Cathie’s blog…

Or “Congratulations and be prosperous” as Chinese New Year is almost upon us.  However it is also the day not to be buying new shoes as this is considered bad luck amongst some Chinese. The word “shoes” is a homophone for the word “rough” in Cantonese, or “evil” in Mandarin.   So I will resist the urge to buy shoes on the 7th February!

Still, at least there is one good thing - it is bad luck to sweep the floor, so the housework will have to have been done by then (fortunately for me, my cleaner works on Wednesdays so my house will be sorted for Chinese New Year).

This will be the Year of the Rat who are leaders, pioneers and conquerors.  They are charming, passionate, charismatic, practical and hardworking.

However, if like me, you were born under the Ox , then you are blessed with the sign of prosperity through fortitude and hard work.  Apparently, this sign is a born leader, quite dependable and possesses an innate ability to achieve great things.  As one might guess, such people are dependable, calm, and modest.  Like their animal namesake, the Ox is unswervingly patient, tireless in their work, and capable of enduring any amount of hardship without complaint [Wikipedia].

Er - on second thoughts, maybe I was born in a different year…

Due to a phenomenal amount of work and record business, bit10 team sales were rewarded with a round of golf, thanks to Mark from AT8 Group.

Gem “just call me tigress woods”, Rob “sliced it” and Cathie  “I like to go back and forth across the green” were treated to a session on a par 3 course.  Given that we have never really played properly before, and that it was Gem’s first go of holding a club, we didn’t do too badly. First up, under the careful eye of Mark, we hit a few balls across the driving range.  The first few didn’t go that far but then we really got into the swing of it.  Of course, all that effort made us hungry, so after lunch we trotted around to the par 3 course at The Warwickshire.  The first hole was easily won by Cathie and Rob, but then Mark and Gem were straight back at us to win the next two.  Some dodgy slicing by Mark ensured that the fourth hole was again taken by Cathie and Rob, well actually it was Rob’s excellent par that did it.

First up, under the careful eye of Mark, we hit a few balls across the driving range.  The first few didn’t go that far but then we really got into the swing of it.  Of course, all that effort made us hungry, so after lunch we trotted around to the par 3 course at .  The first hole was easily won by Cathie and Rob, but then Mark and were straight back at us to win the next two.  Some dodgy slicing by Mark ensured that the fourth hole was again taken by Cathie and Rob, well actually it was Rob’s excellent par that did it.

The fifth hole was won by Mark, but then Rob claimed the sixth for our team.  However, with time quickly running out, there was only room for one more hole.  The championship decider came down to this vital last hole.

The fifth hole was won by Mark, but then Rob claimed the sixth for our team.  However, with time quickly running out, there was only room for one more hole.  The championship decider came down to this vital last hole.

Mark teed off, but it swerved viciously into the rough.  Gem sliced it, not once, but twice.  Rob did the same.  The tension in the crowd (two birds and a worm) was high.  A straight shot from Cathie went sailing towards the green but just fell short.

Mark teed off, but it swerved viciously into the rough.  sliced it, not once, but twice.  Rob did the same.  The tension in the crowd (two birds and a worm) was high.  A straight shot from Cathie went sailing towards the green but just fell short.Mark started to catch up, but “ooooh” went the crowd as it sailed past.  A score of 5 for Mark meant that Cathie had to putt the ball straight to score 4 for the round and the match.

The tension was unbearable, and given Cathie’s previous putting where the ball would zigzag across the green a number of times, meant that it was highly unlikely that it would go in this time.  But pressure is a strange thing - the hole was lined up, the putter struck the ball, it rolled neatly across the green and sank into the hole.  Score!

Anyway, no matter who won or didn’t, we all totally enjoyed our first golf trip and are waiting for the next!

Well that was a week and a half last week!  Months of planning and preparation and it is all over now.

I was intending to write each day from Internet World to give an update of the events and happenings as they occured.  But as I had no internet access then what could I do?  Oh and there was the pub as well

Monday was supposed to be a simple trip down to London, set up the stand and relax.  Not quite.

Katie decided that she didn’t like the bottom step at bit10 and completely missed it out, resulting in a sprained ankle and a trip to Coventry A&E.  Personally, I think she just wanted to get out of the heavy lifting I’m kidding!!!!

So Gem stepped in at literally the last minute and with a very quick detour to find some clothes, we set off to pick up the cow furniture from Theme Traders in our very own white van.  Oh yes!  Now, I’m normally a mild-mannered driver *ahem* yes, normally.  But once you get behind the wheel of a transit then WVWR takes over.  That’s White Van Woman Rage.

Still it was fun and I didn’t hit anything either.  Apart from narrowly missing the wall at Theme Traders though

Talking of which, the nice people at Theme Traders were so helpful and friendly from the “You can’t park that van here, love” security guard (who did let me park it) to the chaps that loaded the van for Gem and I.  Definitely worth using again.

Next stop - Earls Court and a bit of a wait before they would let us on site.  Then we had 45 minutes to unload the van.  Again, sweet smiles ensured that we had a number of gentlemen to assist with the heavy unloading before we raced across London to return the van.

TomTom saved the day except it doesn’t know that you can’t cross the central reservation of the A4.  And Enterprise, you really need to improve.  Granted, your staff are friendly and polite but they are not that great at directing people to the back of their office to drop the van off.  And on their website (and phone when you are on hold), they go on about how they pick you up or drop you off at your destination.  Total rubbish.

Oh they would take us the two miles to the hotel but we would have to pay the congestion charge.  The taxi firm they directed us to was fully booked and there we were in the middle of Hammersmith with a ton of luggage and a birthday balloon.  Not impressed at all.  And wait until I write about Thursday!

So following a quick stop at Premier Travel Inn (not bad) we headed back to Earls Court to build the stand.  Here’s the photos!

So my blog has been unloved for a bit.  But that is because we have been so busy getting sorted for Internet World 2007 next week.

After being prodded to write something, I will now write something suitable for my blog.

So what is Internet World?  Well, it’s a place that allows people to find out more about the really cool Internet stuff that is out there.  We’ll be there and wait till you see our stand!

We’ve got a bit of a theme going and from the blogs that we add next week, you’ll be able to see what I mean.

Also, our very own Alexander Craig, will be talking about the newly launched Clothes Online 2007 usability benchmarking report that we have just completed.  He’ll be talking on Tuesday 1st May at 2pm in the Digital Marketing Theatre.  Look who has sponsored it too!

And if you pass by on Thursday 3rd May, our stand will have something very special on it too…

More next week from the hub of Internet World!!

Whoops.  I lost the password to my blog.  And now I have found it.

Anyway, the DVD of the bit10 snowboarding trip has made it to the web.  Watch it here.

And you can also view my piccies here too.

Hope you like the DVD - it could not have been made without the antics of the bit10 bunch, who willing sacrificed life n limb to make it.  Unfortunately, there were two videos that did not make it onto the film - simply because they weren’t caught on camera.

The first one was of John, the bean counter, skiiing majestically down the slopes to the Chalet Les Arcs for a quick vin chaud and failing to notice that the snow ended where the chalet begun.  So he ended up skiing over a 6ft drop onto a chair and breaking it in the process.  The reconstruction is included in the DVD.

The second one was yours truly, who managed to fall on camera - no, rephrase that, fall ON the camera.  Fortunately the camera survived however the fall down the mountain of approximately 50-100 metres on front and back was not caught on film.  Phew.

The past few weeks have been a blur since I came back from a week’s holiday.  Not only did we buy another company at bit10, but I have completed a number of tenders for public sector organisations.

While it has been interesting to see what bit10 can do to help these organisations, the one frustration that I have had when completing the required information is the amount of info they seem to need!!

Some organisations who put out tenders are quite good in that they ask for the right information about the company who are tendering, but some ask for so much information that is irrelevant!  PQQs (Pre-Qualification Questionnaires) are annoying because you have to supply information such as insurance details, staff details, policies, accounting information etc. 

Now while I have most of this information in one document and can cut/copy/paste as needed, there always seems to be one who asks for something that I can’t quite find and this is what takes up most of my time - searching for that elusive bit of info! 

And does it really matter whether we have IS014001 etc. etc. or that we can actually build excellent websites?  Yup, we recycle where possible and our solutions aim to be sustainable, and we have carried out our carbon footprint, plus planted a load of trees.  Has this helped us to build a cracking website?  Not to my knowledge, yet you get more points in evaluations of tenders if you have qualifications like ISO

Now, the NHS has almost got it right - if you complete the PASA information, then they have a central source of your company’s information, which means that you don’t have to jump through all the hoops each time you want to tender for something.

Why oh why can’t the Government extend this to ALL public sector organisations?  And don’t get me started on Catalist either - we came so close last year and only missed out because we didn’t have, yes you guessed it, ISO14001.  A few points was all that stood between us.

Wouldn’t it save time and money if companies could log their details with a central system that stored (like NHS PASA) the right PQQ information needed?  An annual reminder could be sent out to update these details.  Then people like me wouldnt have to keep on completing the same ol’ info each time a new tender came along.

Also, the information provided in tenders varies so much.  Some organisations have it spot on - they know exactly what they want and it makes it easier to find out how we can help them.  But some just don’t have a clue.

What annoys me are the following in no particular order:

• tenders that are pages and pages full of useless info
• tender organisations that take forever to respond to questions
• tenders that send one-line letters to your submission saying you didn’t get it, even when you have spent nigh-on 40 hours writing the proposal
• tenders that supply Word documents that they want you to complete, then password protect it
• tenders that expect you to stick to their deadline, but then leave you waiting weeks after when they are supposed to respond, but still want you to meet the original due date of the finished project
• tenders that are in Word and use forms/fields that don’t allow you to paste the info into easily without Word reformatting it

And there are many more I am sure!

Not all organisations are bad at preparing tenders, it’s just the ones that are that take the most time to sort and I wonder if the people who put these together actually do realise the amount of work that goes into them!

Well the summer certainly lasted a long time - not!  So I’ve changed my background to reflect the fact that it is now September and grapes should be good for wine-making.

Ok - it’s a fairly cheesy link, but I like to keep my blog up to date and in tune with the weather.  Now, where’s the forked lightning and hailstones background….

Don’t you just love bank holiday weeks?  The weekend is almost upon us and we’ve only done four days worth of work.

Well, actually, it might make the week shorter (because it is!), but actually 4 day weeks and bank holidays are a right pain.

Why?  Because most people decide to add on an extra few days holiday to this week, which means that nobody is in when I call, so I end up doing loads of work making phone calls and getting very little in return for it.

So although I’m in the office this week, others aren’t and that makes my job really difficult.

Fortunately, the next bank holiday is Christmas where I intend to be skiing down some slope, hopefully in Canada (again!).  By the way, you can check out my attempt at My first black run .

So at least between now and then I hope that some of you will be in your offices Although there is still half-term between now and then…

Just got my new strawberries look to the blog - much more girly and summery.

And then what happens - it rains for a week.  So, yup, blame the lack of summer on me putting up my summer strawberry blog.

Only prob is, it doesn’t work as quickly in IE, so that gave me a wake-up call and I finally downloaded Firefox!!!

And with winter coming along, I thought it best to change my car too, so I’ve now swapped the MGTF for an Audi TT.  How cute is it?