I came across this little news story which proves the web is a wonderful yet scary place to be. It really makes you want to go back to snail mail, when the world was a simpler place…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8163190.stm
Enjoy!
Magnus
Head of Post - although sometime more like Head on a post.
If you thought that the typical cheery member of staff was the default for a successful business career, then think again because recent research at the Rice University in Houston Texas has come up with a seeming different version of the truth!
When they interviewed a wide selection of supervisors at a drilling company, about which workers regularly came up with creative solutions or fresh ideas, it appears that the staff who were generally dissatisfied and were willing to speak up were the most creative!
The conclusions were that employees who had become disgruntled could do one of four things, they can leave and take their ‘ideas’ with them or stick around and whine a lot, or carry on regardless or do as little as possible at work.
The thing is that the whiners spend a significant part of their day working out how to improve things and the creativity of whiners can be harnessed with the help of supportive colleagues and co-workers who listen then help to channel their discontent into positive directions.
It looks as though this might mean re-evaluating how people are judged in the workplace. The tradition of valuing people who toe the line and don’t rock the boat is cutting off a real creative resource for a company.
In business, the natural selection of those who don’t rock the boat is diluting the creative and innovative thinking that is so vital in times of a recession.
So if someone starts to whine about the way things are done, maybe it’s worth spending some time listening and seeing what the whining is actually about! Who knows it could be that the whiner has thought of the next big thing! Or…… they’re just miserable tykes with low social skills!
As I sit in the sanctuary of my garden back home in Surrey I am chuckling to myself at the memories of yesterdays annual company BBQ. When the alarm went off at 4am on Friday and I wondered what the day ahead had in store for me, I don’t think I could have predicted what was to occur at my first Speakeasy BBQ.
After touching down in Edinburgh, we were met by the lovely Dave who took us on a wee tour of interesting places such as Ann Street on the way to collecting Magnus. With the Speakeasy bus full we motored onto Stanley as we debated the intellectual issues such as Michael Jacksons passing, collaborations of the Speakeasy/ Orchard names (suggestions included Sporchard/ Orcheasy) and whether you can say dove instead of dived – it turns out both are acceptable in case you were concerned!
After a morning of work and Alex having his head shaved, two o’ clock arrived and shouts of, ‘The foods ready!’ echoed through Wildwood House and caused a stampede in the halls to get to the garden.
The food was brilliant; my fillet steak melted in the mouth and the potato salad was immense (thank you for sharing the recipe Jim!)
Just as we were tucking into the food it started to ‘spit’ and then it really started to come down quite heavily. Some quick thinking people grabbed umbrellas or whatever they could (I seem to remember Dave using a tray!) and we persevered with sitting in the garden, Martine and I particularly did not want to be thought of as soft Southerners. We did however have to concede defeat when our clothes were soaked through and the risk of pneumonia presented itself.
Now with some people, rain would mean the end of the fun but not at Speakeasy! In every room activities were going on such as Magnus and Mark McKenna’s ‘master class’ on the Thriller dance moves in an edit suite (I have some funny footage of this), Murray Vs Roddick playing in the board room and for the braver few bobbing for beer bottles in the garden!
When our taxi arrived to take us back to the airport it was sad to leave you all whilst the fun was continuing but we are already looking forward to the Christmas Party! Special thanks must go to Shona for the organisation, Jim for cooking and the use of the garden, Alex and Dave for varnishing the new furniture that our attendance required and Stuarts’ wife for the delicious cupcakes!
It’s a hard life… managed to get a sun tan last week whilst shooting a Lloyds drama in 25 degrees of blue skies and sunshine at a beautiful country manor. It wasn’t too shabby a pad… a mile long driveway through beautiful grounds, tennis court, swimming pool, sauna and jacuzzi… definitely a good choice!
It was an early start on the Monday, but we kept the crew quiet with lots of bacon sandwiches. It was all hands to the deck - shifting some very heavy office furniture and some scarily white & expensive leather sofas. Thanks to Sarah, Sylvie and Andrew in particular who remarkably transformed the living room into a fancy office. Quite a task!
The first day went smoothly, with Sarah looking after the wardrobe expertly (she never wants to see an iron again), and Katie the 1st AD making sure everyone was in the right place at the right time.
Day 2 at the mansion started with a broken down motorbike and some funny bed and breakfast stories from the crew, which delayed the start slightly, but we soon caught up. Our police cars were soon storming down the driveway, and the arrests were made, causing some alarm to a passing Debenhams delivery driver. Again, a successful day, with a special mention to the Client’s son, Sean Montgomery – a budding young Director – who gave us all some good tips!
Days 3 and 4 were based in London, at the equally glamorous location of Cockfosters. Martin Youngs and his team were an invaluable help at the Holbrook House Offices, setting up our furniture and computers for us, and letting us have everything we need. A big thank you to everyone there who made our lives so much easier.
So, overall – all the hard work paid off, and it was a fun shoot, with some very talented actors and a professional and friendly crew. Well done to everyone involved, and I look forward to showing you all the finished film very soon.
Speakeasy, one of the UK’s leading corporate production companies is bucking the recession after announcing the successful purchase of Orchard Communications for an undisclosed six figure sum.
Jim Adamson, managing director of Speakeasy, explained: “Orchard Communications has an excellent reputation within the market place and, like Speakeasy, is ranked in the top 25 corporate communications businesses in the UK. Our own financial stability was key to acquiring this business and, despite the economic downturn, the strategic plan for Speakeasy was to double our turnover over the next three years. This strategy will now apply to Orchard also and we believe that this acquisition will make us an even more formidable force in the corporate production industry.”
Since it was established by Melanie Taylor in 1996, Orchard Communications has built an enviable reputation and client base by specialising in the creation of high-end, award winning dramatised corporate productions along with impactful communication training and live events. Melanie, who has most recently been working on secondment in the United States, explained “Once I made the decision to move to America permanently, it was extremely important to find the right buyer for my company.”
“Speakeasy was a perfect fit for Orchard. There is a strong similarity between the two companies, which was immediately apparent when I started discussions with Jim. I felt confident that Orchard would continue to flourish and grow under his talented leadership and that the grounded approach that is Speakeasy would both benefit and serve existing and future clients alike“.
Adamson continued: “Orchard has a fantastic track record, and is well respected within the industry. We will, therefore be retaining the brand name and the specialist workforce. There is a strong synergy between the businesses. Our business ethos, company brand values and ‘team’ culture are remarkably similar. These were important factors in our decision to acquire this company.”
“Many businesses within our field are essentially “lifestyle” companies, operating on relatively small profit margins. The knock-on effect is that there’s no financial cushion to ride out any future bad times and therefore there is very little room for error when projecting incoming fees. Our unique business model, in which our entire creative team has undergone extensive business and management training, provides us with a stability and savvy which we believe is essential to delivering sensible profit margins whilst maintaining our creativity and an exceptional level of client service.”
Speakeasy was started by Adamson in 1993. Since then, the company has grown steadily, and now has a staff of 30 and a full range of production facilities covering events, video, web casts, web TV and other interactive media. Clients include a wide array of the UK’s global corporations and government departments including BAE Systems, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Diageo, Arup, NCR, Bank of New York, Edrington Group, Pernod Ricard, Tesco Personal Finance, Rothschild, DWP, MOD, NHS and the Metropolitan Police Service.
