There are many things that brings focus to your life. Clients changing their terms from 30-60 days to 60-90 days is one of them. A friend on hearing this said 'can they get away with that' and the answer is (nearly in the words of the President of the USA) is of course 'yes they can'.
It is at times like this the false allure of the National Lottery comes to mind, that said might have an extra quid this week just in case, and I really must get down on paper the ideas for the book, my apologies for friends in Lisbon but in the final scene the Four Seasons is blown up - darn that's the ending revealed going to have to change it now.
I remember years ago being on a train from Zurich to Geneva talking to a Sales Manager from Caterpillar about 3 ideas for 3 different books that I had. Still have the ideas....still haven't written very much down. Oh well need to make a bit of cash and then perhaps I will have the time to do so.
Before that I can do that there is the aged debtors report to look over.
Have a great weekend campers.
P
Friday 26 March 2010
Monday 22 March 2010
Not hitting a barn door
Helen has passed her test, which is great news for her and great news for me, Carol and our cars. Not so good news for the rest of the world as Helen unleashes herself on an unsuspecting world. When I have been in the car with her I have always felt quite safe, so for the moment I have every of her confidence in her avoiding any barn doors - I know it's an horrible metaphor but please stay with it.
Not being able a bar door, or doing so by complete accident is a challenge that keeps going around in my head. Having attended lots of different trade shows and seeing the masses of people circulating trying to make contact, having taken meeting after meeting from Hotels, DMC's and Rep companies, having been deluged by hundreds if not thousands of emails it seems to me the chances of an individual property or dmc or destination of being in the right place at the right time to be considered a likely candidate to receive a brief is as likely as well......hitting a barn door in a Ford Ka in downtown Worcester.
So what is the answer? In reality what it should be is what are the questions?
* How do you ensure you are front of mind when solutions are being considered?
* What are the factors for developing a solution? How can they be influenced?
* How long is it from initial idea to a locked down proposal? What is the window of opportunity to secure a seat at the table?
* How do you access the people that take decisions and the people that influence?
* What should be invested for what return?
* What is the marginal value of different types of business?
Lots of questions and there will be more. Let's try and work out some answers.....
P
Peter Jackson
Mobile: +44(0)7887 794396
Sent from my BlackBerry from Vodafone- so please excuse the brevity and the typing mistakes!
Please reply to pj@rede2.com. Thank You
Not being able a bar door, or doing so by complete accident is a challenge that keeps going around in my head. Having attended lots of different trade shows and seeing the masses of people circulating trying to make contact, having taken meeting after meeting from Hotels, DMC's and Rep companies, having been deluged by hundreds if not thousands of emails it seems to me the chances of an individual property or dmc or destination of being in the right place at the right time to be considered a likely candidate to receive a brief is as likely as well......hitting a barn door in a Ford Ka in downtown Worcester.
So what is the answer? In reality what it should be is what are the questions?
* How do you ensure you are front of mind when solutions are being considered?
* What are the factors for developing a solution? How can they be influenced?
* How long is it from initial idea to a locked down proposal? What is the window of opportunity to secure a seat at the table?
* How do you access the people that take decisions and the people that influence?
* What should be invested for what return?
* What is the marginal value of different types of business?
Lots of questions and there will be more. Let's try and work out some answers.....
P
Peter Jackson
Mobile: +44(0)7887 794396
Sent from my BlackBerry from Vodafone- so please excuse the brevity and the typing mistakes!
Please reply to pj@rede2.com. Thank You
Thursday 11 March 2010
From a distance
I'm back
Back in the UK and like a lot of trips after piling through a huge pile of emails my trip down under now already a memory.
It is perhaps now in the cold light of day - and it is cold in the UK, had to defrost my car this morning - a good time to consider the best way to use the destination.
Without doubt Australia is a tool to be used to reward people who deliver an ultimate performance - the investment and time to get someone there is more than significant and this shapes what we need to do with them once they are there.
Creating a programme therefore needs about reinforcing the sense of place, a sense of guests understanding the joy of their achievement. We need to tick boxes and keep ticking them - so Bridge Climb, lunch at Opera House, Harley's to Bondi, Dinner in the Tower are all big yes's.
What we need to manage is how to make the bits in between also special and special to the individual (without busting the budget) . We already try to create space for 'free time' in programme structures to allow people to explore in their own friendship groups. We also make many more guides available than normal to try and deliver a more personalised experience - what would be really cool would be to try and find a way for people not to be shown the city by 'guides' but to 'hook up' with like minded people who show them the city more as a 'mate' rather than a 'guide' - the closest I have experienced is in Montreal where a (ok it was) guide took us to a place in the city where he used to buy his morning bagels when he was at Uni in the city - it made the experience more personal - we became a part of the experience rather than spectators.
The Australian people are open and warm, here probably more than anywhere else in the world it should be possible to achieve this goal.
What we can't have is anything that is mediocre or can be found elsewhere in the world (and much closer to home) - so a fancy aquarium - no, having breakfast with Koala's - yes.
From a distance Australia is a long way with many amazing places to see in between, it is a big ask to get people to go - the journey has to be worth while - an ultimate destination for ultimate performance.
Peter
Back in the UK and like a lot of trips after piling through a huge pile of emails my trip down under now already a memory.
It is perhaps now in the cold light of day - and it is cold in the UK, had to defrost my car this morning - a good time to consider the best way to use the destination.
Without doubt Australia is a tool to be used to reward people who deliver an ultimate performance - the investment and time to get someone there is more than significant and this shapes what we need to do with them once they are there.
Creating a programme therefore needs about reinforcing the sense of place, a sense of guests understanding the joy of their achievement. We need to tick boxes and keep ticking them - so Bridge Climb, lunch at Opera House, Harley's to Bondi, Dinner in the Tower are all big yes's.
What we need to manage is how to make the bits in between also special and special to the individual (without busting the budget) . We already try to create space for 'free time' in programme structures to allow people to explore in their own friendship groups. We also make many more guides available than normal to try and deliver a more personalised experience - what would be really cool would be to try and find a way for people not to be shown the city by 'guides' but to 'hook up' with like minded people who show them the city more as a 'mate' rather than a 'guide' - the closest I have experienced is in Montreal where a (ok it was) guide took us to a place in the city where he used to buy his morning bagels when he was at Uni in the city - it made the experience more personal - we became a part of the experience rather than spectators.
The Australian people are open and warm, here probably more than anywhere else in the world it should be possible to achieve this goal.
What we can't have is anything that is mediocre or can be found elsewhere in the world (and much closer to home) - so a fancy aquarium - no, having breakfast with Koala's - yes.
From a distance Australia is a long way with many amazing places to see in between, it is a big ask to get people to go - the journey has to be worth while - an ultimate destination for ultimate performance.
Peter
Monday 8 March 2010
The final word for this trip
As long as they are not playing us at sport, Aussies are a great people living in a great country, I would like to share my enthusiasm and return with a group soon - without doubt to Sydney first and tick that particular box for everyone that travels with me.
P
Peter Jackson
Mobile: +44(0)7887 794396
Sent from my BlackBerry from Vodafone- so please excuse the brevity and the typing mistakes!
Please reply to pj@rede2.com. Thank You
Sunday 7 March 2010
A long road home
Sitting in Sydney airport having spent just spent a further $96.35 on stuff to make me feel better about spending nearly 2 weeks away from home I am wondering what I have learnt from my trip.
I guess in reverse order from my experience I have learned that Brits who move here are torn between a love for the 'home country' and justifying to anyone who will listen - but I suspect to themselves why Australia is such a great place - which it in truth it is if you are prepared to cut yourself virtually off (to all practical sense) from your heritage - to look forward-not back.
As an aside people a number who I know who have spent many years working overseas have never settled very well when they have returned home and either have shuttled between 'home' and their 'adopted home' who wandered from various outposts of Empire seeking salvation.
I have learned that whilst Melbourne is a great city with lots going for it that without iconic locations such as the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge ultimately it always will be second best to its noisy neighbour in Sydney. If anyone can provide a single compelling reason why someone should go to Melbourne as opposed to any other great cities around the world let me know.
I learned that climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge and having nothing between you and a four and half second drop to a spectacular watery grave except for a thin metal grid and a steel cable holding you to another cable is not as scary as I thought.
I learned that whilst I retain the capacity to engage with anyone in a group - and I experienced at least three different groups on this trip-find common ground and hold a conversation to pass the time, when the hotel door closes you are still a very long way from home.
I learned that Aussies serve their beer far too cold, the only reference scale they understand is 'Southern Hemisphere', Sky News Australia is capable of putting a lost dog in front of murder and mayhem in Iraq, that there is a growing population of people from south and south east asia moving into the country which is becoming a growing 'issue'. I learned that Australians get a little spooked by the Brit greeting 'alright?', not every one is called Bruce or Sheila - but I did come across a few Jason's and Kylie's...ok I made that up.
I learned that once you start a journey home the only thing you want to do is get there as soon as possible, so when the girl on check in said the flight was over booked and I was on standby that despite putting on a brave 'I can roll with the flow' face my heart sank at the prospect of another day away from home.
Can Australia work as an incentive destination? Yes it can. It is the ultimate destination for the ultimate performance.
They got me on the flight, so night night new friends in HK, Australia and NZ and good morning to friends and family at home and around Europe.
P
Peter Jackson
Mobile: +44(0)7887 794396
Sent from my BlackBerry from Vodafone- so please excuse the brevity and the typing mistakes!
Please reply to pj@rede2.com. Thank You
Friday 5 March 2010
Hello me
One of the challenges of doing this kind of work is despite being with lots of different people all of the time you have to be comfortable with your own company. It is rare to have a really substantive conversation with anyone.
As a case in point it is now ten past four on a Saturday afternoon and having wandered around central Sydney by myself fretting on what to take home for the family I am now in a bar drinking a cold one as a treat for myself for having decided what I wanted to buy wife and then taking the plunge and buying her a handbag - a girl can never have too many handbags or shoes, but buying shoes would be a big ask.
As a case in point it is now ten past four on a Saturday afternoon and having wandered around central Sydney by myself fretting on what to take home for the family I am now in a bar drinking a cold one as a treat for myself for having decided what I wanted to buy wife and then taking the plunge and buying her a handbag - a girl can never have too many handbags or shoes, but buying shoes would be a big ask.
Before anyone feels any degree of sympathy if I poke my head out the door and look left I can see the Sydney Harbour Bridge which I did climb the day before yesterday.
Finally the weather has turned good and I can now understand why Aussie's have their beer so cold.......
The last few days have been a little strange, normally at such events I am much more towards the centre knowing people or knowing people who know people, here that is not the case and in a group I smile politely as old contacts greet each other.
They say over 30% of the people that live in Sydney wasn't born in Australia which I can believe. I was just served by a lady approaching more senior years with the broadest of accents who said she was born in Leeds. I have had many similar conversations in the last few days.
This morning we went to the Town Hall which has newly re-opened after a 2 year refurbishment. To celebrate this re-birth there is an exhibition of it's history which includes very prominently and with huge deference imagery and stories around visits by the Queen. My french owned hotel has a huge picture of Princess Diana who used the hotel to 'freshen up' and not even stay. The Queen Victoria Building, an old market hall has been commented on with some fondness and whilst many Australians who have spoken to us has taken the michael a little bit about convicts, sporting victories and our awful weather I detect two things, Australians are enormously proud of their country - the Qantas flight coming up from Melbourne showed a video of the national team returning from the last Olympics showing the emotion of the team and welcoming families, the national flag and competitors with their medals. I suspect even if BA were to do anything similar it would not pull on the heart strings like the Qantas tape.
I also firmly believe that very many Australians are proud of their connections to the 'old country' whilst the fact they were talking to a Brit ie me which may colour this impression I can understand whilst the chattering classes may be interested in breaking its remaining official ties with Britain but I don't think there is any significant appetite to do so by 'regular' people.
In the last hour I have spoken 12 words - 'pint of Carlton draught please, thanks' (twice), to which I will soon add a further 2 'thanks mate' as I leave the bar to go back to the hotel to pack for my next adventure.
P
Peter Jackson
Mobile: +44(0)7887 794396
Sent from my BlackBerry from Vodafone- so please excuse the brevity and the typing mistakes!
Please reply to pj@rede2.com. Thank You
Thursday 4 March 2010
I see ships
So today was very much a tick the box day. Climbed to the very top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.....a fantastic experience and of course I bought the t shirt.
The pre-climb prep doesn't do a lot to ease any apprehension. They make you take off any watches, bracelets and ear rings; they suit you up and put harnesses on you, prescription glasses and hats are held in place with clips and lanyards and of course you sign your life away.
The climb is both spectacular and a little scary. In some ways going up was easier than coming down; as you climbed you just looked up and concentrated on getting the plastic shuttle that anchored you safety rope to the safety line going all the way up and down on the bridge. The more scary experience was coming back down as you could see through the gaps of the metal honeycombed floors down to the water below.
Our 'Bridge Climb Leader' told us all the facts; x zillion rivets, 15000 people worked on the bridge - 7 fell, six died (some one lived!), the one fact that did register is that if you did fall it would take 4.5 seconds for you to splatter on the concrete or water.
The views from the top were of course just simply amazing. The ships and boats looked so small and our viewpoint was like the kind of shot that you might have for an opening sequence of a big budget movie - a huge panorama of the city within which the slow passage of expensive sailing yachts crossing the bay.
Today has been a very different day to the last couple. A new group of people to break in, none of who at the moment appear to be wildly fun unlike the ex-pats I have been socialising with the last couple of days. Brits who work and live abroad have a very (well the one's I know) tend to have a fantastically funny love/hate relationship with the territories and people in the countries that provide them with a home and a living.
So here I am at 11.15pm at night in a bland hotel lobby bar drinking a dark beer that is far too cold by myself. How sad is that. To be fair however I am also now feeling a little sleepy so as soon as I finish the beer I am off to bed....
Night night everyone.
P
Peter Jackson
Mobile: +44(0)7887 794396
Sent from my BlackBerry from Vodafone- so please excuse the brevity and the typing mistakes!
Please reply to pj@rede2.com. Thank You
Tuesday 2 March 2010
Day Eight and the natives are getting friendly
Well when I say friendly I actually mean chatty, which is ok as talking to people is why I am here.
With 15/16 appointments done yesterday and several other off the cuff encounters and the same again today when I get on my flight to Sydney tomorrow I think I shall be jacking into my iPod and closing my eyes.
So as most people I know in life are settling down for the evening I am sat on a pavement cafe in Melbourne and it's already tomorrow....very weird.
From the wrong end of a cricket pitch or rugby ground Aussies have always been the no 1 rival. If the world always delights at beating Britain in general and England in particular at anything from football to dwarf throwing we (the English) always want to beat Australia over virtually anyone - apart from Germany at football. So from a distance the Aussie nation has always been 'the enemy'. Reality is of course different and I am enjoying my time meeting and talking to people here. As Bill Bryson says in his book on the country Aussies are naturally engaging, friendly and fun to be with.
There is one aspect of their collective personality which is interesting is the reference to scale (biggest in city...state...country). The interesting bit is what comes after country; what appears to be the case is that uniformly people refer to 'the southern hemisphere'. Now I am not really sure what they really mean by this as I see very little evidence of people knowing what is going on in South America so I suspect in this context 'southern hemisphere' actually refers to Australia, New Zealand. South Africa and at a push SE Asia. I have not come across any referencing on a global scale - probably why is that it sounds a lot better to be 1st or 2nd largest in the southern hemisphere rather that 83rd in the world. Then again that maybe just my old world perspective.
Nice breakfast at a riverside cafe, day eight and 16 appoints awaits!
P
Peter Jackson
Mobile: +44(0)7887 794396
Sent from my BlackBerry from Vodafone- so please excuse the brevity and the typing mistakes!
Please reply to pj@rede2.com. Thank You
With 15/16 appointments done yesterday and several other off the cuff encounters and the same again today when I get on my flight to Sydney tomorrow I think I shall be jacking into my iPod and closing my eyes.
So as most people I know in life are settling down for the evening I am sat on a pavement cafe in Melbourne and it's already tomorrow....very weird.
From the wrong end of a cricket pitch or rugby ground Aussies have always been the no 1 rival. If the world always delights at beating Britain in general and England in particular at anything from football to dwarf throwing we (the English) always want to beat Australia over virtually anyone - apart from Germany at football. So from a distance the Aussie nation has always been 'the enemy'. Reality is of course different and I am enjoying my time meeting and talking to people here. As Bill Bryson says in his book on the country Aussies are naturally engaging, friendly and fun to be with.
There is one aspect of their collective personality which is interesting is the reference to scale (biggest in city...state...country). The interesting bit is what comes after country; what appears to be the case is that uniformly people refer to 'the southern hemisphere'. Now I am not really sure what they really mean by this as I see very little evidence of people knowing what is going on in South America so I suspect in this context 'southern hemisphere' actually refers to Australia, New Zealand. South Africa and at a push SE Asia. I have not come across any referencing on a global scale - probably why is that it sounds a lot better to be 1st or 2nd largest in the southern hemisphere rather that 83rd in the world. Then again that maybe just my old world perspective.
Nice breakfast at a riverside cafe, day eight and 16 appoints awaits!
P
Peter Jackson
Mobile: +44(0)7887 794396
Sent from my BlackBerry from Vodafone- so please excuse the brevity and the typing mistakes!
Please reply to pj@rede2.com. Thank You
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