Human Nature, Social Enterprise & Business Models..

Last week, from the comfort of lying prone in the grass on the sun baked Highbury Fields, I Tweeted a few ethereal thoughts on social enterprise business models. These were widely ignored ;) but a few people commented and so I decided it was worth expanding on, if only to clarify my original musings...

The original Tweets, responses, and my narrative clarification:

@RedButtonDesign:
Recent human meddlings aside, Nature is the perfect system.. But how does everything "get done"? Does Mother Nature have a to do list? ;)
.. or .. 1) when whatever happens is good.. nothing truly needs to 'get done'.. 2) or when things do what they do because of what they are..
..then whatever happens is a direct result of the actual nature of things. It's an honest system in the sense that there's no should/ought..
Pondering how #socent can build on the real nature of people .. (assuming we think humans are basically good well meaning creatures)..
..to create biz models that are more natural, less 'work' .. if we're basically good, the systems allowing us to act on this and *do* good..
..should be simpler? Or have we overworked our nature??
// Today's ramble brought to you by #zenhabits #socent & sunny day in the park.. ;)

Responses:
@Ghww: Re @RedButtonDesign multitweet: I warn against seeking 'natural' solutions. Capitalists have always done this. & nature has no should/ought.
@RedButtonDesign: RT @ghww: "nature has no should/ought" that's my point, a system that relies on discipline of it's agents to uphold the system will fail things will inevitably act according to their nature, therefore you have to adapt systems to human nature, not human nature to systems. Problem is we've forgotten what our real nature is, so we need to get that back ..
@curtistim: @RedButtonDesign so, a truly 'social' enterprise that treats humans as persons rather than functional, fictional commodities?
@Adilabrar: @RedButtonDesign come again?

So, some confusion...
Let me clarify.

Premises:
- Nature is a self organising, self perpetuating system
- Humans are basically good.
- Social Enterprise endeavours to be a self organising, self perpetuating system which allows Humans to act upon their natural instinct to be good.

Problem:
Current Social Enterprise business models do not appeal to our natural desire to do good, they appeal variously to our sense of obligation, guilt, commerce or vanity. All of which are strong enough drivers to promote action, but none of which are sustainable as they lack a certain authenticity of motive.

Argument
Nature works as a system because the system is simply the sum of the given behaviours of the elements within it. As soon as you try to force nature to act against these impulses.. (want seasonal fruits all year round, want forests here but not here, more of these creatures and less of those..) you disrupt the system and it acts out, or fails.

Humans vainly like to think of themselves outside this system, But the fact is, we have a set of characteristics which are inbuilt and though we may very successfully train ourselves to repress and control these characteristics, we aren't doing anything more than that. They're not going away.. we're just learning how to displace them.

Interestingly, one of the things that many societies have done, is suppress the desire for equality by suggesting (falsely) that achieving a higher status is actually beneficial. Capitalism and clever advertising have systematically manipulated our natural instincts until we have a situation where hierarchies, not communities, appeal to our evolutionary instincts to protect ourselves and our families. It's not as simple as desire. We create safety (or an illusion of) by having more .. more money, more food, more power, more weapons.."more". Where as traditionally it was understood that the best thing for an individual and their offspring was to be within a community of equals.

Only now are we beginning to gain perspective and see more clearly that this is fallacious. Brilliant works like The Spirit Level clearly demonstrate that inequality doesn't just cause more suffering to those at the bottom of the scale, but verses an equal society, inequality actually causes suffering to those at the upper end of the scale to.

So, my thoughts were that rather than create a system of business models and structures for social enterprise which are then implemented based upon the inequality we have mistakenly promoted: to create models based on the natural sense of equality and species protection that we diverged from, prior to this. To build the new system upwards from the last healthy point of development.

If you do that, and look at the way we naturally wish to express goodwill and philanthropy - it isn't from a distance. It isn't by signing a direct debit to a high-brand charity in return for receiving their end of year report. It is by having a human interaction, a human, emotive response to the act of helping another. Doing good makes us feel good, current models of Social Enterprise disconnect the act from the primary benefit of the act. Much in the way that Milgram's famous study allowed people to act more cruelly than anyone imagined when they were divorced from the effects of that cruelty, bringing people together to face the effects of their kindness will, undoubtedly, promote them to act with a generosity beyond that which we currently account for.

Conclusion:
Social Enterprise needs to be a force which enables the reconnection of our naturally good nature with the pleasure of doing good. The only way for this to happen is for the "models" to build upwards from true human impulses, not to build backwards or sideways from the capitalist mess we have created.

"Press Relations Goddess"?.. I've been termed worse!

I was at a Fast Growth Marketing event, run by School for Startups at the British Library last Friday and, despite all best intentions to sit down, shut up, and duly learn from the wonderful speakers, it would appear that what I actually did was manage to find myself causing a slight ripple of trouble.

'Oh', indeed.. And I can tell you're all surprised.

But let me explain; one of the great things about S4Startups is that the events allow for entrepreneurs in the audience to ask Doug Richard, or one of his guest speakers, for advice on how to resolve some of the issues they've been having regarding their businesses. With the advent of S4Stv the incorporation of live tweeting was encouraged, giving the rest of us in the audience the opportunity to pass ill informed judgement on the poor souls.. didn't I tell you this was great stuff?

So it transpired, then, that during a debate on PR and Marketing one such entrepreneur told a tale of how her business was contacted with regards to providing a 'profile' (not interview!) for a factual, industry specific, publication. Her problem was that when the copy came out it was riddled with inaccuracies, some simply wrong, others misleading to the company's extreme detriment and as a couple of others murmured from the auditorium that they too had suffered from the misreporting of facts in a similar fashion I, daftly I'll admit, grabbed my Blackberry and threw out into the ether this Tweet:

#s4stv Umm... am I the only entrepreneur who is successfully self-generating PR & who *demands* copy approval?! 'Copy Approval' people!! ;-)

So.. some followers on Twitter may have seen a little debate kick off between myself and @CriagMcGill which culminated in his recent blog post on the subject.

Now, to clarify, Red Button Design has been fortunate enough to receive a sizable chunk of press attention but up until recently we've been the feature of a huge number of factual publications and very few opinion pieces. When it comes to factual profiles I am afraid I am one of those difficult souls who do insist on seeing and checking the copy before print. To be frank, this is simply because, when it comes to technical or industry publications the difference between saying; 'cleans water', 'purifies water', or 'sanitises water' is technically significant in a way a journalist might not fully appreciate prior to a crash course in UN procurement and WHO sanitation regulations. And while getting the piece in the publication but having it inappropriately worded is harmful beyond measure, not being there at all is neutral ground. Perfectly defensible actions, I'm sure you'll agree.

However, I am pleased to say that the opinion pieces are beginning to come our way now, Gillian Bowditch recently interviewed me for the Sunday Times and produced a wonderful piece which I hasten to add I didn’t have copy approval over, nor did I request it. Similarly this morning I interviewed for a very well known national women's' magazine and didn't even consider making the request.

So I'd counter that my Tweet was misleading to those deprived of it's context, which given that there were maybe 100 or so folk at the event means that the vast majority of you might have been mislead and for that I am sorry. (I shoulda known better really, mea culpa and all that!) Hence I don't think @CriagMcGill and I are really arguing discussing the same thing, even,.. but tell us what *you* think either by commenting here or over at his blog, and I, for one, promise to post your opinions verbatim ;-)

How Do We Define 'Community'?

Charmian Love got me thinking this evening when she asked members of the Twitterverse to share their definitions of "Community". Hers is here but, not exactly known for my brevity *ahem*, I doubt I could even have asked that question in a Twitter-friendly 140 characters, let alone answered it too!

My characteristically rambling answer to Charmian's question is, therefore, below ;-)

1) A community is a number of individuals connected by the spirit of belonging to something synergic, or (to steal a phrase) greater than the sum of it's parts. To me the word 'community' evokes the notion "we're stronger together."

2) My conceptual community has an established set of core values shared by all members and, of which, the maintenance is equally and autonomously the responsibility of each individual. So the community is, therefore, self governing.

3) There is an established culture of co-operation to resultant mutual benefit which allows for the creation of a creative space to cultivate and grow ideas.

The definition I have settled upon is 621 characters long. Interestingly, it happily suits 'virtual' and 'cyber' communities as well as neighbourhoods and, I would assert, is the foundation for the happiest families I know.

It is also, I have just realised, pretty damn close to the definition of Anarchy .... oh well ;-)

Think you can do better? Go tell her yours!

Social Enterprise - Powered By Coffee!

In the run up to the NLS Awards on Tuesday I am in London having a crazy-busy few days networking, chatting, collaborating, debating, generally drinking loads of coffee with young, cool, like minded social entrepreneur / innovator types :)

I can only hope that my enthusiasm comes across loud and clear as I will find it difficult to expressly articulate just how much fun I am having and how much great business is being done!

The fun started yesterday when I had the absolute pleasure of chatting to Ian Wallis head of Entrepreneur TV for cmypitch.com over a coffee in Adam Street and continues in full force today at "Shine" the Unconference for Social Entrepreneurs.

There is far too much of interest going on just now for me to blog about it all but check out the action on Twitter! (Hashtag #shine09 !)

What Keeps You Awake At Night?

One of the themes of last week's World Entrepreneur Society 2009 Summit was “What keeps you awake at night?”

A lot of varied and interesting discussions have sprung up around this theme and, inevitably, the answers are very personal to individuals and specific to their businesses. It is interesting, however, to notice both the common threads in people's answers and acknowledge how few of us are getting any rest being kept awake, as it seems we all are, by one thing or another.

Just to join the bandwagon:
In no particular order, here's my Top 10 :

1) Wondering if there is really a specific place in the economy for 'Social Enterprise' or whether all Enterprise must become inherently more social?

2) Fear of missed opportunities (for me, much more frightening than 'fear of failure')

3) The dissonance between what I think is the bravest, boldest and best course of action vs. that which I feel I have the confidence and skills to pursue

4) Reading my RSS feeds

5) A constant string of 'To Do Tomorrows' popping into my head

6) Wondering what action I'll take if the recession makes raising this additional funding impossible / Wondering if I would recognise when it was time to give up and move on

7) A near obsessive checking of Social Networking sites

8) A veracious appetite for personal study. Distance courses, factual books, language studies, how-to websites, things which I can't make space during the day for but really want to spend time on

9) Deadlines / late nights / early flights which mean I just miss getting to bed altogether

10) Though truly disturbing how little it now affects me, occasionally I'm kept awake by the obscene amount of caffeine I like to consume during the day

Although if i'm honest, 9 times out of 10, it's No.3.

Snowed Under!

Opportunities to become all to busy have presented themselves in droves at RBD-HQ this month.
James and I are wading our way through some re-brand and CAD work, scores of exhibitions, funding applications, posh events, investment proposals and meetings.

James had a photo shoot*, I had an interview and then, like the rest of the UK, we got snowed under literally, as well as figuratively!
Add to this James' full-time Masters Degree and my growing side business attending speaking engagements and doing consultancy work (which, incidentally, is causing me to be in London so often, at the moment, that I consider myself to be a London based worker with the world's longest commute!) and quite clearly. I haven't been blogging.

But worry not!

The rest of the planet have. And in the absence of the time or coherency to construct an interesting post myself, here are my top 5 blog posts of the week!

Foreign Aid, Bad Governments: Why helping entrepreneurs is the right approach. - Acumen Fund

Co-preneurs & Power Couples - Social Edge

Oooh Lots of Lovely Government Money! - Catalyst

Meet The Other 360! (Number of intelligent civilisations can be quantified) - BBC

Made to be a Hand-Me-Down - Springwise


*more to come on this later!

Admitting it is the first step towards success!

Global Entrepreneurship week has got us thinking about what "entrepreneurship" really means, what skills you need to be an entrepreneur and why admitting it is the first step towards success! Today I've been asking myself what I did to earn the title 'entrepreneur' and whether I deserve it!

Hello, My name is Amanda and I am an Entrepreneur.

Two years ago I graduated from University and found myself in a familiar position, I had arrived at the successful end of yet another journey to recieve more academic qualifications and I had no idea what to do with them. Though previously this confusion had always resulted in a further spin on the education merry-go-round and yet more qualifications in subjects which really interested me but were, quite frankly, too diverse and wide ranging to be of any direct professional benefit, this time I was beginning to think I should get myself a career. And that was the magic word "career". I didn't want a job, I wanted a life.
I have a confession to make....I dislike work, I always have.Yet I spend around 60 hours a week, every week, on Red Button Design.
Why? because my definition of 'work' is something I don't want to be doing. I wanted to work with the United Nations but couldn't commit to the long stretches of field time at little or no notice. I wanted to work with Charities but found conflict in the ethics of relying on donors to fund growth in the developing world. I had and no aspiration to be an "entrepreneur" I just wanted to go about my life, achieving the things I wanted, doing what I found most interesting and rewarding and generally spending my time supporting the things I believed in. For me, that meant avoiding 'work' as I defined it and building my dream career.
To do this I have probably put in more hours that I would have in any standard 'job', I have survived on far less money, less sleep and less of a social life, and it's far from over yet. Why? In the hope that the gamble pays off and I end up with a career that I love to spend my time on. For more on this topic take a look at the "Turn your passion into profit!" debate

So should I call myself an entrepreneur?
- because I registered a Ltd Company?
- because I appeared on the Dragons' Den?
- because I raised money?
- beacuse I am my own boss and make my own decisions?

Yes, all of those things but critically entrepreneurship is all about taking a calculated risk to make your dreams happen, it's about having a go. So if you have an idea that you'd like to make reality, stop putting it off! Have a go this global enterprise week and start calling yourself an entrepreneur too.

LIV

Way way back on the 24th April James and I caught up with James Lawrence to do an interview for LIV Magazine. Haven't heard of it? Well i'll forgive you that as neither had we when they first contacted us, but LIV Magazine (It's Swedish for "Life") is the award winning, glossy rebrand of Volvo's lifestyle magazine.LIV sources articles from all over the world, is published in 75 countries, translated into 30 languages and sent to over 1.5 million readers, but we found ourselves in a posh Hairdressers in London.

We'd been quite rightly told that there was a good water feature for us to pose infront of. What no one had bargained for, however, was that this water feature (a large metallic wall with water cascading down it) ended in a pool filled with polished stones and pennies. Someone very sensible had the idea of getting hold of a pair of wellies and managed to find some, from where I just don't know! So, first James, then I, climbed into the water feature, wearing wellies, in the hairdressers, (which, by the way, was full of bemused staff and customers), to have our portrait taken! Easier said than done I can tell you as it's probably worth mentioning that these wellies were more than big enough for James' size 13 feet. So for me, little miss size 4, trying to walk around without falling in the water was a fiendish task! Alas, when it came time for us to have shots taken of us both together, no further wellies could be sourced. But ever the gentleman, James offered me the wellies, took off his shoes and socks, rolled his suit trousers up to the knee, and climbed in barefoot!

Needless to say all this, combined with the fact that everyone on the shoot was really great fun to work with, made for a highly entertaining morning and if that wasn't enough I have to say that we're thrilled with the final shot! Not too surprising really as the photographer Jamie Beeden is an amazing guy who has previously worked on Magazines such as NME, Arena and Q.

So for your delight and delectation, the final article *and* as a special treat, some photo's of the 'backstage' fun and games!

View Article as JPEG Image
View Article as PDF Document

Change The World

Following on from my previous post regarding the Make Your Mark event, I would like to share my goodie bag with you!

Well, not literally. I'm afraid that would be a logistical feat not even James could overcome, recently qualified though he is. But I wanted to mention one of the most interesting gifts, a book I have been meaning to buy myself entitled "change the world for a fiver".

This book is part of the "we are what we do" movement promoting the completion of simple actions, which have very little impact on your life as an individual, but when combined will effect significant social and environmental change.

As well as being a fantastically simple concept, beautifully executed, they have a great website. So rather than talk about them here too much, i'd suggest you have a look over here if you're interested. And you should be! The book, one of several they publish, is full of excellent suggestions that will improve your life, the health of this planet, and society as a whole.

You can buy the book below but why wait 'till it arrives to start the good work. Sign up on the website and challenge yourself to complete an action! Today I am carrying around a thermos and getting coffee shop baristas to fill that up for me instead of using their disposable cups. With my incessant coffee drinking I alone may save the planet with this new action! ;o)

Change the world.

Red Button Design On Newsnight, 11th Sept, 11pm

We've had an odd day today at RBD-HQ. We spent all morning pretending it was evening, promoting Scottish Innovation for tomorrow's edition of Newsnight Scotland. Tomorrow's show looks at the upcoming John Logie Baird Awards Programme and the shape of Scottish innovation and entrepreneurship as a whole, asking if, more than eighty years after John Logie Baird, there is enough support for young innovators.

We had the opportunity to present the ROSS to a panel including Isabell Majewsky, Gordon Brewer and Jackie McKenzie and though 'television' got in the way of any serious business networking being done, we left with a few more business cards to add to the collection. That aside, it is all fantastic publicity as we 'down tools' and start heading into the murky world of detailed design, and I can't imagine a more agreeable way to celebrate the John Logie Baird Awards than with a bit of televised innovation. Whats more, as it appears that despite being 18 times more lethal than death, CERN has not yet sucked the earth into a black hole, you'll all still be alive to tune in!

Thursday September 11th, 11pm, BBC 2 Scotland or all week on BBC i>Player


"Newsnight Scotland, presented by Gordon Brewer and Anne Mackenzie, looks in depth at topical news and current affairs from the Scottish perspective. The programme is broadcast from 2300 to 2320, Monday to Thursday."

If Not Trees - Where Does Money Grow?

Yes, after our brief hiatus we are back and blogging.

I feel like I owe you all an update and an explanation so lets start with the latter. Money.

For the last fortnight, RBD-HQ has been consumed by the activities surrounding raising finance. As many of you will know, and contrary to popular media, we have to date funded the company through competitions, grants, personal investment, in kind support and scrooge-like penny pinching. Not because it was our planned funding route, but because we were able to seize opportunities to access unconventional funds by being active in our network and on the internet. These opportunities enabled us to stave off the sale of equity until we felt the company had become sufficiently appealing and valuable. We are now feeling the benefits of that painful catch-22 "it takes money to grow money". This infinite regress is the bane of every start up but (to adopt the analogy) you need only one seed planted carefully to grow a tree full of your own seeds. Our tree started with £500, took root, and we're now trying get it to grow.
So we've been out.
Gardening ;o)

On to the update: aside from laps of the garden (literally this time, see above) we're arranged meetings for the next six weeks including representatives from EU External Aid Funding, UNHCR, The Red Cross, Asian Development Bank, and the World Health Organisation. We'll also be filming for "Newsnight Scotland" and the follow up for "The Dragons' Den", and on Friday I'll be back in London for the "Girls! Make Your Mark" Award Ceremony - if you voted, thank you, the results of the public vote and the prizes awarded by the judging panel will be announced live that afternoon.

And of course, we've been settling into our new website design. Isn’t it stunning? Just another couple of strings to James’ bow, not only did he do almost all the coding (I took what you might want to call a 'supervisory' role), but the photography is his handywork too.* If you're accessing this blog direct or from an RSS syndication I encourage you to take a peek at our new website at www.thisisredbutton.co.uk or our newly acquired and long awaited domain www.redbuttondesign.co.uk where this blog can also be accessed directly.

Needless to say with all the exciting things we've got lined up over the next month and a half, this blog will be buzzing. Make sure you don't miss anything by adding us to your syndication.

*If you want to see more of James’ Photography, or incidentally another website he authored, check out his personal photography and portfolio site www.james-elliot.co.uk

Of Shoes And Ships And Sealing-Wax

Last week was a very busy and eventful week for us and though the coming week looks set to equal (if not surpass) the last in terms of how many hours a day we can work, how many meetings we can squeeze in and how little sleep we can survive on, I will endeavour to catch up with the blogging and give some of this weeks more noteworthy events a blog post of their own.


For now, however, a brief run down of the things simmering away at RBD-HQ...

~ James has, in his own words, been "temporarily freed from the shackles of academia" and has immersed himself with admirable vigour in the day to day running of the business. Having muddled along myself for over 18 months now I have to admit that I appreciate having a second perspective on the little things (like whether we should file June's receipts *before* the divider tag in the filing cabinet that says 'June' or *after*)

~ James and I have gotten involved with the fantastic youth led banking scheme 'MyBnk' and will shortly be answering a battery of fun and challenging questions in the MyBnk Hotseat

~ We found out that our old primary school, Swavesey Village College, has been showing clips of our Dragon's Den pitch in Science Class (I just wonder if students still turn the TV off every 10 seconds with those cunning watch gadgets only to have the teacher call out the AV technician for the 5th time that period!)

~ On the subject of Education we've been asked for permission for our DD pitch to be transcribed and included in a National Curriculum Enterprise Text Book as a 'How To' example! Amazing, and to think my school teachers told me day dreaming wouldn't get me anywhere!

~ James has been nominated as Global Student Entrepreneur of The Year 2008!

~ We're eagerly anticipating meeting our team for the EDGE project (more on this shortly)

... and we've a couple of big announcements for the making so check back later on this week

Well, I *Think* I Used To Have A Life....

"perpetual devotion to what a man calls his business, is only to be sustained by perpetual neglect of many other things"

- Robert Louis Stevenson

HSBC Comp: A Day in the Life! *

Information continually updated throughout the day today. Newest post on top!

21:30-Waiting...
 
Maybe my competitive streak has been mollified by the champagne reception but at this moment in time I really can say in all honesty that no matter who ends the evening grasping on to a novelty cheque this has been yet another amazing experience (like San Francisco, India or the Dragons' Den) that I would not have had if it weren't for Red Button and all of the support we've been given for our Entrepreneurial Endeavours (or should that simply be abject insanity? I feel there is little difference some days). Starting up in business is consistently the hardest thing I have ever had to do and I'd be lying if I said there weren't days I just want to throw in the towel and get a job in sales but I ...
wow, *puts down the glass of champagne and straightens her dress* enough of that - I have Networking to attend to!


18:23-Not Long Now!

Well we will be pitching first of five, not sure if that is a blessing or a curse but to be honest I am at the BAFTA theatre, red carpet and all having the absolute best time! It is almost a shame I have to do any work!

04:59-On Our Way!
 
Short on time and short on sleep we may be but we're certainly not short on enthusiasm! We've just finished making ourselves look presentable and in a few minutes we'll be heading over to the BAFTA theatre to get acquainted with the Panel (well, those on the panel we haven't yet met!) safe to say I am pretty excited at the prospect!

- Amanda
 

15:36-More Haste Less Speed!

So it is going to be a close call! Our train will get into Kings Cross in just a few minutes but we're leaving the *hotel* for the theatre at 4:45! Good job I am well versed in the art of the quick change (years of competitive dance pay off in the strangest ways!) Oh well, maybe the haste will keep the nerves at bay though I could really do with a nap in a comfy 5* hotel bed right now!
-Amanda

13:24-Who Will we be Sharing the Stage With?

The members of the panel that will be questioning us onstage are:
Lisa Buckingham, Editor, Financial Mail on Sunday, Dragons' Den Entrepreneur Peter Jones, Designer Wayne Hemingway, William Kendall, former CEO Green & Blacks and New Covent Garden Soup Company and the session will be chaired by GMTV presenter, Jenni Falconer.
Seems like a nicely diverse bunch and some good contacts there!
-Amanda


11:47-Amanda Gets Distracted by her Horoscope

"Events push you into the public eye today no matter how much you resist. Nevertheless, you still may withhold a vital piece of information, believing this could increase your power. Actually, it may just complicate matters. Controlling the flow of data is not to your advantage; it is better to get everything out into the open and then let destiny take you where it will."
- Amanda


09:50-National Express to London Kings Cross

Rainy mid-week mornings are the entire city's excuse to take a taxi. The traffic was murder and we didn't make the fast train we'd originally planned to travel on, we caught the next train with a fraction of a second to spare but the 10 mins of traffic jam in Glasgow cost us almost 2 hours in terms of our arrival time in London! It's not a brilliant start by anyone's account but hopefully not representative of the day as a whole!
- Amanda

* Today James and I will be doing our best to test technology by posting updates as regularly as possible throughout the day, please feel free to strike up a dialogue by posting a comment and keep refreshing the page to follow our progress at the HSBC Unipreneurs Final.

HSBC Unipreneurs Final Approaches Fast !

This Wednesday, April 23rd, sees the final of the government-backed Unipreneur Awards, sponsored by HSBC Bank and presented in association with the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship.

James and I will be heading down to London for the gala evening at the swanky BAFTA theatre alongside the four other finalists. On the night we will be pitching the virtues of Red Button Design, quizzed live on-stage by a panel of experts, subjected to an audience vote and featured in a short film. Our fellow finalists can be seen *here* and assuming we all survive the experience one of us will walk away with the £20,000 prize the very same night.

So will we be drinking ourselves into a congratulatory champagne-induced stupor or a commiserative vodka-shot puddle on the pavement? Ladies and Gentlemen, please cast your votes now. Be sure to check back Wednesday night to see if you were right because thanks to blogging on the Blackberry you know the results will be here first!

On location

James and I are at the Glasgow School of Art this afternoon filming for a new project to be shown at London's BAFTA Theatre in April. For once Glasgow has given us it's blessing and we are bathed in sunshine inside the Mackintosh Building. Watch this space for further updates on our blossoming film careers! (Before long you'll be spotting our obligatory cameos on Taggart!)*

---
Sent via BlackBerry



* don't worry we'll be back in the office tomorrow getting down to the 'real work'