Helping their clients shine!

We love openness and trust, but where does that fit in your mind with digital advertising. It doesn’t, right? Think again!

John Were, CEO and Founder of Xelsion Media is working on changing that impression. He is a bit of an enigma. He operates in what can be described as the dog eat world of digital advertising, *but*, he believes that this industry can be opened up with transparency and trust to bring true value. John is not the type to take the limelight, he works very hard to ensure his clients receive it by partnering with them to innovate. All of this is done with trust and transparency.

John Were – XelsionMedia

At the heart of everything is people, they choose what they like; what resonates with them, their values, their perception. At Xelsion Media, they know that people are the difference between campaigns which create value and those that can destroy reputation. Which would you rather? Best see how John can help, then!

You don’t need to take our word for it Mimi Anderson, Marketing Manager, Immediate Media, has great things to say! “Thank you for all the help you have given us over the course of this launch (plus my crash course in AdWords and FB advertising). It’s been a pleasure to work with you and will most definitely keep you and Xelsion in mind for any upcoming projects. I have loved your reporting so please pass on my thanks to Richard and Cat for putting them together each week. Your hard work and expertise was very much appreciated and I enjoyed our moans over FB ads not being approved!”

We love the fact that John enjoys sharing knowledge and sees that it is the best way to learn: share more; learn more. The path he is on, is not easy. Digital advertising doesn’t have the best reputation, John on the other hand, does!

John is a gracious man who take the time to listen, learning as much as he can and freely shares his knowledge when he feels it will be valuable to you. We hope you get to meet him and have the benefit of his precious experience. He works with the brightest and best in the industry, helping them shine, helping their clients shine.

If you don’t know him, follow him on Twitter @XelsionMedia and tell him we sent you. Or you could check out the Xelsion Blog to benefit from their knowledge sharing

Give yourself an opportunity to be surprised and wrong

Have you ever experienced the bitter–sweet feeling of being proved wrong?

When I first saw that Emma Watson had been chosen by the UN to be the UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassador, and was releasing HeforShe Campaign at the 69th United Nations General Assembly in New York. I thought, Why her? She is only a girl… how old is she? Has she experienced enough to represent all the women in the world? I wouldn’t waste my time watching her speech…but for some reason, this stayed in my mind during the week.

Emma Watson in New York, UN Photo/MarkGarten

I’ve never watched any of the Harry Potter movies, they’ve never particularly called my attention. But I am aware of how big they are around the world and how many fans they have. Its funny when someone gets famous when they’re still a child, it seems that they will never grow. What I didn’t realise though, was that unintentionally I had transferred the same lack of interest I had for Harry Potter, to Emma Watson, and two days after her speech, while reading the news I saw this headline: “Her Voice Might Tremble, But Emma Watson’s Message Is Strong And Clear”. That caught my attention, now I had to watch it! And I am glad to say that on the first two minutes of the video I enjoyed the bitter–sweet feeling of being proved wrong.

Emma Watson is shown to be a strong young woman. She proved (to people like me) that is not what makes her a celebrity that gives her the ownership to talk about difficult subjects; it is what she has in common with each one of us. It was her life experience; it was her friend’s experiences and the impetuous to see a change in our society. Suffering and inequality don’t reach only adults and people from developing countries.

Funny enough, while I was writing this blog, another headline popped in my screen. Victoria Beckham is announced as UNAIDS goodwill ambassador (during the same UN General Assembly in New York) and will “work towards ensuring that all children are born free from HIV”. I always thought she was a woman of few words, but it was good to see used the right ones!

We’ve all had times that we’ve had to speak out for someone, or at least in situations that we wished we could have done it. All of that makes me think if I am ready to put myself in a vulnerable position of defending others?

Take a moment to think about your childhood heroes… were they from comic books? From TV? What about our teenage heroes… Pop stars, Fashion designers, Sports personalities… and our lifetime heroes… our parents, teachers, our lectures… I could keep listing them all, but the point is, they weren’t perfect. Even heroes have human struggles

We have our own little audience, a little stage and an imaginary microphone that is waiting for us to speak out loud that we always believed that had to be heard. It can be at the dinner table among our family, or at work during a weekly staff meeting. Wherever it is, what is it that you want to talk about? No matter how old or powerful you are, you don’t need to be nominated to do good. Be prepared, in season and out of season, there is no set time to do good.

If you don’t know who this “Harry Potter girl” is, have a look at the video below and take your own conclusions. Emma Watson talking about the HeforShe UN campaign, a solidarity movement for gender equality. http://youtu.be/gkjW9PZBRfk

I don’t know if I will ever watch Harry Potter, but I will give time to Emma Watson again.

Analice Mina Collyer

@AnaliceMina

What are you missing?

Spending so much time in London, I am surrounded by people, but mostly, I don’t get to know any of them unless I have arranged to specifically meet them. Is this a missed opportunity? James Eder of the beans group has answered this question by setting up @FriendlyFriday.

In London it is hard to start a conversation with a random stranger. It tends to mark you out as a tourist or a bit strange. Sometimes though, a well-placed question because of a mis-heard announcement or a flippant comment can open up a relationship that may surprise you.

I have had another great week, meeting amazing people. These were not random, I was recommended to meet them by amazing people, the luxury of Tech Talkfest! Listen to those around you, are you missing out on meeting great people?

I met Tom Butterworth, who is helping great start-ups with funding at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). He focusses on giving great service to all his customers, the main value of SVB, big or small, they treat you well. He was explaining to me how the traditional banking sector doesn’t understand this amazing technical explosion we are seeing so doesn’t lend money to these businesses. He has a passion for helping out those that can’t get funding through the traditional SME business channels.

Simon Wax at Buzzacotts is working hard to help those in the technical world understand what has been made available by the government to make the UK a country of Innovation. He really enjoys working with creative people and helping them grow their business with all his expertise. Some people just don’t like numbers, Simon helps them by taking away that pain, providing them with the tools to maximise their finances and strengthen their business.

The Gherkin

I had the pleasure and fortune to meet Oliver Werneyer, from Swiss Re, at the top of the Gherkin, what a view!! He is not someone who I would have bumped into in my normal activities. But because of the great connections of our members and partners, I got to meet him at one of the best places in London. We marvelled at the view and how higgledy piggled London is. It made my week!

So what are we missing? Sometimes we need to take a look at the bigger picture. Take a view from high up and look down. Are we doing the things that engage us, grow us, challenge us? Who do we not meet because we are looking down and keeping busy?

I am not suggesting that you start randomly talking to strangers on the tube, the looks of disapproval may put you off. But how about you chat with someone in the queue for coffee or lunch? Alternatively, ask someone at work to introduce you to someone interesting, once you have chatted with them, ask them the same question. You never know where it may lead……..

Have a great weekend!

 

Inside the world of innovation

I’m not sure any of us could think of a better place to spend our working play days than inside the world of innovation and all the wonders it yields. Innovation; it conjures up the ideas of; simple, smart, effective. It’s the sense of pride of having created something better for them, for you, for me.

Well we met the SVP of Nielsen Innovation Practice at Nielsen and she is most definitely someone worth knowing.  Ladies and gentlemen, meet the lovely Ramona Liberoff. We can’t say it better than Felix Velarde, CEO of Underwired: “Ramona is superbly bright, witty company, and brimming with infectious enthusiasm. Her understanding of digital and clarity of thought and vision are exceptional. Seek Ramona out.”

Ramona doesn’t like being labelled, but if she had to, she would say she is a corporate agitator. You can hear her views about innovation and how you need to get to know people. It is definitely worth taking the 5 minutes.

Ramona Liberoff from de facto films on Vimeo.

Ramona is not one to sit still, someone who does triathlons for fun probably can’t. She is a very busy lady but she does make time to help those that need her special expertise and I know how much that has impacted those that have come into contact with her, if you watched the video, you will see her passion for uncovering potential in others to make them the best they can be.

Here at Tech Talkfest we do love meeting interesting people, so if you do want to catch Ramona, you will find her on a panel at Developing Front-Line and Senior Leaders to be Change Agents – Challenges and Solutions on 15th October.

We love Ramona’s enthusiasm and people innovation, helping one person at a time. It is powerful stuff and what an impact it makes!

Hoping you have had and continue to have a productive day!

Who do you serve?

Some people serve their god, some people serve their family, some serve shareholders, there are many people you can serve. Who are you in service to?

As the Curator of a distinguished network, Tech Talkfest, I am in service to my members. On my travels meeting so many amazing, interesting people, I take the opportunity to help them where I can too, most often, by connecting them to another amazing person who has the right knowledge. What happens when you meet someone who takes advantage of your joy to serve?

In my post about generosity, I commented about how lucky I am to be surrounded by such generous people at Tech Talkfest. In my personal life, my family and friends seem to default to generosity. I see this as people grouping together around their values. We all like to be a member of a likeminded group of people. It affirms what we think about the world when others think the same.

#joytoserve

At what point do you decide that you are being taken advantage of and move on? What happens when a group you feel part of no longer aligns with your values or beliefs, or takes advantage of your better nature? I tend to do the nuclear option and walk away, after a lot of soul searching about it being the right decision. I don’t have any profound answers, but if you have learned some great ways to serve without being exploited, then please tweet #joytoserve some of your wise words.

Zoe and I were chatting last week and we were taking stock of what we are building with Tech Talkfest. We are now at the point where it has ‘a life of its own’, if that makes sense. By bringing together these amazing, generous people, this group is now serving each other. By serving each other, they are creating benefit for those they serve, but in extension, those they serve, pass it on and so on. To be in the centre of this, looking out, I can see a long way. The chain of generosity and service cannot be broken because it has so many threads going in all directions.

This is in no small part because of the members we have, I feel delighted to know them and feel their support for what we are all shaping.

How do you integrate?

A manager of mine used to ask the interview question: when you join a new team, how do you build your credibility? I use it to this day. If the answer is, “ask questions about the person in the team and find out how you can help them”, I know I have the right person.

As Tech Talkfest grows and the ‘team’ of members gets larger, the question may well be “when you meet a group for the first time, how do you integrate yourself?” This is a question most people can answer but they are often on the lookout for better ways to do it.

Lewin Chan – Chief Architect at Adaptris

Lewin Chan, Chief Architect at Adaptris Ltd, approaches software integration in the same way. Although Lewin is what we would understand as deeply technical, because of the solutions he provides, he needs to understand the challenges of the businesses that his clients run and therefore needs to get the best from people. This begins with the question, how can I help you achieve the outcome you want?

He manages these outcomes, often under time pressures. In the words of Bill Pugsley: “Lewin made a significant contribution to the re-engineering of the core product suite that our business offered to our clients. Working closely with our Technical Director he met the onerous timescales that I unreasonably demanded!

He posts regularly in his blog: Specialising Generalist, Integration isn’t always easy but it’s never hard, discussing integration in ways that people can understand. If you want a simple explanation of software integration, you can start here – What is integration? 😉 His blog posts on other topics are just as informative.

On a very basic level, integration is getting 2 different systems to talk to each other. How is this not like 2 people meeting for the first time, but speaking different languages. What do you do, as perhaps a native French speaker meeting a native Japanese speaker? How do you integrate yourself? You try and find common ground, on the simplest level you start with a smile. As Sri Sri Ravi Shankar quotes: “All the people in the world smile in the same language.”

Many people do struggle with walking into a room full of people already talking, of being a stranger in a new place. How do you integrate yourself?

I deal with it by turning up early, if you are one of the 1st people there, you get to meet 1 or 2 people in the same situation, always easier!

Lewin is one of Tech Talkfest’s founding members, if generosity and helping people are some of your values, you can get in early and help build our network and get to meet Lewin at one of our events. He knows how to integrate, what you see is what you get!

When Culture Clash is good

How do you turn cultural differences to advantages in networking?

On my first birthday in the UK, only two months after I had moved from Brazil to London, my work colleagues gave me a great book that would help me, a foreigner, to understand the oddities of a British lifestyle. I had fun reading it but, three years later, I still put myself in awkward situations because of culture clash.

How to be British by Martyn Ford & Peter Legon

I had an interesting episode last week. After finishing a good meeting with a work partner, I approached them with a hug.

For my total embarrassment, the person realised what I was about to do and they became as stiff as a lamppost, even bending their head back in case I was also trying to give a kiss. When I realised the situation, I backed off as soon as I could, said goodbye and left thinking if I should’ve said sorry or not.

Those three seconds raised many thoughts and discussions with my inner self. So much, that I let them go on my Facebook page, maybe trying to get some support or to discover if I was being inappropriate. After 21 comments and 50 likes on my page, today I can say my conclusion is, I was just being my “brazilianself”, something that will never change, this situation will now be a practical lesson that I need to be more aware of people’s personal space and culture, especially in a work environment.

We all have our strengths. Do you know yours? I am a people person, I love to be with, to work with and to invest in people. As John Donne said “No man is an Island”. I am not trying to start a hug movement; I’m just trying to say that you have to do what you believe in. Taking this to another level, how should we make sure we innovate sharing our values without going too far? We don’t want to be known as “The person who always tries to convince everyone you are right”, do you?

When I first heard about Tech Talkfest, I noticed something different. At the end of the day, the focus was targeted on interesting people, not only in business, statistics and numbers as usual. The more you give, the more you get. When you listen to someone, you own the right to be heard back on the same level, with the same attention you gave to them. Before you realise, your return will come in different ways, from people you spent time with. It might not just be on a financial aspect, but as respect recognition.

All of that might sound like an innocent and simplistic way to think. I believe that people realise more than ever before, when you relate to them, is because you want something back or that you are genuinely interested? That happens in different age groups, in schools between teachers and students, and in friendship groups and at work. Probably the most upsetting situation I had in a work envirovement was when I shared my ideas and plans for the company I was working with. Later,  I found the projects in cupboards and files not being used. The truth was, I wasn’t being listened to, not even to be confronted. I felt terrible not because my suggestions weren’t put in place, but because the attention and feedback I had received when sharing my ideas wasn’t genuine.

Keep your values; share your ideas with interesting people. The more you share, the easier it will be to find someone that wants to join or invest in them. Respect personal spaces and extend your values.

Have a great week!

Analice Mina Collyer

@analicemina

What does generosity mean to you?

Wikipedia states that Generosity (also called largess or largesse) is the habit of giving without expecting anything in return. It can involve offering time, assets or talents to aid someone in need.

Can you grow your business with generosity?

Many people think that in business you need to be ruthless: don’t make friends with your staff, you may have to sack them later; it’s a dog eat world out there, I don’t want to be the ‘mug’ left at the bottom

Remember your staff are your best customers, they know the product, they know how to make it better, they hear views directly from your clients, they have views, they have ideas. They are your most valuable resource.

What would happen if you treated them well, were generous, paid them fairly?

I spoke to a lovely lady last week, who runs a company where her team set their own wage. I am meeting more and more people with successful companies who understand that giving more means increasing productivity, loyalty and above all makes the place of work enjoyable. There are countless articles out there on how to make your company more productive that supports this view.

This is not a new concept, companies like Rowntree and Cadbury understood that businesses that takes care of their employees, thrive. Whilst they are held up as great philanthropists, they also understood it was good for business. Henry Ford understood that overworking employees made them less productive. He knew that by paying his staff well, he was creating loyalty and hard work.

From these examples we can see that if you give in the right way, you benefit. Here at Tech Talkfest, we recommend, very highly, the book Give and Take, by Adam Grant. Without being mercenary, it shows that by being a giver, you not only benefit the world around you, you are likely to make it better for yourself too.

Chatting to Amanda Davie, from Reform Digital, this week, we talked about how unusual it is to find generous and giving people out there. Reflecting on this some more with a very good friend who is a member of Tech Talkfest, we agreed that we were very fortunate to be surrounded by this rare group of people, to the point where we just assume that everyone is. I had a very different conversation with a young man that is working on his start up with the help of MSVentures Accelerator program. I hope he managed to take something away from our conversation and if nothing else appreciates that there are many out there that will give to him and if he passes that gift on to someone else, he makes the world a better place.

Hope you have a generous weekend! It is as simple as passing on a smile to someone else.

What game do you play?

At Tech Talkfest we are going to start playing backgammon. Sean Williams, one of our members, plays and is on a mission to teach as many people as possible. Our very own Zoe is a top notch player and was World champion in 2010. So how about it, up for a game?

Sean Williams – Backgammon in London

Sean runs the Backgammon in London League along with some other very keen players. He now wants to encourage people to play, so as well as a few of the Tech Talkfest members that already play, we are setting up a regular slot at The Union so we can field a team on the private members club Backgammon League next year. We plan to arrange a few friendlies over the next few months, so dust off your dice!

Sean hosts Backgammon at the Hippodrome on the 2nd Monday of every month to give the opportunity for more people to play across all levels. We do have some high rollers in the league, but many want the opportunity to play backgammon in relaxed, comfortable surroundings. The Hippodrome provides just that, with reasonably priced drinks and good food.

Sean has written a book about backgammon which features a few of the other London League hosts, Peter Bennet and Richard Biddle among them. Between these gentlemen they have a massive amount of backgammon prowess and an infinite amount of patience to teach people the basics, intermediate or advanced techniques.

If you want to learn, these are the men to teach you. In the coming months, they will be taking to the streets of London to show people how to play. They play fair,  if you want high stakes, come to the Hippodrome on 13th October at 6.30pm and try your skill (or luck).

Talking of teaching, Sean has just returned from a Greek island where he spent a week improving the skills of members of an exclusive club. If you ever want some backgammon tips, his patience and clear explanation go a long way to making backgammon less daunting and completely playable, by anyone.

The joy of backgammon is that it is a very social game. There is plenty of opportunity at the beginning of a match to have a chat, near the end and when the stakes are high, people become less conversational, but having helped Sean with some of the organisation of these tournaments, the people are lovely, conversation between matches flows and there is much to learn.

As members of Tech Talkfest or The Union, look out for news of our regular Backgammon evening, with dinner. For those that aren’t, come along to the Hippodrome on 2nd Monday of every month and meet Sean for yourself. It is well worth it for an interesting conversation. If you are good enough, he may invite you to play?

How do you build trusted relationships in a globalised world?

In a globally connected world, we cannot escape our reputation. With social media and globalisation our digital persona follows us.

This post makes huge generalisations and not being an historian by profession, I make no apology for it, but the sentiment, I think you will understand.

Before industrialisation, everyone lived in a village or small town. Your family were known, your reputation, by default, often came from the reputation of your parents. Gossip was the newspaper/social media of the day. Escaping from a bad reputation or someone smearing your good name, meant uprooting your life and starting anew elsewhere. You could move to a new place and create your new persona. You could build trust from a blank slate. It would take time, but for someone with integrity it would be pretty straightforward.

With industrialisation, everything happened so fast, people moved freely, trust was low on the ground in big cities. We hear of bread being adulterated with bones, pies filled with god knows what. It was hard to know who to trust. From this era we have many groups that were created to be able to generated trustworthy trades people. Family was seen as the one way to keep those you trusted around you. Family business was a big component of the era. Business was passed from parent to child.

Now in a globally connected world, we cannot escape our reputation. It is based on hearsay and LinkedIn recommendations, the only way we can control it is by being consistent with every person we meet. The many masks we once wore, now need to be combined to be as close to the true reflection of ourselves as possible.

With this new transparency, governments, corporations and business are expected to answer questions about what they say versus what we find out they do. Isn’t it just easier to do good things that cement your reputation, rather than taking about doing good things? Isn’t it better to be a person with integrity rather than pretending you are honest? How do you build trust quickly, by doing what you say you will do or by talking about all your famous achievements?

In this globalized, connected world, you don’t know who knows whom, you don’t know who knows you. Isn’t it easier to be yourself and surround yourself with people you trust and who trust you? Nowadays it is not who you know that is important, it is who knows you and how.

At Tech Talkfest, our members are those we can trust. They are people who have great reputations within their networks. If they know you and trust you, your reputation is sealed.