On the way to a meeting I remembered why I like London.

My good friend, Strother Purdy, has started blogging at Mondaugen’s Law. This is weird for me as it’s happens to be one of those instances of two world’s colliding. I met Strother in 1990 in Slovakia, which seems like in another lifetime. Probably because it really was. I owe him gratitude for many things, among which high on the list is making me see the point of English poetry (John Donne, Alexander Pope, Dryden, Byron etc, etc) and explaining to me, painstakingly, the entire Larson calendar for that year. Neither was a mean feat in 1990, not because of the source material but because of the audience, which was a teenage girl who’s never been abroad and outside the boundaries of her experience of growing up in a communist country.

To cut a rather long story short, here is the reason behind Strother’s blog, in his own words:

Welcome to Mondaugen’s Law, a blog that will chronicle our family move from Connecticut, USA to Kodaikanal, India, where we will teach and live at the Kodaikanal International School for a few years. What would possess us to do this, the various things that happen, and any other thoughts that seem relevant, will be the subject of the blog.

And the name of the blog? It’s all explained here. One thing I can say is that this is not just another ‘personal diary blog’ – Strother’s thinking and writing is exceptional and I am glad that blogging is connecting me to a long time friend that is embarking on a rather exotic and long journey.

Communities Dominate Brands could be mistaken for a book which is just about the shape of things to come. And whilst it does indeed have a lot to say about the future, the really interesting thing about this book is that it is about the reality of brands and markets right now in 2005.

The fact much of what Tomi and Alan have to say is controversial and counter-intuitive to branding strategists and marketing insiders is just a measure of the seismic nature of the changes being wrought by the ‘Connected Revolution’. The world is not just changing, it has already changed and many of the axioms and practices which underpin how entire industries operate are now little more than a form of ‘phantom limb syndrome’.

This book is not just an essay about understanding how the convergence of many technologies has changed everything, it is nothing less than a survival guide which I would urge people in businesses of all sizes to read from cover to cover if they want prosper in a world in which the balance of power on so many levels has shifted in favour of the digitally empowered individual and the affinity groups they form. These communities really do dominate brands. Get used to it.

cross-posted from tBBC blog

… or can blog be a master jeweller’s best friend?

Last Tuesday I ventured out of our Chelsea ghetto to Bethanal Green in East London to visit a magical place, Paul Hatton’s workshop where he designs and makes his jewellery. He has not appeared out of nowhere – Paul is an outstanding English jewellers and spent many years in Los Angeles where word got round the Hollywood stylists. As a result he acquired an impressive line up of customers – apparently Liv Tyler and Kim Basinger just can’t live without his creations and cigar-smoking Jack Nicholson commissioned Hatton to make 12 ashtrays for him, one of which was a present for Michael Caine.

Enough of name dropping, it was a wonderful afternoon, talking alternately about jewellery and blogs – a combination that you’ll see more often in the coming months as Paul wants to blog about his craft. I will be helping Paul in any way I can to turn his blog into a conversation with an increasing number of customers. Thanks to Hugh for arranging the introduction.

The first Paul’s creation I laid my eyes on is this beautiful egg cup. My arty farty description: it combines modern simplicity with medieval opulence.

Paul’s website is nice and clean with images of his jewellery and he already has a blog set up, Hard Diamond. This is where he shares precious (pun unintended) information about his travels, his creations and how to cut diamonds and why. The blog is there to let the world know about his passion for jewellery and about his business and helps him find those who want to own a bit of his story. The idea is to reach out to those who might appreciate Paul’s art and commission him to create more beautiful objects for them.

So watch this space, as they say.

cross-posted from the Big Blog Company blog

No longer, as the New York Times mentions BrainStorm, the best, simplest and flexible application for sorting out your thoughts.

Next is a truly obscure underdog: software called BrainStorm, created and sold by two independent programmers in England. Its kind of elegance, quite distinct from the style and polish of the Mac or TiVo, is the stripped-down functional beauty of an excellent sharpened knife.

BrainStorm is a return to the early days of personal computing, in its resemblance to outstanding DOS-era programs like XyWrite and GrandView. Its display is text only, with no graphic grace notes, and the only thing it does is manage lists – of ideas, tasks, references, names. Behind this simplicity is surprising power, or so I have found since buying it on a friend’s recommendation several months ago. The program makes it very quick and easy to add, subtract, rearrange, or reconsider information you are working with.

David Tebbutt, one of the handful of bloggers whose off-line company I have a chance to enjoy, has spend much time and loving care on BrainStorm. I find it very useful when preparing for presentations, for example, as my thinking tends to be lateral and disorganised. Using BrainStorm enables me to switch from the creative (unstructured) to the analytical (structured) mode in a very convenient manner. I do recommend it, not only because I know how much effort went into it, but because it works. I also think that BrainStorm is like one of those little secrets that people like to keep to themselves – a phone number of a reliable and inexpensive plumber or a builder. Fortunately, Brainstorm can take the rush in orders, so off you go, organise and grow your brain.