Russell Davies

An intermediate sprint

Almost 20 years ago, October 30, 2005, I wrote a post called Account Planning School of the Web. It was about an experiment I wanted to try, a sort of training/coaching thing for junior planners/strategists/whatever we call them these days.

The central idea was: 

1. Someone sets some sort of brief, a task that's like one you might have to do in the real world
2. Anyone who wants to can have a go at responding
3. That first someone responds with feedback on all the the various attempts
4. Everyone can see the attempts and the feedback

I think that proved to be quite a good model. It carried on for quite a while, lots of people joined in and contributed, it branched out in various ways and got passed around to lots of different hosts when I (inevitably) got a bit bored of it.

Looking back at all the posts now I'm struck by how much I was attempting to stitch together community, curriculum and content out of various ill-suited technologies, many of which immediately died. I bet that's easier now, I thought, I should have another go.

So I'm going to try an Intermediate Sprint on Patreon, a prototype for what a new APSotW might be. I'm thinking that'll run until the end of October when the new thing will launch, 20 years on.

I'm hoping Patreon and this new whatever it is will sweep together a few of the things we/I have been experimenting with recently; Coffee Mornings, Unoffice Hours, Haudoo, WIP. And maybe even Interesting, Findings, 4764, Afternoon Slow, Slow Findings, There seem to be common themes and, well, vibes.

I'm going to start with a new assignment. The same rules as the old days. I'll set a task, anyone can have a go, there'll be feedback for everyone. But it'll all be on Patreon, just to keep it contained, so you'll need an account or you'll have to become a member or something. We'll work that out together.

(Current assumption is that all this will be free, I believe that's doable on Patreon. Once we've got going it might make sense to mirror stuff on here too, just to keep it open, but we'll see.)

And obviously, I'm starting with the RSS massive. My people.

Go here.

 

 

 

Minidisco

I've finally made four tracks which hang together enough that I feel like they might be an 'EP'. So I've made one. It's called Minidisco and you can get it on Bandcamp. (If you're a Bandcamp follower you might have already encountered the tracks separately.

I think this might be the best music I've made. I'm unashamedly proud of it. I hope you like it.

I also made some graphics for it with an AI. It was supposed to be me, in black and white, but it seems to have combined me with various different Hollywood people. There's a bit of John Goodman, a bit of Kevin Spacey. It's weird. Perhaps it's trying to tell me something.

The individual tracks are also on Spotify, I didn't work out how to make them an EP/album. And Spotify continues its practise of designing data incredibly badly for the majority of its artists - who presumably keep seeing dashboard messages like this:

Huge thanks to that one person! (Though it's probably me). Apart from all the obvious capitalism-related problems with Spotify I'm increasingly convinced it's not a very good way to get music to people. I thought I'd have a go at Soundcloud again. 

Footnote

The BBC has been celebrating the 40th anniversary of Live Aid recently. And, apparently, some of the early scheming for it was done at the Picasso cafe on the Kings Road.

I happen to have a picture of the Piccaso and a production company got in touch a little while back to see if they could use it. Here it is in the documentary.

Here I am in the credits:

Between the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Reuters. That seems about right.

Most people call me Spoz

New 4764

Admin Night vs Sludge

This is a depressing and true article about the state of customer service. (Archive version)

But it contains a brilliant response: who wants to do Admin Night?

"I didn’t have a solution. But I had an idea for addressing it. I fired off an email to some friends, and on a Tuesday night, a tradition began.

“Admin Night” isn’t a party. It isn’t laborious taking-care-of-business. It’s both! At the appointed hour, friends come over with beer and a folder of disputed charges, expiring miles, summer-camp paperwork. Five minutes of chitchat, half an hour of quiet admin, rinse, repeat. At the end of each gathering, everyone names a minor bureaucratic victory and the group lets out a supportive cheer.

Admin Night rules. In an era of fraying social ties, it claws back a sliver of hang time. Part of the appeal is simply being able to socialize while plowing through the to-do list—a 21st-century efficiency fetish if ever there was one. But just as satisfying is having this species of modern enervation brought into the light. Learning of sludge’s existence, Thum, the bureaucracy researcher, told me, is the first step in fighting it, and in pushing back against the despair it provokes."

Notes towards Interesting Lates

 

 

 

 

 

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The One With Michael

The episodes are coming thick and fast:

How to write a grant application

Anne's written a Haudoo. It's brilliant. Short. Useful. Funny. And I almost shed a tear at the end. Get it from Fitzrovia Light Industries.

More episodes

of the 4764 podcast...

The Politburo of Bullshit

The Pressure of the Dots

 

Where Steve Reich gets his ideas

This interview with Steve Reich is charming and revealing. He's disarmingly down to earth and it's fascinating to hear the very straightforward sources of his most innovative music: accidents, things he's bumped into, things that didn't seem fruitful at the time.

He keeps his ears open and follows what sounds interesting.