Over the last 6 months or so I've been to France, UK (twice), Australia (3 times), Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, USA (3 times), and if you are based in New Zealand like me that's a lot of flying. For a lot of people that sounds glamorous, and on occasion it can be, but seriously, the inside of a hotel room in Paris isn't much different from one in Las Vegas and if you don't get out of it you could be anywhere. I've just got back from a course in San Antonio (Texas) and by the time I left I felt like a caged rat. In 8 days I only got outside my hotel 4 times, and that was to cross the road To View More >>

Ok, I have just made myself feel sick on Twitter by un-following most of the 3000 people I was following because I simply found myself in a situation where I was overwhelmed by the tweet traffic generated by that number of people. As much as I carefully considered my reasoning for doing this, pushing that delete key on Twitter Karma, has certainly left my hands shaking. If you find that I am not following you now I am very sorry. If however we've been talking directly I'll re-follow you over the weekend once the the delete process has finished. I just couldn't keep up with the wild stream of updates, To View More >>

I found myself in trouble on Twitter this morning ... ok "in trouble" might be a bit strong, but a tweet I received did make me realise something I was doing was causing offence and of course don't want to do that. In my "Direct Messages" (inbox) I received the following tweet. At first I thought #DM meant "Deep and Meaningful" ... what no deep and meaningful conversation?, what a weird thing to say ... but then I realised more seriously that they meant "Direct Messages". So what happened, and why is this important? juhasaarinen seems like a pretty cool person. Certainly they have an interesting To View More >>

Is it possible there is something to be learned from the Fire Service when it comes to handling customer complaints? I strongly believe so and share that learning here. Scenario: Imagine a car accident on a busy highway, multiple serious injuries and heavy traffic. You know there will be lots of screaming and emotion, and this really is a life and death situation for the people involved. The Question is ... What would you do? The amateur care giver rushes in looking for the sickest person, gets caught up in the emotion and most likely gets themselves injured or killed in the process. Not good To View More >>

Does marriage have a lot to answer for? Hmm, good question. Personally I don't think so, but it does bring its own set of challenges. My belief is that relationships, whether with family, friends or lovers, "ebb and flow", a bit like the tide, and this means they need constant attention and will change over time. Like everyone, Sonya and my relationship has had its high points, but also some low ones. Currently things are absolutely wonderful and the low points long forgotten. The interesting thing, however, is, at their 'worst' relationships have the opportunity to become their 'best'. Why? Well, To View More >>