Things that make you go hmmm..., vol. II

On a recent matter

Following a brief conversation with O. yesterday afternoon about the current madness going on in London I found this on Jonathan's blog. Now I don't know if this does prove my point ('Don't act like a complete moron in such an environment or you might get shot!') or if it is just another example of weird English humour....   (Click to enlarge and read)

Do not repeat!

Nicht nur meine Kündigung hat die Company aufgewirbelt, zu allem Überfluß hat man dem Managing Director vor zehn Tagen dann auch noch die Resignation nahe gelegt. Somit ist die Marke zum fünften Mal in vier Jahren ohne Managing Director und ich denke Group hat nun ein echtes Problem. Nicht nur einen Nachfolger zu finden. Es geht bei Marken immer um Kontinuität und Verlässlichkeit, und für beide Dinge waren wir nun wirklich nicht bekannt…

Ich glaube nicht, daß meine Kündigung meinem Boss den Job gekostet hat. Es hat ihm sicherlich auch nicht geholfen, aber er hat seit September 2004 einfach zu viele Fehler gemacht. Und er hat mir damit ein leuchtendes Beispiel gegeben, wie ich es im neuen Job nicht  machen werde:

Nicht auf alle Key Positionen alte Buddies setzen, die mit dem bestehenden Management Team nicht können und darüber hinaus auch noch erbärmlichste People Management Skills im Umgang mit dem restlichen Team haben. Nicht dauernd von seinem alten Job erzählen, dauernd darauf reflektieren und nicht versuchen alles von dort zu wiederholen. Wear your brand – not your old one! Nicht regelmäßig mit dem Team kommunizieren!

Klingt alles ganz einfach. ...Common sense halt! War aber anscheinend doch zu schwierig für ihn!

Summer Sales

Back

… with a new job.

… with only ten more weeks to work in the old job.

… with the wedding date coming closer and closer and closer.

From now on things will be easier. And since the stress is mostly gone now I will try and inform you about the jobchange (without too many details on my new employer, because I felt that I did indeed write too much about the recent job), the weddingplans (if you’re not a regular on ‘Al und die Pixelschubse’) and all the other Things that still make me go Hmmm… on a more regular basis from now on again. Promise!

So welcome back and enjoy!

Currently playing

With all the traveling going on right now good music becomes an essential 'must' in my CD changer. Another trade show in HB coming up for me over the weekend so I have to make sure that there's the right audiophile menu at hand. These are some of the current favourites:

 

* liz wright - dreaming wide awake. this is her second album after 'salt' and my first buy. lovely ballads sung by a marvellous voice. not as 'pop' as norah jones but aiming at a similar taste. get it before it gets played in every second league cocktail bar soon!

* these are the obvious current favourites at home. not only are we listening to 'feel good inc.' twenty times a day. no, we also had to get the action figure set (so so good!), the DVD (forcing everyone to look at it!) and this compilation of remixes, b-sides and other rareties from their first album.

* 12"/80s/2 - another three CD set of rare and unforgotten 12" from the 80ies. and still i remember the words of every track (only now i know what they mean!) and who owned the original back then. mostly m., he ahd more money that me. bastard!

I should be blogging more

I know, I know... ("piss-poor service" a friend just called my updating)

But there are still so many things going on, I hardly know where to start. Some of the stuff I'd like to write about needs a certain confidentiality and since a weblog is not the most discreet place to publish stuff about my life I have to keep you in the dark. But just for a while. Honest!

Still there are a lot of  Hmmms... to post about:

* Current workload and travel schedule. The conference in late May was just the start. Constant traveling back and forth through Germany and Austria is needed when seeing Key Accounts and so I was on a roll! Plus in the beginning you usually only have one set of samples so a lot logistics are involved when doing presentations and pre-views. To wrap things up a bit:  in the month of June I was in Salzburg, then Munich, met my new agent in Berlin again and invited a customer to London, which was very nice and quite successful. Then just this past week we did the Bread & Butter fashion show, this time in Barcelona. But now after the next ten days or so things should slow down. Tuesday and Wednesday my fellow Country manager colleagues are coming to see the German market here in D'dorf, Thursday I'll fly to London again for a AW 2006/2007 prototype review and the weekend will be spent in HB, doing a local buying group trade show.

* Wedding plans incl. Honeymoon. Most of it is actually planned and even budgeted - you have no idea how tough that was! I have to say that this was only possible thanks to The Girl's efforts. She did all the invitations, did all the scouting for locations and even managed to get all the paperwork done . Now I only have to prove that I am properly christened so even the church has nothing against our proposed marriage.

* Summertime. After a poor start in late May and early June the season here in Germany has really become a proper 'Summer'. And for the first time ever thanks to my soon-to-be-wife I spend time in the garden. She takes care of the plants every day and really made our 'balcony' into a great place to stay when it's too hot inside. And when the sun is shining it can be really hot inside our place (those of you that have been here know). So I had the occasional barbecue and even been able to catch a tan out there. With a new medicine against hayfever even a nap is possible and good fun...

* More traveling. We've been to Zurich early this month for a 'barbecue' which seemed like 'Southfork Revisited'! I mean 120+ people or so, Porsches and Ferarris galore. Davidoff cigar booth on site. Not my average beers, sausages and a roll barbecue but still great fun and a great weekend abroad. Next is a wedding in Berlin which we're looking forward going to, once the groom has figured out that 'Bettina' is not the name of my girlfriend!

So far I've seen only 7% of the world

create your own visited countries map

Yes, this map comes out a bit too small, but it's a fun site to play around in - and,... damn only 7%! I need to go on that honeymoon soon...