Long hot summer

Posted by Jordan on 6 September 2006 | 0 Comments

It hasn't actually been a long hot summer at all. July was a bit warm, August was a bit windy and wet. But it's been bloody hot and bloody long at Oomph. And as this blog is loosely based around what it's like to set up and agency and make it successful, it's probably about time we put some content into a blog that was relevant.

With security scares at Heathrow, petrol prices hitting GBP1 a litre (OK just before summer) and hot weather in the UK which has led lots of commentators to talk about the new global warming phenomenon (read about this anywhere but obviously The Guardian who believes most of us not in the Highlands and Wales will need to invest heavily in wetsuits and diving gear http://environment.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,1864311,00.html)
.So surely everyone stays at home in the summer? Not likely. Everyone in Oomph has had a holiday and has been very much encouraged to do do (including me). So far so progressive. The problem is that as a successful and growing outfit (Cello bought half of us in June) but with 7 key people and lots of strategic partners, this has been the summer of hell with handover briefings and KBS cover to make sure that experts are covered effectively by non-experts in their role while away. We've just about managed with a couple of dropped balls but it's not been easy when you have core expertise in individuals. Summer of 2006 will always be remembered as the worst because by next year -and in fact by Christmas, we'll have cover in every role. Some rules for the future. 1. Don't skimp on handover briefings. 2. Handover documents are OK but never read the same when you're on your own at midnight working out what it means. 3. Clients should be given every opportnity to say they want additional cover or make it explicit they understand a contact is away. 4. Flexibility in working practice requires flexibility in holiday practice - i.e. you can be contacted. 5. Don't abuse point 4.

Partly as a consequence, we are now interviewing allsorts over the next few days. Feels like 1 year in we are moving to a next phase. I'd suggest we've gone from household to commune. Village life is looming for Oomph.

And with all of this going on I entered the real world of digital by getting an ipod nano for my birthday, have promptly run out of space so need to get a real one. Listening to a podcast as I speak and have even registered on Myspace. Not sure why. Does anyone know? Here's what The Economist thinks: http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=7855102

Clearly not quite convinced.