Category Archives: News

I’m speaking at Future of Web Design London

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Ok, the secret’s out (even if it wasn’t ever really that secret in the first place). I’ll be speaking at the Future of Web Design conference, a well-established, super-cool event run by the maestros from Carsonified.

It all happens in London from 16 – 18 May. I’m on the conference’s ‘Rising Stars’ track, which is both flattering and rather nervewracking, as there are some first-class speakers on the bill – giving me a hell of a lot to live up to.

No pressure then.

As the event is meant to be all about the future of web design, I’m giving a talk called Copywriting is Design. Here’s what it’s about, pulled straight from the blurb I wrote for my bit on the FOWD website:

Copywriting is web design. And it’s about time someone stood up and said so. Because, all too often, the text for a web project ends up being shoehorned in at the last minute. And that can ruin everything.

In this talk, John explains how great copy can make the difference between a design which works, and one that doesn’t. He describes how designers and writers should collaborate to build great web interfaces. He shows how every bit of copy matters – especially when it comes to forms and complex web app interfaces – and highlights some common mistakes.

I’m up just before lunch on 18 May. If you’re coming to FOWD, it’d be great to see you there. Do say hello, even if you don’t make it to my session.

In the meantime, I’m off to do a lot of rehearsing – and some panicking.

Coming in August: great IT advice for businesses

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Regular readers (both of you) may recall that some time ago I hinted at a new project I’ve been working on. I’m pleased to report that the wraps are off: The IT Donut, a new website for small businesses, will be launching the week of 23 August.

The IT Donut will be the fourth in a family of websites. You might already have seen the Marketing, Law and Start-Up Donuts. Its aim will be to demystify every aspect of business technology.

Expect heaps of advice about choosing, using and generally not getting totally frustrated with IT in your business.

I’ve taken on the role of editor (the next few months are looking to be very busy), but thankfully there’s a whole team of great people from BHP Information Solutions working hard on the site too. And because you can’t substitute for first-hand knowledge and experience, we’re on the hunt for experts who know all about IT at the sharp end of business.

You see, when businesses use IT, there’s an ideal world, and there’s what actually happens. The two often differ quite considerably.

The IT Donut isn’t going to live in the plain sailing, smooth running and largely theoretical ideal world. It will acknowledge the situations and challenges businesses face every day with their IT.

Although the team behind the website is packed with experience (I’ve been writing about small businesses and IT for years now), we need people who’ve been there and done it to help us cover every area. These IT experts are the people who’ll really bring the site to life.

So if you know a bit about IT in business, I want to hear from you. You might be an expert in web hosting, networking or accounting software. Or you might be a business that’s experimented with cloud computing, open source software – or gained some other knowledge that you’d like to share.

Whatever your expertise, give me a shout. It’s your chance to be involved in one of the most exciting projects I’ve ever worked on – and to get some great PR while you’re at it.

Rage Against The (X Factor) Machine

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As you’ll have seen if you’ve been near a TV, radio, Twitter or Facebook, sweary activist rock group Rage Against The Machine have pipped the X Factor’s Joe McElderry to this year’s Christmas number one.

Like many people, I’m pretty pleased about this. And I’m also a bit suprised, because had you asked me a week ago, I’d have said the Facebook campaign to get the song to the top of the charts had about as much chance of success as the Monster Raving Loonies have of winning the next general election.

Why the scepticism? Well, joining a group on Facebook only takes a couple of seconds but it’s getting people to do more that has always seemed like the tricky bit. There are thousands of well-meaning Facebook groups and online petitions that have plenty of supporters but achieved nothing else of note.

So why did this campaign succeed – and make such a big impact – where others have failed?

  • It tapped into something people feel strongly about: frustration at the X Factor’s dominance of the Christmas number one slot.
  • It went huge on Facebook and Twitter. The sheer amount of support indicated that maybe it could actually happen.
  • Mainstream media picked it up in a big way. That lent credibility to the grass roots campaign and fostered a real belief it could work.
  • It wasn’t asking for a huge commitment. Sure, downloading the track cost a few pence, but it was easy and cheap to make a difference.

I think a lot of it came down to credibility. It wasn’t until Thursday, when Rage performed live on 5 Live’s breakfast show (swear words and all), that I seriously thought there was a possibility we’d see them at number one. And it was only at that point that I was willing to purchase the single myself. Continue reading →

I’m back. I’ll be with you shortly.

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Giant panda

As you might recall, I’ve been away on holiday. I’m back now, reasonably recovered from jetlag and eager to get back to work. Well, eager-ish.

If you sent me a message while I was away and I haven’t responded yet, hang on just a little longer. I’m working through my emails so I’ll be in touch shortly. And if you’re been meaning to drop me a line but decided to wait till I got back, now’s the time. Knock yourself out.

(Picture: a barely-relevant holiday snap taken at Chengdu panda base.)

I’m going missing for a while

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planeRegular clients, look away now. You know this already. For everyone else: I’m off on holiday, so don’t expect to hear from me for bit. I’ll be back in three weeks or so.

I won’t be completely out of touch, so if you were thinking of dropping me a line, don’t let the fact I’m not in the country stop you. I’ll be checking my messages while I’m away – I’m just not entirely sure when or how often. So don’t expect an immediate reply.

It’ll be quiet here till I’m back, but if you’re desperate for updates then check Flickr. I’ll probably upload photos for safekeeping as I go.

I’ve started writing for Londonist

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The more eagle-eyed amongst you might have noticed a new addition to my list of links on the right: Londonist. I’ve admired this site’s coverage of all things London for a while, and when they appealed for new writers I jumped at the chance.

Unusually, my application was accepted without me having to resort to the usual brown envelope stuffed with cash*, and I’ve since written a few music-related pieces.

My review of Wednesday’s impressive Maximo Park gig in Brixton has just been published. I also previewed Idlewild’s recent gigs in Camden and wrote a bit about Field Day.

I’m planning to contribute lots of other stuff, so if you want to see more of my work or just have an interest in London then keep an eye on londonist.com in the coming weeks.

*only joking – while I accept bribes, I can’t afford to offer them

Free thinking: I speak to Chris Anderson

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One of the projects I’ve been working on in my day job is to write a series of interviews with some internet ‘celebrities’ and entrepreneurs.

It’s fair to say that I wasn’t massively optimistic about being able to secure big names, but it’s actually been easier than I expected. So far I’ve persuaded five or six interesting people to take part, and the first piece has just been published.

It’s an interview with Chris Anderson, Editor-in-Chief of Wired and the guy behind The Long Tail. Yeah, I was surprised he had the time to talk to me too.

You can read the full interview over on the 123-reg blog. He talks about the idea of ‘free’ – how the internet is making it possible for companies to make money by giving stuff away – and uses Google as an example:

“It started with search and then software and services of various sorts and now they’re rolling out telephony and communications. They’re a sort of tsunami of ‘free’, which disrupts every industry it touches.”

You’ve got to love a phrase like “tsunami of free”. It could never have been coined if the internet hadn’t been invented.

Although it’s been done to death, we also touched briefly on The Long Tail. And before he dashed off I managed to squeeze in a quick question about what he thought of the Facebook craze:

“Fundamentally, social networking is going to be something that every site has. You’re going to go from having one place for social networking to it being devolved to a very granular scale, where your social network is not a subset of Facebook, but instead something that you expect to find as a feature in every site you visit.”

In all, an interesting chap. And very friendly too.

Be careful what you say

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BBC headline - Symbian dismisses GoogleJust spotted a rather portentous headline on the BBC technology news site: ‘Symbian dismisses Google Android’.

I know that Google has next to no experience of producing a mobile platform. And I know that Symbian has plenty. But given Google’s track record, I do wonder if Symbian might come to be haunted by that headline in a couple of years’ time. Google just seem to be good at virtually everything they do.

NewsTube

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Newsnight are going all-out with election speculation tonight. It’ll be really interesting to see what happens early next week.

Michael Crick’s report was excellent. He went round the major parties’ HQs in Chester. And he filmed it in a very ‘YouTube’ kind of a way. It looked off-the-cuff and genuine, with a hand-held camera, Tory party activists interrupting shots and the Lib Dems struggling to find the light switch.

I’m no expert when it comes to video, and not 100% sure it was genuine, but it looked great to me. Really engaging, and maybe an interesting side effect of this YouTube revolution thingy the mainstream press has been going on about.

You should be able to watch the whole show here, for 24 hours after about 11.30 tonight.

Breaking news – really?

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BBC news homepageI just popped BBC Five Live on before heading to bed, and was met with the breaking news that Jose Mourinho is leaving his post as Chelsea manager.

There’s no official word as I write this, but I imagine there’s a good bit of substance to it if the BBC is running the story.

In all likelihood it’ll be filling the airwaves tomorrow, but does it really merit the current prominence on the BBC News homepage? It’s the top story, with a generic “BREAKING NEWS” image.

Call me old fashioned, but I’m not sure a “football manager leaves club” story should ever lead the news – even if it is one of the highest profile managers at one of the world’s biggest clubs.