itself extremely useful. So called Marker Assisted Breeding, using information from cloned and characterised genes, can ensure that new desirable traits can be moved into many crop plants by conventional breeding.

It will probably take a couple of decades yet in the UK for GM crops to become acceptable. This is ironic, in that many people have already experienced the benefits of GM technology in the production of their medicines and even the cheese they eat (by using purified rennet from transformed bacterial cultures rather than the stomachs of calves).

Back to the UK Drought

Will GM be important for adapting our crops to the drought in the UK? Well, it is more likely that farmers will adapt to growing drought tolerant crops here that have already proved themselves in other growing areas. Breeding programs work best when there is a variety of methods available, GM is just one option amongst many.

My personal solution? I’m still waiting for my pineapple top to root before I commit to buying my Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda shorts!

How I created a First Story ebook for Children to work on Kindle

2011-05-16T03:09:00.004+01:00

A first story ebook for children created as an exercise in learning about creating ebooks. The book is the picture story with a bit of text called "Monty Bear and the Chocolate Egg". The Amazon link is at the bottom of the page.

As part of the process of learning about the practicalities of creating an ebook for my Kindle, I practised on transferring the content of the digital book I had already created at http://issuu.com/miltoncontact/docs/monty-bear-and-the-chocolate-egg, which you can read online, but not download. (the Amazon Kindle link is at the bottom of the article).

The work process for creating the Kindle ebook was as follows:

Convert and edit the images into greyscale, with a high contrast. This is important as the Kindle reader has a lower contrast range.
The images were resized to be 520 pixels wide, the optimum for the Kindle reader
I then used Sigil, a WYSIWYG ebook editor, to layout the book with the edited images and text.
To force each image and its short text to be on a new page, I had to make each page a new chapter.
The ebook was then saved in epub format.
The ebook was then imported into Calibre and the meta information (about author, title, publication date and preferred book cover) was added.
Using Calibre, the ebook was exported into the .mobi format, which is accepted by Kindle.

I actually went through the cycle several times as minor coding features had to be corrected. For this simple 20 page book, the process took five or six hours before I was completely satisfied.

I could either import the book to my Kindle (best option) or use the free PC software to view Kindle ebooks available here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_pc_mkt_lnd?docId=1000423913

By generating this very simple book, I learnt a considerable amount on the practicalities of producing an ebook for Kindle - and other - ebook readers.

Please feel free to sample or purchase the ebook, "Monty Bear and the Chocolate Egg" at only £0.70p for your Kindle from here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Monty-Bear-Chocolate-Egg/dp/B00519TOIE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1306161559&sr=8-1

I would really appreciate your comments after trialling this out on young children!

Caldecote History Group's early book planning a good start

2011-05-11T01:29:00.001+01:00

Today I joined the Caldecote History Group for a meeting. We talked about the best way forward to produce a book on the history of Caldecote; I was there in my capacity as a publisher.

I'm usually approached to help with a book when the author has already produced a first draft. I was therefore delighted when the Caldecote History Group asked me to give some professional advice at an earlier stage.

The reason is that whilst the production of a book has it's own difficulties, the real challenge is - how do I sell the book. Thinking about this right from the start can be of great help later.

My hosts were Sheila, Robert, David and Christine, part of a wider group that has a good complement of different skills and and historical interests. They and others had already collected a wealth of information about the village of Caldecote, over a period from the Domesday Book to the present. We wanted to establish the best way forward for the Caldecote History Group.

The wide ranging discussions eventually crystalised to 5 key elements:

Adopt web based tools for even better team work
Tell the local and wider communities what we are doing
Generate interest in the final book
Design, edit and set the book
Publication (print and/or digital) of the book

Every group will have its own specific solutions when producing a book. What is important is to generate interest early on as this gives you a clearer idea on who will be interested in a copy of the final book.

Get in touch if you are a Cambridgeshire group interested in finding the best way forward for your book.

In the meantime keep a look out for more news from the Caldecote History Group!

CHASE a popcode for augmented reality

2011-05-10T01:51:00.000+01:00

From Wordle-images

Connell Gauld of Extra Reality Limited entertained an audience at this Monday's CHASE meeting on Mills & Reeve's Cambridge premises. The talk was on the linking of a printed code with a mobile phone app so that the camera on the phone could be overlayered with an augmented reality display.

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” pronounced the farseeing Arthur C Clarke in 1961. It was an astute Connell Gauld who used the Hogwart's posters of Sirius Black in motion at the CHASE meeting, to demonstrate that the magic in a film is now indistinguishable from advanced technology. Take a static image with an embedded code and your mobile camera will display an augmented image that moves, reveals hidden detail or any other effect you desire. The particularly neat feature is that as you change the camera view by moving it around, the augmented image on the screen behaves in the same way.

That is, if you have a decent mobile phone (i.e. a more expensive model, like the i-phones and i-pad). My Nokia E63 was sadly not up to the task and currently, neither are Blackberrys.

To my simple mind, the principle was broken down into three elements:
1. A printed and snappily titled “Popcode”, that is code 128 based
2. A downloadable app that recognises the code via the mobile phone camera
3. Cloud based software that can be accessed by the app to perform the impressive visual “augmented reality” effects on the phone display

The popcode, whilst a great mnemonic and visually appealing, is not actually essential. The audience rapidly pointed out that QR codes or other barcodes could work equally well if the app can be made to recognise them.

It is the app and the software to create, then implement, the bespoke augmented reality animation that is key.

Connell Gauld and Extra Reality Limited currently have an edge in development time for this particular form of augmented reality and are currently seeking to employ this technological lead to their advantage.

This was an excellent and exciting presentation, especially as Connell Gauld seemed to relish the numerous interruptions and questions. CHASE are to be congratulated for organising the event.

German quality goat’s cheeses on a mission to the UK

2011-05-09T16:01:00.000+01:00

Andreas Ebert of Feinkaeserei Zimmermann visits the UK to check out the market for his “Altenburger”, a fine cheese that is a PDO (Product of Designated Origin). A commentary on our joint experience in business and in pleasure.

In the UK, the French are famous for their cheeses, we ourselves produce a wide variety of excellent British artisan cheeses – but Germany? Perhaps the politest comment that Andreas would encounter, when talking about his companies soft, medium hard and blue cheeses, was “I didn’t know the Germans made cheese!” The least complimentary phrase we heard was “German cheeses are imitations of the French”.

But the most positive comments we regularly heard from real cheese distributers in the UK was “We do not have any German cheeses and would like to extend our portfolio”.

Andreas is the fourth generation from Feinkaeserei Zimmermann to enter the family run business that recently ( in 2010) celebrated the centenary of continuous production of the regionally famous “Altenburger Ziegenkaese”, from the state of Saxony in Germany.

The cheese dairy survived two world wars and nationalisation in the communist East Germany, with the family present ever since Albert Zimmermann first worked for the founder, in 1910, Mr Kupfer and then took it over in 1930. Wrestling control back after reunification, The family and Feinkaeserei Zimmermann expanded the cheese dairy into making other goat’s cheeses with the glut of milk coming in as part of the “Altenburger” production.

Andreas’s visits to UK partners were scattered over three days. Arriving the day before the first, we met at Luton Airport and travelled into London. Once we had checked in his luggage in the reasonable and nicely located Park Grand Hotel at Devonshire Terrace near Paddington, it was off for some sight seeing.

Andreas had been a frequent visitor to London in the past, but had never toured HMS Belfast. We set off via the Underground to St Pauls. Walking around the Cathedral, we crossed the millennium bridge and made a short visit to the Weiwei Sunflower seed exhibition in the Tate Modern. From there, with a choral interlude at Southwark cathedral we finally arrived at HMS Belfast for a couple of hours delving through her decks.

The next three days were busy visiting the potential UK contacts that my collaborators at Europartnerships had found him. The key lesson that we learnt early on was the fascination with the century old history of the “Altenburger Ziegenkaese”. This was especially helped by the centenary, traditional round wooden box design which had been retained. This was the key for opening people’s willingness to look at the other soft and semi hard cheeses. There was certainly interest generated, with the caveat that the quality and taste had to match.

Fortunately, we had cheese samples. They had been sent to my colleague Audra Green , who had then driven them to me. I took them to London where Andreas had them safely stored in the Hotel’s fridge until required.

Perhaps the best memory was of the friendly reception “Up North”, where our hosts cracked open some artisan fruit juices and we had an end-of-trip tasting session of selected English and Zimmermann cheeses, with complimentary comments all round.

Devonshire Terrace was not far from three excellent pubs, The Victoria, The Swan and The Mitre, where Andreas became an honorary Englishman, at least in his appreciation of good quality pub food.

It was an intense, positive and entertaining visit with business opportunities to be chased. Hopefully we can soon find the “Altenburger Ziegenkaese” and its relatives gaining acceptance distribution in the UK.

Andreas Ebert, of Feinkaeserei Zimmermann’s visit to the UK, was part of:
The VHP Lebensmittelwirtschaft 2010
Supported by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology
Project Management by Europartnerships Ltd
in cooperation with Milton Contact Ltd (UK)
And Come Across (DE)

High Spirits at the Natural History Museum

2011-05-03T21:07:00.000+01:00

Next time you visit the Natural History Museum in London, turn left at the dinosaur's tail and wander through to the Darwin Centre and The Cocoon. Last Thursday, I took part on the Spirit Collection Tour there. Spirit does not refer to ghosts or whisky, but rather to the samples that are preserved in a mixture of ethanol and methanol, IMS. Though, to be fair, when early collectors ran out of pure alcohol, brandy or rum provided a simple solution until the specimens were returned home.

The visitors area of the Darwin Centre displays several hundred animals and plants in their tastefully lit jars. The rest of the building, from it's basement to the floors above, houses 22 million of the 70 million or more specimens of the worlds flora and fauna for the future. Yet this is not simply a giant pickle collection to be sniffed at (especially as the IMS is harmful if inhaled in quantity). The building also has laboratories and scientists. They continue to gain real results in our understanding of life on earth from this valuable resource.

The Spirit Collection Tour takes a small group of eight visitors behind the scenes. Our guide, Jessica, was a working scientist who specialised in mammals. Luckily for us, she was also trained in communicating with the lay audience.

We went down into the basement; first stop, the flesh eating beetles. Not a nightmare, but insects put to practical use. These are nature's waste removal system, getting rid of carrion. Safely kept in the laboratory, they strip flesh from samples, leaving the skeleton. This avoids the use of hazardous chemicals and an otherwise messy, smelly, dangerous job for the scientist. The beetles were cleaning a killer whale tooth. You can see them working for yourself on the flesh-eating beetle cam. Let's hope someone cleans the lens and sorts out the focus in the meantime.

Then we came to the chilled rooms housing rows upon rows of cabinets with samples under lock and key. So valuable to science that they were evacuated to caves outside of London during WWII. Further on we entered to the room containing the large specimens. I had remembered Archie, the giant squid from a previous visit. As long as a London bus, the tentacles were covered in suckers. This time I saw that each sucker had a wicked circle of teeth, to maximise grip when tackling prey or battling with their predator, the sperm whale.

Amongst the many specimens stored there were a few in a special cabinet. These were samples originally collected by Darwin on the Voyage of the Beagle. Amonstthem was the shell of his pet tortoise from the Galapagos Isles, lost for over a century until found again in the 1980s.

But why are these collections so important?

First, Whenever a new species was or is discovered, a physical record of a typical type specimen is made. This type specimen can be compared with later finds of the same or similar organisms as an important guide for accurate identification. Some of these samples are so important, that they will travel across the world on loan, to help naturalists with their work there.

Second, of the tens of millions of animals and plants stored, many were preserved, catalogued and simply put into storage for later. Work still needs to be done to understand them further.

Third, preservation in IMS has kept the DNA intact so that modern DNA technologies can be used to gain even more knowledge.

Is this really relevant to you or me? Yes! There are some really practical applications, as well as increasing our general understanding of life on earth. For example, later when I walked through the through the Cocoon, which houses the insect collections, I stopped at the window to the working lab. A scientist was studying New Forest blow flies, talking to us as she worked and also answering questions. We could actually see the work being done under the microscope. I learnt that blow flies can apparently be important in murder cases; in terms of giving the police and courts an estimate of how long a body has lain since death. Local blow fly species might also help by giving geographical information; was the body moved after the murder, for example.

So when you next walk up the steps and into the glorious Victorian main hall of the Natural History Museum, do not just come to look at the exhibits. Take one the many opportunities to talk to and interact with real scientists who work there on our behalf. The museum is not just a collection of static displays, it is also a major centre for increasing our knowledge – and willing to tell you about it in terms that you and I can understand.

How much time I spend on social media and how I organise them

2011-04-14T10:28:00.003+01:00

From Wordle-images

I've been using social media in relation to business and pleasure for a couple of years now. Today, I found myself writing a letter to an artist friend about how my use of social media had evolved and thought - this is relevant to a wider audience! So here it is:

"Dear ...

...
You were talking about trying to find the time for your blog. I thought you might be interested from a business perspective about the time and effort I spend on different social media. The way I organise them and my time spent is as follows:

Twitter: good for quick comments, takes 1 minute to make comment.
Twitpic: allows you to link a photo to a quick tweet.
Facebook: About 5 mins for a longer wall post. Best to have a separate FB page for business
Blog: Couple of paragraphs - including links and photos. Up to an hour - a lot of that thinking, composition and correction time.
Picasa Web Albums. Any decent or relevant pictures are uploaded to a web album. This also allows me to incorporate single images or slideshows into the blog.
YouTube: A couple of hours - several takes of video, editing, uploading. (You can do it quicker!). Again, YouTube videos can be incorporated into Blog articles
Website: If fully structured, takes 1h plus for new entry. Faster alternative is to use blog as website and ensure you have good search and indexing function (blogger and wordpress provide these).

Daily time spent on Social media - some time daily (up to an hour!).
Remember the key word is Social - you need to interact with others, not just talk about yourself all the time.

Optimising your entries for maximum effect:

My twitter entries are linked to Facebook, so appear there too automatically.
By adding an additional tag, I can also direct tweets to Linkedin if serious enough.
Once I write a blog article or make a YouTube video, I tweet a link to it (which also appears on FB and LinkedIn if appropriate).
I use the name miltoncontact as the common link throughout as there are too many Chris Thomas's out there!

The idea is to have a virtuous circle linking your different media.
All this ensures that you can be found on the web by a whole range of different routes.

My possible weakness is that I tend to have a wide range of topics and interests all represented in these different media. More focussed businesses have dedicated blogs and other social media accounts for each different specific business stream.

My excuse is that I'm a generalist with wide interests and am happy to be seen as such. :-)

This is actually a letter relevant to many others so I will also blog it! Which reminds me of a very useful piece of advice to generate content:

If anyone asks you a question or you have a conversation and you think the answer is of general interest, share it, it is an effective way to generate new content

Best wishes,

Chris"

Two German Companies visit London and the IFE

2011-04-13T17:59:00.001+01:00

Two German food related companies came over to London for meetings with UK companies in and around the International Food and Drink Exhibition IFE. “Der Pommeraner” is a family run business specialising in speciality and regional sausages and meats, whilst “Von Blythen” provided lifestyle products using flowers and flower products in food.

The benefits of arranging meetings around the IFE was that in addition to the planned contacts, the companies could gain an immediate snapshot of the food world within a UK perspective. There where a multitude of products on display, numerous suppliers exhibiting, and you could get a good idea of what was happening in food trends.

What's more, Central London was but a tube ride away from Excel. Two further articles will describe the individual experiences of the companies in more detail, see the links at the bottom of this post.

Dana and Sandy Reggentin-Hassenstein (Account Manager and CEO respectively for der Pommeraner) and Martina Kabitzsch (Owner Manager, von Blythen) arrived together at Gatwick where they were collected by Mark Dodsworth (Europartnerships) and driven to London. I joined them at the IFE at Excel.

The meeting point and haven of tranquillity was the German Pavillion who kindly allowed us to use their facilities when not travelling around, and looked after us very well.

Together, we had three days of meetings, highs and lows, miles of walking and innumerable trips about London.

There were perhaps two items of note in addition to business. The first was the hotel. We had looked for a more economical option and found it in Notting Hill. The exterior looked extremely promising, sitting within a lovely columned Georgian terrace, however, the rooms can only described as “quality commensurate with the cost”.

There were two key features to my room. First, the handle to the bathroom door was apt to come off in my hands. Second, the window did not face outwards, but across towards the window of the neighbouring room. Since that was occupied by a bevy of attractive young Spanish ladies on the first night, this could have given me a delightful free evening's entertainment.

However, I felt duty bound to let them know and warn them to draw their curtains. My tact and restraint was rewarded by by being awakened by their noisy preparations for departure at 4am the next morning.

As a group we had taken one look at the “breakfast room”, laughed ourselves silly and agreed to eat out at a nearby breakfast bar.

The evenings were a much more positive and entirely different kettle of fish. The first night we met up with a Belgian delegation in a Lebanese restaurant for an excellent meal and conversation.

The second night was in a little gem of a pub that Europartnerships had used before, the Victoria in Bayswater. The initial stumbling block was gaining a free table, but once achieved, we had a pleasant evening in a Victorian setting, with apparent links to Churchill, Dickens and Charlie Chaplin!

The third night, we were invited by Martin Straus (Wine Trainers) and Michael Sweetmann (Hospitality and Cocktail expert) to dine at the Institute of Directors club. Martin ensured that we walked off a considerable number of calories through Pall Mall getting there, presumably to justify the excellent meal in relaxing club surroundings that evening!

Each company achieved at least one success as part of the visit to London and the IFE. Read more about the individual companies and their experience here:

Der Pommeraner
Von Blythen

Part of the VHP Lebensmittelwirtschaft 2010
Supported by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology
Project Management by Europartnerships Ltd
in cooperation with Milton Contact Ltd (UK)
And Come Across (DE)

Der Pommeraner, German Sausages visit the UK

2011-04-13T17:47:00.004+01:00

On the visit of the Pommeranian sausage company, Der Pommeraner, to London and the International Food and Drink Exhibition.

There is an undiscovered country on the Baltic coastline, in the North-East of Germany, it is Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. A green undulating and scenic landscape with coastal resorts and lovely beaches occasionally littered with the amber that the Vikings prized.

An appreciated tourist destination for the Germans ever since the former East German became accessible after the fall of the wall, it is also home to a set of culinary traditions and food related businesses. One of these is “der Pommeraner” (the Pommeranian).

Der Pommeraner is a family run business specialising in that quintessential of German foods, the sausage!
As with any stereotype, it hides a far richer food experience than one might originally expect. It’s like saying that we British have a cheese, and that’s Cheddar, totally ignoring the fact that we have Stilton, Wilstshire, Lancashire, Red Leicester, Wensleydale and many, many more, often from artisan producers at the highest level.

So it is with Der Pommeraner, who provide a range including not only the familiar Frankfurters, but also Bockwurst, Knockwurst, Wiener, Bratwurst and more which, including their flavoured variants, total an impressive 72 products - with of course, five Pommeranian varieties. These are quality, award winning products.

It was my pleasure to accompany Dana and Sandy Reggentin-Hassenstein, responsible for Der Pommeraner’s foray into the international market, as part of a program supported by the German government. Our base was the International Food and Drink Exhibition (IFE) 2011 at Excel, in London.

The objective was to learn about the UK market and find opportunities for Der Pommeraner products in Britain.

The IFE itself gave the opportunity to visit different meat stands and see what was on offer, talk to some of the exhibitors and arrange to meet people. London was also a place to visit external companies and see what the high end retailers were offering and a place to travel from.

One surprise for the visitors was the comparable quality of the average British banger (as sausages are colloquially known), with its lower meat content, coarser texture and oozing fat. An unexpected culinary shock when used to a more quality, finer German product (and also a reason for my preferring the “finest” ranges of British pork sausages, where there was a guaranteed meat content above 70%).

So what were the potential ways into the UK market for Der Pommeraner? We identified two main issues, 1. Getting people to taste the product to win them over, and 2. Finding the best route to market.

It is no secret that 80 percent of meat products are now sold though the large supermarket chains, with their competitive pricing and centralised purchasing. Butchers and independent delicatessens make up another 15 percent and the remainder is taken up by farm shops and other outlets.

These all have different requirements in terms of approach and, more specifically, presentation to the UK consumer. In retail outlets in particular, there was a big difference in packaging and product presentation, depending on whether it was a supermarket or an independent small retailer.

Despite the grim grey weather, we also managed to visit a range of the high end shops in London, via a few sights on the way. The best display and range of German sausages being on show in – Harrods – where else!

A dash to Southwold also gave an insight to what the independent shop at the end of the retail chain required to make it easier to sell new products, and when.

The high quality pork sausages, in their many variants, do have a potential market in the UK, where 69% of households eat pre-packed, fresh sausages at home!

Dana and Sandy of Der Pommeraner left the UK with one immediate contact interested in further business and a number of leads and new insights to help them target the UK market even more successfully.

To find out more about Der Pommeraner, visit their English website at http://www.der-pommeraner.de/index_e.php. If you are looking for new, quality sausage and meat related products for your business, give Dana a call at Der Pommeraner, +49(0)39998 318-0.

Related articles:
Two German companies visit the IFE
The taste of flowers.

Part of the VHP Lebensmittelwirtschaft 2010
Supported by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology
Project Management by Europartnerships Ltd
in cooperation with Milton Contact Ltd (UK)
And Come Across (DE)

Von Blythen, flower liqueurs, syrups and condiments to the UK

2011-04-13T17:37:00.003+01:00

From German delegates at the IFE

An unusual lifestyle addition to foods, Edible flowers and flower products by Martina Kabitzsch’s company Von Blythen (old German for from flowers) visited London and the IFE.

“Say it with flowers” takes on a whole new meaning when, in addition to appreciating their visual beauty and scent, you can also taste their delicate and often unusual flavours.

Ever since Martina Kabitzsch stumbled across an old recipe book that showed her how to produce a flower based liqueur, she has researched and expanded the use of flowers in food as part of an enriched lifestyle.

From founding Von Blythen in 2004, she has researched and developed flower based recipes, from liqueurs, syrups to preserves and condiments. Martina also runs courses and is an author in her own right, as a recognised expert in this area.

Von Blythen visited the UK and the International Food and Drink Exhibition (IFE) 2011 at Excel in March and I accompanied Martina to the first two meetings to provide language support if needed.

We did not have to worry as once Martina was in flow, she was able to get her message across with a smile. Our second meeting, at the German Pavillion in the IFE, was a revelation as I also had a chance to taste some of the different samples that she had brought along.

Quite often the flavours were delicate and not immediately apparent, then a subtle lingering taste would emerge, prolonging the flavour sensation of the particular food.

Mark Dodsworth took over the accompaniment for Von Blythen as I concentrated on our other company, Der Pommeraner, and I believe that Martina returned to Germany with a number of interested leads and ideas how to come back in the future.

Martina did leave me a signed copy of her book “Blütenmenüs”(“Flower menus”, currently still in German, but look out for an English edition in the near future).

Being a natural experimenter, I could not resist trying out some of the ideas with some of the edible Spring flowers emerging. Do note that not all flowers are edible, daffodils for example are not! Here are two useful links – edible flowers, flowers and plants to avoid.

Sugaring the small spring violets from the Garden did not really work – then again, I could not detect any scent on them. The big success was from the Magnolia tree in a neighbour’s garden.

Having gained permission to ravish the Magnolia tree of three or four flowers, I followed Martina’s instructions to detach and lightly paint the individual petals with eggwhite and then coat in caster sugar. The petals were left in a warm kitchen to dry for two days. About two thirds of the petals did go sugar crystal hard. Biting into the crisp petal released a perfumed flavour in the mouth.

Eating a single petal was a pleasant and repeatedly surprising experience, two at one go was too much. So over the next day, the stock of crystalised petals diminished one by one.

When our apple tree began to bloom, I thought I would try t make some apple flower syrup. This turned out a delicate shade of clear green and has a very subtle flavour, not of apple, indescribable, but definitely an improvement on a simple sugar syrup on its own.

For more information about flower derived products, Martina Kabitzsch and Von Blythen, visit http://www.manufaktur-von-blythen.de/blythen/index/

Related Articles:
Der Pommeraner
Two German Companies visit the IFE

Part of the VHP Lebensmittelwirtschaft 2010
Supported by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology
Project Management by Europartnerships Ltd
in cooperation with Milton Contact Ltd (UK)
And Come Across (DE)

Continuing evolution of QR code design

2011-04-09T00:16:00.001+01:00

In a previous article I described the first steps in learning about QR codes and starting to test their technical limits (Making QR codes more Human). The Japanese obviously have a head start on further creative applications, but it is still great to play.

Technically, the way to create a flexible QR code design is to ensure that there is sufficient contrast between the dark parts of the code and the light areas, and to leave a sufficient light border around it.

I have added a further three designs to the collection.

Design for a car magnet for Martin's Wine Club. Since this was a large item, I could include Martin's signature glass from the logo in the three large squares of the logo. You can see them if you go to the Martin's Wine Club Car Magnet image and enlarge the design.
Richard Wishart of Delivery Management has been a great proponent of QR Codes ever since I introduced him to Mirko Kisser of Celloon last year. Richard has been collecting examples of QR codes and I felt that his code could be enhanced by adding the eagle from his logo. My first attempt worked on screen but not in print. I was able to redress this by lightening the eagle's blue to ensure that there was sufficient contrast even on printed material.
New HBN Banner. When we at HBN discussed having new banners, there was almost unanimous consensus that one of the banners at least should include an HBN QR code! Whilst pondering about the design, I also wanted to reflect the cooperative nature of HBN. Incorporating individual company QR codes into the larger HBN QR code seemed an appropriate solution. It took some trial and error to ensure that the contrast within each small code was sufficient to be recognised and that yet when viewed from a distance, these individual codes were dark enough to fit into the large code and let it function. The final banner design with the QR codes within the QR code was a resounding success at the Wood Green Business Fair. It aroused curiosity and comment.

My friends and colleagues at HBN have taken to the QR code technology like ducks to water. In particular, Richard Wishart of Delivery Management has been promoting their use for logistics and tracking.

I will add any further novel designs of QR codes that I make over time.

A transforming Bedfordshire manufacturing SME

2011-03-12T22:20:00.000Z

British manufacturing can thrive when it provides specialist quality products like those of Bedfordshire company Siga Electronics. Its products can be found in equipment under the sea, in the air and even in space.

Gennaro Coppolaro of Polar Communications had invited me to do the on site photography as part of developing Siga's new website. With a broader interest in successful businesses, I was of course also curious about their products.

Siga specialises in producing coils in general and toroidal transformers in particular. Transformers are integral to almost all electrical equipment. Their function is to change one voltage to another, that can be higher or lower. Toroidal transformers, where the components involve wire coils around a doughnut shaped core, are beneficial as they avoid the creation of disruptive electrical fields during their operation.

Siga's strength lies in producing such transformers in sizes ranging from smaller than a matchstick head to tens of centimeters in diameter. They can be wrapped, varnished and waterproofed as well as fulfilling the client's functional specifications.

Whilst I ploughed through the diverse collection of Siga coils and transformers, I was continually surprised to find out where this one or that was going to be used.

The range could vary between hi-tech and lo-tech, such as the juxtaposition of the apparently simple carboard covered coil that was actually destined for a hospital X-ray machine; to the beatiful bowl with a faint circumferential winding that would end up in one of the many foghorns used around oil- and other platforms in distant seas.

Their final destination could also be either at the bottom of one of our oceans in an underwater ROV (remotely operated vehicle), flying through the air in a Chinook Helicopter, or in a probe traversing the immense reaches of interplanetary space.

British manufacturing SMEs like Siga Electronics are successful, even in the current harsh economic climate and, as my patient minder Peter reminded me at the end of the photographic day, provide products used in the depths of the oceans to the expanses of space.

Sunlight, daylight and finding the right lightbulb

2011-03-11T02:15:00.003Z

This article looks at the available sunlight and different types of artificial light, and how they differ. The aim is to give you an overiew to make a better choice for whatever light you need. Read it in conjunction with the slides above.

Sunlight and daylight on a sunny day. these provide that optimum light for most of us, whether to prevent SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), grow plants or for photography. Living in the UK (cloudy for two thirds of the time) or at night, we have a wide range of artificial lights that attempt to provide an acceptable alternative. And most of the time our light-bulbs, fluorescent tubes and even LED's are adequate. However, in certain situations, the type of light is critical. For me it is with photography, for others it may be whether they suffer depression in the dark winter months and want to try light therapy.

The way to understand the quality of the light we see, we can describe it in terms of colour, through the rainbow sequence of violet, blue, green, yellow, orange to red; If a light produces all colours in equal proportion, we see it as white. We can describe different white lights in terms of is a light more bluish or yellowish. To measure the colour of light more accurately, we can look at the amount of light produced over the full range of colours, in what is called the spectrum of light. Scientists measure the colour in wavelengths; visible light extends from violet at about 400nm (1/000 000 04 metres!) to red at 800nm. However, you can get a visual impression of how light spectra differ in the charts above.

Sunlight
Our ideal is to try and match sunlight. The sun produces an almost even spread of light from violet to red, with a tendency to produce more light towards the blue end of its spectrum. In fact, the spectrum of sunlight is similar to that of a black body heated to 5250 deg C - that fits, the sun is hot!

Incandescent Light Bulb
Until recently, the most familiar lightbulb was the incandescent light bulb. In it, a tungsten filament is heated until it glows. They typically reach temperatures of 2000 deg C to 3000 deg C (below the melting point of tungsten at 3422 deg C) The light has less blue and increasing amounts of yellow and red. Taking a photo without correction under such light gives a yellow cast to the picture. This can be corrected physically by using a blue or daylight filter, that cuts out some of the red and yellow light. For continuous lighting (in contrast to flash, see below), this is actually a very good solution with one proviso, that you can deal with the heat generated by the bulbs. More than 90% of the energy is used to produce heat!

Halogen Light
The smaller Halogen bulbs are a bit more efficient and the light is less yellow. However they work on the same principle (heating a tungsten wire) but in a halogen gas atmosphere. This means that they can be run hotter to give a whiter light. Most of the energy still goes to producing heat!

Compact Fluorescent
The main household replacement to the incandenscent light bulb is the compact fluorescent or energy saver bulb. They are much more energy efficient for the ss vapourto ame brightness, using only a third of the energy required by an incandescent bulb. They work by using electricity to make a gas glow. The glow is mainly in the ultraviolet, dangerous and invisible. So the inner parts of the tubes are coated with a phosphor. When the phosphor is lit by the UV light, it absorbs it and then emits the trapped energy as visible and safe light.

There is a benefit - and a snag with this process. The benefit is that by choosing a suitable phosphor, you can get a white light with your preferred tint (warmer yellow or daylight). The snag is that the light emitted is not in a continuous spectrum, but in a range of peaks. However, you can obtain daylight bulbs that work sufficiently well for photography and the eye. The reason is that the colour detection by the camera and that of the eye are based on observing Red Green and Blue light peaks (hence the use of the term RGB in photo-editing programs).

Special fluorescent tubes provide light at wavelengths that are optimal for plant growth, either in the Greenhouse or in the aquarium.

Light Emitting Diodes
A future growth area is the use of white LEDs (Light emitting diodes). These are actually blue LEDs that shine on a phosphor coat which then re-emits light at different colours. Most white LEDs emit light in two peaks, one at the blue end of the spectrum and the other wide peak around the yellow end of the spectrum. Again, for photography and a better match for our eyes, you need to establish that the white LED chosen actually gives sufficient peaks of red, green and blue light.
Sometimes this information is not easy to find!

Xenon Camera Flash
The last light source that is easily accessible, to photographers at least, is the Xenon flashlight. The light is created in a sudden discharge over a fraction of a second. It emits a continuous spectrum that mimics that of sunlight very well!

So what lights do I use as a photographer?
If I do not have any control, I still prefer sunlight as my light source. Next is light from incandescent bulbs, because the white balance setting in my camera can most effectively compensate for this. Fluorescent lighting is a nightmare as it can have colour tinges that the automatic colour settings on my camera do not correct for.

Where I can control lighting I use two different sources.

For continuous light, I use daylight compact fluorescent bulbs for photography. They do not generate as much heat as the old incandescent halogen bulbs.
Otherwise, I use Xenon flashlights as you can get cheap but reliable ones for manual operation , as slave flashes in addition to a branded one for your camera.

If you do not take light sources seriously, this can seriously impact on your photography, plant growing, aquariums or combating SAD!

This article gives you an introduction into different light types and their spectra, so that you can make more informed choices when looking for a suitable light, when daylight is not available!

What lights are you using? What lights do you need? Go and find out

Supporting the NRW Mission to London 2011, Green Building Services

2011-03-08T01:16:00.001Z

Last week was the culmination of considerable planning and logistics, when four green building services companies from Germany came to the UK for the NRW Mission to London, 2011. The trip included one to one business meetings through the European Enterprise Network, seminars, attendance at Ecobuild 2011, site visits and evening networking.

But how is a mission trip like this put together?

Miriam and Marie share a joke

The lynch-pin in this case was the Handelskammer (Trade Association) Duesseldorf, in the form of the highly engaged Marie-Theres Luetje. She was enabling a project by NRW International, who co-ordinate support for export from North Rhine-Westphalia, with the support of Ministry for Economic Affairs, Energy, Building, Housing and Transport of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

The tender for delivery was won by Europartnerships Ltd in the UK, whose director, Mark Dodsworth, has decades of experience with similar projects throughout Europe. He brought in a team of people to facilitate the various stages.

Miriam Palaschinski assisted Marie at the German end, to interest relevant companies in the program. Researchers such as Nick Thomas and Petra Riemenschneider conducted the research and found UK contacts. An administrative team including Nora Aguirre, helped Mark put the final plans in place.

I've worked with Mark as a partner on other projects, this time I was there to be on the ground in the UK as facilitator and interpreter between the German companies and the UK organisations we would meet.

In the Victoria Pub, Bayswater

The one factor that I particularly enjoy, even if it does make for much longer days, is the social networking that is integral to any Europartnerships program. When you visit a foreign country on business, it is easy to only see the insides of hotels and exhibitions. Mark makes sure that the evenings are spent in a relaxed atmosphere, such as the Victoria Pub in Bayswater included, with UK guests.
The success of such a mission would not be possible without the over two centuries or more of accumulated experience by all involved in assisting such missions!

Find out more about the mission by following the links below

NRW Mission Brochure at http://goo.gl/XbOOF

A project of NRW International.
Supported by the Ministry for Economic Affairs, Energy, Building, Housing and Transport of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Organised by Marie-Theres Luetje, Handwerkskammer Duesseldorf.
Realised by Mark Dodsworth & team, Europartnerships Ltd.

Retrofitting Existing Homes in the UK

2011-03-08T01:09:00.001Z

As facilitator with the NRW Mission to London, for green building service companies, we had the privilege of visiting two retrofit sites in London. These demonstrated the commitment to find out how existing old build could be made more energy efficient.

Retrofit in Peckham

The first site was a house in Peckham that was part of a local housing association's stock. We arrived to find the site in mid completion by experienced partners Greenstructures. Solar heating panels had been fitted and we could still see how th excess heat could be stored for later retrieval in halide heat sinks in the attic. Another heat store was buried under the now concreted over floor, with its underfloor heating. Polyurethane based insulation was being either applied internally (where the external facade had to be maintained) or internally.

This site was part of an increasing knowledge base on how to speed up effective retrofitting in the future. With 25 million properties in the UK needing to be adapted, This would be no mean feat to meet the government's own targets.

Low Carbon Zone, Southwark Council

The second site was the Southwark Council Low Carbon Zone, working with their architect partners from The-Facility. Here we learnt that often the challenge in more deprived areas is not just physical, but social too. Sceptical and suspicious residents have to be won over in a process that ultimately gives them empowerment and improvement of their environment. The target was to reduce carbon emissions by 20.12% by 2012 within the zone.

With 80% of the UKs properties being existing build, not tackling retrofitting now would make it impossible for the UK to meet its energy saving targets.

By tackling some of the oldest and most difficult stock and a variety of areas within the UK, the knowledge gained would speed up retrofitting existing stock in the future.

Find out more about the mission by following the links below

Personal Impressions: Ecobuild

2011-03-08T01:04:00.002Z

North Balcony, outside EEN meetings

Ecobuild 2011, with its move from Earls Court to Excel this year reminds me of a quote from the "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy":" Space is Big, really Big". That is certainly how Ecobuild 2011 felt, really big, with its East and West entrances served by separate stations on the Docklands Light Railway. However, I was there with some focus, accompanying two of the four green building services companies who were part of the German NRW Mission to London and Ecobuild.

With an excess of 1300 exhibitors, the North and South halls were packed with stands from the large multinationals to the small few square metre start-ups. There was not only variety but also duplication, as you might expect. As one architect commented to me, there were also over 100 thermal/solar panel providers as companies jumped into this market. Numerous meetings and seminars were held in the galleries located on the floor above the long sides of the halls.

Meetings at stands

Wandering through, from one location to another, the impression was of new technologies and materials whilst there were also demonstrations of using natural materials from straw, wood to compressed chalk as building matter. I was taken on the one hand by the natural stone available in multiple shades from quarries throughout the UK; and on the other by a demonstration of harvesting the energy of people's footfall.

Keywords that emerged were the "Passivhaus" standard and "Retrofit".
My pocket pedometer clocked up over 8000 steps (6km) on the day I was accompanying two German companies to their specific meetings. The saving grace was access to the VIP lounge upstairs for a seat and drink at various points during the day.

It is practically impossible to gather a full insight of everything at Ecobuild during your visit. So if you are thinking of coming to the next exhibition, I recommend searching through the exhibitors online and selecting highlights to visit in advance.

One thing I can say about the visit - It's worth it!

Find out more about the mission by following the links below

The People Leading the NRW Green Building Services Companies

2011-03-08T00:55:00.002Z

The best way to get to know a business is - through the people representing it! Here are my personal portraits of four green building services companies that I accompanied to Ecobuild and on site visits. I was working for Europartnerships, helping with the NRW Mission to London 2011.

Martin Boehm, Boehm Elektrobau

Martin is the third generation director of Boehm Elektrobau. The company specialises in all aspects of electrical and communication technologies. Modestly describing himself as "an Electrician", his strength is in smart control technologies. These are essential in both newbuild and old buildings that are retrofitted for low or zero energy consumption. Reference projects in Germany include Porsche and the Igus factory in Cologne.

Eberhard Juengst, JOS Cleaning North

Company owner Eberhard was the most ebullient of the group. He enthusiastically described the company's patented low pressure vortex cleaning system, for building and other surfaces, at every opportunity. The process has been used on Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey in the UK, because it cleans thoroughly without abrading surfaces. With 80% of UK properties requiring energy efficient retrofits, there will be a lot of external surface restoration to be done too. He claimed poor English but wasn't afraid to use it - and showed that he was a better speaker than he thought

Franz Noll, Fugunternehmen Noll

Franz frequently works in close partnership with Eberhard. Specialising in mortar and joint repairs, his company is also qualified to work in more hazardous areas such as gas and electric power stations. Quiet at first, the glint in his eye revealed an active sense of humour. We were both proud of the way the phrase "My company specialises in the restoration and renovation of historic buildings" tripped off his tongue during introductions. On site visits, his keen eye spotted the thermal and water bridges that were giving the retrofitter's grief.

Andreas Zawierucha, Natural Interior Decoration

Andreas' expertise is in the skin of buildings, both internal and external. Whilst insulation and energy efficiency are obvious factors, I was interested in learning about another environmentally friendly part of his portfolio. He provides interior coatings based on natural plant and mineral products. They provide a greener living environment with great aesthetics, also allowing the walls to breathe. Andreas exudes an air of calm competence that underlines his years of experience culminating to his present status as a certified expert for ecological paintwork.

Find out more about the mission by following the links below

NRW Green Building Services Companies on a Mission to London and Ecobuild 2011

2011-03-08T00:28:00.022Z

Four German companies came to London for several packed days of visits, meetings, seminars and fact-finding - about the tremendous opportunities in the green building sector.

If there is one overriding lesson that I took away from these hectic days, accompanying these companies, it was that whilst newbuild might be the obvious market for energy efficiency, it is the need to retrofit the 80% of old housing stock that will be the mainstay of this sector. The other thing I learnt was that the word "Retrofit" had entered the English vocabulary and was here to stay!

The four companies covered smart control technology for housing; renovation and restoration and the aesthetic, green interiors. you can find out more about the visitors here.
The program was in five parts:

Seminars and talks by experts resident in the UK, giving an overview of the sector.
One to one meetings with other European companies through the European Enterprise Network.
Visiting EcoBuild 2011 in general and talking to selected companies in particular.
Site visits to retrofit sites within London.
Networking meetings with European and UK delegates over evening meals.

It was a packed program of 18h days that provided participants with an overview of the green construction sector - and with useful contacts.

Want to know what they learnt and how it was achieved? Well I'm afraid you should have been part of the mission! However, the articles and their links below will give some insight.

Find out more about the mission by following the links below

Help Catch a Covent Garden Bagsnatcher

2011-03-04T20:37:00.003Z

An enjoyable last evening for our visitors to London before returning to Duesseldorf was ruined at a stroke when a bagsnatcher stole Miriam's bag. It contained cards, identity papers, mobile and other personal belongings. You can help!

Even just passing this message on could help find a link back to the thieves and remove one more piece of scum from our capital's streets. En masse, visitors to our shores spend £30bn here per year. However, I'm asking on Miriam's behalf, because we know how upset we would be in her situation.

We had a late lunch and chatted as a group of nine in Henry's Cafe Bar in Henrietta Street on Thursday 3rd March 2011. The group then moved on to a nearby pub, The Nag's head in Covent Garden. Miriam's bag was probably snatched in the evening when the pub was busy. If you are offered or find cards or German identity papers, personal items or anything else with the name Miriam P**********i, please, please send me the information at chris@miltoncontact.com.

One thief can affect hundreds of visitors directly and besmirch our reputation as news gets around. Doing nothing lets them get away with it!

Please contact me, at chris@miltoncontact.com, if you can help catch the scum who stole Miriam P**********i's bag and personal possessions.

Snowdrops - not just a pretty flower - Five facts

2011-02-20T18:21:00.002Z

The end of the barren winter months is heralded now by the arrival of Spring bulbs. Last weekend, the sunshine brought out the crowds to a fantastic display of over 240 Snowdrop varieties at Anglesey Abbey, part of the National Trust.

Here are my five Snowdrop facts:

Snowdrop species (Latin name Galanthus) are widespread throughout Europe and Asia. They most probably entered the British Isles in the 16th century and have become naturalised in many locations. The trade in wild snowdrop bulbs and plants is now restricted under the CITES convention, however, many different varieties are produced sustainably in the UK.
Snowdrop bulbs are poisonous if eaten. One of the active ingredients is galantamine, which is used in the treatment of early Alzheimer's and vascular dementia. It acts as an 'acetylcholinesterase inhibitor'. As these are thought to be important in brain function, galantamine is also used as a “brain enhancer” in brain damaged patients. A more unusual application, is its use to get “Lucid Dreams” or to help with “Out of Body Experiences”. I do not recommend trying it for either as the most likely experience will be your last dinner having a violent out of body experience back through your mouth!
Plants are brilliant chemical weapons specialists in their constant battle to avoid being eaten. Snowdrops produce Snowdrop lectin (also known as GNA = Galanthus nivalis agglutinin) which acts as an anti-feedant on insect pests. There is current research on introducing GNA into other plants in the hope that they will be more resistant to insects.
Snowdrops can come in varieties with a single flower and with double flowers. This does not mean two flowers, but twice the amount of petals (or more) in a single flower. This is best seen when you photograph the hanging flower from below (see slideshow). Usually Snowdrops have 3 large petals with three smaller petals in-between - these are the ones with the green marking. Inside the flower, you then have a circle of stamens (the male parts) and at the centre, the ovary (female part). In double flowers, the parts that would normally be stamens are present as smaller petals instead. Check it out in the photos; single flowers have stamens, double flowers do not!
We delight in seeing these early flowers. For them, it is a lifestyle to their advantage. By storing nutrients in a bulb the previous year, they can shoot up leaves and flower well before grasses swamp them or before the leaves of the trees above them cut out the vital sunshine. There is also less competition in attracting insects that are vital for pollination. Kew Gardens have monitored the first appearance of Snowdrops over many years. In the 1950s, they used to emerge at the end of February, since the 1990s, they have appeared in January, another indication of the UK's changing climate.

The Snowdrop; adaptable, medically important, a chemical weapons master and an early indicator of climate change. Not just a pretty flower then!

Green Light for Amber in Model Photoshoot

2011-02-16T23:56:00.000Z

I've just returned from a very enjoyable photoshoot at The Works studio in St Ives, Hunts.

Fashion Model Amber Tutton took centre stage on the infinity curve as the Milton Photographic Club descended for a session organised by Martyn Rayner of The Works.

If you want to practice photographing people, using a model is a great way to learn and well worth the fee. Why? Because they are not embarrassed by being in front of a camera and are willing to give you different poses, outfits and expressions within their specialty.

I certainly had great fun - trying different perspectives and asking for Surprise, Horror, Freezing and occasionally getting an unexpected laugh!

Vanilla Orange Chocolate Biscuits

2011-01-25T01:13:00.002Z

From Cakes

I've recently become addicted to home made biscuits. Especially mixed vanilla-orange and chocolate biscuits. They are quite easy to prepare, the difficulty lies in making them last!

Rub together (or use a blender) to create fine crumbs from:

250g plain flour
125g sugar
125g hard vegetable fat spread/butter
1/2 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 level teaspoon cream of tartar
(alternative to soda and tartar - use 1.5 level teaspoons baking powder)

add

an egg
freshly grated orange rind
a few drops of vanilla essence

Knead into a dough, it may be a bit soft at this stage.
Split the dough into two equal parts.
To one part add

20g Cocoa powder
15g sugar
teaspoon of milk

Knead until well combined.
If the dough is still sticky, chill for a couple of hours.

The two doughs can then be rolled out independently to create separate white and dark biscuits, by rolling out to about 5mm thickness on a floured surface and cutting out shapes.

Alternatively, combine blocks of the two together to create a multicoloured roll and slice off discs of about 5mm.

Place the cut out shapes or discs on a greased tray and bake for 7 to 10 minutes at 170 deg C, in a preheated oven.

The biscuits should have risen and become golden brown.

Take off the tray and allow to cool on a grid.

Then store the crisp biscuits in a tin.

Whenever you open the tin, the delicious scent of oranges and chocolate will tempt you to have a biscuit or two!

Ancient Egyptian alphabet game tiles using Open Source design software

2011-01-14T01:40:00.001Z

Louise hates word games but loves Ancient Egypt. So it seemed perfectly natural to invent a more interesting version of letters for word games using Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs!

This also allowed me to try out two Open Source design software programs, Inkscape and Scribus.

We decided to design word tiles that could be printed off and then used in a variety of word games and crosswords.

Louise provided the Egyptology expertise. There are single consonant hieroglyphs that approximate a large number of our consonants. Vowels were an issue as no one really knew how the Ancient Egyptians actually spoke. We had a, e and o possibles. There was no i or u. The consonants l, q, v and x were also missing. However, we could include SH, TH and CH as individual letters.

By making rules for substitutions or workarounds for the missing letters, we came up with a practical solution.

The actual hieroglyph tiles were then designed in the vector graphic software Inkscape. I became very familiar with the generation of shapes, the importance of nodes and vertices and how to manipulate them to create the necessary shapes.

The designs were then exported individually both as scalable vector graphics and png files.

The basic instructions with printable tiles in PDF form were then put together using the desktop publishing software Scribus.

We cut printed and cut out the tiles for our very first word game and had great fun with the challenge of adapting the available letters to our english words.

Join in the fun by downloading the PDF from
http://issuu.com/miltoncontact/docs/egyptian-crossword-tiles
and trying out these tiles in a game of your own!

Chris Thomas, design and implementation
Louise Thomas, Egyptology consultant and games tester

Designing the new Milton Village View Logo

2011-01-05T15:11:00.002Z

So how do you represent a village in 3 letters, in a small space of 207 x 80 pixels? That was the challenge of submitting a new logo for “Milton Village View” magazine. The old one that I had designed a couple of years ago was fine for print but did not reproduce well in a smaller web format.

It all started with pencil and paper. I prepared a couple of A4 sheets with lots of small boxes, in the ratio of 207 x 80. I roughly divided the sides into thirds (like a noughts and crosses grid) to give a structure to work with.

I had been asked to include the letters MVV, so now I started doodling. The angular letters gradually changed to curves in successive boxes. The letters M and both Vs seemed to work if at different sizes, as did making the M asymmetric. The underlying grid served as a guide.

Trying to add additional detail or images behind the letters proved a dead end. However, circles in the valleys of the letters did give the impression of three figures with their arms in the air.

The next step was to go to a design software. I chose to make a vector graphic – which could be scaled to any size. Normally I would use CorelDraw. This time I tried Inkscape, an open source (free) program.

The recreated crisp logo shapes could now be coloured digitally. Milton has a surprising number of bridges – in the country park, by the river and over the A14. The curves of the M hinted at them.

Blue below one arc could represent lakes and rivers; green under the other suggested the park and village green spaces. The final use of orange behind a circle reflected sunrise.

The end result was unforeseen. It had evolved through the design process. It only remained to create bitmap and PDF versions of the logo for the magazine editors.

Milton Village View appears several times a year with news round and about Milton and will soon be on the web at http://mvv.org.uk

I hope you like the design. What other Milton features do YOU see in the logo?

On integrating e-mail, blogs and websites

2010-12-29T12:30:00.001Z

I've just replied to a question to a facebook friend. They were asking about using separate e-mail addresses for business and linking these to their website. Rereading my reply, I realised that the information was of wider use to others just starting out! So here is the information I sent:

"Dear ........

Apologies for the late reply.

Your questions split into three parts which I will try to answer in the order of relevance (top down so to speak):

1. Website/webhosting

Domain name
It is worth having your own dedicated domain name. This become a unifying identifier for you and your business on the web. You can buy them from a variety of companies. I use 123-reg.co.uk for example. Cost for a .co.uk name is typically about £3 per year, for a .com about £10 a year. (you often have to pay for a minimum of 2 years).

This already allows you to specify your-emeail@yourdomain - with e-mails being forwarded directly on to your existing e-mail, often for free (because these are forwarding e-mails not true e-mail postboxes)

Hosting
To make your domainname effective, you need to have content that can be associated with it. This requires webspace. Hosting is when you pay the company from whom you purchased your domain name to give you space on the web where you can host material. Typically your website.

By choosing a good provider, you often get a set of free e-mail accounts that you can then use, so you can set up address e-mail-01@yourdomain, e-mail-02@yourdomain etc . . Each is accessed through a separate name and password and are often accessible as webmail too.

Cost can start as low as £2.50 per month for 20GB of hosting space (again I have used 123-reg.co.uk, but do shop around)

2. Linking your blog(s) to your domain
The main problem with websites is continually maintaining and updating their content. This is where your blog can actually be very useful.

You can use a blog as your website. Rather than allowing the free provider to host your blog with their identifier in the name, you specify that the blog should be stored on your hosting under your domain name (see point 1 above). This can be done in the blog settings.

I have several blogs going under Google's blogger, so, depending who you have set up your blog with, you should be able to do the same if need be. Effectively you would be creating a separate website for each core activity. These should all be hostable under your domain if you purchase domain and hosting as in 1. above. Alternatively you could have three separate hostings under different domain names,

3. Separate E-Mails for different activites
I have answered your original first question re different e-mail accounts briefly in points 1 & 2 above.

Yes you can set up different e-mail accounts :-) If you did not want to go down the route of purchasing hosting space, you could buy just the individual e-mail accounts, each at about £1 per month with a domain name included.

Your idea of having separate e-mails for each activity is actually very good. This way you can identify where most of your communication comes from and monitor the activities separately.

What is important - ability to measure effectiveness
Whatever route you go down, it is important to have a measure of how effective your different routes to communication and income are. Webhosting companies provide accessible stats. Alternatively you can link blogs and websites to either google analytics or yahoo analytics for recording such information.

Summary

I think it is a good idea to have your own domain name or names and to have space provided by a host for your web information under your domain name(s).
Your blog(s) could be used as live websites, hosted under your domain name.
Having separate e-mails for different activities is a good practice (even if I do not currently follow it myself :-) )
Make sure that whatever you do, you can measure it. The web is great for this.

Again apologies for not replying sooner! I hope that this helps.

If it still seems a bit confusing, feel free to contact me for a meeting in the new year over a cup of tea/coffee.

Best wishes and a Happy New Year!

Chris"

Snow business: facts and opportunities

2010-12-23T02:23:00.003Z

From Snow in Milton 2

There is going to be an incredible blame game once the snow has cleared, with an economic impact of £28bn for 2010. So I'm not going to join in. Instead here are some suggestions on how you can make the best of the snow disruption.

Can you or your staff not get to work? Perhaps the work can still get to you. Forget snow clouds and think internet cloud. Individuals and small businesses can use Dropbox to share folders securely at different locations. Larger companies can set up their own cloud based systems.

Consider making it easier for people to get to you. This starts with clearing snow and ice from the access and path to your premises. Snow shovels are available for under £20 (see e-bay here http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_nkw=snow+shovel). Cleared paths actually thaw and dry out quicker. To keep the path safe, consider gritting. Salt grit will work down to ground temperatures of about -9 degrees Celsius at around £5 per 20kg bag. An environmentally friendly alternative is to use sand/grit. For those with a large business and big pockets - splash out on a winter service vehicle!

Customers still unwilling to come to you? Can you provide a special "bad-weather service delivery" to them? Even in towns and cities, there are the elderly or others who have been housebound due to the snow for up to a fortnight this year. Often cars or vans can still gain access. Even if it seems like a loss leader at the time, view it as a promotional exercise. People WILL remember those who made an effort and it could even generate positive publicity for you.

Increase your vehicle mobility in snow in one of three different ways;

using snow chains on tyres;
using winter tyres;
or by using snow socks on the drive wheels.

Snow chains work by acting as giant treads on the tyres. Winter tyres have softer rubber at lower temperature and a larger tread, giving better traction on snow and ice. The recently introduced snow socks rely on the fact that snow sticks to certain fabrics ensuring grip.
Keep yourself and your staff safer and mobile on snow and ice with special footwear. Methods include studs, grit-like soles or special treads. The stud solution also comes as units that you can fix to existing shoes or boots (see here for all options http://www.non-slip-ice-grips.co.uk/).

A simple short term stopgap is to wearg old socks over shoes to avoid slipping on snow. This has been demonstrated to work by the University of Otago, New Zealand!

So here's an idea for a future entrepreneur. Disposable non-slip overshoes. I remember from science clean room work that we had elasticated disposable paper overshoes. These could, for example, be made from the same fabric used for the tyre socks mentioned above, or with a similar gripping material.

Interesting facts and figures on snow for your customers

Inform and cheer up your customers with the following miscellany. Feel free to copy, format and brand under your own company letterhead or logo and distribute in print or digitally. My only request is that you
a. Share this information free
b. Include a credit at the bottom - "collated by www.miltoncontact.co.uk"

Four books featuring snow:

Peter Hoeg "Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow"
"Wintersmith" by Terry Pratchett
"The Box of Delights" by John Masefield
"Ice Station Zebra" Alistair Maclean

On Road Salt

Road grit contains mined rock salt (sea salt is too fine). More than half of all mined salt goes to treat road surfaces worldwide. Highly concentrated salt solutions can withstand freezing down to -27 degrees Centrigrade but spreading salt only melts snow and ice at temperatures above -9 degrees Celsius. From" The Idiots' Guide to Highways Maintenance"
http://www.highwaysmaintenance.com/salt.htm
And "Why do they use salt to melt ice on the road in the winter?"
http://www.sciencebase.com/science-blog/salt-lowers-freezing-point-of-water.html

Get a Grip

Your vehicle's grip in snow can be improved by using one of the below:

Snow chains: http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4895427_do-snow-chains-work_.html
Winter tyres: http://www.racerchicks.com/qa/auto_tires.html
Tyre socks: http://www.autosock.co.uk/

Footwear with additional grip in snow and ice
http://www.non-slip-ice-grips.co.uk/

Winter Service Vehicles

Originally, winter snow was compacted to provide a smooth surface for sleds over bumpy ground in winter! The earliest patents for snowplows date back to 1840, but there are no records of their actual use until 1862, when the city of Milwaukee began operating horse-drawn carts fitted with snowplows. Modern Winter Service Vehicles include the gritter, snow blower, snow groomer snow melter, snowplow, snow sweeper and surface friction tester.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_service_vehicle

The Science and Beauty of Snow

The largest recorded snowflake was 15" (38cm) across and found on Jan 28th 1887 Fort Keough, Montana
(http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_big_was_the_biggest_snowflake_in_the_world)

Snow crystals are mostly six sided, though three sided and twelve sided forms can exist

Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley (1865 - 1931) photographed more than 5000 idividual snow crystals during his lifetime (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson_Bentley). The tradition lives on in "Snowflakes", by scientist Kenneth Libbrecht. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/jan/07/snow-flakes-science)

Different types of snow crystal form depending on temperature and humidity.
"We see that thin plates and stars grow around -2 C (28 F), while columns and slender needles appear near -5 C (23 F). Plates and stars again form near -15 C (5 F), and a combination of plates and columns are made around -30 C (-22 F)."
http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/primer/primer.htm

The Japanese scientist Ukichiro Nakaya was the first to grow snow crystals in the laboratory when he accidently discovered that they grew best at the end of a rabbit hair!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukichiro_Nakaya.

Electric tweet shows power of social marketing

2010-11-22T12:46:00.003Z

From Wordle-images

How an electric tweet showed me the power of social networks!

I needed to my laptop and projector PAT tested for a presentation. The venue, a school, made this a requirement for the use of any equipment. I had only till the end of the week to get this done and was wondering how to proceed.

My first action was to send out a tweet:
"I need my Projector to be PAT tested in /nr Cambridge before next weekend. Any suggestions plse e-mail chris@miltoncontact.com #in Thanks!"

Within one minute, yes one minute, I had an e-mail from Kelly Anstee, recommending Liam Clift, Cambridge PAT Testing.

I visited Liam, who was actually having a day off, who expertly and quickly conducted thorough PAT tests on my equipment and issued the necessary labels.

Naturally we also had a chat and found other interests in common. For example, the presentation was going to be at the Cambridge Open Studios EGM. Liam, turns out to be an art collector with his own collection and gallery exhibiting contemporary art from around the world. He had some vibrant pieces from brazil on display.

My eye drifted to his book collection, to find we had a very similar taste in the quality Science Fiction authors, from Arthur C Clarke to Peter Hamilton.

I left Liam with not only my equipment but with another book to read and another insight to the multifacetted nature of businesses in our area.

If you need electrical testing done in the Cambridge UK area, you can contact Liam Clift on 07709432805, liam.clift@hotmail.co.uk.
Kelly Anstee is a helpful accountant at http://www.tyrrellandcompany.co.uk/

Hair raising book to leaf through online

2010-11-20T22:02:00.002Z

I blame my wife! She came home with the comment " Someone sent a digital document to us today at work that you could leaf through like a book on screen. I though it might be an idea for you". Not just for me - HBN members might like to give it a try!

Open publication - Free publishing - More photograph

Cue detailed internet search, which finally hit gold when I found http://www.issuu.com. It is the equivalent of You Tube, but for publishers of books, magazines and catalogues.

You design your document in Word or as a PDF
Upload the document to Issuu
They convert it and store the document online
You can make the document public or privat
Embed the document to your site, blog and Facebook
You can e-mail a link to contacts
Specify whether visitors can download a PDF or not.

I prepared the photobook above that evening to test out the system and was impressed!
Below is a book version of the brochure I made for the German delegation mentioned in an earlier blog article.

Open publication - Free publishing - More nrw

If you have or are preparing a new brochure, book or catalogue - consider creating a Issuu version. Registration for the basic service is free - check it out at http://www.issuu.com.

Using the LCD screen of your monitor or laptop for photography with polarised light

2010-11-19T00:26:00.003Z

I was stunned. Duncan flipped open his netbook, placed a plastic set square on it and held a polarisation filter in between screen and eye and voila! Technicolour against a black background!

The Milton Photographic Club had a ball for the rest of the evening with plastic cutlery, cups and petri dishes.

It is so obvious an effect that photographers have rediscovered the fact that LCD provide polarised light and used it for the fantastic colour effects over the past years. Here's one good reference.

This doesn't take away the delight at having a go as you can see from the slideshow above. Here's the challenge though, try finding other subjects than set squares.

The method is simple:

Open a blank document on your laptop to get a white screen.
Place a polarising filter on your camera (I taped a square of polarising plastic to the front of mine)
Hold a plastic object in front of the white screen and observe the colour effects

Rotating the filter on the camera changes the appearance of brightness of the screen, from white through to black, depending on orientation.

Note: we had laptops where the screen could be folded almost horizontal, so you lay subjects on the screen. TAKE CARE if you do this! I will not accept responsibility for broken screens.

If you want a coloured background

find a sheet of thin plastic, like cling film or large transparent plastic bags.
place over the LCD screen - its worth playing with layers at slightly different angles
Check the colours through a polarising filter
Rotate the orientation of the plastic and/or the filter to get a desired coloured background.
Then place your subject on top of that and try photographing

Where do I get a cheap polarising filter from?

Your camera supplier will certainly offer one for your camera lens for midrange and SLR cameras that can take screw or clip on filters
Or look for polarising sheets, 5cm x 5cm are standard sizes, available for £5 to £10 and affix temporarily with blutack or tape
Extract a lens from polarising sunglasses and use
Use one of the lenses from your Real3D glasses from your last 3D cinema visit.

NOTE: with the Real3D lenses, it matters which face faces the screen. Try looking through at an LCD screen whilst rotating the lens. If the LCD screen turns black, OK. If not, flip the lens and look from through the other side, it should now turn the screen black when rotated.

Go and play! I promise you, the colours can be gorgeous.

Hereford Town Hall, a photographic tour

2010-11-18T01:46:00.005Z

Slightly at the edge of the historic centre of the City of Hereford stands the New Town Hall, completed in 1906. Civic pride and necessity had led to its design and it was built within a remarkably short 6 years.

I was attracted by the imposing façade. On impulse I went in to ask whether I could come in and photograph the Assembly Room and Council Chamber.

The warm and open yes by Cathy, the receptionist on duty (“It's a public building, though you would have to come when the rooms are not in use”) actually caught me off guard.

The Council Chamber was empty that afternoon, so I came back with camera and tripod. Climbing the curved main stairs, with the warm late Victorian tiling and the semicircular stained glass light above, I found the chamber located right at the top.

I was planning where to set the camera when a surprise visitor came in. The Right Worshipful The Mayor of Hereford, Councillor Anna Toon had dropped by. When asked about the correct form of address, she laughed and said “It's Madam Mayor”. She then took the time to tell me more about the history adorning the Council Chamber.

Whilst the Mayor was not in her ceremonial robes, she was wearing her badge of office on the mayoral chain. The individual links all depict some aspect or connection with the city – have a look at how many you can identify in the photo. Amongst others you can find agricultural and military links.

Back on my own with the room, I spent a couple of hours taking pictures.

Having just accompanied a delegation of Restoration specialists, it was the detail found in different parts of the room that spoke of the pride and attention to quality. From the fine wood carving, via the precisely moulded stucco to the stained glass.

The next day I returned to photograph the Assembly Room. Here the space and the architecture itself were the main features. The Virtues in Stained Glass were obvious subjects but it took my wife to notice the subtler details in the designs below. Look at the three small roses in the different panes.

Three hats and robes discarded on a table added a human touch to the room.

If Stained glass keeps cropping up in this article, it is because there is a resonance with earlier articles about eight of the stained glass windows of Hereford Cathedral. Some of the key ones were installed at the same time as the glass in the Town Hall.

Of course there is more history to the building and the Mayorality of Hereford. You can find it all in the leaflets at the reception in Hereford Town Hall.

Whilst you are there, you might as well have a look around the building for your self.

Can German Craftsmen give UK's Heritage a facelift?

2010-11-16T00:00:00.006Z

When the London hotel your delegation is going to stay at suffers a fire a couple of days before a trip, it's unfortunate. When their arrival coincides with a 24h tube strike, you might think fate was conspiring against you! Instead we had an unflappable group of heritage and conservation experts, who took changes in their stride and actually arrived early for their event.

I was the facilitator for the group of 14 artisans from North Rhine Westphalia and beyond in Germany. The trip had been organised by Marie-Theres Luetje of the Handwerkskammer in Duesseldorf and was supported by NRW International. My colleague Mark Dodsworth of Europartnerships Ltd had coordinated the planning of talks, trips and meetings in the UK. Our London base were the meeting rooms and library of the hospitable Canning House of No2, Belgrave Square.

The companies were here for an intensive two day program, to learn how conservation and restoration work was done in the UK. They also wanted to know how craftsman were chosen for projects and whether there were opportunities for them in the UK. (Companies taking part and the program of events here).

The delegates had come with the impression that there was a tremendous latitude for poor workmanship in an unregulated market in the UK. In contrast to Germany, where there is a formal structure of apprentices, journeymen and Masters in the crafts. Did reality match the preconceptions? Here are some of my impressions

Britain's heritage is regulated, for example by the listing of buildings or parts of buildings. We learnt how one architects firm proceeded with documentation and restoration on the prestigious Regent's Street; from facades to recovering Art Deco interiors.

We had the privelege of a guided tour of Wimpole Hall with the House's resident expert and East of Englands key National Trust officers. There was loving attention to detail, with a balance between using traditional materials and techniques where possible and appropriate modern substitutes where necessary.

A visit to an end-of-terrace Victorian interior renovation clearly showed three things.

Determined architects could find the best of British craftsmanship and
Modern features could be sympathetically introduced to the highest standard whilst retaining the Victorian character of the property.
The lady of the house could have a floor to ceiling designer shoe cupboard

As the delegates lost their reserve and expert questions crept in, the buzz of conversation rose during the two days. At times the interest was so intense that keeping to the tight schedule was like herding cats.

Three lessons emerged from the visit

A high standard of craftsmanship was demanded and could be delivered in the UK
There was a definite interest in and need for the skills of the visiting German craftsmen
Architects and trusts looked for companies that could deliver the standards required.

Time and again, it emerged that, in the absence of a regulated training framework, it took a lot of effort to find trusted quality craftsmen. Once such companies are identified they become preferred providers. We met German craftsmen and architects who had successfully transferred to the UK

So what is the way forward for the German companies?

The craftsmen need a detailed portfolio demonstrating their skills. Existing UK experience helps!
The texts must be in English
The craftsmen need to be proactive in making key organisations aware of their skills

As those who know my belief in the benefit of companies collaborating for mutual benefit will guess, there are two further personal recommendations:

Either find an existing craftsman or company in the UK in an area complementary to yours and see if you can work together, and/or
Team up with other German craftsmen with different skills to be a stronger, larger group seeking to enter the UK market, with a range of services.

Quekex 2010 - at the National History Museum

2010-11-03T00:14:00.001Z

After the long tunnel from South Kensington tube station, you emerge into the light to see the glory of the Natural History Museum (NHM) - and the queues to the entrance! So we continued along Exhibition Rd to use the Geological Museum Entrance and walked straight in.

The minerals and rocks. The glittering jewels in the displays. The moon rock embedded in its transparent glass pyramid. These set the tone for what struck me at the Quekex; the Annual Exhibition of the Quekett Microscopical Club.

To get there we emerged fom the fossils of the Geological museum into a part of the NHMs bird display. Past the glittering feathers of hummingbirds, and the haughty gaze of the Dodo. We then turned right into the Quekex.

The Quekett horn was sounded. It pre-dates the glorious Victorian NHM, with its Dinosaur hall overlooked by the bearded Darwin. Milling around, bumping into old friends, here was also a chance to peer down microscopes and even take pictures.

Primed by the Geological Museum, I was attracted to the Allende Meteorite sample in Dennis Fullwood's display. The occasional glowing crystal in crossed polars as iridescent as opal.

The apparently grey ash from the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano was a contrasting sample brought by Pam Hamer. Under crossed polars it revealed a scattering of glowing crystals amongst the remaining debris. It all looked so harmless now. Yet its abrasive nature to planes travelling at high speed had grounded flights in Europe at the peak of the volcano's activity.

Maurice Moss was showing slimemoulds, of which I have fond memories as a student. We had to keep one alive in a Petri dish. Unfortunately mine died when I overfed it on a cornflake. During their reproductive phase they produce fruiting bodies. Those of Physarum virescens reminded me of the Globular aggregates of mordenite, seen earlier in a basalt cavity.

What was particularly good about Maurice's exhibit was showing his copy of the book by Arthur Lister. It had the stunning illustrations of exactly the same slime mould fruiting bodies. These were drawn by his daughter and co-author, Guilema Lister, at the beginning of the 20th Century.

At the end of the day it was out through the grand front door of the NHM, under the watchful eye of a carved Pterodactyl gazing down from one of the window bays.

The Gypsy and Country Craft Fair in Milton Country Park

2010-10-27T22:41:00.000+01:00

Good news about Gypsies and Romanies gathering on private land in Milton! In Black and White (and colour too) on the Cambridge Evening News website. That was the satisfying outcome of last weekend's event at Milton Country Park. Because this was Candy Sheriden's second big event, the Gypsy and Country Crafts Fair.

I took my camera along on Sunday under a glorious blue sky and amongst the autumnal trees of Milton Country Park.

There was a small group of women chatting near Phoebe's cake stand but I couldn't quite build up the courage to start snapping away. Till one turned around and said, "Come on then, take a picture!" She held up a cake and mimed eating it to general laughter. The ice was broken as we tried different poses and even dragged in unsuspecting passers-by.

Walking on, there were stalls and people that I remembered from last June's event. People were generally friendly and positive. I recognised some of the glorious 70s chrome caravans and the flying silver lady on the bonnet of the old Bedford van. Childrens clothes in intricate needlework and incredible miniature tweed suits. The story teller in fancy dress and an impressive beard. The one sad omission was Bill Goodyear and his caravan. He had passed away since the June fair

As I ate my Gloucester Old Spot hot dog (fantastic taste!), I noticed something else. There were a lot of conversations going on. Men with a glass in their hand. Women exchanging news.

Meeting up with Candy, she explained why. This was the last gathering before the winter for families across the UK. A last chance to meet with friends and family, to catch up with what had gone on in the weeks before. The next meeting would not be till May next year.

I'm also looking forward to a similar event next year. Hopefully in the warmer summer months, rather than the biting October wind!

As a photographer and local person, I'd like to see:
Building on the high upmarket and traditional standard set by the June event. With the attractive caravans, vehicles,crafts and horses at the centre again. The open, friendly atmosphere.

What I'd hope to be absent:
Red and white plastic tape fencing off areas (good rope would look better). Plastic netting around stalls. These ruin any chance of a good wide-angle photograph! They distract from the quality goods on sale.

To have one successful event can be a matter of luck. To have two, shows vision and competence by the organisers and Milton Country Park. I'm curious what the next event will be like!

Teeth"R"Us at the BDTA Dental Showcase and photos along the Thames.

2010-10-16T03:02:00.007+01:00

Women shrouded on chairs with a rictus grin, exposing their blue lined teeth. Cabinets filled with gleaming sharp instruments and pliers. Was this the torture chamber of the London Dungeon? No, I was walking past stands at the BDTA Dental Showcase 2010 in the ExCel, London!

I had made my way there to meet up with Ulrich Heker of Teeth"R"Us. Ulrich is an expert in precision dental attachments and was showing his expertise at D21a. It was good to come and see him, not only as a former participant with a German delegation to Glasgow in 2009, but as a friend through working together.

Ulrich had seen a need to train UK dentists in the art of German high quality precision dental work. We worked together and wrote articles for The Technologist and other dental magazines. You can find the electronic versions here.

His stand was already very busy. Both Ulrich and Christian Eis, a dentist partner, were talking to interested visitors. So I picked up some leaflets and wandered around the show to find other possible partners for Ulrich and Christian.

The BDTA was a fascinating show. You could find everything, from a new type of toothbrush to the complete dental laboratory. The ladies in shrouds were willing volunteers for tooth whitening. Hydrogen peroxide is the agent used to bleach the teeth and can be applied in a variety of ways. At the other end of the hall was a glass dental laboratory where new methods were being shown. The audience could look in from three sides, with a screen giving added information.

One of the ironies of the show was the ubiquitous use of sweets and chocolates to entice visitors to the stands. Either that, or it was a clever ploy to increase business in the longer term. The definite disappointment was the overpriced ciabatta with its limp salad at the cafe in the arena.

After making some successful new contacts and finding the stand still in full swing, I took a walk out of the show.

The bridge across the crane-lined Royal Victoria dock was in the fligh path of London City airport. This was a good site for photos of the jets and turbo-jet planes flying overhead. I then made my way to Barrier Park by the river, to catch a full view of the spectacular Thames Barrier. It was officially opened in 1984 to protect London from exceptional high tides and weather conditions that could threaten to flood London. In the 1980s it was closed four times, and in the 1990s, 35 times. Perhaps it is an sign of global warming that in the first decade of this century, it has been closed 75 times already.

The Docklands Light Railway swept in a futuristic curve overhead. So I took the lift up at Pontoon Dock station to catch a train to the next stop. My hope was to get a clear picture of the 02 Arena, which I remembered from the Millenium show. I found the East India Dock nature reserve after a further walk and took my photos from there. Slightly stained by age, the dome was still a spectacular sight.

The city high rise buildings glinted quite close in the West but my time and the light were running out. So it was back to meet up with Ulrich and party. They had had a steady stream of visitors and also identified more interest by dental magazines, plus possible opportunities with training institutions.

Now, at the end of a long day, it was top marks to Ulrich for finding a good food pub (The Fox) a short walk from the West entrance of Excel! Having been generously treated to a meal, I sadly had to leave. Catching the late train back to Cambridge, I arrived home at last, shortly before midnight.

This was a positive day out, for business and photography.

Have you visited any great exhibitions and locations recently?

Mandarin capped, stuffed roast apple halves

2010-10-11T20:11:00.001+01:00

From Cakes

Here is a quick solution if you want to avoid singing your sultana stuffing in roast apple halves. Cap them with mandarin or similar small orange shells!

With our small apple tree still full of cookers, there was an opportunity to quickly roast some apple halves for dessert. I halved the apple and cored it. The sultanas to be used as stuffing were a bit dry. So I cut a mandarin in half and squeezed the juice of each half into the sultana filling. This was followed with a drizzling of golden syrup over the top of the apples. On a whim, I then placed the squeezed mandarin shells as caps on top. Finally I added a drop of water to the dish in which the apples were standing.

Forty minutes at 220 degC later, the boggle apple-eyed face had cooked to perfection. Underneath the mandarin caps (which were not for eating), the sultanas had plumped up and softened. Even better, they had not charred on top as they often do.

Served with custard, these roasted apples made a great end to a Sunday dinner.

If Galileo were alive today

2010-10-05T01:22:00.002+01:00

One night in 1610, Galileo Galilei pointed his 30x telescope at Jupiter and over the coming nights observed that three small stars moved around the planet - they were in fact it's moons. (He discovered the fourth moon later).It's a simple pleasure that anyone with binoculars can recreate, especially as Jupiter is currently bright in the early evening sky.

Tonight I put my camcorder on the tripod and had a go.

The Panasonic SDR-80 has an amazing 70 x zoom. I'd hoped to capture Jupiter as a brighter star and was amazed when I could also see the four moons in a line. Obviously, you can get a much better image with a large reflector telescope! However, my images were probably better than those seen by Galileo back in 1610.

It just made me think, what would Galileo have achieved if he'd been alive today?

Tips for Berlin

2010-10-01T16:25:00.003+01:00

For those of us in Cambridgeshire, Stansted is a great gateway to the city of Berlin.

I usually stay in the suburb of Fichtenhain. This is in the former East and while it still looks a bit run down and is also full with students, it has does have three advantages.

There are a number of small but good hotels. This September business trip I stayed at the "Hotel 26", on the Grünberger Strasse; clean rooms, free wifi and an excellent breakfast.
It is a great place to eat out at a reasonable price. Many of the eateries are along or near the Simon-Dach Strasse, and provide a range of food from Italian, Thai to Indian and Portuguese.
Oh yes, the nearby Warshauer Strasse S-Bahn Station gives you quick access to the rest of Berlin for your meetings!

Other hotels that I've stayed at in the past include the "Pension Bismark" in Charlottenburg and the "Riverside Hotel", only 400 yards from the Museums Insel.

Travelling around is easy using the S-Bahn (tramway) and U-Bahn (Underground). A good bet is to get a "Tageskarte" (day ticket) for only €6.10 that lets you travel the central AB tarif zone. This covers the wider Berlin area, though not as far as the airport.

There are ticket machines at most stations but note that they do not take €20 notes, the smallest banknote I get when buying Euros at the UK Post Office. It also took me a couple of trips to get used to the idea that you bought your ticket and then went to a pillar on the platform to have it stamped BEFORE getting on the tram, tube or bus.

Whenever I travel to Berlin on business, I always make sure that I have at least a couple of free hours on one day. There are museums, great buildings and many sights to see. A good place to start is the east of Berlin, where you can see the bust of Nefertiti, visit the Dom and view the city from the top of the Fersehturm within one square kilometer.

This time I used the time to visit the small palace of Charlottenburg with its French style gardens. Nearby I found another gem, the Museum Berggruen which has a fascinating collection of art by Matisse, Picasso and Klee. If you only have time in the evening and are near the Reichstag, go in and walk up the spiral, inside the lit Norman Foster dome. Last entry is at 22:00h you may still have to queue for a while!

The time will come to return to either Tegel or Schoenefeld Airport, depending on your airline. Both the train and the S-Bahn stop at the station several hunderd yards from the terminal of Schoenefeld Airport, which is reached by a covered curved walkway. If you take the tube to Rüdow then catch the bus that takes you directly to the terminal doors.

Schoenefeld Airport is still being expanded as the old buildings are far too small for the traffic going through. Warning - do not go through the security gates too early as once you are on the other side, it is cramped with little seating room and narrow corridors!

I always have the pleasure of knowing that at some point there will be another chance to visit Berlin in the future. I hope that you get a chance to visit it too!

What are your favourite cities?

Ideas tasting with Matisse, Picasso and Klee at the Museum Berggruen

2010-09-27T00:50:00.006+01:00

From Wordle-images

The "Ideas Taster" is the adviser to the dwarf's Low King in Terry Pratchett's Discworld. And ideas tasting is the best description of what a good museum visit should be. I felt I was tasting ideas as I wandered around the Museum Berggruen.

The museum is a stone's throw from the pretty little Schloss Charlottenburg in Berlin. Inside is a collection of three main artists; Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso and Paul Klee. The personal collection had been built by Heinz Berggruen. He was an art dealer and a friend of the artists.

Wandering around the radial galleries, I was struck by the many portraits. There were not only the differences between the artists, each artist showed great variety in their own styles.

The Picasso collection showed that he was constantly learning from other artist's ideas. For example, his friendship with Braques resulted in cubist images. There was a clear influence of African art in his studies of faces. I was amazed by the wide variety of styles that Picasso used. This was so different from the schoolboy perception of artists using each new style, one after the other.

They were all technically proficient artists. You could however see from the finish of many of the pictures, that the idea was more important than the finish. Often works were done on irregular pieces of paper. On a study for a poster by Matisse, some of the collage pieces were wrinkled after being glued on.

What did come through was the sense of humour and play. This is very apparent with two of Klee's pictures. First, The Lover (der Verliebte). Here the bubble head of the lover contains the image of the lady of his desire. Second, the sealed lady (Versiegelte Dame). The red seal on her lips draws the eye. The head is made of "simple" curves, but you immediately get the artists pun.

My favourite picture? Dora Maas with green finger nails (Dora Maas aux ongles verts) by Picasso.

So what lessons did I learn from my visit?

Be an "ideas taster"
Play with new ideas
At first, worry less about technique.

Is there an exhibition or an artist whose work you really learnt something from?

A visit to the City of Five Towers, Halle (Saale) and its Marktkirche

2010-09-26T00:55:00.002+01:00

Third time lucky! The ethereal sound of Bach's Fantasy and Fugue in D-minor echoed around the Marktkirche in Halle Saale as I entered. The music was played on the Reichel Organ, the very instrument that Georg Friederich Händel had learnt to play on.

Halle is known as the City of Five Towers. The Marktkirche has four towers as a result of its replacing two churches that had stood on the site over 450 years ago. Nearby is the red bell tower, the "Rote Turm" from 1506. Together these five towers dominate the city centre market place under the stern gaze of Händel, the city's famous son.

The inside of this late gothic church was a surprise. It breathes light and space, yet the amount of decoration is unusual for a protestant church. The church was first built as a catholic bastion against the new protestants. It was still incomplete when the latter took over in 1541. Luckily they kept to the original vision!

There are two organs, the larger being at the back of the nave. The smaller organ by Reichel that Händel played on is above the altar. Tuned for 17th century music, it is well suited to the works of the old masters.

The pulpit seemed extravagent to me! However, it's baroque elements did not put off the preachers!

I liked the south and north walls of the aisles which are decorated in white floral scrolls on blue. I noticed that on one area near the entrance, faces and animals have been coloured in.

Situated south of Berlin and not far from Leipzig, Halle used to be famous for it's salt. The city's emblem is a salt crystal over a crescent salt pan. The emblem is very like that of Portsmouth FC! Halle's famous son Händel was invited over to England when his employer, George, the elector of Hannover, became King George I of Great Britain.

All too soon, my colleague, Syvia Schmidt of Come Across, had to drag me back to reality. The pleasure of the visit set the tone for a positive meeting with companies that afternoon.

What sights have you enjoyed on your trips?

Israeli football building many bridges between cultures

2010-09-23T08:11:00.003+01:00

From Wordle-images

I met with the organisors of an Arab-Jewish girls football team over breakfast this morning!

I talked to Amnon Shenk from the municipality of Jerusalem, who support this venture and Nihad Masarw, who has long experience of organising similar trips.

As we were chatting, the 17 strong team of relaxed 17 and 18 year olds gradually emerged from their beauty sleep and came to breakfast. The hubbub of friendly conversation gradually rose in the room.

The team are here as part of a 30yr long sports exchange between Jerusalem and Berlin.

Even better, one of the teams they are playing is a mixed German team of Turkish and German cultural backgrounds.

This is a fantastic idea, working on crossing cultural and historical differences on so many levels; Jewish & Arabic within Israel, Germany and Israel, Germans of Turkish and German cultural backgrounds.

The return visit to Jerusalem will be by a basketball team later in the year.

The first football game is on Saturday. I wish them Good Luck!

A chance conversation on cutting edge DNA sequencing

2010-09-22T23:10:00.003+01:00

© istock photo Chitra Tatachar

I exchanged a glance and a smile with an urbane looking fellow traveller. We had just ruefully joined yet another RyanAir queue for our flight!
We started talking and I was delighted to have a reminder of my scientific past.

Jack Peart works for Illumina. The products are state of the art DNA sequencers with particular relevance to green biotech, i.e. plants. This brought back vivid memories of my time as as a scientist in the plant field.

I remembered the awe and delight at being able to sequence a few hundred bases of DNA after months of work in the 1980's. By the 1990s we could work with tens of samples over a week or two. Of course, by the noughties, the technology had advanced to screen hundreds of sequences.

The age of genome sequencing was well and truly there - I still remember receiving and holding the first CD with the very first whole plant genome. Then it was a marvel that others had achieved after decades of work.

I was used to sequencing using gels of finely pored material that separated molecules by size. Our results were first made visible using radioactivity. Later, safer fluorescent dyes were introduced, banishing the Geiger counters from the lab.

As Jack briefed me whilst we were in the queue, DNA sequencing is very different now. Billions of different DNA fragments are bound to solid supports and sequenced simultaneously. The future proves to be even more amazing; there is the potential of reading single strands of DNA base by base as they pass through microscopic pores.

Surely, it will not be long before one company or set of researchers win the second Archon X prize. The prize is for sequencing 100 human genomes within 10 days at a very high accuracy.

What recent advances in technology have amazed you?

How to make your blog more readable

2010-09-21T02:05:00.004+01:00

I was browsing Linkedin and reading recent blogs. Suddenly, I came across one that was almost unintelligible! I had great difficulty in understanding it. Jargon, long and twisted sentences hid the real message. I actually stopped reading before reaching the end of the article.

This prompted me to ask; how readable are MY articles?

Well, you can probably read them quite well – if you are a university graduate! The readability index of my previous blog articles is in the 30s. This is on a scale of 0 to 100, where higher scores are more easily understood. In fact, I was more Harvard Law Review (score 30) than Readers Digest (scores 65% plus)!

A review of other blogs showed a wide variation in readability. As might be expected from a blogging expert, Anne Hawkins’ blog scored well. So did HBN’s Ruth Ekblom.

However, few had achieved the dizzying quality of today’s successful book writers. J K Rowling, John Grisham, and my favourite Terry Pratchett achieve a readability score of 60 plus. People with a grade 7 reading level (equivalent to 11 – 13 year olds) can easily read their gripping books.

So how can we improve our blog writing? By:

Writing in shorter, clearer sentences
Avoiding jargon
Striving for high readability at a simpler reading level

It requires effort, but there is a tool to help you; the online readability checker at http://www.read-able.com. You copy and paste your blog text into it and the checker then calculates the:

Flesch-Kincaid Readability Score (change your text to achieve scores above 60)
Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level (aim for a reading level of 7 or 8)

Microsoft Word also includes a readability check. It is hidden in the proofing set-up of the spelling and grammar tools and you may have to turn it on.

Readability statistics are not the complete answer. Ensure you are getting your message across!
So have a go. Make your next blog a readable one!

(This article has a readability score of 63 to 73. It is understandable at grade 7!)

BBC Radio Cambridgeshire out in Huntingdon

2010-09-15T14:02:00.002+01:00

If you went out in Huntingdon today, you bewared of a big surprise! As several of the blushing and giggling ladies around the market place found when Elvis followed and serenaded them as they walked by.

Elvis also metamorphosed into Amy Winehouse, a feature so shocking that I averted my camera to protect the lens. Yes, BBC Radio Cambridgeshire had hit the town and the shy but musical Johnny D was on the prowl for the Andie Harper Show!

I had braved the A14, passing one horrendous accident on the other carriageway on this ostensibly key European highway that is in dire need of improvement, on the suggest of the shows persuasive producer, Mark Williamson.

The objective was to talk positively about the town’s and Huntingdonshire’s businesses positively during a short interview, in my capacity as Chairerson of HBN (the Huntingdonshire Business Network).

Oh Facebook, you have a lot to answer for, for there was an instant flash of recognition from Andie as I rounded the corner into the bustling market square in the glorious sunshine.

When you have listened to the show for over a year almost every weekday and been part of the active Facebook friend group, it was a double pleasure to not only be recognised, but also made to feel that this really was part of a community.

Andie waved me in like a friendly boxer inviting a novice to the ring and, with a microphone in my face, the interview began. I presume I was coherent (I’ll have to check on i-player), but I do remember actually stemming my verbal diarrhoea sufficiently so that Andie could ask several questions – a big improvement on my previous interviews.

Importantly, we did get to emphasise the importance of the region’s business community and the help organisations such as HBN can give to small and micro businesses. BBC Radio Cambridgeshire has been doing a sterling job of talking to local businesses not just in the two main cities but also in the region’s market towns.

Adrenaline rush over, there was time to relax, take pictures and (enjoyably) join in the impromptu singing with Johnny - where I couldn’t decide to go for the castrato or deep base voice so merrily mixed between the two.

I also plucked up the courage to talk to the inestimable and seductively voiced Carol Carman, who coquettishly flirted with the camera holding the giant clock that kept the program and presenters to time.

A steady stream of visitors came, many old friends of the show, to have a chat with the presenters and sight-see the road show bus. A beautiful rescued racing dog was there to be petted as it stared at the activity through patient and soulful eyes.

The penalty of having been a scientist is that you have an ever constant curiosity as to how things work. Andy (not Andie) at the control desk in the bus gave me a brief introduction and reminded me of the practical realities of the speed of light (and therefore radio waves).

The signal from the bus was sent via a satellite dish on the bus, at a shallow angle just scraping over the encroaching buildings, to a satellite situated somewhere over Brazil. The signal was then bounced back to the BBC Cambridgeshire centre in Cambridge, a round trip of probably 70,000 miles. Consequently, with the additional electronic signal processing, the program was broadcast with a one second delay.

It was also a pleasure to see that the BBC was looking to nurture future talent by supporting Warwick University based Anna with some real work experience. Anna spoke of the real benefit of learning what was involved to run a radio show.

If you are a business person, be aware that publically owned broadcasters like the BBC cannot advertise. However, if you can make a valid and useful contribution from time to time due to your professional experience, this is really valued.

Therefore, whatever your situation, I thoroughly recommend anyone finding a local radio show, such as Radio Cambridgeshire and getting involved with their community, because ultimately it is your community too.

An ultra-deep Apple pie for sharing when you have too many apples

2010-09-12T21:56:00.010+01:00

From Cakes

A poor Summer but great apple yields this year from the three small trees in our garden, leading to a glut. Time to bake a cake!
We have an 8 inch (20cm) diameter baking tin with a removable base, about 3" deep giving an unrivalled opportunity to use as much apple as possible.

Recipe:
Weigh out 500g plain flour into a mixing bowl and add:

250g sugar
250g margarine and chop into sugar & flour
1 teaspoon baking soda, 2 teaspoons Cream of Tartar (makes 3 teaspoons of baking powder)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
3 eggs

Knead mixture into a dough (best with a mixer & dough hooks) and roll into a ball
Chill in Fridge for about 20 minutes to make more manageable (actually, I'm often too impatient for this)

Divide ball of dough into three equal parts
Roll out ball to cover base of a 8 inch (20cm ) diameter baking tin. One with a removable base and sides that unclip would be ideal
Roll out the 2nd ball into a long sausage that will reach around the inside wall of the baking tin, spread to cover whole inside walls, joining the base at the bottom and making sure it reaches the brim of the baking tin.
Peel, core and slice apples and fill up the cake tin in layers, adding sugar in between layers to sweeten. I also added some hand-picked blackberries. Continue to the brim.
Roll out the last ball of dough into a lid and place on top of the tin, pinching together the top and the sides all around the brim to seal the pie.
Pierce some holes in the pastry lid.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius for an hour.
Test with a skewer (from the top) to see if the apples are fully cooked (i.e. soft). If there is still the resistance of uncooked apple, turn down the oven to about 160 deg C and continue, checking every so often till the centre is done.
Leave for a couple of hours to cool.
Good luck with removing the pie intact from the cake tin, I was fortunate!

Slicing into the pie, mine disintegrated into lumps of sweet pastry and juicy apple junks that were delicious when crowned with a ball or two of ice-cream.

Definitely a cake/pie for sharing - there was enough, not only for our family but several of the neighbours too.

Getting the FACS right in business communication

2010-09-08T14:39:00.001+01:00

From Wordle-images

Zombies networking might have been the first impression of the unsuspecting visitor to the Hills Road Clydesdale bank meeting room last night. But no, the hideous gurning figures greeting each other were actually breaking the tension at Aaron Garner's presentation to the JCI Cambridge, "People watching, what are you missing?".
For Aaron is a certified FACS coder, someone who analyses facial expressions to determine what people are really feeling when in conversation. FACS stands for Facial Action Coding System, a system developed by decades of research by Ekman and colleagues and actually had its origins with no less than Charles Darwin's "Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals".
Tension relieved, Aaron had us working in small groups to find out what the key facial elements were for seven emotions. Flashes of happiness, sneers of contempt, jaw dropping surprise, nose wrinkling disgust, wide eyed fear, pouting sadness and teeth clenching anger rippled across the faces around the room ; Oh to have had the video camera there!
Our new found knowledge was then put to the test to see if we could identify micro-expressions, those very faint involuntary movements that reveal if there is a conflict between the verbal message and the thoughts behind it.
It was a revelation and a relief to find that we could in most instances identify little "tells". What we might have perceived as a gut reaction in a conversation could now be seen as based on these facial micro-expressions as well as other factors such as body language and changes in overall speaking style.
In the vast majority of instances, we are people with a set of beliefs and empathies that are reflected in our expressions, whether micro or macro. The exceptions are those who truly have no empathy and moral framework, such as psychopaths!
But how is this relevant to business? The reality is, that with the increase in technological options, the people we meet and deal with remain incredibly important. For many of us in small businesses, we ARE the business. By taking a conscious approach to our people watching in meetings with businesses, clients and partners, we can improve our communication, identifying hidden problems early as well as recognising the positive aspects of our relationships.
This was truly an eye-opening event, in more ways than one! If you get the opportunity to attend a talk by a FACS coder such as Aaron, I thoroughly recommend going along. Also look out for the JCI Cambridge which has risen like a phoenix and is providing interesting and cost effective events in the Cambridge Area.

Eight stained glass windows from Hereford Cathedral in High resolution

2010-09-02T22:43:00.005+01:00

Eight of the stained glass windows in Hereford Cathedral are made available as high resolution images that can be downloaded by those interested in this art form.

The windows are listed in roughly chronological order here as they appear in the miltoncontact picasa web album, which can be accessed through the sideshow above.

Fragments of 14th century medieval and modern glass in the south wall of the nave.
East Window of the Lady Chapel, designed by Nockalls Johnson Cottingham in 1852 and made by made by C A Gibbs of London.
North Transept, design John Hardman of Birmingham1864.
South Transept, by Charles Eamer Kempe in 1895.
West Window, made by Clayton & Bell 1902, Commissioned by the women of Herfordshire to commemorate Queen Victoria in 1902.
South aisle of the nave – in memory of Frances Leigh, window by Powell 1910.
South aisle of the nave – King Charles I granting a Charter for the city of Hereford, 1920 by Powells of Whitefriars.
Audley Chapel – Traherne Windows, by Tom Denny, 2007.

The eight windows are described individually and in detail in separate articles, links below

Some initial references:

British stained glass 1811-1918: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stained_glass_-_British_glass,_1811-1918
Medieval stained glass: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_stained_glass
Hereford Cathedral: Stained glass (ISBN 978-0-7117-4491-2)

Some Medieval Stained Glass in Hereford Cathedral

2010-09-02T22:43:00.004+01:00

The window above the entrance to the shop in Hereford Cathedral contains fragments of 14th century glass with two modern panels above. The slideshow above shows the sections of the window described below.

The top centre light contains a shield “or, five chevronels azure” (a gold shield with five blue chevrons). There is a reference to this description for John Denew, gentlemen of Cantebury.

Challenge: can you throw more light on this shield?

The next right light depicts Mary, the left light shows David with his harp.

The lower right two lights are below another shield “gules, three ducal coronets, two and one or divided by either a bezant or dish or” (red shield with three golden ducal crowns separated either by a disk or a plate). “Gules, three coronets or” alone is associated with the diocese of Ely. The disk adds uncertainty.

Challenge: can you throw more light on this shield?

The far right panel contains fragments resolving in part into a sky of sun, moon and stars which the Hereford Cathedral stained glass booklet describes as from the dream of Joseph. The booklet also indicates that the centre right panel shows Joseph being lowered into the pit.

The lower two left panels are fragments which tantalisingly hint at figures, windows and text. Above them is another shield, “gules, a stag trippant or” (red shield with a walking stag in gold) which is associated with the Davison family, who have Scottish origins.

(http://www.elizabethan.org/heraldry/blazons3.html
http://www.heraldry.ws/html/davison.html
http://www.clandavidson.org.uk/heraldry/Rev%20108%20H_Origins%201.pdf)

Challenge: what are the links between this shield and Hereford?

By the 14th century, the old form of making soda glass had been replaced with “wood glass”, potash rich glass made by using wood ash during the glass manufacture.

Whilst English glass was being produced in the Weald during the 14th century, it was generally of lower quality and most of the quality glass came from the continent.

The main method of manufacture was by blowing tubes of glass, up to 3m in length, cutting off the top and bottom, slitting the tube and rolling it out into a sheet.

Various minerals added to glass manufacture create the colours, however, these are often very dense. Clear glass was therefore “flashed” with a thin layer of coloured glass.

The period also saw the introduction of silver salts that could be painted onto the glass before firing again, to give a controlled range of detail in shades from gold to orange.

Detail, such as facial features, was painted in iron and similar oxides that gave a black line in firing.

Medieval glass was not the smooth flat clear product we use in our windows – a fact that is precisely the reason for the luminosity and sparkle of medieval glass. During the stained glass revival of the 19th century, glass manufactures realised this and learnt to recreate the manufacturing processes and effects.

Eight stained glass windows in Hereford Cathedral are described individually and in detail in separate articles, links below

The following articles are of interest if you want more information.

history of glass: http://www.glassonline.com/infoserv/history.html
Medieval stained glass: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_stained_glass
glass painting techniques through the ages: http://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/glasspaint/glasspaint.htm
The medieval glass industry
http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/cbaresrep/pdf/040/04011001.pdf
Also see Hereford Cathedral: Stained glass (ISBN 978-0-7117-4491-2)

1852 Lady Chapel window dedicated to John Merewether; stained glass of Hereford Cathedral

2010-09-02T22:42:00.001+01:00

The Lady Chapel of Hereford Cathedral has five lights making up the East Window, as can be seen in the slideshow above. They depict the life of Jesus, starting with Mary as a child through to the last supper. Whilst they have a strong vertical element, the story runs from left to right across the lights, from bottom to top. Here is my tentative interpretation:

Row 1: Mary with her mother Anne; Mary’s betrothal to Joseph(?); spirit of god enters Maria; Wedding of Joseph & Mary?; Jesus & Mary in stable.
Row 2: Angels appear to the shepherds; 3 Kings and guiding star, visiting King Herod; Kings pay homage to Mary & Jesus; Jesus baby; Jesus, Mary & Joseph flee on a donkey.
Row 3: Killing the firstborn sons; Jesus as a boy with the teachers at the temple; Jesus baptised by John the Baptist; Jesus being tempted by the devil; Turning water into wine?
Row 4: Jesus and his disciples; feeding of the 5000; Walking on water; Jesus preaching to the children; Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.
Row 5: Washing Jesus’ feet at last supper.

The dedication at the bottom of the window reads:

In Memoriam Johannes Merewether sacre theologie professoris ecclesie herefordens decani Quo strenuo fautore huits Sacre aedis res(tit) Peliciter et inchoata obiit pridie donas Aprilis anno domini millesimo Octingenges quidouages Nockalls I Cottingham arch fecit AD 1852

Dean John Merewether initiated the restoration of Hereford Cathedral by the Cottinghams in 1841.

Nockalls Johnson Cottingham (1823-1854) was an architect son of the renowned pioneer of the study of medieval gothic architecture, Lews Nockalls Cottingham (1787 – 13 October 1847), who also worked on the restoration of Hereford Cathedral http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Nockalls_Cottingham; http://www.vauxhallcivicsociety.org.uk/home/history/lewis-nockalls-cottingham.

I could find little further information on Nockalls Johnson Cottingham, other than a reference to his death on the shipwreck of the SS Arctic, on its way to New York. An account of the shipwreck is here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Arctic

The window was made by C A Gibbs of London, based in Marylebone Road, London. There is a tantalizing bit of information about the company at the following site:
http://www.sussexparishchurches.org/content/view/330/40
Also see: Hereford Cathedral: Stained glass (ISBN 978-0-7117-4491-2)

Eight stained glass windows in Hereford Cathedral are described individually and in detail in separate articles, links below

1864 North Transept window dedicated to Lane Freer; stained glass of Hereford Cathedral

2010-09-02T22:41:00.001+01:00

The North Transept stained glass window in Hereford Cathedral is made of six main lights, as seen in the slideshow above. It is divided into two halves, with the Church Militant (living Christians striving towards their faith) on the left and the Church Triumphant (those who are in Heaven) on the right (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_militant_and_church_triumphant)

The main image of the Church Triumphant, extending across three lights, is either Jesus or God seated in the house of god with his feet on the World, surrounded by angels.

The minor scenes (all one light wide) appear to be the saints being welcomed to heaven by the angels. This conclusion is based on the fact that all the figures have halos, which were reserved in medieval art (and therefore by inference during the medieval/gothic revival of the 19th Century) for saints – see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_(religious_iconography)#In_Christian_art

The main image of the Church Militant, again extending across three lights, is Jesus surrounded 12 figures, presumably the disciples.

The minor scenes are different tableaus of which Christ on the cross is the most obvious. Others tentatively identified from bottom to top may be: A baptism in the river; the Sermon on the Mount; Jesus after being taken off the cross; Jesus cleansing Mary Magdalene; Jesus abating the storm; the stoning of St Stephen

Challenge: can you identify the remaining scenes correctly?

There are six faces in the small rosettes above the main lights and the Holy Spirit is depicted in the top central part of the window.

The North Transept window at Hereford Cathedral was designed by Hardman and Co around 1864. Hardman and Co, also John Hardman Trading Co., became one of the world’s leading manufacturers of stained glass and ecclesiastical fittings.

The company had a close association with A. W. Pugin, who, with John Ruskin and The Oxford movement, defined gothic as the accepted style for churches.

More information can be found here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardman_%26_Co.

The window was dedicated to Archdeacon Lane Freer and cost the princely sum of £1200 at the time. Other references: Hereford Cathedral Stained Glass, ISBN 978-0-7117-4491-2, 25pages with numerous illustrations. Available from the Cathedral shop.

Eight stained glass windows in Hereford Cathedral are described individually and in detail in separate articles, links below

1895 South transept window dedicated to George Herbert; stained glass of Hereford Cathedral

2010-09-02T22:40:00.001+01:00

The great stained glass window in the South transept of Hereford Cathedral represents the text from Te Deum Laudamus “The glorious company of the apostles praise thee”, according to Hereford Cathedral: Stained glass (ISBN 978-0-7117-4491-2.

The saints shown are, from top to bottom, left to right:

Saints Benedictus, Bonifacius, Thomas Hereford, Ethelbertu Rex, David Meneui, Dobritius,
Saints Augustinus Cant., Gregorius, Augustinus doctor, Creadda,
Saints Ionatius, Polycarp, Ambrosius, Iohannes Chrys, Hieronimo, Athanasius 12?

There are rows of shields above and below the pictures of the saints of which two are probably the Bishopric of Ely (Gules three Ducal Coronets two and one Or, ie. A red shield with three gold ducal crowns) and the Bishopric of Hereford (Gules three Leopards’ Faces reversed jessant-de-Lis two and one Or, ie red shield with three upside down leopard’s heads on fleur-de-lis in gold).

The gold shield with five blue chevrons can also be seen in the top part of the window above the Cathedral shop.

The shield divided blue and red vertically, with three lions, is similar to that of Sir William (de) HERBERT "1st" Earl of Pembroke, knighted by Henry VI in 1449 (http://keithblayney.com/Blayney/Herbert_Einion.html).

Challenge: Can you identify the other shields!

In the bottom left hand corner is a roundel with three wheat sheaves, the mark of the window’s maker, Charles Eamer Kempe. http://homepage.ntlworld.com/peter.fairweather/docs/Kempe_mainpage.htm.

He had initially trained under Clayton and Bell who later manufactured another stained glass window in Hereford Cathedral, the West window.

The South Transept window is dated to 1895, by which time Kempe had set up his own studios and workshops, after being disappointed with the quality of other companies, and had relocated to 28 Nottingham Place in Central London. Kempe had a distinctive style that grew in popularity in the late 19th Century. The window is dedicated to George Herbert, who was dean of Hereford Cathedral for 27 years.

Eight stained glass windows in Hereford Cathedral are described individually and in detail in separate articles, links below