Saturday
Arrived to find an appeal from a fellow exhibitor, Emma Baxter. Basically she is part of a Scout group based in Watford who are trying raise funds for an expedition to Kenya to support a worthy cause.. Called the YES project, it is on www.yes.or.ke. You can reach Emma on arielbax@aol.com.
Visited by a very nice couple who ‘got’ it. And the lovely lady partner, Hermione, turns out to be a freelance writer. She felt our story would be of interest to her readership… of 1 million. Fingers crossed, eh?
APRIL FUEL!
If I had been at Junkk.com Towers the last few weeks, I’m sure we’d have managed to pop in a good-natured wind-up of our own, but sadly this year I’ll just have to restrict myself to those I have seen. Thanks to the BBC News several have been spoiled by them pointing them out (what next guys, telling us the ending of movies?), and so far I just have those in my morning Mail.
First up is that the President of the EC, Jose Barroso, has opted for a Volkswagen Toureg. How I laughed! That’s like our Minister for the Environment opting to take a helicopter to speed up her travel round the country. That said, who could blame him? It is the car of choice in the ‘I’ve saved my 20%’ commercial’.
Next is one that I’m pretty sure is an AFJ, but actually seemed to be quiet a good idea! This was using stencils to imprint bard codes on fruit as they grow. The piece highlighted time and cost savings, but I thought it would also help with reducing sticker waste - not that it is that significant. Still, every little bit helpsJ Not sure what it would do for the flavour of the skin, though. And if anyone can tell me the ‘AFJ hint’ behind Tesco spokesperson Martin De La Fuenta & the Jonagold apple cited, I’d be grateful.
Finally, there are the ad spoofs. So far I am amazed how bad they are. A long timer ago the BMW ones were awesome (I remember being taken in by a key-ob actuated ariel light to help find your car). The one they did to day was DIRE. If you can’t do it well, don’t do it.
TRANSPORT OF DESPAIR
I’m getting out of here in the nick of time. The District Line from Richmond to Turnham Green has been closed for repairs. Maintenance is a fact of life, and disruption an inevitable consequence. But my experience this morning (and tonight and, blissfully, last one tomorrow morning) was dire. To steal/adapt a saying, this was a case of donkeys lead by asses.
Nothing was done right. Scores of O/T sucking minions lolled about the station forecourt, but apparently none had thought to mention to the milk float driver who parked there that getting a bus out may not be possible. Or notice that he’d strolled off. Once released, the bus then did a tour or Richmond before getting back to where it started.. Similarly, it went past Stamford Brook, which is further up the line, without stopping. At one point a passenger was giving the driver direction.
God help those who need to work Monday. And god help the cause of using public transport if this is how it gets planned an executed.
SOILED BRIEFS
We know the media injects the maximum spin on any story, and often if there is not one around actually makes stuff up. But usually there is an element of ‘no smoke without fire’. I do not intend to refer to any specific story, but it is really getting under my skin that so many unnamed sources are briefing so many journalists about so much. The value I place on any party’s policies, what any politician has to say or what I read has been taken to near zero.
LOOK FOR THE ANGLE
I am no great fan of the current US and UK governments, but an aspect of the recent visit by Condi Rice to Jack Straw’s constituency threw up yet more reasons for me to further worry about the state of our media, especially our state media (if I can call the BBC that).
You kind of expect the likes of the daily mail to be looking to paint anything like this with an unflattering brush, but I was a tad intrigued by the news coverage I saw regarding the protests to her visit.
While citing great local feeling, the footage I saw only seemed to pan a cross a line of about four schoolgirls, with a couple of adults behind, making a stretch of about 4yards long and two-ish deep.
Should this be picked up else where ever make it to the farcical self-analysing Newswatch ( I have long since given up writing in, as, like today’s, it involves a cosy set-up where a BBC mid-level responds to criticisms by saying ‘oh, I think we got it about right’) I’d love to see if a wider angle may be produced.
In fact I am thinking of setting up a website called the Critical News review review, to start targeting such things and leave them up there to rumble until adequate answers are found.
THE WASTE ON WASTE
As any reader of this blog will appreciate, I am in slight despair at the level of intelligent investigative or even analytical journalism in the environmental filed, despite the incredible relevance and impact it all has on our lives.
However, whilst finding it was consigned more to a snipe in a column of City Hall gossip in the Evening standard, I was caught by the following (in its entirety): ‘How best to drive up London’s poor recycling rate? By spending £14909 from the City Hall coffers on four giant cans to replace the props worn out by countless PR stunts. Twenty-five events in 18 months left the cans damaged beyond repair.
At first I thought this unfair. Though we do our thing on a wing and a prayer, from my ad days £15k is not that much to get anyone to do, much less make anything.
However, amortised over 25 events one starts to wonder. And if they are the ones I think they are, when I saw them I wonder just what they were made out of in the great re-scheme of things. And having watched them blow across they filed at Camden’s Green day I didn’t foresee a long, healthy future for them.
One also has to ponder the associated costs of transport, assembly, strike down and, of course, staffing. Several bored staff handing out gazillions of leaflets does add to the cost (not to mention to the environment) … a lot.
It’s not that one does not do this, as it is necessary in any effort to get a message across, but that there is accountability for whether it is done in the best way and whether the results were worth it.
I will, for instance be interested in how WRAP, sponsors of The Ideal Home stand, see the value of their investment. One major reason for me to take our stand was their involvement. I’ll ask, but whether I’ll be told is another matter. It will be interesting to see if more powerful media voices will ask such questions at all, let alone as asides, and certainly as part of a dedicated effort to trace the vast public funds being wasted on waste.
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