Just the cat and me

It's always me that goes away. Whether its work working interstate or overseas, I'm the one who says goodbye and leaves the family (and the cat) at home.
This time its my turn to stay at home and with the boys grown and living with their own families (close by, so that's good) it's just me and Smudge.
Janine is in Cambodia with a team of 14 from our local church. I have traveled twice with them to Cambodia and been there three other times with our organisations - video camera in hand on each occasion. (Check out one result here.)
One good thing is that I know each of the places the team is going and have some understanding of what Janine will experience.
This weekend is four days of official mourning for the King who died in October and is to be cremated on Monday. Apparently four million people are expected to attend the outdoor event.
The mind boggles at so many people. The team will also visit a range of projects which we support from our church.
In my experience, the team will come away feeling like they have been helped and ministered to, rather than them coming from Australia to help the Cambodians. Such trips are more about awareness raising amongst the team of the huge need the country has. Despite its history, the people are wonderful and can teach us so much - which is cliche, but true.
Once Janine is home, we can share stories and who know what that might lead to.

Unpacking my Kickstarter goodies

After almost a year, two of my 'gifts' for supporting two Kickstarter projects arrived by courier. I consider myself lucky as some Kickstarter projects apparently never deliver a product to their supporters.
The 'Slingshot' is a tripod/cradle for a smart phone to help you stabilise the phone when you use if it take still pictures or more importantly, video. The handle has a nifty set of extra legs which allow you to sit the unit Ina bench or table. Unscrew the legs and the cradle will mount on a standard tripod thread. Very neat. I have two to give away - FREE, check my video post later in the week for details.
The second items is a Metawatch. This is a pre-release model and it's designed to link via Bluetooth to your smart phone and display key information on the watch face. Things like SMS message, emails, missed calls, etc. I still have to get it all configured as it has a few bugs still.
Kickstarter is one way to raise crowd-funding. The E-Pebble watch, which is similar to the Metawatch, raised $10m after initially asking for $100k. I'm waiting for that to arrive also.
I suppose this is one way of supporting great ideas and becoming an early adopter of new technology.

Catching just a glimpse ...

There are times when you catch just a glimpse of what joy is all about and today was one of these days.  Overnight we had had our almost three year old grand daughter stay and even with a 3am wake period, hearing her sing happily as she woke up (at the right time) was glimpse number one.
Then as she sat with her parents and her Grandmother joined 12 others on stage as they were commissioned for a two week church trip to Cambodia, there was a shy wave to Grandma. A second glimpse.
At our churches second service, our 10 month old grandson and his parents came to be a part of our second 'repeat' service. Although he was too young to wave to Grandma, carrying him at the back of church and have him cuddle into my shoulder as the service took place was another glimpse.
Three glimpses in one day - I think I'm pretty lucky.

Why I love Australia

Like many Australians I've had the opportunity to travel and there's nothing like getting on a Qantas plane in London or New York or Shanghai and hearing that familiar accent from the Qantas crew. Then you really know you're heading home.
Nothing tells us we're lucky to live in Australia better than travel. There is so much we take for granted and travel brings that home like nothing else.
Here's a short list:

1. We live in a democracy that gives us freedom of expression, religion, where we live
2. We've missed the economic downturn being experienced in Europe, the UK and parts of the USA
3. Our weather pattern, while tough at times of bushfire, has none of the extreme cold of much of the northern hemisphere
4. We're a friendly, open society
5. We have a health system that is the envy of much of the rest of the world
6. Our multicultural society is one of the most successful among developed countries
7. On Australia Day (or any day for that matter) we can hop on a mates boat and sail around the most beautiful waterways in the world - Free!

I could go on, but you get the idea.
Happy Australia Day.

Dealing with being rejected?

If you're thinking this post is about love or relationships, then you might be disappointed because I want to talk about being rejected in your work. Others are far more qualified to talk about rejection in relationships.
I mean when you get the phone call that says, "sorry, but we've decided to offer the position to someone else." Or that project that you thought you had a good chance of working on is offered to someone else?
Now I don't have all the answers, but here are some thoughts.

1. When you're in the freelance consultancy business, they are no rules that say your clients have to keep contracting you, even if you maintain a good relationship with them.
2. The worse thing you can do is to allow the feeling of rejection to fester and become something greater. I know this is hard not to do, but each time you start thinking along those lines, you need to force yourself to do something positive.
3. Despite your sense of feeling rejected, if possible, make sure you continue to stay in touch.
4. See if you can contribute in some other way to the project.
5. Nothing lasts forever - there will be other projects and other clients.
6. Rejoice with them when their project is completed, without muttering "I could have done that heaps better," (even if in your eyes, that's what you think.)

I've found the above steps very helpful.
What about you?

Things that need inventing ... a note for Apple

We live in a world of innovation, but here are some things that seem to have missed the innovation train and I think, need inventing. I offer these ideas for FREE! If you pick one up and make a motza, send me a cheque?

1. Whenever I wear a set of Apple headphone - even the new 'stay in your ear' type, the in-line microphone and volume control always catches on my shirt collar (and pulls the buds out of my ear) when I turn my head.
   Although the new type does have a more rounded end, someone needs to invent a non-catching version. Maybe with a more tapered in-line moulding?
2. I use my iPad to watch ABC iView - great app, but I invariably have to hold my hand or a piece of card behind the iPad to deflect the sound to the front. Laying the iPad on a table does this automatically, but when you're holding the iPad in your lap or on a cushion on your tummy when you're lying down (try it) - you can't hear the audio.
   We need an iPad case with a pull-out slide that retracts when not needed.
   Hey - I'd buy one.

First world problems I know, but they need a solution.

Brand consistency - check out your local shopping centre

Walk down any suburban shopping street in Australia and you'll see a microcosm of the branding problem. Some of the shops will be a local branch of a national or even multi-national company. If they're a bank, fast-food outlet or supermarket you'll immediately identify them by their name, colour scheme and 'brand consistency'.
Inside the shop, the counters, signs, wall colour and floor covering will all conform to the 'look' of that particular brand.
If you're lucky, the service you'll receive will also conform to the national identity.
Then there are other shops which are locally owned which don't have the luxury of a head office detailing how their shop should look. This can be an advantage as they can bring a truly local look and feel to their signage, colour scheme, etc
Then there are other shops or businesses that have no consistency in signage, colour schemes or service.
Yes they have signs and they've painted the inside of the shop and there's floor coverings, but nothing works together. Often the sign will have a different font for each line of text with each sign being a different colour.
Nothing is consistent about their visual identity. My point is, this is not hard to do.
More and more we are a visual society - the growth of digital communications and portable screens of all sizes means we learn by what we see, rather than what we read.
Every local business has some form of signage, branding or visual identity. The key thing is to make sure each of these looks the same and presents a consistent visual identity.
That's the start of brand consistency.