citizenbay

Sport England spent £11m on 3 surveys. http://tinyurl.com/ybj3rqr . Researchers laugh, athletes beg. Maybe the quango might discover the net?

Casse Croute 2009 - A gathering of curious folk

Well, this is the third year of the annual Casse-Croute, where I gather up fellow consultants and small business folk (that's folk with a small business, not small folk who are in business...but I digress) to join me for a Xmas gathering.

As always, an eclectic mix of folk joined me at The Hospital Club.

There was Maarten Steinkamp (venture capitalist, owns a restaurant and a cool vodka brand). All round entrepreneur and, having run Sony Music Europe for a while, knows how the music industry ticks. You can find him here, but don't expect him to tweet that much. Below on the right is Dr. Gauti Sigthorsson, Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication at the University of Greenwich, and like Maarten, holds the title of honorary citizen also. He writes a great blog here

The media research consultant (and sculptor) Belinda Barker of BSBmedia joined us too, as did (on the right) Meike Brunkhorst. Meike, through her company factor-m, helps advertisers ease their way into the German market and helps German media brands gain wider exposure around the world.

 

With us also was Roger Smith (above) of SwanBay (no relation), who have developed an extraordinary content platform for mobiles around the world. 

Meanwhile, film producer and executive coach for the film industry, Emily Man popped along too. Love the name of her company, manmadefilms.

With her in the photo below is Elliot Polak, one of the great characters and most likable people in the marketing world. A very supportive and giving citizen, he along with his equally engaging wife Fabienne , run TextAppeal, which helps brands consider local cultural insights when they attempt to take their brand message global.

 

Here is Fabienne of TextAppeal next to the maverick Mark Palmer, strategist, facilitator and another honorary citizen. Mark said his website is a bit rubbish at the moment and is planning to revamp it. You have been warned

Finally, here is Marie Soulier, model manager (and my lovely wife) enjoying the lunch.

Great conversation, lovely people and a nice way to finish (almost) the year.