Candidate attraction and print media #emconf2010

I'm on the train to London and on my way to the Online Recruitment Conference 2010 at the Royal Geographical Society. I'm presenting to over 350 delegates, so no pressure there then!!!

My presentation includes a couple of slides on my predictions for 2010, and one of my thoughts is about changes coming to the newspaper advertising model. At the time i put the slide together my thoughts were largely driven by the pressure newspapers are under as they struggle with online presence and whether or not to hide behind a pay wall. Yesterdays Apple announcement of the iBookstore has the makings of the basis on which some print media organisations will survive and prosper. I think we will be suprised by some brands that take off and some that just won't quite get the changes needed and ultimately quietly expire.

It's going to be interesting to see if print media reading habits are really going to change.

Steve

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A cold day at Wiccaweys, but happy to be back...

With Christmas out of the way it was time to get back in the saddle and settle into the routine of healthy dog walking on a Sunday at Wiccaweys. Getting there was the first challenge but once out of the estate at home, to be honest the roads were pretty clear all the way, there seemed slightly less snow as we got closer to Wiccs HQ than in Daventry (but not by much) and we managed to get the car into the yard at Wiccaweys by just taking it nice and slowly all the way from the gate. As Leisa had come with me we walked two dogs at a time, starting with Ollie and Mikey and then after lunch we had Max and Merlin. Conditions were not unpleasant and the only weather issue was the wind chill so it was decidedly better when the wind was light or non-existant.

Here’s a great picture I got of Ollie looking very puppy-ish... what a nice boy and I definitely could of gotten used to this Ollie as much as the little charmer of the same name who stole my heart before Christmas. Both Ollie and Mikey pull on the lead quite a bit, Mikey (to say he’s so skinny) is very strong. Ollie got to go to his forever home later on in the day and I felt really happy for him.

And here is Max. What a fluffball!!! There’s a good deal of German Shepherd in Max although I suspect not pure as he doesn’t have the body shape and terrible hip problems that seem to beset that breed these days. But a real pleasure to walk, he doesn’t pull anything like as much as the two collies from the morning walk  and a super nice personality. I got several kisses. And he’s as gentle as can be when taking a treat.

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Online Recruitment 2010 Conference

I am speaking at the Online Recruitment 2010 Conference. More information at http://is.gd/5QcmD
I am speaking about life after job boards. What would you expect to hear covered in this session?
If you were thinking about recruitment technology in the era after job boards what questions would you want answered?
The twitter hashtag for the conference is #EMconf2010

Some of them take a little bit of your heart...

Sorry it’s a bit of a belated report but I had another great day’s walking at Wiccaweys on Sunday just gone. If you haven’t been following along, Wiccaweys is the border collie rescue centre where I do voluntary dog walking, generally on Sundays. When I arrived this week it looked like it was going to be pretty ideal walking conditions. The sun was kind of poking out, it was a little chilly but not too bad temperature wise, not much wind and given the amount of rain recently a little wet underfoot. I had barely arrived and got myself turned around when I met Vallie, one of a pair of collies learning to be a little bit independent of each other. Vallie is a gorgeous scamp of a dog who pulled me along for the ride on a pleasant walk to set the day up right. An hour later I was in for a change of dog and Sarah gave me Ollie. So Ollie and I spent the rest of my walking day together, having a great time. I am convinced Ollie remembered me from last week, because we immediately settled in to enjoy the day. Ollie’s just great to walk and has a huge skill so many collies lack, which is when he tangles himself up in the lead he can, without assistance, get himself out of the predicament. What a smart cookie!!! He enjoys his walks, but he definitely walks with you. Yes, he sniffs his way around some of the time and occasionally asks you to give him a minute while he susses out some particularly delicious scent he’s found. He also decides when he’s ready to be fed a treat, coming back to you, tail wagging and giving you “the look”. If that doesn’t persuade you then directly trying to stick his nose in your treat pocket is the signal. He’s exceptionally good with other dogs he meets on the walk. He’s usually more interested in the humans and whether they might be carrying sausage than he is in getting into argy bargy with another dog.

We came in for a break after about an hour and a half so that I could grab a bite to eat. Ollie was a lot of fun as we did this, putting his front paws on my thigh to see what was going on and to find out how much of my lunch he was going to get a share in. What was very sweet was as lunch progressed Ollie put his head down on my thigh and turned his face to mine almost like a child might and gave me such a loving look, he took a little bit of my heart right there and then. I think I was asked three times over the course of the day when I was planning to take Ollie home with me. The honest answer is that I can’t. I could be utterly selfish and take a dog home with me but it would be so unfair on him (or her). Take today – I have to set off by 5:30 am and may not be back until well after 7pm tonight. It’s just not right to leave a dog alone for that amount of time. So I have to settle for what I can at present and meeting dogs like Ollie is truly what I get out of volunteering. If circumstances were different I’d snatch up Oliie in a heartbeat.

After lunch the rains came. But I was ready in my new waterproof jacket, which worked perfectly. I got one of the Berghaus jobs with an inner fleece that keeps you warm and a Gore Tex outer layer that keeps the rain and wind out. It worked perfectly and I stayed warm & dry for the rest of the afternoon. It rained on and off for the rest of the day but frankly it wasn’t a patch on the more torrential downpours of the previous Sunday. I’d had such a busy but wonderful weekend that I was flagging by 3 o’clock so I called it a day, happily tired and having thoroughly enjoyed once again my time with Ollie.

Here is a new photo of the collie gorgeousness called Ollie...

...and again...

...and one last one...

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A wet day's dog walking

It was one of those days that weather wise separates the men from the boys. It absolutely chucked it down 2 or 3 times during the day and there was a distinctly persistent feel to some of the showers, particularly in the early part of the day. That said a pretty good turn out of volunteers for such an awful day. I got to spend most of the day with Ollie, broken only by a relatively short walk with Blue. You can see pictures of both these dogs on recent reports and it wasn't exactly camera weather today so no updated pictures in this weeks report. 

I only broke the day with Ollie whilst he met prospective adopters. Sadly for Ollie it wasn't to be his day. The family that came to see Ollie were interested in a collie with what I would refer to as breed standard collie colouring and funnily enough a dog with more energy that Ollie - so closer in behaviour to a little Brynn or the appropriately named Zippy. To be honest I have some sympathy with the issue of colouring. If people have a mental picture of the breed then that's what they are going to want. It's an easy thing to say that this is a bit superficial, but we all make many choices in our lives that are about superficial look or feel. I also believe that given time and exposure people can eventually see past the superficial and find that some of the finest of the breed in terms of intelligence and companionship are the least like the breed standard in terms of looks. I know I'm biased but I have formed quite an attachment to Ollie and he will make a wonderful companion when he finds his forever home. The bit that didn't compute was that they wanted a high energy dog, because that was what they had experienced when meeting the breed previously. Their mental picture was of a dog whose temperement was closer in spirit to Zippy. As much as I love Zippy who has a super, super, personality I personally would want a forever companion much more like Ollie. Zippy is a dog that would have you forever on the go with a capacity for exercise that somedays you could just never meet. Ollie is much more of a companion animal. Someone who settles down into a walk with you. Ollie also has great skill in untangling his lead. There are some dogs you walk that you have to constantly do this for as they tie themselves up in the lead. It's not that Ollie doesn't sometimes do this himself, it's that most of the time he can also untangle himself. And there's a great sign of wicked intelligence. He's also a very gentle animal. Very considerate when you give him a treat, he doesn't snatch at your fingers like some dogs and worry you if you're still going to have your fingers when the treat is taken. And Oliie just gives the warmest collie hugs. In short he's a magnificent animal and the family that he chooses will be lucky to have him. Don't let Paul & Sarah hear me saying this, but I was almost glad he didn't go today so that I may get to spend time with him again. It won't last though, Ollie is sure to go soon.

What I did find out today was that my Nike Air "Michelin Man" coat is not as waterproof as my mental picture of it is. For short showers or a bit of time in rain, it is basically waterproof. And very warm. But there seems to come a point if you spend a protracted period of time in the wet that it becomes sort of waterlogged and the waterproof protection seems to give out or be overwhelmed. So the coat was fine until about two in the afternoon, when suddenly I found myself soaked through. The good news was that I had my change of clothes with me so didn't have to drive home feeling wet and miserable. So a visit to an outdoors shop to get a new coat for the winter season seems on the cards. A young lady who has become a very special friend in a short space of time has commented (adversely) on my usual (non rain) walking attire - which is a bog standard cotton traders fleece - so I will have to arrange for her to accompany on the trip to pick something that whilst waterproof is also aesthetically pleasing, or at least not a fashion disaster. What has worked out really well is my bargain walking boots, also from Cotton Traders. First off, and quite importantly, they are what they said on the tin. Waterproof. And three weeks in, I think I finally have them broken in. I was having a bit of trouble getting used to the ankle support but I think I'm past that now and found them incredibly comfortable over quite a long walking session today.

Anyway, got back home safe and sound. Felt great after a long hot shower and have settled in to have a catch up with Strictly and the X Factor. I think both show made the right choice this week.

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It's Sunday, so a dog walking report...

Another Sunday at Wiccaweys. It could not have been a better day weather wise. I suspect the volunteers yesterday were blown about a bit in the wind and probably got wet, today the sun was out (although you would not describe the day as warm) and there was almost no wind. Almost perfect dog walking conditions, with the exception of slightly wet ground and a muddy and slippy conditions in the a couple of places on the usual walking routes. We started slightly late but I stayed till the end today and walked four dogs, and I was really lucky to have spent the day walking the cream of the crop in terms of a lack of pulling. All four dogs today, once settled on the walk, were exceptionally good company and pretty much walked with me, rather than dragging me along on their walk.

First up was Ollie, who I walked last week...

Then, a dog I’d not met before called Storm. I not sure why but the name really suits him. If the circumstances were different I’d wrap him up in my arms and bring him home in a heartbeat. What a terrific personality. And just look at that face. Playful without being unruly, he sits and puts up both paws for his treats. What a lovely, lovely dog.

I almost didn’t go back in to change dogs, had I not I would not have met Blue. Blue, as you can see isn’t a collie. I believe she’s an Australian Sheep Dog. If I got that wrong I’m sure someone will correct me. Collie or not, another lovely dog. Eager for the walk but with intelligence to kind of look at me as if to say, if that’s all the pace you can do I’ll look after you. This is a dog that I suspect may have some difficulty being homed because of her looks. It’s not that she’s not a good looker, it’s just that she’s so unusual. It doesn’t however take long to look behind that to find a charming, well behaved, young lady with bags of personality.

I’m obviously beginning to find my stride because I still had some energy come three o’clock so I took Blue back in and Merlin out for a last walk. Merlin is one of the kennel stalwarts, he’s a lurcher and a beloved favourite of many of the volunteers. He pulls like the dervish when he first comes out on the walk, but he does settle in after about 5 or 10 minutes. We had a lovely last walk in the setting sun.

So, for me, a fine day’s dog walking. Sadly the day was somewhat marred by the fact that one of the dogs got loose and when I left to come home, despite the best efforts of the team, we have a poor soul who’s missing in action. Everyone is devastated and tonight I have my fingers and toes crossed and my thoughts are with Paul & Sarah.

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Finding my inner rock god...

I think I have found my intellectual level on the Wii.

Air drumming!

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Time...

I've just de-duplicated my iTunes collection. 

It's possible I have too much time on my hands.

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Life feels good - I hope it's not a bubble

I’ve been dog walking at Wiccaweys. I spent the morning with Ollie and the afternoon with Paddy. Ollie is wonderful to walk; he’s not one of the high energy pullers so once we settled in he was the perfect walking companion. I set my iPhone on shuffle and mellowed out for a couple of hours. This is Ollie:

After lunch I switched over to Paddy. Pre-warned that he was a puller I was ready for him but he still almost managed to pull me over before we’d even left the yard area. Paddy might be high energy but he’s also a real love. When I stopped for a sit, I got a right royal cuddle session; although this partially driven by his desire to find the pocket holding the gravy bones. As it had rained overnight the ground was a bit damp and a little muddy; so my clothes are covered in muddy paw prints pretty comprehensively from shoulder to knee. Good job I’m using a set of old clothes exclusively for the task and they go straight in the washing machine as a job lot when I get home. This is Paddy:

I love that eye patch look although I’m partial to Collies with “naughty spots”.

After the upheaval of the last several months, life feels good again. I’m completely off the anti-depressants and feeling really good about that. Am starting to do something about the weight that I gained whilst on the anti-depressants. I’ve made a very conscious switch from buggering about to trying to remove the majority of sugar from my diet. I have NO full fat coke in the fridge, have replaced the bowl of sugar for tea and coffee with Splenda and have only a very limited amount of sweets / chocolate in the house. I think I am finally following the advice I was given by my doctor when first diagnosed as diabetic – everything in moderation. Between that, the exercise from the dog walking and the Wii Fit Plus I’m trying to take better care of myself.

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Fleetwood Mac live...

Am coming down from an awesome performance by Fleetwood Mac at Sheffield Arena. If you have a chance to go see them I most heartily recommend. Can't sleep yet so I thought I'd record a few thoughts for posterity.

It was my first time at Sheffield Arena, what a great venue. I much prefer it to the NEC. I managed to trade my two tickets at the back of the arena for 1 ticket just 12 rows from the front plus cash. So had a fantastic view. The only marginal downside was being sat next to the scouser from hell. Clearly short of the odd marble he kept shouting at Lindsey Buckingham to play "Go your own way", which was the last song of the main set, so he kept it up most of the night.

Such minor annoyance could not detract though from the greatness of the Mac. Lindsey Buckingham really is a maestro. I can't think offhand of a better guitarist that I've seen live. Even when he went off into guitar solo heaven he held a meaningful tune that you could not help but tap, sway or dance along to. Contrast that with most solos that show off guitar competency but really aren't musical. Case in point Mick Fleetwood and his drum solo, ok so it proves he can play but I just wanted it to end and them to move onto a song.
Stevie Nicks was fantastic, she's still got one hell of a voice and together with Buckingham they belted out all the great anthems.

Mick Fleetwood and John McVie provide a solid backbone to the band and with supporting cast the delivery was faultless. The only missing member of what you might consider the classic Mac line up was Christie McVie.

I don't know what's happened to the average British concert goer since I last went to a gig, but when did they start all sitting like lemons? You can't go to a live gig like this and not dance! What's the point of shelling out £60 for a ticket if you're not even going to try being moved by the music. If you just want to watch them play competently buy the DVD. Have we lost our soul or is it just good old British stoicism? Have to admit I got up and boogied. Showing my age I guess.

An electrifying night that will live in my memory for some time to come.

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On my way to see the Mac

Just setting off in plenty of time to see Fleetwood Mac at Sheffield Arena tonight. Classic night in prospect. iPhone is primed for a Mac fest on the drive up.

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Postcard from an iPhone

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Postcard from an iPhone

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Postcard from an iPhone

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A work of art...

I probably won’t ever get to see my Lassie again, so I’m converting my favourite picture of her:



into artwork...

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Eau de Brynn

He looks like butter wouldn’t melt. This is little Brynn after my fairly unsuccessful attempt to wear him out by walking him for a couple of hours. When we started the day he already had poo on his hind quarters and he managed to find and roll in fox poo when I wasn’t looking. It’s impossible to be mad at him though.

He was as affectionate as ever, particularly when I got the gravy bones out. I got a hug and a cuddle but I’m really glad I didn’t get a French kiss because if you look at this photo you can actually see the fox pooh on his cheek. Yuk! And boy did he smell bad again. Vintage “Eau de Brynn”.

I also spent a bit of time with a new arrival at Wiccaweys. This next photo is Tipper, who looks a bit like Martha Jones. Quite the gentleman, very affectionate and put Brynn in his place firmly but fairly when the youngster tried to nip in and steal a gravy bone.

Three weeks in and I’m still enjoying my time volunteering at Wiccaweys HQ on Sundays. If man’s inhumanity to man wasn’t bad enough sometimes, his inhumanity to these wonderful creatures beggars belief.

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Windows 7

I'm installing Windows 7 and I feel like such a daredevil, as typically I'd wait until SP1 with an operating system. That said I have found Vista to be clunky, so I'm hoping the pre-publicity that this is a much smoother OS is right. Too late to back out now though!

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What a difference a day makes...

This cheeky chappy is Brynn, one of three border collies I took for a walk today as a volunteer dog walker at the Wiccaweys border collie rescue centre.

Right now every muscle in my body aches from about 5 hours of non stop walking. My clothes are covered in mud and dog poop. But these dogs are magical creatures. When Brynn and I stopped about half way into his second walk I sat down on the grass and I swear to you that dog gave me a hug, a cuddle and in true collie style a wet kiss.

I also met Martha Jones, a bit of an old relic like myself. We thoroughly enjoyed more what you'd call a stroll than a walk. I could tell Martha was enjoying it when half way round her walk she prestented her belly to me for a good rub.

Charlie was the third dog I met. Far too much energy for me, but what a playful character.

What an awesome day!

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Sometimes

Sometimes... breakfast in a hotel is a relaxing start to the day. On other days it's a pain in the neck. Today it was the latter. Orange juice ran out just before I got there. Sugar shaker had gone missing, so couldn't sprinkle on my ever soggier rice krispies. (hope my doctor doesn't follow me as i'm a diabetic, but honestly it's just a little shake). The table, of course, has cube sugar. I ordered cooked breakfast with white toast, forgetting this is a "make your own toast" establishment. They could have told me when I sat there like a lemon and ordered the damn toast. Which gave me the dilemma of hot breakfast with bread or cold breakfast with hot toast. What's that expression... Oi Vey.

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I am a free man

I am not a number, I am a free man.

 Am very much enjoying my trip to Rotterdam. Logitics very smooth, hotel different but quaint and most importantly bed awesomely comfortable. Have slept like a baby for 2 nights. Conference day yesterday was interesting and prompted some thoughts. Will cogitate for a couple of days. Definitely need to draw. Amazingly liberating feeling not to have laptop with me. This will probably be the longest stretch I have been unplugged from work in 5 years.

 Met an extraordinarily nice lady from Denmark at the conference and ended up just the two of enjoying candlelight dinner at very nice Italian restaurant. I have made a new friend.

 Am just wondering around the shops in Rotterdam today and looking forward to a few hours in Amsterdam tomorrow before the flight home.

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