The short and long of it

I'm a glutton. No sooner do I recover from the disappointment of the big idea heats hurdle fall than I get all excited by the next award that I really have a hamster in a shredders chance (for those not reading the daily eco-pages of the tabloids, one did survive, so I'm hedging my bets) of winning.

However, in my guise as a designer, and with the obvious need to get back to the day job to earn a crust to keep junkk.com in the limelight, I entered this rather dubiously-named effort: Designers Are Wankers

And lo, it seems I am on the shor... long list. Not quite six of nine (how Next Generation is that?) but better than not being on the list. And with £5k in the kitty, well worth a goat sacrifice or two.

Even nearer...

No, not a diatribe against food miles. Though, mind you...

Anyways, Junkk.com maintains its roller-coaster ride of fortunes and emotions, and after the major downer of the weekend's end, it's nice to be able to sahre a nice upward turn again.

A wee while ago I read about a new website called Green & Easy. Nice name, nice site, nice people and... nice and near!

Becuase it turns out they are just up the road, and I am not long back from a lovely morning in the company of David and Jackie. And as it turns out they read my blog... hi guys!

All we really did was chat as neighbours, but I am hopeful that soem synergies may evolve. There really are few areas of overlap between us, and we even agreed that if there were areas where we might be seen to be competitive, then so what... it's all making the green cause stronger!

So near...

Sunday was my big chance at The Big Idea.

It was a roller-coaster of a day. I got through the first round but sadly fell at the next.

Lord Bilimoria was quite charming and seemed very taken with the concept. I showed how his beer bottle caps could be made into a waste bin, and he noted the one I had chosen was from his wife's homeland.

Ruth Badger was surprisingly supportive as I'd been told she could be pretty fierce. She was the only one to ask a question about revenue, and seemed satisfied. So I had two votes.

Craig Johnston loved the idea, but reckoned it could not count as an invention, so it was looking like he would defer. But then he changed his mind, which was nice... and a relief.

At this point I was over the moon. They had all been very positive and as the day progressed it seemed I was one of the few to get 3 votes.

I was then called to the next round, with a shortlist of nine from whom six were chosen. Sadly this was where I didn't make it any further. It was a bit odd, as there had not been any further opportunity to present, so I am not sure what they did subsequently to decide one way or the other. As I was the only one who didn't have a patentable device I fear that may have been it. I'm now wishing I'd shown an invention I'd created via Junkk.com, but as the patent is not registered I couldn't. Know any cheap IP lawyers?

I can't pretend it was not a huge disappointment. In addition to the money, I was looking forward to working with some business brains to complement my creative talents. Junkk.com flounders a lot for the lack of such a team. Most others had the inventor, money man and sales brain. Plus of course the public exposure of the series as it progressed wouldn't hurt build our audience.

We will get some I hope with the first episode (maybe all, as I wore a lab coat and they asked me to do a series of thoughts on life in the future - see pix), as the crew really took to the idea, me and the family and filmed a lot of vox-pops. Whether they make the final edit is another matter.

For Junkk.com all I have left to target in the near future is the Guardian Social Entrepreneur of the Year Awards. Fingers crossed!

The thief of time

In addition to procrastination, and I don't know if it was just time that was stolen, but blogging (reading others and posting) certainly was taking a major chunk out of my day (and night). So having experimented with routing the majority of the daily feeds to the trash, and hence restricting the urge to comment on tons of stuff (mostly climate spats), I have tried to focus more on making Junkk.com work harder in areas it is stronger.

To this end I recently typed our name in Google and was frankly amazed at the extent and breadth of places we have been mentioned and, I'm happy to say, positively, if not in glowing terms. Time to upgrade our media section under 'About' on the site!

Not to mention our PR folder.

Because, by way of more good news the next few weeks will see me heading off, having got through some heats (how woo-hoo that achievement is remains to be seen, but it's better than a 'Dear Peter...' letter at the first hurdle) to be briefed on the next round of a) the Guardian Social Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, and b) SKY TV's 'The Big Idea'. Neither are insignificant opportunities (financially we're talking £20k and £100k prizes respectively, but also both will extend our reach to a much wider audience). In both cases some considerble 'heft' was also accorded to getting media coverage and, of course, any contribution to the environment. I think we can tick those boxes.

Now all I have to do is stop staring at this screen and figure out just what I take to show and what I tell in the brief few moments I'll get to pitch Junkk.com Wish me luck!

Demand and supply

They're to mean to post it free, and I'm too mean (well, broke) to pay to access it in its entirety, but here's something encouraging from the Indy today: Supermarkets in pursuit of the green pound.

The bit worth getting encouraged about (at least for Junkk.com): "it would be misleading to put these revolutions in the grocery and retail sectors down to political pressure. Something substantially more powerful is at work. What we are witnessing is a new trend in consumer demand."

Missing the points.

Two ads from the same magazine this week.

One is certainly a 'better than nothing'. The other seems slightly at odds with its aims, though.

It would appear that Clubcard points can range in hue.

Art. Life. On Reflection.

Still having trouble resisting the odd punt into the blogosphere, as in the case of this from Newsnight's Ethical Man. Before my wife clouts me, in mitigation there is an opportunity to get the URL across to the media (and, currently, 12 fellow posters, which seems a very small number all in all) such that they may wonder what we are and say hi.

I have had a few eyebrow twitches before on how the life of an 'I'm from the BBC' reporter, whose paid job this year is to be ethical, can mirror an average Joe trying to assess and install a multi-thousand pound sustainable energy system. Lack of film crew can seriously affect the way a supplier, council or local population treats you.

But in this case I thought the piece, and options, accurately reflected reality. Though it did seem prompted, as was my first thought when reading it, by the 'no car/arrived by car' question posed by an earlier poster. Anyway, as always, in case I do get edited, here's my offering:

"This well illustrates that not everything green can be painted in black and white, and almost any effort of this nature will inevitably be an exercise in compromise.

For those who wish to try, it does seem possible to exist in an urban situation without owning a car, but when it comes to needing one it would be nice to have the salary or expense account to enjoy when necessary the option of getting one on demand.

As a countryside homeworker I guess I could use public transport. However I am not sure how long I could sustain bearing the costs, especially those of transit time which I doubt any client will be prepared to support.

Equally, I'm sure if Ethical Man needs to do a far-flung piece, there may be some questions around the office water-cooler, HR and indeed by licence payers should he be away too long by sailing there.

But the importance of this feature is that one gets introduced to, and an appreciation of the options, from the personal to the professional to the environmental (which sadly can be conflicting), and assisted in making informed choices.

Hence in this case, as car was the chosen option for perfectly valid personal reasons, I was interested and impressed that a purely tokenistic vehicle choice was not made rather than barrelling down the motorway lugging a battery. The fantastic makes better copy than the mundane, with many in the media playing a part in keeping things overly idealistic and free of financial consequence (not all, including the BBC it seems, can swing a freebie or loaner from a PR dept!), impractical and hence beyond the abilities of many average families to embrace, no matter how keen they are to do their best.

At least DOING something is better than nothing."

Doing the right thing for the right reasons... in the wrong way

I have littered about the place a hefty collection of essentially worthless grey boxes. Partly it is because I have this odd notion that I may one day have a use for an extra 1GB of storage lurking in an entire CPU, but mainly I am still unsure what to do about them.

The ideal of course is that I get some money. Well, forget that. For a start, as mentioned, they are essentially worthless. So next up is that they get reused. Or at very worst recycled. These latter involve donation, which I am happy to do, but then we come to a bit of an issue, and one that is more than a tad topical: security.

This of course has provoked a response from those with a vested interest in the business of discarded IT. One such we have just been happy to print on our very own pages, reassured by the defence of its service (noting in passing the double-edged sword of Google Adsense, which has ads on the same page for services that may or may not be as worthy - caveat emptor).

But one thing I do note is that to get the reassurance one needs, you need to pass off in excess of 20 units.

Now most idividuals, and even small SMEs, do not have such numbers. What can one do? Is there a similar service for single units? Is it as secure? Can it be sustainable for the reuser without being financially prohibitive for the disposer? And if not, is the council 'bin' any more secure?

Quite an issue.

One notion I have is using the localisation capability of Junkk.com to pool diverse individuals in a coalition of the willing that builds to the trigger level, at which point the units are pooled (centrally would involve storage, at least temporarily, and possibly transport commitments) ready for collection.

Turkey is a dish best served cold

I'm still weaning myself off the surfing and the blogging, but it's not easy.

However, some things are helping me see the wisdom of the effort.

Take today's Guardian Online. I have captured a block of three topics, topped by the one that almost sucked me into its lair: 'Why do newspapers hate us bloggers?'

They don't hate you... er... us! They love us! Look at that figure in red below. Over a hundred comments before elevenses. Chock full of extreme and diverse opinion, quotes and links. Sure the readership number is trivial, but the source material is gold-dust. If you are a hack or commentator (or are they the same thing?) who is paid to read this stuff and write about it, who needs research?

Sadly, I am now having to find more profitable ways to spend my hours, so wading through such material, much as I'd like to, is no longer an option. And in any case, these days even if I do see something of interest, I have no faith in whether it's accurate or the time to check.

Sadly, it looks like the media I used to trust to discover and report for me are not bothering much either.

Space... the final frontier

A few posts ago I had cause to tweak an eyebrow at some coverage in the Sunday Times magazine last week regarding an eco-artist who took pictures of people protesting about global warming... from his helicopter.

This week there is a similar airborne piece, which I felt was much more striking and justified.

However, despite the familiar, depressing and assuredly concerning pictures of retreating ice fields and glaciers, what was more striking to me was the percentage that were not so much to do with climate change (though it all has a contributory effect) as population expansion and the consequent demands on our planet's finite space to house and feed these ever-increasing numbers.

For every square meter of forest turned into housing, as economies develop you'll generate a whole new source of domestic waste, and demands for energy to light, watch TV, water, garze cattle, grow soy, provide cars, roads to drive them on and biodiesel to fuel them.

I can't help but feel that if this is not addressed (though I have no easy-PC suggestions how) as a priority, all the rest is rather trivial in comparison.

Bouquets & Brickbats

The other day our laser printer started making a noise like a dying buffalo. After 3 turbulent years I thought it had given up the ghost. With a purchase price just shy of £200 almost all its residual value is in the consumables, and with it gone they are useless, so I was keen on fixing it.

Initial signs were not good. Well out of warranty, I was looking at call-out fees alone approaching £100. Even lugging it in for an assessment was in the £50 mark.

So I managed to locate the initial sales folk and they said it was worth trying the manufacturer (Epson) help line (0870 44 3 77 66 - select 'sales' and then go with the flow). And I must say it worked out very well. I eventually reached a human after the longest voice menu drill down in history. And, with luck, tproblemelm has been resolved. A free repair advice that saved all round.

That's the bouquet. The brickbat is the status print.

Why on earth is it necessary to such so much ink out on that bar on the left? Surely if it's a roller test one can have a narrow lengthwise and vertical bar to test coverage?

Conspiration Constipation

'They' must be out to get me.

First up, no sooner do I start weaning myself off the vast amount of time searching, reading and too often fruitlessly responding to the flood of online blog static out there, I somehow now find myself seduced by a plethora of manhour-sucking awards and competitions.

Some involve money; some involve potential PR. And some the nirvana of hooking up with complementary talents to move things along. A few offer all of these. And so are too good to ignore.

I have just completed my application to Sky's The Big Idea. Literally a few days' worth of drafting, crafting and rushing around shooting a video pitch. But with £100k at the end, perhaps worth it. I just hope they buy my notion of Junkk.com as an 'invention' that has been created to help create an infinite number of other inventions.

But no sooner do I leave this one in the lap of the Gods of Ratings, than I come across a design competition for canny designs! Only due Friday, so I have, er, one day to not do what I was and devote to the slim chance of a shot at this. Oh, phew, it's 'members only'. And when once this would have me signing up I'm afrid that budget boat has sialed... and sunk.

And then there is this: profit@50. Not a great deal of dosh, but it scores big on the profile meter.

Just one problem. I am not... quite... yet... 50! I'm still embroiled in the thinking behind 'Must be under 30' Guardian cartoon competition (a few posts back), which I miss out on by being too old, and now this looks out of reach becausee I'm too young!!!!

Ever felt you were a square peg in a sea of round holes?

Still looking, but not finding

Another I couldn't resist pitching into, if only in the hope the mainstream journalist may read and wonder about my email address (I now see little other value in these things) and find out what a 'Junkk.com' is:

Wanted: a practical guide to saving the warming planet

"Debate on global warming, be it man-made or naturally-occuring, is really moot. So I agree the key things we must focus on are reducing consumption wherever possible (economical, political and a whole raft of other 'als' permitting), and certainly reducing waste. It is simply a matter of efficiency. Which surely must appeal to any 'conservative'.

Sadly, it's tricky whilst also worrying about natural conservation which, in any form, is going to be hard to achieve with an expanding global population. Most, myself included, shy away from going much further 'there'.

But I'm afraid a polar bear's few thousand acres will come second to a few thousand more voters' homes getting profitably bullt on an ironically water-starved South Eastern flood plain."

I'd read this with a hope that there may be an indication of what form this guide may take. Sadly it was again more debate on whether it was required or not, which I guess I added to.

But at least when it comes to guides on doing stuff that can help, there is at least Junkk.com to point to in mitigation.

Unfortunate Illustrations

Not really anything to do with matters 're' or even Junkk.com's adventures, but I have to post this from today's Guardian - Cartoon competition.

As a not bad cartoonist, I was already sharpening my HB pencil when I noticed: 'entrants must be under 30 on January 1 2007'.

Ooooo, so close. But then I noticed a significant percentage of the posters below had asked 'why 30?', to which I can only add my voice. It's not like it's a kids' competition. I'm even pretty sure it is ageist and as such possibly now (or at least soon) illegal.

No excuses. This may prove interesting to monitor.

ADDENDUM: Paranoia is knowing they are out to ignore you


I decided to pop back to see what's what a few days later, and as there was no reply or, oddly, further posts (read on) decided to have another go. As this letter to the original poster (and attached screenshot) shows, there seems to have been a glitch preventing futher discussion. I wonder why?

Dear Mr. King

As I have an interest in this issue, I returned to the site today to still find no answer to the postings regarding the age limit, and hence composed the following. Sadly it was not possible to upload (see attached). I'm sure there is a perfectly good reason for this, though the phrase 'Comments not allowed on this entry' is less than enlightening, and does in itself raise a few additional questions. So I remain interested. Maybe I'll have more luck sending this to you directly:

"A few days have passed, yet I still see no answer to the majority of posters' legitimate questions regarding the age limit. It may be ageist. It may be legal. It may be demographics. It may be marketing. It may be ethi... well, maybe not. But having asked politely, I'd just like to know the reasoning behind one not being able to enter a non-gender specific creative competition for post-student, working-age UK adults (I can understand the need for kids' versions to have an upper limit) by virtue of being over 30. Is it hoped by staying mute long enough we can all be relied upon to have Alzheimers? Or maybe you too have simply forgotten... to reply? You could of course let such senior citizens enter, and then make sure they don't win if they don't suit the profile. Like every other media competition."

The Plot thickens... well, a reply:

On 9 Aug 2006, at 09:17, Oliver.King@guardian.co.uk wrote:

Peter
I dont have any email in my inbox from your email address so I couldnt have
responded. I am forwarding your query and complaint to Ian Mayes the
Guardian reader's editor. I work for Guardian Unlimited - the website and
not the newspaper. I was asked to publicise the competition by colleagues
on the paper which I did. I didnt draw up the rules to the competition and
do not even know who did so Ian is the best person to contact neither drew
up the rules Please contact Ian Mayes the readers editor with your
complaint.
Oliver King.

And so I stay hopeful, though with eyebrow twitching...

Dear Oliver,

Thank you for your prompt reply.

I do appreciate and sympathise with your position, and apologise if my wording made my comments seem personally directed at 'you'. This was not my intention as I fully appreciated the fact that you were just the guy writing the post to advertise the competition.

I was simply interested in answers. And the blog seemed the best place for these to be forthcoming from those who initiated it (I was not aware of the level of distinction between the paper and website); not necessarily to me personally but to address all with similar questions on the blog.

Hence it was frustrating to find that further comment had seemingly been stopped and there remained no organiser's reply after two days. It is surely only to be expected that following such postings there is monitoring of responses?

Still, we are getting places. I will await feedback from Mr. Mayes.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Martin

You can be too mature, apparently

A follow up and, I guess, an answer at last:

"Ian Katz who drew up the competition said he was looking for undiscovered
cartoonists the paper didn't know about. He also said the age limit is
similar to the student journalism competitions the Guardian regularly runs
which offer short-term work as a prize. It was determined to follow similar
rules in this case."

Whether it is a satisfactory one is another matter, along with my having the righteous energy to pursue further. I could still wonder why undiscovered cartoonists the paper didn't know about 'must' be under 30. Do you become known, especially to them, when you're over that age? And 29 year-old students are a new one to me, too.

Funny how 'ist' the supposed organs of liberty and equality can be when it suits.

Meanwhile, at a supermarket near you...

Just read an interesting story about Wal-Mart (which may translate into ASDA here?) 'going green' in Fortune.

Overall it's encouraging, but again, contradictions abound. I just loved the bit about conservationists pitching to the bosses whilst scuba diving here and hiking there around the world. Nice work if you can get it, but I guess a small price to pay to swing the monolith in tangible green ways. And the CEO has traded his Beetle (!) in for a hybrid... er... SUV. Not sure if that was a step in the right direction or not.

But I think I am most focused on this claim: '[The] argument was simple: Wal-Mart could improve its image, motivate employees, and save money by going green.' Reads like our pitch to ASDA about 3 years ago. This has translated into tangibles: 'On Kid Connection, its private-label line of toys, for instance, Wal-Mart found that by eliminating excessive packaging, it could save $2.4 million a year in shipping costs, 3,800 trees, and one million barrels of oil.'

A lot of the inspirations to have hit these multi-million salaried execs seem a bit 'Well, D'uh', when they are reported as so excitedly coming up with initiatives, but at least they are not (always - there is that bottom line) saying no.

And maybe I have some guys to write to about Junkk.com. Can't hurt.

If you have something worth saying, say it!

As I start to look towards ad-land again as a way of keeping the family alive while the Junkk.com machine secures its foothold, I find my Creative Director juices flow when I see certain ads, and view them critically for strategy and message.

And I am starting to feel that the conveying of anything 'green', despite moves in the right direction, is still tending to draw the short straw when it comes to communicating in the same way and to the same effect as other brands.

Take this Lexus execution. It's a 4x4. But it's a hybrid. So it's evil (official). But also gets off the congestion charge (have to check - maybe not, as I'd have to presume they'd mention that for the Chelsea Tractor brigade's benefit). In fact it is a series of contradictions. But at the end of the day it's a dirty great big greenish SUV for those who still want to be up in the sky, lug half a dozen kids, look spiffy and deflect Greenpeace stickers

I'm not sure I get that from the headline. The subhead tells me it's a hybrid. The first line of copy waffles and then goes off into some very vague areas of fact.

As I dust off the porty, I am encouraged. However, much as I'd like to get such guys' ads on Junkk.com, helping shape them still rather requires me to reach them. And that is still proving... tricky.

If you have nothing worth saying...

... issue a leaflet and/or press release anyway (it may be so bad it gets coverage)!

An interesting snippet from the 'Prufrock' business gossip section of the Sunday Times, which is usually more concerned with which 'richer than god' mandarin is outsquandering another, and hence needs to invite the reporter along on their private plane/yacht/country estate to ensure it hits the presses. This one was more modest:

Eco rules for the jet set

I'm presuming that opting not to travel at all is another option they advocated (but I guess if your business is travel, then you may decide that is a step too far. At least sustainable is better than nothing).

But I have to say it does highlight how a lot of organisations are struggling to make the whole eco-thing interesting. While an undoubted good thing, switching the lights off in your resort room is, as pointed out, not exactly cutting edge. Some newsletters we're getting are looking decidedly tired. The non-commercial re-brigade are really scraping the barrel. There really is only so much you can re-hash. Guys like Grist still seem to be keeping things fresh, but the global warming debate is tending to circle now, too. What more can you do? I do still revel in Treehugger's news of innovations, but again there is now a plethora of folk selling eco-stuff.

As we try and get towards our next, second (ouch!) and hopefully vanguard of more regular newsletters, we really must weigh the best regularity (I'm thinking monthly to start, down to a maximum of weekly, perhaps with options of full text or summaries) and content balance. I'm hoping that between ideas, features and of course the odd blog I've penned, we will have enough to stay fresh maintain the interest of our audience.

Coke adds... data

Actually they haven't.. yet. But on a more positive note I'm hoping this ad, which pretty much shows what we're up to (if for a very different reason) is karmically encouraging. At least we know they have a caliper in the office!

What's odd about this picture?

All very noble 'n all, and yes it did get noticed, but as it isn't mentioned anywhere I have to wonder how they got there. And, indeed, how the shots (there are many - we are talking an international artist here - I guess he cycles around) get taken.

There may be hints in the words 'seen from the air', 'pay a flying visit' and 'aerial artist'.

Mixed message? Me, I waited 'til they stuck up a crane and then asked the operator to take some shots of our town ;)

Agenda Benders

Another lost archive, this time from when I was contributing to the BBC about blogs, and not a little miffed about editorial, if not censorship. Still worth sharing:

There is no doubt that power can turn the head of those who wield it. And there is equally no doubt that those who occupy any position of public profile in or for a major media organisation will inevitably find such a gift, and curse, bestowed upon them, willingly or merely as a consequence. And as will always be the way, such power can come in many forms, stemming equally from the way it has been wielded, from respect to to fear. With, in the case of media, perhaps one extra aspect, the desire to be heard. You may agree or disagree with someone who can lay claim to column inches or minutes of airtime. You may like or dislike them. But if you think there's the faintest chance that you may get to their audience by engaging with them in any way, it's worth the punt.

Until recently, access to the major media was quite simple. You were either part of the story-telling system, or part of the story. Now, with the advent of the forums and blogs sprouting everywhere, there is a chance at finding oneself as a potential profiled player in either, but most significantly the former, at least by temporary association. This can be heady stuff. And has been hailed as a new era in citizen journalism bringing a new dimension to the media fare we are served and/or can opt for.

But is it? With recent personal experience I can testify that what seemed to be a brave new world of equal access and freedom of speech can easily be manipulated by whomsoever controls the medium to meet their requirements, benign or otherwise.

For this reason I have now decided to try to avoid reading much less contributing to any other blogs, and concentrate solely on my own, using and quoting such information resources with whose provenance I have more confidence, at least historically. I will always have my own of course, and what I have written, and hence think, is there for all to read and judge accordingly, warts and all. And I think I will continue to avoid allowing replies, at least directly (I always welcome contact for personal discussion), to avoid any chance that what is on view (ie: from others) artificially adds weight to my own, inevitably subjective, viewpoints.

In short there will always be an agenda. It's silly to pretend, or believe, otherwise.