.... is this from Bloomberg, reporting on Tony Blair's latest appointment as an advisor to Zurich Financial Services AG, Switzerland's biggest insurer, on, amongst other things, 'climate change'.
The man who talked the talk, but did sweet fanny adams when it came to walking the walk, advising on climate change! A subject he did his best to totally ignore, other than issuing loads of hot air on, during his tenure as PM.
Come on; you're having a larhf at our expense! This has got to be a wind up?!
Monday, January 28, 2008
A new RE on the block...re:place?
I'm about to head off to a seminar in Surrey. And this time I'm a speaker!
That's a nice new twist. I have often had my doubts about the value of a lot of networking events, and have pretty much decided the only ones of real value are when you have a stand of your own, or are on the podium.
At least with these two you can be pretty certain all there at least know who you are. Of course, to achieve the former you are several grand down on the deal, while with the latter you might even get paid. Of course, you might not. Ways to go, I guess. In this case, Farnham, about 250 miles there and back.
Anyway, I have been invited to share the story so far on RE:tie, and by association, Junkk.com.
It's going to be interesting. I have done my PowerPoint, and at 30 minutes it's a long one. Mainly an amalgamation and adaptation of a few previous ones, mostly derived from pitches to try and get funding or PR or a sale.
I was pondering this this morning as I watched breakfast TV.
It was another of what seems a weekly slot where Sir Stuart Rose of M&S gets to flog stuff with Declan holding a rack of schumtter alongside. The PR luvvies and wires between them and the BBC bookers must have been buzzing.
Only this time there was... is (it's a trial, which cranks the eyebrow a tad) a twist. And as stated, it's a reuse story, with win-wins all round, so I am bound to cover it here.
Basically, for now, if you are about to donate your old stuff to the charity shop, make sure you break out the old M&S efforts and get 'em to OXFAM. In so doing, you get a £5 voucher, they get some quality gear, and M&S.... well, they get you to fork out at least another £30 on new stuff. See... win-win.
Only, it's kinda more replacement than reuse. And in many ways the main winners are, in order... who? And... as long as it lasts?
Look , I have no problem with end-benefit driven enviro-initiatives, and this is better than many I've seen. But it just comes across as a bit, I don't know, stretching it... or... grubby?
Speaking of which, there was a whole raft of 'if it isn't suitable or crack squad of sorters will recycle it no problem' form the lady on a nice directorial crack from OXFAM. Were these not the guys who told us recently that if it wasn't brand and spanking to bugger off elsewhere? Maybe this is a corrective mea culpa.
It's just we are talking a very specific effort here, for a potentially limited time period, but by being greenish gets another huge dollop of free-ad PR. And I have to say that, and once I have gone through the Sundays will prove, the 'fashion'; industry doesn't half get a lot of cover for doing a few things that might err on eco, when overall the whole sorry lot are sucking the life out of the planet in terms of consumption and waste and, even, unethical, practices.
Wouldn't it be great to see a few more stories where you, the consumer, get to opt for a necessity (well, ish) that is free yet still can in its purchase help you, aid the marketers... and the planet? Now that would surely be a 'win win win'.
Let's see how I do trying to convince my audience in person. As I can't seem to get the BBC or retailers to be interested as yet.
That's a nice new twist. I have often had my doubts about the value of a lot of networking events, and have pretty much decided the only ones of real value are when you have a stand of your own, or are on the podium.
At least with these two you can be pretty certain all there at least know who you are. Of course, to achieve the former you are several grand down on the deal, while with the latter you might even get paid. Of course, you might not. Ways to go, I guess. In this case, Farnham, about 250 miles there and back.
Anyway, I have been invited to share the story so far on RE:tie, and by association, Junkk.com.
It's going to be interesting. I have done my PowerPoint, and at 30 minutes it's a long one. Mainly an amalgamation and adaptation of a few previous ones, mostly derived from pitches to try and get funding or PR or a sale.
I was pondering this this morning as I watched breakfast TV.
It was another of what seems a weekly slot where Sir Stuart Rose of M&S gets to flog stuff with Declan holding a rack of schumtter alongside. The PR luvvies and wires between them and the BBC bookers must have been buzzing.
Only this time there was... is (it's a trial, which cranks the eyebrow a tad) a twist. And as stated, it's a reuse story, with win-wins all round, so I am bound to cover it here.
Basically, for now, if you are about to donate your old stuff to the charity shop, make sure you break out the old M&S efforts and get 'em to OXFAM. In so doing, you get a £5 voucher, they get some quality gear, and M&S.... well, they get you to fork out at least another £30 on new stuff. See... win-win.
Only, it's kinda more replacement than reuse. And in many ways the main winners are, in order... who? And... as long as it lasts?
Look , I have no problem with end-benefit driven enviro-initiatives, and this is better than many I've seen. But it just comes across as a bit, I don't know, stretching it... or... grubby?
Speaking of which, there was a whole raft of 'if it isn't suitable or crack squad of sorters will recycle it no problem' form the lady on a nice directorial crack from OXFAM. Were these not the guys who told us recently that if it wasn't brand and spanking to bugger off elsewhere? Maybe this is a corrective mea culpa.
It's just we are talking a very specific effort here, for a potentially limited time period, but by being greenish gets another huge dollop of free-ad PR. And I have to say that, and once I have gone through the Sundays will prove, the 'fashion'; industry doesn't half get a lot of cover for doing a few things that might err on eco, when overall the whole sorry lot are sucking the life out of the planet in terms of consumption and waste and, even, unethical, practices.
Wouldn't it be great to see a few more stories where you, the consumer, get to opt for a necessity (well, ish) that is free yet still can in its purchase help you, aid the marketers... and the planet? Now that would surely be a 'win win win'.
Let's see how I do trying to convince my audience in person. As I can't seem to get the BBC or retailers to be interested as yet.
From Bali to ...... Hawaii
The plane-loads of pols, civil servants, bureaucrats and associated hangers on have now decamped to Hawaii for yet another international discussion group (starting this Wednesday) on climate change (as reported by Reuters).
Strange that this bash seems to have been kept a lot quieter than previous rounds. Ah, I've just realised that it's a little different; this time it's hosted by the USA, and the meeting is "aimed at curbing climate change without stalling economic growth." The meeting is actually a continuation of the talks that took place in Washington last year (which resulted in what exactly?), where the USA took considerable stick for its entrenched position over the Kyoto agreement. "There has been no change in position whatsoever in this White House. They were hoping to sell their position to the rest of the world and that's not working."
The thing is, if climate change is as potentially dangerous to humanity as the scientists say it is, then economic growth is probably going to be the least of our worries. It all sounds rather reminiscent of the band playing as the Titanic slowly went down.
Strange that this bash seems to have been kept a lot quieter than previous rounds. Ah, I've just realised that it's a little different; this time it's hosted by the USA, and the meeting is "aimed at curbing climate change without stalling economic growth." The meeting is actually a continuation of the talks that took place in Washington last year (which resulted in what exactly?), where the USA took considerable stick for its entrenched position over the Kyoto agreement. "There has been no change in position whatsoever in this White House. They were hoping to sell their position to the rest of the world and that's not working."
The thing is, if climate change is as potentially dangerous to humanity as the scientists say it is, then economic growth is probably going to be the least of our worries. It all sounds rather reminiscent of the band playing as the Titanic slowly went down.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)