Merry Christmas Folks! [from iPhone]

...from all of us at Pemberly Cottage!

#twitpanto

2pm today, a group of British media types performing the fine and noble tradition of seasonal cross dressing, get following that hashtag.

Ahhh, the smell of the grease paint, the cast is getting into costume, and we the audience excitedly paused with "he's behind you" and "oh no he isn't/is" on cut and paste. The perfect abuse of technology. More details here.

Should you miss it, there's always @paulchuckle and @barrychuckle ;-)

EDIT: Transcript of #twitpanto available here.

Recharge Batteries [from iPhone]

These are a couple of our new chooks, Cobweb on the right and Mustardseed on the left. We've got 3 rescue hens, all ex-battery girls now pecking around an open yard for the very first time, that came from the Battery Hen Welfare Trust on Saturday.

I'm blogging this for the Big Green Switch website and you can read ongoing stuff on the Chicken Blog for the next couple of weeks.

Already got 3 eggs, should be enough for a full breakfast (with toastie soldiers) tomorrow :-)

Onward, onward...

...ever onward.

Today I had another meeting regarding this whole redundancy malarky, to look at positions in the group where my skills could be applied.

I've identified 3 areas where there's currently no one doing that job but we need someone to, all in a similar field and using my skill base. They were very well received, and this is going on for a while longer while these are presented to assorted areas of group.

I'm not holding my breath, but these roles certainly need filling (for a sustainable future) despite our hiring freeze etc. We'll have to see.

Next news will be on January 5th (as @DigitalPulse, my 'witness', is away over the festive period). Gonna try and put it out of my head (save preventativly registering with a billion agencies) 'till then.

Poppy Helps Decorate Tree [from iPhone]

Saga Continues...

Well, as of 10am today my position at Northcliffe Media has been made redundant. The job though, not me, technically.

Apparently, they do not need a 'New Media Specialist' for the future. Go figure.

And so we come to the next stage. They are now looking around the DMGT to "see if my skills fit in anywhere else" and, in addition to this, I'm to "spec out several potential positions within the wider group that could be created to utilise your talents". All very odd, and insanely convoluted. I'm still not really sure what the fracks going on now. Anyway, I'm to present options on Wednesday next week at our next meeting, and folks are sniffing around the corners of DMGT on my behalf.

So, no big Christmas presents and no days off over the festive period (in case I leave and they are deducted pro-rata), joygasum.

Alas, despite an ingrained fondness for the place, I just can't afford to mess about anymore. I'm a multi-award winning one man online marketing department, officially looking for work and open to offers.

CV here.

Carrying On

With current circumstances as they are, people keep asking me the same question: "But, if newspapers want to grow online, don't they really need people like you?".

By way of explanation, I'm obliged to highlight this very good/comprehensive article that @DigitalPulse slid under my nose, entitled "Why Are Newspapers Dying?". This covers the issue nicely in a couple of lines during the latter half.

The saga continues. Will report back with an update on Friday, after the next meeting. In the meantime, lots of lecturing bits, gym with @SparklyJem, consultancy stuff, Little Big Planet, talking to agencies and curious parties, keeping fingers crossed, and flying the ETC around SL with @TerryLightfoot.

Fingers still crossed, and on the plus side at least I managed to avoid LeWeb (plus Sony Home is finally open for public consumption around 7pm tomorrow).

No Change

Well, no change in the current employment situation as of the meeting today.

Northcliffe have taken my documentation, of which I provided a seriously healthy amount, and are assembling a response. Next meeting is 12th December. I got a feeling it won't end there.

I have another 2 weeks garden leave if I want to take it. This time, unless I'm needed for redesign stuff, I just might. I got mixed feeling this time around, and Emily yesterday hasn't helped.

Twitters will continue.