I had an early meeting with Lizzie and Charlie from Whitespace this morning, ostensibly to talk about a new project.
Leaving the house much earlier than usual, it was a cold, dark, windy, rain-lashed, seasonally-affected start to the day.
However as we'd arranged to meet for coffee in Centotre things soon brighted up. Not least because of the best Cappuccino in Edinburgh, but also thanks to the most fantastic bacon rolls, on freshly baked, still warm focaccia. Delicious.
Anyhow, we did indeed talk about the project, but as if often the case I suppose, we also wandered off into lots of other areas, (I blame it on too much coffee.) Areas such as:
1. How crap the Post Office was/is.
2. What the best Flash-based online drawing tool was.
3. How we wished Beckham was coming back to the Premiership for a season, instead of his American adventure.
4. Why tomorrow's 5k charity run* isn't going to be a picnic, or stroll in the park. (We'll actually it is going to be a stroll in the park as it's being held in Holyrood. But it's going to be a beast.)
(Just what every Saturday morning needs: Hammering around an extinct volcano, in the freezing cold, into 40 mph headwinds. Marvellous.)
5. Why the iPod/Nike+ technology is so cool. Not just as a running aid, but the mini social network aspect. We also wondered if it qualified as a 'Branded Utility', and where could they take it? (i.e. Apple have got both Yahoo and Google working with them on the iPhone. Couldn't Apple/Nike integrate Google Maps into my Nike Running Log? Maybe I might even be able to download the actual map onto my iPod if I need to refer to my route/course during the run? Eric Schmidt of Google is also on the Apple board, maybe Steve should speak to him about this?.) Thanks to Russell, and Jonathan for getting the ball rolling on this and inspiring me by their previous posts to get into Nike+. It's very, very cool.
6. Why it's a shame that compared to London and indeed, the likemind initiative, the Edinburgh design, advertising and marketing community, seem, more insular, guarded and cautious when it comes to regularly meeting up, integrating, exchanging news, views, whinges and whines. It's not so long ago, you could guarantee a cracking turn out of people from the industry in a couple of particular bars every Friday night. No longer so. Which is why we look on the London coffee mornings so enviously. And why we determined to try and get something similar going up here. (The 18th Century coffee houses reinvented for the world of Web 2.0?)
7. We decided that instead of talking about getting an Edinburgh Coffee morning going, we'd actually do something about it. (Blimey, how wonderfully assertive, and NewYearResolutionary of us!)
So we are going to put the word out to the Edinburgh design, advertising and marketing frats to come along next week:
Friday 19th January 2006, 0800. Centotre, 103 George Street, Edinburgh.
And unlike this week. I'll remember to take/bring a camera along.
*Whitespace have entered a team of 8 to run around and to some degree 'up' the extinct volcano that is Arthur's Seat in Holyrood Park. See aerial shot above.
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